The Story of Silver Springs - The Best Song I've Ever Written

[David]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

Of course, it's not a secret who's put in the most work for her career.

A certain type of work, I would agree. She spends all her energies mounting big tours, interacting flashily with other acts in the studio and onstage (it’s always an “event” that seems designed for paparazzi), presenting herself in a certain light and look, and getting her name in the newspapers. She’s great at all that. The public definitely responds.

I just wish she had put half that energy into honing her craft: writing better and more varied songs, stretching herself artistically, improving her piano and guitar, incorporating more of a vision into her work besides just the chiffon faerie girl. As an artist, she is a reactionary.

I also wish she’d be more honest about her artistry. She doesn’t follow her muse so much as cater to a rather shallow audience. The only other explanation is that her muse just isn’t worth following.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by David

A certain type of work, I would agree. She spends all her energies mounting big tours, interacting flashily with other acts in the studio and onstage (it’s always an “event” that seems designed for paparazzi), presenting herself in a certain light and look, and getting her name in the newspapers. She’s great at all that. The public definitely responds.

I just wish she had put half that energy into honing her craft: writing better and more varied songs, stretching herself artistically, improving her piano and guitar, incorporating more of a vision into her work besides just the chiffon faerie girl. As an artist, she is a reactionary.

I also wish she’d be more honest about her artistry. She doesn’t follow her muse so much as cater to a rather shallow audience. The only other explanation is that her muse just isn’t worth following.

God, the lucidity of this post really moves me. I feel so much the same way. We are in complete agreement. Especially, the craft part. After Wild Heart, I dreamed of getting more albums that evolved from there. Not de-volved.

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

God, the lucidity of this post really moves me. I feel so much the same way. We are in complete agreement. Especially, the craft part. After Wild Heart, I dreamed of getting more albums that evolved from there. Not de-volved.

That's because she always needed good producers to pull it all together (like Buckingham, like Olsen, like Iovine). But she couldn't handle it when the producers became what she deemed too controlling. Or, alternately, when she felt she couldn't control the process enough. Rock a Little suffered greatly because of her deteriorating voice, but equally so because of the inconsistent production. She couldn't keep a producer around. By the time we get to OSOTM, she was already straying from the sound that made her famous and letting industry trends dictate what she sounded like. Until In Your Dreams, none of her solo albums approached the consistency of the first two.

But then, I'll go out on a limb here: even at its best, her solo work is a bit generic and comparatively uninteresting to her best Mac work. I was never a huge fan of Bella Donna (though I can see why it is huge) and while I loved The Wild Heart at 13, I no longer am bewitched. It's just a pretty good 80s record with a truly distinctive single: "Stand Back," which is, IMO, more original than anything of her solo work before or since.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by aleuzzi

"Stand Back," which is, IMO, more original than anything of her solo work before or since.

That's because her best friend in the whole world, Prince, wrote it.

[BigAl84]

Originally Posted by David

A certain type of work, I would agree. She spends all her energies mounting big tours, interacting flashily with other acts in the studio and onstage (it’s always an “event” that seems designed for paparazzi), presenting herself in a certain light and look, and getting her name in the newspapers. She’s great at all that. The public definitely responds.

I just wish she had put half that energy into honing her craft: writing better and more varied songs, stretching herself artistically, improving her piano and guitar, incorporating more of a vision into her work besides just the chiffon faerie girl. As an artist, she is a reactionary.

I also wish she’d be more honest about her artistry. She doesn’t follow her muse so much as cater to a rather shallow audience. The only other explanation is that her muse just isn’t worth following.

She does a lot of work that create nice headlines...clickbait. A Gorillaz song, a duet with Dolly, sang with Lana Del Rey when she was all over the place, a song with Elton during his last tour/album hype, a song with Don Henley. She completely distanced herself from Sheryl Crow when she was no longer all over the radio. One might ask why invest all the energy in these one-off collaborations, it's done strictly for the press. Has nothing to do with the actual music or collaboration. Additionally, when you clearly have nothing left to offer as a writer, it's a win-win because the material is already provided for her. Even going back to 24K Gold - the polaroids made a bigger splash than the album.

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by David

A certain type of work, I would agree. She spends all her energies mounting big tours, interacting flashily with other acts in the studio and onstage (it’s always an “event” that seems designed for paparazzi), presenting herself in a certain light and look, and getting her name in the newspapers. She’s great at all that. The public definitely responds.

I just wish she had put half that energy into honing her craft: writing better and more varied songs, stretching herself artistically, improving her piano and guitar, incorporating more of a vision into her work besides just the chiffon faerie girl. As an artist, she is a reactionary.

I also wish she’d be more honest about her artistry. She doesn’t follow her muse so much as cater to a rather shallow audience. The only other explanation is that her muse just isn’t worth following.

Joni Mitchell. You want her to be like Joni Mitchell.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Joni Mitchell. You want her to be like Joni Mitchell.

Good point, but she could LEAAANNNNNN LIL' in that direction.

Would you imagine Stephanie Nicks with Charles Mingus?
I have a chiffon friend who told me that stevie is 10 times more talented than Joni Michell.

Joni had Wayne Shorter
Stevie and Kenny G.

So there's your spectrum..

[David]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Joni Mitchell. You want her to be like Joni Mitchell.

Point taken. And in my defense, I reread my post and thought, “That could describe Christine, too.”

If I had to sum up Stevie just for myself, I would say she made the smashing best of her skills and sensibilities, and I applaud. She was never a complete piddler or a face in the crowd (the list of piddlers in pop music in my lifetime is hundreds of miles long — people who never gave a damn about anything they were doing). As I noted elsewhere, Stevie is a model of complete self-fulfillment. She was superb at being Stevie, and in fact her more embarrassing moments were when she may have thought she was Joni Mitchell or Don Henley or Bob Dylan. Would I say that to Bob Dylan?

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by David

She was superb at being Stevie, and in fact her more embarrassing moments were when she may have thought she was Joni Mitchell or Don Henley or Bob Dylan. Would I say that to Bob Dylan?

I think you just did. (if he ever reads TL)

[David]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

I think you just did. (if he ever reads TL)

I’ve heard that Dylan is an avid ledgie and frequent lurker. He’s even memorized his sign-on password.

Ariana Grande and Ed Sheeran also lurk. Hi, Ariana!

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by David

I’ve heard that Dylan is an avid ledgie and frequent lurker. He’s even memorized his sign-on password.

Ariana Grande and Ed Sheeran also lurk. Hi, Ariana!

You can still make me chuckle after all these years, David O!