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[theinevitable]

speaking of comparing things to the beatles...
lets say I had never listened to any Rolling Stones other than what was played on the radio. maybe because my parents inexplicably didn't like them, and so I was not really exposed to them as a child. What album(s) should I purchase/download? I have "Their Satanic Majesties Request" and "Exile on Main St." But I haven't really listened to either.

[littlefallsmets]

The main difference between John Cougar-Mellancamp-Anderson-Rodham-Burton-Bouvier-Twirwilliger-McClure and Bruce Springsteen is that...

You make fun of John Cougar-Mellancamp-Tinker-Evers-Chance-Ballistic-Ecks-Sever by making fun of his ludicriously changing name (you could also do this in the reverse by only refering to him as John and then later only as Juh) whereas...

You make fun of Bruce Springsteen by positing that he isn't from the mean streets of coastal Jersey at all and, rather, is a Connecticut blueblood with an MBA from Yale... the head of Skull and Bones for three semesters... and only took on the persona of "Bruce Springsteen" as a bet with one of his Skull Brothers as toward who could successfully create the more cloyingly fake "working man" rock star persona.

The endgame is that he and Billy Joel were actually "Bartholomew Standish the Third" and "William Adams Johnstone" and when they are not on tour, they have money fights on their yachts and punch their butlers in the neck just to hear them cry.

"More quail eggs, William?"

"Are you sure the quails were... abused enough? The eggs just aren't good unless they're... abused."

"I hire the best animal crueltists in the Western Hemisphere, I'll have you know!"

"As long as you aren't punching them yourself like a COMMONER!"

(both laugh)

"Oh, you are but the living end, William!"

"I do try, Bartholomew, I do try."

Sort of a "My Fair Lady" meets "Bob Roberts" kinda dealy-wealy.

[littlefallsmets]

Whichever Rolling Stones album has "Beast of Burden" on it... get that.

Some Rolling Stones is fine... I tend to find them their most interesting when they're going for the whole "sincere ballad with rock edges" thing like Wild hosss or Angie or whathaveyou. The rest all just sort of sounds like... eh... standard blues-rock whatever kinda stuff.

I've often held in my backpocket the idea that... if I ever need a random pop culture riff for a story, I'd want to have one character put forth the theory that if your parents were into the Beatles, you're into Guns N Roses and if your parents were into the Rolling Stones, you're into Bon Jovi and...

If you like Def Leppard, your parents were into the fuck*ng Monkees.

I guess I'd have to find my inner late-eighties period comedy, though, to get her done.

(By the by, when will someone do a period piece about periods? I surely wouldn't actually go to the movies but I'd applaud the ballsiness to go forward just on the strength of that pun with a full-on movie. Golf-claps would surely be had.)

[theinevitable]

heh. that reminds me of my favorite joke that i think I have ever made. They put in a movie theater near my house that has leather seats which you must pay extra to sit in (in theory, at least.) We discovered, upon sitting in them, that they are not actually any more comfortable than the normal ones.

and then, I pointed out that the kind of people who pay a couple of bucks more just to sit on leather seats... thrive on pain.

so I guess it wasn't so much a joke as a true observation. anyway. I was pretty proud of it.

[wombat]

Skinda like the difference between the Beatles and the Monkees.

Thank you, August.

[wombat]

Also, Keith has a good point, and I would also point to songs of that period like She's the One and Growin' Up which are different lyrically from what he did later, once he seemed to get all those words out of his system along with the urge to write five minute operas.  Not that I think they are necessarily better than the more pared-down imagery of a later song like Thunder Road, but you might like one and not the other. 

Also might I point out that the man is not dead yet and has put out a couple of good albums in the past few years.

[AugustWest]

The rest all just sort of sounds like... eh... standard blues-rock whatever kinda stuff.

Um, the reason the Rolling Stones sound like "standard blues-rock" is that they set the standard for blues-rock.

[Limmo]

speaking of comparing things to the beatles...
lets say I had never listened to any Rolling Stones other than what was played on the radio. maybe because my parents inexplicably didn't like them, and so I was not really exposed to them as a child. What album(s) should I purchase/download? I have "Their Satanic Majesties Request" and "Exile on Main St." But I haven't really listened to either.

Start listening to Exile on Main St.  Put Satanic Majesties someplace where you will never find it again. 

Get copies of Beggar's Banquet, Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers.  And Some Girls.  Get Your Ya-Ya's Out is their best live album.

Purchasing Big Hits Volume One ( high tide and green grass) and Volume Two ( through the past darkly ) will give you a better picture of their sixties heyday than settling for Hot Rocks.  You may also wish to check out their first album England's Newest Hit Makers for an idea of what a punky, energetic band they were starting out.

Find someone who will make you a mix CD of the best songs from Goat's Head Soup, It's Only Rock and Roll and Black and Blue.   If that friend also has Love You Live, get side three ( the El Mocambo side ) from them too.  Or just hit iTunes.

That should do it. 

[pmcd9]

LFM are you saying Springsteen isn't authentic?  He's not from a poor working class family in New Jersey?

Get Beggers Banquet or Exile on Main Street.  They are their best imho.  Very different albums, but both excellent.  Some Girls is also excellent.

August you made my day with that analogy.  It's funny because it's true.

~Paul

[wombat]

Um, the reason the Rolling Stones sound like "standard blues-rock" is that they set the standard for blues-rock.

Thank you again.

[littlefallsmets]

I mean, literally speaking, I have no idea what Springsteen's background is. He may well basically match his star persona on a biographical level.

But the image and the music just feel so... artificial and constructed to me.

"Okay, we want something... bar rock-y but... we don't want to limit ourselves from potential arena tours so lets make sure to get some horns in there. And we're going for "the grass roots thing" so we'll vaguely ape the whole Dylan/Guthrie thing."

"We won't push the politics too much to keep the Heartland but... we don't wanna lose the East Coast either, so we need to make reference to somewhere blue-collar in the Northeast and just keep referencing it over and over until it borders self-parody."

"Joel already took Allentown? Crap, we're stuck with New Jersey."

"We're gonna need a guy with an... okay voice but not so good that it'll make any of our core consumers feel bad about themselves. Oh and... what was the note from merchandising? They said (shuffles papers) ... oh, apparently bandanas are hot with the kids these days. We'll need to definitely put Generic Rock Star #473 in a bandana of some kind."

"Eh, we'll find him soon, just... start printing up the bandanas. Those take time."

I dunno. I'll admit to bias.

If I find Bob Dylan to be maybe the most over-rated act in rock history (solid songwriter, awkward-at-best performer, confusing image) then I'm not gonna be into a guy who's essentially constructed as the bubblegum Bob Dylan, watered down enough to play the Wichita War Memorial Arena or whatnot, either.

As for the Stones... no, no, I get it, they're the popular progenitors of that stuff.

But I don't care for seafood.

You can put the best lobster in the world, prepared the best way, in front of me and...

My reaction's gonna be "Ewwwwwww, water spider."

[wombat]

LFM, I give you an A for Composition and an F in Not Pissing Off Wombat At A Time When Life Sucks.  As a personal favor could we put the Springsteen bashing on hold till about mid December?  Because my penis was hovering over the delete post button although I knew that this would be completely, utterly uncalled for and inappropriate. It's not your fault, but I really need this to be my Happy Place right now. Later I am sure I will regain the ability to find this post amusing.

Ok, cue AlohaDawg for a discussion of whether being considerate of each other so that this board doesn't slide downhill into becoming a gathering of assholes like the rest of the Internet is more important than freedom of expression... Where is AD lately anyway?

PS: Never did understand why anyone compared Springsteen to Dylan but maybe that's because I like Springsteen more than either Dylan or a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, both of which I find roughly comparable. Not meaning to piss off anyone who's a big fan of pokes in the eye with sharp sticks or anything. They're just not to my taste.

[littlefallsmets]

My humblest apologies. Consider it "on hold".

I tend to write on the internet with the idea that "all these things are just my opinion and I'm just sayin' from my point of view" is implied and understood. It's definitely a bad on me for forgetting.

If there's anything I could ramble about to help you get back to your happy place, just lemme know.

Ramblin's my thing.

[wombat]

Apologies not required. You are not out of line - I am definitely the one asking for special consideration here.

And there wasn't anything about placenta in your post about giraffes.

[littlefallsmets]

The placenta was in metaphor.

Placenta as the ugly oft-forgotten side product of something being born.

The concept of Geoffery today is not so interesting to me, what he developed from is what I actually find myself wanting to study.

The giraffe placenta is more interesting than the giraffe, so to speak.

(Am I being supremely arrogant or playfully goofy? Even I don't know anymore.)