joepolicy asked: Do you think the singer/songwriter will ever be palatable again? Can you give a detailed chronology of the death of the singer/songwriter genre? Also, if there are any good artist out there could you please recommend.
Joe Policy,
It’s true, there’s not much grosser out there than the sight of another white guy with an acoustic guitar. Anyone who has done it in the past 20 or 30 years with any amount success has understood the burden the rest of us have to bear witnessing it and has made some conscious effort to do something a little different.
All that being said, however, the singer-songwriter is actually one of my favorite genres of both popular and sub-popular music. In particular, I love female singer-songwriters from the 1970s (although if my purchase of Lucinda Williams’ excellent 2nd lp Happy Woman Blues is any indicator, I will go as late at 1980 in search of good female singer-songwriters).
Most know that Carole King’s Tapestry (1971) and Joni Mitchell’s Blue (1971) are the two benchmark releases for the sub-genre, both of which are worth even more accolades than they get. Seriously, not even San Diego-style 90s screamo gets me more weepy than Tapestry and Blue is a cold record than can keep you warm in the winter. If don’t already own and love these records, find a torrent of them or whatever new way you’ve found to steal music and put them on heavy rotation on your Zune.
As for other highlights, Judee Sill released two seriously heavy, crypto-religious folk records before disappearing into heroin addiction, prostitution, and ultimately, death by overdose. Sill was both resolutely devout in her born again beliefs as well as intensely creepy in the way she presented them. If you’re into albums where every song is about the end of days, then both 1971’s Judee Sill and 1973’s Heart Food are well worth your time to illegally download them.
As for men-who-do-a-good-job-doing-the-same-old-thing-with-a-guitar, I’m always quick to recommend Townes Van Zandt but I know you’re already a fan. In the early 1970s, Chris Smither released two records, I’m a Stranger Too! and Don’t It Drag On, on Poppy (same label as Townes) before white blues became completely intolerable. Everything Michael Hurley’s done is classic. And I also think AM radio favorite Jim Croce is better than he’s given critical credit for (f’real, “Operator” rules).
Sorry I couldn’t provide a lineage of when singer-songwriters really went downhill, but I hope this helps!
-Matloaf
Youtubers:
Judee Sill - “The Pheonix”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrxtJorXiiQ
Chris Smither - “Every Mother’s Son”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTreyRyUCH4
Jim Croce - “Operator”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gvvC0qOQng
