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The truth behind Sir Elton's recent comments
A couple of weeks ago Sir Elton John was having a moan about the state of current pop music. It was reported widely, including here at this site. Here's the gist of it. Basically Elton said that modern pop wasn't very clever. And he is right of course. Some could argue that pop music isn't ever smart but this is simply a shortcut to thinking.
In reaction to Sir Elton's statement, it was pointed out by many that it's been a while since there's been a necessary, vital, vibrant, worthwhile Elton John record. At least 30 years. In his prime John was one of an elite crew - his work in the 1970s sits alongside that of Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell and David Bowie as a solo artist who released continually exciting music across the decade; prolific and innovative.
So now we have another press-round from Sir Elton. It's been reported widely, including here at this site, that Elton John is now quitting pop music. Basically Elton has said that modern pop is not for him anymore - so it's not clever and Elton is not clever enough to hack out something that is not even clever?
Well that much is obvious when you have a listen to his duet album The Union, a set of collaborations with Leon Russell.
I was looking forward to this album - I like the best of Elton's work across the 1970s, I think there's half a dozen albums of his that belong in most record collections. And Russell was certainly far more of a hook for me: he's one of music's un(der)sung heroes.
But The Union is a plodder. It's hard to know who is dragging who down, but it's completely without excitement and it really sounds like bits of any old or current Elton John solo album, just not as good as the good bits. Nothing special at all.
The reason Elton John should be retiring from pop music is because he has listened back to The Union and realised his string of duds, phone-ins and lazy rewrites is now longer than his string of phenomenal hits.
Sure, he still brings a good show when he performs live. And The Union is not at all the worst album he's released - but it didn't need to happen. And worse, the fact that it was announced so long ago meant that the record company was really hoping this would be some hit for baby-boomers due to hype. And it might be - I can image a lot of 60-year-olds purchasing it by rote, the way Eric Clapton and Sting albums are still purchased. To have. To hold on to. Until death do them part.
And so John is out manipulating the press to suit - and that's clever. And he's got everyone reporting his comments.
But the truth is Elton John has been irrelevant as a creative force a lot longer than he was ever relevant. So his comments on pop music, what works and what does not, could only ever be self-serving and for that matter served on top of a grain of salt.
Elton John has spent the last two decades doing everything an aging pop/rock star can do. He has toured regularly as a live jukebox. He has released mawkish Disney soundtracks, written songs for others. He has even attempted a thematic sequel to one of his bigger sellers from three decades earlier. And he slaughtered one of his significant early hits by giving it the, er, Royal treatment.
So now he is left to write off the stars of today and to appear graceful to his fans by suggesting he is bowing out. It's actually arrogant for him to do this - it's a reluctance to admit that he has not been relevant for longer than he was ever relevant.
And of course for a guy whose albums, at one staggering point in his career, accounted for some 2 per cent of all global record sales - it probably would be hard to accept that no one really wants to hear new music from you. That the new music released could never catch on like the old stuff. I mean, why would it?
So that's the truth about Sir Elton's remarks. More arrogance from an out of touch musician; a failure to understand that the new model has no place for him - beyond trawling through the hits live until he reaches 75.
He had more remarkable music in him than most. And I would consider myself a fan of his best work, absolutely. But reading these blatant non-stories circulating wildly/widely made me chuckle. Why the need for comment from him on the state of play these days? He is not really able to comment - his new music just sounds like a not-as-good-version of his old music, rather than a not-as-good-version of someone else's new music.
If he does retire from making pop music he just might save face. It would be a wise move - but that was never the point of these alleged outbursts about the state of pop.
The truth is Elton John still has a record to sell. The question is do you care? Will you buy it? Would you prefer him to retire from making music?
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Leon Russell Road makes its appearance
It was a long and winding road to get a Tulsa street named after Leon Russell.
But finally, Third Street from Peoria to Utica avenues was rebranded for the local music legend Saturday night amid an explosion of confetti and memories.
Russell's career has arguably never been hotter. He is riding the wave of the recent release of a five-star album, "The Union," which he recorded with Elton John.
The duo will perform in concert Friday night at the BOK Center, one of the stops on the path this union army will burn through the southern U.S. this month.
Such an onslaught requires the sort of preparation that precluded Russell from attending Saturday's festivities, centered at Third Street and Trenton Avenue.
Johnny Williams, a Tulsa musician who has known Russell since seventh grade, told those gathered for the ceremony that Russell, 68, was touched by the distinction when they spoke about it on the telephone a few days ago.
"He said he almost cried, " Williams said.
The effort to name a street in Russell's honor was very much a group effort - a union of the newfangled technology of Facebook and old-time rock 'n' roll.
Charles Roden, 48, was born and raised in Tulsa. He said he has long been a music enthusiast with a particular interest
in the city's vibrant musical scene.
Roden said that although it would be an overstatement to say Russell invented the storied Tulsa Sound, he was "definitely a significant contributor to it."
Russell has sung countless tunes through the decades but has been "kind of an unsung hero," Roden said.
Russell's hits include "Tight Rope," "This Masquerade, " "A Song for You" and, of course, "Home Sweet Oklahoma."
David Strader, the president of the Pearl District Neighborhood Association, told the crowd that Russell's music "continues to inspire people all over the world."
Chuck Blackwell, who like Williams performed with Russell in the early days, told of Russell's legendary emergency fill-in for Jerry Lee Lewis when Lewis couldn't go on stage because of appendicitis, and of another gig in which Russell literally brought people in wheelchairs to their feet.
Roden said he noticed the Facebook campaign to get a street named after Russell and decided to get involved by putting together a formal proposal to submit to the city.
In April, it appeared that Leon Russell Road would be Second Street from Detroit to Elgin avenues, but the site was shifted slightly southeast.
Roden - whose mother, Edy Brower, was a Will Rogers High School classmate of Russell's - said the exact location was "kind of secondary" to him. As long as the man who helped put Tulsa on the musical map was put on the map himself, Roden was happy.
The location turned out to make perfect sense because it includes The Church Studio, 304 S. Trenton Ave., where Russell and countless friends of his recorded music.
One of the studio's co-owners, Jacob Miller, is only 26, but he said that he learned about Russell and other musical legends behind the Tulsa Sound long ago.
The studio is the host for a lot of up-and-coming local talent, he added.
Strader said residents of the area bounded by Interstate 244 on the north, the Inner Dispersal Loop on the west, 11th Street on the south and Utica Avenue on the east are pleased that it contains Leon Russell Road.
"The Pearl District is a diverse and creative place," he said, adding that it is home to a variety of businesses dedicated to music and other performing arts.
Strader said the sign unveiled Saturday at Third Street and Trenton Avenue cost $200, and the signpost cost an additional $420.
He said the price was covered through donations, which are also expected to cover the erection of other signs along Leon Russell Road.
Mark Brown, the manager of traffic operations in the Public Works Department, noted Saturday that the renaming of the street is "honorary" - which means that residents and businesses will not have to worry that their actual postal addresses will change.
Williams is happy that his old friend has been immortalized in this way, an honor that has been bestowed upon other local musical acts that made it big, such as The GAP Band and Bob Wills.
"He's become a star and given some of us who played with him some notoriety, too," Williams said, adding that his famous buddy is still the same laid-back, down-to-earth guy he's always been.
Williams said most of Russell's old bandmates are still playing music and sounding "as good as we ever did."
"I'm surprised we're all still living," he said.
Williams made that comment in a humorous tone. However, it should be noted that Russell underwent surgery in January to repair a chronic brain fluid leak, a development that has made his return to the top this year even more remarkable.
Original Print Headline: Legend's name graces street
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article. … amp;ref=nf
‘The Union’ Music Review: Elton John and Leon Russell Undone by Auto-Tune, Pacing
So I know we’re all hating on NPR right now, but for a fledgling music critic who has absolutely no clout getting advance copies of albums, their “First Listen” feature is a godsend. So if we can target just, like, 98% of the org for defunding, let’s leave this part alone.* Being able to stream whole albums before their release really helps me look semi-pro.
For instance, I’m checking the First Listen site for the debut solo album of Animal Collective’s Avey Tare (it’s excellent, by the way), and I see right next to it that Elton John is releasing a collaboration with Leon Russell– whoa! (Click)
“The Union… two classic pop singer-songwriter pianists combining their talents, awesome… Elton John being a super classy guy and trying to elevate Russell’s celebrity, sweet… some top-tier production on those lead-in instruments… Wait, what the heck is Daft Punk doing in here???”
And here I find one of the two fatal flaws of the album: TOO MUCH AUTO-TUNE. I’m not averse to using this effect as a tool for pitch correction or as an instrument unto itself (the sad robot voice used by Bon Iver, Kanye West, and, recently, Sufjan Stevens can be perfectly appropriate), but if you’re using it as the former, at least be a little subtle about it!
Obviously, John and Russell probably don’t have the pipes they once had. Russell’s singing style was always about dancing around the periphery of perfect notes (and the man underwent brain surgery only weeks before recording!). So they’re bound to have some less-than-perfect vocal tracks. When you face that problem, you can either re-record for a better take, leave the track alone and allow that roughness to flavor the performance, or make your singer sound like he’s gargling. Legendary producer/songwriter (and recent Oscar winner) T-Bone Burnett chose Option #3. Why? It’s cheaper and faster than Option #1, and it’s more marketable than Option #2.**
It’s more sad than anything, because that cheapo decision mars some really great contempo-jazz-gospel-rock. Opener “If It Wasn’t For Bad” has Russell robo-crooning (the necessary neologism for that being “chrooning”) over a playfully dark indictment of a false lover. Within the first phrase his voice has already become grating; at the end of the song it turns the natural quiver of his aged voice into totally unnatural-sounding modulation. Things get even worse on some of the slower ballads like “The Best Part of the Day” and the sullen “There’s No Tomorrow.” During the latter, the two singers harmonize, and there’s some phase cancellation on sustained notes since the sound waves for their vocals have been made practically identical. It takes you right out of the song.
I can’t stress enough how I’m not complaining about the writing or arrangements here. The veteran stars don’t take themselves too seriously, and they don’t goof around too much either. The album’s two best songs come consecutively; “Hey Ahab” pounds along with a driving rock piano riff and gruff, aggressive vocals from John, and the Civil War-inspired dirge “Gone to Shiloh” finds powerful resonance through the sorrowful guest vocals of Neil Diamond. And unfortunately, their strength turns out to be the undoing of the album; as tracks 3 and 4 out of 14, the album comes front-loaded with power and fizzles out through the remainder of its hour-long runtime.
The majority of The Union’s other songs are serviceable, catchy, etc., but they lack that same immediacy and profundity. What’s more, everything chugs to a halt with the seventh track, “Monkey Suit,” a peppy big-band tribute to Chuck Berry that goes on at least two minutes too long, and we, the listeners, have to slog through seven more tracks after that. Had Burnett, John, and Russell decided to cut the album down to ten songs, tighten up the editing on a few of them, and saved “Shiloh” for the climax, it could’ve been a great album, even despite the lazy pitch-straightening.
There’s no doubt Elton John is a super-cool guy who’s completely unafraid of PC establishment journalists (though he does carry the ultimate trump card ever if they turn on him). Both he and Leon Russell are extremely talented and creative, and it’s great to see Russell get some belated recognition for his contributions to pop music in the ’60s and ’70s. But as with any creative endeavor, your final product is only as good as its weakest link. For the inevitable ReUnion album, they’ve only got to do two things to smash it out of the park: don’t overproduce it, and hire an editor with acute ADD.
*I kid, I kid. I would wholeheartedly welcome this feature on private companies’ websites which are bound to be designed a billion times better. Since when does “Pause” mean “I really don’t want to pause but want to be taken back to the start of this hour-long album”?
**There is a fourth option: hide the robot voice with distortion and other effects. As my singing is about as good as New York’s rent is too damn low, I tend to over-do it with this choice.
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/eduli … ne-pacing/
