I hate to sound like the old man talking ‘bout “back in the day;” but...back when people knew how to play instruments there were instrumental records that actually got pop-radio play. Santana’s Abraxas made it to # 1 on the US charts in the 1970’s and eventually achieved triple-platinum status. Jeff Beck’s Blow by Blow earned him a gold record; and Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew sold a million copies (though it took about 10 years to get there). Herb Alpert had a nice run for awhile--enough that he could afford to start A & M Records; while Jimi Hendrix’s most iconic moment may have been his instrumental version of the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock.
I don’t know if there are any pop musicians out there today that could actually pull-off an instrumental record; or if there’d even be an audience for it if they could. But back in the day of Herbie Hancock and The Headhunters, those cats knew how to play!
Happy 70th birthday Herbie!
3 comments:
And what about the heavy metal, head banging, satan inspired music of Kenny G.
I agree with you Lodo, the muscians of today would not even attemped a all insturmental album. I believe that it was mtv that changed that for all of us. No- one today can pay attention for then 10 seconds. Everyone needs new stimulus ever couple of seconds. I miss those insturmental album.
Music today is listened to in conjunction w/ something else. Its the background track while you do your workout. Its the soundtrack for a movie scene or hypes-up the audience before a title fight.
I would definitley agree that MTV relegated music to something that simply accompanies the video. But the compact disc, the rise of hip-hop, the creation of the Ipod (which highlights singles as opposed to whole records), and the incredible quality of video games has made music less important.
As the old saying goes "never trust anyone uner 30." Is that how it went? If not, that's my take on it. Soulless generation.
Herbie!
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