When you consider her quantity, quality, variety, and consistency, Joni is,
by far, the greatest singer-songwriter of her generation, our era.
(And of all her virtues, the most consistent is her lyrical facility,
imagination, poignancy. Right?)
While Dylan may outdo her as to quantity, too many of Dylan's arrangements
and melodies and chord progressions are simply perfunctory. Too many
droning ballads. He doesn't have her range or imagination. No contest. (For
that matter, it's not obvious to me that Dylan is #2. Dylan himself said
once that Smokey Robinson was the greatest, and I'd certainly rather listen
to Smokey's tunes than Bob's.)
Also, from my particular standpoint, another big feather in Joni's cap,
along with the case that she is the greatest singer-songwriter of our era,
is the accomplishment of having created the greatest "concept album" of our
time: Hissing of Summer Lawns. There's nothing that touches it in terms of
musical variation, thematic complexity, and coherence. (Nothing that I've
ever come upon.) It's really a marvel... I submit that, 30 years from now,
this will be come to be recognized as one of the great creations of our
generation-- just as we now look back in reverence to Renoir's Rules of
the Game, Armstrong's Hot Fives, Picasso's blue period, etc. (I kid you not.)
Let's all get together in 30 years, and see how it's doing, OK? If I'm
wrong, you can dance on my grave.
Bruce M.
PS NP: My 7 & 11 year old sons are listening to EMINEM in the kitchen! The
"clean" version. Stone the crows and Gimme shelter!! "What have I done to
deserve this??"
