Interesting topic - I've seen lots of pro and anti Ricky stuff on discussion threads and heard lots of chatter about Ricky's ego. He's has definitely put off a fair number of "real" bluegrass folks - I guess most bluegrassers prefer a good dose of humbleness in their bluegrass heroes - myself included.
I'm glad he came back to bluegrass after his country success. The guy's a great picker and singer, front man, side man, judge of talent, you name it - the guy oozes talent and I enjoy most of his music. In addition to his musical talent, I would assume he's been and is still currently financially successful if he can carry a 6 member band around and run a mostly bluegrass record label and still make a living -- so he also apparently has some good business and PR smarts. Creativity??? Not so much... I don't know that many tunes that Ricky has made standards there weren't already standards... I think his self-promotion rubs folks the wrong way - he doesn't mind doing a little self promotion if it helps him sell a few more cd's or land a few gigs. He also kinda stepped into the bluegrass gap on the Opry after Monroe died and the Osbornes and Jim/Jesse dropped off the Opry scene. So he's still on the Opry and uses that platform to help with his promotion. There are a number of folks from 80's country music like Ricky who aren't nearly as visible as Ricky is today. I don't really buy into this -- “I felt a20deep calling to go back to bluegrass (after Monroe died),” Skaggs says. “There was a need for new leadership. I felt like someone needed to take that position that he left.” I guess since Monroe didn't appoint anyone and there wasn't a committee to name the "Dear Leader" (aka - Kim Jong-il) of bluegrass, Ricky nominated his own self. So, all that said, I'm guessing his return to bluegrass and his notion that he's the new leader was as much a business decision as it was an artistic decision. I prefer the folks who let their music do the talkin'... John Gay Memphis -----Original Message----- From: Mike Hedding <michaelhedd...@gmail.com> To: Taterbugmando <taterbugmando@googlegroups.com> Sent: Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:58 am Subject: Re: You Be The Judge on't you all get it? Ricky is trying to distract you so you'll stop racticing and he'll sound better by comparison. We're all falling for t. Now then, back to practicing. On Jan 26, 11:07 am, mistertaterbug <taterbugmu...@gmail.com> wrote: This comes from one who is of sharp wit and tongue and of little tolerance for you-know-what... "How come he hasn't bestowed upon himself a lofty title a la Jimmy Martin? Father of Bluegrass: that's taken; King of Bluegrass: that's taken, too. Hmm... Emperor of Bluegrass? Crown Prince of Bluegrass? Secretary of State of Bluegrass? I got it. AMBASSADOR of Bluegrass. No, no. MISSIONARY of Bluegrass. That's it! It's perfect. YAWN..." Now, The whole thing, and this will be my only comment of a personal nature, is that Skaggs has the audacity to assume he has the ability, the creativity, the vision to breath fresh air into the genre(...by going backwards?). The whole notion that he feels the rest of us who love the music need to be led in the right direction so that the essence of the music does not get lost is insulting in the first place, but to be so pompous as to publicly make the statement that he is the one to guide us along the shining path is absurd. Monroe never gave Ricky a personal directive to take the load upon himself, to carry the torch, to lead the way, to show us the light. He did ask, over and over, that we all do it. This bit is ALL Skaggs. As Fred so aptly put, an art form that does not change dies. This was stated by David Grier some years back too. Monroe changed and adapted his music to fit the times, the sidemen he had, the new sounds he heard. He changed his arrangement of "Blue Moon of Kentucky" after Elvis cut it to incorporate the obvious appetite for an up-tempo version. He started using minor keys after the folk revival and the blossoming of "newgrass" (check how many minor key songs there are in Monroe's catalogue leading up to the era), I think because he could see that the sound was popular and sold records. He gave Earl Scruggs the spotlight in the 40's because Earl had the goods. I was fortunate enough to play "Goldrush" with the co-writer of that tune on Saturday. I can tell you now from having done it, I think Bill Monroe followed Byron Berline's bow arm on that tune, not the other way around. Monroe had the sense to know when to "not be the boss" (although he maintained the illusion certainly) and when to let the music breath and just be what it was going to be. And because of that, it grew and progressed into a much more sophisticated art form that had room for Carter-family-simple melodies as well as psychedelic flights of fancy. As was mentioned before, Monroe was right for the time that he came onto the planet. Any other time would likely not have suited him. Okay. I apologize for being unpleasant. The older I get the less patience I seem to have for some things, not to mention less control over my mouth. Tater On Jan 26, 9:18 am, Don Grieser <adobeinthepi...@gmail.com> wrote: > He's starting to get the jowls of Jabba the Hut--he's always had the > personality. <g> > On Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 7:41 AM, <sec...@bellsouth.net> wrote: > > Right on, Fred....and while this might be a small quibble, I just can't > > tolerate that whole "Mama's fried chicken" stage persona. Very, very > > tiresome. > > -------------- Original message from Fred <fkel...@scicable.net>: > > -------------- > >> Good lord. It may be that Picky-Ricky's greatest talent is that of > >> self-aggrandizement. That coupled with his well-known penchant for > >> receiving an d transmitting the gospel from god himself on stage may > >> explain his self-anointing. > >> There's no doubt the man can play and sing but how can one take him > >> seriously when he WAS the problem he decries back in the '80's? I mean > >> he gets down on the whole "urban cowboy" thing but has he seen his own > >> video--the one where Bill Monroe plays Uncle Pen to Ricky's corporate > >> exec? Oy gevalt. What a putz. This schmuck carries like 8 guitars in > >> his band and calls it "digging deep into the tradition." > >> That's actually something that bears notice too, this death-grip on > >> tradition that so many bluegrassers seem to employ as if it were a > >> post-mortem stamp of approval from Bill himself. It seems to me that if > >> bluegrass is a living, breathing art form then it needs to grow and > >> evolve in different and often strange and unnerving ways. You don't > >> have to like it but you have to respect it. Only art forms that are > >> dead and buried repeat themselves endlessly. > >> Going back to the vaults of tradition and then inflecting it with one's > >> own personality and interpretation is a viable way of breathing new life > >> into a genre art form. Going back to the vaults of tradition and saying > >> "this way and only this way is right" is embalming and turns the vaults > >> of tradition into Lenin's tomb, fit only for periodic review. > >> Dasspunk wrote: > > > > I got a 404 error from Mike's link. Here's one that should work: > >> >http://tinyurl.com/dhuvja > >> > It's always been clear that Ricky wants to be the heir for Bluegrass. > >> > Luckily, want of a thing don't make it so... It would also seem that > >> > he suffers from self loathing... > >> > "I can't get excited about (the music on country radio). It's all > >> > cookie cutter like they are trying to build one car for everyone." > >> > Brian -~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ ou received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Taterbugmando" group. o post to this group, send email to taterbugmando@googlegroups.com o unsubscribe from this group, send email to taterbugmando+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com or more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en ~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~--- --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. To post to this group, send email to taterbugmando@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to taterbugmando+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
