[Dixielandjazz] Gould / Beatles

[SLGTJB]

on 9/30/02 2:00 PM, Charlie Hooks at charliehooks@earthlink.net wrote:

> Wow!  Let's see here--resourceless, amateur, indifferent, and myopic!  No
> kidding!  I seldom see argument so well reasoned as this! Have you ever
> tried simple ad hominem?
> 
> And the depth of insight by the "many millions more" is staggering!  Surely
> each of these millions knows more of music than a mere player whose
> recording of The Goldberg Variations looks to be the standard set for all
> time.  You will look in vain for Glenn Gould's "tunes."
> 
> But had he only listened to "the great variety, the subtleties,
> interesting chord progressions, and lyrics" of the Four Young Masters, he
> would never have bothered with a dullard like Johann Sebastian Bach!  Gould
> meant well, but he was clearly deaf.

You're a great word smith Charlie...  the point goes back to Ellington's (?)
remark "if it sounds good it is good" or something like that.  To my ears
(and I love all kinds of music) the Beatles did some wonderful work.  So did
Bach.  So did Hank Williams.  I don't compare Hank Williams and Bach.  I
think both wrote wonderful music.  For a musician like Glenn Gould to say
that the Beatles were resourceless, amateur, and indifferent only tells me
that Gould lived in a very small musical world.   Gould probably meant well,
but he was clearly limited in his ability to appreciate the wonderful
varieties of music that the world finds entertaining and inspirational.

Cary Hobbs