[Dixielandjazz] Re Inventing Past Songs instead of Reprising them

[Williams, Bob]

I think it's more accurate to say he's trying to re-invent *new* songs
and make them relevant to an *old* audience, ness paw?

I heard his version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" yesterday on the radio.
As a closet Nirvana fan, I must say I found his version ludicrous.  How
is this different from Montovani making elevator music out of Beatles
tunes, or Pat Boone doing heavy metal covers?  Ick.  I find it kind of
smarmy and opportunistic.  I reckon Kurt Cobain is rolling in his grave.
Billy Idol and the Cure are out in the back practicing rolling in
*their* graves.

The album is getting mixed reviews on Amazon, though, most of them
better than I would expect.  Perhaps it's worth a listen.  What do I
know?

Bob Williams
Trombonist Extraordinaire and 
The Worlds's Most Modest Man
mailto:slushpump1 at comcast.net


-----Original Message-----
From: dixielandjazz-bounces at ml.islandnet.com
[mailto:dixielandjazz-bounces at ml.islandnet.com] On Behalf Of Steve
barbone
Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2005 8:04 AM
To: DJML
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Re Inventing Past Songs instead of Reprising
them


Don't tell Paul Anka that Rock songs are trash and don't swing. His
newest album seems to belie that old saw. Has he discovered that it is
possible to re invent old songs and make them relevant to a new
audience? Looks like it from early critical acclaim.

And just what is this audience comprised of? People who like swinging
music? Might just be a lesson here for some OKOM bands that want larger
audiences.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone 

Paul Anka Is Back, 63 and Swinging
By LORNE MANLY Published: June 8, 2005 NY Times

Paul Anka, in Toronto, has released a new CD, "Rock Swings.

TORONTO, June 6 - Paul Anka knows what people will think.

Why would a teen idol turned Las Vegas crooner like him, who wrote early
rock 'n' roll hits like "Diana" and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder," who
gave Johnny Carson his theme song and Frank Sinatra "My Way," release an
album stuffed with 14 swinging renditions of rock songs from stylistic
opposites like Van Halen and Billy Idol?
 
Why court the derision that Pat Boone suffered with his album of heavy
metal cover songs by taking on Nirvana's hoarse scream of teenage angst,
"Smells Like Teen Spirit"?

On Sunday night here, to accept his induction into Canada's Walk of
Fame, the 63-year-old Mr. Anka answered potential doubters the best way
he knows: musically and infectiously. Backed by a 17-piece band, he tore
into "It's My Life," transforming the hit by Bon Jovi into a brassy,
swinging song that would not have been out of place at a Sinatra show.

"I ain't going to be just a face in the crowd," he sang. "You're going
to hear my voice, I'll shout it out loud." He was greeted with the
loudest ovation of the night.

The day before, in his Four Seasons suite, casually dressed in jeans and
a light blue shirt unbuttoned enough to reveal more of a deep tan, Mr.
Anka discussed why he took on "Rock Swings," his 120th album. "There
will be an initial knee-jerk reaction to Anka doing Nirvana, and people
will say nail him," he said. "But I want them to at least listen to it.
And anyone astute enough and that has any integrity musically will look
at it and go, you know what, goddamn it. I didn't want to like it, but
it's there, the quality is there."

"These are great songs," he added. "Let's not pigeonhole them as rock
songs."

Judging from the early critical reaction, Mr. Anka might just be on to
something. Tastemaker stations across the country, impressed with Mr.
Anka's full-throttled embrace of the songs, placed tracks on their
playlists weeks before Verve Music Group's official American release of
the album on Tuesday. 

"I smirked when I got it in the mail," said Chris Douridas, the host of
the New Ground weekly show on KCRW-FM in Santa Monica who also produces
iTunes Originals. "I was thinking this could be horrible or great. I was
so pleased when I put it in. I was laughing to myself how good it was."

On Wednesday Mr. Anka will continue his biggest mainstream media
promotional push in decades with a first-ever appearance on the Howard
Stern radio show and, later, a performance on "The Late Show With David
Letterman."

For a generation prone to write off Mr. Anka as just another Vegas
lounge singer, a kitschy companion to Wayne Newton and his ilk, the new
album should at least remind or introduce people to the outsize role
that the Ottawa native has played in popular music for nearly 50 years.

At 16, he had his first hit, "Diana." It sold more than 20 million
copies. As the 1960's progressed, Mr. Anka matured his image, becoming a
regular at the casinos and supper clubs in Las Vegas and Florida,
hanging out with Sinatra and his crew. In the late 1960's, Sinatra,
threatening to retire (again), begged Mr. Anka (again) to write a song
for him. Mr. Anka this time took a French song to which he owned the
rights ("Comme d'Habitude"), ripped it apart save for the melody,
imparted Sinatra's world-weary manner to the lyrics and came up with "My
Way" in 1969.

Mr. Anka has sold more than 10 million albums around the world. He has
written alone or with others about 900 songs and has had three No. 1
hits in the United States - "Diana," "Lonely Boy" and "You're Having My
Baby." He has been in the Top 50 during five different decades.

"Rock Swings" is an unlikely candidate to extend that streak to six
decades in a musical world catering to the young. But a German company
called Centaurus thought enough of Mr. Anka to make him the first
signing to its new label. The company's executives wanted him to record
an album of standards in the Sinatra style, Mr. Anka said, but he wanted
no part of it. Instead, he decided to concentrate on songs from the
1980's and 1990's. He had Billboard, the chronicler of the music
business, send over a box filled with the charts spanning those decades,
listing the biggest sellers around the world. 
    


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