From: Jesse Hochstadt <Jesse_Hochstadt@brown.edu>
Reply-To: tv@obbard.com
To: tv@obbard.com
Subject: Re: (TV) Beware of Sales Pitches
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2003 13:41:03 -0400
From: "Murray Ramone" <murrayramone@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: (TV) Beware of Sales Pitches
Excellent observations
thats why Tom Verlaine is cool and Richard Thompson is in the worthy but
DULL category
I like the fact that Verlaine still makes music and doesnt really give a
flying f u c k whether it sells or not and he doesnt do it for his fans
but for himself - thats the mark of a great artist
Whoa, whoa, WHOA. You go to see RT live, or listen to, say, the live
version of "Can't Win" from "Watching the Dark," and then tell me he's
"DULL" (in caps, yet!). I don't know how much RT cares whether his music
sells or not - in most of the interviews I can recall, he's said he long
ago realized that he's never going to be widely popular and is content with
having a core of devoted fans. So I guess he cares whether it sells enough
for him to make a living doing what he loves (unlike Tom, he's got a family
to support), but not enough to contort himself in an attempt to be
"popular." There's a big difference between writing material that appeals
both to you and to your fans and pandering to tastes that are not your own.
Having said that, I know that, at least until recently, a good number of
RT's fans would have quibbled with the claim that he is "very devoted to
his fans." He doesn't condone audience taping, and has resisted releasing
older material (especially live) fans would love to get their hands on.
This is, after all, the man who said of his fans: "They're worse than
critics - they're _amateur_ critics" - though I think that represents more
an attempt to humorously distance himself than any real scorn. The attitude
does seem to have changed recently, as he's released "More Guitar," a
recording of a legendary live show from 1988 (
http://www.richardthompson-music.com/catch_of_the_day.asp?id=116 ).
RT's also one of the only "aging" rock musicians I know who has continued
to work on his craft, so that in his 50s he's still getting better as a
guitarist and a singer. (Admittedly, I don't find his songwriting quite as
inspired as when he was younger, but I don't think that's from any lack of
integrity.)
My guess, Murray, is that you find RT "DULL" because some of the more
traditional song forms (from folk to Tin Pan Alley) that he's genuinely
devoted to, and reworks with such skill, aren't your cuppa. But that's a
matter of your taste, not his integrity or creativity.
>From: Jeffrey Germaine <jpg55@attbi.com>
>Reply-To: tv@obbard.com
>To: <tv@obbard.com>
>Subject: Re: (TV) Beware of Sales Pitches
>Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2003 10:03:57 -0700
>
>Excellent observations.
>R. Thompson is a far far different personality than T.V.
>R.T. is the complete artist. He also has a very clever sense of humor.
>I know that he is very committed to his fans. I have never gotten that
>sense
>from T.V. in the over twenty-five years of following him.
>The only thing I have always wondered about T.V. is what does he do with
>all
>his time? His body of work is small and he really doesn't tour very
much.
>When I first met him I sensed he was completely detached and insecure.
I
>suppose that first impressions are sometimes right.
>There is an old saying that says the older you get the harder you have
to
>work because the less time there is. With R.T. I see a passionate artist
>who
>is out in the midst of the world and is aware of time. With Verlaine I
>see
>a man who is completely removed from the world and out of time.
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