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Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and Tom Waits
Katre
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I post this topic more to be an observer than a main contributor. For some reason, logical or not, I kind of link these three together as the three beasts, as far as male singer/songwriters go.
I'm just curious to see who you'd pick if you could only choose to have one of them. Or, who would you consider least necessary to have of the three. Or, whatever other thoughts you have about them.
Is anyone a fan of one or two of them, and really doesn't care for the other one or two? Or does pretty much everyone who likes one like them all?
Time to sit back and read some interesting discussion (I hope).
I'm just curious to see who you'd pick if you could only choose to have one of them. Or, who would you consider least necessary to have of the three. Or, whatever other thoughts you have about them.
Is anyone a fan of one or two of them, and really doesn't care for the other one or two? Or does pretty much everyone who likes one like them all?
Time to sit back and read some interesting discussion (I hope).
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Recorded at Atlanta's historic Fox Theater on July 5, Waits delivers a stunning and epic two-and-a-half hour performance, including songs he says he's never attempted outside of the studio before. Backing Waits is a five-piece group featuring Seth Ford-Young (upright bass), Patrick Warren (keyboards), Omar Torrez (guitars), Vincent Henry (woodwinds) and Casey Waits (drums and percussion). "They play with racecar precision and they are all true conjurers," says Waits. "They are all multi-instrumentalists and they polka like real men."
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOrG1r3S6ZA
I'm kind of sad that you didn't mention Leonard Cohen. Sure he's not as famous as the other three but his songs are still just as beautiful and poignant: Hallelujah, Suzanne, etc.
All three are important to various people for whatever reason. And that's fine. But Neil Young is the one I abide by. That guy's the real deal. Hell, all three of them are, but Neil's music is what I dig the most.
At one point in time I had every Neil Young album. Even the crappy shit from the 80s.
Heh.
I really really dislike Cohen. Nothing against him, I just never ever like his songs when he sings them. Much prefer his material when someone else covers it.
Neil Young was never at his best solo; his best work came in the company of other great artists. And his current music is...well, not very good.
Tom Waits, well, I don't like him very much. All of his work seems very self indulgent. The other guys, they do it for love of music, or to protest. Waits, he does it to make himself feel superior. He's basically Jandek with a huge ego.
As for who the heir is to the "guy with a funny sounding voice who plays a guitar and writes songs" crown, it has to be John Darnielle. Like Dylan was the voice of his generation, Darnielle is the voice of mine.
True that, you know you've done something right when you've already had a biopic about you and you're still making records after it comes out.
In terms of indispensibility, Dylan would come out on top because he's got the longest, most diverse career. Neil Young is great. My personal favourite is Tom Waits, but that's with an understanding that he really is an acquired taste. All told, however, their careers are so distinct I have a hard time comparing these guys to one another.
I like Bob Dylan a lot too, though my favorite Dylan (probably Blonde on Blonde) still ranks below my favorite Young.
I tried to listen to Tom Waits a couple times, but I just couldn't really get into him that much. I'm going to give it time, considering it took me a while to get into both Yound and Dylan.
He's been a horrible live performer for about two decades now.
What?
Go read Shakey.
I love Bob Dylan and Tom Waits, but I listen to Neil Young way more.
You can't beat his 70's albums, and Harvest Moon was amazing. He does have a lot of shit songs, especially now, but the good stuff more than makes up for it.
Tom Waits has stayed way more consistent than the other two, though.
I can say pretty confidently that Neil Young is my favorite songwriter ever, and if you feel like counting his stuff as poetry, then he is my favorite poet ever too.
His lyrics evoke all sorts of emotions, images, narratives and so forth... some of which I can define and articulate better than others. He uses raw, simple language in a way that nonetheless inspires complex feelings in me, moreso than any other artist. One recurring theme in his songs that is easier to describe is an expression of the loss of something beautiful -- a time, a place, an idea or a person -- in a rather romanticized but also somewhat stoic way. Thrasher, Pocahontas, Sugar Mountain and Cortez the Killer are great examples of this... absolutely beautiful songs IMO.
The accompanying music is usually easy enough, with pleasant chord progressions. He and Crazy Horse can certainly overdo it on the feedback with the live stuff, granted. I like a lot of the jam sessions, too, most spectacularly of course on Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, before Danny Whitten (the first rhythm guitarist for Crazy Horse) died from being a junkie. The interplay between Young and Whitten's guitars on that album just blows my mind... in a mellow groovy way, not in a neo-classical riff-shredding sort of way.
Either that or On the Beach is probably my favorite Neil Young album, though I haven't ever listened to the entirety of Zuma.
Don't get me wrong, I like Dylan's songwriting a lot too (and it played a much greater part in my formative years), but a lot of it is too verbose and surreal and all twisted up to be as sublimely enjoyable to me. Waits is a good story-teller as well, but I don't dig his style of gravelly-voiced slurring over jazz piano quite as much. I do like a handful of his songs, though, and I thought Mule Variations was a pretty sweet album.
Check out the "Dirt Trilogy".
Time Fades Away, Tonight's the Night, On the Beach
Thematically similar albums.
Tonight's the Night is my favorite album of his.
Niel Young's best work was with CSNY.
Also, I found Bob Dylan's radio show while tooling around for more Dylan stuff. It's pretty kickass.
Where are you getting this "to make himself feel superior" bullshit? I've never heard of him being anything but humble. He regularly plays benefit concerts (fans should check out his tracks on Healing the Divide). And judging from his contributer credits it's obvious he just loves playing music with people.
I think he's a better songwriter then Dylan or Young. Not to take anything away from those guys but Waits has clearly been more consistent over the years. Hell, he seems to be getting better with age. Real Gone is a fucking awesome album.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xdMEm9i66g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM6SQvQKl0Q
took out her barrettes and her hair spilled out like rootbeer
I love this one. I remember Tom Waits played this song on the Daily Show for Jon Stewart's birthday. It was just...nice.
That said, I prefer Dylan because of my preference for folk, but love Waits too. I especially love Waits' jazzy tunes. They're both incredible songwriters that have made really amazing music over the years, and you can't fault them for much.
Young I like best as part of CSNY.
I adore Tom Waits, and have all of his work. "Alice" is one of the best songs I have.
I love Bob Dylan's writing (both his music and his poetry/lyrics), but...his voice just drives me up.the.wall. I can't stand to listen to him sing even for a second. So I find myself reading his songs a lot, and thinking about how great they are, but being completely unable to actually listen to them.
Neil Young is just fantastic in every way, and like the terrible person that I am I've barely listened to Tom Waits.
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Give me Ragged Glory, Harvest, Mirror Ball, Freedom or Time Fades Away any day.
As said above, Dylan was a genius but Neil Young is some of my favorite music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v5E27Fp59c
For the folks of you who have not heard much of Toms work i'd sugest listening to Swordfishtrombones. Though I think most people regard Rain Dogs as his best album it can drag out a tad.
Harvest, probably. I'm not sure it's his best stuff, but it's pretty much what he'll be known for.
Ha ha, you see what I did there.