There are some dead folks whom I wish were as old as I am (59). I try it imagine what Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin would be doing now, but I just cannot fathom it. I believe it would be masterful. How about Mozart? These three died waaaayyy too young. Some others?
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Buddy Holley

Before anyone else can say it: Elliott Smith. I really wanted to know what Basement sounded like in his head, not the half-wit producers' that put it together.

Kurt Cobain
Nick Drake
Tupac (is he really fucking dead?? how many posthumous releases can one man have??)

quote:

Originally posted by jonathanbrisby:
Tupac (is he really fucking dead?? how many posthumous releases can one man have??)

That's hilarious. I think his posthumous recording career is now longer than his living recording career. "Least Essential 2Pacsploitation" has been a standard entry in the Onion A.V. Club's yearly "Least Essential Records" feature.

I know he wasn't as young as the above mentioned, but John Lennon died just when his stuff was starting to get good again with Double Fantasy & Milk and Honey.

Not that I'm a Metallica fan, but Cliff Burton's death led to some really regrettable radio music moments in the 1990s.

how about some more artists whom you thought were going places, but the died instead.

quote:

Not that I'm a Metallica fan, but Cliff Burton's death led to some really regrettable radio music moments in the 1990s

I'm with you on this leland. Call me an asshole or whatever but I only like the first three Metallica records. Ride the Lightning is up there with Reign in Blood, In the Nightside Eclipse, Master of Reality, and Jane Doe as far as my all time favorite metal records go. The stuff Metallica did later on is unforgiveably bad in my personal opinion.

Gene Vincent might be my pick. Although his career was pretty much tanked by the time he died, he is probably my favorite of the rockabilly guys, and I like to think that he would have gotten it back together eventually if he hadn't died.

Hank Williams is another one. I can't believe he wrote everything he did before turning 30. Although, I kind of imagine that he wasn't gonna come out of the alcoholism, so I'm not sure how much good music was left in him.

Also, some of them managed to survive it,but heroin use killed off or ruined the careers of way too many jazz greats. Billie Holiday and Charlie Parker are the obvious ones, but drugs were just unbelievably bad for the jazz scene for almost 30 years.

oh, and in more mainstream rock, D. Boon probably had a good amount of cool songs left in him.

quote:

Originally posted by m.leland:
Before anyone else can say it: Elliott Smith. I really wanted to know what Basement sounded like in his head, not the half-wit producers' that put it together.

I agree whole-heartedly with Elliott Smith. But, I find puzzling your comment about Basement. While Basement has a more polished sound than his prior works, I've always looked at it as "A Fond Farewell to a Friend," to borrow the song title. I thought it complemented his catalog well and helped those of us who enjoyed his music deal with his tragic loss.

By the way, how do you know that the producers changed the sound? Everything I've heard about Elliott's thoughts on Basement were that he knew it was different from his prior works and that working on the album had brought him out of his depression. I'd sure be interested to know in what ways the producers influenced his work.

quote:

Originally posted by Troy:

quote:

Originally posted by m.leland:
Before anyone else can say it: Elliott Smith. I really wanted to know what Basement sounded like in his head, not the half-wit producers' that put it together.

By the way, how do you know that the producers changed the sound? Everything I've heard about Elliott's thoughts on Basement were that he knew it was different from his prior works and that working on the album had brought him out of his depression. I'd sure be interested to know in what ways the producers influenced his work.

I still consider Basement one of my favorites from 2004, but I really wish I could have heard what it was supposed to be. You can download some demos from his recording sessions before and during Basement, many of which would have made great additions to the intended double album.

You can read some of the allegations about Basement being altered here.

A quick excerpt:

"David McConnell, the man who produced seven [5] of the tracks that appear on the album with Smith and thus obviously present through some of the actual recording process, was not consulted during the mixing, nor was he asked for the extensive 'three years worth' of notes made by himself and Smith while the album was being finalized. [6] The producer also noted that the track 'Ostriches & Chirping,' a strange and short instrumental made from sampling and looping the noises made by a toy bird, had nothing to do with Smith and was something that McConnell had recorded by himself. [7] Smith most likely did not intend for this song to be on the album. When asked what he believed the late Smith would think of the released version of the album, McConnell told Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing author Benjamin Nugent, 'I don’t think he would have delivered {that} record. The record he would have delivered would had more songs, would have had different mixes and {been} a little more in your face.'"

quote:

the track 'Ostriches & Chirping,' a strange and short instrumental made from sampling and looping the noises made by a toy bird, had nothing to do with Smith and was something that

Thanks, man. That was an excellent link to the demos. I'll check them out.

I always thought that "Ostriches & Chirping" seemed out of place.

Have you read "Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing"? Is it worth the read?

The death of Elliot Smith is proof that God does not exist. For if God existed, surely Elliot would still be alive and Johnny Borrell would be dead instead. I'd like to substitute Jeff Buckley's death for Sting's while I'm at it.

The deaths of Elliot Smith and Jeff Buckley were the first occasions where the death of a musician affected me. I was only 8 when Lennon died, and although I remember it, I was too young to understand the significance. Elliot's death in particular really knocked me for six.

I'm glad "Basement" sounded as good as it did, but as others have said, it would have been nice to hear it as Elliot intended.

Duane Allman
Sandy Denny
Mike Bloomfield
Chris Bell
Brian Jones
Ronnie Lane.
The guy who went missing from Manic street Preachers.

Joke: This guy dies and goes to heaven. St. Peter meets him at the gate and starts to show him around. Guy hears this incredible slide guitar playing and asks St. Peter, "That's Duane Allman, isn't it?".
St. Peter says nothing and continues the tour. The guy keeps hearing the guitar playing and stops St. Peter and says, "You've gotta tell me! That's Duane Allman, isn't it?"
St. Peter sighs, rolls his eyes and says,"That's God. He just thinks he's Duane"

Robert Johnson
Judee Sill
Karen Dalton
Sam Cooke
Otis Redding

Magic Sam
Lowell George
Matt Moffit
David McComb
Grant McLennan
The guys from Lynyrd Skynyrd
Marc Bolan
Terry Kath

J. Dilla
The Exploding Hearts

Ian Curtis
Keith Moon
Bob Marley
Syd Barrett
Brian Jones
Danny Whitten

Eddie Cochran

Glenn Miller
Ritchie Valens
Billie Holiday
Jimi Hendrix
Janis Joplin
Jim Morrison
Jim Croce
Harry Chapin