Is Amy Winehouse talented?

[daniel481]

I just watched the Grammy performance online...and I thought it was cool She has a great rock and roll attitude, a unique voice, and I thought it was a great live performance. What is this standard that we're comparing her against? Who are these amazing artists who were never a bit off key in a live performance situation? The Beatles weren't perfect live, either

[elser]

Hi Everybody, havn't chimed in for awhile, but this thread is kind of surprising me. Arn't we sounding like our parents now? "That's not music, it's just noise". Since when did pitch qualify somebody as a valid musician. Listen back to Duane Allman, Bob Dylan or Neil Young, Mick Jagger. Isn't it much more about soul than technique?As far as looking strung out, think about Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, or Joe Cocker, Jimi Hendrix. I'm not saying drugs are good, but if you dismiss someone because of stimulants, than Jazz and Rock are just about exhausted, we're left with Pat Boone and Donni Osmond.I thought it was great that Winehouse shows a real appreciation for the history of our music.Her band is great, the backup singer/dancers are some of the best I've seen. And she seems real, vulnerable, honest. Personally I'd much rather encourage her kind of show than the producer driven, pitch corrected, lip synced, dancing barbie dolls we've become used to over the last decade.Maybe I'm crazy, probably am, I don't know. Elser

[squids]

Hey Elser! Been a while for us both. Well, don't know about you, but nope, I don't sound like my parents since they both loved jazz and it was a given jazz musicians were pretty toasted at the time. But that's part of the problem.....even completely tanked, most of the jazz guys I saw live were so familiar with their songs, so practiced and disciplined that they could've done the songs in a coma and still sounded nearly perfect.Sure, Janis was whacked and so was Jimi, Jim, right on up to nowadays. But what about Dusty Springfield? Aretha? Patti? Tina? Etc all the way up to Eva Cassidy? Those soul singers put on a great show at their peak, there weren't noticeable pitch problems, they weren't so stoned they were unintelligible. My folks didn't listen to those guys but if I could see them in concert when I was younger, I would go, and I was lucky to have seen a few, even as a young girl getting snuck in by my brothers. I was watching them closely even then because I wanted it to go well, not only for them but for me too. The audience puts an awful lot of faith in singers, that they know their stuff, that they have the power and charisma to take them somewhere and that they can be confident it'll be a good place to go.

[ggalen]

I'm thinking that maybe the bigger issue under this is:Do we expect musicians and singers to be able to do anything special musically?In other words:Do we expect singers to sing on key? Do we expect musicians to be able to do anything on an instrument that takes more than 1 month of lessons to learn to do?I used to host an audition night at a famous coffeehouse. Often I would get college students from the local university who had rudimentary guitar and songwriting skills, now ready for folk stardom. They were sometimes surprised and angry when I told them they needed to learn to play and sing better.

[onoffon]

Nobody would go see Kobe Bryant play basketball if he wasn't able to do phenomenal things on the basketball court. If all he could do was dribble, he would be laughed off the court.Why do we glorify musicians that can play three chords and look good on stage?I want the musicians I listen to and admire to do phenomenal things on their instruments.

[weapon]

I know why people like Amy Winehouse and think she's talented...they're all smoking the same crack pipe she is!It's all in the production, the producer is the real talented one.

[sgs4u]

Von, you know I care about great musicianship too. I also have respect for entertainers, and even more for the seemingly untalented "stars" who have to endure being a star and all that entails. Remember when you saw Brittany? Even if the poor fool hadn't have wrecked her own life, those helicopters & paparazzi would still have been trailing her. There are other 2 things I have great respect for: the wishes of the buysing/listening public, and the investment/marketing/release choices that BIG labels make. There is room for everybody. But that's just what I think. Quote:Nobody would go see Kobe Bryant play basketball if he wasn't able to do phenomenal things on the basketball court. If all he could do was dribble, he would be laughed off the court.Why do we glorify musicians that can play three chords and look good on stage?I want the musicians I listen to and admire to do phenomenal things on their instruments.

[ggalen]

Quote:Nobody would go see Kobe Bryant play basketball if he wasn't able to do phenomenal things on the basketball court. If all he could do was dribble, he would be laughed off the court.Great analogy, ONOFFON.Lots of dribblers out there today strutting their "stuff".

[onoffon]

You know, IKEA makes wonderfully generic, purposeful, affordable furniture for the masses that is very popular.But, nobody questions the craftsmanship and quality that goes into an authentic Chippendale piece.Obviously, I am in the minority. I am who I am and I'm proud to be me...

[daniel481]

So are we saying Kurt Cobain wasn't talented because most of his songs had three or four chords and he didn't display massive guitar chops? Was Bob Dylan lame because he couldn't play extended improvised jazz solos? What we have to remember is, 1) The vast majority of people who listen to music don't care about any sort of chops, they just want to hear a great melody that they'll remember forever, and 2) In most cases it takes way more skill to learn how to write that great melody then to develop the ability to do "phenomenal things" on an instrument.Skill comes in many different forms when it comes to music, and a great technician definitely doesn't make for a great musician to watch.But what it really comes down to is if you like it, you like it, and if you don't, you don't. And that's fine! Everyone's variations in taste are why there's tons of different music.