Photo by Bernt Rostad
Predicting the fickle nature of the music business is impossible. Predicting the demise of a person’s life isn’t that easy either.
Rolling Stone’s article about the death of David Foster Wallace collided in my head during last week’s CMJ Music Marathon, five nights of non-stop newish bands playing at NYC’s best and worst venues.
I kept coming home and wondering what was going on under the hood of these bands; if I had just seen the singer who would come unhinged at 25, or if that same singer’s band might never even make it onto more than forty hard drives.
Predicting the fickle nature of the music business is impossible. Predicting the demise of a person’s life isn’t that easy either. Sitting on my living room floor in my dumb blue gym shorts, surrounded by piles of CD’s and cassettes, I came up with the following list of people who made great music for too short of a time. Please add your additions to the replies.
Elliot Smith “Needle In The Hay”
It wasn’t even subtle. It was right there. The problem.
I’m taking the cure so I can be quiet whenever I want…you ought to be proud that I’m getting good marks.
Elliot Smith photo by PatCastaldo
It was terrible to hear as a fan. You’d learn the words, sing them, maybe finger your guitar on the right frets, then realize what they meant. And what was coming, no matter how much you wished it wouldn’t. If you don’t own XO, please do.
(Steven Paul Smith, 1969-2003) – Needle In The Hay
Metallica “(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth”
The fifth song on their first album is a bass solo. With no wimpy “Enter Sandman” in the realm of possibility, Cliff Burton whipped his hair and played this in ways that just plain confused me.
It certainly wasn’t the metal that I had been hearing – there was no lipstick clogging the distortion. Seeing Cliff live made me realize that it was probably going to be the puzzling things in life that might be the most indelible.
(Clifford Lee Burton, 1962-1986) – (Anesthesia)-Pulling Teeth (LP Version)
Jeff Buckley “Halleluja (live at Sin-e)”
A cover, “Halleluja” has somehow become Jeff’s hallowed moment on tape. His version has been bastardized to the point where it’s almost become damaged, were it not for this recording.
At 9:15 and full of tuning issues, this reminds me why his take was better than anyone’s will ever be. For those of us sitting at Sine-E, his performances were a triumph for the cute little guy who washed clothes in the machine next to ours. “Let’s go drink and sleep!” he says at the end.
We were going wherever he went.
(Jeffrey Scott Buckley, 1966-1997) – Hallelujah
Photo by pinkbelt
Nirvana “Drain You (live in Seattle, WA, October 31, 1991)”
What a fucking mess. Missed words, chords almost disregarded, the bridge never quite filling out. It’s gorgeous.
This was the real Nirvana, the one that decked us. This wasn’t the song about deodorant that made fratboys scream and woot. Their stage presence was a turbulent ride between apathetic and aggressive, in a way I hadn’t seen since the Ramones.
(Kurt Donald Cobain, 1967-1994) – Drain You
Buddy Holly “Everyday”
Impossible to replicate, no matter how many have ripped him off. This was a guy who was supposed to write songs for the rest of a very long life.
It has been sad to see musicians like Roy Orbison or George Harrison pass away, but at least we were allowed to watch their genius progress. Holly had so much more in him.
(Charles Hardin Holly, 1936-1959) – Everyday/Peggy Sue
Photo by 90p
Chris Bell “I Am The Cosmos”
Chris Bell’s original band (Big Star) had something that so many musicians have chased since. His posthumous collection was the stuff of whispered legend, sitting unreleased for almost 15 years after his death.
This song, however, found its way into the public just before his tragic car crash and is the kind of song that bigtime musicians play alone, backstage, with nobody watching. And oh, Sweet Jesus. This song.
(Chris Bell, 1951-1978) – I Am the Cosmos
Matthew Jay “Please Don’t Send Me Away”
Most people don’t know Matthew – I had to dig through boxes to find this disc. For me, he represents all of the kids who take a shot at making it every year, yet watch as much less talented artists lap them.
Jay fell out of a building in 2002, leaving behind a hatful of magic that is being rediscovered by younger artists. An October 10th show in London saw members of Starsailor and Squeeze (among others) playing Matthew’s songs at Shepard’s Empire Bush. I wish I’d been there.
(Matthew Jay, 1978-2003) – Please Don’t Send Me Away
AC/DC “Let There Be Rock (Live)”
Bon Scott died about half-way through the rock/roll process, only to be brilliantly replicated by Brian Johnson in this same band. As AC/DC scrapped, scratched, and clawed their way to success, he passed away just before it all paid off with Back In Black.
This recording shows a man who had learned to turn each member of the crowd into a fan, building a base that still sells more records per year than almost any other rock band, dead or alive.
(Ronald Belford Scott, 1946-1980) – Black Ice
Joy Division “Love Will Tear Us Apart”
Ian Curtis went to hell and back, before finally hanging himself in 1980. Anton Corbin’s biopic Control does a fantastic job of covering his brief, difficult life.
Joy Division, a band which almost defines the term “seminal,” would only release one album while Curtis was living. He would kill himself on the eve of the band’s first American tour.
(Ian Kevin Curtis, 1956-1980) – Love Will Tear Us Apart
Robert Johnson “Sweet Home Chicago”
The legend and lore of Robert Johnson sometimes overshadows his talent and influence. Did he sell his soul to the devil? Was he killed by a bottle of whiskey laced with strychnine?
He also seems to have originated the “27 Club”, a term that’s become widely used for musicians who have moved on at that exact age (Check it out. It’s fascinating). Listening to this track, it’s obvious that he has influenced some of the most influential singers and guitar players of the last century.
(Robert Leroy Johnson, 1911-1938) – Sweet Home Chicago
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48 Comments... join the discussion!
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Nick Drake. Songs I have shared countless fall walks with. The foresight into his posthumous popularity is eerie in "Fruit Tree": "So men of fame Can never find a way Till time has flown Far from their dying day" I always likened Drake to a taxi driver. He would take you there his own way, but the destination is always entirely your own.
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where's Hendrix – the god of music – i vote for voodoo chile
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What!!!!! No Jim Croce – No Stevie Ray Vaughn? Croce never even knew he was really all that successful and was then taken in an airplane accident. Pick any one of his classics (time in a bottle, bad bad leroy brown) and you've definitely got to add him to this list. SRV is a no brainer…..
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Lloyd George – "Little Feat" should qualify. However, I'll enjoy exploring the others I don't know. Good job. Totally agree with "Joy Division".
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Good list, but I would have loved to see Brad Nowell. Perhaps a good but ironic song to relate would be Pool Shark. "Now I got the needle and I can shake, but I can't breathe, take it away but I want more and more, one day I'm gonna lose the war."
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Here's a legend who died before he released his album-But left those who know him with a nice catalogue of genius tunes…. http://www.shanegooding.com
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Great list! I would've including Sublime on that list though. Bradley Nowell died just before the release of their last album, their last album was showing real promise.
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Good list, and it introduce me to some music I had never heard before, which is always a good thing. Wish you had Put SRV on there though.
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There are too many of them! Tim Buckley, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Layne Staley, John Lennon, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley, Frank Zappa…in my opinion, any age is too young.
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Sublime should have been here. Along with Nick Drake as Chris has suggested. Blind Melon? Otherwise a good list
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Michael Hedges, he used the guiter in ways unimagined by most.
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Shannon Hoon – "Change"
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Great list, I will listen to the ones I haven't heard yet @Chris: Amen, Nick Drake is amazing and very interesting, both singing and playing.
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Uhm, you can not have a complete list unless the brilliant Kevin Gilbert is included.
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Agree with Drake addition
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I was scrolling down the comments to see if anyone would mention Blind Melon. I fully agree, but it would be an exhaustingly long list if every great artist who had passed young were to be mentioned.
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How can you leave out Sublime, Hendrix, and Morrison?
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Shannon Hoon you will forever be missed. "And I know we can't all stay here forever, So I'm gonna write my words on the face of today." Change, Blind Melon
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I second that!
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Mic Christopher – Heyday! A wonderfully joyous song, sung by someone with so many more great songs to write. Mic – you are missed!
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Brad Nowell!!!!!!!
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Many of those on the list never knew the success of their music or band after they died. If you included Jimi, SRV, The Doors, that would sort of negate the purpose. We've already seen the most well known dead guys list, but what people forget is that there are some really great people that have been really influential in that under the radar way. For those that don't know Chris Bell and Big Star, they actually wrote the original version of In the Street, the song used as the opening for That 70's Show. It was re-recorded, but still them.
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Isn't it Lowell George?
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Not to mention Harry Chapin.
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Dude!… Bradley Nowell!…
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No Brad Nowell? What a crock!
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Great post and good focus on the actual music rather than how famous the artist was.
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you forgot to put dimebag darrell on your list
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Great post man. A few missing off there though really, obviously mr Hendrix should be on there
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I loved Elliot Smith, and while I knew in the back of my mind what was coming, I was still surprised when I heard the news.
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Phil Ochs!
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Where's Brad Nowell from Sublime?
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There is a nice song from NOFX called Doornails. References to deceased members of Lagwagon, Strung Out, Sublime. "These two shots are for Derrick For Rifle, not the handgun For Coffee and Cigarettes Give It Back"
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It wouldn't have hurt to see Bradley Nowell on that list, but it's still a good list.
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Yes, forgot about Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon. Another great addition.
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how about nutshell, alice in chains?
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Check out Belize's Any Palacio. Died last year at a pretty young age. Has a fresh album entitled "Watina"
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Harry Chapin – most definitely. And, Nick Drake.
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kevin gilbert
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Fantastic, well-thoughtout post. How about Mother Love Bone's lead singer.
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Jim Morisson anyone?
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ian curtis. sigh.
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The late great Chris Whitley. Check him out if you’re not familiar.
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Jim Morrison, most definitely. Five to One, Break On Through, The End????
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I agree with everyone else on Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Dimebag. But really you should have included Brad as #1. One of the saddest stories in music history. Sublime will always be one of the best bands ever to me.
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Nice to see Jeff Buckley and Robert Johnson up there. Jeff Buckley is my favorite. Here is Wallace’s commencement address to Kenyon College http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/sep/20/fiction if you haven’t yet read it.
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Great list, I would have added Sublime and Bob Marley.
I was shocked to see Kurt Cobain was only 27, he seemed older. What a tragic waste of talent.
I wonder if what gives great musicians the ability to write and sing beautiful, meaningful, life changing songs, is linked to why they cant deal with the reality of their lives.
Thank goodness Eddie Vedder is still around…
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