Just purchased the new Beach Boys album. Fabulous! They write and sound as good as they did in the sixties! Don't tell me the Stones can't produce one last great album! Maybe even two!

Man I want to belive you brother, for my sake and theirs! A beautiful thought none the less.

What is harder as we get older is to get 5 people who work well together in the same room to develop them properly for recording. Writing is only half the work.

And, it has been shown and reported that creative output decrease as musicians get older. But then again, I never really believed in statistics.....although I have a suspicion the time is actually moving faster for us all.

They better try for a bunch of short songs in that case, they can always stretch 'em out during the next tour like they used to do. Re record them when the tour is over to add the bits that stuck throughout the tour. Something new and exciting every night!

Let's hope Mick Taylor is listening to this thread, I'm ready for his breakthrough record soon. peace

What about Dylan - he's written some excellent songs from 1997 onwards: ditto Leonard Cohen.

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tomcasagranda
What about Dylan - he's written some excellent songs from 1997 onwards: ditto Leonard Cohen.

Let's not forget Ray Davies

The trouble is that the Rolling Stones ceased to function as a creative force in the late 70s. The Glimmering Twins aren't glimmering anymore.
The only thing that have kept them rolling is money. Nothing else. Sad, sad, sad...

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Naturalust
Man I want to belive you brother, for my sake and theirs! A beautiful thought none the less.

What is harder as we get older is to get 5 people who work well together in the same room to develop them properly for recording. Writing is only half the work.

And, it has been shown and reported that creative output decrease as musicians get older. But then again, I never really believed in statistics.....although I have a suspicion the time is actually moving faster for us all.

They better try for a bunch of short songs in that case, they can always stretch 'em out during the next tour like they used to do. Re record them when the tour is over to add the bits that stuck throughout the tour. Something new and exciting every night!

Let's hope Mick Taylor is listening to this thread, I'm ready for his breakthrough record soon. peace

You make some excellent points here. I know with writers they sometimes do their best work in their latter years. They have so many life experiences to draw from. And yes, people really have to want to work together. The desire has to be there. Health is also an issue, for sure. That becomes more of a factor with age.

The Beach Boys had their differences but found a way to patch things up. I saw a documentary last night on their comeback and it was quite moving.

I know this might sound absurd to some but I honestly believe that Mick and Keith are not going to allow the Beach Boys to outlast them. At least not without a fight.

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Stoneage
The trouble is that the Rolling Stones ceased to function as a creative force in the late 70s. The Glimmering Twins aren't glimmering anymore.
The only thing that have kept them rolling is money. Nothing else. Sad, sad, sad...

I beg to differ - Almost Hear You Sigh, Continental Drift, Slipping Away, Out of Tears, Out of Control, How Can I Stop, Thief In The Night, Rough Justice, Oh No, Not you Again, are still good tracks.

Throw in Anyway You Look At It, and The Stones can still roll.

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MightyStonesStillRollin50
I know this might sound absurd to some but I honestly believe that Mick and Keith are not going to allow the Beach Boys to outlast them. At least not without a fight.

Beyond absurd. I doubt the Stones even think of the Beach Boys for years on end. I know I don't, sorry, mate. And I'm a surfer from California. peace

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MightyStonesStillRollin50
I know with writers they sometimes do their best work in their latter years.

Writers, yes. Songwriters, and in particular rock and roll songwriters, no. Pete Townshend is not going to write another Tommy. No one his age still has their masterpiece ahead of them. The masterpiece, if it happens at all, happens when you're in your late 20s. Dylan, somehow, managed to vomit up the brilliant Blood On The Tracks at the advanced age of 33, but that is the exception, not the rule.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012-06-30 21:11 by tatters.

The Beach Boys album has really grown on me, I think it is a great album.

As for the Stones, I think they STILL write great songs.
There is plenty on Voodoo Lounge, Babylon and Bigger Bang to impress.
I actually think those three are up there with anything else they've done post Exile.

[www.youtube.com]

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tatters

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MightyStonesStillRollin50
I know with writers they sometimes do their best work in their latter years.

Writers, yes. Songwriters, and in particular rock and roll songwriters, no. Pete Townshend is not going to write another Tommy. No one his age still has their masterpiece ahead of them.

Are you sure? Have a listen to another latter day Ray Davies song--further proof of an elder statesman still at the top of his game.

A few years ago I read an interview exchange with Mick from around the time of BEGGAR'S BANQUET (when Mick was in his 20's) and the journalist asked Mick: When would he be "too old" to do what he did? Mick said, "We recently did the song PRODIGAL SON, and that was written by Rev. Robert Wilkins when he was 70 years old."






Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2012-07-01 02:24 by Title5Take1.

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Title5Take1
A few years ago I read an interview exchange with Mick from around the time of BEGGAR'S BANQUET (when Mick was in his 20's) and the journalist asked Mick: When would he be "too old" be to do what he did? Mick said, "We recently did the song PRODIGAL SON, and that was written by Rev. Robert Wilkins when he was 70 years old."

Mose Allison wrote Young Man Blues when he was 40.

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Title5Take1
A few years ago I read an interview exchange with Mick from around the time of BEGGAR'S BANQUET (when Mick was in his 20's) and the journalist asked Mick: When would he be "too old" be to do what he did? Mick said, "We recently did the song PRODIGAL SON, and that was written by Rev. Robert Wilkins when he was 70 years old

the original version by wilkins comes from the 1920's...then titled "no way to get along"....

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Naturalust

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MightyStonesStillRollin50
I know this might sound absurd to some but I honestly believe that Mick and Keith are not going to allow the Beach Boys to outlast them. At least not without a fight.

Beyond absurd. I doubt the Stones even think of the Beach Boys for years on end. I know I don't, sorry, mate. And I'm a surfer from California. peace

Mick and Keith are a lot more competitive than they let on. I am sure they don't sit around thinking about the Beach Boys much, but the Beach Boys coming out of retirement may have been just a little added incentive to keep rollin, although there was no way they were going to let this 50th anniversary year come and go without doing something.

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MightyStonesStillRollin50
although there was no way they were going to let this 50th anniversary year come and go without doing something.

is that right? i'd love to hear more about this. please expand at length if you wouldn't mnd...

Tom Waits continues to write great songs. A couple of recent ones even featured this new guy called Keith Richards.

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MightyStonesStillRollin50

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Naturalust

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MightyStonesStillRollin50
I know this might sound absurd to some but I honestly believe that Mick and Keith are not going to allow the Beach Boys to outlast them. At least not without a fight.

Beyond absurd. I doubt the Stones even think of the Beach Boys for years on end. I know I don't, sorry, mate. And I'm a surfer from California. peace

Mick and Keith are a lot more competitive than they let on. I am sure they don't sit around thinking about the Beach Boys much, but the Beach Boys coming out of retirement may have been just a little added incentive to keep rollin, although there was no way they were going to let this 50th anniversary year come and go without doing something.

Mick has slagged the Beach Boys over the years for being nothing but a nostalgia act, which, of course, they have been and continue to be, and Mick has claimed that the Stones aren't like them because they move forward and do new things YET Mick has managed to imitate them exceptionally with having the Stones be The Greatest Nostalgia Band In The World.

So no need for the Stones to out-do the Beach Boys since there's nothing to out-do anyway other than having MORE extra musicians on stage.

BUT. To resond directly to Mr Guarantee, you do sound absurd. Can you really picture Mick and Brian Wilson in a fight? Or Keith and Mike Love (Love would whup his ass)? You read absurd too. Only YOU come up with these giant bags of gas to spew about. Simply for the sake of spewing. You elitist spewer.

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Title5Take1
A few years ago I read an interview exchange with Mick from around the time of BEGGAR'S BANQUET (when Mick was in his 20's) and the journalist asked Mick: When would he be "too old" to do what he did? Mick said, "We recently did the song PRODIGAL SON, and that was written by Rev. Robert Wilkins when he was 70 years old."

Wilkins was 71 when the STONES reworked the song.

He wrote it, however, in 1929. When he was 33.

[www.crossrhythms.co.uk]

There are scores of veteran songwriters still making top quality music. God knows who these people are who the thread starter think are in denial about this.

However, there has never been an act in history (to my knowledge) who has written their most career-defining work when middle aged. In fairness, that's more a reflection on the ageist nature of the popular music industry and the fact that few (if any) artists have broken through at that time in their lives as pretty much anyone who's made a reputation in music has done so by the time they were 30. It doesn't necessarily mean they're incapable of writing better SONGS later on as they learn their craft.

However, when you look at some veteran acts who ARE making good music in their later years - Dylan, Springsteen, Young, Morrison, Waits, Cohen, Bowie (before he retired) etc - they're writers who are still artistically driven.

The Stones, by contrast, have ceased to be motivated as songwriters since the late 90's, having made only one new record since 1997 (IMO it was a good one too - but they've shown no inclination to repeat the effort). They're quite content to be perceived as something they always stated they'd never be - a nostalgia act. The Who are in the same category, as are The Beach Boys despite the fact they've put a new record together to give this new tour some kind of legitimacy. How many songs are they playing from this 'great' new record each night?

Anyone who cant see that the Stones M.O. is as a nostalgia act is in fantasy land. They very well might make a new record in time for a tour next year, but their lack of urgency to do so in recent years doesn't indicate that their hearts are in it. And the inevitability that if and when they do release it, the songs will be played sparingly and tossed off almost apologetically will only accentuate that.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012-07-01 06:29 by Gazza.

Maybe I'm a bit biased here, but I feel Pete Townshend can still write decent songs. No, like a poster above said, he isn't going to write another Tommy, Who's Next or Quad, but then again with those being such brilliant albums he would have been hard pressed to write albums that were just as good even in his prime (e.g mid 70's to early 80's). However I feel that Endless Wire is a good album with some great songs on it. I certainly listened to it more than a Bigger Bang. Fragments, Mike Post Theme, Black Widow's Eyes, Man in a Purple Dress and the Mini Opera are good songs. I think where this album suffers is the production: why didn't they record it at a real Studio with the Who Touring band?

Also I will second Ray Davies as an elder great. Working Man's Cafe is one of my favorite albums!

Ray Davies, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Paul Simon have all made very good albums in their later years.

Lou Reed made Ecstacy in his late 50s, but his last two studio albums are unbelievably pretentious crap. Neil Young still tries, but his insistence on running with whatever came out in the first draft hasn't served him so well lately. The last Who album wasn't bad, but Pete Townshend hasn't exactly been prolific in the last 20 years (two studio albums of new songs) and seems to think that writing anything with a hook is beneath him.

The Beach Boys' new one has some stellar moments, but septagenarians longing for spring break is a little creepy. Bruce nailed that subject on Girls in Their Summer Clothes ("Girls in their summer clothes pass me by," as in they ignore the geezer).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012-07-01 11:11 by ab.

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tatters

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MightyStonesStillRollin50
I know with writers they sometimes do their best work in their latter years.

Dylan, somehow, managed to vomit up the brilliant Blood On The Tracks at the advanced age of 33, but that is the exception, not the rule.

Yes, and he also managed to 'vomit up' brilliant albums at the age of 56, 60, 65, 68, and a new is in the pipes for summer or fall.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-07-01 08:57 by 24FPS.

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Happy Jack
I think where this album suffers is the production: why didn't they record it at a real Studio with the Who Touring band?

Because of that bastid Noel Gallagher snapping up Zak for a tour at the time. Perhaps it was wrong for Pete to have had Noel as a guest on that 2000 Royal Albert Hall how. Connections were obviously made there.

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Happy Jack
Maybe I'm a bit biased here, but I feel Pete Townshend can still write decent songs. No, like a poster above said, he isn't going to write another Tommy, Who's Next or Quad, but then again with those being such brilliant albums he would have been hard pressed to write albums that were just as good even in his prime (e.g mid 70's to early 80's). However I feel that Endless Wire is a good album with some great songs on it. I certainly listened to it more than a Bigger Bang. Fragments, Mike Post Theme, Black Widow's Eyes, Man in a Purple Dress and the Mini Opera are good songs. I think where this album suffers is the production: why didn't they record it at a real Studio with the Who Touring band?

Also I will second Ray Davies as an elder great. Working Man's Cafe is one of my favorite albums!

But, then again, how do you know PT anin't writing his best songs ever? Scoops 1, 2, and 3 only ever came out after the fact. How do you know there isn't a Scoop 5, 6, or 7 [already] in the works? Never underestimate true genius!

Oh, and by the way, Seasick Steve--made his debut in his 60s:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasick_Steve

not to piss anyone off but springsteen, dylan, ray davies, pete townshend and brian wilson were considered writing genius' in their heyday so of course that can still crank out something pretty good every now and then. mick and keith were never put on the same level as those guys in terms of writing