there is no overcoming illiteracy
So this car I got has Sirius radio, which I'm pretty new to. Every day I turn it on for 10 or 15 minutes while I'm dropping the kids off at a game or going to the hardware store. Mostly I listen to country -- they have eight country formats, twice as many formats as a traditional country song has chords. One of them is called "Outlaw Country," where the playing, relative to the more commercial formats, tends to be a little sloppy and out-of-tune. (My guess is that someone once told these guys, "You can't do that," and they misunderstood the "can't.") The lyrics to Outlaw Country songs are often boastful, as in "I'm more violent than you," or "I'm more messed-up and victimized by life than you," or "I am drunker than you," or any of the other things that ignorant people and slacker songwriters like to pat themselves on the back about. Needless to say, in another confirming instance of the Groucho Marx clubmember rule, "Outlaw Country" is the only satellite station that plays my music. So I listen in from time to time, to hear not only my songs but those of my friends (two of whom, Elizabeth Cook and Dallas Wayne, are DJ personalities as well).
This morning I heard a song that caught my ear because it sounded imitative of David Mead, both the singing style and the exact melody line. I like David Mead, and would rather hear someone aping him than some other random song, so I settled into the tune with interest. But it quickly devolved into an indigestible hash of "poetic" images cribbed from the Townes Van Zandt playbook, and crowned, midway through the song, by the outrageously jarring couplet: "I met Percy and married her in July/But if only to be closer to you, Caroline." Really -- "if"?
Turns out the singer was Mr. Ryan Adams of North Carolina. I've criticized this songwriter in the past, and don't intend stopping now, not as long he keeps popping up before me in the privacy of my car with his tone-deaf, noisily plagiaristic, unbelievably pretentious music. He's been in the game now for a good 15 years. Shouldn't he have something to show for all his age and experience? Well, he does seem to be getting better -- copy David Mead more, is my advice -- but not better enough. I think he should make an all-out effort to be good, or just accept that he's bad, and roll with it. There's a lot of bad singer-songwriters out there -- being bad is really the default mode after all; I've made records I'd just as soon haul off to Yucca Mountain. It's this being bad in such a mopey Iowa Writers Workshop way, compounded with an inattention to self-editing that amounts to contempt for his audience, topped with the horseshit public pose -- hair over eyes, cigarette in mouth, model in bed, gun on nightstand -- that rises to the level of a threat. It's musical acid rain. As a former North Carolinian, I am sincerely aghast and I apologize to the planet.
Speaking of threats, the admirers of Mr. Adams, who in the past have responded energetically to my expressed distaste for his droppings, might be interested to know that for every "shame-on-you" I receive from them, I get one private thank-you from someone who has played with, shared a stage with, or promoted Mr. Ryan Adams. I hope that if I've planted a seed of doubt in any of his fans' minds that they might give some of the subjects of his colonial misrule a try: Gram Parsons, Kris Kristofferson, Townes Van Zandt, Rodney Crowell, Guy Clark, the Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan. Not all those guys are to my exact taste, but at least they came up with something fresh and personal, and worked to make it sharper.
"I parked my car and turned the radio off/But if only to be farther from you, Ryan."
Or am I just ornery this morning?
29 comments
Hardware store my ass.
Stay ornery.
Yeah, that putz puts out a bad album every damn year, and Kelly Hogan hasn't put one out in a decade. The world is a cruel and unfair place.
The truth is onery...Would apply similar sentiment to Conor "Bright Eyes" Oberst...
Yucca Mountain does not accept waste -- see the following notice from the Office of Civilian Waste Management:
The President has made clear that Yucca Mountain is not an option for waste storage. The Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future, led by Congressman Lee Hamilton and General Brent Scowcroft, will conduct a comprehensive review of policies for managing the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle, and will provide recommendations for developing a safe, long-term solution to managing the Nation's used nuclear fuel and nuclear waste.
On March 3, 2010, the Department of Energy filed a motion with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to withdraw the license application for a high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain with prejudice.
Robbie you make me laugh and you make me think. Both are positive outcomes from listening to you rant or sing. I thought Ryan was actually getting better. Then again I stay "current" by DVRing Letterman every night and watching whatever musical act shows up there. That means "current" acts, the majority of them make me wonder "Are people really spending their money on this?" to the occassional brilliant new or old performer/band. Ryan Adams kind of stood out as at least worth watching/listening to, at least he sang in tune, the guitar tone was good, the song while not particularly memorable was good enough to keep me listening to the end, AND they were playing live. Conner Oberst also seemed more palatable to me the last time he was on. But hey stay ornery if it helps.
>> I get one private thank-you from someone who has played with, shared a stage with, or promoted Mr. Ryan Adams.
Yep. He's a grade-A asshole & fuckwit. In which he joins a veritable legion of assholes & fuckwits who have made great music.
But - he's also made some grade-F bullshit music as well.
I don't agree with your take on "Carolina Rain", but -hey- to each his own, eh?
Myself? I'll keep buying his records, loving the great ones, cursing the shit ones. And if he ever gets off his ass...I'll attend the shows, cursing the shit ones, enjoying the great ones. Rinse & repeat.
I learned long ago to keep my distance from the Artist (particularly the batshit crazy varietals) and do my best to enjoy the Art. Obviously yourself being an Artist who plies your trade in similar shark infested waters - you were never afforded such a luxury, particularly with Mr. Ryan. I'm NOT about to suggest that is "your loss", as the kids say, because obviously you've been exposed to some of the best & brightest on your journey.
But I might humbly suggest that those of us who have managed to enjoy parts of Mr. Ryan's artistic output with little or no exposure to his famous fuckwittery, do find your analysis of it as "illiteracy" a wee bit over the top. But, again - I've got a hunch from where that perspective was forged.
All good things to you, Robbie.
Did you ever hear about the time he told me (online) to fuck myself with a dirty stick after I suggested he needed an editor back in 2003, when he was still spending lots of time goofing around on internet message boards.
His full response to me:
"Fuck yourself with a dirty stick. If I wanted your opinion.....oh wait, I dont actually need it seeing as a fuck load of people disagree with you including most rock magazines, every ssold out theater house in europe and the united states and the two million dollar corner apartement you wouldnt bee able to buge past the doorman in. so fuck it. fuck the dirty stick asshole. its all yours bitch."
For what it's worth, it seems like he's mellowed out a lot lately. Which is kind of a bummer, since he used to be highly entertaining. Emphasis on "high."
I agree with Peanut Gallery. I can understand that as a performer, you care about how he treats musicians and promoters, etc. Not my problem just like the fact that a guy I work with is late getting me a spreadsheet and is going to ruin my weekend.
I have just about every album by the artists you list. Just by listing them, you seem to suggest that Adams is in that rarefied class. You seem to like him more than I do!
I do love your music and the blog!
Which mopey Iowa Writer's Workshop way do you mean? The Flannery O'Connor way, the Denis Johnson way, or the John Cheever way? Or is it the Kurt Vonnegut way?
I am soooo glad that you are an Artist and that you can just dot your feelings as you go. I thunk I first heard and saw you (high point, STL) way back when and you openned with an ELP cover (rock star amazing, I have and will never forget), I also xxxxxcccczzzzooooppp, ryan adams, which whom for me came about three days later of said show. I have seen you all a bunch since then and I can only wonder why your disdain for ryan exists, did he still your dog, did he break your wife, did he not cover one of your songs, or is he just some deet drop koko snot helpless hoochie mo that you can't seem to just let go of. I am so looking forward to seeing you in Berkley. CA, on April 8 and I just hope then you can present your version of Summer of 69 and for once and for all shut the hell up all those pansy ass RA fans that have open ears. I love ryan adams and I love robbie fulks, peace in my world
Me so ornery.
Not sure if Ryan Adams is as bad as you think musically but I am not a musician and he is a pretentious dick so I love to hear the criticism.
I have searched for this on the internet but never did find much out:
I listen to Outlaw Country quite a bit and did I once hear Mojo Nixon have some bitch or gripe with RF? Something to the effect of something Fulks said about Nixon? I definitely heard Mojo talk shit on Ryan Adams before.
Jealous much?
Nothing to show for his 15 years in the game? Ryan and his different projects have released 14 albums, multiple EPs, and he likely has as many in the vaults.
Elton John released an entire album inspired by Ryan's second solo release Heartbreaker. The current project of Phil Lesh and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead regularly cover a few of Ryan's songs.
Tim McGraw put "When the Stars Go Blue" on his second greatest hits volume helping it sell over 2 million copies. Ryan is likely still spending that money.
In 2006 Willie Nelson recruited Ryan and his current band to produce and back him on his album Songbird.
We're all aware of Ryan's questionable behavior on stage during his bouts with drug addiction, but IMO once he sobered up and formed a little rock and roll outfit called The Cardinals, he performed some of the best concerts of the past decade.
And as a current North Carolinian, I consider him one of our greatest imports.
"Jealous Much?" Probably not. Here's my two-cents on RA: I am occasionally intrigued by his records, and have been since "16 Days" worked its magic on me back in the last century. But on the whole, I don't find myself returning to his work. That is my un-scientific criteria for music: does it get back on the stez? Frankly, RA doesn't get pulled out much. RF obviously has his own standards (music geek that he is--and a seriously adenoidal geek at that) which RA does not meet. I don't know why Robbie keeps picking this scab. I just leave my Ryan Adams cds on the shelf.
CAM, you'd never know Ryan was from North Carolina, cause every time he stumbles into NYC to play a mediocre show with his mediocre band up here, he'd go on and on about how NYC was his "hometown".
His music is almost completely derivative, and he can't figure out if he's a "punk rocker" - hanging with Jesse Malin one particular year, a "Drinker" "Oh look! He's in Whiskeytown singing with a drawl - but wait! He's in the bars again with some model! He's yelling at the audience again!!! Oh that Ryan he's so crazy!"
Please, overall, the guy can't play his way out out of a paper bag. 'New York, NY' was a decent enough song, but you guys can keep him down there in NC. Also - this notation:
"The current project of Phil Lesh and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead regularly cover a few of Ryan's songs." -
that about sums up questionable taste in my opinion, cause those guys have had zero relevence to music since the 70's. Poor Jerry was playing Dead by Numbers up until the mid-90's, and they didn't know when to end the cash-touring-cow, and sadly, that killed the guy. If Robbie wants to make a comment on how Adams' lame music drives him up a wall, let him. I feel the same away about: Elton John, Tim McGraw - I mean seriously this guy you're referencing? It's great Adams is making a few bucks on the side. He's no Robert Pollard or anyone that's got integrity on the indie rock OR country circuit...
I don't consider myself an Elton John or a Tim McGraw fan, but this guy had the audacity to ask what Ryan had to show for his 15 years in the game. I'd say a helluva lot more than Robbie Fulks.
I noticed you didn't have anything to say about Willie Nelson's endorsement.
Also, anyone that references New York, New York, as a "decent enough song" clearly hasn't fully explored Ryan's catalog. The guy definitely has eclectic taste, but he's not in Whiskeytown one minute and not in the next. It's called being versatile.
And as far as the Grateful Dead having no relevance to music since the 1970's, tell that to the guys in Phish who grossed 37 million dollars from touring in 2009. Or the thousands upon thousands of music fans that trek all over the country to see the other Jam Band giants inspired by the music of the Grateful Dead. No relevance? Maybe not inside your bubble.
Jam Band giants--hahahahahaha!!!!!!
Financial success--this is the same argument I use to convince
people that ke$ha is an important artist. And it's working!
McDonald's sells more hamburgers (shakes too) than Edzo's, so obviously McDonald's has better product, is that the logic I'm seeing up there? I think there must be a bell curve that shows mediocrity getting the most popularity while the truly great and the complete crap occupy the ends of the curve. Matters of taste are subjective by nature and using revenue as a yardstick may be convenient, but it's hardly the last word. If all it is is a commodity then the financial barometer is A-OK, but trying to factor in any intrinsic value of art is difficult. The repeated listens can be one way, but then I want to look into the motives for those returns to the piece. Do you get anything new out of another listen, read, viewing, or is it purely a nostalgic reverie?
As far as RA goes, I find lowest common denominator entertainment to be banal at best, insulting at worst.
I have to wonder if Ryan looked like Elizabeth Cook IF your blog would have ever been written?
Note to CAM: Popularity does not equal talent. Because you've sold a lot of records does not mean you are good. Get it? Not that Ryan is actually selling any records, mind you...
The above McDonalds analogy is dead-on. 28 billion served does not mean they've earned their five star rating.
Also, you seem really focused on the Elton, Willie, Tim aspect of all this, as if that makes Ryan any more palatable. I can't rally speak for Tim McGraw, but for the most part, Elton John and Willie Nelson are washed up has-beens. Wrote plenty of great songs, sure, some absolutely classic albums, but haven't done much to impress me in ages. Heck, Willie squeeks out a half-assed record more often than Ryan these days. And while I appreciate Elton's willingness to champion young talent, he's not what I'd call a tastemaker. And don't get me started on anything related to the Dead. Jeez.
My trajectory with Ryan: Heard the first Whiskeytown record when it was in advance form on Mood Food Records several months before even being released. Thought it was decent, in a derivative sort of way. Liked the next few Whiskeytown records a lot and enjoyed some of Heartbreaker. Live shows always frustrating. Been lost trying to figure out his music ever since. Love that he wants to follow his muse, but the dude really does need an editor (or someone to tell him how truly crap most of his shit is).
Thanks for keeping the pressure on Ryan Adams, Robbie. I agree with your assessment of his muscic and he truly is a turd. I went to see Delbert McClinton a few years ago and Adams opened the show. He was spectacularly bad, playing most of his set with his back to the audience.
Speaking of bad lyrics, can you--or anyone--explain the Avett Brothers popularity to me?
Well done on basing an entire post on a single album inlay and the word "if". You should be proud - you have little else.
Tempting to go to his Carnegie Hall show (how did that happen...has Adams rented the place with his Tim McGraw lucre?) just to have the chance to scream "Summer of '69" in such a grand space.
Sorry about Irene, Robbie. Please come back soon.
Just stumbled across this after reading some show reviews for Ryan Adam's new tour, where your blog was linked by someone else who doesn't care for RA's music (not everyone does... just like every other art form). Here's my thing... every artist has those who appreciate their work and those who don't. I constantly seek music that makes me feel a connection to what's being said and that's, to me, what makes an artist great. His work is strong enough to create a stir, become part of the debate and be placed in front of the masses so they can judge it themselves. Obviously, a lot of people don't agree with you, based upon record sales. BTW... who the hell are you? I've never heard of you and thanks to your pretentiousness, I'll never give your music that chance. Oh, the irony in this makes me smile.
I don't understand how you view RA as a "tone-deaf, noisily plagiaristic, unbelievably pretentious" artist. Please point out one example of plagiarism... and if he was tone-deaf, he's an even greater artist. A tone-deaf songwriter that sells millions of records and is hailed by multitudes as the greatest songwriter of his generation (again... who are you, Mr. I Never Heard of You?). Pretentious? Dude, he's a successful musician and your blog as just as pretentious as anything I've seen this week. Sounds like Solieri crying over Mozart's talent, all over again. Keep making yourself proud there, whatever your name is.
I'm here the same way as Noneya and totally agree with him. Never heard of you and will never seek out your music, guy-I've-never-heard-of.
Robbie,
You should really be ashamed of yourself. Grow up and just stick to writing music. I understand you may not like his music. But why deride and artist who is a great musician and truly cares about putting out great art? Your music is fine, but lets face it, you've put out some duds. Every artist who strives for greatness has. He is a phenomenal guitar player, singer. And if you think he is not good lyricist, listen to "in my time of need". Also give his new album a listen. Glyn Johns did an amazing job. And to be honest, it sounds way better than anything you have ever done. Try a little less hating, and more time on your art. It only makes me not want to see you if you come through my town. Which is a shame. Next time, think before you blog about a beloved artist who has made a great impact on music, whether you like him or not. And frankly, I'd cool the arrogance. Be humble, because you're missing a lot out there. I wish I never read this blog, because you have lost a fan.
ps. You think he is a plagiarist? Everything you have done is COMPLETELY in the genre and style of the writers you have mentioned. And truly, who the hell is going to remember your songs? I guarantee you Ryan Adams will go on to give people joy while you become a bitter old man who fades into relative obscurity. Maybe if you were polite, and humble, you two could have shared music together.
I think people having the right to enjoy any artist they want to really frightens Mr. Fulks.
I would think touring Sweden over and over would get a little old.