“It used to irritate me when the media portrayed me as a sixties artist. I never wanted for a second to be a sixties artist but an artist for all time. If it’s not for all time, it’s not worth doing. My mind works in a timeless way, and anyway I’m not good at dates, ages, names, and numbers. Everything to me is timeless. 1976 might as well be 2090 – it’s all the same to me.”
– Bob Dylan
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| Superchunk |
By far the largest music genre in my collection, pop/rock began at the birth of ‘50s rock n’ roll and evolved right up to today’s pop/rock which can trace its roots back to
Buddy Holly,
Chuck Berry, and
Little Richard. For seven decades, pop/rock has taken all comers regardless of race or gender including artists and sounds from other genres (so long as it’s a hit, draws a crowd, and pays the bills). While pop/rock has had a good, long run, it may finally die when the last of the remaining big three- Bob Dylan,
Paul McCartney, and
Paul Simon- passes on to rock and roll heaven. Then perhaps we can close the book on what was originally intended to be disposable music for teenagers. It wasn’t all good, of course, but the best of pop/rock (especially in those first 15 years) changed lives and revolutionized the world.
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| Jonny Fritz |
In Bulgaria, the people’s peaceful overthrow of totalitarianism began when one person in the middle of the night spray-painted “John Lennon” on a Communist monument in the center of the capital- and the rest is history. A few years later, when their march to freedom was in doubt, Bulgarians turned to the Beatles’ “Let It Be” to inspire their fellow citizens and see their country through to democracy- which they eventually did. What started as fun music for American kids in malt shops soon grew (thanks to Dylan) into something bigger, and so-called pop/rock has since become an international symbol for individual freedom (at least for people of my graying generation and older).
I’ve had an idea for a story or a movie in which a hostile alien intelligence contacts Earth and tells us that unless our species can write and perform a new, awesome song within 30 days, then our planet will be destroyed. Since there is evidence the alien intelligence is pretty savvy, one mean critic, and may have heard
Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” from Voyager’s golden disc, three of Earth’s best living pop/rock artists- Bob Dylan,
Paul McCartney, and
Paul Simon- are selected to compose the most important song ever written. Each of the big three is permitted to bring along their own team of backing musicians and- after McCartney and Simon eschew
Ringo Starr and Art Garfunkel respectively- Dylan shows up with Artie and Ringo in his own band (along with
Eric Clapton)- and then the real drama begins.
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| January 30, 1969: The Beatles’ last public performance |
Not to say this is my end of the world, “last dance” mix (although listening to it now I’m pleasantly surprised at how many of these songs would definitely make the final cut). How would you choose to spend those 30 days while a collective of musicians led by Dylan, McCartney, and Simon was locked away on an air force base somewhere trying to create the world’s greatest song in order to preserve life as we know it? And no, I’m not expecting anyone from Russia, China, Iran, or North Korea to sneak out in the middle of the night, disturb the silence, and risk imprisonment, torture, and/or death to spray-paint “Lady Gaga”, “Billy Eilish”, or whoever the flavor of the month is as a rallying cry for freedom. Long live the masters of pop/rock. Here are some of my favorites. Enjoy- and Happy Father’s Day!
“If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it ‘Chuck Berry’.”
– John Lennon
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| Chuck Berry |
“Well, Chuck Berry is the first singer-songwriter I know of.”
– Roy Orbison
01. Bob Dylan – “All Along the Watchtower” (1967)
02. Hellogoodbye – “Here (In Your Arms)” (2006)
03. The Knickerbockers – “One Track Mind” (1966)
04. Toots Thielemans, John Barry – “Theme from ‘Midnight Cowboy’” (1969)
05. The Beatles – “Yesterday” (1965)
06. Leonard Cohen – “Hallelujah” (1984)
07. Loudon Wainwright III – “Bein’ a Dad” (1997)
08. Yusuf / Cat Stevens – “All Kinds of Roses” (2009)
09. Queen & David Bowie – “Under Pressure” (1981)
10. Lou Reed – “Perfect Day” (1972)
11. Looking Glass – “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” (1972)
12. Superchunk – “Everything at Once” (2010)
13. The Dictators – “California Sun” (1975)
14. Jonny Fritz – “I Love Leaving” (2016)
15. Simon & Garfunkel – “America” (1968)
16. The Beatles – “Let It Be” (1970)
17. Coldplay – “Yellow” (2000)
18. Dinosaur Jr. – “Watch the Corners” (2012)
19. Simon & Garfunkel – “Mrs. Robinson” (1968)
20. Superchunk – “Learned to Surf” (2010)
21. Simon & Garfunkel – “The Sound of Silence” (1965)
22. Bob Seger – “Against the Wind” (1980)
23. Bob Dylan – “Lay Lady Lay” (1969)
24. Kansas – “Dust in the Wind” (1977)
25. The Troggs – “Wild Thing” (1966)
“All of Chuck's children are out there playing his licks.”
– Bob Seger, Rock and Roll Never Forgets
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| Chuck Berry and President Bill Clinton |
“Chuck Berry is a musical scientist who discovered a cure for the blues.”
– Anthony Kiedis, Red Hot Chili Peppers
“Roll over Beethoven, and tell Tchaikovsky the news.”
– Chuck Berry
 |
| Chuck Berry (1926 – 2017) |
Listen to the playlist on Spotify...
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