Robert Christgau: Dean of American Rock Critics

Consumer Guide:
  User's Guide
  Grades 1990-
  Grades 1969-89
  And It Don't Stop
Books:
  Book Reports
  Is It Still Good to Ya?
  Going Into the City
  Consumer Guide: 90s
  Grown Up All Wrong
  Consumer Guide: 80s
  Consumer Guide: 70s
  Any Old Way You Choose It
  Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough
Xgau Sez
Writings:
  And It Don't Stop
  CG Columns
  Rock&Roll& [new]
  Rock&Roll& [old]
  Music Essays
  Music Reviews
  Book Reviews
  NAJP Blog
  Playboy
  Blender
  Rolling Stone
  Billboard
  Video Reviews
  Pazz & Jop
  Recyclables
  Newsprint
  Lists
  Miscellany
Bibliography
NPR
Web Site:
  Home
  Site Map
  Contact
  What's New?
    RSS
Carola Dibbell:
  Carola's Website
  Archive
CG Search:
Google Search:
Twitter:

Xgau Sez

These are questions submitted by readers, and answered by Robert Christgau. New ones will appear in batches every third Tuesday.

To ask your own question, please use this form.

November 20, 2024

And It Don't Stop.

Thoughts on Kamala and the election, Elton and listening time, Young Thug and trap, bohemia (what dat?) Billy Bragg and Woody Guthrie, and genius (again: what dat?).

[Q] Dear Bob, I understand that you want someone to ask you a question about the election, so try this: Any takes on the election, Robert? P.S. I'd rather you not include your ongoing mea culpa for admiring Harris's articulateness, which you now recognize might have lost voters who thought she sounded too educated. Get over it. It wasn't your fault. -- Carola Dibbell, Manhattan

[A] First of all, Harris was one of the most fluent prose stylists ever to run as a plausible presidential candidate—which despite her own considerable oratorical skills doesn't mean she was as impressive a speaker as Lincoln, Obama, Washington it says here, or the fireside FDR or as purely brilliant intellectually as at the very least Madison, who did after all play a major role in conceiving the Constitution we say we fight for and the Trumpers hope to wreck. She was also arguably the handsomest, especially if dumb-ass Warren Harding's square-jawed thing didn't turn you on. But what both impressed me and led me astray was what the polls told us was the 50-50 race it clearly wasn't—at least not in the electoral college. I was confident ordinary voters saw her brains and looks as an attractive positive, which they clearly didn't. On the contrary, let's specify the obvious. She was Black and female and both cost her. Sexism and racism. Definitive? Maybe not, and we'll never know how big they were for sure. (It is also worth bearing in mind, just as a quirky oddity if you prefer, that what I'd estimate were the two most intelligent plausible presidential candidates of my and your lifetimes were both of part-African heritage.)

But in addition I'll note that my biggest personal political gaffe is that I never glimpsed the economic factors I have no doubt cost Harris big because that seems to be how it worked all over the pan-Covid world. About that I was ignorant, to my and so many of my allies' disgrace. I've also been paying more mind than I ever thought I would to what is now, evocatively, labeled bro culture. As someone who would always rather read, listen to music, or both than resort to YouTube and/or the podcast world, I ignore both the way I avoid Rush and Kansas reissues, living without that market share, which for me is negligible economically—but not, it would seem, electorally. Now those motherfuckers scare me.

Although I've long followed electoral politics in considerable detail, I don't have the expertise or vanity to make any prognostications here. I'm glad MSNBC is operative because I find it comforting—especially for the nonce Lawrence O'Donnell, whose detailed firsthand knowledge of DC in particular I've been finding informative and on occasion comforting.

[Q] You reviewed a lot of Elton John albums throughout the '70s, arguably his creative peak, especially in America. Then you seem to lose interest at the same time his record sales start to slip, even though at one point you state that you're 'rooting for him.' He's certainly churned out a lot of patchy, uninspired pop albums throughout the '80s and '90s. However, since 2001 he did release some interesting albums such as Songs From The West Coast, The Union (with Leon Russell) and The Diving Board which harked back to his early Americana period. He and Bernie have written some great songs here. Interested to know your thoughts. -- Martin Taylor, Manchester

[A] So you really think I should be searching out conceivable B plusses a quarter century old by someone I like and indeed respect but don't care about very deeply? Do the math if you like; I'll just estimate. Say Dean's Lists averaging well over 50 a year for 50-plus years. That's more than 2500, maybe 1800-plus hours worth of listening—at 12 hours a day, over half a year's worth played just once apiece, total by Elton John two. If a guest requested something, sure; maybe a best-of, I'm a good host. Would the right EJ song sound good in a movie? Sure. Do I have many other things to do with my ears? You bet. So long ago, after many sub-B plus albums, I stopped trying. Might I have missed something? Of course. Does this worry me? Not a whit.

[Q] Hey Bob, how have you enjoyed Young Thug's latest album, Business is Business? I've been waiting patiently for your review, but I know that his music can take a while to get accustomed to, even for experienced listeners and longtime fans. Personally, I think it's pretty good. It strikes a balance between being more meaningful than So Much Fun and more exciting than Punk, ultimately yielding quality entertainment. The tracks that qualify as engaging, in order of appearance: "Gucci Grocery Bag," "Cars Bring Me Out," "Abracadabra," "Went Thru It," "Oh U Went," "Want Me Dead," "Mad Dog," and "Jonesboro"—neither track tacked onto Metro's version would make the cut. One excellent song in particular puts an inconspicuously spare Dr. Luke beat to good use, and although Business has its share of expendable tracks, it's got better production and less fluff than his first two officials. Am I missing something from the bigger picture? -- Cameron Dempsey, Bathurst, New Brunswick

[A] Until your note I wasn't aware that Business Is Business existed. I'll check it out—in fact am streaming it as I write, and though it sounds OK that's not all that promising an omen. Trap has always been off to the side of my active musical interests and as well as those of most of my far-flung advisory network. Called "Gucci Grocery Bag" up on Spotify just now. Sounds OK but less than compelling so far.

[Q] I'm not sure how to understand your definition of Bohemian culture. Is it a proletarian culture on the fringe of the bourgeoisie that refuses to stick to conventions? -- Jim McEwan, London

[A] I've been writing about the history of bohemia for decades—my Book Reports collection has a whole section called "Bohemia Versus Hegemony." "Proletarian" is too Marxian and working-class a term, but it's certainly relevant. The two best books I've found are Malcolm Cowley's Exile's Return and Jerrold Seigel's Bohemian Paris. See my book pieces "Bohemias Lost and Found," "Constructed Social Scenes," "The Village People," and "Inventing Punk," all on my site.

[Q] In a fairly recent Xgau Sez you mentioned one of my favorite albums ever, Mermaid Avenue, in relation to a Wilco question—and it struck me that as far as I recall it was the first time you'd made any reference to Billy Bragg since around when volume two came out nearly 25 years ago(!). Having treated myself to his celebratory Roaring Forty box set last year, I wanted to ask if you had any favorites of his, and whether you'd kept up to date with any of his post-England, half-English output: in particular the sublime Handyman Blues? I hope this finds you both well, and thank you for all you do. -- Fred Hodson, Suffolk, England

[A] Sorry, but if you look at Bragg's Consumer Guide entry on my site you'll see that only one of his non-Wilco albums got even a B plus and, right, most weren't reviewed at all. This bodes ill for the Bragg-Xgau interface. And though Woody Guthrie himself does OK on my site, if you'll read the Voice essay on Guthrie (good to begin with but substantially improved I'd say in the rewrite I included in Is It Still Good to Ya?) I have my reservations about him as a musician too. I will check out the Bragg album you recommend, but I've never thought he was much of a recording artist per se. Both he and his obvious exemplar are wordsmiths first, and that very often impinges on their listenability.

[Q] People use the term genius to talk about musicians. You recently referred to Gram Parsons as such. I thought "Yeah, I guess he was." So how do you define genius in pop music? And who are some choices who you consider geniuses that might surprise your readers? -- Dave W, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania

[A] Defining genius is obviously impossible, but say this all-purpose exaggeration can encompass combinations of originality, productivity, acuity, and the equally undefinable beauty. These calls are best made spontaneously. Is, to choose a strictly random instance, the writer Carola Dibbell a genius? I personally would very much hesitate to say so in print if you hadn't given me the chance, but often I just look in her direction when she's merely my wife and think so and certainly I would happily argue that her sole novel The Only Ones qualifies as some kind of genius. Sifting on an impulse through the A shelf of my CDs, I say to myself Abba maybe if a fabrication can count, Cannonball Adderley some might say, King Sunny Ade absofuckinglutely, Adele millions of her adoring fans might well say, Terry Allen some of the few who've heard of him might conceivably say, Mose Allison some might say, the Allman Brothers their adoring fanbase might say, and now I'll stop in the hope that that's confusing enough for you.

October 16, 2024

And It Don't Stop.

At the Apollo, in the library, ABBA reconsidered (briefly), the end considered (also briefly, and not the one involving the Doors), thoughts on music writing, and a reading list.

[Q] The other day I was reminiscing about the first time I saw a show by George Clinton & the P-Funk All-Stars (some of whom appeared on Parliament's "Flash Light," one of the first 45s I ever bought). It was 1983 at the Tulsa Theater (then known as the Brady Theater, changed in 2019 when they decided it was bad form to be named after a Klansman and a prominent segregationist), and I had a great time; among other things, it was my first exposure to "Maggot Brain," which completely blew me away. But one thing in particular I remember about the concert was being one of the few white people there (in contrast to a P-Funk show I caught decades later at the storied Cain's Ballroom, where the audience was about two-thirds white and most of the Black attendees were about my age or older). So . . . I was wondering if you'd had any similar experiences of being an ethnic minority at a live concert, especially early in your career or even as a teenager, and if you had any reflections on this. -- Rob Tomshany, Tulsa

[A] As a '50s jazz fan who greatly preferred Black musicians to white ones, I was still often in the racial majority at jazz clubs. But as someone always aware that Black popular music coexisted more or less equally in aesthetic terms with even Beatles-era "rock" (the Supremes, hey), circa 1964 I started patronizing 125th Street's Apollo Theater, where I was seldom if ever the only white patron but was almost always in a distinct minority. In 1967 I published a substantial Wilson Pickett piece based on the Apollo experience you can find on my site and in Any Old Way You Choose It, though why the final sentence has an "I" where there should be a "me" I do not understand.

[Q] In my early teens a librarian at the public library of my hometown in Sweden showed me Rock Albums of the '70s. That was my entry to lots A-album music since then. Thanks! I also had lots of fun reading your sarcastic reviews of ABBA, but did you know Jens Lekman once said he saw "Dancing Queen" as one of his favorite songs, actually a sad, tragic song, although ABBA "turned it into a stupid disco song." Can you sometimes relate like that to music you don't really like? And what is your relation to libraries? I happen to like their service, and work at one now. -- Joakim Westerlunc, Linkoping, Sweden

[A] a) I love libraries, which made my life as a writer possible, and have been donating generously to the New York Public Library since I started itemizing my taxes circa 1966 (the American Friends Service Committee has been my other fave charity over the years). b) Though the Abba reviews in the '70s Consumer Guide book are pretty funny all things considered, I really have softened on them. A 1994 Australian movie called Muriel's Wedding was decisive in this. A real "pure pop" artifact. Have no doubt Lekman feels the same.

[Q] Hello. I remember (or maybe misremember) that you'd changed your thoughts on ABBA in recent times. I base this on a comment made when being interviewed by Rob Sheffield on your 2015 memoir (again, if I'm wrong, I'm wrong). Like your recent review of a Queen compilation, would you consider ABBA bestseller, Gold? I'm not a fan personally but my nan was so I do have some attachment to their music. -- James McKean, Liverpool

[A] See above. Don't know what kind of an A their GH might end up and don't have any other reason to nail the details, but an A minus or conceivably full A would seem right. A plus, highly unlikely.

[Q] Do you support the legalization of euthanasia? -- Momo, Hawaii

[A] There's a difference between euthanasia, which isn't legal anywhere in the U.S., and physician-assisted suicide, which I'm for although it's only legal in 10 states plus the District of Columbia, I would expect only when decedent-in-waiting is capable of requesting it of his/her own free will. I can imagine favoring euthanasia under some circumstances. But to me it's obvious that specifics and safeguards would have to be built into any law legalizing it, which would inevitably complicate things.

[Q] As a young person that loves music and is very opinionated, I want to review albums and be a critic. What words of advice would you give to a young writer, or what advice would you give to your younger self? -- Reagan Bussey, Starkville, Mississippi

[A] First, don't kid yourself about the raw appeal of your prose. Be relatively confident that some people out there enjoy your writing AS WRITING. Second, don't fib about how much you yourself like or dislike the music in question, and even more important, why you feel the way you do. If the reasons aren't vivid or interesting or significant or striking or of general social/aesthetic usefulness, review something else.

[Q] What are some of your favorite classic novels (or novels in general)? I have had a lot more free time recently to get into books when I hadn't before and would love some A+ recommendations. -- Young Reader, Ireland

[A] I constructed a 100 fave novels list in 2007, when, let me remind you, I was 65 as you still aren't. Many of the top 10 I'd read after I'd turned 30 and a few of them post-40. The pre-30 ones I'll mark with an asterisk and add that I wrote about several of these books in Going Into the City.

  1. Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie*
  2. Christina Stead, The Man Who Loved Children*
  3. Marcel Proust, Remembrance of Things Past*
  4. Ousmane Sembene, God's Bits of Wood
  5. V.S. Naipaul, A House for Mr. Biswas
  6. Norman Rush, Mating
  7. Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms*
  8. Alejo Carpentier, Reasons of State
  9. Margaret Drabble, The Millstone*
  10. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera

September 18, 2024

And It Don't Stop.

Consumer Guide music discovery, some subjects for further research, dancing to "Africa Dances," John and Faith Hubley, the hottest young male newcomer in the biz, and Geoffrey Stokes remembered.

[Q] I was wondering if you'd share how you choose the reviews for the Consumer Guide these days. You've mentioned that you don't get sent a lot of promos anymore. Do you rely on recommendations from friends, playlists, podcasts? -- Jim Testa, Weehawken, New Jersey.

[A] First, all caps because I've said it several times before: I DON'T LISTEN TO PODCASTS. The main reason being that I spend so much ear time listening to music, both for pleasure and for work. How I sort out Consumer Guide records is as it's long been—Spotify, somewhat dubious sound quality and all, means there's no need to send me physical product, although it does give anyone who does so a big leg up, because I play anything likely-looking as well as some but not all of the indie obscurities I still do get in the mail—that's how I discovered Claudia Gibson's Fields of Chazy a few months ago, although it's far more common for me to quit after two or three tracks. And I always scan the Pitchfork and Rolling Stone review sections. Plus I gossip with other music lovers amateur and professional: my sister Georgia for one, and it was Rob Sheffield who turned me on to Rosie Tucker some months ago. Most important, however, is that although he's not on my nonexistent masthead And It Don't Stop does have an overseer: my much-younger-than-me old friend and nearby neighbor Joe Levy, the great editor who persuaded me to give this Substack thing a try and is forever emailing me with tips without which I'd have trouble making my nine full reviews plus five briefs quota every month. Levy made And It Don't Stop happen and thereby changed my old age. How long it can last remains to be seen—I am truly not getting any younger. But I am in his debt, and so are my readers.

[Q] Obviously, you're a fan of great unique female voices. Dionne Warwick, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald each have numerous albums on your website reviewed with high recommendations. So I'm curious why you've never reviewed any Peggy Lee or Dinah Washington albums. Surely there must be an album by each of them that you'd unequivocally recommend. Both crossed over from pop to jazz effortlessly and always sounded original and fabulous. My own favorites would be Peggy Lee's Black Coffee and Beauty and the Beat, and Dinah's Dinah Washington Sings the Fats Waller Songbook. You would love them all. -- Ted Ravern, Astoria, New York

[A] First of all, I don't put Warwick in Holiday's or Fitzgerald's class—take a look at my reviews and note that the Warwick picks are basically redundant greatest-hits albums I assume without doing the research were reviewed at different times. Second, I'd almost certainly add Dolly Parton to this short list, exactly how I won't figure out for free. Third, I was just mentioning Dinah Washington as a Subject for Further Research in a recent Xgau Sez and take this note as seconding that emotion. Fourth, checked my CD shelves and found a 2004 reissue of Black Coffee, the only Peggy Lee there though I bet a few are I've tucked away in my vinyl. Promise to play it at breakfast or dinner soon.

[Q] Hi Bob, I wanna thank you for putting me yet again onto a great African band (Africa Negra this time, with their second compilation). I discovered so much great African music through you I feel like I owe you a statue or something (will ask the city of Brussels if they're interested). So few music critics delve into and discuss African music. Why do you think that is? The language barrier seems like a very lame excuse, since in music the form is the content, as Borges says somewhere (I believe). What are we gonna have to do without you? All my best and hope you're doing well. -- Arthur Hendrikx, Brussels, Belgium.

[A] When I was a young jazz fan just out of college in 1962 I was already aware that most of my favorite music was made by African-Americans. So even back then I made it my occasional business to try to learn more about Africa. My research was sporadic to say the least, and I never became a big fan of Miriam Makeba, then the best-known African musician. But I never forgot that truism. As I've written before, the turning point came when I drove over to Brooklyn to have dinner with John Storm Roberts, a Brit who grew up in Kenya who was covering salsa for me, and he told me he'd released a superb DIY compilation of African pop hits called Africa Dances, which is still findable on Discogs. I loved and reviewed it instantly. By the late '70s other African music was being released in England, with King Sunny Ade an early beneficiary, and soon it was an vaguely defined subgenre, which as you say I've always kept my eyes and ears on. But what's struck me over the years is that seldom are lyrics a comprehensible part of the package, and also that the woman I married, who heard Africa Dances at the same time I did, is a much more skilled and enthusiastic dancer than I am, which in a rhythm music is a major factor. So there's a sense in which Carola augments my enthusiasm whenever she sashays around the dining room as an African album comes on.

[Q] Your recent review of Louis Armstrong and Oscar Peterson reminded me of the latter's contributions to two of my favorite short films—Begone Dull Care, with Peterson backing abstract animation by his fellow Canadians Norman McLaren and Evelyn Lambart, and The Tender Game, with Peterson accompanying Ella Fitzgerald on "Tenderly" in the service of a cartoonishly arty love story. Then I got to wondering if you'd checked out the work of John and Faith Hubley, the married animators of The Tender Game (and parents of Yo La Tengo co-founder Georgia). Besides Fitzgerald and Peterson, other musicians who worked on their films include Dizzy Gillespie (several times), Lionel Hampton, Benny Carter, Harry "Sweets" Edson, and Quincy Jones. They even recorded Louis Armstrong (!) and Frank Sinatra (!!) along with Fitzgerald and Peterson for an ill-fated version of Finian's Rainbow. The Hubleys also used recordings of their children at play (including Georgia) as cartoon soundtracks.

[A] These all sound like good movies and I'll try to keep an eye out for them. As for the Hubleys, the only film of theirs in my recall memory is Moonbird, a basically humorous 1959 kiddie animation that completely charmed me when it came out. I believe I saw it as a short at the Fifth Avenue Cinema. Even at 17 I was a complete sucker for little ones like those who dominate this film. Regrettably, they do not include Georgia, who was not born yet. To which I should add that it was my pleasure to see Georgia and Ira (and James McNew too) at a house show last Tuesday, where everyone in the audience paid for their seat by writing a rather large check to the Harris-Walz ticket.

[Q] In your review of Zach Bryan's The Great American Bar Scene, you comment: "But losing his money to a bookie or calculating the distance between his beating heart and the bullshit on late-night TV, noting that the only outlaw he ever met was in the Marines with him, inviting John Mayer onboard as if he's doing him a favor although Springsteen is obviously a different story, wondering whether God is a person or the sound of laughter in a place he's yet to find, he's self-evidently a country singer who'll be around so long he'll eventually be too big for the category." My question is specific to the Springsteen remark ("obviously a different story")—what IS that story? Because when I saw this collaboration I was struck—Zach Bryan is a relatively newcomer (and yes, a talented writer) with six records in the last five years. I'm puzzled by the collaboration and wondered if you had any insight. -- Michelle Barnett, Ann Arbor

[A] Without an iota of reporting to back me up, I would assume that at this juncture newly crowned Jerry Garcia fill-in Mayer can use an extra shot shot of the hottest young male newcomer in the biz and might even have angled for one. I also assume that superstar Springsteen is both impressed and just plain decent enough to be happy indeed to hitch his wagon up with Bryan's when it's convenient for both.

[Q] You had the pleasure of working with Geoffrey Stokes at the VV. As far as I can tell, there was no one else like him at the Voice—maybe even at any publication. This guy wrote about music, the press, hard news, sports, and food! (Pretty sure Liebling didn't write about music.) What kind of guy was he and do you have any interesting stories about him? I just think the guy doesn't get his due. -- Steven Ward, Jackson, Mississippi

[A] Stokes was one of my best friends at the Voice. He lived just a few blocks from me on East 10th Street and as the generalist you describe liked to say: "You want a ham sandwich? I'll give you a ham sandwich. You want cheese on that? I'll put cheese on it." Politically he was a staunch left liberal with no radical pretensions—I believe he worked in city government for a while. We once spent half an hour rewriting his The Phlorescent Leech and Eddie review so that we could legitimately obey the silly heds-must-have-a-verb rule so as to call it "Flo and Eddie Flow and Eddy." Eventually he moved to Vermont, and by sheer luck I decided to give him a call from my sister's summer place. He'd had cancer and told me he was headed down to Boston the next day for surgery that would fix him up. Instead it killed him, making me the last Voicer to exchange words with him. He was deeply missed and for some of us remains so.

August 21, 2024

And It Don't Stop.

Howard Keel-Tommy James-Springsteen connection explained, the Jazz King of Corona (and everywhere else), Louis Jordan, Dylan gone electric-acoustic-whatever, Wes Goodwin remembered, Honky Tonkin'.

[Q] Eons ago, your review of Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run closed with two quotes from Greil and Jenny Marcus. I've always wondered what they meant. Could you (if you recall) interpret them: "In closing, two comments from my friends the Marcuses. Jenny: 'Who does he think he is, Howard Keel?' (That's a put-down.) Greil: 'That is as good as "I Think We're Alone Now."' (That's not.)" -- David Cohen, Rockville, Maryland

[A] First of all, let the record show that I was a Springsteen fan before Jon Landau himself--saw him at Columbia's behest at Max's Kansas City in 1973 and assigned none other than Carola Dibbell an early review, than there is no greater compliment I can offer. Howard Keel was a big-voiced Broadway star whose approach to singing basically shared a certain grandiosity with Springsteen's. "I Think We're Alone Now" was an excellent hit by the somewhat unfairly forgotten Tommy James and the Shondells. James wrote a memoir called Me, the Mob, and Music that's basically about what it says it's about, centering on the notoriously gangster-not-gangsta-ridden Roulette label, where he scored his hits.

[Q] Hi, Bob: Recently back from a sojourn to Memphis, TN, where I greatly enjoyed visiting the Stax Museum and Sun Studio. So I got to wondering which music history landmarks you've enjoyed visiting and would recommend, if there are any spots still on your bucket list, and if you've ever gained any insights into your R&R heroes' creative processes thru "being there." -- Brad Whitehead, Columbia, South Carolina

[A] Without question my favorite music history site is located a few miles from where I grew up: the Louis Armstrong House Museum on 107th Street in Corona Queens, only a few blocks--not that I knew this then--from where I went to junior high school on 104th Street right near the 7 train IRT stop. But I've enjoyed visiting New Orleans several times and wonder if I'll ever get there again, which I well might. As for my to-do list, I'm a little old for that now but would certainly explore whatever Beatles shrines there are in Liverpool if I were to find myself there.

More Ancient