tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917776121387891817.post4226705564025772827..comments2024-03-14T03:22:07.790-04:00Comments on Stirred, Straight Up, with a Twist: Pop! It's Diana-miteTJBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09180041865489453236noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917776121387891817.post-1476165257885999002015-03-26T14:27:54.288-04:002015-03-26T14:27:54.288-04:00A very astute observation. I'm not sure how I ...A very astute observation. I'm not sure how I missed this the first time around.Yankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06309872309564393384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917776121387891817.post-73541315256789583412015-03-26T14:22:52.309-04:002015-03-26T14:22:52.309-04:00A great and thoughtful post. Of course!
I'm s...A great and thoughtful post. Of course!<br /><br />I'm so glad I got to see Miss Ross perform live. Now all I have to see is YOU live and my life will be complete!Thombeauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14610129742797260253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917776121387891817.post-43415091478309323002013-05-13T19:48:00.357-04:002013-05-13T19:48:00.357-04:00Diana Ross is The Queen of Pop/Soul, pure and simp...Diana Ross is The Queen of Pop/Soul, pure and simple. She is the very best of the best genres of American music. She has Aretha's sass, Eartha's & Nancy Wilson's kittenish sensuality, Josephine Baker's flair, the best phrasing this side of Ella Fitzgerald, etc., etc., etc.<br />While Miss Ross' voice and style & cannot be categorized by those looking to diminish her talents, hers is very easy to describe. Diana Ross is, basically, a soul singer with a pop/jazz delivery-period. Listen to ANY of her songs, and you'll hear the gospel licks & inflections, used most effectively at the beginnings and ends of phrases. <br />There's a reason why she & Miss Franklin record & perform each others' music so often:they're two sides of the same gospel coin, Franklin more raw, Ross more refined. When Ross recorded soul classics, they became massive pop and r&b chart hits. When she recorded Miss Franklin's "I Love You(Call Me), Miss Ross' version was nominated, along with Miss Franklin's, for a Grammy Award, though, neither artist won.<br />When Miss Ross recorded the "LSTB" soundtrack, she was surrounded by many of Miss Holiday's former sidemen, many of whom, it is said, applauded her work after takes because she was so good. It should, however, be noted that the released version of the soundtrack is not the original. According to Suzanne DePasse, on the original version of the soundtrack, Miss Ross "sounded more like Billie than Billie", which caused Mr. Gordy to panic, fearing that Miss Ross would be too closely associated with jazz(It was that good.), especially if the film flopped, so, he had Miss Ross record a second, more pop-friendly version of the album. This version was released, and the rest is jazz/pop music history.<br />Those who tend to dismiss Ross in the face of Franklin & Holiday do so mostly out of a necessity to ALWAYS see black women as tragic figures, "mammy" figures, and any woman who dares to break that mold, be it Ross, Carroll, Baker, Valaida Snow, Kitt, Falana, Uggams, Summer, Kathleen Battle, Jessye Norman, etc., are treated with contempt & "suspicion" in the US, while in the world's cultural capitals, they are lauded as the best representatives of the arts.<br />All of that said, here's, as I see it, the biggest problem:<br />Ross, too, refuses to see herself as a soul singer.<br />When she FINALLY stops seeing her talents "through someone else's eyes", she'll become an unstoppable musical force, even at this stage of the game.TROS1https://www.blogger.com/profile/04823212489311549805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917776121387891817.post-25105454790255299162013-03-27T05:50:18.454-04:002013-03-27T05:50:18.454-04:00Very apt comments. So many of these artists reach ...Very apt comments. So many of these artists reach a certain time in their career when they just coast for a while - I have seen Eartha Kitt and Dionne (a few years ago) just coasting through their material. Dionne by the way was on the news here in the UK this morning, as she has filed for bankruptcy. HOW could Miss Dionne be bankrupt? She is always touring and filling her coffers ... Petula Clark was the best of these ladies I saw recently and at 80 still has that voice powerful as ever (unlike her contemporary Miss Andrews) - Pet's new album is good too with a stunning new slowed down version of "Downtown", its not a happy song at all but full of aching sadness.<br />But back to Miss Ross .... I love the voice and the image and the hits, but too much of it is like eating too much candy. And then all those stories about her .... but I imagine in the end they don't matter, its what on stage that counts. She seems though to be in seclusion a lot, is she still bothered and driven? <br />Streisand by the way is back here (in UK) in June, two shows with her son Jason and half sister Roslyn Kind .... I wonder what kind of show this will be? At least I saw Barbra in FUNNY GIRL on the stage in 1966 when I was 20 and from the front row. It was the first time I ever saw a tiny microphone taped to a performer.<br />It would be nice to see Diana back bigger and better than ever. I always remember the tv show of the Clinton inaugeration - Miss Ross was centre stage in something scarlet dominating the show and then she grandly beckoned for Aretha who was further back to come and join her ....Michael O'Sullivanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17820802843771524920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917776121387891817.post-42957004930689106582013-03-26T15:53:45.446-04:002013-03-26T15:53:45.446-04:00Thank you! I enjoyed yours, as well.Thank you! I enjoyed yours, as well.TJBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09180041865489453236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917776121387891817.post-86130817910271547712013-03-26T15:53:33.827-04:002013-03-26T15:53:33.827-04:00Much appreciated, as I appreciate all of your comm...Much appreciated, as I appreciate <em>all</em> of your comments, always!TJBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09180041865489453236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917776121387891817.post-53278272077488355722013-03-26T15:51:56.937-04:002013-03-26T15:51:56.937-04:00I think she's still there, somewhere, Muscato....I think she's still there, somewhere, Muscato...but I've always maintained that the weight of that kind of celebrity automatically alters how one can mount a performance. Someone like Bette Midler can do an extravaganza of different sorts every year, because her major hits (I'm talking real, Top 10, #1 hits) can be taken care of in about 20 minutes' time, and satisfy that portion of the audience. Whereas Diana has so much to cull from, it inevitably -- these days -- becomes more of a generic "greatest hits" program because she has to satisfy the seniors from Boca Raton, not just the rabid queens like me. In 1974, she could get away with a medley of Supremes hits, and she only had three solo hits to really fall back on; the rest could be fabulous special material like "Corner of the Sky." I recently saw both Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin in concert, both of whom I respect and admire. Dionne did almost nothing but her 1960's Bacharach hits, because she knew that's what the majority of the audience wanted to hear, and only "I'll Never Love This Way Again" and "That's What Friends are For" from her later catalog. Fine, but I personally would have liked to have heard more from her later years -- bona fide hits like "Heartbreaker" and "No Night, So Long" and such. Aretha was on stage for about 50 minutes, tops, raced through "Respect" as if she couldn't wait to finish it, and then it was all over. You see, it's easy to want these performers to maintain a certain "artistry," but once you hit a certain level, you're tempering it with pleasing SO many people, not just your "fans," as well as the inevitable feeling of "Jesus Christ, do I have to sing Reach Out and Touch/Walk on By/Chain of Fools one more fucking time?!" I'm not saying they should coast, but I understand where they're coming from...TJBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09180041865489453236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917776121387891817.post-69544794832392456012013-03-26T15:02:46.237-04:002013-03-26T15:02:46.237-04:00You're kinder than I am, but there's no de...You're <a href="http://expatriato.blogspot.com/2013/02/shameless-saturday-camp-explosion-does.html" rel="nofollow">kinder</a> than I am, but there's no denying that when she's good, she's very, very good. What happened to that marvelous woman who sang "Corner of the Sky"?Muscatohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04657061324487851341noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917776121387891817.post-25031603101415359542013-03-26T14:44:17.141-04:002013-03-26T14:44:17.141-04:00A wonderful tribute, I must say!A wonderful tribute, I must say!Barbarella's Galaxyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13412715855179155079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917776121387891817.post-48945531606668655552013-03-26T14:26:35.918-04:002013-03-26T14:26:35.918-04:00Wow. Simply, wow... JxWow. Simply, wow... JxJonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15501010362663971583noreply@blogger.com