I think moving to New York in 1976 helped acclimate Lester's ears to "On the Corner." It was New York street music, elevated to Miles level--what he heard was not what you and I heard--in the city's roughest decade. Also, it's my answer to the question: "What record sounds just like its cover?" "On the Corner" does, no doubt.
Thank you, great post and I'm going to find that second Bangs book soon.
I'm also going to pull OTC out and give it another listen, tomorrow. I'll say I currently have that album pegged as the least dazzling piece of Miles' most dazzling decade. I've been more of a Get Up With It man, and more croggled by Agharta, can you believe that fucking thing?
But my position, as you suggest, could evolve.
It's hard to write about music, and not just because most who do it can't play, or that it's difficult for even the most talented to do the synesthesia thing, and convert the sounds into concrete words.
The biggest problem is that most any review you produce is gonna be a snapshot of that time when you were *least-familiar* with the work. It might be that the proper way to write music criticism is to do it the way Yeats wrote his poetry, the poet unafraid to edit even decades after his poems reached print.
Fantastic piece. To paraphrase Dylan, [Lester Bangs] contained multitudes. . .
Thanks, Hugh. And I don't think he reached all of them.
I think moving to New York in 1976 helped acclimate Lester's ears to "On the Corner." It was New York street music, elevated to Miles level--what he heard was not what you and I heard--in the city's roughest decade. Also, it's my answer to the question: "What record sounds just like its cover?" "On the Corner" does, no doubt.
Ha, great. And no doubt. Hence, after his gf at the time, coming to understand the album as an "environment record."
Excellent read. thank you so much
Thanks!
Thank you, great post and I'm going to find that second Bangs book soon.
I'm also going to pull OTC out and give it another listen, tomorrow. I'll say I currently have that album pegged as the least dazzling piece of Miles' most dazzling decade. I've been more of a Get Up With It man, and more croggled by Agharta, can you believe that fucking thing?
But my position, as you suggest, could evolve.
It's hard to write about music, and not just because most who do it can't play, or that it's difficult for even the most talented to do the synesthesia thing, and convert the sounds into concrete words.
The biggest problem is that most any review you produce is gonna be a snapshot of that time when you were *least-familiar* with the work. It might be that the proper way to write music criticism is to do it the way Yeats wrote his poetry, the poet unafraid to edit even decades after his poems reached print.
And Montaigne his essays.
Great piece, Joe. I wonder what Lester would have thought of the unedited tracks on The Complete On The Corner Sessions box set...
Thanks! Me too. I know that he would've probably had something funny, snarky, and brilliant about it.