Eric F

okay, i'm in on a saturday night, and waxing poetic for a bit. been thinking about the vagaries of style and taste that change or mature over the years. nothing like discovering new music, whether it's new stuff or old stuff (that for reasons unknown loitered beyond my consciousness) but the old stuff is still always welcome. but i'm not a nostalgia kinda guy. can't stand these over-hyped, over-priced reunion tours that are trying to sell material the most recent of which is 30 years old or more. but i surprised myself by going to see roger waters last october. since i never saw pink floyd, i figured it was make-up time. and man it was great. but the tickets were free, and i never woulda gone if i had to cough it up.

funny, i seem to burn out on many groups after they've been around awhile. i can still listen to (and love) the first three or four albums by traffic, tull, santana, zeppelin, elton, ELO, eagles, traffic, moody blues, the airplane, spirit, rod stewart (solo), jackson browne, cat stevens. maybe the first 5 or 6 by the animals, steely dan, talking heads, bob marley, roxy music, graham parker, elvis costello, bowie. and then it starts to wear thin, and i need something or someone else to get it going for me. new blood for the old ceremony, so to speak.

i can take middle period beach boys more than their early stuff now. rarely ever listen to the beatles pre-revolver anymore. the stones lost me after some girls, fleetwood mac after rumours. the who haven't done anything worthwhile since by numbers (i haven't heard the new one yet), and i haven't summoned the courage to once again listen to any kinks post-muswell hillbillies (though i've been on an early kinks jag for several weeks now). nick drake and jimi after ... oh, that's right ...nevermind.

but sometimes someone sticks, from beginning to end: dylan, cash, hank, springsteen, neil young, richard thompson, and eno (roxy, ambient, vocal, producer, whatever - his newest is another hidden gem) come to mind . and though lou reed (solo) is another in the first 3 or 4 album-category, john cale is a beginning-to-end guy. and i haven't grown tired yet of my waterboys library, of which i have almost everything. and there are others approaching this coveted distinction, though time will tell whether they last. pixies did. pogues with shane did. clash did. patti smith, peter gabriel, tom waits, lucinda ... time will tell. U2 and REM? jury's still out there, but for most of 25 years they have for me.

van morrison. another that i'd put in to the beginning to almost-end category. i think i'll be listening to his stuff, from Them to about the mid-nineties, till the day i die. but god help me, i just can't digest most of what he's done since. am i not growing old fast enough?

and itunes? yeah, scott, i've become an itunes junkie (for cataloging, finding and playing), though i usually download from other, less expensive sources, such as legalsounds, emusic, my own or a benevelont friend's library (you there wayne?). even that's not enough. i've taken to digitizing my old vinyl and tapes. recently burnt a Kevin Ayers compilation, Kinky Friedman's first, Mink deVille's first two, and The Great Lost Kinks Album to cd. classics all.

and one more thought thrown out: someone's who i wasn't even aware of when he was alive, but now find his stuff to be simply amazing: townes van zandt, beginning to untimely end.
and alejandro escovedo? i knew not a whit of him beforehand, but it's been about a year and a half since i saw him on stage with john cale in austin, and i'm still amazed discovering the breadth his oeuvre.

actually, i'd probably still listen to vanilla fudge if i had it. truth be told, i do have 'season of the witch' on an old mixed tape that i just might have to dig up and dust off. the power of suggestion, wot?