Re: Bacharach (was: What Is Jewish Music?)

[robert wiener <wiener...>]

Just when I thought that I had a pretty good collection of Jewish
music, I find that I have to go out and buy some Beastie Boys and
Steely Dan.  (I'm pretty well covered on the others, though, quite
honestly, not for that reason -- except for Bob Dylan.  I wonder what
my wife will think.)

Bob
-----Original Message-----
From: Seth Rogovoy <rogovoy (at) berkshire(dot)net>
To: robert wiener <wiener (at) mindspring(dot)com>; jewish music list
<jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Date: Wednesday, June 23, 1999 3:26 PM
Subject: RE: Bacharach (was: What Is Jewish Music?)


>> Is the litmus test of "American Jewish popular music" "a cultural
>> critique of pop styles, and one could make the case that this
critique
>> is from the point of view of the outsider/Jew" (Seth)?  If so, how
>> does the work of other Jewish composers of the genre (e.g., Arlen,
>> Berlin, the Gershwin brothers, Sondheim, and on and on) fare?
>
>I've actually been thinking about this a lot lately. I would argue
that,
>while it doesn't serve as a definition of ALL "Jewish music," there
is,
>however, SOME music which could ONLY have been made by a Jew (for
various
>reasons, some musical, some more in terms of sociology or
>"ethnomusicological" reasons), and therefore THAT music at the very
least is
>by definition Jewish music.
>
>For example, I would argue (although not here, at least not now, it
would
>take a lengthy essay)that the music that Bob Dylan has made over the
course
>of the last 40 years could ONLY have been made by an American Jew,
and that
>therefore there is something quintessentially Jewish about Bob
Dylan's
>music.
>
>Same for Lou Reed, the Ramones, the Beastie Boys, Beck, Steely Dan,
Carole
>King, and Burt Bacharach.
>
>One thing you can say about ALL these artists: their music or sound
is
>extremely distinctive -- can never be confused with any others. While
that
>in itself doesn't mean it's Jewish (Willie Nelson, after all, could
never be
>mistaken for anyone else, but to my knowledge he isn't Jewish, nor is
his
>music), it does suggest something unique about it. Again, I'd suggest
it has
>something to do with a particular perspective of an outsider looking
in,
>commenting on AND becoming in some way the ultimate stylist within a
>particular genre. I think there is something inherently Jewish about
such a
>dynamic.
>
>Go ahead, flame away....
>
>p.s. There is a wonderful moment in the documentary "A Jumpin' Night
in the
>Garden of Eden" where Hankus Netsky sort of hums what is supposed to
be the
>essential Jewish or Yiddish/klezmer "sound" (forgive me if I am
>misrepresenting just what it is he is supposed to be demonstrating).
I swear
>you could not have asked Hankus for a better imitation of Bob Dylan!
check
>it out for yourselves.
>
>

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