tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post1218310333313568973..comments2024-03-28T14:41:03.787-04:00Comments on PowerPop: Literary Notes From All OverNYMaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10863355110457910935noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-16735369032668392532012-02-14T18:30:23.595-05:002012-02-14T18:30:23.595-05:00Actually, I read that review, and it made me want ...Actually, I read that review, and it made me want to seek the book out -- so, in that sense, it did the job. And let's face it, what happened to this guy in the last third of his life was not a pretty sight...if he'd hung in there and found a way to keep going, maybe he'd have found a place, if only on the Internet. But I had no idea what happened to Nelson, honestly, till I read those obits -- so if Mr. Hajdu really planned some kind of a hatchet job, it had no impact on me, being a latecomer to the party. I don't take reviews all that seriously, anyway...as Bob said, "Don't follow leaders, watch the parking meters." :-)Chairman Ralphhttp://www.chairmanralph.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-71705861548352100572012-01-17T14:36:01.541-05:002012-01-17T14:36:01.541-05:00Steve and co.,
I just posted this on rockcritics....Steve and co., <br />I just posted this on rockcritics.com: <br />A critic who aims to be serious and is willing to be tough, in the name of seriousness, has be willing to take tough criticism himself or herself. I'm not going to get involved in a debate over my piece on the new Paul Nelson book. I stand by the piece. As I wrote, I consider Nelson an important writer who helped establish the field that we all practice. He elevated the art he criticized, and he wrote beautifully. I recognize and appreciate that, while also recognizing (without appreciation) the facts that Nelson had little regard for black music, little interest in the actual music he wrote about, indifference to women (for the most pat), and a treacherous attachment to the tropes of male heroism. He was a complicated figure, and I tried to confront the complications in his work. I never met him and had no agenda in my piece other than confronting the facts of Nelson's work and their meaning. Best to you all, <br />DavidDavid Hajduhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17458050690156813794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-42943113799775607382012-01-16T00:22:00.139-05:002012-01-16T00:22:00.139-05:00No score setting here. I never knew Paul Nelson. ...No score setting here. I never knew Paul Nelson. I admire his intelligence, his seriousness, and his devotion to rock. But his obession with the myth of the macho male loner badass poisoned his work. I stand by the piece and also love Steve Simels, the most under-appreciated of all great rock critics. The book I want to read is the as-yet unwritten study os Steve's life and work.<br />David HajduDavid Hajduhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17458050690156813794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-27682669559433981762012-01-06T19:40:30.328-05:002012-01-06T19:40:30.328-05:00Simels, you once again put it as succinctly as tha...Simels, you once again put it as succinctly as that other great "critic" of popular myth, E. Hemingway.Jeff Alanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00702470058907681001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-9826943921474489092012-01-06T00:05:56.004-05:002012-01-06T00:05:56.004-05:00OK, against my better judgement, I clicked the lin...OK, against my better judgement, I clicked the link, and discovered Hajdu dumping on Raymond Chandler. Pearls before swine...<br /><br />(although I do apologize for misspelling his name in my previous post)cthulhunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-47012483025144861742012-01-06T00:00:16.459-05:002012-01-06T00:00:16.459-05:00I read "Heros and Villains", and it had ...I read "Heros and Villains", and it had some interesting stuff in it, but the overall tone was just nauseating - the guy seems just too pretentious for words, and appears to have a real animus to any white male musician with the temerity to believe in himself (the white male musician, not Hadju). Well, excuuuuuuuse me, but I freely admit that I prefer Cream's version of "Crossroads" to Robert Johnson's - I just <i>like</i> sizzling electric guitars and kick-ass drums (even Ginger Baker on occasion :-/).<br /><br />In other words, as far as I'm concerned, Hadju, can, well, bugger off, as the Brits might say.<br /><br />(word verification: tortlet)cthulhunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-65735136446466402332012-01-05T19:05:13.651-05:002012-01-05T19:05:13.651-05:00sometimes it's best if critics don't get t...sometimes it's best if critics don't get too close to the artist (Marsh, Landau)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-82521424753339933632012-01-05T17:09:54.649-05:002012-01-05T17:09:54.649-05:00I don't mean to take a dump on anyone's sc...I don't mean to take a dump on anyone's scone but I think I side with Hajdu on this.<br /><br />Fuck the lyrics (most of the time), the question for me is - does the music make me shake my ass and make me a little crazy?<br /><br />That's what matters to me.<br /><br />ROTP(lumber)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-24875341913130052692012-01-05T13:22:07.504-05:002012-01-05T13:22:07.504-05:00Good-bad, but not evil.
:-)Good-bad, but not evil.<br />:-)steve simelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13247393763004076992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-76729091749930667622012-01-05T13:11:46.072-05:002012-01-05T13:11:46.072-05:00Well, Bruce wrote about cars and girls, so that mu...Well, Bruce wrote about cars and girls, so that must make him BAD.Brooklyn Girlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-86123929406513132372012-01-05T09:30:10.238-05:002012-01-05T09:30:10.238-05:00Ah, edward, I stand corrected.
:-pAh, edward, I stand corrected.<br /><br />:-pGummohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09947040598570967596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-91256147530435579952012-01-05T09:23:41.714-05:002012-01-05T09:23:41.714-05:00Pretty sure Mick got his scones buttered;>Pretty sure Mick got his scones buttered;>edwardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-47883025711294859152012-01-05T09:13:54.152-05:002012-01-05T09:13:54.152-05:00The first paragraph, no less. I couldn't belie...The first paragraph, no less. I couldn't believe what I was reading...steve simelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13247393763004076992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-82303232161024753872012-01-05T09:13:34.365-05:002012-01-05T09:13:34.365-05:00Paul Nelson, a propagandist committed to some dubi...<i>Paul Nelson, a propagandist committed to some dubious values, had <b>a gift for imbuing disreputable, even dangerous ideas with discomforting grace.</b> </i><br /><br />Isn't that what rock'n'roll is all about??<br /><br />I mean, Lou Reed's "Heroin" never won any accolades from the Better Business Bureau. And when Jagger sang, "I got nasty habits/I take tea at three," I don't think he took it with buttered scones.<br /><br />And even Hajdu's beloved blues are mostly about disreputable people doing disreputable things. Or are drunkenness, adultery, casual violence and other classic blues tropes exempt from Hajdu's judgment because they're sung about by black people? This is almost reverse racism.<br /><br />There's obviously something personal there. Too bad.Gummohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09947040598570967596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-61541144432189402282012-01-05T09:05:09.441-05:002012-01-05T09:05:09.441-05:00And Godwin wept.And Godwin wept.geor3gehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18382136451663610951noreply@blogger.com