Johnny Cash

[MarkBastable]

I don't see why such a thing isn't trailblazing in itself. In the vast majority of creative trailblazers we can trace their innovations back to pre-existing ideas. The "greatest film ever made," Citizen Kane, that is so often praised for revolutionizing cinema in all its originality and innovations didn't have a single unique invention in it, but instead synthesized all of the cinematic tools available at the time. Shakespeare didn't invent any new stories, but merely reworked old ones. Trailblazing and innovation doesn't necessarily equate with being the absolute first to do anything beyond bringing old ideas/material together in new ways.

Completely true. Innovation is about context.

Though, if the suggestion is that they didn't innovate, I'd like to know from which of their contemporaries they nicked the concept and execution of I Am The Walrus and the suite-structure of the second side of Abbey Road.

And, incidentally, anyone who thinks that McCartney wasn't a fantastically talented musician doesn't know much about playing bass guitar.

[Anton Hermes]

Completely true. Innovation is about context.

Though, if the suggestion is that they didn't innovate, I'd like to know from which of their contemporaries they nicked the concept and execution of I Am The Walrus and the suite-structure of the second side of Abbey Road.

The Beatles weren't trailblazers in the sense that they were the originators of the innovations, but they absorbed the new ideas around and presented them in more pop-oriented contexts. "I am The Walrus" is as good an example as any. Cage and Stockhausen were doing sound collages while Lennon & McCartney were still trying to suss out the lyrics of "Twenty Flight Rock." Frank Zappa had been using sound collages and wacky orchestration for years in his work, and McCartney acknowledged his influence on Sgt. Pepper. I happen to think "Walrus" is a real step forward in the use of any of these techniques, and certainly one of Lennon's most accomplished creations. But the Beatles weren't the ones who invented them.

Same thing with the suite on Abbey Road. Pete Townshend had been stringing together bits of songs to make his mini-operas since the nine-minute "A Quick One" in 1966. By the time Abbey Road came out in 1969, rock musicians had already made a cliché out of this sort of free-form suite: Brian Wilson, Syd Barrett, The Jefferson Airplane, you name it.

And, incidentally, anyone who thinks that McCartney wasn't a fantastically talented musician doesn't know much about playing bass guitar.

No argument here.

[jajdude]

I don't like Johnny Cash.

There you go - a new experience every day.

Finally!

[Enchantress]

Cash makes some of the best remakes. He did Nine Inch Nails "hurt" and he did a far better job than Nine Inch Nails IMO. Then he did Depeche Mode's rendition of "Personal Jesus" and he did a fine job with that one too. The man in black rocks!

[JanetAbruzzi]

Johnny Cash is a real actor. The way in which he shows emotions and onscreen presence, I'm very much impressed by his acting skills. Kudos. johnny cash albums