This is the first in a series of posts about The Dave Matthews Band. So much to figure out. So I'll just begin here.
To be a fan of the Dave Matthews Band is both fun and frustrating in so many ways. This is a band that can blow your mind, and infuriate you because you know they can blow your mind. They are so unique, and with their uniqueness, they haven't so much revolutionized music as much as they have created their own rock and roll utopian society. By no means are they the only jam band so don't get me wrong. But for a jam band, there is an interesting interaction of jam band fans along with alternative fans, middle age music lovers, and mainstream radio music fans. Any attempt by the band to cater more to one of these audiences over another results in this weird conflict about a show was great or "was not what I know this band is capable of doing." I'm not in the mood to disect this to the point that the soul of music is lost. But do me a favor, watch this video and follow up afterward:
You watched this video and your reaction was:
a) It rocked, I danced my ass off
b) GFD that song again. DMB is on the brink of collapse.
c) Heard it many times and it never gets old
d) It's fine, but can we get back to why I am a fan of this band?
e) Other (please add a comment to explain)
UPDATE:
To expand upon Sharon's most astute comment, I wholeheartedly agree that Cornbread isn't meant to have lots of bells and whistles. And to demonstrate the contrast, the Radio City version embedded below (the most well known Dave and Tim adaptation of the song) is one of the most enjoyable tracks on my iPod. whereas the live, full-band versions of the song like the one you just listened above, are the most frequently skipped (again, speaking only for my iPod).
2 comments:
You're absolutely right with your comments about how DMB can blow your mind, and, infuriate you because you know they can blow your mind ! lol Its a joy and a curse (but a great curse to have)
Case in point - my answer to your multiple choice above is both "a" and "e", mostly "e" - and my explanation is this...
I LOVE Cornbread. And maybe because I witnessed the debut of it in several live shows where Dave played it solo, by himself on his guitar, I came to love it most when I hear it in that original form, with no other embellishment, and even with some older words (as is typical, Dave can sometimes evolve his songs over time to use different words and phrases - sometimes temporarily, sometimes they stick and the original is never heard again). I've searched a little bit on Youtube and can't find a recorded video of one of those early versions - closest maybe is a Dave & Tim acoustic show performance - but its still not the same. Another great one is where he has a banjo player from another band sit in with the band -- that maybe conjures up the feeling I got from the Dave solo debut.
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez0IGzjIlt4&feature=related
In any case, to me, while I do enjoy the video Steve embedded here for many reasons, I have an automatic turn-off when Tim Reynolds kicks off his little electric guitar solo. To me it completely breaks up the amazing down home, swampy, bayou-style jam frenzy that Cornbread is all about..and goes into the long electric guitar note that just comes outta nowehere, and takes me nowhere - its like somebody cut the engine on a motor boat, and we're floating dead in the water for a bit, confused with no direction. Now don't get me wrong, it picks right back up w/the band, and gets great again... But also, the horns tend to come in on the more embellished versions like this one, and override some of the intricate guitar/banjo licks that I love so much about the original recorded and performed versions.
So I guess to me, Cornbread is best at its simplest, with no need for embellishment. And that freaking electronic guitar solo to me is way more embellishment than is ever necessary. My humble opinion. :)
But hey - this all is just a large underscore to Steve's original points about the Dave Matthews Band, its own amazing diversity of style and showmanship, and its VERY diverse universe of fans. :) So, point well made. :)
The interesting thing about the diversity of the band and fanbase is that some songs are so unifying, where others highlight the faultlines. More to come in future posts on this for sure.
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