I watched parts of American Idol last night (there was nothing else on and I was too lazy to move). One of the singers sang a Garth Brooks tune and the judges remarked on how much like Mr. Brooks he sounded. So, I am going to give my opinion because it has been a while since my last blog. My opinion is that S. McCreery is a very good singer, but he is so darn young. He needs time to develop his own sound. I think AI would change the minimum to 18.
Begining artist copy the master, and when they become masters they are copied, and no one is a "master" at age 16.
Anyway, I found this recording on UTube. It is Merle Hagard singing a MartyRobbins tune. It helps if you know the style of both singers, but even if you don't hopefully you will get my point.
I think I should also include a Hag song just so you can see how great Merle Hagard is, so the second link is a Merle Hagard song. Merle Hagard actually wrote "My Mama's Hungry Eyes," but it is not autobiographical. For Marty Robbins think 'El Paso.'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1EJ0KxKvW0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1yb4UtwJgE
As a final note I want to say that I don't think S. McCreery sounded like G. Brooks, I think he sounded like Josh Turner, but he needs to sound like Scott McCreery.
We love Scott McCreery because he's so cute, so we loved his song. I don't know Garth Brooks' music, so I can't comment on whether he made it his own or not. We agree, however that 18 should be the minimum age for AI. This year they lowered the age to 15, so several of the finalists were actually 15 when they tried out! One of our favorite finalists is Casey Abrams, the bass player. He, at least,is 20 years old. I enjoyed the video of Merle Haggard singing like Marty Robbins. That was great! I thought you might enjoy this video of Casey playing the bass. It looks like he makes a song his own, although I really don't know this song, either!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.americanidol.com/videos/season_10/casey_abrams/casey_abrams_final_hollywood_performance/
Don't you think Casey has develop a style that is all his own? I think it is those four extra years he has has used to learn from 'masters.' I have listened to some blues, but not as much as I have American/folk (i.e. country) so maybe I can't judge. Can't be believe he is saying his favs are Freddy Mercury and Jack Black. Doesn't sound like either.
ReplyDeleteIt's been years and years since I watched American Idol (no network tv/cable tv in the house). The only thing I know is that the people I liked never won. I read a quote where Simon Cowell said the Beatles never would have won American Idol. I think I prefer passion over perfection. But I agree with you. Everyone loves how Taylor Swift sings about heart ache. -- Really, how much heart ache do you feel when you break up after a couple of months?
ReplyDeleteI love Marty Roberts' songs. That was a funny video. I actually love how Taylor Swift sings about heartache. She is, however, too young (and too rich) to be completely aware:)
ReplyDeleteJust want to say AI is a competition, nothing more, nothing less. Right now the most famous who applied and didn't even get on the show is probably Hillary Scott who is a lead singer with Lady Antebellum. While I like Taylor Swift, I like Lady Antebellum more.
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