Haggard, Prince and then Bowie. I grew up on Country (yes, Iowa does Country, Rock and all those other genres but…). 'Nuff said.
Ok, I am verbose: Haggard was my childhood, Prince was my teen moments and then I discovered Bowie beyond “Let’s Dance.”
Bowie and Prince have a lot more songs I do my dishes to… but I luv me some gravelly slow to jangling songs like Okie from Muskogee (‘specially since I have visited that fine town) or - YouTube or Merle Haggard - The Bottle Let Me Down - YouTube . That’s dancin’ slow or hootin’ and hollerin’ and drinkin’ by the bonfire music.
Not that we do much of any of it anymore. But those songs are a nice break from the Devil’s Music ie Rock… errrr Hard Rock… or well, music that has a fast beat (so many other genres). (Many of which we like… but one does need a breather.)
John Lennon’s last public performance was at a hotel in Japan. He was sitting around playing guitar and singing “Jealous Guy,” when a formally dressed Japanese couple, who had gotten off the elevator on the wrong floor, walked in and sat down to listen.
Definitely Bowie. He’s the one I didn’t get to see. I saw Merle several years ago at Bonnaroo, and Prince last year at the Palace Theatre in Louisville.
Until yesterday or so Prince’s final show in Atlanta was streaming on Soundcloud. (His goons must have gotten back to work.) I only listened to part of it, but it sounded like it was fun. I know that the show I saw last year was spectacular; I think working with 3rdEyeGirl was inspiring to him, and he still had great work left in him.
Merle had apparently been pretty sick for a while, and he cancelled all the shows he could but felt like he had to keep a few of the better paying ones so he could pay his band and crew. Supposedly he was sick enough at one show in Vegas that Toby Keith stepped up and sang the rest of the set. But I think this was the very end–I’ve seen videos from as recently as October where he looked and sounded great.
The one where Toby performed most of his songs was actually his final concert. Before the show, he asked Toby, who happened to be in town, if he knew any of his songs. Toby said, “All of them, and I don’t need the lyrics.” Merle started the show, couldn’t breathe well enough to go on, and introduced special guest Toby Keith, who came out and finished the show for him.
My sister and brother in law saw Prince a few years ago and reported it to be the best live performance of any kind they have ever witnessed. And my sister isn’t a Prince fan.
He played all the old hits. He knew people loved them and did not disappoint.
Merle. Merle’s been there all along. Prince was but a flash in my pan. I was fortunate enough to see Bowie but, even if not, my preference is still Merle. Plus, I could sing along with more of the songs.
Thanks for the link… would have been good to see that specific event.
Another way I might evaluate my choice would be pseudo-objectively. I think Merle is a bigger part of country music than either of those other (wonderful) dudes is to pop. That sentence begins to fall apart for various definitions of pop, but I think it holds true no matter how you’re definin’ country.
From what I’ve heard recently, it seems Prince is closest to the sound I like, so I guess him. This surprised me, BTW–what I thought I remembered of him sounded very synth heavy.
