tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post7774584055032698689..comments2024-03-22T01:04:20.640-04:00Comments on Ted Lehmann's Film, Books, Music & Commentary: Bluegrass and the Preservation of the American MythTed Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-87419036979039579212009-08-25T18:18:30.081-04:002009-08-25T18:18:30.081-04:00Ted you make my head hurt sometimes. I thought it ...Ted you make my head hurt sometimes. I thought it was just the banjo and the beat.John Snoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-7176059506549227662009-08-25T05:51:29.010-04:002009-08-25T05:51:29.010-04:00Absolutely right! Nothing is simple, but I need to...Absolutely right! Nothing is simple, but I need to focus on particular elements. Levitin writes about music capturing us at least partly because of the honest truth it communicates. I've been struck many times by the disingenuousness of "1946" many times. Furthermore. the risks of killing bluegrass by clinging tenaciously to the simple themes of the early times. I think I did make a bow to murder songs and so-on in the essay, although maybe I did it elsewhere. Thanks to all for the thoughtful and thought provoking comments. They serve to keep me on my feet and growing. - TedTed Lehmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-13900291526955852312009-08-24T23:24:37.161-04:002009-08-24T23:24:37.161-04:00Yes, I agree there is a huge cultural differance n...Yes, I agree there is a huge cultural differance now than in 46. However, don't see Bluegrass as a catagory of music just nostalgic for simpler times. While that thread is there. The mythic good old times and all. But listen more and you hear murder, hard times, loss, grueling labor, lost love, misery. I am thinking of the Stanley's Little Maggie, as an example. There is some Rockwell kind of stuff that gets out there, the sappy hyper patriotic damn the liberals ruining our country with this godless talk and music. In some parts of the Bluegrass world there are some people who equate bluegrass and orthodox christian faith and patriotism. But thats the minority report. Me? I grew up as a kind of suburban kid/country kid nearby where Mom grew up on a farm. In Illinois for Gods sake. Northern Illinois! Yet when I heard In the Pines by Monroe, I was hooked. (in 75) <br />So, I see what your saying but it's not that simple IMO.Kansas Scouthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15744438882831933314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-81008996098015586442009-08-24T10:05:01.894-04:002009-08-24T10:05:01.894-04:00I love bluegrass because it speaks to the truth. ...I love bluegrass because it speaks to the truth. Even though it is a nostagic music, it also deals with reality in it's own way. <br /><br />I've always said we sing all those killing songs 'cause it lets us deal with the desire to do someone in who likely deserves it. That way we can process the emotion but still stay out of trouble.<br /><br />Dr. BDr. Tom Bibeyhttp://drtombibey.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-48919230843504270612009-08-24T09:01:52.922-04:002009-08-24T09:01:52.922-04:00Love this article. The image it brought to mind fo...Love this article. The image it brought to mind for me: "a tether firmly anchored to earthy values as we are buffeted, tossed and turned, on the other end of the line, by the winds of change"Henri Deschampshttp://www.facebook.com/mastfarmnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-66455835272579908202009-08-24T07:58:53.509-04:002009-08-24T07:58:53.509-04:00You make some interesting points Ted -Thank you.
...You make some interesting points Ted -Thank you. <br />It seems that Bluegrass , at least the type of lyric that you refer to is very similar to Norman Rockwell's work. <br />It is a curious thing that I , born in England in 1948, have this same nostalgia for the , perhaps mythical, America that you refer to. My images were gained from TV shows - The Westerns of course , but Burns and Allen and I Married Joan ( among many others ) - and they perpetuated the ideal that America was funny, modern, tough, but, above all, kind and, ultimately, fair. I knew nothing of racial problems at that time. This picture was reborn in The Waltons and Evening Shade. <br />This is no bad thing in my opinion. It doesn't hurt to have an ideal , however unrealistic in actuality , to aspire to. <br />However , we romanticise poverty at great risk to many Americans and America's image abroad. Many will say they don't really care what anyone else thinks , but for many people I am sure they would like to be thought of in the same way as I pictured America and Americans in my childhood. <br />As you so rightly say Ted , there is a lack of actual experience of the rural hard scrabble times or the Bluegrass diaspora in the younger Bluegrass fans and they cannot expect to understand real hardship like that. That is a two edged sword and , while it is good , of course, that times for many are better in the economic sense , the romanticism could lead to complacency.<br />Having said all that, I love those songs - "Over the Hills to the Poorhouse" , "The Fields Have Turned Brown" etc.. I do bear in mind though that some of these songs reflect a reality that some are not so far from now.ThemBakershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18221523640190622120noreply@blogger.com