From: owner-lucy-list-digest@smoe.org (lucy-list-digest) To: lucy-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: lucy-list-digest V1 #5 Reply-To: lucy-list@some.org Sender: owner-lucy-list-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-lucy-list-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk lucy-list-digest Monday, March 1 1999 Volume 01 : Number 005 ? Today's Subjects: ----------------- ? SUBJECTS-AUTHORS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 28 Feb 1999 11:50:14 PST From: "jeff greggor" Subject: [lucy-list] the next level hi, first i want to thank jodi and bill for starting this list. interesting point about wishing for our favorite artists to achieve success vs. the idea of "losing them" in the process. alot of good points have already been made. ron, since i was also one of the FARMINGDALE 35, i want to address your comments. yes it IS folk music, but remember: mary chapin carpenter and shawn colvin were once folkies. now look at them! (then again, i'd rather not!) i can't agree with you more on your personal comments about lucy. as far as the new cd, it is WONDERFUL. now that i've listened to it about 30 times and really know it, i can say that it exceeded my expectations-and my expectations were VERY HIGH. so for those of us who have felt like we have known lucy for a dozen years or so, i know MY desire for her success is greater than keeping the status quo. it annoys me when i see all these mediocre talents come along and achieve fame knowing that lucy is far more talented than them. if there is any sanity out there, this cd WILL give her the success she so richly deserves. jeff ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ************************************************************************* To unsubscribe from the Lucy Kaplansky mailing list, send a a message to majordomo@smoe.org with the text "unsubscribe lucy-list" in the body of the message. ************************************************************************* ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Feb 1999 16:54:44 EST From: Rongrittz@aol.com Subject: Re: [lucy-list] the next level >> yes it IS folk music, but remember: mary chapin carpenter and shawn colvin were once folkies. now look at them! << The difference is that Shawn and MCC both had to *abandon* the folk world in order to achieve their current levels of success. Shawn's first record, "Steady On," was much different (thanks to over-the-top production) than the type of music she was making in the folk bars of Greenwich Village -- the music you can hear on "Live '88." And her big break, "A Few Small Repairs," was much more of a pop/rock CD than it was folk -- the Grammy it won (for whatever Grammys are worth) was not in the Folk category. She's now considered to be much more a contemporary of Sheryl Crow, for example, than she is a contemporary of Lucy Kaplansky or Dar Williams. Mary-Chapin Carpenter is a whole other story. She was going nowheresville as a "folksinger," and it wasn't until she abandoned her folk persona and magically "transformed" herself into a "country" singer that she achieved any measurable level of success. Of course, Nashville doesn't completely buy it, so what's happened to her is similar to what's happened to Nanci Griffith, that is, the inability to be totally embraced by *any* genre -- folk, country or pop. But just as importantly, Shawn and MCC both have the support of a major label (Columbia Records/Sony Music) behind them, and you can't underestimate the value of Big Dollars and Big P.R. in making or breaking an artist. It gets them on playlists at radio stations, it gets them front rack space at record stores, it gets their videos on VH1/MTV, it gets them articles in "People" magazine. Whether this equates to selling your soul to the devil I won't say (hey, Sony pays my salary, I've gotta be careful . . . you never know who's reading this stuff), but you've got to admit that it gives Shawn and MCC an advantage that Lucy just doesn't have. My point (I knew I'd get there eventually) is that although you're right that it would be nice if this CD gives Lucy "the success she so richly deserves," I don't have warm fuzzies about that happening. Given her apparent desire to stay a "low-key folkie" (hey, nice rhyme, RG), the inherent limitations of her small label, and the fact that she just doesn't make Music For The Masses, I don't think we have to worry about her getting too big for "us." RG ************************************************************************* To unsubscribe from the Lucy Kaplansky mailing list, send a a message to majordomo@smoe.org with the text "unsubscribe lucy-list" in the body of the message. ************************************************************************* ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Feb 1999 15:11:52 PST From: "jeff greggor" Subject: [lucy-list] stardom ron, you're right on all points. and while i don't expect this cd to catapult lucy into superstardom, i am hoping it at least brings her up to "DARdom"! another thought on lucy and the new cd: on a different level i used to compare lucy to linda ronstadt. a GREAT singer, who although i enjoyed her albums, they never came close to capturing her live. this cd however, comes pretty darn close! any comments? jeff ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ************************************************************************* To unsubscribe from the Lucy Kaplansky mailing list, send a a message to majordomo@smoe.org with the text "unsubscribe lucy-list" in the body of the message. ************************************************************************* ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Feb 1999 18:32:39 EST From: Loracevoll@aol.com Subject: Re: [lucy-list] the next level Ok, If RockinRonD is sanguine about admitting he's a critic and also an unabashed fan -- then I'll come out of the closet and admit I'm a music writer also. Following is an excerpt of an interview I had with Richard Shindell last year. I thought his take on the "folk" label was interesting (and true). Lucy echoed almost the exact same sentiments in the NY Times Magazine article on Cry Cry Cry.... I asked him why he was in the folk bin at the music stores: RS: ... I think the answer is how many I sell..... CL: Oh, it's sales determined..... RS: Yep. I mean Springsteen puts out that Tom Joad album and he's still in the rock section -- why is that??? Because he sells more than 100,000 copies. CL: That's a tad cynical..... RS: That's not the only reason, but I think it has something to do with it. It's really question of where you start off. It's hard to jump from one thing to the other -- Springsteen started off in rock, so from a logistical standpoint it wouldn't make sense to move him over to folk. And many cases there's not much difference -- in many cases it's just production. These genres are all blurred but I don't think there's much difference in the underlying music. CL: What would you call yourself??? RS: I kinda like the term Americana - CL: That encompasses a lot RS: Yeah, it does -- it's kinda meaningless, but at the same time it's broader than say, folk and rock -- it includes both of those things and it includes things that are neither of those things and I don't know, I have trouble with the whole label thing. CL: Folk doesn't apply to a lot of people who get that label, it doesn't apply to you. RS: It also has a lot to do with how you tour. When I tour, it's just me and a guitar, more or less, and that naturally looks like folk music. If I were to tour with a five piece band, that would be another thing. ************************************************************************* To unsubscribe from the Lucy Kaplansky mailing list, send a a message to majordomo@smoe.org with the text "unsubscribe lucy-list" in the body of the message. ************************************************************************* ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Feb 1999 22:29:00 EST From: SpecGlobal@aol.com Subject: [lucy-list] Re: [Richard Shindell] television In a message dated 2/28/99 2:13:07 PM Eastern Standard Time, jgregg6@hotmail.com writes: << as far as i know, this was richard's first tv appearance. dar has been on conan. as for lucy, she was on the 25th anniversary concert for folk city. (yes, on pbs.) she also sang backup for nanci griffith on "new country", this on the nashville network. Last summer I saw Lucy on a show in Northern NJ called New Jersey's Talking which is hosted by Lee Leonard who (I'm pretty sure) used to be on one of the major networks. Lucy had a whole segment to herself and she sang Ten Year Night and End of the Day. When Lucy was done singing, poor Mr. Leonard could only mutter.."oh my" with that wonderful look of disbelieve that people get when they hear Lucy for the first time.... ************************************************************************* To unsubscribe from the Lucy Kaplansky mailing list, send a a message to majordomo@smoe.org with the text "unsubscribe lucy-list" in the body of the message. ************************************************************************* ------------------------------ End of lucy-list-digest V1 #5 ***************************** This has been a posting from the Lucy Kaplansky mail list digest To unsubscribe send mail to Majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe lucy-list-digest" in the body of the message