Confessions of a Harmony Snob

I like harmony. Who doesn't? It's natural to our senses to enjoy when music is done right, and to cringe when it's not. I used to think that for harmony to be correct, those participating in producing it would all have to be able to sing on key, and be doing Bass, Alto, Baritone, etc. The same with instruments.

I ilke a great voice. Pavarotti had a great voice. Most artists today have a good voice, and occasionally a Susan Boyle comes along that knocks our socks off!

It was this kind of discussion yesterday with friends at work that led to an interesting side talk when I asked "Well, what is it about singers the likes of Mick Jagger, Leon Russel, Van Morrison and Bob Dylan that made them so famous? None of them can hold a tune in a bucket!"

All agreed with one part of my assertion, but not the other. We don't make cult heroes solely out of pitch perfect artists. No one argues that Janis Joplin may not have made it on American Idol as a never before heard contestant. Unless she could, in one appearing conjure up the magic that over time, performances and a lfestyle that screamed "feedom from the man," endeared her to millions.

There's the rub. Someone once told Bob Dylan that he couldn't sing. He replied, "I'm not a singer. I'm a poet." And that's the difference.

To go to a concert by Dylan, Morrison, Jagger, Joplin, and numerous others who fall into this context expecting harmonious and vocal excellence would be a sorely disappointing experience. Because it wasn't those factors that drew us first of all or subsequently. It was the soul. It was the personna that portrayed the desire of our hearts. It was the ability to present the yearnings and groanings of our own struggles, loves, frustrations, ecstasies, and desires. And as a result, to become heroes, on or off key.

The inner person continues the struggle and continues to seek that which identifies and provides a form of explanation. Indeed the mood of the emotion and the ability to express it musically is what draws us.

It's too bad that these heroes seem somewhat isolated to a past age. But then, that's why we scour unscullied sources and present them here on MOG.

The search continues.