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| Great musicians and funny deficiencies? | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 12 2006, 07:03 PM (236 Views) | |
| CrashTest | Oct 12 2006, 07:03 PM Post #1 |
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Pisa-Carp
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Does anyone know of any famous composers or musicians, whom have had interesting deficiencies for their field? For example, I heard John Cage did not have much of an ear - and Beethoven was not very good at fugal writing in his earlier days. (In his early 20's in fact, there are examples of his counterpoint work with numerous corrections by Haydn!) |
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| kenny | Oct 12 2006, 07:04 PM Post #2 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Small penis Crash? |
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| LadyElton | Oct 12 2006, 07:10 PM Post #3 |
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Fulla-Carp
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| Hilary aka LadyElton | |
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| CrashTest | Oct 12 2006, 07:10 PM Post #4 |
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Pisa-Carp
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HOHOHO |
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| Dave Spelvin | Oct 12 2006, 07:28 PM Post #5 |
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Fulla-Carp
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Handless. Paul Wittgenstein was a left-handed pianist after he lost his right in WWI. Some composers you may have heard of wrote left-hand only works and dedicated them to him. His brother was Ludwig Wittgenstein, the philosopher, who was impenetrable. Paul had to overcome him too. Deafness. Forget about Beethoven's fugal writing, the man was deaf later in life. That would appear to be the ultimate deficiency for a musician. As it is, he wrote the late quartets. I understand that if he hadn't gone deaf, his next project was a third stream jazz work with Paul Whiteman's band. Such a shame that never happened. Tragic, really. Death. Schubert only made it to 31. Let's be clear about this: one cannot write music when one is dead. This guy did an awful lot of scribbling to die so young and still have written more music than I will ever listen to. Come to think of it, even his short works feel like they go on forever. Perhaps if he hadn't written all those repeats he would have lived to 62, and there'd be that much more music I wouldn't listen to. Taste. Barry Manilow has none. It was shot off in the war. For most, this would be considered a deficiency. Nevertheless, the man who writes the songs that makes the whole world vomit made, and continues to make, more money than all classical composers, living or dead, combined. Mozart occasionally rubbed a couple of coins together. Manilow could rub two yachts together but he cannot write anything I want to hear. Mandy, you came and you gave without taking... Blindness. Art Tatum, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Blind Lemon Pledge. Their ears were (or are) fine, but someone had to walk them to the piano. Have you tried playing like Art Tatum with your eyes closed? How about with your eyes open? These guys overcame this deficiency in a big way. Do you have Blind Lemon's recording of "Use a Coaster"? It's a keeper. |
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| Ben | Oct 12 2006, 07:28 PM Post #6 |
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Senior Carp
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(that means yes :D) |
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- Ben "Playing 'bop' is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing." - Duke Ellington bennieloohoo@gmail.com Or you can just PM me.
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| ivorythumper | Oct 12 2006, 09:16 PM Post #7 |
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
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I don't think Manilow wrote either "Mandy" (Scott English) or "I Write the Songs" (Bruce Johnston). But it is enough of a crime against humanity that he recorded them. |
| The dogma lives loudly within me. | |
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| pianojerome | Oct 12 2006, 09:47 PM Post #8 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Smetena went completely deaf while composing "Moldau" (from Ma Vlast). (Probably he was going deaf before that, too... but by the time he finished the Moldau, he couldn't hear a thing.) |
| Sam | |
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| bachophile | Oct 12 2006, 10:02 PM Post #9 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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bach had 20 children. think how much more he could have composed if he wasnt busy porking maria barbara and anna magdelena. |
| "I don't know much about classical music. For years I thought the Goldberg Variations were something Mr. and Mrs. Goldberg did on their wedding night." Woody Allen | |
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| ivorythumper | Oct 12 2006, 10:22 PM Post #10 |
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
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No list of musicians with physical oddities would be complete without these guys. |
| The dogma lives loudly within me. | |
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| George K | Oct 13 2006, 02:48 AM Post #11 |
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Finally
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Correct, IT. Bruce Johnston is now touring with the Beach Boys (drummer, I believe). I saw them about 4 years ago, and he was introduced as "The Only Grammy Award Winning Beach Boy." He won it for that song. He wrote the song that the world thinks Barry Manilow wrote. Wiki on Bruce Johnston: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Johnston |
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A guide to GKSR: Click "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08 Nothing is as effective as homeopathy. I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles. - Klaus, 4/29/18 | |
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| Mikhailoh | Oct 13 2006, 02:53 AM Post #12 |
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
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Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball | |
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| Dave Spelvin | Oct 13 2006, 05:03 AM Post #13 |
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Fulla-Carp
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Thanks for the correction. I didn't know Scott English. Now I can dislike him intensely. As for Bruce Johnston, I used to think he was harmless. Now I know better. |
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| TomK | Oct 13 2006, 05:59 AM Post #14 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Ravel wrote a beautiful piano sonata for him. Can't beat that. |
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| TomK | Oct 13 2006, 06:07 AM Post #15 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Interesting point on BM :lol:. (Couldn't resist the joke. :() I do a Thursday night gig at a local very hip college bar (a boy and his guitar,) and every now and then I do a couple of 70's and 80's bombs like "Johnny Don't Be a Hero," "Dancing Queen" and "Torn Between Two Lovers," but nothing gets a standing ovation like "Mandy." Great Song. |
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| Dave Spelvin | Oct 13 2006, 06:19 AM Post #16 |
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Fulla-Carp
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Do you mean "Billy don't be a hero, don't be a fool with your life"? Who's Johnny? |
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| TomK | Oct 13 2006, 06:25 AM Post #17 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Billy, Posting while working. I was thinking of When Johnny Comes Marching Home. Another song. Sorry! |
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| Dave Spelvin | Oct 13 2006, 06:26 AM Post #18 |
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Fulla-Carp
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Sadly, Ravel never published a sonata. He wrote a sonatine which requires both hands. Do mean the Concerto for Left Hand? |
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| TomK | Oct 13 2006, 06:28 AM Post #19 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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You are on my case today--Yup. Anyway the Concerto was for Wittgenstein. |
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| Dave Spelvin | Oct 13 2006, 06:29 AM Post #20 |
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Fulla-Carp
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Not on your case. Just the facts, ma'am. (Actually, I went to the internet to find the Ravel sonata I hadn't heard about!) |
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| DivaDeb | Oct 13 2006, 06:32 AM Post #21 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Baritone Thomas Quasthoff is blessed with one of the finest lieder voices of the age. He won classical Grammy awards in 2001 and 2004 for Mahler and Schubert recordings. He records for Deutsche Grammophon. His mother took Thalidomide for morning sickness. The results of the use of that drug are well known now, and Thomas bears the severe birth defects associated with Thalidomide babies. He is barely four feet tall. His legs are malformed. He has vestigal arms. He was denied admission to study music due to his inability to play piano. The trailer for a documentary of his life to date, entitled "The Dreamer" can be viewed below: Thomas Quasthoff |
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| TomK | Oct 13 2006, 06:35 AM Post #22 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Not on your case. Just the facts, ma'am. (Actually, I went to the internet to find the Ravel sonata I hadn't heard about!) [/QUOTE] Didn't really think you were. Just me being sloppy--and in a hurry and all crap. |
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