Philosophy of the Weird

posted by phil on Sun, 02/21/2010 - 19:45
in

When Stravisky's The Rite of Spring premiered in 1913, the reaction from the crowd (according to many accounts) was one of astonishment and shock, resulting in a full scale riot. Now that's passion!

And passion is what defines great music, and the artists who create it. Great artists have no choice; they must create the music, not matter what the obstacles are. Not all artists, of course, are of the caliber of Stravisnsky's talents, but they may have some of the same passion, and become an unstoppable force. In our American culture, we differentiate between high and low art; the high artists get grants to write symphonies, and the low artists are considered "garage bands." Of course some of our greatest and most endearing music springs from garages, and sometimes the great concert halls feature music that nobody remembers.

One measure of great art is the amount of controversy it causes. The world in which The Rite of Spring emerged probably wasn't quite ready for what was considered at the time primitive (i.e. sexual) and marching to a different drummer than the late romnatic period that preceded it. But times don't change, and in 1969 the world wasn't quite ready for the ultimate garage/art band, and certainly one of the more, uh, distinctive groups of all times, The Shaggs!

It sounds like a Steven King story - a man in New Hampshire was told by a psychic that he would have three daughters who would become famous musicians one day. He did have the three girls, and by the time they were teens, he bought them instruments and took them out of school so they could devote their lives to their music. There are varying accounts as to how much of this was the idea of the girls, or how much talent they had, or whether they were forced by their father to fulfill his destiny. But they persevered, played some local gigs, and pressed 1000 copies of Philosophy of the World (of which 900 were reportedly stolen by their producer). The record went nowhere, and their attempt to make a second one was cancelled at the death of their father.

Twenty years later, they were rediscovered by NRBQ, leading to a re-release of their music. And the Shaggs opened for NRBQ for a few concerts in 1999.

Their music, how can it be described? Certainly garage-esque, but if you had no idea who they were, you would probably believe it if somebody told you they were outtakes by a classic rock band, or a bad bar band from San Bernadino, or children in an Eastern European country, or deranged psychotics, or visitors from another plants - all would seem plausible. Frank Zappa considered them greats, "the missing link between Fanny and Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band." There was a tribute album, and positive reviews from many of the critics of the time. They have many contemporary supporteds, like outside music specialist Irwin Chusid. And then there were others who found it incredulous that anyone would even consider it music. So yes, they were (and still are) quite controverisal. Love 'em or hate 'em, there seems to be no middle ground.

But they had the passion, and their seeming lack of musical technique could also be dismissed as simply that they were avant-garde artistes who had no time for convention. Once you listen to their album, it is easy to vacillate between the extremes of greatness/fraud - but there is seldom an in-between.

This raises the philosophical question of what exactly is great art? Is it something known only to the artist? Can it be unpleasant to listen to and still be admired? Can it be judged in its time, or not until it is mellowed by history?

Duke Ellington (arguably America's greatest composer) once said there are only two kinds of music: good and bad. Maybe that's what I like about the Shaggs so much, they could be both at the same time. They certainly fit in with the Punk credo that doing it yourself is the important part, everyone has something to share with the world. I have no doubts they were sincere in what they were doing, and gave their all. Above all, you have to admire their passion. Love that passion. And if high controversy with no middle ground defines the great artist, the Shaggs will remain near the top of the pantheon.

 

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