[blessingx]

For those interested in Ryan Adams, there's a lengthy article on him and Easy Tiger in todays New York Times.

 

[Sordel]

I'm a fan of Adams, but I'm getting rather sick and the way that he and Rufus Wainwright are making such a big deal about giving up drugs. If it makes little or no difference to their work, it's pretty much the same as hearing about how much they're enjoying their gluten-free diet.

 

[Coltrane]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sordel /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm a fan of Adams, but I'm getting rather sick and the way that he and Rufus Wainwright are making such a big deal about giving up drugs. If it makes little or no difference to their work, it's pretty much the same as hearing about how much they're enjoying their gluten-free diet.

Except that gluten isn't highly addictive and highly lethal. Quitting drugs does have an enormous effect on their work, mostly because they are actually alive to write songs. When drugs define your life for so long, sobriety does the same.

As for Easy Tiger, its a beautiful album. Much more cohesive than any of his last 3 or 4.

 

[Sordel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coltrane /img/forum/go_quote.gif Quitting drugs does have an enormous effect on their work, mostly because they are actually alive to write songs. When drugs define your life for so long, sobriety does the same.

I don't object to their giving up the drugs, and obviously it's in my interest that they keep recording, but the cynicism with which PR men delight in telling stories of former excess and debauchery is irritating. Remember all those stories about Aerosmith saying "we ought to be dead"? It's the equivalent of saying "okay, we couldn't cash in on this stuff when our artists were out of their gourds, but now that they're clean we're going to grab some headlines with their former behaviour". I always find that the artists who bore on about their hellraiser days never quite avoid sounding smug about it.

A case in point was Uk footballer George Best who used to do interviews about how drunk he had been on such-and-such an occasion. He was pious about being off the drink, but soooo pleased with himself about his previously feckless experience. Sure enough, the next stories were about his falling off the wagon again. Loads of people in public life (e.g. Frank Zappa) stayed away from drugs and never got the "Rehab Premium" in terms of celebrity.

I've got no objection to these people cleaning up their acts ... but I'm more interested in their music (about which that NYT article says virtually nothing) than I am in their conversion to chemical rectitude.