No, I'm not trying to reignite the debate. However, I'm
currently reading Geoffrey O'Brien's Sonata for Jukebox (one
of these days I've got to read his Hardboiled America) and I
ran across this line about defining rock and roll:
"Any attempt to nail the music down is too restrictive for a
culture whose whole point is to find out what happens when
every form of restriction is removed."
An artisitic form cannot be pinned down as long as it remains
alive and vital. If it still has an ability to evolve, it
cannot be thoroughly contained (which may be why some are so
meticulous in narrowing genres to very precise, specific time
periods and titles), since any mutations would have to break
through the existing boundaries. The only place it can be
thoroughly dissected is on the autopsy table, in
retrospect.
Mark
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 07 Dec 2007 EST