Music Legends

You might be asking yourself,"Another post about music?" Dang straight! Why not? I love art, and I love music, so why not show my appreciation of music through my art? Right? I knew you would agree with me. Let's get to it!

Jimi Hendrix: Guitar God. Look up videos of him on youtube. He is incredible. He is one of the most influential guitarists of all time. He is one of many musicians who died of a drug overdose. He took several sleeping pills the night of his death, when only half a tablet is recommended. He died choking on his own vomit. It's sad how many great musicians went out this way. It also raises the question: Would these musicians have been as creative or innovative without the influence of drugs and alcohol?
Kurt Cobain: Grunge God. Whenever someone mentions the Generation X movement, I always think of Kurt Cobain for some reason. He seemed to typify what that movement was all about. Having long hair, scraggly clothes, and having the appearance of not caring about anything. It's interesting how some bands become famous and are misinterpreted by the media. I sometimes wonder about how some bands feel about becoming famous. I'm sure a lot of people would love to be famous, but at what price? Cobain overdosed on drugs, but recovered at a hospital. He then went home to Seattle where he shot himself.
Harry Nilsson: Legendary Songwriter. Nilsson is amazing! I remember when my parents starting buying CDs. Nilsson was one of the first ones they got. I use to play the song Coconut over and over again as a kid. He wrote(and performs) the song One which you probably know better from Three Dog Night, as well as the song Without You, which some no name pop star does. You can google whoever that may be. Interesting fact: He owned a place in London where two musicians died: (1) Mama Cass of The Mamas and the Poppas and (2) Keith Moon from The Who. He was also a favorite of The Beatles, and became great friends with John Lennon. He died of heart failure in 1993. I recommend that his music be played anywhere and everywhere!
Elvis Presley: The King of Rock and Roll. I have always enjoyed his music, but never really got into it until later in my life. Whenever I thought of Elvis, I thought of girls swooning over him. There would always be crowds of women crying over him. This type of publicity really didn't go over too well with me as a young kid. Why should I like something girls like? I also had heard that he didn't write his own songs. This is completely true, and kinda bothers me. Presley also was a slave to drugs, abusing them in his later years. He finally succumbed to them in 1977.
Elliot Smith: King of Misery. If you have ever heard his music before, you kinda get goosebumps. There are several artist that have tried to have emotional angst within their music, but I don't think anyone had ever bore themselves quite like he did. I remember listening to the album XO a lot. He had an incredible way of expressing himself. He knew how to word things. Even some interview he gave were poetic. His music is beautiful, yet depressing. I remember when I first saw the movie The Royal Tenenbaums. There is a scene where Luke Wilson's character attempts suicide. Smith's song Needle in the Hay plays throughout the scene. It is my favorite scene of any movie. Don't judge me! Smith attempted suicide a few times before finally killing himself in 2003.
Cat Stevens: Man of Peace. The only artist in this post that isn't dead(sorry guys, I really didn't intend to post a lot about death this time). His music is incredible, and deserves your attention. I share a birthday with him, so when that arrives I usually ask people to give me presents in his stead. He is also the only artist that I have a songbook to. There was a time in my life where I actually stopped listening to a lot of music, and just listened to Cat Stevens. He converted to Islam in 1977 and gave up music for a time to focus on educational and philanthropic causes. His islamic name is Yusuf Islam. Check him out.

I hope that this post wasn't too long, and that you can learn to appreciate these artists. Sweet!