Five for Friday, The Big Three-Oh edition
There is, of course, a long-standing tradition 'round these here digital parts to look to celebrate birthdays with Five for Friday topics. That how the whole endeavor got started, in fact. So I certainly can't neglect one of our most devoted respondents as she celebrates one of the more momentous birthdays. I also feel that, given her the scary three that lurks at the front of her new age, it may be important to reminder her that, legends of rock'n'roll youth notwithstanding, there can be great accomplishments ahead.
Happy birthday, jupiterjuniper!
As always, please play along...
Five Artists Who Did Great Work, Arguably Their Best Work, After the Age of Thirty
1. Bob Dylan. Yes, most of the works cemented into the rock'n'roll canon--Another Side of Bob Dylan, Blonde on Blonde, John Wesley Harding--were crafted while he was still in his twenties. Even putting aside the late-career rejuvenation that began with Time of Out Mind (released a few months after his 56th birthday), Dylan quaifies for this list since he recorded and released the masterpiece Blood on the Tracks at the age of thirty-three.
2. Ted Leo. He banged around with a lot of different bands in his twenties, but was pushing thirty when his first solo release came out. The best of them--including Hearts of Oak and Shake the Sheets--came out after after someone had to jam thirty candles into a cake for him.
3. Neko Case. Like Mr. Leo, born in 1970. (Why am I gravitating towards people born that year, I wonder.) Anyone want to dispute that she's doing her very best work right now?
4. John Hiatt. The guitar-slinging songwriter toiled for many years, trying to get a foothold in an industry that usually favored more flashy efforts. At the age of 35, he release Bring the Family, a smart, grounded collection of songs that dealt directly with aging and maturity in a business that, especially at the time, didn't value such things.
5. Robyn Hitchcock. He turned thirty in 1983, before Gotta Let This Hen Out! and Element of Light and Queen Elvis and Eye and Birds in Perspex and...
Happy birthday, jupiterjuniper!
As always, please play along...
Five Artists Who Did Great Work, Arguably Their Best Work, After the Age of Thirty
1. Bob Dylan. Yes, most of the works cemented into the rock'n'roll canon--Another Side of Bob Dylan, Blonde on Blonde, John Wesley Harding--were crafted while he was still in his twenties. Even putting aside the late-career rejuvenation that began with Time of Out Mind (released a few months after his 56th birthday), Dylan quaifies for this list since he recorded and released the masterpiece Blood on the Tracks at the age of thirty-three.
2. Ted Leo. He banged around with a lot of different bands in his twenties, but was pushing thirty when his first solo release came out. The best of them--including Hearts of Oak and Shake the Sheets--came out after after someone had to jam thirty candles into a cake for him.
3. Neko Case. Like Mr. Leo, born in 1970. (Why am I gravitating towards people born that year, I wonder.) Anyone want to dispute that she's doing her very best work right now?
4. John Hiatt. The guitar-slinging songwriter toiled for many years, trying to get a foothold in an industry that usually favored more flashy efforts. At the age of 35, he release Bring the Family, a smart, grounded collection of songs that dealt directly with aging and maturity in a business that, especially at the time, didn't value such things.
5. Robyn Hitchcock. He turned thirty in 1983, before Gotta Let This Hen Out! and Element of Light and Queen Elvis and Eye and Birds in Perspex and...