Back in the early to mid-aughts, as music delivery was rapidly changing, I often used to ask two questions of musicians I met: One was, "How do you find new music, and what is it about a new artist that forms a deeper connection for you with that artist?" Secondly, "Why does every generation discover and fall in love with The Beatles?" Children generally rebel against everything their parents do and like, but every generation seems to love The Beatles. What is it about their music that has such universal and timeless appeal? It's often said that we love the music that was popular when we were growing up, but anyone under the age of 60 didn't grow up when The Beatles were active, and there are a lot of fans much younger than that. I would ask these questions, many times in bars after gigs, but I never really got any useful answers until one summer evening a few years ago. I was hanging out with my friend, Joe Morishige, and his wife, Laura. Both are great musicians, but not actively part of the music business or industry. They play music quite a bit, but mainly just for their enjoyment. Joe was the first person to answer the question in a way that made sense to me. He said he was not into The Beatles when he was younger; he only discovered them when he was in his twenties, and that he still didn't consider himself a big fan. But he proposed that what The Beatles had in their recordings was a palpable sense of fun and adventure. "You can hear their excitement as they figured out how to make the records they were creating. There was a sense of discovery present as they were inventing new sounds and structures in the studio." I've thought about that conversation with Joe for the past few years, and I think he's on to something even if it is difficult to define.
I listen to a lot of new releases, and I'm often pleasantly surprised at how much excellent music is being produced right now. But I also hear a lot of music, that, despite being well-produced with everything in its right place, falls flat to me. It may be well-crafted, but it feels boring and doesn't elicit much of an emotional response for me.
I was thinking about this while listening to an older, established artist's latest album. I enjoy it, but if I'm honest with myself it doesn't have the same appeal to me as the band he was once in. What is it about his band's classic records that keeps me coming back to them? Thinking back to Joe's ideas, I realized I feel that I can hear the excitement of those then-younger bandmates as they created those records. There was a joy of discovery in making something greater than the sum of their parts. This doesn't feel present in the newer material, despite it being well-crafted, well-recorded, and even taking musical chances many artists his age might not.