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Oh, this is gonna be a HUGE hit. Especially if her mug is on the CD cover. I guess she must be really bored, but honestly, couldn't she work on her pick-up truck or something? At least that would make some sense.

the list of songs and artists looks great. I may cherry pick the worthwhile tunes and download them to the ipod but I just happen to like this style of music esp. since immersing myself into old Dylan music...

The very fact that it's manufactured non-music like pop and rock should be considered barf inducing enough, George. Regardless of what my feelings on Reno might be (I agree with y'all she blew the Elian Gonzalez affair big time and then some-but as to Vernon Howell, aka David Koresh....I'm not so sure he was just a harmless nut exercising his First Amendment right to declare himself the second-coming of Christ, and nothing more than that), why not show the history of America through its music, using traditional folk (both Anglo-Saxon/Anglo-Celtic and other forms) and orchestral pieces? Too many people ONLY know rock, pop, and the pseudo-music that passes itself as "country", and are totally unawar e of the "roots" music of this country, to say nothing of great orchestral composers like, for instance, Copeland.

Here's a dozen great American composers whose music is representative of America: Samuel Barber, Charles Ives, Carl Ruggles, Walter Piston, Roy Harris, William Schuman, George Rochberg, Ned Rorem, Steve Reich, Philp Glass, George Gerswin, Duke Ellington. I love the music of Aaron Copland; quintessentially American in his works.

Barber, Ives, Glass, Gershwin, and Ellington I'm familiar with (in addition to Copeland, of course). The other names are new to me. May have heard there stuff before, but just didn't catch the name of the composer. I'll try to check 'em out, though. Gracias, George! :)

BTW, there's no "e" in Copland...

Rochberg's string quartets (on RCA) and Rorem's symphonies (on Naxos) are worth exploring. Harris, Piston and Schuman are great symphonists. I have the complete music of Ruggles on 2 LPs (!) from the seventies. Hasn't made it to CD yet. Interesting stuff, but not for everyone... :-)

and...

Woody Gutherie, Leadbelly, Charlie Christian, Muddy Waters, Monroe Brothers, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Bill Monroe, and of course Bob Dylan....

Don't forget Stephen Foster, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, and Scott Joplin.

Not to mention Rodgers and Hammerstein.

George: Yep, I know it's supposed to be COPLAND, though for some unknown reason I keep wanting to add that "e" that isn't there-have all of my life whenever I've mentioned him in writing. And thanks for the other contemporary composers to check out, too! Actually, feeling charitable, I'd be even willing to go so far as to say that some of Frank Zappa's works qualify as being legitimate orchestral compositions (and even a *few* of his buddy Don Vliet's-aka Don VAN Vliet, aka Captain Beefheart- too).

Ziva: Joplin's works I would consider legit folkloric music. R&H were kinda like the American Gilbert and Sullivan. Foster I would consider one of the harbingers of the demise of the American folkloric idiom, even though he is usually considered to be someone who definitely worked within it. Mr. Baline (Berlin)? Sorry, I know he's considered "America's Songwriter", but to me he's just as much to blame for the end of the American folkloric idiom, and it's replacement with manufactured non-music, as are Holland/Dozier/Holland or Lennon and McCartney or any of the rest of them. I have a lot more I could say on the subject (and maybe one day will), but for right now it's insanely late, so I need to finish up soon and go to bed).

Cigar Mike: Since we're talking the Anglo-American (aka Anglo-Saxon/Anglo-Celtic based) idiom, don't forget the Louvin Bros! Or "Uncle" Dave Macon (the guy who coined the term "Grand Ol' Opry"!). Dylan? Maybe, repeat MAYBE very early Dylan (and no, not because he went 'lectric, but because he went Rock N Roll), but that's as far as I'm willing to go.

To be honest, I love a lot of weird contemporary music, but not the really-out-there stuff. I love Gyorgi Ligeti (I have his complete works), Messiaen, Bartok and Shostakovich, but I absolutely hate Stockhausen, Cage, Crumb, and the other bullshit artists that ruled contemporary music for too long. Listen to the opening titled "Night of the Electric Insects" from his String Quartet Black Angels and tell me if crap like that should get a hearing.

Barber is the great American composer of the first half of the 20th, fantastic music that is ill-served by all. Listen to his opera Vanessa or his concerti. Modern masterpieces.

I disagree with you on Joplin. If you listen to his works, the folkloric is there, yes, but you can also hear the sensibility of Chopin in the little jewels he wrote. Did you know he was influenced by Cuban music and rhythms he heard? If you listen closely to some of his rags, you can hear the Cuban cinquillo as clearly as in Cuban art music of the period. (Not to mention his opera Treemonisha.)

I've heard Foster compared to Schubert and that is a joke. He was a good songwriter, but he was no Schubert.

As for Zappa, he is his own category... :-)

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