Lester Bangs about music

[Chinawest1]

There is some music Lester might approve of even today. From the delinquents sprang a group which Jimmy Miller { NO scorn for producers here!} took a liking too. If your interested in hearing Becky Bickham and Andy Fuertsch and others including Billy Preston and Bobby Keys add to Lesters old band ~ Check out ~ my space ~ worldbankrecords

Enjoy!

[GriefTourist]

he knew..he knew!

[charold3]

Heard some dickwad on TV the other night dissing Lester Bangs. He said that such & such band that Bangs dismissed is well remembered while no one remembers Bangs. OK, fine. There are a lot of lousy music writers and even more lousy bands. And there are a lot of people who dismiss critics of all types as useless (poets too, and artists. But a lot of us remember Bangs FONDLY. I don't agree 100% with ANY critic, incl. Bangs, but you can never accuse him of not caring about rock and roll!

[SonofMrPeanut]

This is because music of all forms saw a splintering going into the 70's. The -isms that gave such stars a position started fading out in favor of a more individualized approach. Instead of one catch-all aspiration we have a collective of groups that grew more varied as time went on. The search for individual sounds in the late 60's was certainly a key factor in this. Parallel to this, almost anyone who could be considered a star since didn't carry that same sense of purpose.

[omarfrancis]

God I wish Bangs was alive to spew acidic bile at the the music of this century

[cHarade15]

He wouldve been 65 today.

[07foxmulder]

after viewing this i praise philip seymour hoffman's portrayal of him in almost famous lol it was spot on. 

[sratus]

Bowie happened in the 70's

[oHelmslyoRisesAgain]

he sounds strangely straight being the nutcase that he sounds like when he wrote

[PTRS9K]

Listen to Bryan Ferry, " Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" . You will see what Ferry is really about, Supremely Talented.

[alexlancer11]

He was a musically retarded idiot. I suppose you have to give him credit for his style of speaking it is interesting in a way , but he was complete moron criticizing true genius bands just because he could not appreciate them. A person can not help what he like , but he had to realize he was criticizing brilliant bands that where doing things beyond anything he could hope to do. Rolling Stone are such a bunch of fing idiots to have hired this guy. Thanks for breaking up Cream you A holes.

[sternumagnum]

@alexlancer11 "criticizing true genius bands" ?! Yeah, Emerson, Lake & Palmer was a genius band - they were geniuses at making vapid, 'virtuoso' music. Lester Bangs nailed it.

[wellesradio]

@alexlancer11 I think you're misunderstanding what he's saying. He loved their music and was really hoping for Roxy Music to tear the lid off of rock'n'roll. But when he met Bryan Ferry he realized that they guy behind it all was about all the wrong things and just didn't have it in him. At least according to Bangs. Ferry gave (and still does imho) the impression of being overly shallow. And so Roxy Music never hit their true potential.

[alexlancer11]

@wellesradio I am sure you are correct about that , however he was still an ass who put down works of genius simply cause he was to much of an average idiot to enjoy the music. If you read his stuff in Cream magazine it is enough to make one sick. He was a piece of S&$# and it is to bad no one ever punched him in the mouth. The bad thing is he was articulate and that is enough to convince the average person.

[dropd29]

The same thing in the 70`s, the same thing now.

[Yesult]

I wish Lester was still around, `cause I would love to read his opinions on modern rock music..

[hnh4]

40's-Sinatra

50's-Elvis

60's-The Beatles

70's-Pink Floyd happened



[beowulven]

Bangs would have loved Prince, I imagine.

[ericblowtorch]

Telling the greatest writer of the 20th century to 'just shut the fuck up' suggests that you are a) a scribe of superior abilities, or b) you just don't get it. Which is it?

[wellesradio]

@ericblowtorch the greatest writer of the 20th century? He's not even the best music critic of the 20th century.

[Ghoopty]

@wellesradio Who is, then? He WAS brilliant whether you realize it or not. An asshole, perhaps, but still brilliant.

[wellesradio]

@Ghoopty I agree. Not meaning to put him down. Just that he was far from the greatest. The greatest writer of the 20th century? Thomas Mann? George Bernard Shaw was a better music critic as well as a writer, although he did quit writing crit for money in 1898 just short of the 20th century. Writer? Then again maybe James Joyce. Critic? I dunno, do you mean just music critic? Or any type of critic? Borges wrote some great criticism.

[Ghoopty]

@wellesradio Just talking about rock critics. I don't have the knowledge of writers that you do....my forte is rock music.

[wberdan]

Big Star happened!!!

[fishermangonewild]

JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! IF YOU LIKE THE MUSIC, YOU LIKE THE FUCKING MUSIC!!!! END OF STORY

[shambler92]

well...punk happened

[Mallen151]

There was good music then, there is good music now. There was bad music then and there is bad music now, but in the 60s and earlier there was GREAT music. In my opinion,that was his point. I can't say I agree 100%.

There is still great music today and there was great music in the 70s, but over time it became easier to find the bad stuff than the good stuff. Now there is plenty of good stuff but it is much lower key than the bad. With a few exceptions...

[themofo1890331]

in terms of rock critics this dude was the real deal. just an american hero man

[rafstubeID]

this man would not approve of lil wayne

[battleofjerrica]

ha! i would LOVE to hear what he would have to say about the state of todays current music. total shit, with the exception of few bands

[cosmicrider287]

when lester bangs speaks i listen.

[AsSeenOnCCTV]

Nothing's happened in 30 years? That's just plain wrong. There have been hundred of great record since the 70's. Saying music was better/worse before is saying like the ocean used to be wetter. There's always a shitload of music that is, well, shit. And there's always good stuff to be found to, if you look deep.

[nholt]

Phillip Seymour Hoffman played Lester Bangs in the movie Almost Famous perfectly. Phillip nailed it. My favorite movie!

[rjamesl]

I wonder what he would say about the seemingly irrelevant, vapid excuse for music in America today?

[thegreenolivo]

Bangs was a good writer but he only seemed to really like Lou Reed and Van Morrison.

[shovingwords]

@thegreenolivo and Coltrane ;)

[Reese1492]

"That was two years ago, and nothing has happened."

Now its over 30 years ago...and still nothing has happened. :P

[Eternalover78]

@Reese1492 Nirvana and grunge music were pretty cool

[Eternalover78]

@Reese1492 Nirvana and grunge music were pretty cool

[Eternalover78]

@Reese1492 Nirvana and grunge music were pretty cool

[Eternalover78]

@Reese1492 Nirvana and grunge music were pretty cool

[WutDfuzz]

@Reese1492 Cause we got all pretentious waiting for "something to happen". People weren't waiting for "something to happen" when Elvis and The Beatles came along, it just happened and people loved it.

[UliJones]

And Lester Bangs thought it was bad THEN!

[thepersona100]

DUde you can totally tell Lester Bang tweaking a little

[SlimeTron5000]

He's right about ELP!

[yellowjuju]

Totally fucking right. But now rock's been populated by arrogant amateurs who can't play for shit! Ozzy and his crap noise band should have just stopped and put down the guitar. Fucking assholes.

[Mallen151]

@yellowjuju You do realize that Bangs really liked Ozzy, right...? He said there was more to him than meets the eye. (Bring your mother to the gas chamber - Creem June-July 1972 and Mainlines, bloodfeasts and bad tastes pg. 222)

[handoverfist11]

I wish this full interview was available somewhere. He was on the mark more often than not. Dave Marsh never came close to him.

[Electricshrock]

I'm so glad the era of the media where the critics themselves could become famous is over- and I say that as a music journalist! No-one should gain notoriety from spewing forth such arbitrary and dismissive opinions. The main job of any critic should be to simply describe their subject as much as possible, giving the reader some idea of whether or not they'll like it. Who's he to say that people shouldn't appreciate Emerson, Lake And Palmer for their virtuosity alone? It's as valid as any reason

[topraman519]

@Electricshrock Totally agree. Nothing wrong with voicing your opinion in an articulate manner, like Roger Ebert does, but these first-gen rock critics were fucking assholes. I'm glad the internet has made "professional" critics almost irrelevant.

[taylor7979444]

I love his ramblings. Little do I often agree with him, but I could listen to him for hours.

[julieswahn]

ohh the fights he'd get into with Lou Reed! That mag was my bible through my teens and I loved Lester immensely.

[67675656565655656565]

lester bangs is a retard besides what fuckhead listens to a music critic as to whether a song is good or not

[avosg2]

His opinions are timeless. He could be talking about the present in this interview. We need him now as much as we did then.

[HISTORYBUFFPA]

I urge everyone to read Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung.

Lester's writing is a huge influence on me.

[howl8]

Lester Bangs is fucking amazing, thank you for this shit it's awesome. Do you have anymore videos of him?

[tbzeee]

awesome. thanks for posting