OT Entertainers that Should Just Retire | Page 2 | The Boneyard

OT Entertainers that Should Just Retire

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HuskyNan said:
I'm going to see the Beach Boys in New Haven this week. Can't wait!
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I saw them in college in 1975. They were becoming popular again after the Woodstock era made them uncool. It was a great show. They brought down the house.
 
HuskyNan said:
I'm going to see the Beach Boys in New Haven this week. Can't wait!
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Let me know how this one goes. I'll see them (maybe) when they are in Effingham next month.
 
I know of some bands still touring that hire extra musicians who are the ones you actually hear because the mikes on drums/pick-ups on the guitars of the actual band members are turned way down/off. Not all of the old band members are fully functional any more!
With actors and vocalists and classical musicians there can be greater depth added to the performance that only comes with age and experience - not something typically associated with rock and roll, but ...
 
I have seen all of Neil Diamond's tours since around 1987 (when I got married). He actually still puts on a good show and - because of the nature of his songs - hasn't lost it. Much, much better in person than on You Tube of his current tour. That said, there was a time when he was probably in his early 60s that he wasn't so good - we went to a concert where his voice was just not there for the first 1/2 or more of the show. Very disappointed.

Barry Manilow would be my candidate for hanging it up. Which he is mostly doing. He has trouble walking and he doesn't really sound like himself and with all the apparent plastic surgery, doesn't look like himself, either.

Also, Art Garfunkle needs to hang it up. Attended a show of his in Tucson, he reads poetry and sings, he has "recovered" his voice he says; however only one song was really good and a couple were ok, the rest, not so good.
 
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Bonpland said:
Vladimir Horowitz continued to perform until his death at 86 even though by his own admission he was no longer the pianist he was in his prime. Audiences flocked to see him because he was a legend (widely considered to be one of the greatest pianists of all time). When he was asked what his plans were for the future when he 84 or 85 he said that he planned to concertize on his 90ith birthday. He didn't live that long but felt, like so many other performers have, that it would be hard to go on if he had to admit that his career was behind him.

I think that it is painful to see the great performers of my generation (from the Beatles on) struggle to imitate who they once were, but as long as they feel that they have to perform most of us will want to wander with them into the past.
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This guy lived to be 100 and performed until shortly before his death. Maybe he was on to something, and if people will pay to watch you do something you love, well, all the better. Nobody's forced to buy a ticket so it seems to me to be a win-win for everyone.

george-burns-quote-2.jpg
 
HuskyNan said:
Nobody's forced to buy a ticket so it seems to me to be a win-win for everyone.
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Maybe so, but the performer has a responsibility to deliver a respectable performance. I went to a BB King show about four years ago and I felt incredibly ripped off. He didn't even try to put on a performance. He just went out and rambled, never playing a complete song. He should have hung it up years before. OTOH, I thought the Stones were great when they came to The Rent a few years back.
 
Adesmar123 said:
Well, technically you are seeing two of the Beach Boys. If you ever get the chance Nan, go see Brian Wilson. He is actually very good for who he is and what he went through. And his band is fantastic.
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Brian Wilson in concert is really the Beach Boys these days. The group using the name is just the Mike Love cover band. He's a dirt bag.
 
Waquoit said:
Brian Wilson in concert is really the Beach Boys these days. The group using the name is just the Mike Love cover band. He's a dirt bag.
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Are you saying he had too much Fun Fun Fun?

 
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Concerts at induction ceremonies at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame are recorded and available on DVD. Time and again, groups (e.g., The Band; Crosby, Stills & Nash) that are inducted no longer have a complete roster of the musicians who got them qualified for this honor. Sad.
 
Wbbfan1 said:
Don't understand;besides Money why some Singers/Musicians and in some cases Actors/Actresses just don't retire when they're past their performing career. Who in your opinion should retire that are still performing.

I have two that come to mind. Neil Diamond (74 years old) and the Rolling Stones. Both are past their prime and I don't understand why some are playing good dollars to see them in concert.
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You are of course walking on a thin line. There is no doubt that putting away those sneakers for the last time isn't very easy- some do it too early, while others hang around for longer then we would like. However, if the talent is still there age or longevity should not be an issue. Why not (re)discover Neil Young one more time, if his (new)sangs and music are good? Also, Madison Avenue has been selling nostalgia for as long as I can remember; and while it emotes feelings of joy/depression , it is not a sickness-- at least in the ocassional doses. But, if you are talking about people who are bad, terrible at what they think they are doing then I'm with you. I know of some where the first event should have been their last. A lot of contemporary pop music fit that model- an endless journey into bad taste. But then again, there is a lot of money in bad taste and shamelessness. Think of the growing webcamera culture on the net where you can get your fill by watching Josephine/Joe busy her/himself around the apartment.
 
BigBird said:
Let me know how this one goes. I'll see them (maybe) when they are in Effingham next month.
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Seriously, please do let us know.
Bought a Beach Boys live album when I was a kid and - after plying it ONE TIME - vowed I'd never go to see them live.
I LOVE their sound but, difficult to do in real life. MAYBE Crosby, Stills, Nash and whoever?
 
JimGunther said:
Seriously, please do let us know.
Bought a Beach Boys live album when I was a kid and - after plying it ONE TIME - vowed I'd never go to see them live.
I LOVE their sound but, difficult to do in real life. MAYBE Crosby, Stills, Nash and whoever?
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Like I mentioned before, I saw Brian Wilson last summer and the vocals were more than fine. They even played a suite of songs from "Smile" with Jeff Beck on guitar.
 
Waquoit said:
Like I mentioned before, I saw Brian Wilson last summer and the vocals were more than fine. They even played a suite of songs from "Smile" with Jeff Beck on guitar.
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I have seen both the Pet Sounds and Smile concerts with Brian Wilson. He also does some Beach Boy songs.
 
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since our kids are now grown, my wife and I have 'rediscovered' our beloved music from when we grew up and have been going to some of these concerts.

Frankie Vallie, John Fogerty, Mickey Dolenz, the Happy Together tour and more.

It has been so much fun for us. Do they all have complete contingent of original bands. No.

Is the sound exactly the same? for the most part, probably not.

Then again, neither are my ears.

Yet, singing along with John Fogerty and others, along with a few thousand other fans of a fading away era has been a blast and we get to go back in time one more time,.

We are trying to see at least 2-3 a year.

Up next... Ringo.
 
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band, all mid 60's. Saw them 2 yrs ago and they are still going strong with 3 hr shows. Maybe not so many back to back dates like in 1974 on the Born to Run tour. Worth every penny, never disappoints !!!!!!!
 
Alydar said:
If, in 1970, someone had offered 10,000 to one odds on Keith Richards being alive in 2015 there would have been no takers.
:rolleyes:
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Keith Richards said, "I never had a problem with drugs; only with policemen."
 
Donald Trump. (oops! did I just make a political statement? Is it allowed? THE DONALD isn't that bad, er in fact he may be good. I don't know. He sure wears colorful ties.)
 
Kaizen said:
I was crazy in love with Linda Ronstadt back in college.
Her songs: Silver Threads and Golden Needles,
You're No Good,
Blue Bayou,
It's So Easy,
Hurt So Bad,
are still my favorite now ......
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So sad that she cannot perform anymore due to her Parkinson's. Some of her family have a local band called Ronstadt Generations, which I saw perform and have one of their CD's. I gather they play the bars around Tucson. Quite a good sound.

Arizona Softball games feature 2 Ronstadt songs, played before the top and bottom of the first inning, but I can't name them, as they are in Spanish, not a language I speak. It is a long standing tradition at the games.

Of older female singers, I saw Judy Collins and Pat Benatar in the last year and enjoyed both shows; Collins at 75 doesn't do a long show, but sounds like herself; she admitted that there is much she can no longer play on the guitar, although she strummed and also played the piano for a couple of songs. Benatar is in her early 60's I think, she rocked the house with her husband.
 
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Kibitzer said:
Concerts at induction ceremonies at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame are recorded and available on DVD. Time and again, groups (e.g., The Band; Crosby, Stills & Nash) that are inducted no longer have a complete roster of the musicians who got them qualified for this honor. Sad.
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I don't know about The Band (that's a blast from my past), but CSN (and Y) are all still alive. In fact, I attended a tribute concert recently where the leader / singer / guitarist mentioned that he had met one of them and given him a CD that included some CSN&Y songs. Whichever it was commented that when the group does reunions, they can't do one song because they can no longer play it well enough, but he thought the tribute band did a nice job on covering it. I think (but am not sure) that the song was "Suite Judy Blue Eyes".
 
There are some that step aside,although a bit later in life. my friend is married to "The Killer" Jerry Lee Lewis.

He is headed over to England to start his final tour. He just did a concert with Chubby Checker a couple of weeks ago. all I can say is that the people that commented onfacebook still love him.

The older music has become more important to me the last couple of years. I started to noticr how WDRC was playing less and less 50-60s and only certain 70s. Then they sold out last year and became a classic rock station. all crew was let go.
 
KnightBridgeAZ said:
So sad that she cannot perform anymore due to her Parkinson's. Some of her family have a local band called Ronstadt Generations, which I saw perform and have one of their CD's. I gather they play the bars around Tucson. Quite a good sound.
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I saw Linda in concert in LA during her prime. Then last year I saw her at a book signing. She did sort of a pre-arranged interview with a media person - they had announced that she wouldn't take questions from the audience. But she took questions anyway, and stuck around for quite a while. She was pretty funny, didn't exhibit any outward symptoms of her Parkinson's.
 
I saw Petet Paul & Mary when I was a UConn Frosh in the mid-1960s and again about 40 years later. They were still great, even looking their age. A lot of "0ld" entertainers still have it and can be lots better than a lot of the trash younger acts that sell out venues.
 
PP&M Wow!
We saw them, of course, in the 60s (Who didn't fall in love with Mary's long blond hair?) then again in the 80's at the Boston Pops.
In fact, whenever Public TV runs the concert, we look for my daughter (who was caught cavorting on film (tape).: she's in her mid 40s now.
Probably 10 years since we've seen Judy Collins or Joan Baez live but, the oldsters can put together a good band and still put on an enjoyable show.
Regret that we'll (probably) never see Joni again.

PS: Don't tell anyone over at the Cesspool of my musical tastes<G>.

cohenzone said:
I saw Petet Paul & Mary when I was a UConn Frosh in the mid-1960s and again about 40 years later. They were still great, even looking their age. A lot of "0ld" entertainers still have it and can be lots better than a lot of the trash younger acts that sell out venues.
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JimGunther said:
PP&M Wow!
We saw them, of course, in the 60s (Who didn't fall in love with Mary's long blond hair?) then again in the 80's at the Boston Pops.
In fact, whenever Public TV runs the concert, we look for my daughter (who was caught cavorting on film (tape).: she's in her mid 40s now.
Probably 10 years since we've seen Judy Collins or Joan Baez live but, the oldsters can put together a good band and still put on an enjoyable show.
Regret that we'll (probably) never see Joni again.

PS: Don't tell anyone over at the Cesspool of my musical tastes<G>.
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What is this Cesspool you speak of;).

When I saw PPM those many years later it was at a political fundraiser (won't say for who) and I got to meet Mary and Paul. I get to talk to her for 2 or 3 minutes. Very gracious and if you are aware of the non-political causes she contributed to and actively campaigned for, you know what a really impressive person she was. The show I saw when I was a student was early in their popularity. It was, at the time, the fastest sellout ever of Jorgensen. Started selling at 8. I had arrived before 7 (brutal for a college student) and was about halfway back in the line. The tickets were gone by a little after 9.

Peter got into trouble years ago because of an indecent conduct charge regarding a 14 or 15 year old girl. Recently, he was in the movie While We Were Young which my wife rented. I'm looking at this guy trying to place him when I realized it was Peter Yarrow.
 
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