Gotta Hand It…
By Mitch Berg
…to JB when credit is due.
Oh, I disagree with J about a lot of things, of course; music (stuff I like is better), politics (on the one hand, people who come to conservatism after being liberals might not be better conservatives; on the other hand, Ronald Reagan. Case closed) and any autobiographical information that I actually put on this site (which, if it’s posted on this site and is not clearly satire, is true. There are too many of my friends, high school and college classmates, ex-girlfriends, my kids, my parents, my aunts and uncles, old band-mates and an ex-wife reading this blog that can call “BS” if I were to say something stupid – so I don’t).
However, he’s right; Dinosaur Junior sucked back then, and they suck now.
UPDATE: They suck, except for their cover of Richard Thompson’s “I Misunderstood”, which benefits by being a really great song by one of the great living songwriters, something even J Mascis can’t screw up. Even though Thompson is the world’s greatest living guitarist, and Mascis isn’t fit to carry Thompson’s gig bag.
UPDATE II: Oh, and whatever his other faults, Mascis is best known for playing a Fender Jazzmaster, which is what I play. So while I can’t stand his oeuvre in any way (except as noted above), us Jazzmaster guys gotta stick together. Although my Jazz is a hotrod, and his was pretty much stock. Which I say only to point out that I am, indeed, cooler.
June 15th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Okay, this has been driving me nuts but I figured one day you would mention this…
What freakin’ Radio station channel are you on and at what time, please?
Thanks.
JS
June 15th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
AM1280 in the Twin Cities, 1 to 3PM Saturdays.
Or on the web at AM1280thepatriot.com.
Or podcast at Townhall.com – click on “Talk Radio Online”.
June 15th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
Jazzmasters have become the trendy guitar for emo-types.
Yer not going emo are you Mitch?
Play a man’s guitar like Ol’ JB–the Tele.
Jazzmasters are all artsy. You have to have a goofy haircut just to strap one on.
June 15th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
Jazzmasters have become the trendy guitar for emo-types.
Yer not going emo are you Mitch?
Pffft. I’ve had this guitar almost thirty years.
Play a man’s guitar like Ol’ JB–the Tele.
You and Springsteen!
A Tele is on my wish list.
Jazzmasters are all artsy.
Since when?
It’s only been in the last few years that I don’t get people asking if it’s a Jaguar or Mustang (sort of understandable) or a Firebird (like what, upside down?)
You have to have a goofy haircut just to strap one on.
And yet I manage!
June 15th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
I should point out – since you’re a fellow gear-head – that mine is not just yer average Jazz. It’s got a Gibson single-pole “soap-bar” sunk in between the two stock pickups, wired out of phase with the bridge pickup. When you select the middle and bridge pickups together, it sounds more like a Strat than a Strat does; it’s got an out-of-phase “thwack” to it like no other guitar I’ve ever played.
June 15th, 2007 at 11:53 pm
My cat’s breath smells like cat food.
June 16th, 2007 at 5:31 am
My first musical disagreement with you, Mitch (except that I can’t say Springsteen is the greatest anything ever.) J. Mascis, while not up to his hype (who is?), was a founding part of my high school existence, even if all he did was copy Sonic Youth and Husker Du. Still … two pretty good sources to crib from.