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Huge artists/bands from the 60s that are still active today.

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Raiden

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We have The Rolling Stones, Neil Young and Bob Dylan from the top of my head. Especially The Rolling Stones are still amazing live but they never got any huge hitsongs past their prime. Not like Angie, Paint it Black, Gimme Shelter and stuff like that.

Whats up with that? Did they lose their muse or dont they care enough because they already have this huge base of great songs?

I realise i might not be informed enough about this but its something i always wondered, if everyone has this prime-time of talent spread over a year or 10 and after that its harder to bring something as good as back then.
 
Old rock and roll singers pissed away all their money and decide to get together for ONE LAST REUNION!!!

News at Eleven....
 
The Beatles.

Although not active, they're bigger than all those artists to this day, with all due respect to the Stones and Neil Young.
 
canoli2006 said:
The Beatles.

Although not active, they're bigger than all those artists to this day, with all due respect to the Stones and Neil Young.
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Paul McCartney still does shows though. Sure, the group itself is dead(and so are 2 of their members), but that still counts somewhat. :p
 
Raiden said:
We have The Rolling Stones, Neil Young and Bob Dylan from the top of my head. Especially The Rolling Stones are still amazing live but they never got any huge hitsongs past their prime. Not like Angie, Paint it Black, Gimme Shelter and stuff like that.
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The Stones had hits in the 80's. Well past their "creative prime" but they still made hits nonetheless.

I'd say the same goes for Bowie. His highest charting/selling record was "Let's Dance" and that came out in the 80's too. Most bands would have burned out by then.
 
angie is technically off the first album after the rolling stones prime. that's why some girls is a comeback album.

time out of mind is one of dylan's biggest and best albums. he talks a lot about how can't be the songwriter he once was - but i think he found a new interesting voice. I also bet someone would argue that Neil Young's 90s work is just as important, not me, but some people.

it's hard to write hungry, great songs when you achieve what those dudes did when they were young.
 
Bisnic said:
Paul McCartney still does shows though. Sure, the group itself is dead(and so are 2 of their members), but that still counts somewhat. :p
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Then I guess Pink Floyd and The Who count as well if we're going by this since Daltrey and Waters still play shows.

which makes no sense in context of the OT
 
Start Me Up came out in 1981. Eventually a band, no matter how good, gets too old to be played on top 40 radio. If they started to style their music to sound too much like whats current they'd start being called sellouts by the diehards they've had for 10+ years.
 
Andrew. said:
Then I guess Pink Floyd and The Who count as well if we're going by this since Daltrey and Waters still play shows.

which makes no sense in context of the OT
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He said "Huge artists" in the title. I count Paul as huge artist, so yes its in context.
 
While the Rolling Stones and Who are still together and touring, neither band has put out a particularly good album in a long time. Yes still releases music but I don't know anyone who has listened to one of the newer albums. Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Neil Young and Brian Wilson still manage to make interesting music. There are plenty of other 60s groups that still tour but most of them don't even bother releasing records these days.
 
Black Sabbath are still somewhat active these days. Yeah, most of their activity started in the early '70s, but they formed in 1968.

Also I believe Eric Clapton is active as well. He was in several projects in the 60s.
 
andymcc said:
The Stones had hits in the 80's. Well past their "creative prime" but they still made hits nonetheless.

I'd say the same goes for Bowie. His highest charting/selling record was "Let's Dance" and that came out in the 80's too. Most bands would have burned out by then.
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I think he topped that with his new album.
 
Yeah, The Stones and The Who shouldn't count. Sure, they still exist, but only to perform once in a while when they're running out of money. Creatively they have been dead for years.

On the other hand, I love how old acts as Rush and Neil Young dont necessarily play their big classics at shows, but heavily feature their newer albums. Sure, I was a little disappointed Young didn't play Heart of Gold when I saw him earlier this year, but I really respect him for not turning his shows in some sort of greatest hits collection.
 
Leonard freaking Cohen. He was goddamn adorable last time I saw him live.
 
CloudWolf said:
Yeah, The Stones and The Who shouldn't count. Sure, they still exist, but only to perform once in a while when they're running out of money. Creatively they have been dead for years.

On the other hand, I love how old acts as Rush and Neil Young dont necessarily play their big classics at shows, but heavily feature their newer albums. Sure, I was a little disappointed Young didn't play Heart of Gold when I saw him earlier this year, but I really respect him for not turning his shows in some sort of greatest hits collection.
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They count if you read my OP ;p

I also really doubt that money is an issue for the Stones right now. Unless i missed something?
 
Richard Thompson started with Fairport Convention in '67, and is still going strong as a solo artist. Fleetwood Mac started in the 60s, but they're so different from the original incarnation it's hard to argue it counting. Scott Walker continues to record awesome work, though his chart days ended in the early 70s, for the most part.
 
Paul Simon has made albums in the not too distant past. 2011. He made an album with Brian Eno in 2006.

Eno himself almost counts, but starts a little late.
 
Raiden said:
They count if you read my OP ;p

I also really doubt that money is an issue for the Stones right now. Unless i missed something?
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Well, you know how it is with rich people, they always want more (and their ex-wifes want a cut, too). You should see how much Glastonbury paid last year for a two-hour Rolling Stones show. It's insane.
 
The Beach Boys.

I know because Brian Wilson (fellow Beach Boys) and Jeff Beck were currently on tour. And I think they are making an album together. Which of course also brings me to Jeff Beck: I've already mentioned Beck a few times lately, but I'd say he's still current and relevant as he has always been. Despite being old, musically he is very young. Always doing something interesting.

Brian Wilson and Jeff Beck. Very recent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s6g4Jg6FNU

Jeff Beck. very recent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fkT1fd2lKY

Clapton is always doing something as well.
 
Oh and concerning Cohen, his last album was awesome.
 
Bowie is the prime example right now; i can't even imagine how his contemporaries feel after he dropped the last album

Dylan is also a great example, I dont consider Together Through Life or Tempest as good as the TOOM/L&T/MT trilogy but they're still very good and contain some of his strongest songs

Stones are a rare case, they're still excellent live - on record the stones haven't produced much after the mid 80s but the output has always been at least decent to good by most standards, unlike a lot of their contemporaries the stones haven't put out a 'bad' record (although maybe thats subjective) and they maintained hits throughout their career, maybe less after the 80s and not as iconic as 60s/70s but thats the same for everyone really

Although like dylan the stones usually leave off the best material for whatever reason, and if you're so inclined i would suggest hunting around bootlegs a good bit - a lot of stuff around 78 - 84 has yet to be officially released but is excellent and often better than the official albums

can't think of many others, at least not in their original outfit, iggy pop / stooges still great live, i enjoy the recent albums and i'd say preliminaires is one of his best but nothing iconic like lust for life

mccartney keeps pumping them out and apparently his recent one is good

neil young is hard to pin down, some of his recent stuff is his best and worst just like the rest


edit; good suggestions above like cohen and beach boys - each of their albums last year were excellent
 
Pink Floyd as a unit haven't released any new material since 1994. Either Gilmour or Waters plays alone and on some extremely rare occasions (like Live Aid) they tolerate each other for a 3 song setlist.

The Beach Boys actually do count since they played Bonnaroo last year.
 
blackmores_night2.jpg


Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple, Rainbow), one of the most legendary guitarists of all-time, has been doing a renaissance folk band called Blackmore's Night since the 90s. And surprisingly, it's really fucking good.
 
I saw Neil Young in concert a couple of years ago. It was a religious experience.

CloudWolf said:
On the other hand, I love how old acts as Rush and Neil Young dont necessarily play their big classics at shows, but heavily feature their newer albums. Sure, I was a little disappointed Young didn't play Heart of Gold when I saw him earlier this year, but I really respect him for not turning his shows in some sort of greatest hits collection.
Click to expand...

Neil has about 10-20 "classic" songs which are in high rotation, he usually plays some obscure songs, some alternative versions and a few new ones. A perfect mix, IMO.

At the concert I visited, he played only one song from his new album at the time, Fork in the Road. An acoustic version of Lost in Space was way better than the shitty album version. A slower version of Don't Let It Bring You Down was cool too.
 
I've seen a lot of not-Huge 60s groups still going that have been mostly reduced to playing community events. Bands like April Wine, Country Joe and the Fish, Canned Heat are all from the 60's and they've played free shows for things like rib or wine festivals in my area. I wouldn't be surprised if most old groups do the same.
 
Fleetwood Mac seems to always have one more tour left in them, although Christie McVie hasn't been in it for a while, which is a bummer, since she IS like 40% of their signature sound I think.

EDIT: Oh, correction; Google tells me she actually made a surprise appearance with the band just a few weeks ago for the first time since the late 90's! And she'll be appearing with the band for two European stops on their upcoming tour. That's great! That'll probably be the final opportunity to see them all. Then again, who knows.
 
Neil Youngs latest album was great. That 27min song could have lastet twice as long for all I care.
 
Not really "huge" anymore but arguably important and influencial, Deep Purple and Yes are still touring, although with only some of their classic members.
 
SupaNaab said:
I've seen a lot of not-Huge 60s groups still going that have been mostly reduced to playing community events. Bands like April Wine, Country Joe and the Fish, Canned Heat are all from the 60's and they've played free shows for things like rib or wine festivals in my area. I wouldn't be surprised if most old groups do the same.
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April Wine played the Pickering Canada Day celebration a couple of years back. I was busy with family so I wasn't really paying attention, but my mind was blown when I realised at the end of their set that it was the actual April Wine. o.O
 
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