Ryan Adams is one of these artists that I should've been all over for years ( in terms of genre/style/my taste etc.) but I've tried with his stuff and never "got it" just doesn't float my boat, so I gave up long before the nasty things came out.
Jesse and he were big buddies but 'm not sure where their relationship is at now.
I did not stop listening to RA. I still purchase his albums digitally. He completed a successful solo tour of the US last night.
I don't like living in an age of trial by social media. As far as I understand it, the FBI looked into the allegations made against him and came up empty.
For example, I still listen to Thriller often. Its a brilliant album of perfect pop.
As @Bosstralian says above, imagine everything the likes of the Stones, Led Zep and say Black Sabbath got up to in the Seventies became known? They would probably make Cosby look like a saint.
Music is art. Like Stevie says, trust the art, not the artist.
But in the case of RA, until he is actually charged or sentenced with a crime, I will continue to support him.
Another point is that some of those artists haven't actually shied away from it in their songs, either.
I mean, Stray Cat Blues and Brown Sugar (as examples) pretty much own and even embrace their depravity.
My personal dividing line is probably one where hypocrisy becomes involved. Say, as an e.g., an artist that writes songs denouncing domestic abuse or does so in interviews, only to be revealed as an abuser.
The thing for me is, unless the artist is a really famous one (such as Kanye or whatever he calls himself now) personal indiscretions remain largely unknown. How many people that aren't the kind of music nerds we are (I.e. following and reading articles about their fave artists to gain more understanding of the art) would even know about this sort of stuff? For the more casual fan, it all rises or falls on the music and the music alone.
And that's where I also agree with Steve... judge the art on the arts sake. I'm not a big Michael Jackson fan, but I still remember the first time I heard Billie Jean and saw the film clip... I still love both. Hell, Gary Glitter sounds like a piece of excrement as a person, but I still get a buzz from 'I Didn't Know I Loved You Till I Saw You Rock N Roll'.
Again, everyone draws the line in different places. But I want to point out that the Stones actually stopped playing "Brown Sugar" live as of a few years ago, and even before that, changed the lyrics to make them at least marginally less offensive.
They would probably make Cosby look like a saint.
I understand the point you were going for, but yeah, I'm going to say that from everything that's come out about those bands over the decades, it seems highly HIGHLY unlikely that their unquestionably terrible behavior ever got to his level. It's extremely unlikely they were even as bad, much less so much worse that it makes a serial rapist—including child sexual assault—look good.
(Which is not meant, in any way, to downplay the abhorrent, egregious and likely felonious behavior in which they sometimes (regularly?) engaged.)
I’m still umming and ahhing about downloading. Haven’t listened to anything since the story broke re his behaviour, and I’ve probably got into double figures with RA albums picked up over the years. I get the ‘separate the art from the man’ argument, but still don’t feel comfortable with the guy nowadays.
I share that in case you want to check it out but don't want him to get the money. I'm sure it'll be gone before long.
Ryan Adams, for those who don't know, is (in my opinion) a very good to maybe sometimes great artist who has been very credibly accused of some really shitty behavior by several women, including his ex-wife Mandy Moore. He did a cover of the entire Taylor Swift album 1989 shortly before the women went public.
Having listened to all of four songs of this so far, I'd say I really dig it, from a musical POV. (I actually like "Mansion on a Hill" maybe better than the original but sweet fancy is "Johnny 99" a letdown.) How often would I listen to it if not for the things I know about him? I don't know. Where do we draw the line between the art and the artist? Everyone has to make that decision for themselves. For me, I find it much easier to just focus on the art when the artist in question isn't still alive.
But then again, how far does 'trust the art, not the artist' extend? Is a good tune suddenly different if the artist is proven to be a less worthy human? I know I myself err on the side of just listening to the music for music's sake. Art for arts sake.
I mean, we can be pretty sure we would have to put away our Stones and Zeppelin albums at a minimum if we chose to stop listening to music on the basis of the artists personal behaviours.
Ryan Adams is one of these artists that I should've been all over for years ( in terms of genre/style/my taste etc.) but I've tried with his stuff and never "got it" just doesn't float my boat, so I gave up long before the nasty things came out.
Jesse and he were big buddies but 'm not sure where their relationship is at now.
I did not stop listening to RA. I still purchase his albums digitally. He completed a successful solo tour of the US last night.
I don't like living in an age of trial by social media. As far as I understand it, the FBI looked into the allegations made against him and came up empty.
For example, I still listen to Thriller often. Its a brilliant album of perfect pop.
As @Bosstralian says above, imagine everything the likes of the Stones, Led Zep and say Black Sabbath got up to in the Seventies became known? They would probably make Cosby look like a saint.
Music is art. Like Stevie says, trust the art, not the artist.
But in the case of RA, until he is actually charged or sentenced with a crime, I will continue to support him.
I’m still umming and ahhing about downloading. Haven’t listened to anything since the story broke re his behaviour, and I’ve probably got into double figures with RA albums picked up over the years. I get the ‘separate the art from the man’ argument, but still don’t feel comfortable with the guy nowadays.
GREAT question.
Here's a link to the playliston YouTube:
I share that in case you want to check it out but don't want him to get the money. I'm sure it'll be gone before long.
Ryan Adams, for those who don't know, is (in my opinion) a very good to maybe sometimes great artist who has been very credibly accused of some really shitty behavior by several women, including his ex-wife Mandy Moore. He did a cover of the entire Taylor Swift album 1989 shortly before the women went public.
Having listened to all of four songs of this so far, I'd say I really dig it, from a musical POV. (I actually like "Mansion on a Hill" maybe better than the original but sweet fancy is "Johnny 99" a letdown.) How often would I listen to it if not for the things I know about him? I don't know. Where do we draw the line between the art and the artist? Everyone has to make that decision for themselves. For me, I find it much easier to just focus on the art when the artist in question isn't still alive.