Much Marley and Hendrix, actually. And I've owned and listened to at least as much Marley and Hendrix as Elvis and Prince. They were tough calls for me. Marley's in my top twenty songwriters probably. If he'd been in my top ten, he'd have beat Elvis. But Elvis has been huge to me since I was a small boy. I even sang Blue Suede Shoes at my 6th grade talent show. He was as big to me back then as KISS or Michael Jackson or the Sugarhill Gang (and now you know how old I am to the year). It was still a tough call, but I couldn't vote against him yet. I don't know how the seeds work, but I'll definitely vote against him next round. The guys that'll come out are all in my top ten songwriters, in addition to being favorites in general. And Elvis doesn't even make my top fifty songwriters. But songwriting is only a part of this tourney. I think I've voted against Marley in every round, but it's not because I don't love him. I do. He's just drawn sentimental favorites every single time and I think that's what the tourneys are supposed to be about. With Hendrix and Prince I cheat that rule a little. Hendrix was an alien. And he's also a longtime favorite of mine. Both he and Prince were unlike anyone before or after them, but Prince has done that longer. Prince has also done a thing I totally worship in Dylan in having a series of great careers. He has never been satisfied to simply be great at what he does. He has continued to invent new careers for himself. When Dylan was the inheritor to Woody, the king of the folk/protest thing, he dumped it and went (what at the time passed for) avant-rock. (I say passed for because that seems a wrong term for it now, but back then he not only embodied it; he invented it.) When he won the solo rock crown, he went country crooner. Then gospel and on and on. And along the way he wrote and performed a million great songs, changing them up as he went, rewriting his words and (more important) his melodies. Prince is his inheritor. Nobody before or after in pop music has so closely owned this "try again, fail better" (in Beckett's parlance) approach to writing and performing. For that reason, as much as I love Neil Young, and as much as I think he deserves third place in this tourney, I hope it comes down to Dylan and Prince. I've seen a lot of great, great solo artists eliminated in this tourney, but I can't complain about a single one that's still standing. I rank the ones left as follows: 1. Dylan 2. Prince 3. Neil Young 4. Jimi Hendrix 5. Elvis Presley 6. Bob Marley 7. David Bowie 8. John Lennon If Marley had lived longer and made more music, he'd have been likely to move up a spot or two. If Jimi had lived longer, he'd likely be contending for my top pick. If Elvis had lived longer, there's a slight chance he might have moved down. But none of those things happened. These tourneys force you sometimes to make a choice between favorite and best. With the possible swaps of Bowie/Lennon and Elvis/Marley, this order represents the ones I think were best. I gave Prince the edge over Jimi for being better in the long run, as crazy as it sounds. Most days I'd actually be more likely to listen to Jimi than Prince (and I listen to Neil Young more than either. I've also listened to Elvis more over the course of my life than Marley, though I've listened to Marley a crazy lot.) But I actually believe Prince is so unique, so special and has had such a long career at it, that I go 'best' over 'favorite' in his race against everyone but Dylan that's still standing.
Scoring update through Hydra's picks: Elvis Presley 22, Bob Marley 13 Bob Dylan 23, John Lennon 11 Jimi Hendrix 18, Prince 17 Neil Young 19, David Bowie 13 Don't forget that voting for this round ends in less than 6 hours.
Same with Bowie. I actually only really like one of his phases, that of the Ziggy Stardust glam rock era. But there were many more.
1. Bob Dylan 2. David Bowie 3. James Brown 4. Elvis Costello 5. Neil Young James Brown is probably the most influential artist of the bunch, even more than Dylan. You hear James Brown's rhythmic invention, lyrical themes and samples *every day* in 2005. Nobody else comes close. I prefer Dylan and Bowie slightly because they open up the doors to my imagination a little more.
And Prince did it every album, every year. Every album is different, though the early ones are a little similar when he was still finding himself. He immedaitely shed the "Purple Rain" look and style that made him world famous for the "Raspberry Beret" style. That took some balls. He didn't HAVE to reinvent himself, he just couldn't help it. That stretch of albums in the 80's were each amazing: 1980 - "Diry Mind" 1981 - "Controversy" 1983 - "1999" 1984 - "Purple Rain" 1985 - "Around the World in a Day" 1986 - "Parade" 1987 - "Sign of the Times" 1988 - "Lovesexy"
Finals for this round: Elvis Presley 22, Bob Marley 13 Bob Dylan 23, John Lennon 11 Jimi Hendrix 18, Prince 17 Neil Young 19, David Bowie 13 Final 4 to go up shortly.
