That link left me in tears. Mind job. I'm lost for words at that recording.
I was worried that I didn't put 'OT' at the start of this thread. I'm comfortable with that now. I defy any harp player on earth to phrase like this woman did.
Such a shame. I loved her music - at least when she was reasonably sober. She was seriously messed up. Being in the music business doesn't help. ---------- /Greg
Many years ago, I had a girlfriend whose father was the conductor of a famous big band. One time, she said to me that every year or two he would have to attend the funeral of one of his musician friends, and it was always drink or drug related.
It is very sad that far too often creativity tends to go hand in hand with such self-destructive tendencies. I expect I'm not the only one on here who's lost a muso friend to booze or drugs.
I liked her. I wasn't expecting her death, but I did have a kind of feeling that Back to Black would be her last musical effort. Did anyone else have that feeling? ----------
Andrew. ----------------------------------------- Those who are tardy do not get fruit cup.
The coincidence of this "27 year old" thing cannot be denied and it certainly is worthy of discussion. There is, however, nothing new here. They've been going down in their 20's for decades and probably will continue to do so. It's just part of the choices they have made and the racket itself. Examples (and there are probably hundreds more)..... Otis Redding at 26 plane crash Johnny Ace at 25 accidental suicide Hank Williams at 29 booze and drugs Frankie Lymon at 25 booze and drugs etc. etc. etc. ---------- "A man who will not FORCE himself to rise above his circumstances is doomed to a life of mediocrity"....Ty Cobb
to me she was certainly a star in the making in a true sense. if she'd found her way past the addictions she may have reached great heights.
this has been the fate of many fine artists.
in my case personally, i was lucky to have been unable to learn what i needed to become a decent harpman and singer until AFTER i sobered up.
addiction is always waiting for some of us. it never sleeps and can easily be our fate without some sort of counterprogram. 2 1/2 decades ago i found what worked for me, when Amy was about 3 years old. ironic.
as a culture we seem to drive our icons to the brink of their own sanity and then fault them for being immature and crazy. artists, like anyone, are human and finite, we all have just the resources we have. in an age where meat dresses, $100k parties, and any imaginable behavior can be excused with enough money, it's no wonder some fall into this insanity.
i count myself as one of the lucky ones who found his way to music and performance a bit later in life when i had a chance to stay fairly sane. ---------- http://www.reverbnation.com/jawboneandjolene
i feel i have to rain on this parade. my own wife died tues at 3;30pm honolulu time after a two year battle with acute myloid leukemia. unlike ms. winehouse, she loved life. every bit of it.
i don't get feeling sorrow for celebrity.
i've tried to avoid commenting on this thread, but it is 5 in the morning and i can't sleep because she isn;t next to me and this thread just seems so frivolous. ----------
MP doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
Mark, my condolences on your loss. There truly is no justice when you compare your beloved's outlook on life, despite her illness, then the sad outlook of Amy Winehouse who seemingly had the world as her oyster, but couldn't see through the clouds of her own addiction. Good wishes your way, brother. I'd say something appropriate in Hawaaian, but I don't habla. ---------- Todd L. Greene
thank you all . her love and courage defied any and all adjectives to the degree that this so called '27 club' comes off to my perspective as a bunch of talented crybaby sissys who wasted precious life in a disgraceful callous and cavalier manner.
so 5F6H, will your share your whiskey w/ me now? :) i need a drink brother. ----------
MP doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
I'm the last person on earth you need to apologise to. I discovered the news of Winehouse's death and cracked a bottle of wine open. My comment to hvyj's link was truthful, but based on unreal shock and alcohol. Nothing compared to your situation.
In regard to harp talk: Mate, that's what we're all here for. Lets talk harp.
MP, I'm so sorry for your loss...it's always sad when somebody dies. Life is so precious. But I think there is a deeper issue under this "frivolous" thread. One has to ask himself,"Why do so many creative, talented people end up this way.?" Humankind needs art. It's one of the things that make us human. Apes don't sing or dance. Monkeys don't go to museums or attend the theater. Yet artists are treated like pariahs. Show business is considered somehow disreputable. Ask your average "man on the street" what he thinks of artists (musicians, actors, painters, etc.), and in an unguarded moment he'll tell you that they're promiscuous, on drugs or alcohol, lazy ("It's not even a real job" he'll tell you). Ask your average, middle-class parent if they would want one of their kids to be a musician, actor or painter; I don't think so. Ask your average, middle-class parent if they would want one of their daughters to marry a musician, actor or painter; that would be an emphatic NO! I get so angry when I hear the song "Money For Nothing" by Sting and Mark Knopfler, because so many people actually think that way; "Oh,it's so easy being a musician, and they get so many undeserved perqs"...Is it any wonder so many creative people are driven to drink, drugs and anti-social behavior? Sorry if I'm ranting...
Hello Mark... I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your loving wife... God bless you both and all your loved ones... your loss helps me realize how fortunate I am to still have my wife and son... and I try to thank God everyday for the blessings he has graced my life with...
I find it so hard to feel sorry for or remorse for self-destructive people, like Amy Winehouse.. I didn't know who she was... and could really care less, considering how she treasured her own life.
But I can feel some of your pain, only in that I dread the loss of my loved ones, family or friend, as most of us have endured thru our lives...
@MP you are one of the strongest members of this forum with a great sense of humor and bring so much to the table with your customizing talent and your talent playing time is always an allie and foe
I read this article after seeing the Amy Winehouse subject thread on MBH. I thought Mr. Brand made some very keen points, so I’m copying two paragraphs (below).
It’s so very easy to think that famous or highly talented people have everything going for them. I’ve thought it myself, as I toil away at work. I’ve also often thought of the cliché turn of phrase, “There is a fine line between genius and madness”.
For whatever reason, it seems as if the capacity for ground-breaking artistic contribution is often coupled with a feeling of displacement by the artist in question. The inability to “fit in” leads, perhaps to the creativity, while simultaneously leading to the self-medication so eloquently described below. I’ve been close to two people directly who fit this mold. I hate the helpless feeling of waiting for them to hit rock bottom or worse.
Begin quote from Russell Brand: (full article can be easily found online) “All addicts, regardless of the substance or their social status share a consistent and obvious symptom; they're not quite present when you talk to them. They communicate to you through a barely discernible but unignorable veil. Whether a homeless smack head troubling you for 50p for a cup of tea or a coked-up, pinstriped exec foaming off about his speedboat, there is a toxic aura that prevents connection. They have about them the air of elsewhere, that they're looking through you to somewhere else they'd rather be. And of course they are. The priority of any addict is to anaesthetise the pain of living to ease the passage of the day with some purchased relief.---break---
We need to review the way society treats addicts, not as criminals but as sick people in need of care. We need to look at the way our government funds rehabilitation. It is cheaper to rehabilitate an addict than to send them to prison, so criminalisation doesn't even make economic sense. Not all of us know someone with the incredible talent that Amy had but we all know drunks and junkies and they all need help and the help is out there. All they have to do is pick up the phone and make the call. Or not. Either way, there will be a phone call.” End RB quote.
MP, I wish you the best. I hope you will always celebrate her life and the memories that you made. -Dan G
