Artists Forgetting their lyrics...

Often people ask me how such a young man like myself can be into old music. What is so great about 1950s and 60s music? They wonder. Almost every time I avoid explanations and reply something to the effect of: 'that's just what I like'. Less often when pressured for a more comprehensive reply, I like to explain to people how the caliber of the performers back in the day was much higher than it is now.

An example of this is Jay Z. Not too long ago Jay Z performed in front of a fifty thousand fans crowd for the Made in America set. The show was on fire, however, in the middle of the performance he forgot the lyrics to one of his songs (a pretty reasonable mistake); Jay Z then attempted to cover it up by having the crowd sing the gaps he couldn't recall, which raised the awkwardness as he struggled to catch up. This is nothing out of this world and if you ask me, the way he handled it seems like a pretty natural reaction for any singer that may forget the lyrics to a song.

Well, now take Ella Fitzgerald. The beloved late 40s sensation was in concert in Berlin in 1960, when she decided that she will go ahead and sing her own version of the popular 50s standard 'Mack the Knife'; and so she did! Except she too forgot the lyrics of the song halfway into it.  What did she do? She improvised and made up the rest of the song, of course!. Not only that, but while improvising she also delivered one of the most impressive vocal performances of all time. So good was her 'made up on the spot' version of Mack the knife that she was awarded Best Female Vocal Performance and it contributed to her album be inducted to the Grammy hall of fame.

Now, don't get me wrong! I really don't mean to say that all 50s artists are better than all current artists, every period has had its fair share of awesome music and performers. What I do think, though, is that today's music industry's standards are overall lower than they used to be. Many Labels and artists are only in it for the money, and while money has always been a factor and there's nothing wrong with profits, Artists also used to have a great deal of passion and love for their audiences. That's all I want in music, and the 50's had tons of it!