musical genius

[ilya]

how about...oh, I dunno...Beethoven? Bach? Mozart? Wagner?

[Enon]

A few names nobody has mentioned and some general info courtesy of Allmusic:

John Fahey

One of acoustic music's true innovators and eccentrics, John Fahey was a crucial figure in expanding the boundaries of the acoustic guitar over the last few decades. His music was so eclectic that it's arguable whether he should be defined as a "folk" artist. In a career that saw him issue several dozen albums, he drew from blues, Native American music, Indian ragas, experimental dissonance, and pop.

Brian Eno

Ambient pioneer, glam-rocker, hit producer, multi-media artist, technological innovator, worldbeat proponent and self-described non-musician — over the course of his long, prolific and immensely influential career, Brian Eno was all of these things and much, much more. Determining his creative pathways with the aid of a deck of instructional, tarot-like cards called Oblique Strategies, Eno championed theory over practice, serendipity over forethought, and texture over craft; in the process, he forever altered the ways in which music is approached, composed, performed and perceived, and everything from punk to techno to new age bears his unmistakable influence.

Serge Gainsbourg

Serge Gainsbourg was the dirty old man of popular music; a French singer/songwriter and provocateur notorious for his voracious appetite for alcohol, cigarettes, and women, his scandalous, taboo-shattering output made him a legend in Europe but only a cult figure in America, where his lone hit "Je T'Aime...Moi Non Plus" stalled on the pop charts — fittingly enough — at number 69.

And finally, one album of genius that just came out last year and a short review from pitchforkmedia.com:

The Books - Lemon of Pink

The Lemon of Pink is the cerebral world of thought, feeling, and idea made sound. Arbitrary, disconnected soundbytes rattle around beneath swells of fiddle, banjo, and other antique strings like half-remembered moments of clarity. The otherworldly samples and vocal snippets could easily be relegated to the status of novelty, or worse, distraction, in less perfectly arranged music, but here the spoken interludes and melodies work in beautiful concert: otherwise distant, sepia-toned nostalgia is lent emotional resonance by eggshell-fragile plucking and triumphant crescendos, and with the album's very first utterance, "The lemon. Of pink," amid its first hesitant tunings, hits like a blast from the Reading Rainbow past, making it plain that this album is less reality than fairytale.

[Duke]

[ QUOTE ]
John Fahey

One of acoustic music's true innovators and eccentrics, John Fahey was a crucial figure in expanding the boundaries of the acoustic guitar over the last few decades.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you're into acoustic guitar, I think Leo Kottke is someone you need to hear. Folk artist, I guess, but a fantastic guitar player.

~D

[zephed56]

Holy christ, 7 [censored] pages of this [censored] and not a single mention of Led Zeppelin?
Forget they even wrote Stairway to Heaven, still some of the greatest [censored] to come out of rock 'n' roll.

[daveymck]

I've come to this thread late but want to comment on the Nirvana thing.

I think Kurt Cobain is totally overated had he not blown his head off I dont think Nirvana would be seen is as much of the light they are seen as now. Yes when they came out they were different to the GNR/Motley Crue Metallica/Megadeth seperate type scenes that were going on but they were the popular face of the Seattle movement that went on at that time.

Yes nevermind is a good album (good but would not make anywhere near mt top 10 all time) but bleach and in utero suck (in my opinion, Cobain was a poor guitarist and a poor lyracist (sic probably) I dont think the band would have stood the test of time, Husker DU also did the same type of stuff better in my opinion.

I belive the influence he had on the bands now is more down to the impact he and his death had on people than the music itself and the reverance these kids making music now have for him based on reputation that the legacy of the music itself.

[KJS]

Mingus, Monk, Trane without a doubt. IMO, jazz has more MGs than any other genre, so I could add a bunch more. These three stand out though.

I think Bob Dylan is a literary genius and since he's a singer-songwriter, I'd add him.

If you can include whole bands I'd say The Clash, for moving their genre forward, and melding non-pop music with intelligent, socially conscious lyrics. Zeppelin for updating the blues and doing it with nearly virtuosic command of their instruments. And believe it or not, Slayer, for combining technique, speed and aggression in a way that was way ahead of their time. The fact that they have been copied by so many for over 2 decades but few have come at all close to reproducing the feeling they induce, is evidence of their genius, IMO. Honorable mentions to Fugazi and Sonic Youth, who others mentioned. Also a nod to local Seattle group The Sun City Girls, who are a must see to believe group of undeniable genius.

There are many more, but those are my top picks.

KJS

[B Dids]

A few points.

Noting Dr. Dre as a genius is hard, because he farms out a lot of his work and takes credit for stuff that isn't his.

I'd add Prince Paul to any list of geniuses. Other than that, it's not a lable that I'd hand out very willingly. (for instance, I'm not sure if I'd give it to Andre 3000).

Whoever said Prince sucks is a horrible person and should give up at life.

[Macdaddy Warsaw]

As an indie rock fan-boy, I think leaving off Doug Martsch as a guitarist and Pavement/Stephen Malkmus as a sound is a mistake.

Doug Martsch can lay down some sick jams. He's the lead of Built to Spill, check out I Would Hurt a Fly and their cover of Neil Young's Cortez the Killer (has anybody mentioned Neil Young?)

As for Pavement, well, if you're into indie rock, you know who they are. Fantastic. I won't tell you to check out a few songs because I can't think of favorites right now, all of their songs are fantastic (Ok, not ALL, they did make that stupid Hit the Plane Down).

Anyway, anybody agree?