Song Quotes by Jon Landau

21 Song quotes by Jon Landau

Jon Landau’s twenty‑one observations on songs read like a seasoned critic’s notebook. He balances sharp analysis with reverence, giving readers a nuanced view of what makes a track resonate.

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The Beatles did their best cover work on Little Richard's 'Long Tall Sally' and music influenced by Richard, such as Larry Williams's…

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'Band on the Run' is a carefully composed, intricately designed personal statement that will make it impossible for anyone to classify Paul…

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While the Beatles always had George Martin around to clean up their act, the Rolling Stones had Andrew Loog Oldham to coarsen…

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Ringo Starr may not have much of a voice, but when he sang a song on a Beatle album, it had its…

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'Call Me' is not an exceptional Al Green album, but it is as solid as a rock at its center.

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In the end, the sign of Aretha Franklin's artistry is that she always leaves her mark - first, on the music, then…

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The title song of David Bowie's 'Young Americans' is one of his handful of classics, a bizarre mixture of social comment, run-on…

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When the Beatles cut old rock n' roll, they were recording music still in their performing repertoire, and besides, they never thought…

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On the surface, rock and roll changes at an amazing pace. The influence of a figure like the Maharishi can appear and…

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The greatness of Mac Rebennack, alias, Dr. John, also known as John Crieux, rests on his command of the musical use of…

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Aretha Franklin's 'Let Me in Your Life' is one of the few recent R&B albums that places the emphasis entirely and deservedly…

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James Taylor is the kind of person I always thought the word 'folksinger' referred to. He writes and sings songs that are…

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As a performing group, the Beatles began by playing old rock favorites, for dancing, to tough audiences in Liverpool and Hamburg. When…

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Everyone eventually winds up writing about themselves - the problem is finding the best way to go about it. To write about…

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The early Stones were adolescent rockers. They were self-conscious in an obvious and unpretentious way. And they were committed to a musical…

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The Stones were always exemplary of one of the best of all rock qualities: tightness. They have always been economical, the opposite…

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The Beatles production is often so 'perfect' that it sounds computerized. 'Sgt. Pepper' really does sound like it took four months to…

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The Faces do not, as some have recently alleged, play badly. They are more than competent, especially at creating a mid-Sixties Rolling…

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The Beatles never sounded intimidated by their idols. They never interpreted old rock; they simply played it as well and as joyfully…

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The Rolling Stones are constantly changing, but beneath the changes they remain the most formal of rock bands. Their successive releases have…

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The Rolling Stones have been the best of all possible worlds: they have the lack of pretension and sentimentality associated with the…

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More by Jon Landau

Often, equipment can as easily function as a security blanket for musicians unwilling or unable to risk anything personal in the studio. Whether one…

Jon Landau

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There is absolutely no doubt that the extraordinary Donna Summer belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Jon Landau

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There is a 'patrician arrogance' to James Taylor that accounts in part for his popularity while it at the same time explains the critical…

Jon Landau

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The greatness of Mac Rebennack, alias, Dr. John, also known as John Crieux, rests on his command of the musical use of idiomatic expression.…

Jon Landau

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Part of me believes that the completed record is the final measure of a pop musician's accomplishment, just as the completed film is the…

Jon Landau

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Bob Dylan was the source of pop music's unpredictability in the Sixties. Never as big a record-seller as commonly imagined, his importance was first…

Jon Landau

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The only criticism heard with any frequency of Elton John's first American album, 'Elton John,' was that the production was too grandiose. The melodies…

Jon Landau

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'Call Me' is not an exceptional Al Green album, but it is as solid as a rock at its center.

Jon Landau

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The Rolling Stones are constantly changing, but beneath the changes they remain the most formal of rock bands. Their successive releases have been continuous…

Jon Landau

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Since her landmark 'Tapestry,' Carole King has both oversimplified and over elaborated that masterful album's style until her music has become something more overtly…

Jon Landau

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It is by now beyond question that Elton John is a competent and classy entertainer. Few people who have achieved his popularity have succeeded…

Jon Landau

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'Let's Get It On' is a classic Motown single, endlessly repeatable and always enjoyable.

Jon Landau

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Atlantic's Jerry Wexler believes first-rate records are made by first-rate voices. He certainly has worked with enough of them: Clyde McPhatter, Joe Turner, La…

Jon Landau

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The early Stones were adolescent rockers. They were self-conscious in an obvious and unpretentious way. And they were committed to a musical style that…

Jon Landau

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On the surface, rock and roll changes at an amazing pace. The influence of a figure like the Maharishi can appear and disappear in…

Jon Landau

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