Just finished Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys – which is epic, and thoroughly both commended and recommended – and saw that they put suggested Book Club questions at the end of novels these days. I can’t help thinking this would be a fine idea for albums – whether as additional tracks at the end of the CD or inserted subtly into the sleeve notes. “Do you think the vocals were too loud on track one?”, “How about that double-tracked guitar solo, eh?”, that sort of thing. Here’s my one: “What did Billy Joe throw off the Tallahatchie Bridge?”
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
fentonsteve says
I like the idea of that. Perhaps I should ask questions at the end of my café vinyl afternoons.
Moose the Mooche says
Invite other people to speak? What??
Mike_H says
The mystery of what Billy Joe threw off the Tallahatchie Bridge is one that will probably never be answered. Bobbie Gentry has never divulged it, saying that it’s unimportant to the story of the song, which she says is about indifference and unshared grief. She no longer performs or gives interviews and seems unlikely to start again.
Skirky says
It’s not *for* answering, it’s for discussing. Where would be the fun in having a definitive conclusion? Like that time Mark Kermode posited a long and involved theory regarding (IIRC) The Shawshank Redemption based on one pivotal scene, only for the director to answer that the central plank upon which The Good Doctor had based his premise was a complete coincidence and due to random happenstance on the day of filming. Mind you, he would say that, wouldn’t he..?
moseleymoles says
I think Hounds of Love could certainly start an animated discussion:
Do you prefer a side of pop bangers or a side-long suite of beautiful and impenetrable prog folk pop concept?
Moose the Mooche says
I can’t imagine enjoying what some people do in these groups, which is to bring an album that they love and play it to people in the hope that they will hear and understand its majesty and greatness.
It is very, very, very rare for a positive impression of a record to strike with very much force on a first listen. Negative impressions are, by contrast, usually instantaneous – and visible. I’ve found.