dylan and neil young don't really fit in this but they kinda do, their careers are so all over the place but they both also did some great work, up there with their greatest in middle age or beyond in dylan's case.
Those guys have been middle-aged since they were young.
― kkvgz, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 15:43 (thirteen years ago) link
but i guess jazz and classical are more trades in a sense and require a lot more time to learn the craft and the theory etc than other forms of music so it's should be surprising that ppl tend to peak later
― kkvgz, Tuesday, March 29, 2011 10:43 AM (7 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
they're younger than that now iirc
― Bleeqwot the Chef (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 15:43 (thirteen years ago) link
Leonard Cohen
― Oh Shit People Like Your Ballads Oh Nooooo (Drugs A. Money), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 15:45 (thirteen years ago) link
looooool m@tt
― in my world of loose geirs (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 15:46 (thirteen years ago) link
Bill Dixon -- made his first record at 37, his last (yet to be released) at 84.
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 15:47 (thirteen years ago) link
nick cave i don't know if you can say peak but abbatoir blues/lyre of orpheus and then the grinderman stuff i like about as much as anything he's done.
I think I'm in the minority of thinking late period Fugazi rules and pwns so to me Ian Mackaye
― Bleeqwot the Chef (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 15:47 (thirteen years ago) link
OH SHIT
Duh - Robert Pollard! he was 35 when propeller came out!
― Bleeqwot the Chef (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 15:48 (thirteen years ago) link
Tom Waits
― suxv (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 15:50 (thirteen years ago) link
it's looking like E-40 might be the world's first rapper where this is true
― suxv (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 15:51 (thirteen years ago) link
surely Frank Sinatra ?
― mark e, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 15:53 (thirteen years ago) link
good one
― The Louvin Spoonful (WmC), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 15:56 (thirteen years ago) link
ooh yeah Pollard, he is a strange case. he always seemed so out of place with his 90s indie rock peers, like he was the Breeders' drunk uncle or something
― in my world of loose geirs (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 15:57 (thirteen years ago) link
Dieter Meier was already 35 when Yello released their first album, and their peak period wasn't until a few years after that.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:02 (thirteen years ago) link
It's pretty hard to think of female pop/rock singers for whom this would be true. Debbie Harry and Grace Jones almost make it.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:04 (thirteen years ago) link
Not sure if Can counts, since they were already in their 30's when they formed the band.
Yo La Tengo were a lot better in their 30's than in their 20's.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:05 (thirteen years ago) link
Moondog
― ka£ka (NickB), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:05 (thirteen years ago) link
Susan Boyle
― ka£ka (NickB), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:06 (thirteen years ago) link
Oh yeah, and I would argue that Meshell Ndegeocello's peak period started in 2003 with Comfort Woman, and hasn't ended yet. She was born in 1968.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:06 (thirteen years ago) link
Scott Walker
OTM. Not that I ain't a massive fan of the numbered albums, but SW is the first thing I thought of when i saw thread title.
― the worst thing Narada Michael Walden has ever been associated with (Jon Lewis), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:08 (thirteen years ago) link
this is a pretty idiosyncratic list of people so far
― in my world of loose geirs (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:09 (thirteen years ago) link
bill withers
― adult music person (Jordan), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:15 (thirteen years ago) link
Go-Betweens.
― Hey Look More Than Five Years Has Passed And You Have A C (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:16 (thirteen years ago) link
The drummer from Spirit was 85 when their debut came out.
― Thraft of Cleveland (Bill Magill), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:18 (thirteen years ago) link
weren't The Damned kinda old or at least some of them?
― Bleeqwot the Chef (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:20 (thirteen years ago) link
tonetta
― buzza, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:22 (thirteen years ago) link
Jeez, is anything over 30 middle aged now?
― Pop is superior to all other genres (DL), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:23 (thirteen years ago) link
lee hazlewood
― buzza, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:24 (thirteen years ago) link
Trish Keenan was 35 when Broadcast released their second album (Haha Sound).
― ka£ka (NickB), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:24 (thirteen years ago) link
Pet Shop Boys
― Hey Look More Than Five Years Has Passed And You Have A C (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:25 (thirteen years ago) link
Marianne FaithfullLucinda Williams
― President Keyes, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:28 (thirteen years ago) link
Ivor Cutler
― ka£ka (NickB), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:29 (thirteen years ago) link
serge gainsbourg
― AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:30 (thirteen years ago) link
he was 40 when he made "je t'aime moi non plus" and 43 when he made "melody nelson".
― AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:31 (thirteen years ago) link
you would think that electronic music producers would improve with age, since it's a craft that benefits from knowledge and experience, but it doesn't seem to work that way. proof that ideas trump craft, i guess.
― adult music person (Jordan), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:35 (thirteen years ago) link
Lucinda Williams and Tom Waits are spot-on choices.
― Jazzbo, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:39 (thirteen years ago) link
I don't expect a lot of people to agree, but I like the new Dinosaur Jr. stuff better than their 80s records.
― kornrulez6969, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:43 (thirteen years ago) link
Arguably, Johnny Cash
― Lee626, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:43 (thirteen years ago) link
No 35-year-olds pls, that is not middle aged unless we're talking about the 19th century or earlier.
― the worst thing Narada Michael Walden has ever been associated with (Jon Lewis), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:44 (thirteen years ago) link
agree that a lot of these nominees are more of the "older than their peers" but not necessarily middle-aged variety. My initial inclination was to make the cut-off 40-60, tbh
― in my world of loose geirs (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:47 (thirteen years ago) link
sometimes I think Eminence Front is the best Who song
― Oh Shit People Like Your Ballads Oh Nooooo (Drugs A. Money), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:48 (thirteen years ago) link
but 1982 was def not their peak period
― The Louvin Spoonful (WmC), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:49 (thirteen years ago) link
LOL no
― Oh Shit People Like Your Ballads Oh Nooooo (Drugs A. Money), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:51 (thirteen years ago) link
I know we're spread out all over the globe, but the Median age in the U.S. Is 36.8 as an example.
Good lord, unless you're in Japan where everyone's 100, 35 is pretty damn close to middle age!
― San Te, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:51 (thirteen years ago) link
does Sting count?
― Darin, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:52 (thirteen years ago) link
Radiohead
― piscesx, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 16:54 (thirteen years ago) link
this is just an interesting phenomenon to me. the tendency to burn out/give up/lose interest prior to reaching the age of 40 seems really strong across the musical landscape (lol at one point I had a drummer who insisted that "nobody over 40 made any good music". he also thought the golden age of popular music was from 1992 to 2000 or so). Not sure what to attribute this to really - obviously part of it is market forces (in general, younger people have more time/money/more of their personality invested in music) and some of that gets built into aesthetics ("if it's too loud, you're too OLD", "rock/hip hop is for pissing off your parents", etc.), and part of it just seems a natural tendency for people to get tired/bored/bitter, particularly if commercial success has been elusive.
― in my world of loose geirs (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 17:01 (thirteen years ago) link
seems like jazz and country are (or at least were) more amenable to the aging process than other genres
In the case of early country music, a lot of acts spent 10 or 20 years performing and broadcasting in their home states/counties so that they were pretty advanced in age by the time they achieved national fame. I think that's part of the reason why the genre came to be dominated by middle-aged performers. a more obvious factor is the tradition of paying respect to wise, experienced elders, which guarantees certain country stars a fanbase at an age when many pop stars are inclined to retire. I know this has more to do with commercial peak than artistic peak, but there's often a correlation between the two.
anyways, I can think of a bunch of country ppl who recorded their best work after the age of 35:
Hank SnowCharlie RichKitty WellsDolly PartonBob WillsPorter WagonerBuck OwensJohnny CashLoretta LynnUncle Dave MaconAP & Sara CarterThe Osborne BrothersHazel DickensDoc Watson
etc.
― administratieve blunder (unregistered), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 17:02 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah agree with yr assessment on country there. although I dunno if this:
a more obvious factor is the tradition of paying respect to wise, experienced elders, which guarantees certain country stars a fanbase at an age when many pop stars are inclined to retire.
is still in place in current country. seems like it applies more to previous generations, but I could be wrong (will defer to xhuxh lol)
― in my world of loose geirs (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 17:05 (thirteen years ago) link
Fennesz.
― willem, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 17:11 (thirteen years ago) link
s still in place in current country. seems like it applies more to previous generations, but I could be wrong (will defer to xhuxh lol)
Alan Jackson (52), George Strait (58), Garth Brooks (49), and Toby Keith (49) have all had huge hits in the past few years, so I'd say the trend is alive and well. otoh a lot of purists feel that none of those guys are fit to floss with Merle Haggard's butthair, so maybe it's too early to tell if the country stars of the baby boomer generation will ever be treated with the same degree of reference as their forebears.
― administratieve blunder (unregistered), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 17:20 (thirteen years ago) link
also rampant gatekeeping throughout their youth
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Monday, 10 June 2019 15:01 (four years ago) link
no "perchance" about the parenting thing either
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Monday, 10 June 2019 15:02 (four years ago) link
Tina Turner
Ella Fitzgerald, probably lots of other jazz women
― Brad C., Monday, 10 June 2019 15:08 (four years ago) link
Yeah I argued for Peggy Lee upthread, her run between "Fever" at age 37 and "Is That All There Is?" at 49 is for me her most fun period to listen to and also when she took the most chances
― Josefa, Monday, 10 June 2019 15:25 (four years ago) link
Vi Subversa was 42 when she founded the Poison Girls
https://www.discogs.com/artist/420468-Vi-Subversa
― Ambient Police (sleeve), Monday, 10 June 2019 15:28 (four years ago) link
Gyorgy Ligeti
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Monday, 10 June 2019 15:28 (four years ago) link
38 for Atmosphères, probably the start of his peak period
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Monday, 10 June 2019 15:29 (four years ago) link
Laurie Anderson?
― change display name (Jordan), Monday, 10 June 2019 15:34 (four years ago) link
Lou Reed
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 10 June 2019 15:35 (four years ago) link
Kim Gordon was 42 when Washing Machine was released, many people think SY peaked after that
― Ambient Police (sleeve), Monday, 10 June 2019 15:36 (four years ago) link
The majority of Moondog's recording career was between the ages of 37 and 55, and the most famous stuff is all from his 50s.
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 10 June 2019 15:36 (four years ago) link
many people think SY peaked after that
Is this actually true?
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Monday, 10 June 2019 15:42 (four years ago) link
hi!
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 10 June 2019 15:44 (four years ago) link
to my ears they released with a couple of mediocre exceptions a string of wonderful albums through 2006 but
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 10 June 2019 15:45 (four years ago) link
GBV?
― Evan, Monday, 10 June 2019 15:45 (four years ago) link
I do like the latter day albums and, maybe especially, a lot of the SYR stuff! I just don't think of "post-1995" as Sonic Youth's peak period.
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Monday, 10 June 2019 15:53 (four years ago) link
Alex Harvey was 33 when The Sensational Alex Harvey Band was formed, which seemed really old for a rock star at the time.
― confusementalism (Dan Peterson), Monday, 10 June 2019 15:59 (four years ago) link
I think Bill Callahan's best work was done as Bill Callahan, and Woke on a Whaleheart came out when he was already 41. Even the best Smog material (imo) was done in his 30s.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Monday, 10 June 2019 16:04 (four years ago) link
Yeah, tbf, even Sonic Youth's 80s work was done when Gordon was in her 30s; the band name was always ironic.
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Monday, 10 June 2019 16:10 (four years ago) link
It would be an easy argument to make that Celia Cruz peaked after age 35 or even after 40
― Josefa, Monday, 10 June 2019 16:11 (four years ago) link
Bill Frisell: mid-30s during downtown NYC days, 37 when he moved to Seattle, over 40 by the time of Have a Little Faith. Some of my favourite work of his might actually be post-middle age!
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Monday, 10 June 2019 16:16 (four years ago) link
Duke Ellington was in his early 40s when he composed/released a string of masterworks ("Take The 'A' Train," "Cotton Tail," "Harlem Air Shaft," "Jack The Bear," "Ko-Ko," "Concerto For Cootie," etc. etc.).
And he was in his late 60s when he started a series of brilliant suites (The Far East Suite, The Latin American Suite, The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse, New Orleans Suite).
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 10 June 2019 16:21 (four years ago) link
Wow I didn’t realise Kim Gordon was 66! I would have guessed at a minimum five years younger.
― i really, really, really, really, really, really like glue (fionnland), Monday, 10 June 2019 16:21 (four years ago) link
Sorry, should correct the above to co-composed -- Billy Strayhorn was either the sole composer or a collaborator with Duke on many of the '40s pieces.
xp
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 10 June 2019 16:22 (four years ago) link
Duke is a good one.
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Monday, 10 June 2019 16:27 (four years ago) link
Nels Cline was in his 50s when he made my favourite albums of his, probably past middle age when he made Macroscope.
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Monday, 10 June 2019 16:32 (four years ago) link
personally i'm planning to peak around 43
― adult music person (Jordan), Tuesday, March 29, 2011 4:27 PM (eight years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Still on track for this
― change display name (Jordan), Monday, 10 June 2019 16:41 (four years ago) link
Pauline Oliveros fits in here for sure
― Ambient Police (sleeve), Monday, 10 June 2019 16:44 (four years ago) link
Steve Reich was 39 when Music for 18 Musicians premiered. I think this is common for classical and jazz artists in the contemporary era.
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Monday, 10 June 2019 17:28 (four years ago) link
Lucette Bourdin was a visual artist who released her first ambient album in 2005, when she was 51... Then, in following 7 years, she released something like 25 albums, most of which are excellent. Sadly, she died in 2012, but it was an amazing burst of music from someone who had never made (commercial) recordings at all in her first fifty years.
― Tuomas, Monday, 10 June 2019 17:39 (four years ago) link