Sminky
"Jim, are you saying that today's singers are incapable of that? "
No I am not; I am saying that I am quite often left with the impression that belief, involvement and interpretation are not considerations with many singers, just technical presentation, often extremely skillful, but on its own, unmoving.
I have attempted to discuss it with some singers, particularly some of the 'yoof' and it seems not to have even occurred to any of them.
For me, the best example was a Steeleye Span recording of the ballad Lamkin which I found it on the juke box of a pub I was working at. I put it on in my lunchtime and remember thinking - "Jesus, this is booooooring". Then, half way through the ballad they went into an Irish reel and I realised they'd become bored with what they were doing as well.
"Is that their fault - or yours? "
I quite honestly don't know - I am increasingly aware of my deteriorating faculties - maybe I've lost my power of concentration.
I do know that I can no longer follow the narrative of a song if it is buried under a barrage of accompaniment - when, in fact accompaniment ceases to accompany and instead dominates a song. this is one of the common problems with much of the singing I hear today.
Jim Carroll