The 500 - #298 - The College Dropout - Kanye West

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #298

Album Title: The College Dropout

Artist: Kanye West

Genre: Hip-Hop, Pop Rap, Chipmunk Soul, Conscious Rap

Recorded: 11 Studios in the U.S.

Released: February, 2004

My age at release: 33

How familiar was I with it before this week: One Song

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at 74 (Moving up 224 spots)

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist:  Jesus Walks

Album cover for The College Dropout

He goes by many names, including Yeezus, Yeezi, Ye, Saint Pablo and The Louis Vuitton Don.

He is a rapper, singer, songwriter, producer, fashion designer, entrepreneur and billionaire.

Some people, including himself, consider him a genius. Others, including his estranged wife Kim Kardashian, worry about his mental health.

West with Kardashian during their seven year marriage

He is Kanye West – a divisive figure, making provocative and controversial public choices and statements that have led to reactions that range from head-shaking dismissal to outrage from the media and the public. There have been so many dubious, questionable, weird and contentious moments in his 20-year career. Here are just a few:

• In 2005, during a televised celebrity fund raiser for victims of Hurricane Katrina, Kanye went off script to announce; "(President) George Bush doesn't care about black people."
• In 2009, at the MTV Music Awards, he stormed on stage to interrupt 19-year-old Taylor Swift's acceptance speech, announcing that Beyonce was more deserving of the award.
• When commenting on African-American slavery, Kanye state that, "it was a choice" because it went on for 400 years.
• Recently, he went into partnership with the clothing company The Gap. He insisted that his line of Yeezy clothing be stored in garbage bags on the floor of the store. Customers were expected to "root through" the bags to find their style and size. Advocates for people experiencing homelessness rightly took exception, but Kanye defended his "trash bag decision" claiming he was a misunderstood and creative genius.

Although his impulsive and outlandish behavior is troubling, none of it, save a few physical altercations with aggressive fans or paparazzi, amount to anything significant. As I searched through many websites and videos dedicated to Ye and all his craziness, I began to weigh his transgressions against the rock stars my friends and I idolized as kids and wondered:

Where does Kanye fit in the great pantheon of controversial rock stars and, do we judge him more harshly?

Consider the following artists who also have records on The 500:

• In November, 1980, Eagles multi-instrumentalist and singer Don Henley called paramedics to his home. Once they arrived, they helped revive a naked,16-year-old girl who had overdosed. A 15-year-old girl was also found in the home. The girls were charged, one with prostitution and the other with drug possession. Henley pleaded "no contest" to the charge of "contributing to the delinquency of a minor". He paid a paltry $2,500 fine and put on two years’ probation. He continues to perform to sold-out audiences and the court case is largely forgotten.

Don Henley performing in 2017

• In 1975, 27-year-old Aerosmith front-man Steven Tyler persuaded the parents of a 14-year-old groupie to allow her to travel on the road with him as "his girlfriend". It was well documented that he did drugs with the teen, and an unplanned pregnancy led to an abortion and their eventual break-up. There were no charges because he secured parental consent. However, one would expect some sort of public outcry for this legal but morally odious action. Again, he continues to perform to sold-out audiences and is still frequently featured as a judge on American Idol.

Steven Tyler doing publicity for American Idol

There are many other examples of rock stars behaving worse than Kanye. And their transgressions have been largely forgotten or forgiven. To name a couple:

• Ozzy Osborne relieving himself at the historic Alamo and, on another occasion, biting the head off two doves.
• Boy George kidnapping and hand-cuffing an escort to a wall and beating him with a chain.

In the case of Osborne and George, there were legal ramifications, but both returned to the public eye quickly. Kanye has encountered some legal issues for his violent outburst, but nothing of any significant consequence. The choices he makes that tend to bring the most tongue-wagging rebuke are, then, minor in comparison.

Perhaps the disparity in the public’s reaction between the behaviour of Kanye and the others is a matter of timing. His transgressions were amplified by the emergence of a rapacious social media, unlike his musical predecessors. Or maybe because hip-hop is, rightly or wrongly, associated with the “gangster rap” world. It might also be because a significant portion of the media reporting on music and pop-culture is dominated by an older, white establishment…and Kanye is an outspoken black man.

I suppose time will tell. Perhaps in 30 years, Kanye's behaviour will have faded into the mists of time, with his success in music surviving. Perhaps he, like Steven Tyler, will be the veteran judge on a future talent show, featuring performers who are not yet born…and who won’t know about any of these controversies.

A Little On The Record

Kanye’s antics aside, I was impressed immediately by this week's record, The College Dropout.. The tracks are varied and interesting. often sounding more like soul music of the early 1970s than the aggressive hip-hop fare I was hearing at the time. Kanye was an early dabbler in a progressive rap genre dubbed "chipmunk soul". This puzzling appellation stems from soul records from the 1960/70s being "sped up" -- much like the voices of those cartoon-singing rodents, Alvin and The Chipmunks.

The album also features, Jesus Walks, one of the few songs from Kanye I knew before embarking on my journey through The 500. One of my Grade 8 students played it for me many years ago during a break in class. He was trying to convince me that Kanye was different from other rappers. He was right. Consequently, I picked it for my 500 Spotify Playlist

The 500 - #299 - Debut (Blue Album) - Weezer

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #299

Album Title: Self-Titled Debut (Blue Album)

Artist: Weezer

Genre: Alternative Rock, Power Pop, Pop Punk

Recorded: Electric Lady Studios, New York, USA

Released: May, 1994

My age at release: 28

How familiar was I with it before this week: Familiar

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at 294 (Moving up 5 spots)

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Say It Ain't So

If you entered Unit 3 of the Ogoki Townhouse Complex on Bearskin Lake Road at Lakehead University during the winter of 1995/96, you would likely have been greeted by two things: Shaft, our adopted residence dog, and the sound of music blasting from the communal stereo system in the living room.

Shaft and two of my other three roomates, Craig (seated) & Brendan

Ogoki Townhouse was located a short distance from the Bora Laskin building where all of my Teacher's College classes were held. Lakehead, in Thunder Bay, Ontario, offered two programs – a five-year combined program for students without a degree – and a one year-program for those who had already obtained a baccalaureate. My roommates and I were all in the one-year program and, for the first few weeks, felt a little out of place as we attended lectures with many fellow students who had known each other for four years. Consequently, we bonded quickly as outsiders, and got along well.

We were all music lovers, so the stereo system (which I had lugged up from London) got plenty of use. Randy, who had adopted Shaft from a local Humane Society, was the first to introduce me to Weezer and their debut record, sometimes called Blue Album.  The record was given the chromatic moniker because of the background behind the picture of the four members. The band went on to release several other "colour" albums, including Green, Red, White, Teal and Black.

The six "colour" records from Weezer

Randy brought the Blue Album to my attention, although I was familiar with two of the single releases from it: Undone -- The Sweater Song and Buddy Holly. The latter really impressed me –  in a cleverly edited video that seemed like the band had appeared on the 1970s television show Happy Days. Directed by Spike Jonze, who later won an Academy Award for his work on the film Adaptation, the video almost seamlessly combined footage from the television program with the band, dressed in 50s teen attire, performing on a stage.

Weezer on stage at Arnold's Restaurant, a set on Happy Days

It even featured a cameo appearance by actor Al Molinaro who reprised his role as Al Delvecchio, the owner and cook of the fictional Arnold's Drive-In Restaurant featured frequently on the television show.

Molinaro as Delvecchio with The Fonz (Henry Winkler) 

Weezer are an American rock band formed in 1992 in Los Angeles, California. The members on the debut release were Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, keyboards and guitars), Patrick Wilson (drums), Brian Bell (rhythm guitar and vocals) and Matt Sharp (bass and vocals). Sharp left the band in 1998 and was replaced by Scott Shriner in 2002.

Weezer in 1994, Bell, Wilson, Sharp Cuomo (l-r)

The Blue Album became a multi-platinum success and, with the  exception of a brief hiatus in the late 90s, the band has continued to build a loyal following, releasing 15 well-received albums. The debut remains the group's best-selling record, with 15 million copies sold worldwide. The song, Buddy Holly, made the cut, at #499, on Rolling Stone Magazine's 2010 edition of The 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time. The video, which was provided with every CD-ROM copy of the Windows 95 operating system, is also part of the music exhibit in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City.

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

I really enjoyed listening to it again for this blog. The music transported me back to that bone-numbing cold winter in Thunder Bay...with Randy, Craig, Brendan and, of course, Shaft.

Post Script

My favourite Weezer story does not come from the Blue Album. Instead, it happened in 2017 when a 14-year-old fan named Mary Klym from Cleveland, Ohio, created a Twitter profile called @WeezerAfrica. Daily, she sent the following message, tagging Weezer frontman Cuomo:

Klym wanted the band to record a cover of the song Africa, released in 1982 by the soft-rock (Yacht Rock) band Toto. After several months, Weezer announced that they would release a cover version of a song by Toto. The next day, the band dropped a version of Rosanna, a different song by the band Toto, as a playful joke on Klym.

Good sports that they are, the band followed it with their version of Africa a few days later. It, and nine other cover versions, appeared on their 2019 release, the Teal Album. Not to be outdone, the band Toto covered the Weezer song Hash Pipe that August.

The band Toto posing as Weezer

The video for Weezer's version of Africa was a parody of the band's earlier video for Undone -- The Sweater Song from the Blue Album, with "Weird Al" Yankovic standing in for Cuomo and Yankovic's bandmates replacing the other members of Weezer.

"Weird Al" Yankovic with his trademark accordion as River's Cuomo

I've always been a fan of multi-layered jokes and parodies, so this entire exchange delighted me.

 

The 500 - #300 - Master Of Reality - Black Sabbath

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #300

Album Title: Master Of Reality

Artist: Black Sabbath

Genre: Heavy Metal, Hard Rock

Recorded: Island Studios (London, England)

Released: July, 1971

My age at release: 6

How familiar was I with it before this week: Fairly well

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at 234 (Moving up 66 spots)

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Children of the Grave

The first time I had a Black Sabbath record in my possession was the winter of 1980 when I snuck it under my jacket, and crept furtively into my suburban home. The album was the band's 1975 release, Sabotage, along with  Led Zeppelin's Houses Of The Holy. At fifteen, I  knew these two discs would not be well received by my parents. Mine was a Christian (Anglican) home and too much explaining would be required to justify this seemingly malevolent cargo. Besides, I didn’t know then what I know now.

I had just returned from the home of my chum Adrian (last name lost to time). He and I had bonded that summer over our mutual love of dirt bikes. He had one. I did not. Regardless, I convinced him that one was in my imminent future and he graciously shared his with me. For several weeks that summer, we ripped up and down the well worn paths of a hill, in a forest clearing about a kilometre from my home. I later learned the area  was known as "Cartoon Hill", frequented on temperate weekends by local high school drinkers and stoners. The area has since been developed as a high-end subdivision and rebranded, Warbler Woods in London, Ontario.

While visiting Adrian's place one winter afternoon, our conversation turned to music and he was quick to show me an impressive collection of vinyl. Hoping to capitalize again on Adrian's generous spirit, I asked to borrow a couple in order to make cassette copies. He obliged. Like many teenagers my age, I had a Zeppelin record, the popular Led Zeppelin IV (#69 on The 500). However, this was my first chance to listen to an entire record by the dark, demonic and very heavy rock band, Black Sabbath.

(l-r) Butler, Iommi, Ward and Osbourne

Black Sabbath was formed in Birmingham, England, when guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward spotted a hastily printed bill on a music shop bulletin board that read: "Ozzy Zig, Needs A Gig. Has own P.A." -- (power amplifier). Iommi and Tony were already in a band called Mythology and the advert led them to bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne who had been jamming with an outfit called Rare Breed.

A replica of the original advert posted by Osbourne

After a few false starts and several names (Polka Tulk Blues, Earth) the band branded themselves after a 1963 Italian horror film that was playing in a repertoire cinema across from the studio where they practised. Dubbed into English and featuring horror icon Boris Karloff, the film was called Black Sabbath -- although the original Italian title was I Tre Volti Della Paura (The Three Faces Of Fear).

Bassist and principal lyricist Butler was the first to remark on the oddity of "people lining up and spending money on scary movies". This led Butler, with the help of his bandmates, to write their first song, Black Sabbath, which appeared on their first album of the same name. (#243 on The 500). At a time of flower power, folk music and peace-loving hippies, the band took a different tack,  ostensibly creating the musical version of horror movies. But more on that when we get to their debut record in about a year.

Black Sabbath (1970), the debut record by Black Sabbath (#243)

Master Of Reality was the third studio record by the English quartet. It is considered by many critics to be a seminal record in the development of several sub-genres of heavy metal, including doom metal, stoner rock and sludge metal. There are some, including Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins fame, who consider Master Of Reality to be "the first grunge record", influencing the sound that would emerge in the early 1990s.

Black Sabbath in promotional photo for Master Of Reality (1973)

Master of Reality contains one of Sabbath's best known songs, Sweet Leaf, a "not-so-subtle" celebration of recreational marijuana use and a frequent hit at the many basement parties I attended in high school. However, it is the track After Forever that begs discussion.

Single release for Sweet Leaf

With lyrics penned by Butler, the song focused on Christian themes. Although raised a Catholic, he wanted to dissuade the belief among  the media that the band were Satanists. They were not. He was frustrated that many had "missed the point" of their shock-rock tack.  After all, no one thought Boris Karloff was a monster because he played Frankenstein or voiced The Grinch.

In fact, the lyrics in After Forever focus on being open-minded in accepting the possibility that "a God who loves us" exists. In an interview, Butler shared the following:

"A lot of it was because of the situation in Northern Ireland at the time. There were a lot of religious troubles between the Protestants against the Catholics.  I was naive in thinking that religion shouldn’t be fought over. I always felt that God and Jesus wanted us to love each other. It was just a bad time in Northern Ireland, setting bombs off in England and such. We all believed in Jesus—and yet people were killing each other over it. To me, it was just ridiculous. I thought that if God could see us killing each other in his name, he’d be disgusted."

In retrospect, as I crept into my house that winter evening (with two conversational timebombs tucked beneath my ski-jacket), I would have benefited from this information. Butler's talking points would have buoyed my teenage thesis and, perhaps, justified my possession of these records.

I did return them both to Adrian, in excellent condition. However, as is often the case in high school, we drifted apart. He was a generous guy with an easy-going disposition and I'll always remember him for dirt bike rides and Black Sabbath. More about this misunderstood legendary band in 57 weeks when we get to their Black Sabbath debut record...and The Devil's Interval!

The 500 - #301 - Coat Of Many Colors - Dolly Parton

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: # 301

Album Title: Coat Of Many Colors

Artist: Dolly Parton

Genre: Country

Recorded: RCA Studio (Nashville, Tennessee)

Released: October, 1971

My age at release: 6

How familiar was I with it before this week: One Song

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, 257 (Moving up 44 spots)

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Coat Of Many Colors

NOTE: This is my 200th blog in the 500 series. I began in January, 2019, and have maintained a pace of a post a week, topping 3 1/2 years. Including the educational blog posts I began in July, 2015, this is my 316th. I began posting on my 50th birthday and in my 20th year of teaching ... hence the name The 50-20 Blog. I am using this opportunity to officially retire that name and change the name to #The500Blog, although it will occasionally include educational elements from time to time. Thanks for being part of it.

It's not hard to make a convincing case that Dolly Parton is the greatest artist on The 500 list. She is a beautiful, kind, generous, multi-talented musician, songwriter, actress, philanthropist and entrepreneur who has managed to navigate the world of celebrity without controversy and with a rare depth of humility. Members of the jury, buckle in as I take time to showcase an artist rightfully regarded as a U.S. national treasure and beloved by fans around the world.

Background

Born in 1946, she was the fourth of twelve children who lived in a one-room cabin on the shores of Little Pigeon River in the heart of the Smoky Mountains of rural Tennessee. Her father, Lee, was a sharecropper and eventually secured his own small tobacco farm. He also worked construction jobs to supplement his income. Despite being illiterate, Dolly remembers him as "one of the smartest people she ever knew and raised her to understand business, finance and "how to make a profit".

Postcard of Little Pigeon River in autumn

Her mother (unsurprisingly with 11 pregnancies before the age of 35) was a homemaker who cared for the children. She entertained them with Smoky Mountain Folklore and Ancient Ballads about their relatives – Welsh immigrants who had moved to the Appalachian region a century earlier.

Dolly (centre) with her first seven siblings and their mother

Music Career

Her music career began in childhood, singing in churches and eventually on local radio and television stations. Immediately after graduating high school, she moved to Nashville and first found success as a songwriter. When she turned 21, she was invited by Porter Wagoner to join his weekly syndicated television program.

Wagoner with Parton (1967)

Through Wagoner's mentorship and support, Parton began to find an audience and launched a successful solo career. At Wagoner's prompting, she re-recorded hits by other artists. Eventually she found success with her own writing, gaining significant airplay with the release of this week's album, Coat Of Many Colors, and the single of the same name.

Hastily written on the back of a dry cleaning receipt during a tour in 1969, it told the story of a coat her mother had stitched for her that was made of ragged, coloured fabric, donated to the family by neighbours.

Dolly's coat of many colors
on display at the Country Music
Hall of Fame in Nashville

As she stitched, Dolly's mother shared the biblical story of Joseph and his coat of many colours. The next day, Parton rushed to school beaming with pride about her new jacket, only to be teased by the other children who laughed at the patchwork scraps of fabric, and her obvious poverty. The final lyric (below), gives us a glimpse of the outlook she would embrace in the next, wildly successful chapter of her life.

"But they didn't understand it, and I tried to make them see
One is only poor, only if they choose to be
Now I know we had no money, but I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors my momma made for me."

Over the ensuing decade, Parton's rise to stardom was  meteoric, with no sign of a slowdown 50 years later. She established herself as one of country and pop's greatest songwriters, singers and performers. She penned more than 25 number one hits, including the song I Will Always Love You which, when re-recorded by Whitney Houston on the soundtrack to My Bodyguard, became the fifth biggest selling single of all time, receiving Diamond status in the United States for more than 10,000,000 copies sold.

Dolly Dominates Hollywood

She was also a prolific and award-winning movie star. As a burgeoning, young-teen movie buff in the early-eighties, I was smitten by the spunky, sexy, star in her many lead roles, including 9 to 5 (1980), The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas (1982) and even the terribly cheesy Rhinestone (1984).

Entrepreneurial Endeavours

In 1986, she co-founded the Dollywood company and purchased the Silver Dollar City theme park and theatre in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee,  her birthplace. It was revamped and renamed Dollywood where it has operated successfully for over 35 years. The 150-acre property plays host to three million guests per year and is the biggest employer in Tennessee, with more than 4,000 employees.

The entrance to Dollywood

Not only does it house the usual roller-coasters, rides and a waterpark, it also provides a venue for Tennessee musicians and craftspeople to perform and sell their wares. In 2008, the park earned The Liseberg Applause Award, an international accolade presented every two years to the amusement park whose "management, operations and creative accomplishments have inspired the industry with their foresight, originality and sound business development."

Dolly Parton accepting the Applause Award (2010)

Philanthropy

Finally, and arguably most importantly, is Dolly's history of philanthropy. Since the mid-eighties, the Dollywood Foundation has given millions of dollars to support multiple charities including the Red Cross, HIV/AIDS causes and environmental organizations dedicated to the protection of endangered animals, particularly the American bald eagle. I can only offer a truncated glimpse here, but Dolly’s generosity is legendary.

For example, her literacy program, The Imagination Library, warms the hearts of educators like me. Every parent who enrolls in the free program receives a no-charge book every month for their child until they reach kindergarten. In 2018, Parton was recognized by the Library of Congress after mailing out her hundredth-million free book.

She also established The Buddy Program in her home county of Sevier, Tennessee. In 1989, she learned that more than 30% of students in the region failed to graduate high school. Since 1991, Grade 8 students have been invited to a day at Dollywood that includes a special assembly where Dolly personally issues a challenge. They are asked to choose a buddy and, if both are successfully graduated from high school, she will give them each $500. Within the decade, dropout rates plummeted to 6%.

Long Live Dolly

Dolly also contributed a million dollars to the Vanderbilt Research project, a group that was instrumental in the release of the first Moderna Vaccine. This prompted the hashtag #DollyCuresCovid in early 2020. To help combat vaccine skepticism, the normally apolitical Dolly also shared a video of her inoculation with the humorous tagline; Dolly Gets A Dose Of Her Own Medicine.

If that isn't enough, Dolly even saved a nine-year-old's life. In 2021, a young dancer on the set of her film Christmas On The Square failed to see an approaching vehicle. Dolly did, quickly pulling her to safety. You can read the full story here.

Parton and Talia Hill, whom Parton saved from injury in 2021

“And so," dear readers, “is Dolly Parton the greatest artist I will write about on The 500 list? Has she not risen from humble beginnings to emerge as a beautiful, kind, generous, multi-talented musician, songwriter, actress philanthropist and entrepreneur, navigating the world of celebrity without controversy and with exemplary humility?"

I believe I can safely rest my case.