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I hate to say it but the only thing that was "new" about Elvis was he was a white dude playing the blues instead of a black dude. His own style developed when he started adding more country music styling to his repetoire.
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Agreed but I think you are missing my point. I am not saying that Elvis was “new” I am speaking of his time period here, the mid to late 50’s. In that time the world was a different place. When the Beatles entered this world with “long hair” they were absolutely SHOCKING to the establishment, that was the mind set of the world of the day. Elvis shaking his hips on TV was completely unacceptable. This is not about Elvis and him being the King or any of that crap (but he was way cool
) this is about the progression of society as a whole.
When Elvis was Elvis who would have ever thought David Bowie was coming only 15 or so years later?? Or Black Sabbath in 10?? In our times David Bowie has been done may times since David Bowie so what would shock us as new?? What would be new to us after Slayer or M Manson or techno or whatever?? What is new and different when as a society we are more accepting of new things?? Where is the underground where the new stuff lives if we are so accepting that nothing needs to be underground?? Elvis was a copy cat of the underground blues scene and the Beatles were just coping Elvis copied the blues.
I am not saying that we should be less accepting at all, that is not my point. I am saying that our ability to be more open and making Metallica etc. “acceptable” as led us to a place were I have easy access to Tori Amos and Anthrax in my CD collection and this might not seem so out of the ordinary.
I would agree that Miles was one of the last great innovates but my point is there have been people along the way that have helped us to grow musically but the well may be running dry (and I am not a pessimist). The $64000 question is what possibly could be new to us with all that we have seen in music to this point??
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Nope sorry. It is infinite. Fortunately.
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I respectfully disagree. In an exact definition of the word infinite you are incorrect 12 half steps inside a tempo of what 50 bpm to 200 bpm, and I am pushing this (but I will agree it is a very very large scope before it is exhausted). In reality we are human and we hear similarities where mathematically they may not be there. I can hear Elvis in Led Zeppelin, Black Flag in Nirvana, Sabbath in Rage Against the Machine, King Crimson in Tool and Jules can hear Foreigner in The Rasmus but none of this is because of some mathematical equation, it is because our ear fills in the blanks. Now Nirvana “sounded” new because many had forgotten where they were getting their sound from, that does not mean they were new or innovative (but I do like them).
Maybe a different way to describe it. Daddy Bach accomplished everything that was ever to happen in the “classical” world. If you want an example of something in musical theory (short of parallel 5ths) you can find it in Bach’s music. Does that mean we should toss out Beethoven’s 9th or Tchaikovsky’s March Slav?? No but they were looking to Bach for guidance (as was Yngwie Malmsteen but who’s counting right??).
My idea here is that we have copied and copied for so long and the copying has been aided by the phonograph, radio, CD, tape and now the internet that at some point we will hit a wall. Things are going to sound like other things. Should we through out the things that sound like something else?? Only if it is bad.
Because things like the internet have given us access to every nook and cranny and everything is fair game because of were we are as a socially we may just have covered all we can cover and everything from this point forward will be a rehash of something else. I ask again what would be new?? Is someone would produce an album of white noise and called it cutting edge music would you call that new?? I would not like it but I would not be surprised if it happened and I would not be surprised to find that it already has. So what would be new?? I know if we had that answer we would be rich but I tell you we are at a different point than we as a species has ever been and that has fundamentally changed everything we know. All the old patterns of change could be outdated. Again I ask can any of you think of anything that has not been done at some point?? Anything??