"Are you snobbish about rock and roll?", I was asked yesterday. "Nope, I'm not." But I had to explain myself. But first let me back up...
Two days ago I played a corporate gig on a riverboat cruise. It was my first and it was a lot of fun. So I thought it would be appropriate for me to play "Proud Mary" sometime during the evening. I played it immediately after playing a Minuet by Telemann. Later I played a piece by J.S. Bach and followed it with "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison. That song was a hold over from a recent wedding request.
I was kind of laughing and grimacing when I told this story and that's when the question was asked. Now I know these are great songs. They're so great that everyone plays them and they've become cliche, along with a few others like "Freebird" and "Smoke On The Water".
I've always tried to avoid the cliche songs if I could. When I was a teenager I never quite got around to learning "Puff the Magic Dragon" for the same reason. Although an argument could be made that "Proud Mary" as a classical guitar instrumental is not really cliche any longer.
There are some rock songs that I would like to work up as acoustic solos. Like "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC. There are others that I've tried to play, but they were pretty lame. So I'm not anti-rock and roll. It's just that some songs have been seriously overdone.
My musical choices are often dictated by the clients I work for. "He who pays the piper gets to call the tunes" is more than an old saying. It's a fact of life for some of us. That's not a complaint, just a reality. The results vary. Sometimes I will learn a song for a wedding that is cringe worthy only to be pleasantly surprised by the results. Other times the results can be disappointing.
If I were being completely honest right now I would have to admit that "Proud Mary" and "Brown Eyed Girl" are kind of fun to play. So is "Smoke On The Water" as an acoustic solo. I suppose I'll need to arrange "Freebird" one of these days just to complete the list. But first, I have an upcoming wedding that requires me to learn "I'm a Believer".