Is There Some Major Musician or Band or other Artist You "Suddenly Appreciated" Rather Late in Life?

[Mike 03]

There are some major bands I completely ignored because I just assumed I would not be interested in--often because they were "before my time"--but when friends finally exposed me to this music I was simultaneously blown away by the music and shamed that I had not listened to it sooner.


A handful of mine:

THE BEATLES (arrogantly ignored them until I was 30 because I liked the Rolling Stones and assumed the Beatles could not possibly be interesting to me--wrong.)

JOHNNY CASH (Just getting into him and learning about him now)

THE WHO (a friend insisted that they were the greatest band ever. I wouldn't go that far, but I am glad I listened to them.)

LED ZEPPELIN (There had been this very long song I had loved for years but never knew what it was or who performed it. After describing it to a GF, she says, "That must be KASHMIR, and that band is Led Zeppelin." It was love at first sight.)

[Steely_Dan]

1. For Me, It Was The Beatles

I never wanted go along with the crowd. So, I sort of rejected them. Later in life, I realized the amazing impact that they had (and have) on popular music. Timeless comes to mind. My favorite offering from them is the White Album.

-P

[Capn Sunshine]

3. funny , that

While they were always good rock, I was the same way-- to me, top of the pops=not interesting.
I always thought the Stones were cooler. Later on I realized that it was two completely different things. I just bought "Rubber Soul" "Abbey Road" and "The White Album" again, this time on CD

[Nickster]

30. Funny you mention the Stones. I just got done reading the John Lennon biography and it says that

John always envisioned the Beatles having the bad boy image that the Stones had and he was jealous of the success the Stones had as the "bad boys" while he felt that he had sold out with the straight laced look and music.

[Jade Fox]

29. The rest of us felt sorry for you guys....

missing one of the greatest rides in history tryin' to be different.........

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

2. Si Zentner And His Orchestra

Dave Van Ronk
Boz Scaggs
Leonard Cohen
Johnny Winter
Collective Soul

...to name but a few...

[femmocrat]

4. I discovered Pink Floyd after their heyday.

Didn't pay much attention to them in the 1970s.

[raccoon]

37. Same here. A local station played them a lot and I came to really appreciate them in the 1990's. nt

[MrScorpio]

5. Dorothy ASHBY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaQ-c4QhJnk

[MiddleFingerMom]

6. I was always a Beatles' fan...

.
...but never quite understood The Rolling Stones.
.
Around 1982 or so, I was seeing an older woman who just LOVED The Stones... and
one day, I asked her why.
.
Very, VERY breathily (I liked her even MORE when she was very VERY breathy), she
kinda wriggled and melted while saying, "They're so... ... NAUGHTY!!!"
.
I "got" them instantly.
.

[Blue_Tires]

7. David Bowie, Pink Floyd...

[WorseBeforeBetter]

8. Pete Seeger and Willie Nelson. (n/t)

[TZ]

9. Rush

Dr. Strange introduced me to them about a year or two ago...

[Ishoutandscream2]

10. I, too, began appreciating Johnny Cash a few years back

I also gained a great appreciation late for The Beach Boys. I got over the "they're only surf music" stereotype after I heard quite possibly the most beautiful album ever - Pet Sounds.

[AwakeAtLast]

11. Bill Monroe

I am becoming obsessed with the early roots of bluegrass. There is a museum near Bloomington, IN that I want to go to really badly.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

38. I noticed that you're from Indiana.

If you haven't heard them already, check out a band called Highland Reign from Indianpolis. They're a "Progressive Celtic" band and a lot of their music contains bluegrass which is at least partly derived from traditional celtic music.

Here's a 30 second sample link to their version of Bill Monroe's "Old Joe Clark"

http://popup.lala.com/popup/2810527659666851680

[SoxFan]

12. Joy Division

Growing up, I listened to a lot of bands were influenced by them, but they were always sort of in the background. It's only in the last few years that I've started to really delve into the back catalog beyond "Love Will Tear Us Apart".

[old mark]

13. I ignored most 80's hair bands, but I find that I really like Mick Mars, guitarist for Motley Crue.

He is a really individual player, plays a blusey style that I think is pretty sophisticated and can really carry a one-guitar band-not an easy thing to do. I just started listening to his stuff last year. They have a very good drummer, too, but their bassist is lame.

mark

[Bennyboy]

14. The roots of music....

As an adult, i have tried to dig as deeply as possible into American music. How did we get here, who were the ones that brought it forward.
The pioneers and the ones that took something and made a whole nother thing out if it.

Hot Rize. They made bluegrass something else again. Without them there is no Railroad Earth or leftover Salmon. OR Bela Fleck.

Peter Rowan is huge, Just how huge that guy is an how much he influenced so many artists is incredible.

David Grisman. Genre bending to the max.

[MattBaggins]

15. Does the Golden Girls count?

[Broken_Hero]

16. A few,

Ricky Nelson

The Animals

Cream

Johnny Cash

[vi5]

17. Springsteen...

Hated him from the time I was aware of his music (Born in the USA came out when I was 11 or 12) all the way up until about 3 or 4 years ago when I was in my late 30's.

Now I love him and after having seen him live a few times I'm even more amazed at his skill in that area as well.

[Ikonoklast]

18. Leonard Cohen

I can't for the life of me understand how I missed listening to this genius all those years.

http://popup.lala.com/popup/504684689371106538

[mitchum]

19. I avoided Bob Dylan until my 20s because he was "king of the hippies"

how wrong I was

[jobycom]

20. Marvin Gaye.

I didn't get him in my teens. Sometime in my 30s it clicked.

[bif]

21. The Flaming Lips

I never listened to them because of their name. I assumed they were some sort of heavy metal group. I got into them about a year ago.

[Initech]

22. Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin

I didn't really know much about Zappa until I bought Freak Out on a whim and now he's one of my all time favorites.

As for Floyd I didn't discover the greatness of Dark Side until I wad 19, and then for Zeppelin I bought the complete studio recordings and got hooked on them.

[Steely_Dan]

23. I Still Think...

...that Kashmir is the best LZ song...by far.

[geardaddy]

24. For me it was Tom Waits

and Leonard Cohen.

[Aristus]

25. Willie Nelson. I had always thought of him as just this weird guy with long red braids

and who sang through his nose.

I didn't realize what a terrific songwriter he was, and what a dedicated progressive he is. I have a whole new appreciation for him, and I hope he lives a very long, long life so I can have my appreciation for the living man for years to come...

[Amerigo Vespucci]

26. Wayne Shorter, Paul Hardcastle

Especially Shorter's "Speak No Evil."

:toast:

[DevonRex]

27. Led Zeppelin for me. After I watched "The Song Remains the Same"

I was hooked. Now I use Zeppelin as my workout music. It gets me through miles and miles on the hiking trails and laps and laps in the gym.

[frogmarch]

28. Willie Nelson, when I heard

him sing "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" in The Electric Horseman. I only recently saw the movie, even though it's been around a long, long time. So has Willie, but I never liked his singing before I heard him sing that song.

[mopinko]

31. johnny cash, willie nelson, patsy cline, lots of country folks

raised in the era of the over produced nashville sound, and rock and roll. so, got into all that in the last few years.

[IDemo]

32. Tommy Emmanuel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54tRcKFEUlY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCAVKPXDHXg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdt4Y2fNXOI&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhR04kmcSXU&feature=related

[johnnie]

33. Only one that I can think of

The Beach Boys. I never understood why anyone wanted to listen to a bunch of three chord-ed songs about beaches and cars. Then when I was around 32 or so I was reading something about them and gave them another listen. I then realized what a genius Brian Wilson is and how much he did to the advancement of recording music. I also realized a lot more about them and now I have no problem listening to them.

[kwassa]

34. James Booker, Eva Cassidy

Booker, a brilliant and very troubled New Orleans piano player. Fabulous player, incredible technique.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifAXV4LQ9S4

Cassidy, an incredible vocalist who died just before she became famous. A local sensation in DC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL-9JlSCNOQ

both have many youtube clips.

[Steerpike]

35. The Unforgettable

Frank Sinatra

[PVnRT]

36. The Clash, Dead Kennedys, The Sex Pistols...

Pretty much the lion's share of punk rock.