Bennett on Sinatra

Tony Bennett talks about Frank Sinatra in this short piece:
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/08/tony-bennett200908.

I think that Sinatra nailed it when he stated the "honesty" part about singers. Regardless of the genre, the best are always the ones with an honest connection to the song and to the listener. Hank Williams, who he mentioned, is absolutely dead on in that regard. No one can touch him in the world of C&W, though there are other fine ones--George Jones, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, etc. What passes for country today is something that I'm not sure you can classify. Mostly, however, it doesn't have anything resembling honesty. Same for pop or rock. Rap is probably honest to a great degree but has a limited connection and is horribly juvenile. Sure, that's a highly subjective take but it's poetry on a second grade level. Okay, so I'm digging a hole for myself, but there you have it. Just put me down in the "mostly doesn't relate" category on that and we'll call it a day.

Talking about music, I'll register a brief rant regarding the subject of bagpipes at funerals, particularly those in the United States. Listen up, we ain't Scotland or Ireland and a bagpipe at an American funeral is like a ham sandwich at a bar mitzvah. I guess somebody thought it was all tingly to hear "Amazing Grace" done by a bagpiper dressed in full kit but it really comes off as highly dishonest given that we're burying a guy born and raised in Tulsa or Provo or somewhere else that's pure U S of A and about as far away from that cold and damp part of the world that you can get. Somebody pull out a guitar or harmonica instead, or better yet, dispense with the music entirely and promptly head to the bar to properly send off old Uncle Bill. When I die, if you hear bagpipes, you'll know I pissed Mrs. Bulba off real bad and she's getting in a little payback.