I would definitely throw in the 46 year gap between 'Space Oddity' (1969) and 'Lazarus' and 'Blackstar' (2015) for David Bowie. I'd also say Radiohead, Nick Cave, and Aphex Twin should be under consideration for a 20+ year gap.
Great post. One thing I noted though, Miles' last classic surely wasn't "In a Silent Way". He was just getting started into his electric period by 1969 which was massively influential, not just to jazz, but to popular music as a whole.
I know some critics don't like that album, but for me, Miles' last classic was "Tutu" (1986). Got two Grammys. Written by Marcus Miller. A defining jazz album of the 1980s. That's 41 years after "Ko-Ko".
I think you're right about Miles. I also think there are other jazz musicians who were still making vital music 40+ years on, but it's a little harder to see because jazz as a genre has receded from mainstream notice. There's also the factor that albums and live performances are generally more important than individual songs. But, still: there's forty years between Herbie Hancock's Empyrean Isles and The Joni Letters (which did get an Album of the Year nomination) and nearly 50 years between Ornette Coleman's Shape of Jazz to Come and his Pulitzer-prize winning Sound Grammar. Wayne Shorter and Paul Motian also come to mind as people who were seen as making vital music (and not just museum pieces) late in their careers, easily 40 years after their first breakthroughs.
I'd like to argue for Tony Bennett joining the club. His first hits were in the early fifties ('Rags to Riches' etc.) and his amazing renaissance in the early nineties ('Steppin' Out With My Baby' and his Unplugged show) to his duets with Lady Gaga twenty years after that.
Stan Getz became a star with the 1947 recording of Early Autumn with the Woody Herman band. He recorded People Time, a fabulous 7 CD collection made over 5 days with pianist Kenny Barron in Copenhagen in 1991, a few months before hid death. His output in terms of albums between those two was prodigious, and he kept evolving, with his best playing occurring in the 1980s in my opinion.
This is an interesting thought experiment, but it would seem to reveal more about the limitations of the selected sources than their efficacy as litmus tests for greatness. It suffers from album-oriented bias.
What about composers? John Williams, Philip Glass, Thomas Newman...Sakamoto...Duke Ellington...
Or conductors? von Karajan...Bernstein...Tilson-Thomas...Ozawa...
Interestingly the Library of Congress and Grammy Hall of Fame lists have composers and conductors. I just ended up excluding those two groups because the underlying mechanics of how careers work in those fields seem different. Ellington is on the list though. According to the info I pulled, he put out classics 39 years apart.
Another way to look at this list is who’s had #1 hits across 4+ decades. Cher has had a #1 hit single on Billboard each of the past seven decades. I don’t know if anyone else has ever done that… Sir Elton John, maybe?
Another approach: artists who have had a Billboard Top 10 album in each decade for 4+ decades. Madonna has! I’m sure there are others, but alas, I’m too caught up on deadlines to go down these rabbit holes 🐇🤓🎶
Excellent article. For what it’s worth, “For What it’s Worth” was written and sung by Stephen Stills. Neil was on hand for guitar and backing vocals. The name of the band was Buffalo Springfield.
Excellent article about musicians making the 40-year test. I go back to the first releases of Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra. Haven't spent a great deal of time researching both careers I find that these two artists continually released hits THROUGHT OUT THEIR CAREERS that might surpass the others making the 40 tests.
The one you could argue puts Bob over the top (and like you I’m talking broad consensus rather than personal taste - obviously!) is Murder Most Foul. That song got so much acclaim, more than any song he’d done in years/decades. And his first song to top a Billboard chart (a secondary one, but still). Prob too early to say for sure but I think it would be the contender.
I would definitely throw in the 46 year gap between 'Space Oddity' (1969) and 'Lazarus' and 'Blackstar' (2015) for David Bowie. I'd also say Radiohead, Nick Cave, and Aphex Twin should be under consideration for a 20+ year gap.
I was surprised that Lazarus wasn’t on any of the lists that I grabbed. For me personally, I’d give Bowie a pass for 40
Great write up! Note you may be thinking of Neil Young's album Harvest which was in 1972. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest_(Neil_Young_album)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest_Moon_(album)
Omg yes
Guy Clark comes close with 38 years between "LA Freeway" and "My Favorite Picture Of You"
Great post. One thing I noted though, Miles' last classic surely wasn't "In a Silent Way". He was just getting started into his electric period by 1969 which was massively influential, not just to jazz, but to popular music as a whole.
I know some critics don't like that album, but for me, Miles' last classic was "Tutu" (1986). Got two Grammys. Written by Marcus Miller. A defining jazz album of the 1980s. That's 41 years after "Ko-Ko".
I think you're right about Miles. I also think there are other jazz musicians who were still making vital music 40+ years on, but it's a little harder to see because jazz as a genre has receded from mainstream notice. There's also the factor that albums and live performances are generally more important than individual songs. But, still: there's forty years between Herbie Hancock's Empyrean Isles and The Joni Letters (which did get an Album of the Year nomination) and nearly 50 years between Ornette Coleman's Shape of Jazz to Come and his Pulitzer-prize winning Sound Grammar. Wayne Shorter and Paul Motian also come to mind as people who were seen as making vital music (and not just museum pieces) late in their careers, easily 40 years after their first breakthroughs.
Keep going. I can't stop listening to Aura.
I'd like to argue for Tony Bennett joining the club. His first hits were in the early fifties ('Rags to Riches' etc.) and his amazing renaissance in the early nineties ('Steppin' Out With My Baby' and his Unplugged show) to his duets with Lady Gaga twenty years after that.
He has a case
Stan Getz became a star with the 1947 recording of Early Autumn with the Woody Herman band. He recorded People Time, a fabulous 7 CD collection made over 5 days with pianist Kenny Barron in Copenhagen in 1991, a few months before hid death. His output in terms of albums between those two was prodigious, and he kept evolving, with his best playing occurring in the 1980s in my opinion.
This is an interesting thought experiment, but it would seem to reveal more about the limitations of the selected sources than their efficacy as litmus tests for greatness. It suffers from album-oriented bias.
What about composers? John Williams, Philip Glass, Thomas Newman...Sakamoto...Duke Ellington...
Or conductors? von Karajan...Bernstein...Tilson-Thomas...Ozawa...
Interestingly the Library of Congress and Grammy Hall of Fame lists have composers and conductors. I just ended up excluding those two groups because the underlying mechanics of how careers work in those fields seem different. Ellington is on the list though. According to the info I pulled, he put out classics 39 years apart.
Love “Late Night Kicks” 🤩
Another way to look at this list is who’s had #1 hits across 4+ decades. Cher has had a #1 hit single on Billboard each of the past seven decades. I don’t know if anyone else has ever done that… Sir Elton John, maybe?
Another approach: artists who have had a Billboard Top 10 album in each decade for 4+ decades. Madonna has! I’m sure there are others, but alas, I’m too caught up on deadlines to go down these rabbit holes 🐇🤓🎶
This is an absolutely wonderfully researched article. Very thoughtful and enlightening. Thank you, Chris.
Excellent article. For what it’s worth, “For What it’s Worth” was written and sung by Stephen Stills. Neil was on hand for guitar and backing vocals. The name of the band was Buffalo Springfield.
Excellent article about musicians making the 40-year test. I go back to the first releases of Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra. Haven't spent a great deal of time researching both careers I find that these two artists continually released hits THROUGHT OUT THEIR CAREERS that might surpass the others making the 40 tests.
Interesting that Bob Dylan has not made a classic since 1997. Given his prolific songwriting, album releases and touring. Kind of fascinating!
Well I think he’s released many classics since 1997 … but I tried to remove my personal opinion as much as I could lol
I think Dylan gets there with a little more analysis. "Love and Theft" and Modern Times both topped some critics' year end lists and got Grammy love.
Ah, reading comprehension fail. I'm just now realizing that you focused on songs, not albums.
The one you could argue puts Bob over the top (and like you I’m talking broad consensus rather than personal taste - obviously!) is Murder Most Foul. That song got so much acclaim, more than any song he’d done in years/decades. And his first song to top a Billboard chart (a secondary one, but still). Prob too early to say for sure but I think it would be the contender.
Agreed. I think something from tempest could make the cut too. “Make You Feel My Love” is without question a classic though in my eyes
So I decided to count it if the person was part of a band. So like creams released counted for Clapton. The Beatles for John Lennon. And so on
Good call; Sonny and Cher became Cher.