The music world lost a great man this past weekend, as Adam “MCA” Yauch of the Beastie Boys passed away from cancer. I won’t claim to be a huge fan of the Beastie Boys, I honestly only know a few songs well, but Yauch is part of a generation that has influenced pop culture for 25 years, and his contributions deserve acknowledgement.
The band was the first rap group to grace the cover of Spin Magazine as well as the first to top the Billboard charts. I can attest to the appeal of the band’s eccentric sound, borrowing influences and samples from all kinds of music and making it accessible even to those who might not typically like rap music.
There is a great write-up on Spin.com about “the Yauch generation,” which details the exploits of the Beastie Boys and other musicians and artists from the same era in New York City, comparing them to modern “hipsters,” which puts in perspective the influence that that this group has had on our culture. It is also mentioned the Beastie Boys’ background in hardcore punk, mentioning the EP the band released in 1982, Polly Wog Stew. Give this a listen on YouTube and see the massive change in the band’s sound.
There’s not much more that I can personally say about Adam Yauch, other than to point toward sources like Spin and Pitchfork to see what they have to say about the man and his other projects, including the Tibetan Independence movement and Oscilloscope Productions. I would also like to look at other artists who, like Yauch, transcended their given genre and influenced great changes in music.
Joe Strummer, rhythm guitarist and vocalist for the iconic band the Clash, was another musician who changed perceptions of genres and created a unique sound that is still celebrated. The work that Strummer and the other members of the band did widened the appeal of punk rock and helped to sustain the genre as more than just a passing movement. While the band would implode after the Combat Rock album, the headway they made in combining the sounds of punk, ska, reggae and other genres solidified them as a wide influence.
Buddy Holly, an early pioneer of rock and roll, had a relatively short career but was a profound influence on both contemporaries and later artists. Holly’s rockabilly style was similar to the Sun Records sound of Elvis Presley, but was further influenced as he played with other musicians. Holly is known for singles “Peggy Sue,” “That’ll be the Day” and “Oh Boy!” Holly had the unique opportunity to shape rock and roll and is cited as a major influence by musicians like Elvis Costello and the sound that he pioneered can be heard all over. After dying in a plane crash at the age of 22, Holly is remembered in the song “American Pie” by Don McLean, which laments the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson.
Jimi Hendrix is recognized as one of the greatest guitar players of all time in many circles, pioneering the use of wah-wah pedals in mainstream music, as well as the overdriven sound that is now pervasive in modern rock. Hendrix is famous for his appearances at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock in 1969. Hendrix has had a profound influence on modern music, even influencing his predecessors, as Bob Dylan plays Hendrix’s version of “All Along the Watchtower” live. The recording techniques which he pioneered, such as stereophonic phasing, are still popular in today’s music. Hendrix is also known for his antics, including behind the back playing, playing with his teeth and setting a guitar on fire at the end of a set.
Music is a constantly changing landscape, and there are some amazing musicians who allow it to keep evolving. Every loss that the music community feels is profound, and on May 4, 2012 the world lost a hip-hop pioneer, director and philanthropist in Adam Yauch. His influence from his work with the Beastie Boys will be felt in music for a long time to come, offering a legacy as rich as those of Strummer, Holly and Hendrix, if not more so.
