I bet you thought the Folk Show website was one place you could avoid the deluge following the death of this pop icon….

Don’t despair,  this thread isn’t likely to get much activity.  But being pretty clueless about pop music in general,  I just wondered if anyone has any insight into folk influences on Jackson,  or on Jackson’s influences on folk.  Is there any “there,” there?

I’d suspect huge influence from folks like James Brown, etc., but I think you’re probably right that there’s not a lot there on the traditional music front.

That being said, that doesn’t mean acoustic music turns a blind ear to MJ…  check out this 14 yr old kid picking the hell out of Billie Jean.  Great arrangement and style…  lends itself well to this kind of interpretation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgVqX0a49HM

Wow, that kid is pretty amazing.  I listened to several of the u-tube cuts with a mixture of admiration and envy.  Mostly admiration though—I hope Jung has a happy and productive musical life!

On the death of a pop icon + musical front: Billy Mayes had always struck me of the Henry Rollins of direct marketing. The world is somewhat diminished in his passing.