While reading though the comment sections of most internet forums and YouTube it only takes a second or two to stumble across someone who is bemoaning that his or her favorite artist, musician, athlete, scientist or whomever is “underrated.” I don’t get worked up about too much, but I find this word so annoying that I feel it should be banned from the English language.

As I mentioned in January’s post, it was when I fell upon comments that Ringo Starr, the Beatles’ drummer, was “underrated” that I knew things had gotten out of hand. How could a member of the most famous musical quartet in history been underrated? Where in the blazes can an opinion like that come from unless it is proof that aliens from another galaxy are among us!

On the one hand, it is good to have favorites whose work we enjoy. After all, how bland would life be if we all liked the same things? 

On the other, it makes me wonder what standard is used when a fan claims their fave is underrated. In the field of music does being underrated mean that the musician’s technical skill is not appreciated? That the musician’s peers are overlooking some kind of brilliance or that the fans who buy the records (yes, an old-fashioned term I know) and fill the stadiums are ignoring a genius?

In other words, if you argue that an artist is underrated then what is the metric by which they should be measured and, more importantly, exactly who should be recognizing their greatness?

As a middle-aged guy, if I think a guitarist is underrated then does that mean that all middle-aged guys and gals should also find this guitarist to be great? Am I expecting listeners of all ages to fall in line to pay homage to my favorite? Well, as you can see, it’s an impossible question to answer.

Just as an aside, I thought that surely there must be one corner of music that was free from controversy—let’s say organ music. But even here, according to a skilled organist friend of mine, there is debate over the talents of the late organist E. Power Biggs. Some consider him overrated and some underrated. Well, at least he had one of the absolute coolest names in town—equaled only by Buxtehude.  

Call me naïve, but I believe that most often in life the cream does rise to the top. Look at the pinnacle of most endeavors in life and the best usually are there. This means that the world’s best pianists, opera singers, or heavy metal bands are usually giving the best performances in their respective fields.

Indeed, and sadly however, we know all too well that the music industry has pushed aside scores of highly gifted musicians in favor of those who were thought to have the potential to move more records off the shelves. In fact, one can make good arguments that our tastes are all too often managed for us and that we are “guided” into what we should like. Henry Ford is reputed to have said that if he had not pushed customers to his mass-produced automobiles that the public would have been content with the horse and buggy. Bill Gates is reported to have said something similar about his computer software. 

But ultimately, we as fans vote with our wallets. I admit that sometimes this doesn’t always ensure the highest quality, think of some stupid movies that have grossed millions, but it does serve as some sort of recognition of what an artist, director, or singer has to offer. 

The best artists experiment and nudge viewers and listeners into new, and sometimes completely unfamiliar terrain. The Beatles certainly did this with their albums Rubber Soul and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Mozart did it with some of his compositions as did Miles Davis with his work. Such artists change the landscape so that what was can never be again.

The beauty of all this is that the question of who is underrated, overlooked, or underappreciated is left to us. We have an embarrassment of choices these days as what we can see and hear and so we can, each in our own way and according to our tastes, determine what should be honored and what not.

With that in mind I offer five quick examples of who, in my opinion, might not have garnered quite widest recognition they deserve. 

The first would be Willie Dixon. Willie, born in 1915 in Mississippi, is considered one of the founders of what is known as the Chicago Blues. Along with the great Muddy Waters he shaped this post WW2 blues sound and is considered a critical bridge between blues and rock and roll. There are very few rock and roll acts from the late 1950s and the 1960’s who were not in some way influenced by Willie’s songwriting or vocals. Ah…what it would be like to be able to step back in time to 1940 and walk into a smoke-filled club in Chicago to watch him on his upright bass and hear his voice.

Starting out as a be-bop bass player, Carol Kaye’s career spanned more than 50 years and 10,000 recordings. As a player within that famous informal grouping of studio musicians known as the “Wrecking Crew,” her bass sound can be heard on countless albums and projects by such greats as the Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, Phil Spector, Glen Campbell, and the Temptations. If you can hum the themes from old television series such as Mission Impossible then you are hearing Carol’s work as she was, seemingly, in all places at all times when tracks were being put down. She rightfully deserves to be remembered as one of the greatest studio musicians ever. 

The London based musician Fil Henley speaks of a song being a journey. Naturally, something like Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody is a sonic experience, but his remark made me look at songs in a new way to realize that the best of them are indeed voyages of sorts. Dave Thomas Junior takes us on such a passage with his Lost at Sea. Frankly, I am surprised that this did not immediately win him extremely wide recognition. We can only hope that Dave has more in store although I am pleased to note that Pro Infirmis did use this song for their extraordinarily moving Who Is Perfect message: Pro Infirmis  

When Paul (now Sir Paul) McCartney asks you to play his song Blackbird at his induction ceremony into the Songwriting Hall of Fame, then you can be assured that you have some serious musical chops. And vocal, writing, and guitar chops are exactly what the late Kenny Rankin had. Here is his Blackbird as well as the song/album Silver Morning. The interesting legacy of Rankin is that you hear hints of his vocal style in later artists but you can’t always immediately put your finger on them. To me, this speaks of true influence rather than mere copy-catting as artists weave his influences into new expressions. He was, quite simply, a master vocal storyteller if there ever were one.