Among his many tablature books, Jim possesses one called Classic Rock: The Definitive Guitar Collection.The book is pretty great. It includes the tab for the indelible and indisputably fantastic Janis Joplin showstopper, Piece of My Heart. Clapton, the Beatles, and the Stones are all well represented.
I'm also kvelling over the inclusion of Jesus Is Just All Right by the Doobie Brothers (or the Byrds, depending on whom you feel did the better and more enduring version). Because really, how can you not get excited about a song about the Christian savior by a band that refers to itself as "the Doobs"?
Apparently, however, the book's creators felt that REO Speedwagon, KISS, and Alice Cooper can all happily find repose in the same collection.
Since when did David Bowie, the Police, Yes, the Allman Brothers, and Pat Benatar all come to belong to both the same musical era and genre? Sure, there's some overlap, but I feel as though we're not all on the same page here. Kind of a one-or-the-other syndrome -- different decades plus different styles is not equal to "fits in the same tab book."
Granted, they play U2 on the classic rock stations these days, so I guess I'm pushing my luck with this fight at all. After all, my grade-schoolers think that "the 80's" happened back in pre-colonial days. I should probably take what I can get when it comes to classification.
For now anyway. When groups like Blur start showing up on oldies radio, I'm out.
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