John Mayer: A Legacy

0 Comments

The Legacy of John Mayer: the Artist and the Celebrity




Before I delve into this rather dense series of ramblings, here’s an objective, dictionary-style introduction. For those of you unaware, John Mayer is an American singer-songwriter, who, after a brief stint at Berklee College of Music, began a commercial music career, currently spanning approximately 15 years (1999-present). To us Brit’s, Mayer has potentially stayed out of your day-to-day movements (not that he isn’t popular here). However, you would struggle to say anything in a similar vein for any portion of Mayer’s career in the U.S, other than maybe recently. With six solo studio albums under his belt, as well as two live albums and other notable projects – such as the John Mayer Trio – it seems a perfect time to assess the legacy of a man who has had an eventful decade. For anyone who isn’t a fan of having to sift through a hefty piece on a seemingly small subject (or for those of you who simply cannot be bothered to read this properly - which is understandable, we’ve all been there), I will break this piece down into chronological timelines, as an attempt to give you an idea of the coherent divisions within his career, as well as an opportunity to scan through this quickly and still feel that it was somewhat interesting.(All dates in the timeline are approximations, and, as you’d expect, these separations are gradual, and not clear-cut). 
The Beginning of the Artist, the Beginning of the Celebrity – Room for Squares and Heavier Things (1999-2004)
In 1999, on the heels of his Berklee stint, Mayer releases the EP Inside Wants Out. The eight-track EP features four songs that make it onto his first Album Room for Squares (2001). Inside Wants Out becomes the quintessential vibe from Mayer for Room for Squares – the acoustic guitar as the primary instrument, with some electric guitar, band-based songs, such as “Love Song for No One”. As you’d expect from a fresh singer-songwriter with very little touring under his belt, Room for Squares did not take off immediately; it was through quite extensive touring that by the time 2002 reached its close, there were three notable radio tracks (‘No Such Thing’, ‘Why Georgia’ and ‘Your Body is a Wonderland’). Mayer was making a name for himself, and as he said himself in a later clinic at Berklee, those couple of years were a time in popular music where the solo singer-songwriter became a priority in the minds of many record labels and listeners alike. He found himself in the perfect era for his music. At this point, he is also signed to Columbia Records, which (not that it needs saying) is a pretty big deal when you consider the minor amount of miles on his touring body. 


In 2003, Any Given Thursday was released. Like a true pro, he manages to create an hour and forty minute concert from only one album, and a few EP tracks. Particularly notable tracks on this were ‘Covered in Rain’, a song which, with its masterful guitar solo and perfect execution, was never studio recorded, because of how happy he was with this particular performance. For a seemingly small artist, the manner in which this DVD and the surrounding tour was portrayed really put Mayer on the map more than ever before. With this momentum, Heavier Things, the second studio album, is released in the same year. In hindsight, this is a flagship album for two reasons. Firstly, the instrumentation on the album is steered towards what became the typical choice for the next two albums after this, and, as we’ll discuss, this is the lineup from which the peak of his success was created. Secondly, this album swiftly followed a Grammy award that he received for “Your Body is a Wonderland”, and as if that wasn’t enough, two years later Heavier Things won two awards, specifically the song ‘Daughters’, which won ‘Song of the Year’ and ‘Best Male Pop Vocal Performance’ (Mayer admitted that he was surprised that this song was worthy of being a single, saying that he had thought it was “a little song that lives on the record […] that you discover 3 months in”). If there was ever a time in his career to this point that there was a chance to catapult into global stardom, it was this. 

(It may be worth mentioning that in 2005, John Mayer broke away from his solo work (kind of) to create the John Mayer Trio. His decision to do this is worthy of another post altogether, and because it is technically not a “solo” album, I am removing it from this discussion. Don’t underestimate it though, it was a big-time success). 

Continuum: the game-changer (2006-2009)
In 2006, John Mayer released the album that, to this day, is what has defined him as a pop artist. Continuum completed a stylistic move that began in Heavier Things, which involved the shift from the acoustic singer-songwriter to the bluesy guitarist that happened to write pop hits. With this game-changing album came a minimum of two game-changing songs – ‘Waiting on the World to Change’ and ‘Gravity’. ‘Waiting on the World to Change’ is still the most successful single release, with a mildly political video to compliment the lyrics, centered on the independent thinking of his generation. To the man himself, however, ‘Gravity’ is even more important. On many occasions he discusses the deliberate universality of it’s meaning, explaining how ‘gravity’ as an entity can be a certain thing to every listener, and it will always be able to mean something to everyone because, unlike a lot of his songs, it removes any biographical elements. ‘Waiting on the World to Change’ won a Grammy for ‘Best Male Pop Vocal Performance’, while the latter of the two songs won ‘Best Male Rock Vocal Performance’ a year later (the song ‘Belief’ was also nominated for the same award that ‘Waiting on the World to Change’ won, which is from Continuum also).

 I think I should try to lay off the accolades for a bit; it’s becoming a bit of an award-overload. Nevertheless, it’s pretty impressive, and is strong evidence for Mayer’s soaring success around this period.
The unsuspecting end of an Era, and an outspoken Mayer: Battle Studies (2009-2011)
Off of the massive success that was Continuum, Mayer’s next album was, at the very least, as anticipated as any of his previous releases. Battle Studies reached the public domain in 2011, and four singles were released throughout the course of its promotion (in chronological order – ‘Who Says’, ‘Heartbreak Warfare’, ‘Half of My Heart’ and ‘Perfectly Lonely’). By this point, many believed that Mayer really came into his own as a pop artist; after the release of his immensely strong previous album, this was no less powerful, and it’s a big deal when an artist manages to gain traction after a third album and continue it onto a fourth. Continuum, as successful as it was, debuted at #2 on the U.S Billboard 200 chart, whereas Battle Studies managed to reach the #1 spot, potentially because this album was following his most prolific album to date. It was during this time, however, that he found himself in more ‘celebrity issues’ than ever before. For any fans out there – yes, I’m about to mention that inexhaustible Playboy interview in 2010. In this piece by Playboy, it was as if something occured in Mayer, which rendered all psychological restraint dormant. When discussing his 2007 relationship with Jessica Simpson, he said ‘Sexually it was crazy. That's all I'll say. It was like napalm, sexual napalm’. If that wasn’t enough, IN THE SAME INTERVIEW, he said "Someone asked me the other day, 'What does it feel like now to have a hood pass? And by the way, it's sort of a contradiction in terms, because if you really had a hood pass, you could call it a n----r pass.” Really John, really?
Safe to say, his reputation did not improve after this interview. This incident, among other less-notables, cemented a view that he is still trying to remove from the general consensus to this day. One thing that we didn’t expect however, is that this album would see the end of the style that Mayer had mastered from parts of Heavier Things up to now – as we’ll see by the start of the next Mayer-era (if I can create such a lame term), this album was the end of this sound and sector of his career. 

The beginning of a new Mayer-era: Born and Raised (2011)
Are you still hanging on to my ramblings? If so, well done on reaching this far, I bet you’re really bored, or just obsessed with the guy. Anyway, moving on. On September 19th 2011, Rolling Stone reported a story titled ‘John Mayer Diagnosed With Throat Condition’. For any hard-core fans desperately waiting for a new release, this was big, but it was more than just that. It was a serious worry for the future of John Mayer “the Singer”, even if it was not harmful to John Mayer “the person”. Though the article doesn’t specifically go into the real danger of this issue (probably because it was unaware, as John may have been equally unaware at the time), it became clear later on in the process that the singing voice which was the recipient of many a Grammy may be nearing the end of its life. Born and Raised was released regardless, and saw a significant change in the approach. Stepping back to the Acoustic guitar, this album is the beginning of the third phase of Mayer sub-genres. Leading up to the album, Mayer told many interviewers of how influenced he became by the 'Classic American Songbook', and that is absolutely the vibe. Generally catagorised as 'Folk Rock', it is the new preference of the right-hand side of Mayer's brain. 

 Lets skip all of the mildly depressing specifics of the healing process, and get to this – in January of 2013, Mayer sung publically for the first time since his recovery. As you can hear (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBpzXFEtHuk), it is a little fragile, a little apprehensive, a little fearful, but it is him. I believe I spoke for the entire listening population when I breathed a sigh of relief; controversial and outspoken are only a couple of the mildly insulting words that he forced a connection to over the course of the previous years, but his talent was globally undeniable. Even a Youtube troll struggles to argue his lack of talent, as they search for any other irrational theory for their bewildering hatred.


The end of a liminal space: Paradise Valley (2013)
So, we’ve reached the end. The final album. The final semi-obsessive rambling on my part. Up to this point, Mayer has never wedged himself into a stringent sound, making noticeable changes every two albums. It is with the sixth, his most recent, that many critics believe he has settled. Now two albums removed from any controversy, he has passed through a particularly unsettling space, in which it would be fair to argue that an identity crisis occurred. We can see a noticeably calmer, less giddy man, who states categorically his lack of care for the media. It is here, right now, where John Mayer sits. 

For anyone who has been skimming this, here is my conclusion.
So why have I said all of this? Was this just a biography of Mayer’s life? The kind of thing you could have found on a brief Wikipedia search? Perhaps. But I intend to add at least a little more to this piece than what you would get by googling. John Mayer is a Pop artist. John Mayer is a Blues artist. John Mayer is a celebrity. John Mayer is (now) a folk rock artist (arguably). John Mayer was a comedian (briefly). There are few artists that are so difficult to pigeonhole. Well, there are many that are difficult to pigeonhole, but they generally all have something in common: they are renowned as ground-breaking artists, revolutionary artists, or, at the very least, extremely successful artists. Like the sports veteran, they must reinvent themselves to avoid falling under the carpet. There is something to be said for the successful artist. But what is ‘successful’? Mayer himself stresses the importance of setting realistic goals that signify success to that person. Personally, I find it hard to argue against a definition of success being this: an artist that manages to consistently succeed in their chosen genre for an above-average period of time, which often involves a reinvention of the elements that they began with. Many artists fit under this umbrella. It is not a definition I have created purely for the intentions of this argument. Name any artist you class as successful, and often this tag will be plausible. 

John Mayer is currently 37 years old. Would you be happy doing what he has done by the time you are 37? His Legacy is at times dampened by negativity, but as a whole, is something worth discussing. This is a very brief insight into the Legacy of John Mayer. If you survived till the end, well done. I hope you can share the same passion for this artist as what many do, including myself. 





 

Luke

No comments:

Post a Comment

Tell us what you think!