Howard Becker's Outsiders broke new ground in the early 1960s, arguing that social deviance is a more common phenomenon than perceived and that conventional wisdom that social deviants are pathological is incorrect. Becker's seminal study remains the most piercing exploration about unconventional individuals and their position in' normal' society. Not surprisingly Becker used examples of musicians, particularly 'dance musicians' in his study. He concluded that musicians, due to a combination of inherency and conditioning, demonstrate a disregard for society's norms and adopt erratic and bizarre behavioural traits that they believe are normal. A case in point is Richard (of RBB) an accomplished bass player who has backed many top musicians, written his own compositions and who teaches his art as both a profession and a passion. OK so far? Yes, but this self-same Richard, by his own admission has seen his Aunty's bum -
"One of my first memories, for some strange reason, is seeing Aunty's bum. Sorry, but that's the way life goes sometimes - I don't remember seeing a smiling face, just a bum."
He also photographed his daughter in a hotel's women's toilets, used scatological references in dealing with one of his female students and, I am reliably informed, was once evicted from a Musical Society social function for anti-social behaviour. Deviant? I think so.
4 comments:
Just a bit confused .. not pathological but a little further on due to inherency?
If you are going to say deviants acquire this abnormal state from playing music.....I forgot what I was saying....
Not entirely pathological but a combination of inherency and conditioning.
Criticism is good and it is even better that the home brew effects kick in before the critics become too critical.
(Sorry about the precious comment being deleted. I suddenly noticed a very embarrassing spelling error.)
Without even mentioning Richard [of RBB] Aunty's bum (which I don't think is in particularly good taste) it is obvious to all that Richard [of RBB] has a different world view than most people. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he's nuts (yet) or even a real deviant. He's a lovely dedicated teacher who just is a little weird. I mean Jasper. Who the hell could think up that if they weren't wired up to a different power source than the rest of us? Wires crossed? Don't know, but he's great to work with, even though he's always slightly obsessed with the number of Ukuleles in his room. I thought he'd be happy if some of those annoying sound makers disappeared, but no, he's got to hunt them down and get them back.
Maybe you're right TC, musicians are basically deviants. Doesn't mean they're not fun though.
She'd have to wash her feet before putting them on my bass.
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