Was David Bowie the greatest musician to ever live?

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no but he was fucking awesome at what he did

Musician no, pop artist maybe. A lot of his success was from help he had from other musicians like Visconti, Mick Ronson, Eno, Frip, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Alomar, Belew the list goes on. He surrounded himself with actual musicians who made him as great as he was.

>>74475761
he wasn't even a musician

>How many instruments could David Bowie play?

Alto and Tenor Saxophone, Guitar, Piano, Keyboards, Harmonica, Mouth Harp, Koto, Mandolin, Recorder, Viola, Violin, Cello, and not forgetting the Stylophone. Which other artist albums does David Bowie appear on? Arcade Fire: 'Reflektor' (sings backing vocals on the title track).
David Bowie FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
www.bowiewonderworld.com/faq.htm

>>74475761
yes possibly

>>74475882
This. To say that Bowie was a musician is like saying that Nero was a harp player (a fact that is technically true, but misleading).

>>74476058
Jack of all trades, master of none.

>>74475761
he certainly delivered my favorite harmonica performance of all time

>>74475761
Not the greatest musician but he was a creative genius for sure. He was truly a visionary and so much music today wouldn't exist the same way without him unless someone else came along.

>>74475761
Hendrix

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>>74475761
>>74476691
This.

He was absolutely brilliant and really understood art and how to get his thoughts out of his head and realized, and was truly a born showman who really knew how to craft something beautiful, theatrically. Even past Ziggy; all of his tours and performances had a strong show to it, he rarely ever just straight-up went and played songs, whatever that means to you.

He maybe wasn't a virtuoso at playing, but he had versatility with the amount of instruments he could play competently. He was also, apparently, fairly skilled and experienced with computers, up to a point; just remember, the man owned a fucking ISP at some point.

He really wanted to be a writer, though, and it showed in his lyrics. They're some of my favorite parts of his music. He'd said it many times he just wanted to be a writer, but nobody do his songs, so he just did them himself.

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>>74477173
This, especially in regards to the lyrics.
In particular he was an adapter of the "cut up writing" approach of William S. Burroughs. This can best be seen on Sweet Thing/Candidate Sweet Thing (Reprise).

Bowie also was savvy enough to surround himself with the brightest and most adaptable people he could find. Look at Carlos Alomar and Dennis Davies, who went from playing the Plastic-Soul of "Young Americans" to the Art Rock of "Low" and "Scary Monster's" with ease.

>>74475761

What about Brian Eno?

>>74475761
>Greatest musician to ever live?
Nay
>Greatest pop artist to ever live?the
Fuck yeah, easily

>>74475761
thats not michael gira

>>74477289
Precisely. Some people like to say he was a vampire, but I feel like he was just a great judge of talent and knew what he wanted. He worked beautifully with all of his collaborators, tried to give boosts up to good up-and-coming artists, and everyone loved working with him. He was a great collaborator, at any rate.