{"id":611158,"date":"2025-12-04T07:22:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T07:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/611158\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T07:22:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T07:22:15","slug":"the-conflicting-musician-grace-slick-dismissed-as-a-clown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/611158\/","title":{"rendered":"The conflicting musician Grace Slick dismissed as a “clown”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Grace<\/p>\n

(Credits: Far Out \/ Noord-Hollands Archief \/ Fotoburo de Boer)<\/p>\n

Wed 3 December 2025 21:00, UK <\/p>\n

Grace Slick<\/a> has never been afraid of a nuanced opinion. While many believe that they have to ascribe to yes or no answers, to liking something or disliking it, Slick has always been comfortable with the fact that her thoughts on something can be a bit of both.<\/p>\n

The perfect example of this is Slick\u2019s opinions towards The Beatles. \u201cSomebody called and said, \u2018Hey, you\u2019ve got to come over and see Ed Sullivan. These guys called The Beatles are on.\u2019 So I went over, and they sang \u2018I Wanna Hold Your Hand\u2019,\u201d she recalled of the early 1960s. Tuning into the show, she honestly found it embarrassing, adding, \u201cNow these are 20-year-old people singing \u2018I want to hold your hand.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

While most other artists are busy singing the praises of The Beatles, given that they\u2019re undeniably the most influential band in rock history, Slick refused to subscribe to that. She refused to join the choir of people, saying that the band were wholly and always great, stating instead, \u201cUntil they came out with Rubber Soul, I thought they were silly<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, later down the line, McCartney came to San Francisco to jam with Slick\u2019s band<\/a>, Jefferson Airplane, so the singer was always open to holding a conflicting opinion. That\u2019s why she\u2019s fine with holding a two-sided view of Pete Townshend, a man who she sees as both a goddamn intense performer but also a more introspective artist.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A painter as well as a musician,<\/a> she once painted his portrait. It\u2019s a calm, still image that transforms Townshend into the simplest of men. \u201cThis is the quiet songwriter, the impressionist for the artists in the audience. Pete Townshend, the consummate composer,\u201d she wrote in the notes to the piece, seeing it as a portrait of the man behind the music.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a portrait that captures him in a quiet moment. It\u2019s easy to image this man writing songs, or working in the studio, ironing out little details and tunings and getting into the more subtle, almost admin-like tasks that come in the calmer moments of the music world.<\/p>\n

However, that\u2019s not the only view of the man Slick holds. She intended to do a second painting on the second side she sees, adding, \u201cThere will be the other side of the coin \u2013 I will paint the leaping feed back man, the clown for the crowd \u2013 the consummate entertainer \u2013 coming soon to some canvas.\u201d <\/p>\n

Any second painting was never revealed, but Slick made her two-tone opinion clear. To her, The Who\u2019s guitarist is a man of many facets. He\u2019s both a songwriter and a stage presence, a considered and quiet composer, but also the man who can get loud and rowdy when it comes to performing what he crafts. Capturing the humanity of the icon, she allows him to be it all, encouraging the different aspects of him, rather than just demanding one shade all the time.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Related Topics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Credits: Far Out \/ Noord-Hollands Archief \/ Fotoburo de Boer) Wed 3 December 2025 21:00, UK Grace Slick…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3936],"tags":[77,80484,269,14569,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-611158","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-grace-slick","10":"tag-music","11":"tag-pete-townshend","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115660098584971554","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}