“So much talent”: The artist Dave Grohl thought should have been bigger
There’s always a bit of frustration when an artist you like isn’t getting the proper attention. Even though they have written fantastic tunes and could easily go toe-to-toe with the biggest names in music, there’s usually a certain X-factor holding them back from being the true giants of the industry that every one of their fans expects them to be. Although Dave Grohl does have plenty of musician friends in high places, he always felt that this 2000s songwriter never really got the respect that he was due.
Then again, artists who never reach their potential tend to fall right into Grohl’s wheelhouse most of the time. Regardless of how many great songs he’s created with Foo Fighters, his heroes were always from the underground rock and roll scene, whether that was the hardcore punks that he grew up with in Washington, DC, or the beginnings of alternative rock in the 1980s.
While every band that Grohl mentions is at least worth a cursory listen, it’s easy to see why some of them aren’t cut out for primetime. While a band like The Replacements, for example, made some tunes that will live on for generations to come, it’s understandable why the giants of the music industry took one look at them drunk off their faces on Saturday Night Live and decided that they had had enough.
That hasn’t stopped Grohl from trying to prop up his favourite artists. Despite not having the same kind of hit potential that he did in the days of Hüsker Dü or Sugar, featuring Bob Mould on the song ‘Dear Rosemary’ off of Wasting Light is still one of the most inspiring choices that a rock band has made in recent years.
But the rock and roll machine never really stops, and when Grohl first started gaining momentum with Foo Fighters, the garage-rock revival was already in full swing with acts like The Hives and The White Stripes. Even though Jack White had earned his stripes, as it were, in his own band, Grohl thought his Raconteurs bandmate, Brendan Benson, was far greater than he was given credit for.
Despite many people seeing the non-Jack members of The Raconteurs to be lesser to some extent, Grohl thought Benson was good enough to be a superstar in his own right, saying, “I met Brendan Benson ages ago when he was doing demos in his bedroom. We made friends, and his first solo album, One Mississippi, is such a fucking masterpiece. I was surprised he didn’t become huge. I was convinced Brendan would be a star – he had so much talent. So when I heard he and Jack were getting together to make [a] record, I thought, ‘Fuck, this is going to be good!’- The songs are wonderful.”
However, the main reason why The Raconteurs works so well is because of how different it is from The White Stripes. It’s clear that the same songwriter is in both bands, but listening to the way that Benson plays off of White, there’s a more rootsy rock and roller trapped inside him, like when he wears his heart on his sleeve on tunes like ‘Many Shades of Black’.
Life might have to go on with White being known as the most famous member of the supergroup, but Benson’s music is much more far-reaching than standard country-infused rock and roll. It’s gorgeous, it’s nasty, and if you’re not being too careful, it might have the potential to break your heart.
