Grist for the list

Robert Hilburn makes an interesting argument for Eminem being more worthy of Rolling Stone’s list of the top 50 greatest artists (“They Just Like That Old-Time Rock ‘n’ Roll,” April 11). However, one “complex and affecting pop single” and not “standing in anyone’s shadow,” hardly makes an act one of the greatest rockers ever.

Buddy Holly, despite his short career, had a lasting influence on those who came after him, e.g., the Beatles, and this is part of what makes him classic. Dr. Dre and Eminem have not really been around long enough to consider them classic.

John Ramsay

San Marino

*

I agree that Eminem’s “Stan” is a great pop single. But the opinion that he had more impact on pop culture than Buddy Holly did in his day is not the issue.

The issue is: Does he belong in the top 50 greatest rock ‘n’ roll artists? I strongly disagree that Eminem’s musical body of work is greater than that of Buddy Holly. Buddy Holly is one of the all-time greats and deserves to be ranked alongside the Beatles, Stones and Hendrix.

Greg Hagood

North Hollywood

*

If Rolling Stone asked music industry insiders to name the “50 greatest artists of all time,” I can only assume that they were limited to the American vernacular (read “popular”) tradition. If not, the results were an utter insult to the great jazz musicians of the ‘20s, ‘30s, and ‘40s.

Carol Weissberg

Chatsworth

*

I’m a huge admirer of Hilburn’s columns, but his latest one (the attack on the Rolling Stone “Immortals” list) reeks of pandering to that cherished teen audience that this kid-worshipping society is constantly hustling. I just turned 30, but Buddy Holly means infinitely more to me than Eminem.

Buddy Holly died when he was 22, which makes his output all the more startling. For all his bluster, Eminem has not captured humanity nearly as well as Holly did with “Rave On.”

And how can Hilburn dismiss Fats Domino as merely OK? Good lord!

Yancy Jack Berns

Los Angeles

*

I agree with Robert Hilburn, but, while I’m a fan of Eminem and think he’s a cut above all other rappers, Hilburn weakens his argument when he cites “his” song of “Stan” as being “one of the most complex and affecting pop singles ever.”

I don’t doubt for a minute Hilburn knows “Stan” is based on Dido’s melody -- the melody being the part that makes a song a song and not a poem. As I’m sure he’s aware, you can’t have a great song even with the best of lyrics if it’s the worst of melodies, although you can have the reverse. Regardless of how brilliant the lyrics are, the heart of the song is, always will be, and always should be, the melody. Remove Dido’s melody from “Stan” and you have a powerful, disturbing poem by Marshall Mathers, but not a song.

Andrew Caruthers

Los Angeles