Conan's Music - A Historical Perspective

One of the surprises of the new Conan is that he's cut a record. "Live at Third Man" is a collaboration with Jack White of the White Stripes and features a host of rockabilly tunes performed in Nashville, Tennessee.

Other blogs can tell you much more about what's on the record, I'm sure, but here's something the other tour guides won't tell you....

1) He's Done This Before

How many Twitter followers will remember that Conan cut a rockabilly record at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee in the early days of "Late Night"? Not many. It's funny how time has a way of turning things around because the first time he did it, it was the exact same style but it was clearly meant to be a big joke. Let's watch:

2) It's Hypocritical

Ouch! That's a little harsh. Well, it's not meant to be but so be it. In an interview with Carson Daley, Conan admitted that he did like to play the guitar but he's not gonna be the kind of celebrity that "inflict their hobby" on the audience. Let's watch:

Again, the power of time to change things is amazing. At 14, Conan sees Alan Thicke play the guitar on his first talk show, thinks, "What an ass!" and yet 27 years later he does the same thing.

The change of heart happened so gradually and so subtly. One of my favorite bits he ever did on Late Night was when he would invite one or two "random audience members" and ask them a few questions and write a song about them on the spot. It was pretty much the same idea as "Free Stylin' With The Roots" on the current show except the audience members were set up and the "improvised" songs were scripted for comedic purposes. You could kind of write the contradiction off because it was music only for the purposes of comedy. Then they did another skit where Conan would create and sing a lullaby as a public service to young parents who are up late with their newborns. This skit very well might be the turning point around which this whole story revolves - or it would, if any of this mattered - for, when they did this skit the first couple times, Conan was just singing solo but in later additions he started bringing out and playing his acoustic guitar. Once again, you could write it off as comedy (and funny comedy - the best kind). Then came the writer's strike and Conan played a rockabilly number with the band. This time, it was a little strange because it was in earnest and not meant for comedy but at the same time you could kinda write it off because it shows that they're in the middle of a strike and desperate to kill time. Then, you'll recall, on the last ever "Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien", he performed "Free Bird" alongside an all-star lineup. But then, that was the last episode and self-indulgence was the entire point. Which brings us to today where Conan was the co-musical guest on his own show in order to promote his own record and it was a totally down-the-line musical performance - no comedy intended.

And there you have it - a tiny history of Conan's music. Please note that I don't have any problems whatsoever with Conan performing music and, as has been noted, some of his best comedy came that way. This blog only serves to point out the irony that one person who DOES have a problem with it (or would) is Conan's former self. Also, it killed time.