Jon, I remember you once talking about how all those old performers we loved like The Beatles would have jumped at the chance to be more perfect, yet we embrace the imperfection.
Yes, we embrace flaws and fluctuations as things from a time when it was permissable, from a time when we didn't know the difference. People, not just musicians, listen with a much more critical ear now. Most of that old genuine organicness, innocence, or just plain human-ness is regarded as sloppy by today's standards. Maybe that's unfortunate, and unforgiving to human players, but that's where music (for the most part) has been heading over the last 30-40 years or so. Even in the early-seventies Steely Dan was as precise-minded as it gets, and fans and musicians loved them for it. I don't know if they recorded with a click then, but it wouldn't surprise me.
In short, I appreciate the Beatles for what they did then, Steely Dan and Zappa for they did then, synth pioneers for what they did then, and the people who make music for what they're doing now. It's all a process. Maybe it'll come full circle some day.
Bermuda