Is it too late to rewrite history?
The two most anticipated albums of Christmas 1970 were George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" and Stephen Stills' solo debut. Harrison's triple album made the bigger splash, and means even less than Stills' debut today. As for Stephen's record... You couldn't go anywhere without hearing "Love The One You're With," his album was the dorm room soundtrack for months.
But now no one ever mentions it.
Neil Young is lionized and Stephen Stills is criticized. But once upon a time, Stills was the bigger act. And when you go back and listen to this debut, you scratch your head, why isn't it in the same canon as the unforgotten classics of that era, albums from Zeppelin to the aforementioned Mr. Young?
It's not like Stills was hiding in a hole. He wrote and sang Buffalo Springfield's biggest hit, "For What It's Worth," and he was truly the glue that held Crosby, Stills & Nash's debut together. Sure, "Marrakesh Express" was the radio hit, but the act built its reputation on "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes." And it was Stills' composition, "Carry On," that both opened and carried the follow-up, "Deja Vu." Today people only want to talk about Neil Young's "Helpless" and the cover of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock," but when you dropped the needle on "Carry On" you had an auditory experience that truly blew your mind, akin to listening to "Gimmie Shelter" the previous fall. If you haven't heard "Carry On" emerge from the speakers of a first class stereo, you haven't lived. It was like an orchestra was playing inside your speakers, with angels singing along, you had to listen to it again and again and again.
And then the band broke up. And everybody went solo.
And Neil Young emerged first, with the sleeper hit, "After The Gold Rush." And Graham Nash came last, with the exquisite "Songs For Beginners," after David Crosby put out the almost unintelligible but gorgeous "If I Could Only Remember My Name." But the record everybody anticipated, the album everybody bought, was Stephen Stills' debut.
And it wasn't like today. With a tsunami of hype. There was no TV. At this point we'd switched loyalty from AM to FM, where repetition was out of the question until Lee Abrams concocted the "Superstars" format years later. The groundswell came from the people. Which is kind of where we're going today, with record labels faking YouTube plays and authors faking Amazon reviews, the only people we trust are...each other.
Still, there were rumors. That Stephen Stills was arrogant, a control freak. And with no Internet, rumors appeared to be fact, and Stills' career took a hit. Despite Neil Young abandoning him on the "Long May You Run" tour a few years later.
But that was after Manassas. Whose double album debut satisfied throughout.
But the record we're talking about today is the solo debut.
And the reason I'm writing about it is it's that time of year. Yup, cold snowy winter. The album cover pictured Stills in the snow. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stephenstills.jpg) This album was made for long dark nights alone with a joint or a drink, holding on until the days got longer and the depression lifted.
I was in my freshman year of college. This album and "Gasoline Alley" got me through. I'd come home from the Middlebury College Snow Bowl and drop the needle and feel warm and comforted, back when music was personal, when records were made just for you. When you went to the show and felt directly connected with the act, as opposed to your fellow concertgoers. There was no texting. There was no parading. We all wore the same bell bottoms, what identified us were our minds as opposed to our looks. In an era when personal development meant expanding one's brain as opposed to one's bank account.
Start with "Sit Yourself Down"...
"When I get restless, what I can do"
In your twenties you're looking for connection. We and our favorite acts were all the same age, going through the same experiences, we listened for insight, we were in it together. There's nothing worse than being alone and agitated, wanting to be together, but at loose ends.
"When I get older, mellow down
Get myself settled on a patch of ground"
We were burned out from the sixties, Vietnam took it out of us, Nixon's reelection put a stake in our hearts. We were returning to the land, our values were changing, but we were still in transition...it was years before Olivia Newton-John got mellow.
Then there's "Do For The Others."
We all bought guitars to try and replicate this sound, which we were unable to do. Not only could these people play, they could write and sing too. They'd been doing it for years, they didn't have parents who pushed them to be famous before puberty. There was no way to achieve this. Instead, becoming a musician required venturing into the wilderness, learning lessons along the way. It wasn't like college, there was no path, which made it that much more scary...and satisfying if you succeeded.
"Round, round, up and down
All along the lonely town
See him sinkin' low
Doesn't see the joy there is to know"
This was the culture of the era. An exploration of alienation, of loneliness, the human condition. You can't relate to today's stars or movies. They're all about winning, but you're riddled with self-doubt, you don't know if you'll ever get there, you're not even sure where there is.
And for that same acoustic wonderfulness, check out the closing cut "We Are Not Helpless."
And don't miss out on the bluesy "Go Back Home"...
The playing on this album is exquisite, and despite contributions by players as diverse as Ringo, Clapton and Hendrix, it all hangs together.
If you've never heard Stephen Stills' debut your jaw will drop. You won't believe there was an era when people with this amount of skill walked the earth and created masterpieces like this. That's how bountiful the classic rock era was, the secondary stuff has been forgotten and it's better than just about all the new stuff today.
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/oaJDSY
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Friday 28 December 2012
Thursday 27 December 2012
Loyalty
There are no apps.
I can't tell you how many people are waiting for BlackBerry 10. I see them with their Bolds, living in the dark ages, protesting they've not shifted to an Android or iPhone because they're waiting for this new product.
Which will be dead on arrival.
It's like buying a new car and finding out there's no gasoline. The handset is integral, but the apps are the ecosystem, they're the indispensable infrastructure.
This world is built on misinformation and ignorance. Listen to the hoi polloi and you'll never get it right. I still remember a friend telling me he wouldn't sign up for AOL because it was controlled by Scientologists, so he picked EarthLink, which is the company that was started by members of that tribe. And just today a woman told me she wouldn't buy a smartphone at all, because if you did all your movements would be tracked. She didn't know that law enforcement already utilizes the tracking ability in regular cell phones to apprehend criminals, and that you can turn location notices off on smartphones.
Then again, people click on phishing scams every day.
But the point is people don't know the facts.
I was at the top of Vail Mountain today, at 11,000 feet, and I had LTE on Verizon. Meanwhile, my buddy with AT&T tells me it's just as good, even though he didn't even have 3G. Yes, Verizon has a bigger LTE footprint than all its rivals. But try to convince someone with a rival provider, even after you e-mail them the "Consumer Reports" reports!
That's what loyalty does for you.
It's hard to gain a customer. It's not so easy to lose one.
All the bloviating online tells you to beware of alienating just a single customer, that you should sacrifice your personality and rationality for fear of losing one paying person. I'm gonna let you in on a dirty little secret. Very few people bitch. And it takes a long time for your company to lose customers and go downhill. Dell Hell was widespread long before there was a website excoriating the company. As for lost sales...there weren't that many, Dell's business model of selling direct when you could buy for cheap at your local office store is what hurt the company. Most buyers were too lazy to switch. They didn't want to venture into the unknown.
If I get an Android or iPhone, will I get my e-mail? Yup! Probably better than on a BlackBerry if you don't have an exchange server, and most individuals do not.
As for apps... Most people are still unaware of their utility. BlackBerry users can barely surf the web, never mind check the temperature, read the news and...
So focus on gaining customers. If your product is bad and your service is lousy, you'll be in trouble over time, but create a breakthrough product and gain your legion first. That's how BlackBerry triumphed to begin with. Imagine that, e-mail on a phone!
Now young people don't even use e-mail. And texting on an iPhone is free to other iPhones and for the first time ever, the quantity of texts sent in the U.S. has faltered.
Times constantly change.
You want to change with them.
But know that getting others to change is damn near impossible. Talk to the car brands. They just want to get you in for a test drive. Anything to experience their product. Because they know if you buy one...chances are you're gonna buy another.
P.S. I'm reading this book "The Chaperone." I don't really recommend it, it's about a woman who chaperones Louise Brooks to New York from Kansas. Fictionalized, of course. Meanwhile, Louise frustrates the chaperone, who ultimately learns there is method in some of Louise's madness:
"She would owe this understanding to her time in New York, and even more to Louise. That's what spending time with the young can do - it's the big payoff for all the pain. The young can exasperate, of course, and frighten, and condescend, and insult, and cut you with their still unrounded edges. But they can also drag you, as you protest and scold and try to pull away, right up to the window of the future, and even push you through."
Hear any young people bitch about the incomes of songwriters? They barely mention the demise of the album, never mind record company profits. Want to know where we're going? Interact with the young, they're literally the future, they'll show you the way. See any youngsters using BlackBerries? Once upon a time they all had Curves, they're long gone, because when you're young you're fickle, you're still experimenting, which is why advertisers barely care about oldsters, it's the young that are impressionable.
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I can't tell you how many people are waiting for BlackBerry 10. I see them with their Bolds, living in the dark ages, protesting they've not shifted to an Android or iPhone because they're waiting for this new product.
Which will be dead on arrival.
It's like buying a new car and finding out there's no gasoline. The handset is integral, but the apps are the ecosystem, they're the indispensable infrastructure.
This world is built on misinformation and ignorance. Listen to the hoi polloi and you'll never get it right. I still remember a friend telling me he wouldn't sign up for AOL because it was controlled by Scientologists, so he picked EarthLink, which is the company that was started by members of that tribe. And just today a woman told me she wouldn't buy a smartphone at all, because if you did all your movements would be tracked. She didn't know that law enforcement already utilizes the tracking ability in regular cell phones to apprehend criminals, and that you can turn location notices off on smartphones.
Then again, people click on phishing scams every day.
But the point is people don't know the facts.
I was at the top of Vail Mountain today, at 11,000 feet, and I had LTE on Verizon. Meanwhile, my buddy with AT&T tells me it's just as good, even though he didn't even have 3G. Yes, Verizon has a bigger LTE footprint than all its rivals. But try to convince someone with a rival provider, even after you e-mail them the "Consumer Reports" reports!
That's what loyalty does for you.
It's hard to gain a customer. It's not so easy to lose one.
All the bloviating online tells you to beware of alienating just a single customer, that you should sacrifice your personality and rationality for fear of losing one paying person. I'm gonna let you in on a dirty little secret. Very few people bitch. And it takes a long time for your company to lose customers and go downhill. Dell Hell was widespread long before there was a website excoriating the company. As for lost sales...there weren't that many, Dell's business model of selling direct when you could buy for cheap at your local office store is what hurt the company. Most buyers were too lazy to switch. They didn't want to venture into the unknown.
If I get an Android or iPhone, will I get my e-mail? Yup! Probably better than on a BlackBerry if you don't have an exchange server, and most individuals do not.
As for apps... Most people are still unaware of their utility. BlackBerry users can barely surf the web, never mind check the temperature, read the news and...
So focus on gaining customers. If your product is bad and your service is lousy, you'll be in trouble over time, but create a breakthrough product and gain your legion first. That's how BlackBerry triumphed to begin with. Imagine that, e-mail on a phone!
Now young people don't even use e-mail. And texting on an iPhone is free to other iPhones and for the first time ever, the quantity of texts sent in the U.S. has faltered.
Times constantly change.
You want to change with them.
But know that getting others to change is damn near impossible. Talk to the car brands. They just want to get you in for a test drive. Anything to experience their product. Because they know if you buy one...chances are you're gonna buy another.
P.S. I'm reading this book "The Chaperone." I don't really recommend it, it's about a woman who chaperones Louise Brooks to New York from Kansas. Fictionalized, of course. Meanwhile, Louise frustrates the chaperone, who ultimately learns there is method in some of Louise's madness:
"She would owe this understanding to her time in New York, and even more to Louise. That's what spending time with the young can do - it's the big payoff for all the pain. The young can exasperate, of course, and frighten, and condescend, and insult, and cut you with their still unrounded edges. But they can also drag you, as you protest and scold and try to pull away, right up to the window of the future, and even push you through."
Hear any young people bitch about the incomes of songwriters? They barely mention the demise of the album, never mind record company profits. Want to know where we're going? Interact with the young, they're literally the future, they'll show you the way. See any youngsters using BlackBerries? Once upon a time they all had Curves, they're long gone, because when you're young you're fickle, you're still experimenting, which is why advertisers barely care about oldsters, it's the young that are impressionable.
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Wednesday 26 December 2012
Kennedy Center Honors
Johnny Carson has already been forgotten...
But Led Zeppelin is FOREVER!
In other words, what kind of crazy fucked up world do we live in where the President is black and the national anthem is "Stairway To Heaven"?
One in which the mainstream knows nothing and you know everything. Where hype is irrelevant and we all know the truth.
That it's been a long time since we rocked and rolled...
And for that matter, it's been a long time since we did the stroll!
The Buddy Guy tribute was surprisingly great.
But the highlight of tonight's show was Tina Fey's introduction of David Letterman. That's what we revere, excellence. Not good enough, not better than the rest, but superlative, that which makes our jaws drop and marvel in abandon at the ability to perform at the absolute zenith!
Now not a night went by in the eighties that I didn't watch David Letterman. I was stunned to see Sirajul and Mujibur in the montage, since they were banished for trying to capitalize on their fame, replaced by Rupert Jee, who played along and asked for nothing.
But I was astounded there was no mention of Merrill Markoe. Who invented that show, who's responsible for all that made Dave famous, the stunts you know and love, from Stupid Pet Tricks to...
But history is a rewrite.
Except for that which is indelible. Like music. You can't change "Good Times Bad Times." "The Rain Song" sounds the same as it did when you dropped the needle on "Houses Of The Holy" back in '73.
And it's great that Dave gave Ray Romano a gig.
And to see all those Dustin Hoffman movies reminded me of when film was an art form, instead of a worldwide money machine.
But what is truly lame about this show is the performances. Dustin's a great actor, to watch Liev and Naomi and Billy Connolly act just made me wince.
And give props to Jimmy Kimmel for commenting on the choreographer. Yup, we're supposed to respect classical music and everything else that's dying while we cling to pop. Led Zeppelin didn't need any money from the government to make it. No one has to spend money to keep them in the public consciousness. You see great is undeniable, we're all drawn to it.
And I love Jack Black, but his enthusiasm didn't make up for a substandard speech. We needed Wayne and Garth. Two stoners whose lives are not complete without Led Zeppelin IV.
That's the dirty little secret. This music keeps us alive. That's why they can never get it right at awards shows, on TV, music isn't something you see but something you feel. It's full of energy, it gets the endorphins jumping, makes you believe life is worth living. Come on, would you take a road trip without your favorite tunes? Talk radio only goes so far.
And who doesn't like Dave Grohl. Thank god he drummed. But the vocal fell...flat.
And give credit to Kid Rock, who picked a tune that fit smack dab in the middle of his range. Bob was an unexpected peak. Going from subtle to extreme, carving out the complete panoply of rock and roll.
And sure, Lenny Kravitz was good. But where's he been? It seemed this was a placement more than a perfect pick.
And then came the piece de resistance.
We knew they'd end with "Stairway."
But there's no more perfect fit than Heart. Ann Wilson made her bones singing Zeppelin covers. And her "Battle Of Evermore" is just about as good as the original.
So, what is usually substandard, the musical tribute, which had us all trepidatious, turned out to be a triumph.
Yo-Yo Ma was singing along. Bonnie Raitt had her hands in the air!
And did you catch the Prez singing along to "Whole Lotta Love"?
Forget the bloviators on the news. Even forget the techies.
Our true rock and roll heroes are...our true rock and roll heroes.
Never forget that not only was Zeppelin true to itself, the band raped and pillaged and did everything the moniker "rock star" now embodies. Not only did they make great music, they created the paradigm. Even Frank Zappa had to comment about the mud sharks...
So, boys and girls, in the year 2013, when the rich have all the money and your future is up for grabs, know that some things never change.
Music is the most powerful medium on Earth.
And Led Zeppelin has more power than anybody.
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But Led Zeppelin is FOREVER!
In other words, what kind of crazy fucked up world do we live in where the President is black and the national anthem is "Stairway To Heaven"?
One in which the mainstream knows nothing and you know everything. Where hype is irrelevant and we all know the truth.
That it's been a long time since we rocked and rolled...
And for that matter, it's been a long time since we did the stroll!
The Buddy Guy tribute was surprisingly great.
But the highlight of tonight's show was Tina Fey's introduction of David Letterman. That's what we revere, excellence. Not good enough, not better than the rest, but superlative, that which makes our jaws drop and marvel in abandon at the ability to perform at the absolute zenith!
Now not a night went by in the eighties that I didn't watch David Letterman. I was stunned to see Sirajul and Mujibur in the montage, since they were banished for trying to capitalize on their fame, replaced by Rupert Jee, who played along and asked for nothing.
But I was astounded there was no mention of Merrill Markoe. Who invented that show, who's responsible for all that made Dave famous, the stunts you know and love, from Stupid Pet Tricks to...
But history is a rewrite.
Except for that which is indelible. Like music. You can't change "Good Times Bad Times." "The Rain Song" sounds the same as it did when you dropped the needle on "Houses Of The Holy" back in '73.
And it's great that Dave gave Ray Romano a gig.
And to see all those Dustin Hoffman movies reminded me of when film was an art form, instead of a worldwide money machine.
But what is truly lame about this show is the performances. Dustin's a great actor, to watch Liev and Naomi and Billy Connolly act just made me wince.
And give props to Jimmy Kimmel for commenting on the choreographer. Yup, we're supposed to respect classical music and everything else that's dying while we cling to pop. Led Zeppelin didn't need any money from the government to make it. No one has to spend money to keep them in the public consciousness. You see great is undeniable, we're all drawn to it.
And I love Jack Black, but his enthusiasm didn't make up for a substandard speech. We needed Wayne and Garth. Two stoners whose lives are not complete without Led Zeppelin IV.
That's the dirty little secret. This music keeps us alive. That's why they can never get it right at awards shows, on TV, music isn't something you see but something you feel. It's full of energy, it gets the endorphins jumping, makes you believe life is worth living. Come on, would you take a road trip without your favorite tunes? Talk radio only goes so far.
And who doesn't like Dave Grohl. Thank god he drummed. But the vocal fell...flat.
And give credit to Kid Rock, who picked a tune that fit smack dab in the middle of his range. Bob was an unexpected peak. Going from subtle to extreme, carving out the complete panoply of rock and roll.
And sure, Lenny Kravitz was good. But where's he been? It seemed this was a placement more than a perfect pick.
And then came the piece de resistance.
We knew they'd end with "Stairway."
But there's no more perfect fit than Heart. Ann Wilson made her bones singing Zeppelin covers. And her "Battle Of Evermore" is just about as good as the original.
So, what is usually substandard, the musical tribute, which had us all trepidatious, turned out to be a triumph.
Yo-Yo Ma was singing along. Bonnie Raitt had her hands in the air!
And did you catch the Prez singing along to "Whole Lotta Love"?
Forget the bloviators on the news. Even forget the techies.
Our true rock and roll heroes are...our true rock and roll heroes.
Never forget that not only was Zeppelin true to itself, the band raped and pillaged and did everything the moniker "rock star" now embodies. Not only did they make great music, they created the paradigm. Even Frank Zappa had to comment about the mud sharks...
So, boys and girls, in the year 2013, when the rich have all the money and your future is up for grabs, know that some things never change.
Music is the most powerful medium on Earth.
And Led Zeppelin has more power than anybody.
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Tuesday 25 December 2012
Christmas Playlist
Sometimes, when you least expect it, you connect with who you used to be, every song triggers a memory, it's like your whole life is a highway and the feelings you thought were gone forever have suddenly shown up and are now riding shotgun.
I used to live in winter. It was a part of my life. The anticipation, those damp October nights, those dreary November days and then finally December, cold with snow. You stayed inside and played board games. "Wide World Of Sports" was the most fascinating program on television. You went outside in your flannel-lined jeans and romped in the snow and when your clothing had frozen board stiff you trundled up to your front door where your mom made you hot chocolate and you felt fully alive in a way you rarely do anymore.
That's what's great about the cold, it's invigorating. Stay still and you'll freeze. Keep moving and you've got no idea what you'll encounter.
And today, the last time I looked at the thermometer it was one degree. My nose had that tingling pre-frostbite feeling and when I got inside I slurped down the hot chocolate like it was the elixir of life. There's nothing better than being warmed from the inside.
And that's when I put on "Twilight."
Remember when you traveled with a box of cassettes? When you couldn't bear being without your music? Today Spotify sits on my iPhone and I have the history of recorded music at my fingertips. Anything I want to hear is just a click away. And I wanted to hear Shawn Colvin. Singing that Band song that no one knows.
"Don't send me no distant salutations
Or silly souvenirs from far away
Don't leave me alone in the twilight
Twilight is the loneliest time of day"
Not when you've got the right song in your ears. And in that eerie time before darkness this song was playing and I marveled at the power of music to evoke a feeling, to get the emotions right, to be positively human.
So I pulled up "King Harvest," from the second Band LP. And not only remembered Brad Weston playing it for me in his parents' den, but was stunned that this sound was once popular, that once upon a time stardom might arrive, but you didn't chase it, you focused inward, not out, you wanted to get the music right.
Which had my mind drifting, to Big Pink, to this concoction backing up the bard of my generation, and I pulled up "Tangled Up In Blue."
"Early one mornin' the sun was shinin'"
As I was driving up the access road to Mammoth Mountain. It was May 1st 1975. I'd driven across the desert, eaten at Baskin Robbins for dinner, since I was broke and had a gift certificate for my birthday, and was now where I never was before meeting people I barely knew and this record came on the radio.
And I remembered all that as the song played on.
But reveled in the fact that whatever the song meant then, now it meant something completely different.
When you're twenty two, the world is your oyster, you're gonna eat it alive, you're full of vigor, overflowing with optimism.
Then you get older and waste so much time you find yourself just existing, wondering what's around the next corner, if anything.
You're haunted by your memories. You think they're just that and then you stumble into someone you used to know and they're just as damaged as you are, but the sight of each other makes your hearts palpitate, there's a little spark of hope that wasn't there yesterday, making you feel like this life is worth living, even though the downs oftentimes outweigh the ups.
Christmas Playlist: http://spoti.fi/Vw92yS
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I used to live in winter. It was a part of my life. The anticipation, those damp October nights, those dreary November days and then finally December, cold with snow. You stayed inside and played board games. "Wide World Of Sports" was the most fascinating program on television. You went outside in your flannel-lined jeans and romped in the snow and when your clothing had frozen board stiff you trundled up to your front door where your mom made you hot chocolate and you felt fully alive in a way you rarely do anymore.
That's what's great about the cold, it's invigorating. Stay still and you'll freeze. Keep moving and you've got no idea what you'll encounter.
And today, the last time I looked at the thermometer it was one degree. My nose had that tingling pre-frostbite feeling and when I got inside I slurped down the hot chocolate like it was the elixir of life. There's nothing better than being warmed from the inside.
And that's when I put on "Twilight."
Remember when you traveled with a box of cassettes? When you couldn't bear being without your music? Today Spotify sits on my iPhone and I have the history of recorded music at my fingertips. Anything I want to hear is just a click away. And I wanted to hear Shawn Colvin. Singing that Band song that no one knows.
"Don't send me no distant salutations
Or silly souvenirs from far away
Don't leave me alone in the twilight
Twilight is the loneliest time of day"
Not when you've got the right song in your ears. And in that eerie time before darkness this song was playing and I marveled at the power of music to evoke a feeling, to get the emotions right, to be positively human.
So I pulled up "King Harvest," from the second Band LP. And not only remembered Brad Weston playing it for me in his parents' den, but was stunned that this sound was once popular, that once upon a time stardom might arrive, but you didn't chase it, you focused inward, not out, you wanted to get the music right.
Which had my mind drifting, to Big Pink, to this concoction backing up the bard of my generation, and I pulled up "Tangled Up In Blue."
"Early one mornin' the sun was shinin'"
As I was driving up the access road to Mammoth Mountain. It was May 1st 1975. I'd driven across the desert, eaten at Baskin Robbins for dinner, since I was broke and had a gift certificate for my birthday, and was now where I never was before meeting people I barely knew and this record came on the radio.
And I remembered all that as the song played on.
But reveled in the fact that whatever the song meant then, now it meant something completely different.
When you're twenty two, the world is your oyster, you're gonna eat it alive, you're full of vigor, overflowing with optimism.
Then you get older and waste so much time you find yourself just existing, wondering what's around the next corner, if anything.
You're haunted by your memories. You think they're just that and then you stumble into someone you used to know and they're just as damaged as you are, but the sight of each other makes your hearts palpitate, there's a little spark of hope that wasn't there yesterday, making you feel like this life is worth living, even though the downs oftentimes outweigh the ups.
Christmas Playlist: http://spoti.fi/Vw92yS
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