Mailbag

From: "W.J. Ellison"
Subject: Fwd: SHE'S SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL

Hi Bob,

Thanks for writing the article.

I would like to share a story with you, and fans, of how the phrase some kind of wonderful, came to be a song. I still remember that moment as if it was yesterday. My band, the Soul Brothers Six, had signed a recording contract with a small independent record label in Philadelphia that was owned by Walter Rayfield. We met Walter at a club in Rochester, New York where we played every weekend. He convinced us to sign a management contract, plus a recording contract with him, and invited our group to come to Philly to record.

The day we were leaving for Philadelphia, I stopped by the apartment of the girl I was dating, to say goodby. Her name was Ann White. She had packed me a lunch in a brown paper bag. We stood there in silence for a moment just looking at each other. I knew this was the last time I would see her, I knew she wanted more from me than I could give her, but she understood. She knew I had dreams that nothing could get in the way of. I gave her a hug, and we kissed. I looked at her and said, you are some kind of wonderful, I'm gonna write a song about you.

This was around 6am, I turned and walked towards the old 1960 Ford we had bought for the trip that was eaten up by rust. You could see the highway through the rusted out holes in the floor. After about four hours into the trip, I ate the sandwich Ann had prepared for me. After I finished the sandwich, I began writing the lyrics to some kind of wonderful on the bag she had packed my lunch in.

I don't need a whole lots of money, I don't need a big fine car, I've got everything that a man could want, I've got more, than I could ask for.

This is the reason for those first three lines. The first line was because at that moment, money could not make me feel the way I was feeling. Although I did not want a relationship with Ann, I did have feelings for her. This was something that money could not buy.

Regarding the big fine car, I knew I could be just as happy with her in the old rusted out Ford,as I would be in a brand new car because I would have everything that I could hope for. That's how she made me feel.

Some Kind Of Wonderful was written in less than a half hour, which included the melody, the arrangement of all the music, which included the famous bass line that have been featured in many songs over the years and as the saying goes, the rest is history.

Because of the many turn of events that have happened in my life, I have
written my autobiography. The Soul Brother's Six have a story that need to be told also. I am sure that one day, our story will be made into a movie.

Best regards,

John Ellison

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Subject: Re: Rhinofy-Some Kind Of Wonderful

Dear Bob,

Last year I had the opportunity to get Mark Farner and John Ellison together for dinner. This was the first time they ever really sat together. It was like watching two long lost brothers meeting for the first time. Never before had Mark heard why John wrote “She’s Some Kind of Wonderful” and never before had John heard why Grand Funk recorded it. I am including one picture here.

pic.twitter.com/Mvd8MRLeoi

Dennis Waldman
CEO, Barrett Productions

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From: MCrenshaw
Subject: Re: Rhinofy-Some Kind Of Wonderful

"Some Kind Of Wonderful" by The Soul Brothers Six was HUGE in Detroit, probably the reason why it charted in Billboard.. The guys in GFR would've known it; every bar band in Michigan played it. I hope somebody sends you the SB6's version; it kills Grand Funk, eats them for breakfast, etc.. The SB6's other records are great too, like "Better Check Yourself"..

Marshall C.

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From: Cedar Boschan
Subject: RE: Clear Channel Direct Deals

Just discussed this today with a writer from The Tennessean, which is running a piece on the Congressional sound recording performance rights debate in its Sunday edition.

The direct deals won't stop because it is in both major labels and broadcasters' interests to cut direct deals, largely at the artists' expense.

To your point, these deals cut small indie labels - and artists thereon - entirely out of the pie because they lack leverage. But artists on labels with enough clout to negotiate broadcaster deals do not get a fair share either.

As an auditor with many major recording artist clients, some of the problems I see are:

1. Direct deals preserve the scheme under which major labels’ foreign offices collect BOTH the American artist and label shares (because, as you noted, these deals will not unlock reciprocity with foreign performance royalty societies).

2. Labels are very unlikely to split with artists all of the different kinds of consideration they receive from broadcasters, especially the non-cash consideration like equity stakes and promotional airtime, which is basically payola to benefit new artists at the cost of catalog artists.

3. What the labels do share with artists will be subject to recoupment (i.e., unrecouped artists will receive nothing, whereas payments from Sound Exchange are not subject to recoupment).

Further, as attorney Jay Cooper, copied, pointed out recently:

1. The very people we need to testify are the artists themselves and they are impossible to get.

2. Every congressperson has a radio station in their district but not every district has artists.

This is why, unless artists miraculously manage to organize, broadcasters and major labels have few reasons to stop making these direct deals that disfavor the artist and fend off any statutory terrestrial sound recording performance right.

Cedar Boschan, Partner
Hurewitz, Boschan & Co. LLP

_______________________________________

From: Perry Resnick
Subject: RE: Clear Channel Direct Deals

Bob,

You are dead right. All that foreign performance income will not be paid to US artists without a statutory terrestrial performance right. It's disgraceful that terrestrial radio can build a multi-billion dollar business by using master recordings of artist performances for which they do not have to pay a dime, and it keeps us from collecting foreign performance royalties. Their "promotional value" argument is a load of bull to keep the gravy train running as long as possible.

The other important point is that with these private deals, artist do not get paid directly. When everything goes through SoundExchange, artists and artist unions receive their 50% directly, without regard to recoupment. This is comparable to songwriters receiving their songwriter performance royalties directly from ASCAP/BMI without regard to the status of any publishing deals. Direct payment of performance royalties is sacrosant, whether artist or songwriter, and should not be messed with.

These indie labels the broadcasters are cutting deals with may not be sharing this income with their artists, and if they are, it is probably subject to recoupment.

In the spirit of disclosure, I am an Artist Representative on the
SoundExchange Board, but these are my personal opinions that I have been espousing for years. This should not be construed as any official opinion or policy of SoundExchange.

Best,
Perry Resnick
RZO, LLC

(Note: "Clear Channel's Pandora-like custom radio feature would also get a discounted rate from the 22 cents per 100 streams that it pays now, although that rate will not be less than Pandora’s 12 cents per 100 streams, these people said. The artists' portion of all of Clear Channel's royalties for Warner's repertory would be paid through SoundExchange." http://nyti.ms/1db85HV)

_______________________________________

From: Val Garay
Subject: Re: Rhinofy-Linda Ronstadt

MAD LOVE the digital nightmare from hell....Recorded and mixed on the soon to be extinct 3M Digital 32 track recorder and why I ever wanted to do this is beyond me.
So many problems with a beta machine and we had 2 techs full time from 3M there from Camarillo at Record One.
One of which eventually went to work for me and then started Brent Averil Ent. and made all those wonderful pieces of Brent Averil Gear.
We nicked named him Digi Man.

You would put a track in record and all 32 would go into record so I had to take all the record cards out of the machine except the track we were recording on.
The 2 track digital editor was an aluminum box with lots of holes in it and that was another nightmare.

As for the album itself, I thought "How Do I Make You" was an interesting early Billy Steinberg song before he hooked up with Tom Kelly and wrote all those #1 hits. (Like A Virgin, True Colors, Eternal Flame, I Drove All Night, Alone and on and on)
Vg

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From: Charlie Feldman (and others)
Subject: Re: Rhinofy-Dance To The Music

Freddie (great voice in his own right) Sly's brother sings the vocal introducing the guitar and Larry Graham sings intro to the bass, which he plays. Sly sings intro to the organ.

_______________________________________

From: Hugh Surratt
Subject: Re: Audeze LCD2

Hey Bob.
Re: So Little Time To Fly.
Not for nuttin', but that's Randy California on lead vocal--not Ferguson.
HMS.

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Subject: Day 2 JazzFest May 3

Mr. Lefsetz,

I thank you for your kind words yesterday. As a reader of your column/blog, I am happy to be mentioned, especially in the manner in which I was addressed yesterday. As a writer of instrumental music, it is hard to be understood at times, but I think you actually nailed it when you said you were transported (my word this time) to another place while listening. That's what I am up to. Just not in the mud.

Thank you for the entertainment and insight you bring us all.

Best regards,
Jerry Douglas

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From: Heather Church
Subject: Re: Buyer's Guide

Hi Bob...

Agreed on all of your best-to-buys. After reading it, I was putting away my laundry and realized that this best-to-buy should also apply to t shirts, and specifically merch shirts. I buy a shirt at every show I go to...I love art and know that small bands make their money through touring, so I when I see quality music, I buy whatever they are selling...if I LOVE what they do, I will buy extra and give them away. I'm also an avid Kickstarter (etc) junkie and love getting prizes for my donations. With that said, there are two things that bands should know...1) women like music too and we will buy your stuff, so get shirts that fit girls and 2) stop using cheap, crappy shirts to put your band name on. They suck, and I won't wear them. American Apparel (or the like) shirts may cost a few bucks more, but they're comfortable and they look good on. I'm happy to be a walking billboard for your band, but not at the cost of my own comfort or appearance.

Heather

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From: Paul Bailey
Subject: Mamas and Papas on the Sydney Harbour Bridge

A jazz pianist friend Bobby Gebert told me of his drive across the Sydney Harbour bridge with the world renowned artist Brett Whitley. The back of their car was filled with freshly cut, undried hooch and they were smoking a scoobie of the best. The Mamas and Papas were on the new CD player, the four windows were down and the music so loud it was peeling the paint on the bridge. Half-way across the bridge Brett screamed above the music. "Bobby kill me now. Kill me now. It's never going to get better than this."

Paul

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Subject: Re: Bogota - (A Lonely Planet author writes)

Hi Bob,

I wrote the Lonely Planet chapter to Colombia in the 30th edition of its Latin America Guide.

I wrote this paragraph. It is specifically relevant to your mail today.

"THE CULTURE
The National Psyche

A middle-aged American couple stop on a street corner in Bogota. Reading a large map, they are obviously lost, obviously wealthy â€" or wealthier than 90% of the people passing them in the street. A motorbike pulls along- side them, the driver flips his visor. What happens next?

The bike rider dismounts and the couple feel a prickle of fear. The biker smiles, asks them where they are headed, takes the map, points out the directions, shakes hands and bids them a good day and rides off. The Americans simply cannot believe it. Such a thing would never happen in a major US capital, they say.

It's a true story, and not an isolated one. Every traveler you meet who comes to Colombia with an open mind says the same thing: the people are genuinely friendly and helpful.

Kidnaps, extortion and small-scale bombings still occur, and several areas of the country are heavily mined. But the real difficulties facing Colombians today are economic.

The national psyche is remarkably robust and happiness and warmth are the default settings for most Colombians.

Everyone dreams of a finca (country house with land). In their hearts urban Colombians are all cowboys and they romanticize rural life. Many rural Colombians, meanwhile, struggle to survive and dream of life in the big cities."


You're staying uptown, in the 90s, where the Gucci shops are.

Hit me up if you want a recommendation for a cool place downtown.

Take a plane and fly to Cartagena. It'll take you an hour and cost a hundred bucks. It will blow your mind. It's like walking into a Garcia Marquez novel.

Go to the Carribbean coast. Meet some coastal Colombians. Go to Medellin, and be amazed. It's the greatest country in the world and I love it.

Mike Power
Journalist
London
http://amzn.to/U40Wmq


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