The switch flipped back in 1980, maybe the beginning of '81, it coincided with the election of Reagan, but what really happened back then, what started in the late seventies, was a focus on money.
Baby boomers didn't care about money. They'd grown up with enough of it. And those who hadn't didn't know any better. Flyover country was thus, assuming you ever got in an airplane to begin with. Unless you moved to New York or L.A. you were clueless as to how the other half lived. Sure, there were glamour-pusses on television, but you lived in an Archie/Betty world where the metaphor was high school. You graduated and grew up but everything remained the same, you were tarred with not only your moniker but the impression you made years before, this was you...a bumpkin in the greatest country on earth, where gasoline was cheap, sex was free and happiness reigned.
Until inflation hit double digits and the economy tanked and everybody was wondering what came next. They decided to put their faith in an old man with gravitas but little more behind the facade and then everything truly changed.
1981... An era of CNN and MTV, cable television ruled. We could now see what was going on everywhere else, and sitting at home in the hinterlands we decided we wanted some of that. Suddenly, having a tricked-out Chevy didn't mean that much, you were now competing against everybody, and it didn't feel good.
And since competition was now the norm, you might as well win. And we know that rules are just meant to be bent, not only by Michael Milken and his troops at Drexel Burnham Lambert, our first exposure to the riches of finance, but everyone, in order to become wealthy, in order to get ahead.
Taxes were lowered, inflation was under control, the bubble known as the baby boomers had obligations, they needed to feed and house their progeny and this required cash. The sixties went out the window instantly. It was no longer love your brother but screw your neighbor and sleep with one eye open, while you're snorting Colombia's finest and parading down the boulevard in German iron, which suddenly replaced Cadillac as the symbol of success.
And we know that ultimately we all prayed at the altar of Apple, except those needing to maintain a renegade identity, seen mostly as a rearguard identity, but it was in the eighties that the populace became stratified, that winners pulled away from the losers, and kicked dust in their eyes while they were at it.
And there was a war, but no draft, and the end result was a baby boomer President who reigned over a prosperity so glorious, we all felt entitled. The deficit got wiped out, Wall Street was burgeoning, and then it all went to hell.
Credit Napster.
Well, Napster was the harbinger. Wherein everything we thought we knew turned out to be wrong. That you got ahead by paying your dues and sure, sharp elbows helped, but you knew your place in the firmament, how did Shawn Fanning decide he was king, never mind take all that property that wasn't his?
And Shawn had the backing of Silicon Valley. An entity heretofore unknown by the masses, who still didn't have smartphones, but those who thought they were winning suddenly found out they weren't, for story after story told them the new tech titans were rich!
Richer than ballplayers.
Richer than bankers.
Even richer than musicians.
And the seeds of desperation were sown.
Now he not busy moving forward was busy falling behind.
But we had an ace in the hole, the internet. It favored merit. If you had the right stuff you could go viral. Happened to PSY, right? He might have been Korean, but he muddled his way through Berklee and had the last laugh and if you were sitting at home with the new tools you too could win, right?
Wrong.
Internet cacophony came along and stole your chance. There was no way to get ahead. You could rant about income inequality, but those with the cash felt entitled to it, they worked hard, they were the job creators, and the fact that you were an honest bloke just didn't matter in this new winner take all society, which so many titans of yore still don't understand, the truth is one enterprise gets all the lucre online, it's just a constant battle, a winnowing-down, until we learn who the victor is.
So children are either on the right track or wrong at age five. I'd say you have to go to the right kindergarten, but the truth is you have to go to the right pre-school. City parents understand this, the desperation starts early. As for those too ignorant to know the game, their fate is sealed soon. Elite colleges are need-blind, be smart enough and you get a free ride. But the valedictorians in the hinterlands don't know this and go to the state school, where they're left behind. Oh, you don't get a better education at the Ivys, you just hang with a better class of PEOPLE! Harvard owns comedy. How do you think Conan O'Brien got there? Although he's losing today, if you're just part of the pack, you might as well not exist. And you want a degree from Kellogg, or you can get your MBA from Stanford, where you'll make connections, establish relationships, which will make sure you don't fall behind.
While everybody else struggles to impress.
That's what social media has become. It's no longer about bonding but impressing. Surf Facebook and Instagram and you'll feel inadequate. But the truth is those two-dimensional icons known as people are not winning, they're just on the treadmill of desperation, they got screwed in ways they can't comprehend and they now want a piece of the rock. And if they can't get that, they don't want to fall behind.
And you have so many opportunities to fall behind.
Used to be it was about finding yourself, taking some time off after college to enrich your experience and plot a new direction.
Now everybody starts climbing the ladder immediately. Because if you don't, your resume has a hole in it. And your LinkedIn profile must be perfect, otherwise you won't get a job. And a job is everything these days, it's your entire identity. Unemployment is not only unenjoyment, you're a pariah, invitations dry up, depression sets in, you grasp for a life preserver but no one's throwing one, everybody's too busy protecting their own interest, trying to get ahead.
And then there are those who deny the above. It's a badge of honor, they're good people with good values and that's what it's all about, right?
Wrong. You can't get a seat at the restaurant, the winners buy all the tickets on StubHub and you're left behind with like-minded people wondering how this all happened, how you got screwed without knowing it.
It permeates all walks of life. The internet is riddled with networking shenanigans. You've got to have a lot of friends, a lot of likes, if you don't you're a loser, you're never going to get ahead. Everything is quantified, everything can be counted, data rules, if it's fuzzy, we don't care.
So complaining rules.
That's the story in music. The enemy is Daniel Ek. Or maybe the public. Because it used to be you could survive but now you can't. You're living with your parents, you're living off your spouse, you're desperate.
As are those who bought the mantra that ownership was king. If you had your own home, you ruled. Until the banks failed, you lost your job and it was all taken away from you.
And the CEOs are desperate too. That's why they insist on making so much dough. Because it could end at any time, and they want to be prepared. Or maybe we should blame the corporate boards, who desperately believe they have to have a winner at the helm, to promote from within is anathema. Better to poach talent and brag about compensation, then you're immune to criticism.
We all believe paying top dollar generates a get out of jail free card. A BMW won't break. Louis Vuitton is better than the no-name brands. And if you brandish an iPhone, you're a winner.
Yup, that changed too. Used to be you were proud of your Galaxy, now it just illustrates you haven't gotten the memo, Samsung is so 2013, before Apple ended up with all the profits and if you don't iMessage you're nobody.
We're all hopping from island to island, as the Whac-A-Mole hammer comes down hard in pursuit. We look for someone to blame. The easiest target is the government, which wastes the money which would make us whole, that we worked so hard for. And the corporations are the enemy.
But the truth is the enemy is us. We've lost all perspective. We've thrown our values out the window. The baby boomers lost touch with everything they believed in, they no longer remember Jesse Colin Young, never mind getting together. And they imparted these dash for cash and status values to their progeny, who are throwing the tech long ball like an inner city denizen lobs a basketball in pursuit of an NBA career, despite odds being so low. I mean somebody wins, it might as well be me, right?
Wrong. The game is rigged. But you can't stop playing. You're addicted to free, not knowing that you're the product, you're being bought and sold to advertisers. And that few are paying attention to you.
And every couple of years they wipe the slate clean. MySpace gave way to Facebook. Twitter is fading. And it always happens the same way, when the old site is riddled with self-promotion, desperation in camouflage, people gravitate to a new platform believing it will be different.
But it's not.
Snapchat is just a way for another twentysomething to become a billionaire.
Nothing lasts. Your BlackBerry sits in a drawer, with your iPods and maybe an old laptop or two. You're desperate for something to hold on to, to believe in, so you pay for experiences, which don't count unless you document them online. With selfies. Selfie stick? That's right, another manufacturer profiting off your narcissism, which is just desperation in disguise.
Some have opted out. But since they're not bragging about it, not employing the online microphone to tell you they're right and you're wrong, they garner little attention. Because the media is desperate too, it's been disrupted by the same twentysomething techies and all it knows is gossip sells, isn't Kim Kardashian rich?
Of course.
Used to be she was ridiculed for being famous for nothing. Now she's seen as a phenomenal businessperson. Because that's all the matters today, your business. Identity and values are irrelevant, unless they can be distilled to money and image, what we truly pay fealty to in America.
That's right, religion is dying. Forget the blowhards yelling loudly, statistics tell us millennials don't have a God complex, unless it involves themselves. Their parents told them they were deities and they're entitled to win and if that means steamrolling over you, so be it, because it's a dog eat dog world and no one likes to be eaten.
So build that resume, post away. Count your likes. Buy your followers. Be a denizen of the twenty first century, wherein we all desperately play online roulette but the game is rigged, only a tiny core of usual suspects can win, oftentimes by putting their thumb on the wheel.
We want out, we want someone to believe in, but everywhere we turn we find false idols. Musicians selling out to corporations who can't be trusted. If Volkswagen cheats on emissions tests why should you walk the line? No one got arrested after the banks crashed and no one's giving back their salary at VW.
So it's back to the salt mines. Where you toil away on your mobile, playing the game of life, wherein you constantly seek status.
Desperately.
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Saturday 17 October 2015
School Of Rock Convention
They're doing God's work.
While the rest of America is dashing for cash, while wannabe musicians keep complaining about Spotify, as if they could hold back the future, as if they were owed a living in music, a ragtag band of musicians and entrepreneurs is birthing the next generation of rock and rollers for the sheer joy of it. I'm not saying they're not getting paid, I'm just saying they're not getting rich. In cash, that is.
Greetings from Las Vegas, where it's gray and the season is turning but it's always the same. A place where people come to let loose and forget who they are, served by an underclass happy to have a job. When it's 24 hour everything you can get a gig working the graveyard shift, it may not pay well, but no one's paying attention. That's the luxury of Vegas, what happens here no one cares about. Except if you're rich and famous.
But most people are not.
The dynamo of the School of Rock is a dentist. Who's not a player. He got infected when he saw the people his daughter was interacting with, so different from the usual suspects at her private Philadelphia school. Musicians have been the same since the dawn of time. They're outsiders, who are about sharing and caring as opposed to dividing lines. When society pooh-poohs you, you come together.
And there's a surgeon who owns a couple of franchises. He may save lives on the operating table, but what really gets him off is the smiles of the young 'uns who get up on stage and wail on the classics that soothed his youth.
That's right, music used to be different. Before the whole world changed, before it was us versus them and those with the money didn't want to part with it and those left behind kept complaining that someone stole their cheese. We were all in it together, and what kept us together, was the music.
A rock nation. Under Gods like Jimi Hendrix and Alice Cooper and even Gene Simmons. All of whom filled up your bedroom with a sound so glorious you couldn't help but smile. Their music made life worth living. And it's making life worth living for a whole new generation.
Sure, some of the students want to play the modern stuff.
But the School of Rock says you start with the basics. Kinda like regular school. But the Who is so much more enticing than Camus, never mind algebra.
So you've got housewives and retirees and barely twentysomethings all opening emporia to teach rock. And sure, there are lessons, but the essence is performance. It's when the kids get on stage with others and crank it that they smile. And it's these smiles that keep the owners going. They're doing it for the naches. Look it up, it's Yiddish. In our narcissistic culture it's all about pride in the self, puffing yourself up, on Instagram, showing what you've got. But the truth is you feel best when you midwife the happiness of others, that's what the School of Rock does.
And either you know about it or you don't.
It was started by Paul Green. But thereafter, franchises were sold and every year or so the troops get together to learn.
Especially from the CEO Dzana, who immigrated from war-torn Sarajevo. It's people like this who make our country great. How did we get so screwed up that we believed the immigrants were here to steal our jobs. Yes, they want what we've got, an opportunity to be their best selves, to have a family, to excel. You too have that right as an American, better to stop complaining that someone stole your chance and make the most of yours.
Dzana had such great insight. That the bane of the School of Rock was laziness and fear. The belief that you just can't get there so you're better off not trying. Her solution is to hook up the top 10% with the bottom 10%. The winners help lift up those who are challenged. Why do the winners do it? BECAUSE IT MAKES THEM FEEL SO GOOD! You know, like when someone gives you tech help, when they solve your problem. People love to demonstrate their expertise, they love to help others. You think it's about ME, ME, ME, when the truth is it's about YOU, YOU, YOU!
And you buy a franchise and then you become part of this wonderful crazy family, that's what an owner said on stage last night. As she belted...
Yes, after learning all day, they cleared the stage for performances.
First were the All Stars. Teenagers who'd earned the right to not only perform in Vegas, but go on tour. They caravan to such places as Chicago, to grace the stage at Lollapalooza. And even Bridgeport, Connecticut, for the Gathering of the Vibes. They even send a contingent to the Zappanale, over in Europe, to not only soak up Frank's music, but play it.
And the Sydney school flies over for performances too. Not everyone, just the greats. And the kids are incentivized to be great, because they want to go on tour. And sure, some make it to the big time, graduates pepper the professional ranks, Colbert has got a School of Rock alumnus in his band, but most don't. But they have an experience of a lifetime.
As did the owners and the general managers and the instructors, who got up and played the legendary hits for hours last night.
I heard a brilliant version of "Highway to Hell," it had me standing up, thrusting my arms in the air.
Jaw-dropping was the rendition of "Cosmik Debris," you know, the Zappa track. I certainly do, I played it as an alienated youth, I felt that Frank understood me, that's the power of music.
And "Under Pressure" and "Baba O'Riley" and "Rock of Ages"...
"All right
I got something to say
Yeah, it's better to burn out
Yeah, than fade away"
They give musicians a second chance. When they're between gigs, when their touring and live careers have dried up. They teach at the School of Rock. Which doesn't start until 2, so they can get there on time. And they can still perform on weekends.
"Rise up, gather 'round
Rock this place to the ground
Burn it up let's go for broke
Watch the night go up in smoke"
Actually, it is Vegas, one of the few places you can still puff away indoors. But long after midnight, when most people are tuckered out and trundle for bed, this crowd was out in full-force. Cheering on their brethren, slaying the axe, tickling the ivories, pounding the skins. They danced, they sang along, they cheered. You know, like at a rock and roll show.
"What do you want, what do you want
I want rock 'n' roll, yes I do
Long live rock 'n' roll"
I'm over sixty. I own no real estate. My future is uncertain. But I've got this sound, that I studied like the Bible. I know who played what and have followed the tree of life known as music all over the globe, and as I was standing in the Lounge last night I realized these were my people, these players, these instructors, these owners, who know that rock and roll can save your life, if you just let it.
"Rock of ages, rock of ages
Still rollin', keep a-rollin'
We got the power, got the glory
Just say you need it and if you need it
Say yeah"
YEAH!
Ain't that the truth.
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While the rest of America is dashing for cash, while wannabe musicians keep complaining about Spotify, as if they could hold back the future, as if they were owed a living in music, a ragtag band of musicians and entrepreneurs is birthing the next generation of rock and rollers for the sheer joy of it. I'm not saying they're not getting paid, I'm just saying they're not getting rich. In cash, that is.
Greetings from Las Vegas, where it's gray and the season is turning but it's always the same. A place where people come to let loose and forget who they are, served by an underclass happy to have a job. When it's 24 hour everything you can get a gig working the graveyard shift, it may not pay well, but no one's paying attention. That's the luxury of Vegas, what happens here no one cares about. Except if you're rich and famous.
But most people are not.
The dynamo of the School of Rock is a dentist. Who's not a player. He got infected when he saw the people his daughter was interacting with, so different from the usual suspects at her private Philadelphia school. Musicians have been the same since the dawn of time. They're outsiders, who are about sharing and caring as opposed to dividing lines. When society pooh-poohs you, you come together.
And there's a surgeon who owns a couple of franchises. He may save lives on the operating table, but what really gets him off is the smiles of the young 'uns who get up on stage and wail on the classics that soothed his youth.
That's right, music used to be different. Before the whole world changed, before it was us versus them and those with the money didn't want to part with it and those left behind kept complaining that someone stole their cheese. We were all in it together, and what kept us together, was the music.
A rock nation. Under Gods like Jimi Hendrix and Alice Cooper and even Gene Simmons. All of whom filled up your bedroom with a sound so glorious you couldn't help but smile. Their music made life worth living. And it's making life worth living for a whole new generation.
Sure, some of the students want to play the modern stuff.
But the School of Rock says you start with the basics. Kinda like regular school. But the Who is so much more enticing than Camus, never mind algebra.
So you've got housewives and retirees and barely twentysomethings all opening emporia to teach rock. And sure, there are lessons, but the essence is performance. It's when the kids get on stage with others and crank it that they smile. And it's these smiles that keep the owners going. They're doing it for the naches. Look it up, it's Yiddish. In our narcissistic culture it's all about pride in the self, puffing yourself up, on Instagram, showing what you've got. But the truth is you feel best when you midwife the happiness of others, that's what the School of Rock does.
And either you know about it or you don't.
It was started by Paul Green. But thereafter, franchises were sold and every year or so the troops get together to learn.
Especially from the CEO Dzana, who immigrated from war-torn Sarajevo. It's people like this who make our country great. How did we get so screwed up that we believed the immigrants were here to steal our jobs. Yes, they want what we've got, an opportunity to be their best selves, to have a family, to excel. You too have that right as an American, better to stop complaining that someone stole your chance and make the most of yours.
Dzana had such great insight. That the bane of the School of Rock was laziness and fear. The belief that you just can't get there so you're better off not trying. Her solution is to hook up the top 10% with the bottom 10%. The winners help lift up those who are challenged. Why do the winners do it? BECAUSE IT MAKES THEM FEEL SO GOOD! You know, like when someone gives you tech help, when they solve your problem. People love to demonstrate their expertise, they love to help others. You think it's about ME, ME, ME, when the truth is it's about YOU, YOU, YOU!
And you buy a franchise and then you become part of this wonderful crazy family, that's what an owner said on stage last night. As she belted...
Yes, after learning all day, they cleared the stage for performances.
First were the All Stars. Teenagers who'd earned the right to not only perform in Vegas, but go on tour. They caravan to such places as Chicago, to grace the stage at Lollapalooza. And even Bridgeport, Connecticut, for the Gathering of the Vibes. They even send a contingent to the Zappanale, over in Europe, to not only soak up Frank's music, but play it.
And the Sydney school flies over for performances too. Not everyone, just the greats. And the kids are incentivized to be great, because they want to go on tour. And sure, some make it to the big time, graduates pepper the professional ranks, Colbert has got a School of Rock alumnus in his band, but most don't. But they have an experience of a lifetime.
As did the owners and the general managers and the instructors, who got up and played the legendary hits for hours last night.
I heard a brilliant version of "Highway to Hell," it had me standing up, thrusting my arms in the air.
Jaw-dropping was the rendition of "Cosmik Debris," you know, the Zappa track. I certainly do, I played it as an alienated youth, I felt that Frank understood me, that's the power of music.
And "Under Pressure" and "Baba O'Riley" and "Rock of Ages"...
"All right
I got something to say
Yeah, it's better to burn out
Yeah, than fade away"
They give musicians a second chance. When they're between gigs, when their touring and live careers have dried up. They teach at the School of Rock. Which doesn't start until 2, so they can get there on time. And they can still perform on weekends.
"Rise up, gather 'round
Rock this place to the ground
Burn it up let's go for broke
Watch the night go up in smoke"
Actually, it is Vegas, one of the few places you can still puff away indoors. But long after midnight, when most people are tuckered out and trundle for bed, this crowd was out in full-force. Cheering on their brethren, slaying the axe, tickling the ivories, pounding the skins. They danced, they sang along, they cheered. You know, like at a rock and roll show.
"What do you want, what do you want
I want rock 'n' roll, yes I do
Long live rock 'n' roll"
I'm over sixty. I own no real estate. My future is uncertain. But I've got this sound, that I studied like the Bible. I know who played what and have followed the tree of life known as music all over the globe, and as I was standing in the Lounge last night I realized these were my people, these players, these instructors, these owners, who know that rock and roll can save your life, if you just let it.
"Rock of ages, rock of ages
Still rollin', keep a-rollin'
We got the power, got the glory
Just say you need it and if you need it
Say yeah"
YEAH!
Ain't that the truth.
--
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Friday 16 October 2015
Rhinofy-Joni Mitchell Playlist
NATHAN LA FRANEER
If you bought "Joni Mitchell," aka "Song To A Seagull," when it came out, you're a member of a very exclusive club or you're lying. There were no famous covers, no big media campaign, the record barely made a noise. Yet, when you discovered it sometime thereafter, which you did if you were a big Joni Mitchell fan, you became enraptured, because of the sound. This is my favorite cut on the LP, the story of a ride to the airport. Exquisitely recorded by Art Cryst and produced by David Crosby this is the sound of enough money to get it right, it's evidence of a lost art. Hearing the album is akin to viewing ancient relics of the Mayans and the Greeks.
MICHAEL FROM MOUNTAINS
Probably the most well-known song from the first album, you'll get this on the very first listen.
CACTUS TREE
Oh, that guitar!
You can't help but get hooked by the lyrics, I'll let you listen...
CHELSEA MORNING
By this time many knew who Joni Mitchell was, she was the woman who'd written Judy Collins's big hit "Both Sides Now."
This song, the second on Joni's second album, "Clouds," is the reason Chelsea Clinton sports that moniker, although the Clintons knew the tune from Collins's cover.
TIN ANGEL
This is the opener of "Clouds," from back when you didn't have to hit them right between the eyes to get their attention, when an album was a relatively brief statement we devoured. This was produced by Paul Rothchild, of Doors fame.
"I found someone to love today"
It sounds like she did.
Love is private, you smile on the inside, "Tin Angel" sounds like that inner glow.
I DON'T KNOW WHERE I STAND
My second favorite cut on "Clouds"...
This is the opposite of today's paradigm, wherein everybody evidences an indomitable confidence, even women. But if you've ever risked love, you know...that sometimes you don't know.
Whew!
THAT SONG ABOUT THE MIDWAY
My favorite cut on "Clouds," I completely missed it until I heard Bonnie Raitt's cover years later. Bonnie's rendition is better, but there's something haunting about Joni's original, like she's sitting in your living room singing, but not to you, but to a distant rogue you've never encountered that she's obsessing over.
SONGS TO AGING CHILDREN COME
Featured in the 1969 film of Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant," it's in the funeral/cemetery scene, in the snow. I saw it and never forgot it.
BOTH SIDES NOW
Yes, Joni includes her most famous song on her second album. It's the same, yet different, sans the production and the twinkly, hooky riff.
FOR FREE
The debut was good, the follow-up was excellent, but "Ladies Of The Canyon" was TRANSCENDENT! This level of greatness was not infrequent back then, we didn't expect it to become so elusive in the future.
"And I play if you have the money
Or if you're a friend to me"
Ditto. I'll do loads of favors for friends, I'll put my fingers to keyboard for you, everybody else pays...always.
CONVERSATION
The best track on "Ladies Of The Canyon," it's the story of having a better relationship with someone than they do with their significant other, at least in your eyes.
Conversation is everything. Doesn't matter how you look, how rich you might be, if you've got the gift of gab, if you can not only persuade but empathize, you're gonna win in the lottery of life.
"She removes him like a ring
To wash her hands
She only brings him out to show her friends
I want to free him"
But you can't, he's got to free himself.
THE ARRANGEMENT
"You could have been more
Than a name on the door
On the thirty-third floor in the air"
Do you wonder whether all those Ivy League graduates in finance are gonna wake up and realize they've taken the wrong path?
OF COURSE!
Life was different in the boomer era, personal fulfillment superseded remuneration, it wasn't until Reagan took office that we all started to dash for cash. And we counted on artists like Joni Mitchell to keep us honest.
RAINY NIGHT HOUSE
Supposedly about Leonard Cohen, this does not affect your appreciation of the track, which sounds like a rainy night, you know, just the two of you in the house, finding out who each other are.
THE PRIEST
A magical elixir of words and sounds, it'll penetrate your soul.
BIG YELLOW TAXI
I only include it because it's one of Joni's most famous tracks. It's been overplayed and over-covered, but her take still sounds fresh, it has not suffered from the passage of time.
"Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone"
Every baby boomer knows this lyric and verbalizes it and plays it through his brain constantly. Is change good or bad? Should you hold on or let go? I DON'T KNOW!
"They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot"
This was just at the advent of the Back To The Land movement, when we realized America's unchecked development might have a cost. Now we know it does.
WOODSTOCK
Released subsequent to the famous Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young version, it doesn't sport the iconic riff, but it does evidence loads more meaning.
THE CIRCLE GAME
Already a famous song, Joni put her personal stamp upon it.
ALL I WANT
The piece-de-resistance, "Blue" is one of the best albums ever cut. Not huge upon its release, it has stood the test of time, it's there waiting to be discovered by future generations. Taylor Swift was clueless as to its existence until I told her about it on the phone, she listened and subsequently titled her next album "Red."
"I am on a lonely road and I am traveling"
That's what we used to do, go on road trips. Before flights were cheap and we traveled to distant locations on a whim.
"I want to be strong I want to laugh along
I want to belong to the living"
My credo. I sing "All I Want" whenever I'm extremely happy, when I'm newly in love, after meeting Felice.
CALIFORNIA
"I'm going to see the folks I dig
I'll even kiss a Sunset pig
California I'm coming home"
Either you get it or you don't, either you need to live in the Golden State or you don't.
There are many tracks about my adopted homeland, but this one is definitive.
A CASE OF YOU
My favorite song on "Blue," "A Case Of You" was an album track buried on the second side which has been plucked free by generations, covered by everyone from Tori Amos to Prince, it evidences humanity and truth and has got that astounding metaphor.
"Oh I could drink a case of you darling
Still I'd be on my feet
Oh I would still be on my feet"
THE LAST TIME I SAW RICHARD
Exes. You were in love once, the memory fades, but never ever goes away, you're bonded forever, you share something personal that no one else does, but you can never ever recreate what you once had.
What a conundrum.
YOU TURN ME ON I'M A RADIO
Joni finally had a hit! You could hear her on the radio!
There's a bit of pandering to the format, the track is slick, but it's so infectious!
"I know you don't like weak women
You get bored so quick
And you don't like strong women
'Cause they're hip to your tricks"
I feel for the other sex, we make it tough. We want to be understood and coddled, we want to be treated just right, we keep sending messages that you're overbearing or inadequate. Joni understands.
Meanwhile, I've used the below lines in romantic encounters numerous times, they always seem to kill the deal, the opposite of my desire.
"Call me at the station
The lines are open"
BLONDE IN THE BLEACHERS
Male rock stars are pursuing something that can't be found, they believe if they become rich and famous their lives will work. Alas, this is not true.
WOMAN OF HEART AND MIND
Shocking because of the inclusion of the f-word, a no-no back in '72, "Woman Of Heart And Mind" is the best track on "For The Roses," it's the one I play most today.
"You know the times you impress me most
Are the times when you don't try
When you don't even try"
Heed this. The harder you work it, the more you turn us off. You appear desperate, you need to be loved, and that's unappealing to everybody. Just try to be yourself, it will work...with some.
LESSON IN SURVIVAL
"I get so damn timid
Not at all the spirit
That's inside of me
Oh baby I can't seem to make it
With you socially"
We want to be our best selves, but somehow we cannot. Even though we might have been able to once.
This is just a smidge of the plethora of truth in this track.
BARANGRILL
Hooky. I used to hear this in my head before the mallization of America, before you saw the same restaurants everywhere.
THE SAME SITUATION
Despite a mild radio hit, "For The Roses" underperformed, it was darker than "Blue," it ended up being for fans only, which is why it was such a surprise that "Court And Spark" was so gigantic.
"Caught in my struggle for higher achievements
And my search for love
That don't seem to cease"
I'd rather listen to Joni Mitchell on women's issues than Sheryl Sandberg any day of the week. Joni delineates the issues more clearly, she evidences the frustration, the questions, she makes males understand.
This is my favorite track on the album. Laden with insecurity, which everyone can identify with.
FREE MAN IN PARIS
"There's a lot of people asking for my time
They're trying to get ahead
They're trying to be a good friend of mine"
The best description of business I've ever encountered, it's the story of my life, it's why I no longer talk on the phone, they want to chew up my time just to serve themselves.
Supposedly about David Geffen, this was a hit despite being so personal, proving that platitudes are not necessary for mainstream success.
HELP ME
Seemingly every woman got the message that spring of '74, they all went out and bought "Court And Spark," they wanted to be escorted on their journey to love, "Help Me" was ubiquitous, played by everyone who'd fallen...in love that is.
PEOPLE'S PARTIES
Genius. This is Hollywood. Still. I sing this in my head all the time, especially when I'm at an affair which everybody would die to be at while I'm wondering what I'm doing there.
"Saying laughing and crying
You know it's the same release"
Where this expression became famous. Truly.
DOWN TO YOU
Intimate, quiet, more like what came before as opposed to the rest of "Court And Spark," "Down To You" would fit perfectly on "Ladies Of The Canyon."
"Everything comes and goes
Marked by lovers and styles of clothes"
I knew it then, I know it more now, that's the power of the artist, making truth self-evident.
TWISTED
A cover, Joni rescued the song from obscurity, made it famous for the ages.
COLD BLUE STEEL AND SWEET FIRE
1974's double live album was a bit too slick, but some songs shone, like this.
WOMAN OF HEARD AND MIND
A bit slower, this live iteration has even more meaning than the original, if that's possible.
IN FRANCE THEY KISS ON MAIN STREET
I'd be lying if I told you I loved 1975's jazz-influenced "The Hissing Of Summer Lawns." This track is the most famous and most palatable to old fans.
SONG FOR SHARON
"Hejira" is a revelation. It did not restore Joni Mitchell's sales success, casual fans moved on, but the hard core who bought and digested the LP were absolutely stunned, there was a new level of insight, the album is incredible.
This eight and a half minute epic is the centerpiece. Just listen.
However, I must point out the words I hear in my head too much, when those frustrated by modern life can no longer endure it:
"A woman I knew just drowned herself
The well was deep and muddy
She was just shaking off futility
Or punishing somebody
My friends were calling up all day yesterday
All emotions and abstractions
It seems we all live so close to that line
And so far from satisfaction"
When "Hejira" came out I was close to that line, I'm much further away today, I've got to give credit to "Song For Sharon" for keeping me here.
REFUGE OF THE ROADS
With the legendary Jaco Pastorius on bass, "Refuge Of The Roads" was about a road trip, it closed the LP, it set your mind free.
The road used to set you free, before modern technology, before cell phones, before Instagram, when life was interior as opposed to exterior, when you were so often alone, in your own mind, with the tunes as your only companion.
FURRY SINGS THE BLUES
Handy is cast in bronze, I saw him when I went to Beale Street, I looked for him, I couldn't leave Memphis without seeing him. Joni brought W.C. back from the dead, he's fading into the woodwork again.
AMELIA
An incredible sound, the track is about Amelia Earhart, from back before most baby boomers knew who she was.
THE THREE GREAT STIMULANTS
I saw Joni at the Troubadour, a special guest, she was unannounced, there were few in the venue, she played this accompanied only by herself, the performance was indelible, as great as anything I've ever seen.
"I saw a little lawyer on the tube
He said 'It's so easy now anyone can sue'"
It was 1985, lawyers were in love, yuppies ruled, what once was was now gone.
But the music remains.
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/1LuHKHH
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If you bought "Joni Mitchell," aka "Song To A Seagull," when it came out, you're a member of a very exclusive club or you're lying. There were no famous covers, no big media campaign, the record barely made a noise. Yet, when you discovered it sometime thereafter, which you did if you were a big Joni Mitchell fan, you became enraptured, because of the sound. This is my favorite cut on the LP, the story of a ride to the airport. Exquisitely recorded by Art Cryst and produced by David Crosby this is the sound of enough money to get it right, it's evidence of a lost art. Hearing the album is akin to viewing ancient relics of the Mayans and the Greeks.
MICHAEL FROM MOUNTAINS
Probably the most well-known song from the first album, you'll get this on the very first listen.
CACTUS TREE
Oh, that guitar!
You can't help but get hooked by the lyrics, I'll let you listen...
CHELSEA MORNING
By this time many knew who Joni Mitchell was, she was the woman who'd written Judy Collins's big hit "Both Sides Now."
This song, the second on Joni's second album, "Clouds," is the reason Chelsea Clinton sports that moniker, although the Clintons knew the tune from Collins's cover.
TIN ANGEL
This is the opener of "Clouds," from back when you didn't have to hit them right between the eyes to get their attention, when an album was a relatively brief statement we devoured. This was produced by Paul Rothchild, of Doors fame.
"I found someone to love today"
It sounds like she did.
Love is private, you smile on the inside, "Tin Angel" sounds like that inner glow.
I DON'T KNOW WHERE I STAND
My second favorite cut on "Clouds"...
This is the opposite of today's paradigm, wherein everybody evidences an indomitable confidence, even women. But if you've ever risked love, you know...that sometimes you don't know.
Whew!
THAT SONG ABOUT THE MIDWAY
My favorite cut on "Clouds," I completely missed it until I heard Bonnie Raitt's cover years later. Bonnie's rendition is better, but there's something haunting about Joni's original, like she's sitting in your living room singing, but not to you, but to a distant rogue you've never encountered that she's obsessing over.
SONGS TO AGING CHILDREN COME
Featured in the 1969 film of Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant," it's in the funeral/cemetery scene, in the snow. I saw it and never forgot it.
BOTH SIDES NOW
Yes, Joni includes her most famous song on her second album. It's the same, yet different, sans the production and the twinkly, hooky riff.
FOR FREE
The debut was good, the follow-up was excellent, but "Ladies Of The Canyon" was TRANSCENDENT! This level of greatness was not infrequent back then, we didn't expect it to become so elusive in the future.
"And I play if you have the money
Or if you're a friend to me"
Ditto. I'll do loads of favors for friends, I'll put my fingers to keyboard for you, everybody else pays...always.
CONVERSATION
The best track on "Ladies Of The Canyon," it's the story of having a better relationship with someone than they do with their significant other, at least in your eyes.
Conversation is everything. Doesn't matter how you look, how rich you might be, if you've got the gift of gab, if you can not only persuade but empathize, you're gonna win in the lottery of life.
"She removes him like a ring
To wash her hands
She only brings him out to show her friends
I want to free him"
But you can't, he's got to free himself.
THE ARRANGEMENT
"You could have been more
Than a name on the door
On the thirty-third floor in the air"
Do you wonder whether all those Ivy League graduates in finance are gonna wake up and realize they've taken the wrong path?
OF COURSE!
Life was different in the boomer era, personal fulfillment superseded remuneration, it wasn't until Reagan took office that we all started to dash for cash. And we counted on artists like Joni Mitchell to keep us honest.
RAINY NIGHT HOUSE
Supposedly about Leonard Cohen, this does not affect your appreciation of the track, which sounds like a rainy night, you know, just the two of you in the house, finding out who each other are.
THE PRIEST
A magical elixir of words and sounds, it'll penetrate your soul.
BIG YELLOW TAXI
I only include it because it's one of Joni's most famous tracks. It's been overplayed and over-covered, but her take still sounds fresh, it has not suffered from the passage of time.
"Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone"
Every baby boomer knows this lyric and verbalizes it and plays it through his brain constantly. Is change good or bad? Should you hold on or let go? I DON'T KNOW!
"They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot"
This was just at the advent of the Back To The Land movement, when we realized America's unchecked development might have a cost. Now we know it does.
WOODSTOCK
Released subsequent to the famous Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young version, it doesn't sport the iconic riff, but it does evidence loads more meaning.
THE CIRCLE GAME
Already a famous song, Joni put her personal stamp upon it.
ALL I WANT
The piece-de-resistance, "Blue" is one of the best albums ever cut. Not huge upon its release, it has stood the test of time, it's there waiting to be discovered by future generations. Taylor Swift was clueless as to its existence until I told her about it on the phone, she listened and subsequently titled her next album "Red."
"I am on a lonely road and I am traveling"
That's what we used to do, go on road trips. Before flights were cheap and we traveled to distant locations on a whim.
"I want to be strong I want to laugh along
I want to belong to the living"
My credo. I sing "All I Want" whenever I'm extremely happy, when I'm newly in love, after meeting Felice.
CALIFORNIA
"I'm going to see the folks I dig
I'll even kiss a Sunset pig
California I'm coming home"
Either you get it or you don't, either you need to live in the Golden State or you don't.
There are many tracks about my adopted homeland, but this one is definitive.
A CASE OF YOU
My favorite song on "Blue," "A Case Of You" was an album track buried on the second side which has been plucked free by generations, covered by everyone from Tori Amos to Prince, it evidences humanity and truth and has got that astounding metaphor.
"Oh I could drink a case of you darling
Still I'd be on my feet
Oh I would still be on my feet"
THE LAST TIME I SAW RICHARD
Exes. You were in love once, the memory fades, but never ever goes away, you're bonded forever, you share something personal that no one else does, but you can never ever recreate what you once had.
What a conundrum.
YOU TURN ME ON I'M A RADIO
Joni finally had a hit! You could hear her on the radio!
There's a bit of pandering to the format, the track is slick, but it's so infectious!
"I know you don't like weak women
You get bored so quick
And you don't like strong women
'Cause they're hip to your tricks"
I feel for the other sex, we make it tough. We want to be understood and coddled, we want to be treated just right, we keep sending messages that you're overbearing or inadequate. Joni understands.
Meanwhile, I've used the below lines in romantic encounters numerous times, they always seem to kill the deal, the opposite of my desire.
"Call me at the station
The lines are open"
BLONDE IN THE BLEACHERS
Male rock stars are pursuing something that can't be found, they believe if they become rich and famous their lives will work. Alas, this is not true.
WOMAN OF HEART AND MIND
Shocking because of the inclusion of the f-word, a no-no back in '72, "Woman Of Heart And Mind" is the best track on "For The Roses," it's the one I play most today.
"You know the times you impress me most
Are the times when you don't try
When you don't even try"
Heed this. The harder you work it, the more you turn us off. You appear desperate, you need to be loved, and that's unappealing to everybody. Just try to be yourself, it will work...with some.
LESSON IN SURVIVAL
"I get so damn timid
Not at all the spirit
That's inside of me
Oh baby I can't seem to make it
With you socially"
We want to be our best selves, but somehow we cannot. Even though we might have been able to once.
This is just a smidge of the plethora of truth in this track.
BARANGRILL
Hooky. I used to hear this in my head before the mallization of America, before you saw the same restaurants everywhere.
THE SAME SITUATION
Despite a mild radio hit, "For The Roses" underperformed, it was darker than "Blue," it ended up being for fans only, which is why it was such a surprise that "Court And Spark" was so gigantic.
"Caught in my struggle for higher achievements
And my search for love
That don't seem to cease"
I'd rather listen to Joni Mitchell on women's issues than Sheryl Sandberg any day of the week. Joni delineates the issues more clearly, she evidences the frustration, the questions, she makes males understand.
This is my favorite track on the album. Laden with insecurity, which everyone can identify with.
FREE MAN IN PARIS
"There's a lot of people asking for my time
They're trying to get ahead
They're trying to be a good friend of mine"
The best description of business I've ever encountered, it's the story of my life, it's why I no longer talk on the phone, they want to chew up my time just to serve themselves.
Supposedly about David Geffen, this was a hit despite being so personal, proving that platitudes are not necessary for mainstream success.
HELP ME
Seemingly every woman got the message that spring of '74, they all went out and bought "Court And Spark," they wanted to be escorted on their journey to love, "Help Me" was ubiquitous, played by everyone who'd fallen...in love that is.
PEOPLE'S PARTIES
Genius. This is Hollywood. Still. I sing this in my head all the time, especially when I'm at an affair which everybody would die to be at while I'm wondering what I'm doing there.
"Saying laughing and crying
You know it's the same release"
Where this expression became famous. Truly.
DOWN TO YOU
Intimate, quiet, more like what came before as opposed to the rest of "Court And Spark," "Down To You" would fit perfectly on "Ladies Of The Canyon."
"Everything comes and goes
Marked by lovers and styles of clothes"
I knew it then, I know it more now, that's the power of the artist, making truth self-evident.
TWISTED
A cover, Joni rescued the song from obscurity, made it famous for the ages.
COLD BLUE STEEL AND SWEET FIRE
1974's double live album was a bit too slick, but some songs shone, like this.
WOMAN OF HEARD AND MIND
A bit slower, this live iteration has even more meaning than the original, if that's possible.
IN FRANCE THEY KISS ON MAIN STREET
I'd be lying if I told you I loved 1975's jazz-influenced "The Hissing Of Summer Lawns." This track is the most famous and most palatable to old fans.
SONG FOR SHARON
"Hejira" is a revelation. It did not restore Joni Mitchell's sales success, casual fans moved on, but the hard core who bought and digested the LP were absolutely stunned, there was a new level of insight, the album is incredible.
This eight and a half minute epic is the centerpiece. Just listen.
However, I must point out the words I hear in my head too much, when those frustrated by modern life can no longer endure it:
"A woman I knew just drowned herself
The well was deep and muddy
She was just shaking off futility
Or punishing somebody
My friends were calling up all day yesterday
All emotions and abstractions
It seems we all live so close to that line
And so far from satisfaction"
When "Hejira" came out I was close to that line, I'm much further away today, I've got to give credit to "Song For Sharon" for keeping me here.
REFUGE OF THE ROADS
With the legendary Jaco Pastorius on bass, "Refuge Of The Roads" was about a road trip, it closed the LP, it set your mind free.
The road used to set you free, before modern technology, before cell phones, before Instagram, when life was interior as opposed to exterior, when you were so often alone, in your own mind, with the tunes as your only companion.
FURRY SINGS THE BLUES
Handy is cast in bronze, I saw him when I went to Beale Street, I looked for him, I couldn't leave Memphis without seeing him. Joni brought W.C. back from the dead, he's fading into the woodwork again.
AMELIA
An incredible sound, the track is about Amelia Earhart, from back before most baby boomers knew who she was.
THE THREE GREAT STIMULANTS
I saw Joni at the Troubadour, a special guest, she was unannounced, there were few in the venue, she played this accompanied only by herself, the performance was indelible, as great as anything I've ever seen.
"I saw a little lawyer on the tube
He said 'It's so easy now anyone can sue'"
It was 1985, lawyers were in love, yuppies ruled, what once was was now gone.
But the music remains.
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/1LuHKHH
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
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If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
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