Mailbag

From: Bill Mumy
Subject: Revolver

Bob,

I'm sure I'm only one of many who will be correcting you on a Revolver point: Ringo, who I gigged with last month, did not write "Yellow Submarine".
But Revolver Rules!

Peace & Love,
Mumy

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From: Tom Rush
Subject: Re: I Want To Hold Your Hand

Bob,

Asher is quoted somewhere (maybe YOU sent it to me?) as saying that he signed James because I had recorded his songs, and that was a good enough recommendation for him. Words to that effect. Very flattering!

And it is sad indeed how so many of the older generation are losing their chops. I, on the other hand, am better than ever. Everybody says so!

Coming to McCabe's next month, Friday the 16th.

Best,
TR

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From: Jeff Lorber
Subject: Re: I Want To Hold Your Hand

did Peter mention that his mom gave oboe lessons to George Martin?

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Subject: Re: I Want To Hold Your Hand

I am in the music business because of the amazement of hearing "I Want To Hold Your Hand" for the first time. It drove my love of music. I never heard anything like that. I was 14 years old and I never heard that sound before. Bouncy tune, poppy upbeat harmonies and the jangly guitars. Wow! I still get goosebumps when I hear it today. It's my ringtone. And when my phone rings I tell all that hear it how it was probably the most important influence in my life. And to cap it off my creed in life is "The love you take is equal to the love you make". So they also had an amazing influence in my life with the last lyrics they recorded.

Jim Koplik
Live Nation President/Connecticut and Upstate New York

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From: Allison Hagendorf
Subject: Re: Rockin' Vibes

If you go to Spotify Browse and click on "Rock" - the majority of the lists in there are mine. Yes, it is A LOT, but only a person as mental about music as I am could handle it. I know you can relate ;-)

Each one of my playlists is my pride and joy and is a living, breathing thing. I'm constantly adding to, updating, re-sequencing, finessing, and nurturing each list. It's extremely rewarding to witness the power of playlisting firsthand, and to feel the gratitude and appreciation from the bands on a daily basis. I view each playlist as a different flavor, so there's something for everyone. Each one is a home for bands to live, and fans to love.

I'm so glad you discovered Kaleo. Great band. They, for example, already had 12 million streams from my playlists on the day they were added to KROQ. It feels great to be part of the story, and I absolutely love being on music early.

Another highlight for me, is that I curate these playlists in collaboration with the fans. Every single day I know exactly how these listeners feel about the songs and I make my adjustments based on their instant and consistent feedback. I'm a data nerd and obsess over seeing how songs are performing within a playlist and on the platform overall. I may create and oversee a wide network of global playlists, but at the end of the day, I'm a music fan curating the best possible playlists based on insight from and for other music fans.

Rock music may not live on Top 40 these days, but it's more than alive and well. In fact it's thriving in more forms than it ever has before. Growing up as a massive music fan, slaving over a mix tape was the ultimate gift I could give someone. Now I get to do that everyday on a global scale. It's just beyond. I'm grateful, and I'm on a mission...and I'm loving every single second of it.

Your post made my day. Thanks so much for sharing the love.

All My Best,

Allison

Allison Hagendorf
Spotify | Global Head Of Rock

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From: Todd Carey
Subject: Re: Rockin' Vibes

Nice as always Bob!

PS great words on Bob Schneider. I've been part of his "Song Game" for years. He e-mails a small group of writers (Jason Mraz & more) a key phrase and we write a song containing that phrase. The only rule is the song must be competed and e-mailed back by Sunday at midnight - or you're OUT :)

Keep it up!

Todd Carey

Www.toddcareymusic.com

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From: Marty Schwartz
Subject: Re: Dead & Company At Irvine Meadows

Hey Bob nice work. I actually love the interest from younger people John Mayer has brought to the Dead. As an online guitar teacher, I have seen a dramatic increase in the guitar lesson requests for Grateful Dead material. It's quite interesting actually.

Thanks,
Marty

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From: David Bach Biedebach
Subject: Re: Friday Night Playlist

Hi Bob,

I live in Franklin, TN. Walter Egan lives here and occasionally is a substitute teacher at a high school here. In fact, 3 of my sons have had Mr. Egan as a teacher. None of them knew "Magnet and Steel". I was more excited than they were. But they all said that Mr. Egan is a cool teacher. Ya gotta love that!

David Bach

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From: Peter Noone
Subject: Re: Taylor/Kanye/Kim Brouhaha

thanks for the mention bob
any penetration win makes my day
ask the plaster casters!

Peter Noone

P.S. oops I don't even know what kanye and kim and taylor are arguing about I tuned out of that kind of showbiz around 1967

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From: Ankur Javeri
Subject: Re: Bill Simmons/The Ringer

Bob,

You nailed this one. I've been a Bill Simmons fan since he was nothing more than your average Joe sports fan giving his opinion on a basketball game. But this show is simply cringe worthy. This guy developed a fan base because he was himself and that's what we liked, his voice, his enthusiasm for basketball and sports in general. My guess is he has some targets that are demanded by HBO and he knows the size of his niche fan base isn't enough. Therefore at the risk of losing his true fans, the ones that were there from day 1, he created this let's try to be like John Oliver but for sports and entertainment garbage and just doesn't work bc he is out of his element. On top of it all, he is not a comedian but trying to hard to be one. Nothing is worse than hearing a lame joke, written by one of the 5 ( yes, 5!!!)writers, delivered poorly.

Problem is as an original fan you know this isn't him. And when you try to fix what wasn't broken to win a broader audience you are just going to kill your career. Nothing is worse than losing a fan who liked you for being yourself.

All these guests are front loaded, they are not going to get better.

Did I mention the guy has 5 freaking writers on the show, seriously?

He is a sports guy, wtf is he doing making shitty jokes about Game of Thrones. I could care less about what he thinks about anything that is not sports related. His ego got to him. Terrible idea, terrible execution. HBO was going to be his savior but now he is just a sell out.

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From: Jay Sweet
Subject: Fwd: Bonnaroo Bummer

Newport Folk sells out before lineup is announced
Didn't even announce a few headliners until they literally walked onstage.

No press releases
No marketing

While maybe a raisin compared to the watermelon sized events you
mention in your post, arguably just as sweet.

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From: Charles Haid
Subject: Re: Spontaneous Versus Calculated

You're right,Bob, that the older generation doesn't get it- and a lot of us also don't give a shit about twitsnapface and the desperation it evokes.
They asked the guy who pointed out Climate Change in the mid 60's how he felt now. He told em that he was in his 90's and had warned about it and that's all he could do and now it's their problem cause he won't be around.
Our generation was of college age in the 60s.
Many of us marched in both the south and on Washington and, likewise pointed out the need for change and tried to work for it through our professions. We raised our children with the same ideals and they have carried on.
Yeah, now we're "old"
like you keep on about
and our priorities have shifted to reflection and a gentler life.
We are done. We do for others and our families now. We are the luckiest old farts in the history of the world.
We wish the tweeters well.
I'm back to my garden, my grandkids, my music and my books.
I believe in the young people and wish them every good blessing in their struggle.
They, like us, wish to change the world that's dying to get better.

Charlie Haid

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Subject: Re: Classic Beach Boys

Hi Bob,

Brian Wilson wanted something that made the scary Theremin sound from sci-fi movies like "The Day The Earth Stood Stil" for " Good Vibrations". But for the actual recording they had Paul Tanner play a Heathkit tube-type audio oscillator coupled to a mechanical action that allowed the player to mark notes along a ruler-type scale, not a Theremin.

Thanks for your always amazing and inspiring letter. Read everyday here in Sweden.
All the best

stefan kery

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Subject: Re: Classic Beach Boys

Bob,

Your take on the Beach Boys, and their place in history is spot on. And like the Beatles, so much of their best work were the songs that were never singled. I am so happy that you recognize the brilliance of the Surf's Up album. In 1971 I was a kid working in the coolest record store in Cincinnati, and the Beach Boys were the farthest thing from cool. This album didn't sell shit. But one day a customer returned a defective copy, and I decided to throw it on our turntable. I was blown away. I dropped in to our local WEA branch and they had a box of promo copies of the album in their mailroom, so I asked if I could have a couple of copies. They said "nobody wants that record, you can have All of them". I spent weeks visiting my friends and begging them to suspend listening to Hendrix and the James Gang just long enough to give this a listen. I was ridiculed - nobody got it.

About 12 years ago I had the pleasure of dinner with James Taylor, Keith Urban and Gary Borman, followed by a life altering experience with them at the McCartney debut of his Back in the USA tour at Staples Center. It was the only time I have ever been around James, and for whatever reason, I chose to espouse on the impact this album had on my life. None of them had any knowledge of its existence. At this point it was out of print. But I had lugged 10 copies of the vinyl through four moves around the country, so I sent a copy to each of them. I got the nicest note from James, thanking me for turning him on to this "wonderful music".

I still listen to it often. And Til I Die may be the last of the many great Brian Wilson songs.

- Mike Dungan

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Subject: Re: Classic Beach Boys

The Beach Boys influence runs beyond the obvious. I'm a funk rock guitar player but in 1993 I would sit buzzed on a tour bus for hours with Terrence Trent Darby who was an insane soul singer listening over and over to Warmth Of The Sun. Each listen would seem to open more doors peeling back more and more layers...years later I would hear this in bands like Radiohead. And if you want the original punk rock band or at least punk rock drummer watch The T.A.M.I Show...Dennis Wilson's drumming on I Get Around was Dave Grohl before Dave was Dave Grohl.

Weird thing is Bob I have surfed all my life but I really don't think of them when surfing...I reserve that for The Ventures.

Stevie Salas

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From: Rupert Hine
Subject: Re: Classic Beach Boys

Hi Bob

In amongst my tirades against Google's YouTube removing the 'business' out of music - it is a pleasure to be jolted back to the music - in this case the undeniable trigger for my personal journey to learn how to paint pictures with sound. I have spent my life producing 130 albums quite simply because of 'Pet Sounds'.
What would have been a passing interest in the Beach Boys - as the voices of Southern California, exporting their sunshine and wide open spatial view, (there wasn't much there for a Wimbledon boy) was nonetheless arrested in one 45-minute moment!

I recorded my first single with Decca as a 16-year old the year before (encouraged by my love for Paul Simon's Songbook album) but then without warning suddenly Brian Wilson dropped this Pop masterpiece on the world - primarily while the rest of the band were away touring! He was in that moment, the first true 'studio-rat'.

Whilst Spector opened that sonic painting box - his was really a one-trick picture applied to many different artist voices. It was Brian who dreamed up extraordinary ways of creating completely new sonic canvasses at a time when there was none of the trickery and sound manipulation techniques that drove everything from the 80s to today..

It was his use of individual instruments in such odd combinations doubling each other -'merging' to create a new 'instrument' - that was so breathtakingly new. And quintessentially mono. With instruments stacked vertically - that merging (morphing if you will) was how it could be done. And Brian's deafness in one ear rendered the newly arriving stereo meaningless to him. His sound-magician's palette was originated in mono.

All the subsequent pet Sounds re-releases with stereo placements unpick the original stunning canvasses and we become side-tracked by hearing 'the innards' too clearly to sustain the illusion. The true magic is undone.

'Good Vibrations' and' Heroes and Villains' though released outside of Pet Sounds were very much part of the set.

Then as we now know Brian imploded whilst attempting the seemingly impossible task of amplifying these incredible techniques to write and record what was to have been a double album masterwork with that working title - Smile. The expectations were so high - and so was Brian. By then he was spending hours at a piano in a sandbox going round in circles induced by lysergic stimulation... and this amazing mind lost control permanently.

By way of a Beach Boys postscript - Carl took up his brother's reins for 'Holland' in a more 70s setting (but wonderfully atmospheric pictures nonetheless) and then finally by way of an epilogue - Dennis's 'Pacific Ocean Blue' solo album not long before he died showed us in tracks like 'River Song' how much of his oldest brother was alive and well in spirit.

I guess we all have a truly personal take on such a stupendously uneven and chaotic oeuvre. Whole albums are dogs whilst some are more impossibly brilliant than we ever thought possible at the time - as if to emphasize the fragility of the creative mind.

Thanks for that total stock-take Bob, twas good to be reminded.
Best regards
Rupert Hine

PS - Back to my millennial world of having to re-build our relationship (post-Brexit) with the only body that has both the inclination and the power to fight Google's inexorable strip-mining of the planet's arts and culture - the EU. Aaargh.

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Subject: Re: Love & Mercy

Dear Bob,

Don't feel badly, a dear friend of mine was asked by Brian to co-produce and album with him, and during the whole recording and mixing of the album, Brian would not say a word to him....Often, Brian observed the recordings by sitting in a room upstairs, with earphones on, connected to the board in the studio below.....I went to a session with him and Brian would speak to everyone one, except him.....And as soon as he found out that I was his co-producer's friend, he stopped talking to me too ! Needless to say it was a very strange evening !

I think that the saddest thing about most films or shows about music industry personalities is that they seem to angst over explaining or making background details clear, and in the process become stiff, unnatural, phony and fake....The other major problem is that no one will willing to tell the truth ! In life we are all flawed, so why is every one trying to make the characters appear perfect.

As I scan through the list of talented people that I have had the pleasure of working with in the entertainment industry, throughout my life, they were all devils and angels, kind and cruel, wonderful thoughtful people and complete assholes at the same time. It is these dynamics that create those amazing personas. So why can't they be portrayed as they truly, and really were? I think that those who insist upon burying saints, are doing everyone, especially the fans, a huge disservice, and I wish they would stop.

Peace,
Stephen-Craig Aristei

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From: Dan Navarro
Subject: Re: How To Make It

Good list. I think you forgot "luck." For years, I?ve been saying, "Really
only three elements to success. Talent, persistence and luck. Of the
three, the most expendable is talent. The least expendable is persistence."

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From: Lesley Bracker
Subject: Re: Michael Cimino

It's Michelle Cimino. I would see her often at Toscana and she lived her life as Michelle. If I've learned anything from my Trans friends, it is to refer to them as who they are, and always have been, even if I first knew them by a different name, or gender.

P.S. It's wild. It's as though all reference to Michelle is erased and the press specifically only says "he" and "Michael" in the obits. I'm shocked. She wore skirts! Every time I saw her she was clearly living as Michelle. So strange

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From: Sal Paradise
Subject: Re: More Apple/Tidal

Hi Bob
I wonder if Apple are after Tidal's algorithm things because like Spotify, Tidal show you day to day activity on your tracks but on Apple I've noticed they just put my biggest seller first and everything else in order of release. However much one sells these Spotift/Tidal statistics are really handy for gauging public taste and can help you write better stuff and not repeat tracks similar to the unpopular ones. Anyway from Apple I learn nothing. Keep up the great blogging.. regards Sal

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Subject: RE: My Uber Driver

Last July 4th weekend we were in Chicago for a long weekend, a wedding and to catch one of the last "Dead" shows. The week before, the local papers had a story about how a Dolphins rookie was also driving for Uber. He was new to Miami, needed some extra money and wanted to meet people.

The wedding was held in an old furniture factory converted to a showroom for antiques and repros. We were all staying at the W Lakeshore. There was supposed to be a bus shuttle back and forth. Between the concert, 2 baseball games and shootings, the bus never arrived. So, together with the Groom's Uncle, we Uber'd back to the hotel. Within 5 minutes, a new Chevy picks us up. The driver is a beautiful young woman. I get in the front seat, my wife and the uncle in back. We start chatting and I tell her about the football player. So, I ask, "what's your day job"?

Turns out she's a Northwestern Law graduate working as an Assistant AG for the state. She said she began driving 4 years before to help her brother with college costs.

Now, here's the kicker. The state hadn't yet passed it's annual budget which was a month overdue - she'd been furloughed and was happy to be picking up rent money.

The things you find out with just one question.

Regards,
Rick Pardo

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From: Todd Devonshire
Subject: Re: My Uber Driver

I was a forest fire protection worker in northern Saskatchewan. All thru university. Paid for university. And let me tell you, it's a dangerous fucking job. I've seen helicopters crash into the ground and helicopters crash into water with men and women on board. I've seen guys on ATV's try to out run a fire and barely escape.

But my own story about fire fighting really changed my life.

It was a slow season in Saskatchewan and Alberta needed help. So I signed up to go for a two week stint to help out. I was up in Slave Lake on a huge fire. This was in the late 1990s. I was patrolling the front line with another fire fighter. We had about 500 ft of hose making sure it wouldn't jump the line. Our water source was perfect. We held the line. All was going well until the winds picked up. There was no fire and really I thought that meant no danger. My partner was on the hose and I said I'll take a turn patrolling the line while he went and ate lunch. But What made the line dangerous was the winds. The fire had been going for days and while it never jumped the line, it was burning slowly where one could not see. On the outside the spruce trees looked like they had not been touched. But the fire burned slowly inside it as they stood upright. All it would take is a good gust of wind and they would topple over. On the fire line, they were called widow makers. Because if one ever fell and hit you, that's what it made the ones you loved. Widow Maker. I wasn't married, but I was engaged to be married. And when I grabbed the hose from my fire line partner that day, I felt the winds pick up. And as I turned towards the fire, there was a big old spruce tree coming right at me. All I could was dive to my left and brace myself for the end. Fortunately, only the branches hit my legs. There were bruises, but nothing more. But The big old spruce made such a sound when it hit the ground, I've never forgotten the sound. My partner was about twenty feet away and turned around to see me just escape. Was I rattled? For sure. And as I laid there I thought of my mom, my dad, my sisters. My family. I hopped to my feet trying to be cool about it all. My partner was freaking out as the winds were really crazy and it felt like any tree could pluck us at any second. So we decided to go to safety. Before we did I went over to the spruce tree that lay on the ground. I tried to put my arms around it but could only get half way. It was that big. I worked the rest of the day acting like it was no big deal. When we got back to camp, I went and had a shower. I cried in that shower like I have never cried in my life. You probably wouldn't have known I was even in a shower, truth be known.

6 days later I got home and you know what I did? I called off the engagement to my fiancé. In that moment of life and death, I never thought of her once. Not even for a second. That big old spruce taught me more that day than maybe any day I have lived. Yeah , it's silly. But that's life and it has funny ways of revealing things to you. Sometimes you pay attention. Sometimes you don't. But that day I did. Eventually I married the right girl and we have two wonderful boys.

Bob, your email today made me remember this story. The forest fire season is a dangerous one and I think of all the men and women fighting fires here in Canada and the US. I hope they all come home safe every night. You can replace buildings, but you can't replace a life. I hope that Uber driver can keep training those folks on the line because it's so important. I hope he can train them yearly so he doesn't need Uber. Forest fires move faster uphill than they do down hill. Did you know that? It dries everything in front of them thus the reason they become dangerous. Tough to outrun a fire uphill. But any advantage you can have when you need to escape one is worth it. That's why training and fitness are important. You hope you never need it.

Always enjoy the emails, but especially enjoyed this one tonight.

Sign me
Saskatchewan Fire Guy.

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From: Armak
Subject: Re: Re-Uber

Here in New Orleans, with our film economy is free-fall, tons of crew
have taken to driving Uber.

Best story I've heard - Driver pulls up at Passenger's house, Passenger runs out and throws a DOG in the back seat, says "You're taking Patches to the address in the app" and runs back inside. Driver drove the dog across town, to what turned out to be a waiting dogsitter.

Randy
New Orleans

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From: Eric Jarvis
Subject: Re: Re-Uber


My favorite Uber experience was a ride from a ride from a committee meeting for The Recording Academy in Santa Monica to LAX.

A pleasant and funny young man driving a spotlessly clean black VW Passat picked me up. He almost immediately asked if I was a musician and what I was doing there in Santa Monica. He then told me his stepdad was a musician and had been in "kind of a famous band" back in the day. I asked what band and he told me "they were called Mr. Mister," seeming doubtful that I'd heard of them. I asked him what instrument he played. He said "bass guitar. I said "your stepdad was the lead singer for Mr. Mister?" He laughed and said yes.

It was awesome.

Best --
Eric

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Subject: Re: Re-Uber

Hey Bob , Uber story , as if you need another :

My friend and i were in Pittsburgh and doing a very early airport ride at about 5 am . After staying up too late following the first show on the Springsteen River tour , the driver begins telling us all about Pittsburgh and its musical history . This guy was really knowledgeable , but we were half asleep . We are cruising above the speed limit as you do when no one else is on the road , and he pulls a clarinet from between his legs and starts jamming , steering with his knees while playing with his hands, and looking at us in the rearview mirror . We were wide awake by the time we got to the Airport! i mean , you can't make this shit up!

Danny Clinch

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Subject: Re: Re-Uber

During a 2013 fall tour, I played Nashville and stayed at an AirBnb for the first time, a nice couple's house who were renting out their guest room to help pay bills.

I awoke next morning to discover my hosts had forgot to turn off the stove burners before leaving for work, breakfast pots a cooking, smoking; no fire alarms sounding! (Dead batteries?)

They also left me with their dog, and left a note asking if I'd let him outside before I leave. No problem! I have dogs, too. However, their instructions that he would be OK roam the yard on his own wasn't the case, as he bolted. 30 minutes later I found him at a neighbor's garden.

Doggie host made up for it with some good cuddles, but some of this is for the dogs!

Mike Vial

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Subject: Re: My Uber Driver

Bob:

I enjoyed reading about your Uber experience and your observations about people and the stories of their lives. I had such an experience with an Uber driver in Nashville.

I was in Nashville last fall for a two-day meeting with a client of my firm. I had some free time one afternoon, so I decided to take in some history and visit The Hermitage, the plantation home of President Andrew Jackson. It's about 12 miles from downtown Nashville. With the help of my kids, of course, I had previously downloaded the Uber app, but had never used it. Based upon the recommendation of a young man at the front desk of my hotel, it seemed like a good time to try it.

My Uber driver was a pleasant and talkative middle aged woman who couldn't have been nicer. She was a local whose passengers were mostly visitors or musicians. Being a music fan myself, I asked her if I might know any of the musicians she's driven. She told me her recent fare was Andra Day. I said I never heard of her. She said "well, take a listen" and slipped "Cheers To The Fall" into the CD player. She played most of the album on the ride to The Hermitage and we talked about music. Here we were, me and this stranger - I think her name was Charlene - sharing our love of music during the 25 minute ride. Making a connection, enjoying a shared interest.

I failed to mention that Charlene asked me where I was from. I told her I was from Massachusetts. So here's the punchline: the next night my client took me out to eat at Edley's Bar-B-Que. While we were standing on the curb waiting to cross 12th Avenue, a car slows down and stops right in front of us. The passenger side window rolls down and Charlene leans over, waves at me, smiles, and yells, "hey shouldn't you be back in Boston by now." I said I was going home tomorrow and she thanked me for visiting Nashville.

Think of the coincidence. Here I"m in Nashville, where I don't know anyone, I take my first Uber the previous day and my Uber driver happens to drive down the street the next evening where I'm standing, recognizes me, and takes the time to say "hello." I doubt that would have happened if I took a taxi. Maybe this story says more about the people of Nashville than Uber, but I don't think so.

By the way, when I got home, I went out an purchased "Cheers To The Fall."

Ben Fierro

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From: Rebekah Ann
Subject: Re: Facebook Takes News Out Of The News Feed

I've been in business a LONG time.

not the music business, but business.

What I find interesting, is the principles of business, most musicians think do not apply to them. HA! Look around!!! The basic principles of business are ignored, that's why it's dying, and no one is listening. I know this, I haven't found the ubiquitous ingredients yet where people are recommending my music for others to listen to. I have a handful of diehard fans... God bless them, I'm sure they don't know what good music is, otherwise they'd be with all the others out there not caring a whit about the music I write.

The key survival for a business is 'word of mouth' advertising. Meaning, most people rely on the people they trust to tell them good information about a place. Which is why Yelp! reviews dominated for a long time, and now people realize that there are idiots out there that give the Grand Canyon (yes, the actual Grand Canyon) one star reviews. Or natural parks for having bugs and wildlife that poop and dirt or rain. The stupidest thing.

Tips for starting a business.

1. Have something (service or product) that people want.

2. Share said service or product with people.

3. Make sure they leave happy!

4. If they are happy, they will tell their friends and some of their friends will use your service/product. These are the customers you want. They will be loyal, in essence your fan club, and will chat about you when someone expresses a need/desire for your service/product to no end. Talking up your own business does not drum up business like you think it would, it's always about the happy customer telling their friends.

if 3 and 4 don't happen, head back to number one.

Rinse Repeat.

Boom.

Not everyone will like you or your service or product or have need for it. There will be people who are ungrateful for everything, but those people are 1%. If you get more than 1% complaining, there's something wrong with your product or service. If nobody uses your product or service, there's no need for it, or it's really bad.

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From: Blair W Carrigan
Subject: Stairway To Heaven

Long time reader, first time writer..

Stumbled across this one recently...

UFO's "When It's Time To Rock"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwxipYRhou8

In the early seventies, RUSH opened quite extensively with UFO as is outlined in their wonderful documentary "Beyond The Lighted Stage"..

Then you listen to Rush's "The Spirit of Radio"..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F179XHVn8S8

Makes you go 'Hmmmmm'???...

It's rock n roll.... We're all the creation of our influences along the journey...

Keep up the noble work Bob.

Cheers,

Blair

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From: Mark Douglas
Subject: Re: Mailbag

I found it quite refreshing that Eric Clapton was very forthcoming in the Cream book about the fact that both "Tales Of Brave Ulysses" and "White Room" were inspired by hearing my song, "Summer In The City." I wrote it at 15, with my brother, John, and Steve Boone of the Lovin' Spoonful. My brother and I have often referred to the chords of the verses as the "Hit The Road, Jack" chords. So, I guess it's all one great mulch, unless you steal page by page! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_Brave_Ulysses

Mark Sebastian

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From: Owen Thomas
Subject: Re: Kanye's Famous Video

Yup.

The full realization of Kanye's work does not happen upon its release. It is realized in culture's appropriation of it. As in, give people stuff to talk about, stuff they can exploit and make their own versions of. Then it lives on and on…

It's not about making shit that's simply just GOOD, it's got to CONNECT on super basic, primal human levels in the Internet age. People like seeing boobs. Especially famous boobs. "Famous" is highly genius / excellent in execution, but it doesn't stop there. It wholly appeals to the dumbest parts of basic human / cultural nature.

So, success is measured not by whether or not people are simply impressed by your work… it's measured in how much they participate in your work by making it their own. Kinda like a good song that people like and can apply their own story to — except that you don't really have to like the "Famous" vid to find something cool to do with those images, on your own terms.

The race is on to see who can come up with the best "Famous" meme! They'll pick up a ton of new followers, and then they'll be "Famous", too. No doubt, bazillions of custom images will emerge, with kids putting their own heads, and others', on those nude bodies. And that's cool. And funny. And connective.

"Lemonade" doesn't tap into that kinda stuff. But Drake's work does, i.e. what he did with "Views" album cover and "Hotline Bling" vid. So rad! It's like lo-fi equals high probability of cultural re-appropriation.

I dig it all. I like Kanye. It's all such a blast. And sometimes, it even feels like it's connecting to people in invasive and disruptive ways that art truly should, even at a time in history that is so heavily defined by vanity.

Hey, you can either sit on the side of the pool and watch people swim, or JUMP IN THE POOL and be a part of it.

I've always wondered, Bob, do you use emojis when you text? You should. It's fun.

OT

Owen Thomas
Absorb. | Creative Director

______________________________________

From: C.J. Mann
Subject: Re: The Overwhelming Decade

Bob:

There is a line that I use to sum up our times with my high school art students..."Surface without substance". While they might look at me quizzically upon reception, they end up understanding it once it percolates and wanting to discuss it sometime after.

But these are the Art students. The majority consume in every possible sense of the word. The adolescents I see use the Internet and particularly social media to establish their individual identity through the association with other people's actions. Groupthink at it's finest! The only thing Orwell got wrong was the size of the screens! That's the main issue that scares me...the passivity. Our educational system is mandated to align; teachers must "comply" and teach, not only the curriculum that is required, but they must do so with a homogenized method of delivery.

Creativity and conformity cannot exist in the same moment. As we continue, without push back, down the pedagogical path that we're on, I am desperately concerned for the next generation of "thinkers".

Chris
(Ontario, Canada)

______________________________________

From: BERTON AVERRE
Subject: Re: Pop

My theory on how Pop took over.

There are four Fundamentals to the Popular Song Form ("pop" of course comes from "popular"). Melody, Harmony, Rhythm, and Lyrics. (Harmony, by the way, not necessarily meaning vocal harmonies, but what you and I would call the chord changes.) And 'twas ever thus. What makes a Gershwin tune enjoyable over 80 years after inception? Melody, Harmony, Rhythm, and Lyrics. Why do Goffin/King songs still kill us? Melody, Harmony, Rhythm, Lyrics. Lennon and McCartney, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Fagin/Becker, Stevie Wonder? The same four components. Sex Pistols? Led Zeppelin? The same four basic components. Prince? The same four components.

Nothing Earth-shattering here. Obvious, basic. Except over the years, what was accepted as the "cool" rock became more and more of a drone supporting a run-on sentence. "Ear Candy" has always been a pejorative, a slam. Well, candy may be cloying, but you can taste it. And you can taste savory, bitter, salty. You don't taste gruel, you just wolf it down, without dwelling on it, and move on.

The more rock became anti-melody, anti-harmony, anti-instrumental decoration, and anti-engaging lyrics, the more pop stood out as the one place you could still catch some of that. It doesn't surprise me one iota that Pop in today's world is more successful than what we used to call the right side of the dial when there were still dials. I'd be a lot more surprised if this weren't true.

My only exposure to the Pop of current day is from the bumper music on sports talk radio, while I'm waiting for my iced tea at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and when I used to watch "Glee". For the most part it strikes me as shockingly shallow and imitative, and the lyric content is virtually always entirely disposable. But one does hear Craft. Hooks. Melodies, when they're not suffocating them in melismata. And the anti-establishment kids, the ones past generations turned to to create inspirational, magical musical hybrids that couldn't be pigeonholed, are way too cool for school to do anything as boring as learning to play, sing, and write. So when they give us songs they're not even studies in Black and White: their music is just a big amorphous glop of grey.

That's what happened.

P.S. Rap can of course be excluded from this discussion: yes, it tosses two of the four fundamentals (the reason fogies like me have little use for it), but at least the toss is a conscious, purposeful act. It's choice, not laziness. If you said to a rap artist, "There's no melody", the response would be "No shit. Your point?". But the other stylists of the day would play you their records I mean files and say "That's a melody, those are chord changes, can't you tell?" Well, hardly.

______________________________________

From: George Dassinger
Subject: The Passing of Bill Ham

Bob: Your recognition of major music industry personalities is something I have always appreciated you did. I wanted, in that regard, to bring notice to the passing of former ZZ Top and Clint Black manager Bill Ham - Lone Wolf Productions.
I represented ZZ Top (in the late '80s) when they organized (along with WB VP Bob Merlis) the Clarksdale, MS.based Delta Blues Museum "rebuilding" campaign. Collectively, (including Lone Wolf's Bob Small) we implemented a campaign to literally re-build the museum and today we can proudly say it is the #1 tourist attraction in the state. It was a terrific campaign those mentioned here deserve credit.
Bill Ham was solidly behind the DBM campaign and he is often referred to as the "4th member of ZZ Top". Bill was a staunch Texan and was the driving force not only behind ZZ but Clint Black as well.

Bill once said to me, "George you may be a Yankee, but you are a good Yankee". I understood the praise he offered me outright and I still hold it dear.

RIP Bill and thanks for making me a part of the ZZ organization and making the Delta Blues Museum a reality.

George Dassinger
Dassinger Creative

______________________________________

From: Michael McCarty
Re: The Strumbellas At The Recording Academy

Bob

Great story on a great band with really terrific people working with them, from Joanne Setterington to the incomparable Daniel Glass.

I'm so stoked you mentioned Lindsay, my hometown. Our family had a jewelry store on the main street for 100 years before my father retired. Salt of the earth people and I would not trade growing up there for anything, but in the pre-pre-pre Internet era it was triple insulated from the World. Small town, sort of near Toronto, in Canada. We literally had hillbillies - for example a very poor family that lived on the edge of town had 12 kids all with the same first name (variations on the father's name Gordon); you knew everyone and everything about them; and it was so steeped in Irish/Scottish heritage that we had an Orange Parade and maybe five families that weren't white Catholic or Protestant.

On the other had, we had sports, fresh air, very little crime or violence, and (crucial for my life) a well regarded town marching/concert band financed by the Kinsmen Club to keep the non-athletic kids off the street.

Hockey was central, and from my peer group, the ones that went on to be most well known were of course hockey players. Don and Dave Maloney, who ended up pretty big NY Rangers players, with post playing careers in front of the camera and team management. Possibly the most infamous from my generation is Marc Emery, the "Prince of Pot" marijuana evangelist who spent 5 years in an American jail for his beliefs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Emery

The point being that the Strumbellas are a great example of the great levelling of the playing field for artists, as a result of the Internet. From meeting via Craigslist, to the Myspace angle, to the use of social media by Glass Note (and Canadian label Six Shooter) to promote the band - it's a long way from Lindsay to The Recording Academy gig in LA. Hard work + talent + Internet = take on the world.

Best,

M

PS - 15 minutes from Lindsay is Norwood, the one streetlight town that is the birthplace of Three Days Grace. Norwood is a stones throw from Peterborough, birthplace of Sebastian Bach and Serena Ryder

______________________________________

From: Sean Mormelo
Subject: Re: More Trump

Here's the deal. Fuck all of your Leftist/Progressive/collectivist a. Seriously. You didn't build this country. Your ideals did not build this nation and they are an abject failure around the world. We will not have our culture destroyed by those who have no connection to the tenets of Individual liberty, no regard for the Constitution and those who would "reinterpret" it for modern times. Funny, no one seems to want to update the first amendment for modern times..Only the second.

Anyway, our founders were a hell of a lot more educated and intelligent than you no matter how many liberal NE degrees you have from America hating shitholes like Columbia and Princeton.

I doubt there's one person on the lot of you whiny fucking leftist pukes who EVER served in the Military. I did. I said the oath and I hate to break it to you but WE are the real power base in the USA. NOT you. When push comes to shove and it WILL if Hitlery gets in we will stand our ground and say NO MORE to your open borders/socialist agenda. And if you think you're going to send your goons with guns to enforce your anti-American "laws" you have another thing coming as the vast majority of them are with us. I shoot with police and military often. They take the country seriously and they love it. They will not see it destroyed by the likes of you.

So fuck you all. Fuck Black Lives Matter. Thy say NOTHING about the epidemic of Black on Black violence in places like Chicago. You want to belittle "middle aged white guys" ok. Who do you think built the DOMINANT culture in the world you are currently living in? We brought electricity and modern systems to Africa else they'd still be roaming around plains in Loin cloths...We built this country...NO one has matched our achievements anywhere.

So again, fuck you and and your globalist vision. It's over. This is NOT Europe. Push us PLEASE because I'd rather see you go into the dustbin of history in my lifetime so my kids can live in a prosperous free America.

I had a friend killed in one of the recent terrorist attacks by the way and that just steels my resolved further if that's even possible. I'm SO heavily armed everyday everywhere it's not funny. Maybe someone like me will save your pussy asses if you are caught unarmed because you are afraid of guns and your birthright!!! You better hope I'm around.

P.S. You can always all move to rg multi-cultural hub of Europe and convert to Islam:) ...This is MY country, MY birthright and you will not get it.

P.P.S. I was born in NJ and have lived in that leftist infested hell hole you call home, CA so I intimately understand the mindset and know who you are. You all however do not know my kind.

Sean Mormelo

______________________________________

Bob.

This is random but I wanted to share to show you how the world really works.

My wife and I were in the South of France on Xmas a few years ago and there was no hotel dinner as we arrived too late that evening. So we ventured to the only place open

At first the service was sketchy. We do not speak French and the service was begrudging in their communication. Then our waiter picked up that we were from Minneapolis and he asked if he could sit with us - it was slow - and for the next 3 hours we got lost in wonderful exchanges. About music. Life. Work.

Anyone who travels knows this but there is no greater way to minimise discrimination and enhance coming together than by travel to foreign lands and take care to let things warm up

Cheers

Pelowski

______________________________________

From: Joe Taylor
Subject: RE: Even More Brexit

Hi Bob

I thought you and your correspondent Anthony would be interested in the latest outrageous proclamation from London's Muslim mayor:

"Sadik Khan pledges that London will be accepting of trans police officers": http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/07/14/sadiq-khan-pledges-that-london-will-be-accepting-of-trans-police-officers/

I'm not familiar with Sharia Law but I'm guessing this isn't it

Yours,

Joe

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