Subject: Re: Steve Martin On Howard Stern
Bob: As you may not recall my then partner, Kenny Fritz, and I were managing the Smothers Brothers andactually executive producing their show in the days when Steve Martin came on board to write and eventually do skits on the program. We had the title of "Co-Producers" because the "Executive Producer" title didn't really exist yet.
In any event, Tommy Smothers got the idea to create a "Bull Pen" of great young writers and got the Writers Guild to agree that we could have six young writers in that group and only pay them $150 a week each except that two got full writers pay on a rotating basis each week. Steve was initially part of that wonderful group.
Eventually Steve was a brilliant contributor to the show, not only as a writer but as a terrific performer, as almost all of our writers ultimately were a key part of the cast.
We were breaking new ground with the show and having writer/performers like Steve, Mason Williams, Rob Reiner, Bob Einstein, and several others was a major reason we were so successful and knocked the long time #1 show Bonanza out of the top spot.
As I got to know Steve Martin in those days I marveled at how unlike most comedians he was in that he outwardly showed none of the insecure personality traits that are common to comedians. On stage he was "A wild and crazy guy!" but off stage he was a quiet and seemingly normal human being.
On occasion Steve and I played chess and had regular conversations about non show business topics. I was so pleased to see the great career he has had long after our show was off the air. He's a real gem.
Ken Kragen
_________________________________________
Subject: RE: Bob Dylan Starter Kit
Hey Bob,
Listening to Bob Dylan constantly renews me, and at the same time takes me back to my days at Bard College in the fall of 1964. Dylan visited the campus quite often from Woodstock, just across the river, riding in that blue Ford station wagon, Victor Maymudes at the wheel, Bobby Neuwirth in the back seat. In one very vivid memory, I am sitting on the bed in my dorm room. My brother plays a song he has written and Dylan, sitting at the end of my brother's bed, nods approval. Then he takes the guitar and plays his new song, "It's Alright, Ma." Seven or eight other students are sitting on the floor, smoking, drinking wine, spellbound. As he finishes, Dylan hands me the guitar, nods at Victor, and they are gone.
I very much doubt if Bob Dylan is anything but uncomfortable about all the accolades he gets. One of my favorite pieces of his writing, from the liner notes to "Bringing It All Back Home," sums it up perfectly:
" the Great books've been written. the Great sayings have all been said/I am about t' sketch You a picture of what goes on around here sometimes."
Best,
John Boylan
_________________________________________
Subject: Re: Bob Dylan Starter Kit
I had the pleasure of working with Bob for many years while at Columbia. Every time he'd put an album out I'd send him a list of 20 things that he could do to help promote it - key interviews, radio and TV specials, etc., etc.. I think in all that time he did one, maybe two things (one key interview with Dave Herman from WNEW FM, and he once met some radio folks backstage).
He would always say the same thing to me, "I'm not comfortable promoting my music that way." It's not that he had anything against marketing, he just didn't want to tout his own stuff - preferred to let the music do the talking. When you're that great, truth is you don't have to tout your own stuff - you just are.
Once I was driving around listening to a blues gospel radio station. I can't remember what city I was in, but an incredible song came on sung by a great gospel/blues singer. It was a song about a black mother who had lost her child and the pain she was going through. I was so moved by this song I wanted to know more about it, I was convince it must have been an old gospel standard and probably listed as such. I googled it—written by Bob Dylan!!!
Paul Rappaport
_________________________________________
Subject: Re: Lively Up Yourself
Hey Bob-
I'm the cat that recorded Bob Marleys album Live, thank u for your kind comments. In the weeks leading up to the Lyceum show, I studied then-current live albums and discovered what was missing: the live experience. We had 4 mics dangling 10 feet above the heads of the audience, and we caught lightning in a bottle. The crowds' impromptu ovations, singing and celebration of Bob's long over-due arrival made for an electric live lp.
Best,
Danny Holloway
_________________________________________
From: Bob Ezrin
Subject: Re: Keith Urban's "Ripcord"
Keith Urban is one of the best rock guitarists in the world today...and I've had the privilege of working with a few of the other ones so I feel qualified to make this statement.
I've been aware of him for ages - since he worked with my friend John Shanks at Henson in LA when I was across the hall with Jane's Addiction and Dave Navarro, speaking of great rock guitarists.
But it wasn't until I attended the Grammies with my daughter Sarah (who's still waiting for her Yeezys by the way as are the rest of my kids! I mean, what kind of crazy fucked up world is it where you can't take Kanye at his word???) back in 2005 and they did a tribute to "Southern Rock" with a bevy of Rock Gods including young Keith Urban that I realized what a rockstar he was.
As I remember, he did a fine job singing one of Skynyrd's tunes but I couldn't take my eyes of off him as he hung back in the pack and played the absolute shit out of his guitar on everyone else's feature too. I was mesmerized by his facility with the instrument - his cellular connection to it - where every perfect note he was hearing in his head, his fingers automagically recreated. I watched and picked him out of the wall of sound. He didn't drop a note, play anything that wasn't exquisitely musical or produce a single clam. And it was pure rock!
I said to Sarah "that guy may think he's a country star but he's a total Rock Guitar God!"
I saw him again at All For The Hall and he'd gotten even batter than before. Just last year Jan and I were fortunate enough to see him do a small show in Nassau and he was better still. It may have been a show of country radio hits but it was a rock concert through and through - and that guy OWNED the instrument and the audience. I wrote and told him so.
I'm very glad to see him get "ink" here. He totally deserves it.
I wish that one day he would make his own "Frampton Comes Alive"...new rock songs recorded in concert where you can't really fake it. He'd blow people's minds.
B
_________________________________________
From: Scott McKain
Subject: Keith Urban
Bob --
Keith Urban's latest might not sound like country, but I am sure that HE is.
My best pals are in the Grammy-winning, six-time country vocal group of the year, Diamond Rio. We were hanging after the ACMs several years ago (when they were still in LA), and Rio's song "One More Day" was the hottest thing on the charts.
Right before the guys flew out of Nashville to LA, their guitar player, Jimmy Olander -- regarded as one of the best in country music -- got a call that their baby was on the way. Naturally, he stayed back home and the rest of the guys flew on.
With the band being urged to play at the jam session after the awards, we were hanging out when Keith walked up and said, "Why aren't you guys playing? You've got the biggest hit going right now!" When it was mentioned that Jimmy wasn't there, Keith said, "Well, I could play for him."
Lead singer Marty Roe asked, "What songs of ours do you know?" Keith replied, "Everything from 'Meet In the Middle' on..." As that was the very first song Rio recorded, he was saying he knew everything they've ever done. That's a guy who knows country music!
Keith played as a member of Diamond Rio that night -- and not only did he fill Jimmy's part -- he played perfectly...in Jimmy's style, not his own. The Rio guys performed their four songs...and we all stood there in slack-jawed amazement...not only at Keith's talent, but also at his mastery of his instrument and his willingness to sound like a member of the band and not try to take the stage as his own.
Keith -- along with Vince Gill -- jammed with Rio on "Meet in the Middle" several years later at the "All for the Hall" event. It's on YouTube and worth watching...
Scott
_________________________________________
From: Kia Kamran, Esq.
Subject: Re: Lively Up Yourself
I walked down the aisle to that particular live track. Atypical for a Persian Jewish wedding but it encapsulated pure joy for me. Marley is the most important Artist of our time; pure unadulterated greatness. Nuff respect.
_________________________________________
Subject: Re: My Echo
Bob,
It took Spotify a while to get to Echo. I'd had mine over a year before the service was available, which has only been in the last few months. I honestly assumed it was because Amazon was trying to get the early adopters to Amazon Prime and their related services initially, but I don't know if that's a fact.
It's been a huge boon for me in using Echo and it works great, once you navigate how "Alexa" likes to be spoken to.
To touch on what Al Kooper mentions: I was already a user of Amazon Music (storage cloud) before I had Echo.
Amazon Music has been riddled with issues and I honestly feel like Amazon is orphaning it and doing it's best not support and fix issues. The interface crashes out and is often slow and lumbering. I've had problems adding music and today was on with support via chat for an hour plus and the issue has still not been resolved.
I was always one of those people who carried a 120g iPod with me prior to streaming. There's still a large chunk of my collection not available on Spotify between a lot of live/bootleg recordings, obscure artists and out of print stuff and those that just won't stream (Prince, Bob Seger, etc.) so I still need a service like it. And its nice to think that a collection lives on somewhere, for me anyway. I wish Amazon Music was better than is.
Still, I do love Echo. The Echo Dot showed up last week and was immediately connected it to my vintage McIntosh system and it worked wonderfully with great sound. Quite a nice meeting of the new and the old.
Donny Kutzbach
_________________________________________
From: Thomas Kenny
Subject: Re: My Echo
That's funny Bob. The last time I called Apple I had a question about Logic. The response was, "we only support our own software."
I said, "Logic is your software."
_________________________________________
Subject: Re: False Hope
Even in her loss Ms Sandberg can only imagine what it would be like without her financial security. Certainly not minimizing her grief but she doesn't have to worry about a spouse's lost income, navigating the health insurance maze, finding a way to come up with the rent/mortgage, finding reliable and affordable childcare etc. But I'm sure many folks were able to draw some inspiration from her advice. After all, to paraphrase Homer Simpson "celebrities...is there anything they don't know".
Lorin Cole
_________________________________________
Subject: Ty Reynolds Honest Rocker?
Just a little correction on Mr. Reynolds comments and story. Steve Miller has no children so what ever story this guy was telling must he must have been confused with someone else. I was at the festival he mentioned but don't recall the support act he was referring to but he was not any kin to Mr. Miller I assure you and your readers.
Kenny Lee Lewis
_________________________________________
Subject: Re: Mailbag
Bob ... Steve has no children.
It is through guys like Ty Reynolds that myths get credibility.
Bud Miller
_________________________________________
From: Mary Rand
Subject: Re: Steve Martin On Howard Stern
Dear Bob,
I linked on to an article of yours referred to in a Barry Rithholtz newsletter a few days ago. I am 77 yrs. old and will probably never use some of the electronic gadgets you are so fond of, but I love reading about your interests. I spend a lot of time reading things on line. The computer is the best thing ever for the elderly and/or infirm. You are the most interesting of all. I look forward to that email: Bob Lefsetz. You are terrific at projecting a lively and engaged personality in your writing. How do you do it so often? I'm just amazed. Looking forward to reading you tomorrow.
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Friday 20 May 2016
Thursday 19 May 2016
Bob Dylan Starter Kit
Spotify playlist: https://goo.gl/r3gvVK
I'm hearing people complain that Bob Dylan is not of the stature of the other Oldchella acts. This is patently untrue. The only star of his caliber is Paul McCartney, maybe in the history of rock and roll (extending Paul's fame and talent to the rest of the Beatles). Don't equate grosses with talent. Don't equate accessibility with talent. Don't equate airplay with talent. Years from now, it might be Dylan's material that maintains, certainly not that of the Stones, who have a soulful, blues-influenced sound and were great performers but were rarely groundbreaking. Waters had his moment, but it's hermetically sealed, it doesn't translate to modern times, you're looking back through binoculars. The Who is maximum rock and roll, but despite breaking ground with "Tommy," it was Bobby who was constantly testing limits. As did Neil Young, test limits and listen to his own heart, Young is Dylan-like, but I think even if you asked Neil he'd put Dylan atop the heap.
Not that this is about bringing the rest of the Oldchella acts down, they're all great. It's just that Dylan is on a higher plane, and too many people don't know it. Forget today's standards album, forget the ragged voice, forget the endless tour, let's go back to the music.
1. "Blowin' In The Wind"
Everybody starts somewhere, and it's not obvious where they're going to go from there. But then there are visionaries, who see something in acts, a talent, that few others can perceive. Credit John Hammond for seeing the genius in Bob Dylan. The first album consisting of mostly covers had no impact. It could not and did not prepare us for what came after, the second LP, "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan."
Now this was 1963. The Beatles didn't break in America until 1964. Surf music and pop music, the Beach Boys and the Four Seasons ruled, and they were both great acts, but if you can trace a line from them to Bob Dylan you're a better person than me. Dylan had different influences, primarily Woody Guthrie and the folk scene, and with this LP Dylan became the king of the folkies, not because the songs were all over the airwaves, but because covers were all over the airwaves!
It's hard to believe that once upon a time not only did everybody own a guitar, but they sat around in circles singing songs. And none was more popular than "Blowin' In The Wind." That's where the answer is, my friend, even today. If you can tell me how this election is gonna turn out, what everybody's gonna do for a job in the future, you're a seer exceeding anybody pontificating.
Peter, Paul & Mary made it ubiquitous, but there's a naked power in Dylan's iteration. There's more emotion, it's not purely about melody, not even solely about the words, this guy obviously believes what he's singing. We need more of that today.
Now if this sound resonates, if you want to dig a little deeper, listen to "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall." My favorite cover is by Bryan Ferry, but this is definitely Bob's song, you listen and feel the track is coming directly from his soul.
Catchier and more easily accessible is "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," also made famous by Peter, Paul & Mary. Never underestimate the power of a manager. One can argue Albert Grossman ripped Bob off, but he also built his career, he's responsible more than the aforementioned John Hammond. Grossman had a vision that Dylan's songs could become iconic. Not in his own versions, but those of others. It was years before the public was ready for Bob himself.
"Girl From The North Country" resurfaced on "Nashville Skyline" in a duet with Johnny Cash, but the original is here on "Freewheelin," as is "Masters Of War," which has been resuscitated in this century of endless wars, students of the game can see how it's still so appropriate, that's timeless work!
2. "The Times They Are A-Changin'"
The anthem of the internet era, one wherein the young stole the present just like their parents did back in the sixties. Hell, oldsters still don't know how to use their devices, never mind get their heads around the fact that music is now a service. This ain't no ditty, just pure truth.
3. "It Ain't Me Babe"
Released almost simultaneously with "Meet The Beatles," "The Times They Are A-Changin'" album continued in Dylan's folk vein, and although it contains classics, there were fewer famous covers. And then came the summer of '64's "Another Side Of Bob Dylan." Not only was Zimmy putting out albums at a regular clip, the quality of the material was insane! This is probably the most famous song off of the LP, because it was covered by the Turtles, it was their breakthrough track, before most people had any idea who Bob Dylan was. But people were starting to read the credits, the modern rock era had begun, word started to spread.
If you want to go deeper, listen to the album opener, "All I Really Want To Do," which Sonny & Cher so famously covered. And the Byrds had a hit with "My Back Pages," I had to get old enough to understand I can be younger than that now. And if "Masters Of War" resonates, soak in the truth of "Chimes Of Freedom."
4. "Bringing It All Back Home"
Yes, I'm including a whole album here, not just an individual song. Because this is my favorite Bob Dylan LP, it oozes truth that is so up to date it seems to come from the future. Unfortunately, it's not instantly accessible. Dylan wouldn't make that kind of music for years. But if you want to put in some time, "Bringing It All Back Home" will yield rewards.
a. "Subterranean Homesick Blues"
Has permeated the culture even though you may have never heard it.
First and foremost there's the famous video replicated by so many modern acts, where the lyrics are written on cards which are displayed and then discarded. Refresh your memory here: https://goo.gl/4pZt39
And despite being a jaunty trip, "Subterranean Homesick Blues" got no airplay whatsoever, this was before underground FM radio, the Beatles were still singing about love, but...
"You don't need a weatherman
To know which way the wind blows"
Innocuous in theory, but a radical group lifted this lyric and called themselves the Weathermen and blew up buildings. I'm not condoning their efforts, but this was back when music not only had power, but influence.
"Twenty years of schoolin'
And they put you on the day shift"
As poignant and accurate as the day it was written, whew!
"The pump don't work
'Cause the vandals took the handles"
Became part of the vernacular, people quoted the closing lyrics without even knowing the song, that's cultural relevancy.
b. "Maggie's Farm"
You never hear it referenced anymore, but back then it was a pejorative, when selling out was anathema and we hated the corporations.
c. "Mr. Tambourine Man"
The Byrds' first hit. But this has power as opposed to sweetness. You can see why Jim McGuinn was inspired to cover it, this anthem for an era.
d. "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)"
The piece-de-resistance, the pinnacle, the apotheosis.
Most famous for Roger McGuinn's iteration on the soundtrack of "Easy Rider," this seven and a half minute cut is laden with so much truth that I INSIST that you listen to the whole thing while reading along with the lyrics, which are here: http://goo.gl/JFHw29
"That he not busy being born is busy dying"
Yes, this is where that famous lyric first appears. Imagine writing a lyric so insightful that it permeates the culture and people don't even know it came from your song, that's ubiquity.
"For them that obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despite their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Do what they do just to be
Nothing more than something they invest in"
And that's America. The suck-ups playing by the rules jealous and angry that there are people who dare to go their own way.
"Advertising signs they con
You into thinking you're the one
That can do what's never been done
That can win what's never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you"
You can't just pick yourself up by your bootstraps and get rich. You just can't be Bill Gates. And rather than take the bait you should live your life, don't fall for the bait.
"While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he's in"
People don't like it when you break ranks, when you're different, they want you to be like them, a miserable pawn in the game.
Now I was aware of Dylan's hits, but I did not get him at first, probably like many of you. But then he reunited with the Band and went back on the road and I bought all the albums and listened to them over and over again so that I would be prepared for the show.
And in the winter of 1974, when our President was getting caught in a noose of his own device, Dylan sang the below lyrics at Madison Square Garden and everybody stood up and chaired. That's the power of rock and roll.
"But even the President of the United States
Sometimes must have to stand naked"
Nixon resigned. Beware of who you put on the pedestal.
5. "Like A Rolling Stone"
It was the summer of '65 and Dylan was all over the airwaves, with a rock and roll sound, outdoing his children the Byrds with a song with such attitude people would wince if it was recorded today.
You know it. Not everybody loved it. But it gets sweeter with time. Listen.
"Highway 61 Revisited" was the break, from folk to rock, it's the album that got all the accolades, it spews not only attitude but anger and yes, the folkies resented it, but the rest of the public cottoned to it, because this is how they felt. Today you're supposed to suck it up, put a smile on your face, be optimistic as you run through the gauntlet of the game. But in the days of yesteryear some questioned the game outright.
Listen to "Desolation Row" and "Ballad Of A Thin Man" also.
And know that if you leave the metropolis, if you venture out from the Twin Cities, it won't be long before you encounter Highway 61. Everybody comes from somewhere, everybody's got roots.
6. "Positively 4th Street"
For some reason this is not on Spotify, and I'm having trouble finding the original on YouTube.
A gigantic hit with with lyrics that cut to the bone.
"You got a lot of nerve
To say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on
The side that's winning"
Legends write songs that are not of a time, but are forever, because of the truth encapsulated.
And most famously:
"I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
You'd know what a drag it is
To see you"
Eclipses any put-down I've seen or heard in the rap wars!
7. "Blonde On Blonde"
Was released fifty years ago Monday. And this double album is great, consistent, but I still prefer "Bringing It All Back Home."
a. "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35"
EVERYBODY MUST GET STONED!
Couldn't be, was he really talking about drugs?
Media was puritanical. Which made it easier to pull the wool over its eyes, this was not banned, but played. Then again, was it about smoking at all?
"Like A Rolling Stone" broke down the barriers, Dylan was safe for mass consumption, this was everywhere.
But the heart of the album is "Visions Of Johanna," "Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine," the side long "Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands' and "I Want You," which you can love even if you think you hate Bob Dylan.
8. "All Along The Watchtower"
Yes, Dylan wrote it, Hendrix just covered it.
From "John Wesley Harding," the return to roots, when the media caught up with the bard, this got a lot of press and it satiates, but my favorite cut is the second side opener, "Dear Landlord," with lyrics I quote all the time:
"Now each of us has his own special gift
And you know this was meant to be true
And if you don't underestimate me
I won't underestimate you"
I've learned that's true. The person with the low IQ, the one who's uninformed about so much, has much more wisdom than you in certain areas, just pay attention, you'll see. Warren Buffett has nothing on me. Or you either.
9. "Lay, Lady, Lay"
This was more of a risk than picking up a Stratocaster, country was seen as backwards redneck music. But Dylan made it cool, and opened others' eyes to it. This was a gigantic hit, and for those who said Bob couldn't sing...turns out he could!
10. "Days Of '49"
I include this not because it's Dylan best cut, but because it's from the maligned "Self Portrait," Dylan's first misstep, if only others' greatness could be as good as this.
11. "Sign On The Window"
"New Morning" was the first Dylan album I purchased upon release. That's right, I was late to the game, but what a treasure trove of material I could go back and experience.
And I know every lick, because when you paid for something back then you listened to it ad infinitum.
And this song is not famous, but it contains one of my favorite Dylan lyrics:
"Build me a cabin in Utah
Marry me a wife, catch rainbow trout
Have a bunch of kids who call me 'Pa'
That must be what it's all about
That must be what it's all about"
12. "Knockin' On Heaven's Door"
A cut that's endured from a third rate Sam Peckinpah movie that Dylan was featured in under the moniker "Alias."
One cannot deny the haunting quality of the track though.
13. "Forever Young"
From "Planet Waves."
Geffen stole Dylan from Columbia, the band went on the road, but the album was a stiff. Then Howard Cosell utilized the lyrics to describe Muhammad Ali and the song entered the canon, it gained legendary status.
14. "Tangled Up In Blue"
Time passes quickly. It was 1975, Dylan's hits were long behind him, the tour did boffo at the b.o., but his cultural impact was in the rearview mirror.
And then came this.
He returned to Columbia and dropped an album that didn't sound quite like anything that came before, where every word dripped truth and you could play the LP over and over and over again. "Idiot Wind" gets a lot of ink, but my favorites, other than this, are "Meet Me In The Morning," "Buckets Of Rain" and, of course, "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go."
Meanwhile, "Tangled Up In Blue" is a story song you can visualize, it's forever fresh, like life. I'll never forget the first time I heard it, in the pre-satellite era, driving up the access road of Mammoth Mountain on a sunny May 1st day, I'd twisted the dial looking for a radio station after experiencing nothing but static in the desert and I tuned into this, I'll never forget it.
15. "Hurricane"
We'll never know the truth of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter but we do know this story song benefited his case.
This got airplay in an era when FM radio was king and not everything had to sound alike. A period piece, but it still stands on its own merits, and Scarlet Rivera's violin is a revelation.
Meanwhile, check out "Mozambique," and "Isis" and "Joey" if you want to go deeper.
16. "Gotta Serve Somebody"
You most certainly do, we all have a boss.
From the Jesus album, "Slow Train Coming," which has a sound so enrapturing you'll love hearing it even if you don't catch a single lyric.
Go deeper, listen to "When You Gonna Wake Up" and "Man Gave Names To All The Animals."
Credit Barry Beckett, who's all over this LP, as well as his co-producer Jerry Wexler and, of course, in addition to the Muscle Shoals players, you've got Mark Knopfler.
17. "I And I"
"Jokerman" was the famous track on 1983's "Infidels," "Neighborhood Bully" got airplay, but this is the cut. Once again, something you'll love even if you hate Dylan and don't listen to the lyrics, but the lyrics make the track, along with the guitar and piano playing, an unheralded masterpiece.
18. "Things Have Changed"
From the 2000 film "Wonder Boys" based on the Michael Chabon book, it's one of the few flicks that's better than the source novel.
And the flick was very good.
But as soon as I heard this track in the theatre I knew it was a winner.
And it instigated hope in Dylan, in his abilities, showed after a meandering slew of albums that he still had it.
And I'd be lying if I told you his recent work was as entrancing, I think it's lauded by those needing to feel superior, but maybe it will reveal itself to me in time.
Meanwhile, start here. And dig deeper where you have interest.
Not only is there a cornucopia of hits, there's a journey, changes...Dylan's lived a life, not beholden to the game, surprising us all the while, triumphing now and again, especially when we considered him down and out.
And maybe he'll surprise us in the desert, by performing his hits faithfully, just to blow our minds and blow the others off the stage.
Or maybe he'll do his usual show, just to mess with us, to battle our belief that the artist lives for us and should deliver what we want.
Dylan never did this. He went his own way and most likely we ended up following him.
He's the embodiment of the sixties, wherein everything was up for grabs and everything could be challenged and you didn't have to come from the right family or go to the right school in order to have a say, in order to leave your mark.
And you might listen to the above and still be unmoved.
But so many were.
And these are not just ditties that please our ears.
These songs changed minds, they impacted the culture, they affected the landscape.
If there's one artist who's playing Oldchella who's a beacon, who's an inspiration, who you can learn from, it's Bob Dylan.
And he might not care.
But the rest of us do.
It's not about money or fame, but the work, the underlying art. It's about hearts and minds, not just the wallet and the booty. Songs are more than commerce, when done right they're anything but evanescent.
Bob Dylan proved this.
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I'm hearing people complain that Bob Dylan is not of the stature of the other Oldchella acts. This is patently untrue. The only star of his caliber is Paul McCartney, maybe in the history of rock and roll (extending Paul's fame and talent to the rest of the Beatles). Don't equate grosses with talent. Don't equate accessibility with talent. Don't equate airplay with talent. Years from now, it might be Dylan's material that maintains, certainly not that of the Stones, who have a soulful, blues-influenced sound and were great performers but were rarely groundbreaking. Waters had his moment, but it's hermetically sealed, it doesn't translate to modern times, you're looking back through binoculars. The Who is maximum rock and roll, but despite breaking ground with "Tommy," it was Bobby who was constantly testing limits. As did Neil Young, test limits and listen to his own heart, Young is Dylan-like, but I think even if you asked Neil he'd put Dylan atop the heap.
Not that this is about bringing the rest of the Oldchella acts down, they're all great. It's just that Dylan is on a higher plane, and too many people don't know it. Forget today's standards album, forget the ragged voice, forget the endless tour, let's go back to the music.
1. "Blowin' In The Wind"
Everybody starts somewhere, and it's not obvious where they're going to go from there. But then there are visionaries, who see something in acts, a talent, that few others can perceive. Credit John Hammond for seeing the genius in Bob Dylan. The first album consisting of mostly covers had no impact. It could not and did not prepare us for what came after, the second LP, "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan."
Now this was 1963. The Beatles didn't break in America until 1964. Surf music and pop music, the Beach Boys and the Four Seasons ruled, and they were both great acts, but if you can trace a line from them to Bob Dylan you're a better person than me. Dylan had different influences, primarily Woody Guthrie and the folk scene, and with this LP Dylan became the king of the folkies, not because the songs were all over the airwaves, but because covers were all over the airwaves!
It's hard to believe that once upon a time not only did everybody own a guitar, but they sat around in circles singing songs. And none was more popular than "Blowin' In The Wind." That's where the answer is, my friend, even today. If you can tell me how this election is gonna turn out, what everybody's gonna do for a job in the future, you're a seer exceeding anybody pontificating.
Peter, Paul & Mary made it ubiquitous, but there's a naked power in Dylan's iteration. There's more emotion, it's not purely about melody, not even solely about the words, this guy obviously believes what he's singing. We need more of that today.
Now if this sound resonates, if you want to dig a little deeper, listen to "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall." My favorite cover is by Bryan Ferry, but this is definitely Bob's song, you listen and feel the track is coming directly from his soul.
Catchier and more easily accessible is "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," also made famous by Peter, Paul & Mary. Never underestimate the power of a manager. One can argue Albert Grossman ripped Bob off, but he also built his career, he's responsible more than the aforementioned John Hammond. Grossman had a vision that Dylan's songs could become iconic. Not in his own versions, but those of others. It was years before the public was ready for Bob himself.
"Girl From The North Country" resurfaced on "Nashville Skyline" in a duet with Johnny Cash, but the original is here on "Freewheelin," as is "Masters Of War," which has been resuscitated in this century of endless wars, students of the game can see how it's still so appropriate, that's timeless work!
2. "The Times They Are A-Changin'"
The anthem of the internet era, one wherein the young stole the present just like their parents did back in the sixties. Hell, oldsters still don't know how to use their devices, never mind get their heads around the fact that music is now a service. This ain't no ditty, just pure truth.
3. "It Ain't Me Babe"
Released almost simultaneously with "Meet The Beatles," "The Times They Are A-Changin'" album continued in Dylan's folk vein, and although it contains classics, there were fewer famous covers. And then came the summer of '64's "Another Side Of Bob Dylan." Not only was Zimmy putting out albums at a regular clip, the quality of the material was insane! This is probably the most famous song off of the LP, because it was covered by the Turtles, it was their breakthrough track, before most people had any idea who Bob Dylan was. But people were starting to read the credits, the modern rock era had begun, word started to spread.
If you want to go deeper, listen to the album opener, "All I Really Want To Do," which Sonny & Cher so famously covered. And the Byrds had a hit with "My Back Pages," I had to get old enough to understand I can be younger than that now. And if "Masters Of War" resonates, soak in the truth of "Chimes Of Freedom."
4. "Bringing It All Back Home"
Yes, I'm including a whole album here, not just an individual song. Because this is my favorite Bob Dylan LP, it oozes truth that is so up to date it seems to come from the future. Unfortunately, it's not instantly accessible. Dylan wouldn't make that kind of music for years. But if you want to put in some time, "Bringing It All Back Home" will yield rewards.
a. "Subterranean Homesick Blues"
Has permeated the culture even though you may have never heard it.
First and foremost there's the famous video replicated by so many modern acts, where the lyrics are written on cards which are displayed and then discarded. Refresh your memory here: https://goo.gl/4pZt39
And despite being a jaunty trip, "Subterranean Homesick Blues" got no airplay whatsoever, this was before underground FM radio, the Beatles were still singing about love, but...
"You don't need a weatherman
To know which way the wind blows"
Innocuous in theory, but a radical group lifted this lyric and called themselves the Weathermen and blew up buildings. I'm not condoning their efforts, but this was back when music not only had power, but influence.
"Twenty years of schoolin'
And they put you on the day shift"
As poignant and accurate as the day it was written, whew!
"The pump don't work
'Cause the vandals took the handles"
Became part of the vernacular, people quoted the closing lyrics without even knowing the song, that's cultural relevancy.
b. "Maggie's Farm"
You never hear it referenced anymore, but back then it was a pejorative, when selling out was anathema and we hated the corporations.
c. "Mr. Tambourine Man"
The Byrds' first hit. But this has power as opposed to sweetness. You can see why Jim McGuinn was inspired to cover it, this anthem for an era.
d. "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)"
The piece-de-resistance, the pinnacle, the apotheosis.
Most famous for Roger McGuinn's iteration on the soundtrack of "Easy Rider," this seven and a half minute cut is laden with so much truth that I INSIST that you listen to the whole thing while reading along with the lyrics, which are here: http://goo.gl/JFHw29
"That he not busy being born is busy dying"
Yes, this is where that famous lyric first appears. Imagine writing a lyric so insightful that it permeates the culture and people don't even know it came from your song, that's ubiquity.
"For them that obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despite their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Do what they do just to be
Nothing more than something they invest in"
And that's America. The suck-ups playing by the rules jealous and angry that there are people who dare to go their own way.
"Advertising signs they con
You into thinking you're the one
That can do what's never been done
That can win what's never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you"
You can't just pick yourself up by your bootstraps and get rich. You just can't be Bill Gates. And rather than take the bait you should live your life, don't fall for the bait.
"While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he's in"
People don't like it when you break ranks, when you're different, they want you to be like them, a miserable pawn in the game.
Now I was aware of Dylan's hits, but I did not get him at first, probably like many of you. But then he reunited with the Band and went back on the road and I bought all the albums and listened to them over and over again so that I would be prepared for the show.
And in the winter of 1974, when our President was getting caught in a noose of his own device, Dylan sang the below lyrics at Madison Square Garden and everybody stood up and chaired. That's the power of rock and roll.
"But even the President of the United States
Sometimes must have to stand naked"
Nixon resigned. Beware of who you put on the pedestal.
5. "Like A Rolling Stone"
It was the summer of '65 and Dylan was all over the airwaves, with a rock and roll sound, outdoing his children the Byrds with a song with such attitude people would wince if it was recorded today.
You know it. Not everybody loved it. But it gets sweeter with time. Listen.
"Highway 61 Revisited" was the break, from folk to rock, it's the album that got all the accolades, it spews not only attitude but anger and yes, the folkies resented it, but the rest of the public cottoned to it, because this is how they felt. Today you're supposed to suck it up, put a smile on your face, be optimistic as you run through the gauntlet of the game. But in the days of yesteryear some questioned the game outright.
Listen to "Desolation Row" and "Ballad Of A Thin Man" also.
And know that if you leave the metropolis, if you venture out from the Twin Cities, it won't be long before you encounter Highway 61. Everybody comes from somewhere, everybody's got roots.
6. "Positively 4th Street"
For some reason this is not on Spotify, and I'm having trouble finding the original on YouTube.
A gigantic hit with with lyrics that cut to the bone.
"You got a lot of nerve
To say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on
The side that's winning"
Legends write songs that are not of a time, but are forever, because of the truth encapsulated.
And most famously:
"I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
You'd know what a drag it is
To see you"
Eclipses any put-down I've seen or heard in the rap wars!
7. "Blonde On Blonde"
Was released fifty years ago Monday. And this double album is great, consistent, but I still prefer "Bringing It All Back Home."
a. "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35"
EVERYBODY MUST GET STONED!
Couldn't be, was he really talking about drugs?
Media was puritanical. Which made it easier to pull the wool over its eyes, this was not banned, but played. Then again, was it about smoking at all?
"Like A Rolling Stone" broke down the barriers, Dylan was safe for mass consumption, this was everywhere.
But the heart of the album is "Visions Of Johanna," "Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine," the side long "Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands' and "I Want You," which you can love even if you think you hate Bob Dylan.
8. "All Along The Watchtower"
Yes, Dylan wrote it, Hendrix just covered it.
From "John Wesley Harding," the return to roots, when the media caught up with the bard, this got a lot of press and it satiates, but my favorite cut is the second side opener, "Dear Landlord," with lyrics I quote all the time:
"Now each of us has his own special gift
And you know this was meant to be true
And if you don't underestimate me
I won't underestimate you"
I've learned that's true. The person with the low IQ, the one who's uninformed about so much, has much more wisdom than you in certain areas, just pay attention, you'll see. Warren Buffett has nothing on me. Or you either.
9. "Lay, Lady, Lay"
This was more of a risk than picking up a Stratocaster, country was seen as backwards redneck music. But Dylan made it cool, and opened others' eyes to it. This was a gigantic hit, and for those who said Bob couldn't sing...turns out he could!
10. "Days Of '49"
I include this not because it's Dylan best cut, but because it's from the maligned "Self Portrait," Dylan's first misstep, if only others' greatness could be as good as this.
11. "Sign On The Window"
"New Morning" was the first Dylan album I purchased upon release. That's right, I was late to the game, but what a treasure trove of material I could go back and experience.
And I know every lick, because when you paid for something back then you listened to it ad infinitum.
And this song is not famous, but it contains one of my favorite Dylan lyrics:
"Build me a cabin in Utah
Marry me a wife, catch rainbow trout
Have a bunch of kids who call me 'Pa'
That must be what it's all about
That must be what it's all about"
12. "Knockin' On Heaven's Door"
A cut that's endured from a third rate Sam Peckinpah movie that Dylan was featured in under the moniker "Alias."
One cannot deny the haunting quality of the track though.
13. "Forever Young"
From "Planet Waves."
Geffen stole Dylan from Columbia, the band went on the road, but the album was a stiff. Then Howard Cosell utilized the lyrics to describe Muhammad Ali and the song entered the canon, it gained legendary status.
14. "Tangled Up In Blue"
Time passes quickly. It was 1975, Dylan's hits were long behind him, the tour did boffo at the b.o., but his cultural impact was in the rearview mirror.
And then came this.
He returned to Columbia and dropped an album that didn't sound quite like anything that came before, where every word dripped truth and you could play the LP over and over and over again. "Idiot Wind" gets a lot of ink, but my favorites, other than this, are "Meet Me In The Morning," "Buckets Of Rain" and, of course, "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go."
Meanwhile, "Tangled Up In Blue" is a story song you can visualize, it's forever fresh, like life. I'll never forget the first time I heard it, in the pre-satellite era, driving up the access road of Mammoth Mountain on a sunny May 1st day, I'd twisted the dial looking for a radio station after experiencing nothing but static in the desert and I tuned into this, I'll never forget it.
15. "Hurricane"
We'll never know the truth of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter but we do know this story song benefited his case.
This got airplay in an era when FM radio was king and not everything had to sound alike. A period piece, but it still stands on its own merits, and Scarlet Rivera's violin is a revelation.
Meanwhile, check out "Mozambique," and "Isis" and "Joey" if you want to go deeper.
16. "Gotta Serve Somebody"
You most certainly do, we all have a boss.
From the Jesus album, "Slow Train Coming," which has a sound so enrapturing you'll love hearing it even if you don't catch a single lyric.
Go deeper, listen to "When You Gonna Wake Up" and "Man Gave Names To All The Animals."
Credit Barry Beckett, who's all over this LP, as well as his co-producer Jerry Wexler and, of course, in addition to the Muscle Shoals players, you've got Mark Knopfler.
17. "I And I"
"Jokerman" was the famous track on 1983's "Infidels," "Neighborhood Bully" got airplay, but this is the cut. Once again, something you'll love even if you hate Dylan and don't listen to the lyrics, but the lyrics make the track, along with the guitar and piano playing, an unheralded masterpiece.
18. "Things Have Changed"
From the 2000 film "Wonder Boys" based on the Michael Chabon book, it's one of the few flicks that's better than the source novel.
And the flick was very good.
But as soon as I heard this track in the theatre I knew it was a winner.
And it instigated hope in Dylan, in his abilities, showed after a meandering slew of albums that he still had it.
And I'd be lying if I told you his recent work was as entrancing, I think it's lauded by those needing to feel superior, but maybe it will reveal itself to me in time.
Meanwhile, start here. And dig deeper where you have interest.
Not only is there a cornucopia of hits, there's a journey, changes...Dylan's lived a life, not beholden to the game, surprising us all the while, triumphing now and again, especially when we considered him down and out.
And maybe he'll surprise us in the desert, by performing his hits faithfully, just to blow our minds and blow the others off the stage.
Or maybe he'll do his usual show, just to mess with us, to battle our belief that the artist lives for us and should deliver what we want.
Dylan never did this. He went his own way and most likely we ended up following him.
He's the embodiment of the sixties, wherein everything was up for grabs and everything could be challenged and you didn't have to come from the right family or go to the right school in order to have a say, in order to leave your mark.
And you might listen to the above and still be unmoved.
But so many were.
And these are not just ditties that please our ears.
These songs changed minds, they impacted the culture, they affected the landscape.
If there's one artist who's playing Oldchella who's a beacon, who's an inspiration, who you can learn from, it's Bob Dylan.
And he might not care.
But the rest of us do.
It's not about money or fame, but the work, the underlying art. It's about hearts and minds, not just the wallet and the booty. Songs are more than commerce, when done right they're anything but evanescent.
Bob Dylan proved this.
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Wednesday 18 May 2016
Megyn Kelly's Interview
Sometimes it doesn't pay to be nice.
That's another thing the mainstream media is clueless about. Now that everybody gets an opinion, now that we're contemptuous of those with riches and fame, when you're nice to those with status, when you suck up and play like you're one big family, we puke.
Of course Megyn Kelly is attractive. More than that. Not the toppermost, but way damn up there, even if she was aided by plastic surgery. But that does not mean she has talent, that does not mean she deserves accolades, that does not mean her coronation sits well with so many of us. But that's another feature of the industrial hype machine, they've got to build 'em way up, until the ratings go down and the star is plowed under and someone else is anointed. Today you don't earn your stripes, your publicist maneuvers to have your story told over and over again in the press, creating a veritable turntable hit, something that appears important but the public has rejected.
Furthermore, in an every day news cycle, we had to hear about this interview forever. It was akin to the Bobby Riggs/Billie Jean King tennis match. The battle of the sexes. But despite Riggs playing Trump, being nice to King at the beginning of the contest, Billie Jean was fierce and roasted him. If only Megyn had done the same to the Donald. If only instead of softballs she'd zeroed in, nailed him. Of course he would have whined, trashed her on Twitter thereafter, but that was what we were rooting for. Especially after the advance hype. Some zingers. And we at home are the ones who are scoring, not the scribes in the newspapers who all got it wrong re Trump.
And we scored this interview a zero. Maybe a two on an absolute scale.
Don't give Roger Ailes that much credit. He blew the Trump opportunity to begin with, furthermore, despite trashing his cable news competitors his audience is tiny and aged, Fox News is equivalent to Oldchella, get the geezers to overpay and rattle their jewelry one more time before they drop dead. Give Ailes credit for going with a young 'un, but he squandered the opportunity.
Then again, does Kelly deserve the opportunity?
Overseas they call them "news readers." Because that's what the anchors do, read what the writers have written. There's no pretense that the person on screen is a genius. But in America, we laud the one on camera, those out of sight are out of mind. But even so, over the decades we've descended from Walter Cronkite and John Chancellor to a bunch of average intellects propelled by their looks. This works for no one.
And to have Kelly selling a book at the end...
Who cares?
I hoped that paradigm died with the fifteen minutes that turned into the better part of a decade of fame for Sarah Palin before she became a laughable joke that even the right wing resented. That's right, Ms. Palin resigned her governorship and then the whole damn family sold out to the highest bidder, doing reality TV, having the last laugh on an American public that reveres money. She won, no doubt. But Kelly is no Palin, and I mean this in a good way, Megyn's not a nitwit. So why is she playing nitwit games?
Have a backbone. Stand up for what's right...truth, justice and the American way.
But Fox News is biased and she's just a pawn in their game. And the American way is the true believer rugged individual, who goes off into the wilderness to make something of themselves, not beholden to usual strictures, an inspiration for the rest of us. And Megyn pulled herself up by her bootstraps, throwing overboard a legal career, but ending up a middle manager.
We want people to believe in.
And we believe in those who push the envelope, who have insight, who do it their own way. They're a beacon in the wilderness, and believe me we need the light, it hasn't been morning in America for a very long time, unless you're rich it's perpetual darkness. We want to believe someone is on our side. That's what got Bernie and Trump there to begin with.
But despite Paul Krugman, the liberal economist in the "New York Times," excoriating Sanders' economic policies, we've got no real scrutiny of Trump on the right, because they've been selling falsehoods forever and they don't want the truth revealed, that their policies benefit the fat cats and no one else. And now this special benefited Kelly and no one else. In that it made so many aware she had a book. It was her Kanye moment.
Although Kanye would have done it totally differently. That's what we love about him, he doesn't seem to care whether we like him or not. He's Trump on steroids with a modicum of talent to boot. Charlie Sheen may be in the rearview mirror, but Kanye's winning all the while.
Does everything have to be smoke and mirrors? Does everything have to be about the sell? In a coarse society riven with online hate do we have to watch elite club members pay lip service to each other?
Megyn Kelly's credibility took a huge hit last night.
And at the end of the day, that's all you've got, your credibility, your word, your identity. Your money won't keep you from cancer and it might get you in the door but it won't buy you real friends.
I wanted sparks. I wanted news. I wanted Megyn to get up on her high heels and pierce the Trump veil.
But she can't. It's not in her character. Her boss told her not to. And it's only techies who don't listen to their boss.
But Steve Jobs was a hero who changed the world.
And Mark Zuckerberg owns it. Hell, the right wing has its knickers in a twist believing Facebook news is biased. Imagine that, a guy in a hoodie wagging the dog.
That's what rock stars used to do.
And we counted on the press to interpret it all for us.
But those days are in the rearview mirror.
Just gimme some truth.
It's lonely out here, I want to belong.
But not to a club of phonies kissing ass believing commerce is everything.
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That's another thing the mainstream media is clueless about. Now that everybody gets an opinion, now that we're contemptuous of those with riches and fame, when you're nice to those with status, when you suck up and play like you're one big family, we puke.
Of course Megyn Kelly is attractive. More than that. Not the toppermost, but way damn up there, even if she was aided by plastic surgery. But that does not mean she has talent, that does not mean she deserves accolades, that does not mean her coronation sits well with so many of us. But that's another feature of the industrial hype machine, they've got to build 'em way up, until the ratings go down and the star is plowed under and someone else is anointed. Today you don't earn your stripes, your publicist maneuvers to have your story told over and over again in the press, creating a veritable turntable hit, something that appears important but the public has rejected.
Furthermore, in an every day news cycle, we had to hear about this interview forever. It was akin to the Bobby Riggs/Billie Jean King tennis match. The battle of the sexes. But despite Riggs playing Trump, being nice to King at the beginning of the contest, Billie Jean was fierce and roasted him. If only Megyn had done the same to the Donald. If only instead of softballs she'd zeroed in, nailed him. Of course he would have whined, trashed her on Twitter thereafter, but that was what we were rooting for. Especially after the advance hype. Some zingers. And we at home are the ones who are scoring, not the scribes in the newspapers who all got it wrong re Trump.
And we scored this interview a zero. Maybe a two on an absolute scale.
Don't give Roger Ailes that much credit. He blew the Trump opportunity to begin with, furthermore, despite trashing his cable news competitors his audience is tiny and aged, Fox News is equivalent to Oldchella, get the geezers to overpay and rattle their jewelry one more time before they drop dead. Give Ailes credit for going with a young 'un, but he squandered the opportunity.
Then again, does Kelly deserve the opportunity?
Overseas they call them "news readers." Because that's what the anchors do, read what the writers have written. There's no pretense that the person on screen is a genius. But in America, we laud the one on camera, those out of sight are out of mind. But even so, over the decades we've descended from Walter Cronkite and John Chancellor to a bunch of average intellects propelled by their looks. This works for no one.
And to have Kelly selling a book at the end...
Who cares?
I hoped that paradigm died with the fifteen minutes that turned into the better part of a decade of fame for Sarah Palin before she became a laughable joke that even the right wing resented. That's right, Ms. Palin resigned her governorship and then the whole damn family sold out to the highest bidder, doing reality TV, having the last laugh on an American public that reveres money. She won, no doubt. But Kelly is no Palin, and I mean this in a good way, Megyn's not a nitwit. So why is she playing nitwit games?
Have a backbone. Stand up for what's right...truth, justice and the American way.
But Fox News is biased and she's just a pawn in their game. And the American way is the true believer rugged individual, who goes off into the wilderness to make something of themselves, not beholden to usual strictures, an inspiration for the rest of us. And Megyn pulled herself up by her bootstraps, throwing overboard a legal career, but ending up a middle manager.
We want people to believe in.
And we believe in those who push the envelope, who have insight, who do it their own way. They're a beacon in the wilderness, and believe me we need the light, it hasn't been morning in America for a very long time, unless you're rich it's perpetual darkness. We want to believe someone is on our side. That's what got Bernie and Trump there to begin with.
But despite Paul Krugman, the liberal economist in the "New York Times," excoriating Sanders' economic policies, we've got no real scrutiny of Trump on the right, because they've been selling falsehoods forever and they don't want the truth revealed, that their policies benefit the fat cats and no one else. And now this special benefited Kelly and no one else. In that it made so many aware she had a book. It was her Kanye moment.
Although Kanye would have done it totally differently. That's what we love about him, he doesn't seem to care whether we like him or not. He's Trump on steroids with a modicum of talent to boot. Charlie Sheen may be in the rearview mirror, but Kanye's winning all the while.
Does everything have to be smoke and mirrors? Does everything have to be about the sell? In a coarse society riven with online hate do we have to watch elite club members pay lip service to each other?
Megyn Kelly's credibility took a huge hit last night.
And at the end of the day, that's all you've got, your credibility, your word, your identity. Your money won't keep you from cancer and it might get you in the door but it won't buy you real friends.
I wanted sparks. I wanted news. I wanted Megyn to get up on her high heels and pierce the Trump veil.
But she can't. It's not in her character. Her boss told her not to. And it's only techies who don't listen to their boss.
But Steve Jobs was a hero who changed the world.
And Mark Zuckerberg owns it. Hell, the right wing has its knickers in a twist believing Facebook news is biased. Imagine that, a guy in a hoodie wagging the dog.
That's what rock stars used to do.
And we counted on the press to interpret it all for us.
But those days are in the rearview mirror.
Just gimme some truth.
It's lonely out here, I want to belong.
But not to a club of phonies kissing ass believing commerce is everything.
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Lively Up Yourself
http://spoti.fi/1U0k2TF
I heard this today on No Shoes Radio, Kenny Chesney's Sirius station that for some reason I can only get on my XM receiver but not my Sirius one. It's channel 62, I caught the press release somewhere and tuned in, I LOVE IT!
People's sensibilities are wider than the narrow channels programmers put them in. And listening to No Shoes you'll hear stuff as varied as "Paradise City," Bryan Adams, Pete Yorn, live Chesney takes and this.
Off of "Natty Dread," Marley's third album on Island and the third to mean absolutely nothing in America.
I had no idea how to pronounce it. Reg-GAY, like man on man love, or Reg-GIE, like the guy in the Archie comic books? And how would I know otherwise, I was living in a cultural black hole, Middlebury, Vermont, in the seventies, when we only got one snowy TV channel, never mind any FM radio other than the college station. No, I learned about Bob Marley and the Wailers, about reggae, in the press.
And there was a big campaign. I remember reading a story about reggae in the library. That's where you went to study, your own room was reserved for fun, and writing papers. Actually, you only went to the library freshman year, because then you realized it was a social scene, and if you actually wanted to get any work done you were better off claiming a classroom, they were plentiful and empty at night, I'd climb the stairs in Munroe Hall and have a space unto myself.
But if you wanted to read magazines, you had to go to the library. I'd sit in a carrel and catch up on popular culture, back before Google, before 24 hour TV news, before information was plentiful, when you depended upon "Time" and "Newsweek" to catch you up.
It was like looking through a telescope. Out there somewhere was a scene and I was not a part of it.
I didn't buy "Catch A Fire," which was a mistake, because shortly after release they changed the cover, it no longer opened in imitation of a lighter, it didn't move at all. You had to buy vinyl early, to get the disc in color, to get the gatefold cover, as time went on the label would want to save money and you could no longer get the original.
But I bought "Burnin'" and didn't understand it whatsoever.
You see there was a whole scene, with no radio airplay whatsoever, there was no frame of reference, I dropped the needle and just didn't get it.
But I kept buying and not understanding, until the release of "Live!," which finally captured the energy, all those tracks buried in studio production suddenly made sense. "Trenchtown Rock" taught me when the music hits you feel no pain. And despite still receiving no airplay, I now got it, I danced around the apartment with my hands in the air, that's the power of the sound.
And the fourth track in that 1975 Lyceum show was "Lively Up Yourself." But this iteration was totally different from the studio take I'd previously been unable to understand. The downbeat was deeper, Marley was unconstricted, he was closing the audience one by one, but didn't need their energy to display his, he was on fire.
That's right, Bob Marley & The Wailers had finally caught fire.
Most radio still missed it. There were no AM hits. What youngsters can't fathom today is the hit was irrelevant, if you listened to Top Forty you were out of it, all the action was over on FM, on the AORs, and although there were pockets of adherence, radio was still local, you never heard reggae in L.A.
But the tour buzz became deafening. Kinda like today's EDM shows. But instead of ecstasy it was all about the spliff, the marijuana, not the knock you over your head make you comatose stuff of today, sensimilla had just started to make inroads, but dope that made you high and instead of putting you to sleep made you want to experience the joy.
The English had always loved reggae. It had broken there earlier in the decade. But despite "My Boy Lollipop" being a smash here in the sixties, despite Johnny Nash having a big hit with the incredible cut in Jamaica "I Can See Clearly Now," despite "The Harder They Come" playing for over a year in cinemas, most people were clueless as to Bob Marley.
And then he died.
And soon everybody knew. It took people that long to catch on. Kinda like punk. Just when it looked like it was gonna fail, it was gigantic.
"You're gonna lively up yourself and don't be no drag"
It's noon. I'm on the 405. It's the studio version. But I'm immediately enraptured, I'm reminded of when the sound was enough.
"You lively up yourself for reggae is another bag"
We didn't go to the show for the production, certainly not to take photos, although as time wore on we wanted to be seen.
But home was a disaster, those who stayed in their residence were losers. It was all about going out, until broadband and Netflix and everything was reversed.
The movies were a religion.
Food was burgeoning, certainly in the metropolis.
And everybody went to the show.
Unlike today, you knew who was in town. Radio promoted the concerts, the paper listed them all, you lined up for tickets and if the act was famous you had a hard time getting in, if they were not you could see them up close and personal.
And it was all about the sound. It infected us. It made us move our feet, twist our bodies, love our brethren, all in thrall to the ringmasters on stage.
It was a religious experience.
"You rock so, you rock so"
Like you always did before.
MTV made it about what you saw as opposed to what you heard. No talents like J. Lo could have whole careers. Studio trickery could make anybody a star.
But there's still room for a band that can lay down in the groove and penetrate people's souls.
That's why people went to Fare Thee Well, it's what the Dead ethos is built upon.
But Bob Marley was for black and white, for everybody, he took this narrow sound and made it universal. Took a long damn time, but the sound has never died. You hear that reggae beat and your mood changes, your body starts to dip, you cast aside your everyday life and you move closer to the flame. Burnin' from an era when the earth was not run by nerds, but the cool people, who were more about feeling than bucks, who wanted to live a life far from the corporations, one based on instinct, exploration and communication.
You've got to lively up yourself.
Don't be no drag.
P.S. Later this afternoon I heard Busy Signal's reggae version of Phil Collins's "One More Night" on No Shoes Radio. Check it out, I'd never heard it before, the reggae beat adds a whole 'nother flavor: http://spoti.fi/1rV3yWw
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I heard this today on No Shoes Radio, Kenny Chesney's Sirius station that for some reason I can only get on my XM receiver but not my Sirius one. It's channel 62, I caught the press release somewhere and tuned in, I LOVE IT!
People's sensibilities are wider than the narrow channels programmers put them in. And listening to No Shoes you'll hear stuff as varied as "Paradise City," Bryan Adams, Pete Yorn, live Chesney takes and this.
Off of "Natty Dread," Marley's third album on Island and the third to mean absolutely nothing in America.
I had no idea how to pronounce it. Reg-GAY, like man on man love, or Reg-GIE, like the guy in the Archie comic books? And how would I know otherwise, I was living in a cultural black hole, Middlebury, Vermont, in the seventies, when we only got one snowy TV channel, never mind any FM radio other than the college station. No, I learned about Bob Marley and the Wailers, about reggae, in the press.
And there was a big campaign. I remember reading a story about reggae in the library. That's where you went to study, your own room was reserved for fun, and writing papers. Actually, you only went to the library freshman year, because then you realized it was a social scene, and if you actually wanted to get any work done you were better off claiming a classroom, they were plentiful and empty at night, I'd climb the stairs in Munroe Hall and have a space unto myself.
But if you wanted to read magazines, you had to go to the library. I'd sit in a carrel and catch up on popular culture, back before Google, before 24 hour TV news, before information was plentiful, when you depended upon "Time" and "Newsweek" to catch you up.
It was like looking through a telescope. Out there somewhere was a scene and I was not a part of it.
I didn't buy "Catch A Fire," which was a mistake, because shortly after release they changed the cover, it no longer opened in imitation of a lighter, it didn't move at all. You had to buy vinyl early, to get the disc in color, to get the gatefold cover, as time went on the label would want to save money and you could no longer get the original.
But I bought "Burnin'" and didn't understand it whatsoever.
You see there was a whole scene, with no radio airplay whatsoever, there was no frame of reference, I dropped the needle and just didn't get it.
But I kept buying and not understanding, until the release of "Live!," which finally captured the energy, all those tracks buried in studio production suddenly made sense. "Trenchtown Rock" taught me when the music hits you feel no pain. And despite still receiving no airplay, I now got it, I danced around the apartment with my hands in the air, that's the power of the sound.
And the fourth track in that 1975 Lyceum show was "Lively Up Yourself." But this iteration was totally different from the studio take I'd previously been unable to understand. The downbeat was deeper, Marley was unconstricted, he was closing the audience one by one, but didn't need their energy to display his, he was on fire.
That's right, Bob Marley & The Wailers had finally caught fire.
Most radio still missed it. There were no AM hits. What youngsters can't fathom today is the hit was irrelevant, if you listened to Top Forty you were out of it, all the action was over on FM, on the AORs, and although there were pockets of adherence, radio was still local, you never heard reggae in L.A.
But the tour buzz became deafening. Kinda like today's EDM shows. But instead of ecstasy it was all about the spliff, the marijuana, not the knock you over your head make you comatose stuff of today, sensimilla had just started to make inroads, but dope that made you high and instead of putting you to sleep made you want to experience the joy.
The English had always loved reggae. It had broken there earlier in the decade. But despite "My Boy Lollipop" being a smash here in the sixties, despite Johnny Nash having a big hit with the incredible cut in Jamaica "I Can See Clearly Now," despite "The Harder They Come" playing for over a year in cinemas, most people were clueless as to Bob Marley.
And then he died.
And soon everybody knew. It took people that long to catch on. Kinda like punk. Just when it looked like it was gonna fail, it was gigantic.
"You're gonna lively up yourself and don't be no drag"
It's noon. I'm on the 405. It's the studio version. But I'm immediately enraptured, I'm reminded of when the sound was enough.
"You lively up yourself for reggae is another bag"
We didn't go to the show for the production, certainly not to take photos, although as time wore on we wanted to be seen.
But home was a disaster, those who stayed in their residence were losers. It was all about going out, until broadband and Netflix and everything was reversed.
The movies were a religion.
Food was burgeoning, certainly in the metropolis.
And everybody went to the show.
Unlike today, you knew who was in town. Radio promoted the concerts, the paper listed them all, you lined up for tickets and if the act was famous you had a hard time getting in, if they were not you could see them up close and personal.
And it was all about the sound. It infected us. It made us move our feet, twist our bodies, love our brethren, all in thrall to the ringmasters on stage.
It was a religious experience.
"You rock so, you rock so"
Like you always did before.
MTV made it about what you saw as opposed to what you heard. No talents like J. Lo could have whole careers. Studio trickery could make anybody a star.
But there's still room for a band that can lay down in the groove and penetrate people's souls.
That's why people went to Fare Thee Well, it's what the Dead ethos is built upon.
But Bob Marley was for black and white, for everybody, he took this narrow sound and made it universal. Took a long damn time, but the sound has never died. You hear that reggae beat and your mood changes, your body starts to dip, you cast aside your everyday life and you move closer to the flame. Burnin' from an era when the earth was not run by nerds, but the cool people, who were more about feeling than bucks, who wanted to live a life far from the corporations, one based on instinct, exploration and communication.
You've got to lively up yourself.
Don't be no drag.
P.S. Later this afternoon I heard Busy Signal's reggae version of Phil Collins's "One More Night" on No Shoes Radio. Check it out, I'd never heard it before, the reggae beat adds a whole 'nother flavor: http://spoti.fi/1rV3yWw
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Tuesday 17 May 2016
Steve Martin On Howard Stern
Utterly fascinating.
The readout said "Steve Martin" but it did not sound like him. Obviously, it was him, but he didn't sound "on," but like a regular guy.
And that's who Steve is.
Steve grew up in SoCal, Orange County, Garden Grove, worked at Disneyland, honed his chops at Knott's Berry Farm and got a gig working on the Smothers Brothers TV show via a dancer he went to school with at Long Beach State.
This is the nexus. The relationship and the ask. You can't make it if you know no one and you ask for nothing. It's not pure talent that brings you to the foreground.
And then Martin quit at the top of his game, making dough writing for others, because he wanted to hear the words come out of his own mouth.
I was driving down the hill to meet with the anesthesiologist. My surgeon wanted to know if my sleep apnea required the operation to be done in the hospital as opposed to the surgery center. But as I was cruising down Wilshire I lamented my arrival, I just wanted to listen to Steve.
Not that I'm the biggest Steve Martin fan. Of course I like his work, especially "Roxanne" and "All Of Me," but the truth is most people come on the radio to sell. That's what's wrong with late night TV. The combination of the hype and the prepared comedy material. Who are these people? We never get to know.
But we do on Howard Stern.
At the end of the interview, which lasted the better part of two hours, Steve complimented Howard on his change. That's right, we can all do it, except for politicians, who are afraid of gotcha moments. You outgrow friends, you realize certain behavior isn't working for you and I'd be lying if I didn't say my psychiatrist changed my life. He taught me how to interact with people to my advantage. Instead of just saying whatever popped into my head, feeling I had to be me all the time, he taught me I had a choice, I could behave in a way that improved the odds of a better result, the one I desired. Howard talks about going to the shrink, I'm not sure what transpires there, but I do know too few people are willing to look at themselves and change. They're locked into their image, to their detriment.
Which is to say I sat in my car and listened as Steve said he didn't want to be in Vegas singing "I Got You Babe" at the age he is now. Cher took offense, Steve was a writer on her show. Celebrities have thin skins. And despite what they say, they read everything about themselves. And they hold grudges even worse than you and me. But Steve explained he wasn't saying Cher shouldn't be singing the song in Vegas, but HIM!
But then I had to go inside.
I wish I didn't waste so much time listening to Howard Stern. But the show provides not only entertainment, but a community. I think I know all these people. Furthermore, there's no artifice, no climbing the ladder, Howard hates when his employees try to leverage their airtime into broader success. Instead, the focus is on revealing insecurities and warts, failings, humanizing everybody, and that makes me feel more comfortable in my own skin.
I ended up listening to most of the interview via the Sirius app, which is a piece of crap, everybody knows it. It's fine if you're listening live, but if you want to download something... Not only are the menus unintuitive, you're constantly being thrown back to the live show and having to start all over. But if you stay with it, you can get the show, and I did.
Now one of the reasons this interview was so good is because Howard is in the same wheelhouse as Steve, he too is a comedian. And when two pros go at it the level is heightened, it's less of an interview and more of a conversation. You feel like a fly on the wall, you don't want to speak for fear of being noticed, interrupting the flow.
And the flow contained so much.
Steve's father writing a bad review of his appearance on SNL. Saying Steve was no genius after a screening of "The Jerk." How do you cope with such a dad?
Well, Steve didn't know any better. But for a long time had no desire to pass his genes on, feeling he didn't know how to parent.
But what we learn here is about a life. Of someone who caught the performance bug and tried to figure out how to get ahead. There's no boasting and no reluctance. Success was a lot of hard work. Interwoven with moments of anxiety and extreme loneliness. We think it's just a straight shot to the top, but it's not. And despite starting in his teens, Steve didn't make it until his thirties.
And when he did...
You've got to listen for the philosophy. That's what Steve studied in school that made him realize he didn't want to write punch lines, but just be funny, so that the audience was laughing but people didn't know what they were laughing at.
Upon hearing a recording of himself he stopped drinking during the show, he realized he was slurring his words, he was horrified.
And despite so much success, Steve still heard no, execs didn't get it. He pitched "Roxanne" to a majordomo who had no idea who Cyrano de Bergerac was.
And I could recite all the details, but that's not what made this interview so good. Rather it was hearing the story of a guy who wasn't sure where he was going but definitely wanted to get there. One who had moments of self-doubt and was willing to throw over his success because it no longer felt good. Doing arenas allowed him to stockpile some money, but it wasn't enjoyable, he stopped. He stopped the two wild and crazy guys skit before it was overdone. You've got to have a feel for your career, you've got to be in charge, something so rare in today's executive dominated landscape where money comes first and everybody's replaceable.
And if you're listening for tips, this is the wrong place. Oh, you'll glean some wisdom, but the truth is this Steve Martin interview is so good because it's a peek into an American life. A boomer born to parents doing what they should who wanted more out of life and went in search of it.
Of course there was some talk about Martin and Edie Brickell's musical, you can't get any legend to appear unless they're hyping something. But the truth is that wasn't even 5% of the conversation.
Conversation. That's what we live for. Interaction, knowledge, experience. Steve writes so well from a female point of view because he's constantly asking women why they got married, what caused the divorce, not for material but because he's interested. I want to know everybody's relationship story, because that's what life is about.
Now you can hear some excerpts via SoundCloud.
And you can live without subscribing to Sirius and listening to Stern.
But your life will be so much richer if you do.
"Steve Martin's Relationship with His Father": https://goo.gl/BNuUoU
"Steve Martin on Getting His Comedy Writing Chops with The Smothers Brothers": https://goo.gl/dqmQTP
"Steve Martin Accidentally Insulted Cher": https://goo.gl/63hiFX
"Steve Martin's Friendship With Johnny Carson": https://goo.gl/IrcbKQ
"Steve Martin on Stand-Up": https://goo.gl/NBRCtX
"Steve Martin's Musical 'Bright Star'": https://goo.gl/3ohD8J
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The readout said "Steve Martin" but it did not sound like him. Obviously, it was him, but he didn't sound "on," but like a regular guy.
And that's who Steve is.
Steve grew up in SoCal, Orange County, Garden Grove, worked at Disneyland, honed his chops at Knott's Berry Farm and got a gig working on the Smothers Brothers TV show via a dancer he went to school with at Long Beach State.
This is the nexus. The relationship and the ask. You can't make it if you know no one and you ask for nothing. It's not pure talent that brings you to the foreground.
And then Martin quit at the top of his game, making dough writing for others, because he wanted to hear the words come out of his own mouth.
I was driving down the hill to meet with the anesthesiologist. My surgeon wanted to know if my sleep apnea required the operation to be done in the hospital as opposed to the surgery center. But as I was cruising down Wilshire I lamented my arrival, I just wanted to listen to Steve.
Not that I'm the biggest Steve Martin fan. Of course I like his work, especially "Roxanne" and "All Of Me," but the truth is most people come on the radio to sell. That's what's wrong with late night TV. The combination of the hype and the prepared comedy material. Who are these people? We never get to know.
But we do on Howard Stern.
At the end of the interview, which lasted the better part of two hours, Steve complimented Howard on his change. That's right, we can all do it, except for politicians, who are afraid of gotcha moments. You outgrow friends, you realize certain behavior isn't working for you and I'd be lying if I didn't say my psychiatrist changed my life. He taught me how to interact with people to my advantage. Instead of just saying whatever popped into my head, feeling I had to be me all the time, he taught me I had a choice, I could behave in a way that improved the odds of a better result, the one I desired. Howard talks about going to the shrink, I'm not sure what transpires there, but I do know too few people are willing to look at themselves and change. They're locked into their image, to their detriment.
Which is to say I sat in my car and listened as Steve said he didn't want to be in Vegas singing "I Got You Babe" at the age he is now. Cher took offense, Steve was a writer on her show. Celebrities have thin skins. And despite what they say, they read everything about themselves. And they hold grudges even worse than you and me. But Steve explained he wasn't saying Cher shouldn't be singing the song in Vegas, but HIM!
But then I had to go inside.
I wish I didn't waste so much time listening to Howard Stern. But the show provides not only entertainment, but a community. I think I know all these people. Furthermore, there's no artifice, no climbing the ladder, Howard hates when his employees try to leverage their airtime into broader success. Instead, the focus is on revealing insecurities and warts, failings, humanizing everybody, and that makes me feel more comfortable in my own skin.
I ended up listening to most of the interview via the Sirius app, which is a piece of crap, everybody knows it. It's fine if you're listening live, but if you want to download something... Not only are the menus unintuitive, you're constantly being thrown back to the live show and having to start all over. But if you stay with it, you can get the show, and I did.
Now one of the reasons this interview was so good is because Howard is in the same wheelhouse as Steve, he too is a comedian. And when two pros go at it the level is heightened, it's less of an interview and more of a conversation. You feel like a fly on the wall, you don't want to speak for fear of being noticed, interrupting the flow.
And the flow contained so much.
Steve's father writing a bad review of his appearance on SNL. Saying Steve was no genius after a screening of "The Jerk." How do you cope with such a dad?
Well, Steve didn't know any better. But for a long time had no desire to pass his genes on, feeling he didn't know how to parent.
But what we learn here is about a life. Of someone who caught the performance bug and tried to figure out how to get ahead. There's no boasting and no reluctance. Success was a lot of hard work. Interwoven with moments of anxiety and extreme loneliness. We think it's just a straight shot to the top, but it's not. And despite starting in his teens, Steve didn't make it until his thirties.
And when he did...
You've got to listen for the philosophy. That's what Steve studied in school that made him realize he didn't want to write punch lines, but just be funny, so that the audience was laughing but people didn't know what they were laughing at.
Upon hearing a recording of himself he stopped drinking during the show, he realized he was slurring his words, he was horrified.
And despite so much success, Steve still heard no, execs didn't get it. He pitched "Roxanne" to a majordomo who had no idea who Cyrano de Bergerac was.
And I could recite all the details, but that's not what made this interview so good. Rather it was hearing the story of a guy who wasn't sure where he was going but definitely wanted to get there. One who had moments of self-doubt and was willing to throw over his success because it no longer felt good. Doing arenas allowed him to stockpile some money, but it wasn't enjoyable, he stopped. He stopped the two wild and crazy guys skit before it was overdone. You've got to have a feel for your career, you've got to be in charge, something so rare in today's executive dominated landscape where money comes first and everybody's replaceable.
And if you're listening for tips, this is the wrong place. Oh, you'll glean some wisdom, but the truth is this Steve Martin interview is so good because it's a peek into an American life. A boomer born to parents doing what they should who wanted more out of life and went in search of it.
Of course there was some talk about Martin and Edie Brickell's musical, you can't get any legend to appear unless they're hyping something. But the truth is that wasn't even 5% of the conversation.
Conversation. That's what we live for. Interaction, knowledge, experience. Steve writes so well from a female point of view because he's constantly asking women why they got married, what caused the divorce, not for material but because he's interested. I want to know everybody's relationship story, because that's what life is about.
Now you can hear some excerpts via SoundCloud.
And you can live without subscribing to Sirius and listening to Stern.
But your life will be so much richer if you do.
"Steve Martin's Relationship with His Father": https://goo.gl/BNuUoU
"Steve Martin on Getting His Comedy Writing Chops with The Smothers Brothers": https://goo.gl/dqmQTP
"Steve Martin Accidentally Insulted Cher": https://goo.gl/63hiFX
"Steve Martin's Friendship With Johnny Carson": https://goo.gl/IrcbKQ
"Steve Martin on Stand-Up": https://goo.gl/NBRCtX
"Steve Martin's Musical 'Bright Star'": https://goo.gl/3ohD8J
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Re-Amazon Echo
Thanks so much for the shout out.
More importantly....glad you like it.
Now start asking her questions. There's a lot she doesn't know but she's getting more info every day.
Ask her how far it is to drive from LA to San Diego or who was the 11th president of the US. was
Even ask her why she is such a bitch? She has answers for all!
Jason in my office uses it to turn lights off and on in his house and the shopping list is amazing.
They add new stuff every day. Unsure how Apple missed this one.
Gary Dell'Abate
_________________________________________
You can also tell echo "Alexa Softer" or "Louder" and it will adjust the volume. It's also an alarm clock "wake me up at 7:30 AM" and so much more. I use it to control my lights and alarm system. Also, for $79 you can buy the Dot (you can only order it by saying "Alexa Buy the Echo Dot" (you can't buy it o Amazon.com) and you can use it with any speakers, including wireless Bluetooth or wired via its headphone jack. I own 3 Echos and have written and broadcast about them several times. My favorite tech gadget.
Larry Magid
_________________________________________
Great article!
PS: as for the volume you can say "Alexa volume 7" (out of 1 to 10) and she will adjust accordingly.
Tom Burg
(I tried this, it works perfectly.)
_________________________________________
Have 1 since Christmas. It blows me away every day. Alexa, play Coltrane " my favorite things"
Play Oscar Peterson, play.........
Every time I get a song in my head I never have to look for it.
Reminds me of Jean Luc Picard
Walking in to his room and saying
"Computer, lights on, no dimmer"
Neil Lasher
_________________________________________
Love my Echo. And Amazon customer service is top notch. Last week my father lost an old Kindle that I gave him that was linked to my account. Two web clicks and a brief text explanation of my problem and Amazon called ME within 60 seconds and disabled the Kindle so that no one could use it. At the end of the call the rep asked if there was anything else that I needed and I said "I guess I need to get my dad a new Kindle" so she gave me a 10% off discount code to use.
Tod Elmore
_________________________________________
Wow I love my Echo. I work in tech, not one of your music readers.
Behind the scenes the trick of Echo is artificial intelligence. Specifically a branch called Deep Learning. Look it up, you'll enjoy learning.
Alexa is learning every time you talk to her. She's the future. Helpful AI, not the Terminator.
My company, NVIDIA, has (literally) a billion dollars of R&D behind the GPUs and deep learning software going into Alexa and Microsoft Cortana and all the AI you will see in self-driving cars. It's already in Twitter, Facebook, Google and almost every app on your phone. Going to change computing in a way that only happens once a generation. Watch for it.
Greg Estes
_________________________________________
Question:
MUST Echo coexist with streaming ONLY or will it work with your iTunes playlists/library ?
Al Kooper
(You can upload your music to Amazon, 250 songs for free or 250,000 for $24.99 a year: https://goo.gl/9t1UOQ Or, you can stream songs from your Bluetooth-paired device: https://goo.gl/AY8Feg)
_________________________________________
Sir, does Echo "talk" to your Sonos?
steve aliment
_________________________________________
Subject: with the Echo Dot (son of the Echo) you can connect an Echo to your Sonos speakers
http://www.geekwire.com/2016/echo-dot-amazons-squat-almost-independent-alexa-sibling/
In my four-story townhouse, that meant I could set up the hockey-puck sized Dot in the fourth-floor bedroom, right next to my Sonos Play 5 speaker. The Play 5 accepts an auxiliary cable input. Voila! Instant voice control for Sonos as Dot streamed my Amazon Prime Music library into the Sonos and throughout my home over Sonos' wireless network.
http://www.amazon.com/b/?node=14047587011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icpFh5FCREU
Bill
_________________________________________
Karen gave me an Echo for Christmas. Best present ever! First thing I did was upload 25,000 songs to My Amazon Music library. Fantastic!
Bob Davis
_________________________________________
PS order the Echo dot if you can, it does everything you love about the echo, but it plugs into your pre existing speaker system.
Darwyn Metzger
_________________________________________
apple care is so spotty anymore it pays to just hang up and call back if you get a moron. they fell off a cliff when yosemite csme out and there was a surge i. demand and either they dont train people as well or they arent screening well. i used to be 100 pct satisfied with it. now maybe 55 pct. wrong vector, Tim
did you think about trying their "dot?". it seems to me that the real value of voice activstion is universal coversge in your bubble, not a single room
oohlikewowman
_________________________________________
Last week I got my three year coin at AA for being three years clean and sober. Bit since a couple of months I have a serious Bob Lefsetz addiction. Guess I'm gonna switch AA meetings for LA meetings. LA is not short for the city of Angels, but for Lefsetz Anonymous.
There is one thing I have to tell you about Echo. I understand why you're raving about it, but that's because you're American. For us, Dutchman (and all the other non English talking countries) Echo is a waste of money, because Alexa is a one language pony.
In this case Apple is doing a much better better job with Siri…
Kindest regards,
Mick Boskamp
_________________________________________
I ordered an Echo for my wife, and saw it would take about a month to arrive. On a whim, I opened the Amazon Prime Now app (it's their same day delivery service in a bunch of cities). There was the Echo. I ordered it at 9am this morning (in NYC), and it just arrived, 3 1/2 hours later.
So that! Your readers may want to know.
Kevin Kiernan, NYC
--
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--
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More importantly....glad you like it.
Now start asking her questions. There's a lot she doesn't know but she's getting more info every day.
Ask her how far it is to drive from LA to San Diego or who was the 11th president of the US. was
Even ask her why she is such a bitch? She has answers for all!
Jason in my office uses it to turn lights off and on in his house and the shopping list is amazing.
They add new stuff every day. Unsure how Apple missed this one.
Gary Dell'Abate
_________________________________________
You can also tell echo "Alexa Softer" or "Louder" and it will adjust the volume. It's also an alarm clock "wake me up at 7:30 AM" and so much more. I use it to control my lights and alarm system. Also, for $79 you can buy the Dot (you can only order it by saying "Alexa Buy the Echo Dot" (you can't buy it o Amazon.com) and you can use it with any speakers, including wireless Bluetooth or wired via its headphone jack. I own 3 Echos and have written and broadcast about them several times. My favorite tech gadget.
Larry Magid
_________________________________________
Great article!
PS: as for the volume you can say "Alexa volume 7" (out of 1 to 10) and she will adjust accordingly.
Tom Burg
(I tried this, it works perfectly.)
_________________________________________
Have 1 since Christmas. It blows me away every day. Alexa, play Coltrane " my favorite things"
Play Oscar Peterson, play.........
Every time I get a song in my head I never have to look for it.
Reminds me of Jean Luc Picard
Walking in to his room and saying
"Computer, lights on, no dimmer"
Neil Lasher
_________________________________________
Love my Echo. And Amazon customer service is top notch. Last week my father lost an old Kindle that I gave him that was linked to my account. Two web clicks and a brief text explanation of my problem and Amazon called ME within 60 seconds and disabled the Kindle so that no one could use it. At the end of the call the rep asked if there was anything else that I needed and I said "I guess I need to get my dad a new Kindle" so she gave me a 10% off discount code to use.
Tod Elmore
_________________________________________
Wow I love my Echo. I work in tech, not one of your music readers.
Behind the scenes the trick of Echo is artificial intelligence. Specifically a branch called Deep Learning. Look it up, you'll enjoy learning.
Alexa is learning every time you talk to her. She's the future. Helpful AI, not the Terminator.
My company, NVIDIA, has (literally) a billion dollars of R&D behind the GPUs and deep learning software going into Alexa and Microsoft Cortana and all the AI you will see in self-driving cars. It's already in Twitter, Facebook, Google and almost every app on your phone. Going to change computing in a way that only happens once a generation. Watch for it.
Greg Estes
_________________________________________
Question:
MUST Echo coexist with streaming ONLY or will it work with your iTunes playlists/library ?
Al Kooper
(You can upload your music to Amazon, 250 songs for free or 250,000 for $24.99 a year: https://goo.gl/9t1UOQ Or, you can stream songs from your Bluetooth-paired device: https://goo.gl/AY8Feg)
_________________________________________
Sir, does Echo "talk" to your Sonos?
steve aliment
_________________________________________
Subject: with the Echo Dot (son of the Echo) you can connect an Echo to your Sonos speakers
http://www.geekwire.com/2016/echo-dot-amazons-squat-almost-independent-alexa-sibling/
In my four-story townhouse, that meant I could set up the hockey-puck sized Dot in the fourth-floor bedroom, right next to my Sonos Play 5 speaker. The Play 5 accepts an auxiliary cable input. Voila! Instant voice control for Sonos as Dot streamed my Amazon Prime Music library into the Sonos and throughout my home over Sonos' wireless network.
http://www.amazon.com/b/?node=14047587011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icpFh5FCREU
Bill
_________________________________________
Karen gave me an Echo for Christmas. Best present ever! First thing I did was upload 25,000 songs to My Amazon Music library. Fantastic!
Bob Davis
_________________________________________
PS order the Echo dot if you can, it does everything you love about the echo, but it plugs into your pre existing speaker system.
Darwyn Metzger
_________________________________________
apple care is so spotty anymore it pays to just hang up and call back if you get a moron. they fell off a cliff when yosemite csme out and there was a surge i. demand and either they dont train people as well or they arent screening well. i used to be 100 pct satisfied with it. now maybe 55 pct. wrong vector, Tim
did you think about trying their "dot?". it seems to me that the real value of voice activstion is universal coversge in your bubble, not a single room
oohlikewowman
_________________________________________
Last week I got my three year coin at AA for being three years clean and sober. Bit since a couple of months I have a serious Bob Lefsetz addiction. Guess I'm gonna switch AA meetings for LA meetings. LA is not short for the city of Angels, but for Lefsetz Anonymous.
There is one thing I have to tell you about Echo. I understand why you're raving about it, but that's because you're American. For us, Dutchman (and all the other non English talking countries) Echo is a waste of money, because Alexa is a one language pony.
In this case Apple is doing a much better better job with Siri…
Kindest regards,
Mick Boskamp
_________________________________________
I ordered an Echo for my wife, and saw it would take about a month to arrive. On a whim, I opened the Amazon Prime Now app (it's their same day delivery service in a bunch of cities). There was the Echo. I ordered it at 9am this morning (in NYC), and it just arrived, 3 1/2 hours later.
So that! Your readers may want to know.
Kevin Kiernan, NYC
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
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http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
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Monday 16 May 2016
My Echo
I'm having a blast telling Alexa what to play from Spotify.
I said I was never going to buy a computer until you could talk to one.
That was thirty years ago.
I fell into the computer revolution and haven't exited since, I love the stimulation at my fingertips, but I still don't use Siri, I don't have time for that many corrections.
But Alexa gets it right.
I never would have purchased this product if Gary Dell'Abate hadn't raved about it. That's right, Gadget Gary, the producer of the Howard Stern show. I saw him at Musicares and he couldn't stop raving, said I had to get one.
REALLY?
But then the buzz started to spread. Felice ordered one for my birthday.
But it took weeks to arrive.
That's right, despite living in an on demand economy, that which is desirable is unattainable, whether it be concert tickets or the latest technology.
But I could wait.
I've still been waiting. Dealing with my shoulder trauma I didn't want to delve into Echoland. Because you know how it is with new equipment, setup is never seamless, you've got to dedicate hours, and oftentimes you're in the middle of it after midnight, knowing you should go to bed but unable to until you solve this problem.
My Echo wouldn't work.
It comes with a short cord. I don't know if they're saving money or if there's an issue of signal loss or... But all I know is I couldn't put the Echo just anywhere. And after setting it up...nothing. You're supposed to get colors atop the cylinder. I felt like calling Amazon, I never call for tech help, it's a waste of time, you can find out the answer easier and quicker online. And the last time I called Applecare... The person had an accent and she couldn't solve my problem and despite taking my phone number we got disconnected and she didn't call back. My problem is still unsolved... It's about synching the keychain over multiple devices, so your passwords will appear on your iPhone and vice versa. And yes, I called Applecare last, after troubleshooting myself, but on the forums everybody was tearing their hair out, everybody was having the same problem, like I said, I still am.
But Amazon is the new Apple.
How do I know?
The Echo came with almost no instructions. Simple packaging. Not a work of art, like Jobs's creations, but far from the old Microsoft where there's so much info you're inundated.
Turned out the Echo wasn't plugged in. I know, I know, TECH 101! But it's not that I hadn't plugged it in, but the plug had slipped out. I thought of this before I called, I'm not a complete nitwit. And then the lights started to swirl and I hooked it up to the wifi and Alexa was alive.
But she wasn't loud enough.
A little research told me to twist her dial. Maybe that's what the remote is for, the one that no longer is included because most people don't use it.
And after asking Alexa a few questions, I hooked up my Spotify account.
Credit the Swedish streaming company. They're horrible marketers, but great technologists. They're on the Alexa bandwagon early, Apple Music can't even get out of its own way. You're following the buzz, right? That despite the number of subscribers analysts are pooh-poohing them, saying with this number of Apple accounts, with this number of credit card numbers, the adoption rate should be higher. But if you can use Apple Music you're not using much of it. The interface is counterintuitive, a mess. And there's no free tier.
You can't use Spotify with Echo unless you have premium, that is you pay...
But it didn't work anyway.
Ah, A GLITCH!
Back to Safari for research.
Needless to say, I was not the only one with this problem. And after reading arcane solutions the one that made sense was to wait, that Alexa needed to download a firmware update, and within an hour Spotify would work.
It did.
And I've been having fun ever since.
You see Alexa cuts out a step. Before the Echo, you had to think of a track and then find it, click it and play it. Dealing with Spotify's inefficient search field along the way, that's somewhere where Apple is better.
But now... You just say the name of the track and act, tell Alexa you want to hear it via Spotify, and she cues it right up.
WHEW!
What do I want to hear?
I pulled up the Beatles, Andrew Bird, Blondie Chaplin, Simon & Garfunkel. Even Billy Joe Royal's "Down In The Boondocks." My mood would change, my synapses would fire, I'd think of a song and there it was.
POSITIVELY THRILLING!
And she rarely got it wrong.
Now it's not only Gary Dell'Abate. I follow Katie Boehret, the tech reporter, and on Friday she tweeted:
"We parked our car tonight and my 2 1/2-y-o son said, 'Alexa, turn off!'"
Hysterical, I know.
But the truth is the younger generation never knows what it missed, it's not locked into the past. Boomers think music is made on guitars, millennials think it's made on laptops.
Voice activation is finally here. There are still a few things to figure out. But never underestimate the power of convenience.
You're gonna own an Echo, you just don't know it yet.
--
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I said I was never going to buy a computer until you could talk to one.
That was thirty years ago.
I fell into the computer revolution and haven't exited since, I love the stimulation at my fingertips, but I still don't use Siri, I don't have time for that many corrections.
But Alexa gets it right.
I never would have purchased this product if Gary Dell'Abate hadn't raved about it. That's right, Gadget Gary, the producer of the Howard Stern show. I saw him at Musicares and he couldn't stop raving, said I had to get one.
REALLY?
But then the buzz started to spread. Felice ordered one for my birthday.
But it took weeks to arrive.
That's right, despite living in an on demand economy, that which is desirable is unattainable, whether it be concert tickets or the latest technology.
But I could wait.
I've still been waiting. Dealing with my shoulder trauma I didn't want to delve into Echoland. Because you know how it is with new equipment, setup is never seamless, you've got to dedicate hours, and oftentimes you're in the middle of it after midnight, knowing you should go to bed but unable to until you solve this problem.
My Echo wouldn't work.
It comes with a short cord. I don't know if they're saving money or if there's an issue of signal loss or... But all I know is I couldn't put the Echo just anywhere. And after setting it up...nothing. You're supposed to get colors atop the cylinder. I felt like calling Amazon, I never call for tech help, it's a waste of time, you can find out the answer easier and quicker online. And the last time I called Applecare... The person had an accent and she couldn't solve my problem and despite taking my phone number we got disconnected and she didn't call back. My problem is still unsolved... It's about synching the keychain over multiple devices, so your passwords will appear on your iPhone and vice versa. And yes, I called Applecare last, after troubleshooting myself, but on the forums everybody was tearing their hair out, everybody was having the same problem, like I said, I still am.
But Amazon is the new Apple.
How do I know?
The Echo came with almost no instructions. Simple packaging. Not a work of art, like Jobs's creations, but far from the old Microsoft where there's so much info you're inundated.
Turned out the Echo wasn't plugged in. I know, I know, TECH 101! But it's not that I hadn't plugged it in, but the plug had slipped out. I thought of this before I called, I'm not a complete nitwit. And then the lights started to swirl and I hooked it up to the wifi and Alexa was alive.
But she wasn't loud enough.
A little research told me to twist her dial. Maybe that's what the remote is for, the one that no longer is included because most people don't use it.
And after asking Alexa a few questions, I hooked up my Spotify account.
Credit the Swedish streaming company. They're horrible marketers, but great technologists. They're on the Alexa bandwagon early, Apple Music can't even get out of its own way. You're following the buzz, right? That despite the number of subscribers analysts are pooh-poohing them, saying with this number of Apple accounts, with this number of credit card numbers, the adoption rate should be higher. But if you can use Apple Music you're not using much of it. The interface is counterintuitive, a mess. And there's no free tier.
You can't use Spotify with Echo unless you have premium, that is you pay...
But it didn't work anyway.
Ah, A GLITCH!
Back to Safari for research.
Needless to say, I was not the only one with this problem. And after reading arcane solutions the one that made sense was to wait, that Alexa needed to download a firmware update, and within an hour Spotify would work.
It did.
And I've been having fun ever since.
You see Alexa cuts out a step. Before the Echo, you had to think of a track and then find it, click it and play it. Dealing with Spotify's inefficient search field along the way, that's somewhere where Apple is better.
But now... You just say the name of the track and act, tell Alexa you want to hear it via Spotify, and she cues it right up.
WHEW!
What do I want to hear?
I pulled up the Beatles, Andrew Bird, Blondie Chaplin, Simon & Garfunkel. Even Billy Joe Royal's "Down In The Boondocks." My mood would change, my synapses would fire, I'd think of a song and there it was.
POSITIVELY THRILLING!
And she rarely got it wrong.
Now it's not only Gary Dell'Abate. I follow Katie Boehret, the tech reporter, and on Friday she tweeted:
"We parked our car tonight and my 2 1/2-y-o son said, 'Alexa, turn off!'"
Hysterical, I know.
But the truth is the younger generation never knows what it missed, it's not locked into the past. Boomers think music is made on guitars, millennials think it's made on laptops.
Voice activation is finally here. There are still a few things to figure out. But never underestimate the power of convenience.
You're gonna own an Echo, you just don't know it yet.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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--
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Getting The Word Out
You've got to make news. The fact your album is coming out is no longer news unto itself. And reviews are skipped. So if you're a star act with a cultural impact the only way you'll get traction is by creating a newsworthy event.
Let's say what you shouldn't do.
You shouldn't put out a single a month in advance hoping to build awareness, adding in a leavening of press stories, in print and online, about why this is the act's best album ever and how it came to be, all in an effort to make a big first week sales splash.
The first week is irrelevant, unless you enter at number one, that's the only thing people notice if they notice anything at all. And it's the cherry on top at most. The victory lap a week after your release.
No, you want to come out of nowhere like gangbusters so everybody knows you're in the game and then hope and pray your hard core fans and the gatekeepers will keep your project alive.
The release scheme is the new video. It's like the eighties, but with a twist. Remember when bands carped that they had to spend all that money in a week, in many cases far in excess of the cost of making the record, just to play in the new MTV game?
We're back there. But now you just want raw awareness. That's how far we've come. If you got on MTV, you had it made. Today, even the biggest acts go unheard by most. But if you depend on tonnage to sell out arenas, you've got to have a big announcement.
First and foremost, day and date on all the streaming services. And don't let anybody talk to you about windows. That's death. You want to be on all the services from day one. You might be able to get a check from Apple or Tidal but for all those not subscribing, and that's most people, you're squandering your opportunity for them to check you out. When you finally hit Spotify, et al, later, there will already be new product in the pipeline for you to compete with. Don't confuse short term money with long term goals. Of course the label will tell you to window (but not Stephen Cooper at WMG, yea!), but that's because the execs all have bottom line pressure, they don't report to you but a board, and their run at the label is oftentimes shorter than yours. So if you're an act, say no to windowing.
As for being on streaming services at all... Where is Adele today? There's zero buzz. Being off Spotify might have helped her wallet, but it hurt her career, her album's stalled, she's not part of the conversation.
So what can you do that's cool?
Beyonce tied in with HBO. Sites with cred pay dividends. People pay attention to what's on HBO because the average level of quality is so high, they think you MUST be good if you're on HBO.
Radiohead removed itself from social media.
What can you do to focus attention on your act?
There are more opportunities than you realize.
Ozzy could do a live show from the Alamo... Or do one at midnight in a sea of bats.
Paul McCartney could have a scavenger hunt in Liverpool, both physical and virtual, testing people's knowledge of the Beatles and his solo career.
Kanye could play a role in "Hamilton" for an evening...
It's not about being everywhere, but somewhere, doing the one thing that will get coverage everywhere. And believe me, it will. Just check Google News. Outlets all around the world report the same damn story, assuming you can get their attention in the first place.
If you are not a star, forget the above, don't waste your time. You're building an audience one by one.
And if you are a star, on drop day not only do you want the splash page on all the streaming services, you want to be featured in as many playlists as you can, along with posting a playlist of your greatest hits and another with your personal listening choices.
I know, I know, it sounds like a lot, like you're blowing your wad all in one day. But your goal is to break through the morass of information, to own the news cycle for a little while, half a day, two days if you're lucky, so that people will talk about you and hopefully stream your music.
It's so hard to get people to click. You want to make it as easy as possible. You want to make them aware and then guide them to it.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
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Let's say what you shouldn't do.
You shouldn't put out a single a month in advance hoping to build awareness, adding in a leavening of press stories, in print and online, about why this is the act's best album ever and how it came to be, all in an effort to make a big first week sales splash.
The first week is irrelevant, unless you enter at number one, that's the only thing people notice if they notice anything at all. And it's the cherry on top at most. The victory lap a week after your release.
No, you want to come out of nowhere like gangbusters so everybody knows you're in the game and then hope and pray your hard core fans and the gatekeepers will keep your project alive.
The release scheme is the new video. It's like the eighties, but with a twist. Remember when bands carped that they had to spend all that money in a week, in many cases far in excess of the cost of making the record, just to play in the new MTV game?
We're back there. But now you just want raw awareness. That's how far we've come. If you got on MTV, you had it made. Today, even the biggest acts go unheard by most. But if you depend on tonnage to sell out arenas, you've got to have a big announcement.
First and foremost, day and date on all the streaming services. And don't let anybody talk to you about windows. That's death. You want to be on all the services from day one. You might be able to get a check from Apple or Tidal but for all those not subscribing, and that's most people, you're squandering your opportunity for them to check you out. When you finally hit Spotify, et al, later, there will already be new product in the pipeline for you to compete with. Don't confuse short term money with long term goals. Of course the label will tell you to window (but not Stephen Cooper at WMG, yea!), but that's because the execs all have bottom line pressure, they don't report to you but a board, and their run at the label is oftentimes shorter than yours. So if you're an act, say no to windowing.
As for being on streaming services at all... Where is Adele today? There's zero buzz. Being off Spotify might have helped her wallet, but it hurt her career, her album's stalled, she's not part of the conversation.
So what can you do that's cool?
Beyonce tied in with HBO. Sites with cred pay dividends. People pay attention to what's on HBO because the average level of quality is so high, they think you MUST be good if you're on HBO.
Radiohead removed itself from social media.
What can you do to focus attention on your act?
There are more opportunities than you realize.
Ozzy could do a live show from the Alamo... Or do one at midnight in a sea of bats.
Paul McCartney could have a scavenger hunt in Liverpool, both physical and virtual, testing people's knowledge of the Beatles and his solo career.
Kanye could play a role in "Hamilton" for an evening...
It's not about being everywhere, but somewhere, doing the one thing that will get coverage everywhere. And believe me, it will. Just check Google News. Outlets all around the world report the same damn story, assuming you can get their attention in the first place.
If you are not a star, forget the above, don't waste your time. You're building an audience one by one.
And if you are a star, on drop day not only do you want the splash page on all the streaming services, you want to be featured in as many playlists as you can, along with posting a playlist of your greatest hits and another with your personal listening choices.
I know, I know, it sounds like a lot, like you're blowing your wad all in one day. But your goal is to break through the morass of information, to own the news cycle for a little while, half a day, two days if you're lucky, so that people will talk about you and hopefully stream your music.
It's so hard to get people to click. You want to make it as easy as possible. You want to make them aware and then guide them to it.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
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Sunday 15 May 2016
False Hope
I'm sick of people telling me what to do. Not my mother, but the tech titans and anybody with an elite college degree seems entitled to pontificate on how I should live my life, as if they've got the tablets from God and I'm lost in the wilderness.
The left is the worst on this. Having left behind the working class, wanting nothing to do with the disadvantaged after paying lip service to them at best, the strivers and achievers keep telling us they know better, these people who ruined the economy. Bankers are extremely wealthy but for a long time they blamed borrowers, the people who got into homes who shouldn't have. But the disadvantaged see what you've got and want some of that, meanwhile those at the top control the economy and even those with the best intentions couldn't pay their mortgage when the crash came.
Used to be we looked to artists for guidance. Back when money was secondary and living outside the law was primary. But today's "artists" are mini-coporations, they talk about their "brand" and money is their main focus and if they're not making it they keep bitching about it.
And Bob Dylan famously sang not to follow leaders and watch the parking meters and you may be flummoxed by that lyric but you're not by those dominating today's hit parade, which basically say I've got a lot and I want more. Kudos to Beyonce for revealing her dirty laundry in public, but "Lemonade" was primarily a victory in marketing, most people haven't heard it and many don't want to, but the press keeps telling us she's a genius. Huh?
But that's fodder for the masses. Nobodies going nowhere. But if you're a thinking person you're inundated with the tales of those who made it to the top, whether it be Larry Ellison telling USC graduates to follow their dream or Sheryl Sandberg telling her brethren to lean in. But the truth is Ellison is not like you or me, you have about as much chance of walking in his footsteps as you do of breaking Joe DiMaggio's consecutive hit streak. As for Ms. Sandberg, she did a mea culpa, now that she's a single mother, she had no idea it was so HARD!
Yes, it is.
You may say we need to raise the minimum wage, but you've got no idea what life is really like on the bottom. You don't eat with us, you don't fly with us, you want nothing to do with us.
The right wing tells us to pick ourselves up by our bootstraps while the left wing says we can come into the big tent, but we've got to serve them drinks and dinner.
No wonder the young and disadvantaged are voting for Bernie and Trump.
I just read a story in the "Times" by a woman with four children who says motherhood is not really overwhelming, she's got plenty of free time. But she's got a husband and a nanny and she's on the road giving talks... How many people can live that privileged life?
And speaking of privilege, it's self-reinforcing. The elite institutions are peopled with the scions of the already rich. And forget affirmative action, the real crime of college is not that you can't get in, but that you can't PAY FOR IT!
But we keep reading the stories of the successful, who tell us to just change this or that and we too can be rich. Utter hogwash. And they pay lip service to teachers but they don't want to pay them like doctors, like they do in Finland, and the doctors themselves don't make the money of the techies and everybody's trying to climb the greased pole believing the flaw is with them when the problem is the system.
Just because you're rich that does not mean you know better, it just means you're rich.
And once upon a time the rich lived in the same neighborhoods as the middle class. That's passe. The rich live behind gates, and the middle class can't live in Manhattan and if you're never exposed to something how in the hell are you gonna know what's going on?
That's the conundrum of the season, how the press got it so wrong on both Bernie and Trump. And now they say they're adjusting, but I believe their frame of reference is off, how do you konw what's going down on the farm when you spend all your time in Paree?
A columnist uses his perch to write books and become a celebrity. No one is happy where they are. Everybody thinks they can do better. But not everybody can be rich, we don't all live in Lake Wobegon.
But they tell us we do. You can't get a good ticket because the acts scalp their own, you're just trying to participate and they blame Ticketmaster, which is just a conduit, a middleman that does what the acts tell them to.
But everybody with a buck is telling us what to do. Everybody who went to the Ivy League tells us what to do. As if they were better than us.
THEY'RE NOT!
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The left is the worst on this. Having left behind the working class, wanting nothing to do with the disadvantaged after paying lip service to them at best, the strivers and achievers keep telling us they know better, these people who ruined the economy. Bankers are extremely wealthy but for a long time they blamed borrowers, the people who got into homes who shouldn't have. But the disadvantaged see what you've got and want some of that, meanwhile those at the top control the economy and even those with the best intentions couldn't pay their mortgage when the crash came.
Used to be we looked to artists for guidance. Back when money was secondary and living outside the law was primary. But today's "artists" are mini-coporations, they talk about their "brand" and money is their main focus and if they're not making it they keep bitching about it.
And Bob Dylan famously sang not to follow leaders and watch the parking meters and you may be flummoxed by that lyric but you're not by those dominating today's hit parade, which basically say I've got a lot and I want more. Kudos to Beyonce for revealing her dirty laundry in public, but "Lemonade" was primarily a victory in marketing, most people haven't heard it and many don't want to, but the press keeps telling us she's a genius. Huh?
But that's fodder for the masses. Nobodies going nowhere. But if you're a thinking person you're inundated with the tales of those who made it to the top, whether it be Larry Ellison telling USC graduates to follow their dream or Sheryl Sandberg telling her brethren to lean in. But the truth is Ellison is not like you or me, you have about as much chance of walking in his footsteps as you do of breaking Joe DiMaggio's consecutive hit streak. As for Ms. Sandberg, she did a mea culpa, now that she's a single mother, she had no idea it was so HARD!
Yes, it is.
You may say we need to raise the minimum wage, but you've got no idea what life is really like on the bottom. You don't eat with us, you don't fly with us, you want nothing to do with us.
The right wing tells us to pick ourselves up by our bootstraps while the left wing says we can come into the big tent, but we've got to serve them drinks and dinner.
No wonder the young and disadvantaged are voting for Bernie and Trump.
I just read a story in the "Times" by a woman with four children who says motherhood is not really overwhelming, she's got plenty of free time. But she's got a husband and a nanny and she's on the road giving talks... How many people can live that privileged life?
And speaking of privilege, it's self-reinforcing. The elite institutions are peopled with the scions of the already rich. And forget affirmative action, the real crime of college is not that you can't get in, but that you can't PAY FOR IT!
But we keep reading the stories of the successful, who tell us to just change this or that and we too can be rich. Utter hogwash. And they pay lip service to teachers but they don't want to pay them like doctors, like they do in Finland, and the doctors themselves don't make the money of the techies and everybody's trying to climb the greased pole believing the flaw is with them when the problem is the system.
Just because you're rich that does not mean you know better, it just means you're rich.
And once upon a time the rich lived in the same neighborhoods as the middle class. That's passe. The rich live behind gates, and the middle class can't live in Manhattan and if you're never exposed to something how in the hell are you gonna know what's going on?
That's the conundrum of the season, how the press got it so wrong on both Bernie and Trump. And now they say they're adjusting, but I believe their frame of reference is off, how do you konw what's going down on the farm when you spend all your time in Paree?
A columnist uses his perch to write books and become a celebrity. No one is happy where they are. Everybody thinks they can do better. But not everybody can be rich, we don't all live in Lake Wobegon.
But they tell us we do. You can't get a good ticket because the acts scalp their own, you're just trying to participate and they blame Ticketmaster, which is just a conduit, a middleman that does what the acts tell them to.
But everybody with a buck is telling us what to do. Everybody who went to the Ivy League tells us what to do. As if they were better than us.
THEY'RE NOT!
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The Sumner Redstone Story In The New York Times
"In the New Hollywood, Sumner Redstone Is a Man Out of Time": http://goo.gl/1nIWiO
Nothing's changed.
Except maybe execs have closer relationships with their offspring. Otherwise, it's the same as it ever was, pussy and power. Except the execs have more power than they ever did! Talent ain't king, the man with the money is. And that man has more cash and lives a better lifestyle than any mogul in history. And despite the carping, it usually still is a man. And although the few female executives are not known for their trysts, one thing's for sure, they can go mano a mano with their male contemporaries, they're anything but warm and fuzzy.
Bugs me when major media gets it wrong, oftentimes intentionally. The players whitewash the truth if they'll go on record whatsoever. There's not a single man pooh-poohing Sumner's efforts, if anything they ADMIRE HIM!
Except for getting caught.
I'm just saying if you think today's execs don't want to get laid as they willfully extract their pound of flesh from anything in their path, you're not in the game. And it's not only in media, tech is the worst, you can't tell those people what to do. They tell YOU what to do. They tell GOVERNMENTS what to do! Yup, coming down on Indiana and North Carolina, the governor of Georgia caved, it's like a bad Mafia movie.
Used to be the exec was a conduit, a necessary part of the chain who most people were unaware of. Then the "New Yorker" did profiles of them, Tommy Mottola took over Sony Music and today, the execs make much more than the acts, year after year. Warm and fuzzy my ass, cutthroat and duplicitous.
And Rupert Murdoch marrying Jerry Hall may be laughable, because of his age and her need to be with someone rich and famous, but if you don't think today's movers and shakers are employing the same playbook, you don't know that Evan Spiegel is dating Miranda Kerr. Oh, you don't know who Mr. Spiegel is? Well, believe me, everybody under thirty does, the app titans are the new moguls. But wealthier.
Want to challenge a majordomo? Screw with his lifestyle. Make him fly in the back of the plane, make him fly commercial. Make him drink wine with a screw-top. Make him give up his American Express Centurion card. And not only keep him from having sex, but TALKING ABOUT IT! Oh, these guys talk about the babes, it would horrify you. Especially the language they use and the denigration evidenced. They're smart enough not to air their dirty laundry in public, but behind closed doors...
Everything's behind closed doors. Thank god we've got the press, but it rarely goes deep enough in any sphere. It's a tool the rich and famous manipulate, whether it be Kim Kardashian calling up gossip sites to come shoot her at a restaurant or a fat cat employing a PR person to trade stories, to keep out of the press that which will hurt by delivering some other item.
And the press is envious of the players. Reporters too want to fly private and get laid. They're raring to eat at the trough of these bigwigs, if they can consume more than the crumbs that fall off the table, a ride on the jet, the number one traded currency, or... Meanwhile, the execs paying lip service to them, their benefactors, are laughing behind their backs, how they've gotten the better of the reporters.
It's all smoke and mirrors. A way to keep the proletariat working. As if everybody could write a successful app, everybody could be a YouTube star, everybody could be Lady Gaga. The people bitching loudest about streaming payments don't get any. But they think they deserve them, because in today's culture everybody can play and the press keeps trumpeting the stories of the downtrodden who've broken through.
It's almost impossible to break through. Admire the winners for their pluck, for navigating the gauntlet. As for friends, they don't have any, they're too busy stabbing each other in the back. Of course they're nice and charming with the reporters. That's what they DO! Ask any band that's been wooed to be signed and can't get anybody from the label on the horn shortly thereafter. As for actors...good luck collecting on that profit percentage!
Laura M. Holson had a premise and she wrote a story to fit it, damn the truth. The only buzz in Hollywood is that this got public. You always want to keep the sun out, or spin the story if it gets revealed.
And Sumner Redstone is not the only one who thinks he'll live forever. Doug Morris is 77 and still running Sony Music, he ain't gonna give up the reins to some young 'un, not because of the money but because of the power base, he still wants to shake 'em up and let Vivendi know it made a mistake by squeezing him out. And the boys have their toys, and it's not only planes but babes, and you may wish it isn't so but just by saying it that does not make it true.
The quotes in this story remind me of "Casablanca," it's just the usual suspects rounded up to cover up the truth.
Because the softies, the PC police, those who never made it... Can't handle the truth.
That men with big appetites don't restrict their goals to winning, they want so much more. And they take it. Barriers are made to be broken. Do you think they're going to go gently into that good night?
It's not in their character.
Neither then nor now.
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Nothing's changed.
Except maybe execs have closer relationships with their offspring. Otherwise, it's the same as it ever was, pussy and power. Except the execs have more power than they ever did! Talent ain't king, the man with the money is. And that man has more cash and lives a better lifestyle than any mogul in history. And despite the carping, it usually still is a man. And although the few female executives are not known for their trysts, one thing's for sure, they can go mano a mano with their male contemporaries, they're anything but warm and fuzzy.
Bugs me when major media gets it wrong, oftentimes intentionally. The players whitewash the truth if they'll go on record whatsoever. There's not a single man pooh-poohing Sumner's efforts, if anything they ADMIRE HIM!
Except for getting caught.
I'm just saying if you think today's execs don't want to get laid as they willfully extract their pound of flesh from anything in their path, you're not in the game. And it's not only in media, tech is the worst, you can't tell those people what to do. They tell YOU what to do. They tell GOVERNMENTS what to do! Yup, coming down on Indiana and North Carolina, the governor of Georgia caved, it's like a bad Mafia movie.
Used to be the exec was a conduit, a necessary part of the chain who most people were unaware of. Then the "New Yorker" did profiles of them, Tommy Mottola took over Sony Music and today, the execs make much more than the acts, year after year. Warm and fuzzy my ass, cutthroat and duplicitous.
And Rupert Murdoch marrying Jerry Hall may be laughable, because of his age and her need to be with someone rich and famous, but if you don't think today's movers and shakers are employing the same playbook, you don't know that Evan Spiegel is dating Miranda Kerr. Oh, you don't know who Mr. Spiegel is? Well, believe me, everybody under thirty does, the app titans are the new moguls. But wealthier.
Want to challenge a majordomo? Screw with his lifestyle. Make him fly in the back of the plane, make him fly commercial. Make him drink wine with a screw-top. Make him give up his American Express Centurion card. And not only keep him from having sex, but TALKING ABOUT IT! Oh, these guys talk about the babes, it would horrify you. Especially the language they use and the denigration evidenced. They're smart enough not to air their dirty laundry in public, but behind closed doors...
Everything's behind closed doors. Thank god we've got the press, but it rarely goes deep enough in any sphere. It's a tool the rich and famous manipulate, whether it be Kim Kardashian calling up gossip sites to come shoot her at a restaurant or a fat cat employing a PR person to trade stories, to keep out of the press that which will hurt by delivering some other item.
And the press is envious of the players. Reporters too want to fly private and get laid. They're raring to eat at the trough of these bigwigs, if they can consume more than the crumbs that fall off the table, a ride on the jet, the number one traded currency, or... Meanwhile, the execs paying lip service to them, their benefactors, are laughing behind their backs, how they've gotten the better of the reporters.
It's all smoke and mirrors. A way to keep the proletariat working. As if everybody could write a successful app, everybody could be a YouTube star, everybody could be Lady Gaga. The people bitching loudest about streaming payments don't get any. But they think they deserve them, because in today's culture everybody can play and the press keeps trumpeting the stories of the downtrodden who've broken through.
It's almost impossible to break through. Admire the winners for their pluck, for navigating the gauntlet. As for friends, they don't have any, they're too busy stabbing each other in the back. Of course they're nice and charming with the reporters. That's what they DO! Ask any band that's been wooed to be signed and can't get anybody from the label on the horn shortly thereafter. As for actors...good luck collecting on that profit percentage!
Laura M. Holson had a premise and she wrote a story to fit it, damn the truth. The only buzz in Hollywood is that this got public. You always want to keep the sun out, or spin the story if it gets revealed.
And Sumner Redstone is not the only one who thinks he'll live forever. Doug Morris is 77 and still running Sony Music, he ain't gonna give up the reins to some young 'un, not because of the money but because of the power base, he still wants to shake 'em up and let Vivendi know it made a mistake by squeezing him out. And the boys have their toys, and it's not only planes but babes, and you may wish it isn't so but just by saying it that does not make it true.
The quotes in this story remind me of "Casablanca," it's just the usual suspects rounded up to cover up the truth.
Because the softies, the PC police, those who never made it... Can't handle the truth.
That men with big appetites don't restrict their goals to winning, they want so much more. And they take it. Barriers are made to be broken. Do you think they're going to go gently into that good night?
It's not in their character.
Neither then nor now.
--
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