Jamey Johnson At The Wiltern

I didn't want to go to the Wiltern. I'd already been back and forth to Hollywood earlier in the day. And in L.A. there's substandard public transportation, so you have to drive, which is why we all believe Howard Stern is our best friend.

And I fired up all three map apps and compared and decided to go with WAZE, which is always funny, because of the detours. I'm on 6th Street and the app tells me to go up one block to 5th and back down Fairfax one block later to rejoin 6th. And I'll be honest, I get angry at the people who won't go right, who wait until the coast is truly clear...IT'S NEVER CLEAR! And you wonder why we have road rage.

But the reason I was going so early was to make sure I got a spot in the structure. It fills up really early and then there's nowhere to park, and it's not the safest neighborhood either, I know more than one person who's had their car broken into there.

And I used to park underground, when Rena ran the building. But now Nederlander doesn't even run the Greek. Time passes, and not so slowly like Bob Dylan says. I walk into the Wiltern and I don't know a single soul. Is it me or them?

Actually, business was soft, way soft. Is it that Jamey Johnson hasn't had a hit in eons or that L.A.'s really not a country town or both?

And it's such a hassle going to a gig. Not only the driving and parking, which was $25, which seemed excessive, but the security. I get why people stay home. And the truth is people go to the big gigs of oldsters and hitmakers who've broken through, but in between...

Now the reason I went so early was to see the opening act, Marty's new client Erin Enderlin.

First and foremost, she could sing.

And she can write. Actually, someone yelled out "Are you a songwriter?" And of course she said yes.

But Erin was a revelation. Because this is how it used to be, when it was about songs and one person and their guitar could get the message across. I'm standing there...and why they tore the seats out from the Wiltern...who declared that we must STAND to listen to music? They don't at Disney Hall. And I'm getting into it. I'm suddenly glad I came.

But I couldn't tell Marty how to break her. Country radio likes guys. And singer-songwriter music went out with the seventies.

Not that there aren't singer-songwriters left, but most can't write. Pull up the playlists on Spotify and wince. It seems the elixir has been lost.

But Erin has the next Reba cut and for her final number...

Jamey and the band came out. They duetted, it was so smooth, this is the kind of collaboration that should be featured on the Grammy telecast. But the truth is music doesn't work on TV. You need to be there.

And Jamey Johnson sure was.

Now the guy looks like he came out of...THE SEVENTIES! Like an Allman Brother in his jeans. With his long hair and beard like he couldn't do anything else. And he's from Alabama and he was in the Marine Reserves and you realize...you don't know people like this. Like Erin, who grew up in Arkansas. I mean I've stayed in a hotel across the river from Arkansas, but have never been there. And one night in Atlanta we took a wrong turn and ended up in Alabama, but otherwise...

Of course people live there. But so many of the coastal residents have no idea what's going on there.

And Jamey's featuring a ten piece band. Which makes no economic sense whatsoever, there aren't even three hundred people there. There's a horn section and a pedal steel player and a background singer and counting the bass player and Jamey, four guitarists.

And at first the numbers are noodling, kinda quiet. And you realize you're at a Grateful Dead show. In that they don't know where they're going, you're on an adventure together, and if you're lucky, the building will levitate, with you in it.

Jamey's picking out notes on his giant Epiphone. At times there's a flute, there was even a Jew's Harp solo, and you realize, not only can you not get this on TV, you can't get it on wax, this is a one time only performance, and you are THERE!

Which is just about when Jamey pays tribute to Tom Petty and plays "Southern Accents," which I get, but is not exactly the song I want to hear.

But that segues into "Room At The Top."

Okay, these are the songs that resonate with him.

But then, the unmistakable riff... HE'S PLAYING MARY JANE!

And I have to run right down to the front of the stage, to get closer to the music, to feel it, to watch Jamey pick out the notes.

"Last dance with Mary Jane
One more time to kill the pain"

And I'm thrusting my arms in the air and singing along and thinking that after Erin I was contemplating leaving, wouldn't that have been a mistake.

But then comes a super-slow version of "You Are My Sunshine."

Yup, Jamey's got a whole band, he's not making real money, and he's not even always using them!

And I'm checking setlist.fm. And every gig is different and some songs he's never played when...

He goes into "Willin'." Not the Seatrain breakthrough version, not Linda Ronstadt's take, not even the remake on "Sailin' Shoes," but the slow talk/sung take from the very first Little Feat LP that no one knows.

"I been warped by the rain, driven by the snow
I'm drunk and dirty and don't you know..."

This is bedrock. This ain't evanescent Top Forty, but music that lasts forever. You know every word, and unlike when I first heard it, I've actually been to Tehachapi, but I'm still waiting to go to Tucumcari.

And there's a Jerry Reed cover. And Tony Joe White's "Rainy Night In Georgia." And a Merle Haggard number. And, of course, Jamey's cowrite of George Strait's "Give It Away," with the dancing matron next to me singing along with the chorus.

And then the band is chugging along with "Tulsa Time." And you're pinching yourself, YOU'RE ACTUALLY THERE!

Not that anybody seems to care.

There's no backdrop, no fancy lighting, just music, the way it used to be.

And then comes the hit.

Jamey also played "Macon," but every night he has to play "In Color."

"If it looks like we were scared to death
Like a couple of kids just trying to save each other
You should've seen it in color"

I've been scared. Of my father. Out in the elements. In my twenties, thirties and even forties, wondering where it was all going, how it was all gonna work out. And when I hear "In Color" I resonate, especially with the concept of seeing it in color. It was so much worse than the retelling.

And I'm thinking of Hal Blaine. Who had to be a security guard after his studio heyday was through.

And no one is offering Jamey Johnson a sponsorship, he ain't a brand, he's a MUSICIAN!

And he isn't the only one in Nashville, but they all seem to be in Music City. On the coasts it's all about electronics and rhythm and it's far from the basics, humanity.

And the truth is we've figured out distribution, but we're still foundering with marketing.

I was talking with Jeff Garlin yesterday and he told me you can't reference pop culture in standup comedy anymore, most people don't get the joke, they haven't experienced the underlying event/show/song.

That's right, we parade the hits like most people know and care, but they don't.

Jeff said the only thing that resonates is real life, living, relationships, those are universal.

And that's the essence of a country song.

And big time music has lost the plot, lost its essence, lost its ability to resonate. It's background noise. So why bother to go to the gig?

And most people don't, even though the total is healthy.

But it used to be an addiction, to go out to see an act without dancing and pyrotechnics. Tech does whiz-bang better than any stage show. But AI ain't human, it can't make your skin prickle and have you thrusting your arm in the air.

Maybe Jamey realizes it doesn't pay to make a record. What for? To be ignored?

Maybe we're in the pre-recording era. Maybe it's just about singing and playing, trying to capture the zeitgeist, climbing that mountain each and every night, a new adventure each evening.

Most big acts go on the road to replicate the show for dozens of nights. It's an endurance test, done for cash, all aligned with digital triggers. It ain't about music, it's about celebrity, about brand extension opportunities.

Whereas music used to be made by outlaws. People who had to do it because it was the only place they fit in.

Like Jamey Johnson.


--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-TuneIn: http://tunein.com/lefsetz
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1

If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25




-- powered by phpList, www.phplist.com --

John Kilzer

Now his memory has been made.

1

I was going to write this last night, after being shocked by the passing of Kilzer. His track "Memory In The Making" goes through my brain on a regular basis. There are a handful of tracks like this, ones that not everybody knows, but are embedded in your brain and pop up now and again and are on endless repeat for a few days.

But the album was not on Spotify.

So I checked Apple and Amazon, not there either. Nor Deezer Premium, which sometimes has different stuff because of European rules.

And I could find "Memory In The Making" on YouTube, but it didn't have the richness of the original track, so...

I decided to look for the CD. Which is quite an effort in my house. Even after selling thousands there are still thousands left, and fewer than four digits are alphabetized. But there it was, under "K," and I cracked the case which was worse for wear with its yellowed booklet and...

Turned on the amp and the CD player.

These are things I do rarely. Shortly after buying the NAD, the digital revolution in music occurred. I got the CD player a few years earlier, but...

Neither of my computers have CD drives. I was forced to power up the big rig.

And being late at night, I decided to listen on headphones. I broke out a pair of Sennheisers and the cord was long enough but the volume...

You see I decided to plug it directly into the Sony. Yup, this is the last CD player I'll ever need. You put a weight on top of the disc, the disc moves not the laser. But I needed to control the volume with the remote and...

The remote didn't work.

I figured it was a battery problem.

First I had to check if I had any AAs, everything is AAAs these days. But I had a pair. And then I pried off the cover of the remote and...

I was confronted with corrosion. The batteries had leaked. Wasn't this why you bought Duracells, so this wouldn't happen?

And my OCD flared up. I remember those batteries I had in my BMW 2002. They'd crap out every two or three years. I'd have to clean the battery posts to get the car to start. That's where I learned the acid could burn you, because it did.

So I wanted to clean the battery compartment without ruining it. I'm delicate, but I oftentimes overdo it, to the item's and my detriment. And it was a hard job. Took half an hour. I lost my appetite, and my interest in writing about John Kilzer. I was confronted with the passage of time.

This album came out thirty one years ago. Chances were Sony no longer stocked the remote. I saw my entire life in the rearview mirror. When you're a kid products are history in a few years, an oldster keeps his stuff forever.

And after inserting new batteries, the remote...DIDN'T WORK!

I was deflated, after cleaning it with a paper clip and an old toothbrush.

Maybe I was out of range, maybe it was the angle I used it at, but no...nothing seemed to matter, it wouldn't work.

So I removed the cover and checked the inside and still saw corrosion and checked that the batteries were installed in the right direction and...NOTHING!

And then I rotated the new Duracells and...IT WORKED!

But then I gave up. It was too depressing...trying stuff and having it not work. I confront this every day. There's no tech help, replacement is easier than repair and life is imperfect, full of challenges, but hard to accept in this world of zeros and ones.

2

I went to lunch with John Kalodner. I played him Shawn Colvin's yet to be released "Steady On" and he was not impressed, even though he ended up helping her get Grammys when he moved on to Columbia.

And after lunch at the Palm, where Kalodner had his skinless chicken as usual, we went back to the office and...

He opened the closet.

This used to be a feature of going to the office. We were record junkies. Discs and tapes fueled our habit. You didn't want to be greedy, but this was back when music was scarce. If you didn't take it, you might not ever hear it.

This was also when if a label signed it, it was worth hearing, even if it wasn't a hit. Especially at Warner Brothers and Geffen.

And speaking of Warner Brothers, I was at the ski lodge shortly thereafter having lunch with Jeff Gold and in the closet I found Rhino Bucket's debut, a band I hadn't even heard of, it's the best AC/DC album since "For Those About To Rock..."

And it was there, that day with Kalodner, that I took John Kilzer's "Memory In The Making." I think Zutaut had signed it, but I took both the cassette and the CD. The CD for home, and the cassette for the car.

3

"And sometimes when I wake up in the morning
I sense her ghost on my pillow forming
Incense of imprints that leave me breathless"

When I bought that BMW, which I drove for twenty years, I was debating whether to install an aftermarket stereo, like I had in my 2002. And my shrink at the time opened his mouth, I figured he was gonna put me down, which he eventually was prone to do, and said..."One of the things you like to do most is drive around and listen to music. For someone else it's an extravagance, but for you it's a necessity!"

So I drove the car directly from Santa Monica BMW to Auto Stereo Warehouse on Beverly and dropped $2600 on ADS amps and speakers all around, with the best Alpine head unit. Boy did that stereo wail.

But that was back in '85, at this point in '89, my ex had just moved out. This was about fifteen months before I completely ran out of money. I'd drive that car and listen to...

The John Kilzer cassette.

The above lyrics are from the opening track on side two, "Loaded Dice."

But the lines I sang along with were...

"I can't take no more of this baby"

My internal angst, and her come and go, saying maybe we could live separately and still be married.

And:

"I can't take any more disappointments
I can't take any more disappointments, baby"

Like the song said, I didn't know what to do with these feelings. It's taken decades for me to find a place for them.

4

And then the radio got stolen.

It was not like today. When things work for a long time. This Alpine went on the fritz and needed to be replaced. For $500 I got a removable unit. This was back when they still stole car stereos, in the 2002 I lost five, before they switched to airbags, before it became about online scams.

To tell you the truth...

I didn't remove it every time I left the car. I learned to do this.

I was just running in for a minute, which turned into about ten, but when I came back the glass was smashed and the radio was gone.

First I had to get the glass replaced. You can't drive a car, never mind a BMW, anywhere with an open window.

And after getting that done...

I had no money for a new radio. I drove around in silence for a couple of months until my father gave me $500 for a new unit. The only good thing was I didn't have to pay an installation fee, I just slid the new radio into the old frame.

But what I didn't tell you was the cassette in the radio when it was stolen was...

John Kilzer's "Memory In The Making."

5

Once again, this was when music was scarce. You knew the music in your car by heart. Your glove box was filled with cassettes. It wasn't until about five years hence that CD changers in the trunk became de rigueur.

6

Today you're not impressed if someone makes a record. But back then, to get over the transom, to get a deal, was a really big thing.

And these were not the days of the internet, when information was available at our fingertips. Rather, we got stories in the rock press and...

Kilzer was definitely making rock music. With guitars. He played basketball in Memphis, had taught school, and now he was a musician. His voice wasn't the best, but it was more than serviceable, and the tracks sizzled, I was hooked.

But the second LP, "Busman's Holiday," wasn't as good.

And then Kilzer disappeared.

We heard he had substance abuse problems.

He became a pastor, and then he started making music again. But sans the major label budget...you could hear the difference. I feel the same way about James McMurtry. Live, it doesn't make any difference. But on wax, all that money does.

7

Now the track on MTV, however briefly, was "Red Blue Jeans," which was too generic to make an impression, launch a career, it's better to come from left field.

And "Memory In The Making" is not one of those unheralded albums that's phenomenal from start to finish, although to say it's uneven would be too negative. But there were other memorable tracks on the LP, like "If Sidewalks Talked." This was back when your LP was a statement of your identity, you'd waited this long, you might as well record what you want to. This was long before the endless wash of music, most of it me-too, when musicians were still considered artists and some in the straight world thought them so.

But "Memory In The Making" is most memorable for its title track.

8

"Throwing roses at the moon
Overdosing on perfume
That arises from your picture
An inviolate fixture"

Most rockers got soft at times. Albums had ballads, which were oftentimes the best cuts, even though the hair bands overdid it in search of a hit.

"Memory In The Making" is the type of track you'd hear on AC radio if there were any justice. It's perfect for Sirius XM's Bridge, but they only play songs you know by heart.

"This is more than I expected
It's as though I have erected
A mausoleum for my heart babe
I've reserved the best part babe"

Men are the romantics. They suffer in silence. Oftentimes women don't know about the crush, see the interaction as a minor fling, but to a man it's everything. The music filled the space in a man's heart where the love should go, welcome to the world of rock. You mind-melded with the artist. It wasn't about bumping asses, it wasn't about partying so much as feeling rooted, connected, with this music you could make it through.

"Guess it only stands to reason
There's a time and a season
A place and a purpose
I guess that verse don't include us"

9

Now that he's gone don't expect a huge bump in sales/streams for Kilzer. First and foremost, like I said you can't stream or buy "Memory In The Making." He's gone. Floating off into the ether like the rest of our memories.

We lived for this music, it was everything. And then, while we were fighting the battles of the internet, it evaporated. We can go to see our heroes of yore, but something has shifted, it's not like it used to be, and it's not like sports, the game has definitely changed and it doesn't include us.

But...

We used to buy guitars, we used to go out to feel and hear the sound. Our record collections were our most treasured possessions. And within those tracks lay our history and our identity.

And if this piece is more about me than Kilzer...

Maybe that's the way it's always been. The tracks are stones in the river, that we sometimes go back and touch, but we move on from them but they're frozen in time. If we get to meet the artists we get a story, but not closure, for somehow we don't know how they reached down deep into their souls to create this stuff, and so many of them are inscrutable anyway.

But John Kilzer had a place in my heart, in my life. Whenever I saw his name I perked up, I wanted more information, because he made that album thirty years ago, that got me through a bad time, that rode shotgun in my life.

"Memory In The Making": https://bit.ly/2le2r4E

"Loaded Dice": https://bit.ly/2HgJj1r


--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-TuneIn: http://tunein.com/lefsetz
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1

If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25




-- powered by phpList, www.phplist.com --

The College Admission Crisis

Well, I guess they never read "The Tell-Tale Heart."

Someone with no guilt is a sociopath. They may be nice to others face to face, but they'll do what ever it takes to get what they want, casualties be damned.

We live in a sociopathic society.

How did this happen?

First, America lost its place as the inviolate, the undisputed leader. It started with Nixon and then Trump put a stake in its heart by removing the U.S.A. from compacts under the notion of "America First." Just like "Loughlin First" and "Huffman First" and "Rich But Not Famous First." You don't get there by luck, and to stay there you have to continue to employ an edge. They try to assuage their guilt via charity, but even Trump didn't complete the circle on that. They feel they're entitled.

And we eat it all up until we don't.

It was Reagan and the global economy that blew this country up. Reagan made greed good, Michael Douglas just articulated it in a movie. Suddenly there were people richer than the rest. And by time we hit the twenty first century it was clear you could not get to the destination unless you had certain privileges. Mostly, an elite education and connections. Funny how everybody at Harvard, not implicated in this scandal, helps each other. As for getting an MBA, that's what it's all about, who you meet, who you can leverage, what you learn in the classroom is nearly irrelevant.

And then came globalization. Inevitable and to our advantage. But not everybody's advantage. If you weren't educated, you were left behind. Oh, we heard about lottery winners, athletes, but the rank and file saw their gigs go overseas and suddenly they couldn't afford the lifestyle they were accustomed to. They ended up divorced and on drugs.

But the elite considered them throwaway people. Not only the right wing elite, the left wing too. That's why Hillary lost, she was out of touch. The scary little thing is the left wing elite is still out of touch. They think they earned their position. They worked hard, 'round the clock, and they want the benefits.

As for those people in front of them, they're bending the rules, so why shouldn't they?

Bill Gates is lauded for his philanthropy today, but let's put him on the stand and ask him why he charged computer companies for Windows even if they didn't put it in the box.

Or Steve Jobs. Cancer got him, but we want to know about his anti-poach agreements.

And when it comes to taxes, it's open season, both corporate and personal. Hell, Romney paid a lower percentage than the worker bees. He paid people to manipulate the rules.

Just like these parents.

So that's where we live, in a nation of greased poles. And it's so competitive and so tough that if you kick someone down, if they get lost in the shuffle, well, that's the cost of doing business.

As for business...

My second thought upon reading of this aberrant behavior was the price for the students. But as more news leaked out and we learned of the antics of "influencer" Olivia Jade Giannuli, I knew she too was in on the scam. Hell, all the students were, despite what is said. You know if your application says you're an athlete. And you know if you lie to get extra time on the SAT. But we've got to protect the children. Maybe ultimately forgive them, but their wrists should be more than slapped, they should be kicked out of school immediately. Yup, instead of having the charmed life on the up and up they believe is their due.

Olivia Jade wanted special treatment so she could continue her "job." She was overseas when school started. I remember going skiing with my parents and missing a week of school freshman year. I never did that again, I never caught up. Then again, I went to a school where every test was an essay, I still have dreams of needing to pass Spanish in order to graduate, despite having never gone to class. Foreign languages are the worst, because you can't b.s. if you don't know the language.

So I went to an elite college. It didn't pay any financial dividends. It's a small group of schools that do. Hell, no one west of the Mississippi had even heard of Middlebury until some students rioted recently. But that's fine. Because in real life you make it on your wits.

But I did get to meet a lot of rich people. It taught me how to act amongst them. And that was worthwhile.

As for the classes... I learned how the world really worked. Old farts warding their power over you.

But there was an Honor Code.

There's no honor in the world today.

My first thought upon reading the news was what was going through the minds of these parents? Are they completely amoral? There's a school for everybody, and maybe your kid should go to the appropriate institution.

But they don't want to disappoint little Avery and Brooke, so they deliver matriculation.

But the joke is life is long. What are you gonna do when the sunlight fades? I mean can you imagine the Kardashians as old people? They might end up rich, but what are they going to do all day? Read? Go to art museums? College is a foundation of your identity. Where you develop who you really are and discover what options you've got.

Believe me, nobody will be interested in Olivia Jade ten years from now, maybe not even ten minutes.

Then again, we've bastardized college by turning it into a glorified trade school.

And why is it USC that's always in trouble?

And why don't we banish athletics? What's that got to do with learning?

Supposedly it builds character. But when the athletes are privileged and take different courses and don't graduate, and the coaches make more than the professors, how can we call it an education?

And it is about money. Everybody wants it. Which is why these people took the bribes. All day long we're bombarded by those with more than us, much more, we want our piece of the pie.

And then people lie on the stand, after placing their hand on the Bible.

And even though we were taught you would be caught, in most cases you're not.

You're protected by your fellow criminals. And there's not enough law enforcement. Hell, Trump skated on his taxes. It's easy to do when they keep diminishing the IRS. Then again, the elite only wants law enforcement to protect us from the underclass.

And here we have the big lesson. Why our country is divided.

Because the game is rigged. That's the real education you need in life.

You've got to know someone to get a job. Look the other way when your boss behaves badly. Look out for yourself, because nobody else is.

So the rank and file lose traction and wake up being unable to pay their bills as their kids still live at home and...

And what?

They lower corporate taxes and the companies just give the savings back as dividends. There are no jobs created, no investment.

The rich can't be penalized because they're the "job creators."

As for celebrities, everybody's a brand now. If you're just an actor, the joke is on you. You're making baby products or health products or makeup... And the reason Gwyneth Paltrow is hated so much is because people are angry it's not them. Believe me, those without cash are not thinking about Gwyneth, they can't afford the entry fee.

But they can vote.

But they vote against their interests because they haven't been educated enough to divine truth.

Meanwhile, the blame is put on teachers' unions and everybody should be able to go to a charter school while the government pays for religious education and...

I read "The Tell-Tale Heart" in high school. Mrs. Hurley's sophomore English class. That's public school for you. She tested the limits, she didn't give us a pass. She took us to the theatre, exposed us to Ferlinghetti, not for one moment did we think about our future business opportunities, we were there to LEARN!

You can learn all day long. That's what's great about the internet, it's at your fingertips.

But these same elites keep decrying the smartphone, that's been the big article on the "Times" for weeks, the guy who lived without his smartphone.

That's like somebody living without Instacart or Uber.

The smartphone levels the playing field, gives power to those without it. Which is why in China they control it.

But that's the elites, with their disinformation campaigns.

And the truth is no one is listening to anybody else. Falsehoods rule, they're uttered by the President on seemingly an hourly basis, so why should you hew the straight and narrow?

Now the celebrities are cooked. The stink of this scandal is gonna stay with them forever. Just like the #MeToo perps.

As for their kids... Hell, Lizzie Grubman wised up, she took herself off the front lines after her bad behavior. Maybe Olivia Jade needs to have her internet privileges taken away, since she knows no responsibility. Make her be just a regular person from here on out.

But those with the real money, the rest of the abusers:

https://pix11.com/2019/03/12/college-admissions-bribery-scandal-see-full-list-of-those-charged/

You don't know 'em, they're gonna get away with it.

Sure, they'll be pariahs in their communities for a minute. But the truth is their circle does the same kind of thing, it's all about an edge, the truth is people will applaud them, even if it's only internally, wonder why they didn't think of that.

And our country will soldier on.

In Iceland, they put the people who blew up the economy in jail, then they started over and the country is flourishing.

Nobody who crashed the economy here in 2008 went to jail. We were told it would hurt the economy.

Then Manafort doesn't even get four years.

Are there two Americas?

You bet.

And we're not moving towards the middle, we're spreading apart.

Used to be your word was your bond, character was everything, education was a badge of honor, speaking to your identity and integrity.

Now a diploma is just another possession, part of your personal trousseau. Along with your smartphone and brand name clothing and followers online.

I'd say we have to get back to the garden, but it's scrub because of global warming and we're too busy eating junk food.

So, be forewarned, it's every person for themselves these days.

It's open season. The lesson of this episode is not to hew the straight and narrow, but to plumb the edges.

Ladies and gentlemen...START YOUR ENGINES!


--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-TuneIn: http://tunein.com/lefsetz
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1

If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25




-- powered by phpList, www.phplist.com --

The First Day Of Spring

Is today.

1

"Well, spring is here
I feel it in the air
The world is turning green"

"Spring Is Here"
Wendy Waldman

Actually, it was white in Colorado last week. At this time of year you never know, you can get slush or firm, but you don't expect thirty inches of new snow. John was scared of the powder. Strasburg wanted to go into the trees. Felice didn't even go out. But it felt like winter to me, and I love the winter. The warmth of coming inside after braving the cold. Having dinner at Sweet Basil, where that pork chop was served, as the wind swirls and the flakes fly.

But the snow was heavier than it was in December. And when the sun came out, the last few vertical feet were soft. And one day it even rained at the bottom, even though this never happened in the old days.

And when I got back to SoCal, it was still locked in its severe winter, i.e. the fifties. Heat was still required. Yesterday it even rained a bit. But when I exited the house today...

It was spring.

Not by the calendar, we'll have to wait another week. But I could feel it, it was undeniably spring.

"The wind is sweet
I smell it everywhere
And I know that God must be smiling"

It was the angle of the sun, as the Beach Boys would put it, the warmth of the sun. And the wind, which was brisk, but not cold.

It brought me back to the east coast, where the seasons are definable, when I rode my bike to Keith's house on the first moderate day only in my Yankees jacket and my mother put me in the tub to warm me up when I got home.

Major League Baseball didn't start until April, but we were watching the Grapefruit League on TV, in black and white, and as soon as the field dried out, we went out and played. One person pitched, the other batted, then we'd run after, and ultimately walk after, the ball. It was a while before there were enough boys to play a game, but that didn't stop us.

But that was back before we realized there were only so many springs, and so many falls.

After a minimal ski season last year, I was looking forward to a long one this year. And I've gotten plenty of days in so far, forty one to be exact, but I expected it to continue, I'm not ready for the world's rebirth.

And Mammoth will be open until the Fourth of July at least, one of the benefits of living in California, you can surf and ski on the same day, and corn snow is my favorite, but still, it's another year down the drain, I want to put on the brakes.

2

The first Wendy Waldman album, "Love Has Got Me" is a classic.

The second had growing pains, with part of it cut in Muscle Shoals.

And the third was completely ignored, but not by me.

It was stripped down instead of produced, it was sparse and intimate. But I didn't hear it for nearly thirty years. It was lost in a divorce, not mine, and it was out of print, so it never resurfaced until...

Napster.

Without Napster you don't have Spotify. You no longer have the ability to hear all the world's music at your fingertips for one low monthly price.

And at first I was thrilled by the live tracks on Napster. I remember being wowed by the Samples' "When It's Raining." And then that version of "Can't Find My Way Home" by Bonnie Raitt. And then I started looking for personal rarities, songs I knew by heart but had lain dormant for years.

That's when I tried to excavate Wendy Waldman's eponymous third LP.

It had no hits. But so many of the LPs of yore did not. They were personal statements.

And the opening track, "Western Lullaby," was on the greatest hits collection, it was the most known.

But it's the stuff like the ultimately anthemic "Wings" that embedded themselves in your soul. Back when music had melody and was not rhythmic.

And then there was "Constant Companion." Which sounds like lying on your bed contemplating your life. You know the opportunities, but you're not quite ready to take action. And if it's just you alone, you can make it with this music.

And the closing cut is a cover of the folk classic "Green Rocky Road."

But the song that resonates most is "Spring Is Here."

In the pre-iPod days, when everything was still difficult, when all the software was not integrated, we Aspenites were all gifted Rios, which I didn't use until I put Napster on my computer, i.e. Macster. This was long before the iTunes Store.

But when I downloaded "Spring Is Here" I decided to break out my Rio. I wanted to transfer the track to it.

Which required me to install third party software and plug the Rio in via the USB port and drag and drop and watch the bar complete all the while wondering whether it would work, back then you still had to be a mechanic, you didn't expect it to work the very first time, which is why the iPod was ultimately so successful.

And when the bars were complete, I disconnected the Rio, plugged in some headphones and pushed play. VOILA! That elation of instant success, the ability to hear my songs, MP3s, on the go.

And when I heard "Spring Is Here" I literally jumped up from chair and started dancing. It was nearly midnight but I opened the front door and danced on the sidewalk outside. I felt so good.

Like I do today.

https://spoti.fi/2Fartep

P.S. You won't listen to the playlist, you're too busy, inundated with not only music, but news, TV and social networking. And you don't want to feel a party of one, what is listening to this music gonna do for you? We're all alienated today, looking to connect in the wilderness. Yesterday society was much more coherent and you were alienated from it, if anything you were looking to extract yourself from the scene with music, believing only the musicians understood you. But back when music was scarce, we listened to the albums we bought until we knew them by heart, and that was a good feelin' to know. And if you like singer-songwriter music, this is for you.

P.P.S. Wendy Waldman never made it as a solo artist. Ultimately she succeeded as a producer and songwriter. But when I compare her forgotten LPs to what passes for hit stuff today I shake my head. By time "Wendy Waldman" was released, in '75, opportunities were receding for those without hits, AOR radio was codified and dictated. Maria Muldaur had success with one of Wendy's songs, but she didn't break through. A song doesn't have to be a hit to be great. But you've got to have experience and talent to make it so.

P.P.P.S. Wendy is still working. She's studying classical composition at Cal State Northridge. You see it wasn't about the riches and the fame, but the music. Which is why the thread of credibility runs through her work. We can tell if you're doing it for the right reasons.


--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-TuneIn: http://tunein.com/lefsetz
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1

If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25




-- powered by phpList, www.phplist.com --

Mike Love Calls In & More!-SiriusXM This Week

Tune in tomorrow, Tuesday March 12th, on Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863 

Twitter: @siriusxmvolume/#lefsetzlive

Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: siriusxm.us/HearLefsetzLive 

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app: siriusxm.us/LefsetzLive 


--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-TuneIn: http://tunein.com/lefsetz
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1

If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25




-- powered by phpList, www.phplist.com --

Mailbag-Pork Chops, Beach Boys, Vallon And More!

We kept Kosher at home- and out and In 6th grade we lived in Manhattan. One Sunday I went ice-skating at the Wolman rink in Central Park with my younger sister Aviva and we decided to order hamburgers. As we held them in our hands to take the first bite we looked up at the sky wondering if we were about to be hit by lightning. We took that bite and nothing happened. Pow. And I realized that things weren't exactly as we'd been told..and boy did that burger tasted grand!!

Best,
Hillel Wachs
2b Vibes Music
Tel Aviv-Jerusalem

_________________________________________

I grew up in Brooklyn but we ate the same way. My mother cooked pork chops but they were like shoe insoles. She wanted to make sure no one got triconosis. . I asked her once when was the last time she heard of anyone in Brooklyn dying of triconosis, but she said you never know.
My parents went to a wedding at a temple in some upscale city in westchester and they served lobster thermidor in the temple. A cousin of mine who didn't eat shellfish said it was the best chicken she ever ate. My mother didn't have the heart to tell her what it really was.
Really enjoyed your piece today. Brought back loads of memories.

Owen Sloane

_________________________________________

I saw the subject line and thought it would be about an artist or song with the name Pork Chop. this was a fun read and took me back to my youth growing up on the east coast as well. my wife doesn't like pork but I sometimes grill a giant pork chop for dinner when she's not home and now my mouth is watering. (oh my mouth also waters at the thought of crispy chinese noodles)

Mike Farley

_________________________________________

If you take the thin pack of pork sliced no bone in , fry them for 15 mins on med high then dump in a can of campbell's mushroom soup and stir that around while flipping pork every 5 mins for another 10-15 mins and serve with rice and veggies and use the soup as a gravy it's simple but delicious .

Jake told me at the junos a few years back, pork would help cholesterol issues ,so i tried a few recipes and now have it regularly , of course seasoned with the Famous "Tunnel Barbq dry rub" spice on a nice chop and done over charcoal is still the best.

Tunnel barbq was in Windsor Ontario just across from Detroit and all the big bands and entertainers of the day would eat their ribs and purchase to go spices when playing in town up until a few years ago when it closed. His son opened up another one called Tommys Barbq in town and they now have all the famous TBQ spices for sale online and at stores here in Canada .

http://tunnelbbq.com/

Regards Sam Boyd

_________________________________________

Rosey's chicken is good, and Gelson's is convenient, but if you have the time and energy get yourself to Marconda's in the Original Farmer's Market (Fairfax/3rd) and check out their poultry. It is the best I've ever had.

Skip Schoolnik

_________________________________________

This one really hits home. We were not truly Kosher growing up. But no pork products in or out of the house. Although my dad once confessed to eating bacon and eggs at the Krystal hamburger joint. And no seafood. Not ever. Then I started Tulane when I was seventeen and fell in love with all foods New Orleans. But strangely I would pass
on the boudin and pick the andouille sausage out of the gumbo. Almost fifty years later
I am still avoiding pork products (it's even in my Open Table profile). My kids find this a
highly hypocritical approach but I am happy to slurp oysters and peel boiled shrimp. Having just traveled to New Orleans fo the fortieth time since Katrina it's just in my DNA by now. And I wonder why it still bothers me when I find a bacon cheeseburger wrapper from McDonald's in my sons car?

Eron Epstein

_________________________________________

I'm intimate with pork; what you're describing is what Ribeye was, to me. I saw it once in a while, at restaurants. My Mom was a whiz with a chuck roast, but we lived in a beef and seafood desert, despite our dairy and cattle farms. Farmed fish only recently became a thing, hereabouts. Surf and turf, when I was a kid meant Walleyed Pike and taters. I exaggerate only slightly.

Mojo Bone

_________________________________________

There's s farm out here in Cutchogue, 8 Hands, on the North Fork of Long Island,
Small family farm, great butcher = the best pork I've ever had anywhere.

Cheers
Frank V

_________________________________________

You need to find a soul food restaurant and try smothered pork chops with rice and gravy. That's clear meat gravy with onions in it, not that thick floury stuff. My family is Cajun and smothered pork chops was one of the best things my dad cooked. Cheap end cut pork chops, seasoned with salt, black pepper and red pepper, browned and then smothered in gravy until the bones fall off. Then pour it over rice.

Second best is a nice pork shoulder roast, stuck with garlic, onion, salt, black and red pepper and the cooked in the oven a long time until it's tender, then make onion gravy with the drippings. Served over rice. Cajuns love rice and gravy. But I'm sure LA must have a decent soul food place where you can find dishes like that.

If you don't like those, then you just don't like pork! ??

Amy Primeaux
Houston, TX

_________________________________________

JD Hoyt's in Minneapolis. The KING of Chops

Tried 'email all, everywhere. Nothing is close to their Cajun chop

Dennis Pelowski

_________________________________________

I'm a Methodist, but I went kosher the night I was meeting Chaim Potok, for the first time, to discuss the film rights to his novel, The Chosen.
I nervously arrived at the restaurant early, and was planning to order oysters, crab cakes, barbecued shrimp (I'm a New Orleanian). I looked up, recognizing Potok from the book jacket, and signaled the waiter.
I insisted that Chaim order first, and, looking at the menu, he said, "well, I go kosher, so I'll have....", and ran off several words that I had never heard. The waiter looked at me and I said, "that sounds great, I'll have the same".

We talked for five hours. I had been afraid he might not be comfortable with a goy hillbilly Methodist first-time film producer/stockbroker. However, at the end of the evening, he said, "not only do I not mind you owning the rights, I want you to own them; and, I've never written a screenplay, but I'll write one for you, so you'll have a place to start, and it won't be very professional."

This, started a wonderful friendship. Kosher works!!!

Addendum: As to sausage, I'm a big fan, too. I was introduced to the best I've ever had on a bicycle trip in Ireland: BLOOD SAUSAGE. It came on a breakfast plate with eggs, tomatoes and beans. It is black and looks like sitting in sizzling hot blood. It took me awhile to take a small taste. It was scrumptious. I ordered more, and then more to take home. I now keep my eyes open for Irish restaurants. You'll love it!

Roger Lee Harrison

_________________________________________

You just gave me a flash back of my mom's porkchops with scalloped potatoes and homemade applesauce!!!!!

Kate O'Laughlin

Me: We had scalloped potatoes boiled in a bag!

Kate: Ours were full of cheese, bread crumbs and probably butter - so good and not good for you!! The good old days!

_________________________________________

Bacon. I've experienced a life time obsession. Grew up in a kosher home - the ones you bring in pizza and Chinese food on paper plates. Still no bacon. Growing up in my Brooklyn neighborhood it seemed we all had a love affair with bacon or pork products. The more you couldn't have it the more you wanted it. Forbidden food. Yes. My father bought Hebrew National Beef Fry - the kosher substitute. Close. When my teen gang of 12 - my neighborhood girlfriends would dine at our local Galaxy Diner on Linden Blvd we all would either order roast pork sandwiches or BLTs. What we couldn't get in house we got at the diner.

I live pretty much like that today. Pork chops and bacon I leave the cooking to the professionals.

To this day I still can't mix milk and meat at a meal. All my hamburger orders come without the cheese

Kosher code . . . my Father was the mostly stricter kosher than my Mom - more his bringing up. So he would take my Mom to a lobster dinner from time to time and he would hopefully find the sole more" Kosher Acceptable." I have images of my Mom wearing her bib going to town on her lobster and my father forking his file.

Parting thought, I hear at the restaurant Traif in Brooklyn (all Jewish food unkosher) there are a few Orthodox Jews that do back door purchases of porkified versions of Jewish food.

Debra Grobman

_________________________________________

Hi Bob. I grill pork chops on my Weber kettle. They grill up really good.

Daniel Rosen

_________________________________________

A history of pork consumption in the rural south...

Food for the poor. My folks had a farm. So each year after the first frost a hog was butchered and hung in the smoke house (because after the first frost, the hog would not ruin due to the cold temperatures). The one hog would provide meat and fat for cooking for an entire winter. Bacon, chops, tenderloin, grease to make red eye gravy, flour gravy, fried eggs, cook steaks in an iron skillet which everyone had, which Bob, if you've not had homemade fried potatoes cooked in an iron skillet with onions and bacon grease...talk about cholesterol. But back then, everyone was burning 4000 calories per day slinging bales of hay and swinging an ax and plowing.

Best,
Blaine Leeds

_________________________________________

Even though you probably lived far from me in Brooklyn it seems that our lives were very paralleled in the paradigm of what it was like to live back then in a Jewish family. I guess my family said we were Orthodox but we weren't. Yes no pork in the house but outside the house anything went. Like the time a neighbor saw me over Passover eating a Slice of pizza with some friends and ratted on me and told my parents..After a two minute freak out my father chimed in and said "He didn't bring it in the house" my parents seem to have done the same thing that your parents did. Much of it they did through the synagogue and all the clubs that you were talking about my parents were members of as well. It was a strange Jewish paradigm that affected all of us back in the 60s. And yes when you think about one all the memories start coming back. And yes I ate ribs in my house as well and that was the only time we ever ate pork..And somehow last year for the first time in decades I tried a rib from the Chinese place near our house and the matter how you slice it it just didn't taste the same...memories

Peace,
Jason Miles

_________________________________________

I'm sorry to hear that you eat pigs. Even if you think it's ethically ok to eat animals for food, the unfortunate truth is that farming today is a horror show. The world is pushing 8 billion people, and the associated slaughter is killing the planet as well as making it hell on earth for livestock. I personally don't purchase animal products, but will admit that I love meat. My solution has been to only eat flesh if it has been discarded, like in a dumpster, not that I dive into dumpsters regularly. Roadkill would be fine.

https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/animals-used-food-factsheets/pigs-intelligent-animals-suffering-factory-farms-slaughterhouses/

Mark

_________________________________________

Thanks Bob,now I want a pork chop for breakfast.Have a great day,stay well.Ted Keane

_________________________________________

Try the pork chop at Granville in the Valley!

William Kevin Anderson

_________________________________________

My mother would cook pork chops until they curled up like a cup. The fear of trichinosis was instilled from her childhood on the farm. Pork is much better cooked to the proper temperature. Hogs don't have much of a life these days foraging in pens. A sad life indeed but then who wants trichinosis? Not me.

John Muir

_________________________________________

Ain't it amazing how many memories we associate with smells, music and FOOD? Now I'm hungry...thanks a lot, BOB!
Sher Bach

_________________________________________

My grandmother was a mighty but overweight 1st generation Russian Jewish immigrant and she and my mom spoke Yiddish fluently enough so even the dog understood it. There were no dietary restrictions in our home and that woman could cook and bake brilliantly. I pity the fool who tries to live life without pork for whatever superstitious reason might have had basis thousands of years ago. Kosher dining is just a cut above priests trying to go without sex. Living without "Carnitas", not to mention shrimp, scallops and other treif, our culinary horizons would be severely diminished.

Larry Brown

_________________________________________

West Lake was a family favorite when I was growing up "phony kosher" even though my family belonged to the Orthodox synagogue on Stratfield Rd (recently demolished, BTW, with apartments rising to take its place). I always ordered the ribs when we went to West Lake.

You might enjoy poking around this website about the West Lake Restaurant. Some great old photographs and interesting bits of history.
https://wonkai.wordpress.com/

Goodwill built a store on the property where the Pepper Mill used to be.

Sallie Fischer

_________________________________________

Love this post!

I'm English born and bred so I only knew overcooked, mush as a vegetable.

Wish I'd had your childhood!

Marilyn (Lynn) Manning

_________________________________________

I used to be a steak guy. Loved the finest cuts and the best steak houses, although you can make a great steak at home if the meat is good quality. Then i discovered thick cut pork chops from the better farms and I realized that a perfectly cooked thick cut pork chop is better than any steak I've ever had. Bone in is best, just like with steaks. Enjoy...

Roger Gold

_________________________________________

Hysterical,
Every Saturday night my parents and the gang would drive from the Bronx to Yonkers a joint called Adventures inn for Burgers and fries (non kosher,
But nobody asked )
And Sunday night it was Chinese. I'd always get a combination plate.
Egg roll, fried rice and either beef lo mein or chicken chow main.
Oh yes, fried rice was pork fried rice.
At home never ever did we have pork chops (not kosher)
But for some reason bacon was fine. One more hilarious tale.
We lived on the 4th floor of a 5 story pre war walk up. My mother's best friend Gerdie Kornweiser
Lived on the first floor. Gerties
Mother, Grandma Farbowitz
( a survivor) lived with them so a kosher house was a must.
BUT whenever Gertie wanted bacon she'd knock on the steam pipe to let my mother know she was on her way up for a BLT.
God I loved it.
Neil Lasher

_________________________________________

Off to the Chinese buffet I must go today!

Indy Bachu

_________________________________________

Sous Vide boneless pork chops, then grilled. Yummy.

Tom Quinn

_________________________________________

Do you read menus before going to the restaurant. I love to spend the day studying the menu thinking about what I'm going to eat.

Tonight it's pork...
Roasted Berkshire Pork Tenderloin

My wife wouldn't think of spoiling the surprise by reading the menu before getting to the restaurant.

I'll just continue daydreaming!

Jason Schlesinger

_________________________________________

I'm in the middle of reading I am a Strange Loop by Douglas Hofstadter for the third time in my life (still trying to fully understand it). Do you know this book? It tries to explain how consciousness arises, where our individual "I's" come from. In essence, Hofstadter posits that the human brain is capable of processing infinitely extensible categories of mental symbols, pursuant to which consciousness arises in a feedback loop. Trust me, I'm not doing his book justice here with my one sentence summary.

Anyway, your piece seems like a striking example of this theory, where any one such mental symbol contains a multitude of other symbols, in that your mental symbol of a pork chop contains all the symbols/thoughts you've shared here! If you're not aware of this author, I sugggest that you read his work. I think you'd find it to be fascinating. Another unsolicited recommendation is How to Change Your Mind, Michael Pollan's latest book. Definitely mind blowing!

As a liberal, secular, music loving East coast Jew rapidly approaching 60, I really enjoy reading, and often relate to, your cultural musings. In my mind's eye, the symbol "Lefsetz" raises so many other symbols which represent much of the dust and detritus that formed who I am. So thanks for the memories!

Best regards,

Mark Kaplan

_________________________________________

Stop making your readers hungry!

Cheers
Pete Meehan

_________________________________________

Bob....when you write stories like this it helps to keep my tribe memories alive....thank you...david leveen

_________________________________________

If you're ever in Miami, the jerk double pork chop at Ortanique will change your life.

Bartholomew M. Motes

_________________________________________

Don't worry about it Bob, you're always Kosher to me!

Brett Greenberg
Epitaph

_________________________________________

Hey Bob- I bitch when you write about political BS so it is only fair when you write about something non music that I like. Great article today. Get on down here to the Florida Panhandle and I'll show you some good food .
All the best !
Tom Giddens

_________________________________________

Pork Chops? It's 5AM &
I'm wondering where I can
get one for breakfast in
Punta Cana!

An enjoyable read!!

- bob

_________________________________________

Love this story Bob. I lived in Iowa for 7 years during medical training and learned of the IOWA CHOP which is 3x the thickness of your standard chop and 3x the flavor.

Welcome to pork flavortown!

JBMD

_________________________________________

The best pork chop in town is The Pantry...Cash only! Owned by former L.A. mayor Richard Riordan...
They say that all the waiter were former small time con artists...They have names like Dewey, Smiley, Happy and Whitey..
You can see their pics at the cash register..

Kindest Cheers,

Jeff Laufer

_________________________________________

My Bubby used to live above us in a co-op apartment on Long Island.
She was orthodox,therefore kosher. Our family was not.
I swear she could smell bacon the minute it hit the pan. She would come raging down the stairs calling us chazzers. Yiddish for pigs.
I have never to this day been able to eat bacon. Can't stand the smell of it.
Pork chops and ribs, cannot resist. And there in lies the dichotomy.
Lin Wolen in Honolulu

_________________________________________

Oh Gosh, can I relate.
My parents went out every Saturday night, so my brothers babysat. Pizza(only sausage or mushroom), or White Castle.
But on Sunday nights!
It was always take out. My mother only cooked 5 nights a week. We didn't 'keep kosher', but tried.
Chinese or Deli. My mother could spend an hour sucking the bones of Lobster Cantonese, dry.
And the spare ribs! And Egg Rolls! With duck sauce!
And the Kosher Delis! Oh my! Pastrami on club. Never rye. Maybe a hot dog with sauerkraut, too. With a Knish.
Katz is the only one left in NY.
Gosh I miss those days.
Thank you, Bob. I'm now starving.

Stu Cohen

_________________________________________

I was brought up Conservative Jewish in a small town in Pennsylvania. Our family was kosher at home AND out. We had kosher butchers who would drive the hour or so from Philadelphia to deliver meat to our community in quantity. At restaurants, my parents would order fish -- not seafood, at restaurants: fish with fins and scales, even at restaurants in which most people would not chance ordering fish. There were
plenty of us in my hometown area who did the same as we did. When I got to college, I met a lot of people from the New York area who were brought up the way you describe; no pork in the house, seafood
was ok, and anything went if you were away from home. Maybe it's a NY-and-CT area thing?

Rochelle Rabin

_________________________________________

Growing up, it was Cantonese or nothing but the other thing I remember (and miss, living in L.A.) is a great egg roll, tick, hot, filled with shrimp and roast pork, crunchy vegetables...why can't anyone in L.A. make a decent egg roll?

Arny Schorr

_________________________________________

We were just talking about this the other day. I was raised in a conservative family in Bristol. We didn't keep kosher, but in our house we didn't eat pork. Lobster? Shrimp? Sure no problem. And anything in a Chinese restaurant.

But my Grandma Mary, my mom's mom, was a little old lady from "the old country." Spoke Yiddish. Never learned to read English. She kept kosher. Real kosher: 4 sets of dishes, fleishedich and milchedich for year round and then separate for Passover. Chicken and meat from the kosher butcher.

But she loved her Chinese food. We'd go out and she'd love the egg roll, shrimp in lobster sauce, and man did she love the thin sliced meat with the red color on the outsides. The menu called it "pork strips," but when we told grandma that, she would always say, "No, it's veal."

Thanks for the memories!

Rob Falk

_________________________________________

Amazing. Reminds me of stories I've heard for years from my Jewish parents growing up in North America.

David Weisz

_________________________________________

Bob, I love these pork chop stories as much as the analysis.

Rob Getzschman

_________________________________________

If someone were looking for an example of a "Proustian memory," this piece would serve nicely. Your writing is lovely here. As always. And, of course, it triggers my own memories of my childhood and what my family ate at home and when we were out and about in New Orleans.
Thanks for sharing.
Stephen Godchaux

_________________________________________

geez your diet list doesn't sound too healthy. Ever heard of
vegetables and salad ? And no, without creamy dressings.
The secret is, it takes about 2-3 weeks to get used to a diet
that's largely based on vegetarian ingredients, but after that
it's really easy. I do eat meat from time to time, but without all
that heavy gravy etc.
I think the problem is, people are using food as a substitute
or enhancement for happiness rather than something that can support
their health.
But then again, i'm European :)
Best,
Frank

_________________________________________

Quite enjoyed this one...I always enjoy reading these whilst on my 2nd morning coffee.

Love the writing Bob, keep it up.

Johnny Skiba
Manitoba, Canada (currently sitting with my coffee in Durban, South Africa)

_________________________________________

Whenever you write like this, I love it. It's like you have no choice but to get it out ...it's cathartic!! You're a brilliant minded window into the music biz...but when your human side shows....that's when I get you, and then your advice seems to come from "real" and not "e mail". Thanks for what you do. Cheers!

Dan Goettel

_________________________________________

Bob you need to install some sort of a like button so that we can like your musings. So allow me to be the first to press the like button on this gem!

Keith Michaels

_________________________________________

Where can I get that pork chop???
I grew up in Iowa, in a city, but when the wind blew just right, it was like you were living on one of the nearby hog farms. What a smell. The best pork chops are from Iowa or they used to be. I guess not anymore because it's doubtful your pork chop made it all the way from Iowa.
I have a friend who is raising special piggies in Ecuador, Iberian pigs, they all have names. But then they end up on someone's dinner plate. Which makes me sad....
But, where can I get that pork chop???
Lynn Crosswaite

_________________________________________

https://sweetbasilvail.com/dinner-menu/

Barry K. Herman, MD, MMM

_________________________________________

I wholeheartedly concur......Lonely Sea, and Farmer's Daughter are the 2 best tracks on that album.

Steven Bakur

_________________________________________

I came to the song when I won a copy of "Fleetwood Mac Live" from a local radio station !
The FMAC version was recorded at a soundcheck, I think (as was the previously unreleased "Fireflies").
Of course , I later read how much Lindsey was influenced by Brian Wilson (and The Beach Boys).
( also love his homage to Dennis and the Boys, "DW Suite")

Todd N

_________________________________________

Hi Bob,

In case you weren't already aware of this version.

https://youtu.be/jlyQEqrx1vY

Best,

Billy Hinsche (and many more)

_________________________________________

I worked for Don Altfed's music publishing company in 1967-1968. He was Jan Berry's best
friend at University High School and co-wrote "The Little Ol' Lady from Pasadena" along
with Roger Christian.

That song hit number 3 on the Billboard charts but later in 1969, it was included in the
Beach Boys live concert album. And then the song became a Dodge Charger car commercial
and won the Clio award for best car ad in 1969. Don Altfeld got a lot of royalties.

Don Alfred went to medical school at UC Irvine and became a doctor in the Brentwood
area. He is now retired. and I can't get a hold of him.

Jan Berry claims he was the first vocalist to use the "Wrecking Crew" as a sessions group.
Not sure about that.
.
I was good friends with his younger brother, Bruce Berry. He died from a heroin overdose
in 1973 while being Neil Young's roadie and the song "Tonight's the Night," was a tribute
song to him.

I went to UCLA in 1966 and missed out on the Surf music crave but if Jan Berry had
survived his car accident, he would have done much more in music.

I really enjoy your daily comment and hope you can stay healthy!

Live Life Happy!

Don Jung

_________________________________________

For all of us of a certain age who grew up in slush the Beach Boys in their youth were less about the music then about the magic of California. Beyond Gidget and Disney on Sunday night. And the NHRA Winternationals from Pomona.

They were the anthem. I should have moved out there when I was eighteen.

Today Surfer Girl remains the 'Shma' of surf music.

Thank you and I am proud to have been kind when I reviewed that Jan & Dean comeback tour in the early 80s. Dean was very protective of Jan who was clearly struggling.

Alev asholom

Jonathan Gross

_________________________________________

I grew up a half a block from UCLA in the 1950s and the only curve referred to as Dead Man's Curve was the one on Sunset adjacent to the UCLA Athletic Field because for some unknowable reason it was banked the wrong way. I remember when Mel Blanc flew off it and was crippled for life. Something like a dozen people died flying off of it until it was rebanked the proper way. The song "Dead Man's Curve" was recorded before Jan Berry's accident, which happened on the curve on Sunset going East approaching Whittier in Beverly Hills.

And footnote of a weird personal Jan Berry connection. It was Brian Berry, Jan's younger brother, who came into my third period English class at Uni Hi as it was breaking up to announce that the President had been shot. He was such a goof ball that everyone dismissed it as a cruel joke until we hit the outside of the building.

All best,

Bob Bookman

_________________________________________

Subject: Re: History Of The Beach Boys Part One-SiriusXM This Week

Bob
I'm in Mexico so I may miss it but I wanted share a tidbit with your listeners if you think worthy.
During the making of the Abracadabra album in the winter of 1981 at Capitol Records, I met an A&R guy there named John Palladino who was the closest thing I could ever remember as being an "executive producer" on most of the Steve Miller Band Records that had been made there since 1968. Very nice cat.

One day while I was fixing a couple bass parts in Studio C for Steve with my 1964 Fender P bass playing with a hard pick, Johnny asked me if I wanted to do a session for him the next morning. I asked him what it was for and he said they were remastering the entire Beach Boy catalog for the new modern sound systems everyone was putting in their cars those days and they needed to beef up the bass output on all the old BB singles like, Little Deuce Coupe, My Honda, Surfin USA, et al to make them more audio worthy for a new FM radio format.

He said back in the 60s, after mixing the mono radio single for AM, they would just throw out or record over the 3 and 4 track multitrack masters and they had no way of turning up the bass parts because those masters didn't exist anymore.
He wanted me to ghost play over the top of Brian's bass parts note for note on top of a new multitrack master that had the original radio mix mono master transferred over to it. I said "Are you kidding me?! Of course I'd love to do it!"

So the next morning I show up in the famous Studio A and did a double scale, 3 hour session playing bass with the Boys that became the new remastered tracks one hears today on classic rock radio and on CDs or streams! So I can claim the credit for playing bass (again) on old the old Beach Boy classics! I've never told anyone this story till now because John asked me to keep it a secret way back then to protect the purity of the brand. Just like when Hal Blaine and Carol Kaye did all those sessions way back then and nobody knew about it until the Wrecking Crew docu came out recently. Now my secret is of public domain!

Kenny Lee Lewis

_________________________________________

Hi Bob
Really enjoyed your Beach Boys show!
Clearly this resonates with a guy who started a band called "The Malibooz" while at Loyola HS in 1963 in Manhattan and living in the Riverdale section of the Bronx!

I'd love to grab a burger with you sometime and discuss this at length. I'm a few years older that you but the reactions you described are amazingly similar to mine.

My first band, The Static's, were initially instrumental; Mostly The Ventures. Then The Chantays, Surfaris and one-offs like The Pyramids.
Then Jan and Dean, whose vocals we could handle ( same with the occasional Surfaris' vocal like "SurferJoe" or "I'm A Hog For You, Baby").
Then The Beach Boys arrived! We could handle "Surfin" and Surfin' USA" but with "Don't Worry Baby" all bets were off. ( It's still my favorite song and the production is still not dated). For the first time I had to work out vocal parts on the piano. ( and I did so because I saw a photo of Brian doing it!).

But let's get back to "Farmers' Daughter". This song was a game changer! Personally I never liked the 4 Seasons. I found Frankie Valli's falsetto irritating but Brian's falsetto I loved and quickly found I could emulate it pretty closely. This would inform my music for years to come.

But it was the substance of "Farmer's Daughter" that knocked me out. It was like a little movie. The whole story came alive in my imagination. Cruising up PCH, getting day work at farms for gas and food money, and of course "meeting" a farmer's daughter along the way. (Btw-I've had a 1941 Woodie for the past 30+ years)

The deal was sealed, I was moving to California.

When my Malibooz' bandmate, Walter Egan, got signed to Columbia with Lindsey Buckingham producing, the 3 of us had a lot of early BB discussions and I'm hoping my love of Farmer's Daughter played some small part in Fleetwood Mac covering it.

I came to LA with my parents in 1965. The Malibooz has just recorded "Goin' To Malibu" so I had our record in hand. My Riverdale buddy, Stanley Bysshe, had a an LA cousin who played bass for Jan and Dean so I was really set when I arrived. (More about that over another burger).

I also want to mention the great instrumentals on the early BB albums. "Stoked" and "Shut Down" Part 2" were mainstays of the early Malibooz' sets and Carl's version of "Miserlou" (which has a totally different ending than Dick Dale's) is the way I played it when we performed at the NY World's Fair ( and ultimately recorded it). I also bought a new Fender Jaguar in 1963 because that's what Carl used.

Btw-Like you, WABC( and later WINS and WMCA) were the main sources for me. I never heard Dick Dale or even Chuck Berry on those stations. (In fact the first time I heard "Memphis" on the radio was Lonnie Mack's instro version!)

Also I love to talk to you about the influence of East Coast prep school bands' independent records. Because schools like Andover attracted students from across the country, the records contained an eclectic mix of tunes never heard on NY airwaves.

The first time I heard songs like "Nadine" , "Try Me", "Samoa" and even "What I Say" were on these independent records.

I've been very fortunate over the years getting to know and work with some of my early heroes. ( even had The Ventures' Nokie Edwards guest along with The Shadows' John Farrar on our song "Venture Into The Shadows").

Anyway, thanks for igniting some old memories!

Take care

John Zambetti
The Malibooz

_________________________________________

I never got into The Beach Boys or Brian Wilson, until yesterday. My hometown college radio station (WWSP 90FM) had a "24 hours of Brian Wilson" special Friday night to Saturday night. Since I usually stream their broadcast all day on Saturdays, (most Saturdays feature a string of specialty shows that showcase classic rock deep cuts, '80s alternative and mainstream dance music, and blues from the 1920s to present), I had Brian Wilson on most of the day. I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of his songwriting, lyrically, melodically and harmonically. The dude is DEEP. I wish I had been aware of him on this level years ago. At least now I have something to look forward to digging into in depth!

PS-WWSP has been host to the world's largest trivia contest and this year is their 50th anniversary. Tune in any time between 6:00pm Friday April 12th and midnight Sunday April 14th for a taste. It's worth it just for the music.

Dave Nelson
Nashville, TN

_________________________________________

Subject: re brexit and music

hi bob,

greetings from sunny balmy dublin where its been hovering around 15/16/17 degrees over the past two weeks and it is still only february. there's something happening here, what it is aint exactly clear, etc.

you have written for some time now about the severing of the umbilical chord that linked us and our lives and feelings and up and downs to music being made by our contemporaries. there is probably no greater example of this, certainly on our side of the pond,at the moment than the ongoing farrago that is Brexit.

as britain tries to be great again etc etc by divorcing itself from the rest of europe with major consequences not only for its own people but also for those of us in, for instance, my island of ireland and indeed all of europe, there has been nary a peep from the musicians/songwriters/'stars' of our musical firmament. i am not aware of one song, let alone ten or more, that has captured or reflected or commented upon this enormous social upheaval that has been going on before our very eyes for the past two years or so and is now about to come to an ugly head.

where are the voices of our musical 'artists'? where are the spokespersons, the articulators, the ones that make us go 'yeh, dead fucking right'?

from my love of reggae music for over forty years i know that if this were jamaica there would be now have been tens if not hundreds of songs talking about what is going onand its effect on people but here, northern europe, nothing, nada, jackshit. for present day music and musicians its like brexit does not exist.

may the bird of paradise fly up all of our noses bob cos for sure we have been abandoned by our artists.

fachtna o ceallaigh.

_________________________________________

Subject: Re: History Of Led Zeppelin Part One-SiriusXM This Week

Bob-

I have been a subscriber for 10 years and still am excited to open your emails.

This is a late arriving comment about what triggered me being a huge Zeppelin fan. I did not get to listen to your Zeppelin show until a couple of days ago via the Sirius app. Boy what a show! Given that you said you were in Chicago when the first album came out, you will appreciate my story about the first time I saw Zeppelin.

How I came to love Led Zeppelin

I grew up in Hyde Park on the south side of Chicago [Paul Butterfield was 5 years ahead of me in school] but I went to college at Syracuse. It was either the Thanksgiving or Christmas break in 1968 and I was home from college. THE place to see top name bands was Aaron Russo's Kinetic Playground on the north side. A big ballroom with amoeba light shows ala SF, and $5 admission[!].

I was a big Jethro Tull fan and a big British blues fan, so when I saw there was a show with Savoy Brown opening and Tull headlining I decided to go. Once I got there, I saw that Savoy Brown opened, Tull closed, and in the middle, on their first tour was some group called...Led Zeppelin! I believe they were touring pre-first album release which was January 1969 [my memory might be off in that it could have been spring break 1969 that I went].

When Savoy Brown came out - on the five-foot- high stage- I got about 15 feet away, sat down on the floor and through time shared what I had brought to smoke and others had as well [those were the days].Savoy Brown delivered the British Blues. Then, Zeppelin came out to okay applause as no one really knew them as most were Tull fans. From the first chord and drums of "Good Times Bad Times" yours truly and everyone around me were STUNNED! Imagine seeing Page and Plant up so close letting it rip!!! The thrill was that first it was Zeppelin and second, NO ONE REALLY KNEW WHO THEY WERE! So the surprise was spine tingling. We have all discovered new groups at concerts, but for it to be Zeppelin from 15 feet away.......nuff said!

I remember two things in follow-up. First, I bought the first album and took it wherever I went - as you have written, going over to friend's apartments to get high and listen to new music. So, I was the guy that introduced everyone I knew to Zeppelin. You know that feeling. Second, 18 months or so later I was traveling around North America and Mexico in a VW bus with my first wife. We parked in a parking lot near the U. of Washington in Seattle, thinking it to be free and safe. The lot was near what must have been the basketball stadium. Around 11p we started to hear a lot of car noise and got out to see thousands streaming out of the stadium. I was curious so I walked over to concert goer and asked who had played "Zeppelin man!" was the answer. My reactions were, first, wow in 18 months they are at the stadium level, and second, how lucky I had been to see them first in an intimate setting,

David Houle

_________________________________________

From: eric gardner
Subject: Wait, what ?

Retiring ??? You selfish bastard, how am I going to get Who tickets from now on !?!!

Seriously though, what a storied career, you should be SO proud !

_________________________________________

Subject: Larry Vallon

I've know Larry since the Wolf and Rismiller days in the late seventies when he did production.and later with Larry Vallon Presents and Universal and finally AEG.
I was the production manager for Brian Murphy and Avalon in those early days.. I remember the 2 of us winning or losing a bet.. (I can't quite remember) at our George Micheal gig at Fiddler's Green about
Benji the sound engineer breaking the local noise ordinance.. our prize was drinking multiple bottles of champagne during the show and getting pretty looped….nice settlement...
Larry.. always a great guy and always happy to see you
Love ya
Danny O'Bryen

_________________________________________

Subject: Re: More Larry Vallon

Just look at the list of people with vivid stories about their Larry Vallon experience. It seems while so many worked with/for him, almost everybody knows him. Going back to the 80s/90's, I can remember thinking how great it was that a truly wonderful, honest and caring person could actually succeed in this business. He's helped us all one way or another and you can't have more fun than dinner with LV and Claudia.

John Brodey

_________________________________________

Subject: Re: More Larry Vallon

Larry Vallon went out of his way to do good by me -- and by extension -- my friends, for no other reason than he was able to spot good intentions and kindred spirits. I still love talking music with him because he's a TRUE music man.

Generous. Fun. Real.
The last mensch.

He deserves nothing but cool drinks and perfect Rock for the rest of his life.

Thanks for shining a light on Larry.

Howie Edelson

_________________________________________

Subject: Larry Vallon

I've never written before, Bob, but Larry Vallon is the type of individual that motivates me to do so.

When I was a GM at any of my various stops with Ticketmaster, Larry would come through town to catch a show and when seeing me at the venue would always say hello to me, calling me by my name. The fact that Larry Vallon, THE Larry Vallon, knew who I was made my day.

Best wishes to an industry legend and a legendary good guy.

Don Orris

_________________________________________

Subject: Re: More Larry Vallon

Larry was the only Exec that treated me seriously when I was 22 and running On the Rox.

David Tobin

_________________________________________

Subject: Re: More Larry Vallon

Dear Bob
Larry Vallon has been a friend since the early 80s. Always willing to listen, teach, and be a friend. Universal Amphitheater success in shows was due to Larry. AEG and Larry grew together and created a powerhouse promoter and venue owner. It was fun to work together on the common good when we both served on the Country Music Assoc. board of directors. He really does love all formats of music. Larry is a first class guy and one of the good ones in the Concert Biz. Happy Trails my friend

From
Tony Conway
CEG/Ontourage

_________________________________________

From: Carol Dunn
Subject: Re: More Larry Vallon

I owned Hoffman Travel from 1972 until 2007…. Larry was a client and a friend… I will never forget how he always answered the phone with a jolly Hello, … I will never forget his smiling face… He would call for travel favors or when an artist was in need of help.. He always was so polite, so positive… no one in the biz.. the artists and managers that I serviced was such a delight to help as Larry… no one…in my entire business life ..

_________________________________________

Subject: Re: More Larry Vallon

As always,I'm joining the party late, but reading of Larry's retirement has had a profound effect on me , rather like when your kid gets married, and you still think of them as four year old...

I met Larry in 1970 ... I was managing The Who , he was Production Manager/promoter rep, for Wolff- Rizmiller/Concert Associates, we were playing the dearly departed Santa Monica Civic .... During that day Steve was constantly on the phone with Frank Barsalona discussing Frank's latest Jackson Pollack acquisition,Jim was in the production office reading Playboy.... So Larry was my go to guy , we bonded, because he was running the show, but also because we were the youngest guys on the block, both starting our journey in the music business - It was not a career then , but rather a way to not have to grow up and have a career- who knew whether the (rock) music business, as we knew it then, was here to stay or was a passing phase.....

In the intervening 50 years I've always thought of us as young kids, the youngest,and the best - But now Larry is retiring,and I'm going to be up soon - where did those 50 years go, my friend ?

We kept in touch over the years, and when we did bump into each other, it didn't seem a day had passed since that sunny day in Santa Monica... AEG, Live Nation, Universal, Sony, CAA,WME,Spotify,Apple,it didn't matter who's side we were on at the time - We knew we were there together at the beginning...

I can't believe how quickly time has passed- We are now the oldest, ( I feel I'm everything I got into the business to destroy) !

Steve would have been so proud of you,my friend ...

Enjoy your sunsets, and stay in touch - we rode the bucking bronco for nearly 50 years....

We can all talk about Social Media, and streaming, but everything always begins, and is underpinned by, relationships based on mutual respect, and values .... That's where live has it over everything else ... It may be perceived as a mafia, but benign despotism is the most enlightened form of government, and because of guys like Larry you always get honesty and accountability, and know they're going to be around for the next 50 years ...

Peter Rudge

_________________________________________

From: Jonathan Levine
Subject: Re: More Larry Vallon

In the dictionary under "Class Acts" it say's "See Larry Vallon..."
JL

_________________________________________

Subject: Re: More Larry Vallon

Larry Vallon

That says it all.

Bert Holman

_________________________________________

From: Cheryl Shaver
Subject: Re: Larry Vallon Farewell Tour

Hi Bob,

I work in a Senior Center connected to Senior Independent Housing in Lakewood, Ohio - where Jim Rissmiller happens to live. We talk often about the "good old days" (I also worked in the biz) and I showed him your post on Larry Vallon and asked him if it would be okay to let people know where he was. He would love to connect with anyone interested in speaking to him. They can email me and I will pass on his phone #, I don't think he uses email. cshaver.biz@gmail.com
Thanks for including him - I know it meant something to see that people have not forgotten.

Cheryl Shaver

_________________________________________

From: MARLENE PASSARO
Subject: Fwd: Larry Vallon Farewell Tour

Hi Bob,

It's Marlene from Apogee. I was going to write you to ask what you thought of the HypeMiC and then I read this letter. It hit me so hard, I don't meet that many people who understand what it was like. I was fortunate enough to grow up in Brooklyn in the 70's, I managed a record store in 1978-1979, then moved to record store on Wall street. I had a deal with local ticket scalpers, buy one record, slip 3 in the bag. In return I got great seats to see Queen (4 times) Aerosmith, Van Halen, Judas Priest, Rush, Cheap Trick, etc - the list goes on!! My boyfriend at the time was Steve Stevens, you're familiar with what he did, we spent 23 years together on a crazy ride. I also had the extraordinary experience of working for Ian Copeland as his contract manager through the 80's and got to work and with practically every artist that stepped foot in America, everyone from the Fixx, The Police, Joan Jett to people like Marianne Faithful, Iggy (who was my neighbor) and everyone else in-between. I'm still friends with some, lifelong endearing friendships. I got to go to Live Aid with the Thompson Twins and watched my friend Alannah Currie scold Ronnie Wood for introducing me to Bob Dylan as Stevie Stevens "old lady" instead of her contract manager haha! Anyway I remember Larry because of my position at FBI (Ian's company - Frontier Booking Int'l) I don't remember him well but reading your words and Danny Zelisko's and Steve Lukather's (who are still friends) made me just want to say thank you for putting into words how I feel but could not possibly formulate such and accurate and beautiful description of such and extraordinary time. Just wanted to say thanks you!!!!

All the best,
Marlene

_________________________________________

From: Jim Weiss
Subject: Re: The Oscars

You have probably seen this by now.

JW

Elton John & Taron Egerton - 'Tiny Dancer' (Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party): https://bit.ly/2CeX2lo

_________________________________________

From: Brian Alvey
Subject: Re: I Guess I Just Feel Like

I saw the Grateful Dead with Jerry a bunch and I know they will revoke my soul for this, but today's Dead & Co shows are so much better.

I saw my first solo John Mayer show a year ago. Just him, a few guitars and a laptop. Easily in the top 5 of the hundreds of concerts I've seen. New songs like "Still Feel Like Your Man," "Moving On and Getting Over" and "Love on the Weekend" were as good as any of his hits.

Seems like the less popular he gets, the more talented he gets.

If that's even possible.

_________________________________________

From: Kristian Dunn
Subject: Helicopters!


Hi Bob,

I'm finally listening to your podcast with Kaskade and love it. You mentioned helicopters falling out of the sky when encountering an engine failure. This is not true!

I'm a helicopter pilot. Please let me correct this popular and understandable misconception.

In the very, very rare case of an engine failure, we perform what's called an auto rotation. We turn the rotor blades into a windmill and glide down to earth. It's like a glider but even safer. We can land in a parking lot, on top of a building, on a road, a small field, etc. No runway needed!

Far more helicopter pilots get in accidents practicing auto rotations than real emergencies.

You can go on youtube and watch videos like these of pilots auto rotating. It's fun!

https://youtu.be/EklDfZw-NrU
https://youtu.be/7wFBUAZi5XU
https://youtu.be/yNWjW6yORyg

_________________________________________

Subject: Re: HBO-Michael Jackson

My father's very dear from Sal Bonafede - who passed away in 2007 unfortunately - sat at a family dinner in our home one night and told us that he quit working for Michael Jackson as his tour producer and left to work with Neil Diamond because he became disgusted at finding Michael in hotel rooms with young, little boys. He had no idea where Michael would find these children in various touring locations. It sounds like Michael was a complete predator. I can not believe the blind idiots who claim that this is all untrue. But I guess we live in a World now where the truth means very little. And an excuse can be made for nearly any behavior at all.

- Brent Kidwell

_________________________________________

Subject: Thanking you

Hi Bob- you don't know me, but a woman named Lenora Edwards forwarded your last essay about liberal arts and education.

I've been a businessman all my adult life, and for the last 18 years I've owned my own leadership development business. I studied classical music and English in college, and came just sort of getting a so-called worthless Liberal Arts degree. (The reason I didn't finish college has to do with other things but I got three years of solid, rounded education at a good school.)

I consider my Liberal Arts education absolutely foundational to the considerable success I've had as a business person. I am SO happy I didn't major in business. I have spent my career first running circles around people with MBAs, and then ultimately getting paid high fees for couseling, teaching, and guiding them. I was lucky because I worked for companies early in my career who were able to see past my lack of formal business education and recognize they were dealing with a person who could think strategically, who had a broader context for ideas and relationships, who was insanely curious, and who didn't think anyone owed him anything because of the framed degree on his wall. I was, from day one, a producer of success and a good friend, challenger, and leader to others.

As a person who teaches business people how to lead others, I am constantly frustrated by the lack of a "broader intelligence" in my clientele. Some of them are absolutely fascinating people, but too many of them are small-minded and limited in vision. They are unlikely to have truly original thoughts, or to challenge convention. THEY DON'T READ BOOKS.

My job has resulted in a fair amount of international travel in recent years. I've found that business people in foreign countries usually have a more interesting and informed perspective on what's going on in the United States than most Americans. I wonder if their educations have been better somehow.

My understanding is that at one time in the not-too-distant past, there was no such thing as an undergraduate degree in business. I wish we could go back to that – the days when you'd get an undergraduate degree in something else and then go get your MBA afterward. Undergraduate business degrees are appallingly useless, and perhaps even worse than useless because of the lie that says what they represent are in fact educated persons.

So this is why we don't see more business churning out real products that make real lives better. I can go to the grocery store and buy yogurt and granola in a fancy two-chambered plastic cup that keeps the dry and wet ingredients separate, but I might have to step over a homeless person on the way back to my car. I can get everything I'd ever want to watch on my computer EXCEPT for responsible news coverage. We sell space for people to build storage units for people to store their excess possessions, but we balk at spending a few million tax dollars for a park or a wildlife refuge.

When I was in junior high school we spent an entire year of social studies on the study of the Constitution. I memorized every amendment. I could practically recite the bill of rights by memory. Then we stopped having "civics" classes. No wonder half of all Americans can't name our neighbor to the north, or tell you who the Vice President is.

I have five grandchildren under the age of eight. They would be too young to understand if I got down on my knees and begged their forgiveness, but sometimes I feel like doing exactly that.

Thanks for your thoughts. We are angry and we are disillusioned. We can't become hopeless but sometimes it's hard…

Jim Hessler
President
pathforwardleadership.com

_________________________________________

From: Peter Moses
Subject: Re: The Coarsening Of America

Hey Bob,

I think your folks in the GOP/Fox need to come down to Australia and see what they call a 'socialist' country looks like…pretty damn good from here.

Its a place where a 13 year old orphan can get the chance to:
- go to the doctor when sick;
- get access to the same level of education as the rich folks;
- go to university with a govt. funded loan that is repaid through taxes only after you hit a certain income threshold;
- have a safety net while getting an education;
- get the chance to reverse their childhood shit and live a normal life;
- and even release music that gets radio play in the UK and the US.

My Alabaman republican mate who came for a visit recently couldn't stop saying 'I don't know why but life seems so much happier over here'.

Cheers
Pete

_________________________________________

Subject: Re: The Coarsening Of America

Great read Bob. Caught you in Boston with Flom a while back. I am a songwriter from a middle class Boston background, skipped out on college (while all my friends are now 100k in debt) and spent the last decade touring as a side guy musician making roughly about 12k a year. I had no home (no rent to pay) got a pier diem daily ($20 usually) and was so busy driving or setting up that I barely had time to spend money. After years of nothing to show for it financially - I got a 9-5 for two years to buy my wife a ring and pay debts. We won a lottery for an affordable 40B home in Boston, MA and feel totally blessed to write my debut record in this house. However, my college friends have so much debt they can't even think about buying. It's a bummer because a lot of them are great people. I used to think I was a big time failure cuz I would always get the 'how's that music thing going for you?' remark but looking back now, following my gut definitely lead me to a better place.

College aint for everybody.

Mike Serra

_________________________________________

From: Wyatt Shapiro
Subject: Re: The Coarsening Of America

As a recently graduated Ivy League millennial, this definitely resonates. The pressure to land a job that will put you on the right track was immense from the get go.

As you said, bankers and lawyers get paid well and it's easy to land a position through campus recruitment, but the new focus is tech. The number of people who become a Founder of a shitty club or company in college that is built for the resume (not to last) seems overwhelming.

They don't care about the lasting effects of pursuing a craft for the crafts sake, rather it's the status symbol of being an entrepreneur and the reassurance that the title can offer.

Best,
Wyatt

_________________________________________

Subject: Re: The Coarsening Of America

Wow. Went to Brandeis for a Liberal Arts degree, got a JD from BU Law while I was a CBS Records College Rep. I never practiced law a day in my life. Didn't matter if I was making $1 or $1M...was doing what I loved.

Jerry Blair

_________________________________________

From: John Fairs
Subject: Re: History Of The Beach Boys Part One-SiriusXM This Week

please do a mail about the prodigy's keith flint...respected and followed you for years...managed him and the band on a handshake 25 years ago and still here...or i was until today

--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-TuneIn: http://tunein.com/lefsetz
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1

If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

-- powered by phpList, www.phplist.com --