Tune in Saturday June 24th, to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.
Phone #: 844-686-5863
Twitter: @lefsetz
If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz
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Friday 23 June 2023
The Bear-Season 2
This is American television at its best.
Watching reminded me of "thirtysomething," a show made by people who were not pandering, who did their best to reflect real life, who respected the audience, whose main goal was to get it right.
American TV is produced, bright. But too often there are compromises. Big stars who can't transcend their identity, who never meld with the role, assuming they can act to begin with, that they're not just a pretty face. Then there's the happy ending. Or the vivid loss. Everything is supersized. Focus-grouped. You don't want to take any risk, you don't want to offend anybody, you want to get the largest audience possible while keeping a modicum of respectability so the industry, and your peers, will acknowledge you, even though what you've ultimately produced is forgettable.
There's something about the look of "The Bear." I'm not a cinematographer, but I remember working with one who was legendary for getting it "fast and flat." You didn't have to wait around, he captured the images, but you were never wowed by the pictures. Not that you're exactly wowed by the images in "The Bear," but somehow it all seems real, and immediate, there's no scrim between you and the actors, you actually feel involved. It's visceral. And in some way transcendent. This is the art we're looking for, that removes us from our everyday world and sets us in a better place and not only entertains us, but feeds our brains too, makes us think.
Now let's not forget that TV isn't the way it used to be. We've all got giant flat screens. It's not like the tube days, where you felt like you were peeking at something, today it's all right there. And you can get a really good set for not that much money. And if you're willing to spend more you can get an OLED set that allows you to watch in 4k... Can I say that at times "The Bear" seems more real than real? That you don't even see this detail in real life, the pores, the skin of people?
And the people are somehow regular. Tina is like someone you know, a good heart but don't cross her. A tough exterior waiting to melt, but only at the right point. Before that she's standoffish.
And Syd... She acts and you don't see her acting. She seems real, evidences a personality without even speaking.
And Fak. A good time bozo just drifting through life, making no headway, but you can count on him.
And then there's the utterly astounding Oliver Platt. Who has settled into his features, who now seems like a wholly real person.
And Ebon Moss-Bachrach... He's playing a variation on the role he played in "Girls," he's the kind of guy, who believes he is always right, but is often wrong, who is high-strung, who pisses you off, but you have history.
And Jeremy Allen White as "Carmy"...
I don't know this guy, I never watched "Shameless," but he's intense and committed and you really believe he's the character, who is driven yet emotionally lost, who needs to get it right, who has climbed the mountain to the top and is trying to do it again, who believes in respecting everybody to get them to be their best selves. Chef!
You see life is small. We're constantly told it's big, but it's not. Sure, there are celebrities, but most people carve out their own little niche, they intersect with a society, they're not generating a lot of attention, but it's important to them to be a member of the group, garner respect, and put a dent in the universe, however small.
And Natalie... If it weren't for blood, she'd have nothing to do with these people. She's conflicted, not sure whether to be in or out. She's a professional in the business world, but that's not how a restaurant is run, and this bugs her.
And Syd's father... How come parents specialize in saying the wrong thing? They want to protect us, but at the same time they don't cheer us in our dreams, assuming they're out of the prescribed verticals. They rain on your parade. But they're your parents. You've got to talk to them, but you don't want to, you hold back your interior thoughts, you don't want them squashed.
So everybody's got a story. In truth, it's a lot of oddballs thrown together. There is no hurdle, no test necessary for qualification. Everybody fell into it, and here they are. Is this serious business or just a living? And restaurants...
That was a big story a few months ago, how the numbers don't work, how it takes so much time and effort to prepare these meals, at Noma and other high end spots. In other words, you don't do it to get rich. But you have to be rich to go to a lot of these places.
Not really, assuming you can get a reservation.
And that's another change in the last half-century. People no longer live in split-levels, they want more room than the cookie cutter houses provide. And they expect good grub at the airport and the arena, which used to specialize in hot dogs and popcorn, none of it good. And when you see these meals in the show...man, they look delectable.
It's about getting it right. On a relatively small stage. It's important to the people involved, it's not that important to everybody else, but that's fine.
And then there's the old girlfriend...
We're only four episodes in, so I can't tell you exactly how this plays out, but when Carmy and she meet each other in the grocery store, it's like Dan Fogelberg's "Same Old Lang Syne," they've got so much history. Which they've buried, and now it's all come back to the surface, can they cope with it?
Yes, we watched four episodes tonight.
I could debate the drip versus drop distribution model, but the bottom line is the public likes the drop, of the entire season, and what we've learned in the twenty first century is you fail to deliver for the audience at your peril. Give people what they want, or there is trouble. People love to binge, love to marinate. I certainly do. To watch two hours of "The Bear" was the highlight of my day. I know I can watch more tomorrow, I'm looking forward to it. When shows are dripped out episode by episode, week by week, it's unfulfilling, you can't remember what happens from week to week, it's not the same artistic experience.
Then again, streaming TV is becoming more middlebrow, got to get those eyeballs, got to keep people subscribing.
Which is why I end up watching the foreign shows, because they shoot higher.
But "The Bear" is right there with them, at the same level, but different. Foreign shows don't look like this, they don't feel like this, "The Bear" is positively American, it's the essence of the entertainment we used to deliver that conquered the world. That's the power of a great show, that's the power of a great song. But the irony is in both shows and songs, America is getting trounced by the foreigners. It's the foreign language acts that are triumphing. I mean how big is Bad Bunny? He taps into something that the usual suspects can't, and the people can feel it.
Being alive is so complicated, and there are so few answers. When Marcus cooks with the chef in Copenhagen and they discuss their families and their pasts, how they got from there to here... Man, that's everyday life, meeting people and connecting, as human beings, not as a business transaction. We're all searching for understanding, commitment, the feeling that another human being knows us and gets us. That's universal.
And so is "The Bear."
Check it out.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
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Watching reminded me of "thirtysomething," a show made by people who were not pandering, who did their best to reflect real life, who respected the audience, whose main goal was to get it right.
American TV is produced, bright. But too often there are compromises. Big stars who can't transcend their identity, who never meld with the role, assuming they can act to begin with, that they're not just a pretty face. Then there's the happy ending. Or the vivid loss. Everything is supersized. Focus-grouped. You don't want to take any risk, you don't want to offend anybody, you want to get the largest audience possible while keeping a modicum of respectability so the industry, and your peers, will acknowledge you, even though what you've ultimately produced is forgettable.
There's something about the look of "The Bear." I'm not a cinematographer, but I remember working with one who was legendary for getting it "fast and flat." You didn't have to wait around, he captured the images, but you were never wowed by the pictures. Not that you're exactly wowed by the images in "The Bear," but somehow it all seems real, and immediate, there's no scrim between you and the actors, you actually feel involved. It's visceral. And in some way transcendent. This is the art we're looking for, that removes us from our everyday world and sets us in a better place and not only entertains us, but feeds our brains too, makes us think.
Now let's not forget that TV isn't the way it used to be. We've all got giant flat screens. It's not like the tube days, where you felt like you were peeking at something, today it's all right there. And you can get a really good set for not that much money. And if you're willing to spend more you can get an OLED set that allows you to watch in 4k... Can I say that at times "The Bear" seems more real than real? That you don't even see this detail in real life, the pores, the skin of people?
And the people are somehow regular. Tina is like someone you know, a good heart but don't cross her. A tough exterior waiting to melt, but only at the right point. Before that she's standoffish.
And Syd... She acts and you don't see her acting. She seems real, evidences a personality without even speaking.
And Fak. A good time bozo just drifting through life, making no headway, but you can count on him.
And then there's the utterly astounding Oliver Platt. Who has settled into his features, who now seems like a wholly real person.
And Ebon Moss-Bachrach... He's playing a variation on the role he played in "Girls," he's the kind of guy, who believes he is always right, but is often wrong, who is high-strung, who pisses you off, but you have history.
And Jeremy Allen White as "Carmy"...
I don't know this guy, I never watched "Shameless," but he's intense and committed and you really believe he's the character, who is driven yet emotionally lost, who needs to get it right, who has climbed the mountain to the top and is trying to do it again, who believes in respecting everybody to get them to be their best selves. Chef!
You see life is small. We're constantly told it's big, but it's not. Sure, there are celebrities, but most people carve out their own little niche, they intersect with a society, they're not generating a lot of attention, but it's important to them to be a member of the group, garner respect, and put a dent in the universe, however small.
And Natalie... If it weren't for blood, she'd have nothing to do with these people. She's conflicted, not sure whether to be in or out. She's a professional in the business world, but that's not how a restaurant is run, and this bugs her.
And Syd's father... How come parents specialize in saying the wrong thing? They want to protect us, but at the same time they don't cheer us in our dreams, assuming they're out of the prescribed verticals. They rain on your parade. But they're your parents. You've got to talk to them, but you don't want to, you hold back your interior thoughts, you don't want them squashed.
So everybody's got a story. In truth, it's a lot of oddballs thrown together. There is no hurdle, no test necessary for qualification. Everybody fell into it, and here they are. Is this serious business or just a living? And restaurants...
That was a big story a few months ago, how the numbers don't work, how it takes so much time and effort to prepare these meals, at Noma and other high end spots. In other words, you don't do it to get rich. But you have to be rich to go to a lot of these places.
Not really, assuming you can get a reservation.
And that's another change in the last half-century. People no longer live in split-levels, they want more room than the cookie cutter houses provide. And they expect good grub at the airport and the arena, which used to specialize in hot dogs and popcorn, none of it good. And when you see these meals in the show...man, they look delectable.
It's about getting it right. On a relatively small stage. It's important to the people involved, it's not that important to everybody else, but that's fine.
And then there's the old girlfriend...
We're only four episodes in, so I can't tell you exactly how this plays out, but when Carmy and she meet each other in the grocery store, it's like Dan Fogelberg's "Same Old Lang Syne," they've got so much history. Which they've buried, and now it's all come back to the surface, can they cope with it?
Yes, we watched four episodes tonight.
I could debate the drip versus drop distribution model, but the bottom line is the public likes the drop, of the entire season, and what we've learned in the twenty first century is you fail to deliver for the audience at your peril. Give people what they want, or there is trouble. People love to binge, love to marinate. I certainly do. To watch two hours of "The Bear" was the highlight of my day. I know I can watch more tomorrow, I'm looking forward to it. When shows are dripped out episode by episode, week by week, it's unfulfilling, you can't remember what happens from week to week, it's not the same artistic experience.
Then again, streaming TV is becoming more middlebrow, got to get those eyeballs, got to keep people subscribing.
Which is why I end up watching the foreign shows, because they shoot higher.
But "The Bear" is right there with them, at the same level, but different. Foreign shows don't look like this, they don't feel like this, "The Bear" is positively American, it's the essence of the entertainment we used to deliver that conquered the world. That's the power of a great show, that's the power of a great song. But the irony is in both shows and songs, America is getting trounced by the foreigners. It's the foreign language acts that are triumphing. I mean how big is Bad Bunny? He taps into something that the usual suspects can't, and the people can feel it.
Being alive is so complicated, and there are so few answers. When Marcus cooks with the chef in Copenhagen and they discuss their families and their pasts, how they got from there to here... Man, that's everyday life, meeting people and connecting, as human beings, not as a business transaction. We're all searching for understanding, commitment, the feeling that another human being knows us and gets us. That's universal.
And so is "The Bear."
Check it out.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
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Thursday 22 June 2023
Beach Read
"Pineapple Street": https://tinyurl.com/5c3vmd4b
As in the book doesn't demand much, but calls out to you and keeps you reading.
As a matter of fact, once I started, I finished in a day. Because I was invested, I wanted to know how it all turned out.
This is the story of the rich you don't see in the newspaper or on TV. Not exactly blue bloods, but something in between them and today's wealthy. The blue bloods inherited their wealth, and downplayed it. In the sixties you could tell them by their khakis, Topsiders and Country Squires. And at this point, after decades, in some cases centuries, many were not rich, then again rich yesterday is different from rich today.
Rich yesterday?
You not only went to private school, you went to private boarding school. And this school set you up to get into an Ivy League college, or close to it. There's a big story about affirmative action in today's "Times," as a result of the policy:
"By the early 1990s, affirmative action helped boost the percentage of Black Americans in medical school by a factor of four,"
https://tinyurl.com/4u5kcw8t
Do you want to go back to the old system?
Actually, that's exactly what the rich and powerful would like, to close the doors and leave you out. If everybody starts on the same line, you'd be surprised who doesn't make it to the finish, for so many reasons, poor schooling, poor home life...
And now this screed has the wrong spin. I don't want to write a diatribe here, but to give you an idea of the book without telling you so much that you don't need to read it.
You see the Stocktons made their money in real estate. And they want to preserve this wealth. They don't want to dip into principal. Do you even know that concept?
I hear it again and again from friends. They fret about their income, take Social Security early, forgoing thousands on the back end, because they don't want to dip into their principal, which in some cases consists of double-digit millions.
They don't want to kill the core nest egg. Do you have a nest egg? Let me hip you, you want one, start saving now. Did you read that story about...
"Violet Carson married her high-school sweetheart in a small North Carolina town and raised two children in a three-bedroom ranch.
"When her husband died a decade ago, her children expected their mom, then 78, to follow soon after. She had Parkinson's disease, Lewy body dementia and required 24/7 care.
"'Never in my wildest dreams did I think she would last until she was 88," says her daughter, Teresa Wyche. Violet died last July.
"The Carson family spent more than $1.3 million taking care of Violet at her home over the last decade. Fortunately, she and her husband had saved, and the family could cover the cost of round-the-clock in-home care without going into debt.
"Many people aren't as well positioned."
"'We Thought Within a Year, She Would Be Gone.' When Mom's Care Costs Over $1 Million. - Caregiving costs are rising as people live longer and their needs increase": https://tinyurl.com/3xn56upf
Too many are worried about dying early and sacrificing "their money" to the government. They'd be better off worrying about living too long.
But if you know people like the Stocktons, you know all this.
And if you don't know people like the Stocktons, you probably stopped reading this diatribe long ago, and probably don't even read books.
Amazing what books will teach you. Fiction even more than nonfiction.
But this is why you go to an elite college, to have contact with these people. Otherwise, you live in the dark. I went to college to find multiple people who came from the same town I did, but I'd never known them or of them or of their families. You see they never set foot in a public school.
So the question arises, can the poor or middle class be happier than the rich? There's nothing worse than being broke, then all you can think about is money, but assuming you're a bit more comfortable...
Those rich people in the press living it up, those are not the people I'm talking about. These rich want privacy, and they don't party to the extreme. And they don't have to work and if they do they often get the gig because of who they are. Amazing how many times you can fail if you're connected.
So Sasha is from Rhode Island and middle class. She meets Cord in a bar. They get married.
And Cord's two sisters can't accept her. Partygoers think she's the help. All she is trying to do is please her in-laws, but no matter what she does they won't accept her. Furthermore, ultimately Cord's loyalty is to his family, not his wife. He can't understand her frustrations. He just tells her to get along. That's what these rich do best, get along, at their clubs and...
"Pineapple Street" is a very easy read, a very engaging read, and it will make you think about your place in society, your choices. You're reading for more than plot, and you never feel like your time is being stolen.
It's not heavy, and it's not dreary, and if you're looking for something to read on vacation, or if you're a voracious reader who finishes books in a day, I highly recommend it.
And then we can talk about it.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
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As in the book doesn't demand much, but calls out to you and keeps you reading.
As a matter of fact, once I started, I finished in a day. Because I was invested, I wanted to know how it all turned out.
This is the story of the rich you don't see in the newspaper or on TV. Not exactly blue bloods, but something in between them and today's wealthy. The blue bloods inherited their wealth, and downplayed it. In the sixties you could tell them by their khakis, Topsiders and Country Squires. And at this point, after decades, in some cases centuries, many were not rich, then again rich yesterday is different from rich today.
Rich yesterday?
You not only went to private school, you went to private boarding school. And this school set you up to get into an Ivy League college, or close to it. There's a big story about affirmative action in today's "Times," as a result of the policy:
"By the early 1990s, affirmative action helped boost the percentage of Black Americans in medical school by a factor of four,"
https://tinyurl.com/4u5kcw8t
Do you want to go back to the old system?
Actually, that's exactly what the rich and powerful would like, to close the doors and leave you out. If everybody starts on the same line, you'd be surprised who doesn't make it to the finish, for so many reasons, poor schooling, poor home life...
And now this screed has the wrong spin. I don't want to write a diatribe here, but to give you an idea of the book without telling you so much that you don't need to read it.
You see the Stocktons made their money in real estate. And they want to preserve this wealth. They don't want to dip into principal. Do you even know that concept?
I hear it again and again from friends. They fret about their income, take Social Security early, forgoing thousands on the back end, because they don't want to dip into their principal, which in some cases consists of double-digit millions.
They don't want to kill the core nest egg. Do you have a nest egg? Let me hip you, you want one, start saving now. Did you read that story about...
"Violet Carson married her high-school sweetheart in a small North Carolina town and raised two children in a three-bedroom ranch.
"When her husband died a decade ago, her children expected their mom, then 78, to follow soon after. She had Parkinson's disease, Lewy body dementia and required 24/7 care.
"'Never in my wildest dreams did I think she would last until she was 88," says her daughter, Teresa Wyche. Violet died last July.
"The Carson family spent more than $1.3 million taking care of Violet at her home over the last decade. Fortunately, she and her husband had saved, and the family could cover the cost of round-the-clock in-home care without going into debt.
"Many people aren't as well positioned."
"'We Thought Within a Year, She Would Be Gone.' When Mom's Care Costs Over $1 Million. - Caregiving costs are rising as people live longer and their needs increase": https://tinyurl.com/3xn56upf
Too many are worried about dying early and sacrificing "their money" to the government. They'd be better off worrying about living too long.
But if you know people like the Stocktons, you know all this.
And if you don't know people like the Stocktons, you probably stopped reading this diatribe long ago, and probably don't even read books.
Amazing what books will teach you. Fiction even more than nonfiction.
But this is why you go to an elite college, to have contact with these people. Otherwise, you live in the dark. I went to college to find multiple people who came from the same town I did, but I'd never known them or of them or of their families. You see they never set foot in a public school.
So the question arises, can the poor or middle class be happier than the rich? There's nothing worse than being broke, then all you can think about is money, but assuming you're a bit more comfortable...
Those rich people in the press living it up, those are not the people I'm talking about. These rich want privacy, and they don't party to the extreme. And they don't have to work and if they do they often get the gig because of who they are. Amazing how many times you can fail if you're connected.
So Sasha is from Rhode Island and middle class. She meets Cord in a bar. They get married.
And Cord's two sisters can't accept her. Partygoers think she's the help. All she is trying to do is please her in-laws, but no matter what she does they won't accept her. Furthermore, ultimately Cord's loyalty is to his family, not his wife. He can't understand her frustrations. He just tells her to get along. That's what these rich do best, get along, at their clubs and...
"Pineapple Street" is a very easy read, a very engaging read, and it will make you think about your place in society, your choices. You're reading for more than plot, and you never feel like your time is being stolen.
It's not heavy, and it's not dreary, and if you're looking for something to read on vacation, or if you're a voracious reader who finishes books in a day, I highly recommend it.
And then we can talk about it.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-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
Alito
You don't always pay in cash.
I remember the first time I flew on a private jet. On the return trip I was told not to sit in a certain seat. That's when I learned, he or she who pays, or owns the jet, determines the seating policy. And believe me, you're thrilled to be on board, so you just shut up.
I'm not going to tell you the circumstances of that trip, but I will tell you I'm not going to say anything negative about the people involved. Oh, I could, but then I would have broken the code, I'd never have access again, they might not even speak to me again.
You see I know these billionaires. To be in their orbit...let's just say there's a lot of largesse. But it's clear that they go first. And if you want to have access to all the perks, you've always got to be upbeat and nice, get on their wavelength, and I O.D.'ed on it.
I hate rich people, because they think they're entitled.
And by the way, those are two different sets of people in the above examples. You see it's about access. Something that the hoi polloi don't have. You can get it, but you've got to earn it, even though so many of these rich people have not.
Then again, there are those who have. And my belief is if you start the company, you're entitled to the riches. You must pay taxes, but if you make a lot, more power to you.
But if you just work for the corporation?
How is it when Michael Eisner retired he was the largest shareholder in Disney? You work for the company, and then you own the company?
And then there's Michael Rapino. Very talented and very skilled, a good guy, and I have a good relationship with him, he's always been open and honest. But I must say when I read yesterday that Live Nation shareholders disapproved of his $139 million 2022 compensation...
Yes, the shareholders can censure you, but they have no power. The board can do whatever it wants. And the board is made up of club members...talk about not going against the code. And they've all decided that they're He-Men of the Universe and entitled to these riches. And if one person is getting paid all this money, another person should. But it's an especially bad look at Live Nation. Bottom line...Michael Rapino makes more money than almost all of the acts Live Nation promotes. Think about that, think about how hard it is to make it as an act. And don't be confused by the grosses, the net is much smaller, after costs and commissions and the split if there's a group. Like I said, Rapino is very skilled, but he could be replaced. Can you replace Elton John or U2? We've been waiting for sixty years for a new Beatles and they've never arrived. Ditto on Dylan. But think of how many people have run entertainment companies.
There's Lucian Grainge, who made triple-digit millions. Believe me, Universal Music would not go out of business if he suddenly retired. Once again, Lucian is skilled, and affable to boot, and he brought the company to market, however... Universal is ultimately based on what the artists generate. And as one big exec legendarily said, the business model of the major label is theft. If you think you get honest, forthright accounting, you're delusional. And you have to sue for your money and you never get a hundred cents on the dollar, even if you deserve it.
But Rapino and Grainge can just point to their contemporaries, the CEOs of public companies. They too are handsomely paid. But traditionally, entertainment executives are disproportionately compensated.
And believe me, it's hard to make this money. Not only as an entertainer, but an executive. Rapino comes from Thunder Bay, a place most Americans can't pinpoint on a map. And he worked his way up from the bottom. And most people are not willing to work that hard, are not that driven, but should this huge income gap between not only the haves and the have-nots, but between the comfortable and the super-rich, exist?
So if you're just wealthy...
Well, what is wealthy. Some might say 450k a year.
But let me give you perspective, that's chump change. The "Wall Street Journal" said today that lawyers now make more money than bankers. Managing directors at banks make between $1 and $2 million a year. Partners at law firms? $3 million. Some make $15 million.
May sound like a lot, but it's not. You can't own your own jet with that money. Maybe if you're doing really well you can get a NetJet account.
But you want to hang with the people with the private jets. And even in that there's a pecking order. You own a G6, right?
Believe me, it goes up and up.
You see those prices in Aspen, in Malibu.
And you're competing against all those tech billionaires.
So...
If you know these people... Most of them want to hang with their contemporaries, those equally rich. But they do have civilian friends. And when you're offered the perks, can you say no?
Most people cannot. It's a matter of character.
I now say no. I mean if we're really friends, maybe. But ask if you're really friends with these people to begin with. Especially the idle rich, who don't work, who drink and party much of the time. You're a hanger-on, a little buddy, how does that make you feel?
Now I'll never have their money, but I do have a modicum of power. I'm exercising it right now, by typing. But the more truth I tell, the fewer perks I'm offered.
I'm slamming doors left and right. I'm willing to lose the perks. I don't want to lose my ability to speak the truth. Power is more important to me than money.
But that is not the case with most people.
Alito. Clarence Thomas. They want to live like rich people but they don't make enough money. So they trade favors. Do you think Paul Singer would be taking Samuel Alito on a fishing trip to Alaska if Alito wasn't a Supreme Court Justice? It's not like they grew up on the same street, played ball together. Ditto Harlan Crow and Clarence Thomas.
In truth, Alito and Thomas are chumps. They're so caught up in their self-righteousness, their status, that they can't see the truth. How do you think these billionaires make this money? Not by going to law school and playing by the rules. They're looking for an edge. They're business sharks. They want to know everybody in power and be able to lean on them and trade favors.
And it's not an obvious quid pro quo. It's not like I'll do this for you and you do this for me. No, it's an investment, that is cashed out at some indeterminate time in the future. And you can't say no. Oh, you can say no, but the door is then closed. And it's not only that door, these billionaires are connected, have friends.
But they don't have to say anything. You see you've been bought and paid for and ultimately you realize it. You can't say no. They were so nice to you, and they took you on this trip!
And the height of hypocrisy is when Alito says it didn't affect his judgment. Believe me, I've been in these situations numerous times, AND IT ALWAYS AFFECTS YOUR JUDGMENT! It's subtle, but it's definitely there.
You see almost everybody is beholden to the buck. That used to be the essence of the rock star, he was independent, did what he wanted to, was beholden to no one. Threw TVs out the window and had the road manager peel off hundreds to pay for the damage.
Rock stars used to be amongst the wealthiest people in America.
No longer.
And this pisses them off. They want more. So many play the venture capital game. Or they too live off the largesse. Believe me, the billionaire will let you use his jet for a price, and it's not in dollars.
You see income inequality is not about raw cash. It goes much deeper than that. Money buys influence in ways most people can't see. It's subtle.
And it ain't easy to say no.
I started saying no because I didn't like the way it made me feel. Hollow, like a second-class citizen. Always needing to be a sycophant.
But I can't say most people are like me.
And having said that don't think I turn down all offers. Because those people, the rich people, they run the world. Especially those who earned it as opposed to inherited it. They know where the bodies are buried, how the game is played. That time in the air on the private jet? Pays more dividends than a year of business school. You can get the owner, the provider, to tell you their story, they love to wax rhapsodic. You can't convey the information you're told to the public, but you can use it personally. You see you now have perspective.
As for using your relationships, asking for favors... WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO OFFER?
Most people ain't got much. Oh, you're a musician, you can give a private concert. Big deal. They get this kind of favor all day long. Everybody has a price. But for some the price is much higher, and once again it's not paid in cash. What have you got to trade?
If you're a Supreme Court Justice you've got much.
Just by going on the trip, being the beneficiary of the largesse, you're in the reality distortion field, do you really want to hobble these people, tax them, hold them back?
I mean we can't even get rid of the carried interest rule.
And most people have no idea what that is, which proves the point, they've got no idea what is really going on, they're not even aware of the game, never mind how to play it.
But whatever faux pas Alito and Thomas have committed, it doesn't matter, because they're supported by their team. And the team is not the general public, the justices are above the public, they care about those who can offer the perks. They don't want to live like hermits. But isn't that the essence of being an arbiter? To be alone and unswayable? Doesn't that go with the job?
So it doesn't matter what the blue team says, because the red team supports you.
Trump appears to have committed crimes, but his support remains strong. And if the world is really this topsy-turvy, why should you have scruples, why should you leave money and opportunities on the table. Everybody else is doing it, why shouldn't you?
They do.
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I remember the first time I flew on a private jet. On the return trip I was told not to sit in a certain seat. That's when I learned, he or she who pays, or owns the jet, determines the seating policy. And believe me, you're thrilled to be on board, so you just shut up.
I'm not going to tell you the circumstances of that trip, but I will tell you I'm not going to say anything negative about the people involved. Oh, I could, but then I would have broken the code, I'd never have access again, they might not even speak to me again.
You see I know these billionaires. To be in their orbit...let's just say there's a lot of largesse. But it's clear that they go first. And if you want to have access to all the perks, you've always got to be upbeat and nice, get on their wavelength, and I O.D.'ed on it.
I hate rich people, because they think they're entitled.
And by the way, those are two different sets of people in the above examples. You see it's about access. Something that the hoi polloi don't have. You can get it, but you've got to earn it, even though so many of these rich people have not.
Then again, there are those who have. And my belief is if you start the company, you're entitled to the riches. You must pay taxes, but if you make a lot, more power to you.
But if you just work for the corporation?
How is it when Michael Eisner retired he was the largest shareholder in Disney? You work for the company, and then you own the company?
And then there's Michael Rapino. Very talented and very skilled, a good guy, and I have a good relationship with him, he's always been open and honest. But I must say when I read yesterday that Live Nation shareholders disapproved of his $139 million 2022 compensation...
Yes, the shareholders can censure you, but they have no power. The board can do whatever it wants. And the board is made up of club members...talk about not going against the code. And they've all decided that they're He-Men of the Universe and entitled to these riches. And if one person is getting paid all this money, another person should. But it's an especially bad look at Live Nation. Bottom line...Michael Rapino makes more money than almost all of the acts Live Nation promotes. Think about that, think about how hard it is to make it as an act. And don't be confused by the grosses, the net is much smaller, after costs and commissions and the split if there's a group. Like I said, Rapino is very skilled, but he could be replaced. Can you replace Elton John or U2? We've been waiting for sixty years for a new Beatles and they've never arrived. Ditto on Dylan. But think of how many people have run entertainment companies.
There's Lucian Grainge, who made triple-digit millions. Believe me, Universal Music would not go out of business if he suddenly retired. Once again, Lucian is skilled, and affable to boot, and he brought the company to market, however... Universal is ultimately based on what the artists generate. And as one big exec legendarily said, the business model of the major label is theft. If you think you get honest, forthright accounting, you're delusional. And you have to sue for your money and you never get a hundred cents on the dollar, even if you deserve it.
But Rapino and Grainge can just point to their contemporaries, the CEOs of public companies. They too are handsomely paid. But traditionally, entertainment executives are disproportionately compensated.
And believe me, it's hard to make this money. Not only as an entertainer, but an executive. Rapino comes from Thunder Bay, a place most Americans can't pinpoint on a map. And he worked his way up from the bottom. And most people are not willing to work that hard, are not that driven, but should this huge income gap between not only the haves and the have-nots, but between the comfortable and the super-rich, exist?
So if you're just wealthy...
Well, what is wealthy. Some might say 450k a year.
But let me give you perspective, that's chump change. The "Wall Street Journal" said today that lawyers now make more money than bankers. Managing directors at banks make between $1 and $2 million a year. Partners at law firms? $3 million. Some make $15 million.
May sound like a lot, but it's not. You can't own your own jet with that money. Maybe if you're doing really well you can get a NetJet account.
But you want to hang with the people with the private jets. And even in that there's a pecking order. You own a G6, right?
Believe me, it goes up and up.
You see those prices in Aspen, in Malibu.
And you're competing against all those tech billionaires.
So...
If you know these people... Most of them want to hang with their contemporaries, those equally rich. But they do have civilian friends. And when you're offered the perks, can you say no?
Most people cannot. It's a matter of character.
I now say no. I mean if we're really friends, maybe. But ask if you're really friends with these people to begin with. Especially the idle rich, who don't work, who drink and party much of the time. You're a hanger-on, a little buddy, how does that make you feel?
Now I'll never have their money, but I do have a modicum of power. I'm exercising it right now, by typing. But the more truth I tell, the fewer perks I'm offered.
I'm slamming doors left and right. I'm willing to lose the perks. I don't want to lose my ability to speak the truth. Power is more important to me than money.
But that is not the case with most people.
Alito. Clarence Thomas. They want to live like rich people but they don't make enough money. So they trade favors. Do you think Paul Singer would be taking Samuel Alito on a fishing trip to Alaska if Alito wasn't a Supreme Court Justice? It's not like they grew up on the same street, played ball together. Ditto Harlan Crow and Clarence Thomas.
In truth, Alito and Thomas are chumps. They're so caught up in their self-righteousness, their status, that they can't see the truth. How do you think these billionaires make this money? Not by going to law school and playing by the rules. They're looking for an edge. They're business sharks. They want to know everybody in power and be able to lean on them and trade favors.
And it's not an obvious quid pro quo. It's not like I'll do this for you and you do this for me. No, it's an investment, that is cashed out at some indeterminate time in the future. And you can't say no. Oh, you can say no, but the door is then closed. And it's not only that door, these billionaires are connected, have friends.
But they don't have to say anything. You see you've been bought and paid for and ultimately you realize it. You can't say no. They were so nice to you, and they took you on this trip!
And the height of hypocrisy is when Alito says it didn't affect his judgment. Believe me, I've been in these situations numerous times, AND IT ALWAYS AFFECTS YOUR JUDGMENT! It's subtle, but it's definitely there.
You see almost everybody is beholden to the buck. That used to be the essence of the rock star, he was independent, did what he wanted to, was beholden to no one. Threw TVs out the window and had the road manager peel off hundreds to pay for the damage.
Rock stars used to be amongst the wealthiest people in America.
No longer.
And this pisses them off. They want more. So many play the venture capital game. Or they too live off the largesse. Believe me, the billionaire will let you use his jet for a price, and it's not in dollars.
You see income inequality is not about raw cash. It goes much deeper than that. Money buys influence in ways most people can't see. It's subtle.
And it ain't easy to say no.
I started saying no because I didn't like the way it made me feel. Hollow, like a second-class citizen. Always needing to be a sycophant.
But I can't say most people are like me.
And having said that don't think I turn down all offers. Because those people, the rich people, they run the world. Especially those who earned it as opposed to inherited it. They know where the bodies are buried, how the game is played. That time in the air on the private jet? Pays more dividends than a year of business school. You can get the owner, the provider, to tell you their story, they love to wax rhapsodic. You can't convey the information you're told to the public, but you can use it personally. You see you now have perspective.
As for using your relationships, asking for favors... WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO OFFER?
Most people ain't got much. Oh, you're a musician, you can give a private concert. Big deal. They get this kind of favor all day long. Everybody has a price. But for some the price is much higher, and once again it's not paid in cash. What have you got to trade?
If you're a Supreme Court Justice you've got much.
Just by going on the trip, being the beneficiary of the largesse, you're in the reality distortion field, do you really want to hobble these people, tax them, hold them back?
I mean we can't even get rid of the carried interest rule.
And most people have no idea what that is, which proves the point, they've got no idea what is really going on, they're not even aware of the game, never mind how to play it.
But whatever faux pas Alito and Thomas have committed, it doesn't matter, because they're supported by their team. And the team is not the general public, the justices are above the public, they care about those who can offer the perks. They don't want to live like hermits. But isn't that the essence of being an arbiter? To be alone and unswayable? Doesn't that go with the job?
So it doesn't matter what the blue team says, because the red team supports you.
Trump appears to have committed crimes, but his support remains strong. And if the world is really this topsy-turvy, why should you have scruples, why should you leave money and opportunities on the table. Everybody else is doing it, why shouldn't you?
They do.
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Jack Tempchin-This Week's Podcast
Jack Tempchin wrote "Peaceful Easy Feeling," hear how it ended up on the first Eagles album. Tempchin also wrote "Slow Dancing," as well as co-writing "Already Gone" with Robb Strandlund, "You Belong to the City" and "Smuggler's Blues" with Glenn Frey, and composing "Someone That You Used to Know" for George Jones. Find out how Tempchin navigated the waters from San Diego to Hollywood, as a solo artist as well as a member of the Funky Kings.
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/jack-tempchin-117858247/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jack-tempchin/id1316200737?i=1000617955114
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0OvvfVZajxK4Z1qCR16BGh?si=Z2s5ALWBTmKSCa-FdNxJBg
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/a1b69084-f79f-4b16-b7a7-a4be6cc6bbe1/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-jack-tempchin
https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/episode/jack-tempchin-304663107
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https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/jack-tempchin-117858247/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jack-tempchin/id1316200737?i=1000617955114
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0OvvfVZajxK4Z1qCR16BGh?si=Z2s5ALWBTmKSCa-FdNxJBg
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/a1b69084-f79f-4b16-b7a7-a4be6cc6bbe1/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-jack-tempchin
https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/episode/jack-tempchin-304663107
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Tuesday 20 June 2023
Romantic Comedy
https://tinyurl.com/yc3anpmh
This book is mind-blowingly good.
But you won't feel that way at first, you'll think it's a trifle, a direct lift of "Saturday Night Live," akin to Curtis Sittenfeld's book about Hillary Clinton, "Rodham," wherein she breaks up with Bill before marriage and a different story ensues. I mean "Rodham" is a good read, but it's light.
Whereas "You Think It, I'll Say It," Sittenfeld's collection of short stories, is oftentimes dark, and gripping. "You Think It, I'll Say It" is the best short story book I've ever read. I keep recommending it to people but they don't read it, primarily because they're turned off by short stories, and I understand that, but this is different.
Anyway, I read everything Sittenfeld writes. Beginning with her debut, "Prep." I'm a sucker for these boarding school tales. Can I tell you that I love "Dead Poets Society"? Although I went to public school, I went to college with a lot of prep school students. Prep school changes you. Teaches you how to fit in, but when eyes are looking the other way, no one is wilder than a prep school graduate.
So "Romantic Comedy" is Sittenfeld's new one, released in April. I haven't felt the buzz, but it's got four stars on Amazon with thousands of ratings, so people are reading it, I just don't find people talking about it. Because...
People don't know how to talk about love. Or they don't want to, it makes them squirm. Yet it's what all of us want, so it's a conundrum.
So Sally is a writer at "Night Owls," the late night sketch comedy run by Nigel, who's a direct lift of Lorne Michaels. She's been there for years, and how she got there is very interesting, I won't spoil it, but let's just say you'd be surprised who doesn't understand your dreams, never mind support them.
And Sally doesn't want to be on camera.
And she's divorced, but she's got a f*ck buddy, she has needs. And she's 38, and she's not planning to leave the show and then...
A rock star is the host. And the musical guest. And he comes in with his own sketch, and Sally helps him hone it.
One of the big themes of the book is whether you can date out of your league. The guys at "Night Owl" run with the female celebrities, but can the women? If you're average-looking can you date a gorgeous celebrity? Sally even writes a sketch about it.
So, Sally feels something from the rock star, Noah, but does he feel it too? And I'm not talking about the Peter Frampton song, then again it's not a bad soundtrack, because the song is ultimately optimistic, which is what you've got to be to fall in love.
So Sally is reading the signs. But is she the only one reading them? Does anybody else notice them? Can she even discuss them with anybody else?
You don't want to snuff the inner flame, you don't want people to laugh at you, so you suffer...
And then, when it looks like something might happen between Sally and Noah, when she's about to find out if he really is into her, she unconsciously says something to push him away. This is not uncommon, I've done it. I've had tons of therapy to analyze it. Now I'm aware. But ultimately, the anxiety gets to you and your instinct is to go back to your happy place, alone, even though it's not that happy.
And then...
Correspondence begins during lockdown, and...
This isn't much different from how I met Felice. I met her, felt something, wasn't sure if she did, and then months later we connected via fast and furious e-mail and then...
This is the way romance is in the twenty first century. I'm not talking about Tinder, I'm not talking about married couples, I'm not even talking about young 'uns. But once you've been around the block, Sally's been married, been hurt a few times, how do you navigate the waters? Get old enough and people become afraid to jump in. Sally is not that old.
There's so much wisdom, baked in to this easily read book. It's anything but heavy, but then again it is. It's the anti-Iowa Writers' Workshop book, you know, rewritten to impress fellow writers, as opposed to writing something the public will truly enjoy reading. Maybe that's why there's not more ink on "Romantic Comedy," because the intelligentsia, the publishing cognoscenti, look down upon it, it's not dense with incomprehensible adjectives, there's not endless depiction of the scene, it's not removed from real life, but rather it is real life.
Yes, you can read about real life, but it's not the same as living it.
And I was just about to quote some truisms from the book, that struck me, but now I've decided not to, I've already told you too much.
Once again, if you're addicted to nonfiction, don't read this.
If you're a guy... You're on your own. Chances are you never talk about this stuff and maybe can't even own it yourself. You're so busy bucking up, being one of the guys, a bro, that you can't be sensitive. But you've got to be sensitive to have a relationship, a real one.
If you're a woman, I think you're much more likely to love this book.
Then again, there will be guys who love it and women who hate it, that's what makes the world go round.
And I'll save further clichés, I'll just say that "Romantic Comedy" sits with me in a way other books do not. I can relate to it. I think the writer is not that different from who I am, she understands me.
And she just might understand you too.
Check it out.
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This book is mind-blowingly good.
But you won't feel that way at first, you'll think it's a trifle, a direct lift of "Saturday Night Live," akin to Curtis Sittenfeld's book about Hillary Clinton, "Rodham," wherein she breaks up with Bill before marriage and a different story ensues. I mean "Rodham" is a good read, but it's light.
Whereas "You Think It, I'll Say It," Sittenfeld's collection of short stories, is oftentimes dark, and gripping. "You Think It, I'll Say It" is the best short story book I've ever read. I keep recommending it to people but they don't read it, primarily because they're turned off by short stories, and I understand that, but this is different.
Anyway, I read everything Sittenfeld writes. Beginning with her debut, "Prep." I'm a sucker for these boarding school tales. Can I tell you that I love "Dead Poets Society"? Although I went to public school, I went to college with a lot of prep school students. Prep school changes you. Teaches you how to fit in, but when eyes are looking the other way, no one is wilder than a prep school graduate.
So "Romantic Comedy" is Sittenfeld's new one, released in April. I haven't felt the buzz, but it's got four stars on Amazon with thousands of ratings, so people are reading it, I just don't find people talking about it. Because...
People don't know how to talk about love. Or they don't want to, it makes them squirm. Yet it's what all of us want, so it's a conundrum.
So Sally is a writer at "Night Owls," the late night sketch comedy run by Nigel, who's a direct lift of Lorne Michaels. She's been there for years, and how she got there is very interesting, I won't spoil it, but let's just say you'd be surprised who doesn't understand your dreams, never mind support them.
And Sally doesn't want to be on camera.
And she's divorced, but she's got a f*ck buddy, she has needs. And she's 38, and she's not planning to leave the show and then...
A rock star is the host. And the musical guest. And he comes in with his own sketch, and Sally helps him hone it.
One of the big themes of the book is whether you can date out of your league. The guys at "Night Owl" run with the female celebrities, but can the women? If you're average-looking can you date a gorgeous celebrity? Sally even writes a sketch about it.
So, Sally feels something from the rock star, Noah, but does he feel it too? And I'm not talking about the Peter Frampton song, then again it's not a bad soundtrack, because the song is ultimately optimistic, which is what you've got to be to fall in love.
So Sally is reading the signs. But is she the only one reading them? Does anybody else notice them? Can she even discuss them with anybody else?
You don't want to snuff the inner flame, you don't want people to laugh at you, so you suffer...
And then, when it looks like something might happen between Sally and Noah, when she's about to find out if he really is into her, she unconsciously says something to push him away. This is not uncommon, I've done it. I've had tons of therapy to analyze it. Now I'm aware. But ultimately, the anxiety gets to you and your instinct is to go back to your happy place, alone, even though it's not that happy.
And then...
Correspondence begins during lockdown, and...
This isn't much different from how I met Felice. I met her, felt something, wasn't sure if she did, and then months later we connected via fast and furious e-mail and then...
This is the way romance is in the twenty first century. I'm not talking about Tinder, I'm not talking about married couples, I'm not even talking about young 'uns. But once you've been around the block, Sally's been married, been hurt a few times, how do you navigate the waters? Get old enough and people become afraid to jump in. Sally is not that old.
There's so much wisdom, baked in to this easily read book. It's anything but heavy, but then again it is. It's the anti-Iowa Writers' Workshop book, you know, rewritten to impress fellow writers, as opposed to writing something the public will truly enjoy reading. Maybe that's why there's not more ink on "Romantic Comedy," because the intelligentsia, the publishing cognoscenti, look down upon it, it's not dense with incomprehensible adjectives, there's not endless depiction of the scene, it's not removed from real life, but rather it is real life.
Yes, you can read about real life, but it's not the same as living it.
And I was just about to quote some truisms from the book, that struck me, but now I've decided not to, I've already told you too much.
Once again, if you're addicted to nonfiction, don't read this.
If you're a guy... You're on your own. Chances are you never talk about this stuff and maybe can't even own it yourself. You're so busy bucking up, being one of the guys, a bro, that you can't be sensitive. But you've got to be sensitive to have a relationship, a real one.
If you're a woman, I think you're much more likely to love this book.
Then again, there will be guys who love it and women who hate it, that's what makes the world go round.
And I'll save further clichés, I'll just say that "Romantic Comedy" sits with me in a way other books do not. I can relate to it. I think the writer is not that different from who I am, she understands me.
And she just might understand you too.
Check it out.
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Oh I Wept
Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/22bw79kn
YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/mucz3as
I thought it was by Eric Johnson. But it turned out it was by Eric JOHANSON!
I'm a big fan of Eric Johnson. An astounding guitar player sans flashy personality who had a moment of mainstream fame and then disappeared. You see he was promoted by Hale Milgrim when he ran Capitol Records, and when Hale got blown out Eric had no champion. This is important, go with the team that believes in you, needs you, not the one with the most famous name, with the most success.
And so thrilled with this version of "Oh I Wept" I started searching for more. I'm one of the few who appreciates Eric Johnson's vocals, as apart from his skill on the guitar, and I wanted more of this, was hungry for more of this, was eager for more of this. And I started searching Eric Johnson albums looking for this track and could not find it. So I went back to Qobuz, where I discovered this take of the Free song, and that's when I looked closer and realized it was Eric Johanson, the type is so small on the phone...
So "Oh I Wept" is from the Free album "Fire and Water."
"Must have made you their daughter
You've got what it takes to make a poor man's heart break"
That's the opening track, the title cut of "Fire and Water."
Although it was released in June, I didn't buy the album until September, just after I'd started my first semester at college. I went down to the Vermont Book Shop and overpaid for an LP that ultimately disappointed me. I learned there was a guitar break in "All Right Now" that I was unaware of, but this thirty five minute album, a veritable EP by today's standards, was lacking. There was the one stellar cut, but nothing close to it on the rest of the record. But having paid for it, I listened to it. But I never changed my opinion. Until maybe now.
They don't make records like this anymore, as in there isn't much on it. And it's authentic, no synthesizers and maybe that's why I was disappointed, the album seemed underproduced, not muddy like the earlier stuff from the sixties, yet somehow not as big as the breakthrough records of the time.
The second side opened with "Mr. Big." Which was my second favorite cut on the LP, it too existed in an arid landscape, but when Paul Rodgers sang the chorus, MR BIG!, it had an impact, a gravitas that superseded what came before.
And there was the moody final song on the first side, "Heavy Load," akin to what Rodgers ended up doing with Bad Company, with an intimacy that exuded authenticity.
And the second song on the first side was "Oh I Wept." But I didn't really get into it until I heard it play after "All Right Now" on the "Molten Gold: Anthology" two CD package. Funny, you expect less from albums like this. They're peeks into what once was, historical ventures, you're raiding the lost ark, you're assumed to be interested, a fan, you're looking for roots as well as hidden gems. And three cuts later comes "The Stealer," a hit that wasn't, even for Bob Seger when he recorded it for Warner Brothers on a now unavailable album, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hit the spot when you hear it, especially now, decades later. If I wanted to introduce someone to the greatness of Paul Kossoff I'd start with "The Stealer," a tour-de-force, a track too good, too singular to be a hit on AM in an era where FM was playing more American music and becoming more codified. Bottom line, I'd always let the CD play through until "The Stealer" and that's how I became enamored of "Oh I Wept."
"Oh I wept
For days
Filled my eyes
With silly tears"
Men mourn personally. A woman experiences heartbreak and she calls her friends, who circle around her, soothe her, whereas a man might not even tell anybody, never mind get succor.
"I take my seat on the train
And let the sun come melt my pain
Come tomorrow I'll be far away
In the sunshine of another day"
That's the instinct, to run away, to lick your wounds, at least emotionally, but physically is even better. And let's not forget, this was pre-cellphone. Even pre-answering machine. As much as you wanted to sit at home and wait for the phone to ring, you knew if you left home you were unreachable, out in a world no bigger than today, but completely unconnected, so it felt incredibly large, you could reinvent yourself if you just got away from your trappings.
"Oh I Wept" is subtle and personal. Once again, there's not much on it, but it serves the underlying song, the message. He's weeping personally, and that's how the song sounds. And somehow on Sunday I needed to hear it, I don't know why, and that's when I pulled it up on my phone and saw the version by Eric Johnson, er, Johanson.
Although there's so little on the Free take, it's clear it's a band. You don't think Paul Rodgers is playing the guitar, never mind the drums, no, you can see a combo in your mind, whereas the Eric Johanson version is singular, it's clear it's only one person.
And the Eric Johanson version is the same, yet it's different. You can hear the individual strings being strummed, the guitar is not a wash, anything but. And the vocal... No one can be as great as Paul Rodgers, but this guy isn't just going through the motions, he's feeling the song too. And the end product being rougher its edges catch you, you want to hear it to the end, and then again.
So what else is on this album "Covered Tracks: Vol.1," and if there's a "Volume 1," doesn't that mean there's a "Volume 2," maybe even more?
And I'm scanning the tracks and see a cover of "Midnight Rider." And one of "House of the Rising Sun." And then I'm interested, who exactly is this guy?
And I go to the Wikipedia page, at least he has one, meaning he's got a certain level of fame, and I see that Eric Johanson has performed with a number of famous musicians, that he's located squarely in the blues. And I see that these songs were recorded as part of a live stream. But did he add the electric guitar after, or was there another person in the room...who knows?
But one thing is for sure, Eric Johanson isn't making music for the Top Forty. And I wouldn't exactly call it Adult Alternative either. It's definitely rooted in the blues. It's like he digested all the music of the sixties just like those musicians listened to the progenitors and kept the flame a-burnin'.
I mean this guy Eric Johanson has a whole career, appears to be making a living making music and there's no mainstream press, no hype, just acolytes keeping him alive.
The two covers albums, yes, there are two, were self-released. There were labels for the studio LPs in 2017, 2019 and 2020, but I don't think Whiskey Bayou and Nola Blue Records can really help you out, no, if you want to go down this path, you're on your own, you need to create your own fan base to keep you alive. And obviously this guy has, otherwise who would tune in to his live stream?
And the opening cut on the initial covers LP is Chicago's "25 or 6 to 4," which was always seen as a drug song, even though I saw a video on TikTok that debunked this. Once upon a time, Chicago had credibility, don't confuse the post-Terry Kath band with what came before. But how does Johanson know this? From his parents? His own exploration? After all, all these songs are hiding in plain sight, assuming you know where to go, and care.
And on the second covers LP Eric plays "Can't You See," the Marshall Tucker classic. As well as the Beatles' "And I Love Her." Can't say I hear that "Hard Day's Night" material much anymore.
But it's "Oh I Wept" that reaches me. I mean this is a deep cut by a deep cut band, other than "All Right Now" Free had no commercial success, still is unknown by most, how did Johanson know this song, and why does his rendition reach me so?
Then again, it's clear the Free version was cut in a studio. Whereas Johanson's version sounds like there's less between him and the listener, it's more immediate, and then there's that emotion.
But how many people know "Oh I Wept"? How many even know Eric Johanson?
But this guy has a place in the firmament.
Everything we used to know no longer applies. Sure, there's a chart, but if you want soul fulfillment, people who are doing it not for fame, for the buck, but for the music, they're elsewhere. Still out there, on their own journeys. Knowing if they even succeed odds are they'll end up journeymen at best. But if you listen to them, go to see them, you're getting an experience akin to the juke joint all those years ago, where it's not for everybody, just those of you who are there, hearing and feeling the sound.
There's definitely something here. And it's coming clear.
It's not the major labels' nor the media's music business anymore. It's the audience's. The machine's reach is narrow. But if you go outside the push and instead pull, it's amazing, the hit music used to deliver, it still can. And isn't it funny, it's stripped bare. And therefore it touches us even more than what is pushed.
Pull this.
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YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/mucz3as
I thought it was by Eric Johnson. But it turned out it was by Eric JOHANSON!
I'm a big fan of Eric Johnson. An astounding guitar player sans flashy personality who had a moment of mainstream fame and then disappeared. You see he was promoted by Hale Milgrim when he ran Capitol Records, and when Hale got blown out Eric had no champion. This is important, go with the team that believes in you, needs you, not the one with the most famous name, with the most success.
And so thrilled with this version of "Oh I Wept" I started searching for more. I'm one of the few who appreciates Eric Johnson's vocals, as apart from his skill on the guitar, and I wanted more of this, was hungry for more of this, was eager for more of this. And I started searching Eric Johnson albums looking for this track and could not find it. So I went back to Qobuz, where I discovered this take of the Free song, and that's when I looked closer and realized it was Eric Johanson, the type is so small on the phone...
So "Oh I Wept" is from the Free album "Fire and Water."
"Must have made you their daughter
You've got what it takes to make a poor man's heart break"
That's the opening track, the title cut of "Fire and Water."
Although it was released in June, I didn't buy the album until September, just after I'd started my first semester at college. I went down to the Vermont Book Shop and overpaid for an LP that ultimately disappointed me. I learned there was a guitar break in "All Right Now" that I was unaware of, but this thirty five minute album, a veritable EP by today's standards, was lacking. There was the one stellar cut, but nothing close to it on the rest of the record. But having paid for it, I listened to it. But I never changed my opinion. Until maybe now.
They don't make records like this anymore, as in there isn't much on it. And it's authentic, no synthesizers and maybe that's why I was disappointed, the album seemed underproduced, not muddy like the earlier stuff from the sixties, yet somehow not as big as the breakthrough records of the time.
The second side opened with "Mr. Big." Which was my second favorite cut on the LP, it too existed in an arid landscape, but when Paul Rodgers sang the chorus, MR BIG!, it had an impact, a gravitas that superseded what came before.
And there was the moody final song on the first side, "Heavy Load," akin to what Rodgers ended up doing with Bad Company, with an intimacy that exuded authenticity.
And the second song on the first side was "Oh I Wept." But I didn't really get into it until I heard it play after "All Right Now" on the "Molten Gold: Anthology" two CD package. Funny, you expect less from albums like this. They're peeks into what once was, historical ventures, you're raiding the lost ark, you're assumed to be interested, a fan, you're looking for roots as well as hidden gems. And three cuts later comes "The Stealer," a hit that wasn't, even for Bob Seger when he recorded it for Warner Brothers on a now unavailable album, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hit the spot when you hear it, especially now, decades later. If I wanted to introduce someone to the greatness of Paul Kossoff I'd start with "The Stealer," a tour-de-force, a track too good, too singular to be a hit on AM in an era where FM was playing more American music and becoming more codified. Bottom line, I'd always let the CD play through until "The Stealer" and that's how I became enamored of "Oh I Wept."
"Oh I wept
For days
Filled my eyes
With silly tears"
Men mourn personally. A woman experiences heartbreak and she calls her friends, who circle around her, soothe her, whereas a man might not even tell anybody, never mind get succor.
"I take my seat on the train
And let the sun come melt my pain
Come tomorrow I'll be far away
In the sunshine of another day"
That's the instinct, to run away, to lick your wounds, at least emotionally, but physically is even better. And let's not forget, this was pre-cellphone. Even pre-answering machine. As much as you wanted to sit at home and wait for the phone to ring, you knew if you left home you were unreachable, out in a world no bigger than today, but completely unconnected, so it felt incredibly large, you could reinvent yourself if you just got away from your trappings.
"Oh I Wept" is subtle and personal. Once again, there's not much on it, but it serves the underlying song, the message. He's weeping personally, and that's how the song sounds. And somehow on Sunday I needed to hear it, I don't know why, and that's when I pulled it up on my phone and saw the version by Eric Johnson, er, Johanson.
Although there's so little on the Free take, it's clear it's a band. You don't think Paul Rodgers is playing the guitar, never mind the drums, no, you can see a combo in your mind, whereas the Eric Johanson version is singular, it's clear it's only one person.
And the Eric Johanson version is the same, yet it's different. You can hear the individual strings being strummed, the guitar is not a wash, anything but. And the vocal... No one can be as great as Paul Rodgers, but this guy isn't just going through the motions, he's feeling the song too. And the end product being rougher its edges catch you, you want to hear it to the end, and then again.
So what else is on this album "Covered Tracks: Vol.1," and if there's a "Volume 1," doesn't that mean there's a "Volume 2," maybe even more?
And I'm scanning the tracks and see a cover of "Midnight Rider." And one of "House of the Rising Sun." And then I'm interested, who exactly is this guy?
And I go to the Wikipedia page, at least he has one, meaning he's got a certain level of fame, and I see that Eric Johanson has performed with a number of famous musicians, that he's located squarely in the blues. And I see that these songs were recorded as part of a live stream. But did he add the electric guitar after, or was there another person in the room...who knows?
But one thing is for sure, Eric Johanson isn't making music for the Top Forty. And I wouldn't exactly call it Adult Alternative either. It's definitely rooted in the blues. It's like he digested all the music of the sixties just like those musicians listened to the progenitors and kept the flame a-burnin'.
I mean this guy Eric Johanson has a whole career, appears to be making a living making music and there's no mainstream press, no hype, just acolytes keeping him alive.
The two covers albums, yes, there are two, were self-released. There were labels for the studio LPs in 2017, 2019 and 2020, but I don't think Whiskey Bayou and Nola Blue Records can really help you out, no, if you want to go down this path, you're on your own, you need to create your own fan base to keep you alive. And obviously this guy has, otherwise who would tune in to his live stream?
And the opening cut on the initial covers LP is Chicago's "25 or 6 to 4," which was always seen as a drug song, even though I saw a video on TikTok that debunked this. Once upon a time, Chicago had credibility, don't confuse the post-Terry Kath band with what came before. But how does Johanson know this? From his parents? His own exploration? After all, all these songs are hiding in plain sight, assuming you know where to go, and care.
And on the second covers LP Eric plays "Can't You See," the Marshall Tucker classic. As well as the Beatles' "And I Love Her." Can't say I hear that "Hard Day's Night" material much anymore.
But it's "Oh I Wept" that reaches me. I mean this is a deep cut by a deep cut band, other than "All Right Now" Free had no commercial success, still is unknown by most, how did Johanson know this song, and why does his rendition reach me so?
Then again, it's clear the Free version was cut in a studio. Whereas Johanson's version sounds like there's less between him and the listener, it's more immediate, and then there's that emotion.
But how many people know "Oh I Wept"? How many even know Eric Johanson?
But this guy has a place in the firmament.
Everything we used to know no longer applies. Sure, there's a chart, but if you want soul fulfillment, people who are doing it not for fame, for the buck, but for the music, they're elsewhere. Still out there, on their own journeys. Knowing if they even succeed odds are they'll end up journeymen at best. But if you listen to them, go to see them, you're getting an experience akin to the juke joint all those years ago, where it's not for everybody, just those of you who are there, hearing and feeling the sound.
There's definitely something here. And it's coming clear.
It's not the major labels' nor the media's music business anymore. It's the audience's. The machine's reach is narrow. But if you go outside the push and instead pull, it's amazing, the hit music used to deliver, it still can. And isn't it funny, it's stripped bare. And therefore it touches us even more than what is pushed.
Pull this.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
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The Infusion
Man, I was really f*cked up.
I'd spell out the f-word, but then you wouldn't receive this. For all the positive stories about the resurgence of e-mail newsletters, in truth it's very hard to get past spam filters. Furthermore, Substack is in financial trouble. It's even asking its writers for cash. This is like the movie studio asking the cast and crew to put money into the production. Never do it. If you're gonna lay down cash do it from dollar one, and own it.
So yesterday I had an infusion of Rituxan at Cedars. That's a legendary hospital in Los Angeles. Used to be atop the pyramid, and then UCLA was built up and now there are two powerhouses, and few independents, they've bought up not only all the facilities, but the doctors too. Now most doctors work for the man. And they hate it. To the point where a certain elite jump ship and go off insurance. And after decades you've found and established a relationship with these providers and you go with them, and it costs you.
But then you realize all you've got is your health.
There's this rock star I correspond with intermittently. She said she had been grappling with health problems. And she's younger than I am. And then there's that lawyer who's just a couple of years older who has crippling back pain. And the friend who has prostate cancer... You may be unscathed today, but that doesn't mean you'll be fine tomorrow. Yes, the boomer generation that believed it would rule forever, would live forever, believes that it's immune, that the rules of life don't apply to them. But this is patently untrue. The body is made to break down. Imagine still driving your first car. That's the equivalent of your body. You're patching it up and cannot buy a new one.
Now Cedars has two infusion centers. One at the hospital, and one on Wilshire. And in truth, you can get someone to give you the infusion at home, but I'm not that rich, I'll drive to save thousands. However, my doctor was surprised when I said I would.
You see I've got this condition pemphigus foliaceus. The odds of you getting it are insignificant. Worry about cancer, not pemphigus. Few people get it, mostly Ashkenazi Jews, and it tends to be triggered by surgery. And if you really want to know what it is, you'll Google it, but I recommend against this. And the way you treat pemphigus foliaceus is with Rituxan, a lymphoma drug. But Rituxan wipes out all your B-cells and then the vaccine doesn't work, not only Covid, but the flu vaccine and...
But everybody is proud of going bare. Yesterday, Mark Cuban got in a Twitter argument with the anti-vaxxers. You see there was finally a study and it turns out almost nobody died from the vaccine, relative to other treatments. But people don't want to believe it. I guess those people are not the beneficiaries of an elite education, which is all about learning how to analyze what is coming down the pike as opposed to accepting it. That's something you learn from being a liberal arts major. Which is one reason our uneducated tech pioneers always get it wrong. Not only can they not see the tech future, they can't see the effects of their products, they're not trained to do so, you see it doesn't pay.
So I don't get this desire to reject modern science. Believe me, if you get really ill you're going to want the hospital to save you. I don't want to die of Covid, but so many people believe they're immune. But they're not. But everybody's so singular today, believing they're not a member of the group, that they don't realize people are dropping like flies, or can no longer taste or smell. Today, you subsume your own feelings, at least don't tell anybody else, because you don't want to appear weak. Then someone will walk over you.
Oh, they're going to try and walk over you anyway. The world runs on bluster. Play and you'll find there are people who put you down, in order to make themselves feel good. It's hard to ignore them, but you must learn how.
But at the hospital, everybody is equal.
Now at the Wilshire infusion center you need a ride, for some reason you can drive yourself to the hospital, the infusion center on Beverly Blvd.
You must wear a mask. You put it on right when you get inside, and then you take the elevator down, underground, and after checking in... They always tell you to come fifteen minutes early, but then they make you wait fifteen minutes... A nurse greets you, weighs you, and shows you to your booth.
Yes, you get your own little nook. With an adjustable chair and even a curtain if you want some privacy. But the curtain is a pain in the ass. You see you have to get up and go to the bathroom, and you take your pole with you...
Yes, your pole. The medication drips in from a bag attached.
So, the first thing they ask you is if you want anything to eat or drink. I've learned through experience not to take the crackers, you get high on the carbs. However, I do go for the apple juice. Yes, apple juice is for when you're young and when you're old, seems no one in between drinks it.
And then you take the pre-meds. The Benadryl and the steroid.
And soon you're numb. Not exactly flying, but in suspended animation. And just when you think you're ready to take a nap, they start dripping the medication into you. They've poked a hole in you earlier, have flushed it out with a drip. And now you get the real thing.
And Rituxan is a lymphoma drug. But lymphoma patients get it once a month, I get it every six months. But now that we have Covid, the key is to wait longer, to the point that the vaccine will work. And I got the bivalent booster at the end of April and...
The dermatologist said to get the Rituxan. You see I've got these spots that itch and they're only going to get worse. And the Rituxan doesn't work instantly, it takes six weeks. And last time I waited so long that even then my symptoms didn't go away. I had to take steroids thereafter. I wanted to avoid this.
But I asked the dermatologist whether I could wait until September, after the new vaccine came out. She said I wouldn't last that long.
And there's a Stanford study that says what I got in April wouldn't be wiped out by this infusion so I agreed.
And I thought it was no big deal until...
I hear all these people say they want to die at home, not the hospital. I've always disagreed. I wanted to be in the hospital, with all that attention and care at my fingertips. Yesterday I changed my mind. You see the hospital is death. Maybe not physical death, but emotional death.
Because of the pre-meds, you can't concentrate. All you can do is scroll endlessly on your phone. And that gets old very soon. And you cease caring. It's very weird. You can't concentrate enough to watch a show on your iPad or to read a book, and you're not quite in suspended animation, and you are conscious... You're just existing.
But it's gonna be over. In this case relatively briefly. Less than four hours.
But I'm at my limit. I didn't realize it previously, but sitting in the chair... You see I had three rounds of IVIG during the winter, that cleanses the blood, wipes the pemphigus cells out, hopefully. It's three days of four or so hours once a month, for three months in a row. This was only gonna be one day. But somehow my tolerance was gone. I was squirming. Holding on. Looking at the bag on the pole, waiting for it to empty. Actually, one time with the IVIG they put plastic over the bottle and I couldn't see how close I was to being finished. But...
Eventually I was done.
And I went to the bathroom. You've got to, otherwise you won't make it home without needing to pee.
And I was hungry and wanted to reward myself. And on the way back home, on little Santa Monica in Beverly Hills, there's a Shake Shack. And parking. And I decided to go in and if they had a bathroom, I'd stay and eat. Sans bathroom I wasn't going to make it.
And by time I got through ordering it was twenty two bucks and change. Huh? I realized I've got no sense of the worth of a dollar anymore.
But even worse, the burger was bland. I needed to go for the real thing, In-N-Out, but that was not convenient. But next time...
And when I finally got home... That's when I realized how awful I felt. I didn't want to do anything, nothing felt good. It was all about waiting for the effect to wear off.
I napped a bit.
And then... Wow, talk about existential depression. All the usual exploits, all I normally do to entertain myself, none of it worked. I surfed a bit online, but I'd already gotten my fill of that back at the hospital. I mean how long was this gonna last?
And I knew I was edgy, and if I spoke with anybody I was gonna blow up. No, this was a personal journey back to reality, however long this was gonna take.
And by late evening I was together enough to watch this Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan documentary. And you've got to pay for it, otherwise I'd say to watch it. It's hard to fathom a plethora of this stuff when it used to be so rare. In other words, you can make a documentary, but good luck getting people to watch it. And the streaming outlets won't pay for them anymore and... Welcome to the modern world, where it seems like you're pissing in the wind 24/7.
Eventually, long after two, I put my head down. And after nightmares I woke up and thought I felt better but after about twenty minutes I realized I was far from 100%. I took some Tylenol, took the edge off.
And now... I'm forcing myself to work. Don't feel up to it, but the opposite, the suspended animation, is anathema, I don't want to go back there.
And believe me, in a couple of days I'll be just fine.
But what gets me is when it comes down to health, nothing else matters, who is President, all the stuff that fills the newspaper. That's for people who are still here, in the flow of things. And you think you are.
Until you're not.
It's going to happen to you, just you wait.
And know you're not alone, I know where you are, I've been there.
But it's not pleasant.
Yet it's inevitable.
And no one really cares. If anything, they just want to deny you health care, as if you should buck up and take personal responsibility. But most of these conditions are natural, there's nothing you can do. And then they arrive and you find that no one really cares about you, they're too invested in themselves. If you die, life won't end, it'll carry on. And even if you get sympathy, your pain is personal.
It's like a bad dream.
But it's real life.
Did you see that Mark Volman of the Turtles has Lewy body dementia? Wow, no one here gets out alive. They tell you this, but you don't really believe it. Until you do.
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I'd spell out the f-word, but then you wouldn't receive this. For all the positive stories about the resurgence of e-mail newsletters, in truth it's very hard to get past spam filters. Furthermore, Substack is in financial trouble. It's even asking its writers for cash. This is like the movie studio asking the cast and crew to put money into the production. Never do it. If you're gonna lay down cash do it from dollar one, and own it.
So yesterday I had an infusion of Rituxan at Cedars. That's a legendary hospital in Los Angeles. Used to be atop the pyramid, and then UCLA was built up and now there are two powerhouses, and few independents, they've bought up not only all the facilities, but the doctors too. Now most doctors work for the man. And they hate it. To the point where a certain elite jump ship and go off insurance. And after decades you've found and established a relationship with these providers and you go with them, and it costs you.
But then you realize all you've got is your health.
There's this rock star I correspond with intermittently. She said she had been grappling with health problems. And she's younger than I am. And then there's that lawyer who's just a couple of years older who has crippling back pain. And the friend who has prostate cancer... You may be unscathed today, but that doesn't mean you'll be fine tomorrow. Yes, the boomer generation that believed it would rule forever, would live forever, believes that it's immune, that the rules of life don't apply to them. But this is patently untrue. The body is made to break down. Imagine still driving your first car. That's the equivalent of your body. You're patching it up and cannot buy a new one.
Now Cedars has two infusion centers. One at the hospital, and one on Wilshire. And in truth, you can get someone to give you the infusion at home, but I'm not that rich, I'll drive to save thousands. However, my doctor was surprised when I said I would.
You see I've got this condition pemphigus foliaceus. The odds of you getting it are insignificant. Worry about cancer, not pemphigus. Few people get it, mostly Ashkenazi Jews, and it tends to be triggered by surgery. And if you really want to know what it is, you'll Google it, but I recommend against this. And the way you treat pemphigus foliaceus is with Rituxan, a lymphoma drug. But Rituxan wipes out all your B-cells and then the vaccine doesn't work, not only Covid, but the flu vaccine and...
But everybody is proud of going bare. Yesterday, Mark Cuban got in a Twitter argument with the anti-vaxxers. You see there was finally a study and it turns out almost nobody died from the vaccine, relative to other treatments. But people don't want to believe it. I guess those people are not the beneficiaries of an elite education, which is all about learning how to analyze what is coming down the pike as opposed to accepting it. That's something you learn from being a liberal arts major. Which is one reason our uneducated tech pioneers always get it wrong. Not only can they not see the tech future, they can't see the effects of their products, they're not trained to do so, you see it doesn't pay.
So I don't get this desire to reject modern science. Believe me, if you get really ill you're going to want the hospital to save you. I don't want to die of Covid, but so many people believe they're immune. But they're not. But everybody's so singular today, believing they're not a member of the group, that they don't realize people are dropping like flies, or can no longer taste or smell. Today, you subsume your own feelings, at least don't tell anybody else, because you don't want to appear weak. Then someone will walk over you.
Oh, they're going to try and walk over you anyway. The world runs on bluster. Play and you'll find there are people who put you down, in order to make themselves feel good. It's hard to ignore them, but you must learn how.
But at the hospital, everybody is equal.
Now at the Wilshire infusion center you need a ride, for some reason you can drive yourself to the hospital, the infusion center on Beverly Blvd.
You must wear a mask. You put it on right when you get inside, and then you take the elevator down, underground, and after checking in... They always tell you to come fifteen minutes early, but then they make you wait fifteen minutes... A nurse greets you, weighs you, and shows you to your booth.
Yes, you get your own little nook. With an adjustable chair and even a curtain if you want some privacy. But the curtain is a pain in the ass. You see you have to get up and go to the bathroom, and you take your pole with you...
Yes, your pole. The medication drips in from a bag attached.
So, the first thing they ask you is if you want anything to eat or drink. I've learned through experience not to take the crackers, you get high on the carbs. However, I do go for the apple juice. Yes, apple juice is for when you're young and when you're old, seems no one in between drinks it.
And then you take the pre-meds. The Benadryl and the steroid.
And soon you're numb. Not exactly flying, but in suspended animation. And just when you think you're ready to take a nap, they start dripping the medication into you. They've poked a hole in you earlier, have flushed it out with a drip. And now you get the real thing.
And Rituxan is a lymphoma drug. But lymphoma patients get it once a month, I get it every six months. But now that we have Covid, the key is to wait longer, to the point that the vaccine will work. And I got the bivalent booster at the end of April and...
The dermatologist said to get the Rituxan. You see I've got these spots that itch and they're only going to get worse. And the Rituxan doesn't work instantly, it takes six weeks. And last time I waited so long that even then my symptoms didn't go away. I had to take steroids thereafter. I wanted to avoid this.
But I asked the dermatologist whether I could wait until September, after the new vaccine came out. She said I wouldn't last that long.
And there's a Stanford study that says what I got in April wouldn't be wiped out by this infusion so I agreed.
And I thought it was no big deal until...
I hear all these people say they want to die at home, not the hospital. I've always disagreed. I wanted to be in the hospital, with all that attention and care at my fingertips. Yesterday I changed my mind. You see the hospital is death. Maybe not physical death, but emotional death.
Because of the pre-meds, you can't concentrate. All you can do is scroll endlessly on your phone. And that gets old very soon. And you cease caring. It's very weird. You can't concentrate enough to watch a show on your iPad or to read a book, and you're not quite in suspended animation, and you are conscious... You're just existing.
But it's gonna be over. In this case relatively briefly. Less than four hours.
But I'm at my limit. I didn't realize it previously, but sitting in the chair... You see I had three rounds of IVIG during the winter, that cleanses the blood, wipes the pemphigus cells out, hopefully. It's three days of four or so hours once a month, for three months in a row. This was only gonna be one day. But somehow my tolerance was gone. I was squirming. Holding on. Looking at the bag on the pole, waiting for it to empty. Actually, one time with the IVIG they put plastic over the bottle and I couldn't see how close I was to being finished. But...
Eventually I was done.
And I went to the bathroom. You've got to, otherwise you won't make it home without needing to pee.
And I was hungry and wanted to reward myself. And on the way back home, on little Santa Monica in Beverly Hills, there's a Shake Shack. And parking. And I decided to go in and if they had a bathroom, I'd stay and eat. Sans bathroom I wasn't going to make it.
And by time I got through ordering it was twenty two bucks and change. Huh? I realized I've got no sense of the worth of a dollar anymore.
But even worse, the burger was bland. I needed to go for the real thing, In-N-Out, but that was not convenient. But next time...
And when I finally got home... That's when I realized how awful I felt. I didn't want to do anything, nothing felt good. It was all about waiting for the effect to wear off.
I napped a bit.
And then... Wow, talk about existential depression. All the usual exploits, all I normally do to entertain myself, none of it worked. I surfed a bit online, but I'd already gotten my fill of that back at the hospital. I mean how long was this gonna last?
And I knew I was edgy, and if I spoke with anybody I was gonna blow up. No, this was a personal journey back to reality, however long this was gonna take.
And by late evening I was together enough to watch this Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan documentary. And you've got to pay for it, otherwise I'd say to watch it. It's hard to fathom a plethora of this stuff when it used to be so rare. In other words, you can make a documentary, but good luck getting people to watch it. And the streaming outlets won't pay for them anymore and... Welcome to the modern world, where it seems like you're pissing in the wind 24/7.
Eventually, long after two, I put my head down. And after nightmares I woke up and thought I felt better but after about twenty minutes I realized I was far from 100%. I took some Tylenol, took the edge off.
And now... I'm forcing myself to work. Don't feel up to it, but the opposite, the suspended animation, is anathema, I don't want to go back there.
And believe me, in a couple of days I'll be just fine.
But what gets me is when it comes down to health, nothing else matters, who is President, all the stuff that fills the newspaper. That's for people who are still here, in the flow of things. And you think you are.
Until you're not.
It's going to happen to you, just you wait.
And know you're not alone, I know where you are, I've been there.
But it's not pleasant.
Yet it's inevitable.
And no one really cares. If anything, they just want to deny you health care, as if you should buck up and take personal responsibility. But most of these conditions are natural, there's nothing you can do. And then they arrive and you find that no one really cares about you, they're too invested in themselves. If you die, life won't end, it'll carry on. And even if you get sympathy, your pain is personal.
It's like a bad dream.
But it's real life.
Did you see that Mark Volman of the Turtles has Lewy body dementia? Wow, no one here gets out alive. They tell you this, but you don't really believe it. Until you do.
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Sunday 18 June 2023
The Nebraska Book
"Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska": https://tinyurl.com/2vyfav58
It's not the book I thought it would be.
And that's a good thing.
I thought it would be a detailed explanation of each and every track on "Nebraska," whereas it's a snapshot of Bruce more than the work. In the vernacular, it's about where his head was at.
Now Bruce Springsteen used to be a different guy. Or was perceived differently. Or both.
In truth at first his career was a disappointment. And when he finally delivered on his second album, "The Wild, The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle," eyes were no longer upon him, but that record was a breakthrough, what's a Springsteen show without "Rosalita"? With the indelible line about the record company giving him a big advance?
I was so impressed with "The Wild, The Innocent...," that I lined up at the Bottom Line this time of year back in '74, just so I could get up close and personal. And I heard "Jungleland," a year before it came out on wax.
Yes, in 1975 Springsteen was on the covers of both "Time" and "Newsweek" (the former I subscribed to, but switched to the latter after reading it every week in my shrink's waiting room, realizing it was superior), but the backlash worked against him. I'm not saying that you never heard "Born to Run" or "Thunder Road" on the radio, but the stink didn't really leave Bruce until three years later, with the follow-up album, "Darkness on the Edge of Town."
"Born to Run" was cut to sound like an earlier era, a throwback, something that came out of the ten dollar speaker in the dash of your car, you couldn't pick out individual instruments in the mix, you could only get carried away by the sound. But "Darkness" was more distinct, and darker, more world-weary.
And Bruce played the Roxy and it was broadcast over the radio and if you really cared you could buy the double-album bootleg, which I certainly did, but the mainstream hype was gone. However, Bruce had paid so many dues on the road that his fans supported him, they needed to go to the show.
And this was not the Grateful Dead. Bruce needed you to like him, he overpowered you, needed to prove how great he was, the band was seamless, they came on stage, stayed for hours and left and you never forgot it.
And then in 1980 came "The River," a double album with the lightweight single "Hungry Heart" crossing over to AM, with its Flo and Eddie background vocals, and an arena tour that cemented the Boss's legacy, assuming you were paying attention, and not everybody was. Oh, it was not like today, where you can be number one and no one knows your music, it's just that if you did not own the records, you did not know every Bruce song.
And speaking of the Boss...
That's one of the best quotes in the book, Clarence partaking of a substance and telling the assembled group not to tell the Boss.
You see we were told they called him the Boss, and it came out that's what the band named him, yet it never truly resonated. But reading the book it's clear, Bruce was the boss, and you didn't want to upset him.
Because he cared so much.
That's not the Boss of today.
Springsteen released an album so successful that it has affected public perception of the man for decades thereafter. We still remember him playing ball in the video for "Glory Days." Yes, suddenly Bruce was everybody's. He went on a stadium tour. And although "Tunnel of Love" had great highlights, what came after, the two solo albums, was rejected by the public, and Bruce reunited with the E Street Band and it's been an endless victory lap ever since.
You see the audience now owns Bruce Springsteen.
But he used to be afraid of that.
And now Bruce is embraced by the establishment, the news media and the government. He smiles, he laughs, but in truth, at heart, he's still an alienated f*ck.
That's what this book is all about, describing the alienated f*ck.
To quote Bruce:
"'I'm an alienated person by nature,' Springsteen told Brian Hiatt in 2010. 'Always have been, still am to this day. It continues to be an issue in my life, in that I'm always coming from the outside, and I'm always trying to overcome my own internal reticence and alienation.'"
This is what his fans don't understand. Because they're not alienated themselves. Of course some denizens of the pit are, but most are just regular people living regular lives, they might live for the music, but at this late date they don't get it. That Bruce Springsteen never fit in, has trouble making friends and this was his only way out, making this music. He needed to get it exactly right and if he did people would love him, his life would work out, but it didn't.
And then he fell apart.
That's what this book is about.
Bruce comes off the road from the "River" tour, rents a nothing house in nowhere New Jersey and starts making demos.
This is where the hagiography begins. If you're not a fan, you're gonna puke. Not only does Warren Zanes put Springsteen on a pedestal, reading this book you'd think "Nebraska" was "Sgt. Pepper," or even "Nevermind," something that came out and completely changed the landscape. This is patently untrue.
Zanes goes on and on about the Teac Tascam 144 Portastudio the Boss made the album on. Like he was the first to use this rare equipment, like his recording was an inspiration to musicians everywhere and a harbinger of what was to come.
Hogwash.
Even I knew what the Tascam Portastudio was and I don't make records. Being able to record four tracks on a cassette, wow, that's incredible power. I remember the sixties when the goal was to own a two track reel to reel that had sound on sound. The Portastudio was not exotic equipment, you could buy it at your local shop, which is where Bruce's guy got it.
As for being inspired...
I bought "Nebraska," I played it. Is it my favorite? Is it so influential? Zanes quotes musician after musician, it's creepy. Like they were all lost in the wilderness and Bruce made an album on a Portastudio and they realized they could too. If you weren't around, you'd get a completely wrong impression. But if you weren't around...
You'd have no idea what it was like in that era. That's the best part of the book, setting the scene.
It was just before MTV. The worst we'd experienced was corporate rock and disco, and in truth that Boston album was fantastic, still is, and we're still listening to disco today, it never went away, they just call it something different.
To be a rock star...
Tech? People didn't have a computer on their desk, they still marveled that they had a remote control to change channels on their tube TV!
Incomes had a lot fewer zeroes.
And music had a lot more impact.
MTV commercialized it beyond comprehension. Suddenly, you could be famous all over the world, and coupled with the advent of the overpriced CD, riches were rained down on many.
And that's been the paradigm ever since. Worldwide domination.
But in truth it's working the other way. It's the music from other continents that is growing, not rock spreading from the U.S. and U.K.
And it's about becoming a brand, selling out. It's part of the paradigm. No one leaves any money on the table. They want more. There are so many perks to acquire, and if you're lucky you can do privates for the man and fly in his jet. Who's jerking off who here? Who's winning?
The corporation.
But it used to be different. Used to be reversed. The musicians were at odds with the corporations. It was all about truth, laying down the essence of life. That's what Springsteen's goal was.
And he cut "Nebraska" thinking it was just demos, and since he wasn't trying to get it right, he got it right. And could not get it right with the group thereafter, or by himself. Something was captured on that cassette. Sound like the major music business today, where you have twenty writers and endless mixers? Of course not!
So money is not primary to Bruce, it's the sound. Just getting the album EQ'ed. I lived through that, I remember the stories from the mastering engineers.
And Bruce was not on the cover of the record and there was no hype.
Have you been following the Mellencamp hype? In the last couple of weeks there have been stories everywhere, about this inherently unlikable guy, his own worst enemy. Uber-talented, but... He needs to sell tickets, so he hired a team to get the word out, and odds are you're unaware or you've seen the message so many times as to be turned-off, I certainly am.
But the bottom line is it doesn't work anyway.
Springsteen recently put out a covers album. Endless hype and explanation. Since then, crickets.
As for the brouhaha over ticket prices? It died down and we never heard about it again. It was ugly, people who spend a C-note on dinner complaining a concert cost more. Talk about being two-faced and living in the past... And it turned out you could get tickets no problem. Speaking of tickets, AmEx just sent me a message saying I could get great Taylor Swift tickets at face value. Yet the media makes it sound like it's akin to trying to get a covid vaccine in December 2020, impossible.
But that's all rabble-rousing. That's how it is today. But it was very different yesterday.
So what you've got is this alienated f*ck with ideas in his head, and no one could say no, because they believed he was tapped in, that Bruce was bringing tablets down from the mountaintop. And they only wanted to serve him.
And then the album came out and he cracked up. Moved to Hollywood and entered a deep depression. What next?
This is not an overpaid exec at the corporation. All Bruce has got is himself. He's got to feed the machine, he wants to feed the machine, he wants the attention even if he isn't quite sure how to handle it.
And what does it all mean?
How does it all fit together?
Bottom line, most people can't understand. They see the dollar signs first. They're all about jumping through the hoops of life: high school, college, job, marriage, kids... But if you're an artist, none of those exist!
This is a very easy book to read.
But if you're not interested in Springsteen, do you care?
There's almost no buzz about it. But if you're a Boss fan it's a must-read. And if you're not, you should read it anyway. Overlook Zanes's frequently over the top analysis, but stay for the insight into Bruce.
This is not the Broadway show.
This is the real nitty-gritty.
This is not your friend, this is someone on a trip, a venture into the unknown, he doesn't know what he wants, but he's gonna go on the journey anyway.
And it's a solitary trip. There is no posse, no hangers-on. No dinners with friends. It was very lonesome.
But Bruce has no problem being alone. It's people he's got a problem with.
The people need to read "Deliver Me from Nowhere" to understand the real Bruce.
Then again, I'm not sure Bruce understands himself. He's on a journey of discovery, pushing the envelope, and he ultimately got millions interested in going on the ride. The same millions who now don't want him to change. He's rich, but he's in prison.
Fascinating.
--
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It's not the book I thought it would be.
And that's a good thing.
I thought it would be a detailed explanation of each and every track on "Nebraska," whereas it's a snapshot of Bruce more than the work. In the vernacular, it's about where his head was at.
Now Bruce Springsteen used to be a different guy. Or was perceived differently. Or both.
In truth at first his career was a disappointment. And when he finally delivered on his second album, "The Wild, The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle," eyes were no longer upon him, but that record was a breakthrough, what's a Springsteen show without "Rosalita"? With the indelible line about the record company giving him a big advance?
I was so impressed with "The Wild, The Innocent...," that I lined up at the Bottom Line this time of year back in '74, just so I could get up close and personal. And I heard "Jungleland," a year before it came out on wax.
Yes, in 1975 Springsteen was on the covers of both "Time" and "Newsweek" (the former I subscribed to, but switched to the latter after reading it every week in my shrink's waiting room, realizing it was superior), but the backlash worked against him. I'm not saying that you never heard "Born to Run" or "Thunder Road" on the radio, but the stink didn't really leave Bruce until three years later, with the follow-up album, "Darkness on the Edge of Town."
"Born to Run" was cut to sound like an earlier era, a throwback, something that came out of the ten dollar speaker in the dash of your car, you couldn't pick out individual instruments in the mix, you could only get carried away by the sound. But "Darkness" was more distinct, and darker, more world-weary.
And Bruce played the Roxy and it was broadcast over the radio and if you really cared you could buy the double-album bootleg, which I certainly did, but the mainstream hype was gone. However, Bruce had paid so many dues on the road that his fans supported him, they needed to go to the show.
And this was not the Grateful Dead. Bruce needed you to like him, he overpowered you, needed to prove how great he was, the band was seamless, they came on stage, stayed for hours and left and you never forgot it.
And then in 1980 came "The River," a double album with the lightweight single "Hungry Heart" crossing over to AM, with its Flo and Eddie background vocals, and an arena tour that cemented the Boss's legacy, assuming you were paying attention, and not everybody was. Oh, it was not like today, where you can be number one and no one knows your music, it's just that if you did not own the records, you did not know every Bruce song.
And speaking of the Boss...
That's one of the best quotes in the book, Clarence partaking of a substance and telling the assembled group not to tell the Boss.
You see we were told they called him the Boss, and it came out that's what the band named him, yet it never truly resonated. But reading the book it's clear, Bruce was the boss, and you didn't want to upset him.
Because he cared so much.
That's not the Boss of today.
Springsteen released an album so successful that it has affected public perception of the man for decades thereafter. We still remember him playing ball in the video for "Glory Days." Yes, suddenly Bruce was everybody's. He went on a stadium tour. And although "Tunnel of Love" had great highlights, what came after, the two solo albums, was rejected by the public, and Bruce reunited with the E Street Band and it's been an endless victory lap ever since.
You see the audience now owns Bruce Springsteen.
But he used to be afraid of that.
And now Bruce is embraced by the establishment, the news media and the government. He smiles, he laughs, but in truth, at heart, he's still an alienated f*ck.
That's what this book is all about, describing the alienated f*ck.
To quote Bruce:
"'I'm an alienated person by nature,' Springsteen told Brian Hiatt in 2010. 'Always have been, still am to this day. It continues to be an issue in my life, in that I'm always coming from the outside, and I'm always trying to overcome my own internal reticence and alienation.'"
This is what his fans don't understand. Because they're not alienated themselves. Of course some denizens of the pit are, but most are just regular people living regular lives, they might live for the music, but at this late date they don't get it. That Bruce Springsteen never fit in, has trouble making friends and this was his only way out, making this music. He needed to get it exactly right and if he did people would love him, his life would work out, but it didn't.
And then he fell apart.
That's what this book is about.
Bruce comes off the road from the "River" tour, rents a nothing house in nowhere New Jersey and starts making demos.
This is where the hagiography begins. If you're not a fan, you're gonna puke. Not only does Warren Zanes put Springsteen on a pedestal, reading this book you'd think "Nebraska" was "Sgt. Pepper," or even "Nevermind," something that came out and completely changed the landscape. This is patently untrue.
Zanes goes on and on about the Teac Tascam 144 Portastudio the Boss made the album on. Like he was the first to use this rare equipment, like his recording was an inspiration to musicians everywhere and a harbinger of what was to come.
Hogwash.
Even I knew what the Tascam Portastudio was and I don't make records. Being able to record four tracks on a cassette, wow, that's incredible power. I remember the sixties when the goal was to own a two track reel to reel that had sound on sound. The Portastudio was not exotic equipment, you could buy it at your local shop, which is where Bruce's guy got it.
As for being inspired...
I bought "Nebraska," I played it. Is it my favorite? Is it so influential? Zanes quotes musician after musician, it's creepy. Like they were all lost in the wilderness and Bruce made an album on a Portastudio and they realized they could too. If you weren't around, you'd get a completely wrong impression. But if you weren't around...
You'd have no idea what it was like in that era. That's the best part of the book, setting the scene.
It was just before MTV. The worst we'd experienced was corporate rock and disco, and in truth that Boston album was fantastic, still is, and we're still listening to disco today, it never went away, they just call it something different.
To be a rock star...
Tech? People didn't have a computer on their desk, they still marveled that they had a remote control to change channels on their tube TV!
Incomes had a lot fewer zeroes.
And music had a lot more impact.
MTV commercialized it beyond comprehension. Suddenly, you could be famous all over the world, and coupled with the advent of the overpriced CD, riches were rained down on many.
And that's been the paradigm ever since. Worldwide domination.
But in truth it's working the other way. It's the music from other continents that is growing, not rock spreading from the U.S. and U.K.
And it's about becoming a brand, selling out. It's part of the paradigm. No one leaves any money on the table. They want more. There are so many perks to acquire, and if you're lucky you can do privates for the man and fly in his jet. Who's jerking off who here? Who's winning?
The corporation.
But it used to be different. Used to be reversed. The musicians were at odds with the corporations. It was all about truth, laying down the essence of life. That's what Springsteen's goal was.
And he cut "Nebraska" thinking it was just demos, and since he wasn't trying to get it right, he got it right. And could not get it right with the group thereafter, or by himself. Something was captured on that cassette. Sound like the major music business today, where you have twenty writers and endless mixers? Of course not!
So money is not primary to Bruce, it's the sound. Just getting the album EQ'ed. I lived through that, I remember the stories from the mastering engineers.
And Bruce was not on the cover of the record and there was no hype.
Have you been following the Mellencamp hype? In the last couple of weeks there have been stories everywhere, about this inherently unlikable guy, his own worst enemy. Uber-talented, but... He needs to sell tickets, so he hired a team to get the word out, and odds are you're unaware or you've seen the message so many times as to be turned-off, I certainly am.
But the bottom line is it doesn't work anyway.
Springsteen recently put out a covers album. Endless hype and explanation. Since then, crickets.
As for the brouhaha over ticket prices? It died down and we never heard about it again. It was ugly, people who spend a C-note on dinner complaining a concert cost more. Talk about being two-faced and living in the past... And it turned out you could get tickets no problem. Speaking of tickets, AmEx just sent me a message saying I could get great Taylor Swift tickets at face value. Yet the media makes it sound like it's akin to trying to get a covid vaccine in December 2020, impossible.
But that's all rabble-rousing. That's how it is today. But it was very different yesterday.
So what you've got is this alienated f*ck with ideas in his head, and no one could say no, because they believed he was tapped in, that Bruce was bringing tablets down from the mountaintop. And they only wanted to serve him.
And then the album came out and he cracked up. Moved to Hollywood and entered a deep depression. What next?
This is not an overpaid exec at the corporation. All Bruce has got is himself. He's got to feed the machine, he wants to feed the machine, he wants the attention even if he isn't quite sure how to handle it.
And what does it all mean?
How does it all fit together?
Bottom line, most people can't understand. They see the dollar signs first. They're all about jumping through the hoops of life: high school, college, job, marriage, kids... But if you're an artist, none of those exist!
This is a very easy book to read.
But if you're not interested in Springsteen, do you care?
There's almost no buzz about it. But if you're a Boss fan it's a must-read. And if you're not, you should read it anyway. Overlook Zanes's frequently over the top analysis, but stay for the insight into Bruce.
This is not the Broadway show.
This is the real nitty-gritty.
This is not your friend, this is someone on a trip, a venture into the unknown, he doesn't know what he wants, but he's gonna go on the journey anyway.
And it's a solitary trip. There is no posse, no hangers-on. No dinners with friends. It was very lonesome.
But Bruce has no problem being alone. It's people he's got a problem with.
The people need to read "Deliver Me from Nowhere" to understand the real Bruce.
Then again, I'm not sure Bruce understands himself. He's on a journey of discovery, pushing the envelope, and he ultimately got millions interested in going on the ride. The same millions who now don't want him to change. He's rich, but he's in prison.
Fascinating.
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