You gotta be rich.
Actually, first we stopped in Harvey Nichols. All the men's clothing is on the first floor, broken down by designer, and if I had 5 or 10k to spend I could change my entire look and be happy with it. But that ain't gonna happen.
At Harrods the women's stuff is on the ground floor. And the amazing thing is a lot of these handbags, the Louis Vuitton, the Balenciaga, have no price tags. If you've got to ask...you're not going to be able to afford it.
And to tell you the truth, I didn't see many people buying. Actually, at that point it was just us and the help. Seems that everybody slept in after a long night, they showed up around noon.
And when they did...
MAGA won't like it in London. Because of all the ethnicities.
Now the funny thing is if you mix and mingle, your anxieties and prejudices evaporate. Not everybody has met a Jew, never mind a Muslim. I saw women covered head to toe regularly. Arabs are not a rarity.
Then again, this is the land of Brexit, this is the land where Elon Musk stoked riots based on a falsehood. That's the power of social media, which is why Brazil is banning X. Enough with absolute free speech. That's never existed anywhere, not even in the U.S.A. But free speech is the new gun control. What I mean is you've got to have words and guns to stand up to the government, which is going to take all your rights away, after it taxes you and wastes the cash on losers. I'm not saying the U.S. was ever cosmopolitan, but the last time I remember this south versus north divide was during the redneck era. Actually, when the devil went down to Georgia, Charlie Daniels was a Democrat, but that didn't last.
I guess I'm saying you walk the streets of London and you feel insignificant, in a good way. Maybe it's the living history, all the buildings that have been around forever. The landscape remains, you're just here temporarily.
As for the men's floor in Harrods...
Completely mind-blowing... It was the SHOES!
I read about high end sneakers in the "Wall Street Journal," a grand a pair, but it seems like everybody except the super wealthy is still wearing Nikes and Adidas and Hoka and On in the U.S., along with some Brooks, Asics and Puma. But in Harrods... There was room after room of sneakers, one high end brand after another that I'd never heard of, many models.
And there was a room of Nike and Adidas, but they had many more models than you see in a store in the U.S.
And I actually recognized a few of the sunglass brands, but 395 pounds is out of my ballpark, especially when you can get 'em online for nearly half off.
And they had Moose Knuckles and not Canada Goose, which cracked me up. Jake told me in Aspen that he'd gotten a Moose Knuckles jacket for free, that it was a Canada Goose competitor. I thought it was a cheap imitation, maybe it's the other way around.
And there are so many things you don't see anywhere else, like you used to see in F.A.O. Schwarz in the sixties. Like kid cars for 50k. Multiple ones. Oh, and they had F1 simulators too. I counted four of them. You could get in one for 10k, but there was another one for 60k. You do know that the Formula One drivers actually practice on these things. And it's not like footballers playing Madden, it actually helps.
And then there were the TVs. More B&O stuff than you'll ever see in one place.
I was looking for the Wilson speakers. I once saw a pair of the top of the line in a corner, as if you could buy 'em for under 100k. But now Harrods no longer sells Wilson, they focus on Focal, the French brand, whose speakers I have in my car.
And they had a whole headphone section. And the prices were listed. They had the Sennheisers for multiple grand, but there was a brand I'd never heard of that wanted eight grand for the top of the line. EIGHT GRAND FOR HEADPHONES! Are they worth it? Who is buying this stuff?
And the truth is they wouldn't make it if no one was buying it.
Everybody thinks they're going to be rich. But the truth is they've got no idea how the rich really live.
Forget the anomalies, the Kardashians, Taylor Swift...
There are a lot of guys in finance who don't think twice about these prices, it's just a matter of if they want the item.
Like I saw this Christian Dior jean jacket in Harvey Nichols. I knew it was Christian Dior because it said so, in embroidery, right on the front. I don't know what doofus would buy this stuff, but could a doofus afford 2k? That was the sticker price!
Maybe this is coming out wrong. Negative. But that's not what I felt.
I felt like a kid in a candy store that had every treat available, but they were all off limits.
Actually, amazingly, we got free samples of this passion fruit chocolate bon bon. It was delicious, what would you expect?
And that's why I wanted to go to Harrods, for the food halls.
Harrods smokes its own salmon, and there are multiple models, depending on how smoked you want it.
Reminded me of the pillow department. Not only did they have down pillows, but they were filled with feathers from multiple countries, Bulgaria, Canada...I mean how do you choose?
Oh, and they said certain pillows were best for side sleepers and...
I almost wanted to buy one. Actually, once you get off the first floor there are plenty of things you can afford, that you don't have to mortgage your house for. But this was Disneyland, no way was I going to buy anything. I can barely decide what I want for dinner. I need to go alone and focus before I can buy clothing, and sometimes I still get it wrong. I need to get the right thing, and I'm so fearful of getting the wrong thing, that oftentimes I can't buy anything at all!
Now there are multiple restaurants, I couldn't even begin to describe them, but back to the food halls...
There's the Iberian ham. The fish on ice. Do they really sell it through? This stuff doesn't last that long.
And there was great takeout stuff too. Little lobster salads, actually not so little, for fifteen pounds. Better than Whole Foods and about the same price!
We ain't got nothing like this in the U.S.
And there was a whole room of chocolate. And if you recognize the brand names, you must be Willy Wonka.
And we wanted to get a bite to tide us over until dinner. We ended up getting hot dogs at Darling's.
Spencer gave us the whole rundown. Harrods doesn't charge rent, they just take a percentage. But the dim sum place didn't make it. But they had a brand name fish and chips shop... Well, it wasn't actually a shop, every area, and there were about six of them active, from ramen to sushi to pasta to...had a counter like the Apple Pan.
I mean get older and you look at this fried stuff and wonder how you ate it with impunity when you were young, the Cokes with sugar too. You didn't think twice. Talk about smoking taking years off your life, the American diet... Actually, I read a story in the WSJ about this area of Scotland where everybody has heart surgery in their forties, because they eat fried food and no vegetables.
I took a sneak peek. Actually, unlike Arthur Treacher's, the fish had a very light batter. The chips... Were kind of like steak fries, but they weren't slick on the sides. Actually, I felt that would have been a good choice.
In my mind I wanted to sit at the oyster bar. But just like the Wilson speakers, they don't have that anymore.
Ultimately I burned out Felice and we left, but I could have spent hours more in the store. It's a cultural experience. It's an education. All those brands, entire spheres of products, all in one place. I buy almost everything online these days, but Harrods is retail therapy, entertainment. And there's nothing like it in the U.S., nothing close. I'm not saying the U.S. ain't great in certain ways, but not all ways. I mean at Harrods they even had a dinosaur head for sale! I thought it was a museum piece, but Felice asked. We didn't get the price. I'm sure if you actually want to buy it, you can negotiate. But staring at it connected me to back then. These things really walked the earth all those years ago? And why are the bones always found in Montana...was Montana the New York City of the dinosaurs?
And it was hot and I took off my sweatshirt and when I went to check out the Leicas the sales agent immediately commented on my Submariner. Little does he know it's nearly fifty years old, little does he know that I got it way under a grand, my mother's cousin was in the business, list was $495, and I got it wholesale.
Yes, signifiers. I'm sure you can go places and people recognize the brands you bought at Harrods. They're signifiers amongst the elite. Anybody can buy a Benz or a BMW, but are you really going to drop four or five figures on clothing?
And it's not like there was a ton of inventory. This was not the Gap, with a back room full of duplicates. How much of this stuff could a company move in a year? That's one reason it's so expensive. But also, to be exclusive.
Did you read that Burberry is screwed? They dropped prices, everybody bought the stuff and now they're over it. So Burberry is trying to move upscale, but they don't seem to be able to do it. Their outlet shops are not helping them.
Isn't Bernard Arnault one of the richest men in the world? Google tells me he's worth $180 billion, that's where luxury goods will get you. Then again, Bloomberg says Arnault has lost more money in 2024 than any billionaire.
But do you want to focus on money?
Actually, most everybody does, to some extent, it's no fun to be broke. But in too many areas it's now all about the money. Isn't art supposed to be the antidote?
So, Spencer at the hot dog counter asked me if I could get him Oasis tickets. I told him I'd seen the band at the Whisky. He'd never heard of the Whisky.
Was he that big a fan of Oasis?
Not really, but he wanted to be included.
So who else are you into Spencer?
He drew a blank, and after pondering the question he said music was in a bad space right now, and he couldn't name any contemporary acts he liked. And this guy is in his TWENTIES!!
Think about that. The labels are investing in and purveying music that gets all kinds of ink, that they tell us is driving the culture, but then you talk to the average person, this guy was hip, and they shrug their shoulders.
It's kind of like when you hang with music business people. They might talk grosses, but really they want to talk television.
I remember when going to the record store was a ritual. And don't complain about the death of retail, it was what was in 'em that made it so great. This was mecca, this was a museum, you went to marinate in the vibe, commune with greatness.
Now you get that at Harrods.
Ain't that a shame.
But really, Harrods is one of the few things in life that lives up to the rep. In a world of overhype, Harrods delivers. And it's only one store.
Amazing.
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Saturday, 31 August 2024
Thursday, 29 August 2024
More Non-Hit Favorites-SiriusXM This Week
Tune in Saturday August 31st to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.
If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz
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A Walk In The Park
"A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon": https://t.ly/udYKu
This is an adventure book, but instead of going up, they go down, and across.
I've been to the Grand Canyon twice. It's amazingly beautiful, but what I felt most was fear, of falling off the edge. You're right there, a stumble and you're gone. And you're gonna die. Happens on a regular basis. Did you read about the gymnast who just fell off a mountain while shooting a selfie?
"Tragedy as star gymnast, 23, plunges 260ft down mountain to her death 'while taking a selfie' during a sightseeing visit to German 'Sleeping Beauty' castle": https://t.ly/lTREs
Yes, that's a link to the "Daily Mail," but don't let that turn you off, the story was everywhere.
As are the stories of people being killed elsewhere while taking selfies. Frequently by stepping outside the guardrail.
And then there was that woman who slipped to her death climbing down Half Dome in Yosemite.
People are convinced they're immune, and that if something does happen someone is responsible, and they will be held liable and have to pay.
This is patently untrue. Mother Nature is a cruel mistress. Even if you've got a lot of experience in the wilderness.
So Kevin Fedarko has a lot of experience in the Grand Canyon, but down below, on the river.
Fedarko, an Ivy League graduate, has dedicated his entire life to the outdoors, and writing about it. Living on the edge of poverty to pursue his dream.
This was more of a thing in the sixties and seventies. But even then it was not easy to make ends meet. Or, if you could, one disaster, a problem with your health, your car, would push you over the edge. But in today's cutthroat world of income inequality, people want a safety net, a guarantee that they won't fall to the bottom. Which is why so many breakthroughs are made by those outside the educational system, because those who pay their dues studying want a dividend for that work.
Now Fedarko has got this photographer buddy who is always proposing these trips that are not completely thought through, and he tells Fedarko they should walk the Grand Canyon.
Easier said than done. As a matter of fact, very few people have done it at all! The Grand Canyon itself has not been fully explored.
Man, we've gone to the moon, and we still don't know what is happening here on earth?
Everywhere you go you're not the first. But in the Grand Canyon?
Now it turns out there are people who've dedicated their lives to the canyon, whose names you've never heard of and probably never will. Some have great jobs, traditional jobs, are experts in their field, but they're drawn to the canyon, they hike it every chance they've got, they plot it... Once again, today everybody does it for the money and the fame. Just to do it because you love it, that's rare.
And you may not have been to the southwest, to the desert, it's very forbidding. Scary. And it's one thing to stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon and look, but the thought of going down in it...
That's another way people regularly die. They start hiking down and the heat and the lack of water ultimately gets to them. They set out in their sneakers, on a lark, and they come home in a body bag.
There are so many ways to die on the established routes, but hiking the entire length of the canyon, that's asking for it.
Now Fedarko is a bit too self-deprecating for my taste. But that doesn't undercut the basic narrative. You can feel the heat, the risk is self-evident. This is a dangerous trip and he and his partner are often not up to it.
Actually, canyon experts insist on coming along for parts of the trip, for fear that the two will buy it. As do expert canyoneers all the time.
Yes, your life is at risk. And the elements can turn on you instantly. Like those deaths in flash floods in the west just this past week.
Fedarko is not the usual adventure writer. Straightforward in simple language. His is a more literary style, which makes the book a bit more dense and harder to read. It is not the breeze of Krakauer.
Not that I want to denigrate Krakauer, I love his immediate style. But Krakauer always leavens his stories with his personal experience. He adds life to the adventure. Fedarko speaks of his ill father, but most of the time is spent down in the canyon. And that can get old, but...
It's no walk in the park. But it is. There is no safety net, you may not be able to be rescued. And slipping and falling to your death is a constant possibility. The earth might move, having nothing to do with what you did. That's nature.
Now "A Walk in the Park" got great reviews, and it was recently on the L.A. "Times" best-seller list. But reading it is...no walk in the park. You have to dedicate yourself to it. At times it's relentless. Dry. But when you're done...
It's just like completing the hike itself. You're satisfied, you feel you've done something special, and it's nearly impossible to forget.
Once again, it's hot and dreary and you're out there alone and there's no established trail.
You know if you want to read this book.
But, once again, it requires dedication. But there are rewards.
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This is an adventure book, but instead of going up, they go down, and across.
I've been to the Grand Canyon twice. It's amazingly beautiful, but what I felt most was fear, of falling off the edge. You're right there, a stumble and you're gone. And you're gonna die. Happens on a regular basis. Did you read about the gymnast who just fell off a mountain while shooting a selfie?
"Tragedy as star gymnast, 23, plunges 260ft down mountain to her death 'while taking a selfie' during a sightseeing visit to German 'Sleeping Beauty' castle": https://t.ly/lTREs
Yes, that's a link to the "Daily Mail," but don't let that turn you off, the story was everywhere.
As are the stories of people being killed elsewhere while taking selfies. Frequently by stepping outside the guardrail.
And then there was that woman who slipped to her death climbing down Half Dome in Yosemite.
People are convinced they're immune, and that if something does happen someone is responsible, and they will be held liable and have to pay.
This is patently untrue. Mother Nature is a cruel mistress. Even if you've got a lot of experience in the wilderness.
So Kevin Fedarko has a lot of experience in the Grand Canyon, but down below, on the river.
Fedarko, an Ivy League graduate, has dedicated his entire life to the outdoors, and writing about it. Living on the edge of poverty to pursue his dream.
This was more of a thing in the sixties and seventies. But even then it was not easy to make ends meet. Or, if you could, one disaster, a problem with your health, your car, would push you over the edge. But in today's cutthroat world of income inequality, people want a safety net, a guarantee that they won't fall to the bottom. Which is why so many breakthroughs are made by those outside the educational system, because those who pay their dues studying want a dividend for that work.
Now Fedarko has got this photographer buddy who is always proposing these trips that are not completely thought through, and he tells Fedarko they should walk the Grand Canyon.
Easier said than done. As a matter of fact, very few people have done it at all! The Grand Canyon itself has not been fully explored.
Man, we've gone to the moon, and we still don't know what is happening here on earth?
Everywhere you go you're not the first. But in the Grand Canyon?
Now it turns out there are people who've dedicated their lives to the canyon, whose names you've never heard of and probably never will. Some have great jobs, traditional jobs, are experts in their field, but they're drawn to the canyon, they hike it every chance they've got, they plot it... Once again, today everybody does it for the money and the fame. Just to do it because you love it, that's rare.
And you may not have been to the southwest, to the desert, it's very forbidding. Scary. And it's one thing to stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon and look, but the thought of going down in it...
That's another way people regularly die. They start hiking down and the heat and the lack of water ultimately gets to them. They set out in their sneakers, on a lark, and they come home in a body bag.
There are so many ways to die on the established routes, but hiking the entire length of the canyon, that's asking for it.
Now Fedarko is a bit too self-deprecating for my taste. But that doesn't undercut the basic narrative. You can feel the heat, the risk is self-evident. This is a dangerous trip and he and his partner are often not up to it.
Actually, canyon experts insist on coming along for parts of the trip, for fear that the two will buy it. As do expert canyoneers all the time.
Yes, your life is at risk. And the elements can turn on you instantly. Like those deaths in flash floods in the west just this past week.
Fedarko is not the usual adventure writer. Straightforward in simple language. His is a more literary style, which makes the book a bit more dense and harder to read. It is not the breeze of Krakauer.
Not that I want to denigrate Krakauer, I love his immediate style. But Krakauer always leavens his stories with his personal experience. He adds life to the adventure. Fedarko speaks of his ill father, but most of the time is spent down in the canyon. And that can get old, but...
It's no walk in the park. But it is. There is no safety net, you may not be able to be rescued. And slipping and falling to your death is a constant possibility. The earth might move, having nothing to do with what you did. That's nature.
Now "A Walk in the Park" got great reviews, and it was recently on the L.A. "Times" best-seller list. But reading it is...no walk in the park. You have to dedicate yourself to it. At times it's relentless. Dry. But when you're done...
It's just like completing the hike itself. You're satisfied, you feel you've done something special, and it's nearly impossible to forget.
Once again, it's hot and dreary and you're out there alone and there's no established trail.
You know if you want to read this book.
But, once again, it requires dedication. But there are rewards.
--
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Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
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Death Of An Artist-Season 1
https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/death-of-an-artist
I had no idea "Anita de Monte Laughs Last" was based on a true story.
Turns out minimalist Carl Andre pushed his artist wife Ana Mendieta out the window and got off and lived... Happily ever after?
What you've got here is Helen Molesworth, a curator who lost her job at MOCA, telling the story. And it's not deep history, it all went down in the eighties.
Molesworth sets the scene, very clearly, and then there's the trial.
Really, it's riveting until...
There's a heavy dose of feminism and MeToo that ultimately overshadows the story in the later episodes, but the podcast does recenter.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with talking about feminism and MeToo, it's just that it makes Molesworth look somewhat myopic, it takes the focus off what's most important here, Andre's bad behavior and how he got away with it.
As for the vagaries of the legal system, they're involved in every trial. Molesworth has a hard time believing someone who is obviously guilty gets off. She starts debating "beyond a reasonable doubt"... This is what lay people don't understand about the law, emotion doesn't come into play, there are rules, which must be abided (unless, of course, you're the Supreme Court).
Molesworth is frustrated that Andre escaped unharmed and Ana and her work were buried. But in truth, Mendieta's star has been rising for decades. Seems like the truth always outs.
And there's a lot of insight into how the art world works, how it's a closed community almost exclusively run by white men.
But when Molesworth becomes conversational and introspective at the end... This is the problem with too many podcasts, they're focused on the hosts as opposed to the subject/guests. When Molesworth talks at the end about her feelings... They do not have the gravitas or the meaning that the raw facts of the story have. Like how could Ana have fallen out of the window when the ledge was up around her chest and she was short and had a legendary fear of heights?
But not everything could be introduced at trial. There are rules of evidence.
But despite all of Andre's buddies rallying around him, he may not have ended up in jail, but he definitely paid a price.
This is very good work. I'm just pointing out some of the flaws so you don't come back to me and complain.
Also, like too many true crime podcasts, there's overproduction. With the music, the dramatic sounds. Podcasts are a storytelling format, the facts should be enough, the audience doesn't really want a return to radio dramas, never mind these elements give the feeling of "Dateline," a lowbrow production that focuses on sensationalism and has none of the ultimate effect of "60 Minutes," never mind print.
But if you do listen to this podcast, you will have to endure the commercials read by Malcolm Gladwell, a principal in Pushkin Industries, the producer of this podcast.
I've been down on Gladwell ever since he excoriated Bowdoin College and was wrong and wouldn't admit it, he doubled-down.
And I like him better as a writer than a podcaster. But people go where the money is, irrelevant of their talents.
And then there was Gladwell saying that L.A. is known for its luxurious golf courses. I've lived in L.A. for decades, and I've never ever heard ANYBODY say this.
So Gladwell's credibility is cratering. He fits the facts to his theories. But why I'm mentioning him at all is the tone of his voice. An orator who knows more than you do, who is coming down from the mountaintop to deign you with his brilliance. The elocution is so offensive. Just talk like a regular person. Furthermore, when you use this fake gravitas in support of your sponsors, it makes my stomach turn. And I'm sure I'm not the only one.
P.S. My original post on the book "Anna de Monte Laughs Last": https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2024/08/21/anita-de-monte-laughs-last/
P.P.S. "Death of an Artist - Season 1" is available on all podcast platforms, just search.
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I had no idea "Anita de Monte Laughs Last" was based on a true story.
Turns out minimalist Carl Andre pushed his artist wife Ana Mendieta out the window and got off and lived... Happily ever after?
What you've got here is Helen Molesworth, a curator who lost her job at MOCA, telling the story. And it's not deep history, it all went down in the eighties.
Molesworth sets the scene, very clearly, and then there's the trial.
Really, it's riveting until...
There's a heavy dose of feminism and MeToo that ultimately overshadows the story in the later episodes, but the podcast does recenter.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with talking about feminism and MeToo, it's just that it makes Molesworth look somewhat myopic, it takes the focus off what's most important here, Andre's bad behavior and how he got away with it.
As for the vagaries of the legal system, they're involved in every trial. Molesworth has a hard time believing someone who is obviously guilty gets off. She starts debating "beyond a reasonable doubt"... This is what lay people don't understand about the law, emotion doesn't come into play, there are rules, which must be abided (unless, of course, you're the Supreme Court).
Molesworth is frustrated that Andre escaped unharmed and Ana and her work were buried. But in truth, Mendieta's star has been rising for decades. Seems like the truth always outs.
And there's a lot of insight into how the art world works, how it's a closed community almost exclusively run by white men.
But when Molesworth becomes conversational and introspective at the end... This is the problem with too many podcasts, they're focused on the hosts as opposed to the subject/guests. When Molesworth talks at the end about her feelings... They do not have the gravitas or the meaning that the raw facts of the story have. Like how could Ana have fallen out of the window when the ledge was up around her chest and she was short and had a legendary fear of heights?
But not everything could be introduced at trial. There are rules of evidence.
But despite all of Andre's buddies rallying around him, he may not have ended up in jail, but he definitely paid a price.
This is very good work. I'm just pointing out some of the flaws so you don't come back to me and complain.
Also, like too many true crime podcasts, there's overproduction. With the music, the dramatic sounds. Podcasts are a storytelling format, the facts should be enough, the audience doesn't really want a return to radio dramas, never mind these elements give the feeling of "Dateline," a lowbrow production that focuses on sensationalism and has none of the ultimate effect of "60 Minutes," never mind print.
But if you do listen to this podcast, you will have to endure the commercials read by Malcolm Gladwell, a principal in Pushkin Industries, the producer of this podcast.
I've been down on Gladwell ever since he excoriated Bowdoin College and was wrong and wouldn't admit it, he doubled-down.
And I like him better as a writer than a podcaster. But people go where the money is, irrelevant of their talents.
And then there was Gladwell saying that L.A. is known for its luxurious golf courses. I've lived in L.A. for decades, and I've never ever heard ANYBODY say this.
So Gladwell's credibility is cratering. He fits the facts to his theories. But why I'm mentioning him at all is the tone of his voice. An orator who knows more than you do, who is coming down from the mountaintop to deign you with his brilliance. The elocution is so offensive. Just talk like a regular person. Furthermore, when you use this fake gravitas in support of your sponsors, it makes my stomach turn. And I'm sure I'm not the only one.
P.S. My original post on the book "Anna de Monte Laughs Last": https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2024/08/21/anita-de-monte-laughs-last/
P.P.S. "Death of an Artist - Season 1" is available on all podcast platforms, just search.
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The Nate Silver Book-2
They have no idea how AI works.
Once you get past the poker, "On the Edge" is a very deep exploration of concepts known and unknown. You'll feel like there's an alternative universe out there, and not only are you not a member, do you really care?
I took a philosophy course in college that was deadly, if for no other reason than it was taught at eight in the morning by an aged guy who seemed ready to pass. Philosophy is not something I think about, never mind the fact that it does not pay.
But it turns out there are all these philosophers and philosophies in the tech/bleeding edge world.
Like "Effective Altruism." I heard that bandied about when SBF (Sam Bankman-Fried), got in trouble. I thought it was just a guy using his money to achieve good ends. But NO! It's a whole philosophy. And it's in battle with the Rationalists. Really.
And then there are the philosophers debating doom. Whether the world is going to end and when. And how many people have to die in order to rub out humanity.
Really.
As for Sam Bankman-Fried...
What you've got to know is it was the emperor's new clothes. Everybody bought the act, the VCs, the investors. Here you've got a guy from MIT who shows up in shorts and spews all this opportunity, all this money to be made, he must be right, let's give him boatloads of cash.
But when Silver sits down with him even before the FTX crash, SBF says such insane things it's amazing, anybody listening wouldn't have thought he was off his rocker. SBF was all in, with concepts that made no sense, that relied on trust that people don't have. Like we'll put all your money in a black box and you'll get a token in exchange, and then everybody will get rich when the tokens go up! Who is going to put millions into that? Hard-earned cash for air? That didn't come to be.
But crypto...
Crypto started as a new banking system, with traceable assets, that would reduce friction in exchanges.
That's not what it ended up to be. But Andreessen Horowitz is so deep into it, it wants its return, even though crypto is now a giant casino. And casinos are built on marks. Are you sitting at home really thinking you know more than, or even as much as, the people in control, who do this every day?
This is what has happened in politics. Which leads to crypto. All the authorities have been taken off the table. People are led into the wilderness by a pariah, telling them riches are in the offing.
Well, in truth many crypto investors lose money. There's little talk about this because the losses are spread over such a large number of people.
Furthermore, just like Vegas itself, you hear about the winners, but the losers?
And then it comes down to AI, which the average person thinks they understand but they don't.
As for being ready for prime time... I was reading Emily Nussbaum's highly reviewed but unread by many book on reality TV, "Cue the Sun!" If you haven't been a consistent viewer of reality television, don't bother. But if you watched, you'll learn some interesting stuff, like the only person who actually lived in the "Real World" house during the first season was Julie.
Anyway, Nussbaum writes in depth about "The Bachelor," a show I've never watched. And talks about Trista Rehn, how everybody on the inside believed she'd win the first season, and how she ultimately married that firefighter, had kids and has lived happily ever after.
I decided to Google her. And Google's AI told me that TRISTA WAS A FIREFIGHTER!
Yes, it made a mistake. A HUGE mistake. And if I hadn't known a little about Trista and her life, I would have bought it.
So if you're depending on AI... You never know when it will hallucinate, get it wrong.
But the story is AI combs data, on the web. And it can come up with remarkably relevant and correct answers, but also can be totally wrong. So the AI companies hire humans to correct it. And it keeps getting smarter and smarter but does it ever truly get smart enough?
But the bottom line is you type a question... Silver analogizes it to a symphony orchestra. The conductor assigns everybody their part, they go off to practice...
Every word is assigned a token. Those in charge of each token go in search of answers. But the violins work together, before they report back to the conductor.
And all the instruments are working on different tokens simultaneously. And at the end, they show up with their info, pop it into a translator and voila, you've got an answer.
But how exactly did AI do it?
What is happening on those token searches. How are the different instruments/token owners collaborating? THEY DON'T KNOW, ONLY THAT IT WORKS!
Really.
You'll learn all this and more if you read "On the Edge."
But you're going to really have to want to read it. Because it's five hundred pages long. And it's a mess, it doesn't hold together. There's this overall theme of risk, as evidenced in poker, devolving into game theory and other mathematical concepts, but then there's detailed investigations of Vegas, Silicon Valley, crypto, AI, that really don't need to be in the same book. Yes, they're tied together by risk...but Silver is so deep into his endeavor that he can't see the forest for the trees. Like a college student delivering a paper in order to get a grade, to evidence completion, comprehensibility and quality are not reached, never mind even being the goals.
However, there is a lot of stimulating info contained within the book's pages. But very few will read it. Because they've never had to read a book like this. People don't want to put in hours to read something that is not straightforward, that they have to mentally wrestle with.
Unfortunately, that's where the rewards are.
Will there be better books on these subjects?
Well, you've got Michael Lewis, a great writer whose belief in himself and his ideas is so strong that he was totally snookered by SBF, never mind the parents in "Blind Side."
And the people interviewing Silver... They've got neither the time nor the inclination to read the book. who's going to dedicate in excess of ten hours to do so, they're busy building their brand, becoming famous!
But if you want to know more about America, the divide between Silicon Valley and the east coast intelligentsia, you will gain a ton of insight from reading "On the Edge."
But be forewarned, it's not easy.
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Once you get past the poker, "On the Edge" is a very deep exploration of concepts known and unknown. You'll feel like there's an alternative universe out there, and not only are you not a member, do you really care?
I took a philosophy course in college that was deadly, if for no other reason than it was taught at eight in the morning by an aged guy who seemed ready to pass. Philosophy is not something I think about, never mind the fact that it does not pay.
But it turns out there are all these philosophers and philosophies in the tech/bleeding edge world.
Like "Effective Altruism." I heard that bandied about when SBF (Sam Bankman-Fried), got in trouble. I thought it was just a guy using his money to achieve good ends. But NO! It's a whole philosophy. And it's in battle with the Rationalists. Really.
And then there are the philosophers debating doom. Whether the world is going to end and when. And how many people have to die in order to rub out humanity.
Really.
As for Sam Bankman-Fried...
What you've got to know is it was the emperor's new clothes. Everybody bought the act, the VCs, the investors. Here you've got a guy from MIT who shows up in shorts and spews all this opportunity, all this money to be made, he must be right, let's give him boatloads of cash.
But when Silver sits down with him even before the FTX crash, SBF says such insane things it's amazing, anybody listening wouldn't have thought he was off his rocker. SBF was all in, with concepts that made no sense, that relied on trust that people don't have. Like we'll put all your money in a black box and you'll get a token in exchange, and then everybody will get rich when the tokens go up! Who is going to put millions into that? Hard-earned cash for air? That didn't come to be.
But crypto...
Crypto started as a new banking system, with traceable assets, that would reduce friction in exchanges.
That's not what it ended up to be. But Andreessen Horowitz is so deep into it, it wants its return, even though crypto is now a giant casino. And casinos are built on marks. Are you sitting at home really thinking you know more than, or even as much as, the people in control, who do this every day?
This is what has happened in politics. Which leads to crypto. All the authorities have been taken off the table. People are led into the wilderness by a pariah, telling them riches are in the offing.
Well, in truth many crypto investors lose money. There's little talk about this because the losses are spread over such a large number of people.
Furthermore, just like Vegas itself, you hear about the winners, but the losers?
And then it comes down to AI, which the average person thinks they understand but they don't.
As for being ready for prime time... I was reading Emily Nussbaum's highly reviewed but unread by many book on reality TV, "Cue the Sun!" If you haven't been a consistent viewer of reality television, don't bother. But if you watched, you'll learn some interesting stuff, like the only person who actually lived in the "Real World" house during the first season was Julie.
Anyway, Nussbaum writes in depth about "The Bachelor," a show I've never watched. And talks about Trista Rehn, how everybody on the inside believed she'd win the first season, and how she ultimately married that firefighter, had kids and has lived happily ever after.
I decided to Google her. And Google's AI told me that TRISTA WAS A FIREFIGHTER!
Yes, it made a mistake. A HUGE mistake. And if I hadn't known a little about Trista and her life, I would have bought it.
So if you're depending on AI... You never know when it will hallucinate, get it wrong.
But the story is AI combs data, on the web. And it can come up with remarkably relevant and correct answers, but also can be totally wrong. So the AI companies hire humans to correct it. And it keeps getting smarter and smarter but does it ever truly get smart enough?
But the bottom line is you type a question... Silver analogizes it to a symphony orchestra. The conductor assigns everybody their part, they go off to practice...
Every word is assigned a token. Those in charge of each token go in search of answers. But the violins work together, before they report back to the conductor.
And all the instruments are working on different tokens simultaneously. And at the end, they show up with their info, pop it into a translator and voila, you've got an answer.
But how exactly did AI do it?
What is happening on those token searches. How are the different instruments/token owners collaborating? THEY DON'T KNOW, ONLY THAT IT WORKS!
Really.
You'll learn all this and more if you read "On the Edge."
But you're going to really have to want to read it. Because it's five hundred pages long. And it's a mess, it doesn't hold together. There's this overall theme of risk, as evidenced in poker, devolving into game theory and other mathematical concepts, but then there's detailed investigations of Vegas, Silicon Valley, crypto, AI, that really don't need to be in the same book. Yes, they're tied together by risk...but Silver is so deep into his endeavor that he can't see the forest for the trees. Like a college student delivering a paper in order to get a grade, to evidence completion, comprehensibility and quality are not reached, never mind even being the goals.
However, there is a lot of stimulating info contained within the book's pages. But very few will read it. Because they've never had to read a book like this. People don't want to put in hours to read something that is not straightforward, that they have to mentally wrestle with.
Unfortunately, that's where the rewards are.
Will there be better books on these subjects?
Well, you've got Michael Lewis, a great writer whose belief in himself and his ideas is so strong that he was totally snookered by SBF, never mind the parents in "Blind Side."
And the people interviewing Silver... They've got neither the time nor the inclination to read the book. who's going to dedicate in excess of ten hours to do so, they're busy building their brand, becoming famous!
But if you want to know more about America, the divide between Silicon Valley and the east coast intelligentsia, you will gain a ton of insight from reading "On the Edge."
But be forewarned, it's not easy.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
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Jimmy Webb-This Week's Podcast
The legendary writer of "Wichita Lineman," "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "MacArthur Park" and many more discusses his hits, his history and his tenure on the ASCAP board!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jimmy-webb/id1316200737?i=1000667071654
https://open.spotify.com/episode/13t9r9lYP0KQy95TWJnfIf?si=kMADL-gGSIy0wJOh1elH_Q
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/jimmy-webb-210317446/
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/8a152c29-0c62-4931-80aa-9d5a2de36512/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-jimmy-webb
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Listen to the podcast:
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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jimmy-webb/id1316200737?i=1000667071654
https://open.spotify.com/episode/13t9r9lYP0KQy95TWJnfIf?si=kMADL-gGSIy0wJOh1elH_Q
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/jimmy-webb-210317446/
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/8a152c29-0c62-4931-80aa-9d5a2de36512/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-jimmy-webb
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Wednesday, 28 August 2024
Come And Go Blues-Solo Live 12/11/1981
Re: Midnight Rider
This clip sums up why talent cannot remain hidden forever. It's simple, profound, touching, and deeply human…
https://youtu.be/lIwnbYwmFOI?si=xboOaR5OQaj0hZcB
Olivier Chastan
1
You could never know this guy. He was too laid back, too cool, and back then there was no access.
Even more you wanted to BE this guy. Cool with charisma. You were a mirror star, but in truth you were nothing special, nobody noticed you, you lived in your own world where the music completed you, it was the only thing that understood you.
They don't make 'em like this anymore. Musicians.
That's what they say they are, but most are not.
Today not only do you believe in brand extensions, oftentimes you can neither play nor write. You're a construct for cash, a monetary effort.
But once upon a time, it was different.
We tingled. Because there was no personal access, just to be in the room with these cats was a peak experience.
Used to be there came a point where you decided whether you were going to go pro or stay in school, get a day job. And if you took the road less traveled, it was not easy. Sure, you'd eventually cut and shop a demo, but that was after years of paying dues.
So if you were a musician... You'd already spent years learning your instrument, not that you did not continue to practice. If you were lucky you had enough of a rep that you could go on the road. In a van, or like the Allmans, a Winnebago. You got high and played your heart out on stage. Trying to win over mostly people who did not know you, never mind the material.
And if you did it enough, maybe you broke through.
You've got to know the musicians of yore were different from those of today. Because they were making it up as they went along. That picture in "Rolling Stone" of Duane Allman's guitars belted into the seat next to him on the plane... It wasn't like you could buy a manual, even go to Guitar Center, you worked things out through trial and error. And when you broke through the devotion of the fans...
Was not like being a Swiftie. Or a K-Pop fan.
It was the way the music made you feel. And when you went to see the band live it was just the band, no tapes, the sound they made on stage was all you got. And the Allmans were legendary because of the sound they made, but unlike today's acts they neither demanded to make it immediately nor did they achieve this status. It took a while for the audience to catch up with them, for word of mouth to spread.
2
The come and go blues... I've experienced them.
You've gotten beyond crush status. You actually know them. You've gone places together, but they're still going places with other people. They're fully present when they're here, but they're not always here, what do you do?
LISTEN TO A RECORD!
"People say that you're no good
But I wouldn't cut you loose, baby, if I could"
There might have been a few women at my high school who were no good, but in the suburbs everything was truly average, safe. But these musicians...they were involved with a whole 'nother level of person, one unavailable to us, one we could only dream of.
And the musicians were in a completely different category from the actors. Because the musicians WERE their songs. They wrote 'em and played 'em from their heart.
"Well I seem to stay down on the ground
Baby I'm too far gone to turn around"
But when you're infatuated, they're all you can think about. Everybody tells you to move on, you might even acknowledge their truth, but you just can't.
"Oh, if only you would make up your mind
Take me where you go, you're leaving me behind"
You want to have an honest discussion. But you're afraid of falling flat, professing your love and finding out they don't see you that way, that you're just a "friend"... And then you run away and avoid them in the future.
"Lord, you got those come and go blues"
I've had 'em in high school, I've had 'em as an adult, and I wish I could give you some advice, but I can't, it's a private hell.
3
Now "Eat a Peach" was a huge seller, but it didn't have the feel of a breakthrough, it was more of a holding pattern. One studio disc, one live disc. Another double album. It seemed like a continuation of "Fillmore East," then again the band had been through a tragedy. Duane couldn't be replaced, and they didn't. "Eat a Peach" was everywhere, the studio cuts had impact, but mostly it was people who were already fans.
And then came "Brothers and Sisters."
It was all new studio work. The fans ate it up immediately.
But "Ramblin' Man" crossed over to AM, when that was still a thing, and the Allmans had never done this before. Which mean that a whole lot of people bought an Allman Brothers album who never had before. The Allman Brothers, as big as they had been, were no longer just owned by those who'd been with them through thick and thin, but EVERYBODY!
And when you dropped the needle on "Brothers and Sisters" you heard a statement, "Wasted Words" was in your face, the band was a freight train, firing on all cylinders. This was not "Ain't Wastin' Time No More," the opener on "Eat a Peach."
"Ain't Wastin' Time No More" started with a piano, it was slow, in a groove, there was gravitas, there was meaning. This was the "Idlewild South" sound, the trademark Gregg Allman number.
But on "Wasted Words" Gregg was no longer reflective. He was up front, he was all in, he was back.
But he only had two originals on "Brothers and Sisters."
And what happened to that magical, introspective sound that hooked us just as much as the twin guitar tears?
Well, once you finished with "Ramblin' Man," the second cut on the LP, you got a Gregg Allman classic, "Come and Go Blues."
The piano was akin to a slide, taking you immediately into the water.
The guy singing this cut... He was experienced, unlike us, he was full of wisdom, and we couldn't stop listening to him.
And the way he became more intense in the chorus, and the piano in that section, it was so infectious.
But "Come and Go Blues" was just an album track, I never heard anybody talk about it. And did I mention the dynamite piano playing in the breaks? Straight out of a roadhouse, where most of us had never been. We were waiting to live, and that's all they'd been doing down south from the date of birth. They weren't thinking long term, just about today. It wasn't forever, just for now. And therefore the music had a completely different feel, we were outsiders, these were not New York bands, we just wanted to get closer, we wanted to live in this sound, this environment that was foreign but as American as apple pie.
4
People send me YouTube videos all the time. Spotify tracks too. If I just pay attention, I'll get it, immediately. They love it, I should too.
But that's not how it works. Most people have lousy taste, which they're entitled to, but then there are those you can trust.
And you learn who they are.
Olivier Chastan has a history of sending me winners, and when he wrote the above e-mail, I checked out the clip.
It was so quiet. Gregg stopped to pull something from his teeth. He was completely comfortable with his instrument, it was a part of him, and then he sang as if he had no problem, as if this was really him, in an era where many stars can't, sing. And those who can rarely write great songs.
But it's when the camera focuses on Gregg's face that it strikes you... Who is exactly is this guy? He definitely doesn't seem safe. He's the kind of guy you'd avoid in a bar, but the girls would flock to.
But he's effortlessly playing this classic number. Not worried about matching the record, because the song is in him, he's just letting it loose.
This is not the bedraggled Gregg Allman. This guy has some miles on him, but he's fully alive, then again is he stoned?
And this organ player can pick those notes, play that guitar.
And the way he stops for just a second to tune his guitar...
This is the magic that infected us, that kept us going for decades, which is gone now.
First and foremost, there's no mystery. Not only are you omnipresent, we know everything about you. Charisma is nearly impossible to maintain.
And musicians are not the peak of society. They may be stars, they may be rich, but they're not as rich as the techies and the bankers, they don't influence the culture as much, they're chasing as much as leading.
And Gregg Allman is leading in this clip almost effortlessly.
Where'd he go after this?
How long was he even there?
You don't see hair and makeup, all the handlers. It's just him.
And he's playing a song better than almost everything in today's hit parade. Acoustically, he don't need no stinkin' help.
It's all in this clip.
And it's all gone, that rock and Gregg himself.
But he's so alive here.
It's just like Gregg and his band feeding on the music of the Delta bluesmen.
These are our classics.
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This clip sums up why talent cannot remain hidden forever. It's simple, profound, touching, and deeply human…
https://youtu.be/lIwnbYwmFOI?si=xboOaR5OQaj0hZcB
Olivier Chastan
1
You could never know this guy. He was too laid back, too cool, and back then there was no access.
Even more you wanted to BE this guy. Cool with charisma. You were a mirror star, but in truth you were nothing special, nobody noticed you, you lived in your own world where the music completed you, it was the only thing that understood you.
They don't make 'em like this anymore. Musicians.
That's what they say they are, but most are not.
Today not only do you believe in brand extensions, oftentimes you can neither play nor write. You're a construct for cash, a monetary effort.
But once upon a time, it was different.
We tingled. Because there was no personal access, just to be in the room with these cats was a peak experience.
Used to be there came a point where you decided whether you were going to go pro or stay in school, get a day job. And if you took the road less traveled, it was not easy. Sure, you'd eventually cut and shop a demo, but that was after years of paying dues.
So if you were a musician... You'd already spent years learning your instrument, not that you did not continue to practice. If you were lucky you had enough of a rep that you could go on the road. In a van, or like the Allmans, a Winnebago. You got high and played your heart out on stage. Trying to win over mostly people who did not know you, never mind the material.
And if you did it enough, maybe you broke through.
You've got to know the musicians of yore were different from those of today. Because they were making it up as they went along. That picture in "Rolling Stone" of Duane Allman's guitars belted into the seat next to him on the plane... It wasn't like you could buy a manual, even go to Guitar Center, you worked things out through trial and error. And when you broke through the devotion of the fans...
Was not like being a Swiftie. Or a K-Pop fan.
It was the way the music made you feel. And when you went to see the band live it was just the band, no tapes, the sound they made on stage was all you got. And the Allmans were legendary because of the sound they made, but unlike today's acts they neither demanded to make it immediately nor did they achieve this status. It took a while for the audience to catch up with them, for word of mouth to spread.
2
The come and go blues... I've experienced them.
You've gotten beyond crush status. You actually know them. You've gone places together, but they're still going places with other people. They're fully present when they're here, but they're not always here, what do you do?
LISTEN TO A RECORD!
"People say that you're no good
But I wouldn't cut you loose, baby, if I could"
There might have been a few women at my high school who were no good, but in the suburbs everything was truly average, safe. But these musicians...they were involved with a whole 'nother level of person, one unavailable to us, one we could only dream of.
And the musicians were in a completely different category from the actors. Because the musicians WERE their songs. They wrote 'em and played 'em from their heart.
"Well I seem to stay down on the ground
Baby I'm too far gone to turn around"
But when you're infatuated, they're all you can think about. Everybody tells you to move on, you might even acknowledge their truth, but you just can't.
"Oh, if only you would make up your mind
Take me where you go, you're leaving me behind"
You want to have an honest discussion. But you're afraid of falling flat, professing your love and finding out they don't see you that way, that you're just a "friend"... And then you run away and avoid them in the future.
"Lord, you got those come and go blues"
I've had 'em in high school, I've had 'em as an adult, and I wish I could give you some advice, but I can't, it's a private hell.
3
Now "Eat a Peach" was a huge seller, but it didn't have the feel of a breakthrough, it was more of a holding pattern. One studio disc, one live disc. Another double album. It seemed like a continuation of "Fillmore East," then again the band had been through a tragedy. Duane couldn't be replaced, and they didn't. "Eat a Peach" was everywhere, the studio cuts had impact, but mostly it was people who were already fans.
And then came "Brothers and Sisters."
It was all new studio work. The fans ate it up immediately.
But "Ramblin' Man" crossed over to AM, when that was still a thing, and the Allmans had never done this before. Which mean that a whole lot of people bought an Allman Brothers album who never had before. The Allman Brothers, as big as they had been, were no longer just owned by those who'd been with them through thick and thin, but EVERYBODY!
And when you dropped the needle on "Brothers and Sisters" you heard a statement, "Wasted Words" was in your face, the band was a freight train, firing on all cylinders. This was not "Ain't Wastin' Time No More," the opener on "Eat a Peach."
"Ain't Wastin' Time No More" started with a piano, it was slow, in a groove, there was gravitas, there was meaning. This was the "Idlewild South" sound, the trademark Gregg Allman number.
But on "Wasted Words" Gregg was no longer reflective. He was up front, he was all in, he was back.
But he only had two originals on "Brothers and Sisters."
And what happened to that magical, introspective sound that hooked us just as much as the twin guitar tears?
Well, once you finished with "Ramblin' Man," the second cut on the LP, you got a Gregg Allman classic, "Come and Go Blues."
The piano was akin to a slide, taking you immediately into the water.
The guy singing this cut... He was experienced, unlike us, he was full of wisdom, and we couldn't stop listening to him.
And the way he became more intense in the chorus, and the piano in that section, it was so infectious.
But "Come and Go Blues" was just an album track, I never heard anybody talk about it. And did I mention the dynamite piano playing in the breaks? Straight out of a roadhouse, where most of us had never been. We were waiting to live, and that's all they'd been doing down south from the date of birth. They weren't thinking long term, just about today. It wasn't forever, just for now. And therefore the music had a completely different feel, we were outsiders, these were not New York bands, we just wanted to get closer, we wanted to live in this sound, this environment that was foreign but as American as apple pie.
4
People send me YouTube videos all the time. Spotify tracks too. If I just pay attention, I'll get it, immediately. They love it, I should too.
But that's not how it works. Most people have lousy taste, which they're entitled to, but then there are those you can trust.
And you learn who they are.
Olivier Chastan has a history of sending me winners, and when he wrote the above e-mail, I checked out the clip.
It was so quiet. Gregg stopped to pull something from his teeth. He was completely comfortable with his instrument, it was a part of him, and then he sang as if he had no problem, as if this was really him, in an era where many stars can't, sing. And those who can rarely write great songs.
But it's when the camera focuses on Gregg's face that it strikes you... Who is exactly is this guy? He definitely doesn't seem safe. He's the kind of guy you'd avoid in a bar, but the girls would flock to.
But he's effortlessly playing this classic number. Not worried about matching the record, because the song is in him, he's just letting it loose.
This is not the bedraggled Gregg Allman. This guy has some miles on him, but he's fully alive, then again is he stoned?
And this organ player can pick those notes, play that guitar.
And the way he stops for just a second to tune his guitar...
This is the magic that infected us, that kept us going for decades, which is gone now.
First and foremost, there's no mystery. Not only are you omnipresent, we know everything about you. Charisma is nearly impossible to maintain.
And musicians are not the peak of society. They may be stars, they may be rich, but they're not as rich as the techies and the bankers, they don't influence the culture as much, they're chasing as much as leading.
And Gregg Allman is leading in this clip almost effortlessly.
Where'd he go after this?
How long was he even there?
You don't see hair and makeup, all the handlers. It's just him.
And he's playing a song better than almost everything in today's hit parade. Acoustically, he don't need no stinkin' help.
It's all in this clip.
And it's all gone, that rock and Gregg himself.
But he's so alive here.
It's just like Gregg and his band feeding on the music of the Delta bluesmen.
These are our classics.
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Tilt
"This can be one cause of every poker player's worst fear: 'tilt,' the phenomenon where your perception of what's happening at the table has gone completely askew and you're making blunder after blunder. Poker players tend to think of tilt as an emotional state—anger after a bad beat, boredom after a slow run of cards, or overconfidence after a winning streak. But it can also have biological causes. In big moments when you're confronted with a high-stakes decision, you're essentially working with a different operating system than the one you're used to. If a player reacts by going into an anxiety spiral, 'it's like a blue screen on your computer where your mind is just either frozen or so emotionally hijacked that you're no longer thinking straight,' said Tendler."
"On the Edge"
Nate Silver
Trump is on tilt.
But let's be clear, Biden was on tilt after the June debate, or close to it. Joe was desperate, on the run, he gave public performances that just reinforced the step he'd lost. He refused to leave the race, and was oblivious to the truth, that he had lost the faith of his party and would probably not win the election.
But we learned two things here. One about politics and the Democratic party, that they're not transparent and no one is trustworthy. Second, that despite looking like an everyman, Joe from Scranton, Biden was a power-hungry official just like the rest of them. He thought only he could fix it. He was delusional.
But now Biden is gone.
And that puts the focus on Trump.
And now we can see Trump through the lens of Biden. We knew Trump was a megalomaniac, needing to be at the top, in power, but not to the degree we do now.
No one can rein in Trump. That's the story in every news outlet. That his handlers, the party, tell him to stick to the script. But now that Kamala has stolen his thunder, now that he's losing in the polls, Trump has lost his mind.
You've got to read some of his posts.
Never mind that he's posting 24/7 online anyway.
This is one of the reasons Musk has lost stature in the eye of the public. We thought you had a job, we thought you had TWO jobs, each one at the cutting edge of technology, requiring constant oversight. Where in the hell do you find the time to be posting constantly on X/Twitter, never mind the content?
I mean it was a breakthrough for Trump to employ social media back in 2016. He looked more with it than Hillary. But now everybody's online. Today there was scuttlebutt that if you refuse to make expensive purchases on your phone, if you need to go to your desktop, you're derided by Gen-Z as out of touch.
The football moved.
Furthermore, people do make their living by being online 24/7. We have a whole category for them, they're known as "influencers." At best they're money machines, train-wrecks, credibility is not their calling, nor their reputation, they'll do whatever it takes to make a buck.
Which is the hole Trump has now fallen into. Trading cards? Hyping a book? I don't care if his audience buys these products or not, but Trump is undercutting his image, or pulling back the curtain to reveal his true identity, that he's just a huckster, only looking to make money, the country be damned.
So he just said he won the championship at his Palm Beach club. Does ANYBODY believe that? Come on, you can see him play golf online. He's got terrible technique, and he's old. There's not a single other club member who can beat him?
Trump is amping up not only the lies, but the vitriol.
He's excoriated every facet of ABC re the coming debate, the outlet, the moderators... I mean why even show up? If you really believed it was this bad, this against you, you wouldn't participate. But Trump can't forgo the spotlight. He's trying to set the stage in case of failure, just like he did with the 2020 election, but his scorched earth statements make everybody but the dyed in the wool MAGA camp wince.
Bill Clinton listened to feedback. He moved to the center running for his second term and many Democrats will never forgive him, but he got elected. And Hillary was so famous for triangulating, looking at the research, that she ended up being totally unbelievable. Hell, when she said her favorite book was the Bible, even I winced, and I voted for her.
But Biden wouldn't listen. And Trump won't listen at all.
They both think they have their finger on the pulse on the American public. And there's no evidence that can prove them wrong. It's akin to the musicians who send me their mediocre music and say they're never gong to give up, they're lifers, putting in their 10,000 hours. They're DELUSIONAL!
The public was not down with Biden. As proven by the great surge for Kamala once she became the candidate. Both Joe and Donald whip out outlier polls when confronted with the fact and stats that they're losing. Donald can't stop quoting his Rasmussen numbers, which are legendarily skewed towards Republicans. Furthermore, irrelevant of whether you like Nate Silver or not, his concept of creating a model that averages the polls has permeated the public, these models represent the zeitgeist. To the point when this outlet or that says Trump is winning or losing in their poll I don't really pay attention, they're living in a bubble, they're not taking into account the work of every other researcher.
Even rock stars are not this bad. They don't rant and rave in public when their new record stiffs, they just go on the road and count their dollars and try to figure out a way to have another hit. Or maybe they never record again, not wanting to tarnish their reputations. But they are certainly aware of the public's perception of them. Biden and Trump? NO WAY!
You're supposed to be running the country, but you're not fully aware of the people in it?
I just read that Kamala Harris went to a Bad Religion show in the early aughts. I know at least we can have a discussion, sharing some of the same reference points. But Trump? I'm sure he'd find a way to call me a loser. Unless I suck up to him. But then he'd cut me out at some point in the future. This is what RFJ, Jr. doesn't understand. Trump now has what he wants, RFJ, Jr.'s endorsement, he no longer cares about RFJ, Jr. WHATSOEVER!
So Trump's got the MAGA people. There's nothing he can say or do to alienate them. But they're not enough to win. In order to be victorious Trump has to find a way to convince non-fans to vote for him.
But who wants to vote for a sore loser detached from reality, someone who's perennially angry, just looking for an enemy to lambaste?
Yes, ever since the convention Trump has been completely out of control.
What did Kenny Rogers sing, you have to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em?
You stay silent during the other party's convention. Otherwise you look like a loser, no one likes a party crasher.
And ever since then there's been one insane statement after another.
To the point where it's actually FUNNY!
What will this guy come up with next? Can we trust anybody in the world other than him? He's got a problem with not only the networks, but the cable outlets, not only MSNBC and CNN, but Fox too.
We can't live on quicksand. There must be some basic truths, that Trump can point to as opposed to just making them up.
Trump is now the underdog. You can fight and win from that position. Furthermore, people tend to like the underdog. Instead Trump keeps talking about Biden, both Joe and Hunter!
That's one thing we've learned with Biden's ouster. Once you're gone we no longer think of you. The news moves just that fast.
Trump's the kind of guy who would get dropped by his label. No one wants to work with someone who's insane. Trump is verging on Kanye territory, he's just one step away from becoming a pariah. He's bad, just one racist or antisemitic comment away from totaling his candidacy.
And let's be clear, his acolytes won't care. They'll go down with him, just like fans bought all those discontinued Kanye shoes Adidas blew out.
Hell, one of the tropes after the end of World War II was there were Japanese soldiers living in the hinterlands who still didn't know the war was over.
Not only is Trump fighting the last battle, he doesn't seem grounded in reality. And sure, he won the nomination, but he and his Republican party have been on an election losing streak.
I no longer have emotion, I'm no longer intellectually involved. I'm not worried about Trump's statements hurting Kamala and Walz, I'm just watching the conflagration. I've never seen anything like this. The guy is completely out of control, way over the line, and not only can no one stop him, there are people who will vote for him!
But not enough. Certainly if he doesn't mellow out and change his ways.
But when you're on tilt you're desperate, you can't sleep at night, you believe you must fight back instead of pulling back and taking stock, figuring out a new strategy.
Trump is all in. All the time. And this is not a winning strategy in poker.
Nor in elections.
You've got to appear human.
Or you've got to rig the election, like Maduro, or Putin.
That could happen. And people hate elites, they hate Democrats. They'll vote for Trump no matter what. But the rest of us? WHO IS THIS GUY? Someone who will do anything for attention, who has no friends, who only trusts himself. Those people don't win in regular society, and they certainly don't win in elections. Hell, Trump lost in 2020 and he looked reasonable back then compared to how he is now.
This is the best entertainment on the planet.
The self-immolation.
Like those people who set themselves on fire to protest. We don't embrace the cause, we just ask what got into these people that they could be so delusional and take such an action? Couldn't anybody talk to them and get them to stop?
Apparently not.
And it's the same deal with Trump.
We can all see it, but somehow he's blind. Such an egomaniac, so deep in his own sh*t, that he's lost touch with reality. Lying with impunity about stuff that doesn't even matter.
Forget the issues. It's about personalities.
And unless you're a fan of Kim Jong Un... How in the hell are you going to get behind a delusional autocrat?
You're not.
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"On the Edge"
Nate Silver
Trump is on tilt.
But let's be clear, Biden was on tilt after the June debate, or close to it. Joe was desperate, on the run, he gave public performances that just reinforced the step he'd lost. He refused to leave the race, and was oblivious to the truth, that he had lost the faith of his party and would probably not win the election.
But we learned two things here. One about politics and the Democratic party, that they're not transparent and no one is trustworthy. Second, that despite looking like an everyman, Joe from Scranton, Biden was a power-hungry official just like the rest of them. He thought only he could fix it. He was delusional.
But now Biden is gone.
And that puts the focus on Trump.
And now we can see Trump through the lens of Biden. We knew Trump was a megalomaniac, needing to be at the top, in power, but not to the degree we do now.
No one can rein in Trump. That's the story in every news outlet. That his handlers, the party, tell him to stick to the script. But now that Kamala has stolen his thunder, now that he's losing in the polls, Trump has lost his mind.
You've got to read some of his posts.
Never mind that he's posting 24/7 online anyway.
This is one of the reasons Musk has lost stature in the eye of the public. We thought you had a job, we thought you had TWO jobs, each one at the cutting edge of technology, requiring constant oversight. Where in the hell do you find the time to be posting constantly on X/Twitter, never mind the content?
I mean it was a breakthrough for Trump to employ social media back in 2016. He looked more with it than Hillary. But now everybody's online. Today there was scuttlebutt that if you refuse to make expensive purchases on your phone, if you need to go to your desktop, you're derided by Gen-Z as out of touch.
The football moved.
Furthermore, people do make their living by being online 24/7. We have a whole category for them, they're known as "influencers." At best they're money machines, train-wrecks, credibility is not their calling, nor their reputation, they'll do whatever it takes to make a buck.
Which is the hole Trump has now fallen into. Trading cards? Hyping a book? I don't care if his audience buys these products or not, but Trump is undercutting his image, or pulling back the curtain to reveal his true identity, that he's just a huckster, only looking to make money, the country be damned.
So he just said he won the championship at his Palm Beach club. Does ANYBODY believe that? Come on, you can see him play golf online. He's got terrible technique, and he's old. There's not a single other club member who can beat him?
Trump is amping up not only the lies, but the vitriol.
He's excoriated every facet of ABC re the coming debate, the outlet, the moderators... I mean why even show up? If you really believed it was this bad, this against you, you wouldn't participate. But Trump can't forgo the spotlight. He's trying to set the stage in case of failure, just like he did with the 2020 election, but his scorched earth statements make everybody but the dyed in the wool MAGA camp wince.
Bill Clinton listened to feedback. He moved to the center running for his second term and many Democrats will never forgive him, but he got elected. And Hillary was so famous for triangulating, looking at the research, that she ended up being totally unbelievable. Hell, when she said her favorite book was the Bible, even I winced, and I voted for her.
But Biden wouldn't listen. And Trump won't listen at all.
They both think they have their finger on the pulse on the American public. And there's no evidence that can prove them wrong. It's akin to the musicians who send me their mediocre music and say they're never gong to give up, they're lifers, putting in their 10,000 hours. They're DELUSIONAL!
The public was not down with Biden. As proven by the great surge for Kamala once she became the candidate. Both Joe and Donald whip out outlier polls when confronted with the fact and stats that they're losing. Donald can't stop quoting his Rasmussen numbers, which are legendarily skewed towards Republicans. Furthermore, irrelevant of whether you like Nate Silver or not, his concept of creating a model that averages the polls has permeated the public, these models represent the zeitgeist. To the point when this outlet or that says Trump is winning or losing in their poll I don't really pay attention, they're living in a bubble, they're not taking into account the work of every other researcher.
Even rock stars are not this bad. They don't rant and rave in public when their new record stiffs, they just go on the road and count their dollars and try to figure out a way to have another hit. Or maybe they never record again, not wanting to tarnish their reputations. But they are certainly aware of the public's perception of them. Biden and Trump? NO WAY!
You're supposed to be running the country, but you're not fully aware of the people in it?
I just read that Kamala Harris went to a Bad Religion show in the early aughts. I know at least we can have a discussion, sharing some of the same reference points. But Trump? I'm sure he'd find a way to call me a loser. Unless I suck up to him. But then he'd cut me out at some point in the future. This is what RFJ, Jr. doesn't understand. Trump now has what he wants, RFJ, Jr.'s endorsement, he no longer cares about RFJ, Jr. WHATSOEVER!
So Trump's got the MAGA people. There's nothing he can say or do to alienate them. But they're not enough to win. In order to be victorious Trump has to find a way to convince non-fans to vote for him.
But who wants to vote for a sore loser detached from reality, someone who's perennially angry, just looking for an enemy to lambaste?
Yes, ever since the convention Trump has been completely out of control.
What did Kenny Rogers sing, you have to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em?
You stay silent during the other party's convention. Otherwise you look like a loser, no one likes a party crasher.
And ever since then there's been one insane statement after another.
To the point where it's actually FUNNY!
What will this guy come up with next? Can we trust anybody in the world other than him? He's got a problem with not only the networks, but the cable outlets, not only MSNBC and CNN, but Fox too.
We can't live on quicksand. There must be some basic truths, that Trump can point to as opposed to just making them up.
Trump is now the underdog. You can fight and win from that position. Furthermore, people tend to like the underdog. Instead Trump keeps talking about Biden, both Joe and Hunter!
That's one thing we've learned with Biden's ouster. Once you're gone we no longer think of you. The news moves just that fast.
Trump's the kind of guy who would get dropped by his label. No one wants to work with someone who's insane. Trump is verging on Kanye territory, he's just one step away from becoming a pariah. He's bad, just one racist or antisemitic comment away from totaling his candidacy.
And let's be clear, his acolytes won't care. They'll go down with him, just like fans bought all those discontinued Kanye shoes Adidas blew out.
Hell, one of the tropes after the end of World War II was there were Japanese soldiers living in the hinterlands who still didn't know the war was over.
Not only is Trump fighting the last battle, he doesn't seem grounded in reality. And sure, he won the nomination, but he and his Republican party have been on an election losing streak.
I no longer have emotion, I'm no longer intellectually involved. I'm not worried about Trump's statements hurting Kamala and Walz, I'm just watching the conflagration. I've never seen anything like this. The guy is completely out of control, way over the line, and not only can no one stop him, there are people who will vote for him!
But not enough. Certainly if he doesn't mellow out and change his ways.
But when you're on tilt you're desperate, you can't sleep at night, you believe you must fight back instead of pulling back and taking stock, figuring out a new strategy.
Trump is all in. All the time. And this is not a winning strategy in poker.
Nor in elections.
You've got to appear human.
Or you've got to rig the election, like Maduro, or Putin.
That could happen. And people hate elites, they hate Democrats. They'll vote for Trump no matter what. But the rest of us? WHO IS THIS GUY? Someone who will do anything for attention, who has no friends, who only trusts himself. Those people don't win in regular society, and they certainly don't win in elections. Hell, Trump lost in 2020 and he looked reasonable back then compared to how he is now.
This is the best entertainment on the planet.
The self-immolation.
Like those people who set themselves on fire to protest. We don't embrace the cause, we just ask what got into these people that they could be so delusional and take such an action? Couldn't anybody talk to them and get them to stop?
Apparently not.
And it's the same deal with Trump.
We can all see it, but somehow he's blind. Such an egomaniac, so deep in his own sh*t, that he's lost touch with reality. Lying with impunity about stuff that doesn't even matter.
Forget the issues. It's about personalities.
And unless you're a fan of Kim Jong Un... How in the hell are you going to get behind a delusional autocrat?
You're not.
--
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Tuesday, 27 August 2024
Midnight Rider
Is it forever?
You've got to know the first Allman Brothers album was a stiff. Most people were completely unaware of it, but some purchased it after the band blew up as one half of "Beginnings," which packaged the first two records together. But that first album is a monster, it's got the original version of "Whipping Post," albeit "only" five minutes and seventeen seconds long. And it also has the original "Dreams," ultimately made famous by Molly Hatchet, and a blistering version of "Trouble No More."
But most people only became aware of the Allman Brothers via "Fillmore East."
But the band started to break through with its second LP, "Idlewild South."
Now the sound was different, the first record was produced by Adrian Barber, who also produced the first Aerosmith album, with "Dream On," but it was only when the Boston band started working with Jack Douglas that they truly broke through. "Idlewild South" was produced by Tom Dowd. And the sound was different, it was as if a scrim had been pulled off of the music, also the record was not as hard-edged.
Maybe it was the inviting opening cut on the second LP that warmed up non-fans to the act, "Revival," was a Dickey Betts number, his first with the band. Isn't it funny that the big breakthroughs of the Allmans were written by Betts, it was his "Ramblin' Man" that finally conquered AM radio in the fall of '73, it was ubiquitous.
But "Revival" was not.
"Revival" featured the essence of the Allmans, the twin guitars, and of course, Gregg Allman's voice.
Now the first side of "Idlewild South" also includes the sweet "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed," before the internet, when her identity was a rumor, passed fan to fan.
But the first side also included the original studio take of "Midnight Rider," long before Gregg Allman slowed it down and featured it on his first solo album, before Waylon and so many covered it.
But still, you only had to hear it once. And the funny thing about "Midnight Rider" is you can never burn out on it. It's one of the few numbers you don't push the button on when you hear it on the radio.
Which was what I was doing just now, listening to the radio, Outlaw Country on SiriusXM.
Once upon a time, the Allman Brothers were rock. Country was something twangy, however also from the south. But now rock is something different, something headbangers make, or Disney stars trying to look hip do. And if you want the straight ahead flavor, you're better off looking at hit country. Which is what I was listening to first, on the Highway. But after hearing a number by Carly Pearce on that channel, the next song was too formulaic, so I switched the station to Outlaw Country, and was surprised to hear the Allman Brothers.
Now what you've got to know is summer is just beginning in Southern California. It may have snowed at Shasta and Mammoth, even Palisades a few days back, but that's a totally different weather pattern. On the east coast, summer is winding down. Those late August nights can have a nip in the air, if you're at camp in New Hampshire, or even Connecticut. The days are getting shorter, the weather is turning, it's clear, summer is gone.
After Labor Day you'll get a few hot days, but it's still cold at night. And then the leaves turn and you might get a bit of Indian Summer, the end of October, certainly November, may be bright and sunny, but it ain't warm, and you often get the dreaded rain. Summer rain is a relief. Cold, wintry rain is depressing, you don't want to go out in it, chills you to the bone.
Eventually it snows. And then it's winter and you're waiting for things to heat up again.
That's not how it works in SoCal. It never gets cold, never ever. And the hottest days of the year come at the end of August and into September, even October. I remember the A/C pooped out in my car back in September one year, I debated whether to fix it or wait until the spring, thank god I did, I needed it in the coming days.
It was 96 the other day. Right now 85. And those numbers are not as hot as they are on the east coast, or even the Midwest, because there's no humidity. That's the thing about California, complain all you want, real estate values are high, as well as taxes, but the truth is only immigrants leave, natives stay, because you can't find anywhere else in America where the living is so easy and the weather so good.
Of course there are exceptions to that, but all I'm saying here is you never get depressed over the weather in Los Angeles. Oh, sometimes it rains cats and dogs, but that's an interesting respite from the days Barbra Streisand lamented in "The Way We Were." And Streisand lives in SoCal, she did not return to New York.
So the summer is a different vibe. It's about the aforementioned freedom, as well as joy, exuberance. Which has been absent from most mainstream music these days. Or is evidenced in mindless drivel.
But that's not the way it used to be. So many of the album rock hits of the seventies were upbeat. Hell, "Hold Your Head Up"?
Not that "Midnight Rider" is exactly upbeat, but it evidences the outlaw mentality. For a generation that was brought up on westerns. Which had to drive if it wanted to explore the new frontier, flying was prohibitively expensive, a rare treat at most.
There was magic in them thar hills. Everybody wanted to go to California first. But there was also Colorado. It was a mentality. And so many records were made in the mountains, even English cats like Elton recorded at Caribou Ranch.
So when you hear those opening notes of "Midnight Rider"...
Actually, it's an acoustic guitar. Sure, there were folkies, now called singer/songwriters, but even the Stones employed acoustics.
And then the song fell into a groove, an hypnotic groove. I'm not a songwriter, I don't know if these grooves are a strike of lightning or whether you can create them anytime, on a dime. Then again, so many of the great tracks are covers of Delta blues numbers, or slight reworkings of them. My point being, how do you come up with that "Midnight Rider" groove? Did the band know it when it heard it, was it a eureka moment, or were they oblivious, believing it was just another in a long line of hooks.
Then there are those congas, that you might not even be aware of the first hundred times through. They're syncopated like the lope of a horse. Once you realize this, you can never forget it.
That's Duane picking the acoustic. But "Midnight Rider" has balls, evidenced by Dickey's slashing electric in the chorus.
And sitting atop it all is Gregg Allman. Not a winner on a TV singing show, but someone whose voice evidenced experience, you could see him singing in a dark studio or out there on the range, alone on his horse.
And then Dickey plays during the break, and then Duane comes along on his slide and dances over the whole thing like a fairy laying down dust, an ethereal character delivering that which humans cannot comprehend, a God sprinkling his essence on the track in an unforgettable way.
And then it's back to the groove.
And eventually to the slow close and fade-out, with Gregg Allman singing over and over again:
"I'm not gonna let 'em catch the midnight rider
Not gonna let 'em catch the midnight rider"
And you believe they never will.
And the number fades on an electric guitar stab off on the horizon, somewhere you want to go, you have no choice but to play the song again, back when you had to go over to the turntable and lift the needle and put it back to where the track began.
Now the truth is Gregg Allman was cool. Yes, he did have that moment after the act's big success where he sold out a member of the band's entourage to stay out of jail himself, but ultimately he was forgiven by his bandmates, when they realized this was the best way to make bank, together.
And then he married Cher.
But he did pass out in a plate of spaghetti at an awards show.
Not even Cher could catch the midnight rider.
And there are very few rock stars who live up to the image. One is Steven Tyler, another is Gregg Allman. They don't have to turn it on, that's who they are. One lippy and loquacious, the other a southern gentleman, speaking slowly and softly, but making you lean in to catch the wisdom.
Now in truth you learn that most of these rockers are not heroes on a personal level, then again, there's that music, that magic.
From back when you had to go to the show to experience it. When there wasn't much more than the music, maybe a t-shirt or a tour program. Could you win people over on your playing alone?
Duane died. We still don't know who he was. You see he didn't talk that much, was not interviewed ad infinitum. And then Berry Oakley bit the dust just one year later. Couldn't anybody convince them to give up their bikes?
No, you can't stop an outlaw. They can't be controlled. At best they can be corralled to lay it down on wax.
The road goes on forever.
And then it ends, it stops because you do, you die.
Musicians don't retire. Didn't I just read that Ian Gillan tell Eddie Trunk that Deep Purple has no intention of retiring, even though their 2017 tour was called "The Long Goodbye," the band has dates booked through 2026.
They don't want to get off the road. Even at home Willie Nelson has been known to sleep on his bus.
The truth is this is all they know how to do. And they can't get those accolades, that love, anywhere else but on stage. And most of 'em need the money. Whether it was stolen originally, or they blew it themselves.
They're not looking to retire. They're the antithesis of the hoi polloi. They don't want to relax, this is their identity.
Usually it ends when you're least aware. Either you saw Jeff Beck or you did not, he didn't do a farewell tour.
And Duane Allman certainly did not. And it's interesting that he's remembered more than so many who are still out there. Duane spoke through his guitar, and that was enough.
So what you've got is a bunch of deities laying down magic that you couldn't get anywhere else. Sure, there was Skynyrd, but they were different. The aforementioned Hatchet, even other bands on Capricorn, but none of them had the quality of the Allman Brothers, who were always one step removed, who you didn't think would do just anything for a buck. They spoke through their music, and that was enough.
And when you hear it you're reminded.
Not if you've never heard it before, then it's just a glimpse into a past that is certainly in the rearview mirror, that you can't get anywhere but in recordings.
I remember getting stoned listening to "Idlewild South" in Dave McCormick's room in Hepburn Hall during a cold January back in '71.
I remember hearing "Ramblin' Man" all over campus before it got cold in the fall of '73.
I remember being infatuated with "Ain't Wastin' Time No More," the opening cut on "Eat a Peach" that no one ever talks about, they were into "Melissa," they named their kids that.
And then there's "Come and Go Blues" from "Brothers and Sisters," an Allman song when everybody was focused on Betts's "Ramblin' Man" and "Jessica."
And in truth, there's even a classic on the band's last studio LP, "Desdemona" off of 2003's "Hittin' the Note."
And now all you've got is dust. Jaimoe is the only original band member left.
It's like they all got on their horses and rode into the sunset, sequentially, we'll catch up with these midnight riders in the afterlife.
But it really all started with "Midnight Rider." And it's not in your face, it's not begging, it's essentially laid back, sans effects, it evidences a humanity only music can.
That's why it's so powerful.
That's why it's forever.
--
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
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You've got to know the first Allman Brothers album was a stiff. Most people were completely unaware of it, but some purchased it after the band blew up as one half of "Beginnings," which packaged the first two records together. But that first album is a monster, it's got the original version of "Whipping Post," albeit "only" five minutes and seventeen seconds long. And it also has the original "Dreams," ultimately made famous by Molly Hatchet, and a blistering version of "Trouble No More."
But most people only became aware of the Allman Brothers via "Fillmore East."
But the band started to break through with its second LP, "Idlewild South."
Now the sound was different, the first record was produced by Adrian Barber, who also produced the first Aerosmith album, with "Dream On," but it was only when the Boston band started working with Jack Douglas that they truly broke through. "Idlewild South" was produced by Tom Dowd. And the sound was different, it was as if a scrim had been pulled off of the music, also the record was not as hard-edged.
Maybe it was the inviting opening cut on the second LP that warmed up non-fans to the act, "Revival," was a Dickey Betts number, his first with the band. Isn't it funny that the big breakthroughs of the Allmans were written by Betts, it was his "Ramblin' Man" that finally conquered AM radio in the fall of '73, it was ubiquitous.
But "Revival" was not.
"Revival" featured the essence of the Allmans, the twin guitars, and of course, Gregg Allman's voice.
Now the first side of "Idlewild South" also includes the sweet "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed," before the internet, when her identity was a rumor, passed fan to fan.
But the first side also included the original studio take of "Midnight Rider," long before Gregg Allman slowed it down and featured it on his first solo album, before Waylon and so many covered it.
But still, you only had to hear it once. And the funny thing about "Midnight Rider" is you can never burn out on it. It's one of the few numbers you don't push the button on when you hear it on the radio.
Which was what I was doing just now, listening to the radio, Outlaw Country on SiriusXM.
Once upon a time, the Allman Brothers were rock. Country was something twangy, however also from the south. But now rock is something different, something headbangers make, or Disney stars trying to look hip do. And if you want the straight ahead flavor, you're better off looking at hit country. Which is what I was listening to first, on the Highway. But after hearing a number by Carly Pearce on that channel, the next song was too formulaic, so I switched the station to Outlaw Country, and was surprised to hear the Allman Brothers.
Now what you've got to know is summer is just beginning in Southern California. It may have snowed at Shasta and Mammoth, even Palisades a few days back, but that's a totally different weather pattern. On the east coast, summer is winding down. Those late August nights can have a nip in the air, if you're at camp in New Hampshire, or even Connecticut. The days are getting shorter, the weather is turning, it's clear, summer is gone.
After Labor Day you'll get a few hot days, but it's still cold at night. And then the leaves turn and you might get a bit of Indian Summer, the end of October, certainly November, may be bright and sunny, but it ain't warm, and you often get the dreaded rain. Summer rain is a relief. Cold, wintry rain is depressing, you don't want to go out in it, chills you to the bone.
Eventually it snows. And then it's winter and you're waiting for things to heat up again.
That's not how it works in SoCal. It never gets cold, never ever. And the hottest days of the year come at the end of August and into September, even October. I remember the A/C pooped out in my car back in September one year, I debated whether to fix it or wait until the spring, thank god I did, I needed it in the coming days.
It was 96 the other day. Right now 85. And those numbers are not as hot as they are on the east coast, or even the Midwest, because there's no humidity. That's the thing about California, complain all you want, real estate values are high, as well as taxes, but the truth is only immigrants leave, natives stay, because you can't find anywhere else in America where the living is so easy and the weather so good.
Of course there are exceptions to that, but all I'm saying here is you never get depressed over the weather in Los Angeles. Oh, sometimes it rains cats and dogs, but that's an interesting respite from the days Barbra Streisand lamented in "The Way We Were." And Streisand lives in SoCal, she did not return to New York.
So the summer is a different vibe. It's about the aforementioned freedom, as well as joy, exuberance. Which has been absent from most mainstream music these days. Or is evidenced in mindless drivel.
But that's not the way it used to be. So many of the album rock hits of the seventies were upbeat. Hell, "Hold Your Head Up"?
Not that "Midnight Rider" is exactly upbeat, but it evidences the outlaw mentality. For a generation that was brought up on westerns. Which had to drive if it wanted to explore the new frontier, flying was prohibitively expensive, a rare treat at most.
There was magic in them thar hills. Everybody wanted to go to California first. But there was also Colorado. It was a mentality. And so many records were made in the mountains, even English cats like Elton recorded at Caribou Ranch.
So when you hear those opening notes of "Midnight Rider"...
Actually, it's an acoustic guitar. Sure, there were folkies, now called singer/songwriters, but even the Stones employed acoustics.
And then the song fell into a groove, an hypnotic groove. I'm not a songwriter, I don't know if these grooves are a strike of lightning or whether you can create them anytime, on a dime. Then again, so many of the great tracks are covers of Delta blues numbers, or slight reworkings of them. My point being, how do you come up with that "Midnight Rider" groove? Did the band know it when it heard it, was it a eureka moment, or were they oblivious, believing it was just another in a long line of hooks.
Then there are those congas, that you might not even be aware of the first hundred times through. They're syncopated like the lope of a horse. Once you realize this, you can never forget it.
That's Duane picking the acoustic. But "Midnight Rider" has balls, evidenced by Dickey's slashing electric in the chorus.
And sitting atop it all is Gregg Allman. Not a winner on a TV singing show, but someone whose voice evidenced experience, you could see him singing in a dark studio or out there on the range, alone on his horse.
And then Dickey plays during the break, and then Duane comes along on his slide and dances over the whole thing like a fairy laying down dust, an ethereal character delivering that which humans cannot comprehend, a God sprinkling his essence on the track in an unforgettable way.
And then it's back to the groove.
And eventually to the slow close and fade-out, with Gregg Allman singing over and over again:
"I'm not gonna let 'em catch the midnight rider
Not gonna let 'em catch the midnight rider"
And you believe they never will.
And the number fades on an electric guitar stab off on the horizon, somewhere you want to go, you have no choice but to play the song again, back when you had to go over to the turntable and lift the needle and put it back to where the track began.
Now the truth is Gregg Allman was cool. Yes, he did have that moment after the act's big success where he sold out a member of the band's entourage to stay out of jail himself, but ultimately he was forgiven by his bandmates, when they realized this was the best way to make bank, together.
And then he married Cher.
But he did pass out in a plate of spaghetti at an awards show.
Not even Cher could catch the midnight rider.
And there are very few rock stars who live up to the image. One is Steven Tyler, another is Gregg Allman. They don't have to turn it on, that's who they are. One lippy and loquacious, the other a southern gentleman, speaking slowly and softly, but making you lean in to catch the wisdom.
Now in truth you learn that most of these rockers are not heroes on a personal level, then again, there's that music, that magic.
From back when you had to go to the show to experience it. When there wasn't much more than the music, maybe a t-shirt or a tour program. Could you win people over on your playing alone?
Duane died. We still don't know who he was. You see he didn't talk that much, was not interviewed ad infinitum. And then Berry Oakley bit the dust just one year later. Couldn't anybody convince them to give up their bikes?
No, you can't stop an outlaw. They can't be controlled. At best they can be corralled to lay it down on wax.
The road goes on forever.
And then it ends, it stops because you do, you die.
Musicians don't retire. Didn't I just read that Ian Gillan tell Eddie Trunk that Deep Purple has no intention of retiring, even though their 2017 tour was called "The Long Goodbye," the band has dates booked through 2026.
They don't want to get off the road. Even at home Willie Nelson has been known to sleep on his bus.
The truth is this is all they know how to do. And they can't get those accolades, that love, anywhere else but on stage. And most of 'em need the money. Whether it was stolen originally, or they blew it themselves.
They're not looking to retire. They're the antithesis of the hoi polloi. They don't want to relax, this is their identity.
Usually it ends when you're least aware. Either you saw Jeff Beck or you did not, he didn't do a farewell tour.
And Duane Allman certainly did not. And it's interesting that he's remembered more than so many who are still out there. Duane spoke through his guitar, and that was enough.
So what you've got is a bunch of deities laying down magic that you couldn't get anywhere else. Sure, there was Skynyrd, but they were different. The aforementioned Hatchet, even other bands on Capricorn, but none of them had the quality of the Allman Brothers, who were always one step removed, who you didn't think would do just anything for a buck. They spoke through their music, and that was enough.
And when you hear it you're reminded.
Not if you've never heard it before, then it's just a glimpse into a past that is certainly in the rearview mirror, that you can't get anywhere but in recordings.
I remember getting stoned listening to "Idlewild South" in Dave McCormick's room in Hepburn Hall during a cold January back in '71.
I remember hearing "Ramblin' Man" all over campus before it got cold in the fall of '73.
I remember being infatuated with "Ain't Wastin' Time No More," the opening cut on "Eat a Peach" that no one ever talks about, they were into "Melissa," they named their kids that.
And then there's "Come and Go Blues" from "Brothers and Sisters," an Allman song when everybody was focused on Betts's "Ramblin' Man" and "Jessica."
And in truth, there's even a classic on the band's last studio LP, "Desdemona" off of 2003's "Hittin' the Note."
And now all you've got is dust. Jaimoe is the only original band member left.
It's like they all got on their horses and rode into the sunset, sequentially, we'll catch up with these midnight riders in the afterlife.
But it really all started with "Midnight Rider." And it's not in your face, it's not begging, it's essentially laid back, sans effects, it evidences a humanity only music can.
That's why it's so powerful.
That's why it's forever.
--
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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Relatability
Instagram: https://t.ly/qkXIo
Facebook: https://t.ly/YJunO
YouTube: https://t.ly/vUlBg
I just saw this video today.
But it was launched twelve days ago on Kamala Harris's YouTube channel.
But it's also on Facebook and Stereogum and "Billboard"...
But it was only when Jake texted this to me that I found out about it.
Today your work is a time bomb. Do not expect instant knowledge and acceptance. People have too much else going on, too much input. And in order to really spread, you need a friend to tell you about it, otherwise it seems like hype.
But nobody likes this so nobody admits this.
The labels and the media like us to believe the entire world is waiting for the new work of Sabrina Carpenter or Post Malone or Taylor Swift when the truth is very few are. I'm not saying their audiences are insignificant, just that they do not cover everybody. We no longer live in a monoculture and the purveyors refuse to acknowledge this, because it's too confusing, and illustrates their lack of power.
So you've got to make something so good that people want to tell others about it.
Sure, you can try and short cut the process, by stunting. But the problem with a stunt, when you try and gain instant virality, is when it fails, it fails completely. Secondly, most people can tell when you're trying artificially for virality, and it leaves a bad taste in their mouth, meaning further down the line, even if you release something good, they won't spread the word about it, they're no longer on your team, they're out.
So there are two streams, the obvious and the good. Sometimes they intersect, but most times they do not.
Kill someone and it will be in the news for half a day.
Create a great track and it could literally take years to break, but it's waiting there, to be spread, each and every day of the year.
This is the opposite of the terrestrial radio paradigm. Where either it's a hit or a stiff. On or gone. Then again, tracks take ever longer to get on the radio chart, illustrating this long process of knowledge and acceptance.
But the bottom line is to grow beyond a hit into a career, people have to like you, you have to have credibility.
When Tim Walz talks about 8-tracks in his vehicles... You know that guy. He may not live for music, but he's been to shows, he's got the same bedrock references. Believe me, Springsteen and Seger were bigger in their era than anybody on the hit parade today. We were all working on our night moves, trying to lose those awkward teenage blues, with autumn now closing in.
When Kamala acknowledges Walz, says "okay," it doesn't ring wholly true. But when she starts to testify...it's from the heart, with knowledge. She's not pandering, SHE KNOWS!
And that makes all the difference. It's one thing to know a hit, it's quite another to know the oeuvre, to have context. This is what delivers relatability.
This is why Trump is f*cked, he lacks relatability. And his lies detract from any credibility he may have once had, if ever.
That does not mean no one will vote for him, that just means the landscape has changed in eight years.
Eight years ago there was not as much in the landscape. Stars meant more than they do today. I saw online that Jimmy Fallon, Jon Hamm and Bradley Cooper were partying in the Hamptons. WHO CARES?
Gossip has been devalued. It's everywhere and means less. So you were here or there, what does that have to do with ME? Today it's all about the individual, who is a star of his own movie, who is leaving bread crumbs online. As for movie stars... We know they're many times married, far from intellectual, they can't even open a film anymore. Exactly why do we adore them? Should we adore them? Less than ever before.
And the musicians... Your songs were not written by you, you're hawking perfume, what does that have to do with me and my identity, you're just a poor imitation of a Kardashian, and no one in that family has ANY credibility. Sure, money, but money is not everything. Especially in this world of income inequality. You may not be rich, but you can troll anybody online, you can have impact on social media platforms.
But this almost never has anything to do with art.
Now if you try and fake the game people can tell. Harris knows Too Short from a few bars in this video: https://rb.gy/e8z61s You either know it or you don't.
So these clips are akin to Bill Clinton playing the sax on Arsenio. But back in 1992 Arsenio reached millions, and there were so few outlets available. The big was bigger.
Today you have to start small. Be everywhere and hope to grow.
But you only grow with authenticity.
There is train-wreck value, but it's got a very short shelf life. And in today's world you can be known by many today and still be broke tomorrow.
So Trump keeps playing the anti role, but Hillary Clinton is not running, the game has changed, there's a new duo in town. The only way to compete is to grow from the bottom up yourself. But Trump doesn't know how to do this, being born on third base. He thinks you can start at the top and stay there, fearful of losing his perch all the while, which is why he keeps talking about crowd size and ratings.
He cares, most people do not. Either they were there or not. All this hype about "biggest" is for the media, not the people.
And to succeed today, you've got to be for the people.
--
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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Facebook: https://t.ly/YJunO
YouTube: https://t.ly/vUlBg
I just saw this video today.
But it was launched twelve days ago on Kamala Harris's YouTube channel.
But it's also on Facebook and Stereogum and "Billboard"...
But it was only when Jake texted this to me that I found out about it.
Today your work is a time bomb. Do not expect instant knowledge and acceptance. People have too much else going on, too much input. And in order to really spread, you need a friend to tell you about it, otherwise it seems like hype.
But nobody likes this so nobody admits this.
The labels and the media like us to believe the entire world is waiting for the new work of Sabrina Carpenter or Post Malone or Taylor Swift when the truth is very few are. I'm not saying their audiences are insignificant, just that they do not cover everybody. We no longer live in a monoculture and the purveyors refuse to acknowledge this, because it's too confusing, and illustrates their lack of power.
So you've got to make something so good that people want to tell others about it.
Sure, you can try and short cut the process, by stunting. But the problem with a stunt, when you try and gain instant virality, is when it fails, it fails completely. Secondly, most people can tell when you're trying artificially for virality, and it leaves a bad taste in their mouth, meaning further down the line, even if you release something good, they won't spread the word about it, they're no longer on your team, they're out.
So there are two streams, the obvious and the good. Sometimes they intersect, but most times they do not.
Kill someone and it will be in the news for half a day.
Create a great track and it could literally take years to break, but it's waiting there, to be spread, each and every day of the year.
This is the opposite of the terrestrial radio paradigm. Where either it's a hit or a stiff. On or gone. Then again, tracks take ever longer to get on the radio chart, illustrating this long process of knowledge and acceptance.
But the bottom line is to grow beyond a hit into a career, people have to like you, you have to have credibility.
When Tim Walz talks about 8-tracks in his vehicles... You know that guy. He may not live for music, but he's been to shows, he's got the same bedrock references. Believe me, Springsteen and Seger were bigger in their era than anybody on the hit parade today. We were all working on our night moves, trying to lose those awkward teenage blues, with autumn now closing in.
When Kamala acknowledges Walz, says "okay," it doesn't ring wholly true. But when she starts to testify...it's from the heart, with knowledge. She's not pandering, SHE KNOWS!
And that makes all the difference. It's one thing to know a hit, it's quite another to know the oeuvre, to have context. This is what delivers relatability.
This is why Trump is f*cked, he lacks relatability. And his lies detract from any credibility he may have once had, if ever.
That does not mean no one will vote for him, that just means the landscape has changed in eight years.
Eight years ago there was not as much in the landscape. Stars meant more than they do today. I saw online that Jimmy Fallon, Jon Hamm and Bradley Cooper were partying in the Hamptons. WHO CARES?
Gossip has been devalued. It's everywhere and means less. So you were here or there, what does that have to do with ME? Today it's all about the individual, who is a star of his own movie, who is leaving bread crumbs online. As for movie stars... We know they're many times married, far from intellectual, they can't even open a film anymore. Exactly why do we adore them? Should we adore them? Less than ever before.
And the musicians... Your songs were not written by you, you're hawking perfume, what does that have to do with me and my identity, you're just a poor imitation of a Kardashian, and no one in that family has ANY credibility. Sure, money, but money is not everything. Especially in this world of income inequality. You may not be rich, but you can troll anybody online, you can have impact on social media platforms.
But this almost never has anything to do with art.
Now if you try and fake the game people can tell. Harris knows Too Short from a few bars in this video: https://rb.gy/e8z61s You either know it or you don't.
So these clips are akin to Bill Clinton playing the sax on Arsenio. But back in 1992 Arsenio reached millions, and there were so few outlets available. The big was bigger.
Today you have to start small. Be everywhere and hope to grow.
But you only grow with authenticity.
There is train-wreck value, but it's got a very short shelf life. And in today's world you can be known by many today and still be broke tomorrow.
So Trump keeps playing the anti role, but Hillary Clinton is not running, the game has changed, there's a new duo in town. The only way to compete is to grow from the bottom up yourself. But Trump doesn't know how to do this, being born on third base. He thinks you can start at the top and stay there, fearful of losing his perch all the while, which is why he keeps talking about crowd size and ratings.
He cares, most people do not. Either they were there or not. All this hype about "biggest" is for the media, not the people.
And to succeed today, you've got to be for the people.
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The Nate Silver Book-1
"On the Edge - The Art of Risking Everything": https://rb.gy/gauj90
No one is going to read this. It's the new "A Brief History of Time," you know, the Steven Hawking book everybody bought in the eighties and then found out it was too dense to comprehend, never mind put in the time and effort to make headway.
The bottom line is Nate Silver loves to play poker. And that's what the first third of this book is all about. If you can get over that hump, you find analyses of Silicon Valley, venture capital, crypto, even an analysis of Vegas itself, but you start off with poker.
I don't play poker. I don't even know how to play poker. Cards are not my thing. And to win at poker you've got to bluff, and that's the antithesis of who I am, I'm straight up and straightforward 24/7, deviousness is not in my personality. I'll say what no one else will, but there's no hidden agenda.
But what stuns me about "On the Edge" is how the media, along with Nate himself, have been hyping this book to high heaven, and no one talks about actually reading it. I mean if you're a poker afficionado, go for it, you'll be in heaven. But if you're looking for...
Exactly what?
The bottom line is Silver wanted to write a book about poker, and then imposed a framework upon it, coming up with the concept of the River and the Village, two monikers that do not really convey what these groups are about.
But it's really pretty simple. The risk takers and the establishment. The east coast and the west.
I've never seen such a takedown of the east coast academic establishment in a book by someone with education and status who has a name in popular culture.
Like the woman who invented mRNA vaccines, ultimately winning the Nobel Prize. She lost her gig at the big university, she had to sleep in her lab to avoid getting deported, no one believed in her, no one supported her, and it took her a damn long time to get to the destination.
Silver makes the point that institutions just want to get the next grant, they're much less interested in breakthroughs.
But his skewering of the high and mighty, the east coast educated elite, makes me so proud I escaped, moved to Los Angeles, which everybody who is not here decries.
It's about the freedom. Not Elon Musk's b.s. freedom of speech, but the freedom to be yourself, to not conform, to have ideas outside the mainstream.
So that's the battle, between the east coast elites and the west coast techies who are revolutionizing the world.
Now I'm not down with the techies who want to cast off regulations, who want to work completely unfettered, who lobbied Kamala Harris to get rid of Lina Khan.
But I'm really not down with the so-called Village, where the goal is to move up the ladder in D.C., from campaign worker to lobbyist to...a cushy life.
Those on the west coast want to change the world.
Those on the east coast want the system to never change, while they use their blue chip upbringings to start in the middle and make their way to the top.
But first you have to start with poker.
Huh?
One thing about "On the Edge," you will never ever drop a penny in Vegas ever again. At least if you read it. The odds are stacked against you. Literally. You can't win. Maybe momentarily, but definitely not in the long run.
As for those sports books, all that online gambling you read about?
Bottom line, if you're any good, they cut you off. They limit your bets. So you can't get rich.
As for making a living playing poker... Good luck. It's like being a touring golf pro, or a traveling musician, the costs are insane, but in poker there's no guaranteed income whatsoever.
Read this book and you'll want to live a straight life. Like the poker star who left the game to work at Bridgewater.
And if you don't know what that is...
Ain't that America.
Almost all information is hiding in plain sight. All you've got to do is read. But that's too tough for most people.
Wow, that sounds like a put-down. But my ultimate point here is if you see "On the Edge" as a self-help book, you've got it all wrong. You're born with the amount of risk you're willing to take. Maybe influenced by your upbringing. You can't change along the way, you'll get too anxious.
And that's one reason the record business is moribund. There's no risk involved. Everybody's on salary, looking to get their bonus. The business was started by indies, whether it be Ahmet at Atlantic or Jac Holzman at Elektra. One of Jac's big breakthroughs was budget classical, i.e. the Nonesuch label. The majors missed this completely. What are the majors doing now?
The reason to read "On the Edge" is to learn about this world you're not a part of.
And if you're part of this world, you'll learn almost nothing new.
But you've got to wade through all the poker b.s. first.
Which I think most people are unwilling to do.
Could you sit in the library reading and comprehending a bunch of math gobbledygook in college? Well, think about doing it for fun.
Meanwhile, "On the Edge" is being purveyed as a mainstream book.
There are obvious truths in "On the Edge," how crypto is being lifted up by the bros left out of the mainstream world, speculators who could never get a gig at the bank, the same people cheering Musk and Trump on on X. It's obvious if you're paying attention, but even big media misses this.
But Silver lays it out. Assuming you can wade through.
This is fascinating to me. It's the Emperor's New Clothes. Since it's Nate Silver, since he's the foremost election prognosticator, he's getting a complete pass in the media. He's on all these podcasts...did these hosts bother to read the book? I almost guarantee you not. Because it's a schlepp, to a great degree in the wilderness, with very few cups of water. And it's very in-depth, as well as long.
This is the modern world. Tons of people talking about that which they know nothing about while building up that which is unfit for mainstream consumption.
Which is analogous to the music business selling tripe that everybody says is great.
Believe me, we used to have risk-takers in the music business, on the creative side especially. But that required being broke and not complaining about the money, waiting for the audience to catch up with you.
No one's doing this anymore. The first thing they want is to get paid.
They're inhabitants of the Village, and they're not going anywhere.
Hell, one man revolutionized music distribution, Daniel Ek. And became a billionaire in the process. And this is what musicians hate most about him, how rich he got. But he probably struggled more than you do. You're looking at the end result, not the process.
You'll ask yourself all these questions if you read "On the Edge."
But, once again, first you have to wade through the poker section. And the poker analogies that pop up throughout the book.
Are you ready for that?
I believe very few are.
--
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--
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-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
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No one is going to read this. It's the new "A Brief History of Time," you know, the Steven Hawking book everybody bought in the eighties and then found out it was too dense to comprehend, never mind put in the time and effort to make headway.
The bottom line is Nate Silver loves to play poker. And that's what the first third of this book is all about. If you can get over that hump, you find analyses of Silicon Valley, venture capital, crypto, even an analysis of Vegas itself, but you start off with poker.
I don't play poker. I don't even know how to play poker. Cards are not my thing. And to win at poker you've got to bluff, and that's the antithesis of who I am, I'm straight up and straightforward 24/7, deviousness is not in my personality. I'll say what no one else will, but there's no hidden agenda.
But what stuns me about "On the Edge" is how the media, along with Nate himself, have been hyping this book to high heaven, and no one talks about actually reading it. I mean if you're a poker afficionado, go for it, you'll be in heaven. But if you're looking for...
Exactly what?
The bottom line is Silver wanted to write a book about poker, and then imposed a framework upon it, coming up with the concept of the River and the Village, two monikers that do not really convey what these groups are about.
But it's really pretty simple. The risk takers and the establishment. The east coast and the west.
I've never seen such a takedown of the east coast academic establishment in a book by someone with education and status who has a name in popular culture.
Like the woman who invented mRNA vaccines, ultimately winning the Nobel Prize. She lost her gig at the big university, she had to sleep in her lab to avoid getting deported, no one believed in her, no one supported her, and it took her a damn long time to get to the destination.
Silver makes the point that institutions just want to get the next grant, they're much less interested in breakthroughs.
But his skewering of the high and mighty, the east coast educated elite, makes me so proud I escaped, moved to Los Angeles, which everybody who is not here decries.
It's about the freedom. Not Elon Musk's b.s. freedom of speech, but the freedom to be yourself, to not conform, to have ideas outside the mainstream.
So that's the battle, between the east coast elites and the west coast techies who are revolutionizing the world.
Now I'm not down with the techies who want to cast off regulations, who want to work completely unfettered, who lobbied Kamala Harris to get rid of Lina Khan.
But I'm really not down with the so-called Village, where the goal is to move up the ladder in D.C., from campaign worker to lobbyist to...a cushy life.
Those on the west coast want to change the world.
Those on the east coast want the system to never change, while they use their blue chip upbringings to start in the middle and make their way to the top.
But first you have to start with poker.
Huh?
One thing about "On the Edge," you will never ever drop a penny in Vegas ever again. At least if you read it. The odds are stacked against you. Literally. You can't win. Maybe momentarily, but definitely not in the long run.
As for those sports books, all that online gambling you read about?
Bottom line, if you're any good, they cut you off. They limit your bets. So you can't get rich.
As for making a living playing poker... Good luck. It's like being a touring golf pro, or a traveling musician, the costs are insane, but in poker there's no guaranteed income whatsoever.
Read this book and you'll want to live a straight life. Like the poker star who left the game to work at Bridgewater.
And if you don't know what that is...
Ain't that America.
Almost all information is hiding in plain sight. All you've got to do is read. But that's too tough for most people.
Wow, that sounds like a put-down. But my ultimate point here is if you see "On the Edge" as a self-help book, you've got it all wrong. You're born with the amount of risk you're willing to take. Maybe influenced by your upbringing. You can't change along the way, you'll get too anxious.
And that's one reason the record business is moribund. There's no risk involved. Everybody's on salary, looking to get their bonus. The business was started by indies, whether it be Ahmet at Atlantic or Jac Holzman at Elektra. One of Jac's big breakthroughs was budget classical, i.e. the Nonesuch label. The majors missed this completely. What are the majors doing now?
The reason to read "On the Edge" is to learn about this world you're not a part of.
And if you're part of this world, you'll learn almost nothing new.
But you've got to wade through all the poker b.s. first.
Which I think most people are unwilling to do.
Could you sit in the library reading and comprehending a bunch of math gobbledygook in college? Well, think about doing it for fun.
Meanwhile, "On the Edge" is being purveyed as a mainstream book.
There are obvious truths in "On the Edge," how crypto is being lifted up by the bros left out of the mainstream world, speculators who could never get a gig at the bank, the same people cheering Musk and Trump on on X. It's obvious if you're paying attention, but even big media misses this.
But Silver lays it out. Assuming you can wade through.
This is fascinating to me. It's the Emperor's New Clothes. Since it's Nate Silver, since he's the foremost election prognosticator, he's getting a complete pass in the media. He's on all these podcasts...did these hosts bother to read the book? I almost guarantee you not. Because it's a schlepp, to a great degree in the wilderness, with very few cups of water. And it's very in-depth, as well as long.
This is the modern world. Tons of people talking about that which they know nothing about while building up that which is unfit for mainstream consumption.
Which is analogous to the music business selling tripe that everybody says is great.
Believe me, we used to have risk-takers in the music business, on the creative side especially. But that required being broke and not complaining about the money, waiting for the audience to catch up with you.
No one's doing this anymore. The first thing they want is to get paid.
They're inhabitants of the Village, and they're not going anywhere.
Hell, one man revolutionized music distribution, Daniel Ek. And became a billionaire in the process. And this is what musicians hate most about him, how rich he got. But he probably struggled more than you do. You're looking at the end result, not the process.
You'll ask yourself all these questions if you read "On the Edge."
But, once again, first you have to wade through the poker section. And the poker analogies that pop up throughout the book.
Are you ready for that?
I believe very few are.
--
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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--
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Monday, 26 August 2024
C.B. Strike
Trailer: https://rb.gy/30b01c
This series gets better and better.
I've never read a complete sentence of "Harry Potter." And although I knew J.K. Rowling wrote genre books under a pseudonym, the reason I watched this series was because it had great RottenTomatoes ratings, 83/93. And you know those exceed my threshold.
Now "C.B. Strike," or just "Strike" if you're in the U.K., is not new. It premiered on Cinemax back in 2018, and I even get that channel, I might have heard the name, but I guess I've become suspicious of pay cable, and I refuse to watch anything week by week.
But doing research I came across "C.B. Strike," which is now on Max, and I'm glad I did.
Cormoran Strike is the son of a famous musician and a supergroupie. He dropped out of Oxbridge to go to war, wherein he got half his leg blown off, and after returning and experiencing an up and down relationship with a pedigreed woman, he breaks free and dedicates all his energy to his P.I. business.
As for Robin... She just takes a job working in Strike's office as a temp, but she's got a feel for it, and she wants to stick with it, even though the pay is sh*t.
Now Robin is engaged to a putz playing the traditional game. He's slick and monied, but controlling. And I guess this all comes down to whether you follow your dream or do what is expected of you or just follow the money. "C.B. Strike" is a great advertisement for following your passion.
So there are multiple seasons of "C.B. Strike" and if you look them up online or see them in your Max app, they're different.
Let's just stay with the Max app.
The first season, shot in 2018, is seven episodes long and is three different stories, corresponding to three different J.K. Rowling/Robert Galbraith books.
And what you find in the first seven episodes is that the stories are wrapped up pretty quickly, faster than you'd want them to be. Cormoran will have a brain fart, and voila!, he figures it all out.
But the second and third seasons, each made up of four episodes covering a single story each, are superior.
This is one of the few series that gets better as it goes along.
If you watch something with multiple seasons...if you like the first set of episodes, hang in there, oftentimes there's a learning process and the producers self-correct the next time around.
Really, the third season is excellent. It does have a bit too much explanation as opposed to action at the end, but you're intrigued the whole time.
Now the suspects in these cases change. But you don't feel ripped-off by dead ends, and it's not a complete twist who did it, you can understand it. But you're guessing, and you enjoy it.
But the best part of the series is the two leads, Tom Burke as Cormoran Blue Strike and Holliday Grainger as Robin Venetia Ellacott.
Burke/Strike almost never raises his voice. It's not that he's not intense, it's not that he doesn't care, but he speaks softly and it's so affecting. We're used to bombastic leads. With thousand watt personalities. That is not Burke/Strike.
As for Robin... Sure, she's beautiful, but to a great degree she plays against type. She's willing to get her hands dirty, to go for it.
And of course there's sexual tension. Will they or won't they. I'll let you watch the series and find out for yourself.
Also, "C.B. Strike" is set in an autumn-like U.K. that generates a vibe in the viewer, that adds gravitas. And when you see the modern people against the old buildings... It shows how everybody is just passing through.
Yes, "C.B. Strike" is entertainment. But truly, it's a cut above. I don't want to say it's the best series I've ever seen, but like Cliff said, I'm down to seeds and stems.
And if you've watched the greats, like "The Bureau," never mind "Spiral," " A French Village," "Borgen" and "Happy Valley," you should check out "C.B. Strike."
Once again, stick with it, it gets better.
Unlike the horrific Max app which qualifies as a beta under Silicon Valley standards. How can Zaslav make all that money while he runs the company into the ground? It's offensive, but ain't that America, and you and me have no power.
--
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--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
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This series gets better and better.
I've never read a complete sentence of "Harry Potter." And although I knew J.K. Rowling wrote genre books under a pseudonym, the reason I watched this series was because it had great RottenTomatoes ratings, 83/93. And you know those exceed my threshold.
Now "C.B. Strike," or just "Strike" if you're in the U.K., is not new. It premiered on Cinemax back in 2018, and I even get that channel, I might have heard the name, but I guess I've become suspicious of pay cable, and I refuse to watch anything week by week.
But doing research I came across "C.B. Strike," which is now on Max, and I'm glad I did.
Cormoran Strike is the son of a famous musician and a supergroupie. He dropped out of Oxbridge to go to war, wherein he got half his leg blown off, and after returning and experiencing an up and down relationship with a pedigreed woman, he breaks free and dedicates all his energy to his P.I. business.
As for Robin... She just takes a job working in Strike's office as a temp, but she's got a feel for it, and she wants to stick with it, even though the pay is sh*t.
Now Robin is engaged to a putz playing the traditional game. He's slick and monied, but controlling. And I guess this all comes down to whether you follow your dream or do what is expected of you or just follow the money. "C.B. Strike" is a great advertisement for following your passion.
So there are multiple seasons of "C.B. Strike" and if you look them up online or see them in your Max app, they're different.
Let's just stay with the Max app.
The first season, shot in 2018, is seven episodes long and is three different stories, corresponding to three different J.K. Rowling/Robert Galbraith books.
And what you find in the first seven episodes is that the stories are wrapped up pretty quickly, faster than you'd want them to be. Cormoran will have a brain fart, and voila!, he figures it all out.
But the second and third seasons, each made up of four episodes covering a single story each, are superior.
This is one of the few series that gets better as it goes along.
If you watch something with multiple seasons...if you like the first set of episodes, hang in there, oftentimes there's a learning process and the producers self-correct the next time around.
Really, the third season is excellent. It does have a bit too much explanation as opposed to action at the end, but you're intrigued the whole time.
Now the suspects in these cases change. But you don't feel ripped-off by dead ends, and it's not a complete twist who did it, you can understand it. But you're guessing, and you enjoy it.
But the best part of the series is the two leads, Tom Burke as Cormoran Blue Strike and Holliday Grainger as Robin Venetia Ellacott.
Burke/Strike almost never raises his voice. It's not that he's not intense, it's not that he doesn't care, but he speaks softly and it's so affecting. We're used to bombastic leads. With thousand watt personalities. That is not Burke/Strike.
As for Robin... Sure, she's beautiful, but to a great degree she plays against type. She's willing to get her hands dirty, to go for it.
And of course there's sexual tension. Will they or won't they. I'll let you watch the series and find out for yourself.
Also, "C.B. Strike" is set in an autumn-like U.K. that generates a vibe in the viewer, that adds gravitas. And when you see the modern people against the old buildings... It shows how everybody is just passing through.
Yes, "C.B. Strike" is entertainment. But truly, it's a cut above. I don't want to say it's the best series I've ever seen, but like Cliff said, I'm down to seeds and stems.
And if you've watched the greats, like "The Bureau," never mind "Spiral," " A French Village," "Borgen" and "Happy Valley," you should check out "C.B. Strike."
Once again, stick with it, it gets better.
Unlike the horrific Max app which qualifies as a beta under Silicon Valley standards. How can Zaslav make all that money while he runs the company into the ground? It's offensive, but ain't that America, and you and me have no power.
--
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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Think Like A VC
You have to sign more acts in more genres and stay with them for many years.
That is the only way for the major labels to maintain market share.
They just aren't making enough bets. They're still mired in MTV thinking. I.e. there are a handful of universal hits and you want to control them.
No, there are more hits in more genres than ever before and if you're just skimming from the top, you're missing out on the moonshots.
In other words, you have to forgo the data and look at the music.
And it hasn't been this way for a very long time.
The model is clearly established. Warner/Reprise of the sixties and seventies. The labels themselves had gravitas. Nothing was thrown against the wall. There was a reason every act was signed, and the label stood behind them for years, usually five albums. Did all of them break through? Of course not, but a good number of them were profitable, and it was nearly impossible to predict which ones would blow up.
Contrary to popular belief, most VC funded projects do not fail. They just do not return at 10x, never mind 1000x. 2x and 3x are still winners, but not enough to drive the entire business. Which is the same at a record label, you don't expect everything to be giant, but hopefully most stuff doesn't fail.
VCs invest in new ideas. They look to the future. They go where no one else has. To own a vertical.
I get why majors want hits, because in the streaming era those are the records that pay. But so many of those acts have no career, they can't tour and they don't last. And therefore you make money once and then...
Never mind opportunity cost. If you're investing in the next me-too record, you can't invest in what is great thereafter.
The biggest music business story of the past few years is Zach Bryan. NO ONE would have predicted that he would sell out stadiums so soon. Bryan was not selling what anybody else was, nothing in the Spotify Top 50 sounded like Bryan, so when you heard his music it stood out. Furthermore, like Warner/Reprise of yore, Bryan is credible. Won't do anything for a buck. It's all about the music and the relationship between the fan and the act.
Now the music business blew up in the sixties because of FM radio. Owners could no longer simulcast on FM what they were airing on AM. This gave a window to all sorts of alternatives, from Cream to Wild Man Fischer.
What has the internet wrought?
Streaming. Anybody can play.
And that's very important to acknowledge.
The paradigm of yore was to spend a ton of money getting it right, because if you did cash rained down. Now you can't spend that much. Furthermore, costs are down. So the script has flipped to capturing lightning in a bottle. To have many writers and remixers is to miss the point. That's an old paradigm.
As for streaming itself, it pays handsomely to the victors, but the profits don't come close to those of the CD era, when product was expensive and royalties were low.
Furthermore, marketing costs have decreased. You can reach the public for free. And the old ways of marketing deliver de minimis results. Print means almost nothing, as does TV. Terrestrial radio means more, but far less than it used to, and not only is it decreasing in mindshare, the young, impressionable audience does not listen to it. (To argue with me here is to miss the point, if you're defending the past, you're dying, you just don't know yet.)
Used to be A&R people found acts with value and invested in making the record.
But then the script flipped to the Doug Morris model. Throw everything against the wall and see if it sticks. I.e. get it on the radio and see if it sells.
That's history too.
Everything grows from the bottom up these days, just like in the late sixties. Word of mouth is everything. The public is hungry for quality product.
But all we get is Sabrina Carpenter.
If I read one more rave review about her new album...
This is pop music from a Disney character. The hard core audience that sustains this business is not interested in her whatsoever. What you've got here is a famous name blown up by the machine. Sure, she might have a hit, but does anybody BELIEVE in Sabrina Carpenter? Only the brain dead.
And there's a business in brain dead. But Warner/Reprise rarely invested in it. Because it was all about timing, knowing when to invest and when to fold in a very short period of time.
Look at it this way... Do you know of any Top Forty acts from the sixties and seventies selling out stadiums?
Well, the Eagles have no problem, and they're not the only ones.
Never mind seemingly every rocker of the eighties, from Def Leppard to Green Day to Motley Crue.
But what have we got in the Spotify Top 50? Brands. With the focus on the external. Where they've been, what they're selling, the music is just a vehicle to make bank. Furthermore, everybody sells out, and as soon as you sell out you've lost credibility. Sure, social media influencers sell out, but that's a different business. Instead of owning its uniqueness, music is trying to be a commodity like everything else, to its detriment.
And sure, Taylor Swift is selling out stadiums, but this is not equivalent to the British Invasion, where the Beatles were followed by the Stones, the Hollies, Herman's Hermits, Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Dave Clark 5, the list is endless.
Actually, Hannah Gadsby had it right in yesterday's "New York Times." She called Taylor Swift "'a can of Coke masquerading as a sorority cult.'"
Genius, and accurate.
But you can't say anything negative about Swift, then you're a hater.
But come on, all this hoopla, is it really about Swift's music?
Swift hasn't made anything that goes straight to the heart since her first two albums written with Liz Rose. Working with the producer du jour and selling multiple versions of vinyl to remain number one? That's commerce, not art.
And other than the money... Does anybody who made their bones in this business in the sixties, seventies or eighties care?
No.
Not to mention that even Swift made it in a different era. Sans the success in country, there's no success in pop.
And this isn't to rain on Swift's parade, but to illustrate how broad the marketplace is, how much opportunity there is elsewhere.
We don't even have a reasonable Swift imitator, because it's a dead end. There's no movement here. But all the news is dominated by her.
Yeah, she wrote a song about me, after I wrote how her appearance on the Grammys would kill her career. But I was wrong. I was playing by the old rules, the new rules are your dedicated fans will keep you alive no matter what, as long as you are serving them. But how many people are dedicated fans? How many people can even sing two Swift songs? Phish sells out arenas, and they're far from ubiquitous.
The whole business needs a rethink. But the three heads of the major labels are out of touch. At Universal and Sony we've got men stuck in the eighties and nineties. It's all about worldwide hits. But that's no longer the game. As for Warner... You've got a guy who knows nothing about music lording it over those who do.
The math in music comes AFTER the success, not before. You can count streams, but if you're all about the data going in, then you're not about the music.
Opportunity is rampant for indies. Now is the time to make the music you want to, that doesn't fit in the Spotify Top 50 pigeonhole. The public is hungry for the new, the different and the credible.
You only have to look at the movie business for example. By playing it safe, releasing less product in specific genres, the movie business has become decimated. You're not going to get a "Squid Game" in the movie business. You'll get that on streaming because Netflix realizes we all have different tastes.
I mean who even wants to listen to the Spotify Top 50?
Twenty acts for ten years. Who is willing to take that plunge? NOBODY!
But that's the way it used to be, that's what built this business into the juggernaut it is. But instead, the majors are wearing blinders.
There will be change. We can't go for this long with the old genres continuing to dominate.
Also, nobody with brains wants to be a musician, the odds are long and the pay ain't great. You can make more at a bank, in many jobs. So we don't get the best and the brightest.
But if we show the POWER of music... Everybody wants power. To influence the culture. Used to be the acts were bigger than the politicians, but no more. But they can be again.
All bets are off. We're open to all comers. My girlfriend talked about buying one meat ball at Whole Foods today. She was referencing the Ry Cooder cover of the Singer/Zaret song on his first album. This is culture. I know this song by heart. Took years for Ry Cooder to break through. But he's still got a career. Yesterday's flavor of the moment? HISTORY!
P.S. Hannah Gadsby was about to give up and then she threw the long ball and did a special that included art history, that people weren't even sure was comedy, and now she's a cultural icon. And instead of boasting, she's expressing anxiety about her career. And talking about ecology with throwaway toys. This is what the majors used to sell, not anymore.
"'Hannah Gadsby: Woof' Review: A Comic's Pet Themes - In a soul-baring new show at the Edinburgh Fringe, the Australian stand-up leans once again into fears, anxieties and mental health worries."
Free link: https://rb.gy/yyrj6q
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That is the only way for the major labels to maintain market share.
They just aren't making enough bets. They're still mired in MTV thinking. I.e. there are a handful of universal hits and you want to control them.
No, there are more hits in more genres than ever before and if you're just skimming from the top, you're missing out on the moonshots.
In other words, you have to forgo the data and look at the music.
And it hasn't been this way for a very long time.
The model is clearly established. Warner/Reprise of the sixties and seventies. The labels themselves had gravitas. Nothing was thrown against the wall. There was a reason every act was signed, and the label stood behind them for years, usually five albums. Did all of them break through? Of course not, but a good number of them were profitable, and it was nearly impossible to predict which ones would blow up.
Contrary to popular belief, most VC funded projects do not fail. They just do not return at 10x, never mind 1000x. 2x and 3x are still winners, but not enough to drive the entire business. Which is the same at a record label, you don't expect everything to be giant, but hopefully most stuff doesn't fail.
VCs invest in new ideas. They look to the future. They go where no one else has. To own a vertical.
I get why majors want hits, because in the streaming era those are the records that pay. But so many of those acts have no career, they can't tour and they don't last. And therefore you make money once and then...
Never mind opportunity cost. If you're investing in the next me-too record, you can't invest in what is great thereafter.
The biggest music business story of the past few years is Zach Bryan. NO ONE would have predicted that he would sell out stadiums so soon. Bryan was not selling what anybody else was, nothing in the Spotify Top 50 sounded like Bryan, so when you heard his music it stood out. Furthermore, like Warner/Reprise of yore, Bryan is credible. Won't do anything for a buck. It's all about the music and the relationship between the fan and the act.
Now the music business blew up in the sixties because of FM radio. Owners could no longer simulcast on FM what they were airing on AM. This gave a window to all sorts of alternatives, from Cream to Wild Man Fischer.
What has the internet wrought?
Streaming. Anybody can play.
And that's very important to acknowledge.
The paradigm of yore was to spend a ton of money getting it right, because if you did cash rained down. Now you can't spend that much. Furthermore, costs are down. So the script has flipped to capturing lightning in a bottle. To have many writers and remixers is to miss the point. That's an old paradigm.
As for streaming itself, it pays handsomely to the victors, but the profits don't come close to those of the CD era, when product was expensive and royalties were low.
Furthermore, marketing costs have decreased. You can reach the public for free. And the old ways of marketing deliver de minimis results. Print means almost nothing, as does TV. Terrestrial radio means more, but far less than it used to, and not only is it decreasing in mindshare, the young, impressionable audience does not listen to it. (To argue with me here is to miss the point, if you're defending the past, you're dying, you just don't know yet.)
Used to be A&R people found acts with value and invested in making the record.
But then the script flipped to the Doug Morris model. Throw everything against the wall and see if it sticks. I.e. get it on the radio and see if it sells.
That's history too.
Everything grows from the bottom up these days, just like in the late sixties. Word of mouth is everything. The public is hungry for quality product.
But all we get is Sabrina Carpenter.
If I read one more rave review about her new album...
This is pop music from a Disney character. The hard core audience that sustains this business is not interested in her whatsoever. What you've got here is a famous name blown up by the machine. Sure, she might have a hit, but does anybody BELIEVE in Sabrina Carpenter? Only the brain dead.
And there's a business in brain dead. But Warner/Reprise rarely invested in it. Because it was all about timing, knowing when to invest and when to fold in a very short period of time.
Look at it this way... Do you know of any Top Forty acts from the sixties and seventies selling out stadiums?
Well, the Eagles have no problem, and they're not the only ones.
Never mind seemingly every rocker of the eighties, from Def Leppard to Green Day to Motley Crue.
But what have we got in the Spotify Top 50? Brands. With the focus on the external. Where they've been, what they're selling, the music is just a vehicle to make bank. Furthermore, everybody sells out, and as soon as you sell out you've lost credibility. Sure, social media influencers sell out, but that's a different business. Instead of owning its uniqueness, music is trying to be a commodity like everything else, to its detriment.
And sure, Taylor Swift is selling out stadiums, but this is not equivalent to the British Invasion, where the Beatles were followed by the Stones, the Hollies, Herman's Hermits, Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Dave Clark 5, the list is endless.
Actually, Hannah Gadsby had it right in yesterday's "New York Times." She called Taylor Swift "'a can of Coke masquerading as a sorority cult.'"
Genius, and accurate.
But you can't say anything negative about Swift, then you're a hater.
But come on, all this hoopla, is it really about Swift's music?
Swift hasn't made anything that goes straight to the heart since her first two albums written with Liz Rose. Working with the producer du jour and selling multiple versions of vinyl to remain number one? That's commerce, not art.
And other than the money... Does anybody who made their bones in this business in the sixties, seventies or eighties care?
No.
Not to mention that even Swift made it in a different era. Sans the success in country, there's no success in pop.
And this isn't to rain on Swift's parade, but to illustrate how broad the marketplace is, how much opportunity there is elsewhere.
We don't even have a reasonable Swift imitator, because it's a dead end. There's no movement here. But all the news is dominated by her.
Yeah, she wrote a song about me, after I wrote how her appearance on the Grammys would kill her career. But I was wrong. I was playing by the old rules, the new rules are your dedicated fans will keep you alive no matter what, as long as you are serving them. But how many people are dedicated fans? How many people can even sing two Swift songs? Phish sells out arenas, and they're far from ubiquitous.
The whole business needs a rethink. But the three heads of the major labels are out of touch. At Universal and Sony we've got men stuck in the eighties and nineties. It's all about worldwide hits. But that's no longer the game. As for Warner... You've got a guy who knows nothing about music lording it over those who do.
The math in music comes AFTER the success, not before. You can count streams, but if you're all about the data going in, then you're not about the music.
Opportunity is rampant for indies. Now is the time to make the music you want to, that doesn't fit in the Spotify Top 50 pigeonhole. The public is hungry for the new, the different and the credible.
You only have to look at the movie business for example. By playing it safe, releasing less product in specific genres, the movie business has become decimated. You're not going to get a "Squid Game" in the movie business. You'll get that on streaming because Netflix realizes we all have different tastes.
I mean who even wants to listen to the Spotify Top 50?
Twenty acts for ten years. Who is willing to take that plunge? NOBODY!
But that's the way it used to be, that's what built this business into the juggernaut it is. But instead, the majors are wearing blinders.
There will be change. We can't go for this long with the old genres continuing to dominate.
Also, nobody with brains wants to be a musician, the odds are long and the pay ain't great. You can make more at a bank, in many jobs. So we don't get the best and the brightest.
But if we show the POWER of music... Everybody wants power. To influence the culture. Used to be the acts were bigger than the politicians, but no more. But they can be again.
All bets are off. We're open to all comers. My girlfriend talked about buying one meat ball at Whole Foods today. She was referencing the Ry Cooder cover of the Singer/Zaret song on his first album. This is culture. I know this song by heart. Took years for Ry Cooder to break through. But he's still got a career. Yesterday's flavor of the moment? HISTORY!
P.S. Hannah Gadsby was about to give up and then she threw the long ball and did a special that included art history, that people weren't even sure was comedy, and now she's a cultural icon. And instead of boasting, she's expressing anxiety about her career. And talking about ecology with throwaway toys. This is what the majors used to sell, not anymore.
"'Hannah Gadsby: Woof' Review: A Comic's Pet Themes - In a soul-baring new show at the Edinburgh Fringe, the Australian stand-up leans once again into fears, anxieties and mental health worries."
Free link: https://rb.gy/yyrj6q
--
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
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