What is their best album?
This is a live episode, call in with your take.
Tune in Saturday April 26th 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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Friday, 25 April 2025
Thursday, 24 April 2025
The Diamond Heist
Netflix trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYu1SPrakXA
I really wanted to write about "The Eastern Gate," but at the end it disappointed me.
I love a visceral series. Something dark and edgy as opposed to bright and in your face. Something that draws you into its world and doesn't let go.
And that's how "The Eastern Gate" was in the beginning.
And it's only six episodes long.
So what we've got here is a Polish spy show. You see there's a strip of land keeping the Russians from Poland and if it's compromised, so are they. Yes, this is a timely show, considering what is going on in Ukraine. People don't realize how close these countries are. Like the next state over.
The star is Lena Góra as Ewa. Don't worry, I haven't heard of her either. But the way she quietly stares... You can see the meaning, on the other hand she's like an automaton, trained by the government to do a job.
And "The Eastern Gate" is really pretty good, but it just doesn't sustain at this level. However, the youthful idealism of Ewa's nephew, the dedication to the cause of Ewa and the ultimate duplicity resonate. This show is made at a high level, it's not popular dreck. It's on MAX and you can check out the trailer here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxoSpSauqmk
As for "The Diamond Heist"... It's so new that it doesn't have a RottenTomatoes rating yet. But there's a lot of buzz, and it was in the Netflix Top Ten and...
Maybe you're aware of it.
What we've got here is a documentary. But it plays like a movie, as in are these really the people? They've got the re-enactments of network news magazine shows, but...
You're still riveted.
On one hand it's cheesy, on another hand you're focused, because you want to see how it plays out.
What causes someone to become a robber? How are you brought up, where do you turn?
Lee Wenham is the star. Is this actually the guy who participated in the plan? Yes, it is. Which is brain-wrenching. Then again, the robbery was twenty five years ago. Yes, that's how distant the millennium was. There are people of age having babies who were born in this century. They're on OnlyFans. And if that doesn't make you feel old...
So in reality we've got a somewhat dry telling of the story, but it's jazzed up with Guy Ritchie production styles. He's not the director, just the executive producer, but the headline fonts, the juxtapositions, the brassiness, is straight of of his movies. And the music keeps it all humming, because on some level this is a sort of dry, straightforward story.
And some of the real people, like the reporter, seem straight out of "Inside Edition." And even the cop from the Flying Squad... You almost don't believe it's him. Maybe that's because usually they get an actor to punch up the character, someone much more attractive and dynamic... But both the reporter and the cop are actually pretty good-looking.
You're constantly guessing, is this real or not?
And why haven't I ever heard of this story?
And there are only three episodes, each less than hour, and if you start you have to watch until the very end, otherwise don't even begin. Yes, you learn things...
But I wouldn't trust one of these guys to be my partner. These are not the best and the brightest, the sharpest tools in the shed. But this is what they do, rob.
But the funny thing is the amount at stake is what a banker can make in a year, sometimes a multiple of that. That's the world we live in, where there's a great divide between the haves and have-nots. A banker would like the money, but he'd need more to fund his lifestyle, whereas these robbers want to retire on the spoils and live the good life.
This is not a satire like "Money Heist." Then again, that's fiction and this is real. But is it really real?
Once again, I wouldn't put "The Diamond Heist" at the top of your list, then again, I'm constantly stunned at the crap people watch, and by those standards, it's pretty good.
The whiz-bang elevates the story. And who isn't interested in a good robbery?
And even more in a good spy story?
Then again, most spy stories are now cartoons, like James Bond. But there really are spies and there really are robbers. Here are two tales.
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I really wanted to write about "The Eastern Gate," but at the end it disappointed me.
I love a visceral series. Something dark and edgy as opposed to bright and in your face. Something that draws you into its world and doesn't let go.
And that's how "The Eastern Gate" was in the beginning.
And it's only six episodes long.
So what we've got here is a Polish spy show. You see there's a strip of land keeping the Russians from Poland and if it's compromised, so are they. Yes, this is a timely show, considering what is going on in Ukraine. People don't realize how close these countries are. Like the next state over.
The star is Lena Góra as Ewa. Don't worry, I haven't heard of her either. But the way she quietly stares... You can see the meaning, on the other hand she's like an automaton, trained by the government to do a job.
And "The Eastern Gate" is really pretty good, but it just doesn't sustain at this level. However, the youthful idealism of Ewa's nephew, the dedication to the cause of Ewa and the ultimate duplicity resonate. This show is made at a high level, it's not popular dreck. It's on MAX and you can check out the trailer here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxoSpSauqmk
As for "The Diamond Heist"... It's so new that it doesn't have a RottenTomatoes rating yet. But there's a lot of buzz, and it was in the Netflix Top Ten and...
Maybe you're aware of it.
What we've got here is a documentary. But it plays like a movie, as in are these really the people? They've got the re-enactments of network news magazine shows, but...
You're still riveted.
On one hand it's cheesy, on another hand you're focused, because you want to see how it plays out.
What causes someone to become a robber? How are you brought up, where do you turn?
Lee Wenham is the star. Is this actually the guy who participated in the plan? Yes, it is. Which is brain-wrenching. Then again, the robbery was twenty five years ago. Yes, that's how distant the millennium was. There are people of age having babies who were born in this century. They're on OnlyFans. And if that doesn't make you feel old...
So in reality we've got a somewhat dry telling of the story, but it's jazzed up with Guy Ritchie production styles. He's not the director, just the executive producer, but the headline fonts, the juxtapositions, the brassiness, is straight of of his movies. And the music keeps it all humming, because on some level this is a sort of dry, straightforward story.
And some of the real people, like the reporter, seem straight out of "Inside Edition." And even the cop from the Flying Squad... You almost don't believe it's him. Maybe that's because usually they get an actor to punch up the character, someone much more attractive and dynamic... But both the reporter and the cop are actually pretty good-looking.
You're constantly guessing, is this real or not?
And why haven't I ever heard of this story?
And there are only three episodes, each less than hour, and if you start you have to watch until the very end, otherwise don't even begin. Yes, you learn things...
But I wouldn't trust one of these guys to be my partner. These are not the best and the brightest, the sharpest tools in the shed. But this is what they do, rob.
But the funny thing is the amount at stake is what a banker can make in a year, sometimes a multiple of that. That's the world we live in, where there's a great divide between the haves and have-nots. A banker would like the money, but he'd need more to fund his lifestyle, whereas these robbers want to retire on the spoils and live the good life.
This is not a satire like "Money Heist." Then again, that's fiction and this is real. But is it really real?
Once again, I wouldn't put "The Diamond Heist" at the top of your list, then again, I'm constantly stunned at the crap people watch, and by those standards, it's pretty good.
The whiz-bang elevates the story. And who isn't interested in a good robbery?
And even more in a good spy story?
Then again, most spy stories are now cartoons, like James Bond. But there really are spies and there really are robbers. Here are two tales.
--
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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John Boylan On Little River Band
Thanks for the shout out on Little River Band. The original members are all good friends that I try to stay in touch with, especially Glenn. His autobiography, "Now Where Was I?" tells the story of the band very well, including the shady legal moves that ended up with the original members not owning the name. It's one of the great travesties I've experienced in my very long time in music.
I first saw the group in the mid-1970s, when I was in Australia as part of a series of lectures I was involved in at the behest of the music industry in New Zealand and Australia. They were called "Mississippi" then, but I was blown away by the tightness of their three-part harmonies and the really original timbre of their sound. It seemed to me an amalgam of the California country rock scene and the harmonies of the Hollies. I came back to LA and in a conversation with Capitol A&R executive Rupert Perry, I told him how impressed I was. Two years later, he called me to invite me to see the group, now renamed Little River Band, at Santa Monica Civic. They sounded better than ever to me, especially their current hit, "It's a Long Way There." Rupert arranged for me to have lunch with the band and their manager, Glenn Wheatley, at Au Petit Café (remember that place?). We hit it off, and I was invited to produce their next album in Melbourne.
When I told my friends around town that I was headed Down Under, they thought I shouldn't take the gig, but I kept hearing those harmonies in my head and I ignored their advice and went. This was not an idle decision, since my contract with Epic Records at the time only allowed me to do one outside project a year. I distinctly remember the 17-hour flight during which I began to wonder if I'd made a mistake. Wheatley picked me up at the airport and we went straight to a rehearsal. It was just the three principals, Glenn Shorrock, Beeb Birtles, and Graham Goble with two acoustic guitars. They wanted to play me some new songs to get my reaction. The first songs they played were "Help Is On Its Way" and "Home on Monday." I know people say they can hear a hit, and I've thought from time to time that I could, but the truth is, it's a crap shoot. However, those two songs were so obviously good, that I knew I'd made the right move. We went to work at Armstrong Studios in South Melbourne with engineer Ross Cockle, who helped me immensely. In three weeks, I flew back with the 24-track masters and mixed them with my regular engineer, Paul Grupp, at Westlake Studios. Rupert Perry loved the album, and before I knew it, "Help Is On Its Way" was climbing the charts, followed by "Happy Anniversary," Beeb's breakup tune. "Home on Monday," Glenn Shorrock's love letter to his girlfriend, later wife, Jo Swann, became a staple at FM radio.
The group and I went on to do three more albums together, some of the best times I've ever had in the studio. I also did a solo album with Glenn Shorrock called "Villain of the Peace," which I am very proud of although it was not a resounding success in the US. I am also very proud of the very eclectic body of work we created. "Reminiscing" and "Lonesome Loser" are about as far apart stylistically as you can get. Kudos from my colleagues were very rewarding as well. I remember Al Kooper coming up to me in the lounge of the Record Plant in the summer of 1979 asking, "How the fuck did you get that killer snare sound on "Cool Change?"
I know there are haters - every group has them, but you can probably guess what I think of that. I loved what my fellow Bard College friend Donald Fagen said when somebody asked him what he thought of the term "Yacht Rock." I second that emotion.
I can't imagine my career without those original six guys. There's no question that they were in the vanguard of music from Australia finally making it to the world stage. The fact that their music still lives on in the culture is beyond gratifying.
Best,
John Boylan
I first saw the group in the mid-1970s, when I was in Australia as part of a series of lectures I was involved in at the behest of the music industry in New Zealand and Australia. They were called "Mississippi" then, but I was blown away by the tightness of their three-part harmonies and the really original timbre of their sound. It seemed to me an amalgam of the California country rock scene and the harmonies of the Hollies. I came back to LA and in a conversation with Capitol A&R executive Rupert Perry, I told him how impressed I was. Two years later, he called me to invite me to see the group, now renamed Little River Band, at Santa Monica Civic. They sounded better than ever to me, especially their current hit, "It's a Long Way There." Rupert arranged for me to have lunch with the band and their manager, Glenn Wheatley, at Au Petit Café (remember that place?). We hit it off, and I was invited to produce their next album in Melbourne.
When I told my friends around town that I was headed Down Under, they thought I shouldn't take the gig, but I kept hearing those harmonies in my head and I ignored their advice and went. This was not an idle decision, since my contract with Epic Records at the time only allowed me to do one outside project a year. I distinctly remember the 17-hour flight during which I began to wonder if I'd made a mistake. Wheatley picked me up at the airport and we went straight to a rehearsal. It was just the three principals, Glenn Shorrock, Beeb Birtles, and Graham Goble with two acoustic guitars. They wanted to play me some new songs to get my reaction. The first songs they played were "Help Is On Its Way" and "Home on Monday." I know people say they can hear a hit, and I've thought from time to time that I could, but the truth is, it's a crap shoot. However, those two songs were so obviously good, that I knew I'd made the right move. We went to work at Armstrong Studios in South Melbourne with engineer Ross Cockle, who helped me immensely. In three weeks, I flew back with the 24-track masters and mixed them with my regular engineer, Paul Grupp, at Westlake Studios. Rupert Perry loved the album, and before I knew it, "Help Is On Its Way" was climbing the charts, followed by "Happy Anniversary," Beeb's breakup tune. "Home on Monday," Glenn Shorrock's love letter to his girlfriend, later wife, Jo Swann, became a staple at FM radio.
The group and I went on to do three more albums together, some of the best times I've ever had in the studio. I also did a solo album with Glenn Shorrock called "Villain of the Peace," which I am very proud of although it was not a resounding success in the US. I am also very proud of the very eclectic body of work we created. "Reminiscing" and "Lonesome Loser" are about as far apart stylistically as you can get. Kudos from my colleagues were very rewarding as well. I remember Al Kooper coming up to me in the lounge of the Record Plant in the summer of 1979 asking, "How the fuck did you get that killer snare sound on "Cool Change?"
I know there are haters - every group has them, but you can probably guess what I think of that. I loved what my fellow Bard College friend Donald Fagen said when somebody asked him what he thought of the term "Yacht Rock." I second that emotion.
I can't imagine my career without those original six guys. There's no question that they were in the vanguard of music from Australia finally making it to the world stage. The fact that their music still lives on in the culture is beyond gratifying.
Best,
John Boylan
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Neil Giraldo-This Week's Podcast
The story of Pat Benatar and so much more!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/neil-giraldo/id1316200737?i=1000704714966
https://open.spotify.com/episode/50oeqos7dM3mQvDlspwbz1?si=8R8AjLFdRMWf7aO65U_vfw
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/neil-giraldo-273300045/
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/c07bd8db-d6bf-4d85-9a4d-a76af485f5e4/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-neil-giraldo
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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/neil-giraldo/id1316200737?i=1000704714966
https://open.spotify.com/episode/50oeqos7dM3mQvDlspwbz1?si=8R8AjLFdRMWf7aO65U_vfw
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/neil-giraldo-273300045/
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/c07bd8db-d6bf-4d85-9a4d-a76af485f5e4/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-neil-giraldo
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Wednesday, 23 April 2025
San Francisco Sound Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0plwWlxCFgzTf8xL6wQQ1s?si=72f434cf73174326
_____________________________
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE
"Somebody to Love"
"Somebody to Love" by the Great Society
"Tobacco Road"
"She Has Funny Cars"
"My Best Friend"
"Today"
"Embryonic Journey"
"White Rabbit"
"The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil"
"Young Girl Sunday Blues"
"Won't You Try/Saturday Afternoon"
"Lather"
"Crown of Creation"
"Triad"
"Volunteers"
"We Can Be Together"
"Good Shepherd"
"Wooden Ships"
"Eskimo Blue Day"
"When the Earth Moves Again"
"Law Man"
"Pretty as You Feel"
"Twilight Double Leader"
_____________________________
JANIS JOPLIN
"Down On Me"
"Down On Me" - Eddie Head and his Family 1930
"Piece of My Heart"
"Piece of My Hear" - Erma Franklin
"Summertime"
"Summertime"- Abbie Mitchell
"Ball and Chain"
"Ball N' Chain" - Big Mama Thornton
"Try (just a little bit harder)"
"Try (just a little bit harder)" - Lorraine Ellison
"Move Over"
"Half Moon"
"Half Moon" - Orleans
"Cry Baby"
"Cry Baby" - Garnett Mimms
"Me and Bobby McGee"
"Me and Bobby McGee" - Roger Miller
"Mercedes Benz"
_____________________________
COUNTRY JOE & THE FISH
"Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine"
"The Fish Cheer/I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag"
"Janis"
"Eastern Jam"
"Rock and Soul Music"
"Susan"
"Waltzing in the Moonlight"
_____________________________
STEVE MILLER BAND
"In My First Mind"
"Baby's Callin' Me Home"
"Quicksilver Girl"
"Living in the USA"
"Gangster of Love"
"Gangster of Love" - Johnny "Guitar" Watson
"Brave New World"
"Kow Kow Calqulator"
"Seasons"
"Space Cowboy"
"My Dark Hour"
"Your Saving Grace"
"The Joker"
"Your Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash"
"Take the Money and Run"
"Rock'n Me"
"Fly Like an Eagle"
"Mercury Blues"
"Mercury Boogie - K. C. Douglas-1948
"Jet Airliner"
"Jet Airliner" - Paul Pena
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjr5U7g6aiA
from: :20
"Swingtown"
"Jungle Love"
"The Stake"
"Abracadabra"
"Maelstrom"
from the top
_____________________________
QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE
"Pride of Man"
"Who Do You Love - Pt. 1"
"Mona"
"Edward the Mad Shirt Grinder"
"Fresh Air"
"What About Me"
_____________________________
GRATEFUL DEAD
"I Know You Rider"
"Morning Dew"
"That's It For the Other One"
"St. Stephen"
"China Cat Sunflower"
"St. Stephen"
"Turn on Your Love Light"
"Uncle John's Band"
"Casey Jones"
"New Speedway Boogie"
"High Time"
"Cumberland Blues"
"Easy Wind"
"Box of Rain"
"Truckin'"
"Till the Morning"
"Friend of the Devil"
"Sugar Magnolia"
"Ripple"
"Deal"
"Sugaree"
"Playing in the Band"
"One More Saturday Night"
_____________________________
IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY
"Don & Dewey"
_____________________________
SONS OF CHAMPLIN
"Poppa Can Play"
_____________________________
COLD BLOOD
"I Just Want to Make Love to You"
_____________________________
TOWER OF POWER
"Only So Much Oil in the Ground"
_____________________________
NEW RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE
"Portland Woman"
_____________________________
LAMB
"River Boulevard"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdAoFYFJc0g
_____________________________
SANTANA
"Mother's Daughter"
_____________________________
MOBY GRAPE
"Omaha"
_____________________________
CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL
"Green River"
_____________________________
SLY & THE FAMILY STONE
"Stand! "
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_____________________________
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE
"Somebody to Love"
"Somebody to Love" by the Great Society
"Tobacco Road"
"She Has Funny Cars"
"My Best Friend"
"Today"
"Embryonic Journey"
"White Rabbit"
"The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil"
"Young Girl Sunday Blues"
"Won't You Try/Saturday Afternoon"
"Lather"
"Crown of Creation"
"Triad"
"Volunteers"
"We Can Be Together"
"Good Shepherd"
"Wooden Ships"
"Eskimo Blue Day"
"When the Earth Moves Again"
"Law Man"
"Pretty as You Feel"
"Twilight Double Leader"
_____________________________
JANIS JOPLIN
"Down On Me"
"Down On Me" - Eddie Head and his Family 1930
"Piece of My Heart"
"Piece of My Hear" - Erma Franklin
"Summertime"
"Summertime"- Abbie Mitchell
"Ball and Chain"
"Ball N' Chain" - Big Mama Thornton
"Try (just a little bit harder)"
"Try (just a little bit harder)" - Lorraine Ellison
"Move Over"
"Half Moon"
"Half Moon" - Orleans
"Cry Baby"
"Cry Baby" - Garnett Mimms
"Me and Bobby McGee"
"Me and Bobby McGee" - Roger Miller
"Mercedes Benz"
_____________________________
COUNTRY JOE & THE FISH
"Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine"
"The Fish Cheer/I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag"
"Janis"
"Eastern Jam"
"Rock and Soul Music"
"Susan"
"Waltzing in the Moonlight"
_____________________________
STEVE MILLER BAND
"In My First Mind"
"Baby's Callin' Me Home"
"Quicksilver Girl"
"Living in the USA"
"Gangster of Love"
"Gangster of Love" - Johnny "Guitar" Watson
"Brave New World"
"Kow Kow Calqulator"
"Seasons"
"Space Cowboy"
"My Dark Hour"
"Your Saving Grace"
"The Joker"
"Your Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash"
"Take the Money and Run"
"Rock'n Me"
"Fly Like an Eagle"
"Mercury Blues"
"Mercury Boogie - K. C. Douglas-1948
"Jet Airliner"
"Jet Airliner" - Paul Pena
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjr5U7g6aiA
from: :20
"Swingtown"
"Jungle Love"
"The Stake"
"Abracadabra"
"Maelstrom"
from the top
_____________________________
QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE
"Pride of Man"
"Who Do You Love - Pt. 1"
"Mona"
"Edward the Mad Shirt Grinder"
"Fresh Air"
"What About Me"
_____________________________
GRATEFUL DEAD
"I Know You Rider"
"Morning Dew"
"That's It For the Other One"
"St. Stephen"
"China Cat Sunflower"
"St. Stephen"
"Turn on Your Love Light"
"Uncle John's Band"
"Casey Jones"
"New Speedway Boogie"
"High Time"
"Cumberland Blues"
"Easy Wind"
"Box of Rain"
"Truckin'"
"Till the Morning"
"Friend of the Devil"
"Sugar Magnolia"
"Ripple"
"Deal"
"Sugaree"
"Playing in the Band"
"One More Saturday Night"
_____________________________
IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY
"Don & Dewey"
_____________________________
SONS OF CHAMPLIN
"Poppa Can Play"
_____________________________
COLD BLOOD
"I Just Want to Make Love to You"
_____________________________
TOWER OF POWER
"Only So Much Oil in the Ground"
_____________________________
NEW RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE
"Portland Woman"
_____________________________
LAMB
"River Boulevard"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdAoFYFJc0g
_____________________________
SANTANA
"Mother's Daughter"
_____________________________
MOBY GRAPE
"Omaha"
_____________________________
CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL
"Green River"
_____________________________
SLY & THE FAMILY STONE
"Stand! "
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Monday, 21 April 2025
Larry David's Dinner With Hitler
Free link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/opinion/larry-david-hitler-dinner.html?unlocked_article_code=1.BU8.5Fxi.Ud-PKJPsZteI&smid=url-share
That's it for talking to the other side...
Then again, they don't want to talk to Democrats.
This is the power of comedy, this is the power of art.
For a while there, during last week's show, I thought Bill Maher was going to avoid talking about the backlash to his "book report" about having dinner with Trump...
BUT NO!
It took a while, after the monologue, after the interview of Douglas Murray, but Bill couldn't help himself. Maybe this is because he's unfamiliar with the internet he keeps denigrating. Because if Bill was on it, he would have known to...STFU!
You never respond to the haters. Look how much good it did for Gayle King, it not only extended the Blue Origin story but made her a laughingstock even amongst those who don't even know her! You commit a faux pas, at least admit it.
Which Bill should do going forward, but that would crack his image. It would humanize him, then again, he doesn't want to be human, he wants to sit above it all in judgment.
Funny how all these years later we know that the real genius is Larry Davi\d as opposed to Jerry Seinfeld. Jerry is safe. He doesn't swear, he doesn't offend, in his own way he acts separate from the rest of us, just like Bill Maher. But Larry? He's all too human, he's got pet peeves, he holds a grudge and operates on truth. It may be his truth, but it's truth. Furthermore, Larry is willing to go where most people are not. Forget that he's attacking Maher in this piece, he's not endearing himself to Trump either. All those entertainers, never mind business leaders, like the tech leaders who sidled up to Trump and have now been screwed by the man, should take a lesson.
And note it was not a Havard graduate pushing back. Kudos to Harvard for standing up to Trump, but Harvard does not breed rebels, if anything it turns out those who truly believe in the system who are building the blocks of a career oftentimes from just beyond consciousness, pushed by their parents. They don't want to risk decimating what they've erected. I'd say they're just like the caving law firms, but in truth THEY ARE the caving law firms.
No, to push back...
"When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose."
Bob Dylan had it right, which is why revolutions are usually fomented by the young.
But if you went to a government school, as the Republicans call public schools...
You're just another schnook, just another idiot like the rest of us. And Larry attended the outpost of Jewish education known as the University of Maryland, out of state, so he had to pay full freight, but having a degree from that institution won't even get the door open, it has no gravitas.
Furthermore, Larry has an arts degree. I know, today's parents are laughing, STEM BABY! But when AI takes almost all of the coding jobs... An arts degree is about thinking. And it's this thinking, these arts, that are not only the bedrock of America, they're our greatest export and influence.
That's the power of art, the power of culture.
Also, Larry is a product of his era. When you were taught to think for yourself. Larry's behavior would be anathema amongst millennials, who won't speak up for fear of being ostracized by the group. No, Larry's a pure boomer, he's willing to stand up and endure the consequences. While mocking the idiocy of the government and the system like Arlo Guthrie in "Alice's Restaurant." Harvard grads believe in the system, but you have to be a product of public school to disown it, to laugh at it.
How many times has Bill Maher told us he went to Cornell?
When was the last time you heard Larry David mention his alma mater? You may not even think he went to college, he doesn't ooze education, never mind where.
So comedy speaks truth to power, cuts through all the b.s. This is what music used to do in the sixties, but today's musicians are as mercenary as Harvard graduates. They can't risk alienating a single gatekeeper or fan, never mind being uneducated on the issues.
So now what?
Any Democrat with a profile is going to be wary of being snookered by a Trumper, those who believe in MAGA. I mean you have to suspend disbelief to talk to these people. Who believe in a third Trump term, who get their news from outlets you may not have even heard of and believe every word that comes out of Trump and his minions' mouths.
No, underneath this satire is a message, don't be conned. And fight back. Proudly.
Which Bill Maher used to do. He single-handedly popularized the idea that Trump would refuse to leave office if he lost in 2020, and he was RIGHT!
But we live in a what have you done lately world. And that's in the rearview mirror.
How does Bill Maher remake himself?
As a man of the people. But that's anathema to Bill.
BUT THAT'S WHO LARRY DAVID IS!
So who do the hoi polloi trust and believe in more? LARRY DAVID!
Bill still believes in the pre-internet paradigm, where celebrities were believed to be better than the rest of us. That's been blown to bits, however the rich are still revered. And in truth, Larry David is richer than most... "Seinfeld" is ever present on the screen today!
So, George Clooney killed Biden in the "New York Times" and now Larry David has shot an arrow through the soul of Bill Maher and set an example for the entire non-Trumpian community.
We are not living in normal times. Do not shrug and say there's nothing you can do. Do not hide for fear of retribution.
If this thing can be turned around, and I mean the country, it won't be by wonks at Harvard or the so-called "elite," it will be by the rank and file...because as I've referenced above, when you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose.
So this story has gone viral, as a matter of fact I believe it's still building. It won't reach the status of eating the pets in Springfield, but...this is the foundation of memes, something outside the norm that titillates us, that oftentimes evidences truth. This is what spreads.
Larry David knows this and record companies do not. They think you can game the system, but that went out the window with "Gangnam Style." No, it's the raw content.
And the "New York Times" is TikTok for old people. But even better, it shifts from the "Times" to the real TikTok and other platforms.
So the paradigm still works. Sure, distribution is king, if Larry David put this almost anywhere else other than the "Times" it would have nowhere near the reach and effect, but if you do get distributed, you've got to deliver content that is incisive, credible and true. And amazingly, that's too heavy a lift for most. Not only because they're afraid the truth will hurt them and their career, they didn't learn how to articulate their message in the business and science classes they took in college.
Do I think we'll have a conflagration of me-too posts soon?
No.
But I do think Larry David has drawn a line, he's focused the issue. Change won't come from buddying up to Trump, but by standing up to him, otherwise we're going to be slaughtered like all those Jews in the forties...
Oh, that didn't really happen, did it?
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That's it for talking to the other side...
Then again, they don't want to talk to Democrats.
This is the power of comedy, this is the power of art.
For a while there, during last week's show, I thought Bill Maher was going to avoid talking about the backlash to his "book report" about having dinner with Trump...
BUT NO!
It took a while, after the monologue, after the interview of Douglas Murray, but Bill couldn't help himself. Maybe this is because he's unfamiliar with the internet he keeps denigrating. Because if Bill was on it, he would have known to...STFU!
You never respond to the haters. Look how much good it did for Gayle King, it not only extended the Blue Origin story but made her a laughingstock even amongst those who don't even know her! You commit a faux pas, at least admit it.
Which Bill should do going forward, but that would crack his image. It would humanize him, then again, he doesn't want to be human, he wants to sit above it all in judgment.
Funny how all these years later we know that the real genius is Larry Davi\d as opposed to Jerry Seinfeld. Jerry is safe. He doesn't swear, he doesn't offend, in his own way he acts separate from the rest of us, just like Bill Maher. But Larry? He's all too human, he's got pet peeves, he holds a grudge and operates on truth. It may be his truth, but it's truth. Furthermore, Larry is willing to go where most people are not. Forget that he's attacking Maher in this piece, he's not endearing himself to Trump either. All those entertainers, never mind business leaders, like the tech leaders who sidled up to Trump and have now been screwed by the man, should take a lesson.
And note it was not a Havard graduate pushing back. Kudos to Harvard for standing up to Trump, but Harvard does not breed rebels, if anything it turns out those who truly believe in the system who are building the blocks of a career oftentimes from just beyond consciousness, pushed by their parents. They don't want to risk decimating what they've erected. I'd say they're just like the caving law firms, but in truth THEY ARE the caving law firms.
No, to push back...
"When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose."
Bob Dylan had it right, which is why revolutions are usually fomented by the young.
But if you went to a government school, as the Republicans call public schools...
You're just another schnook, just another idiot like the rest of us. And Larry attended the outpost of Jewish education known as the University of Maryland, out of state, so he had to pay full freight, but having a degree from that institution won't even get the door open, it has no gravitas.
Furthermore, Larry has an arts degree. I know, today's parents are laughing, STEM BABY! But when AI takes almost all of the coding jobs... An arts degree is about thinking. And it's this thinking, these arts, that are not only the bedrock of America, they're our greatest export and influence.
That's the power of art, the power of culture.
Also, Larry is a product of his era. When you were taught to think for yourself. Larry's behavior would be anathema amongst millennials, who won't speak up for fear of being ostracized by the group. No, Larry's a pure boomer, he's willing to stand up and endure the consequences. While mocking the idiocy of the government and the system like Arlo Guthrie in "Alice's Restaurant." Harvard grads believe in the system, but you have to be a product of public school to disown it, to laugh at it.
How many times has Bill Maher told us he went to Cornell?
When was the last time you heard Larry David mention his alma mater? You may not even think he went to college, he doesn't ooze education, never mind where.
So comedy speaks truth to power, cuts through all the b.s. This is what music used to do in the sixties, but today's musicians are as mercenary as Harvard graduates. They can't risk alienating a single gatekeeper or fan, never mind being uneducated on the issues.
So now what?
Any Democrat with a profile is going to be wary of being snookered by a Trumper, those who believe in MAGA. I mean you have to suspend disbelief to talk to these people. Who believe in a third Trump term, who get their news from outlets you may not have even heard of and believe every word that comes out of Trump and his minions' mouths.
No, underneath this satire is a message, don't be conned. And fight back. Proudly.
Which Bill Maher used to do. He single-handedly popularized the idea that Trump would refuse to leave office if he lost in 2020, and he was RIGHT!
But we live in a what have you done lately world. And that's in the rearview mirror.
How does Bill Maher remake himself?
As a man of the people. But that's anathema to Bill.
BUT THAT'S WHO LARRY DAVID IS!
So who do the hoi polloi trust and believe in more? LARRY DAVID!
Bill still believes in the pre-internet paradigm, where celebrities were believed to be better than the rest of us. That's been blown to bits, however the rich are still revered. And in truth, Larry David is richer than most... "Seinfeld" is ever present on the screen today!
So, George Clooney killed Biden in the "New York Times" and now Larry David has shot an arrow through the soul of Bill Maher and set an example for the entire non-Trumpian community.
We are not living in normal times. Do not shrug and say there's nothing you can do. Do not hide for fear of retribution.
If this thing can be turned around, and I mean the country, it won't be by wonks at Harvard or the so-called "elite," it will be by the rank and file...because as I've referenced above, when you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose.
So this story has gone viral, as a matter of fact I believe it's still building. It won't reach the status of eating the pets in Springfield, but...this is the foundation of memes, something outside the norm that titillates us, that oftentimes evidences truth. This is what spreads.
Larry David knows this and record companies do not. They think you can game the system, but that went out the window with "Gangnam Style." No, it's the raw content.
And the "New York Times" is TikTok for old people. But even better, it shifts from the "Times" to the real TikTok and other platforms.
So the paradigm still works. Sure, distribution is king, if Larry David put this almost anywhere else other than the "Times" it would have nowhere near the reach and effect, but if you do get distributed, you've got to deliver content that is incisive, credible and true. And amazingly, that's too heavy a lift for most. Not only because they're afraid the truth will hurt them and their career, they didn't learn how to articulate their message in the business and science classes they took in college.
Do I think we'll have a conflagration of me-too posts soon?
No.
But I do think Larry David has drawn a line, he's focused the issue. Change won't come from buddying up to Trump, but by standing up to him, otherwise we're going to be slaughtered like all those Jews in the forties...
Oh, that didn't really happen, did it?
--
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--
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Let's Keep It Between Us
Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4k7Sh6uxSCWNobslKrbdnb?si=e462ab0412e344ec
1
"I'll be home on a Monday
Somewhere around noon"
Actually, later in the afternoon, but that's not the point. The point is people started asking me when I was going to be home. And I responded with this song, Little River Band's "Home on Monday"...
And I'm not sure anybody had any idea what I was talking about.
WAIT, WAIT! This is actually about Bonnie Raitt! So all you Little River Band haters...
Well, you didn't hate them at first. I can still remember hearing "It's a Long Way There" at eight in the morning stuck in traffic driving to Civil Procedure. You remember where and when you hear amazing tracks, it's part of the process, you're struck by lightning and...
I purchased the LP and when Spotify slipped into another track from that initial album, which is really a combination of two Australian albums, I knew it. That wouldn't happen today. Because it's really not that great a song. But we listened from beginning to end back then.
But before that I played "Home on Monday."
"Yes, that's right, I'm calling from
The Las Vegas Hilton"
Band on the road. But it's more than that...
"You looked so lovely when I left I nearly didn't go
Twelve thousand miles is such a long way"
That's how far it is from Sin City to Down Under. That's a staggeringly long distance. Which is why not long before he died Michael Gudinski told me he preferred to be a big fish in a small pond. Not only do you need the music and the chops to make it in the States, you've got to GO, and it's FAR!
But Little River Band did and...they ultimately had a string of hits. That became wimpier and wimpier, but they were ubiquitous. That's right, Little River Band had more huge hits than anybody working today, if you consider audience reach.
And Spotify is playing them all. I always loved "Lonesome Loser," but "Reminiscing"...this was not exactly the band I became enamored of back in 1976.
Then again it's not that band at all anymore, hasn't been in forever. You see the band's name is owned by an entity that's been putting a completely fake Little River Band on the road for eons. The old guys, the ones who made the hits, could not tour under the original name and...
I'm pulling up Wikipedia to see where everybody is today, and I read that not only is Glenn Shorrock eighty, he's got Parkinson's, which I initially thought meant he's retired, but I just pulled up his personal website and he's got two gigs this coming weekend...
And Graham Goble and Beeb Birtles are a few years younger than Shorrock, but for legal reasons, you won't see the real band performing under its own moniker...EVER!
We wait and wait for reunions and then time passes and you suddenly realize...they're never going to happen. Good luck with that Kinks tour.
But it's funny, the records remain. AC/DC may be touring with a white-haired Angus Young, but even if the band had called it quits after "Highway to Hell" and the death of Bon Scott, people would still be listening to (and singing along with!) that track and "It's a Long Way to the Top."
Funny that we lived through these experiences, but they're just fumes today. yet somehow younger generations perpetuate these records. There's something in them. That's IRRESISTIBLE!
Not that I think future generations will be listening to Bonnie Raitt's "Green Light."
2
Which was a commercial and critical disappointment back in 1982, despite all the hosannas on the Wikipedia page today. Yes, it's a rewrite of history. Bonnie had finally broken through commercially. There were those who'd been with her forever and those who cottoned to the Paul Rothchild and Peter Asher sounds of the previous three albums and then came this left field, but in-your-face production by Bonnie's then boyfriend Rob Fraboni, sans not only Freebo but featuring...Ian McLagan? Of the Faces? And an unknown, unheralded guitarist with the appellation Johnny Lee Schell.
It's not like there was a big marketing hook here. Other than the record was cut at Shangri-La, the Band's studio, now more famous as Rick Rubin's domain. It seemed that Bonnie had gone on an alcohol-fueled hejira and might have had a lot of fun, but left her audience behind. To the point where Warner allowed her to record a new record thereafter, but they cut her loose and refused to release it for years and suddenly Raitt was truly out in the wilderness. An apparent seventies burnout, a has-been who could work on the road, but was seemingly meaningless in the big time world of rock and roll now driven by MTV.
Now the rest is history. After years, after Al Bunetta implored her to go indie like his client John Prine, telling Raitt that no major label would be interested, one was and Bonnie signed to Capitol and...
3
Now the advance word was "Green Light" contained two NRBQ songs. In an era when NRBQ was barely a critics' darling, when they kept putting out albums that only a small coterie cared about. And the irony is to this day most people don't know any of NRBQ's records, even though they did one "At Yankee Stadium" (HA!), which actually contains the original recording of "Green Lights," and I bought that based on the reviews and it slid right off of me, no, it bugged me a bit, it was edgy and "Green Lights" was the opening track and it didn't resonate. As for "Me and the Boys," the other NRBQ song on "Green Light"...it's apropos considering the band and the recording process, it was Bonnie and the boys and it sounded like something they had fun recording, maybe performing late at night in a bar, but the magic of yore...
It was absent.
The album almost seemed like a lark. A finger poked in the eye of fans.
However...the opening number, "Keep This Heart in Mind," written by the unknown duo of Fred Marrone and Steve Holsapple, worked. It had a driving force, with delicious changes, it just wasn't what Bonnie had been selling for her last few albums. Sure, it rocked harder than the first two LPs, yet you could see it as part of those records, but...
Most of the album didn't feature Bonnie's usual writers, and to say it wasn't a one listen smash is...charitable. If you listened to the record multiple times, got past the stuff that rubbed you the wrong way, you found some gems.
There's "I Can't Help Myself"...
If you listened to the album enough times the track became infectious, the way the song opened with the chorus and then quieted down, not quite sotto voce, but intimately, with the story, the verse. And that chorus had you nodding your head.
And then there's the best track on the album, "River of Tears," an Eric Kaz tune that evidences all of Bonnie's sultriness and depth. Yes, Bonnie was not a blank blues-belter, you could always see the person underneath. And this person was not a victim. She could give as well as she got, and that was part of her appeal. You played baseball with her in your early days, she was one of the boys and then...she hit puberty and matured and suddenly you were anxious when you ran into her...
Even though she was not.
It's one thing to meet a cardboard model/star. They trade on their looks, and their looks only. It's a full-time job delivering the image the audience expects. But someone who allows the rough edges to be seen, who is three-dimensional...what works with a woman like that? Not a Porsche. Not a Black Amex card. No, you've got to sell both your body and mind, and most guys are not up to that. They'd rather do surface. And Bonnie Raitt was never surface.
4
So for some reason, I don't know how the brain works, after listening to Little River Band I got a hankering to hear "River of Tears." I didn't even mention the groove...that's part of its infectious nature, "River of Tears" is not in-your-face like so much of "Green Light," then again, Bonnie had recorded Kaz's (along with Libby Titus!) "Love Has No Pride" long before anybody had a hit with it, as well as "Cry Like a Rainstorm," the unheralded "I'm Blowin' Away" and a driving version of "Gamblin' Man."
Then again, Bonnie Raitt had never recorded a Bob Dylan song. In this case one that had never been released on wax by the man from Minnesota himself.
Now I know "Let's Keep It Between Us," it closed the first side of "Green Light" and it was a vinyl album you played from beginning to end and I actually bought the CD, but...
Today is the first day it ever truly resonated.
The song followed one of the others on "Green Light" while listening in the van to the airport and...
Maybe it was the state of suspended animation. With nothing on my mind, not working, the song penetrated me.
"Let's keep it between us"'
Usually it's something bad. You don't want the word out.
"These people meddling in our affairs
They're not our friends"
Okay, okay...other people truly have no idea what is going on between a couple. And they have agendas and take sides and the underlying truth can be lost in the process. But what is that truth?
"Before the whole door closes
And it comes to an end
They'll tell you one thing, me another
'Til we don't know who to trust
Oh, darlin', can we keep it between us?"
Now I'm becoming intrigued. What exactly is going on here?
"We've been through too much together
That they'll never share
They've had nothing to say to us before
Now all of a sudden it's as if
They've always cared
All we need is honesty
A little humility and trust
Oh, darlin', can we keep it between us"
And the more I'm listening, this does not sound like an argument, rather they share something between them and he's advising circling the wagons against...
Exactly what?
The recording starts with an organ flourish, akin to an old blues number, and then Bonnie is singing this song with a swagger.
The band and she are cohesive. In a groove. And you can hear every player. The mix is not a miasma.
And then there's the bridge...which actually differs from Bob Dylan's original lyrics:
"I know we're not perfect, then again, so what
That ain't no reason to treat you like a snake
Or to treat me like a slut
And it's makin' me so angry"
Bob agrees they're not perfect, but...
"Then again, neither are they
They act like we got to live for them
As if there just ain't no other way
And it's makin' me kind of tired"
And then the whole number drops down...becomes ever more serious:
"Could we just lay back for a moment
Before we wake up and find ourselves
In a game that we both have lost
These easy cures and easy handsomes
Somethin' tells me we can't afford the cost"
But Bob's lyrics are once again different:
"Can we just lay back for a moment
Before we wake up and find ourselves in a daze that's got us out of our minds
There must be something we've overlooking here
We better drop down now and get back behind the lines
There's some things not fit for human ears
Some things don't need to be discussed
Oh, darlin' can we keep it between us?"
Bob's telling a more conspiratorial story. This ain't no lover's spat. There's no reference to a slut and...
Now my curiosity got the better of me. I mean it's possible "Let's Keep It Between Us" is on an early Dylan album and I don't know it, but...
It turns out it's included in one of the "Bootleg Series," in this case "Springtime in New York," featuring recordings from 1980-1985, it's Volume 16 and it was released in...2021, decades after the version on "Green Light."
Okay, this is like the "Basement Tapes," there must be more to this story. And after digging around a bit, I find out there is.
"Let's Keep It Between Us" is about Dylan's relationship with Carolyn Dennis, his backup singer who he ultimately married in 1986 and had a child with who is...
Black.
They definitely kept this relationship between them. It was truly a secret. No one knew about it until it was revealed in "Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan" by Howard Sounes in 2001. And at the time this claim was debated, many didn't believe it was true, I remember reading the book and being stunned...if this is so, why haven't we heard about it?
But now we know it's absolutely true. And "Let's Keep It Between Us" is the story of an interracial relationship, which many still consider taboo over forty years later.
Hmm...
Well, this is definitely an autobiographical song, and there are multiple versions of the lyrics and a line in one is...
"Let's just move to the back of the back of the bus"
So now I'm reeling. What I thought was a song about two people who'd had a fight...
Turned out to be nothing of the sort.
And I'm still metabolizing this. Bob'll surprise you. You think he's speaking in allegory, that he's not paying attention to others' reaction to him and then...
You get the Musicares speech where he referenced seemingly every slight he'd received in his life.
And now "Let's Keep It Between Us."
How can a song say so much and so many of us miss it?
Maybe I'm the only one. But I don't think so. There was no internet forty years ago, we could speculate...but that's all we could do.
Who knew there was such a backstory on a song from "Green Light," which works as pure presentation, performance, but...
I'm still trying to figure out exactly what Bonnie is singing about...
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1
"I'll be home on a Monday
Somewhere around noon"
Actually, later in the afternoon, but that's not the point. The point is people started asking me when I was going to be home. And I responded with this song, Little River Band's "Home on Monday"...
And I'm not sure anybody had any idea what I was talking about.
WAIT, WAIT! This is actually about Bonnie Raitt! So all you Little River Band haters...
Well, you didn't hate them at first. I can still remember hearing "It's a Long Way There" at eight in the morning stuck in traffic driving to Civil Procedure. You remember where and when you hear amazing tracks, it's part of the process, you're struck by lightning and...
I purchased the LP and when Spotify slipped into another track from that initial album, which is really a combination of two Australian albums, I knew it. That wouldn't happen today. Because it's really not that great a song. But we listened from beginning to end back then.
But before that I played "Home on Monday."
"Yes, that's right, I'm calling from
The Las Vegas Hilton"
Band on the road. But it's more than that...
"You looked so lovely when I left I nearly didn't go
Twelve thousand miles is such a long way"
That's how far it is from Sin City to Down Under. That's a staggeringly long distance. Which is why not long before he died Michael Gudinski told me he preferred to be a big fish in a small pond. Not only do you need the music and the chops to make it in the States, you've got to GO, and it's FAR!
But Little River Band did and...they ultimately had a string of hits. That became wimpier and wimpier, but they were ubiquitous. That's right, Little River Band had more huge hits than anybody working today, if you consider audience reach.
And Spotify is playing them all. I always loved "Lonesome Loser," but "Reminiscing"...this was not exactly the band I became enamored of back in 1976.
Then again it's not that band at all anymore, hasn't been in forever. You see the band's name is owned by an entity that's been putting a completely fake Little River Band on the road for eons. The old guys, the ones who made the hits, could not tour under the original name and...
I'm pulling up Wikipedia to see where everybody is today, and I read that not only is Glenn Shorrock eighty, he's got Parkinson's, which I initially thought meant he's retired, but I just pulled up his personal website and he's got two gigs this coming weekend...
And Graham Goble and Beeb Birtles are a few years younger than Shorrock, but for legal reasons, you won't see the real band performing under its own moniker...EVER!
We wait and wait for reunions and then time passes and you suddenly realize...they're never going to happen. Good luck with that Kinks tour.
But it's funny, the records remain. AC/DC may be touring with a white-haired Angus Young, but even if the band had called it quits after "Highway to Hell" and the death of Bon Scott, people would still be listening to (and singing along with!) that track and "It's a Long Way to the Top."
Funny that we lived through these experiences, but they're just fumes today. yet somehow younger generations perpetuate these records. There's something in them. That's IRRESISTIBLE!
Not that I think future generations will be listening to Bonnie Raitt's "Green Light."
2
Which was a commercial and critical disappointment back in 1982, despite all the hosannas on the Wikipedia page today. Yes, it's a rewrite of history. Bonnie had finally broken through commercially. There were those who'd been with her forever and those who cottoned to the Paul Rothchild and Peter Asher sounds of the previous three albums and then came this left field, but in-your-face production by Bonnie's then boyfriend Rob Fraboni, sans not only Freebo but featuring...Ian McLagan? Of the Faces? And an unknown, unheralded guitarist with the appellation Johnny Lee Schell.
It's not like there was a big marketing hook here. Other than the record was cut at Shangri-La, the Band's studio, now more famous as Rick Rubin's domain. It seemed that Bonnie had gone on an alcohol-fueled hejira and might have had a lot of fun, but left her audience behind. To the point where Warner allowed her to record a new record thereafter, but they cut her loose and refused to release it for years and suddenly Raitt was truly out in the wilderness. An apparent seventies burnout, a has-been who could work on the road, but was seemingly meaningless in the big time world of rock and roll now driven by MTV.
Now the rest is history. After years, after Al Bunetta implored her to go indie like his client John Prine, telling Raitt that no major label would be interested, one was and Bonnie signed to Capitol and...
3
Now the advance word was "Green Light" contained two NRBQ songs. In an era when NRBQ was barely a critics' darling, when they kept putting out albums that only a small coterie cared about. And the irony is to this day most people don't know any of NRBQ's records, even though they did one "At Yankee Stadium" (HA!), which actually contains the original recording of "Green Lights," and I bought that based on the reviews and it slid right off of me, no, it bugged me a bit, it was edgy and "Green Lights" was the opening track and it didn't resonate. As for "Me and the Boys," the other NRBQ song on "Green Light"...it's apropos considering the band and the recording process, it was Bonnie and the boys and it sounded like something they had fun recording, maybe performing late at night in a bar, but the magic of yore...
It was absent.
The album almost seemed like a lark. A finger poked in the eye of fans.
However...the opening number, "Keep This Heart in Mind," written by the unknown duo of Fred Marrone and Steve Holsapple, worked. It had a driving force, with delicious changes, it just wasn't what Bonnie had been selling for her last few albums. Sure, it rocked harder than the first two LPs, yet you could see it as part of those records, but...
Most of the album didn't feature Bonnie's usual writers, and to say it wasn't a one listen smash is...charitable. If you listened to the record multiple times, got past the stuff that rubbed you the wrong way, you found some gems.
There's "I Can't Help Myself"...
If you listened to the album enough times the track became infectious, the way the song opened with the chorus and then quieted down, not quite sotto voce, but intimately, with the story, the verse. And that chorus had you nodding your head.
And then there's the best track on the album, "River of Tears," an Eric Kaz tune that evidences all of Bonnie's sultriness and depth. Yes, Bonnie was not a blank blues-belter, you could always see the person underneath. And this person was not a victim. She could give as well as she got, and that was part of her appeal. You played baseball with her in your early days, she was one of the boys and then...she hit puberty and matured and suddenly you were anxious when you ran into her...
Even though she was not.
It's one thing to meet a cardboard model/star. They trade on their looks, and their looks only. It's a full-time job delivering the image the audience expects. But someone who allows the rough edges to be seen, who is three-dimensional...what works with a woman like that? Not a Porsche. Not a Black Amex card. No, you've got to sell both your body and mind, and most guys are not up to that. They'd rather do surface. And Bonnie Raitt was never surface.
4
So for some reason, I don't know how the brain works, after listening to Little River Band I got a hankering to hear "River of Tears." I didn't even mention the groove...that's part of its infectious nature, "River of Tears" is not in-your-face like so much of "Green Light," then again, Bonnie had recorded Kaz's (along with Libby Titus!) "Love Has No Pride" long before anybody had a hit with it, as well as "Cry Like a Rainstorm," the unheralded "I'm Blowin' Away" and a driving version of "Gamblin' Man."
Then again, Bonnie Raitt had never recorded a Bob Dylan song. In this case one that had never been released on wax by the man from Minnesota himself.
Now I know "Let's Keep It Between Us," it closed the first side of "Green Light" and it was a vinyl album you played from beginning to end and I actually bought the CD, but...
Today is the first day it ever truly resonated.
The song followed one of the others on "Green Light" while listening in the van to the airport and...
Maybe it was the state of suspended animation. With nothing on my mind, not working, the song penetrated me.
"Let's keep it between us"'
Usually it's something bad. You don't want the word out.
"These people meddling in our affairs
They're not our friends"
Okay, okay...other people truly have no idea what is going on between a couple. And they have agendas and take sides and the underlying truth can be lost in the process. But what is that truth?
"Before the whole door closes
And it comes to an end
They'll tell you one thing, me another
'Til we don't know who to trust
Oh, darlin', can we keep it between us?"
Now I'm becoming intrigued. What exactly is going on here?
"We've been through too much together
That they'll never share
They've had nothing to say to us before
Now all of a sudden it's as if
They've always cared
All we need is honesty
A little humility and trust
Oh, darlin', can we keep it between us"
And the more I'm listening, this does not sound like an argument, rather they share something between them and he's advising circling the wagons against...
Exactly what?
The recording starts with an organ flourish, akin to an old blues number, and then Bonnie is singing this song with a swagger.
The band and she are cohesive. In a groove. And you can hear every player. The mix is not a miasma.
And then there's the bridge...which actually differs from Bob Dylan's original lyrics:
"I know we're not perfect, then again, so what
That ain't no reason to treat you like a snake
Or to treat me like a slut
And it's makin' me so angry"
Bob agrees they're not perfect, but...
"Then again, neither are they
They act like we got to live for them
As if there just ain't no other way
And it's makin' me kind of tired"
And then the whole number drops down...becomes ever more serious:
"Could we just lay back for a moment
Before we wake up and find ourselves
In a game that we both have lost
These easy cures and easy handsomes
Somethin' tells me we can't afford the cost"
But Bob's lyrics are once again different:
"Can we just lay back for a moment
Before we wake up and find ourselves in a daze that's got us out of our minds
There must be something we've overlooking here
We better drop down now and get back behind the lines
There's some things not fit for human ears
Some things don't need to be discussed
Oh, darlin' can we keep it between us?"
Bob's telling a more conspiratorial story. This ain't no lover's spat. There's no reference to a slut and...
Now my curiosity got the better of me. I mean it's possible "Let's Keep It Between Us" is on an early Dylan album and I don't know it, but...
It turns out it's included in one of the "Bootleg Series," in this case "Springtime in New York," featuring recordings from 1980-1985, it's Volume 16 and it was released in...2021, decades after the version on "Green Light."
Okay, this is like the "Basement Tapes," there must be more to this story. And after digging around a bit, I find out there is.
"Let's Keep It Between Us" is about Dylan's relationship with Carolyn Dennis, his backup singer who he ultimately married in 1986 and had a child with who is...
Black.
They definitely kept this relationship between them. It was truly a secret. No one knew about it until it was revealed in "Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan" by Howard Sounes in 2001. And at the time this claim was debated, many didn't believe it was true, I remember reading the book and being stunned...if this is so, why haven't we heard about it?
But now we know it's absolutely true. And "Let's Keep It Between Us" is the story of an interracial relationship, which many still consider taboo over forty years later.
Hmm...
Well, this is definitely an autobiographical song, and there are multiple versions of the lyrics and a line in one is...
"Let's just move to the back of the back of the bus"
So now I'm reeling. What I thought was a song about two people who'd had a fight...
Turned out to be nothing of the sort.
And I'm still metabolizing this. Bob'll surprise you. You think he's speaking in allegory, that he's not paying attention to others' reaction to him and then...
You get the Musicares speech where he referenced seemingly every slight he'd received in his life.
And now "Let's Keep It Between Us."
How can a song say so much and so many of us miss it?
Maybe I'm the only one. But I don't think so. There was no internet forty years ago, we could speculate...but that's all we could do.
Who knew there was such a backstory on a song from "Green Light," which works as pure presentation, performance, but...
I'm still trying to figure out exactly what Bonnie is singing about...
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