Subject: Rockin 1000
Bob -
Have you made a post about Rockin 1000? Have you given it much mind share?
The Foo Fighters desperate attempt to go viral (that is working).
I think I smell a rat.
Does anyone believe that this was an organic effort not made by the label or a third party marketing agency that trades in viral videos? They are full tilt experts in this field these days. The production level alone is enough to imply to anyone that has spent time in the industry that this was NOT organic.
A brilliant marketing stroke that has worked. I just feel a little gross when I watched it. Am I alone?
Does anyone believe that Huff Post quote -
"The megaperformance was an effort to convince the Foos to play a show in Cesena, a city of about 100,000 in the country's northeast."
Really....convince?
I couldn't help but think...wow...Foo Fighter European tour budget included a bit of marketing dollars.
Maybe this truth has already been exposed. Maybe I missed it.
Thank you for reading and considering.
Joel Bornzin
Portland, OR
(Learn to Fly - Foo Fighters Rockin1000 Official Video: http://bit.ly/1ODzJyW)
_______________________________________
Subject: Re: This Week's Quotes
Music is all about feel not sound
Go back and listen to Motown mixes ,tamb and vocals baby ....smoking grooves.
I have to say the analog days of tape and vinyl for me were the best. But a shitty song with no attitude or soul is a shiity song. No amount of audio hype will help you out.
Keith Forsey
_______________________________________
From: Steve Lukather
Subject: Re: E-Mail Of The Day
Kenny is a dear old friend and neighbor and a lifer musician like me and we have been great friends for a LONG time.
We do anything and everything musically... and have our whole adult lives.. making records in 5 different decades!
It was how we were trained and how we still live and what our dream was.
Kenny and I have discussed this many times over the years on the many sessions and gigs we have done together.
Kenny is a force of nature and a monster player and his passion has never waned.
I love and respect the guy and he is funny as hell too.
There are not many of us left.. a dying breed of musicians that can do whatever is thrown in front of us without notice or rehearsal and were inspired to start music by the Beatles and then devoured every other style of music along the way but are still just rock n rollers at the end of the day.
Some might say we are old but we are not in the heart and soul... and the great thing about getting older is I don't give a fuck anymore.
Showing everyone how big your dick is is a young mans game and all the BS and the mis-conception of trying to be ' the best' when there is no such thing... Now I look back at very close to 40 years of making records and touring for a living with a huge smile knowing I pulled it off.. the dream of being a lifer musician.. always working and doing new things and getting to work with most of my childhood heroes...
For this I am most grateful to all that gave me these opportunities and this life I get to live
I don't work for a living I LIVE for work.. and my 4 kids.
Have a great day and tell Kenny to pull his pants back up and get some tissues for gods sake. hahaha
Luke
_______________________________________
Subject: Re: Hamilton
I agree wholeheartedly Bob. Hamilton is one of the best things I've seen
in ages. Lin-Manuel Miranda did an amazing job and he makes Wesleyan
Alums like me very proud of him, and of Wesleyan in general; I was only
one of three Co-Founders of Blue Man Group, But I think I can safely say
that it would not have become what it is today without the eclectic blend
of artistic, cultural and historical influences I was exposed to there.
Best,
Chris Wink
Co-Founder Blue Man Group
_______________________________________
From: Denisara
Subject: Re: Facebook
I represent a band that had one song reach the top 30. But before it did, they recorded 9 LPs. Those lps still have shelf life. We collect net profit of 6$ Per LP from retail and 13$ at merch table.
But better than all else is we have 245 songs published by BMG and
Everyone of those tracks are licensed to stream. We have never made more money than today. Not even close. Our advance has been paid back in 17 months. It was the fattest advance ever offered us. We now get to extend the deal for double the advance because the income isn't just tied to mechanicals any more. (which petered out in the old system After 12-18 months from release.
It is tied to streaming revenues as no one is buying physical. We love getting 80% of the licensing income
It is not saddled w costs of goods, packaging, etc. It is almost a friction-free process to record then upload and we dont need a label to admin. anything
These are glory days for us. In the old physical model our sales would be lost To the cycle of music. At some point, the units stop moving and people would jump Over to a different scene or Sound
But now, our music can be played several times a day, on Youtube, RDio.
That adds up
_______________________________________
From: Bill Cutler
Subject: Re: Rhinofy-New Riders Of The Purple Sage
Hi Bob,
Nice piece on the first New Riders of the Purple Sage album. As someone who played and recorded with both Jerry Garcia and most of the New Riders, I just wanted to add a few more details to your review. John Dawson was a great songwriter and frontman, but David Nelson, who played lead guitar in the original line up, Dave Torbert, the bass player, and Spencer Dryden, the drummer (from the Jefferson Airplane), were also crucial to creating the mood of the band's music on that initial album. Steve Barncard, one of the best engineers of the 60s and 70s, was also a big factor in shaping the sound of the tracks.
When the band did come back with the their hit, "Panama Red", the lead vocal was sung by David Nelson, not John Dawson, and Dave Torbert also had some fabulous lead vocals on the Riders material as well. The reconstituted New Riders are still touring today, and packing clubs with both David Nelson and Buddy Cage (who replaced Garcia on steel guitar) in the current line up. Thanks for recognizing a seminal moment in the history of country-rock.
Bill Cutler
_______________________________________
From: Danny Zelisko
Subject: Re: Rhinofy-New Riders Of The Purple Sage
Marmaduke was a real piece of work. At a show I had at a club called Dooley's of Tucson, (1978) between shows, he dosed the deli tray with some liquid sunshine. The guests imbibed without knowing it, including me. Needless to say, the second show sounded really amazing, although some of the people flipped out because they had no idea why they felt that way. I did know the feeling but was mildly pissed as I had to drive back to Phoenix that night. Fortunately I must have got a piece of food that was lightly dosed, some others were not as lucky. He thought it was funny because he was already high on it, and wanted everyone to feel as good as he did.
Always a lot of fun with those guys, and those fun 70's, I miss 'em.
_______________________________________
From: Rob Bleetstein
Subject: Re: Rhinofy-New Riders Of The Purple Sage
Bob,
Thanks for showing some respect for the New Riders of the Purple Sage and the late John Dawson. Sure they were seen as a Grateful Dead offshoot, but for a lot of kids on the East Coast in the mid-late '70s, the Riders coming to town was an event and great musical party every time around. The Powerglide album was my introduction to them and it changed my life at 10 years old. By the time I was 12 I knew that Marin County was going to be my future home. On my first trip to San Francisco at 15 I ventured up to their office in San Rafael and within a half hour was sitting on the front steps with Spencer Dryden. Fast forward a few decades and I oversee their archives and archival website http://www.nrps.net
From their vault we've released six concerts from the heyday, of which you'll probably enjoy the Boston Music Hall 12/5/72 show, and they all can be streamed at http://www.nrps.net/musicandvid.html
And while Dawson, Garcia, Dave Torbert, Skip Battin and Spencer Dryden have left us, original guitarist David Nelson and steel wizard Buddy Cage have been behind the New Riders Renaissance for the past 10 years, keeping the spirit alive while creating new music with GD lyricist Robert Hunter and touring steadily. Take one listen to "Suite At The Mission" from their 17 Pine Avenue and tell me if Garcia was with us, he wouldn't be singing this one! New Riders Of The Purple Sage – Suite At the Mission
As for the first album, can't argue with your assessment at all, though perhaps "Glendale Train" has become more popular than "I Don't Know You" over time. But even 40+ years later, I still hear something new every time I spin this classic masterpiece. Thanks for pointing it out for your audience.
Rob Bleetstein
NRPS Archives
San Rafael, CA
http://www.nrps.net
_______________________________________
Subject: Re: Rhinofy-Can't Buy A Thrill
Bob
One of my 2 favorite Steely Dan albums. Katy Lied also had that same mood for me.
Intelligent lyrics with a twist. The lyric quality was always something a listener could count on. I would always be excited when they released a new album - not only for their skilled musicianship, but for Fagan's incredible take on life. That band had a huge influence on seventies musicians in Toronto, including myself. I saw Steely Dan for the first time in Orange County in 1995 and I was blown away with their live performance. I told myself on the drive home that I had to free up as a writer because the music I heard in the show was si bold and unrestricted.
the next day I composed "Birmingham"
(Amanda Marshall).
Cheers
Dave Tyson
_______________________________________
Subject: Re: Re-Laura Nyro
Bob,
Laura's influence was enormous.
I was fortunate to work with her for several years in the late 80's, engineering sessions at her home studio in Darian Ct. as well as her 1989 Live At the Bottom Line album.
She apparently heard the albums I had engineered for Rickie Lee Jones, and got in touch with me, and I was honored to get to work with her.
I found her to be a lovely, spiritual, kind spirit who was far removed from the world and egos of "show biz". She had built a state of the art studio in her home, but she lived above the garage in one large room at the other side of the property.
One day I was cleaning up, and looked under the sink for some cleaner. What I found next to the Ajax was her framed "million air" award commemorating a million plays of "Wedding Bell Blues". It was the only sign of her success as a writer and artist that I ever saw.
Mark Linett
_______________________________________
From: Patrick J. Daly
Subject: RE: Re-Laura Nyro
The other day I heard a comically awful version of The Wanderer on YouTube. I told my friends about it, and then for good measure, PMed the video to Dion. Dion responded back to me. Dion himself. He said "WQW!!!!!" haha. When people say they don't like or "get" Facebook or social media, I just say, if you do it right, the connections you can make are amazing. You do sort of a mediated version of all that, but same general effect -- a big conversation, with people who actually know exactly what they are talking about occasionally coming out from behind the pillar a la Marshall McLuhan in Annie Hall.
Thank you.
_______________________________________
Subject: RE: La Super-Rica
Bob
Great story about La Super Rica
About 30 some-odd years ago, my client Russ Kunkel invited me to drive up to Santa Barbara with him, where he was going to play that evening with Jackson Browne. We left mid-afternoon, to avoid traffic, and to make sure that Russ would get there in time for the 6:00pmsound check, which we both knew to be of great import to Jackson. Around 5:30, we were on our way up the hill, when Russ spotted La Super Rica, and said "hey, let's stop in for some food"… I got a bit nervous, and mentioned being on time for the soundcheck. He said: "oh, don't worry about it"… We walked into the nearly-empty restaurant, and there, sitting alone at a quiet table near the back, was Jackson Browne…
Nick Ben-Meir
_______________________________________
Subject: Apple Music Thoughts
Hi Bob,
Just been reading with interest and dropping my 2 cents and pleasure to meet you.
Biggest gripe is that when listening in a playlist, you can't jump straight into an artist or the album you're currently hearing. Completely ruins the discovery element and stops me from digging deeper into the person I've just discovered without unnecessary hassle.
On top of that Connect has all the main woes – no followers, no way to really interact with fans or learn more about them and their tastes/dislikes/likes.
Would be nice to see a stream count every once in a while too! Good service so far, am enjoying my time with it but definitely places to improve.
Ps. - I manage Bob Moses the guys you referenced, glad you've heard of them!
Thanks,
?
Toby Andrews
_______________________________________
From: Sir Harry Cowell
Subject: Re: Rock Star CEOs
Love this Bob.
There was one guy who always stood out in the UK in the old days.....Tracy Bennett ( London Records) when he signed an act he would tell all that he would break them, he went on record when he signed All Saints, it really motivated people and it worked.
He did the same for act Simon Napier-Bell and I managed in 1992 and it worked with shops ordering the album up front all over Europe.
Kindest and keep up the great honest writing.
_______________________________________
Subject: Wayne Carson
Hey Bob,
Reaching out about the passing of Wayne Carson. Wayne was in my life from my early years. My dad, Si, was a pioneer in the country music industry (he started the Ozark Jubilee and got Chet Atkins, Brenda Lee, the Browns and Porter Wagoner their record deals all out of Springfield, Missouri). My dad was instrumental in the career of Red Foley convincing him to leave Nashville to do this "new thing called television" - where they garnered 15 to 20 million viewers a week. My dad knew Wayne's parents, Shorty and Sue Thompson (stage names) and they thought their son had talent and wanted my Dad to help. He began working with Wayne in the '60's.
My sisters and I would listen to Wayne's new songs anxiously awaiting what he was working on. Usually on a Wollensak tape player or live in our house. Finally in 1966 an unknown duo funded by one of the duo's parents had a top 20 pop single with Wayne's "Do It Again Just A Little Bit Slower" (Abnak Records). I remember being in the KWTO radio studio when the demo was cut. After writing 1,000 or so songs, Wayne had a hit.
My dad pitched one of his songs to Eddy Arnold that year called "Somebody Like Me." Eddy, and producer label head Chet Atkins, called Wayne and said they liked the song but wondered if Wayne would be willing to write another verse as they thought the song was too short. Wayne realized that if he hesitated, he was lost. He asked Chet's secretary if she had a pen and he dictated a new verse off the top of his head "I hoped you've listened to now to each word I've told you now these things you better now or you won't have her long..." It became a number 1 country song winning a BMI Pop Award for airplay in 1967. This was the same year he was blessed with a cut from an unknown band in Memphis Tennessee produced by Dan Penn. Cut at Chips Moman's American Studio, "The Letter" became the song of the year and highlighted the talent of lead singer Alex Chilton. Mala Records. Amy, Mala, Bell. To this day, I know of NO OTHER WRITER who has written a number one country single and number one pop
single within a year but different songs.
My dad and Wayne saw no boundries and knew no area had a monopoly on talent. They influenced the world with their efforts from the Ozarks. My dad naming Chester "Chet" and turning Springfield, Missouri into one of the biggest places of original TV programming in the '50's. Wayne writing hits like "Always on My Mind", "She's Acting Single, I'm Drinking Doubles", "Drinkin' Thing", "Neon Rainbow", "Soul Deep", "I See the Want to In Your Eyes", "Slide Off Of Your Satin Sheets" and the list goes on. Pop, country and R&B. He had no equal in his diversity.
Wayne had cuts from the Boxtops to Alabama, from Eddy Arnold to Michael Buble, from Al Hirt to Ike and Tina Turner. "You Got What You Wanted" is to this day an iconic '60's r & b cut. The original version has Wayne playing lead guitar. He was accepted into the soulful world of Memphis.
I could go on & on about Wayne - he just simply was one of the best tunesmiths of our lives. Most people don't realize that "The Letter" was inspired by the Vietnam War. Soldiers waiting for that letter from home. Wayne had received a letter from his dad that referenced "airplane" as "aero-plane." The rest is history. It was a hit in 1967 with the Boxtops, in 1968 with the Arbors and in 1969 with Joe Cocker. As the b-side of "Space Captain," radio simply flipped it over and played the Leon Russell arrangement. And Cocker finally broke big time in the US.
I had handled a lawsuit for Chips Moman against Waylon Jennings. Chips said he appreciated my standing up to Waylon and he was going to cut a couple of my dad's songs in appreciation. He cut "No Love At All" with Willie and Waylon. When Merle Haggard declined to duet with Merle, "Always on My Mind" became a single for Willie Nelson when CBS Records said enough duets, we need a Willie solo album. Chips cobbled together the tracks to make a Willie album never really cut as a Willie album. And the two time CMA Song of the Year was born dictating a change in the rules on how a song of the year was determined.
Any way you cut it, a great song is a great song. And Wayne Carson gave us lyrics and melodies that defined our lives. They still do and they still will.
Rest in peace, WC.
Scott Siman
_______________________________________
Subject: Re: Jerry Weintraub
To: Bob Lefsetz
Dear Bob,
It's been awhile since backstage at Staples in LA. Trust this finds you well. Certainly you are up to par. Thank you, thank you, thank you for those beautiful sentiments about my dear friend Jerry. Putting that shovel in the ground the other day and throwing dirt on that box was probably one of the most difficult moments of my life. No one like him. Throw away the mold. He was the man. Thank you again.
Respectfully,
Paul Anka
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Saturday, 1 August 2015
This Week's Quotes
"Next up: Neil Young's announcement that he is pulling his music from streaming services because of poor sound quality. 'He's a cranky old man,' says Blodget. 'Not to get all academic, but that is one of the hallmarks of disruptive technology. They're not as good, they're just good enough. People hear disruptive technology and they think, "Oh, someone invented something better." Actually, no. It's usually worse. But it's cheaper, faster, and easier, and it gets better over time.'"
"Henry Blodget Is in the Middle of Another Tech Boom, With a New Product to Sell": http://nym.ag/1VTHLcl
Straight outta Clayton Christensen, but I wouldn't expect Neil Young to have read "The Innovator's Dilemma."
Why, in a country so focused on smart, is everybody so stupid? Own your intelligence, educate yourself, marketing does not trump everything.
MP3s did not sound as good as CDs. But they were cheap and easy to acquire and portable and the disc had no chance. Furthermore, even Apple started selling higher resolution, and now you can stream at a higher quality on Deezer and Tidal.
Not everybody can afford an iPhone. Not everybody wants to pay for an iPhone. Look at the worldwide numbers, iOS is dwarfed by Android. Android may be susceptible to malware, may not be as intuitive, but it's cheap and good enough for most people. Which is why Apple's worldwide market share caved.
You cannot deny the future. You can try to milk profits from a declining past, but you cannot prop it up. The history of the internet era is those who cling to the past get overridden by those living in the future. You can be a Luddite, but it does not serve you well.
AC/DC is now on iTunes. As is Bob Seger.
And if you don't believe Neil Young will end up on streaming services you think the man from old Ontario doesn't like money, but the truth is he does.
Please don't get caught up in the sideshow. You don't have to go to business school to be familiar with Clayton Christensen's theories, you don't even have to read his book, but you can start by reading the Wikipedia page: http://bit.ly/1JEiXjH And you can do a bit more research, the internet is not only good for link-bait and social networking.
And know that the reason the techies are so successful is they're willing to go where the artists refuse, boldly into the future. It's a bizarre twist on the "Twilight Zone" episode "To Serve Man." To avoid being eaten, educate yourself.
---------------------------------------
"Across the board, from the bottom to the top, the music industry is built on people pretending to be bigger than they are."
Zoe Keating: http://bit.ly/1Kxm0sD
Or as Jerry Heller once told me... A reporter asked him how many albums Ruthless Records sold... SEVENTY MILLION! The reporter believed Jerry. Jerry looked at me and said..."My company, my number."
I could tell you not to believe everything you read, but you already know that. But you don't know that most of the controversies in the music world are fake, done for publicity, for attention, and you're gonna have a hard time legislating transparency in a world where no one wants it.
That's Ms. Keating's point. That the indie artists don't want transparency because that will illustrate how tiny their audience truly is.
And believe me, the superstars don't want it either. So many of their sold-out dates weren't. Household names you adore have papered their shows.
But in a world where the government is whored out and there's little chance for advancement the public/fans believe the stories in order to enrich their lives. They want to believe Neil Young is standing up for them, against the bogeyman. Taylor Swift is infallible and you'd better not say anything bad about people's heroes.
But the truth is they're human, just like you. Flesh and blood. Flawed.
Artists used to sell this message. Before they realized America was a giant casino where you had to have money to play and if you didn't you couldn't get a seat at the table.
So everybody's lying. To you, and oftentimes themselves.
A lot of what you think is big is not. Artifice rules, just read Larry Butler's piece on artist bios: http://bit.ly/1JXTduE I don't even read them, they're laden with untruths. But the truth is lame media outlets repeat them word for word and you believe them.
Those who win don't believe. They're not wedded to the past.
You can tell us how many Twitter followers you've got, even though you bought many, you can trumpet your Facebook likes, but only you know the darkness of your bank account, only you know you're broke.
Or to quote the same damn man, who used to focus on writing good songs as opposed to business, where his skills do not lie...
EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS IS NOWHERE!
P.S. If you've got more time, and if not you should make some, read the 2012 "New Yorker" article on Clayton Christensen - "When Giants Fail, What business has learned from Clayton Christensen": http://nyr.kr/1SRLVgy
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"Henry Blodget Is in the Middle of Another Tech Boom, With a New Product to Sell": http://nym.ag/1VTHLcl
Straight outta Clayton Christensen, but I wouldn't expect Neil Young to have read "The Innovator's Dilemma."
Why, in a country so focused on smart, is everybody so stupid? Own your intelligence, educate yourself, marketing does not trump everything.
MP3s did not sound as good as CDs. But they were cheap and easy to acquire and portable and the disc had no chance. Furthermore, even Apple started selling higher resolution, and now you can stream at a higher quality on Deezer and Tidal.
Not everybody can afford an iPhone. Not everybody wants to pay for an iPhone. Look at the worldwide numbers, iOS is dwarfed by Android. Android may be susceptible to malware, may not be as intuitive, but it's cheap and good enough for most people. Which is why Apple's worldwide market share caved.
You cannot deny the future. You can try to milk profits from a declining past, but you cannot prop it up. The history of the internet era is those who cling to the past get overridden by those living in the future. You can be a Luddite, but it does not serve you well.
AC/DC is now on iTunes. As is Bob Seger.
And if you don't believe Neil Young will end up on streaming services you think the man from old Ontario doesn't like money, but the truth is he does.
Please don't get caught up in the sideshow. You don't have to go to business school to be familiar with Clayton Christensen's theories, you don't even have to read his book, but you can start by reading the Wikipedia page: http://bit.ly/1JEiXjH And you can do a bit more research, the internet is not only good for link-bait and social networking.
And know that the reason the techies are so successful is they're willing to go where the artists refuse, boldly into the future. It's a bizarre twist on the "Twilight Zone" episode "To Serve Man." To avoid being eaten, educate yourself.
---------------------------------------
"Across the board, from the bottom to the top, the music industry is built on people pretending to be bigger than they are."
Zoe Keating: http://bit.ly/1Kxm0sD
Or as Jerry Heller once told me... A reporter asked him how many albums Ruthless Records sold... SEVENTY MILLION! The reporter believed Jerry. Jerry looked at me and said..."My company, my number."
I could tell you not to believe everything you read, but you already know that. But you don't know that most of the controversies in the music world are fake, done for publicity, for attention, and you're gonna have a hard time legislating transparency in a world where no one wants it.
That's Ms. Keating's point. That the indie artists don't want transparency because that will illustrate how tiny their audience truly is.
And believe me, the superstars don't want it either. So many of their sold-out dates weren't. Household names you adore have papered their shows.
But in a world where the government is whored out and there's little chance for advancement the public/fans believe the stories in order to enrich their lives. They want to believe Neil Young is standing up for them, against the bogeyman. Taylor Swift is infallible and you'd better not say anything bad about people's heroes.
But the truth is they're human, just like you. Flesh and blood. Flawed.
Artists used to sell this message. Before they realized America was a giant casino where you had to have money to play and if you didn't you couldn't get a seat at the table.
So everybody's lying. To you, and oftentimes themselves.
A lot of what you think is big is not. Artifice rules, just read Larry Butler's piece on artist bios: http://bit.ly/1JXTduE I don't even read them, they're laden with untruths. But the truth is lame media outlets repeat them word for word and you believe them.
Those who win don't believe. They're not wedded to the past.
You can tell us how many Twitter followers you've got, even though you bought many, you can trumpet your Facebook likes, but only you know the darkness of your bank account, only you know you're broke.
Or to quote the same damn man, who used to focus on writing good songs as opposed to business, where his skills do not lie...
EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS IS NOWHERE!
P.S. If you've got more time, and if not you should make some, read the 2012 "New Yorker" article on Clayton Christensen - "When Giants Fail, What business has learned from Clayton Christensen": http://nyr.kr/1SRLVgy
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Friday, 31 July 2015
The Data
Nate Silver wrote the definitive story on Donald Trump and nobody knows it.
That's right, America's favorite statistician, the diviner of data, the man who makes sense out of chaos, analyzed the polls and found out that while Trump had the highest rating, his unfavorables were through the roof. In other words, only a small percentage of GOP voters favored him, uneducated on the issues to boot, and when the field consolidated, Trump would be history.
But unlike during the last election cycle, Nate Silver is no longer on the front page of the "New York Times," and therefore his insights have no traction. In other words, the bloviating press that loves a horse race is going on about the success of Donald Trump when the truth is contrary to the hubbub.
It's kind of like making a hit record that only plays on your local college radio station.
The old days of the internet are through. The ones wherein greatness surfaced and we were all the better for it. Today, you've got to attach your track to the coattails of an entity with a large audience, otherwise you're just pissing in the wind.
How did we get here, how did it come to this?
The cacophony, the sheer plethora of information.
Furthermore, the Silver situation proves that the stuff with ink, that gets most attention, may not be the best. Which is why, in the music business, we've got story after story about the flavor of the moment that does not resonate with you when you check it out.
So what do we know...
He with the greatest audience wins, irrelevant of veracity or quality.
The "New York Times" survives, Nate Silver is marginalized. If you're going it alone, be prepared to enter the wilderness, and possibly stay there. Because concomitant with the footprint of the powerhouses is the inability to compete with them. Bing proved this, Google was good enough. If you're not reinventing the wheel, stay out of the fracas.
Meanwhile, our nation is going to look different in the years to come. Truth will out. Because a younger generation has grown up on facts, and they refuse to live in denial. It's baby boomers who are blowhards, who believe if they just yell loud enough what they say will come true. But when numbers can be marshaled that contradict common wisdom, watch out.
This is the same battle over transparency that the Berklee report stirred up. If you think the labels are gonna get away with voodoo royalty reports in the future, you're probably still using a flip-phone. As the oldsters retire, the young 'uns bring in new models.
So what we've learned is you're better off playing with the big boys than going it alone. Forget all the hogwash about independence, being able to make your record and release it yourself. To crickets in most instances. Macklemore may have been on an indie LABEL, but it was promoted by the major's MACHINE! If you're playing for all the marbles, don't play by yourself.
And just because a record is number one, that doesn't mean much. The latest statistics tell us that streaming services are a hotbed of catalog. The truth is that at least half the audience would rather listen to the certified oldies than forage for new stuff. Which is why the legends do such incredible live business. The industry doesn't like this emphasis on catalog, it gets excited about the new, labels invest heavily in the new. Did you read the dearly departed Dave Goldberg's report to the Sony brass? He said to cut costs on new and focus on old. But his story got buried, pardon the pun.
And know that the reason so much of the Top Forty, what is in the news, doesn't spread, is because it's just not good enough. It appeals to a very small hard core. And the truth is the most money in music is made when something appeals to everybody. So, our industry would be healthier if we got consensus and put a push behind that which got the most favorable response. And that will happen, when the millennials take over.
So what we've learned is it's not you. You're right, the media industrial complex is frequently hyping crap, and that which doesn't fit its paradigm, however great, is lost in the tsunami of information.
Nate Silver turned chaos into comprehension. Read his report and you'll see that Trump is a marginal player who can't win. But few know this.
We're waiting for the music business to turn chaos into comprehension. The problem is it's run by old farts inured to the old ways. Obfuscating so they can line their own pockets. Imagine if we researched more records and then pushed those with the most favorable ratings. Would the chart look the same?
Of course not.
Nate Silver - "Donald Trump Is The Nickelback Of GOP Candidates": http://53eig.ht/1gmbhHC
Dave Goldberg - "Re: Music strategy-confidential": https://wikileaks.org/sony/emails/emailid/130395
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That's right, America's favorite statistician, the diviner of data, the man who makes sense out of chaos, analyzed the polls and found out that while Trump had the highest rating, his unfavorables were through the roof. In other words, only a small percentage of GOP voters favored him, uneducated on the issues to boot, and when the field consolidated, Trump would be history.
But unlike during the last election cycle, Nate Silver is no longer on the front page of the "New York Times," and therefore his insights have no traction. In other words, the bloviating press that loves a horse race is going on about the success of Donald Trump when the truth is contrary to the hubbub.
It's kind of like making a hit record that only plays on your local college radio station.
The old days of the internet are through. The ones wherein greatness surfaced and we were all the better for it. Today, you've got to attach your track to the coattails of an entity with a large audience, otherwise you're just pissing in the wind.
How did we get here, how did it come to this?
The cacophony, the sheer plethora of information.
Furthermore, the Silver situation proves that the stuff with ink, that gets most attention, may not be the best. Which is why, in the music business, we've got story after story about the flavor of the moment that does not resonate with you when you check it out.
So what do we know...
He with the greatest audience wins, irrelevant of veracity or quality.
The "New York Times" survives, Nate Silver is marginalized. If you're going it alone, be prepared to enter the wilderness, and possibly stay there. Because concomitant with the footprint of the powerhouses is the inability to compete with them. Bing proved this, Google was good enough. If you're not reinventing the wheel, stay out of the fracas.
Meanwhile, our nation is going to look different in the years to come. Truth will out. Because a younger generation has grown up on facts, and they refuse to live in denial. It's baby boomers who are blowhards, who believe if they just yell loud enough what they say will come true. But when numbers can be marshaled that contradict common wisdom, watch out.
This is the same battle over transparency that the Berklee report stirred up. If you think the labels are gonna get away with voodoo royalty reports in the future, you're probably still using a flip-phone. As the oldsters retire, the young 'uns bring in new models.
So what we've learned is you're better off playing with the big boys than going it alone. Forget all the hogwash about independence, being able to make your record and release it yourself. To crickets in most instances. Macklemore may have been on an indie LABEL, but it was promoted by the major's MACHINE! If you're playing for all the marbles, don't play by yourself.
And just because a record is number one, that doesn't mean much. The latest statistics tell us that streaming services are a hotbed of catalog. The truth is that at least half the audience would rather listen to the certified oldies than forage for new stuff. Which is why the legends do such incredible live business. The industry doesn't like this emphasis on catalog, it gets excited about the new, labels invest heavily in the new. Did you read the dearly departed Dave Goldberg's report to the Sony brass? He said to cut costs on new and focus on old. But his story got buried, pardon the pun.
And know that the reason so much of the Top Forty, what is in the news, doesn't spread, is because it's just not good enough. It appeals to a very small hard core. And the truth is the most money in music is made when something appeals to everybody. So, our industry would be healthier if we got consensus and put a push behind that which got the most favorable response. And that will happen, when the millennials take over.
So what we've learned is it's not you. You're right, the media industrial complex is frequently hyping crap, and that which doesn't fit its paradigm, however great, is lost in the tsunami of information.
Nate Silver turned chaos into comprehension. Read his report and you'll see that Trump is a marginal player who can't win. But few know this.
We're waiting for the music business to turn chaos into comprehension. The problem is it's run by old farts inured to the old ways. Obfuscating so they can line their own pockets. Imagine if we researched more records and then pushed those with the most favorable ratings. Would the chart look the same?
Of course not.
Nate Silver - "Donald Trump Is The Nickelback Of GOP Candidates": http://53eig.ht/1gmbhHC
Dave Goldberg - "Re: Music strategy-confidential": https://wikileaks.org/sony/emails/emailid/130395
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Rhinofy-Summer Rain
"All summer long, we spent dancin' in the sand
And the jukebox kept on playin'
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
That's your image of SoCal, I know. Beach bunnies and surfboards. Endless summer sunsets.
But the truth is that's not the way it's been this summer.
"What has happened down here is the wind have changed
Clouds roll in from the north and it started to rain"
Actually, from the south. A tropical storm. And it's been debated whether there will be any drought impact. You see it has to rain in the mountains to make a difference, as snow in the Sierras, and they did get some hail there, but next year's predicted El Nino? They're wondering if it's going to be a southern affair.
And the truth is Randy Newman's "Good Old Boys" was not a raging success. Got a ton of hype, back when there were fewer albums and it made more of a difference, but this was before his hits, before "Short People" and "I Love L.A.," and the only people who bought "Good Old Boys" were fans, and there weren't many of them.
And then something strange happened. "Louisiana 1927" became the soundtrack to Katrina. As if Randy Newman predicted it. I'm sure he got a chuckle out of that, despite the tragedy.
But the truth is whenever it rains in L.A., which is rare, I sing Randy's song. Now it's everybody's song. But I was there first!
"The next time you see L.A. rain clouds
Don't complain, it rains for you and me"
That's from "Mamunia," the opening cut on the second side of "Band On The Run."
People forget that McCartney was in kind of a lull. His debut was a smash, albeit not as big as a Beatles record and ultimately competing with "Let It Be," but what came after...
"Ram" wasn't as good, but compared to what's issued today...
And then the execrable "Wild Life." Nobody bought it, nobody listened to it.
And then "Red Rose Speedway." With its sappy, syrupy "My Love," which was so overplayed as to make you puke. However, "Red Rose Speedway"'s opening cut, "Big Barn Bed," may be forgotten today but it contains Paul's essence, just listen to the vocal!
Still, the album didn't sell so well.
And then came "Band On The Run."
Expectations were low. "Helen Wheels" was stripped in, to ensure some sales.
But then "Rolling Stone" declared it to be one of the albums of the year and I laid my money down and the opening track blew me away.
That's right, once upon a time "Band On The Run," the track, was unknown, just like "Hotel California" three years later. These were not the songs the label led with, so you only knew them if you purchased the albums... You've got no idea what it was like to drop the needle on "Hotel California" and hear it for the very first time, same deal with "Band On The Run." You had no frame of reference. You were hanging out there alone. And when it was done you found yourself in a cocoon of excellence desirous of telling everybody you knew.
Anyway, it was back when we still played albums, so I knew "Mamunia" by heart, and I sing the above lyrics when it rains in L.A. too. Sometimes before "Louisiana 1927," sometimes after.
But this summer I'm singing Johnny Rivers's "Summer Rain."
"Summer rain taps at my window
West wind soft as a sweet dream
My love warm as the sunshine
Sittin' here by me, she's here by me"
"Summer Rain" was a hit in the winter. Kind of like "Summer Breeze" was a hit over Thanksgiving. People forget this stuff, but not me, not me.
And "Summer Rain" reminded me of all the good times during July and August, camp and trips and...
Listening to "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Which I did for a week that summer, when my parents were in Europe and I stayed at Michael Meltzer's house before we left for Philmont, it was the only record I had.
"She stepped out of a rainbow
Golden hair shinin' like moon glow
Warm lips soft as a soul
Sittin' here by me, she's here by me"
That's what's been lost in the transition to now, the optimism of the sixties. That's right, the decade of turmoil was inundated with hope. We believed things would only get better. With the music and our significant other by our side.
"We sailed into the sunset
Drifted home, caught by a gulf stream
Never gave a thought for tomorrow
Just let tomorrow be, now, let tomorrow be"
Ain't that a joke. People tell you to live in the moment. Not anymore, if you're not moving forward today you're going backward. And you don't want to be left behind. But back then, our public education and our middle class values were all we needed to get along, we were caught up in the now, knowing tomorrow was full of possibilities, when we eventually got there.
"She wants to live in the Rockies
She says that's where we'll find peace
Settle down, raise up a family
To call our own, yeah, we'll have a home"
This was back before airline deregulation. You might have lived in the Rockies, if not, you hadn't been there.
And we all wanted peace. Today, everybody's a warmonger.
And the song portends the seventies, when we all settled down, looked in as opposed to out, forgot about the Great Society and just tried to survive.
"The snow drifts by my window
North wind blowin' like thunder
Our love's burnin' like fire
And she's here by me, yeah, she's here with me
Let tomorrow be"
If it rains in the summer, we've already broken the July record, does that mean it will snow in the winter?
Doubtful. All bets are off. Climate change has us wonderin'.
But this great big world keeps turnin'. And there's something new around each and every corner. But what gets us through is our music and loved ones.
While we watch the summer rain slide down our windows and contemplate...
How did it come to this?
Spotify playlist: http://spoti.fi/1LVGmPw
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And the jukebox kept on playin'
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
That's your image of SoCal, I know. Beach bunnies and surfboards. Endless summer sunsets.
But the truth is that's not the way it's been this summer.
"What has happened down here is the wind have changed
Clouds roll in from the north and it started to rain"
Actually, from the south. A tropical storm. And it's been debated whether there will be any drought impact. You see it has to rain in the mountains to make a difference, as snow in the Sierras, and they did get some hail there, but next year's predicted El Nino? They're wondering if it's going to be a southern affair.
And the truth is Randy Newman's "Good Old Boys" was not a raging success. Got a ton of hype, back when there were fewer albums and it made more of a difference, but this was before his hits, before "Short People" and "I Love L.A.," and the only people who bought "Good Old Boys" were fans, and there weren't many of them.
And then something strange happened. "Louisiana 1927" became the soundtrack to Katrina. As if Randy Newman predicted it. I'm sure he got a chuckle out of that, despite the tragedy.
But the truth is whenever it rains in L.A., which is rare, I sing Randy's song. Now it's everybody's song. But I was there first!
"The next time you see L.A. rain clouds
Don't complain, it rains for you and me"
That's from "Mamunia," the opening cut on the second side of "Band On The Run."
People forget that McCartney was in kind of a lull. His debut was a smash, albeit not as big as a Beatles record and ultimately competing with "Let It Be," but what came after...
"Ram" wasn't as good, but compared to what's issued today...
And then the execrable "Wild Life." Nobody bought it, nobody listened to it.
And then "Red Rose Speedway." With its sappy, syrupy "My Love," which was so overplayed as to make you puke. However, "Red Rose Speedway"'s opening cut, "Big Barn Bed," may be forgotten today but it contains Paul's essence, just listen to the vocal!
Still, the album didn't sell so well.
And then came "Band On The Run."
Expectations were low. "Helen Wheels" was stripped in, to ensure some sales.
But then "Rolling Stone" declared it to be one of the albums of the year and I laid my money down and the opening track blew me away.
That's right, once upon a time "Band On The Run," the track, was unknown, just like "Hotel California" three years later. These were not the songs the label led with, so you only knew them if you purchased the albums... You've got no idea what it was like to drop the needle on "Hotel California" and hear it for the very first time, same deal with "Band On The Run." You had no frame of reference. You were hanging out there alone. And when it was done you found yourself in a cocoon of excellence desirous of telling everybody you knew.
Anyway, it was back when we still played albums, so I knew "Mamunia" by heart, and I sing the above lyrics when it rains in L.A. too. Sometimes before "Louisiana 1927," sometimes after.
But this summer I'm singing Johnny Rivers's "Summer Rain."
"Summer rain taps at my window
West wind soft as a sweet dream
My love warm as the sunshine
Sittin' here by me, she's here by me"
"Summer Rain" was a hit in the winter. Kind of like "Summer Breeze" was a hit over Thanksgiving. People forget this stuff, but not me, not me.
And "Summer Rain" reminded me of all the good times during July and August, camp and trips and...
Listening to "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Which I did for a week that summer, when my parents were in Europe and I stayed at Michael Meltzer's house before we left for Philmont, it was the only record I had.
"She stepped out of a rainbow
Golden hair shinin' like moon glow
Warm lips soft as a soul
Sittin' here by me, she's here by me"
That's what's been lost in the transition to now, the optimism of the sixties. That's right, the decade of turmoil was inundated with hope. We believed things would only get better. With the music and our significant other by our side.
"We sailed into the sunset
Drifted home, caught by a gulf stream
Never gave a thought for tomorrow
Just let tomorrow be, now, let tomorrow be"
Ain't that a joke. People tell you to live in the moment. Not anymore, if you're not moving forward today you're going backward. And you don't want to be left behind. But back then, our public education and our middle class values were all we needed to get along, we were caught up in the now, knowing tomorrow was full of possibilities, when we eventually got there.
"She wants to live in the Rockies
She says that's where we'll find peace
Settle down, raise up a family
To call our own, yeah, we'll have a home"
This was back before airline deregulation. You might have lived in the Rockies, if not, you hadn't been there.
And we all wanted peace. Today, everybody's a warmonger.
And the song portends the seventies, when we all settled down, looked in as opposed to out, forgot about the Great Society and just tried to survive.
"The snow drifts by my window
North wind blowin' like thunder
Our love's burnin' like fire
And she's here by me, yeah, she's here with me
Let tomorrow be"
If it rains in the summer, we've already broken the July record, does that mean it will snow in the winter?
Doubtful. All bets are off. Climate change has us wonderin'.
But this great big world keeps turnin'. And there's something new around each and every corner. But what gets us through is our music and loved ones.
While we watch the summer rain slide down our windows and contemplate...
How did it come to this?
Spotify playlist: http://spoti.fi/1LVGmPw
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
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Thursday, 30 July 2015
Hamilton
What kind of crazy fucked-up world do we live in where a Broadway musical exudes more creativity, honesty, intrigue and interest than any record on the chart?
One in which "The Book Of Mormon" takes chances and your only artistic hope is to pursue your dreams and cast money worries aside.
Nothing will prepare you for "Hamilton." Because you've never seen anything like it before. That's what we're searching for in art, the new and unique, as opposed to the old, tired formula. Whilst the Top Forty is populated by young faces fronting for old men, "Hamilton" features the work of an educated thirtysomething who is doing nothing so much as pursuing his own dream.
Inspiration... It can come from anywhere. Lin-Manuel Miranda was on vacation, reading a randomly-purchased biography of one of America's founding fathers, when the bolt hit. The thrill of making money is when your bank account soars. The thrill of artistic inspiration is when the light bulb goes off, when the door opens to a golden highway that you can't wait to go down. Making money is an end. Artistic inspiration is just the beginning.
And there was a long tortured road, from Vassar to Off Broadway to West 46th Street.
But Lin-Manuel Miranda did not start there. First he went to school, Wesleyan, in Connecticut. The alma mater of Amanda Palmer if you're scoring at home. For all the hogwash about preparing yourself for a career, about studying practical information and getting your money's worth in college, the truth is the world is run by and turned topsy-turvy by those who go to the elite institutions where there's little practical knowledge imparted and it's all about expanding your brain and sensibility, empowering you to see the world in a different way. That's what's wrong with standards, they eviscerate creativity. How can we set our children free?
How can we set society free?
Anyway, "Hamilton" is more fun than any amusement park thrill ride. You strap in and you're taken on a journey heretofore unknown, an ancient tale that is told through modern means.
That's right, Alexander Hamilton's story is told through rap.
Well, not exclusively. There's R&B. And the King of England employs melody. But the truth is hip-hop dominates. Because hip-hop is the language of the streets. And "Hamilton" is a street story.
As they all are.
You can go to Harvard, Wesleyan too, but they won't tell you how the world really works. You have to take your sensibility into the blender of life. Where relationships are everything, where how you come across is key. Which is why so many elite institution graduates are broke, or nearly so, because they never figured out how to integrate who they are with what is going on.
Hamilton is an immigrant. Take that Donald Trump, take that Tea Party. Some of our greatest thinkers, movers and shakers, were not born within the confines of the fifty states.
And he's arrogant and talks too much. Aaron Burr tells him to smile and talk less. Before he shoots him. For talking too much shit.
And Hamilton has big desires. That's the essence of the American Dream, the dream itself. That your name can be in lights. Few have the talent or education to achieve this, but Hamilton does.
And he's willing to put his life on the line. He's not a pussy, he'll fight the war, the Revolutionary War that is.
And he'll also fight Jefferson and Madison over financial matters as Secretary of State. Where the ultimate compromise is made behind closed doors, just as it's done today. If you think you know how it was done I'm laughing, only those inside the room do. The key is to be inside the room, Burr's desire, which he rarely achieves.
And Jefferson...almost steals the show. A dandy back from France, where he skipped the war, he's a character out of "In Living Color," a cross between a comedian and an orator. These juxtapositions have you scratching your head. Like when the players decide to go downtown to check out the women. We see the past as set in amber, a different class of people acting differently. But the truth is they're flesh and blood and driven by hormones and make poor choices just like us, which is part of what makes "Hamilton" so fascinating.
And like a rap war, Hamilton keeps egging Burr. Which ultimately costs him his life.
And there are babes, everything but rims.
If you never understood hip-hop culture, if you thought you hated rap, "Hamilton" is gonna turn all your preconceptions upside down. You'll finally understand how the words are so important, how they tell a story. You'll get the beat, the truth of the streets.
And you'll learn so much!
Those who dismiss history are bound to repeat it. Those who pore over it learn lessons. And this applies in the world of tech as well as offline. Some truths are immutable, if not self-evident.
You watch "Hamilton" with your jaw open. At the edge of your seat. Thrilled. You're waiting for them to stumble. For one of the numbers to be substandard, for the story to flatten out. But the play rides on like a classic album, with no filler.
And it's real people on stage. Not Hollywood automatons. The women are all not Gwyneth thin and the guys are all not Clooney handsome. They're more like us. Hell, you're gonna be bitten by the theatre bug, you're gonna want to find a way on stage.
Influences. It's why everybody in the sixties picked up a guitar after seeing the Beatles on "Ed Sullivan." We're looking for a direction home, but we've got few inspirational leaders.
Lin-Manuel Miranda is one.
Like all great art, "Hamilton" has to be experienced to be understood, you have to see it to get it.
So if you're in New York City...
If you can rustle up a ticket.
YOU MUST GO!
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One in which "The Book Of Mormon" takes chances and your only artistic hope is to pursue your dreams and cast money worries aside.
Nothing will prepare you for "Hamilton." Because you've never seen anything like it before. That's what we're searching for in art, the new and unique, as opposed to the old, tired formula. Whilst the Top Forty is populated by young faces fronting for old men, "Hamilton" features the work of an educated thirtysomething who is doing nothing so much as pursuing his own dream.
Inspiration... It can come from anywhere. Lin-Manuel Miranda was on vacation, reading a randomly-purchased biography of one of America's founding fathers, when the bolt hit. The thrill of making money is when your bank account soars. The thrill of artistic inspiration is when the light bulb goes off, when the door opens to a golden highway that you can't wait to go down. Making money is an end. Artistic inspiration is just the beginning.
And there was a long tortured road, from Vassar to Off Broadway to West 46th Street.
But Lin-Manuel Miranda did not start there. First he went to school, Wesleyan, in Connecticut. The alma mater of Amanda Palmer if you're scoring at home. For all the hogwash about preparing yourself for a career, about studying practical information and getting your money's worth in college, the truth is the world is run by and turned topsy-turvy by those who go to the elite institutions where there's little practical knowledge imparted and it's all about expanding your brain and sensibility, empowering you to see the world in a different way. That's what's wrong with standards, they eviscerate creativity. How can we set our children free?
How can we set society free?
Anyway, "Hamilton" is more fun than any amusement park thrill ride. You strap in and you're taken on a journey heretofore unknown, an ancient tale that is told through modern means.
That's right, Alexander Hamilton's story is told through rap.
Well, not exclusively. There's R&B. And the King of England employs melody. But the truth is hip-hop dominates. Because hip-hop is the language of the streets. And "Hamilton" is a street story.
As they all are.
You can go to Harvard, Wesleyan too, but they won't tell you how the world really works. You have to take your sensibility into the blender of life. Where relationships are everything, where how you come across is key. Which is why so many elite institution graduates are broke, or nearly so, because they never figured out how to integrate who they are with what is going on.
Hamilton is an immigrant. Take that Donald Trump, take that Tea Party. Some of our greatest thinkers, movers and shakers, were not born within the confines of the fifty states.
And he's arrogant and talks too much. Aaron Burr tells him to smile and talk less. Before he shoots him. For talking too much shit.
And Hamilton has big desires. That's the essence of the American Dream, the dream itself. That your name can be in lights. Few have the talent or education to achieve this, but Hamilton does.
And he's willing to put his life on the line. He's not a pussy, he'll fight the war, the Revolutionary War that is.
And he'll also fight Jefferson and Madison over financial matters as Secretary of State. Where the ultimate compromise is made behind closed doors, just as it's done today. If you think you know how it was done I'm laughing, only those inside the room do. The key is to be inside the room, Burr's desire, which he rarely achieves.
And Jefferson...almost steals the show. A dandy back from France, where he skipped the war, he's a character out of "In Living Color," a cross between a comedian and an orator. These juxtapositions have you scratching your head. Like when the players decide to go downtown to check out the women. We see the past as set in amber, a different class of people acting differently. But the truth is they're flesh and blood and driven by hormones and make poor choices just like us, which is part of what makes "Hamilton" so fascinating.
And like a rap war, Hamilton keeps egging Burr. Which ultimately costs him his life.
And there are babes, everything but rims.
If you never understood hip-hop culture, if you thought you hated rap, "Hamilton" is gonna turn all your preconceptions upside down. You'll finally understand how the words are so important, how they tell a story. You'll get the beat, the truth of the streets.
And you'll learn so much!
Those who dismiss history are bound to repeat it. Those who pore over it learn lessons. And this applies in the world of tech as well as offline. Some truths are immutable, if not self-evident.
You watch "Hamilton" with your jaw open. At the edge of your seat. Thrilled. You're waiting for them to stumble. For one of the numbers to be substandard, for the story to flatten out. But the play rides on like a classic album, with no filler.
And it's real people on stage. Not Hollywood automatons. The women are all not Gwyneth thin and the guys are all not Clooney handsome. They're more like us. Hell, you're gonna be bitten by the theatre bug, you're gonna want to find a way on stage.
Influences. It's why everybody in the sixties picked up a guitar after seeing the Beatles on "Ed Sullivan." We're looking for a direction home, but we've got few inspirational leaders.
Lin-Manuel Miranda is one.
Like all great art, "Hamilton" has to be experienced to be understood, you have to see it to get it.
So if you're in New York City...
If you can rustle up a ticket.
YOU MUST GO!
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Wednesday, 29 July 2015
E-Mail Of The Day
Bob……. wow.. I love this..
I grew up in Stockbridge Mass.
My 89 year old mom still lives in the house I grew up in and she still goes to Tanglewood. My twin brother is a doctor in Stockbridge.. 3 miles from Tanglewood.
I went there as a small kid with my parents and brother and sister to hear the Boston Symphony play all those classical hits.. But I wasn't into it.. but it had a deep influence on me. It gets better.
When Rock N Roll came into OUR lives in the 60's.. I saw MILES DAVIS (Four Is More) in his prime open up for SANTANA (first 2 records) with Michael Shrieve still playing drums at Tanglewood. I saw THE WHO perform TOMMY .. Maybe the first time in America… with JETHRO TULL and IT"S A BEAUTIFUL DAY opening up for them . Me and my twin brother at 13? or so.. were in the second row.. we were stoned and Keith Moon freaked out because he saw us and realized we were twins.. lol he probably saw 4 of us because he was stoned.. I saw the JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, SLY STONE who showed up 3 hours late, Iron Butterfly etc etc.. but it gets better..
In 1975 I was in the student orchestra at Tanglewood.. It took me 4 years of auditioning, but I finally got in.. I got to perform Sibelius 5th Symphony on that big shed stage with Leonard Bernstein conducting us.. my jewish mom cried the entire concert seeing her boy on that stage with Lenny.. : ) I worked with conductors Arthur Fiedler and Sieji Ozawa also.. amazing..
So Tanglewood is like family to me.. It's my roots for classical, jazz and rock n roll.
Thanks for writing about Tanglewood.. I wish everyone could have the experience you and I have had going to Tanglewood.. Nothing like it.. Fire Flys and mosquitoes.. : ) wine, picnic's on the lawn and people saying "shhhhhhhush" when some one talks to loud.. ha ha
Thanks,
Kenny Aronoff
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I grew up in Stockbridge Mass.
My 89 year old mom still lives in the house I grew up in and she still goes to Tanglewood. My twin brother is a doctor in Stockbridge.. 3 miles from Tanglewood.
I went there as a small kid with my parents and brother and sister to hear the Boston Symphony play all those classical hits.. But I wasn't into it.. but it had a deep influence on me. It gets better.
When Rock N Roll came into OUR lives in the 60's.. I saw MILES DAVIS (Four Is More) in his prime open up for SANTANA (first 2 records) with Michael Shrieve still playing drums at Tanglewood. I saw THE WHO perform TOMMY .. Maybe the first time in America… with JETHRO TULL and IT"S A BEAUTIFUL DAY opening up for them . Me and my twin brother at 13? or so.. were in the second row.. we were stoned and Keith Moon freaked out because he saw us and realized we were twins.. lol he probably saw 4 of us because he was stoned.. I saw the JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, SLY STONE who showed up 3 hours late, Iron Butterfly etc etc.. but it gets better..
In 1975 I was in the student orchestra at Tanglewood.. It took me 4 years of auditioning, but I finally got in.. I got to perform Sibelius 5th Symphony on that big shed stage with Leonard Bernstein conducting us.. my jewish mom cried the entire concert seeing her boy on that stage with Lenny.. : ) I worked with conductors Arthur Fiedler and Sieji Ozawa also.. amazing..
So Tanglewood is like family to me.. It's my roots for classical, jazz and rock n roll.
Thanks for writing about Tanglewood.. I wish everyone could have the experience you and I have had going to Tanglewood.. Nothing like it.. Fire Flys and mosquitoes.. : ) wine, picnic's on the lawn and people saying "shhhhhhhush" when some one talks to loud.. ha ha
Thanks,
Kenny Aronoff
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Tuesday, 28 July 2015
Tanglewood
It's America's first music shed, summer home of the Boston Symphony, I went there Sunday with my mother.
But almost not.
You see Dark Sky said it was gonna rain. I already told my mom that I couldn't sit on the lawn, you see I take this pill that makes me uber-susceptible to the rays of the sun. You know how you go to the pharmacy and they always warn you? Well, this time they were right. But getting from the car to the shed is quite an ordeal, you see my mother is handicapped, she uses a walker, so we went to bed saying we wouldn't go.
And then we changed our mind.
You see I was uptight about her car. A '99 Lexus with 156,000 miles that she no longer drives. With different tires on the front and back and enough lights on in the dashboard to illuminate a Christmas tree. I'm a safety bug, and it makes me uptight to have something imperfect. Driving this far in this car had me uptight, and if it was gonna be in the rain...but then I thought if we crashed we'd both die and that would be fitting. After all, she's aged and I'm too old to die young.
But obviously we lived through it.
Actually, it didn't rain at all on the way up.
And what I love about the east coast is everything's so close. You can have a complete change of scenery on a whim. And since I was here last there's so much more foliage. You can't see what you once could. What's end game, everybody living under a canopy? I'm not sure, but Siri took us there.
Yes, without an iPhone we wouldn't be sure how to go. But now with no direction home you can fire up your maps app and end up where you wanna go. Like the Boss we took the backstreets. It made my mother uptight, the roads were unfamiliar.
But then we ended up right there.
And I was flummoxed. How was I going to get my mom from the parking lot to the shed?
You see it's grass. And a wheelchair doesn't roll that great on that. As for using the walker, it's too far.
But it turns out Tanglewood is prepared. There's a fleet of golf carts, that ferry you to the entrance, where they call for wheelchairs, with pushers, who not only get you to your seat, but back.
And this audience needed them. Wheelchairs, that is.
The classical scene is kept alive by the aged. When they die, what happens? I'm not sure. But our moms and dads, at least those still with us, venture to hear the symphony, as they did in their youth. Did I tell you my parents met hitchhiking on their way back from Tanglewood? My dad picked my mother up. So they could never tell us not to put out our thumb.
We got pretty good seats. This is not rock or pop, not something so popular you can't get a ducat at the last moment.
And I was confronted by a full orchestra which played Mozart's last three symphonies. Did I know them? No, but I wish I did. Still, the music set my mind free.
I first went to Tanglewood 45 years ago, to hear Duke Ellington. I'd like to tell you I got it, but the truth is the coolest thing that happened is they ultimately released a live disc. My parents dragged me to cultural events all over the northeast. But they also provided money for events in my wheelhouse, like concerts at the Fillmore East.
And the music is playing and I'm staring at the landscape on the sides of the stage and I'm wondering...how did I get here?
By car, obviously, but what I truly mean is what happened in all these decades.
I wanted some time back. I wanted some choices back. I was so lost in a way I'm not sure kids are today. I went to college because it was expected, after that...who knew what to expect. I had girlfriends and I got married and I never made a pile of cash and as time wore on the whole world changed.
But not the music.
Mozart's career was history after these three symphonies. He couldn't work, no one would book him. I read that in the program. Funny how the artistic legends are financially-challenged and the business titans are forgotten. Not that this kept Wolfgang Amadeus warm at night.
And the food was expensive and good. That's another change, it used to be hot dogs and soda. Our whole country has moved upscale, and McDonald's didn't realize it. Millennials want fresh and their parents want nothing formula. The parking lot was littered with foreign cars, German iron, whereas in the old days Detroit predominated, hunks of junk that had to be replaced on a regular basis, fallibility was built in.
And when it was all over, we reversed our ride. Literally. Hit that icon in the maps app. And I got a hankering to go to Otis Ridge, where I went to ski camp back in the sixties.
And thanks to said maps app we found it. At the same time the heavens opened and a five star thunderstorm began. You know, the kind where you've got the windshield wipers on high and you still can't see.
And we're cruising the back roads. And we're talking about not only the way it used to be, but what will forever be.
And I was in touch with who I was and who I've become.
And I realized I'm the same damn person. The alienated iconoclast who resonates with art and landscape, who likes the feeling of sliding on snow and is eager to share the experience, assuming I can find someone as into it as me.
Is there anybody as into it as me?
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But almost not.
You see Dark Sky said it was gonna rain. I already told my mom that I couldn't sit on the lawn, you see I take this pill that makes me uber-susceptible to the rays of the sun. You know how you go to the pharmacy and they always warn you? Well, this time they were right. But getting from the car to the shed is quite an ordeal, you see my mother is handicapped, she uses a walker, so we went to bed saying we wouldn't go.
And then we changed our mind.
You see I was uptight about her car. A '99 Lexus with 156,000 miles that she no longer drives. With different tires on the front and back and enough lights on in the dashboard to illuminate a Christmas tree. I'm a safety bug, and it makes me uptight to have something imperfect. Driving this far in this car had me uptight, and if it was gonna be in the rain...but then I thought if we crashed we'd both die and that would be fitting. After all, she's aged and I'm too old to die young.
But obviously we lived through it.
Actually, it didn't rain at all on the way up.
And what I love about the east coast is everything's so close. You can have a complete change of scenery on a whim. And since I was here last there's so much more foliage. You can't see what you once could. What's end game, everybody living under a canopy? I'm not sure, but Siri took us there.
Yes, without an iPhone we wouldn't be sure how to go. But now with no direction home you can fire up your maps app and end up where you wanna go. Like the Boss we took the backstreets. It made my mother uptight, the roads were unfamiliar.
But then we ended up right there.
And I was flummoxed. How was I going to get my mom from the parking lot to the shed?
You see it's grass. And a wheelchair doesn't roll that great on that. As for using the walker, it's too far.
But it turns out Tanglewood is prepared. There's a fleet of golf carts, that ferry you to the entrance, where they call for wheelchairs, with pushers, who not only get you to your seat, but back.
And this audience needed them. Wheelchairs, that is.
The classical scene is kept alive by the aged. When they die, what happens? I'm not sure. But our moms and dads, at least those still with us, venture to hear the symphony, as they did in their youth. Did I tell you my parents met hitchhiking on their way back from Tanglewood? My dad picked my mother up. So they could never tell us not to put out our thumb.
We got pretty good seats. This is not rock or pop, not something so popular you can't get a ducat at the last moment.
And I was confronted by a full orchestra which played Mozart's last three symphonies. Did I know them? No, but I wish I did. Still, the music set my mind free.
I first went to Tanglewood 45 years ago, to hear Duke Ellington. I'd like to tell you I got it, but the truth is the coolest thing that happened is they ultimately released a live disc. My parents dragged me to cultural events all over the northeast. But they also provided money for events in my wheelhouse, like concerts at the Fillmore East.
And the music is playing and I'm staring at the landscape on the sides of the stage and I'm wondering...how did I get here?
By car, obviously, but what I truly mean is what happened in all these decades.
I wanted some time back. I wanted some choices back. I was so lost in a way I'm not sure kids are today. I went to college because it was expected, after that...who knew what to expect. I had girlfriends and I got married and I never made a pile of cash and as time wore on the whole world changed.
But not the music.
Mozart's career was history after these three symphonies. He couldn't work, no one would book him. I read that in the program. Funny how the artistic legends are financially-challenged and the business titans are forgotten. Not that this kept Wolfgang Amadeus warm at night.
And the food was expensive and good. That's another change, it used to be hot dogs and soda. Our whole country has moved upscale, and McDonald's didn't realize it. Millennials want fresh and their parents want nothing formula. The parking lot was littered with foreign cars, German iron, whereas in the old days Detroit predominated, hunks of junk that had to be replaced on a regular basis, fallibility was built in.
And when it was all over, we reversed our ride. Literally. Hit that icon in the maps app. And I got a hankering to go to Otis Ridge, where I went to ski camp back in the sixties.
And thanks to said maps app we found it. At the same time the heavens opened and a five star thunderstorm began. You know, the kind where you've got the windshield wipers on high and you still can't see.
And we're cruising the back roads. And we're talking about not only the way it used to be, but what will forever be.
And I was in touch with who I was and who I've become.
And I realized I'm the same damn person. The alienated iconoclast who resonates with art and landscape, who likes the feeling of sliding on snow and is eager to share the experience, assuming I can find someone as into it as me.
Is there anybody as into it as me?
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Monday, 27 July 2015
The Amy Winehouse Movie
What impressed me most was she was singing her truth, unselfconsciously, in a world where we're all too guarded, posting on Instagram about our fabulous lives when the truth is so often we feel tortured and unsure, insecure.
Amy Winehouse was insecure. And she dealt with this by doing her best not to be too reliant on any one man, for fear he'd hurt her, the same way her dad hurt her mum.
Relationships... Does anybody stay in one place anymore? It seems the wealthy and educated stay together as a business deal and the rest of us are searching, judging and always wondering if there's something better around the corner or whether the one who's our heart's desire will leave us first. Happened to me. And I've been forever untrusting since.
There was a hole in Amy's heart that could never be filled. She was free, but too often empty.
The crime of this film is that it plays in the theatres. As if all of those who were fans of her music go out to see documentaries, as if we don't live in a world of TV. If "Amy" premiered on television it'd be the talk of our nation, because it's not only about fame, but the human condition. Somewhere, in between the clips and the music, is truth, a dirty one, the same one that has the paparazzi crowding around the name of the moment and abandoning it soon thereafter.
The weirdest thing is that Amy is so alive. We seem to only be aware of famous Amy, the one with the arm tattoos who kept falling down. But once upon a time she was a teenager, and there's video of her. Seems that nothing is lost to posterity anymore. We all leave artifacts. And the loss of privacy is creepy, but to be able to sift through the ashes is fascinating.
Amy was on the fast track to nowhere. She was the antithesis of the American stars. She wasn't sure if she wanted a career and she didn't want to be world-famous. Then again, this is a movie, we'll never know how she really felt.
She was a girl with friends who liked to get high. That's why she moved out of her mother's apartment, so she could smoke dope.
Amy was also extremely self-knowing. She said her mother was too easy on her, that's why she was the way she was.
And she can certainly sing, but she's told to write, about her life, and she does.
And that's the heart of this movie, the songs. When they juxtapose the lyrics against the real life situations you're touched. And you resonate. This is what music does best, reflect ourselves back upon us. But we seem to have lost our way these days. Who do we blame? The acts or the system? The acts want success, the system wants a return on its investment, and as a result everyone plays it safe.
Amy did not play it safe.
She was such an original. A sassy Jewish girl. She hid neither her identity nor her religion. When she leaves a phone message that she loves the recipient whether he returns her phone call or not, you're touched. It's so sweet and caring. Anything but manipulative, purely genuine.
Kind of like the look on her face when she wins the Grammy for Album of the Year. If it doesn't bring tears to your eyes, you're inhuman. My eyes are welling up as I write this. She's standing on a stage in the U.K. in the middle of the night, watching the telecast from Los Angeles, and when they call her name she's stricken, she can only stare into space, stock still. It's not that it's a dream come true, rather a shock that little Amy Winehouse resonates with so many, that doing what she wanted to do, without compromise, she was recognized, she won.
And little she was. Bulimic. We see these stick-thin stars and become envious. The truth is they either don't eat or throw up. In this case, the latter, all over the studio stall. You can only hide your demons for so long.
Credit the manager who refused to go along for the ride.
Credit Lucian Grainge for making her sign a contract stating she could not perform on the Grammy telecast unless she was sober.
But the truth is the system ate her up. Everybody gets paid only if Amy works. Lucian told her she had to follow up her initial album. Despite her protestations, her second manager, a promoter, kept her working live when she shouldn't have, because that's what promoters do, oftentimes all they know, booking gigs.
And the acts go along with it.
It killed Kurt Cobain and it killed Amy Winehouse. Both protested before their deaths, said they no longer wanted to play, but it was too late, their lives had been turned topsy-turvy, they couldn't find their way back to where they once belonged.
But the truth is they never really belonged. They were off-kilter. Thin-skinned. Following an inner art they weren't fully sure they possessed. Poseurs are boasters, confident, all-knowing. Legends are unsure.
So what we have here is a woman so talented, many won't realize it until they watch this film. Yes, viewing "Amy" makes you a fan of its protagonist. Sure, I knew "Rehab," but I'm a much bigger fan now, Amy just oozed talent, she was the best of us.
And the worst.
True artists are not like us. They lack discipline. Order. You might not blow all of your money if you were a superstar, but the truth is you could never become a superstar, it's not in your DNA, you couldn't take the risks. Amy never could have had an executive career, she'd be fired from the 7-11 because she couldn't show up on time. All she could do was this. And play pool. And do drugs. All the things your parents tell you not to, but which made her her.
But while we're living the straight and narrow, we yearn to jump the tracks. Which is why we bond not to the act with the biggest sponsorship or the most famous boyfriend but the one who goes their own way, who does it different, who doesn't beg for our acceptance and therefore gets it.
You won't understand a ton of the dialogue. Between the English accents and the archival footage I missed so much.
Which is why I'm gonna watch it again. And again. On my TV. On my iPad. I've got to soak it all up, marinate in something that was hiding in plain sight that this film brings to life.
We've become so inured to fake that we've given up on genuine. Every story about the music business is about money being made or lost. How superstars are cleaning up on the road or acts are being devastated by streaming payments. If you're not in the industry, you're avoiding it. That's the problem with music, not the economics, but the art itself. As Adele proved, if you've got it, the people want it.
But we haven't had much of that spirit here since 1999, when Napster opened the floodgates and allowed everybody to play, when the barrier to entry became so low that chaos ruled. The crime is that as much as she was a paragon of excellence, Amy Winehouse's greatness was buried by the tsunami of crap coming down the pike.
But now this film will resuscitate her image. Now she will truly be a legend.
And it's so sad she's gone.
You know how the movie ends, but when it does, even though it's foreshadowed, you can't believe it. You almost expect Amy to come out smiling, laughing that she fooled us.
But she doesn't.
Life is no laughing matter. It's not easy to kill yourself, but it's possible. And when you're gone, it's forever.
So, take a few risks, but not too many.
Learn from Amy Winehouse, but don't try to be her.
Because the truth is the greats are doomed. Even if they're alive, they're oftentimes broke and unhappy.
But without them, without their beacon, life would not be worth living.
This is the most painful viewing experience you will have all year.
But rush to the theatre now to see "Amy."
I haven't felt this bad after a flick since the "Deer Hunter."
But this is real.
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Amy Winehouse was insecure. And she dealt with this by doing her best not to be too reliant on any one man, for fear he'd hurt her, the same way her dad hurt her mum.
Relationships... Does anybody stay in one place anymore? It seems the wealthy and educated stay together as a business deal and the rest of us are searching, judging and always wondering if there's something better around the corner or whether the one who's our heart's desire will leave us first. Happened to me. And I've been forever untrusting since.
There was a hole in Amy's heart that could never be filled. She was free, but too often empty.
The crime of this film is that it plays in the theatres. As if all of those who were fans of her music go out to see documentaries, as if we don't live in a world of TV. If "Amy" premiered on television it'd be the talk of our nation, because it's not only about fame, but the human condition. Somewhere, in between the clips and the music, is truth, a dirty one, the same one that has the paparazzi crowding around the name of the moment and abandoning it soon thereafter.
The weirdest thing is that Amy is so alive. We seem to only be aware of famous Amy, the one with the arm tattoos who kept falling down. But once upon a time she was a teenager, and there's video of her. Seems that nothing is lost to posterity anymore. We all leave artifacts. And the loss of privacy is creepy, but to be able to sift through the ashes is fascinating.
Amy was on the fast track to nowhere. She was the antithesis of the American stars. She wasn't sure if she wanted a career and she didn't want to be world-famous. Then again, this is a movie, we'll never know how she really felt.
She was a girl with friends who liked to get high. That's why she moved out of her mother's apartment, so she could smoke dope.
Amy was also extremely self-knowing. She said her mother was too easy on her, that's why she was the way she was.
And she can certainly sing, but she's told to write, about her life, and she does.
And that's the heart of this movie, the songs. When they juxtapose the lyrics against the real life situations you're touched. And you resonate. This is what music does best, reflect ourselves back upon us. But we seem to have lost our way these days. Who do we blame? The acts or the system? The acts want success, the system wants a return on its investment, and as a result everyone plays it safe.
Amy did not play it safe.
She was such an original. A sassy Jewish girl. She hid neither her identity nor her religion. When she leaves a phone message that she loves the recipient whether he returns her phone call or not, you're touched. It's so sweet and caring. Anything but manipulative, purely genuine.
Kind of like the look on her face when she wins the Grammy for Album of the Year. If it doesn't bring tears to your eyes, you're inhuman. My eyes are welling up as I write this. She's standing on a stage in the U.K. in the middle of the night, watching the telecast from Los Angeles, and when they call her name she's stricken, she can only stare into space, stock still. It's not that it's a dream come true, rather a shock that little Amy Winehouse resonates with so many, that doing what she wanted to do, without compromise, she was recognized, she won.
And little she was. Bulimic. We see these stick-thin stars and become envious. The truth is they either don't eat or throw up. In this case, the latter, all over the studio stall. You can only hide your demons for so long.
Credit the manager who refused to go along for the ride.
Credit Lucian Grainge for making her sign a contract stating she could not perform on the Grammy telecast unless she was sober.
But the truth is the system ate her up. Everybody gets paid only if Amy works. Lucian told her she had to follow up her initial album. Despite her protestations, her second manager, a promoter, kept her working live when she shouldn't have, because that's what promoters do, oftentimes all they know, booking gigs.
And the acts go along with it.
It killed Kurt Cobain and it killed Amy Winehouse. Both protested before their deaths, said they no longer wanted to play, but it was too late, their lives had been turned topsy-turvy, they couldn't find their way back to where they once belonged.
But the truth is they never really belonged. They were off-kilter. Thin-skinned. Following an inner art they weren't fully sure they possessed. Poseurs are boasters, confident, all-knowing. Legends are unsure.
So what we have here is a woman so talented, many won't realize it until they watch this film. Yes, viewing "Amy" makes you a fan of its protagonist. Sure, I knew "Rehab," but I'm a much bigger fan now, Amy just oozed talent, she was the best of us.
And the worst.
True artists are not like us. They lack discipline. Order. You might not blow all of your money if you were a superstar, but the truth is you could never become a superstar, it's not in your DNA, you couldn't take the risks. Amy never could have had an executive career, she'd be fired from the 7-11 because she couldn't show up on time. All she could do was this. And play pool. And do drugs. All the things your parents tell you not to, but which made her her.
But while we're living the straight and narrow, we yearn to jump the tracks. Which is why we bond not to the act with the biggest sponsorship or the most famous boyfriend but the one who goes their own way, who does it different, who doesn't beg for our acceptance and therefore gets it.
You won't understand a ton of the dialogue. Between the English accents and the archival footage I missed so much.
Which is why I'm gonna watch it again. And again. On my TV. On my iPad. I've got to soak it all up, marinate in something that was hiding in plain sight that this film brings to life.
We've become so inured to fake that we've given up on genuine. Every story about the music business is about money being made or lost. How superstars are cleaning up on the road or acts are being devastated by streaming payments. If you're not in the industry, you're avoiding it. That's the problem with music, not the economics, but the art itself. As Adele proved, if you've got it, the people want it.
But we haven't had much of that spirit here since 1999, when Napster opened the floodgates and allowed everybody to play, when the barrier to entry became so low that chaos ruled. The crime is that as much as she was a paragon of excellence, Amy Winehouse's greatness was buried by the tsunami of crap coming down the pike.
But now this film will resuscitate her image. Now she will truly be a legend.
And it's so sad she's gone.
You know how the movie ends, but when it does, even though it's foreshadowed, you can't believe it. You almost expect Amy to come out smiling, laughing that she fooled us.
But she doesn't.
Life is no laughing matter. It's not easy to kill yourself, but it's possible. And when you're gone, it's forever.
So, take a few risks, but not too many.
Learn from Amy Winehouse, but don't try to be her.
Because the truth is the greats are doomed. Even if they're alive, they're oftentimes broke and unhappy.
But without them, without their beacon, life would not be worth living.
This is the most painful viewing experience you will have all year.
But rush to the theatre now to see "Amy."
I haven't felt this bad after a flick since the "Deer Hunter."
But this is real.
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