Do you feel optimistic? That your best days are in front of you? That you will marry your heart's desire, live comfortably in a mini-mansion and do fulfilling work until a well-earned retirement?
Then chances are your parents were rich and you went to a good school and you've leveraged your relationships to get ahead.
But if you weren't born on third base, if the guidance counselor in your public school was unaware of need-blind admissions, if everybody on your block was a rapper or a sports star or just doing drugs...
You're probably wondering where your future went.
Used to be the media was on our side. Divining truth, looking out for us. Before Rupert Murdoch bought the "Wall Street Journal" and Judith Miller convinced "New York Times" readers that an Iraq invasion was justified. Now we can't believe a thing we read.
As for television, Don Henley had it right, the bubble-headed bleached blond making seven figures wanted us to follow car chases, was more interested in the horse race than truth. It was all fun all the time.
Only it wasn't.
Kind of like this election cycle. I can't watch another debate, there's nothing new to be said. Or the candidates don't want to say it. The media says it's important but the truth is it sells advertising and there you have it in a nutshell, the media-industrial complex has pulled away from the populace, and now the populace is rebelling.
It happened in music first, with Napster. Artists and executives couldn't believe the public would steal music. But the public was sick of being ripped off and saw white collar criminals making double digit millions and not ending up behind bars. Why should they be moral? Especially when the media was constantly flaunting the immorality of artists. Money for nothing indeed.
And then the techies scooped up all the chips. This is when the artists got pissed. They could no longer sit at home and make a living, they had to get out and ply the boards, which may sound glamorous but is not, especially when you're already married, and if you think the musicians take drugs for fun, you've never tried to sleep after giving it your all until midnight.
So the musicians hate the techies, who stole their lunch money. And on one hand you can tell them to get with the program, on another you can ask what kind of country are we living in?
Those musicians who do break through play by the new rules. Which is to do anything for cash and to try and chase the billionaires. They want to fly on their planes, if not buy planes themselves. Meanwhile, those at home are supposed to respect these players, as they have in the past.
Forget the prepubescents adoring wet behind the ear singers with little talent. That's been going on forever. But an entire generation of music lovers, the baby boomers, and to a great extent their Gen-X brethren, have abandoned the scene. Sure, it's dense and complicated, but there's nothing that appeals to them, that satiates their souls, that is music for music's sake. Everybody's bitching they're working too hard and can't get paid.
Just like the rest of America.
But the rich move their corporations overseas to avoid taxes, not knowing there's no such option for the public.
The entertainment business keeps telling us to partake of their wares when the truth is we're disconnecting, not only in music, but film. Sure, grosses may be good, but only for a few flicks. We need cultural touchstones, we don't need much else.
Like cable television or tablets or...
Cord-cutting is real. We're sick of paying six bucks for ESPN we don't watch. And why do we need the latest tablet, which is just product envy at best anyway, the old one is just fine. But the truth is the phablet, the large smartphone, is good enough.
And next we're abandoning cars. Uber is just a start. Whilst boomers purchase six figure automobiles and prance around in their iron (aluminum!) showing off, youngsters don't even get their licenses, and are looking forward to the days of self-driving cars.
Talk about change.
And it is all about change. We'll embrace that which is easier and exciting... But we're sick of being told we are inadequate and to do it the old way, ordained for the benefit of the rich.
Music labels still trumpet sales when streams are everything, and you can't stop hearing that there's not enough money in music. But why should the consumer care, he's struggling too! And why should the consumer believe this, since everything that was nothing turns into a juggernaut, like computers.
The book business killed digital, sealing its fate as a marginal enterprise.
Those at the top want the status quo and those at the bottom are hungry for real leadership, that speaks to them and watches out for them.
But there's no story to follow. Kanye West is all about himself. Justin Bieber is a nitwit. And reporters want to hang with their subjects, their publications full of hype to make us feel envious of what the subjects have got.
But we know the truth, we can never have what they have, no matter how much we put our noses to the grindstone, opportunities are scarce, the game is rigged. Some of us have given up, the rest of us are hoping for a revolution.
That's what happens when there's too much injustice. And the injustice in this case is institutions and groups who want to maintain the status quo to the detriment of the rest of us, and make us pay fealty and become wannabes to boot. You know why Oscar ratings are tanking? NO ONE CARES!
The public needs food and sex and shelter and entertainment.
But it also needs hope.
Right now what we've got is mainly false hope. Duplicity. Bait and switch. Envy. And as a result, disillusionment reigns.
That's the story of Donald Trump, that's the story of Bernie Sanders. They're speaking a truth to their constituents that listeners don't hear elsewhere. It's thrilling to have politicians looking out for you as opposed to guarded corporatists always plotting to get ahead in the future, benefiting themselves, not caring about anyone else. Mark Zuckerberg tweaks Facebook algorithms for himself, not for you, not even for corporations. But we can't stop hearing about the triumphant social network.
Sure, there are idiots spinning falsehoods trying to become social media stars. And the media whips out winners to keep us playing the game, as if everyone could win the lottery.
But the truth is the game is rigged and no one is on our side. The artists jettisoned us long ago, when MTV could make them rich, when Napster made it harder to make money. The media is like the musicians, complaining of lost advertising and thinner margins. The websites say we have to endure click-bait to pay their bills. Every entity in America is desperately trying to climb and survive, meanwhile we're at home out of options.
So when you see the shiny show on TV, when you read about the rich and famous, don't buy it. Know that there are more just like you, that the power lies with the people, not the corporations.
It's morning in America, and the entrenched are about to get a huge wake-up call.
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Saturday, 13 February 2016
Friday, 12 February 2016
BBC Music Moguls-Myth Makers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOoJd4xDQio
Kanye West is playing the media like a fiddle.
You're sitting at home scratching your head. How does a guy without a hit record sell out Madison Square Garden for a fashion show?
The media made him hot, it reports on everything Kanye does. And like Donald Trump, he says the unthinkable, he boasts about his greatness and being squeezed out of fashion's inner circle and the public eats up every word, because people need heroes and they ain't gonna be Anna Wintour and the rest of the ice cold icons, but a guy like them, who came up from the deep.
It's about clicks, readers, ads. Media needs eyeballs to succeed. Reporters love Kanye West. It's got nothing to do with credibility or art, it's about story.
Just like Taylor Swift. My insider brethren puked when Taylor gave fans Christmas presents. At least do it anonymously, don't record it, don't go for the victory lap. But this wasn't about doing a solid for her fans so much as keeping her name in the news. And the media reported it and the public bought it.
Like Jimi Hendrix burning up his guitar at Monterey. It was pre-planned, it was his PR agent Keith Altham's idea. It's not that Jimi wasn't talented, but how do you get everybody to write about him, how do you get everybody's attention?
That's the game. And it keeps changing. Right now social media is king.
But it's all a manipulation. If you feel duped, you should. Controversy sells. And the stars you admire are oftentimes not the geniuses, but the people behind them.
Now they couldn't make a show like this in the U.S. Because we're so busy lauding the players that they overwhelm the message. Story is secondary to special effects. Tom Wolfe's "Right Stuff" made Chuck Yeager a star, but that wasn't the point, that's what the press took out of it. They needed someone to champion.
Are we gonna champion you?
"But the things that last are worth having lies told about in the first place."
So Pete Townshend says his band sucks, he slags others as pretentious. Spontaneous outburst? No, done upon the instruction of his manager Chris Stamp, who saw that a little controversy would aid the band.
You've got to have the chops. But that's not enough, certainly not today, where there are so many messages, where you're competing not only against the pros but the amateurs.
If I have to listen to one more story about the money PewDiePie makes...
That's right, I know who he is, I tried to watch one of his videos, I was bored to tears. It's a blip on the radar screen, it's not forever, but YouTube has to show someone is making money other than them and it's a good headline, especially for people who don't care. Guy playing video games online makes millions? That's INTERESTING!
We know that Justin Bieber was discovered on YouTube because we've heard the story over and over and over again. The press doesn't want to print the usual suspect story, how an act is a label priority, the songs were written by Max Martin and every promotion man is on the case. No, they're looking for something that will titillate the audience, who cares if it's true!
Ozzy Osbourne biting off the head of a bat...
Van Halen and the brown M&M's...
Do you think these were major news events that the AP couldn't help but spread on the wire?
No, they were manipulations foisted upon you by the handlers and the press so you'd pay attention. They're good stories, nothing more.
Not that Ozzy and Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix are not good.
It's just that they needed a bit of a push.
The press turned on Taylor Swift, saying she a dating nightmare, a stalker out for revenge. Did she get up in arms, did she sue? No, she gave access, she embraced her enemies, she made them complicit in the game, she gave them what they want...more eyeballs.
If you want to be out front you've got to worry about your image and if you want to break big you've got to be in the news every damn day. This is what the alta kacher musicians don't understand... You can't sell if you're not top of mind. Don't come with an album every three years and expect us to care for more than a month. You've got to feed us constantly, so we're drawn to your work, so we talk about your work, so you make money.
You're competing against everybody. Your video on YouTube is up against the finger-puller, the sports stunt, the wannabe musician. Used to be you had to get signed to a label to play, and if you weren't on the radio, good luck. Now, if you're not down in the pit with the great unwashed you're not gonna survive.
And sure, you risk overexposure...
But it's one thing to satiate your fans, it's another to piss people off.
And how many people knew who Meek Mill was before he started attacking Drake?
Forget the hogwash about the music business revolution, the one wherein the established players are toppled by the wannabes with new tools. That's just a canard sold to you by people who get rich giving you hope. Whereas you can't even get access to those truly in power. And those in the driver's seat are skilled, with relationships. Now, more than ever, we hear great songs that go nowhere, because there's no buzz, no story, no one pushing the button putting the player up front and center. For a moment there you could zoom to the top via spontaneous virality, but that disappeared with the aughts.
We're serious now.
Competition is stronger than ever.
And the reason you know about certain acts and not others is because those acts employ professionals to get the story out and the media repeats it. And this is not sending a bio, don't even bother. Can the MP3. Better to have a riot at your show. Or to sing about sex with Taylor Swift, which Kanye did.
And isn't it funny that it wasn't Beyonce's fans trumpeting her Super Bowl performance, but the right wing media who were offended, who bought right into the story, that she was a revolutionary who was anti-police.
No, she's just another pop star trying to make a living.
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Kanye West is playing the media like a fiddle.
You're sitting at home scratching your head. How does a guy without a hit record sell out Madison Square Garden for a fashion show?
The media made him hot, it reports on everything Kanye does. And like Donald Trump, he says the unthinkable, he boasts about his greatness and being squeezed out of fashion's inner circle and the public eats up every word, because people need heroes and they ain't gonna be Anna Wintour and the rest of the ice cold icons, but a guy like them, who came up from the deep.
It's about clicks, readers, ads. Media needs eyeballs to succeed. Reporters love Kanye West. It's got nothing to do with credibility or art, it's about story.
Just like Taylor Swift. My insider brethren puked when Taylor gave fans Christmas presents. At least do it anonymously, don't record it, don't go for the victory lap. But this wasn't about doing a solid for her fans so much as keeping her name in the news. And the media reported it and the public bought it.
Like Jimi Hendrix burning up his guitar at Monterey. It was pre-planned, it was his PR agent Keith Altham's idea. It's not that Jimi wasn't talented, but how do you get everybody to write about him, how do you get everybody's attention?
That's the game. And it keeps changing. Right now social media is king.
But it's all a manipulation. If you feel duped, you should. Controversy sells. And the stars you admire are oftentimes not the geniuses, but the people behind them.
Now they couldn't make a show like this in the U.S. Because we're so busy lauding the players that they overwhelm the message. Story is secondary to special effects. Tom Wolfe's "Right Stuff" made Chuck Yeager a star, but that wasn't the point, that's what the press took out of it. They needed someone to champion.
Are we gonna champion you?
"But the things that last are worth having lies told about in the first place."
So Pete Townshend says his band sucks, he slags others as pretentious. Spontaneous outburst? No, done upon the instruction of his manager Chris Stamp, who saw that a little controversy would aid the band.
You've got to have the chops. But that's not enough, certainly not today, where there are so many messages, where you're competing not only against the pros but the amateurs.
If I have to listen to one more story about the money PewDiePie makes...
That's right, I know who he is, I tried to watch one of his videos, I was bored to tears. It's a blip on the radar screen, it's not forever, but YouTube has to show someone is making money other than them and it's a good headline, especially for people who don't care. Guy playing video games online makes millions? That's INTERESTING!
We know that Justin Bieber was discovered on YouTube because we've heard the story over and over and over again. The press doesn't want to print the usual suspect story, how an act is a label priority, the songs were written by Max Martin and every promotion man is on the case. No, they're looking for something that will titillate the audience, who cares if it's true!
Ozzy Osbourne biting off the head of a bat...
Van Halen and the brown M&M's...
Do you think these were major news events that the AP couldn't help but spread on the wire?
No, they were manipulations foisted upon you by the handlers and the press so you'd pay attention. They're good stories, nothing more.
Not that Ozzy and Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix are not good.
It's just that they needed a bit of a push.
The press turned on Taylor Swift, saying she a dating nightmare, a stalker out for revenge. Did she get up in arms, did she sue? No, she gave access, she embraced her enemies, she made them complicit in the game, she gave them what they want...more eyeballs.
If you want to be out front you've got to worry about your image and if you want to break big you've got to be in the news every damn day. This is what the alta kacher musicians don't understand... You can't sell if you're not top of mind. Don't come with an album every three years and expect us to care for more than a month. You've got to feed us constantly, so we're drawn to your work, so we talk about your work, so you make money.
You're competing against everybody. Your video on YouTube is up against the finger-puller, the sports stunt, the wannabe musician. Used to be you had to get signed to a label to play, and if you weren't on the radio, good luck. Now, if you're not down in the pit with the great unwashed you're not gonna survive.
And sure, you risk overexposure...
But it's one thing to satiate your fans, it's another to piss people off.
And how many people knew who Meek Mill was before he started attacking Drake?
Forget the hogwash about the music business revolution, the one wherein the established players are toppled by the wannabes with new tools. That's just a canard sold to you by people who get rich giving you hope. Whereas you can't even get access to those truly in power. And those in the driver's seat are skilled, with relationships. Now, more than ever, we hear great songs that go nowhere, because there's no buzz, no story, no one pushing the button putting the player up front and center. For a moment there you could zoom to the top via spontaneous virality, but that disappeared with the aughts.
We're serious now.
Competition is stronger than ever.
And the reason you know about certain acts and not others is because those acts employ professionals to get the story out and the media repeats it. And this is not sending a bio, don't even bother. Can the MP3. Better to have a riot at your show. Or to sing about sex with Taylor Swift, which Kanye did.
And isn't it funny that it wasn't Beyonce's fans trumpeting her Super Bowl performance, but the right wing media who were offended, who bought right into the story, that she was a revolutionary who was anti-police.
No, she's just another pop star trying to make a living.
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Thursday, 11 February 2016
Gregory Porter At Capitol Studio A
This guy could be the new Norah Jones.
The lane is wide open, it's unoccupied, it's just that the American media has refused to embrace someone with talent whilst trumpeting young nincompoops in an effort to look hip.
I went to pay fealty. It took me an hour forty to get there from Santa Monica, and don't forget, I employ a standard transmission. I'd like to tell you I listened to music the whole way, but I was powering through the talk channels, trying to make sense of the New Hampshire primary. You see politics is the story of the day. Used to be tech, but that's petering out. Pandora is selling and Twitter is tanking and after twenty years it's a pump and dump game. You build the unicorn and then you cash out, like those funds just did in Lyft. It's about speculation, not product. Sure, we like new services, but we know that one social network will replace another the way acts replace each other on the pop chart.
But it didn't used to be that way. Used to be music wasn't casual, but something you believed in, argued over, immersed yourself in even if you were the only one listening. We followed it like sports but without the statistics. We knew the teams but not who won. Because there were almost no stats, and those that existed were legendarily fake and known to mostly insiders. Rather, we were in pursuit of greatness, and the genres we embraced crossed a spectrum presently untraveled. You could be listening to Jimi Hendrix and at the same time be a fan of Blood, Sweat & Tears, with its horns and jazz.
And that's what Gregory Porter reminded me of, 1968, like he existed in his own bubble and when I encountered it and it popped I was covered in an all over goo that made me feel good.
I didn't expect to feel this way. Barnett told me Porter had sold a million albums in Europe, won a Grammy. Don Was said he was his favorite singer, then again, Gregory's on his label.
But then Mr. Porter opened his pipes...
He was backed by a combo. You might call it jazz, I would call it music.
And I know it when I hear it.
Especially because he was followed by Tori Kelly, who was execrable, I couldn't check my phone fast enough. A mildly talented neophyte overhyped by her manager...if this is the best we've got, we're screwed.
But it isn't, we've got Gregory Porter!
He started with a number from his unreleased new album, it was entitled "Take Me To The Alley."
Unlike the great unwashed, Porter evidenced talent, his voice was smooth, yet powerful. And it lent meaning to the words, I was touched. I wanted to check his history on my phone but I didn't want to lose focus on his performance, which only lasted three numbers.
Did you ever go to a club?
I don't mean one holding a thousand, with a deejay, I mean a small room holding fifty to three hundred people, back before cell phones, back before social media, when you didn't go to be seen but to experience the music.
You're up close and personal. In a sealed environment. And someone gets a chance to prove themselves.
Or not...
It's not only Norah Jones. Back in the seventies we had Boz Scaggs and "Silk Degrees." That rootsy, R&B sound, relaxed and real, it touches hearts. Both Jones and Scaggs went from zero to hero overnight.
Porter could too.
He tried to skew young, he worked with Disclosure.
Didn't make him a household name.
No, what's gonna break Gregory Porter is the man himself. It's not about social media, not about marketing, it's about following your vision and word of mouth. Because there are very few great things out there, and when we find one we know it and we tell everybody about it.
He's forty four. He just moved from Brooklyn back to Bakersfield. He's not selling TMZ, he's not boasting like Kanye, he's just singing.
You remember singing, don't you? When you just open your throat and let go?
We all do it, but few very good.
We adore those who can do it well.
Seeing Gregory Porter last night gave me hope, that music is still alive and respected.
And if everybody were exposed justice would reign.
It's the Adele factor without the buildup.
Another person built for comfort not speed who dedicated his life to the sound.
He had a day job, but he persisted.
He was not a teen telling his parents to pimp him out, figuring graduate school would save him.
Gregory Porter is all in...
AND WHEN YOU HEAR HIM YOU WILL BE TOO!
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The lane is wide open, it's unoccupied, it's just that the American media has refused to embrace someone with talent whilst trumpeting young nincompoops in an effort to look hip.
I went to pay fealty. It took me an hour forty to get there from Santa Monica, and don't forget, I employ a standard transmission. I'd like to tell you I listened to music the whole way, but I was powering through the talk channels, trying to make sense of the New Hampshire primary. You see politics is the story of the day. Used to be tech, but that's petering out. Pandora is selling and Twitter is tanking and after twenty years it's a pump and dump game. You build the unicorn and then you cash out, like those funds just did in Lyft. It's about speculation, not product. Sure, we like new services, but we know that one social network will replace another the way acts replace each other on the pop chart.
But it didn't used to be that way. Used to be music wasn't casual, but something you believed in, argued over, immersed yourself in even if you were the only one listening. We followed it like sports but without the statistics. We knew the teams but not who won. Because there were almost no stats, and those that existed were legendarily fake and known to mostly insiders. Rather, we were in pursuit of greatness, and the genres we embraced crossed a spectrum presently untraveled. You could be listening to Jimi Hendrix and at the same time be a fan of Blood, Sweat & Tears, with its horns and jazz.
And that's what Gregory Porter reminded me of, 1968, like he existed in his own bubble and when I encountered it and it popped I was covered in an all over goo that made me feel good.
I didn't expect to feel this way. Barnett told me Porter had sold a million albums in Europe, won a Grammy. Don Was said he was his favorite singer, then again, Gregory's on his label.
But then Mr. Porter opened his pipes...
He was backed by a combo. You might call it jazz, I would call it music.
And I know it when I hear it.
Especially because he was followed by Tori Kelly, who was execrable, I couldn't check my phone fast enough. A mildly talented neophyte overhyped by her manager...if this is the best we've got, we're screwed.
But it isn't, we've got Gregory Porter!
He started with a number from his unreleased new album, it was entitled "Take Me To The Alley."
Unlike the great unwashed, Porter evidenced talent, his voice was smooth, yet powerful. And it lent meaning to the words, I was touched. I wanted to check his history on my phone but I didn't want to lose focus on his performance, which only lasted three numbers.
Did you ever go to a club?
I don't mean one holding a thousand, with a deejay, I mean a small room holding fifty to three hundred people, back before cell phones, back before social media, when you didn't go to be seen but to experience the music.
You're up close and personal. In a sealed environment. And someone gets a chance to prove themselves.
Or not...
It's not only Norah Jones. Back in the seventies we had Boz Scaggs and "Silk Degrees." That rootsy, R&B sound, relaxed and real, it touches hearts. Both Jones and Scaggs went from zero to hero overnight.
Porter could too.
He tried to skew young, he worked with Disclosure.
Didn't make him a household name.
No, what's gonna break Gregory Porter is the man himself. It's not about social media, not about marketing, it's about following your vision and word of mouth. Because there are very few great things out there, and when we find one we know it and we tell everybody about it.
He's forty four. He just moved from Brooklyn back to Bakersfield. He's not selling TMZ, he's not boasting like Kanye, he's just singing.
You remember singing, don't you? When you just open your throat and let go?
We all do it, but few very good.
We adore those who can do it well.
Seeing Gregory Porter last night gave me hope, that music is still alive and respected.
And if everybody were exposed justice would reign.
It's the Adele factor without the buildup.
Another person built for comfort not speed who dedicated his life to the sound.
He had a day job, but he persisted.
He was not a teen telling his parents to pimp him out, figuring graduate school would save him.
Gregory Porter is all in...
AND WHEN YOU HEAR HIM YOU WILL BE TOO!
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Wednesday, 10 February 2016
Tommy LiPuma On Dan Hicks
Dear Bob,
I can't tell you how pleased I was to read your post on Dan Hicks. First, it helped bring me out of a deep funk I had been in since his wife Clare called me Saturday morning with the news that Dan had passed. Also, it was great to read about his talent and achievements in some form other than an obituary.
We were close...close to the point that my wife Gill and I had decided to name our second daughter after Dan. Her name is Danielle. Whenever Dan and I spoke to one another, he would always ask, "How's what's-her-name?" I feel fortunate to have spoken to him just the week before his demise, and though he sounded weak, we spoke very enthusiastically about our mutual admiration for the "swing" era, and I did get a chance to send him some Ellington, Johnny Hodges, and Ben Webster. Also some sister Rosetta Tharp. His wife Clare e-mailed me that he loved it. She also told me that he listened to music right up to the end.
I was also glad that you spoke so highly of "Striking It Rich." I had just mentioned to a friend that out of the three albums we did together at Blue thumb, "Striking it Rich" was my favorite. Not to take away from the other two as they certainly had their moments, but we caught that magic that happens sometimes when you put six talented people in a room together.
They were such a delight to see in person. That's why I suggested to Dan his first album for us should be with a live audience. In that case it was the Troubadour.
At the time we were planning the second release, which was going to be a studio album, I was working with a very talented and astute engineer by the name of Bruce Botnick, who worked at Sunset Sound. I asked him how could we keep the band within close proximity to one another for that live effect and still keep the microphone leakage to a minimum. So he set the room up with Dan, his rhythm guitar, and the Lickettes on one side, and the violin, standup bass and guitar opposite them, within eye contact, and about six feet separating them. Having the "live" side of the mics opposite each other cut the leakage to the point that we decided not to use any baffles, so what you're hearing is a great performance in the middle of all that room ambiance. We may have fixed a few vocal phrases, but otherwise it was all live.
Elvis Costello was a big fan of Dan's. As a matter of fact, he recorded something for one of Dan's later albums. He brought up a good point to me when we communicated this weekend, If I may quote: "There is such a lot of soul in his songs and I wonder sometimes if the very stagecraft that made him so appealing to me when I picked up 'Where's The Money' might have made less curious people think that this was just a novelty act and miss the depth of the songs."
I also didn't think that breaking the band up at the height of his notoriety helped his career, but I respected his decision. He wasn't the type of guy who wanted to get up at five in the morning to do the Today Show, or have to deal with any of a number of things that come with the territory.
I think the trappings were just that to Dan, and he didn't want any part of it. He certainly didn't stop performing, My wife and I saw him about two years ago in Fairfield, Ct. playing to a rabid crowd of fans, clapping as they heard every gem of a tune being performed. Ahmet Ertegan walked up to Al Schmitt and me when I was doing the live album with Hicks at the Troubadour, and he said, "Are you recording this band of gypsies?" I told Dan afterwards, and he smiled and said "Yeh, I can see that." Dan was short on bullshit, and long on talent, and I loved him like a brother.
Both my wife and I will miss him.
Tommy LiPuma
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I can't tell you how pleased I was to read your post on Dan Hicks. First, it helped bring me out of a deep funk I had been in since his wife Clare called me Saturday morning with the news that Dan had passed. Also, it was great to read about his talent and achievements in some form other than an obituary.
We were close...close to the point that my wife Gill and I had decided to name our second daughter after Dan. Her name is Danielle. Whenever Dan and I spoke to one another, he would always ask, "How's what's-her-name?" I feel fortunate to have spoken to him just the week before his demise, and though he sounded weak, we spoke very enthusiastically about our mutual admiration for the "swing" era, and I did get a chance to send him some Ellington, Johnny Hodges, and Ben Webster. Also some sister Rosetta Tharp. His wife Clare e-mailed me that he loved it. She also told me that he listened to music right up to the end.
I was also glad that you spoke so highly of "Striking It Rich." I had just mentioned to a friend that out of the three albums we did together at Blue thumb, "Striking it Rich" was my favorite. Not to take away from the other two as they certainly had their moments, but we caught that magic that happens sometimes when you put six talented people in a room together.
They were such a delight to see in person. That's why I suggested to Dan his first album for us should be with a live audience. In that case it was the Troubadour.
At the time we were planning the second release, which was going to be a studio album, I was working with a very talented and astute engineer by the name of Bruce Botnick, who worked at Sunset Sound. I asked him how could we keep the band within close proximity to one another for that live effect and still keep the microphone leakage to a minimum. So he set the room up with Dan, his rhythm guitar, and the Lickettes on one side, and the violin, standup bass and guitar opposite them, within eye contact, and about six feet separating them. Having the "live" side of the mics opposite each other cut the leakage to the point that we decided not to use any baffles, so what you're hearing is a great performance in the middle of all that room ambiance. We may have fixed a few vocal phrases, but otherwise it was all live.
Elvis Costello was a big fan of Dan's. As a matter of fact, he recorded something for one of Dan's later albums. He brought up a good point to me when we communicated this weekend, If I may quote: "There is such a lot of soul in his songs and I wonder sometimes if the very stagecraft that made him so appealing to me when I picked up 'Where's The Money' might have made less curious people think that this was just a novelty act and miss the depth of the songs."
I also didn't think that breaking the band up at the height of his notoriety helped his career, but I respected his decision. He wasn't the type of guy who wanted to get up at five in the morning to do the Today Show, or have to deal with any of a number of things that come with the territory.
I think the trappings were just that to Dan, and he didn't want any part of it. He certainly didn't stop performing, My wife and I saw him about two years ago in Fairfield, Ct. playing to a rabid crowd of fans, clapping as they heard every gem of a tune being performed. Ahmet Ertegan walked up to Al Schmitt and me when I was doing the live album with Hicks at the Troubadour, and he said, "Are you recording this band of gypsies?" I told Dan afterwards, and he smiled and said "Yeh, I can see that." Dan was short on bullshit, and long on talent, and I loved him like a brother.
Both my wife and I will miss him.
Tommy LiPuma
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More Bernie
This is exactly what happened in 1964.
Elvis was king.
And then the Beatles wiped him off the map.
We had a decade of rock and roll. It had been whittled down to a formula. Sure, Bobby Darin had talent, but Fabian and the other Bobby, Rydell, were marginal players. But that was music, a sideshow.
And then...
A band with roots who didn't believe in convention, who'd honed their sound off the radar, delivered an honest wallop that was undeniable.
And overnight the youth switched allegiance.
Could happen again. Probably will if Bernie Sanders is an indicator.
You know it's not your mother's world anymore when Gloria Steinem is on the wrong side of the issue. She famously told Bill Maher that young women were supporting Bernie because that's where the young men were. Talk about no respect, Rodney Dangerfield's rolling in his grave. When paragons of envelope-pushing are tone deaf as to what is going on your know you're in the midst of a revolution.
The millennials were supposed to be pussies, whiners, coddled for life by their parents to the point they couldn't survive on their own.
But with all that attention and education the youth became wise, and they realized their future was stolen. That whatever opportunity there was was slim, that the odds were stacked against them. And finally they found someone speaking the truth. Albeit a septuagenarian. But one who never wavered from his message, and didn't put money first, but quality of life.
Tell that to the movie studios making endless comic book flicks.
Tell that to the record companies releasing paint by number, made by committee music.
They think the public wants it.
But the truth is people don't.
They want honesty, credibility, something they can believe in.
And people believe in Bernie Sanders.
I was in the car with my octogenarian mother. Who took Steinem's side, saying all young women should line up for Hillary. But when Hillary came on the radio she was fake and duplicitous and now spewing Bernie's speech about coming down on Wall Street, like a rocker making a disco record in the late seventies. Her statements were unbelievable, there was no thread, she was saying what's expedient, and that never resonates.
How did we get here? Where the entire nation believes money trumps everything?
As for Trump himself... He's speaking to anger and unrest, but to a Luddite crowd with the fantasy that we can jet back to the past, where America is lily white and independent from the rest of the world. Whereas Bernie is talking about climate change and college debt and listening to him after Hillary even my mother had to smile, for he's telling the truth.
Remember the truth?
That's why Bob Dylan became so big, not because his voice was so good, not because his records were so slick.
For decades we all knew the truth but couldn't say it. We lived in a land of fakery, everybody swore but you couldn't in the newspaper, or on television. We knew the game was rigged, but we felt the best thing was to buy in and try to play.
But that was before all the seats were taken from the table. Come on, if you want me to play musical chairs at least leave some chairs. But now they're gone. And the rich have all the money and tell us they create all the jobs and they're entitled to their lifestyle and if we just worked a little harder we could be just like them.
Hogwash.
Donald Trump was born on third base.
Hillary Clinton went to Wellesley when a middle class person could pay for it.
We need heroes. We need leaders. And to be either you have to hew to your own drummer, you must know which way the wind blows, you must be honest.
It's the best policy, honesty that is. That's what they taught you in school. Back before you learned everything in school was a lie. But it's not. Our nation is built on trust. No wonder it's crapping out, there's none left!
I don't know what's gonna happen. Supposedly Bernie's gonna nose dive down south, where blacks are solid for Hillary. But why would that be, because they've been lied to and sold a bill of goods for their entire lives? No wonder Killer Mike supports Sanders.
And Trump was helped by Marco Rubio's inane debate performance, wherein he repeated the same talking point again and again. Like a robot.
We don't want robots, we want people, warts and all.
They say beauty is king, but if that's so shouldn't Bernie lose?
No, the truth is it's about what's inside, the nougat is everything. We all know the come on is fake, that the Kardashians are plumped up by plastic surgery. We'll buy a ticket to the circus but when it comes to our own lives...
This is the beginning. This is what happens when you take it to the limit too many times. The underclass, the repressed, get angina. And when enough people get screwed a groundswell takes over the nation.
Which side are you on?
Are you kissing butt on the Koch gravy train?
Are you begging for a seat on the tech star's plane?
Are you busy moving on up or are you looking back, to where your people are, to where you came from.
We're all in this together. And if you're fighting to get ahead and have forgotten this...
You're gonna be left behind.
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Elvis was king.
And then the Beatles wiped him off the map.
We had a decade of rock and roll. It had been whittled down to a formula. Sure, Bobby Darin had talent, but Fabian and the other Bobby, Rydell, were marginal players. But that was music, a sideshow.
And then...
A band with roots who didn't believe in convention, who'd honed their sound off the radar, delivered an honest wallop that was undeniable.
And overnight the youth switched allegiance.
Could happen again. Probably will if Bernie Sanders is an indicator.
You know it's not your mother's world anymore when Gloria Steinem is on the wrong side of the issue. She famously told Bill Maher that young women were supporting Bernie because that's where the young men were. Talk about no respect, Rodney Dangerfield's rolling in his grave. When paragons of envelope-pushing are tone deaf as to what is going on your know you're in the midst of a revolution.
The millennials were supposed to be pussies, whiners, coddled for life by their parents to the point they couldn't survive on their own.
But with all that attention and education the youth became wise, and they realized their future was stolen. That whatever opportunity there was was slim, that the odds were stacked against them. And finally they found someone speaking the truth. Albeit a septuagenarian. But one who never wavered from his message, and didn't put money first, but quality of life.
Tell that to the movie studios making endless comic book flicks.
Tell that to the record companies releasing paint by number, made by committee music.
They think the public wants it.
But the truth is people don't.
They want honesty, credibility, something they can believe in.
And people believe in Bernie Sanders.
I was in the car with my octogenarian mother. Who took Steinem's side, saying all young women should line up for Hillary. But when Hillary came on the radio she was fake and duplicitous and now spewing Bernie's speech about coming down on Wall Street, like a rocker making a disco record in the late seventies. Her statements were unbelievable, there was no thread, she was saying what's expedient, and that never resonates.
How did we get here? Where the entire nation believes money trumps everything?
As for Trump himself... He's speaking to anger and unrest, but to a Luddite crowd with the fantasy that we can jet back to the past, where America is lily white and independent from the rest of the world. Whereas Bernie is talking about climate change and college debt and listening to him after Hillary even my mother had to smile, for he's telling the truth.
Remember the truth?
That's why Bob Dylan became so big, not because his voice was so good, not because his records were so slick.
For decades we all knew the truth but couldn't say it. We lived in a land of fakery, everybody swore but you couldn't in the newspaper, or on television. We knew the game was rigged, but we felt the best thing was to buy in and try to play.
But that was before all the seats were taken from the table. Come on, if you want me to play musical chairs at least leave some chairs. But now they're gone. And the rich have all the money and tell us they create all the jobs and they're entitled to their lifestyle and if we just worked a little harder we could be just like them.
Hogwash.
Donald Trump was born on third base.
Hillary Clinton went to Wellesley when a middle class person could pay for it.
We need heroes. We need leaders. And to be either you have to hew to your own drummer, you must know which way the wind blows, you must be honest.
It's the best policy, honesty that is. That's what they taught you in school. Back before you learned everything in school was a lie. But it's not. Our nation is built on trust. No wonder it's crapping out, there's none left!
I don't know what's gonna happen. Supposedly Bernie's gonna nose dive down south, where blacks are solid for Hillary. But why would that be, because they've been lied to and sold a bill of goods for their entire lives? No wonder Killer Mike supports Sanders.
And Trump was helped by Marco Rubio's inane debate performance, wherein he repeated the same talking point again and again. Like a robot.
We don't want robots, we want people, warts and all.
They say beauty is king, but if that's so shouldn't Bernie lose?
No, the truth is it's about what's inside, the nougat is everything. We all know the come on is fake, that the Kardashians are plumped up by plastic surgery. We'll buy a ticket to the circus but when it comes to our own lives...
This is the beginning. This is what happens when you take it to the limit too many times. The underclass, the repressed, get angina. And when enough people get screwed a groundswell takes over the nation.
Which side are you on?
Are you kissing butt on the Koch gravy train?
Are you begging for a seat on the tech star's plane?
Are you busy moving on up or are you looking back, to where your people are, to where you came from.
We're all in this together. And if you're fighting to get ahead and have forgotten this...
You're gonna be left behind.
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Tuesday, 9 February 2016
Mailbag
From: Cliff Chenfeld
Subject: RE: Why Music Sucks
Taylor Swift's status as our most popular, influential music star today is as if Olivia Newton John was the dominant musical and cultural force of the 70s
rather than the likes of Stevie Wonder and Led Zeppelin.
_______________________________________________
From: Heather Pierson
Subject: Re: An Artist...
Artists are people driven by the tension between the desire to communicate and the desire to hide.
-D.W. Winnicott
_______________________________________________
From: Santoso Surya
Subject: Re: Coldplay At The Super Bowl
Jay Z bought Beyonce 10,000 roses before the show and Chris Martin couldn't stop crouching down while singing. Was he subconsciously hiding from the camera? I was told to believe in love by a bunch of individuals who will do anything for money. Go fuck yourselves.
_______________________________________________
From: Bob Ezrin
Subject: Re: Why Music Sucks
Dear Bob,
I agree with most of what you write here, and I applaud you for being that voice in the wilderness that screams it like it is. And I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who thinks this Star Wars and all the musical Star Wars are full of candy but no meat.
But, while I appreciate the shout out in the last paragraph, I have to take issue with it. Neither I nor anyone else is responsible for Gene Simmons' success. Only he is. He is a force of nature. He's talented, hugely intelligent and charismatic and he has more drive than anyone I've ever met in any field. He would have succeeded regardless of who he ended up working with. And, while I'd love to take credit for as seminal a work as The Wall or Peter's first album, I was just a producer. My job was to help the true artists responsible for these towering works to define and realize their vision, and to be their musical and artistic coach.
In a piece that yearns for the days when Artists led our culture, it does a few of them a disservice to discount their singular brilliance by giving too much credit to me.
But please keep ranting. We need you!
B
_______________________________________________
Subject: Re: Why Music Sucks
You have a point however, might be good for you to check the credits in regards to Gene Simmons and KISS …I believe I did approx. 7 KISS albums all of which sold in the millions and rocked out!!
Ezrin I believe only did 1 album and was not received well by the fans at all as it was a concept album and strayed far from their core audience!! Maybe next time Bob you will give credit where credit is due.
Eddie Kramer
_______________________________________________
From: Steve Gorman
Subject: Re: Music Moguls
The Black Crowes met Pete Angelus in December 1989, two months before Shake Your Money Maker was released.
He presented a vision and a plan to a band that had neither, and we hired him.
We followed his lead.
The band focused on the music, and Pete focused on everything else. I can't imagine a better scenario for a band that wanted to be one of the all time greats.
And make no mistake, that's what the band wanted.
Two years later, to the day, we had sold 5,000,000 albums and were finishing our follow up, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion.
When released in May 1992, as grunge exploded, TSHMC debuted at Number 1 on Billboard's album chart, ultimately selling three million domestically and outselling SYMM internationally.
We finished that touring cycle in 1993 headlining European festivals.
Not a bad four year run.
Then, for reasons that as time passes become more and more simplistic, embarrassing, and sad, the band stopped listening.
Pete's advice, vision, counsel, etc, was pushed aside in favor of....I am still not quite sure what it was, exactly.
The validity and value of the music itself is of course a subjective conversation, and I will always love and respect the music we made.
But there were two very different experiences with The Black Crowes in terms of who was calling the shots, and the results speak for themselves.
And for what it's worth, I feel compelled to add that although the band pushed Pete's creative ideas and knowledge aside after he had proven his true and incalculable value to us, he never stopped fighting for the band.
He never stopped protecting us individually and collectively.
He fought to keep us alive for another 21 years, which was no easy task.
He was creative, relentless, protective, honest, focused, and driven. Always.
SG
_______________________________________________
From: John Hartmann
Subject: Re: The Kardashian Paradigm
Stars create evolution in music. The next big thing always comes when nothing's happening. Like now. Music was jet-fuel to the children of the greatest generation. Today it's just grease!
_______________________________________________
From: Colin Hay
Subject: Re: Annapurna
Hey,
That's big stuff, the story of Om. Real and gritty and maddening, the story of so many. Long live immigrants, who are not only the backbone of so many places near and far, but also the connective tissue.
We just drove for 14 hours from New Orleans to Clearwater, Florida. It was challenging even without snowfalls. Your instinctive caution will serve you well. That's a long way to drive through unpredictable weather. On the upside, if you do drive, and as you well know, it will be spectacularly beautiful, but the rental car with Sirius, now that is crucial. Twelve hours in a rental vehicle without Howard, well now you're asking for trouble.
Colin
_______________________________________________
Subject: Re: Annapurna
I was on Mount Everest the day of the earthquake that killed over 8,500 people in Nepal. It triggered an avalanche that killed 19 of my fellow climbers at base camp. What started out as just another day on Everest became the most deadly day in Everest history. After the injured were treated and flown to hospitals Kathmandu, I hopped on a helicopter to fly off the mountain and eventually home. I flew over villages that were gone; villages that we had all trekked through many times and knew so well. You are right, very little of the millions donated made it to the people in Kathmandu and almost none of it made it to the people in the small, remote villages. But climbers and trekkers from around the world did pitch in. Money was sent directly to the villages and the rebuilding is well under way. The Nepali people are resilient and they will recover from this disaster.
But they depend on tourism. If anyone wants to see a country on the rebound, now is the time to visit Nepal. It has never been more beautiful.
Kent Stewart
_______________________________________________
Subject: Re: Should I Stay Or Should I Go?
Dear Bob:
I had a similar trip going from Oregon to the bay area many years ago........we drove the Coast thinking that would save us and it was a snowstorm white-out at Crescent City - the radio said it was their first snow in ten years.... I think we were the last car to make it thru before the police closed the road. We were following tire tracks when we ended up taking the exit (not by choice, we were following those tracks) and almost went over the cliff.......looked down, we could see headlights down there. I got out and called out and a young girl's voice said she was okay. We said, "Come up, we can't leave you here." And she didn't want to come without her dog so we put a blanket on the seat and took the girl & her dog to the nearest town, and checked in to the Skunk Train Motel in Willitts.
The next day her dad came and asked, "What exit did you leave my Porch at?" Oh, God, we never looked at the exit # where the car went over the cliff!!!!! Never saw or heard from them again, but I have often wondered, what happened to that 19-year-old girl? We literally saved her life that night - I'm sure she would have frozen down there and I think, maybe she'll invent the cure to cancer or something....we'll never know. I remember closing my eyes in that motel and seeing white things coming at my eyes. The most terrifying night of my life. I hope you hunkered down in Vail.
Katie Bradford
Portland, OR.
_______________________________________________
From: mosseross
Subject: Re: Why Are SO Many Millennials SO Uncool?
I moved to NY about thirteen years ago and taught junior high in Coney Island. I joined a rock band during that time and after five years of teaching, I quit to devote my time to being a "starving artist." Since then, I've had twenty different jobs (last time I counted) working as a server, cocktail waitress, dog walker, house painter, cater waiter, and pig sitter. Now I'm a bartender in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the neighborhood that is the model for hyper-gentrification, and has allowed developers (or as I like to call them, "destroyers") to turn gentrification into an art form. The bars where I work attract a local, working class/artist clientele, and I find that I hear the same laments about the corporate takeover of art twenty times throughout the course of a week, which inspires me to write about it. In fact, it was one of my customers who is a professor of literature at Pace University who asked me to write the post I sent you. He comes in and drowns his sorrows in red wine,
while expressing shock, horror, and sadness about how tame his students are. They look at college as a means to an end, not a means to a beginning. He wonders why there's no counterculture, and that's what got me thinking about how much music has played a part in inciting rebellion of the status quo (in the past, at least). Where I grew up in Florida, there was a radio station that played a mix of everything. I heard Madonna on the same station where I heard The Clash, Wu Tang Clan, and Metallica. Yes there was always pop, but there were other forms of music you could hear, too!!!
I've witnessed Williamsburg, which was touted as a "hip artist's community" have one art gallery and music venue after another shut down. My favorite place to play, The Trash Bar, closed its doors after a decade because the rent went from $3000 p/mo. to $20,000 p/mo. Beautiful graffiti has been whitewashed and corporate advertising murals painted in its place.
It irks me to no end to see the younger people who have moved to New York with a laptop and mommy and daddy's money, sit comfortably in luxury condos, and after a day of being "creative" at their advertising and branding jobs, come home and make some sort of predictable nonsense out of three notes. Then to make it worse, add pre-packaged, programmed drum beats with a touch of auto-tuned hipster fairy vocals over it and call it "art." I've worked my ass off (literally. I used to have a great ass...now it's gone) to avoid being a musical hobbyist, while these wankers have the monetary means to do what equates to payola. Except instead of radio, they pay PR companies and magazines to get exposure.
My band self-released our first vinyl last year, have been written up in Classic Rock Magazine twice, and has a pretty solid online presence. But we've never been approached by a label or distribution company to tour or get our music out there. Not that I can say I would want to sign with a label. It would just treat music-making as if it happens on an assembly line. Demanding that new albums be created every two years, obviously having no idea that creativity doesn't work that way. This being another factor that's responsible for such poor music being thrown at us. People have forgotten, or maybe never even realized, that music is an art form. Not a means to sell sodas and electronics, and not something that can be used to meet quotas. I may record a stellar album this year, and not be inspired to make another one for twenty more years. And as a musician, that's my goddamn business, not a label's. The only problem is, if you don't sign something, how do you get through the
corporate funded crap?
Some of the responses I've gotten to this post have been overwhelmingly supportive. Other people can be told that corporations are subliminally molding their values, tastes, and interests; turning them into carbon copies of each other, and they're completely fine with that. But tell them you don't think Arcade Fire is cool and they get PISSED!!!!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it even sliiiiightly as much as I enjoy reading your letters. All the best...
Jules
www.lordclassic.com
www.thenewjewelmovement.com
_______________________________________________
From: peter
Subject: Re: Bernie
Hello from Canada your socialist friends to the North. We just ran the same campaign up here. On one side the Right wing machine, blowvating about the Muslim threat and the need for more tax cuts. Guess what? It's over up here. The people woke up to see 30 years of the wrong decisions, the corporate media still supporting the old guard right up until Election Day. But the people chose to listen and support a candidate spouting the truth and hope. Trudeau never once wavered from the message of hope and a very broad spectrum of voters put in power in a record setting win. The revolution is real and America is beginning to feel the Bern. Hillary is toast. She has the backing of the establishment, but not the people of the party. Sanders on the other hand is wooing republicans in the Deep South and getting numbers there Hillary can't get in NYC. The people, millennials Xers and Hippies all are hungry for REAL change. Hillary unfortunately does not represent ANY change. Bernie just needs
to stay positive and people will flock to the only candidate representing the American PEOPLE. Sit back relax and watch the death throes of the GOP, it's history and we are part of it. Once the corporate media can no longer ignore Sanders, you will see the real numbers and his broad appeal. The GOP have lost the propaganda war and America is waking from the narcotizing effects of fox news and starting to ask real question. The only answers they want are the ones only Bernie is providing. Fundamental change. Reagan is still running America through his Supreme Court nominees. That is sad and needs to change. Feel the Bern. Pete from Toronto.
_______________________________________________
From: Steve Schalchlin
Subject: Re: More Life Lessons
20 years ago I was on my deathbed. AIDS.
Everything you are saying here is what I've been thinking and how I've
been living since coming back (after winning a lottery for a drug).
I call it Living in the Bonus Round because the game is over, the
clock is ticking, and now you're just reaching and grabbing to snap up
every last valuable bit of life you can. It's all free. It's all
available. And you finally know what's important and what isn't.
And it's everything you said below.
At the age of 62, I decided to learn guitar after a lifetime on the
piano, and I can't put it down. If I had a billion dollars, I would
still only want to sit in my room by myself and run exercises. This
week I fulfilled a lifelong, unexpressed fantasy: I learned to play
"Blackbird." After hundreds of hours of drilling, though I can barely
play basic beginner chords, and my fingertips hurt like hell, I opened
a YouTube lesson and now I can play "Blackbird."
No amount of money in the world can buy the thrill of this
accomplishment for me. And nobody else can have lived it. Simplicity.
That's life.
Steve Schalchlin
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Subject: Re: Lemmy
It makes me so mad that people are suddenly glorifying Lemmy. Nobody cared much except a few when he was alive. Even me, a decent fan, didn't know he lived in LA. The night Motorhead played at the Old Waldorf I was in labor with my son, and the band signed me a poster. How many bands would ever do that? I miss that he's not here. I miss that so many people are increasingly not here,
best,
queenie taylor
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From: Fraser T Smith
Subject: Re: More Bowie
Bob, I had the privilege of working with Rick Wakeman - touring and recording with him before getting into writing and producing.
I turned up to the rehearsals for a theatre tour and Rick announced to me that we would be performing 'Life on Mars' and 'Space Oddity', and that I'd be singing. Rick was surrounded by his usual Mellotrons / Pianos etc.. and the sound that came out was incredible. I also got to immerse myself in Bowie's sublime lyrics and melodies. It was a massive privilege.
All the best,
Fraser.
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From: Jude Gold
Subject: Playing with Paul Kantner
Hi, Bob.
My bandleader and friend Paul Kantner died last week at age 74 of a heart attack the night before we were to leave for a three-show run in the Midwest.
We (Jefferson Starship) played the shows anyway, without him.
We brought the rock, just as he would have wanted us to. Tears flowed, but the sets were great. And those audiences will remember those shows forever. Emotional shows!
Interestingly, as you likely have read, Jefferson Airplane's original singer, Signe Anderson (the one before Grace Slick), died on the same day as Paul (a week ago Thursday).
She was 74, too. Trippy.
My favorite thing about Paul Kantner is he always wanted his band to push the music and the show into the outer limits. In this regard, you could almost say he was, in a sense, psychedelic rock's Miles Davis. Big solos. Big improvisations. Big moments. Big journeys. Loud moments. Poetic moments. Cowbell-killing moments, courtesy of lead singer Cathy Richardson. Roll-around-on-the-stage moments. Free moments.
Moments more in-tune than perhaps they were in the '60s.
("You haven't experienced anything," said Airplane co-founder Jack Casady at Paul's burial last Monday, "until you've tried tuning a 12-string on acid.")
Paul had a joke on the subject: "The electric guitar tuner killed the San Francisco sound," he would say.
While Jefferson Starship primarily did "evening with" shows, we sometimes played double-bills with great classic rock acts such as the Doobie Brothers, Huey Lewis, Little River Band, the Romantics, Lou Gramm, and Blue Oyster Cult, and while those bands are all amazing, I always felt the audiences appreciated the contrast between them and us.
The crowd would get tighter, more polished hits performed by those bands—likely with clearer mixes, due to many of them having quiet stages (due to the growing use of in-ear monitoring systems)—which is great.
Then, the yin to the yang, they would get a little more raw-ness and spontaneity and stage volume and sonic adventure and Janis Joplin-esque vocals (from Cathy) and broken strings and guitar feedback from us.
The '60s thread is still there in Jefferson Starship ....
That explorative, psychedelic, sci-fi, mojo came from Paul, and also David Freiberg—the two modern Jefferson Starship members who go all the way back to the Airplane (and David all the way back to Quicksilver Messenger Service).
"We were folk musicians who discovered Fender Twins and LSD in practically the same week," Paul would always say of the days just before the Airplane's formation.
That explains a lot.
It was announced that Paul (and the Airplane) are being awarded Grammys this year for Lifetime Achievement.
Paul knew about his award weeks ahead of the announcement, but never said a word about it to us beforehand—never even blacked out the ceremony date from our touring schedule. Paul would have rather been playing a show in Anytown, USA, than at Grammy's ... but I am glad he knew about the award before he passed. I suspect that somewhere deep down, he was appreciated the recognition.
Speaking of awards, at a concert in Washington D.C. in November, Paul accepted a nice certificate from the Dept. of Defense honoring Jefferson Starship's recent work doing concerts benefitting hospitalized veterans, primarily Vietnam vets.
An award to lifelong protest rocker Paul Kantner from the Dept. of Defense. The irony was palpable.
Speaking of protest rock, I was thinking about how I could offer tribute to Paul, and I thought I'd tell you about my favorite Paul Kantner song.
It's an early-'80s Jefferson Starship album track called "Stairway to Cleveland." You probably know it.
Paul's song title for this tune is a sardonic poke at one of FM radio rock's biggest songs—Led Zeppelin's most epic track—with the word "Heaven" being replaced by the name of one of America's perhaps not-so heavenly cities (although I must say, I've had a blast in Cleveland every time I've played there).
An energetic jam powered by a classic I-IV-bVII chord progression, "Stairway to Cleveland" really captures Paul's irreverent, politically charged, high-energy, high-volume, 12-string-strummin' punk rock spirit.
How can you not have a soft spot for a Kantner song that ends with, "Fuck you, we do what we want!"?
Those words embody the defiant nature of Paul Kantner—you particularly know this to be true if you ever had the misfortune of having to tell him to put out his cigarette.
The song totally rocks, but in some places, the '80s-era lyrics have become a tad dated (i.e., "Walter Cronkite!").
That's okay, because the words were always updated in concert: Towards the end of the tune, where the voices overlap chaotically, Paul used to recite random stuff from the day's newspaper (he read the New York Times nearly every day of his adult life), tearing news items away as he was done reading them, throwing the crumpled pages behind him on stage ....
Naturally, I like all the lyrics in the song, except, "Can't stand your guitar player," haha.
On the original recording of "Stairway to Cleveland" (click the YouTube link below), Paul played the intro riff using two identical synthesizers at once, set to the same patch, with one hand on each keyboard.
The stacked three-part vocals on "Stairway" are classic Kantner/Airplane, and go all the way back to Paul's biggest hero, Pete Seeger (who, incidentally, passed away on the same date as Paul two years earlier to the day) and Pete's famous folk group, the Weavers.
Paul and Jefferson Airplane were often credited for being "the first rock band with a female frontperson," and that's cool. But really, he just modeled his band after his folk music heroes—Pete Seeger and the Weavers—who had a similar lineup.
(As they say, good artists borrow, great artists steal.)
I played 20+ countries with Paul over the past 42 months, and will miss him greatly. Words cannot convey the magic and adventure he showed me and the rest of his bandmates.
Paul rocked hard to the very end. We all loved him very much.
Doctors told him to stop smoking, and some close advisors even tried to convince him to stop touring, but I respect him for not even considering for a millisecond such notions.
I know I probably would have gotten to play many more shows and have many more great meals in great cities with Paul if he didn't smoke four packs of Camel straights a day, but I respect him for "doing what he wanted"—for backing up his "fuck you" proclamation to the final curtain.
I respect him for hopping on planes until the very end—and for dying with, so to speak, "a guitar pick in his hand."
"Stairway to Cleveland"— https://youtu.be/PpNnfpCV1wI
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Subject: RE: Dan Hicks
Bob,
You're so right that the artists that have recently passed are just wearing out through old age. Even Lemmy, who I've worked with for the last 15 years, wasn't indestructible. And there will be a lot more names like them in the near future. But one of the great things about Spotify ( and other streaming services ) is that their music lives on and can now easily be accessed. So an article like yours can remind people about music they've forgotten, or maybe never even knew. When I sold my old vinyl collection recently, I didn't lose the music because it was old and worn out, I can still find my Jefferson Airplane albums when I want to. My memories are all there, and I can dip into them whenever I want to. Keep your words coming.
Mike Donovan
MD Tour Accounting Limited
27 Walpole Street
Weymouth
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From: Barry Lyons
Subject: Re: Dan Hicks
Bob -
Thank you for making certain Dan's passing was not missed. As you noted, he had no hits, he headlined no stadiums. but from 65 - 75, when rock blossomed and bloomed in so many directions: Dan Hick & The Hot Licks were indispensable. Nowadays, you're either a hit, or you're a miss. You matter, or you don't. But back then, sure, EVERYBODY had the Beatles, The Stones, The Who; Elton, CSN (with or without Y), The Doors, et al. But it the ones who were different, the ones who were distinctive, that made things interesting; and that helped give all of us who grew up on that our own identity. Most everybody loved A Led Zep or a Rolling Stones; but it was being a fan of a Captain Beefheart or a Quicksilver Messenger Service or a Blues Project or a Cat Mother or, may he rest in peace, a Dan Hicks that made you a little distinctive, a little unique. But alas, Bob, your playlist is missing one crucial component, one song that for most Hicks fans always ranked as one of his finest: "How Can I
Miss You When You Won't Go Away".
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Subject: Re: Dan Hicks
Dan Hicks.
The old cliche 'words can't say' is seemingly all I got but that would disappoint Dan as I was never at a loss for words or more importantly, ears around him. So on I'll go...now is no time to let him down.
Yeah, he was all you wrote and indeed irascible beyond compare but polar opposite to the garden variety Kantner style. Dan's huffs were his mightiest performances, always showcasing his sharper than any whip wit and lightyears deeper than any momentary problem.
He was beyond eloquent in how he voiced he wasn't thrilled with something, usually someone. It was cutting, no doubt cruel to most, but I always took it as a sign of something essential. It was Dan at his best when he'd casually roll out his one-of-a-kind, spectacular wordplay, disguised to be an insult, which I came to understand was an inside job. He was entertaining himself. I got the sense the person on the receiving end really didn't matter, he was playing his own room. Honestly, to not see him put on that show would have been much more cutting, enough so that I would be alarmed that something was actually wrong. Luckily, I never had that happen - I'd find something to do or say if he wasn't giving up any of those brilliant performances. Knowing I was a huge fan of it, he couldn't help but get a proud, well earned smirk on his face when he got me good. Brilliant!
12 years ago I was in the car and heard a report that Dan Hicks died. At least I knew I heard 'Hicks' and c'mon, how many are there? In shock, my only impulse was to call Dan. It was too eerie just hearing the phone ring and I got choked up hearing his voice on the long outgoing message. When the beep came, I was completely clueless as to what to say. Who was gonna hear it anyway?
I stumbled on my words and let him know, wherever he was, I loved him, regretted waiting so long to say it and that this was not exactly the way I'd planned to.
My phone rang as soon as it hung up, Dan was on the line asking what was with my ridiculous message. I told him I thought I heard and he cut me off right there with; "Bill Hicks died, B-I-L-L, Bill. Now, I am not at all surprised you would think Bill sounds like Dan, you see, I've heard your records..."
Dan was very much alive.
Every Memorial Day he'd gather his pals and march down Mill Valley's main drag with his Jug Band. Whenever he called, I'd fish out my antique marching drum that he loved so much and get in line right behind him so I wouldn't miss his sudden, impromptu 'Dan dances' that were part spaz/part Astaire. We clocked 25 years of that, Memorial Day will be on a very different level next year.
7 weeks ago, I received his annual hand drawn cartoon Christmas card which I mistakenly took as a sign he was doing OK. Being the consummate showman, he always made it look easy.
Soon after he was diagnosed with brain cancer a couple years ago, he showed up and played a benefit I was doing. I made him play drums on a couple tunes which allowed me not only the pleasure of his fine drumming but afforded me the opportunity to hear his exquisite and endless complaints about it. Golden.
He and his amazing wife, Clare, spearheaded a campaign for me to win a rather small but soulful award last year, while he was bed ridden from undergoing brutal chemo. He wrote his letter, had a list of others to join in, all of which he insisted I call, because; "You need to grovel in this business young man and now you're finally going to learn how..."
I made sure a seat at my table had his name on it, knowing full well his condition would not allow him to don one of his fine suits (aways the epitome of dapper) and go out on the town. He showed. Sat next to me for a long night, offering endless put downs and reasons why I was going to forget my speech...full Dan form.
Mort Sahl (more hilarious than ever) had the room roaring but Dan had my ear and his sweet nothings had me crying.
When he had any energy during these treatments, he stayed busy writing set lists and calling his band members about upcoming shows he'd booked which were to happen immediately after the treatments.
Those shows went on in grand style but sadly, the house is dark tonight.
I sure will miss him but he won't go away...
Scott Mathews
_______________________________________________
Subject: Re: Dan Hicks
It was 2004 when I got to meet Dan. He came down from the Bay area to play at the memorial service for Bill Ward... the Bill Ward who brought country music radio to Los Angeles. His son Cameron Ward, one of the nicest fellows I've ever met, hired Dan and his band to come and perform at this event. I was just there to make sure everything went smoothly and they had what they needed.
I may have known who Dan Hicks was, but had no idea that just meeting him and watching him perform would change the way I view musical artists. Well, some of them any way.
Dan was definitely a no-bullshit kind of guy, but very real. You know how some people are just impossible to resonate with... Dan was the opposite. I got him when he spoke. He was quite kind and genuine. He didn't treat me like some old friend, but rather like just a person. He was remarkably sincere. And very likeable.
What amazed me though was the humility and sincerity he displayed. He and his band played very quietly. They played as background music, so as not to distract anyone there, but to enhance the experience for those who were there to remember Bill Ward. Dan and his band played in the most egoless manner imaginable. Like they weren't there to be noticed, but rather to pay the utmost respect to his old friend Mr. Ward. When I mentioned it to him, he kindly said "Today isn't about me. It's about Bill Ward. That's why I'm here. I wouldn't have missed this opportunity."
Those words touched me. I felt like I had quite possibly just met the most sincere artist in music history. Most folks my age would not have ever even heard of Dan Hicks. But I had, and to meet him truly was an honor which I'll never forget.
Dan Hicks may indeed have been the only truly hip person there ever was. I saw it that day. Whatever it was, he got it. He understood. All of it. And for a brief moment, he showed me what it all meant, too.
Marc Nelson
Tulsa, OK
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Re: Glenn Frey
In 1972 our band, America, found ourselves back in the USA in the Los Angeles offices of Lookout Management with our new managers, David Geffen and Elliot Roberts... after starting our band in London in 1970. We were 20 years old with a #1 album and single...and we were excited!
The hit records were cool, but we were just as excited to be around the people we looked up to who inspired our own music at the time...CSNY & Joni Mitchell in particular. We had seen Jackson Browne open for Joni at the Royal Festival Hall (and Laura Nyro as well) but were only just learning about this band called Eagles, along with other artists in the office like J.D. Souther, Linda Ronstadt, David Blue, Judy Sill and more soon to come with Irving Azoff bringing in Joe Walsh and Dan Fogelberg. But the Eagles (along with Jackson & J.D.) seemed to have this unique energy at that moment that grew in those offices from the time we arrived.
Glenn was always upbeat when we crossed paths and buzzing about the latest project or song or tour in the planning. We were all busy with our bands in those days, but when I would see him he always had that twinkle in his eye and a humorous remark to ease tensions...always cordial...at the same time he was focused and serious when necessary.
We never shared the stage with the Eagles proper, but Glenn & Joe got up with us to encore at the Hollywood Bowl one year, and we opened for them (Glenn Frey-Joe Walsh Band) later on. I'll always remember Glenn inviting me out to the Palamino to see the band he was producing, Jack Mack & The Heart Attack, and him saying, "I wantcha all to meet my friend, Dewey!"...made me feel good and still does! I figured we might spend more time hanging out when the smoke cleared...but it never really did. I miss him now and it goes without saying that I love his music and am proud to have come up with him and that gang from the old days that seem to have gone so quickly.
Dewey Bunnell
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Re: Glenn Frey
It was 1973 when I first met Glenn. I was a lowly promo man at EMI UK( the company had the Asylum license at the time)and Glenn was in town for the Eagles UK debut at The Royal Festival Hall on 16th March. The band had had no UK success and the hall was full of Young Americans. I could'nt get arrested at radio with 'Take it Easy' or 'Witchy Women'. '74's 'On the Border' was the group's first UK chart success.
We did some interviews to promote the eponymous debut LP and Glenn was the main spokesperson. Undoubtedly 'the glue' of the band has Henley so aptly put it. We hung out in London and became friends. His hair was the same length as mine. In November that same year the Eagles returned as support to Neil Young on his Tonight's the Night tour and we spent more time together.
I moved to MCA in '76 and on my first trip to California in '77 we met up again and did some clubbing together. When Irving took over at MCA in '83 Glenn must have mentioned that we were friends, as Susan let me in the door straight away and there were few interuptions! He later broke The Fixx for me. I worked with Glenn on The Heat is On and all his MCA solo albums and Cindy, my wife Annabelle and I shared a table at London's Town and Country club on the Stange Weather tour. While promoting that tour we did some advance promotion together and , whilst in Stockholm on September 14th '92, we ordered an expensive claret. 'Excellent' said Glen as we drained the last drop. He ordered a second bottle. Seeing the corporate panic on my face he insisted on picking up the tab. A true gentleman sorely missed.
You did him proud. All the best, Bob.
Stuart Watson
Phuket Thailand.
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Re: Glenn Frey
I have had the honor, privilege and pleasure of working with Glenn for the better part of 12 years. Listening to my older brother sing "Peaceful Easy Feeling" on our front lawn, to a group of girls gazing adoringly at him with tears streaming down their faces, was the catalyst for me picking up the guitar as a teenager. At that moment I realized the "power of song" - if a song and a voice could move people that much, I wanted in! My years with Glenn were some of the most memorable times of my musical career. With so many great artists dying too soon, I'm reminded of something Glenn used to say on stage – "We're all going to hell in a Honda, drink the good wine now!"
Peace,
Jonathan Clark
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Subject: RE: Why Music Sucks
Taylor Swift's status as our most popular, influential music star today is as if Olivia Newton John was the dominant musical and cultural force of the 70s
rather than the likes of Stevie Wonder and Led Zeppelin.
_______________________________________________
From: Heather Pierson
Subject: Re: An Artist...
Artists are people driven by the tension between the desire to communicate and the desire to hide.
-D.W. Winnicott
_______________________________________________
From: Santoso Surya
Subject: Re: Coldplay At The Super Bowl
Jay Z bought Beyonce 10,000 roses before the show and Chris Martin couldn't stop crouching down while singing. Was he subconsciously hiding from the camera? I was told to believe in love by a bunch of individuals who will do anything for money. Go fuck yourselves.
_______________________________________________
From: Bob Ezrin
Subject: Re: Why Music Sucks
Dear Bob,
I agree with most of what you write here, and I applaud you for being that voice in the wilderness that screams it like it is. And I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who thinks this Star Wars and all the musical Star Wars are full of candy but no meat.
But, while I appreciate the shout out in the last paragraph, I have to take issue with it. Neither I nor anyone else is responsible for Gene Simmons' success. Only he is. He is a force of nature. He's talented, hugely intelligent and charismatic and he has more drive than anyone I've ever met in any field. He would have succeeded regardless of who he ended up working with. And, while I'd love to take credit for as seminal a work as The Wall or Peter's first album, I was just a producer. My job was to help the true artists responsible for these towering works to define and realize their vision, and to be their musical and artistic coach.
In a piece that yearns for the days when Artists led our culture, it does a few of them a disservice to discount their singular brilliance by giving too much credit to me.
But please keep ranting. We need you!
B
_______________________________________________
Subject: Re: Why Music Sucks
You have a point however, might be good for you to check the credits in regards to Gene Simmons and KISS …I believe I did approx. 7 KISS albums all of which sold in the millions and rocked out!!
Ezrin I believe only did 1 album and was not received well by the fans at all as it was a concept album and strayed far from their core audience!! Maybe next time Bob you will give credit where credit is due.
Eddie Kramer
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From: Steve Gorman
Subject: Re: Music Moguls
The Black Crowes met Pete Angelus in December 1989, two months before Shake Your Money Maker was released.
He presented a vision and a plan to a band that had neither, and we hired him.
We followed his lead.
The band focused on the music, and Pete focused on everything else. I can't imagine a better scenario for a band that wanted to be one of the all time greats.
And make no mistake, that's what the band wanted.
Two years later, to the day, we had sold 5,000,000 albums and were finishing our follow up, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion.
When released in May 1992, as grunge exploded, TSHMC debuted at Number 1 on Billboard's album chart, ultimately selling three million domestically and outselling SYMM internationally.
We finished that touring cycle in 1993 headlining European festivals.
Not a bad four year run.
Then, for reasons that as time passes become more and more simplistic, embarrassing, and sad, the band stopped listening.
Pete's advice, vision, counsel, etc, was pushed aside in favor of....I am still not quite sure what it was, exactly.
The validity and value of the music itself is of course a subjective conversation, and I will always love and respect the music we made.
But there were two very different experiences with The Black Crowes in terms of who was calling the shots, and the results speak for themselves.
And for what it's worth, I feel compelled to add that although the band pushed Pete's creative ideas and knowledge aside after he had proven his true and incalculable value to us, he never stopped fighting for the band.
He never stopped protecting us individually and collectively.
He fought to keep us alive for another 21 years, which was no easy task.
He was creative, relentless, protective, honest, focused, and driven. Always.
SG
_______________________________________________
From: John Hartmann
Subject: Re: The Kardashian Paradigm
Stars create evolution in music. The next big thing always comes when nothing's happening. Like now. Music was jet-fuel to the children of the greatest generation. Today it's just grease!
_______________________________________________
From: Colin Hay
Subject: Re: Annapurna
Hey,
That's big stuff, the story of Om. Real and gritty and maddening, the story of so many. Long live immigrants, who are not only the backbone of so many places near and far, but also the connective tissue.
We just drove for 14 hours from New Orleans to Clearwater, Florida. It was challenging even without snowfalls. Your instinctive caution will serve you well. That's a long way to drive through unpredictable weather. On the upside, if you do drive, and as you well know, it will be spectacularly beautiful, but the rental car with Sirius, now that is crucial. Twelve hours in a rental vehicle without Howard, well now you're asking for trouble.
Colin
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Subject: Re: Annapurna
I was on Mount Everest the day of the earthquake that killed over 8,500 people in Nepal. It triggered an avalanche that killed 19 of my fellow climbers at base camp. What started out as just another day on Everest became the most deadly day in Everest history. After the injured were treated and flown to hospitals Kathmandu, I hopped on a helicopter to fly off the mountain and eventually home. I flew over villages that were gone; villages that we had all trekked through many times and knew so well. You are right, very little of the millions donated made it to the people in Kathmandu and almost none of it made it to the people in the small, remote villages. But climbers and trekkers from around the world did pitch in. Money was sent directly to the villages and the rebuilding is well under way. The Nepali people are resilient and they will recover from this disaster.
But they depend on tourism. If anyone wants to see a country on the rebound, now is the time to visit Nepal. It has never been more beautiful.
Kent Stewart
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Subject: Re: Should I Stay Or Should I Go?
Dear Bob:
I had a similar trip going from Oregon to the bay area many years ago........we drove the Coast thinking that would save us and it was a snowstorm white-out at Crescent City - the radio said it was their first snow in ten years.... I think we were the last car to make it thru before the police closed the road. We were following tire tracks when we ended up taking the exit (not by choice, we were following those tracks) and almost went over the cliff.......looked down, we could see headlights down there. I got out and called out and a young girl's voice said she was okay. We said, "Come up, we can't leave you here." And she didn't want to come without her dog so we put a blanket on the seat and took the girl & her dog to the nearest town, and checked in to the Skunk Train Motel in Willitts.
The next day her dad came and asked, "What exit did you leave my Porch at?" Oh, God, we never looked at the exit # where the car went over the cliff!!!!! Never saw or heard from them again, but I have often wondered, what happened to that 19-year-old girl? We literally saved her life that night - I'm sure she would have frozen down there and I think, maybe she'll invent the cure to cancer or something....we'll never know. I remember closing my eyes in that motel and seeing white things coming at my eyes. The most terrifying night of my life. I hope you hunkered down in Vail.
Katie Bradford
Portland, OR.
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From: mosseross
Subject: Re: Why Are SO Many Millennials SO Uncool?
I moved to NY about thirteen years ago and taught junior high in Coney Island. I joined a rock band during that time and after five years of teaching, I quit to devote my time to being a "starving artist." Since then, I've had twenty different jobs (last time I counted) working as a server, cocktail waitress, dog walker, house painter, cater waiter, and pig sitter. Now I'm a bartender in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the neighborhood that is the model for hyper-gentrification, and has allowed developers (or as I like to call them, "destroyers") to turn gentrification into an art form. The bars where I work attract a local, working class/artist clientele, and I find that I hear the same laments about the corporate takeover of art twenty times throughout the course of a week, which inspires me to write about it. In fact, it was one of my customers who is a professor of literature at Pace University who asked me to write the post I sent you. He comes in and drowns his sorrows in red wine,
while expressing shock, horror, and sadness about how tame his students are. They look at college as a means to an end, not a means to a beginning. He wonders why there's no counterculture, and that's what got me thinking about how much music has played a part in inciting rebellion of the status quo (in the past, at least). Where I grew up in Florida, there was a radio station that played a mix of everything. I heard Madonna on the same station where I heard The Clash, Wu Tang Clan, and Metallica. Yes there was always pop, but there were other forms of music you could hear, too!!!
I've witnessed Williamsburg, which was touted as a "hip artist's community" have one art gallery and music venue after another shut down. My favorite place to play, The Trash Bar, closed its doors after a decade because the rent went from $3000 p/mo. to $20,000 p/mo. Beautiful graffiti has been whitewashed and corporate advertising murals painted in its place.
It irks me to no end to see the younger people who have moved to New York with a laptop and mommy and daddy's money, sit comfortably in luxury condos, and after a day of being "creative" at their advertising and branding jobs, come home and make some sort of predictable nonsense out of three notes. Then to make it worse, add pre-packaged, programmed drum beats with a touch of auto-tuned hipster fairy vocals over it and call it "art." I've worked my ass off (literally. I used to have a great ass...now it's gone) to avoid being a musical hobbyist, while these wankers have the monetary means to do what equates to payola. Except instead of radio, they pay PR companies and magazines to get exposure.
My band self-released our first vinyl last year, have been written up in Classic Rock Magazine twice, and has a pretty solid online presence. But we've never been approached by a label or distribution company to tour or get our music out there. Not that I can say I would want to sign with a label. It would just treat music-making as if it happens on an assembly line. Demanding that new albums be created every two years, obviously having no idea that creativity doesn't work that way. This being another factor that's responsible for such poor music being thrown at us. People have forgotten, or maybe never even realized, that music is an art form. Not a means to sell sodas and electronics, and not something that can be used to meet quotas. I may record a stellar album this year, and not be inspired to make another one for twenty more years. And as a musician, that's my goddamn business, not a label's. The only problem is, if you don't sign something, how do you get through the
corporate funded crap?
Some of the responses I've gotten to this post have been overwhelmingly supportive. Other people can be told that corporations are subliminally molding their values, tastes, and interests; turning them into carbon copies of each other, and they're completely fine with that. But tell them you don't think Arcade Fire is cool and they get PISSED!!!!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it even sliiiiightly as much as I enjoy reading your letters. All the best...
Jules
www.lordclassic.com
www.thenewjewelmovement.com
_______________________________________________
From: peter
Subject: Re: Bernie
Hello from Canada your socialist friends to the North. We just ran the same campaign up here. On one side the Right wing machine, blowvating about the Muslim threat and the need for more tax cuts. Guess what? It's over up here. The people woke up to see 30 years of the wrong decisions, the corporate media still supporting the old guard right up until Election Day. But the people chose to listen and support a candidate spouting the truth and hope. Trudeau never once wavered from the message of hope and a very broad spectrum of voters put in power in a record setting win. The revolution is real and America is beginning to feel the Bern. Hillary is toast. She has the backing of the establishment, but not the people of the party. Sanders on the other hand is wooing republicans in the Deep South and getting numbers there Hillary can't get in NYC. The people, millennials Xers and Hippies all are hungry for REAL change. Hillary unfortunately does not represent ANY change. Bernie just needs
to stay positive and people will flock to the only candidate representing the American PEOPLE. Sit back relax and watch the death throes of the GOP, it's history and we are part of it. Once the corporate media can no longer ignore Sanders, you will see the real numbers and his broad appeal. The GOP have lost the propaganda war and America is waking from the narcotizing effects of fox news and starting to ask real question. The only answers they want are the ones only Bernie is providing. Fundamental change. Reagan is still running America through his Supreme Court nominees. That is sad and needs to change. Feel the Bern. Pete from Toronto.
_______________________________________________
From: Steve Schalchlin
Subject: Re: More Life Lessons
20 years ago I was on my deathbed. AIDS.
Everything you are saying here is what I've been thinking and how I've
been living since coming back (after winning a lottery for a drug).
I call it Living in the Bonus Round because the game is over, the
clock is ticking, and now you're just reaching and grabbing to snap up
every last valuable bit of life you can. It's all free. It's all
available. And you finally know what's important and what isn't.
And it's everything you said below.
At the age of 62, I decided to learn guitar after a lifetime on the
piano, and I can't put it down. If I had a billion dollars, I would
still only want to sit in my room by myself and run exercises. This
week I fulfilled a lifelong, unexpressed fantasy: I learned to play
"Blackbird." After hundreds of hours of drilling, though I can barely
play basic beginner chords, and my fingertips hurt like hell, I opened
a YouTube lesson and now I can play "Blackbird."
No amount of money in the world can buy the thrill of this
accomplishment for me. And nobody else can have lived it. Simplicity.
That's life.
Steve Schalchlin
_______________________________________________
Subject: Re: Lemmy
It makes me so mad that people are suddenly glorifying Lemmy. Nobody cared much except a few when he was alive. Even me, a decent fan, didn't know he lived in LA. The night Motorhead played at the Old Waldorf I was in labor with my son, and the band signed me a poster. How many bands would ever do that? I miss that he's not here. I miss that so many people are increasingly not here,
best,
queenie taylor
_______________________________________________
From: Fraser T Smith
Subject: Re: More Bowie
Bob, I had the privilege of working with Rick Wakeman - touring and recording with him before getting into writing and producing.
I turned up to the rehearsals for a theatre tour and Rick announced to me that we would be performing 'Life on Mars' and 'Space Oddity', and that I'd be singing. Rick was surrounded by his usual Mellotrons / Pianos etc.. and the sound that came out was incredible. I also got to immerse myself in Bowie's sublime lyrics and melodies. It was a massive privilege.
All the best,
Fraser.
_______________________________________________
From: Jude Gold
Subject: Playing with Paul Kantner
Hi, Bob.
My bandleader and friend Paul Kantner died last week at age 74 of a heart attack the night before we were to leave for a three-show run in the Midwest.
We (Jefferson Starship) played the shows anyway, without him.
We brought the rock, just as he would have wanted us to. Tears flowed, but the sets were great. And those audiences will remember those shows forever. Emotional shows!
Interestingly, as you likely have read, Jefferson Airplane's original singer, Signe Anderson (the one before Grace Slick), died on the same day as Paul (a week ago Thursday).
She was 74, too. Trippy.
My favorite thing about Paul Kantner is he always wanted his band to push the music and the show into the outer limits. In this regard, you could almost say he was, in a sense, psychedelic rock's Miles Davis. Big solos. Big improvisations. Big moments. Big journeys. Loud moments. Poetic moments. Cowbell-killing moments, courtesy of lead singer Cathy Richardson. Roll-around-on-the-stage moments. Free moments.
Moments more in-tune than perhaps they were in the '60s.
("You haven't experienced anything," said Airplane co-founder Jack Casady at Paul's burial last Monday, "until you've tried tuning a 12-string on acid.")
Paul had a joke on the subject: "The electric guitar tuner killed the San Francisco sound," he would say.
While Jefferson Starship primarily did "evening with" shows, we sometimes played double-bills with great classic rock acts such as the Doobie Brothers, Huey Lewis, Little River Band, the Romantics, Lou Gramm, and Blue Oyster Cult, and while those bands are all amazing, I always felt the audiences appreciated the contrast between them and us.
The crowd would get tighter, more polished hits performed by those bands—likely with clearer mixes, due to many of them having quiet stages (due to the growing use of in-ear monitoring systems)—which is great.
Then, the yin to the yang, they would get a little more raw-ness and spontaneity and stage volume and sonic adventure and Janis Joplin-esque vocals (from Cathy) and broken strings and guitar feedback from us.
The '60s thread is still there in Jefferson Starship ....
That explorative, psychedelic, sci-fi, mojo came from Paul, and also David Freiberg—the two modern Jefferson Starship members who go all the way back to the Airplane (and David all the way back to Quicksilver Messenger Service).
"We were folk musicians who discovered Fender Twins and LSD in practically the same week," Paul would always say of the days just before the Airplane's formation.
That explains a lot.
It was announced that Paul (and the Airplane) are being awarded Grammys this year for Lifetime Achievement.
Paul knew about his award weeks ahead of the announcement, but never said a word about it to us beforehand—never even blacked out the ceremony date from our touring schedule. Paul would have rather been playing a show in Anytown, USA, than at Grammy's ... but I am glad he knew about the award before he passed. I suspect that somewhere deep down, he was appreciated the recognition.
Speaking of awards, at a concert in Washington D.C. in November, Paul accepted a nice certificate from the Dept. of Defense honoring Jefferson Starship's recent work doing concerts benefitting hospitalized veterans, primarily Vietnam vets.
An award to lifelong protest rocker Paul Kantner from the Dept. of Defense. The irony was palpable.
Speaking of protest rock, I was thinking about how I could offer tribute to Paul, and I thought I'd tell you about my favorite Paul Kantner song.
It's an early-'80s Jefferson Starship album track called "Stairway to Cleveland." You probably know it.
Paul's song title for this tune is a sardonic poke at one of FM radio rock's biggest songs—Led Zeppelin's most epic track—with the word "Heaven" being replaced by the name of one of America's perhaps not-so heavenly cities (although I must say, I've had a blast in Cleveland every time I've played there).
An energetic jam powered by a classic I-IV-bVII chord progression, "Stairway to Cleveland" really captures Paul's irreverent, politically charged, high-energy, high-volume, 12-string-strummin' punk rock spirit.
How can you not have a soft spot for a Kantner song that ends with, "Fuck you, we do what we want!"?
Those words embody the defiant nature of Paul Kantner—you particularly know this to be true if you ever had the misfortune of having to tell him to put out his cigarette.
The song totally rocks, but in some places, the '80s-era lyrics have become a tad dated (i.e., "Walter Cronkite!").
That's okay, because the words were always updated in concert: Towards the end of the tune, where the voices overlap chaotically, Paul used to recite random stuff from the day's newspaper (he read the New York Times nearly every day of his adult life), tearing news items away as he was done reading them, throwing the crumpled pages behind him on stage ....
Naturally, I like all the lyrics in the song, except, "Can't stand your guitar player," haha.
On the original recording of "Stairway to Cleveland" (click the YouTube link below), Paul played the intro riff using two identical synthesizers at once, set to the same patch, with one hand on each keyboard.
The stacked three-part vocals on "Stairway" are classic Kantner/Airplane, and go all the way back to Paul's biggest hero, Pete Seeger (who, incidentally, passed away on the same date as Paul two years earlier to the day) and Pete's famous folk group, the Weavers.
Paul and Jefferson Airplane were often credited for being "the first rock band with a female frontperson," and that's cool. But really, he just modeled his band after his folk music heroes—Pete Seeger and the Weavers—who had a similar lineup.
(As they say, good artists borrow, great artists steal.)
I played 20+ countries with Paul over the past 42 months, and will miss him greatly. Words cannot convey the magic and adventure he showed me and the rest of his bandmates.
Paul rocked hard to the very end. We all loved him very much.
Doctors told him to stop smoking, and some close advisors even tried to convince him to stop touring, but I respect him for not even considering for a millisecond such notions.
I know I probably would have gotten to play many more shows and have many more great meals in great cities with Paul if he didn't smoke four packs of Camel straights a day, but I respect him for "doing what he wanted"—for backing up his "fuck you" proclamation to the final curtain.
I respect him for hopping on planes until the very end—and for dying with, so to speak, "a guitar pick in his hand."
"Stairway to Cleveland"— https://youtu.be/PpNnfpCV1wI
_______________________________________________
Subject: RE: Dan Hicks
Bob,
You're so right that the artists that have recently passed are just wearing out through old age. Even Lemmy, who I've worked with for the last 15 years, wasn't indestructible. And there will be a lot more names like them in the near future. But one of the great things about Spotify ( and other streaming services ) is that their music lives on and can now easily be accessed. So an article like yours can remind people about music they've forgotten, or maybe never even knew. When I sold my old vinyl collection recently, I didn't lose the music because it was old and worn out, I can still find my Jefferson Airplane albums when I want to. My memories are all there, and I can dip into them whenever I want to. Keep your words coming.
Mike Donovan
MD Tour Accounting Limited
27 Walpole Street
Weymouth
_______________________________________________
From: Barry Lyons
Subject: Re: Dan Hicks
Bob -
Thank you for making certain Dan's passing was not missed. As you noted, he had no hits, he headlined no stadiums. but from 65 - 75, when rock blossomed and bloomed in so many directions: Dan Hick & The Hot Licks were indispensable. Nowadays, you're either a hit, or you're a miss. You matter, or you don't. But back then, sure, EVERYBODY had the Beatles, The Stones, The Who; Elton, CSN (with or without Y), The Doors, et al. But it the ones who were different, the ones who were distinctive, that made things interesting; and that helped give all of us who grew up on that our own identity. Most everybody loved A Led Zep or a Rolling Stones; but it was being a fan of a Captain Beefheart or a Quicksilver Messenger Service or a Blues Project or a Cat Mother or, may he rest in peace, a Dan Hicks that made you a little distinctive, a little unique. But alas, Bob, your playlist is missing one crucial component, one song that for most Hicks fans always ranked as one of his finest: "How Can I
Miss You When You Won't Go Away".
_______________________________________________
Subject: Re: Dan Hicks
Dan Hicks.
The old cliche 'words can't say' is seemingly all I got but that would disappoint Dan as I was never at a loss for words or more importantly, ears around him. So on I'll go...now is no time to let him down.
Yeah, he was all you wrote and indeed irascible beyond compare but polar opposite to the garden variety Kantner style. Dan's huffs were his mightiest performances, always showcasing his sharper than any whip wit and lightyears deeper than any momentary problem.
He was beyond eloquent in how he voiced he wasn't thrilled with something, usually someone. It was cutting, no doubt cruel to most, but I always took it as a sign of something essential. It was Dan at his best when he'd casually roll out his one-of-a-kind, spectacular wordplay, disguised to be an insult, which I came to understand was an inside job. He was entertaining himself. I got the sense the person on the receiving end really didn't matter, he was playing his own room. Honestly, to not see him put on that show would have been much more cutting, enough so that I would be alarmed that something was actually wrong. Luckily, I never had that happen - I'd find something to do or say if he wasn't giving up any of those brilliant performances. Knowing I was a huge fan of it, he couldn't help but get a proud, well earned smirk on his face when he got me good. Brilliant!
12 years ago I was in the car and heard a report that Dan Hicks died. At least I knew I heard 'Hicks' and c'mon, how many are there? In shock, my only impulse was to call Dan. It was too eerie just hearing the phone ring and I got choked up hearing his voice on the long outgoing message. When the beep came, I was completely clueless as to what to say. Who was gonna hear it anyway?
I stumbled on my words and let him know, wherever he was, I loved him, regretted waiting so long to say it and that this was not exactly the way I'd planned to.
My phone rang as soon as it hung up, Dan was on the line asking what was with my ridiculous message. I told him I thought I heard and he cut me off right there with; "Bill Hicks died, B-I-L-L, Bill. Now, I am not at all surprised you would think Bill sounds like Dan, you see, I've heard your records..."
Dan was very much alive.
Every Memorial Day he'd gather his pals and march down Mill Valley's main drag with his Jug Band. Whenever he called, I'd fish out my antique marching drum that he loved so much and get in line right behind him so I wouldn't miss his sudden, impromptu 'Dan dances' that were part spaz/part Astaire. We clocked 25 years of that, Memorial Day will be on a very different level next year.
7 weeks ago, I received his annual hand drawn cartoon Christmas card which I mistakenly took as a sign he was doing OK. Being the consummate showman, he always made it look easy.
Soon after he was diagnosed with brain cancer a couple years ago, he showed up and played a benefit I was doing. I made him play drums on a couple tunes which allowed me not only the pleasure of his fine drumming but afforded me the opportunity to hear his exquisite and endless complaints about it. Golden.
He and his amazing wife, Clare, spearheaded a campaign for me to win a rather small but soulful award last year, while he was bed ridden from undergoing brutal chemo. He wrote his letter, had a list of others to join in, all of which he insisted I call, because; "You need to grovel in this business young man and now you're finally going to learn how..."
I made sure a seat at my table had his name on it, knowing full well his condition would not allow him to don one of his fine suits (aways the epitome of dapper) and go out on the town. He showed. Sat next to me for a long night, offering endless put downs and reasons why I was going to forget my speech...full Dan form.
Mort Sahl (more hilarious than ever) had the room roaring but Dan had my ear and his sweet nothings had me crying.
When he had any energy during these treatments, he stayed busy writing set lists and calling his band members about upcoming shows he'd booked which were to happen immediately after the treatments.
Those shows went on in grand style but sadly, the house is dark tonight.
I sure will miss him but he won't go away...
Scott Mathews
_______________________________________________
Subject: Re: Dan Hicks
It was 2004 when I got to meet Dan. He came down from the Bay area to play at the memorial service for Bill Ward... the Bill Ward who brought country music radio to Los Angeles. His son Cameron Ward, one of the nicest fellows I've ever met, hired Dan and his band to come and perform at this event. I was just there to make sure everything went smoothly and they had what they needed.
I may have known who Dan Hicks was, but had no idea that just meeting him and watching him perform would change the way I view musical artists. Well, some of them any way.
Dan was definitely a no-bullshit kind of guy, but very real. You know how some people are just impossible to resonate with... Dan was the opposite. I got him when he spoke. He was quite kind and genuine. He didn't treat me like some old friend, but rather like just a person. He was remarkably sincere. And very likeable.
What amazed me though was the humility and sincerity he displayed. He and his band played very quietly. They played as background music, so as not to distract anyone there, but to enhance the experience for those who were there to remember Bill Ward. Dan and his band played in the most egoless manner imaginable. Like they weren't there to be noticed, but rather to pay the utmost respect to his old friend Mr. Ward. When I mentioned it to him, he kindly said "Today isn't about me. It's about Bill Ward. That's why I'm here. I wouldn't have missed this opportunity."
Those words touched me. I felt like I had quite possibly just met the most sincere artist in music history. Most folks my age would not have ever even heard of Dan Hicks. But I had, and to meet him truly was an honor which I'll never forget.
Dan Hicks may indeed have been the only truly hip person there ever was. I saw it that day. Whatever it was, he got it. He understood. All of it. And for a brief moment, he showed me what it all meant, too.
Marc Nelson
Tulsa, OK
_______________________________________________
Re: Glenn Frey
In 1972 our band, America, found ourselves back in the USA in the Los Angeles offices of Lookout Management with our new managers, David Geffen and Elliot Roberts... after starting our band in London in 1970. We were 20 years old with a #1 album and single...and we were excited!
The hit records were cool, but we were just as excited to be around the people we looked up to who inspired our own music at the time...CSNY & Joni Mitchell in particular. We had seen Jackson Browne open for Joni at the Royal Festival Hall (and Laura Nyro as well) but were only just learning about this band called Eagles, along with other artists in the office like J.D. Souther, Linda Ronstadt, David Blue, Judy Sill and more soon to come with Irving Azoff bringing in Joe Walsh and Dan Fogelberg. But the Eagles (along with Jackson & J.D.) seemed to have this unique energy at that moment that grew in those offices from the time we arrived.
Glenn was always upbeat when we crossed paths and buzzing about the latest project or song or tour in the planning. We were all busy with our bands in those days, but when I would see him he always had that twinkle in his eye and a humorous remark to ease tensions...always cordial...at the same time he was focused and serious when necessary.
We never shared the stage with the Eagles proper, but Glenn & Joe got up with us to encore at the Hollywood Bowl one year, and we opened for them (Glenn Frey-Joe Walsh Band) later on. I'll always remember Glenn inviting me out to the Palamino to see the band he was producing, Jack Mack & The Heart Attack, and him saying, "I wantcha all to meet my friend, Dewey!"...made me feel good and still does! I figured we might spend more time hanging out when the smoke cleared...but it never really did. I miss him now and it goes without saying that I love his music and am proud to have come up with him and that gang from the old days that seem to have gone so quickly.
Dewey Bunnell
_______________________________________________
Re: Glenn Frey
It was 1973 when I first met Glenn. I was a lowly promo man at EMI UK( the company had the Asylum license at the time)and Glenn was in town for the Eagles UK debut at The Royal Festival Hall on 16th March. The band had had no UK success and the hall was full of Young Americans. I could'nt get arrested at radio with 'Take it Easy' or 'Witchy Women'. '74's 'On the Border' was the group's first UK chart success.
We did some interviews to promote the eponymous debut LP and Glenn was the main spokesperson. Undoubtedly 'the glue' of the band has Henley so aptly put it. We hung out in London and became friends. His hair was the same length as mine. In November that same year the Eagles returned as support to Neil Young on his Tonight's the Night tour and we spent more time together.
I moved to MCA in '76 and on my first trip to California in '77 we met up again and did some clubbing together. When Irving took over at MCA in '83 Glenn must have mentioned that we were friends, as Susan let me in the door straight away and there were few interuptions! He later broke The Fixx for me. I worked with Glenn on The Heat is On and all his MCA solo albums and Cindy, my wife Annabelle and I shared a table at London's Town and Country club on the Stange Weather tour. While promoting that tour we did some advance promotion together and , whilst in Stockholm on September 14th '92, we ordered an expensive claret. 'Excellent' said Glen as we drained the last drop. He ordered a second bottle. Seeing the corporate panic on my face he insisted on picking up the tab. A true gentleman sorely missed.
You did him proud. All the best, Bob.
Stuart Watson
Phuket Thailand.
_______________________________________________
Re: Glenn Frey
I have had the honor, privilege and pleasure of working with Glenn for the better part of 12 years. Listening to my older brother sing "Peaceful Easy Feeling" on our front lawn, to a group of girls gazing adoringly at him with tears streaming down their faces, was the catalyst for me picking up the guitar as a teenager. At that moment I realized the "power of song" - if a song and a voice could move people that much, I wanted in! My years with Glenn were some of the most memorable times of my musical career. With so many great artists dying too soon, I'm reminded of something Glenn used to say on stage – "We're all going to hell in a Honda, drink the good wine now!"
Peace,
Jonathan Clark
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Monday, 8 February 2016
Dan Hicks
Is 74 the new 27?
Whereas the young rock stars die of misadventure...the oldsters seem to just wear out, to succumb to the maladies that affect the rest of us.
And we don't like this, because we want our heroes to live forever.
Paul Kantner was an irascible fellow who could be notoriously hard to get along with.
But he piloted multiple bands under the moniker "Jefferson" that seemed to care not a whit about what else was going on. And money was secondary. As Bill Graham so famously said, whenever they got paid the band stayed home and smoked dope. They suspended the radio station at my high school when a student played "Eskimo Blue Day" over the intercom, it was a perk to liven up the hour before classes, but the rules of my public school didn't mean shit to a tree, or the deejay involved
You can listen to "Surrealistic Pillow." You can be wowed by "Saturday Afternoon" on "Baxter's," you can point out that Kantner cowrote "Wooden Ships," but it appears you had to be there to understand. We had no idea San Francisco was a burgeoning hotbed of revolution, of alternative lifestyle, of thinking for yourself and not worrying what anybody said until...
We heard Jefferson Airplane, they were the first.
With Signe Anderson, who died at the same age and on the same day as Kantner. But it was with Grace Slick that the band made inroads. And isn't it interesting that Slick has retired. She knows her time has passed. The kids listen and then they don't, you become nostalgia, you stop being born, you're busy dying.
And Maurice White captained a seventies superstar band that appealed to both blacks and whites and made a boatload of money, you still hear Earth, Wind & Fire tracks on the radio.
But you never hear Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks.
Hicks may not have been the hothead Kantner was, but he was certainly irascible, he suffered no fools, the idea of kissing butt was anathema to him. Furthermore, he broke up the band just after it got traction, when it was poised for the big time.
And his career never recovered.
He did it his way.
And Hicks's way was like nobody else's. This was back when all the bands didn't sound alike, never mind work with the same writers and producers. You went off on your own adventure, you turned your album into the label, the company did a bit of publicity and then the audience embraced you and spread the word...
Or you were dead in the water.
Sure, it was great if radio played your track. The airwaves reached the most people.
But as much as we were listening radio was primarily a sampling service, we wanted to know what to buy, to get deep into at home, like "Striking It Rich."
Hicks's first LP was on Epic. It got no traction and it sounded compressed and slick as opposed to what came out on Blue Thumb.
That's right, Krasnow and LiPuma's label. As a matter of fact, Tommy produced "Striking It Rich," which was Hicks's second LP for the company.
The cover was a giant matchbook. Back when the art was important and you could be cheeky, when we appreciated your innovation, your creativity.
And when you dropped the needle...
You went on an aural adventure disconnected from everything else on the hit parade, which made it even more special. Who was this Hicks guy? And how about the Lickettes? Naomi Eisenberg and Maryann Price were stars in their own right!
Back before graduate school was an option, when there was a large middle class that would support you. All the musicians of yore had their minds exploded in colleges which were all about experimentation, as opposed to preparation for a career. You got in touch with your sensibilities, you tried out different personae, and then you foisted one upon the world.
You played to your muse, not to yourself.
There were no hits on "Striking It Rich," but there are tracks I'll never forget.
Like "Canned Music."
And "Walkin' One And Only."
And the piece-de-resistance, "I Scare Myself," which made violinist Sid Page a star overnight.
Today we listen to songs in groups, as if we're afraid to disconnect and be alone with the sound, taken on a journey to the center of our mind.
But "I Scare Myself" is all about mood. Taking you to the edge of the world...and pushing you off. Back before Uber, back before cheap jet travel, when your freedom came from getting in your automobile and driving across this great country of ours, it was cuts like "I Scare Myself" that rode shotgun, it's why we know them so well, we played them over and over, until they became integrated with our souls.
Which is why Dan Hicks's passing is such a big deal. He's part of our DNA, part of our fabric, and if he's gone...
Maybe we will be too.
His music is only kept alive by us. Once we're dead, will we be forgotten too?
Absolutely.
But we lived through an era when music was the grease, the highest calling of an adventurous young person, we were addicted to it, we went nowhere without it, despite having no MP3s, not even tapes, everywhere you went music was playing, it was a main topic of conversation, the money was just a byproduct, because when you're selling truth, when you're purveying excellence, we'll give you all we've got.
So either you know what I'm talking about or...
You'll listen to the below playlist and hear something that sounds unlike anything else, but is strangely affecting. You'll get insight into 1972, when the album was everything and it wasn't about building filler around the single but putting your best foot forward, making a statement, getting your vision down on wax.
AND WE RESONATED WITH IT!
Dan Hicks is not the only one.
And despite having no hits, he played Carnegie Hall, he made the cover of "Rolling Stone," before that placement was reserved for TV stars and celebutantes.
It's a sad day.
Spotify playlist: http://spoti.fi/1omqnAA
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Whereas the young rock stars die of misadventure...the oldsters seem to just wear out, to succumb to the maladies that affect the rest of us.
And we don't like this, because we want our heroes to live forever.
Paul Kantner was an irascible fellow who could be notoriously hard to get along with.
But he piloted multiple bands under the moniker "Jefferson" that seemed to care not a whit about what else was going on. And money was secondary. As Bill Graham so famously said, whenever they got paid the band stayed home and smoked dope. They suspended the radio station at my high school when a student played "Eskimo Blue Day" over the intercom, it was a perk to liven up the hour before classes, but the rules of my public school didn't mean shit to a tree, or the deejay involved
You can listen to "Surrealistic Pillow." You can be wowed by "Saturday Afternoon" on "Baxter's," you can point out that Kantner cowrote "Wooden Ships," but it appears you had to be there to understand. We had no idea San Francisco was a burgeoning hotbed of revolution, of alternative lifestyle, of thinking for yourself and not worrying what anybody said until...
We heard Jefferson Airplane, they were the first.
With Signe Anderson, who died at the same age and on the same day as Kantner. But it was with Grace Slick that the band made inroads. And isn't it interesting that Slick has retired. She knows her time has passed. The kids listen and then they don't, you become nostalgia, you stop being born, you're busy dying.
And Maurice White captained a seventies superstar band that appealed to both blacks and whites and made a boatload of money, you still hear Earth, Wind & Fire tracks on the radio.
But you never hear Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks.
Hicks may not have been the hothead Kantner was, but he was certainly irascible, he suffered no fools, the idea of kissing butt was anathema to him. Furthermore, he broke up the band just after it got traction, when it was poised for the big time.
And his career never recovered.
He did it his way.
And Hicks's way was like nobody else's. This was back when all the bands didn't sound alike, never mind work with the same writers and producers. You went off on your own adventure, you turned your album into the label, the company did a bit of publicity and then the audience embraced you and spread the word...
Or you were dead in the water.
Sure, it was great if radio played your track. The airwaves reached the most people.
But as much as we were listening radio was primarily a sampling service, we wanted to know what to buy, to get deep into at home, like "Striking It Rich."
Hicks's first LP was on Epic. It got no traction and it sounded compressed and slick as opposed to what came out on Blue Thumb.
That's right, Krasnow and LiPuma's label. As a matter of fact, Tommy produced "Striking It Rich," which was Hicks's second LP for the company.
The cover was a giant matchbook. Back when the art was important and you could be cheeky, when we appreciated your innovation, your creativity.
And when you dropped the needle...
You went on an aural adventure disconnected from everything else on the hit parade, which made it even more special. Who was this Hicks guy? And how about the Lickettes? Naomi Eisenberg and Maryann Price were stars in their own right!
Back before graduate school was an option, when there was a large middle class that would support you. All the musicians of yore had their minds exploded in colleges which were all about experimentation, as opposed to preparation for a career. You got in touch with your sensibilities, you tried out different personae, and then you foisted one upon the world.
You played to your muse, not to yourself.
There were no hits on "Striking It Rich," but there are tracks I'll never forget.
Like "Canned Music."
And "Walkin' One And Only."
And the piece-de-resistance, "I Scare Myself," which made violinist Sid Page a star overnight.
Today we listen to songs in groups, as if we're afraid to disconnect and be alone with the sound, taken on a journey to the center of our mind.
But "I Scare Myself" is all about mood. Taking you to the edge of the world...and pushing you off. Back before Uber, back before cheap jet travel, when your freedom came from getting in your automobile and driving across this great country of ours, it was cuts like "I Scare Myself" that rode shotgun, it's why we know them so well, we played them over and over, until they became integrated with our souls.
Which is why Dan Hicks's passing is such a big deal. He's part of our DNA, part of our fabric, and if he's gone...
Maybe we will be too.
His music is only kept alive by us. Once we're dead, will we be forgotten too?
Absolutely.
But we lived through an era when music was the grease, the highest calling of an adventurous young person, we were addicted to it, we went nowhere without it, despite having no MP3s, not even tapes, everywhere you went music was playing, it was a main topic of conversation, the money was just a byproduct, because when you're selling truth, when you're purveying excellence, we'll give you all we've got.
So either you know what I'm talking about or...
You'll listen to the below playlist and hear something that sounds unlike anything else, but is strangely affecting. You'll get insight into 1972, when the album was everything and it wasn't about building filler around the single but putting your best foot forward, making a statement, getting your vision down on wax.
AND WE RESONATED WITH IT!
Dan Hicks is not the only one.
And despite having no hits, he played Carnegie Hall, he made the cover of "Rolling Stone," before that placement was reserved for TV stars and celebutantes.
It's a sad day.
Spotify playlist: http://spoti.fi/1omqnAA
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Sunday, 7 February 2016
Coldplay At The Super Bowl
And the winner of the night?
HONDA! For offering free Uber rides home, at least in SoCal, where I was watching.
You make the most of an opportunity. The advertisements were so busy being clever that they missed their target. You want to make us believe in your product and want to use and buy it. But in an era where fame is everything and substance goes out the window it's no surprise that Madison Avenue demonstrated cluelessness.
But the truth is our nation is in a mass upheaval. That's the essence of both Trump and Sanders. We want the truth, authenticity and credibility, we want to be respected, and when you see only dollar signs we shrug and move on.
Sometimes you have to say no. All exposure isn't good exposure. What was the chance casual Coldplay fans would be infected by the band's performance and purchase tickets to their show? Close to nil.
Now the band has a stink upon it, relegated to second tier status in their own supposedly shining moment, they appeared to be smiling nitwits in a sea of humanity that resembled nothing so much as Up With People, the lame, safe, halftime show the NFL used to employ, when musicians abhorred the rules and regulations of sports, when they were all about rejecting cultural norms as opposed to embracing them for profit.
It's a violent sport. What's up with all the wimpy music?
Lady Gaga stretched out the national anthem to the degree there was barely time for football. She's gotten a publicity pass she does not deserve, her last album was a stiff and her trek with Tony Bennett a sideshow. It's a hits business, and she hasn't had one in eons and probably will never have one again, why is she considered a national treasure?
Because the NFL and CBS don't have their ear to the street. They don't know there's a generation gap. They just believe everyone will buy the crap they serve them. As if nobody under thirty wants to cut the cord, as if football deserves a spot in America's heart along with apple pie and religion. Did you see the MVPs walk out at the beginning of the game? Terry Bradshaw could barely amble out. How could Goodell let this happen? How come everybody in the 1% has lost touch and perspective, not knowing their success depends on the little guy, who is arching his eyebrows and judging what they're seeing?
Chris Martin looked like a dork. And although the video stage was cool, he and his band's music never lit up the joint. And the diversions looked like something from the June Taylor Dancers, but Jackie Gleason would want nothing to do with them. You could barely hear the vocals and you had the nincompoop teens running out to swarm the stage, even though they were barely conscious the last time the band had a hit. It was a celebration the audience was left out of. You could do nothing but sit there and wonder why anybody cared.
Until Bruno Mars took the stage.
Bruno knew it was not about music so much as show, and he delivered. Slinking around on stage with his backup singers you were energized and enticed. It may have been meaningless, but at least it was satisfying. Music is like porn, you know it when you see it. And Mars was the only person on stage who seemed to come from the music business.
Beyonce came from the gym. She was working so hard that when she aligned with Chris and Bruno in the finale she was nearly exhausted. She too missed the message, 2016 isn't about reveling in your excellence, adoring you from afar, but embracing you when you get down in the pit with us, your audience. I'm not in that good a shape and most Americans aren't either. Watching Bey was like watching an Olympian, you could respect her, but you just could nor warm up to her.
Never mind the chutzpah of doing her new song. I give her credit for that actually, most of the audience was unfamiliar with most of Coldplay's material so what difference will it make? Did it help her sell tickets?
Not much.
Not for Coldplay either.
You see we're inundated with marketing messages. And we choose what to pull in, what to embrace. We have no problem watching entertainment and then discarding it nearly instantly. I mean who at home is sitting there saying...I didn't know Beyonce was going on the road, let me fire up my credit card and drop $100+ a ticket. No, the decision to go is much more considered these days. Sure, it's hard to get the message out, but it's not hard to say no if you're a customer.
So why is it so hard for a manager to say no?
Come on, you see witless actors whoring themselves out, everybody from Anthony Hopkins to Christopher Walken to Helen Mirren. But they're chameleons, filling roles. We don't believe in their personalities, we don't even really know who they are!
But musicians touch our souls. They're consistent. They stand for something.
But the only thing Chris Martin and company stood for is promotion. And we know hype when we see it.
It was a strange game, dominated by defense. It may have been Peyton's last, but one wonders if Brock Osweiler could have done just as well. Still, it was riveting to see Cam Newton, the biggest star on the gridiron according to the industrial hype machine, be completely hamstrung. Not so much by any individual, but a team, the Denver defense.
After losing the Super Bowl two years ago, Elway retooled. Threw out what didn't work. He didn't put new paint on an old edifice, he got a clean piece of paper and started over. Kudos to him, it worked!
We need a clean piece of paper in music. We need musicians who have some self-respect, who think they're bigger than the game, who are willing to turn down promotional opportunities because they make them look small, like Coldplay.
But the NFL knows nothing about music. It wants something entertaining, but not edgy. But in music, that's death. Then again, we've got so much of that on today's scene. It's almost like the string-pullers don't want to champion anything outside the box, they want it safe.
But the world is dangerous.
Music used to reflect this.
The only peril on the field today was to the players.
Coldplay was immune.
No, that's not true. By refusing to turn down this promotional opportunity they revealed the band to be the sham that it is. Four blokes who should have stayed in college who appeal to white people afraid of edge.
Sid Vicious is rolling in his grave.
Remember, you win in music when you're outside, when you play by your own rules, when you behave like the rock star you are, not a tool of the man.
It wasn't quite Billy Squier territory, but Coldplay's career was stopped in its tracks today. Now fans will be subjected to hatred for their choice. We all saw the show and said HUH?
"HELPFUL HONDA GUYS OFFER FREE UBER RIDES TO SOCAL RESIDENTS DURING SUPER BOWL": http://bit.ly/1nXhTQH
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HONDA! For offering free Uber rides home, at least in SoCal, where I was watching.
You make the most of an opportunity. The advertisements were so busy being clever that they missed their target. You want to make us believe in your product and want to use and buy it. But in an era where fame is everything and substance goes out the window it's no surprise that Madison Avenue demonstrated cluelessness.
But the truth is our nation is in a mass upheaval. That's the essence of both Trump and Sanders. We want the truth, authenticity and credibility, we want to be respected, and when you see only dollar signs we shrug and move on.
Sometimes you have to say no. All exposure isn't good exposure. What was the chance casual Coldplay fans would be infected by the band's performance and purchase tickets to their show? Close to nil.
Now the band has a stink upon it, relegated to second tier status in their own supposedly shining moment, they appeared to be smiling nitwits in a sea of humanity that resembled nothing so much as Up With People, the lame, safe, halftime show the NFL used to employ, when musicians abhorred the rules and regulations of sports, when they were all about rejecting cultural norms as opposed to embracing them for profit.
It's a violent sport. What's up with all the wimpy music?
Lady Gaga stretched out the national anthem to the degree there was barely time for football. She's gotten a publicity pass she does not deserve, her last album was a stiff and her trek with Tony Bennett a sideshow. It's a hits business, and she hasn't had one in eons and probably will never have one again, why is she considered a national treasure?
Because the NFL and CBS don't have their ear to the street. They don't know there's a generation gap. They just believe everyone will buy the crap they serve them. As if nobody under thirty wants to cut the cord, as if football deserves a spot in America's heart along with apple pie and religion. Did you see the MVPs walk out at the beginning of the game? Terry Bradshaw could barely amble out. How could Goodell let this happen? How come everybody in the 1% has lost touch and perspective, not knowing their success depends on the little guy, who is arching his eyebrows and judging what they're seeing?
Chris Martin looked like a dork. And although the video stage was cool, he and his band's music never lit up the joint. And the diversions looked like something from the June Taylor Dancers, but Jackie Gleason would want nothing to do with them. You could barely hear the vocals and you had the nincompoop teens running out to swarm the stage, even though they were barely conscious the last time the band had a hit. It was a celebration the audience was left out of. You could do nothing but sit there and wonder why anybody cared.
Until Bruno Mars took the stage.
Bruno knew it was not about music so much as show, and he delivered. Slinking around on stage with his backup singers you were energized and enticed. It may have been meaningless, but at least it was satisfying. Music is like porn, you know it when you see it. And Mars was the only person on stage who seemed to come from the music business.
Beyonce came from the gym. She was working so hard that when she aligned with Chris and Bruno in the finale she was nearly exhausted. She too missed the message, 2016 isn't about reveling in your excellence, adoring you from afar, but embracing you when you get down in the pit with us, your audience. I'm not in that good a shape and most Americans aren't either. Watching Bey was like watching an Olympian, you could respect her, but you just could nor warm up to her.
Never mind the chutzpah of doing her new song. I give her credit for that actually, most of the audience was unfamiliar with most of Coldplay's material so what difference will it make? Did it help her sell tickets?
Not much.
Not for Coldplay either.
You see we're inundated with marketing messages. And we choose what to pull in, what to embrace. We have no problem watching entertainment and then discarding it nearly instantly. I mean who at home is sitting there saying...I didn't know Beyonce was going on the road, let me fire up my credit card and drop $100+ a ticket. No, the decision to go is much more considered these days. Sure, it's hard to get the message out, but it's not hard to say no if you're a customer.
So why is it so hard for a manager to say no?
Come on, you see witless actors whoring themselves out, everybody from Anthony Hopkins to Christopher Walken to Helen Mirren. But they're chameleons, filling roles. We don't believe in their personalities, we don't even really know who they are!
But musicians touch our souls. They're consistent. They stand for something.
But the only thing Chris Martin and company stood for is promotion. And we know hype when we see it.
It was a strange game, dominated by defense. It may have been Peyton's last, but one wonders if Brock Osweiler could have done just as well. Still, it was riveting to see Cam Newton, the biggest star on the gridiron according to the industrial hype machine, be completely hamstrung. Not so much by any individual, but a team, the Denver defense.
After losing the Super Bowl two years ago, Elway retooled. Threw out what didn't work. He didn't put new paint on an old edifice, he got a clean piece of paper and started over. Kudos to him, it worked!
We need a clean piece of paper in music. We need musicians who have some self-respect, who think they're bigger than the game, who are willing to turn down promotional opportunities because they make them look small, like Coldplay.
But the NFL knows nothing about music. It wants something entertaining, but not edgy. But in music, that's death. Then again, we've got so much of that on today's scene. It's almost like the string-pullers don't want to champion anything outside the box, they want it safe.
But the world is dangerous.
Music used to reflect this.
The only peril on the field today was to the players.
Coldplay was immune.
No, that's not true. By refusing to turn down this promotional opportunity they revealed the band to be the sham that it is. Four blokes who should have stayed in college who appeal to white people afraid of edge.
Sid Vicious is rolling in his grave.
Remember, you win in music when you're outside, when you play by your own rules, when you behave like the rock star you are, not a tool of the man.
It wasn't quite Billy Squier territory, but Coldplay's career was stopped in its tracks today. Now fans will be subjected to hatred for their choice. We all saw the show and said HUH?
"HELPFUL HONDA GUYS OFFER FREE UBER RIDES TO SOCAL RESIDENTS DURING SUPER BOWL": http://bit.ly/1nXhTQH
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Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
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