There is no brass ring. There is no gold star. All the trappings of making it in the past are gone. Today, you make it in your own mind, and that's all that counts. The scoreboard has been blown apart. And we don't even pay attention to the same statistics. You're charting your own course. If you're in it for the glory, for the world domination, you're delusional.
Let's start with the Oscars. They lost touch with the public to such a degree that they had to institute a new "Popular" Oscar, aka "The Popcorn Oscar." Baby boomers, who control the Academy, were operating on a past paradigm, one wherein movies drove the culture and winning was an acknowledgement of your peers that you were great. Today television drives the culture, and unless you make superhero flicks you're gonna have a hard time getting financing. The studios want something dumbed-down, that will play around the world, in multiple languages. So you can go for the money or...make a movie that might receive awards that no one sees. Kinda like all the recent "Best Picture" winners.
And then there are the Grammys. Forget Neil Portnow's tone-deaf comment about "stepping up," anyone can make a mistake, but the fact that Portnow was not up to speed on #MeToo, could not read the changing of the guard, could not see that women need to be respected and included, is a demonstration of how out of touch the organization is. But that's secondary to the awards themselves. Used to be you got a bounce, in the age of streaming that's nonexistent, everybody who's interested has already heard your music. Furthermore, the Grammys have a long history of giving the awards to the wrong acts. Always behind the times, anointing name recognition rather than artistic merit. As for those competing in the lesser categories, they are truly delusional, they think that Grammys make a career, but the truth is you make a career in your mind, as I stated above.
And then there was the story in "The New York Times." But today forty percent of the public believe the "Times" is biased and evil. And forty percent believe the same about "The Wall Street Journal." There is no paper of record in the public's mind. And only a few million people are paying attention to either of these outlets. Youngsters don't read the newspaper, whether it be physical or virtual, they get their news on the fly, from multiple sources, where it originated does not matter. The point being a great review in a major newspaper has to satisfy you only, because the rest of the world is unaware and doesn't care.
Same deal for TV news. Most people don't see it, check the ratings, they're miniscule. And the entertainment programs...people know those are bought and paid for talking heads, they've got no credibility. Hell, TMZ has more credibility than "Entertainment Tonight" or wherever you get your gossip on the flat screen today, at least TMZ is unafraid of offending anyone. But it's a small subset of the public which tracks the gossip anyway.
And then you've got the "Billboard" charts. They're adjusted for reality, only their adjustment remains years in arrears. The only thing that counts is total number of streams, but that's not what they count. As for albums, if you trust that chart you make 'em, because it's got little connection with the real world.
And the Spotify streaming chart, true data, shows what is popular on the service, but it doesn't necessarily correlate with what's happening live, where the true bucks are. Spotify won't truly tell you the hottest acts in America.
As for road grosses... Not everybody's on the road, not everybody plays the biggest buildings and not everybody charges the same for tickets. Furthermore, people lie. They paper the house, all kinds of shenanigans so they can say they're the biggest, but the public has realized there's something rotten in Denmark, and MSG and Staples too.
As for a record deal... Labels don't sign you and keep you, unless you've got continued success. Furthermore, you've got to prove you're worthy on your own before they're interested!
All the trophies, all the achievements of yore, mean very little today.
And if this depresses you you're missing the point. The point is we're only going into the future. If you complain about streaming, if you complain about high ticket prices, if you bitch about the way things are and argue for a return to the past...the past is never coming back. And the ball always moves, the landscape always changes, fifteen years ago it was all about piracy, heard much about piracy recently?
So, if you want to know if you're on the right track, ask yourself.
If you're compromising to appeal to others, stop, they don't really care.
Your goal is to gain an audience of a size that satiates you and take people on a trip.
You get to decide how many people is enough. You get to decide how much money is enough. You get to decide what to play. There are no rules, especially in a world where the gates are wide open. If you don't make hip-hop or pop music terrestrial radio doesn't care about you, and you should not care about them.
This is a complete change from what came before. Used to be it was a pyramid, with a very defined, narrow top. Now, get in the game and you realize the top has been blown apart, there are a zillion roads and they don't meet at the same center. It's not doing blow in the eighties, where it's all about getting into the bathroom with a small coterie, no one even knows who the coterie is anymore, it doesn't exist, there are many coteries!
And you'll hear contrary opinions, from those propping up the old game, being paid by the guards of the old game. But they're to be ignored.
Used to be you could promote yourself to success. But today, when everybody's being spammed to death, that doesn't work.
As to being famous for nothing, like Paris Hilton and the Kardashians, they did it and you can't repeat it. Kinda like Radiohead's "In Rainbows" name your own price promotion, one and done.
You create your own game and decide whether you're winning at it.
It doesn't matter what people outside your game think.
And people will inundate you with markers, compare you to others, don't fall for it.
This is the new normal. Endless choice. Endless routes. Endless cottage industries.
Don't mistake this for the "long tail." Everything might be available, but that does not mean anybody is interested. You can create it and no one cares. You've got to be great, you've got to resonate, this is no time for amateurs. And the amateurs drop out and are forgotten anyway. Even the social media/YouTube stars. That paradigm is dead. It's too hard to maintain attention when there's nothing at the core, you've got to set yourself on fire for people to care, and you're working around the clock. So you've got to have a talent, that's hopefully unique, and you've got to build it brick by brick. This is not the eighties, when if you got on MTV you'd made it. Now you can be on MTV, Fallon and the nightly news and you still haven't made it!
Think about that.
And know you've got to go your own way with your own markers and you can succeed, but only a few do, in any enterprise. It's easier than ever to play, but harder than ever to succeed.
But you start by knowing the landscape.
That's the first thing they teach you in sports, the rules.
These are the new rules.
Abide by them.
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Friday, 17 August 2018
Re-Aretha
Back in the day (late 60's), I represented
Hines, Hines & Dad, the cabaret act that spawned Gregory and Maurice Hines, the two brilliant dancers.
Their uncle was a man named Vernon "Doc" Lawless. Doc was a character of the 1st order, but everybody loved him.
He hit a number up in Harlem one day, and used the cash to buy a limousine, which he drove himself. I sat in the office after my day gig, and took calls and did the books.
When Aretha discovered him, it was nearly the end of the business, because she'd come into town and book him 24/7.. no one else could get a ride.
We finally got him an SBA Ioan, and bought another car to keep the customers happy...
Doc pretty much loved everybody, but he always said 'Retha's my gal' ..
How ironic...pancreatic cancer. It's what got Gregory Hines, too. He was only 56 or so...
They seem to be finding cures for all sorts of cancer these days, but I never hear even a whisper about stopping this one..
Take care.
Nick
__________________________________________
Beautifully written, Bob, and I agree with everything you said. Once Aretha sang or recorded a song, she owned it, and the rest of us dared not touch it. When she sang, her joy flew from her mouth on wings straight to the heart of her listeners. She is gone forever now, and we are all feeling that great loss....and yes, I feel sad. But when I think of her and her brilliant, solid soul voice, I have to smile. And thank God we have all the videos and recordings to bring her back into our hearts whenever we wish. She has left us her great Legacy. Thank you, Queen Aretha. Sing now with the angels.
TONI TENNILLE
__________________________________________
Let's remember too, she was one of the best songwriters of her time:
"Think", "Day Dreaming", "Spirit In the Dark", "Rock Steady", "Since You've Been Gone", on and on.
A brilliant writer, along with everything else..
Marshall Crenshaw
__________________________________________
I'm sorry, but as I sit here in studio A of FAME recording studios in Muscle Shoals, AL; the very first time Aretha found her home sound was here, in this very building.....
It was With Rick Hall and Jerry Wexler-who brought her here to record with Rick and the Swampers.... "Never Loved A Man" was her first hit and that led to the rest being recorded.... it started here in Muscle Shoals at Fame. Just for the record.
Many thanks for your writing, your views and an unadulterated take on the music business. I wish the industry would take a lesson and be like we still are here in Muscle Shoals-the integrity of the music comes first. You should come visit. You'd appreciate it.
Much love....
Jo Ann Rossi
__________________________________________
Nice job, Bob. Aretha was the recipient of the Muscle Shoals sound that put both of them on the map.
Strange. The King of Rock and the Queen of Soul leave the scene on the same day.
I can't even imagine what is going on upstairs!
Bruce Allen
__________________________________________
Imagine Robert Johnson, Elvis and Aretha dying on
the same day?
Ted Lindsay
__________________________________________
In 1996 Aretha sang the national anthem at the Democratic Convention in Chicago. Earlier that day she rehearsed it to an empty room, save for the network camera crews and the janitors cleaning up after the previous night's festivities. MTV had a position looking out over the arena, and a few of us got to watch and listen. Aretha was under-singing it...saving it up for that night...but then the "rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air" portion came, and there was only one thing she could do. Off went the roof of the United Center.
When she finished the anthem, the 40 or so people in the empty arena all clapped and whooped. She smiled and said "thank you". That night I saw her sing it again for the packed convention (and it was glorious) but what stays with me most is when she lifted the building off the ground in rehearsal.
Michael Alex
__________________________________________
When I was 17 years old, I was working in the mailroom of ATLANTIC RECORDS in NYC ( my young band, THE BAY RIDGE, was also signed to ATLANTIC ). Label Vice President Jerry Wexler hired me. One day, I got a message that Jerry wanted me to go to the studio. The studio was on the same floor of where I worked in the mailroom. When i got there I was surprised to see Jerry with Aretha Franklin. He said he wanted me to meet her. She was very kind, and I asked her for an autograph, but she shrugged and showed me her right arm in a cast (from a fall from a concert stage). I should have asked her to sign with her left hand ! And...of course, no I-phones back then to take a photo. That day, I watched the recording session with Aretha playing piano with only her left hand, and singing a guide vocal for the rhythm session musicians to set the groove. Jerry Wexler producing, Tom Dowd engineering, Arif Mardin arranging, the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section...and the Queen of Soul on left hand piano and vocals. Can you imagine the impression it made on a 17 year old kid? It was amazing!
R.I.P. the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.
Joey Carbone
__________________________________________
I never met Aretha, but I did get to review her performance contract for a client a few years ago. I think she'd been using the contract for a few years. It specified that Ms. Franklin would not play segregated venues. She got paid a lot of money for her show, but there was one interesting clause: that $25,000 in cash would be paid before the show directly to Ms. Franklin and to no one but Ms. Franklin. She came out on stage wearing a bright red glittery dress, and placed on the grand piano a fairly large matching red glittery purse. The purse stayed on the
piano the entire show. When she left the stage after the encore she took the purse with her. Somebody must have gotten burned once upon a time, and wasn't about to let that happen again.
Paul C. Rapp, Esq
__________________________________________
Ellie Greenwich dreamed up and sang the "whoop-whoop" background vocals on "Chain of Fools," the unedited version of which opens with a jaw-dropping guitar solo by Joe South.
Joel Selvin
__________________________________________
Boy did you nail it in that tribute. I was there In the studio when Arif Martin put the strings on Natural Women. I also saw her in the studio every time she recorded in NY. Was in Wexler office when we opened the demo of Let It Be from Paul . Loved her much. The voice,memories,and music will live on. Jerry Greenberg
__________________________________________
One of the reasons Wexler made it work for Atlantic was he was a real music man who knew when to get out of the way, and so he was the guy who moved the studio pianist over to organ and had Ms. Franklin exit the vocal booth, sit at the piano, and accompany herself, all live. This changed the dynamic and was the paradigm shift that made what she did live work on record. Without that stroke of organic, seeing-the-forest-for-the-trees history might now have been made.
Steve Jones
Co-Executive Producer
PBS: Great Performances
__________________________________________
I booked Ms. Franklin to perform in Indianapolis for a fundraiser in February 2017. It was her first show in approximately 7 months. I have many great tails from this experience including receiving a Sunday afternoon telephone call from her a few weeks before the show to review a few special requests. On the day of show I was fortunate to spend a few minutes with her and it was spectacular! Her stories were awesome! She did not soundcheck nor did she rehearse prior to the show. When she hit the stage, she was spot on. Her voice was magnificent, and she sang beautifully with passion and enthusiasm. It was a surreal experience.
Steve Gerardi
Indianapolis
__________________________________________
Bravo Bob..That was an excellent piece. I will never ever forget the first time sitting in my fathers Dodge Coronet in Bklyn when I heard Respect for the first time. It took my family
to see Paul sing Michelle and Yesterday on Ed Sullivan for my parents to come around to the Beatles but after we heard Respect on WABC even my father said..they should play that again and we were flipping between WMCA,WABC and WINS until one of the DJs played it again. I was also fortunate years later to record a number of Albums with Luther Vandross who was not only a close friend to Aretha but also her number one fan..he was an Aretha Encyclopedia and I learned many lessons about Soul and RnB from him..The great ones you can accumulate Knowledge from…I saw Aretha at Luthers funeral and she slipped in and slipped out dressed incredibly respectful of the proceedings and not have any focus on her…We Just have to hope that the passing of these greats will one day inspire another generation to hear these artists and build on their genius..You said it right about how fortunate many of us were to be there at the beginning..It is something that I've kept with me my whole life and career and still learn from…Thank You Aretha…. RIP
Jason Miles
__________________________________________
In 1996 Aretha sang the national anthem at the Democratic Convention in Chicago. Earlier that day she rehearsed it to an empty room, save for the network camera crews and the janitors cleaning up after the previous night's festivities. MTV had a position looking out over the arena, and a few of us got to watch and listen. Aretha was under-singing it...saving it up for that night...but then the "rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air" portion came, and there was only one thing she could do. Off went the roof of the United Center.
When she finished the anthem, the 40 or so people in the empty arena all clapped and whooped. She smiled and said "thank you". That night I saw her sing it again for the packed convention (and it was glorious) but what stays with me most is when she lifted the building off the ground in rehearsal.
Michael Alex
__________________________________________
FYI BBC TV & radio here in the UK have pulled out all the stops to commemorate Aretha since the news broke, with as much airtime as for Bowie or George Michael. Even as I write a gospel choir are singing 'Respect' live on Jeremy Vine's prime-time Radio 2 show with similar tributes going out all around the country, big respect indeed.
David Stark
SongLink, UK
__________________________________________
Aretha Franklin, will always be a Matriarch of Music.
Her musicianship, dedication, live and studio performances and focus has been an inspiration to all musicians.
Our founder, Duane Allman had the honor and privilege of contributing to one of Ms. Franklin's quintessential recordings.
Our mentor, Tom Dowd helped bring her music to the world.
When we play "The Weight" and a guest joined us, they were always told, "We do the Aretha Arrangement".
The Allman Brothers Band, Families, & Crew share the sadness of the Franklin family at the loss of their Queen of Soul.
__________________________________________
From: Melissa Evans
This quote from Billy Preston summed it up for me.
"I don't care what they say about Aretha," Billy Preston, who died in 2006, once said: "She can be hiding out in her house in Detroit for years. She can go decades without taking a plane or flying off to Europe. She can cancel half her gigs and infuriate every producer and promoter in the country. She can sing all kinds of jive-ass songs that are beneath her. She can go into her diva act and turn off the world.
"But on any given night, when that lady sits down at the piano and gets her body and soul all over some righteous song, she'll scare the shit out of you. And you'll know - you'll swear -that she's still the best fuckin' singer this fucked-up country has ever produced."
Hines, Hines & Dad, the cabaret act that spawned Gregory and Maurice Hines, the two brilliant dancers.
Their uncle was a man named Vernon "Doc" Lawless. Doc was a character of the 1st order, but everybody loved him.
He hit a number up in Harlem one day, and used the cash to buy a limousine, which he drove himself. I sat in the office after my day gig, and took calls and did the books.
When Aretha discovered him, it was nearly the end of the business, because she'd come into town and book him 24/7.. no one else could get a ride.
We finally got him an SBA Ioan, and bought another car to keep the customers happy...
Doc pretty much loved everybody, but he always said 'Retha's my gal' ..
How ironic...pancreatic cancer. It's what got Gregory Hines, too. He was only 56 or so...
They seem to be finding cures for all sorts of cancer these days, but I never hear even a whisper about stopping this one..
Take care.
Nick
__________________________________________
Beautifully written, Bob, and I agree with everything you said. Once Aretha sang or recorded a song, she owned it, and the rest of us dared not touch it. When she sang, her joy flew from her mouth on wings straight to the heart of her listeners. She is gone forever now, and we are all feeling that great loss....and yes, I feel sad. But when I think of her and her brilliant, solid soul voice, I have to smile. And thank God we have all the videos and recordings to bring her back into our hearts whenever we wish. She has left us her great Legacy. Thank you, Queen Aretha. Sing now with the angels.
TONI TENNILLE
__________________________________________
Let's remember too, she was one of the best songwriters of her time:
"Think", "Day Dreaming", "Spirit In the Dark", "Rock Steady", "Since You've Been Gone", on and on.
A brilliant writer, along with everything else..
Marshall Crenshaw
__________________________________________
I'm sorry, but as I sit here in studio A of FAME recording studios in Muscle Shoals, AL; the very first time Aretha found her home sound was here, in this very building.....
It was With Rick Hall and Jerry Wexler-who brought her here to record with Rick and the Swampers.... "Never Loved A Man" was her first hit and that led to the rest being recorded.... it started here in Muscle Shoals at Fame. Just for the record.
Many thanks for your writing, your views and an unadulterated take on the music business. I wish the industry would take a lesson and be like we still are here in Muscle Shoals-the integrity of the music comes first. You should come visit. You'd appreciate it.
Much love....
Jo Ann Rossi
__________________________________________
Nice job, Bob. Aretha was the recipient of the Muscle Shoals sound that put both of them on the map.
Strange. The King of Rock and the Queen of Soul leave the scene on the same day.
I can't even imagine what is going on upstairs!
Bruce Allen
__________________________________________
Imagine Robert Johnson, Elvis and Aretha dying on
the same day?
Ted Lindsay
__________________________________________
In 1996 Aretha sang the national anthem at the Democratic Convention in Chicago. Earlier that day she rehearsed it to an empty room, save for the network camera crews and the janitors cleaning up after the previous night's festivities. MTV had a position looking out over the arena, and a few of us got to watch and listen. Aretha was under-singing it...saving it up for that night...but then the "rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air" portion came, and there was only one thing she could do. Off went the roof of the United Center.
When she finished the anthem, the 40 or so people in the empty arena all clapped and whooped. She smiled and said "thank you". That night I saw her sing it again for the packed convention (and it was glorious) but what stays with me most is when she lifted the building off the ground in rehearsal.
Michael Alex
__________________________________________
When I was 17 years old, I was working in the mailroom of ATLANTIC RECORDS in NYC ( my young band, THE BAY RIDGE, was also signed to ATLANTIC ). Label Vice President Jerry Wexler hired me. One day, I got a message that Jerry wanted me to go to the studio. The studio was on the same floor of where I worked in the mailroom. When i got there I was surprised to see Jerry with Aretha Franklin. He said he wanted me to meet her. She was very kind, and I asked her for an autograph, but she shrugged and showed me her right arm in a cast (from a fall from a concert stage). I should have asked her to sign with her left hand ! And...of course, no I-phones back then to take a photo. That day, I watched the recording session with Aretha playing piano with only her left hand, and singing a guide vocal for the rhythm session musicians to set the groove. Jerry Wexler producing, Tom Dowd engineering, Arif Mardin arranging, the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section...and the Queen of Soul on left hand piano and vocals. Can you imagine the impression it made on a 17 year old kid? It was amazing!
R.I.P. the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.
Joey Carbone
__________________________________________
I never met Aretha, but I did get to review her performance contract for a client a few years ago. I think she'd been using the contract for a few years. It specified that Ms. Franklin would not play segregated venues. She got paid a lot of money for her show, but there was one interesting clause: that $25,000 in cash would be paid before the show directly to Ms. Franklin and to no one but Ms. Franklin. She came out on stage wearing a bright red glittery dress, and placed on the grand piano a fairly large matching red glittery purse. The purse stayed on the
piano the entire show. When she left the stage after the encore she took the purse with her. Somebody must have gotten burned once upon a time, and wasn't about to let that happen again.
Paul C. Rapp, Esq
__________________________________________
Ellie Greenwich dreamed up and sang the "whoop-whoop" background vocals on "Chain of Fools," the unedited version of which opens with a jaw-dropping guitar solo by Joe South.
Joel Selvin
__________________________________________
Boy did you nail it in that tribute. I was there In the studio when Arif Martin put the strings on Natural Women. I also saw her in the studio every time she recorded in NY. Was in Wexler office when we opened the demo of Let It Be from Paul . Loved her much. The voice,memories,and music will live on. Jerry Greenberg
__________________________________________
One of the reasons Wexler made it work for Atlantic was he was a real music man who knew when to get out of the way, and so he was the guy who moved the studio pianist over to organ and had Ms. Franklin exit the vocal booth, sit at the piano, and accompany herself, all live. This changed the dynamic and was the paradigm shift that made what she did live work on record. Without that stroke of organic, seeing-the-forest-for-the-trees history might now have been made.
Steve Jones
Co-Executive Producer
PBS: Great Performances
__________________________________________
I booked Ms. Franklin to perform in Indianapolis for a fundraiser in February 2017. It was her first show in approximately 7 months. I have many great tails from this experience including receiving a Sunday afternoon telephone call from her a few weeks before the show to review a few special requests. On the day of show I was fortunate to spend a few minutes with her and it was spectacular! Her stories were awesome! She did not soundcheck nor did she rehearse prior to the show. When she hit the stage, she was spot on. Her voice was magnificent, and she sang beautifully with passion and enthusiasm. It was a surreal experience.
Steve Gerardi
Indianapolis
__________________________________________
Bravo Bob..That was an excellent piece. I will never ever forget the first time sitting in my fathers Dodge Coronet in Bklyn when I heard Respect for the first time. It took my family
to see Paul sing Michelle and Yesterday on Ed Sullivan for my parents to come around to the Beatles but after we heard Respect on WABC even my father said..they should play that again and we were flipping between WMCA,WABC and WINS until one of the DJs played it again. I was also fortunate years later to record a number of Albums with Luther Vandross who was not only a close friend to Aretha but also her number one fan..he was an Aretha Encyclopedia and I learned many lessons about Soul and RnB from him..The great ones you can accumulate Knowledge from…I saw Aretha at Luthers funeral and she slipped in and slipped out dressed incredibly respectful of the proceedings and not have any focus on her…We Just have to hope that the passing of these greats will one day inspire another generation to hear these artists and build on their genius..You said it right about how fortunate many of us were to be there at the beginning..It is something that I've kept with me my whole life and career and still learn from…Thank You Aretha…. RIP
Jason Miles
__________________________________________
In 1996 Aretha sang the national anthem at the Democratic Convention in Chicago. Earlier that day she rehearsed it to an empty room, save for the network camera crews and the janitors cleaning up after the previous night's festivities. MTV had a position looking out over the arena, and a few of us got to watch and listen. Aretha was under-singing it...saving it up for that night...but then the "rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air" portion came, and there was only one thing she could do. Off went the roof of the United Center.
When she finished the anthem, the 40 or so people in the empty arena all clapped and whooped. She smiled and said "thank you". That night I saw her sing it again for the packed convention (and it was glorious) but what stays with me most is when she lifted the building off the ground in rehearsal.
Michael Alex
__________________________________________
FYI BBC TV & radio here in the UK have pulled out all the stops to commemorate Aretha since the news broke, with as much airtime as for Bowie or George Michael. Even as I write a gospel choir are singing 'Respect' live on Jeremy Vine's prime-time Radio 2 show with similar tributes going out all around the country, big respect indeed.
David Stark
SongLink, UK
__________________________________________
Aretha Franklin, will always be a Matriarch of Music.
Her musicianship, dedication, live and studio performances and focus has been an inspiration to all musicians.
Our founder, Duane Allman had the honor and privilege of contributing to one of Ms. Franklin's quintessential recordings.
Our mentor, Tom Dowd helped bring her music to the world.
When we play "The Weight" and a guest joined us, they were always told, "We do the Aretha Arrangement".
The Allman Brothers Band, Families, & Crew share the sadness of the Franklin family at the loss of their Queen of Soul.
__________________________________________
From: Melissa Evans
This quote from Billy Preston summed it up for me.
"I don't care what they say about Aretha," Billy Preston, who died in 2006, once said: "She can be hiding out in her house in Detroit for years. She can go decades without taking a plane or flying off to Europe. She can cancel half her gigs and infuriate every producer and promoter in the country. She can sing all kinds of jive-ass songs that are beneath her. She can go into her diva act and turn off the world.
"But on any given night, when that lady sits down at the piano and gets her body and soul all over some righteous song, she'll scare the shit out of you. And you'll know - you'll swear -that she's still the best fuckin' singer this fucked-up country has ever produced."
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Panic! At The Disco At Staples
I didn't see you there.
This band is completely under the radar, yet their entire tour went clean, the upper deck at Staples was full, what was going on?
I'm not sure I can tell you, but the girls got it, they understand, they were in attendance and...
They knew every word.
It's not like the band's been hidden from view, but it's been eons since they had a big hit. What's driving this?
I don't know.
Could be Brendon Urie's appearance, his sexuality, he could be a fantasy.
But the music is definitely rock and it definitely has melody and...
If you went you'd get it. Even if you were unfamiliar with the material, about halfway through the nearly thirty song set you'd find yourself singing along with the choruses, shimmying.
What gives?
Baby boomers are no longer in control. Sure, they go to see the aged acts but not only do they not break bands, they're unaware of new bands and can't fathom that decades have gone by and young 'uns are developing favorites of their own.
It's not like Panic! is brand new, they've been around in excess of a decade. We think of modern acts as evanescent, but that's untrue, how long have Jay Z and Beyonce been around? Then again, we hear about the twosome constantly, we never heard about Panic!
It's an internet act. That's right, you can play to your fans and do quite well. Actually, if you're playing to everybody you're missing the point, everybody is not paying attention.
Not that Brendon did not give them their money's worth.
Sure, there was production, but it was clear who was the star, twisting and dancing at the end of the runway that protruded from the stage.
The band was like one you've never seen.
There was a male guitarist, a male drummer, but...
A woman bass player and three women string players and three male horn players.
I've never seen a conglomeration like this before.
Then again, Brendon starred in "Kinky Boots"... That used to be a role for those with no traction, those who could not sell tickets, but ever since Billy Joe Armstrong appeared on Broadway, not only does it sell tickets, it's seen as a feather in your cap. Forget the Boss on Broadway, that's a victory lap, Brendon Urie on the Great White Way is part of the ascension.
But how do they know every word?
THEY LISTEN!
That's right, we keep hearing that kids today have short attention spans, that could not be more untrue, they have incredible shit detectors, but if they find something they like, they'll play it, spend time with it, ad infinitum.
It wasn't very much different from the rock shows of yore. Filling the Fillmore. There were three acts, I'd never even heard of Hayley Kiyoko, and she's never had a hit, but all the tracks from her new album "Expectations" are in seven figures on Spotify, plenty are over twenty million. And for the record, there are fewer plays on YouTube, that's right, the behind the times music industry keeps talking about the "value gap," but the truth is kids are on the paid streaming services, and don't forget that Spotify's only one of them.
Could Panic! have made it without a label?
Doubtful, since they were so young when they started and it was a different era.
But the label is not sustaining the act, the fans are, and it all happens on the internet.
The future is here.
--
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--
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-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
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This band is completely under the radar, yet their entire tour went clean, the upper deck at Staples was full, what was going on?
I'm not sure I can tell you, but the girls got it, they understand, they were in attendance and...
They knew every word.
It's not like the band's been hidden from view, but it's been eons since they had a big hit. What's driving this?
I don't know.
Could be Brendon Urie's appearance, his sexuality, he could be a fantasy.
But the music is definitely rock and it definitely has melody and...
If you went you'd get it. Even if you were unfamiliar with the material, about halfway through the nearly thirty song set you'd find yourself singing along with the choruses, shimmying.
What gives?
Baby boomers are no longer in control. Sure, they go to see the aged acts but not only do they not break bands, they're unaware of new bands and can't fathom that decades have gone by and young 'uns are developing favorites of their own.
It's not like Panic! is brand new, they've been around in excess of a decade. We think of modern acts as evanescent, but that's untrue, how long have Jay Z and Beyonce been around? Then again, we hear about the twosome constantly, we never heard about Panic!
It's an internet act. That's right, you can play to your fans and do quite well. Actually, if you're playing to everybody you're missing the point, everybody is not paying attention.
Not that Brendon did not give them their money's worth.
Sure, there was production, but it was clear who was the star, twisting and dancing at the end of the runway that protruded from the stage.
The band was like one you've never seen.
There was a male guitarist, a male drummer, but...
A woman bass player and three women string players and three male horn players.
I've never seen a conglomeration like this before.
Then again, Brendon starred in "Kinky Boots"... That used to be a role for those with no traction, those who could not sell tickets, but ever since Billy Joe Armstrong appeared on Broadway, not only does it sell tickets, it's seen as a feather in your cap. Forget the Boss on Broadway, that's a victory lap, Brendon Urie on the Great White Way is part of the ascension.
But how do they know every word?
THEY LISTEN!
That's right, we keep hearing that kids today have short attention spans, that could not be more untrue, they have incredible shit detectors, but if they find something they like, they'll play it, spend time with it, ad infinitum.
It wasn't very much different from the rock shows of yore. Filling the Fillmore. There were three acts, I'd never even heard of Hayley Kiyoko, and she's never had a hit, but all the tracks from her new album "Expectations" are in seven figures on Spotify, plenty are over twenty million. And for the record, there are fewer plays on YouTube, that's right, the behind the times music industry keeps talking about the "value gap," but the truth is kids are on the paid streaming services, and don't forget that Spotify's only one of them.
Could Panic! have made it without a label?
Doubtful, since they were so young when they started and it was a different era.
But the label is not sustaining the act, the fans are, and it all happens on the internet.
The future is here.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-TuneIn: http://tunein.com/lefsetz
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
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Thursday, 16 August 2018
Aretha
"Hey nineteen
That's 'Retha Franklin
She don't remember the Queen of Soul"
That was recorded by Steely Dan in 1980, when Aretha already appeared to be in the rearview mirror.
But she wasn't.
Forget the forgettable Arista hits, but remember her appearances on the Grammys, at Obama's inauguration and the Kennedy Center Honors. Aretha Franklin transcended the hit parade, she was an icon as big as the music business itself. She forged her own path, and we loved her for it.
Now you've got to understand it was a different era. That's right, the baby boomers had it best, they lived through the Beatles and the explosion of soul. Back when you owned a transistor radio instead of a smartphone, when we were all excited by what emanated from the single speaker in the dashboard, when if you wanted to know which way the wind blew, you listened to music.
It started with "Respect."
1967 was the Summer of Love, it was also the year before the deaths of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. There was a brief respite before the darkness overtook the light. Not that the light never shined thereafter, it's just that we always expected the other shoe to drop, and it did. Tell a denizen of the sixties that racism is now prevalent and minorities are excluded on the voting rolls and their heads spin. We fought for freedom, the sky was the limit, we were on action, not reaction, and ultimately we all got on the same team, rednecks grew their hair, they were ultimately against the Vietnam War, and the twin pillars were Motown and rock.
And then came Aretha.
She started off on Columbia, which didn't know what to do with her. Sometimes you're too early, sometimes you're lacking chemistry, sometimes you need someone to midwife you to success.
Like Jerry Wexler. Used to be the Jews and the blacks walked side by side. Why African-Americans find fault with the Semitic people today I do not know, we're both minorities, both fighting to end injustice.
And Columbia was part of a conglomerate, whereas the more nimble Atlantic had a long history in black music. Aretha was finally home, at least when it comes to record companies.
"What you want
Baby, I got it"
Talk about girl power, talk about the beginning of the feminist revolution, Aretha's place in the pantheon has not been elucidated. It was women who embraced Aretha first, they could hear the power in her voice, her message.
And overnight, "Sock it to me baby" became par of the vernacular. On "Laugh-In," hell, even Richard Nixon uttered it on television.
That's the power of a hit single, that's the power of music, at least back then, can you imagine Trump quoting Kendrick Lamar today?
No way.
But "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" sounded completely different, we shouldn't have been surprised when she subbed for Pavarotti at the Grammys and hit "Nessun Dorma" far over the fence, she could sing anything, she could make it her own. That's the mark of a great artist, one who has breadth, who is not one note. Arguably this number is the one that made Goffin and King household names, and it was only a few years later that Carole cut her version on "Tapestry," but even King would admit that Aretha owns it.
As for "Chain Of Fools," once again it was a new twist, unconnected to what came before, other than it had soul! Aretha may not have written these songs but she owned them. And unlike Michael Jackson, she did not coin her own moniker and she did not fight for the spotlight, she was quiet about her career, she just kept making hits. Whether it be 1972's "Rock Steady," from the album "Young, Gifted And Black," or the surprise "comeback" hit from 1973, "Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" in an era where FM ruled and AM was a backwater. I heard this on the jukebox at the Alibi in Middlebury, Vermont and I had to buy the album, to be able to play it at will, it's all about the chorus, not that there isn't so much more.
And then came the victory lap. Aretha's triumphant appearance in the "Blues Brothers" movie, where she blew every other musician off the screen, owning the movie in a matter of minutes, back in an era where musical performances onscreen were still rare, unavailable, this voice that emanated from the radio, the performance was every bit as energetic and believable and then...
Aretha disappeared.
Well, there was a bit of MTV action, especially 1985's "Freeway Of Love," but the recording was overproduced, a relic of the early MTV era, when the oldsters still had traction before the popsters and the rappers took over. Aretha's performance was stellar, but she didn't star in the song like she did in previous numbers and the metronomic, rhythm machine track didn't swing like the hits of old, it lacked an element of soul, not that the verse was not catchy.
But Aretha suddenly became unavailable. Especially at the turn of the century, when seemingly every classic act took to the boards since they could no longer have radio hits, in an endless dash for cash, to the point where the younger generation became unfamiliar with her, she certainly was a legend, but they didn't realize she was a living, breathing person who could still deliver. She was a diva, she had to do it her way, but when you saw her her magnetism attracted you and then you found yourself hovering over the arena, able to fly on the notes alone.
She knew she was that good, that great, that phenomenal, truly above everybody else. But she didn't have to advertise herself, the penumbra was irrelevant, all she had to do was open her mouth.
For her last famous public appearance on the Kennedy Center Honors. You didn't want to follow Aretha, you couldn't! She came out playing the piano, people aren't supposed to be trained, but Aretha paid her dues in church, she didn't burst on the scene with no backstory. And when she stood and shed her fur and sang... You could say belted, but this was not Mariah Carey, Aretha was always in service to the song, she showed off without trying to, all she had to do was perform!
And there you have it folks, she was here and now she's gone.
Too many of them are gone. From Bowie to Frey to those who O.D.'ed before their time, like Prince. But pancreatic cancer got the Queen of Soul. There's really no treatment, it's a death sentence, a couple of months and you're out, done, finished.
And in this case Roger Friedman gave us advance warning, so we weren't surprised, today these deaths come from seemingly nowhere, like records.
But still...
76 ain't young, but it's not old either. Paul McCartney is 76 and he's got a new album, he's still touring, he's still alive, we expect these musicians to live forever.
But they don't.
And when they're gone they're never coming back, like the era they dominated.
But most of the classic acts have been forgotten, touring sans original members, there are only a few giants, superstars who can still sell every ticket, but no one lives forever and at some point this era will fade.
Will the music survive?
It appears so, because it was built on a different foundation. When you could not be famous for nothing, when you had to have talent to make it, when you had to pay endless dues to break through. We baby boomers lived through the Renaissance, they painted and sculpted after Raphael and Michelangelo, but at no time thereafter was there such a burst of genius, such dominance. Same deal with music. I know, I know, you want to believe it's the same as ever, but change happens, and it has.
So certainly spin the records. But if you ever had a hankering to see these legends, go now. It was joke that this was the last time for the Stones, that you had to see them before they died, but at some point Mick and Keith will truly go, then what?
It'll be like today. Aretha was here, always in the back of our mind, the records still as vital as they were yesterday, and now, pfft, she's gone!
Kinda funny in a country focused on youth. We only give legends their due when they pass.
But that's not true of Aretha, she was always here, those records are forever. Just go to a wedding or bar mitzvah, you'll hear 'em, everybody knows them. As big as Michael Jackson was, Aretha was bigger. But she lived her life privately, with fewer shenanigans. And she tried to live it for herself, but there were endless tragedies and mistreatments. But still, we were and still are the beneficiaries of her fantastic talent. She ultimately suffered for us.
And we still remember the Queen of Soul.
--
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--
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-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
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That's 'Retha Franklin
She don't remember the Queen of Soul"
That was recorded by Steely Dan in 1980, when Aretha already appeared to be in the rearview mirror.
But she wasn't.
Forget the forgettable Arista hits, but remember her appearances on the Grammys, at Obama's inauguration and the Kennedy Center Honors. Aretha Franklin transcended the hit parade, she was an icon as big as the music business itself. She forged her own path, and we loved her for it.
Now you've got to understand it was a different era. That's right, the baby boomers had it best, they lived through the Beatles and the explosion of soul. Back when you owned a transistor radio instead of a smartphone, when we were all excited by what emanated from the single speaker in the dashboard, when if you wanted to know which way the wind blew, you listened to music.
It started with "Respect."
1967 was the Summer of Love, it was also the year before the deaths of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. There was a brief respite before the darkness overtook the light. Not that the light never shined thereafter, it's just that we always expected the other shoe to drop, and it did. Tell a denizen of the sixties that racism is now prevalent and minorities are excluded on the voting rolls and their heads spin. We fought for freedom, the sky was the limit, we were on action, not reaction, and ultimately we all got on the same team, rednecks grew their hair, they were ultimately against the Vietnam War, and the twin pillars were Motown and rock.
And then came Aretha.
She started off on Columbia, which didn't know what to do with her. Sometimes you're too early, sometimes you're lacking chemistry, sometimes you need someone to midwife you to success.
Like Jerry Wexler. Used to be the Jews and the blacks walked side by side. Why African-Americans find fault with the Semitic people today I do not know, we're both minorities, both fighting to end injustice.
And Columbia was part of a conglomerate, whereas the more nimble Atlantic had a long history in black music. Aretha was finally home, at least when it comes to record companies.
"What you want
Baby, I got it"
Talk about girl power, talk about the beginning of the feminist revolution, Aretha's place in the pantheon has not been elucidated. It was women who embraced Aretha first, they could hear the power in her voice, her message.
And overnight, "Sock it to me baby" became par of the vernacular. On "Laugh-In," hell, even Richard Nixon uttered it on television.
That's the power of a hit single, that's the power of music, at least back then, can you imagine Trump quoting Kendrick Lamar today?
No way.
But "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" sounded completely different, we shouldn't have been surprised when she subbed for Pavarotti at the Grammys and hit "Nessun Dorma" far over the fence, she could sing anything, she could make it her own. That's the mark of a great artist, one who has breadth, who is not one note. Arguably this number is the one that made Goffin and King household names, and it was only a few years later that Carole cut her version on "Tapestry," but even King would admit that Aretha owns it.
As for "Chain Of Fools," once again it was a new twist, unconnected to what came before, other than it had soul! Aretha may not have written these songs but she owned them. And unlike Michael Jackson, she did not coin her own moniker and she did not fight for the spotlight, she was quiet about her career, she just kept making hits. Whether it be 1972's "Rock Steady," from the album "Young, Gifted And Black," or the surprise "comeback" hit from 1973, "Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" in an era where FM ruled and AM was a backwater. I heard this on the jukebox at the Alibi in Middlebury, Vermont and I had to buy the album, to be able to play it at will, it's all about the chorus, not that there isn't so much more.
And then came the victory lap. Aretha's triumphant appearance in the "Blues Brothers" movie, where she blew every other musician off the screen, owning the movie in a matter of minutes, back in an era where musical performances onscreen were still rare, unavailable, this voice that emanated from the radio, the performance was every bit as energetic and believable and then...
Aretha disappeared.
Well, there was a bit of MTV action, especially 1985's "Freeway Of Love," but the recording was overproduced, a relic of the early MTV era, when the oldsters still had traction before the popsters and the rappers took over. Aretha's performance was stellar, but she didn't star in the song like she did in previous numbers and the metronomic, rhythm machine track didn't swing like the hits of old, it lacked an element of soul, not that the verse was not catchy.
But Aretha suddenly became unavailable. Especially at the turn of the century, when seemingly every classic act took to the boards since they could no longer have radio hits, in an endless dash for cash, to the point where the younger generation became unfamiliar with her, she certainly was a legend, but they didn't realize she was a living, breathing person who could still deliver. She was a diva, she had to do it her way, but when you saw her her magnetism attracted you and then you found yourself hovering over the arena, able to fly on the notes alone.
She knew she was that good, that great, that phenomenal, truly above everybody else. But she didn't have to advertise herself, the penumbra was irrelevant, all she had to do was open her mouth.
For her last famous public appearance on the Kennedy Center Honors. You didn't want to follow Aretha, you couldn't! She came out playing the piano, people aren't supposed to be trained, but Aretha paid her dues in church, she didn't burst on the scene with no backstory. And when she stood and shed her fur and sang... You could say belted, but this was not Mariah Carey, Aretha was always in service to the song, she showed off without trying to, all she had to do was perform!
And there you have it folks, she was here and now she's gone.
Too many of them are gone. From Bowie to Frey to those who O.D.'ed before their time, like Prince. But pancreatic cancer got the Queen of Soul. There's really no treatment, it's a death sentence, a couple of months and you're out, done, finished.
And in this case Roger Friedman gave us advance warning, so we weren't surprised, today these deaths come from seemingly nowhere, like records.
But still...
76 ain't young, but it's not old either. Paul McCartney is 76 and he's got a new album, he's still touring, he's still alive, we expect these musicians to live forever.
But they don't.
And when they're gone they're never coming back, like the era they dominated.
But most of the classic acts have been forgotten, touring sans original members, there are only a few giants, superstars who can still sell every ticket, but no one lives forever and at some point this era will fade.
Will the music survive?
It appears so, because it was built on a different foundation. When you could not be famous for nothing, when you had to have talent to make it, when you had to pay endless dues to break through. We baby boomers lived through the Renaissance, they painted and sculpted after Raphael and Michelangelo, but at no time thereafter was there such a burst of genius, such dominance. Same deal with music. I know, I know, you want to believe it's the same as ever, but change happens, and it has.
So certainly spin the records. But if you ever had a hankering to see these legends, go now. It was joke that this was the last time for the Stones, that you had to see them before they died, but at some point Mick and Keith will truly go, then what?
It'll be like today. Aretha was here, always in the back of our mind, the records still as vital as they were yesterday, and now, pfft, she's gone!
Kinda funny in a country focused on youth. We only give legends their due when they pass.
But that's not true of Aretha, she was always here, those records are forever. Just go to a wedding or bar mitzvah, you'll hear 'em, everybody knows them. As big as Michael Jackson was, Aretha was bigger. But she lived her life privately, with fewer shenanigans. And she tried to live it for herself, but there were endless tragedies and mistreatments. But still, we were and still are the beneficiaries of her fantastic talent. She ultimately suffered for us.
And we still remember the Queen of Soul.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-TuneIn: http://tunein.com/lefsetz
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
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--
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Wednesday, 15 August 2018
Touring vs. Labels
The script has flipped, record companies no longer drive the business, they get all the press, but the question is not how many streams you have, but how many tickets you're worth, then the industry knows if you have real fans. Better to play to the local promoter than the A&R guy. And if you don't play live, you've got no chance to cement your bond with your audience. That's where it happens, on stage. At the beginning sinews are formed at the merch table. Never underestimate face to face, give someone the time of day and they'll support you forever.
I don't want to denigrate Lucian Grainge and Rob Stringer and whoever really has the power at Warner, but the truth is promoters lay down much more cash, they've got much more at risk, the road is where you really get paid, the true majordomos are Michael Rapino and Jay Marciano, even though neither is a household name, the average person still can't understand the touring business, they know if you get social data online you can interest a label, especially if it's accompanied by streaming stats, but none of that means much to a promoter, a promoter is not interested in the penumbra so much as the core.
This is antithetical to everything you've heard, but that does not mean it's untrue.
Forever, the label was the bank, the label built careers, the tour was the advertisement for the record. Now it's vice versa. The label's payments are de minimis compared to the promoter's. And you build careers on the road, not on streaming services. Streaming is like swipes on Tinder, people are interested, but it doesn't compare to a successful date.
Now the funny thing is streaming is dominated by hip-hop, but live a cornucopia of genres do well. And unlike in the sixties or seventies or the MTV era, we do not live in a monoculture, no act is dominant. As big as Drake is, many people have never heard his music. But they are listening to music, are they listening to yours?
In many cases they're listening to oldies, heritage music, which the labels pooh-pooh, because there may not be a record deal anymore, there may not even be new recordings, furthermore, no one at the label was there when the original recordings were made and they're uninterested, they're focused on the new, they want the glory, and this doesn't square with reality. The reality is numerous fans are married to the legacy artists, the new ones? Not so much.
And it's not sexy to say the Eagles are selling out another building, so there's little press on the heritage acts. They do call it the NEWSpaper! So what is really happening frequently goes undocumented. This is not politics, where the loser is forgotten, seemingly no one is forgotten in music, especially if they've made their bones on the road.
Playing live and garnering an audience is much more difficult than shooting a video and posting it online, much more difficult than spamming everybody to pay attention. And the road is black and white, either you can sell tickets or you can't. People lament paying to play, but the truth is you're paying because you have no audience and the promoter is running a business and once you do have an audience you'll get paid, although few do.
The bar is so high these days. You can only fail in your basement, in rehearsal. Once people are paying attention, you've got to deliver, which is much more difficult than tweaking your product in Pro Tools. And it's hard to fake it live, and those who do tend to have a short shelf life. You've got to know how to play, how to deliver. And if you do this well, you'll eventually blow up, probably when you write a hit tune, which most acts can never do. The landscape is littered with acts that can play but can't write, who can never concoct the single that puts them over the top. And the single comes last, if it comes first, none of the above applies, you've got no fanbase, you're just flavor of the moment, if you don't follow up the recording with something equally as good, forget it.
Now road people are lifers, from top to bottom. If you're good, you keep your job, because experience is everything. Once again, it's less sexy than working at a label, but you have more power. You see the promoter is making bets every single day, or every single week. This is not a record label throwing stuff at the wall, hoping a record sticks. The shows have to pay, otherwise the company goes out of business. And promoters are always interested in what youngsters have to say, because they believe they're more in touch. Until you get to the superstar level, everything's up for grabs, it isn't a negotiation solely between agent, attorney and promoter. Input is key upon development.
And live there are sellers and buyers.
Sellers are agents, promoters are buyers.
You need an agent, someone who will get you gigs. It's harder than getting a record deal and the deal is clean, the standard is 10%. And the agent won't work unless he or she can make money. Sure, they'll work for bupkes if they believe in you, but if you don't pan out, if they don't think you're working hard enough, they'll drop you. Meanwhile, the opposite is true too, you can fire your agent.
If you're in the hip-hop game, labels are big players. They advance you money, get you playlisted and on radio and TV. But if you're not a rapper, radio and TV that count are not really interested, and neither is the label, you're better off going it alone. Used to be the label was your only choice, but the truth is those complaining about millions of streams and low payouts all have major label deals, where the lion's share of the money goes to the company.
Meanwhile, Chance did it without a label.
So the wheel has turned. You use the internet to connect with your fans as opposed to spread the word, it's about infecting those at the show, mobilizing them to spread the word, there are just too many messages online, yours gets lost, it is not heard, but when a real person, a friend, testifies, people pay attention.
I know, I know, this is a much rougher row to hoe than playing the label game. But it pays many more dividends. Used to be you needed a label to play, not anymore. The nineties saw the growth of the indies, since MTV played so little product. The aughts were about using the net as a tool to get noticed. But in the teens cacophony rules and you're better off with a subscription to "Pollstar" than "Billboard."
Think about that.
--
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I don't want to denigrate Lucian Grainge and Rob Stringer and whoever really has the power at Warner, but the truth is promoters lay down much more cash, they've got much more at risk, the road is where you really get paid, the true majordomos are Michael Rapino and Jay Marciano, even though neither is a household name, the average person still can't understand the touring business, they know if you get social data online you can interest a label, especially if it's accompanied by streaming stats, but none of that means much to a promoter, a promoter is not interested in the penumbra so much as the core.
This is antithetical to everything you've heard, but that does not mean it's untrue.
Forever, the label was the bank, the label built careers, the tour was the advertisement for the record. Now it's vice versa. The label's payments are de minimis compared to the promoter's. And you build careers on the road, not on streaming services. Streaming is like swipes on Tinder, people are interested, but it doesn't compare to a successful date.
Now the funny thing is streaming is dominated by hip-hop, but live a cornucopia of genres do well. And unlike in the sixties or seventies or the MTV era, we do not live in a monoculture, no act is dominant. As big as Drake is, many people have never heard his music. But they are listening to music, are they listening to yours?
In many cases they're listening to oldies, heritage music, which the labels pooh-pooh, because there may not be a record deal anymore, there may not even be new recordings, furthermore, no one at the label was there when the original recordings were made and they're uninterested, they're focused on the new, they want the glory, and this doesn't square with reality. The reality is numerous fans are married to the legacy artists, the new ones? Not so much.
And it's not sexy to say the Eagles are selling out another building, so there's little press on the heritage acts. They do call it the NEWSpaper! So what is really happening frequently goes undocumented. This is not politics, where the loser is forgotten, seemingly no one is forgotten in music, especially if they've made their bones on the road.
Playing live and garnering an audience is much more difficult than shooting a video and posting it online, much more difficult than spamming everybody to pay attention. And the road is black and white, either you can sell tickets or you can't. People lament paying to play, but the truth is you're paying because you have no audience and the promoter is running a business and once you do have an audience you'll get paid, although few do.
The bar is so high these days. You can only fail in your basement, in rehearsal. Once people are paying attention, you've got to deliver, which is much more difficult than tweaking your product in Pro Tools. And it's hard to fake it live, and those who do tend to have a short shelf life. You've got to know how to play, how to deliver. And if you do this well, you'll eventually blow up, probably when you write a hit tune, which most acts can never do. The landscape is littered with acts that can play but can't write, who can never concoct the single that puts them over the top. And the single comes last, if it comes first, none of the above applies, you've got no fanbase, you're just flavor of the moment, if you don't follow up the recording with something equally as good, forget it.
Now road people are lifers, from top to bottom. If you're good, you keep your job, because experience is everything. Once again, it's less sexy than working at a label, but you have more power. You see the promoter is making bets every single day, or every single week. This is not a record label throwing stuff at the wall, hoping a record sticks. The shows have to pay, otherwise the company goes out of business. And promoters are always interested in what youngsters have to say, because they believe they're more in touch. Until you get to the superstar level, everything's up for grabs, it isn't a negotiation solely between agent, attorney and promoter. Input is key upon development.
And live there are sellers and buyers.
Sellers are agents, promoters are buyers.
You need an agent, someone who will get you gigs. It's harder than getting a record deal and the deal is clean, the standard is 10%. And the agent won't work unless he or she can make money. Sure, they'll work for bupkes if they believe in you, but if you don't pan out, if they don't think you're working hard enough, they'll drop you. Meanwhile, the opposite is true too, you can fire your agent.
If you're in the hip-hop game, labels are big players. They advance you money, get you playlisted and on radio and TV. But if you're not a rapper, radio and TV that count are not really interested, and neither is the label, you're better off going it alone. Used to be the label was your only choice, but the truth is those complaining about millions of streams and low payouts all have major label deals, where the lion's share of the money goes to the company.
Meanwhile, Chance did it without a label.
So the wheel has turned. You use the internet to connect with your fans as opposed to spread the word, it's about infecting those at the show, mobilizing them to spread the word, there are just too many messages online, yours gets lost, it is not heard, but when a real person, a friend, testifies, people pay attention.
I know, I know, this is a much rougher row to hoe than playing the label game. But it pays many more dividends. Used to be you needed a label to play, not anymore. The nineties saw the growth of the indies, since MTV played so little product. The aughts were about using the net as a tool to get noticed. But in the teens cacophony rules and you're better off with a subscription to "Pollstar" than "Billboard."
Think about that.
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Tuesday, 14 August 2018
Kaskade-This Week's Podcast
I loved talking to Ryan, that's his real name, you learn the genesis of his stage moniker in this podcast.
He grew up in Northbrook, Illinois and got infected by the Chicago house music scene. Then he brought his records to BYU where he flailed.
After his mission in Japan, he was a tour guide in NYC, and then back to SLC where he matriculated at the U and...started to spin records on a dead night in a club. Everybody's looking for shortcuts, but not Ryan, not so many who make it. They're impresarios, you don't have to be in tech to be an entrepreneur. And he ended up in SF with his wife and...
Went to work at a record label, honed his production chops, continued to make music, and eventually he made it.
What does making it look like today?
Primarily having an audience, that supports you. Who cares about the evanescent acts featured in the media, it's the fans who keep you alive. And I experienced the vibe with 30,000 acolytes at Sunsoaked, in Long Beach.
Ryan is nothing like what you think he is. That's right, he is Mormon and he does not do drugs. But even more than that, his personality is infectious, he's alive, he's excited, there's none of the affected cool so prevalent amongst musicians. I could have talked to him all day.
Listen to a snippet- Kaskade on the Vegas pool party that attracted 15,000 fans: https://bit.ly/2MwFYO8
Listen to the Kaskade podcast on...
TuneIn: https://listen.tunein.com/KaskadeLetter
Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/kaskade/id1316200737?i=1000417778756&mt=2
Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Dzen252wghtahc3onwwm2tazw6q?t=Kaskade-The_Bob_Lefsetz_Podcast
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/bob-lefsetz/kaskade
Overcast: https://overcast.fm/+LBr--jGrE
Castbox: https://castbox.fm/episode/Kaskade-id1099656-id88607687?country=us
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He grew up in Northbrook, Illinois and got infected by the Chicago house music scene. Then he brought his records to BYU where he flailed.
After his mission in Japan, he was a tour guide in NYC, and then back to SLC where he matriculated at the U and...started to spin records on a dead night in a club. Everybody's looking for shortcuts, but not Ryan, not so many who make it. They're impresarios, you don't have to be in tech to be an entrepreneur. And he ended up in SF with his wife and...
Went to work at a record label, honed his production chops, continued to make music, and eventually he made it.
What does making it look like today?
Primarily having an audience, that supports you. Who cares about the evanescent acts featured in the media, it's the fans who keep you alive. And I experienced the vibe with 30,000 acolytes at Sunsoaked, in Long Beach.
Ryan is nothing like what you think he is. That's right, he is Mormon and he does not do drugs. But even more than that, his personality is infectious, he's alive, he's excited, there's none of the affected cool so prevalent amongst musicians. I could have talked to him all day.
Listen to a snippet- Kaskade on the Vegas pool party that attracted 15,000 fans: https://bit.ly/2MwFYO8
Listen to the Kaskade podcast on...
TuneIn: https://listen.tunein.com/KaskadeLetter
Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/kaskade/id1316200737?i=1000417778756&mt=2
Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Dzen252wghtahc3onwwm2tazw6q?t=Kaskade-The_Bob_Lefsetz_Podcast
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/bob-lefsetz/kaskade
Overcast: https://overcast.fm/+LBr--jGrE
Castbox: https://castbox.fm/episode/Kaskade-id1099656-id88607687?country=us
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The Jacket
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2Md2R9P
YouTube: https://bit.ly/2MPJiRm
This is a hit record!
"It's got a hole in the elbow, bandana pocket
Silver button missin' from the snap at the bottom
I said 'That thing's seen better days, daddy you should toss it'
And he said, 'Darlin' I can't'"
Steve expected me to be wearing my jean jacket. I hadn't seen him in decades, but when I was in college I wore that Lee jacket until it faded and started to get holes. It was the only thing I wore my first winter in L.A.
And then it fell apart.
You used to have to break them in, they were evidence of wear and tear, of a life.
"This thing is two thousand bonfires, hitchhiked to Boulder
It's kept a million raindrops off your mama's shoulders
My heart on my sleeve, my life in these patches
Then he wrapped his arms around me in that old
Jean jacket"
That's when you know you've crossed a bridge, when the sinews have formed, when she wears your clothing, it's intimate, she wants to feel connected and it makes you feel good.
"It's been a bed for a hound dog, a picnic blanket
There's blood on the collar from a punk who tried to take it from me
Seen Willie Nelson play four or five states
The best Levi ever made"
That's the great thing about music, it's not quantifiable, it lives and breathes, like people. No computer can match you for a date, the machine never gets it right, you've got to see the person to know. And oftentimes you just do... You see them across a room, it's the way they hold their head, the way they wink, you're hooked. And that's the way I felt when I heard "The Jacket" on Ashley McBryde's album last night, it jumped out of the iPhone, from Spotify to me. I can only describe the feeling, of being rooted, of being alive, the way the changes integrated with me.
And then it got better.
"It ain't much to look at, but he let me have it
So I could feel his arms around me in that old
Jean jacket
Jean jacket"
What a closer! A story of life in two minutes and forty seconds. I had to play it again, immediately. That's what a hit is.
That's why country radio should play this record, because the format's based on callout research, on females, even though it rarely plays women on the stations. It's not about formula, it's about a feeling. And you cannot help but feel warm and fuzzy and alive when you hear "The Jacket."
"We strung four miles of barbed wire in Corinth, Mississippi
Spent a night in county jail with an old drunk and a hippie
It's my heart on the sleeve, it's my life in these patches
With his arms wrapped around me in that old jean jacket:
Your history is in your clothes. Even if you can afford new ones, you like the old broken-in ones, they've seen so much, they're part of you.
The jacket's experienced, just like you. It's got miles on it, just like you. It's good and bad, love and hate, and those memorable moments, like at the show, the Willie Nelson show.
This is songwriting, it's personal, it's located in time and space, you can visualize it, and it's got an emotion that trumps all other art forms when done right.
This is a winner.
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YouTube: https://bit.ly/2MPJiRm
This is a hit record!
"It's got a hole in the elbow, bandana pocket
Silver button missin' from the snap at the bottom
I said 'That thing's seen better days, daddy you should toss it'
And he said, 'Darlin' I can't'"
Steve expected me to be wearing my jean jacket. I hadn't seen him in decades, but when I was in college I wore that Lee jacket until it faded and started to get holes. It was the only thing I wore my first winter in L.A.
And then it fell apart.
You used to have to break them in, they were evidence of wear and tear, of a life.
"This thing is two thousand bonfires, hitchhiked to Boulder
It's kept a million raindrops off your mama's shoulders
My heart on my sleeve, my life in these patches
Then he wrapped his arms around me in that old
Jean jacket"
That's when you know you've crossed a bridge, when the sinews have formed, when she wears your clothing, it's intimate, she wants to feel connected and it makes you feel good.
"It's been a bed for a hound dog, a picnic blanket
There's blood on the collar from a punk who tried to take it from me
Seen Willie Nelson play four or five states
The best Levi ever made"
That's the great thing about music, it's not quantifiable, it lives and breathes, like people. No computer can match you for a date, the machine never gets it right, you've got to see the person to know. And oftentimes you just do... You see them across a room, it's the way they hold their head, the way they wink, you're hooked. And that's the way I felt when I heard "The Jacket" on Ashley McBryde's album last night, it jumped out of the iPhone, from Spotify to me. I can only describe the feeling, of being rooted, of being alive, the way the changes integrated with me.
And then it got better.
"It ain't much to look at, but he let me have it
So I could feel his arms around me in that old
Jean jacket
Jean jacket"
What a closer! A story of life in two minutes and forty seconds. I had to play it again, immediately. That's what a hit is.
That's why country radio should play this record, because the format's based on callout research, on females, even though it rarely plays women on the stations. It's not about formula, it's about a feeling. And you cannot help but feel warm and fuzzy and alive when you hear "The Jacket."
"We strung four miles of barbed wire in Corinth, Mississippi
Spent a night in county jail with an old drunk and a hippie
It's my heart on the sleeve, it's my life in these patches
With his arms wrapped around me in that old jean jacket:
Your history is in your clothes. Even if you can afford new ones, you like the old broken-in ones, they've seen so much, they're part of you.
The jacket's experienced, just like you. It's got miles on it, just like you. It's good and bad, love and hate, and those memorable moments, like at the show, the Willie Nelson show.
This is songwriting, it's personal, it's located in time and space, you can visualize it, and it's got an emotion that trumps all other art forms when done right.
This is a winner.
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Monday, 13 August 2018
New York Magazine Songwriting Issue
"The more specific she was, the more relatable it seemed."
(Beth Laird on Taylor Swift)
What kind of crazy fucked up world do we live in where pop songs are written by committee, oftentimes excluding the performer, and country songs are written by the artist?
One in which country is personal and relatable and pop is aspirational and evanescent, all about the good times no one is living despite saying so not only in song but on social media.
That's right, "New York" magazine has a whole section on songwriting in its latest issue, but you don't know. That's the story of 2018, if a tree falls amongst a million people does anybody hear it? Maybe a few.
Maybe some of these articles were posted in the endless listicles of articles that became fashionable in the wake of Jason Hirschhorn's REDEF newsletter, everybody's imploring you to pay attention to their curation, but the dirty little secret is the more you tell us what to read, the less we do so, we're overwhelmed, we're looking for filters, we're looking for everybody to tell us to pay attention and shy of that, we don't.
You should read these articles, especially if you're not in the business. You could learn something, even if you are in the business.
The first article is about Charli XCX, how she hasn't had a hit in eons but opened for Taylor Swift. I didn't find it that riveting, Charli displayed too much attitude, I didn't get those notes of truth I was looking for.
And the article "Why Are All the Songs of the Summer So Sad? Welcome to Pop's Great Depression" didn't hook me at all, because it contained little insight and I don't believe in the Song of the Summer, it's no different from card and toy and other industries creating fake holidays to sell stuff. Mother's Day, Father's Day, Secretaries Day, Kids Day, it's endless. When the biggest songs of the summer were written, like "Summer In The City," they were not constrained by that construction, they were just good music, but that was back when we we were all listening to the same music, of multiple varieties.
"How to Write a Great Rock Lyric, According to Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys" is surprisingly insightful. "Write Early or Late," I believe in that! Those people writing according to a schedule, ignore them. You've got to wait for inspiration, and when it comes... And oftentimes you wake up with it, or get it when everybody else has gone to bed, when you're living in your own mind with no distractions. Or when you're in the shower... Few people tell the truth, and in this case Alex Turner is, unlike the posturing Charli XCX, even if you've got no time for the Arctic Monkeys.
Then you get Billy Joel's advice, which is not rare, but he's a thinker, he's got some good points.
And then, sandwiched between all these articles is the nougat, the essence, the two essays truly worth paying attention to.
The first is about song camps. You hear the buzz all the time, but this one goes a bit deeper, you get a feeling for what goes on there, especially if you've never been. And reading the article you gain insight, how the artists are looking for inspiration, for nuggets, it all makes sense until...
Wait, I want to add one more thing, the fusillade of indie rockers who contribute to pop hits, that's a big angle of this story.
And then, following that, is a story about country music. Positing that Taylor Swift changed Nashville, now it's about being personal, laying down your truth, by yourself, or with just one or two helpers, unlike in pop and hip-hop where there can be almost twenty writers.
And then I played the recordings the article was talking about, whew!
"I graduated with 86 sheep, I was the black one
If there was a reputation to be had in this town, I had one
I was born in the wrong place, in the wrong time
But sometimes the wrong way makes you the right kind"
That's right, she's "California dreaming from the middle of the country." She wants to get away, from all the b.s., ultimately the song is a fuck you to the people and place where she grew up, can you sympathize? I certainly can, after all that's why I moved to California to begin with, I could relate to this number the very first time through, I knew the sentiment, especially in an era where it's all about fitting in, I don't, I couldn't conform even if I tried to, and I did.
Not that you've heard of Kassi Ashton, who co-wrote this number with Luke Laird and Shane McAnally. "California, Missouri" doesn't even have a million plays on Spotify, just a tad over 713,000, but if you hear it you can't forget it, isn't that what we're looking for, numbers that resonate, that we'll look back fondly on in the future, stuff that gets us through?
But Caitlyn Smith's "This Town Is Killing Me" is a bit more palatable, a bit more ear-pleasing.
"I pour my heart out, three minutes at a time
On a J45, but no one's listening
They're too busy drinking on the company tab
I scream my lungs out, confess my secrets, all my sins
But they don't give a damn
'Cause if it don't sound like the radio? Pass"
Whew! That's the way it really is. You're hiding in plain sight, and no one's paying attention.
"They buried my granddad without me
'Cause I was out on the road at some one-off show
In Tupelo, and I can't take that one back
I was in love once and I pushed him away
And the price I pay is a whole lot of lonely nights
And a whole lot of songs that never see the light"
That's it! You sacrifice everything to make it, and you don't. That's what people don't realize, you think you're sacrificing, but you're not, you think you deserve to make it, but even those who deserve to don't. I never wanted to get married because I didn't want to be pulled away from the cause, my cause, to make it, and getting hitched was the worst decision of my life, but at least I didn't have any children, although I did get into a ton of debt. And it's only now that it's happening, decades later.
"Nashville, you win
'Cause I'll wake up here tomorrow, do it all over again
Even though you're killing me
Oh, this town is killing me
This town is killing me"
The truth is you give up on a regular basis, but then you come back, there's nothing else you can really do. And now, more than ever before, with the barrier to entry so low, it's harder to make it.
"Don't waste your life behind that guitar
You may get gone, but you won't get far
You're not the first, you won't be the last
And you can tell us all about it when you come crawling back
The road you're on, just winds and winds
You're spinning your wheels and wasting your time"
We hear all this testimony about support, but I didn't have any, most people don't, you just walk into the wilderness on hope, and a belief in your core that you've got something inside, something that will translate, and the irony is you believe there are others out there like you and if you just tell your story, they'll relate.
Ashley McBryde has been around. She doesn't look like a TV contestant.
But it gets better.
"I get these calls, out on the road
Heard your song on my radio
We always said you'd make it big
And I tell all my friends, I knew you back when
So don't forget all us little folks
And when you crash and burn
Remember we told you so"
I didn't see that coming, did you? You don't change minds, they just want to keep you down in the hole they're in, one of conformity, one lacking risk, one where you never move from your hometown.
Not bad for a girl goin' nowhere. Ashley McBryde has some traction, but Caitlyn Smith and Kassi Ashton don't. But maybe they soon will. This is what happens when you close doors, another scene develops, people want to prove to you they know better. Which is why today's vapid pop scene is not forever. As for these country truth-tellers speaking from their heart...
We've seen this movie before, in rock, half a century ago. Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne became famous writing songs for others, Randy Newman too, and then their credits were too much to ignore, they harnessed their power, laid it down with desire, and they broke through, and ironically when all the pop stars of their era are playing lounges, they're still selling thousands of tickets when they choose to go on the road, and even if they don't, those songs are lodged deep in the heart of a generation.
I knew of Ashley McBryde, but not the other two women, I needed "New York" magazine to point me to them. And now I'll be inundated with tracks from wannabes, but what they don't understand is that's not how it works, you just do the work and hope to get lucky. There are no jets to the top, no shortcuts, if you're good at social media you're probably bad as an artist.
This world is confusing. This world is confounding. This world is cacophonous. And despite all the disorder everyone soldiers on like they have the answers, even though they don't. Mainstream media missed Trump. Major labels are so busy pursuing the hits of the moment that they're missing the essence. When done right, music is life itself, it's truth in three and a half minutes, it's straight from the heart, it's not always positive, it's not necessarily hooky at first, it's intriguing but it doesn't always bat you over the head, you want to pay attention but it takes a while to digest its meaning.
That's the way it used to be.
Hopefully it can be that way again.
It will be.
Led by women like these.
https://spoti.fi/2MGK6I1
"New York" magazine on songwriting, five articles under the headline "Culture": http://nymag.com/magazine/toc/2018-08-06.html
Billy Joel on songwriting: http://www.vulture.com/2018/07/billy-joel-in-conversation.html
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(Beth Laird on Taylor Swift)
What kind of crazy fucked up world do we live in where pop songs are written by committee, oftentimes excluding the performer, and country songs are written by the artist?
One in which country is personal and relatable and pop is aspirational and evanescent, all about the good times no one is living despite saying so not only in song but on social media.
That's right, "New York" magazine has a whole section on songwriting in its latest issue, but you don't know. That's the story of 2018, if a tree falls amongst a million people does anybody hear it? Maybe a few.
Maybe some of these articles were posted in the endless listicles of articles that became fashionable in the wake of Jason Hirschhorn's REDEF newsletter, everybody's imploring you to pay attention to their curation, but the dirty little secret is the more you tell us what to read, the less we do so, we're overwhelmed, we're looking for filters, we're looking for everybody to tell us to pay attention and shy of that, we don't.
You should read these articles, especially if you're not in the business. You could learn something, even if you are in the business.
The first article is about Charli XCX, how she hasn't had a hit in eons but opened for Taylor Swift. I didn't find it that riveting, Charli displayed too much attitude, I didn't get those notes of truth I was looking for.
And the article "Why Are All the Songs of the Summer So Sad? Welcome to Pop's Great Depression" didn't hook me at all, because it contained little insight and I don't believe in the Song of the Summer, it's no different from card and toy and other industries creating fake holidays to sell stuff. Mother's Day, Father's Day, Secretaries Day, Kids Day, it's endless. When the biggest songs of the summer were written, like "Summer In The City," they were not constrained by that construction, they were just good music, but that was back when we we were all listening to the same music, of multiple varieties.
"How to Write a Great Rock Lyric, According to Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys" is surprisingly insightful. "Write Early or Late," I believe in that! Those people writing according to a schedule, ignore them. You've got to wait for inspiration, and when it comes... And oftentimes you wake up with it, or get it when everybody else has gone to bed, when you're living in your own mind with no distractions. Or when you're in the shower... Few people tell the truth, and in this case Alex Turner is, unlike the posturing Charli XCX, even if you've got no time for the Arctic Monkeys.
Then you get Billy Joel's advice, which is not rare, but he's a thinker, he's got some good points.
And then, sandwiched between all these articles is the nougat, the essence, the two essays truly worth paying attention to.
The first is about song camps. You hear the buzz all the time, but this one goes a bit deeper, you get a feeling for what goes on there, especially if you've never been. And reading the article you gain insight, how the artists are looking for inspiration, for nuggets, it all makes sense until...
Wait, I want to add one more thing, the fusillade of indie rockers who contribute to pop hits, that's a big angle of this story.
And then, following that, is a story about country music. Positing that Taylor Swift changed Nashville, now it's about being personal, laying down your truth, by yourself, or with just one or two helpers, unlike in pop and hip-hop where there can be almost twenty writers.
And then I played the recordings the article was talking about, whew!
"I graduated with 86 sheep, I was the black one
If there was a reputation to be had in this town, I had one
I was born in the wrong place, in the wrong time
But sometimes the wrong way makes you the right kind"
That's right, she's "California dreaming from the middle of the country." She wants to get away, from all the b.s., ultimately the song is a fuck you to the people and place where she grew up, can you sympathize? I certainly can, after all that's why I moved to California to begin with, I could relate to this number the very first time through, I knew the sentiment, especially in an era where it's all about fitting in, I don't, I couldn't conform even if I tried to, and I did.
Not that you've heard of Kassi Ashton, who co-wrote this number with Luke Laird and Shane McAnally. "California, Missouri" doesn't even have a million plays on Spotify, just a tad over 713,000, but if you hear it you can't forget it, isn't that what we're looking for, numbers that resonate, that we'll look back fondly on in the future, stuff that gets us through?
But Caitlyn Smith's "This Town Is Killing Me" is a bit more palatable, a bit more ear-pleasing.
"I pour my heart out, three minutes at a time
On a J45, but no one's listening
They're too busy drinking on the company tab
I scream my lungs out, confess my secrets, all my sins
But they don't give a damn
'Cause if it don't sound like the radio? Pass"
Whew! That's the way it really is. You're hiding in plain sight, and no one's paying attention.
"They buried my granddad without me
'Cause I was out on the road at some one-off show
In Tupelo, and I can't take that one back
I was in love once and I pushed him away
And the price I pay is a whole lot of lonely nights
And a whole lot of songs that never see the light"
That's it! You sacrifice everything to make it, and you don't. That's what people don't realize, you think you're sacrificing, but you're not, you think you deserve to make it, but even those who deserve to don't. I never wanted to get married because I didn't want to be pulled away from the cause, my cause, to make it, and getting hitched was the worst decision of my life, but at least I didn't have any children, although I did get into a ton of debt. And it's only now that it's happening, decades later.
"Nashville, you win
'Cause I'll wake up here tomorrow, do it all over again
Even though you're killing me
Oh, this town is killing me
This town is killing me"
The truth is you give up on a regular basis, but then you come back, there's nothing else you can really do. And now, more than ever before, with the barrier to entry so low, it's harder to make it.
"Don't waste your life behind that guitar
You may get gone, but you won't get far
You're not the first, you won't be the last
And you can tell us all about it when you come crawling back
The road you're on, just winds and winds
You're spinning your wheels and wasting your time"
We hear all this testimony about support, but I didn't have any, most people don't, you just walk into the wilderness on hope, and a belief in your core that you've got something inside, something that will translate, and the irony is you believe there are others out there like you and if you just tell your story, they'll relate.
Ashley McBryde has been around. She doesn't look like a TV contestant.
But it gets better.
"I get these calls, out on the road
Heard your song on my radio
We always said you'd make it big
And I tell all my friends, I knew you back when
So don't forget all us little folks
And when you crash and burn
Remember we told you so"
I didn't see that coming, did you? You don't change minds, they just want to keep you down in the hole they're in, one of conformity, one lacking risk, one where you never move from your hometown.
Not bad for a girl goin' nowhere. Ashley McBryde has some traction, but Caitlyn Smith and Kassi Ashton don't. But maybe they soon will. This is what happens when you close doors, another scene develops, people want to prove to you they know better. Which is why today's vapid pop scene is not forever. As for these country truth-tellers speaking from their heart...
We've seen this movie before, in rock, half a century ago. Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne became famous writing songs for others, Randy Newman too, and then their credits were too much to ignore, they harnessed their power, laid it down with desire, and they broke through, and ironically when all the pop stars of their era are playing lounges, they're still selling thousands of tickets when they choose to go on the road, and even if they don't, those songs are lodged deep in the heart of a generation.
I knew of Ashley McBryde, but not the other two women, I needed "New York" magazine to point me to them. And now I'll be inundated with tracks from wannabes, but what they don't understand is that's not how it works, you just do the work and hope to get lucky. There are no jets to the top, no shortcuts, if you're good at social media you're probably bad as an artist.
This world is confusing. This world is confounding. This world is cacophonous. And despite all the disorder everyone soldiers on like they have the answers, even though they don't. Mainstream media missed Trump. Major labels are so busy pursuing the hits of the moment that they're missing the essence. When done right, music is life itself, it's truth in three and a half minutes, it's straight from the heart, it's not always positive, it's not necessarily hooky at first, it's intriguing but it doesn't always bat you over the head, you want to pay attention but it takes a while to digest its meaning.
That's the way it used to be.
Hopefully it can be that way again.
It will be.
Led by women like these.
https://spoti.fi/2MGK6I1
"New York" magazine on songwriting, five articles under the headline "Culture": http://nymag.com/magazine/toc/2018-08-06.html
Billy Joel on songwriting: http://www.vulture.com/2018/07/billy-joel-in-conversation.html
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Reputation
That's why no one showed up at the white supremacist march yesterday, they were afraid of pictures, of having their lives ruined.
You're building your reputation online every damn day, and ironically it's the young who realize this, those who've grown up with the prying eyes of the internet, there are cameras everywhere, and if you're a bad actor...
I know, the President utters mind-blowing statements every day, but he's rich, or at least rich enough not to worry about the consequences, then again, Ivanka had to shutter her clothing line and despite Trump's best efforts to leverage his role to benefit his corporation, some hotel numbers have decreased and the brand has been tarnished, although the dirty little secret is he doesn't own most of the buildings anyway, they are just licensing deals.
Now of course people say evil things on Facebook and Twitter. Using their real names! But for some reason they think this is just like talking at school, not realizing that their bad behavior will be amplified when they least expect it, whether it be someone prominent, like Sarah Jeong, who the NYT hired and then found out about her anti-white tweets, or the latest "Bachelorette" contestant, who turned out to like conspiracy theories online. ABC may not have mentioned the specifics, but they were all over gossip outlets and Howard Stern amplified the man's views on his program today.
It could happen to you.
Those photographed in Charlottesville a year ago paid a price, they were ostracized from society, they lost their jobs, but it's hard to argue with a photograph. Furthermore, there are gotcha police at the ready to blow up a story when you cross the line, like with Laura Ingraham and her racist comments last week. Oh, you agree with her? Are you willing to go on national TV to say so, allow me to print your name? I highly doubt it.
Kinda like the Republicans pushed out and protested against in restaurants. They thought they were secure, they thought their position gave them a pass, but where you stand and what you stand for is everything these days.
What groups you've joined, what retreats you've attended... Funny how lists pop up online when you least expect it. You think it's a perk to fly on the right-winger's plane, and then it comes out and you say...
What do you say?
You apologize, you say you don't know what you were thinking.
But nobody buys it, and your reputation is tarred thereafter.
Now there's a chilling effect. Which is why country musicians won't wade into politics and when they do they support Republicans and guns, they speak to their perceived core audience.
And Kanye's rep took a hit when he supported Trump, his statements have legs, they came up on Kimmel last week, they will not die.
But the chilling effect is there for everybody but the rulers of our nation, isn't that funny. You can become so rich that reputation is irrelevant, as long as you can endure the slings and arrows from those on the other team, i.e. the Koch Brothers and George Soros.
So the next time you take an unpopular position online, know that it's forever, except on maybe the dying Snapchat, then again, there are screen grabs.
Who you are is the most important asset you've got. Are you trustworthy, believable, rational? Demonstrate otherwise and you may not get a job, you may not have a relationship, you may have to stay at home or move to the hinterlands.
Once again, the internet we knew in the old days does not persist in the future. Supposedly everybody had a voice, everybody could become famous, that turned out to be untrue. But one thing's for sure, say something heinous and people will see/read/hear it and never forget it.
It's your move.
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You're building your reputation online every damn day, and ironically it's the young who realize this, those who've grown up with the prying eyes of the internet, there are cameras everywhere, and if you're a bad actor...
I know, the President utters mind-blowing statements every day, but he's rich, or at least rich enough not to worry about the consequences, then again, Ivanka had to shutter her clothing line and despite Trump's best efforts to leverage his role to benefit his corporation, some hotel numbers have decreased and the brand has been tarnished, although the dirty little secret is he doesn't own most of the buildings anyway, they are just licensing deals.
Now of course people say evil things on Facebook and Twitter. Using their real names! But for some reason they think this is just like talking at school, not realizing that their bad behavior will be amplified when they least expect it, whether it be someone prominent, like Sarah Jeong, who the NYT hired and then found out about her anti-white tweets, or the latest "Bachelorette" contestant, who turned out to like conspiracy theories online. ABC may not have mentioned the specifics, but they were all over gossip outlets and Howard Stern amplified the man's views on his program today.
It could happen to you.
Those photographed in Charlottesville a year ago paid a price, they were ostracized from society, they lost their jobs, but it's hard to argue with a photograph. Furthermore, there are gotcha police at the ready to blow up a story when you cross the line, like with Laura Ingraham and her racist comments last week. Oh, you agree with her? Are you willing to go on national TV to say so, allow me to print your name? I highly doubt it.
Kinda like the Republicans pushed out and protested against in restaurants. They thought they were secure, they thought their position gave them a pass, but where you stand and what you stand for is everything these days.
What groups you've joined, what retreats you've attended... Funny how lists pop up online when you least expect it. You think it's a perk to fly on the right-winger's plane, and then it comes out and you say...
What do you say?
You apologize, you say you don't know what you were thinking.
But nobody buys it, and your reputation is tarred thereafter.
Now there's a chilling effect. Which is why country musicians won't wade into politics and when they do they support Republicans and guns, they speak to their perceived core audience.
And Kanye's rep took a hit when he supported Trump, his statements have legs, they came up on Kimmel last week, they will not die.
But the chilling effect is there for everybody but the rulers of our nation, isn't that funny. You can become so rich that reputation is irrelevant, as long as you can endure the slings and arrows from those on the other team, i.e. the Koch Brothers and George Soros.
So the next time you take an unpopular position online, know that it's forever, except on maybe the dying Snapchat, then again, there are screen grabs.
Who you are is the most important asset you've got. Are you trustworthy, believable, rational? Demonstrate otherwise and you may not get a job, you may not have a relationship, you may have to stay at home or move to the hinterlands.
Once again, the internet we knew in the old days does not persist in the future. Supposedly everybody had a voice, everybody could become famous, that turned out to be untrue. But one thing's for sure, say something heinous and people will see/read/hear it and never forget it.
It's your move.
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Sunday, 12 August 2018
Educated
https://amzn.to/2nmtRFd
Every family is a cult. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to break out of it.
I grew up fifty miles from New York City. My mother was the life of the party, my father expounded upon truth every day. It wasn't until I went to college that I discovered they could be wrong.
They were preparing me for the future, when they were no longer around, it didn't occur to them that there would be a cost to this education.
I'm still paying. I look back at previous relationships and wince. How could I act that way, why did I believe that?
But that's also about change, growth, things many are afraid of, because it will take them too far from their roots.
We all have a desire to stay in the garden.
Tara Westover was brought up in a survivalist Mormon household in Idaho. Although it seems foreign to you, it's not that different from what we all experience. A tightly-knit unit which will make you pay if you stray from it. And when you do leave, you've got guilt, you're always going back, expecting it to be different.
You can read this book as a demonization of Mormonism, as a demonization of fanaticism, but when it's over, you can't help thinking of yourself, your choices, your struggle, your journey.
"Educated" is a hot book. Google it and you'll learn all about it.
I knew nothing. My brother-in-law bought it on a communal Kindle account. Felice read it, I was avoiding it, I'm staying away from non-fiction, I find more truth in made-up stories, where no one is pulling any punches, where no one is telling you what to do, how to behave. Kind of like Andrew Martin's "Early Work," which is about the struggle to grow up, to leave an initial relationship for something better, whether it ultimately is or is not. Our lives are like "Let's Make A Deal," how much risk do you want to take? You could fail, but you cannot get ahead without jumping into the fire, the unknown.
Tara Westover was home-schooled, without much book learning. I'm against home schooling because it removes children from the environment, the same way I'm against parents interfering in the social life of their children, re bullying, etc. Now I've crossed a line, I know, but my mother insisted I fight my own battles, stand up to those attacking me, it was scary, but she was right, because that's how life is, the decisions come down to you, how are you going to make them?
And Tara Westover decided she wanted to go to college.
Good luck.
She had to study, be tutored for the ACT, and when she got to BYU...
She had no idea what they were talking about, she'd never heard of the Holocaust, although her father said the Jews were evil and brought the consequences upon themselves.
That's right, all parents tell stories. Friends too. It's how you sift through them that determines whether you learn and go forward. Most people don't. They don't get the opportunity, or squander it. Tara Westover fought for the opportunity.
She couldn't take a grant from the government because the government was evil.
She couldn't go to a doctor because aspirin would poison you.
If there was an injury, and there were many severe ones in the Westover family, you prayed to God and consumed and soothed yourself with oils. It was all about belief.
Can you challenge your beliefs?
It's much harder than you think, change is nearly impossible.
It happened to me in psychotherapy, I learned how to stand up to the family system. But you find even though you've been through battle and believe you've won the war it's like Afghanistan, it's never-ending. Furthermore, there are good elements of the family, its members know you, but at what cost?
At first I was turned off by the style of "Educated," it was a bit too flowery, there was too much description, when done right a writer should not be thinking of the audience, its judgment of him or her. But then the writing becomes more sparse and the story starts to twist and...
It doesn't matter if Tara gets everything right. She is the brother and sister who has been wronged, who has her own personal vision of what went on. You either respect it or...
You've got to listen to people. Correct them at your peril. When their facts are wrong, let them know, but never mess with their emotions, those are real and oftentimes more important.
Who was there for Tara Westover?
Ultimately nobody but herself.
But she didn't want it to be this way, she wanted the family support.
But for that you pay a price.
"that never again would I allow myself to be made a foot soldier in a conflict I did not understand."
Like all those kids for Trump, really?
"Curiosity is a luxury reserved for the financially secure: my mind was absorbed with more immediate concerns, such as the exact balance of my bank account, who I owed how much, and whether there was anything in my room I could sell for ten or twenty dollars."
Twenty dollars, that's more than I had in my bank account, never mind the bad checks I'd written for rent. My parents would not send me money, I was in hock to the banks... You can never understand being broke until you are. If you're expecting people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, you've got to realize they've got to have the mental space to be able to do this.
"I began to experience the most powerful advantage of money: the ability to think of things besides money."
Ditto.
"What is a person to do, I asked, when their obligations to their family conflict with other obligations - to friends, society, to themselves?"
Ultimately this is the question, whose answer only you get to decide. You're a part of the universe, your actions have consequences, be narcissistic at your peril, and learn to sift through and evaluate truth, it's the only thing that'll save you, allow you to emerge whole on the playing field of life.
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Every family is a cult. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to break out of it.
I grew up fifty miles from New York City. My mother was the life of the party, my father expounded upon truth every day. It wasn't until I went to college that I discovered they could be wrong.
They were preparing me for the future, when they were no longer around, it didn't occur to them that there would be a cost to this education.
I'm still paying. I look back at previous relationships and wince. How could I act that way, why did I believe that?
But that's also about change, growth, things many are afraid of, because it will take them too far from their roots.
We all have a desire to stay in the garden.
Tara Westover was brought up in a survivalist Mormon household in Idaho. Although it seems foreign to you, it's not that different from what we all experience. A tightly-knit unit which will make you pay if you stray from it. And when you do leave, you've got guilt, you're always going back, expecting it to be different.
You can read this book as a demonization of Mormonism, as a demonization of fanaticism, but when it's over, you can't help thinking of yourself, your choices, your struggle, your journey.
"Educated" is a hot book. Google it and you'll learn all about it.
I knew nothing. My brother-in-law bought it on a communal Kindle account. Felice read it, I was avoiding it, I'm staying away from non-fiction, I find more truth in made-up stories, where no one is pulling any punches, where no one is telling you what to do, how to behave. Kind of like Andrew Martin's "Early Work," which is about the struggle to grow up, to leave an initial relationship for something better, whether it ultimately is or is not. Our lives are like "Let's Make A Deal," how much risk do you want to take? You could fail, but you cannot get ahead without jumping into the fire, the unknown.
Tara Westover was home-schooled, without much book learning. I'm against home schooling because it removes children from the environment, the same way I'm against parents interfering in the social life of their children, re bullying, etc. Now I've crossed a line, I know, but my mother insisted I fight my own battles, stand up to those attacking me, it was scary, but she was right, because that's how life is, the decisions come down to you, how are you going to make them?
And Tara Westover decided she wanted to go to college.
Good luck.
She had to study, be tutored for the ACT, and when she got to BYU...
She had no idea what they were talking about, she'd never heard of the Holocaust, although her father said the Jews were evil and brought the consequences upon themselves.
That's right, all parents tell stories. Friends too. It's how you sift through them that determines whether you learn and go forward. Most people don't. They don't get the opportunity, or squander it. Tara Westover fought for the opportunity.
She couldn't take a grant from the government because the government was evil.
She couldn't go to a doctor because aspirin would poison you.
If there was an injury, and there were many severe ones in the Westover family, you prayed to God and consumed and soothed yourself with oils. It was all about belief.
Can you challenge your beliefs?
It's much harder than you think, change is nearly impossible.
It happened to me in psychotherapy, I learned how to stand up to the family system. But you find even though you've been through battle and believe you've won the war it's like Afghanistan, it's never-ending. Furthermore, there are good elements of the family, its members know you, but at what cost?
At first I was turned off by the style of "Educated," it was a bit too flowery, there was too much description, when done right a writer should not be thinking of the audience, its judgment of him or her. But then the writing becomes more sparse and the story starts to twist and...
It doesn't matter if Tara gets everything right. She is the brother and sister who has been wronged, who has her own personal vision of what went on. You either respect it or...
You've got to listen to people. Correct them at your peril. When their facts are wrong, let them know, but never mess with their emotions, those are real and oftentimes more important.
Who was there for Tara Westover?
Ultimately nobody but herself.
But she didn't want it to be this way, she wanted the family support.
But for that you pay a price.
"that never again would I allow myself to be made a foot soldier in a conflict I did not understand."
Like all those kids for Trump, really?
"Curiosity is a luxury reserved for the financially secure: my mind was absorbed with more immediate concerns, such as the exact balance of my bank account, who I owed how much, and whether there was anything in my room I could sell for ten or twenty dollars."
Twenty dollars, that's more than I had in my bank account, never mind the bad checks I'd written for rent. My parents would not send me money, I was in hock to the banks... You can never understand being broke until you are. If you're expecting people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, you've got to realize they've got to have the mental space to be able to do this.
"I began to experience the most powerful advantage of money: the ability to think of things besides money."
Ditto.
"What is a person to do, I asked, when their obligations to their family conflict with other obligations - to friends, society, to themselves?"
Ultimately this is the question, whose answer only you get to decide. You're a part of the universe, your actions have consequences, be narcissistic at your peril, and learn to sift through and evaluate truth, it's the only thing that'll save you, allow you to emerge whole on the playing field of life.
--
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Peter Frampton & Steve Miller At The Greek
"Keep on-a rock'n me, baby"
It was not nostalgia, at least not until Miller's encore, when he reeled off a bunch of hits.
The guitar era is in the past. The blues era is in the past.
But it came alive last night.
What on the surface seemed a return to what once was, set in amber in the seventies, turned out to be a completely different experience.
Frampton came out in a t-shirt. More akin to the Allman Brothers than the acts prancing the boards today, from an era where you spoke with your musicianship as opposed to the trappings, your clothing, your production, the effects on hard drive. Somehow Peter has found a way to escape from the prison of his hits. After doing the entire album on the 35th anniversary of "Frampton Comes Alive" you'd wonder where he could go. FORWARD! And what does that look like? A hell of a lot of guitar playing.
The show started with "Somethin's Happening," which of course opened the double live album, but I think of it more as track 6 on the album of the same name, when it was then called "Baby (Somethin's Happening)." This was his dark period. After a stellar solo debut, after "Frampton's Camel," somehow Frampton's career lost momentum, even though the LP contained this cut, along with "Doobie Wah" and one of my favorite Frampton cuts ever, "I Wanna Go To The Sun," which has more soul than most of the records cut by African-Americans today, at least the hip-hop tracks on the hit parade, it's all about feel, locking into a groove and maintaining it, letting go, setting the listener's mind free.
And then came 1975's breakthrough "Frampton," which had little commercial impact, but was the blueprint for what came after, i.e. the live album.
And, of course, Peter played "Show Me The Way" and "Baby, I Love Your Way," but the centerpiece of the show was a seemingly fifteen minute version of "(I'll Give You) Money" wherein he traded licks with his second guitarist, Adam Lester. Remember when we were intrigued by the band, the backup musicians, who floated from act to act? Watching you wondered what the backstory was of all the players, performing without a net.
And Peter shouldn't have been doing this. You're supposed to give the audience what it wants, the hits and nothing but. Concise and note for note.
But this show broke tradition, first and foremost for an L.A. audience it was surprisingly alive, it seemed to have gotten the memo, it stood in applause for the expertise displayed on stage, there was none of the younger generation players keep talking about in hype for their shows, these were people who remembered what once was, and were eager to have their minds and bodies set free on this hot summer night.
Frampton came out loud and brash, as if he were back in Humble Pie as opposed to the pretty boy of a zillion teenage dreams.
It was like the Fillmore. There were two acts. It was a night of music. Not a night out on the town where the audience is more important than the musicians, where it's all about alcohol and selfies.
And then came Steve Miller.
No one likes Steve Miller other than his fans. Insiders bitch, his brother complains. But it was Miller who revealed the manipulation of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame when no one else inducted would stand up, I thought musicians were supposed to be free-thinkers.
Miller started off with the David Denny composition "The Stake," a rip-off of "Rocky Mountain Way" that appeared on "Book Of Dreams." But there was that groove, that soul that Frampton locks into, an an amazing amount of flashy guitar picking.
Having done his anniversary tour for "The Joker," Miller too seems set free. It's like he wants to go back to the era before the hits, when it was about the blues, when it was completely different today.
This wasn't a show about singing, it was about playing. And boy could Steve Miller play!
Having just seen Jeff Beck a few weeks back it was hard not to compare, but then I realized that all these players had their own style, the highlight of Miller's set was when he brought out Frampton to duet on a couple of blues numbers, "Same Old Blues" and "Stranger Blues." This wasn't on the record, this wasn't part of expectations. But what these two performers did was EXCEED THEM!
Remember when going to the show was about music, when it was an aural trip, when the band took the fans on a journey?
That's what it was like.
And despite being 74, soon to be 75, Miller can wail as well as ever, picking on an endless series of Fenders.
But he can no longer sing. He kinda talks the songs, it sounds like him, the keyboard player often doubles him. It's disappointing, it'd be a buzzkill if he couldn't still play so well. And then I realized, it was fading in front of our very eyes. For every Frampton who may not have his hair but has his talent intact, others are losing it. It's not like being an attorney or an accountant, it's more like being an athlete, you want to say you saw Michael Jordan or LeBron in their heyday.
Steve Miller is no longer in his vocal heyday, but he's still worth the price of admission.
And I'm standing there thinking it's time for Eric Clapton to have his guitar world series once again. When he did it in the past, the guitar was still prominent, now it's faded, people need to be reminded.
This music is timeless, because it comes from the blues, and the blues are coming back, that's what Greta Van Fleet is all about, that's what's wrong with too much of today's "rock" music, the blues are not in evidence.
And Steve Miller gave a history lesson during his performance. He talked about T-Bone Walker, pointed out his daughter in the audience before he whipped into "Stormy Monday." And he even played the obscure "Jackson-Kent Blues" from "Number 5." The hits bookended the set, but in between were the true nuggets.
"And you know that it's true
That all the things I do
Are gonna come back to you in your sweet time"
I won't go anymore. I saw these acts in their heyday, on the comeback tour, why do I need to go again so they can pay for their vacation house and I can relive what once was?
But, actually I did experience what once was at the Greek last night.
An era where the hits were only a framework upon which you hung your improvisation. When music was the highest art form. When you never knew what the night would bring you. When you went to have a tale to tell. When you could feel the electricity of the act channeled into your brain and body.
You may think you've seen these guys before.
But you haven't.
It's different, they've been set free, they're at the age when they know their legacies are set in stone and they don't matter anyway. From when musicians were not stars but players, when they followed the music not the financial prospects in the penumbra, hell, Frampton knows that "Sgt. Pepper" movie was a mistake that he's not only atoned for, but moved far beyond.
You'd think at this late date when there's nothing worth paying attention to in rock, when the art form has calcified, a show by two old-timers wouldn't be worth the price of admission. But that would be untrue, they took us back to the garden by going back to the basics, what inspired them, what set them on this journey to begin with.
That big 'ol jet airliner carried us far away last night.
I wish you'd been aboard.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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-TuneIn: http://tunein.com/lefsetz
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
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It was not nostalgia, at least not until Miller's encore, when he reeled off a bunch of hits.
The guitar era is in the past. The blues era is in the past.
But it came alive last night.
What on the surface seemed a return to what once was, set in amber in the seventies, turned out to be a completely different experience.
Frampton came out in a t-shirt. More akin to the Allman Brothers than the acts prancing the boards today, from an era where you spoke with your musicianship as opposed to the trappings, your clothing, your production, the effects on hard drive. Somehow Peter has found a way to escape from the prison of his hits. After doing the entire album on the 35th anniversary of "Frampton Comes Alive" you'd wonder where he could go. FORWARD! And what does that look like? A hell of a lot of guitar playing.
The show started with "Somethin's Happening," which of course opened the double live album, but I think of it more as track 6 on the album of the same name, when it was then called "Baby (Somethin's Happening)." This was his dark period. After a stellar solo debut, after "Frampton's Camel," somehow Frampton's career lost momentum, even though the LP contained this cut, along with "Doobie Wah" and one of my favorite Frampton cuts ever, "I Wanna Go To The Sun," which has more soul than most of the records cut by African-Americans today, at least the hip-hop tracks on the hit parade, it's all about feel, locking into a groove and maintaining it, letting go, setting the listener's mind free.
And then came 1975's breakthrough "Frampton," which had little commercial impact, but was the blueprint for what came after, i.e. the live album.
And, of course, Peter played "Show Me The Way" and "Baby, I Love Your Way," but the centerpiece of the show was a seemingly fifteen minute version of "(I'll Give You) Money" wherein he traded licks with his second guitarist, Adam Lester. Remember when we were intrigued by the band, the backup musicians, who floated from act to act? Watching you wondered what the backstory was of all the players, performing without a net.
And Peter shouldn't have been doing this. You're supposed to give the audience what it wants, the hits and nothing but. Concise and note for note.
But this show broke tradition, first and foremost for an L.A. audience it was surprisingly alive, it seemed to have gotten the memo, it stood in applause for the expertise displayed on stage, there was none of the younger generation players keep talking about in hype for their shows, these were people who remembered what once was, and were eager to have their minds and bodies set free on this hot summer night.
Frampton came out loud and brash, as if he were back in Humble Pie as opposed to the pretty boy of a zillion teenage dreams.
It was like the Fillmore. There were two acts. It was a night of music. Not a night out on the town where the audience is more important than the musicians, where it's all about alcohol and selfies.
And then came Steve Miller.
No one likes Steve Miller other than his fans. Insiders bitch, his brother complains. But it was Miller who revealed the manipulation of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame when no one else inducted would stand up, I thought musicians were supposed to be free-thinkers.
Miller started off with the David Denny composition "The Stake," a rip-off of "Rocky Mountain Way" that appeared on "Book Of Dreams." But there was that groove, that soul that Frampton locks into, an an amazing amount of flashy guitar picking.
Having done his anniversary tour for "The Joker," Miller too seems set free. It's like he wants to go back to the era before the hits, when it was about the blues, when it was completely different today.
This wasn't a show about singing, it was about playing. And boy could Steve Miller play!
Having just seen Jeff Beck a few weeks back it was hard not to compare, but then I realized that all these players had their own style, the highlight of Miller's set was when he brought out Frampton to duet on a couple of blues numbers, "Same Old Blues" and "Stranger Blues." This wasn't on the record, this wasn't part of expectations. But what these two performers did was EXCEED THEM!
Remember when going to the show was about music, when it was an aural trip, when the band took the fans on a journey?
That's what it was like.
And despite being 74, soon to be 75, Miller can wail as well as ever, picking on an endless series of Fenders.
But he can no longer sing. He kinda talks the songs, it sounds like him, the keyboard player often doubles him. It's disappointing, it'd be a buzzkill if he couldn't still play so well. And then I realized, it was fading in front of our very eyes. For every Frampton who may not have his hair but has his talent intact, others are losing it. It's not like being an attorney or an accountant, it's more like being an athlete, you want to say you saw Michael Jordan or LeBron in their heyday.
Steve Miller is no longer in his vocal heyday, but he's still worth the price of admission.
And I'm standing there thinking it's time for Eric Clapton to have his guitar world series once again. When he did it in the past, the guitar was still prominent, now it's faded, people need to be reminded.
This music is timeless, because it comes from the blues, and the blues are coming back, that's what Greta Van Fleet is all about, that's what's wrong with too much of today's "rock" music, the blues are not in evidence.
And Steve Miller gave a history lesson during his performance. He talked about T-Bone Walker, pointed out his daughter in the audience before he whipped into "Stormy Monday." And he even played the obscure "Jackson-Kent Blues" from "Number 5." The hits bookended the set, but in between were the true nuggets.
"And you know that it's true
That all the things I do
Are gonna come back to you in your sweet time"
I won't go anymore. I saw these acts in their heyday, on the comeback tour, why do I need to go again so they can pay for their vacation house and I can relive what once was?
But, actually I did experience what once was at the Greek last night.
An era where the hits were only a framework upon which you hung your improvisation. When music was the highest art form. When you never knew what the night would bring you. When you went to have a tale to tell. When you could feel the electricity of the act channeled into your brain and body.
You may think you've seen these guys before.
But you haven't.
It's different, they've been set free, they're at the age when they know their legacies are set in stone and they don't matter anyway. From when musicians were not stars but players, when they followed the music not the financial prospects in the penumbra, hell, Frampton knows that "Sgt. Pepper" movie was a mistake that he's not only atoned for, but moved far beyond.
You'd think at this late date when there's nothing worth paying attention to in rock, when the art form has calcified, a show by two old-timers wouldn't be worth the price of admission. But that would be untrue, they took us back to the garden by going back to the basics, what inspired them, what set them on this journey to begin with.
That big 'ol jet airliner carried us far away last night.
I wish you'd been aboard.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-TuneIn: http://tunein.com/lefsetz
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
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