Don Henley Primer

Spotify playlist: https://spoti.fi/2Tyc3uf

I have certain go-to songs.

One is "Big Barn Bed," the opening cut off "Red Rose Speedway" by Wings. The sound is just incredible, the track's never played anymore, but it's just as magical as it was back in '73. You get exquisite harmonies and the Paul McCartney vocals he used to employ in covers of original rock and roll songs in the Beatles, growling, going to the top of his register, and there's a stinging Henry McCullough guitar solo and a hypnotic chorus/hook. Amazing, it can't help but brighten my day!

Another is the Doobie Brothers' "Another Park, Another Sunday" from their 1974 album "What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits," which was seen as a disappointment follow-up to the smash success "The Captain and Me" until "Black Water" broke through belatedly, but "What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits" is the Doobies' best LP. "Another Park, Another Sunday" features Tom Johnston's mellifluous vocal, so sweet, great changes and the indelible lines, "Just when you think you've got a good thing, it seems to slip away." It was the first single, it didn't break through, but that does not mean it's not magic.

The third is Don Henley's "The End of the Innocence." Bruce Hornsby's piano is enough to seal the deal all by itself, but then you've got Henley's barely sandpapery vocal that adds meaning to the lyrics that are a cut above the rest of the fare on the hit parade, still. And today I was alone at home and I called out to Alexa to play "The End of the Innocence" and as it was playing it felt so right and I thought of the rest of Henley's post-Eagles work and I thought of delineating it, then I realized there'd be backlash, people hate anybody with this level of success, especially someone like Henley who has an opinion he doesn't back down from and an edge, but it's his constant striving for excellence, getting it exactly right, that puts him at the pinnacle, his songs are not just fodder but statements made to be the equivalent of great books. Just listen.

LEATHER AND LACE

"You in the moonlight
With your sleepy eyes
Could you ever love a man like me"

Whew!

After the disappointment of "Tusk," Stevie Nicks released her initial solo album. She had immediate success with the Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers outtake "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," one of the great rock tracks of all time, never mind being a duet with Tom and being backed up by him and his band. And in 1995, Tom and the gang released the boxed set "Playback" with their demo, unfortunately it's not on Spotify, but you can hear it on YouTube here: https://bit.ly/2ToXs4p The demo is a little earthier, a little more intense, a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song, not a Stevie Nicks song, you should definitely check it out, they say it's a demo but it sounds like a finished record to me.

And at this point the most famous track on "Bella Donna" is the in-your-face rocker composed solely by Nicks entitled "Edge of Seventeen." The track from that album I listen to most is also a solo composition by Nicks, but it's put over the top by Don Henley, it's a duet. Stevie is singing with her rough, emotive voice and then Don comes in so sweet you're transfixed, he's so sensitive.

"Sometimes I'm a strong man
Sometimes cold and scared
And sometimes I cry
But that time I saw you
Knew with you to light my night
Somehow I'd get by"

I CAN'T STAND STILL

Glenn Frey's solo album came out first, entitled "No Fun Aloud" it was sold and perceived as a lark, a throwaway, a man no longer constrained by the Eagles cutting loose, this was just the beginning. So expectations were a bit low, but the album was fun, and the opening cut, "I Found Somebody," was a Glenn Frey smash, exactly what you'd expect on an Eagles album, at this point Glenn was still seen as the leader of the band, the focus, but that would change.

The opening cut to Henley's solo LP was just the opposite of "I Found Somebody," slow and meaningful, but as many times as you listened to it, it wasn't the equal of his work with the Eagles, it sounded like Henley, but it just wasn't a smash. As a matter of fact, the entire album "I Can't Stand Still" was an artistic disappointment, a misfire, the sound was right, it's just that the songs weren't top-notch, except for "Dirty Laundry."

DIRTY LAUNDRY

"We got the bubble-headed
Bleached blonde
Comes on at five"

Everybody in Los Angeles knew exactly who Don was singing about, back before streaming, when there were still very few TV channels and people still watched television news. Henley had tangled with the law and decided to fight back, and there's no greater artistic inspiration than an affront. And what Henley ended up with was a masterpiece, one step beyond the Eagles' work, more intense, with more direct lyrics, sung with heretofore unheard attitude.

"I make my living off the evening news
Just give me something
Something I can use
People love it when you lose
They love dirty laundry"

This could not be more true today, if it bleeds it leads and TMZ is on the hunt for dirt 24/7.

"Well I coulda been an actor
But I wound up here
I just have to look good
I don't have to be clear
Come and whisper in my ear
Give us dirty laundry"

Once upon a time people believed newscasters knew something, now they know they're just pretty faces making nice, playing at being friends with the rest of the "talent" on air.

"Can we film the operation
Is the head dead yet
You know the boys in the newsroom
Got a running bet
Get the widow on the set
We need dirty laundry"

Hopefully you will never be involved in something newsworthy, for if you are you'll be inundated with news inquiries, you'll be overwhelmed by the attention, you'll think you're important, that they care for you, but after your words are in print all those callers and e-mailers will immediately disappear, leaving you feeling raped. You're just grist for the mill, and the machine has got an endless appetite.

THE BOYS OF SUMMER

Times had changed, the seventies were over, all the excitement was no longer on radio but MTV, and what built the channel were the new English acts like Duran Duran and Culture Club, their sound and image couldn't be more different from that of Don Henley and the Eagles. And then the seeming underdog, away from the market for two years, delivers such an undeniable wallop everyone pays attention, "The Boys of Summer" becomes a classic. The track was enough, but the video encapsulated the feel, late summer, maybe fall, remorseful, still there reminiscing about what was and may never be again.

"I can see you
Your brown skin shinin' in the sun
You got that top pulled down and that radio on baby
And I can tell you my love for you will still be strong
After the boys of summer have gone"

You didn't have to live in Southern California to picture it, but it helped.

"Out on the road today, I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac
A little voice inside my head said, 'Don't look back. You can never look back'
I thought I knew what love was
What did I know
Those days are gone forever
I should just let them go"

Deadhead sticker? The Grateful Dead and the Eagles lived on different planets, they didn't even share much of an audience, but Don was paying attention, he knew what was going on, and the truth is at this point, 1984, the Dead were already a nostalgia act, heresy, I know, but it's true. Gen-X'ers kept their gate numbers high, but artistically it had almost all been done.

"You got that hair slicked back and those Wayfarers on baby"

Suddenly everybody knew what those Ray-Ban sunglasses were called, sales went through the roof.

ALL SHE WANTS TO DO IS DANCE

An earthy, dangerous feel, the more you listen, the more you like it.

SUNSET GRILL

A six minute epic, a new twist on the ones Henley wrote and sang with the Eagles. It fired on absolutely all cylinders. Henley's was never better, you could feel the emotion in his voice. And the synth solo. Henley was singing about Sunset Boulevard, but not the Strip, but further east, the seedier part, in Hollywood, it only had glamor in the movies. And then it turned out the Sunset Grill was just a burger stand by Guitar Center.

"Let's go down to the Sunset Grill
Watch the working girls go by
Watch the basket people walk around and mumble
And gaze out at the auburn sky
Maybe we'll leave come springtime
Meanwhile have another beer
What would we do without all these jerks anyway
Besides all our friends are here"

Jerks? Isn't the #1 rule of rock and roll not to insult the audience, to appear one of the people unless you're selling glitz and glamor, which was the opposite of seventies and early eighties Los Angeles rock and roll? Henley was making a judgment, he was excluding people, he wasn't holding back, he had an attitude, he's not making any friends, but he is making delectable art.

NOT ENOUGH LOVE IN THE WORLD

"I'm not easy to live with
I know that it's true
You're no picnic either babe
That's one of the things I loved about you"

This verse makes the song, Don pokes fun at himself, but says they've both got their flaws, he's almost laughing about it. You didn't get this kind of insight, this kind of honesty, in the rest of the songs on the hit parade, which is why Don Henley ascended into the stratosphere, was seen as a solo icon, the essence of the Eagles, Don was alive and kicking in the eighties.

THE HEART OF THE MATTER

It was four and a half years since Henley's last LP. And "Building the Perfect Beast" never really went away, MTV had oldies weekends, the still extant rock radio went classic to survive and Henley's tracks were staples.

"The Heart of the Matter" was the third single from "The End of the Innocence" but it's the song emblazoned in listeners' brains most, it has never really gone away, because of the truth contained therein. If you've ever broken up, you've been through these feelings.

"I got the call today I didn't want to hear
But I knew that it would come
An old true friend of ours was talkin' on the phone
She said you found someone
And I thought of all the bad luck
And the struggles we went through
And how I lost me and you lost you
What are these voices outside love's open door
Make us throw off our contentment
And beg for something more"

I don't care whether you left or were abandoned, your heart always skips a beat when you hear an ex has gotten (re)married, had a baby, it puts a nail in the coffin of the past, they've moved on, you guess you should too.

And when it gets bad you do lose yourself. And the truth is...in your mind you want more, do you settle? And then you get old enough and realize perfection doesn't exist, all that talk of soulmates is b.s., it's about being together, trust, commitment, facing the hurdles with each other.

As for forgiveness...I'd like to tell you I can forgive, but I can't.

THE LAST WORTHLESS EVENING

The flip side of "The Heart of the Matter."

"It's been over two years for me
And I'm still not quite myself"

Anyone who tells you they're over it immediately is either lying or shallow. You lived together, had sex, saw each other every day and then you can suddenly be rid of them in your mind? That's not how human beings work.

NEW YORK MINUTE

I'd never heard the expression before, but Henley popularized the term, you've heard it everywhere since.

HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT?

In truth, the rockers on "The End of the Innocence" are not in the league of the ballads, but despite that I quote this song all the time.

"How bad do you want it
Not bad enough"

That's the truth. It's a long way to the top if you want to rock 'n roll, if you want to be successful at anything, and the truth is most people just don't want it bad enough, because if you do you'll ultimately be let in the door, you may not become a household name, but you'll get your time in the circus, you'll become part of the firmament. I'm not talking about 10,000 hours, practicing in your basement, gigging at the local venue, but a raw desire where everything else is subsidiary, relationships, a house, a car, everything. You keep trying, you keep adjusting, you're making friends, learning the landscape...

SOMETIMES LOVE JUST AIN'T ENOUGH

Irving Azoff handed MCA to Al Teller. But the company ran on Irving's fumes, it couldn't break any new acts. The landscape was changing, it was about big hit singles, albums were an afterthough, a way to cash in on the single, especially after the single itself was cut out. I ran into Teller at the Roxy and we were talking at the end of the show and he told me to wait for Tuesday, he was so confident, he had an absolute smash...that track was Patty Smyth and Don Henley's duet on "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough." It went to #1.

EVERYBODY KNOWS

It had been six and a half years since "The End of the Innocence." The had Eagles reunited. It was a perfect time for Geffen Records to try and cash in with a greatest hits package, even though Henley had only put out three albums. And at the time it was thought the best way to sell a greatest hits package was to add new material, ergo the inclusion of this cover of Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows." It's the best one. Even though all the musos will have their private favorites that don't make it without the lyrics, Henley's take works irrelevant of the meaning of the words, but it's the words that put it over the top. The truth is everybody knows.

TAKING YOU HOME

Now it was the year 2000, the Napster era, all hell was breaking loose in the music business and despite reuniting with the Eagles Henley had not released a solo album in over a decade and at this time it was thought the best way to break a track was via a synch on TV. So "Taking You Home" was put in "E.R.," it ended up driving the track to #1 on Adult Contemporary radio, but it stalled in the fifties on Top Forty. And this was the only hit on "Inside Job," the only track with significant radio play, even though "Inside Job" is a fantastic album and would have been all over the charts in a prior era. Then again, it was rock, which was dying, even if most people didn't realize it yet, and rock was not on Top Forty and MTV was starting to mean less and...

EVERYTHING IS DIFFERENT NOW

"I hate to tell you this but I'm very very happy"

The malcontent got married and settled down and reaped the rewards of family. The lyrics are great, but even better are the dynamics.

GOODBYE TO A RIVER

Henley was still an environmentalist, noting change while everybody else was now online, running to Computerland to buy new gadgets.

FOR MY WEDDING

Written by Larry John McNally, in another world this is a standard.

The truth is weddings are celebrations, but the heaviness resides within your head, this is a commitment, this is a change, the biggest one of your life so far, that's supposed to run for the rest of your days, will it?

THEY'RE NOT HERE, THEY'RE NOT COMING

"Would they pile into the saucer
Find Orlando's rat and hug it
Go screaming through the universe
Just to get McNuggets
Well I don't think so I don't think so
It's much too dangerous it's much too strange
Here in a world that won't give Oprah no home on the range"

A six minute opus making fun of those who believe aliens are going to descend from heaven and grace us with their presence on Earth. Do they really want McNuggets? And Oprah was being sued by Texas ranchers for saying she stopped eating burgers. It's only gotten worse in America since. Society was starting to fracture, there was no one to believe in, not even Rocky the Flying Squirrel.

MY THANKSGIVING

The closing track of "Inside Job" and my favorite on the album. A straight-ahead rocker it would now be a classic rock staple if it was released in the seventies. The music and the changes are great, but even better are the lyrics.

"Now the trouble with you and me my friend
Is the trouble with this nation
Too many blessings too little appreciation
And I know that kind of notion, well it just ain't cool
So send me back to Sunday school
Because I'm tired of waiting for reason to arrive
It's too long we've been living
These unexamined lives"

As bad as it was back then, it's worse now. As for examining your life, that's seen as sixties drivel, and it seems most people don't have the smarts or education to do so. They just take a position, plant the flag and own it, forever.

"Have you noticed that an angry man
Can only get so far
Until he reconciles the way he thinks things ought to be
With the way things are"

These were my go-to words on Napster and digital disruption.

WORDS CAN BREAK YOUR HEART

Henley waited fifteen years to release a new solo LP. And whereas with "Inside Job" he was too late, with "Cass County" he was too early. In 2015 there was still a belief that there was a substantial market for the new work of classic rockers. Now we know that is patently untrue. Today you make the album for yourself, because that's what you do, make music, if you stop creating you die. But the core audience is aged and stuck in its ways, the new market is fragmented and oftentimes there's nowhere to display your new work. Sure, you can get ink, your name is still reliable for that, but that's no longer how you break records, you do it online, ultimately via word of mouth, and boomer word of mouth is so much slower than that of the youngsters. Bottom line, if you listen to "Cass County" you'll enjoy it, it's very good, but it doesn't have the iconic songs of yore. Today you make records for cheap, throw them out there, try to hit the target, and if you don't you go back to the drawing board, the studio, putting all your eggs in one basket, in an expensive long player, an album, is a fool's errand, because if it fails in the marketplace, almost everything fails in the marketplace, it's immediately forgotten and you're nowhere, best to constantly be in the public eye, especially in a world where most of the money is made on the road. Now, more than ever, it's time to experiment as opposed to trying to get it right.

"Sticks and stones may break your bones
But words can break your heart"

So true, and the words work better in the song than they appear on paper.

THE END OF THE INNOCENCE

"Remember when the days were long
And rolled beneath a deep blue sky
Didn't have a care in the world
With mommy and daddy standing by
When happily ever after fails
And we've been poisoned by these fairy tales
The lawyers dwell on small details
Since daddy had to fly"

Boomers remember, we were basking in the economic run-up of the post-war era. We not only felt safe, we thought the world was our oyster. Divorce was rare, frequently there was only one breadwinner in the family, you felt supported, you felt optimistic.

But then this same generation took advantage of the freewheeling eighties to bend the rules to get ever richer and after all the takeovers, lawsuits and jail sentences we thought things would change, but they did not, we didn't know how bad it was gonna get, ending in 2008, not that those bad days where the financial institutions wreck our economy won't come back again.

"Oh but I know a place where we can go
Still untouched by man
We'll sit and watch the clouds roll by
And the tall grass waves in the wind
You can lay your head back on the ground
And let your hair fall all around me
Offer up your best defense
But this is the end
This is the end of the innocence"

You used to be able to get away, disconnect, recharge, but those days are through, everybody's available everywhere, you can talk on the phone at the top of Mt. Everest and if you don't respond to a text in a matter of minutes people wonder what's wrong. The innocence the baby boomers had in their hearts is now gone, and the younger generations never had it.

"O' beautiful, for spacious skies
But now those skies are threatening
They're beating plowshares into swords
For this tired old man that we elected king"

That's St. Reagan, who single-handedly ushered in the age of income inequality but was a Democrat by today's standards. Remember when he was our biggest enemy? Boy, we didn't know what was coming.

"Who knows how long this will last
Now we've come so far so fast
But somewhere back there in the dust
That same small town in each of us
I need to remember this
So baby give me just one kiss
And let me take a long last look
Before we say good bye"

We remember the way it used to be, we know it was flawed, we were excited by the technological revolution but now we see its cost. Boomers are throwing their hands in the air, retiring, handing this broken world to the younger generations as the earth burns up and American democracy is on the verge of becoming an oxymoron.

But a kiss is still the same. Humans are still the same. We can still feel, still analyze, we can still laugh, but it's hard to be optimistic about the future.

We thought the innocence was ending back in 1989, we had no idea how bad it would get. We looked to our musical artists for truth, for a path, for a way. But today music is just about becoming a brand and getting rich, figuring out the data game, getting on TikTok, you can make a brilliant statement and it can go unheard, whereas in the pre-internet era that was never the case, if your track had the goods people heard it, and were affected by it.

So Bruce Hornsby got out early. Rather than continue to strive for a radio hit, he played with the Dead, bluegrass pickers, he nurtured his muse, continued to be an artist, everybody said he was killing his career, but in truth he was reinventing it, saving it, knowing that today it's all about your core audience, it will keep you alive, if anybody else wants to come along that's great, but you're not going to pander to them.

As for Don Henley... It's good to be the king, but every kingdom must die. You're internationally known, "Hotel California" is recognized in the bush, but people aren't interested in what you have to say today, even worse it's hard to get them to hear it to then accept or reject it, the whole paradigm has changed. As for the creators... Mariah Carey became the archetype, making it about the voice, pop music, and that was in 1990, thirty years ago, today's younger generations have no frame of reference, they didn't grow up when music was king, when it was everything, when you listened to the radio to know which way the wind blew.

We are no longer innocent. We yearn to be, but we're not. You can keep your head in the sand or wake up. But sometimes it's better to leave the blinders on, ignore reality and try to be happy. But the truth is innocence has ended. Happy July 4th.

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Summer Of Soul

Trailer: https://bit.ly/369aUMj

It's every bit as good as they say it is.

Can't say I was eager to see it, being burned out on Questlove, he's everywhere, then again white people see him as safe and they won't let anybody else through the door so it's Questlove's responsibility to get the message out, one that would otherwise go unheard.

Now if you were alive back in '69 and hailed from the New York area you know the Harlem Cultural Festival wasn't as big a deal as they make it out to be. But it all comes together at the end of the film where it is stated that it's part of black history, and black history is erased, and truly people should know about this series of concerts. And 1969.

This is why all those white people are angry.

Now the sixties were turbulent. But after Kent State many licked their wounds and went back to the land. In the eighties the boomers sold out. And in the nineties Clinton oversaw a decade of prosperity. But not for everybody, it's never for everybody. And in the twenty first century, it all started to crumble. It wasn't until the teens that people came to realize there was deep economic inequality, they ended up without jobs, or low-paying service jobs, meanwhile the old jobs went to China and Mexico and they were working like dogs to try and make ends meet. The underclass. That's who both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump appealed to back in 2016, which seems like ancient history today. No one was listening to the underclass, they're still not listening to the underclass, even though there are more of them than there are of richies. Which is one reason the rich people live behind gates and fly private, they want to be safe, because one day they might be attacked, in the midst of a revolution. Don't think it can't happen, look at 1/6.

But 1/6 was mostly about middle and upper middle class people. The underclass couldn't afford to go to D.C., they didn't have the bread and they needed to go to work. But now that people of color are going to supersede the number of white people, all hell is breaking loose. Like climate change, they told us for years it was going to happen, and now it finally is, and with the loss of their majority white people are freaking out, they want to protect their way of life, and they certainly don't see the people and activities in this film as their way of life.

The sixties are now a blur, all lumped together. But '69 was a critical year. It's when all the faders were pushed to the maximum. With music, with politics, it was exciting to be alive, and underneath all the talking and performances in this film you'll find a sense of optimism, and the truth is today so many are pessimistic. The death of George Floyd ignited a bomb that had been lying in wait, from long before Ferguson, but white people equate it with 1/6, they see no difference. Now let me see...one group is fighting for equal rights, the other to take down the nation because they believe it's going in the wrong direction, they want Trump and his power to maintain. Ergo the voting rights bills. They're trying everything to keep their finger in the dike, because in truth they're very afraid, it's all about fear. There's no progress. There are bogeymen, but in truth this is the last line of defense, either the people of color are stopped now or it's over. Thus you have that lawsuit saying too many Asians get into Harvard, they're turning affirmative action on its head. What about the white people? They don't want to sacrifice. And now this is blown up in the name of critical race theory, even though it's just a theory and isn't in schools to begin with. Never underestimate the need of people to maintain the status quo, no one can sacrifice in the U.S. anymore, especially white people with money. As for those without cash, they're told immigrants are taking their jobs when this is patently untrue, immigrants are doing the jobs they refuse to do.

So the complaint about all music documentaries is they don't show complete songs. To the point where most docs are now essentially concerts. I can see enough of this on YouTube. But I did want to see some of the musical acts so I tuned in.

They start off with Stevie Wonder. Who knew he was such a great drummer? And the performances continue but the history of 1969, the black experience in 1969, is depicted concurrently, which makes the film much more watchable. They show complete songs, but the story doesn't stop, there is footage and talking heads and it's like a school class you never had.

The surprise of the show is Nina Simone. Whew! She sings a song about white backlash that is so powerful, so straight to the heart, anybody can get it, even if they are white. And she sings/reads a poem that talks about fighting back and this is exactly what the whites were afraid of back then and are still afraid of today. What if the oppressed stop worrying about the law? What if they take matters into their own hands? The rioters flipped the script, they decided to move fast, take over the country, that was 1/6 in a nutshell, turn the U.S. into an authoritarian country where if you break the heinous restrictions you disappear, like in China.

Simone is a revelation because she's not that well known. But truly, the key performances are by Sly and the Family Stone, from back when you had to go to the show to see a band and an act could be so good live they could build a reputation and break through. That's how Springsteen broke. Sly & the Family Stone had many more hits, but then they were at Woodstock and stole the movie, hands-down, they wanted to take you HIGHER! And Sly does the same routine in this flick and the audience responds just as eagerly as they did the same year on Yasgur's Farm, this was the power of Sly, not Woodstock, he could do it anywhere. And when Sly and his band take the stage the whole place elevates, you can feel the energy, everybody else is just a performer, Sly and the Family Stone are life itself, you can't help but pay attention and that attention is rewarded.

Pops Staples is still alive and his family knocks it so far out of the park, with power, you stand at attention. Mavis still has this skill, she's hiding in plain sight, I saw her open for Bonnie Raitt and was wowed, but she doesn't get the attention she deserves.

And then there's the Edwin Hawkins Singers. It was exactly this time of year when "Oh Happy Day" was a gigantic hit. I was burned out on it in '69, but it's still fresh today. Gladys Knight & The Pips sing the original version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine." And the Fifth Dimension are finally contextualized. They were known for their hits, seen as white bread, but they definitely were not. And that's another noticeable thing, everybody's voice, everybody's playing is SO GOOD! This isn't CSNY at Woodstock, unrehearsed, this is what these performers do, and they nail it. And David Ruffin in a suit in the middle of a summer day singing "My Girl" just after he left the Temptations. And then there are the instrumentalists who surprise... Max Roach. Herbie Mann. Ray Baretto, who I only knew by name killing on the congas. Mongo Santamaria. Hugh Masekela performing "Grazing In the Grass." B.B. King singing about the blues. You may not think you like gospel music but you will find out you do as you watch these performances, that's the power of Mahalia Jackson.

And John Lindsay. When a mayor could still deliver hope.

And the moon landing.

That's what's shocking, everything that happened back then! All the assassinations of leaders saying what too many didn't want to hear, from JFK to Martin to RFK...

As for the moon landing... Yup, we actually did it. Not that it wasn't on the schedule for a decade, but we didn't expect it to really happen. But it did! It was so thrilling, you were proud to be an American, we were certainly the greatest country in the world, then again there was that pesky Vietnam situation.

But there was a show during the moon landing and you've got people in attendance saying they don't care, testifying that the government shouldn't spend all that money on the space program, but the people. It's the same story fifty years later. Except now the general mind-set is welfare is bad and if you even talk about reparations white heads explode.

White people are inherently afraid of black people. But are the tens of thousands in attendance all nogoodnik takers who are going to assault you, steal your assets and rape your daughters? No, they're just people, trying to get along.

So you start watching "Summer of Soul" for the musical performances, but ultimately they play second fiddle to the commentary, the story, the history, the context. And there's so much there it's hard to comprehend it all, you're assaulted with so much you didn't know, that is uber-important.

Unless you lived through 1969. When young people learned from performers. When you could make it on minimum wage. When things were in flux and you truly believed life could work out right. There was no internet, no streaming media, but boy was society alive and kicking.

So you can go to a theatre and see this, or just pull it up on Hulu, which is what I did. It's powerful on the small screen, and the pictures are so good you can't believe the film has been sitting in cans for fifty years.

There's plenty we can learn, more black history please. Education is the key to peace and harmony. And I'm not talking about teaching to the test, but a film like "Summer of Soul," which is so well done you can't help learning more than a thing or two.

So it's a long weekend and you've got the time, pull up "Summer of Soul" whether you're black or white, whether you're a music fan or not. Marvel at the trumpet work of Cynthia Robinson. Feel the power of the music and the power of the people. RIGHT ON!

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The New York Times Video

"Days of Rage: An In-Depth Look at How a Mob Stormed the Capitol": https://nyti.ms/3yhpxJM

This needs to be on Netflix. Right on the homepage, for a month. Distribution is king, and Netflix far outstrips the reach of the "New York Times." But most people will never see it.

If one watches it, at least we can agree on the facts, pictures don't lie. Then again, I'd expect the right to accuse the "Times" of doctoring the footage. But the truth is many on the right will see this video as a triumph, just as it is. And that is what is scary. That we had a demagogue who cooked up a lie that the election was stolen and now most Republicans believe this. Even worse, elected Republicans refuse to create a commission to study the insurrection. This would be like high school seniors breaking into the College Board to gain access to the SATs and administrators then saying the invasion should not be addressed, that it's best to just move forward without investigating the how and the why. How do we protect the Capitol in the future?

Protection. It is clear, when there are enough law enforcement personnel on duty the rioters are turned back. Why weren't there enough there? Why was preparation so poor, why did it take so long for reinforcements to arrive? We need to investigate procedures, actions of individuals in power, but we must see this riot as a harbinger of what is to come. It's not the end, just the beginning. Just like Capitol police, all law enforcement agencies involved didn't think there was any danger, most Americans believe there's no danger in the future. They're just plain wrong.

We can start at the top, with the Supreme Court. The same man who won't investigate January 6th single-handedly made sure the makeup of the institution is skewed right and not representative of the public at large. As far as the court system saving you? Hell, the Supreme Court just said voting restrictions in Arizona were cool, on a 6-3 basis, split on party lines. In other words, you can't count on the last resort. And even though the right dominates in the judicial system that's not enough, you've got these rioters taking matters into their own hands.

As for Trump himself... You needed a power-hungry imbecile like him to focus the white rage. After all, what do these rioters want? White power. There's hatred against everybody of color and Jews and Asians and it's worse than a loyalty test, it's a birth test.

Honestly, I thought I'd seen enough. I delayed watching this video. But when I did, I was drawn in and horrified. Furthermore, it's like these people never went to high school, never heard of the concept of your PERMANENT RECORD! Talk to rock stars, it's different from the way it used to be, because everybody's got a camera in their pocket now, bad behavior does not go unchallenged, you think first, try to act responsibly. And it's the smartphone camera that caught footage of George Floyd being killed, but the people in this video are proud to be recorded, they're so ignorant as to believe there will be no consequences, some are now scrubbing their feeds, but it's too late, the "Times" already captured the video.

And since this video was created by the "Times," it's considered untrustworthy by not only the right, but so many on the left. Trump did a good job of sowing discontent over the news business, but the Fourth Estate is all we have left. And the truth is the "New York Times" and the "Washington Post" are in competition, and competition breeds excellence, they're each trying to top each other, and that's great for our society. As for cable news...watch it, there's no reporting, they just quote the "Times" and the "Post," the "Wall Street Journal" isn't even close.

Meanwhile, the media outlets tell the truth and it makes no difference. It's in plain sight, this is the ultimate gotcha video, but it doesn't matter. There's a belief if the truth outs that's all that's required, but that is patently untrue.

Rust never sleeps, nor do the Republicans or these rioters. Republicans have an unequal advantage in the Senate, they represent far fewer people than Democrats, it's tyranny by the minority, and they want to institutionalize it.

And it gets worse, the city of New York just undercut faith in elections with its bungling of the mayoral vote. Once you stop trusting the institutions, it's over. Done. And we're at the precipice. Why bother to have any elections if the side that loses doesn't accept defeat.

Well, the Democrats accept defeat, but not the Republicans, and now they're instituting voting laws to ensure they get and retain power. And what will the Democrats do? Play by the rules, accept their fate, while democracy is lost. I thought Democrats would revolt once abortion was made illegal, but in some states for all practical purposes it already is, there's only one provider in the state and tons of hurdles, meanwhile the left is somnambulant.

What will it take for the left to take action? I'm thinking nothing. As long as they've got their flat screen, can make ends meet, they don't want to get off the couch. The rich don't want to risk anything and the poor are already demoralized, believing they've got no power whether they vote or not. Meanwhile, these rioters are middle class, they've got dough, and they're not backing down.

It's over folks. Will you stop being optimistic, stop looking for institutional solutions? They aren't gonna let them happen! The United States is a laughingstock all over the world, but our country's disinformation campaign keeps telling us the U.S. is the greatest country in the world, and if you challenge that, want change, want to improve it, you're unpatriotic.

As for the mob mentality... This is what you get when you have agitators like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers and Donald Trump, they rally the people who get caught up in the action and leave their brains at home. Everybody else is doing it, it must be fine! I guess none of their parents ever asked them if everybody jumped off a bridge would they do so too? Parenting... Hell, there's not enough of it, if for no other reason than both parents are working like dogs to make ends meet, and that there is in defense of their children, the teacher is wrong, not the student, it can never be little Finn or Madison's fault. And if you're rich enough, the rules don't apply anyway, you live in a completely different America.

Technology got us here. Organization took place online, without new communication methods this never would have happened, it's too hard to spread the word and get people motivated. But the truth is as guilty as Facebook is all it did was help amplify a prominent message, that white people should rule the country, people of color are takers and all immigrants should be looked at askance and the country shouldn't let any more in.

The most important article you'll read today is the one about Joe Rogan in the "Times": https://nyti.ms/3wdgQyD It's about his REACH! It far exceeds that of the "Times" or the "Post" or Fox News or MSNBC... This is the culmination of twenty five years of tech. Those in power didn't want to admit it was true, that it was coming, that they were unprepared for it. The truth is all the tools of communication are essentially free to everybody, and you can build your own audience without the help of any traditional outlet, whether it be a record company or a newspaper. If Joe Rogan says it, I get e-mail about it, if the "New York Times" does...crickets.

Bob Dylan asked when we were gonna wake up. It appears never.


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Joni Mitchell Primer-Part 1

Spotify playlist: https://spoti.fi/3w5Bpgk

NATHAN LA FRANEER

This is my favorite track on Joni's debut LP "Song to a Seagull," I never heard it until I downloaded it via Napster, it's the story of Joni's ride to the airport and the driver is named Nathan La Franeer. It's a personal, intimate tale we can all relate to, the personal connects more than the general, remember that. Music today is made to gain an audience as opposed to creating something internal that resonates to such a degree it succeeds.

NIGHT IN THE CITY

It's upbeat whereas so much of the material on "Song to a Seagull" is downbeat, never forget that Joni loved to kick off her heels and dance, have a good time.

MICHAEL FROM MOUNTAINS

The most well-known song on Joni's debut as a result of its cover on Judy Collins's album "Wildflower" released the year before. "Michael From Mountains" opened side one of Judy's LP, "Both Sides Now" side two.

CACTUS TREE

Better known as the opening cut of side two of the double live album "Miles of Aisles."

"She will love them when she sees them
They will lose her if they follow
And she only means to please them
And her heart is full and hollow
Like a cactus tree
While she's so busy being free"

All the men want her, but she needs to go her own way, she needs to be free.

BOTH SIDES NOW

Turned into a hit by Judy Collins, Joni was now on her way. It's the harpsichord in Judy's version that puts it over the top.

CHELSEA MORNING

Written before the first album, once again the song was made famous by Judy Collins, and subsequently Joni recorded it, and yes, this is the inspiration for the name of...Chelsea Clinton.

SONGS TO AGING CHILDREN COME

Dramatically used in the funeral scene in the movie "Alice's Restaurant." Watch the clip, it will resonate, no matter if it's a sunny day at the beach or you're home alone depressed: https://bit.ly/3hv4sEV

I DON'T KNOW WHERE I STAND

My favorite song on the second album "Clouds," it's the best song I've ever heard about wondering if the other person feels the same way you do. You're living in your head, afraid of alienating them, being too serious too soon, yet you can't stop thinking about them.

"Telephone, even the sound of your voice is still new
All alone in California and talking to you
And feeling too foolish and strange
To say the words that I had planned
I guess it's too early, 'cause I don't know where I stand"

THAT SONG ABOUT THE MIDWAY

Joni's breakup song to David Crosby, originally sung live to him and twenty others in a living room.

FOR FREE

And now we move on to the third LP, "Ladies of the Canyon."
I first heard this song performed live by James Taylor just when "Ladies of the Canyon" was released. This was just when "Sweet Baby James" was breaking, Taylor was touring alone, just him and his guitar. I was visiting my now-deceased friend Ronnie in Boston, we got tickets to see James at the Sanders Theatre on the Harvard campus. Some songs, very few of them, are so good you catch them the first time through. I never forgot James singing "For Free" that evening, and stunningly, through the power of Napster, I found that exact concert, I'm listening to it right now, it took place on April 25, 1970, there were two shows, we went to the first.

"Now me I play for fortunes
And those velvet curtain calls
I've got a black limousine
And two gentlemen
Escorting me to the halls
And I play if you have the money
Or if you're a friend to me
But the one man band
By the quick lunch stand
He was playing real good, for free"

This is how Hollywood works, how life works. You charge a fortune to the public, but if it's a friend, you'll do it, and you won't ask for remuneration.

CONVERSATION

This is my favorite cut on "Ladies of the Canyon." They have a personal relationship, they can talk, they connect, but he's married to somebody else.

"Tomorrow he will come to me
And he'll speak his sorrow endlessly and he'll ask me, 'Why?'
'Why can't I leave her?'"

THE ARRANGEMENT

"You could have been more
Than a name on the door
On the thirty-third floor in the air
More than a credit card
Swimming pool in the backyard"

This was the question in the sixties and early seventies, whether to sell out or not. Today everybody is looking to sell out, whether it's the educated classes going to work at the bank or the lower classes going on reality TV or making records and doing whatever the suits tell them for the exposure and potential riches.

RAINY NIGHT HOUSE

"It was a rainy night
We took a taxi to your mother's home
She went to Florida and left you
With your father's gun, alone
Upon her small white bed
I fell into a dream
You sat up all the night and watched me
To see, who in the world I might be"

It's about Leonard Cohen. He came from a wealthy family, although only Canadians seem to know this.

THE PRIEST

It's the sound of the record, the changes, the relatively fast tempo that hooks you, but then the lyrics start to sink in. "The Arrangement," "Rainy Night House" and "The Priest" all come in a row on "Ladies of the Canyon," they're almost a mini-album within the album, they're so intimate and personal, you really feel like you're in that rainy night house...

WOODSTOCK

Written by Joni, but initially cut and made a hit by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Joni famously didn't go to Woodstock because she had a TV gig that David Geffen thought she might miss. Joni's take is all about the meaning, introspective, whereas the CSNY take is in-your-face with stinging guitar, they're the same song yet completely different. Matthews Southern Comfort ultimately released a soft rock version that sat in the middle of the two previous recordings artistically and had a huge hit, it went to #1 in the U.K.

THE CIRCLE GAME

It was already a youth group standard by time Joni cut it, everybody knew it, to be honest I never have to hear it again.

BIG YELLOW TAXI

An upbeat ditty with legendary lyrics that have become part of the fabric of the culture:

"They paved paradise and put up a parking lot"

And:

"Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone"

As a result of Counting Crows' (with Vanessa Carlton) 2002 cover everybody seems to know the song today, but prior to this I think most people had no idea the above lines came from a Joni Mitchell song.

And even Bob Dylan covered "Big Yellow Taxi," not that he planned to release it, but when Dylan jumped to Asylum Records in 1973 Columbia released an album of outtakes in retaliation.

CALIFORNIA

It's my favorite track on "Blue," from before I lived here and still now. It's a story, it's a state of mind, a freedom.

"California I'm coming home
I'm going to see the folks I dig
I'll even kiss a Sunset pig
California I'm coming home"

That "Sunset pig"? She's referring to the police. Boy have times changed. Then again, they've recently changed back. The pigs were the enemy in the sixties and the seventies, and you called the police that, the youngsters were against them, if for no other reason than the kids were unjustly hassled. But then during the Iran hostage crisis public sentiment flipped, it became all rah-rah. And then there was the economic run-up but people were left behind, especially those of color, and last year they revolted against the police and now...there are two sides, you're either for the pigs or against them. And no one truly wants to abolish the police, they just want to reform the system, add in some justice.

ALL I WANT

I sang it to myself on the drive home from my second date with Felice.

"I want to talk to you, I want to shampoo you"

"All I Want opens "Blue" with a roar, at least compared to Joni's previous albums. It's a story. It sends a signal that this is not a conventional LP, but something personal, something different, commerciality be damned.

"I am on a lonely road and I am traveling
Traveling, traveling, traveling
Looking for something what can it be"

We were seekers, we wanted something more.

"Oh I hate you some, I hate you some, I love you some
Oh I love you when I forget about me"

Priorities. You can choose from two lives, one of tradition, of structure, or one of art. Too often people want to combine the two, but you can't. Which is why when you complain you can't make any money as an artist you don't get it. And if you're an artist, you're number one, always, chances are you can't have kids, it's so hard to make it, to sustain, total dedication is required...and you've got to want it really really bad.

"I want to be strong I want to laugh along
I want to belong to the living"

You can be alive, yet dead. I'd spent fifteen years in the wilderness, sixteen to be exact, believing if I just held on long enough I could meet someone, my life would work. Credit a ton of psychotherapy. Credit a strong constitution, but as I walked to my car from the restaurant that evening I knew my life was changing, FOR THE BETTER!

"I want to have fun, I want to shine like the sun
I want to be the one that you want to see
I want to knit you a sweater
Want to write you a love letter
I want to make you feel better
I want to make you feel free"

Oh, biology. You're depressed and then you're positively elated, you're only upbeat, IT'S WHAT WE LIVE FOR!

"I want to be strong I want to laugh along
I want to belong to the living
Alive, alive, I want to get up and jive
I want to wreck my stockings in some jukebox dive
Do you want, do you want, do you want to dance with me baby
Do you want to take a chance
On maybe finding some sweet romance with me baby
Well, come on"

A CASE OF YOU

"Oh I could drink a case of you darling
And I would still be on my feet
I would still be on my feet"

WHAT A METAPHOR! Whew! Especially if you know Canada, with its beer stores, it all resonates.

"A Case of You" is like the Beach Boys' "Til I Die," an exquisite song no one ever talks about and then decades later you find out it's everybody's favorite.

"Just before our love got lost you said
I am as constant as a northern star
And I said, 'Constantly in the darkness
Where's that at?
If you want me I'll be in the bar'"

Humor. It was unexpected, yet so real. Happens all the time, someone says something ridiculous and you want to turn to the camera and blow the whistle on them.

"On the back of a cartoon coaster
In the blue TV screen light
I drew a map of Canada
Oh, Canada
With your face sketched on it twice"

Coaster? BLUE TV screen light? Sketching a map of Canada? These are words/images you never encounter in a song, yet they set the scene, you can SEE IT!

"I remember that time you told me
You said, 'Love is touching souls'
Surely you touched mine
'Cause part of you pours out of me
In these lines from time to time"

Love is touching souls...THAT'S IT! You cannot hear these words and forget them. And when you're in a relationship, you're both the influencer and the influenced.

THE LAST TIME I SAW RICHARD

"The last time I saw Richard was Detroit in '68
And he told me all romantics meet the same fate someday
Cynical and drunk and boring someone in some dark cafe"

Do you have to stand up and fly straight or...can you take the road less traveled, if you're a romantic are you ultimately doomed? And then there are those who are anything but romantic, and I don't mean flowers and kisses, but dreams, they're so wedded to facts, reality, that I can't relate to them.

WOMAN OF HEART AND MIND

It's the best track on "For the Roses."

"I am a woman of heart and mind
With time on her hands
No child to raise
You come to me like a little boy
And I give you my scorn and my praise
You think I'm like your mother
Or another lover or your sister
Or the queen of your dreams
Or just another silly girl
When love makes a fool of me"

She's game, she's ready, he's living in fantasyland and he wants her to support him, as if she were his mother, talk to women, nothing turns them off more than when they think they're your mother.

"After the rush when you come back down
You're always disappointed
Nothing seems to keep you high
Drive your bargains
Push your papers
Win your medals
F___ your strangers
Don't it leave you on the empty side"

Ain't that life, you're all excited, a ball of energy and then you crash. Life rewards those who persevere, who don't go off half-cocked but find a proper path and stick with it. As for his actions, in the sixties and seventies we were worried about being left on the empty side, now America is all about the empty side all the time, it's culturally bankrupt. As for printing the F-word... If I did that this e-mail would not get through spam filters, you can speak truth in art, but not business.

"I'm looking for affection and respect
A little passion
And you want stimulation, nothing more
That's what I think
But you know I'll try to be there for you
When your spirits start to sink"

She knows what she wants, she's laying it out, but she won't abandon him, not yet anyway.

"You know the times you impress me most
Are the times when you don't try
When you don't even try"

Ultimately it's these lines that stick out, that are most memorable. I have always lived by this, maybe because I've known people with assets, status and fame...and the truth is there's always someone richer, better-looking and more prominent and famous than you, always! I mean if you don't like me for who I am... Or as Prince put it in "Baby I'm A Star":

"Hey, look me over
Tell me do you like what you see
Hey, I ain't got no money
But honey I'm rich on personality"

But these aren't the only Joni Mitchell lyrics I live by:

"We don't need no piece of paper from the city hall
Keeping us tied and true no..."

That's from "My Old Man," off "Blue," that's my philosophy, I broke it once...to my detriment. Either you're committed or your not, and a piece of paper doesn't change that.

BLONDE IN THE BLEACHERS

People point to the tracks on Jackson Browne's" songs from "Running on Empty" as the most accurate depiction of being on the road as rock stars, but...there's more truth in "Blonde in the Bleachers."

"The bands and the roadies
Lovin' 'em and leavin' 'em
It's pleasure to try 'em
It's trouble to keep 'em"

YOU TURN ME ON, I'M A RADIO

Yes, it was a mild hit, Joni was delivering what she thought the masses wanted but...it's a delicious listen nonetheless.

BARANGRILL

It would be great with any lyrics, but Joni sets the scene:

"Three waitresses all wearing
Black diamond earrings
Talking about zombies
And Singapore Slings"

ELECTRICITY

Magic, as are "Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire" and "Lesson in Survival," they seem like they were composed and recorded in the environment from the album cover...Canada, the country, introspective, meaningful, a place where the trappings are irrelevant.

PEOPLE'S PARTIES/THE SAME SITUATION

You've got to take them together, they run together on the LP.

"All the people at this party
They've got a lot of style
They've got stamps of many countries
They've got passport smiles
Some are friendly
Some are cutting
Some are watching it from the wings
Some are standing in the center
Giving to get something"

Hollywood is not the suburbs. They come to Los Angeles to make it, and some do, very few, and then you're invited to parties and you're thrilled to be included, it shows you've made it, but once you're actually there, what are you going to do?

Giving to get something is the rule of business, the trading of favors, forget the patina of personal relationships, it's called "show business," not "friends business."

"Photo beauty gets attention
Then her eye paint's running down
She's got a rose in her teeth
And a lampshade crown
One minute she's so happy
Then she's crying on someone's knee
Saying laughing and crying
You know it's the same release"

Break through and you'll be privy to those from the magazines, those willowy models, ten feet tall and geeky...they were not the popular girls in high school and they're frequently not that good-looking in real life and in truth they're just girls, they've been in the spotlight, yet they don't know how to act. Then again, it's no different from male models...but there are many more 5'10" men than women. As for laughing and crying being the same released...I've never heard this said anywhere else, it's "People's Parties" that I attribute it to, and when I'm somewhere and someone quotes it to me, I smile.

"I told you when I met you
I was crazy
Cry for us all, beauty
Cry for Eddie in the corner
Thinking he's nobody
And Jack behind his joker
And stone cold Grace behind her fan
And me in my frightened silence
Thinking I don't understand"

The truth is so many feel uncomfortable, and the life of the party, like those models, they're just acting out to overcome their anxiety. Joni's admitting she's crazy, and she is, as are most people, certainly artists. You want to be included, but once you are you want to run. Business people seem to be able to do this party hang so much better than artists.

"Send me someone
Who's strong and somewhat sincere"

Especially in Hollywood, everybody's on a journey, and oftentimes you're just a waystation, they'll use you and move on to someone more powerful, someone who can move their career forward, or embellish it.

"Caught in my struggle for higher achievements
And my search for love
That don't seem to cease"

This is the essence of Joni Mitchell, of everybody trying to make it. Your career is primary, but still...you need the love, which is why all these playboy musicians get married, going on the road and screwing someone different every night doesn't fulfill you, see "Blonde in the Bleachers" for instruction.

HELP ME

The breakthrough track, the one that made Joni Mitchell number one in the hearts of young women, then and forever.

FREE MAN IN PARIS

I always preferred this to "Help Me." Yes, it's about David Geffen, but everybody knows that now.

"The way I see it he said
You just can't win it
Everybody's in it for their own gain
You can't please 'em all
There's always somebody calling you down
I do my best
And I do good business
There's a lot of people asking for my time
They're trying to get ahead
They're trying to be a good friend of mine"

There's so much truth here, it's astounding. No good deed goes unpunished. People are just using you to their own ends, no matter how friendly they act. And no matter what you do, people will be pissed, they think they're entitled to leverage your power, your fame.

"There was nobody calling me up for favors
And no one's future to decide
You know I'd go back there tomorrow
But for the work I've taken on
Stoking the star maker machinery
Behind the popular song"

The favors, they're endless, that's how business works. If you ask for one, however small, be prepared to be asked for one back, and you'll have to do what you don't want to, this is the essence of not only Hollywood, but straight business and politics. As for someone's future...a manager has a responsibility, to the artist first and foremost, but many don't act like that. As for the star maker machinery behind the popular song..."Free Man in Paris" is where these constantly quoted words come from.

"I deal in dreamers
And telephone screamers"

Yes, they yell on the phone and the next time they see you they're cool as a cucumber, then again this behavior has been tamped down somewhat as a result of #MeToo. As for dreamers...that's Hollywood to a "t," and if you have any power at all, any status, you'll be inundated with people selling you the solution to all the problems that will be instantly successful and don't you want to help them and get rich in the process? No.

CAR ON A HILL

She's waiting for him to show, will he or won't he?

"He makes friends easy
He's not like me
I watch for judgment anxiously"

Musicians, they make friends easily, that's how they survive, that's how they get gigs, talk about using people... But the front person, the solo artist, they're oftentimes internalized and gun-shy, they've got social anxiety, they want friends so much, but if they reveal themselves will they be judged and rejected?

DOWN TO YOU

Never talked about, but a key track, an album track, that if you play the LP over and over again you'll get.

"Everything comes and goes
Marked by lovers and styles of clothes"

You learn this as you age, and you can never accept it. People leave, people die, you get sick, trends change...

"Everything comes and goes
Pleasure moves on too early
And trouble leaves too slow
Just when you're thinking
You've finally got it made
Bad news comes knocking
At your garden gate"

Do you see the glass as half-full and set yourself up for disappointment or see it as half-empty and are never disappointed...then again it's harder to embrace and believe in the good stuff if you're a pessimist, for fear it will soon disappear.

COURT AND SPARK

Words I hadn't heard since I was in grade school, learning about the past, strange how Joni Mitchell resurrected them.
And this opening track is introspective and personal in a way that its follow-up on the album, "Help Me," is not. It's a risk, but Joni took it.

"He was playing on the sidewalk
For passing change
When something strange happened
Glory train passed through him
So he buried the coins he made
In People's Park
And went looking for a woman
To court and spark"

It's an analog to "For Free," just a busker making a living, not a star.

"It seemed like he read my mind
He saw me mistrusting him
And still acting kind
He saw how I worried sometimes
I worry sometimes"

Famous women are gun-shy, mistrusting, don't hit on them, don't even approach them unless you too are famous or you're introduced. And if you speak try to be friends first, after all the times you'll impress them most are when you don't even try, when you don't even try.


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Judy Collins-This Week's Podcast

Judy Collins was so upfront and honest she blew my mind. Judy talked in-depth about Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan and also spoke about her alcoholism and her son's suicide. I can see why Stephen Stills wrote "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes"...and we cover that too! What a refreshing alternative to those who are snooty or reticent, you talk to Judy and you're immediately her friend, you could see hanging out for hours, revealing each other's truth. Judy's already back to doing live gigs and is as vibrant as someone many decades her junior. I LOVED TALKING TO HER!

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/judy-collins/id1316200737?i=1000527489216

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7BOcBypxC9vtpBKi6s4dDt?si=k1JzmxukQzWI-ud2R5dBtQ&dl_branch=1

https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/The-Bob-Lefsetz-Podcast


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Bob Dylan Primer-Part 1

Spotify playlist: https://spoti.fi/3hqGWc3

Many people only know Bob Dylan as that guy with the whiny voice who inspires them to push the button on the radio every time his music is played. Furthermore, Dylan's iconic status has transcended the actual music. So, here's an entry point to his music. For those who think they know him and don't, for those who think they hate him but might be enlightened.

BLOWIN' IN THE WIND

The initial, eponymous Bob Dylan album was released in 1962. It was mostly covers, it was not a big smash, it got most of its attention after the fact, in retrospect. "Freewheelin'," the second LP was the breakthrough.

Would Bob Dylan have made it if he wasn't managed by Albert Grossman? That's a good question, and I'm leaning towards Bob not being that big. Grossman got his other client Peter, Paul & Mary to cover Bob's songs, make them standards, and people started to know who he was. Peter, Paul & Mary's cover of "Blowin' in the Wind" was sweeter, but hewed to the Bob Dylan original, which was not the case with so many covers thereafter.

MASTERS OF WAR

It was 1963. The folk scene was still dominant, this was a year before the Beatles hit America. It was also an era of hopes and dreams and protest for even more. Kennedy had not been shot, but there was a fight for equal rights and... It was the exact opposite of today. The oldsters were asleep, and the youngsters were pushing the envelope to the left. Today, the oldsters are awake, and they're pushing the envelope to the right. Sure, the youngsters are agitating on the left, but unlike in '63, all young people are not Democrats, and identity issues oftentimes outweigh political issues. Then again, the personal is political. "Masters of War" was not a hit single, bit it resonated with the audience. And Dylan played it in 1991 at the Grammys, many people might not have recognized it, but believers certainly did.

A HARD RAIN'S A-GONNA FALL

Maybe more famous via its covers, from everyone from Pete Seeger to Leon Russell to my favorite, Bryan Ferry.

DON'T THINK TWICE, IT'S ALL RIGHT

Made famous by Peter, Paul & Mary, this was a personal song sandwiched in amongst the political ones, written in reference to Suze Rotolo, Dylan's girlfriend, who is on the cover of "Freewheelin'," who unfortunately is no longer with us.

THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN'

The title cut which opened Dylan's third album, it's become a standard, a rallying cry, repurposed for change in subsequent times, but always by the left, the right don't want times to change.

This is the key verse:

"Come mothers and fathers
And don't criticize
Throughout the land
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'"

This was the generation gap, before most Americans realized there was one. It wasn't until maybe '66 that most people in the country woke up to the youthquake. Too many people today are stuck in the old decaying road and the new one is not being built.

ALL I REALLY WANT TO DO

"Another Side of Bob Dylan," Dylan's fourth album was his second of 1964. It's the blueprint for the covers breakthrough. Although one could argue strongly it began with the Byrds' cover of "Mr. Tambourine Man" from the subsequent LP, but it was "Another Side" which was mined for hit singles thereafter. There are two legendary covers of "All I Really Want to Do." Most think of the Byrds', which is very palatable, but I always preferred Cher's, the follow up to "I Got You Babe." I vividly remember her singing it to Sonny on one of those black and white lip-synch shows that soon started to appear all over the TV, and "Hullabaloo" was in color!

MY BACK PAGES

Dylan yodeled in "All I Really Want to Do," this was a dirge on "Another Side," but the Byrds' version was mellifluous and unlike Dylan's was a hit single. The Byrds' take worked irrelevant of the lyrics, but the key lines burst through speakers loud and clear:

"Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now"

As a teenager, I didn't understand these words, but they started to ring true a couple of decades back. When I was young I thought I knew everything, the older I get the less I know...oh, I know more, but I know what I don't know. The elders have wisdom, but they're ignored. Then again, too many elders are stuck in their ways.

IT AIN'T ME BABE

It broke the Turtles, most people had no idea it was written by Bob Dylan. Youngsters cannot comprehend the breadth of the impact of this track, it was a gigantic hit when we all listened to the same radio stations and knew the same songs...the Turtles version, of course, most people never heard Dylan's original, in fact no one even talks about "Another Side" anymore, it's never mentioned.

SUBTERRANEAN HOMESICK BLUES

Conventional wisdom is "Blonde on Blonde" is Dylan's best album. And if not that, its predecessor, "Highway 61 Revisited," but 1965's "Bringing It All Back Home" is my absolute favorite, and most people did not know "Subterranean Homesick Blues" back then, but today seemingly everyone does, which is contrary to the usual arc. It's due to the video, from the D.A. Pennabaker documentary, which was rarely seen back then, but is legendary today. The clip has been imitated/ripped-off multiple times in the music video era, if you've got no idea what I'm talking about, check it out here: https://bit.ly/364m05e "Subterranean Homesick Blues" has permeated the culture to the point many people who quote its lyrics have never even heard it. Here are a few:

"You don't need a weatherman
To know which way the wind blows"

The inspiration for the name of the Weather Underground.

"Don't follow leaders
Watch the parking meters"

"Twenty years of schoolin'
And they put you on the day shift

"The pump don't work
'Cause the vandals took the handles"

MAGGIE'S FARM

Working for the oppressive man, that's what working on Maggie's Farm represents today, once again people use the term and have never even heard the song.

MR. TAMBOURINE MAN

The Byrds' cover was so ubiquitous that the original ultimately surfaced, people needed more, they sought it out when music was scarce, when you had to make an effort, before the history of recorded music was at your fingertips.

IT'S ALRIGHT, MA (I'M ONLY BLEEDING)

To this day most people know this song via Jim/Roger McGuinn's cover for the "Easy Rider" soundtrack, but the original has more gravitas, and is a fount of wisdom that has not been superseded by Dylan, or any other contemporary songwriter.

"That he not busy being born
Is busy dying"

It's part of the culture now, the vernacular, but here's where it originated and most people have no idea Dylan wrote the words, never mind that they're in this song.

"While others say don't hate nothing at all
Except hatred"

A conundrum, the people who want peace, no dissension, no argument, are the enemy, you can't have progress if everybody's a cheery buddy holding back their truth for fear of alienating someone.

"While preachers preach of evil fates
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates
Goodness hides behind its gates
But even the president of the United States
Sometimes must have to stand naked"

Here Dylan takes down religion and education but the reason this verse is so famous is because of the last two lines, which became so poignant after Watergate, when Dylan sang these words at his 1974 comeback concerts with the Band, people stood up and cheered, you can hear it on the live album.

"Advertising signs they con
You into thinking you're the one
That can do what's never been done
That can win what's never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you"

Ain't that America. That's why advertisers don't want to appeal to older demos, they've seen the trick, they won't be fooled again. America is a string of endless falsehoods trying to entice you to part with your money or go down the path in pursuit of fulfillment that they can never deliver. And today's musicians are...con artists, they're the brand, they're the enemy, they're the ones trying to sell you stuff, they emulate the dreaded corporations and their advertising.

"For them that must obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despise their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Do what they do just to be
Nothing more than something they invest in"

This is the sixties. You played the game to get good grades to get into good a college only to end up as a cog in the system, probably not waking up until it's too late. Today there is no lifetime employment. But authority is on the rise everywhere, not only in your high school, and people don't only despise their white collar jobs, but seemingly every service job out there. Then again, back then you yearned to be free, today everybody yearns to sell out.

"While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he's in"

This is the essence of internet hate, I may use these lyrics more than any other in this modern age. Everybody's got a voice, and if they didn't rise above, they're going to tear down those who did, irrelevant of the validity of the success of a person, today everyone's on guard for fear of being pulled down. And this is different from cancellation, which is another problem.

"For them that think death's honesty
Won't fall upon them naturally
Life sometimes must get lonely"

Summer Redstone thought he would live forever, but he didn't. Everybody is human, everybody is susceptible to cancer and disease but many don't acknowledge it until they're on their deathbed, if they acknowledge it at all. They think they're different, immune, but they're not.

IT'S ALL OVER NOW BABY BLUE

Most people know this via covers, whether it be Them, the Byrds, Joan Baez... Have they heard the original? I would think not.

LIKE A ROLLING STONE

Do I think it's the best rock single ever? No, off the top of my head I'd say "Satisfaction," then again...this was Dylan's first radio hit, six minutes long and played incessantly on AM radio. Never underestimate the power of Al Kooper's organ, adding a new texture to the sound, it's iconic, you've heard it, I like it, but not as much as its follow-up...

IT TAKES A LOT TO LAUGH, IT TAKES A TRAIN TO CRY

Seemingly a minor cut, but the covers are legendary! First and foremost the opening cut on the second side of "Super Session," totally reworked, with Stephen Stills wailing, Mike Bloomfield gets all the credit for his first side contribution, but I always preferred the second, after all it contains the most legendary cut, the eleven minute reworking of Donovan's "Season of the Witch." Second, Leon Russell's from his first solo album, the one with "Delta Lady"...

BALLAD OF A THIN MAN

"Because something is happening here
But you don't know what it is
Do you Mr. Jones"

HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED

The title cut of the album, which starts with "Like a Rolling Stone" above. The thing is when you go to Minnesota...it won't be long before you're going somewhere on Highway 61. This was Johnny Winter's signature song. But I believe the definitive cover is by Bruce Springsteen with Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne, it was a Napster favorite but now it is available legally, it's fantastic, you need to listen to it.

POSITIVELY 4TH STREET

I always preferred it to "Like a Rolling Stone," it was made legendary by the following lyrics:

"Yes I wish for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
You'd know what a drag it is
To see you"

The ultimate put-down song. Only artists seem to be able to speak the truth, at least out in the open instead of behind closed doors. "Positively 4th Street" was a single release only, between "Highway 61 Revisited" and "Blonde on Blonde."

RAINY DAY WOMEN NO. 12 & 35

Was he singing about getting stoned as in marijuana or metaphorically, that was the debate back then, when cannabis was still underground. It never would have been a hit if Dylan wasn't on a streak of hits, then again the carny sound added to its appeal.

VISIONS OF JOHANNA

It was the dawn of the album era, as in people bought them, not just the single, so songs that were not radio hits could be cultural hits, like this.

I WANT YOU

A mild radio hit. If you were paying attention you knew it.

STUCK INSIDE OF MOBILE WITH THE MEMPHIS BLUES AGAIN

Dylan was now part of the firmament, he did not need covers to make his bones, people bought his albums just to listen to him. And the title of this song is quoted constantly by boomers...

JUST LIKE A WOMAN

Now a standard, but not via Dylan's original take, but the covers. First in the U.K. by Manfred Mann and ultimately, ubiquitously by Joe Cocker, and...

SAD-EYED LAD OF THE LOWLANDS

Important for no other reason than it took up the entire fourth side. It's well-known that it's about Sara...Dylan's first wife.

ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER

From the "John Wesley Harding" LP, after the motorcycle accident. More famous in its Hendrix iteration, but the original, quieter version is actually superior. All of "John Wesley Harding" sounds like it was performed on a midnight ride through the countryside, the feel is palpable.

DEAR LANDLORD

The most famous version is the cover on the second side of Joe Cocker's second album, but that's fast and the words go by so quickly and...the original is almost a waltz, the words resonate, and there are these lines that didn't penetrate me until I was well into my life:

"Now each of us has his own special gift
And you know that was meant to be true
And if you don't underestimate me
I won't underestimate you"

Everybody's equal. Everybody shines. Everybody's a star. You might think you're better because of your highfalutin' degree or your bank account, but the people you denigrate are superior to you in certain areas, I guarantee it. Think about it.

THE WICKED MESSENGER

Most people don't know the definitive cover that has so much power it trumps Dylan's excellent original. I'm speaking of the Small Faces' cover on their first album with Rod Stewart, which was ultimately re-released under the moniker "Faces." This was when Rod was still in ascension, before he lost so much of his credibility.

GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY

Dylan goes country, when country was not hip, long before the cowboy hats and guitars, when country was earthy and authentic. Here Bob duets on a song from "Freewheelin'."

LAY, LADY, LAY

All over the radio in the summer of '69 when nothing else on the AM band sounded anything like it. People were used to the edgy Dylan, "Nashville Skyline" was accepted by more people than any of his work previously. Dylan had reinvented himself.

I THREW IT ALL AWAY

A revered album cut.

TONIGHT I'LL BE STAYING HERE WITH YOU

Yes, Bob Dylan could be warm and cuddly. He was not just an edgy spewer of a slew of words, he was human. And ultimately, relationships are all that count:

"Throw my ticket out the window
Throw my suitcase out there too
Throw my troubles out the door
I don't need them anymore
'Cause tonight I'll be staying here with you"


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Re: Joni Mitchell Or Bob Dylan

im not sure i will be free to call in today, but just wanted to say… cause i love this kinda shit… 

dylan and joni really are two completely different types of artist. 

except for the occasional reveal, bob hides himself. his songs are mostly guarded and removed… and from a songwriting standpoint… he is always derivative... i don't mean that in the shitty way… his songs just always harkened back to other songs. they are rooted in history.

that said, for me, he is fucking magic. and there is no better lyricist. ever. 

joni, on the other hand, is all reveal. and all revolution, in terms of her songwriting. she wrote like no one else before her. her melodies, her chords, her phrasing.. her words.. and she was NEVER guarded. she pulled no punches in her art. 

two fucking alien geniuses, for sure… MASTERS! 

but, in my eyes, incomparable in terms of their work.

not like, say, mellencamp and petty… who i think SHOULD be compared more. and mellencamp always gets the short end of that stick, which is a shame… but that's for another discussion...

Matt Nathanson

_________________________________

No question, Dylan! Joni has no Blowing in the Wind. No Times They Are A-Changing. No Masters of War. I could go on...

Toby Byron

_________________________________

Dylan... prolific catalogue.  More anthems.  More longevity in different periods.  Influenced more people.  Not Canadian.  Weirder.  

Just my opinion.  I love Joni but it is not a serious question.

Michael Becker

_________________________________

Beatniks = Dylan
Hippies = Joni Mitchell 
Note : I don't think Dylan put together an album / body of work comparable to Joni's
 " Blue " .... guaranteed in almost every " boomers " Top 20 !!

Joseph Carvello

_________________________________

Dylan

John Hughes

_________________________________

Joni.  Both my teenage kids agree.  Not even close for my family.

John Boyle

_________________________________

Both are giants, and both have totally distinctive impacts. I really see no need to rank one over the other. I love both dearly.

Michael Tearson

_________________________________

Joni is. :)

lu lancton

_________________________________

Really Bob - is that even a ? that has to be asked ? 

I know its summer and content is always king - and you'll no doubt get some milage out of the subject. However, if we're talking about the music - as opposed to the evocation of a particular place and time within which certain music was created - one would have to put their money on Bob. 

Andrew Krents

_________________________________

Oh stop.  There's no one that comes close to Joni.

With peace and love,
Colleen Wares

_________________________________

you know better than that bob. :)
which is greater, the sun or the moon? 
pffffff. 

Amanda Palmer

_________________________________

HA HA HA!!!!!

Nancy Wilson


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Joni Mitchell Or Bob Dylan-SiriusXM This Week

Who is greater?

Tune in today, June 29th, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863

Twitter: @lefsetz or @siriusxmvolume/#lefsetzlive

Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: siriusxm.us/HearLefsetzLive

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app: siriusxm.us/LefsetzLive


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