Tom Petty's Gloria

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GPACt4

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3ifqm2O

1

If you want to know what it was like to be alive in 1965, you must listen to the new Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' album "Live at the Fillmore 1997."

Now let me state right up front this 72 track package only embellishes Tom and the band's image. This is not detritus, this is not the milking of the Hendrix vaults, one listen and you'll marvel that these tracks weren't released previously, when Tom was still alive.

It's tough to be in a classic rock act. Because the people paying high prices for tickets only want to hear the hits, you end up becoming a human jukebox, thinking about doing your laundry while you sing well-worn numbers. You're playing your instrument, but you're no longer a musician, certainly not an artist, you're just a nostalgia vessel. Set in amber. The music is more for the audience than yourself.

But not Tom Petty's string of dates at the Fillmore back in '97.

One wonders whether Tom could have sold out arenas at that point. The band had put out an album the year before, but its success was impeded by the fact that it was the soundtrack to a stiff movie, "She's the One," even if Ed Burns had credibility and a track record. Never hitch your wagon to a movie by cutting a soundtrack, best example is Wang Chung and William Friedkin's "To Live and Die in L.A." Possibly Wang Chung's best work, the actually pretty good movie went almost unseen, even though it featured Willem Dafoe, but this was before most people knew his name. Wang Chung had had two big, credible hits with "Don't Let Go" and most especially "Dance Hall Days," but the band lost momentum with the soundtrack and when they ultimately returned to the charts with "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" they were seen as a disposable pop band playing to the audience and the act was done, there was one more album, but it made no waves, it didn't radiate. (Sure, the act reunited decades later, but who doesn't?) And I recommend "To Live and Die in L.A." for the freeway chase and for the music, but... I'm just saying that Tom Petty was in a lull and it being the beginning of the internet era aficionados knew the band played for weeks at the Fillmore, but they never heard the music.

Until now.

Tom Petty is showing his roots.

This is how it worked. We were all listening to the radio before the Beatles hit, but when the lads from Liverpool broke we grew our hair, bought instruments and tried to replicate their sound and success. And most eventually gave up, but some soldiered on and succeeded, like Tom Petty. But those songs are embedded in all of our brains. Even more we have memories. Of school dances. Of bar mitzvahs. Where the local bands played the hits of the day. If you were there, you remember this vividly. And when listening to "Fillmore, 1997," one thing is for sure, Tom Petty was there too.

2

Most people did not know Van Morrison wrote "Gloria," never mind releasing the initial version with his band Them on Bang records. It got no airplay in America, maybe Tom knew it, after all he had that radio show about buried treasure, but the rest of us first heard the number in its cover version by the Shadows of Knight in the aforementioned '65. And not only was the track infectious, it was simple, you could play its indelible riff at home, AND WE ALL DID!

Yes, the Beatles' "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away"... There were certain staples, and "Gloria" was one of them. Listen today and the Shadows of Knight version sounds like garage rock, something Lenny Kaye would feature in a compilation album, but back then it sounded positively modern.

And dark.

That's one thing that's been lost in this century. The darkness. Actually, Tom Petty has a song "Straight Into Darkness." Our influences were English. A country which hadn't quite switched from black and white to color. Where it rained. A land that was more cerebral than physical. And we are living in a physical era today. For all the glorification of tech thinkers, it's got more to do with how you look, just check out social media.

And this darkness was a feature of Tom and the Heartbreakers from the very beginning, "American Girl" might be the song people remember most from the debut, but it's the quieter numbers that reached me, like "The Wild One, Forever," which is on this "Fillmore" set, and "Luna." The debut is less about a star and more about a fan with confidence making his statement.

Not that I want to minimize the contributions of the band. That's one thing about the mix, Benmont Tench really shines, and the dearly departed Howie Epstein too. As for Mike Campbell, without him is there a Tom Petty?

Now if you know your Petty history, the band broke first in the U.K. The debut made barely a dent in the U.S. until...the live version of "Breakdown." It started on the west coast, on the free format KROQ, and then spread to the traditional AORs, and then, eventually across the country. Let me put this in focus. The initial LP was released in November of '76 and I saw the band at the Whisky in August of the following summer and I had no problem getting a ticket. As a matter of fact, the mania didn't really hit until "Damn the Torpedoes."

Anyway, if you remember that live version of "Breakdown," it had an incredible groove, but it was the way Tom talked in the middle that put it over the top.

Like in "Gloria."

3

There are a ton of covers on "Fillmore, 1997." As a matter of fact, the set opens with a version of "Around and Around." Chuck Berry wrote it, but released it in 1958, and therefore many baby boomers had never been exposed to it, the first they heard it was on the second Rolling Stones album. And then there was that version that David Bowie did live at the end of the "Ziggy Stardust" shows. There's a movie and an album, but believe me when Bowie came out and sang the song with the houselights up at the Boston Music Hall...that's the definitive version for me.

The next cover is Little Richard's "Lucille," but I prefer the number that comes after it, "Call Me the Breeze." Sure, it was written by J.J. Cale, but the version most people heard first was the cover that closed Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Second Helping" back in 1974. Skynyrd may have been based in Jacksonville as opposed to Gainesville, but be sure Tom was aware of their cover, everybody who listened to the radio was, the performance here is an homage to his Florida compatriots.

And there's a cover of "Time Is on My Side." And even "You Are My Sunshine" and "Ain't No Sunshine." Even an almost unrecognizable at first version of "Friend of the Devil." The band kills on "You Really Got Me," almost as good as the Kinks' original, and that's saying something. And listening you wonder...how many times did Tom play this coming up?

And then GOLDFINGER?

James Bond is a joke now. Sure, Daniel Craig returned some gravitas, but you've got to know the real breakthrough was "Goldfinger." Almost nobody saw "Dr. No," "From Russia With Love" more and then..."Goldfinger" was a phenomenon! You sat in the theatre mouth agape, you took the film totally seriously, you weren't laughing, you could barely eat your popcorn, after all we were still in the cold war.

And speaking of instrumentals (there are no vocals on this version of "Goldfinger"), there's a take on "Green Onions," one thing is for sure, Tom Petty was addicted to the radio, that transistor we all possessed, the iPhone of its day.

But it's the run at the end of the package that is the piece-de-resistance. Starting with "Mary Jane's Last Dance," anything but a throwaway single from the greatest hits package.

Well, we can go back even further, "Shakin' All Over" and "Free Fallin'" precede "Mary Jane"...

But let's just start with the track after "Mary Jane," "Johnny B. Goode." EVERYBODY knew this number, if for no other reason than the Beach Boys' cover!

And then comes "SATISFACTION!" I'd like to tell you it's better than the Stones' version, but it's not. But it's so energetic and brief it leaves you wanting more.

And then a cover of the Stones' cover of the Bobby Womack song "It's All Over Now," even though for me the definitive version is Rod Stewart's on "Gasoline Alley."

The band is in the moment. It's not studied. They're playing on instinct. These numbers are in their DNA. And if you were conscious back in the mid-sixties they're in yours too.

In any event, as much energy has been expended previously, the band is building to a climax, and the following number is...

LOUIE LOUIE! Two songs that everybody played... "Wipe Out" on the drums, or the table at school, and "Louie Louie," which everybody was convinced had bad words that were slurred and buried so the track wouldn't be banned, there was no internet to verify this rumor back then. But everybody with a guitar played the chords to "Louie Louie" and...

"Gloria."

4

"Want to tell you about my baby
You know she come around"

The guitar is so right, so in the groove, you're jetted right back to then.

"About five feet four
From her head to the ground"

Today she'd be 5'10". Tall and skinny is everything. But most women are not skyscrapers, and most women are not that thin, the ideal was different back then, well, there was Twiggy, but not everybody wanted to be a model and if you were normal...you were desirable. (I'm gonna let you in on a little secret, you still are. Diet for your girlfriends, not the boys.)

And her name is...

G

L

O

R

I

A

GLORIA!

Eventually the audience sings along, but after this first rendition of the chorus the track breaks down, this is when Tom starts to tell the story. And it's not brief. And the audience is fully engaged. There's call and response vocals. You're just pissed that you're not there.

And she ignores him.

And now Tom is Tom, he's no longer in the Shadows of Knight, never mind in Belfast with Van Morrison.

And then Tom starts to pursue her, he's testing the limits, he keeps asking for her name. Gloria starts running away, but he won't let go, he keeps calling out to her. And twenty five years later all that's going through your brain is you can't get away with this anymore.

And then Gloria turns around and calls him a fool. Which blew my mind, because we never used this term up north, but my girlfriend from Tallahassee used it ALL THE TIME!

And now there's a conversation. She wants nothing to do with Tom, she wants a man with career opportunities, not a scruffy guy in sneakers.

And then Gloria busts him, asks him if he knows how politically incorrect it is to chase a woman down the street for her name. And Tom sheepishly admits he knows this, but he testifies as to being so overcome by her beauty and presence that he thought they could get something going on.

And now Gloria is in charge, she has the upper hand. She's got places to go and things to do, and certainly doesn't want a man who lays around the house all day playing cards. She continues to put him down. And then...

Tom regains his confidence, talks about having this rock and roll thing. He's got money coming in. As a matter of fact, he's got a show down at the Fillmore.

And then everything changed. She started to look at him in a different way.

That's the power of rock and roll. Not anymore, but back then. Before the internet. Before the billionaires. When rock stars were as rich as anybody, but even better they hewed to their own inner tuning fork and made their own rules, they were the essence of freedom, and they were artists, singing their songs.

And this is when the audience starts singing GLORIA! GLORIA! GLORIA!

It feels so good.

The band comes back in...

GLORIA...G-L-O-R-I-A!

And then there's that legendary riff, the one that closed the original record, albeit a bit extended, and then the song is over, WHEW!

The track ends and Tom Petty ascends into the stratosphere. He's no longer a seventies rocker, in the shadow of those from the sixties, rather he's a part of the firmament, their equal, with his face chiseled into the Mount Rushmore of rock.

5

I only found out about "Live at the Fillmore, 1997" Monday. It was not jammed down my throat. It's almost a stealth release. And it's made for the fans, not the gatekeepers. It's not about picking a single and promoting it to radio, it's about fans playing it and then continuing to play it when friends are over the house and the infection spreading like Covid. Only with music the infection never fades away.

"Live at the Fillmore, 1997" is really something, it's an achievement.

Trust me!

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Re-Paul Davis/Cool Night

Thank you for shining a light on the great Paul Davis. My mother Ilene Berns signed Paul to my father's Bang Records label shortly after his death in 1967, presiding over a decade of hits that included "Ride 'Em Cowboy," "Sweet Life" and "I Go Crazy," which once held the record for the longest chart run on the Billboard Hot 100. "Cool Night" and "65 Love Affair' were his last releases as a pop artist, after which he moved to Nashville and wrote a number of country hits for the likes of Tanya Tucker and Dan Seals. Paul was a true father figure to my siblings and I, and a musical genius the world knows little about. 

Born in Meridian, Mississippi in 1948, Paul had a regional hit with "Mississippi River" in 1969 that caught my mother's attention. She had inherited a label with no artists, as Van Morrison and Neil Diamond left Bang immediately after my father's death, and brought Paul up to New York City to record my dad's first hit, "A Little Bit of Soap," using the same studio musicians that my father worked with during his epic 7-year run. Too broke to pay Paul a signing bonus, she gave him my dad's convertible Jaguar XKE. Not long afterward, we moved south to Atlanta where my mother relocated Bang Records, built the legendary WEB IV Studios, and brought Paul to Georgia. The rest is history. Paul Davis would become one of the greatest singer-songwriters of his time.

Unfortunately, Paul's legacy is also among the most obscure of that era. Due to a fear of flying, he never properly toured. And a deep shyness kept him out of the public spotlight. Paul's sudden death a day after his 60th birthday put stop to his extraordinary musical output. But to those in the know, Paul Davis' expansive body of work is as rich and diverse as any of his peers. And like my father, who has been left out of the Song Hall, Paul Davis deserves to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Brett Berns
Director
BANG! The Bert Berns Story

________________________________________

Thank you for remembering the genius that was Paul Davis.

"I Go Crazy", "Ride 'em Cowboy", "65 Love Affair", "Cool Night"………..lot of hits there.

I had the pleasure of working "65 Love Affair"…………IF my memory is correct, it was originally "55 Love Affair"…..Clive got him to change it to 65.

Mike Bone

________________________________________

So great to remember Paul Davis. 

Paul was an incredibly generous and kind person. At the time in the late 70s and early 80s Atlanta was struggling to find its mark in the music recording business, but Paul and engineer/producer Ed Seay at Web IV Studios we're making a real go of it.

Web was just a few doors down from the studio I worked at, and it was a real treat to be able to ring the bell and be let, no matter what time of night it was. 

Later on I worked on some songs with his backing band. Paul came in to do some backing vocals and the vibe was just so incredibly pure, peaceful and REAL!  

He passed away too early in 2008, but his influence was so perfect. 

Will Eggleston

________________________________________

Paul was a quiet and shy guy. He is gone before his time. 

We sat in his Atlanta basement studio with Ed Seay, his friend and producer, and marveled at their artistry. 

Thanks for this, Bob. 

Jon Sinton

________________________________________

Here here Bob! I've been a songwriter/working musician for 40 years and there is something about
'Cool Night' that has always pulled me in...Like when it's 3:30 pm and your driving and you just have to have a Big Mac..you pull into the Mac drive through in your own guilty pleasure world, sit in the parking lot savouring every bite.  I never bought the record..I don't know anyone who did, but that song never gets switched when it comes on the radio...It has a secret sauce in it that is irresistible.  Most of my musician friends agree.  Simple soft rock genius.
Thanks for the piece
Geoff Gibbons
Vancouver BC

________________________________________

Today's message really struck me. In 1981, I was an "air personality" on an Indiana radio station (they didn't like the term "disc jockey" as all the music was on carts). I was thunderstruck by a woman I met at an event and we married just ten weeks later. "Cool Night" was in heavy rotation then. I worked my air shift on Friday and every listener knew I was getting married that night. As I came out of "Cool Night," I called my soon-to-be wife on the air to tell her the weather forecast for our honeymoon the next few days in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
 
Unfortunately, I had "Cool Night" on so loud over the studio speakers, she didn't hear me say, "We're going on the air…" and when I told her what the weather was going to be, she responded…live on air…"Honey, how much time are you planning to spend outside, anyway?"
 
I heard about that – and lines like "How 'cool' were your nights in Tennessee?" -- for the first year of our marriage!
 
Life changes. Paul Davis is gone, as you mentioned. My wife passed from cancer 25 years after our wedding. "I Go Crazy" is a Paul Davis song that helped get me through that.
 
We will all deal with loss. You don't "get over" it…you will "go crazy" from time to time…but you have to move forward. And music will help you do just that.
 
Scott McKain

________________________________________

Wow. What a flashback, Bob.

My parents would go out to dinner on Saturday nights, leaving kid me with a babysitter and a night of junk tv…

(CHiPs, Love Boat, Fantasy Island)…

Except "Solid Gold," which gave a suburban, budding musician in the making a listen to the current pop hits, and a peek at the coolest new keyboard gear.

("Who cared if they were lip-synching? Did you see that Prophet-5?" I would say in protest to my friends).

I remember this video like it was yesterday. It's still a great song. And he died way too soon.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=qfs82e7KHgo


Jon Regen

________________________________________

All of this is spot on!…particularly Steely Dan not being Yacht Rock (not a chance how did they ever get lumped into that) I'll fight people over this …lol

Christopher Cross' "Sailing" a song I may have despised in my youth, is in fact a Masterpiece upon reflection 

And album budgets!…back in my major label days we would send a band into the studio for months or at least a month, now as a label owner myself, we're lucky if we can do 7-10 days in the studio, but thanks to pre-production and home studios these days, sometimes that's enough…but to your point, no one is going in making Pet Sounds or or spending a day on the cymbal sounds anymore.

Best

Brian Hetherman 

Cerberus Mgmt / Curve Music

________________________________________

For those of us born in the late 60's to early 70's, soft rock/yacht rock music was a staple of our youth. We were trapped in the back of our parent's station wagon and we were constantly subjected to Ambrosia, Little River Band, Bread, and yes Paul Davis. We hated it at the time but it sunk in to our brains and it stuck. It stuck so well that now we subject our children to those same songs and they (begrudgingly) love them too. Songs like "Cool Night" are best enjoyed on a Sunday morning with fresh coffee and the New York Times. It's like a warm blanket. 

For your consideration this Sunday morning, I have this playlist that I made which is in the top 1% of the most popular on Spotify. It only has 500 likes which says something about user generated playlists on Spotify but I'm proud of it nonetheless. 

Thanks for a great post about the greatest guilty pleasure music ever. 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0qLPMlrbg525AoNJdCvaTy?si=tuXtPcPrQIe3NJNsbFEtzw

Alex Cobb

________________________________________

So you made me listen to I Go Crazy back to back with Same Old Lang Syne. It could be the same piano on both songs. They are as mushy as it gets but perfect nonetheless. Both Paul Davis and Dan Fogelberg died too young. 

Merck Mercuriadis

________________________________________

I grew up near Salem, Mass in the late 70s where there was nothing to do at night except cruise around with my friends and do bong hits. I drove a real s..tbox, but — bizarrely — it came with a Blaupunkt radio and quad speakers. My friends and I would drive to nowhere and back, going up and down the radio dial from WBCN to WAAF (I think those were the call letters), singing to Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, Humble Pie, Ten Years After. But when Toto came on the radio, we'd get quiet, hopefully we'd be driving on some country back road, and we'd all sing to ourselves. 

'Cool Night' ... I couldn't place it. Then I got to the lyrics at end of your email and I started singing out loud. I don't know why but it made me think of 'Guitar Man' by Bread, a song I used to sing while spinning in circles in a Big Wheel before I learned how to ride a bike. 

What a nice way to wake up. Thank you Bob. 

Pamela Harris

________________________________________

Wow man... 
46 + years in as a professional musician and you think I have thin skin and I am weak?? Like i cant stand the fire? Come the f..k on.....
Thanks for making me sound like a little baby dick. 

Steve Lukather

________________________________________

Can you imagine Paul Davis' career if he was not on Bang Records?
Stan Goman


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Modern Life

You think about politics all the time but you don't want to.

No matter how much money you make you feel like you're falling behind because of inflation.

You like that you can Google everybody you've ever known to find out what they're up to, but you don't want to contact them and you don't want them to contact you.

You watched so much streaming TV during lockdown that you're scrounging for quality new stuff but not finding it.

You cannot trust people's streaming TV recommendations. They've seen little, and what they've seen they always say they loved.

If you haven't seen "Game of Thrones" you're considered defective. I know, because I haven't.

You can't wait for driverless cars, even more you can't wait to not own a car at all, to just have one show up at your doorstep when you need to go somewhere.

Want more human contact, but don't want to leave the house to get it.

Are addicted to something online that you don't want to tell anybody about.

Keep going back to the old and familiar because life today is just too complicated, with too many offerings and choices.

You not only ignore the advertising by the big companies, but the advertising of the online influencers. Your most trusted source on products is Amazon reviews.

Hate the airlines, the whole experience of flying, from gate to gate.

Are worried about speaking your truth to an unknown person for fear they might become violent.

Have thought about not going someplace because of potential crime.

Hear most about climate change from polluters.

Wish there was a musician who you could follow for insight and advice but can't find one. The rock musicians of yore were sages. The pop musicians of today are empty vessels whoring themselves out to the highest bidder.

Have the history of recorded music at your fingertips, but find it nearly impossible to discover new music that you like.

Are worried to say you have anything and have gone anywhere for fear you'll be criticized by those who have not. Unless you're super-wealthy and live in a bubble where you never encounter those without.

Are sick of hearing what the billionaires think.

Don't want to get Covid, even though you think you'll survive.

Are sick of ignorance, or are ignorant. Furthermore those most confident in their opinions are those who know the least.

Keep being told to buy new tech products when the old still work just fine.

Are on backlash against the health nuts. As my doctor told me, is life worth living if you can't eat a donut?

You feel inadequate.

You crave humanity yet hate humanity.

You live for the unexpected.

Are sick of hearing about people's pedigrees, where they went to college, who their friends are, their advantages...what has that got to do with who you really are?

Everybody wants to be famous, but you can be famous and not rich and fame lasts for a shorter period of time than ever before.

The company does not want you on its payroll. They want you to be an independent contractor, yet pledge undying fealty when in truth they'll axe your ass on a whim.

The financialization of everything drives you wild. Wall Street owns the parking meters, the residential market, it seems like everybody's getting rich from everyday things except you.

You're sick of the Luddites. Life has been moving at warp speed for thirty years yet there are people still wanting to go back to the past, which is never returning.

You're sick of people criticizing online addiction/behavior when in truth these oldsters, and they're all oldsters, would have been addicted to these same gadgets if they were young themselves.

There are so many concerts in your city that it's all just become a blur. You used to want to see all of them, now you wonder if you should see any of them.

Are sick of people telling you how to improve yourself...what to eat, what to think, as if everybody on earth is a therapist and what works for one person will work for another when this is patently untrue.

Love that you never have to be bored, a plethora of stimulation is at your fingertips. However, you might be one of only a few consuming it. So if you want to talk about it with your friends...

Don't understand why people still go to the movies, unless they're young and need to get out of the house and/or are on a date. We live in an on demand culture and movies have specific starting times that never fit into your schedule and if you do go you end up wasting so much time in the process.

Realize that time is the only true commodity and you don't want to waste it.

You feel priced out of something.

There is a club, but you feel like you're not in it, and no matter what you do you will never become a member.

Are told there's always something better around the corner, to be nimble and move on when in truth there is so much power in perseverance, staying the course, it's just that it's not sexy.

You know that almost all actors are empty vessels. The internet has revealed this.

Are unaware of who the people in the gossip columns are, and it's not only the oldsters, the youngsters don't know who they are either.

Hear everybody talking about SNL but you don't even know who the host is. Oh, you read their name, but then ask yourself WHO?

Credibility is expendable. This is the head-scratching part of politics, elected officials with no backbone who will say and do whatever is expedient.

You know more people than ever, are in contact with more people than ever, but are constantly worried about who you can trust.

Are either smoking marijuana and have bought into the cannabis is king and will solve all your problems mania or have not, there's no in between.

Have friends giving you crackpot medical theories, as if medical school teaches you falsehoods. And the wealthier and more educated they are, the crazier the theories.

Don't have a CD player in the house.

Probably don't have a DVD player either.

Check your smartphone first thing when you wake up in the morning.

You keep being told what to do and you don't do it.

Love to disconnect, but it's harder than ever to do.


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Cool Night

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3XtsPXv

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F1uo7U


1

I'm trying to remember where I heard "'65 Love Affair." I mean it was a pop hit, and I never listened to AM radio. And then I remembered, back in the early eighties, when MTV broke, there was a new phenomenon, Top Forty on FM radio. Actually, it was a masterstroke, because the AOR stations were long in the tooth, set in their ways, and people were ready for something different, ergo KROQ, the ROQ of the Eighties, and I'm trying to remember the call letters, which I can't, but I'm pretty sure the number was 100.3. And in the days of old you used to drive in your car pushing the buttons looking for music, something you wanted to stay on, something you didn't want to instantly push away from. Sure, I had cassettes in the glovebox, but there was an immediacy of radio, back when we were all kind of on the same page and you could feel plugged in, now you listen to a podcast and don't worry about anybody else.

"You sang do wop diddy wop diddy wop doo"

There used to be nonsense lyrics, especially in the early sixties, but even "The Boxer" had "lie-la-lie," I always thought I just wasn't catching the words, the single came out before the track appeared on the album "Bridge Over Troubled Water."

And then there's the Beach Boys records and...

There was a sunniness to sixties AM stuff, before we all switched to FM and album rock at the end of the decade. And sure, there were some mindless tracks, but there were also some meaningful ones too.

"If I could go back again
Well I know I'd never let you go
Back with some of my friends
To that wonderful
'65 love affair"

Actually, those days weren't so great. I don't want to go back, whether it be with Eddie Money or anybody else. But there are some flashes, some memorable moments that come back when I hear songs like "'65 Love Affair." I did have a '65 love affair, with Jill at Camp Laurelwood. I looked her up online decades ago. She was instantly recognizable, she still looks the same. Not that I'm gonna make contact. This was long before Facebook, when everybody came out of the woodwork, became available, in the late nineties and early part of this century the internet was still new, not everybody was findable, but I still looked for all of 'em. But never made contact with any of them.

"If I could go back in time
Well, I know somehow you'd still be mine"

Actually, I doubt it. I stole her from Jimmy, and it wasn't long after camp closed that she went back to him. But she's part of my history.

Anyway, you know how it is with records, certain ones infect you and others do not, and we're always looking for those that do, and it's got little to do with expectations, little to do with what others say, we just know it when we hear it, like porn, like that old, and he was old, Supreme Court Justice said.

But Paul Davis... Wasn't he some smooth popster? Could I really like a record by Paul Davis? But then I saw the album in the promo bin, one of the advantages of living in Los Angeles, and I bought it, and I'd play the track and it would always make me feel good.

2

"It's gonna be a cool night"

You know, the kind of night when they're playing tennis in "Goodbye Columbus," during the summer, maybe late spring, when you might need a light jacket, if that, when the evening is full of possibilities.

So we were driving back from Thanksgiving at Monica's listening to Yacht Rock Radio on SiriusXM. Felice leans towards the soft rock sound, but I dig it too. I quibble with some of the choices, I thought the term was supposed to be a pejorative, Steely Dan yacht rock? I don't think so.

But if you do hear Christopher Cross's "Sailing" you'd be stunned how good it sounds today.

And Felice was driving, and she switches stations if she doesn't like something, and I saw in the readout that the next song was "Cool Night" and I immediately said I LOVE THIS SONG, both excited it was playing and sending a subconscious message not to change the channel.

"Come on over tonight
Come on over"

I realized they don't cut music like this anymore, we haven't only lost the classic rock sound, but soft rock, and despite all the put-downs, a lot of soft rock is damn good. I know Steve Lukather has a thin skin, so many people laying hate on on Toto, but in truth I turn the same station up every time I hear "99," and that's not the only one.

And yacht rock was never about slumming, the obligatory hair ballad on a hard rock record, the legendary example being Extreme and "More Than This," rather these were soft rock artists, this was their oeuvre.

Now one thing about soft rock, it was never cut on a budget. It took money and expertise to make the sound smooth, this was not a one take enterprise, labor was involved. So soft rock does not have the edge of Nirvana, never mind the sixties acts, but it was an outgrowth, a progression from what came before. The acts had grown up with the Beatles, they knew you had to write your own songs, so people would believe what you were singing, and you'd should be able to play too, if it was a studio concoction we were not interested, there was still some of that, but don't confuse that was the soft rock sound, which had a place in the firmament, even its own station in L.A., KNX, 93.1.

"Come on over tonight
Come on over"

Tonight these words resonated like they never have before. No one comes over anymore, certainly not unannounced. And I'm no longer in my twenties or early thirties, with those love affairs you thought might be something more, urging or being urged to come over. And that feeling, of nascent love, that's a cool night, that's soft rock.

"And now summer's come and gone
And the nights they seem so long"

This is a late fall/winter song. The light is fading and so is your mood, you start reminiscing about the past.

"Oh, I won't talk about the past
How love's supposed to last forever"

Wait, this is a set-up.

"And you don't have to take a stand
Lay out any plans
Come on over tonight
Come on over"

This is a booty call song! That's not the way I've always heard it. Like I wrote above, I always thought it was about possibilities, the future, but really it's about one last go-round before you part forever, or do it once again some time in the indeterminate future.

So what we've got here is desire.

And really, that's the feel of the song.

And whether that desire is consummated or not does not matter, it's all about how the record affects you. And when I was listening to "Cool Night" tonight it set me free, the layers of frustration, that feeling of the world pressing in, all faded away. It was palpable. I started singing along. It made me think of the aforementioned possibilities, which is an optimism people my age have a hard time embracing, they're on the downhill slide, their lives are set in stone, they're just waiting to die.

And Paul Davis is dead, of a heart attack, long before his time. But "Cool Night" is positively alive, still ready to soothe and inspire. And when it does that it makes you happy, and it doesn't matter how anybody else feels, you're in your own mental bubble, nothing can go wrong in your world.

"It's gonna be a cool night
Just let me hold you by the firelight
If it don't feel right, you can go"

Yes, my mood is good. I don't want you to impinge upon my trip. But if you want to join in, bond and have fun, I'm here to welcome you. Cast aside all your prejudices, your judgments, no one is watching, you might wear leather and studs outside, but inside, especially with your honey, by the firelight, this music just makes you feel good.

"It's gonna be a cool night..."

P.S. I looked it up, it was KIQQ, 100.3.


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Steve Schnur-This Week's Podcast

Talking to Electronic Arts' President of Music Steve Schnur was the highlight of my week, and I'm not even a gamer! It made me excited about music. It made me envy his job. Listen and you'll get excited too! (And learn plenty!)

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/steve-schnur-105066196/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/steve-schnur/id1316200737?i=1000587378962

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2kDSD2feoDe2H7Y8apkUYI?si=P93FGL9TRx2Sh5i3vn3aXg

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/d93ef79a-d78d-4f49-b709-2a74cf487776/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-steve-schnur

https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/episode/steve-schnur-208922989


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Destination Ski Resorts In The West

People e-mail me asking where they should book their ski vacation. So I'm putting down my thoughts. If you are not a skier, you can just ignore this. Then again, I advise all to ski (or snowboard), because of the inherent freedom involved. You're out in the mountains sliding at the limit of your ability and you'll get a zing and only that zing, because if you think about anything else, you fall. Skiing was hip in the sixties and seventies, now it's a mature sport. However, if you haven't skied this century, come back. The equipment is much easier to use.

Also, if you are considering going on a vacation ski trip, it's best to buy a pass. Usually break even is only five days. Find out if your desired resort is on either the Epic or Ikon passes and purchase accordingly. But do it SOON, because the deadlines are almost here. Trust me, you'll save A LOT of money. Also, you'll never have to debate whether to go out on an iffy day. Since you have the pass, you can make just a few runs, hang out in the lodge and not be worried about getting your money's worth.

UTAH

I put Utah first because it's got the most guaranteed snow.

In Little and Big Cottonwood Canyons, and that caveat is very important.

ALTA

It's old school. A handful of lodges and no nightlife. Alta is for skiers, and only skiers, no snowboarders allowed. Alta has the best powder snow IN THE WORLD!

You see Alta is located at the end of Little Cottonwood Canyon. So, storms come across the Great Salt Lake, the moisture is removed and then the clouds get caught in the canyon and it dumps and dumps and dumps. Sometimes four or five inches an hour. If powder is your thing, Alta is the place to go, unless you go to...

SNOWBIRD

Now there's a joint pass, so you can ski both, but really the resorts have different vibes. If you're old school, go to Alta, if you're new school, go to Snowbird.

Snowbird, with its brutalist architecture, is much newer than Alta. There's a bit more nightlife, but not much. But at Snowbird, which is just down the canyon from Alta, there is no hiking involved. That's the dirty little secret of Alta, to get to the best stuff you have to traverse and oftentimes hike. Snowbird is easier that way. However, there's almost no easy skiing at Snowbird, so unless you're at least a high intermediate, really an expert, you belong at Alta.

SOLITUDE/BRIGHTON

Solitude and Brighton are in Big Cottonwood Canyon, over the ridge, just north of Little Cottonwood Canyon. At this point most people would say Big Cottonwood gets the same snow as Little Cottonwood, but it used to be debated heavily.

Brighton is really a day resort, with few steeps. Solitude has more steeps, and there is some overnight lodging, but really, locals like Brighton and if you're going to go to Solitude you probably don't even need to read this, it's your desired place.

PARK CITY/DEER VALLEY

Park City is the largest ski resort in the U.S., but to access all that terrain you've got to do a hell of a lot of traversing. The snow at Park City is plentiful and good, but both Park City and Deer Valley get hundreds of inches less than the resorts in Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons. First and foremost, their altitude is lower. Also, there is no canyon, the clouds don't get trapped.

There are no snowboarders at Deer Valley, but there is first class infrastructure and the best food of any ski resort in the States, really. And I'll never forget the buffet lunch at the Stein Eriksen Lodge. The ski area is kind of weird, in that you go up and go down and most runs are not that long and there is no difficult skiing involved, but it is a fun place.

But both Park City and Deer Valley are adjacent to the town of Park City, which existed before the ski resorts, which has many restaurants and shops and nightlife and... If that's what you're looking for, maybe Park City/Deer Valley is your place. After all, the lure of Park City and Deer Valley is that they're so close to the Salt Lake City airport, and the road essentially never closes. Yes, you can go to Alta or Snowbird and the road can close for four days because of avalanche danger. Which is why you want to stay up in the canyon, sometimes the lifts are closed and there is skiing available. But if you want to stay in Salt Lake and sample, there are days you might not be able to make it to Alta and Snowbird. The canyon doesn't close every day, but it happens a number of times during the winter.

SNOWBASIN

An amazing ski area owned by Sun Valley. An incredible amount of fun, but NO LODGING! And it's a bit north. Don't put it first on your list, but it's worth a trip after you've been to Utah a few times. There is marble in the bathrooms, the food is excellent, and so is the lift system. However, the altitude is lower than the aforementioned canyons and there's not a lot of seriously difficult skiing unless you hike, and even if you do, it's not long.

IDAHO

SUN VALLEY

Sun Valley was the first western destination ski resort, but unless you go there, you don't really understand it.

First and foremost, Sun Valley doesn't get much snow. Which is why you want to go there late in the season, February or March. However, because of this Sun Valley has an incredible snowmaking system. So there is always skiing.

There is the town of Ketchum, but in reality Sun Valley is a haven of wealthy home owners. There used to be business districts in Elkhorn and Warm Springs, but those evaporated.

Now if it sounds like I'm trashing Sun Valley, I'm not. Because in truth, Sun Valley is the best ski mountain in America...BECAUSE THERE ARE NO FLAT SPOTS! Yes, 3000' of vertical, no place to rest unless you stop. And Sun Valley is not ultra-steep, but it's steeper than most ski areas. Dollar Mountain across the way is good for beginners and park rats, but if you're not that good a skier, maybe you should wait to go to Sun Valley. There's nothing like Sun Valley, but don't make it your first trip, and beware of the amount of snow.

MONTANA

It's cold and oftentimes the altitude is not that high.

BIG SKY

Being modernized, but still not in the league of most other resorts.

Big Sky is widespread, and some of the altitude is too low, however, Big Sky has an amazing amount of truly serious skiing. Stuff that might scare you, that is truly experts only. Having said that, Big Sky is the rockiest ski resort I've ever been too. You'll trash your skis. Then again, the new Montana tuning machines can work wonders. Go to Big Sky after you've been most every other place.

WHITEFISH

Used to be called "Big Mountain," now is being modernized. Altitude is not high, but being this far north snow is good. They're making a bid for the big leagues, but put Whitefish down the list unless you've been to a bunch of other places. There is a town, but it's not adjacent to the ski area, you need a car.

WYOMING

JACKSON HOLE

Big mountain skiing. The only ski area in the States that resembles skiing in Europe. However, beware, the base altitude is 6,000', which is two thousand, sometimes even three thousand, less than in Colorado. Meaning when it starts to get warm, it can be slushy. However, the vertical drop is insane. It's 4,139 feet, I've never forgotten it. There are steeps galore. In truth Big Sky has stuff that rivals Jackson, but there are fewer cliffs. Everybody has got to go to Jackson once. They've been on a consistent run of good snow years, but historically it can be thin in the early season. As for nightlife, there is some in Teton Village, and Jackson is a short drive away... But make no mistake, this is not Aspen or Vail, people who go to Jackson Hole are skiers.

NEW MEXICO

TAOS

Super steep, super high and oftentimes the snow is thin. This is an expert's paradise. Once again, don't put it at the top of your list, but if it's later in the season and there's snow, you might want to go. And don't confuse the Ski Valley with the town. There is an access road between the two, you can drive down for the night, but you won't want to.

CALIFORNIA

All the hype is about Tahoe, but the cognoscenti know it's really about Mammoth. BECAUSE OF THE ALTITUDE!

MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN

Mammoth is at 8,000', like the Colorado ski areas. Therefore it essentially never rains. Mammoth is a mediocre destination resort, there is a town, but it's not homey and it's not lift-adjacent, but...THE SKIING IS WORLD CLASS! There are steeps at Mammoth that will pucker your...

California snow is different from that at the rest of the resorts listed. Not only is it heavy and wet, it's very intermittent. It'll snow 60", and then not snow for weeks. But it snows so much at Mammoth that you can always ski to Memorial Day, oftentimes July 4th, and I've done it. May is my favorite time of year at Mammoth.

TAHOE

It's almost two thousand feet lower in altitude than Mammoth. Therefore, you can get rain. However, you can sometimes get a bit more snow than Mammoth.

SQUALLYWOOD/PALISADES TAHOE

Yes, there is incredibly challenging terrain at what used to be called Squaw Valley. But there is also the San Francisco weekend crowd.

You know if you need to go to Squaw. It's about big mountain skiers. They're either here or at Jackson Hole.

And now there's a gondola over the ridge to Alpine Meadows...

Alpine Meadows is mellower, more family oriented.

NORTHWOODS

For families. Unlike Palisades Tahoe, it's below treeline. If you have young kids, it's a good place.

HEAVENLY

It's not Squaw/Alpine/Palisades Tahoe, but it is big and there is plenty of skiing, but plenty of traversing too. However, Heavenly is right by the city, there's even a gondola from downtown. So if you like to gamble...

KIRKWOOD

Not right on the lake, and also as high as Mammoth, but there is no infrastructure, you drive there every day. But there are serious steeps and...

Really, Tahoe can be iffy, especially these past few years, when snow has been light. Don't put Tahoe first. And don't put Mammoth first either. However, you know if you have to go to either, you don't need me to advise you.

COLORADO

This is the big kahuna, Colorado gets the most press. Does it deserve it?

Well, the snow is not quite as good as it is in Little Cottonwood Canyon. You're likely to have lighter powder in Sun Valley than in Colorado. However, there's tons of infrastructure and LONG RUNS, longer than any other state on this list. And they can be fun. And all the altitudes are high and...

KEYSTONE

Originally built by Ralston Purina, it's now part of Vail.

Keystone is close to Denver, so it gets more crowded than what is west.

The layout is weird. There's a front face, and then two peaks behind it.

But the dirty little secret is, like Sun Valley, Keystone just doesn't get that much snow. One-third less than its compatriots in Colorado. Family-oriented. I would not put at the top of your list.

BRECKENRIDGE

Vies with Vail for the most visitations a year.

Now there is a town of Breckenridge. That existed before the ski area. There is one street with more than Park City, and unlike the main street in Park City, it's not on a hill, it's flat.

The skiing...

Well, you can take a gondola up from the town...

Here's the story with Breckenridge. It's known for being windy, and it's also cold and it's more wide than tall, but...

Each peak has a different character, there's a ton of interesting skiing. And now there is the Imperial Express, the U.S.'s highest lift, peaking at just under 13,000'. Yes, the views are incredible, but so is the skiing. The top of Breck, except right under the Imperial Express, is serious. There's great stuff sans hiking, and even better stuff if you do hike, not that you have to hike that far.

People love Breck because it's relatively close to Denver, you only have to go over one pass. And there's the town... You really can't go wrong with Breck.

COPPER MOUNTAIN

Gets little mention and little respect, but Copper is AMAZING! The runs are long, there's tons of terrain for every ability, and the bowls in the back rival the top of Mammoth, and then there's Three Bears...

The only problem with Copper is that there's not much infrastructure at the base. Oh, there are hotels, but it's not like Breck. Although if you have a car, it's just a hop to Frisco. But you probably don't want to have a car.

I can wax rhapsodic about Copper. Ski there once and you will too!

VAIL

#1. But also the ski area with the most blowback. Stay away, that's fine with me.

What you have to know about Vail is it's got the best infrastructure of any ski area in the U.S. All the lifts are high speed, ALL OF THEM! (Well, except for a couple of short beginner chairs.) Getting around Vail is incredibly easy, and far from complicated.

Also, Vail is all connected, you can go from one end to another without taking off your skis.

And then there are the bowls. Yes, cut your tea cup in half and stick it in the mountain. Actually, there is a Tea Cup Bowl!

There are seven bowls and they span a five mile ridge.

And behind them, there is Blue Sky Basin. Which is an area with more trees, a more natural feel.

What is the downside of Vail? It's not steep, there is truly no expert terrain. Oh, there are a couple of short cliffs, but the difficulty of Vail is not in the league of Snowbird, not even Sun Valley. So if you're an intermediate, Vail is paradise. Also, since Vail is so vast, powder lasts longer than it does in Little Cottonwood Canyon. You can get powder all day, but ultimately you'll be in the trees. And you're lucky if you get two completely untracked runs. But true skiers know the best powder days are storm days.

And there is a village right adjacent to the ski lifts. It's purpose built, it's ersatz, but there are a ton of restaurants and shops and some nightlife, but not in the league of Aspen.

Once again, forget the pictures, if you know Vail you essentially never have to stand in line. And the pics you see are of powder days. Yes, on a powder day people line up at the gondola hours in advance of opening, but there is another gondola in Lionshead and a chair on Golden Peak that also provide access. And if you ski down the original bowls, Sun Down and Sun Up, which you've also seen in the pics, they've put in a new high speed lift this season to alleviate the wait. But, if you're there on a fresh powder day... I start with the frontside, because everybody goes to the back. And then I go to Tea Cup or China Bowl, and eventually Blue Sky Basin. Those who don't know the map are those who stand in line. As for the line at Chair 4 when you get off Gondola One... Well, now the lift is a sixpack, and the line moves much faster, but the trick is to ski down to Chair 10, which never ever has a line, which will take you up to Northwoods and deposits you right at the bottom of 14, which will take you to the back.

Is Vail my favorite ski area? No. But it's where we're located, and it's where I've skied most. And Vail comes with a ton of advantages, like all those high speed lifts and the Bowls and...there is truly only one Vail. (One more thing. Vail is closer to Denver than Aspen, assuming you're driving. But the Vail airport in Eagle is a half hour away from the ski area. But Eagle is lower and closes a lot less for weather than the Aspen airport, which is right in town.)

BEAVER CREEK

Right next door to Vail. Beaver Creek is the anti-Vail. Even though Beaver Creek skier Peter Tempkins always talks about the snootiness of Vail, the truth is Beaver Creek is more upscale. That's not just my opinion, you'll see it in all the literature.

Beaver Creek has no bowls, but it has more serious skiing than Vail. The bump runs on Grouse Mountain are iconic. And they hold the World Cup on the Birds of Prey, which is only scary steep at the very top, the part known as "The Brink."

There's a ton of skiing at Beaver Creek. Some at a lower altitude, so there's an issue of amount and slush, and the village is upscale and you can also stay in Bachelor Gulch, but there is no nightlife...

Beaver Creek is for families and locals. It's not Vail, but it's something.

ASPEN

The original. It used to be everybody's first stop. And if it's not your first, it should be your second.

First there's the town, the best ski town in America. Having said that, it's no longer the seventies. There are too many upscale shops and too many frou-frou bogus ultra-rich people, but if you want restaurants and nightlife, this is the place. But just like in Vail, MAKE RESERVATIONS

There are four ski areas in Aspen, let me delineate them for you.

AJAX

This is what all the locals call the mountain that rises right out of town. People say it's not that big, that unlike Sun Valley the runs don't go straight downhill without flat spots, but one thing is for sure, the runs at Ajax have CHARACTER!

Sun Valley and Ajax are my two favorite mountains in America.

But there are caveats...

There is absolutely no easy skiing on Ajax, if you are a beginner, do not go there.

Some of the most difficult skiing is at the bottom, and a lot of snow is needed to cover the rocks and the steeps.

Ajax, now called Aspen Mountain by the Ski Company, does not have the steeps of Snowbird, Palisades Tahoe, Jackson Hole or Big Sky, but believe me, it's plenty steep. An amazing ski area.

SNOWMASS

Ersatz Vail.

If you're staying in Snowmass, you're almost a half an hour away from the action. If you want to go to Aspen for the full experience, do not stay in Snowmass.

The ski area is vast, but most of the runs have no character.

I'm not complaining, I love the Coney Glade area, but all the hype about Snowmass... I don't get it. Skiing is skiing, but...

There used to be no steeps, now there's Hanging Valley, but the runs are not long.

The Big Burn is overrated. It's cool, but it's pretty flat.

There's a ton of skiing at Snowmass, it's just if you want this skiing experience, go to Vail.

ASPEN HIGHLANDS

Ah, the old days. When it was independent and the only area in Aspen with a full-time pass. It was the locals' heaven.

Aspen Highlands is a weird ski area. It's built on a ridge, it's very long, but very narrow.

And despite its reputation, there is tons of intermediate skiing, but even more difficult skiing, REALLY DIFFICULT SKIING, at Aspen Highlands.

Used to be the most difficult run was Moment of Truth, but then...

They opened up and built a lift over in what is now called Deep Temerity. Yes, it used to be considered too steep to ski.

And yes, you can hike up to the Bowl. But it's not for punters, the altitude is extremely high and it's not a walk in the park.

BUTTERMILK/TIEHACK

The teaching mountain, the beginner's area, although you can say the same thing about Snowmass.

But Buttermilk is much less crowded.

The secret of Buttermilk is the Tiehack side, the "expert" side. It's really intermediate, and in the old days the lift was interminable, but now with the high speed... Tiehack is a lot of fun.

So, if you go to Aspen, you want to ski Ajax, Snowmass and Highlands. They're all on the same pass. Buttermilk/Tiehack is only for beginners or those who've been to the other mountains and want another experience.

The downside of Aspen is it is not convenient. Even if you're in town, only a couple of hotels are so close that you want to walk to the lifts.

And there's a great bus system, that will take you to the other resorts, but it is not Vail, which is light years more convenient. But, Aspen is real in a way that Vail is not.

And a car is convenient, but parking can be hell.

TELLURIDE

The most screwed-up lift system extant. You have to take multiple chairs to get where you want to go.

The front side is mega-steep, like Sun Valley, but at points even steeper. It's amazing. As for all those extreme areas... You've got to hike to them, and you're probably not gonna.

But Telluride has the town, which is like Aspen back in the seventies, it's too far off the beaten path to be inundated with chain stores.

And, if you stay in Mountain Village over the ridge, where the easy skiing is located, there's an all day, almost all night, gondola that will take you into town, it's really convenient.

But having said all this... Like Keystone, Telluride does not get as much snow as the rest of the Colorado resorts. You don't want to go there early in the season, steep runs need a lot of snow.

Telluride is not the first place you should ski in Colorado, but you should make a trip.

CRESTED BUTTE

Also doesn't get that much snow. More than Keystone, but in the 200 inch range, as opposed to Vail's 350".

Crested Butte's rep has been built on its expert terrain, which is truly expert. It's not just rawly steep, like Big Sky...there are trees and cliffs... You know if you have to go ski the North Face at Crested Butte, it's a bucket list item for truly expert skiers.

And the village of Crested Butte that is adjacent to the ski area is not the town of Crested Butte, miles down the road, where the action is...

Crested Butte is not the first place you want to go.

STEAMBOAT

It's over a thousand feet lower than Vail, and two thousand less than the Summit County resorts of Keystone, Breckenridge and Copper, so sometimes in the spring you get rain at the bottom, but...

For some reason Steamboat usually gets more snow than all of the above ski areas. It's a big mountain, and they're improving the infrastructure, but don't forget, the town is miles away.

THE WILD CARD

WHISTLER/BLACKCOMB

Two incredible mountains with extremely low altitudes and variable weather.

Whistler is almost 6,000' lower than Vail!

Which means... It can rain at the bottom, and there are issues of snow at the bottom...

If you hit Whistler/Blackcomb when it's right, it'll blow your mind. But I've been there four times, and it was only right once. Two times it rained. One time the entire four days I was there except for a few hours one night.

Don't get drawn into the Whistler/Blackcomb hype. Best to go in January or February when the temperatures are low and there's more snow. Or, like Mammoth, very late in the season.

The hype is about glacier at the top of Blackcomb, which is very cool, however it's the bowls at the top of Whistler that'll blow your mind. I thought Harmony Bowl was a breakthrough, but then they added Symphony. The maps don't do these bowls justice, they're gigantic.

There's tons of skiing at Whistler/Blackcomb, but there can be rain and fog too.

Yes, you don't have to acclimatize to the altitude, but do you want to take the weather risk?

THE REST OF CANADA

Unless you're Canadian, hit the U.S. resorts first.

CONCLUSION

Assuming there is snow everywhere, which is not always the case, but this year has started out strong, if you're looking for it all, skiing, restaurants, night life...

1. Go to Park City/Deer Valley or Colorado. The plus of Park City/Deer Valley is accessibility, the closeness to the Salt Lake airport. And if you go, do not stay at the Canyons end of the Park City ski area, you want to be in town. And if you want to go luxe, and you're not a snowboarder, Deer Valley is great, but you've got to get a ride into town. Park City and Deer Valley are right next to each other, but they are not connected.

2. Colorado...
Really, start with Aspen or Vail. If you're young and hip, want to challenge yourself with terrain, and are not bothered by some inconveniences, go to Aspen. It's four and a half hours from Denver, there are no day skiers...it's the experience you've read about and want.
But if you're more into convenience, if you want to be on the same mountain as the rest of your family and friends so you can meet up for lunch or a few runs, go to Vail. And, if you want bowls, Vail is the only place you can get them.

3. Colorado-2

Steamboat or Breckenridge. But Steamboat is harder to get to if you drive, you've got to go over Rabbit Ears Pass.

4. Colorado-3

If you want luxe, if you want to be pampered, if you don't want to be overrun by the hoi polloi, then go to Beaver Creek.

5. Colorado -4

If you're a skier first and foremost, and don't really care about the apres-ski world... You'll be happy at Copper, believe me.

6. Colorado-5

Go to Telluride before Crested Butte, but don't make either of them your first trip.

7. Colorado-6

Keystone... If you favor convenience, if you've got a family...

THE REST

Jackson Hole is a bucket list item. There's much more easy skiing than there used to be, but really, to get the most out of Jackson, you want to be an expert. You won't be disappointed.

But if you're that hard core of a skier, go to Alta and Snowbird before Jackson Hole. The snow is better, if for no other reason than the altitude... It's a different experience, but really, go to Alta and Snowbird first.

And if your goal is to challenge yourself and you've hit the above areas, then go to Big Sky. Actually, Big Sky's population draws from the midwest first and foremost, Minnesotans drive there.

Sun Valley... Never make it your first choice. When you're ready for something different, if you love groomers... At some point, everybody has to go to Sun Valley, it's just a matter of when.

I'd go to Whistler/Blackcomb before Mammoth, but I wouldn't make either my first trip. Honestly, Mammoth is a suburb of L.A., and you'll feel it, so unless you're going for the skiing...

Tahoe... When there is snow you can put it close to the top of the list, but the issue is snow. Most trips are booked long in advance, but if you can wait until the last minute...

Of course there are many more specifics. Like Corbet's Couloir at Jackson Hole, you can't truly call yourself an expert until you've dropped in successfully.

And Mary Jane at Winter Park has legendary bumps, but really it's Denver's local area, kind of like Mammoth, but a lot closer to the city.

And everybody wants to say they've skied Vail's bowls and Blue Sky Basin, and you'll want to say this too. Aspen is cooler, but the only truly legendary runs are the Bowl, which you have to hike to, and the Burn, which is good, but not as great as they say it is.

Snow is everything. Without it you've got no ski vacation.

If you're taking non-skiers along, you must be somewhere where there is a town, like Aspen, Vail and possibly Telluride, maybe Park City.

Don't be esoteric, don't try to game the system, start with Aspen or Vail, unless you're a truly expert skier, then you can start with Alta/Snowbird.

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Neil Young On The Zach Sang Show

"Neil Young Talks World Record, Harvest 50th Anniversary, Elon Musk, Joni Mitchell & Climate Change": https://bit.ly/3XpRPii

You've got to listen to this.

I'd never even heard of this guy Zach Sang before today, but this interview was referenced in my Twitter feed.

I know, I should delete my account. But you've got to realize, I'm a writer, I'm at home, this is my socialization. I'm not in the halls at school, not in the office... Actually, over the weekend I had to watch the SiriusXM sexual harassment video, and during the hour and twenty minutes it took me to do so I realized I could never work in an office. Oh, I could work in an office, I'm not afraid of adhering to the rules, it's just that I'm not good at playing the game. You know, the ass-kissing, the politics. And I can't see being a cog in the machine, makes no sense to me. I've got to BELIEVE in my work.

Have you been reading the latest take on Elon Musk? How this is how he always does it, comes in, cleans house and then makes everybody work 24/7? Why can't people just give up, why do they have to believe in him, he's just human. But my point here is when Tesla hit crunch time, when the company was on the ropes, when they had to push out the Model 3, everybody was on a mission, they were willing to work around the clock, they were going to change the world. And they did, the rest of the auto industry followed in Tesla's footsteps, whether Tesla itself sustains or not. But do the employees truly believe in the mission of Twitter? What exactly IS the mission of Twitter?

And actually, Neil Young talks about Musk, calls him a genius, but then takes a swipe at him re Tesla, saying Musk just glommed on to an already existing enterprise and...

So I saw this tweet that took me to a video and Neil Young was saying...don't work unless there's an inspiration.

Actually, I found the clip, on TikTok, the one that got me to listen to the entire interview, watch it here: https://bit.ly/3Vo0XCb

And it's not a big investment, it's only fourteen seconds, but it's the best thing I've heard about creativity this year!

You know when you do something great. And if you don't, you never have. And it always happens as a result of a lightning bolt, you're energized and have to do it right then, or you lose it. Sitting down to write with nothing to say...that's never great. Ginning it up from nothing doesn't really work. I'm talking about greatness, the peak. This is far different from writing camps, Nashville writing sessions.

And maybe we've lost the concept of the artistic genius, with it being all about money and image and...

Neil Young talks about that too. How he always wants to move on to the next thing. And sometimes he does good stuff, and sometimes bad, but he doesn't care what anybody thinks.

That's very hard to do. But you kinda believe it.

But Neil does undercut his inspiration point a bit by saying he wrote the songs for "Mirror Ball," his collaboration with Pearl Jam, in his hotel room the night before. Then again, I must admit, some of the greatest stuff comes when you're up against the wall. You know you have to produce, you've got to quit agonizing and lay it down.

And it turns out this guy Zach Sang was on Nickelodeon... I looked him up earlier today, but I've forgotten the rest of his resumé. And Zach is starstruck, overexcited and at times overwhelmed, but he asks the questions nobody else does.

And Neil Young is so RELAXED!

These musicians have been interviewed for decades, they get the same questions, and these interrogators are so busy getting their own points across that the artist just lays back, disconnects, just spews some stuff, waiting until the whole thing ends.

But Neil knows this guy is wet behind the ears, out of his depth, and therefore he's not on guard, not worried about gotchas, like I said, he's RELAXED, and it's palpable. It's like he came to your house and sat on the couch and you talked and it was off the record.

So Zach asks Neil about the new record, whereupon Neil says it's a long story, AND THEN HE TELLS THE LONG STORY! But he's waxing rhapsodic, he's in the groove, he's almost detached, in his element, and that's what makes it so great, you get INSIGHT!

I mean Neil is talking about the albums he never finished. Talking about all the stuff he normally doesn't, he's not on full tilt promote. He's being nice to Zach, Neil is anything but prickly.

Not that I agree with everything Neil says. But we've all got our predilections.

But I have never ever heard Neil Young like this before. And you haven't either, unless you're a friend of his.

Once again, all I can say is LISTEN!

P.S. Speaking of abandoning Twitter, you should see what Jack White had to say: https://bit.ly/3i92yNV I mean Jack is famous for standing up for vinyl, but I don't remember him going on record like this. Kudos!

P.P.S. It's amazing to me how the reporters for the "New York Times" end up at the "Washington Post." First it was Taylor Lorenz, the social media reporter, and now it's Shira Ovide, the tech reporter. And I follow Shira on Twitter, and that's where I learned she switched teams, and I also learned she had a new newsletter, and I checked it out based on the headline, which is:

"There will never be anything like Twitter again - The principle of social media as a "town square" is dead.": https://wapo.st/3EUESWv

The mainstream media is starting to catch on, that we no longer live in one cohesive monoculture. There are a zillion verticals, and in many cases they do not cross. And part of this is the luxury of not having to endure that which is not appealing. I'm talking about art here... When was the last time you listened to an entire song you didn't want to? NEVER! Meanwhile, the "Post" and the rest of the old guard continue to foist the corporate hype on us, but mostly it falls on deaf ears, because we just don't care. But the oldsters don't know what else to do. They don't want to admit the appeal of their projects is limited and they certainly don't know how to reach the target audience. Hell, the movie business doesn't even know who its audience is! It thinks traditional advertising and hype will reach them when in truth the studios need the viewers' e-mail addresses, so when there's something interesting they can reach out and touch them. That new "Black Panther" movie "Wakanda Forever" opened this past weekend and I only heard about it via the reporting of the weekend grosses. I don't want to see that picture. I don't want to waste time on superheroes. I know that it's a triumph for Black actors, and that's great, but that does not mean I want to watch it, AND IT'S THE BIGGEST MOVIE OUT THERE! I rest my case.

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Farewell Yellow Brick Road

Spotify playlist: https://spoti.fi/3En9fUa

1

This was not your father's stadium show.

Wait a minute, I am that father! At least the age of said fathers, I have no kids.

Stadium shows were a new thing. They were a creation of demand. Just that many people wanted to go to the show, to see an act that not only touched their souls, but impacted the culture. The music was everything, not only for you, but everybody. Everybody knew the show was happening, it was all over the radio, in the news. It was not a victory lap, it was the zeitgeist.

Fifty years later it's not even the same stadiums. The circles of yore have been torn down, replaced by unique ballparks. Food is very near gourmet. Just going to the park is an experience, irrelevant of the game. And the stadium show you go to might appeal to you, but not necessarily everybody else. There may have been mania over Taylor Swift tickets, but most people have no interest in going. Whereas when the Stones were playing... They were young, they were still dangerous, they were the other, and we considered ourselves the other too. The acts represented more than the music, a viewpoint, a philosophy...

And conventional wisdom was there would be no more stadium shows after the classic acts faded away. This has proven to be untrue. There are now more stadium shows than ever. Amalgamations of old rockers. What is the experience?

Well, one thing is for sure, you'll have no problem getting a ticket. This is the dirty little secret of the Taylor Swift on-sale. I mean how many people really want to sit in the last row of the upper deck? And even if they're willing to pay, it's not much. So the truth is many people who purchased Taylor Swift tickets went for the entire allotment, caught up in the mania, believing they'll be able to flip them for more than face value. I doubt it. The example here is Miley Cyrus. She went on the road while she was still on "Hannah Montana" and parents went insane, they just could not get tickets, they were up in arms, there had to be an investigation... Which never happened, but to solve the problem, the next time around Miley went paperless. And the gigs didn't immediately sell out. Yes, everybody had been caught up in the mania. And although the scalpers don't want paperless, it's really the audience that is against it, because then they can't scalp their own tickets. The truth hurts.

As for the truth, M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold; weighed in on the kerfuffle:

"Avenged Sevenfold's M. Shadows Offers Insight On Ticketmaster Pricing Controversy": https://bit.ly/3GznkR0

It's refreshing to see an artist speak the truth, as opposed to obfuscating, as opposed to staying silent. And would Taylor Swift have put all these tickets on sale on the same day if she didn't want to set a record she could publicize? Springsteen taught us you do the on-sales market by market, but then there could be no hype.

But they did hype the fact that "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" was the first album to enter the chart at number one and go gold in its very first week. That's only 500,000 albums, almost all vinyl, some cassette, and there were no shenanigans. That's when big acts sold tonnage, they didn't need to pump up the numbers, the truth itself was just overwhelming.

But as big as "Captain Fantastic" was, it was not head and shoulders above the competition. The summer of '75 featured the Eagles' true breakthrough, "One of These Nights," and the first Fleetwood Mac album with Stevie and Lindsey, and Jefferson Starship's "Red Octopus," Marty Balin may be forgotten today, but that summer "Miracles" was ubiquitous in a way no track is today. And there was James Taylor's comeback "Gorilla." And Wings' "Venus and Mars." And breakthroughs like Gary Wright's "Dream Weaver."

It was a different era.

And last night at Dodger Stadium that era was celebrated.

2

Elton John never left the hit parade. He was one of those artists with AM hits who didn't sacrifice his credibility. He never released a stiff. And he released more music than just about anybody else. And when he played Dodger Stadium in that baseball uniform back in 1975... It wasn't so much that he could sell out the building, but a celebration of his place in the culture.

And now he's part of the firmament.

And soon he will be gone. Not only him, but his contemporaries. Those still able to ply the boards.

And make no mistake, last night was a celebration. It was a completely different show from those in the arenas before Covid. Elton was playing to everybody, including those in the rafters. And the way this was done was via video and first class sound reinforcement, which were absent back in the day, as they say. It was a party.

But that's not what reached me.

"Bennie and the Jets" was the opener.

Actually, it was that naked piano figure that was the opener. Usually acts hit you in the face right off, to make you stand up and pay attention. But "Bennie" is all about the groove. It doesn't get your feet moving, it gets your head knocking, your body goes Gumby, "Bennie" goes straight to the heart. You can't resist. And "Bennie" couldn't be resisted last night.

The follow-up was "Philadelphia Freedom," one of my personal favorites. It's got the chunka-chunka guitar that Elton says is a nod to the Philly sound, but I always heard it as Tom Johnston's riffs in the Doobie Brothers, but in any event it's a one listen hit. About a team competing in World Team Tennis. There was a tennis boom, everybody played, now you can walk right on a court, if it hasn't been converted to pickle ball. Billie Jean King. Jimmy Connors. They were international icons. Quick, name the #1 tennis players today. Of course, tennis aficionados can, but everybody else can't and doesn't care. But they cared back in '75.

And unlike the country acts, everybody playing rock today, there was only one guitarist, Davey Johnstone, laying down riffs with an edge, because Elton was definitely considered a rock act, pop was anathema. You had to be more than a pretty face, who you were was part of the music. And Elton got bit by the tennis bug like the rest of us. Back in the days when participation was more important than watching.

"Philadelphia Freedom" has been appended to the digital version of "Captain Fantastic," but back in '75 it was a single, and a single only. Like the Beatles, Elton had so many hits he could afford to leave them off his albums, which people would buy anyway.

But "Border Song" was on the very first Elton album, even though we ultimately learned that "Empty Sky" preceded it. And Elton told a long story about an ailing Aretha Franklin showing up to sing it, a commitment is a commitment, and I liked hearing it, but I would have preferred "Sixty Years On" or "The King Must Die," but Elton ultimately did play the third track on that initial LP, the one that reached me first, "Take Me to the Pilot," people don't even make records with that energy these days.

Then earlier than we expected it (although I did have the set list) came the number that Cameron Crowe made iconic in "Almost Famous," I'm speaking of none other than "Tiny Dancer."

"Blue jean lady
L.A. lady
Seamstress for the band"

She was a real person, Maxine Feibelman, Bernie Taupin's first wife. He was infatuated, he wrote the lyrics from his heart, back when just being part of the touring entourage was enough, you'd sell your soul to be a part of the rock and roll circus, the people on the bus, on the plane, were gods. Nobody was cooking up an app, trying to become a techie, the goal was just to get closer to the music, and this is what Maxine managed to do.

And I think it was during "Tiny Dancer" that our faux Apple Watches came alive. That's what they looked like, that was their shape. They handed them out at the door and they were triggered by some unknown power and they lit up all by themselves, it was very cool, reminded me of back in the day when you had to trump your contemporaries with your production.

"Tiny Dancer" is an optimistic song, from back when California was still a dream, when the coast was where people were free, the goal was to get there, and everybody in the stadium knew what Elton was singing about.

Next came "Have Mercy on the Criminal," from "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player," which Elton labeled a "throwaway" back in the aforementioned day.

"Don't Shoot Me" is one of my favorite Elton LPs. The hits are the opening cut "Daniel," which I liked but never loved, and "Crocodile Rock," which hearkened back to what had come before, which I first heard on the radio, which I positively adored. But neither of these cuts is why I love "Don't Shoot Me." The two tracks I play most, that I play all the time, are "Teacher I Need You" and "Elderberry Wine," neither of which were hit singles, nor was "Have Mercy on the Criminal," and I loved that Elton played it. But back when albums were albums you knew every track on an LP and the song about having a crush on a teacher, it just made me smile, and the crushing piano of "Elderberry Wine" would infect anybody, never mind that emphatic Elton vocal.

And then came "Rocket Man."

3

Elton was cold, at least that was the perception. You see as iconic as "Tiny Dancer" is today, it was not a hit. "Levon" got a bit more airplay, made it all the way to #24, whereas "Tiny Dancer" peaked at #41, and in truth unless you're in the top ten, maybe fifteen, it's almost like your record doesn't exist. And sure, it was only six months later, but people didn't expect Elton to come back with a barnbuster, a track that battled Alice Cooper's "School's Out" for most airplay honors.

I'm speaking, of course, of "Rocket Man."

Now my favorite track on "Honky Chateau" was and still is "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters." And one can argue that "Honky Chateau" was not as consistent as what preceded and followed it, but it had that pocket closure of the gatefold cover and...Elton was at the peak once again.

Now the world has completely changed, it's no longer about the record, but the live performance, whereas it used to be exactly the opposite. There was only one version, maybe there was an authorized live take later, usually on a double-live album that served as a greatest hits package, a compendium of what once was as opposed to a pushing of the envelope, and we know every lick on those records.

That's why record companies were godhead, unlike today. You needed one to make and distribute a record, at least if you wanted a chance of breaking through commercially. And there was plenty of money to get it right, because nothing scales like music. Yes, cut a hit record and you can stay at home and get paid, you can be dead and your relatives can still get paid. And artists had wrested all the power from the labels, which frequently had no say at all. The act got a budget, contractually, which they frequently exceeded, and oftentimes the first time the label heard the album was when it was done. And then those albums were advertised with singles on the radio while fans rushed out to buy them the first week unheard and there was a mania unlike anything today.

If you had told me "Rocket Man" was going to be the highlight of last night's show, I never would have believed you. The lyrics are dated. And it's great, but still, there are more iconic numbers. Yet, when Elton started to play and sing he lifted us up like a Saturn V rocket.

The show changed, this is when it became cerebral.

Shows are not what they used to be. Today you leave your brain behind as you shoot selfies, hang with your buddies. But it used to be different. You were in your own personal bubble, taken away by the music emanating from the stage, it was a positively personal experience.

I bought the first Elton John album without hearing it first. The rock press hooked me, I had to check it out. I did hear "Your Song" over the radio of my friend's mother's Chevy during Thanksgiving weekend, but when I dropped the needle on the album when it finally arrived at school from the Record Club of America...

It was cold. It got dark early. The weather was miserable. November in Vermont, before the snow starts to fall.

And Middlebury College is a grind. And I'd been told all through high school...WAIT UNTIL YOU GET TO COLLEGE! So I took it seriously. Which meant I studied all the time, we all did, and my respite came in the afternoon after classes ended, and then just before dinner, and when the day was done, I cranked up my music. This was before it was portable, a decade before the Walkman, and if you were an aficionado you wore headphones to hear the nuances, and you laid in bed and listened in the dark, not only did the music demand respect, you wanted to go down the rabbit hole, you wanted to be taken away.

"She packed my bags last night pre-flight"

There's not a boomer alive who does not know this line. We were on the same page, because of the radio, because of the culture, you could not escape "Rocket Man."

So last night I'm surveying the assembled multitude, trying to get a handle on it, what it all meant. Why did everybody come, what were they expecting, what was going through Elton's head?

One thing's for sure, he's never retiring, he just enjoys it too much. Improvising on the piano, working the audience, you'd think after all these shows he'd be going through the motions, but nothing could be further from the truth.

But Elton is 75. He broke through over 50 years ago. He's lived a charmed life, but he earned it. And Elton is one of our few stars who is a fan himself. He still buys the records, he befriends the newbies, he tries to save those who've gone down the wrong path... Nobody else does this. Elton is not reclusive, he's our most accessible superstar, even if most never meet him, but he's part of the scuttlebutt, he's busy living life, and watching the video screens last night it was hard not to be envious, I mean WHAT A LIFE!

But once Elton was young and hungry. Actually, he was hungry for quite a while. And now... He's an elder statesman?

No, this is not Sinatra, Elton is not our parents' star. We didn't go to the show for nostalgia, Elton meant more to us than that. We lived through all those hits. Which were supplemented by stage flamboyance. This guy who made serious music knew no limits live, with not only his glasses but his boots, his feathers, his outfits...he could do all this and still the music sustained, because it was just that powerful.

And he's not that guy anymore. None of us are. We're on a downhill slide, wondering if we should whip out our ice axe to self-arrest or go with the flow. Elton kept hiking up his pants. We're no longer skinny, we can no longer wear pants sans a belt.

"I miss the Earth so much I miss my wife"

Loneliness. The records were an antidote to that. We listened and felt connected, and most of the time we listened alone. They rode shotgun, they kept us company, they got us through our deepest, darkest moments.

Now on wax, "Rocket Man" has an extended outro, but it's not that long a number, longer than the usual single, but ultimately only 4:41.

Last night it was much longer.

The previous songs had hewed closely to the records, in length anyway, Elton was keeping himself entertained throwing in a few flourishes. But "Rocket Man"...it went on so long that you let go.

Suddenly I was the only person there. I was jetted back to that dorm room at Middlebury College. I was reminded of how much this music meant to me, how it was everything, how I built my life around it.

And I was surrounded by others who'd chosen the same path, but I still felt unique, we're all individuals, fully understandable only to ourselves. And when the music sets your mind free, you're reminded of this, your life flows through your brain, you remember what once was and you make connections, you gain understanding

That's one of the reasons you go to the show, to be surprised.

And "Rocket Man" surprised me last night, it made the whole concert worth it, I got that zing, which is what it's all about. In truth it's all we're looking for, the rest is disposable, it's just that it's hard to find. And when you do...

4

I could talk about how good the band was. I could deliver more details, but they'd never convey the feeling, really only the music can convey the feeling.

"Who'll walk me down to church when I'm sixty years of age
When the ragged dog they gave me has been ten years in the grave"

You took to one side first. Yes, albums had two sides, and you got stuck on one and when you knew it by heart, you flipped the vinyl for the other.

The first side of "Elton John" was not only the one with "Take Me to the Pilot," but "Your Song" too. The second side was more inscrutable. But it's the second side I play today.

"You've hung up your great coat and you've laid down your gun
You know the war you fought in wasn't too much fun"

"Sixty Years On" opened side two. You had to slow down to get it. Which I first did lying on my bed, stoned, listening on headphones as to not disturb my roommate. The combination of Gus Dudgeon's production and Paul Buckmaster's strings..."Elton John" sounds like it was cut in a cathedral.

"I've no wish to be living sixty years on"

Right now it's 52, Elton's got eight years to go. He'll do it until he can't. He could die tomorrow, or live to 100. But at some point he'll be gone, and all that will remain is the records, which will affect others the same way they affected me.

"And Magdalena plays the organ
Plays it just for you
Your choral lamp that burns so low
When you are passing through"

We're tired. We're worn out. We're reflective. We may think seventy is the new fifty, forty, but inside we know we're old, that we're never going to win this war of attrition, that we'll ultimately pass and we'll fade away and not radiate. It's hard to believe, hard to accept, but at some point in your sixties you do. You let go of the handlebars, you fly, it's all personal, where you went to school, what you own, what others think no longer matters, it's just you, alone, with the music.

5

"No man's a jester playing Shakespeare"

Never underestimate's Elton's voice. We're not looking for excellence, we're not looking for a standard, we're looking for character, uniqueness, and Elton's voice was high, yet powerful, he had the music in him, and a great example of this is when you drop the needle on "The King Must Die," the closing track on the first American album, "Elton John."

"And sooner or later
Everybody's kingdom must end"

Nothing is forever, fight it all you want, you'll lose.

"And I'm so afraid your courtiers
Cannot be called best friends"

If you have one true friend, who you can truly trust, you're lucky. You can have all the money in the world, be famous, and be unable to trust anybody, everybody wants something from you, your cash, access, and there are so many looking to topple you and take your place, staying atop the throne is hard, very hard.

"Caesar's had your troubles
Widows had to cry"

It's inevitable, no one is left unscathed, no one here gets out alive.

"Some men are better staying sailors
Take my word and go"

You can keep your head down, refuse to risk, be safe, but you'll be shut out of the rewards.

Or you can be like Elton John, push all your chips in, stay the course with no safety net, never taking your eye off the prize.

But the reign ends.

That was what I was reminded of last night. You can't fight the hands of time. Not only does your body change, so does the audience. We're all just here for a short while. Not only Elton, but me. Didn't matter who I knew, I was alone last night. That's the way it is when the music is really great.

"When the juggler's act is danced upon
The crown that you once wore"

You're gonna fall, no one wins forever. We're seeing this with Elon Musk right now. His minions, his blind followers, don't want to accept this, because they're afraid of a new king, where that will leave them, they refuse to have hope in themselves, they want to place the burden on someone else, but underneath the image we're all human, and fallible.

Michael Jackson called himself "The King of Pop," he needed the anointment, a phony title which most of us derided, just the word "pop" made us wince, our music was so much more than that, anything but disposable, we were convinced it was forever.

But Elton John had more hits over a longer period of time than Michael Jackson. Not that it's a competition, but this is just to point out that Elton is a titan. And nothing he did last night impacted that assessment. To tell you the truth, it was just another show, he'd already made his bones, proved his worth. It's just that we don't want to believe it's over. Because if it is...so are we.

So it won't be long before the king is dead, and no matter how much publicity they get, you don't know what you've got till it's gone. I mean Aretha's dead? How can that BE! She's not going to blow our minds, unexpectedly, take us way beyond the limits like she did that night at the Kennedy Center Honors?

The music won't pay your bills, put a roof over your head, get you a significant other. The music is more akin to a coach, teaching us lessons, encouraging us to perform better, as our best selves.

Ultimately, the music detaches from the performer. Journey is a good example. The audience owns those songs, it doesn't matter who is on stage.

Elton's seen it. Done it. And so have I, and so have you. If for no other reason than we're running out of rope, we can see the end of the runway. We are who we are. Take a good look around, you may not be here ever again.

Elton John will never be in Dodger Stadium again. That's done.

If you're waiting for him to come through your town, don't, he won't.

And you won't see the likes of him again. We never did get a new Beatles. These iconic acts are sui generis. They don't write by committee, and they're not afraid of failing, because only when you hang it way out there, push the limits, do you have a chance of creating lasting art that embeds itself in the culture, in the universe.

The artists are not your friend.

But the music is.

Doesn't matter how the performer acts, those records will never change. They're my king.

Long live the king.

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