Heart Of The Night

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/6fNID7koTl1dZBCs6FmK4E?si=7dd027ed03c94ce3

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC-XG6cso_w

I love the internet. After listening to my "Back Where I Come From" playlist six or seven times in a row (I can do that, actually I love to do that, to find a song I like so much that I can play it ad infinitum, locking into a mental groove, just me and my music, making me happy) I decided to delve into Jimmy Buffett's catalog. His best and most poignant song, albeit with a sense of humor, is " A Pirate Looks at Forty," but I was looking for something a bit more upbeat, so I played "Son of a Son of a Sailor." And then Spotify presented me with a playlist, "Country Rock Classics."

The problem with these classic playlists is there's no discovery, you know the songs already, so I don't find them fulfilling. HOWEVER, have you tried the Spotify AI playlist generating feature yet? It's GENIUS! Far better than the curator constructed stuff and far better than the radio feature because you can put in acts or songs that no algorithm would think go together, never mind a curator believing the same person liked both. Like I put in Chris Stapleton and Luke Bryan, both of whom I adore, but the former is credible and the latter is seen as bro country and a bit of a sellout now that he's a judge on "American Idol," but the playlist generated...and it has to think for a while...turned me on to a song that I never knew about that you probably do which is great, "Wagon Wheel," in this case by Darius Rucker. I said to myself, THIS IS A HIT! And then I did a bit of research and found out it already was! Multiple times! That Ketch Secor had added to a Bob Dylan chorus and... That's what I discovered via Spotify's AI generated playlist feature, it's a breakthrough, no matter how you feel about AI, you should try it out.

ANYWAY, I'm looking at the tracks in the "Country Rock Classics" playlist and it starts with "Amie," certainly a classic, but I wasn't in the mood for that, so I scrolled down and that's when I saw Poco's "Heart of the Night."

I knew it was from when Timothy B. was gone, not to mention Richie Furay, never mind Jim Messina, and... I started to wonder, did Rusty Young sing this song? I mean he was never a singer before, but I knew that he was the vocalist on one latter day Poco hit so...

I went to Wikipedia and found out it was Paul Cotton. But that was not the most interesting thing I learned. Turned out that when Timothy B. had exited for the Eagles, Cotton and Young auditioned for ABC as a duo, under the name "The Cotton-Young Band." And having passed the audition they recorded the album "Legend" and the execs liked it so much that they canned the planned live album with Timothy B., a coda to Poco's career, and decided to release this new project under the name Poco. Which turned two studio musicians, Steve Chapman and Charlie Harrison, into members of the new band.

I DIDN'T KNOW THAT!

Nor did I know that the sax was played by Phil Kenzie, since I never owned the album and therefore never read the credits. And I knew Kenzie played on that second Cretones album, but doing a bit of research on the chairlift I found out he was the one who played the sax on Al Stewart's "Year of the Cat" and he was ENGLISH!

Now the amazing thing is after ten previous LPs, seven on Epic and three on ABC, after songs that were dorm room classics, heard on FM now and then, when all the original core members other than Young were gone, Poco had a HIT!

Believe me, it was a surprise.

"In the heart of the night
In the cool southern rain
There's a full moon in sight
Shining down on the Pontchartrain"

I liked "Heart of the Night" from the first time I heard it, always made me smile when I heart it on the radio, driving in my car I'd turn it up.

And there are great changes, and that indelible sax solo, but I've got to say what made the song stand out for me was the use of "Pontchartrain," how it was sung with emphasis, a word that you'd think could never be worked into a song. In an era when unless you'd been to New Orleans, chances were you didn't know where or what it was... As for me, I knew it was a river or lake down there somewhere, but my vision was hazy, I didn't make it to N.O. until this century.

So Paul Coton was recruited from the Illinois Speed Press to fill the hole Jim Messina left in Poco. And that was when the band went into the wilderness, they had hard core fans, the music was good (listen to the two CD package "The Forgotten Trail," it will blow your mind), but listeners were dwindling.

And then came "Heart of the Night."

I'm listening after reading that it was Paul Cotton on vocals, and that he'd written it, and then it occurs to me that Paul Cotton is dead, he doesn't realize how much I'm enjoying listening to his song, that it has lasted.

Furthermore, Rusty Young has passed too. That made a bigger news splash, but the two of them and their latter-day Poco have not been embraced by the younger generations, at least not to my knowledge, and then...

I realize "Heart of the Night" was a hit in 1979! And that Cotton and Young basked in their breakthrough for forty years before they passed, both in 2021 (and that's weird).

So maybe you remember or maybe you don't, but one thing is for sure, the song remains, and it's the same. And it evokes a feeling... Not one readily found in today's music...the Spotify Top 50 is all flash, too often melodyless, and if you're not streaming a ton of product you can't afford to create a pristine recording on a par with "Heart of the Night."

Still, there's music that is not made for dancing, that is not background, just grease for everyday living. There are tracks that change your thinking, put you in a mood, make you reflect, think about life...

And that's "Heart of the Night."

Darius Rucker's "Wagon Wheel": https://open.spotify.com/track/3xdjjKMcMOFgo1eQrfbogM?si=562bf87018d543e2

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British Invasion Timeline-SiriusXM This Week

Tune in Saturday February 21st to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz


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Mac McAnally At The Vilar

Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6hCOkdJ1FpJTp7hK4G0Ety?si=e4017978e9064fc5

1

"Back where I come from
Where I'll be when it's said and done
I'm proud as anyone
That's where I come from"

I come from the suburbs, in a world that glorifies the city. Those are my roots. There was enough paper for the mimeograph machine, you got your driver's license when you were sixteen, you listened to late night FM radio...

We live in a world where people lie about their age, get plastic surgery to look different and rework stories so the loss is never their fault. But I'm a middle class Jewish suburbanite. We played Little League, swam at the JCC, went to battles of the bands... Maybe you can relate.

Then again, we all come from somewhere, and that's what makes us interesting, our differences. Mac McAnally comes from nowhere Mississippi, not that far from Muscle Shoals, over the line in Alabama, but the roots of the small town are what made him who he is today. And he's a humble guy, but we were talking backstage and he quoted Voltaire on humility...

So that's why I had to go to this show. Which was billed as "Margaritas and Memories"...a tribute to Jimmy Buffett and Parrothood. I saw the ad in the "Vail Daily," and I knew I could get a ticket, but it would cost me even more than that for an Uber back and forth. So I decided to check the set list. And when I saw "Back Where I Come From," I knew I had to go, cost and convenience were irrelevant, I needed to hear this specific song, and it played in my head for days before the show. That's the power of a great song.

Now most people know "Back Where I Come From" from its hit version by Kenny Chesney. And as good as that is, the take from his live album is positively stupendous, because it's not studied, Kenny's not trying to get it exactly right, make it perfect, it's all about the emotion. And he allows the audience to sing lines, because his fans know this song by heart. But in Kenny's version he's "an old Tennessean," whereas in Mac's original, he's "an old Mississippian"...yes, he makes that word work, he fits it in.

This is a hit, not what is on the radio, the track with the most Spotify streams, but the song embedded in your heart, that you can call up in an instant, sing in your head, something that rides shotgun in your life. We have favorites, and then we have songs that are on a tier above, and that's where "That's Where I Come From" resides for me.

2

My college buddy John ended up coming up from Denver, so an Uber was unnecessary, and we got to the venue about ninety minutes before the gig and talked to Mac, who had amazing road stories, involving everybody from Wayne Newton to Leon Redbone. This is the difference between the hitmakers in outfits singing to tape and the lifers...because it is a life, and as much as it runs on songs, what holds the whole enterprise together is the stories.

But eventually the show began.

Now you've got to know, the Vilar is supported by donors, usually fat cat retired people with white hair who believe in laying down their cash for the arts. But that does not mean they like everything presented. This crowd looked more like the one John Lennon implored to rattle their jewelry, but what became evident very soon was they were PARROTHEADS!

They talk about the Dead, but Jimmy Buffett had a parallel career in many verticals that generated dollars...there is even a Margaritaville retirement community. Because people want what Jimmy was selling. The beach life, good times, but it wasn't all sunniness, there was some darkness, some basic truth, his image was three dimensional and in a world of phoniness people could relate. And years after Jimmy's death there's still a hunger for this music. On his deathbed Jimmy told Mac to keep the Coral Reefers alive, and that is what Mac's doing.

3

So last night it was three members of the Coral Reefer Band: Mac and Scotty Emerick, who is also known for his work with, his writing of songs for Toby Keith, who like Jimmy is no longer with us, and percussionist Eric Darken.

And they started with "Son of a Son of a Sailor." The opening song from the album of that name and also the opener on Jimmy's first double live album, 1978's "You Had to Be There," wherein Jimmy changes the lyric to equate dragging his casted broken leg to pulling a trailer. "Son of a Son of a Sailor" is the LP that includes "Cheeseburger in Paradise," which stunningly only made it to #32 on the Hot 100 but has longer legs than the songs that were above it on the chart.

Jimmy never really had another hit. Not one that the masses cottoned to. But amongst the faithful there was "Fins" and "Volcano" and...the audience knows them all, and Mac, et al, played a lot of them last night.

There was "Come Monday," but also "Boat Drinks," "Volcano" and from Jimmy's last album, "Bubbles Up."

But it wasn't only Jimmy's material, but Mac originals, and Toby Keith numbers Scotty was involved with and...

Stories.

Wayne Newton told Mac he was a comedian, he wanted him to open for him in Vegas. Mac turned him down, if for no other reason than he didn't see himself as a comedian, but like a true southerner, Mac can tell a story. In a natural way. Like you're sitting next to him at the bar, a few drinks in, everyone loose and telling tales of life.

My favorite was the one about Buffett stealing a cab from the front of the line in Boston, driving it to Logan, leaving it running, getting on the plane and ending up with no consequences.

But it was a family event. Not family entertainment, but a gathering of the tribe, the Parrotheads.

And I'm sitting there thinking how far this is from the Spotify Top 50. Which doesn't contain anything even close to what Buffett was doing. A lot of the acts don't even write their own material, or the songs are written by committee, and the tracks are polished by the usual suspects and all the art, all the humanity is squeezed out of them. The acts are a product. And the brand building begins on day one. Whereas with Jimmy, it came much later, on a whim, there was no rulebook, he just did what felt right and built an empire.

So what we had last night was a party, let's call it a family reunion. And the patriarch was gone, but Mac had stood right by him on stage for decades, he knew how to deliver the magic.

And Mac didn't come from the factory, he's far from cookie cutter, he neither drinks nor smokes but that does not mean he is not loose, can't let it fly, never mind play notes on not only his acoustic guitar, but his electric and the piano too.

And I'm sitting there pondering if this is akin to my parents' generation, going to see the acts of their heyday when the youngsters didn't care. But then I realized this was different. Jimmy wasn't a crooner or a jazzer, but a product of his era, a child of the post-war era that was all about personal fulfillment, at the same time you were loving your brother. You didn't jump through hoops to work at the company, you might have a college degree yet be working a minimum wage job, because life was more important than a career, and you were figuring out what felt right.

There's a whole generation of us who experienced this, but somehow history has been rewritten, or completely forgotten.

When I grew up in the suburbs it was all about possibilities. You could choose your own direction, let your freak flag fly, and you always knew eventually you would find your people. Maybe you had to drive to the Rockies or the Gulf Coast to find them, but they were available...and you could afford to pick up and go see them.

And when you were driving, when you were traveling, you took your tunes along. Sure, by the seventies there were 8-tracks and cassettes, but there was no iPod, no iPhone, never mind Spotify. But we didn't need a recording to enjoy our music. It was in our heads. It was laden with melody, you could sing it! And there was meaning too.

A lost era.

A lost art?

Not last night, it was right there... I'd say on stage, but really the audience was part of the show, for two hours we remembered what once was...and in this case still is. How many acts can you say that about? And conventional tribute acts are set in amber, they don the clothing, play the hits and there's no culture evident.

But culture was right up front and personal last night.

And I know up in heaven Jimmy Buffett is laughing.

Who'da thunk?

Last night's set list: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/mac-mcanally/2026/vilar-performing-arts-center-beaver-creek-co-7b4fe23c.html


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The Live Nation Case

The headlines are wrong. What you see in most of the headlines is how the judge refused to dismiss the case. But the real story is the judge granted summary judgment on the heart of the case, regarding promotion and booking constituting a monopoly. Summary judgment means the facts in the case are such that outcome can only be seen one way, and therefore there is no need for a trial.

There are only two questions left to be decided:

1. Live Nation's amphitheaters being a monopoly... Worst case scenario LN has to let other companies promote there, no biggie.

2. Whether Ticketmaster monopolizes ticketing in large venues through long term agreements. The bottom line is that buildings love these agreements because of the advances, which go straight to their bottom line. Do not expect a decision that will eliminate these advances and therefore exclusive contracts.

So so far, contrary to the impression you get from so many news articles, Live Nation is winning, in a big way. No breakup is in the offing and any remedies look to be narrow in focus, behavioral.

The best words I've read on this subject come from Lightshed Partners. I suggest you read them:

"LYV Breakup Could Be Off the Table Following Summary Judgment Ruling"

https://lightshedtmt.com/2026/02/18/lyv-breakup-could-be-off-the-table-following-summary-judgment-ruling/

(You need to log in via registration or Facebook or LinkedIn to read this post and you should...in order to talk about this subject from an informed viewpoint.)




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Elliot Scheiner-This Week's Podcast

Producer/engineer Elliot Scheiner has worked with everybody from Steely Dan to the Eagles. He and six others from behind the board are telling studio stories at the Sheen Center in New York through February 28th.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/elliot-scheiner/id1316200737?i=1000750470920

https://open.spotify.com/episode/47k3ccrINblZjSzYnCHkUj?si=IwcIdlXgSNuzkNR4kxPNCA

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/elliot-scheiner-323684050/

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/07427dce-394f-430c-b659-cb2e54d56cf3/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-elliot-scheiner


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The U2 EP

What kind of crazy f*cked up world do we live in where it takes sixtysomething rockers from Ireland to light the way in a somnambulant music landscape?

One in which the Irish rockers were brought up on a divided island where the IRA fought for...

We haven't had that spirit here since 1969.

But it may be brewing today.

What you've got to know is in the sixties, when Laura Nyro wrote "Save the Country," a huge segment of the population thought that the U.S. would win the war in Vietnam in a heartbeat. After all, we were big bad America!

But the truth is a ragtag band of Vietcong defeated us by employing guerilla warfare as opposed to the carpet-bombing techniques evolved from World War II. And we see the same thing today, with drone warfare. That's how battles are fought, along with cyber efforts. But there's a cadre of the public who still believes they can fight the nation via guns. In the sixties, young people fought guns with flowers, and they ended up winning.

It took a while for America to wake up, for the majority to question not only the war in Vietnam, but the government itself. Will this happen again?

Or as U2 says in "The Tears of Things":

"If you put a man in a cage and rattle it enough
A man becomes the kind of rage that cannot be locked up
No, it cannot be locked up"

In the sixties, we had manifestos. And that is what U2 has created with its latest issue of "Propaganda":

https://propaganda.u2.com

There's a lot of information here. It'll take you a while to read and digest it. It's a far cry from the limited print on the back of early Beatle albums. But U2 knows that the cognoscenti talking about a short attention span economy have it all wrong, if you intrigue people, if you have something they want, they will invest untold time in it, ergo streaming series on Netflix, et al.

That's the desire of a fan, to go deeper.

Also, in today's world, you don't depend on external outlets to spread your message, but yourself. If you're relying on others, you've missed the plot. You gain an audience, build momentum and then superserve it.

As far as creating hit records?

Where are those records heard? A hit on terrestrial radio comes after the fact, and reaches only the brain dead out of touch with the real world that happens on the internet. If you think it's about numbers, data, you've missed the point. It's about MINDSHARE! How can you embed yourself into people's brains such that they never forget you and your message?

Now in truth, many wince when U2 continues to push the envelope. They remember the "Rattle and Hum" years when Bono paraded as a deity and then tried to save the world.

But as Larry Mullen, Jr. says:

"Who needs to hear a new record from us?"

https://www.u2.com/news/title/u2--days-of-ash-new-ep-out-now/

He has a sense of humor about himself, there is self-knowledge, something that is lacking from today's hedonistic acts who are all about the sell, all about becoming a brand... Then again, they were brought up in an era of relative prosperity wherein the goal was to be an empty vessel pop star like Mariah Carey, as if vocal ability alone was key.

No, if you want to be a true star, someone people believe in, you must have an identity, you must chart your own course, you must be able to say no. You must exist outside the community, the mainstream, so you can comment on it.

So U2 have dropped an atomic bomb. Bruce Springsteen did so before them, but he was the only one. Because Bruce's roots are in the sixties, whereas today's hitmakers' are not.

And Bruce's "Streets of Minnesota" is in the tradition of Woody Guthrie. Whereas U2's "Ash" EP is definitely of the now. It truly makes one think, it's inspirational.

For some.

As for those on the fence... This is the power of music, it seeps into your subconscious, it changes who you are without you even knowing it.

There's a segment of the population that still believes in an America that no longer exists, one run by white men where minorities are denigrated and shunted aside. They long for a nation that has long since passed. And they hate those who live in the present, because they don't want to contemplate their cheese being moved. They'd rather bury their heads in the sand.

And then there are those who decry technological advancements. For all the b.s. about the harm of social media to youngsters, there has never ever been a study that proves this! But oldsters cannot conceive of the fact that young people can connect and be friends with people they've never met in person. Furthermore, the oldsters who abhor social media are afraid of what's on there, look askance at it, just like parents hated the Beatles. They don't even want to go there. All these naysayers have never ever been on TikTok, for if they had...they'd find it more stimulating than the lives they keep telling youngsters to live off the grid, in a tech free world.

But the world has changed.

Advance hype no longer works. Give it to me right now or I'm not interested, I've got too many options. Give U2 credit for dropping this project with no advance notice, not even on New Music Friday.

We need leaders. And they anoint themselves. One of the problems with millennials is they don't want to stand out, they want to be members of the group first and foremost. But it's those who question authority and stand out who change the world.


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Re-Bud Cort

I first saw Harold and Maude as a college freshman at UCSB, and then two years later as a film student at UCLA. Colin Higgins, the film's writer and a UCLA graduate, spoke after the screening about how the film got made. He said the film would never have worked if Hal Ashby hadn't found Bud Cort, and I think that's right. I can't imagine another actor from that era doing what Bud did. Truly sui generis.

 A couple of years later I was at a party and who should I meet, but Bud Cort?  We got to talking and I told him I was a filmmaker and he insisted on reading the script I was trying to get made at the time. I ran out to the car and grabbed a copy never thinking anything would come of it. Well, two days later I get a call and it's Bud and he's gushing about the movie and telling me he'll do anything he can to help me get it made. Naturally, he wanted to play the lead, but I didn't see him in that role, so I never followed up with him.  But, in the next picture I wrote, I created a part I thought would be perfect for him and, thankfully, he agreed. We spent the next three years trying to get this low budget indie off the ground and in the process became the best of friends. He was wry, mischievous, and fearless -- just like Harold. He also had a deep well of love and was pure in his passion for art. Yes, he could be difficult, but also brilliant.  When he was up for the part of Harold, Robert Altman was prepping McCabe and Mrs. Miller and wanted Bud to play a gunslinger in that film. He said Altman warned him if he played Harold he'd always be the guy in the velvet jacket and, though he knew what Bob meant, the part resonated with him so profoundly he passed on McCabe and became Harold Chasen. We're all better off that he did. To him, Harold and Maude was about choosing love wherever you find it. What a beautiful idea. Yes, he had a love/hate relationship with the part, because he did become the boy in the velvet jacket, but I also know he wouldn't have had it any other way.

Thank you for remembering him. 

Clif Lord
___________________________________

Bob, so many things about this Bud Cort post resonated with me.   I too found out about it well after the fact; there surely wasn't any fanfare and his death got buried under an avalanche of Nancy Guthrie kidnapping and Epstein files follies.  

There are many reasons I appreciate growing up when I did, but the most deeply felt were the music and the movies.  Both were so readily available and could touch your heart and soul.  How lucky we were to live through such a time.  It's been years since I last watched "Harold and Maude" and I thank you for reminding me about the Cat Stevens tunes on the sound track. "Mona Bone Jakon " may not have been a platinum album, but I owned it and absolutely loved it.  I'm having my morning jet juice listening to it on iTunes, thanks to you.  

As Simon and Garfunkel once sang: how terribly strange to be 70.  Or 74.  Or anything not young, with death's certain presence hovering.  Perhaps your post about Bud Cort struck me so because yesterday I found out a former work colleague passed away after surgery and when I called a mutual acquaintance to inform him, turned out that person was admitted to an inpatient hospice unit, dying of cancer.  It's the scourge of growing older, losing those who have been a part of your life.   So, fly high Bud Cort.  You might not have had a huge career, but you absolutely knocked it out of the park in "Harold and Maude".  

Nancy Barnum
___________________________________

An actor friend of mine invited Bud Cort to my birthday party he had for me at his house. This was a few years before Covid to put it in a point of time. Bud arrived at the door in a full length mink coat, (it was August 15th in Beverly Hills) a cigarette in his cigarette holder. He said he just had a few minutes but had a story to tell us. It included Groucho, Valium a strainer, a red carpet and a tooth. It was hysterical and we were all doubled over in laughter. With a quick one eighty turn, he was gone.
I would run in to him a few years later and we laughed about the appearance.

He was a hero of mine, and I was really thrilled to meet him. H&M is a movie I get a thrill watching to this day. RIP Bud…..

David Spero
___________________________________

He was awesome in The Life Aquatic as the "Bond Company Stooge". RIP

Justin Bartek
___________________________________

Dead on Bob.

Couple of years behind you, but "Harold and Maude" was a cultural touchstone for us in our  late teen/early twenties.   It was required viewing to go the Nuart Theatre here in West LA every time it played.  
"And if you want to be me, be me And if you want to be you, be you 'Cause there's a million things to do, You know that there are"   
 Peace
Bill Stolier
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I have made no secret of my mixed feelings about our alma mater, but you have reminded me of a terrific night -- probably in '75.  

As a product of Meriden's schools, I had never heard of Harold and Maude.  But it was being shown in Dana Hall (at least I think I have that name right) and I followed some dorm mates to see it.  

It was a revelation.  In fact, we knew the folks running the theater and persuaded them instantly to show it again.  We spent the rest of the night buzzing about it -- exactly the right kind of college experience.

I'm saddened to learn of Cort's passing.  But I am delighted to revel in nostalgia for one winter night way back when.

Best,

John Hyman
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Revival Houses 
And who can forget Bogey becoming our anti-hero in revival house showings of "Casablanca". That film still chokes me up and I'm now in my eighties! 

Willie Perkins
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Total agreement!

I've watched Harold and Maude maybe 20 times, or more. It's my favorite of all time.

So I was also somewhat surprised that his passing wasn't mentioned in mainstream anything… 

Until it dawned on me that it was the same day that James Van Der Beek died… and then it made sense: TV star trumps cult movie star.

I watched H&M again. (I've never seen Dawson's Creek. lol)

Thom Wise

PS I met Ruth Gordon in NYC many years ago, but that's another story.
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I didn't know about this either. Between my divorce and other complicated things as my kids were growing up, I only had a very short window where I was able to watch movies with the both of them before it became too difficult, and this is one of the ones that we watched. Though they mocked it at the time I'm pretty sure it has stayed with them like it did with me. The message in this film is eternal and it's been on my top 10 list since I saw it in college. Thank you for letting me know about this, I just put a tribute on my socials. True love has no boundaries. Gregory Mcloughlin
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Great piece on Bud Cort. And, yes, Harold & Maude was the pinnacle of his movie acting. Both him and Ruth Gordon were transcendent.
But I go back to film 1970s Brewster McCloud by director Robert Altman. I saw this at a cinema back in the day, after I saw MASH earlier, possibly around the same time. It was a quirky movie. Cort being excentric who was dedicated to fly and lived in the Houston Astrodome (wow! Does anyone remember that place? The called it a wonder of the world of architecture) But I could not take my eyes off Shelley Duval in that film. With her Alice Cooper-like eyelashes.  I thought the movie was unique and I loved it because of its uniqueness. Mosty defines its times of of 1970s underground newspapers and comics (R Crumb, Fritz the Cat, etc)
 
Its irreverence towards authority figures resonated with greatly me (as did MASH).  Sad to see him pass on, but he left his mark with some great film roles.

My Regards; D Bodnar
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Bud Cort was terrific as Howard Putzel in "Pollack." It's true that we have no central source of information anymore, but Bob, you are a great source of curation for us. Keep up the good work.

Liz Dean
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Our local hippie theatre was where I first saw "Harold & Maude". Imagine a time that when you wanted to see a movie that wasn't a current release. You had to find one of these theaters. Or hope to see it on TV at some point, but some of these were never going to show on TV.

Jim Guerinot
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I saw Harold and Maude when I was in university, at a rep theatre. It must have been 1971. My friend and I were so blown away that we found a film distribution company in Toronto and rented the film in 16mm. We invited everyone we knew for a weekend showing, filling my friend's basement with about 50 people we knew. I"ll wager I've seen the film a dozen times, the last time a year or so ago when my wife and I showed it to our then fourteen year old twin sons. They loved it. RIP Bud Cort.

Regards,

Steven Ehrlick
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Wow! Six degrees of separation. 

I remember Bud Cort very well. Like many other hippies (soon to become yuppies) growing up in Dallas, Texas back in the late 60's we congregated at the local midnight cinema on Maple Avenue for the stoner movies. Fritz the Cat, Harold and Maude, The Groove Tube, Brewster McCloud, Easy Rider, Reefer Maddness among other films were the staple. Lots of smoke filled the air and life was "groovy"…or so we thought.

A couple years later while in college as a mass communications major I got a summer gig on a Disney "True Life Adventure" movie in Oregon. The Director was Larry Landsberg along with his son Brian. Larry was one of Walt Disney's go to film makers for this genre of films. I recall they played on the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday night TV. 

Long story short the producer was a guy named Chuck Mulvehill. Oregon was a non union state and I got to work as a gofer/assistant camera man on the set. Over the course of eight weeks Chuck and I became friendly. Chuck has worked on Harold and Maude. I was industrious and worked hard and guess he noticed. He invited me to come back to Los Angeles with the promise he would get me connected and an IATSE union card. I had done some stage tech work as a teen around Dallas so was familiar with grip, electric, carpentry etc..  

After the shoot I returned to college for my junior year. I was invited back 6 months later by Chuck to work on another film in Oregon. Chuck told me about working with Bud Cort on Harold and Maude and Brewster McCloud. I guess he did a lot of work with Hal Ashby and Robert Altman. After the second film and another invitation I made a hard choice to finish college and eventually went into live event marketing with Irvin Feld's company. It turned out to be a great career so no regrets.

Every now and then I stumble across some old family photos of me on that film shoot in Oregon holding a camera and wonder "what if"…. Deja Vu

Bill Powell
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I can't believe I had to hear this from you. And I can't believe the NY Times didn't think he was worthy of a social media notification. In fact, apparently nobody did. Which I think just shows, as important a movie as it has become, there are still a lot of people who have never seen it and don't know about it. 

I saw it when it came out as part of a double bill with Papillon. After Papillion finished, the couple next to me asked if I knew anything about this movie. I told them it was a comedy. During the opening scene, he turned to his companion and said, "A comedy?". They left a minute or two later. 

And I will always love the Farrelly Brothers for adding the line: "it's probably the greatest love story of our time" in There's Something About Mary. 

Bruce Greenberg
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My standard question upon engaging with young people is: Do you watch black and white films? Mostly it engenders baffled looks, but those that embrace the question positively have an energetic and starry look in their eyes.
 
Fred Ansis

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