Blog
My Take On Pearl Jam's Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
My take on the Pearl Jam song, "Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town," a beautiful but poignant portrait of a woman who has lived her entire life in the same small town. I chose the cover photograph of this attractive woman who would only be considered "elderly" by someone young writing a song about an elderly woman. She is elderly to a teenager.
The Beatles - 21 Songs For 7 Reasons
To continue from the last post - humanists will still want to save the world with “All You Need Is Love,” “Let It Be,” and “The Word,” optimists will be optimistic with “Good Day Sunshine,” “It’s Getting Better,” and “Here Comes The Sun,” lovers of love songs will sing “If I Fell,” “And I Love Her,” and “I Will,” community activists will be inspired by “With A Little Help From My Friends,” “We Can Work it Out,” and “All Together Now,” weddings will still feature “Something,” “In My Life,” and “When I’m Sixty-Four,” divorcees will be haunted by “Carry That Weight,” I’m A Loser,” and “Hello Goodbye,” and critics will still argue over the meanings of “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” and “I Am The Walrus.”
The Beatles - 18 songs for 6 reasons
The Beatles would always take the adventurous and risky path by throwing away the proven recipe for business success and doing something which ARTISTICALLY pleased them. Against all odds and “common” sense, they would succeed and then lead society and other musicians down a new road.
The Beatles - It Was 50 Years Ago Today
The Beatles convincingly fused widely disparate influences throughout their seven-year recording career as they assimilated U.S. rock ‘n’ roll, rockabilly, country, Motown, R & B, soul, Tin Pan Alley, Afro-Cuban, bossanova, classical, and Indian music influences. They also steadfastly avoided following any fads or attempting to be “cool” or something which they were not. Each of their albums was a significant musical event complete with the seemingly incongruous achievements of important artistic innovations and great popular appeal.
My Take on The 2014 Grammys Show
I'm a Grammys member & am supposed to be thrilled & engaged. The opening is perfectly predictable like every Grammy show. But for once I don't think we'll get an EDUCATIONAL lecture about the evils of downloading & that downloaders, Pandora and the ANTICHRIST herself aka GOOGLE who have stopped the performance & creation of music. I wish the teleprompter readers the very best of luck tonight. And I am pro-my clients, friends and the old people (Beatles rhythm section guys and any other 60+ ancient folk). Time for Twitter where there is peace.
Christmas Music - Dave Brubeck, John Lennon, Cuba LA, The Monkees, Donny Hathaway & more
Here are twelve (12) of my favorite Christmas recordings, from Band Aid to Poncho Sanchez. (My list ends with the letter, "S?!?" No Tchaikovsky and nut cracking? And none of the letters post-S. That means no Van Halen, Vivaldi, Webern, Xenakis, Neil Young, Frank Zappa or Jan Dismas Zelenka.)As with most music, what attracts me to many of the recordings below is creative, surprising and atypical uses of chords, melody, rhythm, tone color, lyrics and/or structure. And in the case of Bob Dylan's "It Must Be Santa" recording and video, great humor.
Thanksgiving 2013 & Music Expressing Thanks
I thought to celebrate this wonderful day of Thanksgiving, I'd compile music with lyrics that express thanks in various ways. Music from these artists (arranged alphabetically):Louis Armstrong, J. S. Bach, Charles Ives, Led Zeppelin, Bob Marley, Pat Metheny, Charles Mingus, Me'Shell Ndegéocello, Sam & Dave, Hank Williams
The Amorphidity of the Organic Internet, Christian Tiger School, Tom Jones & Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Singing A Song of Paranoia
This performance of Tom Jones with CSN & Y was new to me but my respect for Tom Jones was boosted post-1960's as I learned of Tom Jones' friendship, collaboration and/or work with other artists including The Chieftains, Frank Zappa and Janis Joplin. I have enormous respect for Tom Jones, the superb, creative and original musical artist.
State of the Music Industry (and then there are data plans)
The New Music Seminar is a conference that attempts to show what's going on in the present-day music industry - not what certain parties WISH was going on, or LONG FOR what HAD BEEN going on, or pontificate about what SHOULD BE going on. NMS, like a few other conferences, aspires to SAY or REFLECT what's going on and where things are likely, or could be, headed.30. Technology threatens business as usual until it becomes business as usual.31. Music and the arts have always intersected with law, business, technology and communication. It has always been this way. It will always be this way. (forever and ever)32. The Internet is your friend. Walk away from those who fear the Internet and technology. Fear them (no, pity, educate and then ignore them) and not the Internet.
Humans Acting Out In Business, My Favorite Twitter Accounts - the letter "A"
Those Resources are a list of websites that relate in some way to the music and entertainment industry - they are connected to the music and entertainment industry in my mind. It is my belief that every musician and person in the world of music and entertainment must know more than music. Law, technology, business, film, video, television, advertising and communication, especially 21st century style communication by means of social media, are some of what should go into/be shot into/forced down the throat of/taught to a musician or person living in these post-Mayan times. We need to confront and try to master what is represented by those social media proper nouns - those companies and services - and verbs formed by speaking nouns as if they were verbs.
Love Street, A Century of Women on Top, TimeHop, Mikasa
Three years ago today I wrote -"With today's copyright laws, most great composers - Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Stravinsky, Ives, etc. - would be as criminal as Girl Talk, Negativland, the Evolution Control Committee or anyone who finds creative preexisting elements and uses them."I still agree. I'm even more fervent about that.