Bob,

As one-half of the band on the original Boz Scaggs track "Baby’s Calling Me Home", I thank you for recognizing the veracity of the vibe.  It was recorded late in the evening in the winter of 1967, after the rest of the band had gone back to rented digs on Eaton Place in London, and Boz, Glyn Johns and I were alone at Olympic Studios. The complete story is in my biography ("A Life in the Music") — it was my first recording session, my first time in earphones, actually, with Boz playing 12 string and singing into the dark shadows of the huge studio — but suffice it to say I had John Coltrane on my mind when I played that little harpsichord solo.

Best,

Ben Sidran

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Susan Tedeschi Derek Trucks Band – Anyday – June 14, 2011

I know, I know, you’re turned off by the audience recording. But hang in there! It’s not when Derek plays the famous riff, but when he goes slows down and goes mellow that you’ll melt. Proving once again, it’s not about the recording, but the essence.

Meanwhile, individuals make a difference. Anybody can learn to play the guitar, but there was only one Duane Allman.

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"Pleasant Valley Sunday" – THE DEMO!

This will jet you right back to the sixties, erase the lines from your face, make you feel good about being a music fan all these years.

I had no idea this album was even released, I was researching Carole King’s autobiography and I saw the link.

That’s how far we’ve come, we don’t even know stuff is out!

"Pleasant Valley Sunday" – THE DEMO!

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Rapper charts, thanks to Web fans

"They decided to use a distribution model that emulated other independent artists, like Lil Wayne and Drake, who were online sensations in their early days. But they also strayed from the model, concluding that some artists discouraged downloads by forcing users to register, or jump through other digital hoops.

‘We wanted it to be one step: You click the button, you get the record,’ says George."

People won’t forget you if they like you. Why has everyone become a spammer? I won’t give you my e-mail address, not my real one, because I won’t stop hearing from you and the people you give/sell it to. I don’t need to hear your music that bad, and if I do, I can just go to YouTube.

You want to make it easy. You want to make it painless. You want to establish trust.

Yes, you can give it away for free. Because if it’s good, and very little is, dividends will be paid down the road.

And Hoodie Allen’s start was a hit on the Hype Machine. Then again, did he work that?

He’s certainly working the press now. You don’t get in "Daily Variety" by accident. And who are you impressing, me? I don’t need to hear no white boy college frat rap.

That always cracks me up. You get viral success and you go positively old school. I don’t matter, nobody but your fans does. Unless you want to make a deal with a major label and stop being yourself.

And I’m a bit turned off by all the social networking, responding to every tweet. Unless, once he make it, he stops. Kind of like those classic rock acts doing TV adverts in the sixties and then swearing off commercialism.

In other words, we can smell a rat.

Stats don’t matter, music does.

People will clamor for you if you deliver great music.

Or, you can become a marketing exercise studied by business schools. But when was the last time a business school was a hotbed of musical creativity?

So, I applaud Hoodie for not asking for e-mail addresses, if this is true.

And I applaud him for not reaching out to me personally.

But I’ve been inundated with missives from his minions. Why don’t I write about him?

For the same reason I don’t need a feature in "Time" magazine, it’s an unnecessary victory lap. It’s something you show your mother. No one who cares about you or me reads "Time". Be a king in your own world, that should be enough.