Neil Young – Spotify

They all come back to the garden.

Let this be a lesson to those holding out, the streaming deniers, this is now, this is happening, get on the gravy train or be left behind.

It always happens. Do you remember when acts wouldn’t let their albums be released on CD? Hell, you still can’t get that Buckingham/Nicks LP, the one on Polydor, with “Crying In The Night,” it’s arguably better than anything the duo has done since, although Stevie Nicks’s 2011 LP “In Your Dreams” was a complete return to form, eclipsing all of her work except for “Bella Donna,” funny how some oldsters can still reach the brass ring, listen to “Secret Love,” “New Orleans” and “Wide Sargasso Sea,” and now you can, just fire up Spotify, you can get a free account, you can’t pick and choose tracks on mobile for free, although you can do this on the desktop, but the point is you now have access, to almost everything.

That’s right, no Bob Seger. Explain this to me once again? His old Detroit homey Bob Ritchie, aka “Kid Rock,” saw the light. You’ve got to go where the fans are. It’s all about getting people to hear your music, there’s a ton of dough in music if fans care, and Bob is doing boffo at the b.o. by lowering concert ticket prices, funny how no one will follow his lead. Everybody’s so busy bitching about bread but when someone comes up with a fan-friendly way to make more they avoid it.

Pono was not fan-friendly. Its Toblerone box fit in no pocket and most people could not hear the difference. Hell, I A/B’ed it with Deezer Elite and my friends said the latter sounded better, there you have it. As for me… My house is loaded with stereo equipment but my listening device of choice right now is my cylindrical Amazon Echo speaker. Funny what we’ll put up with in the name of convenience. I can’t wait until Sonos goes voice-activated and my zones come alive.

I’ve been demonstrating the power of streaming services and Sonos for years, people didn’t believe it existed, that the history of recorded music was at your fingertips. People still don’t know how streaming works, seemingly every day someone e-mails me that they don’t want to pay for data, what happens if they’re out of cell range, when the truth is you can download thousands of tracks to your device and do it via wi-fi, but people don’t want solutions, the early adopters start to rave and eventually it trickles down to the stuck in the mud Luddites.

Like those who lined up to embrace Pono.

First and foremost… Neil Young does not have 10,000 hours in device development, he doesn’t know how to market electronic equipment. Why does everybody believe they can do everything? The truth is most people heard “Heart Of Gold” on systems so lame the Echo is probably superior in sound quality. Why penalize your fans? And, if you want to embrace higher quality audio, why not laud Deezer Elite? And Tidal? And implore Spotify and Apple and Amazon to offer a higher res option? You make much more progress inside the system, just ask the recently departed Tom Hayden. Then again, he never truly realized compromise was the key to forward movement.

Like Clayton Christensen says… The disruptive service starts off with low quality and then gets good enough to topple the standard. That’s how MP3s beat CDs. It’s how streaming is beating files. Get on board, it only gets better.

As for Neil… He gets tons of press but no sales, little listenership. What he needs to do is come out with one transformative track and then he could be king once again. Never mind “Ohio,” which was written, recorded, pressed and shipped mere days after the Kent State tragedy, but there’s the whole “Rust Never Sleeps” LP, which made him a hero amongst the grunge set, gave his career new legs. Neil, forget the albums, forget the concepts, just give us one good track, it’s the streaming way, you were the breakout star of Oldchella, let the wind carry your new music into our consciousness.

No one is bigger than the system, you either join in or are left behind.

And speaking of Oldchella, I was stunned how many people didn’t know that Neil was still this good, and that he even hit one over the fence in this century, with “Greendale,” I loved that, both the album and tour, although the movie is irrelevant.

So, in honor of Neil making the move I’m gonna give you a playlist.

We’re gonna start off with “Emperor Of Wyoming,” from his solo debut. You won’t even know it’s him, this is a gem. And from the same record, arguably his best, I’m gonna include “I’ve Been Waiting For You,” FOR SUCH A LONG TIME, it’s my favorite of Neil’s work, and “The Loner” and “The Last Trip To Tulsa”… The last…if you’re under fifty you’ve probably never heard it, and you should, to see how artists used to test limits.

And from the second album I’m gonna include “Down By The River,” its highlight. This was the solo record I bought first, I used to play this song on the guitar. Oh, what the hell, I’ll include “Cinnamon Girl” and “Cowgirl In The Sand” too.

And from the third LP, the commercial breakthrough, “After The Gold Rush,” I’ll start with “Southern Man,” so you know what Ronnie Van Zant was reacting to. And then my personal favorite, “Don’t Let It Bring You Down,” the rocking “When You Dance, I Can Really Love,” and the two snippets, “”Till The Morning Comes,” which I used to play with my freshman roommate, he on trombone, me on guitar, and “Cripple Creek Ferry.”

“After The Gold Rush” is better than “Harvest,” but the latter was the high point of Neil’s career, it made him a dorm room staple. My favorite was “Are You Ready For The Country?,” but I’ll include “Heart Of Gold,” “Old Man,” “Alabama” and “A Man Needs A Maid,” the last to show you how sensibilities have changed, and to demonstrate the earnestness once evidenced in music.

Unfortunately I don’t see “Time Fades Away” on Spotify, the live album wherein Neil went on tour and all those expecting to hear country ditties, soft music, were barraged with rock and roll, previously unreleased material. Neil intentionally destroyed his career, to give himself artistic freedom, can you imagine anyone doing that today?

“Walk On” from “On The Beach,” the 1974 album released right after I graduated from college, when Neil was finally free and could do whatever he wanted and only the hard core cared.

And then we come to “Tonight’s The Night”…

Bruce Berry was a working man
He used to load that Econoline van

He was a roadie, he was Jan Berry’s brother, of Jan and Dean fame. Neil had experienced too much death and wrote about it.

“Zuma” is not on Spotify, so you can’t hear its highlight “Cortez The Killer,” but as a special treat I’m gonna include Gov’t Mule’s version, which is special in its own way, if you know the original it will put a smile on your face.

But 1977’s “American Stars ‘N Bars” is up, so I’ll include its legendary highlight, “Like A Hurricane.”

And that brings us to 1978’s “Comes A Time,” wherein Neil tried to recapture the magic and go back to that country/”Harvest” sound, even though the looky-loos did not come back to him. I’m including the title cut, “Lotta Love,” a hit for the dearly departed Nicolette Larson, and my personal favorite, “Look Out For My Love.” Also, I’m going to include the even better cover of “Look Out For My Love” by Linda Ronstadt from her 1980 “New Wave” album “Mad Love.”

And then comes “Rust Never Sleeps,” with “Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)” and “Powderfinger.” And if you care, and you should, be sure to check out the double live album “Live Rust,” the soundtrack to one of the great rock movies of all time, which was distributed with surround sound before that was de rigueur.

I’m gonna skip “Hawks & Doves” and “Re-ac-tor,” but I am including “Sample And Hold” from “Trans,” am I the only one who liked this album? Then again, I loved Kraftwerk’s “Computer World.”

Now we’re gonna jump to “This Note’s For You.” Neil had this one right, with his anti-commercialism, the clip won MTV’s Video of the Year award, despite getting scant airplay from the music video channel, and to show how little that award means, no one remembers he won it, but people do remember Neil stood up against selling out.

And then Neil tried to recapture the “Harvest” magic with “Harvest Moon,” but Don Henley had it right, you can never go back, the tracks were not as magical, but I’m gonna include “You And Me” nonetheless, it’s haunting.

And that brings us to “Greendale.” Of course I skipped a bunch, not that they’re worthless, although they do tend to run together, even though I own them all and played them. Anyway, “Greendale”‘s got a story, but I’m gonna put the songs in order of accessibility, “Sun Green,” “Double E” and “Devil’s Sidewalk.”

And there you have it, we’re bringing Neil Young’s music back alive, most people did not own it, most people didn’t own much, but now it’s accessible, now his legend can shine on, as it deserves to do.

No one’s going to be closing any bridges too soon. If only they put a few bankers behind bars…

The dirty little secret is the educated class believes it’s inviolate. That prison is for inner city denizens, the so-called dregs, and that if you’re wealthy enough and savvy enough you can hire an attorney and get off.

But not in this case.

It’s impossible to go back and reopen the bridge, give the time back to those who were frustrated by lane closures. But this is not about restitution but prevention. How do we reduce bad behavior in the future?

Some deterrents don’t work. Like the death penalty. That’s just an eye for an eye. But put a middle class person in jail and they’re changed for life. Look at the Watergate conspirators, one of the worst offenders, Chuck Colson, became a  preacher. He had a lot of time behind bars to think about his bad behavior. And Dick Nixon may have been pardoned by his successor, Gerald Ford, but his reputation was irreparably tarnished and…

We’ve got a government spying on its citizens, and a financial system that continues to wreak havoc on our economy, but we’re complicit in this behavior. We think the best and the brightest are keeping us safe. Funny how the right wingers are all about keeping government out of our business but when it comes to going behind closed doors, into our communications devices, to keep us supposedly secure, they’re all for it.

I remember when jail was anathema, not a badge of honor. Seemingly every rapper has been behind bars, and of course that’s an overstatement, but how have we gotten to the point where we glorify this? Why do these performers find it so hard to do the right thing?

Then again, we revere the outlaws because we ourselves are afraid.

It seems the bad acting musicians, and it’s not only rappers, a bunch of country acts have done time and a few rockers too, are running on instinct, they’re not thinking about it. But these white collar criminals…they know exactly what they’re doing and they act with impunity. And the same right wingers who believe in law and order have crippled the judiciary system to the point where if you’re guilty of bad behavior there’s a good chance you won’t be caught, never mind prosecuted. No taxes, no prosecutors. Funny how it’s all part of the same circle, you can’t take out one element and expect the system to work. Explain to me again how reducing IRS agent head count helps us? Aren’t these the people paid to collect the money?

So now while there’s a camera on every corner, to the point the average citizen can’t commit a crime and get away with it, those at the top of the pyramid are running willy-nilly over the system.

I’ve got no idea if they’ll prosecute Chris Christie, one thing I know for sure is his political career is finished. And the bridge lane closures did it. It was akin to a rap feud. The mayor of Fort Lee wouldn’t endorse him so he had to pay. The only thing missing was the bullets.

But there was evidence, electronic evidence. These nitwits didn’t realize their mobile phones were incriminating devices. Once again, it’s getting very hard to break the law and get away with it, but if you’re committing conceptual crimes the odds of skating are much higher. Next time it’ll all be done via conversation. That’s what they do in Silicon Valley when a deal gets close, they get off e-mail, they go to the landline, because there is no record.

And there’s a huge record of financial bad behavior but no one in charge, no one making decisions, was prosecuted. They said they didn’t know, hid behind layers of management, and counted on their cronies in the government, like Timothy Geithner, to let them be.

Then again, we’ve got a corrupt system. Both political and financial. You can’t make it unless you bend the rules. To the point where Donald Trump is boasting about bending the rules. Which way do we want it, zero tolerance or…

Put a few bankers behind bars and you’d be stunned how financial shenanigans evaporate. Nobody who went to an Ivy League institution wants to take it up the rear end. That’s right, put ’em in with the general population, don’t send ’em to a country club prison.

As for politicians… They do get prosecuted, they do go to jail, the attorney general of Pennsylvania, Kathleen Kane, a Democrat, was just convicted. But, is it the person or the system or both? And can we investigate the system as well as the person? How the hell do you raise the money to run and get elected? Inherently you owe favors.

We’re all guilty. Of being two-faced. We want a pass here and strict tolerance there.

But when you send a message to those in charge, making decisions, that bad behavior won’t be tolerated, it ripples through the whole system. Talk about trickle down…

So, today was a victory for our country. It showed no one is above the law.

But the truth is most movers and shakers believe to the contrary. They fly private, live behind layers of security and have access to the gatekeepers, they can make things go away. We live in a two-tiered society and most of us are on the lower rung when the truth is we’re all in this together.

I don’t want to ruin anybody’s life, I don’t want anybody taken away from their children.

But if they’re gonna put African-Americans behind bars for smoking a little dope, all in an effort to feed the prison industrial complex, then those in charge of creating the system must be incarcerated too.

There’s no crying in court. You can let the tears flow but the scales of justice won’t be tipped.

Chalk one up for the good guys today.

Us.

And the winner was…

STURGILL SIMPSON! Who excoriated Nashville and the ACM and CMA for embracing Merle Haggard posthumously when they pushed him aside during his lifetime.

Sturgill Simpson is an outsider.

And people love him for it. Whenever I write about country music I hear his name most, my inbox overflows, he’s got rabid fans, and they’re the ones spreading the word. There’s a fiction that old media still works, radio and print. But print is dying on the vine, the “Wall Street Journal” just laid off staffers and is merging sections and the “New York Times” saw a double-digit decrease in print advertising. Madison Avenue has fled print, because it no longer reaches and converts the public. Advertising may look like a public service, with all the image ads, but it’s really all about the SELL!

And for years Nashville has been about selling out.

I truly wonder if all these entertainers are friends in real life. Watching on television you felt this was a giant high school party thrown by the cool kids professing togetherness before they went to the bathroom and bullied those not in the club.

Not that there weren’t highlights.

Despite the tacky, over-the-top outfits, the CMAs were more genuine than the Grammys, there was less sheen, the music breathed, it evidenced some humanity. But it was all in service to a TV network paying the bills. Whether it be hype for upcoming shows displayed via on-screen bugs or scrolling news info it was clear the musicians were not in control, money was. What does Jennifer Garner have to do with country music? Peyton Manning? As for hosts Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley…it’s time to give someone else a chance. One thing was clear during this 50th anniversary telecast, the new plow over the old. You had hits once and now your power has been usurped. Give someone else a chance.

And playing to the television audience a grit was absent that is key at live shows. When you’re playing to everybody, you’re playing to nobody. Whereas when you’re in the arena for a live show supported by fans the excitement is palpable, when the attendees roar, the performers take it up a notch.

The highlight for me was Eric Church thanking his fans. He sent his new LP to them first and it won Album of the Year. Some things are right in this universe, as opposed to all the acts shilling for Chevy. Does anybody really want a Chevy, other than a Corvette? Isn’t that what you settle for when you can’t afford a Honda, Toyota or Nissan, never mind a Mazda or an Audi? But if Chevy is paying the bills, these court jesters will perform for them. Pretty creepy.

Then again, that’s the era we live in. It’s not that the younger generation is fine with selling out, it’s just that it never lived through an era where people didn’t. Which is why Sturgill Simpson taking a stand is so important.

And I’ve got to laud Kenny Chesney for wearing his t-shirt, albeit a highfalutin’ one. Once upon a time, when music burgeoned, it was about what was inside as opposed to the trappings. Kenny was the only one who came in his regular clothing. He bucked tradition. Kudos.

But there was the Apple Music ad for his new album. That’s what an exclusive will buy you, promotion. But does it even work? Sure, there’s a level of awareness, but we’ve already established word of mouth is king. As for Apple offering three months free… Is there anybody interested who hasn’t already used up their free trial? Who is this appealing to? Certainly not hard core music fans.

And speaking of taking a stand, isn’t it funny how Spotify is more Steve Jobs than Apple Music. It was Jobs who set the iTunes price and wouldn’t budge, wouldn’t accede to the major labels. It’s Spotify that’s fighting the labels to keep a free tier, it wants no part of exclusives. Once again, you stand for something or you stand for nothing.

And nobody in this telecast would stand for anything other than the Dixie Chicks.

I’m stunned they let them back in the building.

My viewpoint is they should have fought back, just like the Republican bulldozers who commit faux pas, like Bill O’Reilly. They should have stayed in country music, continued to make Nashville uncomfortable instead of exiting the format. By bringing Beyonce on stage, by performing with the pop queen, they showed country music to be what it now is, a big tent. Hell, half of the stars rap. Well, maybe not that many, but plenty.

And that’s today’s brouhaha, how the CMAs killed Bey’s publicity. Or not. You can decide.

But the truth is watching this show I felt very uncomfortable. Like we live in a nation divided. Like the south is a completely different country. Enough with the religion, Jesus didn’t help you win that award, the unheralded songwriter on Music Row did. As for Carrie and Brad being tired of politics… They could take a stand, but they won’t, it might hurt their pocket book.

But you know who did take a stand?

KATY PERRY! She’s been in the trenches for Hillary Clinton since day one. And even though I wavered and went over to Bernie I came back. Because I’m sick of the right wing vilifying Hillary. It’s a social media scrum. And the way you win is to stay in the game, unlike Taylor Swift who was K.O.’ed by Kanye and Kim and turned tail never to return, Clinton has stayed in the game. Is she imperfect, sure…BUT SO ARE YOU!

You see we have to take a stand, we cannot hang back. Read Frank Rich in the new issue of “New York.” He posits there will be consequences for those who did not stand up to Trump.

There are consequences for those who play the game, refusing to do what’s right.

There’s a lot right in Nashville right now. The records are made with real instruments, the songs are singable and they’re about subjects people can relate to. That’s the essence of country music, but not only country, BUT ALL MUSIC!

But we’ve gotten so far from the garden.

The CMA performances slid right off of me. They didn’t have gravitas. There was too much stunting, too many duets. But a lot of these numbers, when it’s just me and I hear them streaming through the headphones…

Unfortunately, Dierks Bentley sang to hard drive, but if “Different For Girls” doesn’t ring true to you, you’re probably a groper.

There’s truth in that song. It resonates.

There was very little truth in last night’s show.

But some of the songs keep me alive.

You’re building a resume, a body of work. You only answer to yourself. And when you look inward and reveal your truth people are drawn to you. Which is why it’s so important to avoid doing what’s expedient, going along to get along. Especially in art. The hacks come and go, the legends live on.

And Merle Haggard, although six feet under, will live longer in the culture than almost any winner tonight.

The first thing I remember knowing
Was a lonesome whistle blowing

Lonesome. Sometimes I feel that way so much I could cry, and do. Remember when songs penetrated your soul? That’s why people clamor for Jason Isbell, he’s trying to get it right. You need to try and get it right.

And a young ‘un’s dream of growing up to ride
On a freight train leaving town

Now everybody just stays where they was born and goes nowhere. Used to be you wanted to get out of Dodge, have new experiences. Today the acts base themselves in Nashville and fly home after many gigs. And the audience never ventures above the Mason-Dixon Line.

But music can take you far away.

And Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried” was carried by the wind all the way to San Francisco, where the Grateful Dead covered it on their legendary live album commonly known as “Skull and Roses.”

That’s music history for you right there.

Play a little less to the crowd and a little more to yourself.

That’s when people embrace you, that’s when you become a big star.

Too many of tonight’s stars were small.

But Sturgill Simpson, who was not even nominated, is quite big.

You can be big too.

Sturgill Simpson on Merle Haggard

“New York Times Co. Reports an Advertising Drop, Though Digital Results Grew”

Frank Rich: “Trump’s Appeasers – Charles Lindbergh was a national hero, then a fascist sympathizer. History will be just as brutal to more than a few current Republican leaders”

“Mama Tried”

What a game!

It had everything, a rain delay, a comeback and extra innings.

And it ended at 12:45 AM on the east coast and the younger generation that no longer plays would have been hooked if it had only seen it.

Baseball was everything growing up. I played Little League where you either made the team or you didn’t, you played or you were cut, and trophies only went to the winners. In an era when blacks were disadvantaged, women were denigrated and little light was shone upon the foibles of the famous people.

But we believed.

It was a simpler time. We wanted to be Mickey Mantle. Somehow, we believed Moose Skowron could be our best friend. We wanted to see Rocky Colavito come to bat, never mind Al Kaline. Baseball was the National Pastime. Until football came along and stole everybody’s heart with a violent game played against a clock.

Remember the George Carlin routine? Baseball was pastoral, we had no idea when it might end, it might go on FOREVER!

And now the season does.

There were 162 games because there were ten teams instead of eight.

But these extra layers of playoffs, they were about TV cash and raising the hopes of the wannabes. Whereas way back when, you rode it out for the pennant and then the World Series was played the first week of October. We shouldn’t be playing baseball in November, but that’s what the money demands.

But despite all that, tonight’s game was an epic finish that not only rekindled your belief in the game, but America too.

The most valuable player was a Jewish egghead who never took the field. Theo Epstein reversed the curse in Boston and then brought a championship to Chicago. Most sports are jockocracies wherein if you didn’t play, you don’t get a voice. To the point where the commentators are all has-been oldsters who won’t talk trash unless they’ve got a personal beef. It’s a closed system. You’re either inside or outside, and that just sucks.

And the teams are a rainbow coalition of ethnicities. It’s a white supremacist’s nightmare, not only are there various colors, but immigrants too! And somehow they all get along, they come together as a team, they’ve got a common goal, victory!

What is the common goal in America today? The telecast was riddled with political ads that made one wince. Duplicitous candidates utilizing subterfuge to try and win. Whereas the baseball players had shaggy haircuts, some tattoos, and had to play by their wits, there was little time for thinking, you had to make decisions.

And we can second-guess Joe Maddon’s until springtime. Why did he pull the starting pitcher? But this is not the digital world, where we expect it to work right out of the box, this is humanity, where you make mistakes and they have consequences.

The bad throws!

I’ll argue that way back when the players were better prepared. I don’t remember this many errors at the end of the season. But it kept one paying attention, you had no idea what would transpire.

Like the comeback.

That’s why baseball is the best, it’s never over until it’s over. I was debating getting off the couch, calling it a night, it looked like a blowout, but then the aforementioned pitcher was replaced, the Indians scored and when it looked like they couldn’t come back, THEY DID!

And for a minute there, it looked like they’d come back in the 10th.

Bob Costas says sports are a metaphor for life, and that’s tonight’s lesson… Not only that you shouldn’t give up, but you should continue to play the game because anything can happen. Sometimes you’ve just got to show up, the other person will screw up. Sometimes you have to step up to the plate and create your own destiny.

As much as they’re doing their best to screw up baseball they can’t screw up the game. That’s what’s so fascinating and heartwarming. This is not football, where every year they’re tweaking the rules and it’s hard to catch up. This is not football wherein a subjective judgment, i.e. pass interference, can determine championships. This is just a bunch of guys on a field contesting each other, via their skills and their intellect. Sure, baseball players now pump iron, but the Cubs’ 10th inning pitcher looked like he’d get beaten up in high school, he was a veritable stringbean!

And after throwing a bunch of strikes he could no longer find the plate. The pressure! That’s what success is all about, handling the pressure!

So right now you’ve got a cadre of thrilled baby boomers with their minds blown that this series went to seven, the Cubs came back from a 3-1 deficit, and Chicago earned its first ring in 108 years.

And you’ve got a younger generation that’s shrugging its shoulders if it’s paying attention at all.

Sure, back in the sixties the games were during the day, we were in school, we’d implore our teacher to turn them on. But now they start at 8 PM and are almost guaranteed to go until midnight on the east coast… How did we lose our way?

That’s right, we as a nation have lost our way. Because we put money first and foremost. It erodes all our institutions, it undermines our culture, it makes heroes of zeros. Come on, would anybody be listening to Donald Trump if he wasn’t rich?

But maybe you’re a Trump supporter… You’re gonna vote for him, and when he hopefully loses, you’re gonna say the election was rigged.

But nobody is saying the World Series was rigged. Everybody believes it was fought fair and square. Sure, there were some injustices, but that’s life, perfection is nonexistent.

We can learn from baseball. Not only do you have to run onto the field and play, if you lose, you have to get ready for another day.

If this were politics they’d be screaming about the rain delay, saying it caused the pitchers to go cold and the playing field to get wet.

But nobody did.

One team ultimately ran onto the field in pure joy, disbelieving their long nightmare was over. That after almost a year of effort, never mind seasons previous, they’d triumphed.

The other team was glum, disillusioned.

But the Indians are not going to quit. They’re going to lick their wounds and show up next spring to contest again.

Show up and contest, it’s all we can do.

Just when I think I’ve seen it all, that I’m too jaded, a baseball game reminds me that despite preparation, we’ve got no idea what the future holds. And despite mistakes, we too can still triumph.

Puts a smile on my face and joy in my heart.

I hope you saw it.