The Waiting – Spotify

The Waiting – YouTube

How do you follow up a hit album?

That’s the dilemma Bruno Mars is facing and it appears he’s failing the test. Music is frequently best when it’s a Rorschach test, when you think less and just react. Imagine what music would sound like if it was done quickly, on inspiration as opposed to contemplation, once you’re worried about getting it right, you often get it wrong.

And when Tom Petty put out “Damn The Torpedoes” most people had no idea who the man was, or considered him to be a minor artist with a cult hit, “Breakdown,” and a mild, more poppy one, “Listen To Her Heart,” they were unprepared for what came next, the delayed third LP, after the bankruptcy proceedings, the one that started off with a bang, from the moment “Refugee” emanated from the dashboard you were hooked, it reached out and grabbed you without caring at the same time, what a conundrum, but that’s Petty’s genius, the ability to be so personal yet distant, it’s like we’re watching his life through a hole in the wall.

Actually, my favorite cut on “Damn The Torpedoes” is “Here Comes My Girl,” and if I’m completely honest, I prefer the debut, produced by Denny Cordell, it’s darker, like a hot, steamy Florida night. It feels like a blacker Richard Linklater film, a whole world you’re peeking at while the sweat is dripping down your neck.

But once “Damn The Torpedoes” went big, then what?

Now interestingly, Petty had more peaks, but they didn’t come soon. In 1985, “Don’t Come Around Here No More” was a surprise hit, bolstered by MTV. And then when the band was cold, Petty went solo and became a superstar with “Full Moon Fever,” come on, who doesn’t feel good when they hear “Free Fallin'”?

But now it was 1981, two years after “Damn The Torpedoes,” and Petty had to measure up, prove himself again.

And he didn’t.

The irony is he gave the best track away, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” was a gigantic hit for Stevie Nicks, it made her solo career, and TP and his Heartbreakers ultimately released their demo on 1995’s “Playback” and it was just as good but “Hard Promises” suffered without it.

Not that “Hard Promises” wasn’t good, it just wasn’t as good as “Damn The Torpedoes.”

It’s really about side one. The highlight is “A Woman In Love (It’s Not Me)” which is about as good as Petty gets, and the following tracks, “Nightwatchman,” “Something Big” and “Kings Road” carried through, but it was the opener that got all the airplay…

Oh baby don’t it feel like heaven right now
Don’t it feel like something from a dream

With a Byrds-like intro setting you up, the above words cut right to the chase, telling a love story we all live at least once, when we’re infatuated, when romance is new. And I’ve got nothing bad to say about the track, I love it, BUT LINDA RONSTADT KILLS IT!

That’s right, Petty is the outsider, the loner, it’s a peek into his little world, whereas Ronstadt makes it for everyone, she belts and blows the top off and the darkness is eviscerated and you end up with a celebration that is not solely male, but one that’s inclusive, that resonates for everyone!

You’ve probably never heard her rendition. After all, this was the nineties, after the experimentation, Broadway and the standards and Mexican excursions. 1995’s “Feels Likes Home” was a return to what once was when people no longer cared. Released in the seventies it would be a smash, but twenty years later it’s a curio.

Linda Ronstadt, a much-maligned superstar seemingly unknown by the younger generation who paid her dues and triumphed and became so big that the only thing she could do was to sidestep into new genres.

We had no idea who she was when she cut those hits with the Stone Poneys.

And then she had a solo career sans traction, until David Geffen rescued her, she worked with Peter Asher, and in one fell swoop she was everywhere, with “You’re No Good” and the album “Heart Like A Wheel.”

But the rap on Ronstadt was she was sans nuance, that it was like singing the telephone book, who knew what was to come, with Mariah Carey and the television divas. And I get the point, her take on Randy Newman’s “Sail Away” is laughable, with no sense of irony, no humor, eww…

But she self-corrected pretty fast, yet the critics wouldn’t cut her a break, because she was so good-looking and so successful.

But the public didn’t care what the critics thought, they embraced Linda, and never completely let go until she called it quits herself.

Then again, she deserves credit for not playing the game. For speaking her mind on politics, for being unconcerned with body image. Think about that, Linda Ronstadt, seen as pure pop way back when has more of a backbone than anybody working today, when the big breakthrough is Alicia Keys not wearing makeup, when no one will take a stand for fear of alienating a potential customer.

So, Ronstadt’s version of “The Waiting” does not start off rockin’ and rollin’, it’s all acoustic…

But then Ronstadt begins to sing.

Oh baby don’t it feel like heaven right now
Don’t it feel like something from a dream

This is not an alienated guy finally revealing his truth, rather this is the well-known high school student, maybe even a cheerleader or school President, who is stepping up to the mic…AND BLOWING US AWAY!

Hey, I’ve never known nothing quite like this

Most of the rockers are male, the women tend to be balladeers, what to do about the person singing this song?  EMBRACE HER!

It’s a boy’s dream. The girl who can play baseball and get dolled up for the prom all at the same time, “The Waiting” is a roller coaster ride on a Saturday afternoon with your dream date, you’re pinching yourself, this is as good as it gets!

She’s still singing about chasing a couple of women around, but that makes no difference, you want to chase HER!

Can I bring you back? To an era where fashion was de minimis? Where it was all about blue jeans and a nice top? When beauty was more than skin-deep? Then you’d be in the seventies, when Linda Ronstadt ruled.

And whereas Petty’s take is dense and dark, the light is shining on Ronstadt’s, she’s right there in the open, she’s hiding NOTHING!

Yeah, then there were those that made me feel good
But never as good as I feel right now

She feels it too. She’s not an ice queen, not a wannabe in a porn video, not one of the social media nitwits, she’s a human being AND SHE’S IN LOVE!

Maybe with you.

Of course not, but listening to Linda Ronstadt sing “The Waiting” you feel…it’s exactly what you’ve been waiting for, someone you can fall in love with just like this!

And that’s what made Linda Ronstadt a star.

The waiting IS the hardest part, for what once was to come back.

It will, eventually, just a little bit different.

Boy bands are cyclical, and so are those who value talent, the ability to write, play and SING!

Never underestimate ability. We live in a world where everybody thinks they can fake it. Use auto-tune, get plastic surgery. But it’s authenticity we crave, not perfection. And when you’ve got the pipes, the skill, the look, and you evidence it, we cannot get enough of it!

So, what have we learned?

That it starts with the song, and they’re damn hard to write and we must revere those who come up with them.

And a great song can be sung by many, they can make it their own if they’ve got something to bring to it.

And what Linda Ronstadt brings to “The Waiting” is not only her raw talent, but the way she exhibits it, rides the throttle, decides to give us all she’s got without banging us over the head with it.

Don’t let it kill you babe, don’t let it get to you

She’s SHOUTING!

She’s employing all the tools in her box. She knows the fakers are no challenge to those on the right side.

Once upon a time, we were all there on the right side of rock, led by people who thought getting it down on wax was the most important part. That everything else was just the trappings.

Come along for the ride. Listen to the picking, the pounding and the wailing. It’ll squeeze out the noise in your head. It’ll make you feel…

That the good times are coming if you can just wait long enough.

And she can do it live:

Linda Ronstadt – The Waiting (Letterman 3-21-95)

I think this is a pretty accurate representation of who I am and what I believe.

Roadhouse Blues – Spotify

Roadhouse Blues – YouTube

I woke up this morning and I got myself a BEER!

I didn’t buy “Morrison Hotel.”

The Doors’ debut is one of the best albums extant. Sure, it’s got “Light My Fire,” even “The End,” but my favorite is “Crystal Ship,” and I have a soft place in my heart for “Twentieth Century Fox.”

So I bought “Strange Days,” which was even darker, but sans standout tracks. Then again, I love “Moonlight Drive” and “You’re Lost Little Girl,” but what in the hell was up with “Horse Latitudes”? They get all the credit for experimenting, but…

“Waiting For The Sun” had a huge hit, and who doesn’t love “Love Street,” and I sing “Summer’s Almost Gone” to myself every August, but…it didn’t quite reach the previous peak.

And then came “Soft Parade,” which was criticized for being bombastic, but I’ve got no problem with the title track, and I really love “Wishful Sinful” and “Runnin’ Blue,” but I stopped there…

Because the reviews weren’t quite good enough.

Funny how time has written a different story. People exalt the rawness of “Morrison Hotel,” the Paul Rothchild-less “L.A. Woman” is a classic, and I know them by heart, they get so much airplay, the Doors had a renaissance nonpareil, but…

When I heard John Sebastian give the backstory on “Roadhouse Blues” just now and he launched into the tune I was TRANSFIXED!

I had my hands upon the wheel, my fingers were tapping, my ass was shaking, I was reminded of what music once was, when rock ruled, when it was about singing as opposed to talking, when those who made it were truly outlaws, when it was the most important thing in the world, when it WAS the culture.

So, John Sebastian is the deejay today on the 70’s on 7. Installations in automobiles broke Sirius XM, never underestimate the power of distribution, and I’m stunned when people don’t subscribe, I haven’t listened to terrestrial radio since 2003, and I don’t miss it a bit.

And John isn’t the best deejay, he doesn’t have a smooth voice, it’s a bit halting and considered, but I’m playing the home game, I’m anticipating what he’s going to say, and he’s talking about a recut of “Nashville Cats” in Nashville and I’m thinking of Valerie Carter’s exquisite cover of his “Face Of Appalachia,” but I’ve got to stop at the 76 station for some gas, where the woman next to me has a neck tattoo and I’m wondering…does everybody want to be like a rock star, and at what cost, does this hurt your career?

And when I’m back in my machine John is telling a story about the aforementioned Paul Rothchild, who I actually knew, how Paul called him up to play with the Doors.

I didn’t know that!

This was pre-internet, pre-Wikipedia.

And John’s talking about being thrilled to play with the lauded Lonnie Mack, whom I didn’t know was on the record either, and just before he hits play he says to listen for himself on the harmonica.

I DIDN’T KNOW THIS! For some reason I thought someone in the band played the harp.

And it’s fifty years since the Lovin’ Spoonful, and John Sebastian may have lost his voice but for the life of me I don’t know why the Lovin’ Spoonful” has lost its respect, they had a string of hits, my favorite besides “Darling Be Home Soon”? SIX O’CLOCK!

So I’ve got it cranked. I’ve got an aftermarket stereo. Does anybody do that anymore? Is everybody resigned to better than crap but not really great sound in the car?

And I’ve got the six speakers and the subwoofer and I’m in my cocoon and….

That guitar starts to chug, the one that lit up untold Saturday nights in the city.

And the ivories are tinkling and the harp is blowing and then Jim is imploring us to keep our eyes on the road and our hands upon the wheel as we drive to the roadhouse to have a real good time.

How did the band change sounds? I think it confounded critics. People expect you to sound exactly like you did before, but the crowd caught on, “Roadhouse Blues” is a staple, a classic.

By today’s standards it takes too long to get to the lyrics.

But back then we were all about breaking rules.

And the band is laying down track, rollicking, taking the Band’s sound and amplifying it and then…

“Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel”

Today millennials don’t even get their license. But back then it represented freedom. Does anybody even drive cross-country anymore? That was a box to be ticked, not because you could not afford to fly, but because you wanted to see what was going on, soak up the landscape.

Yeah, we’re goin’ to the roadhouse
We’re gonna have a real
Good time

Oh, the tales your parents have to tell. Getting in Pontiacs and Pintos, loaded up with their friends, driving to a bar where there was a jukebox, maybe a band, and beers were a buck and you started early and ended late and it was all about jostling and jiving, telling tales and having the night of your life.

Let it roll, baby
Let it roll, baby
Let it roll, baby
Let it roll, all night long

Getting in the moment, surfing the zeitgeist, that’s the essence of life, that’s what music provides, you want to catch the wave, stand up and ride it all the way into shore.

Save our city
Save our city
RIGHT NOW!

Nothing beats immediacy. Don’t call me about drinking Saturday night, tell me to meet you downtown RIGHT NOW!

Well, I woke up this morning, I got myself a beer

That’s what you did when everybody wasn’t on the fast track to nowhere taking business courses so they can climb up the corporate ladder, so they can be entrepreneurs, founding apps, making coin,

We didn’t think we could win back then. Life was for the living. And sometimes the only way to go, to cope, was to pop a top as soon as you got up, and face the day.

The future’s uncertain and the end is always near

For Jim it certainly was, shortly he’d be six feet under in Paris. But the reason he and his compatriots’ music lasts is because they played like it was everything and it could all end tomorrow. No corporation could keep up.

Now this is not background music, not something to come up on the Pandora channel playing while you work, while you make dinner, no “Roadhouse Blues” immediately demands your attention.

So what I want you to do right now is TURN IT UP! I want you to LET LOOSE! I want you to FEEL ALIVE! I want you to let the music WASH OVER YOU! I want you to be jetted back to what once was and forevermore will be!

That’s the power of music, that’s the power of a track, get it right and it’s forever. It’s not an iPod that’s superseded that ends up in a drawer. It’s not the supporting cast, but the lead, when done right it dominates, desecrates and decapitates, that’s right, it blows your head RIGHT OFF!

So what I want you do is let it roll.

Let it roll.

ALL NIGHT LONG!

So I’m telling Don Was how good the Stones album is.

No, actually that’s untrue. I was talking to Jerry and Sue. Who I know from the Palisades. They were fish out of water, they’re social friends of Barnett, they wanted to know…WHO ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE?

So I introduce them to Don Passman, who comes walking by. I tell them he literally wrote the book. I expected that to get a laugh, but it was a noisy party and Don needed to move on and…

I was anxious. I don’t want to judge any of these people, like Joni Mitchell, but I always wonder where my place is in these assemblages. Everybody seems to know everybody, everybody is having a good time, how do I navigate, how long before I can leave?

But then Mr. Was shows up.

Actually, Mr. Fagenson. He’s only half a year older than me. There’s a nexus between two Jews, although he’s so much cooler than I am. And I didn’t check whether he was wearing his flip-flops, but that’s his trademark, even in Toronto in the middle of March, where I first met him. Don is Don 24/7.

And he also produced one of the greatest records of all time.

Yes, he works with the Stones. Yes, he cut Bonnie Raitt’s comeback/breakthrough album “Nick Of Time,” but the one after that…

“Luck Of The Draw” is one of the great albums ever. Bonnie’s one of the few who ever hit a second peak. “Give It Up” is classic, she didn’t come close again, and then nearly twenty years later she superseded her prior career, WHEW!

One part be my lover.

One part go away.

I was married to that person. She didn’t want to be with me, but she didn’t want to get divorced.

And just as good is the title cut.

These things we do to keep the flame burnin’
And write our fire in the sky

We’re all trying to write our fire in the sky, that’s why we move to Los Angeles. Most fail. But those who succeed become icons.

And those who survive in this business deserve respect, like Don Was. Most people can’t work anymore, that’s the dirty little secret.

So we’re talking Stones. Don’s telling me how they made the new record. How everybody knew they were on to something but no one wanted to say anything, afraid it would kill the magic.

And I’m worried about Jerry and Sue. They didn’t know how long to stand there waiting for me to re-engage them. I introduced them to Don, but this ended up being a one on one conversation, and Mr. Was was not jonesing to move on.

Which Jerry and Sue eventually did.

And we’re talking Gregory Porter, and I’m about to go deep on some songwriting theory and…

I feel a presence over my shoulder, someone’s being ushered up to Don, to be introduced. An old guy with white hair.

It’s Bob Seger.

Now let me tell you, this was not a star-studded affair. Eventually I saw Nancy Wilson, but this was a business party. Old execs, wannabes…

But now it’s Bob Seger. Who’s got those slightly crooked buck teeth and he’s inches away and he’s getting into it with Don and I’m standing there thinking…

How long is this gonna last?

And at what point can I enter the conversation?

Now I’d been introduced. But needless to say, keeping his music off Spotify, Seger’s got no idea who I am. Which I can handle. But suddenly I’m Jerry and Sue… How long do I stand here until I move on?

I know the rules, I can’t let on that I’m a fan. Maybe I’ll tell him how good he was at the Frey memorial, that was an invitation-only affair.

But then Bob starts talking about his new album, cut in Nashville, a tribute to Glenn Frey!

And Don asks him who’s playing on it and Seger says “Kenny Greenberg,” and I know Kenny and can talk this game but…

Should I stay or should I go?

One thing I know for sure, if I go there won’t be trouble. I won’t be missed. But I was in a genuine conversation with Don that might be picked up, can I fight my inner dialogue and stand my ground?

But then the photographer shows up.

No way I’m gonna be in this picture. I’m the opposite of a glommer-on. If you ask me, maybe…

But after the first pic Don puts his arm around my shoulder, the three of us get photographed, my bona fides have been established as Bob goes on and then…

Ryan Adams pops up between us.

And I’m stunned how young Ryan appears up close and personal. He’s veritably cherubic, he’s fresh-faced, and he then says…

NOW I’VE FOUND THE PARTY!

And that’s when it occurred to me, Bob Seger was just like me, but even worse. He was all alone, and when he found the one person he knew and respected, also from Detroit, there was no way he was gonna let go.

And now the three of them are talking and my spilkes is driving me crazy. I don’t want to appear a hanger-on, so I tell Don I’m gonna make my exit.

And I do.

THE AFTERMATH

It was a cornucopia of players. I’m talking about those who work the phone, not those who pluck the strings. Then again, isn’t that the problem, that too few of today’s artists know how to play?

So, I spoke with Jeff Jones, of Beatles, Inc., who told me the Ron Howard film grossed twelve million, that it was a success. You should view it, you’ll get goosebumps when you see the Fab Four way back when.

And after consorting with Irving and Lucian and Peter Paterno, I noticed the oldsters over my shoulder… Bhaskar Menon, Don Zimmermann, Rupert Perry…

But by this time I was engaged in conversation with John Sykes. Who was telling me about arranging a meeting between Leon Russell and Eric Clapton decades after they’d last played together.

And now I was in the groove, I felt comfortable, people wanted to talk to me, but I had no idea how long to engage, I was worried I was committing faux pas, not paying enough attention… Is saying hi enough? Is shaking hands enough?

I became engaged in a long conversation with Dan Wilson and his wife about the state of the arts today, as well as the state of the country, and then I realized it was nearly ten and my mission was complete. The hitters were gone, all that was left were the wannabes.

And at one time or another we’re all wannabes. But then we move to Los Angeles, a place where where you went to college is irrelevant, as is your parentage, unless it’s Hollywood royalty. We all begin at the same starting line. The gun goes off and we network and go down blind alleys and if we become skilled enough, we last.

And then time moves on and we’re plowed under and replaced.

I was talking with Hale Milgrim. I told him I remembered when he presided over the 50th anniversary, with the multi-CD set and the book and…

I didn’t want to tell Bob Seger that it was no longer the way it used to be, that albums were passe. But if he could record one great track, another “Night Moves,” maybe even a “Still The Same,” we were all ears. But the truth is most oldsters can no longer hit the mark. But they remember….

When being a musician was the highest calling in America. Screw being President, you wanted to play, you had influence and money and sex and… You were a king!

But you had to figure out a way to make it happen.

Once upon a time Glenn Frey was managed by Punch, that’s what Seger said.

But Glenn had to wait until he found Irving before he could become a superstar.

You need to be in the room where it happens.

Tonight I was.

And those Hollywood nights, in those Hollywood hills, above all the lights, it was giving me chills.