In my dreams, and they should be Jimmy Page’s too.

I love the fact that Robert Plant refuses to go out, but there’s a huge demand to hear Zeppelin’s music, and Jimmy wants to play. He should go on the road with Pat.

Who?

The guy from Train.

Did you listen to his vocals on the Gregg Allman tribute album?

Deep and resonant, perfectly suited for Jimmy’s work. Furthermore, Pat’s got a history of singing Zeppelin stuff, does it in concert, most famously “Ramble On.”

And the truth is even if Plant went out, he can’t hit the notes. His voice has changed. And Queen keeps going out with different singers to huge demand.

But they call it Queen, and Freddie Mercury was the star.

But Jimmy Page was always as big as Robert Plant. Everybody knew it was Pagey’s band.

So how ’bout it Jimmy?

Don’t say you tried this once before, with the Black Crowes. Timing is everything, in music as it is in tech. And you were just too early.

But now, with Arnel Pineda successfully fronting Journey, and Pat Monahan already having a name, the audience is ready to be dazed and confused.

Don’t be afraid. Look at it like the breakup of the Yardbirds, forming a new band wherein you’re gonna do some of the old material, well, a lot of the old material.

You want to play, you want to go on your victory lap.

Don’t be afraid, you’ll be embraced with open arms (sorry about the Journey pun…)

Jason pounds the skins nearly as well as his dad. John Paul Jones adds the texture. You…execute the riffs, bring out the bow and…

It’d be one thing if you said you were retired, that you had arthritis, that you didn’t want to do this. But the truth is you do.

And the truth is everybody would be disappointed in a Zeppelin reunion, everybody would compare it to what once was. This… Would be a whole new thing, you’d get the benefit of the doubt, there would be love instead of negativity.

Furthermore, first time around sales would be incredible. You’d underplay just a bit, blow people away, and then everybody would come back, with their kids in tow. Come on, if Jason himself can play these songs to throngs, why can’t you?

Call it the New Led Zeppelin! Ha!

Train/Pat Monahan “Ramble On”

1. Never e-mail an MP3.

If you’ve never heard of SoundCloud, why should I bother listening to your MP3, which clutters my inbox, it indicates you’re not savvy enough to know how technology works.

2. No away messages.

Is that really how little your job means to you, that when you’re away from your desk you’re not working? The truth is, you are. And you’re checking your messages. Why do you have to clutter our inboxes with your away messages, which you frequently leave turned on, even though you’re back in your office.

3. Permission marketing.

Seth Godin wrote the definitive statement, read it here:

Permission Marketing

In other words, don’t assume you’re friends with people you’re not. Just because you’ve got someone’s e-mail address, that does not mean they want to hear from you. When you abuse a relationship that does not exist, you tarnish all future conversation/connection, assuming there is any.

4. Assuming everybody knows something.

People are more out of it than ever before, acts that sell out arenas can’t tell you who’s number one on the radio charts. Not only should you inform people what you’re talking about, don’t put them down when they don’t know what you’re talking about.

5. Long e-mail.

I hope you feel good when you write it, because no one reads it. Get to the point, especially when people read on mobile devices.

(And don’t send me snarky responses putting down the length of what I write. You opted in, you’ve gotten this far, if you don’t like it, sign off.)

6. Don’t ask for a retweet/promotion.

You don’t like spam, why do you think the rules don’t apply to your project, why do you think it’s the job of someone with an audience to spread the word? It might even be charity, but do you know how many charitable efforts there are? Furthermore, isolated promotion rarely yields results. And think about the effect on the reputation of the person you’re asking the favor of before you do…ask for the favor. And better to do a favor before asking for one, and a favor is not turning the reader on to your own “great” music.

7. Stop sending CDs.

It makes you feel good, that you’ve done something. But the new Macs don’t even come with a CD drive, where am I gonna play it?

8. Stop inviting people to become part of your LinkedIn network.

I blame the service more than the individuals, because it harvests e-mail addresses, which are currency, but I’m stunned by all the people who want me to be part of their circle who I don’t know, what next, a favor?
I don’t care how many “likes” you’ve got, how many “friends,” this online currency is next to worthless. How much money did you make? How good is what you’re selling?

9. Don’t keep your music off streaming services.

Let me understand this Coldplay and the Black Keys, you want to prevent people from streaming so you can sell a measly 100,000+ albums. Furthermore, all the money’s in concerts. You should be paying people to listen to you! The hardest thing today is to make a new fan/get people to check you out, anywhere music can be played, your stuff should be there. It will be, just like Kid Rock is on Spotify. What advantage does AC/DC have not being on digital services? This ship has sailed, almost no one listens to an album straight through, that died with vinyl and the cassette, and you’re ultimately gonna be on the service anyway. What, you want a first week sales pop to influence retailers? What retailers? As for the media…the publishing of streaming statistics as opposed to SoundScan is only a motion away. Either you’re part of the problem or you’re part of the solution, and now even Spotify is being proactive, by posting on its service that you refuse to play.

10. No advance streams.

These make no sense. Get paid if people are listening, to try and drive sales of CDs and files via streaming previews is inane.

11. Eliminate the service fees.

Go to all-in ticketing. The present system of add-ons is fan abuse.

12. Allow everybody to buy tickets at the same time.

Oh, this will never happen, you love those fan club and AmEx fees.

13. Don’t forward something you like but the recipient won’t.

This is what is wrong with web recommendations, they don’t take into account the person receiving them.

14. Don’t think being good is good enough.

Making it is so much more than that.

15. Don’t put down those who’ve made it.

That’s so last century. I get it, you’re better, they’re untalented doofuses.
Instead of decrying their success, figure out how they got there, what made them successful. The truth is they’re smarter and more realistic than you. You might even be talented, but when it comes to business and personal relationships, you may be dumb.

16. Don’t add me to your mailing list.

I don’t care if it’s opt-out. And do you know how many of these get caught by spam filters anyway?
Ask first.
And you know what the answer is…NO!

(Start with your friends, who actually know and care about you. If you’re good, they’ll tell their friends, and some of them will eventually be friends/trusted filters of mine, and I’ll hear about it that way.)

17. Stop tweeting unless you’re famous.

No one is reading it.

(That’s why I stopped, and I’ve got 60,000 followers, but I’m not famous!)

The Allman Brothers were our EDM.

Too much has been written about the Grateful Dead, but the dirty little secret was they were lousy, they’d play for four hours, one would be completely unlistenable, two mediocre and one great, and I know, I was there, the first time around, before they became an oldies act in the eighties and all the Gen X’ers discovered them.

Now that’s not really the name of this two record set, which I’m listening to on Spotify after being tipped off by Mike Marrone’s adds at SiriusXM’s Loft, it’s really “All My Friends: Celebrating The Songs & Voice Of Gregg Allman”…what, you really want no commercial success?

And believe me, this album will be a commercial failure.

But unlike the execrable tribute albums, this is a live document of a concert that I read about and figured I could miss, because Gregg’s still alive and touring and…

But I was wrong.

There’s so much energy here, so much excitement, it makes me feel like I really missed something.

They don’t make live albums anymore. Because that work has been relegated to YouTube and the truth is so many of the new acts cannot play, but what set the Allmans apart was their ability to do so.

So I pulled up Taj Mahal and Gregg’s rendition of “Statesboro Blues.”

The deejay pushes the button and you start to jump, but that’s nothing compared to that slide guitar, which had us hopping up from our seats, instantly excited. Will people ever know this magic again?

The Allman Brothers have been playing the Beacon, but that’s for fans only. And with so many shows, the roof no longer lifts off the joint, because they’ve got nothing to prove. But strangely, when everybody should have been phoning it in, they didn’t, not at this show.

There’s a wild cornucopia of acts, Eric Church does “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More,” one of my absolute favorites from “Eat A Peach,” it’s all about the changes, back when songs were written by bands for themselves as opposed to famous producers behind the scenes.

And the Allmans themselves do “Dreams.”

And Gregg and Jackson Browne do the latter’s song that the former made famous, “These Days.” “Well, I’ve been out walkin’…” Hear Jackson and your body will tingle, mine just did.

And then they switch roles, the duo does Gregg’s “Melissa.” And this was the hit, sitting in the dorm, reflective. “Ramblin’ Man” may have been all over the radio, but that slid right off you, “Melissa” penetrated.

Trace Adkins does “I’m No Angel,” and he ain’t.

John Hiatt is reminiscent of his days on tour with Ry Cooder three decades ago on “One Way Out,” it’s a tear!

And not all songs are fast, Sam Moore performs “Please Call Home.”

But the album opens with the other understated classic, the track I adore from “Brothers and Sisters,” “Come And Go Blues.”

Ever been in this relationship?

I certainly have.

They don’t want you to have them, but they don’t want to let you go. I envy those who’ve been married since their teens, but they missed out on so much heartbreak and experience.

And that’s what the Allman Brothers were all about, you could hear the miles in Gregg Allman’s voice, back when your rock stardom opened all doors, to drugs, cars and Cher.

And “Come And Go Blues” is sung by journeyman Warren Haynes, who’s never gotten his due, and probably never will, he’ll probably die with most people never knowing his name.

And there you’ve got it, modern music, which is all pop all the time.

But it didn’t used to be that way. Used to be we lived for the album cuts, they brought us to the show.

But that was back when it was about the music, not the stardom, when the acts were ripped off and didn’t bitch about it, when being on the road, drinkin’, druggin’ and screwin’, was enough.

Not really, eventually they’d emerge from the fog and realize they’d been ripped off, in this case by Phil Walden.

But the experience was more important than the cash. And ain’t that life. Today everybody gets a job that pays but doesn’t fulfill. And pursuing your dream means you often can’t put a roof over your head. And if you like an act, you can’t get a good seat, and when you do, it’s prohibitively expensive.

But once upon a time ducats were way less than ten bucks. And sure, you wanted to check out the crowd, but really you were most interested in bonding with the people on stage, the music emanating from the amps.

Listen to this album and you’ll remember.

And if you never knew you’ll pooh-pooh and move on.

But know that once upon a time, we didn’t listen to techies, not even politicians, but musicians, hell, the Allmans got Jimmy Carter started on his Presidential run.

We went to each other’s house and checked out the collection.

We closed our eyes and played air guitar.

We were tied to the whipping post.

The Gregg Allman Concert Album – Spotify link (and if you don’t have Spotify, sign up immediately, it’s free, and it’s where most people are and everybody should be, join the party)

You’re fighting for attention, people are overstimulated and don’t need what you’re selling, think about your approach just as much as your music. Unsolicited hype bounces off just like the ads you hate.

Just because you made it, that does not mean we’re interested.

Famous people won’t say they like your track because then you’re going to spam the Internet with their quote, and the only one truly at risk is the person quoted, not you, no one knows you.

Social networking is easier than making music. Focus on the latter if you want to stick.

Self-promotion is easy, but unseemly. Giving fans trusted information is cool, but constantly imploring people to check out your track and come to your gig makes you look like an amateur.

First comes the music, then comes the fan base. If the people you know and have access to don’t dig your stuff, don’t ask for more, don’t want to be on your mailing list, believe me, those with true power to push your career are not interested. Recording impresarios don’t care what your music sounds like, only that it has an audience. Prove that it has an audience and you’ll gain entrance. Furthermore, music is a business, and it’s dominated by older people with experience who care less about music and are less in touch with it, they wax rhapsodic about the glory days of their youth, whether it be the Beatles or U2, they probably don’t understand what you’re making, but they do understand money, and fan bases lead to money.

Corollary to the above… Don’t skip a jump, don’t go directly to those who can push you unless you’ve got a stupendous voice and incredible material. In other words, don’t try out for the Yankees unless you can hit every one over the fence in batting practice. You may have a connection to the head of the company, yet he’s got no time, and because of the relationship he’ll have to listen once, he won’t again.

Odds of success are low. Just because you started, that does not mean you’ll make it.

Dedication is necessary to make it, but just because you’re dedicated, that does not mean you’ll make it.

Labels are only interested in what they can sell. Study the market. If your music does not fit a mainstream radio format, a major label is not interested. These labels are businesses, not museums.

Don’t be a member of the sour grapes patrol. JFK’s mantra may be history in politics, but it rules in music. Don’t ask what someone can do for you, ask what you can do for that person.

Clothes and appearance don’t matter unless you’re competing on a TV show, which are dying, or want to be a face singing other people’s material. There’s a business in that, but there are tons of people with good voices and good looks.

Playing gigs is a learning experience, not a money-making venture, certainly not at first. You learn from the feedback.

Getting gigs is like getting a job. You can’t get a job unless you’ve got experience, and you can’t get a gig unless you’ve got experience. People find a way to get a job, it’s your mission to figure out a way to get a gig. Have you got a friend? Do you need to lie (everybody lies in the music business, get over it)? Be innovative without being a pest. And know that once you get your big break, you’ve got to kill/deliver.

Writing. It’s much easier to make it if you do. Start immediately. Your initial stuff will suck. Writing is hard. Much more difficult that posting to Facebook.

Study the game. Read Don Passman’s book. Check the Mediabase charts. Knowledge will ride hand in hand with your talent.

Be realistic. When you try out for Little League or soccer, you know where you stand. How come in music everybody believes they’re a superstar an inch from success? You have a talent, discover it, it may not be music.