And my opinion didn’t change one bit.

Techies are different from musicians. They’ve got the gift of gab.

If you’ve met some of your favorite musicians, you know that loquaciousness is not one of their virtues. Oh, they might talk, but the longer they do the less sense they make, or the more intense they get. Musicians are suspicious, completely different from today’s self-promoting wannabes masquerading in the role, and tech titans too.

Not that all tech titans can explain their story. That’s why Daniel Ek employed Shakil Khan. Shak’s a people person, one who ingratiates himself within seconds, who is warm and can extract the relevant nuggets from Mr. Ek, at least before Daniel learned how to do this himself.

And Mr. Ek is completely different from Neil Young.

Neil Young’s heyday was the sixties, when musicians ruled the earth and you had to move to Los Angeles to play.

Daniel Ek stayed at home, in godforsaken Sweden, where it’s dark all day and you live by the glow of the computer screen, changing the world if you’ve got the ability.

That’s the techie credo… We’re going to disrupt. You cannot see it coming, but your whole world is about to be upended.

Which is not what’s going to happen with Pono. John Hamm believes Pono won’t move the needle, won’t affect Spotify or the iTunes Store. It’s a niche product, delivering hi-res audio with the quality/convenience/cost paradigm in mind.

You can already buy hi-res tracks, from HDtracks. But Pono is pioneering a seamless system.

You can buy a hi-res player, from Astell & Kern. But loading it is not easy.

Then again, Hamm plans to employ some of that Kickstarter money to refine the UI. As for battery life, they expect 8 hours, they’re not sure yet. You see…what already exists is far from the finished product.

But Pono believes it will ship in October. Although it is worried that volume might be a problem. I.e. they worry too many people will order via Kickstarter.

But if you want better sounding music today…

Buy a DAC, that’s a digital-to-analog converter. You can get a good one for way under $100. You can get one that’ll blow your mind, the ALO International, which includes amplification, for $599. You can go way beyond that and buy a brick that cannot leave the house for much more.

Not that John Hamm was familiar with all the foregoing.

You see he’s a salesman, doing a job, making Neil Young’s dream become a reality.

Oh, he’s got business chops. And engineering chops. And tech chops. He’s sold a few companies.

But he’s a hired gun.

That’s what’s wrong with so many of these tech companies. There is no founder, just an educated guy who can drink a beer and rap with you. Which Steve Jobs could not do. Because he was too antisocial, and cunning. But everybody in tech is trying to imitate his reality distortion field, to the point where when they start talking, my eyes roll into the back of my head.

Mr. Hamm is not an expert on DACs, or headphone amplifiers, or headphones themselves. Rather, his goal is to make Pono a reality.

Should you care?

Watch the video on Kickstarter:

Pono Music – Where Your Soul Rediscovers Music

If you don’t think there’s a plethora of credible rock stars, you don’t like rock. Then again, purveyors of hip-hop were notoriously absent, other than Rick Rubin.

And what do we learn from these guys (they were mostly guys)?

That they sat in Neil Young’s Cadillac and heard amazing sound.

WHOOP-DE-DOO!

I’ve got a first rate car system. Audio sounds better in an automobile than anywhere else, it’s a closed environment.

These people get to look good, get their own image embellished by associating with Neil Young.

As do the pledgers on Kickstarter.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my tech flawed. I want the first iteration perfect. Used to be I was not an early adopter, now I am all the time, that’s how good design and manufacturing has become.

So I’m gonna invest all this money in people who don’t do this for a living?

I’m all for high-quality sound.

Do I think Pono is the answer?

Absolutely not.

I agree with Mr. Young that most CDs are too harsh, that there’s ear fatigue versus vinyl.

I believe the sound has affected what music is made, bass-heavy, compressed music sounds better with the present delivery systems.

I want not only an alternative, but one that will be embraced by all. Or most, some people still believe the cassette is coming back…

We live in a winner take all society. If you’re not playing for absolute dominance, stop.

It’s especially true on the Internet. Where there’s one Google, one Amazon and one Apple. With everything at our fingertips, why settle for less?

Mr. Young grew up in a different era, one of iconoclasm. Believe in me because I’m unique. Whereas tech is all about efficiency. We don’t want an Amazon t-shirt, we just want our goods to arrive quickly, and at the lowest price.

So who needs a niche FLAC player?

Not many.

Maybe you still use a BlackBerry. Maybe you’re even spinning vinyl.

But those are niche products destined for the scrapheap. Some people still use typewriters and dial phones. Hell, some still employ dialup Internet access.

But most don’t.

I don’t want to hear you still buy CDs. Or don’t have a smartphone. Or don’t go on social networks because you’re afraid of privacy issues.

You’re just leaving yourself out of the game.

As did Neil Young.

If he was smart, he would have made a deal with a major manufacturer to get Pono distributed. Instead, he went on a personal hejira, unable to give up control or compromise, and is now preying on brain-dead fans to support his vision.

Yes, brain-dead. Fans are mindless. That’s what belief is all about. Check with religions.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that… Except most people think. And they’re scratching their head wondering why they need Pono.

Most people don’t. But the press did. They see sexy, they see ads, Jann Wenner is up the ass of Neil Young. Never underestimate star power.

But it will only gain you entry, it won’t get people to lay their money down.

Steve Jobs was first and foremost a businessman. Second, a visionary. Or more accurately someone who could synthesize the available information into a coherent whole. He led, but not by too much, only when the customer was ready. And he won. After getting kicked out of his own company.

Neil Young specializes in leaving. Just ask Buffalo Springfield, or Crosby, Stills and Nash, or Stills himself, about the ill-fated Stills-Young Band tour.

Whereas Steve Jobs wanted to stay in. He adjusted, learned from his flaws.

What has Neil Young learned?

Absolutely nothing.

So expect this farce to peter out and for Mr. Young to continue to tour playing his hits of yore.

And for Mr. Hamm to get a new gig, because many people need a visionary salesman.

As for me, I’m going to sit here and continue to write this stuff straight.

And that doesn’t mean I won’t get it wrong sometimes.

Or that I hate hanging with rock stars.

But just because Neil Young wrote “Southern Man,” just because John Hamm coughed up a ticket for a Dolby show, that does not mean I’m gonna get on the gravy train to irrelevance, stoking the dreams of those who care not a whit about me.

Pono is DOA.

Sorry.

P.S. John Hamm has a Spotify subscription. And a Pandora one too.

P.S. The Pono split with rightsholders is 70/30, just like at the iTunes Store, Mr. Hamm misunderstood the question at SXSW, there is no controversy here.

Is this where I anger the Android users? You know, the ones who excoriate Apple at the same time being unable to upgrade the software on their phones?

I don’t know about you, but I’m O.D’ed on feature creep. Or should we call it app creep. I’m sick and tired of twentysomethings inventing something new that the press trumps and the kids use and abandon.

Life is becoming too short for all these features. The truth is, we don’t have time to learn them.

And I don’t have time to Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Tweet… Social networking is out of hand, what I’m eager for is silence, a respite from the constant incoming and the feelings of inadequacy.

Used to be I just had to feel bad when someone mentioned a record I did not know. Now there’s so much stuff I don’t know and I’m beginning to wonder, am I really missing out?

The only story sticking right now is the Malaysian plane disappearance. Because it’s continuous, because it’s ongoing. I hate to tell Lady Gaga, but we’ve already forgotten about her routine at SXSW. That whole festival. My friend Larry Butler has the right spin on it, just lie and say you went, it’ll make no difference!

HOW TO GET ALL THE CRED OF PLAYING AT SXSW WITHOUT THE TIME AND EXPENSE

And then today we’ve got David Carr testifying about creeping commercialism in music:

A New Model for Music: Big Bands, Big Brands

That’s what you get when the rich get richer and everybody in music feels inadequate.

I’m gonna let you in on a little secret. You’re never going to make as much money as Leon Black, and if you don’t know who that is, it proves the point. But unlike musicians, Black is not famous everywhere! Why can’t players have some self-dignity and realize compensation is not always about cash. Sure, money goes a long way, but reach is even more important. Nothing scares a politician more than an angry mob.

But no one gets angry anymore, they’re too busy studying reality television in their personal quest for fame to take time out to bitch.

Meanwhile, there’s a plethora of information drilled down upon us constantly. Like the success of Pono’s Kickstarter.

What a bunch of crap.

Stop talking about the $3.8 million they’ve raised, Neil Young can accumulate that in a couple of gigs.

Instead look at the anemic number of pledgers, 712 of whom ponied up a mere $5.

Bottom line, 11,515 people have pledged Pono money. If Neil Young sold that few albums in a week, he’d stop recording. He used to sell more than this number of tickets per gig, back before he had to scale down and charge more for “intimacy.”

But people are pledging because they want to belong.

And the nitwit musicians are ripping off their customers with autographed Pono players, overpriced merch worse even less useful than a Rolling Stones leather jacket. Come on Elton John, how could you get it so wrong? Tom Petty? You make it look like music’s a club, like you all went to high school with each other and can’t let brother Neil down.

At least Van Morrison didn’t sign up.

Frank Zappa wouldn’t.

Used to be music was about going your own way.

And now Neil Young solves a problem we don’t have. God, if you want to buy high quality files just go to HDtracks, or use an Astell&Kern. But I’m not gonna waste any more time on this useless production when there’s true news that the media is not covering.

APPLE FIXED THE FONT!

That’s right, when I’m answering e-mail on my iPhone, I can now see the keyboard!

And you might not think this is a big deal, but I spend more time on my device than listening to Neil Young’s music, and you might think that’s sad, but it’s the truth and if you don’t agree, you’re lying.

So say hello to a world where smart young kids want to be techies rather than musicians and only the poor and uneducated play music and sell out to the Fortune 500.

And say goodbye to the constant deluge of misinformation and spin put out by the mainstream press, which is either cozying up to stars or putting them down, not sure whether they want to burnish their image by hanging with celebrities or tear them down to make themselves feel important.

What we’ve sacrificed in media is truth.

But the age of tech just soldiers on.

But the real truth is you can no longer rest on your laurels. And you don’t want to buy antiquated product. You want something you can upgrade, until the hardware is two years old and so ancient it won’t employ new features.

So applaud Apple for changing on the fly.

And laugh at Neil Young for creating an overpriced item you can’t even put in your pocket.

And know that the world we live in will only improve when you take it upon yourself to become informed and lobby for what’s important.

Say no to Doritos, never mind SXSW in total.

Say no to commercialism in music, sure, you have to make a living, but most bands don’t deserve to.

And say yes to the techies who give us our entertainment now.

We used to wait for the new album.

Now we wait for the new phone.

We used to talk about the music.

Now we’re too busy texting.

Make my life easier.

Let me believe in myself, not antiquated players purveying Pono.

And know that life is about discrimination, separating the wheat from the chaff, what’s important from what’s not, and we used to depend on the media for this, but now it’s every man for himself.

So sure, you need money to live.

But as the song goes, it won’t keep you warm at night.

It will buy you sex, but not love.

And even though it goes into your pocket, it won’t bond people to you.

Yes, Neil Young, you got paid.

And if that’s all it’s about…

Count me out.

WILLIN’

And if you give me weed, whites and wine
And you show me a sign
Well I’ll be willin’, to be movin’

Probably the most famous road/trucker/dope song of all time.

Then again, is that a category of one?

I discovered “Willin'” in the fall of ’71 in a cover version by Seatrain.

Check it out here:

Seatrain Willin’

At this late date, you’ll probably excoriate it, but you’ve got to know in ’71 no one had any idea who Lowell George was, never mind Little Feat.

Actually, I discovered this track by hearing a cover band do Seatrain’s cover. Yes, I was spending a Friday night at the Roundhouse in Manchester, Vermont, and the only thing I remember about that night, other than the waitress trying to kick us out for not drinking enough, even though we were the only people there, was this song. I asked what it was and had to buy the original. And, if you’re on a Seatrain kick, check out “Song Of Job.”

But the point is Little Feat recorded this track twice, on both of its first two albums, but it’s known mostly by covers, most famously by Linda Ronstadt.

I’ve been from Tucson to Tucumcari
Tehachapi to Tonopah

One of the great things about moving out west is having records come alive. I’ve BEEN to Tehachapi, it’s where the train goes round in a famous circle. And when you drive the lonesome highways you see those signs for…Tonopah and Tucumcari.

Never a Top Forty hit, never a radio staple, “Willin'” is more famous and remembered more than most.

EASY TO SLIP

The first album sunk like a stone, and so did the second, but after buying the third, I went back and purchased the second, entitled “Sailin’ Shoes,” and discovered this exquisite opener. A magical track that almost no one knows, once you do, you’ll find it playing in your brain at opportune times, like skiing the bumps in Utah, where it became my anthem. The acoustic guitar, the changes, the vocal…

Well I don’t want to drift forever
In the shadow of your leaving me
So I’ll light another cigarette
And try to remember to forget

That’s what we’re all trying to do, forget. To stop our memory drifting back to…what once was.

SAILIN’ SHOES

You’ll know the Robert Palmer cover. The band had history with him. In case you’re not in the know, I’ll include the famous three song trilogy that opens Palmer’s debut. It’ll have you movin’ and groovin’ and missing Palmer for a lot more than that famous video.

TRIPE FACE BOOGIE

The funny thing about “Sailin’ Shoes,” other than its Neon Park cover, is the fact that when I bought it every track was unknown, but over time so many have surfaced, like “Sailin’ Shoes” above. They became classics when the band performed them live and recorded them on their album “Waiting For Columbus.” But “Tripe Face Boogie” is the second most accessible track on the record, which is why I’m including it here, and not the equally good “Cold, Cold, Cold” and “Teenage Nervous Breakdown.”

A APOLITICAL BLUES

What’s the trope? Almost no one bought the Velvet Underground’s debut, but everyone who did started a band? Well, methinks Lowell George and Little Feat influenced just as many players. You probably know this song from Van Halen’s second album with Sammy Hagar, “OU812.”

JULIETTE

“Dixie Chicken” is a masterpiece, not the title track, but the album. It was so well-reviewed that I bought it and couldn’t understand it, but since I’d spent my money on it, I played it until I did, and the first track that revealed itself to me was “Juliette.” Play this for someone today and they’ll say…WHO’S THAT?

That’s the power of Lowell George’s voice. So sweet, so meaningful, from an era when it wasn’t about hit singles. No, that’s not true, by this point, in order to make some dough, that’s what you needed, a hit, but it wasn’t until the next album that they got one.

FOOL YOURSELF

I think more people know Bonnie Raitt’s cover, but the original is even better, because of Lowell’s sweet voice. I’m sure Bonnie would agree, she was a Lowell acolyte, he played great slide on “I Feel The Same” from her second LP, “Takin’ My Time.”

FAT MAN IN THE BATHTUB

Was Lowell the fat man in the bathtub?

I’ll let you decide.

This is all about the groove. If you can lock on to one just as tight and memorable, you’ll have a career in this business.

ROLL UM EASY

Sounds like it was cut in your bedroom. So intimate. That’s what we’ve lost so much with today’s in your face music, check out J.D. Souther’s cover:

Roll Um Easy – J.D. Souther

KISS IT OFF

For the vocal alone. When Lowell sings about being the child of some electric nightmare, the hair on the back of your neck will stand.

TWO TRAINS

There are so many grooves on this record, it’s astounding they could all fit on one LP!

ON YOUR WAY DOWN

An Allen Toussaint composition that the band makes its own, the key is this:

The same dudes you misuse on your way up
You might meet up
On your way down

Ain’t that the truth! These words go through my brain on a regular basis!

DIXIE CHICKEN

A classic, who knew?

Kind of like Todd Rundgren’s “Bang The Drum All Day,” long after its initial release…this could be the second most famous Little Feat song ever, but this one is known for the band’s rendition!

OH, ATLANTA

The hit! Just when it looked like Little Feat was gonna be for fans only, Billy Payne came up with this gem and it lit up the FM airwaves.

SKIN IT BACK

It’s a sexual reference. Let’s just say, if you’re Jewish, you probably won’t get it. Written by Paul Barrere, Little Feat was not only Lowell George. Merry Clayton’s brother Sam played percussion, and Richie Hayward pounded the skins and Kenny Gradney completed the rhythm section, it was a band of virtuosos!

THE FAN

If you couldn’t play…

You were a sweet girl
When you were a cheerleader
But I think you’re much better now

Ha!

You think rock stars do it for the money, but really, they do it for the sex!

ROCK AND ROLL DOCTOR

Two degrees in be-bop, a PHD in swing
He’s the master of rhythm, he’s a rock and roll king

ALL THAT YOU DREAM

Credit Linda Ronstadt for making this one famous too.

“The Last Record Album” had no hits, but its peaks were SO HIGH!

I’ve been down, BUT NOT LIKE THIS BEFORE!

LONG DISTANCE LOVE

The piece de resistance, wherein Lowell George demonstrates his greatness.

We live in an era where it’s all about the surface, everybody’s in your face playing smash mouth football. But the people we remember most, the people who get the most…action, are those who slink up behind the beat and steal our hearts, when we’re not even looking.

And the universality… We’ve all gotten long distance love and had to give up!

ROCKET IN MY POCKET

“Time Loves A Hero” was a true disappointment, the band’s albums were getting progressively worse, especially with the decrease in Lowell’s involvement. This is good, but almost too obvious.

STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART

From the posthumous album, this George/Payne composition is the highlight of “Down On The Farm.”

GRINGO

This Billy Payne composition is the highlight of the posthumous collection “Hoy-Hoy!” You probably don’t know it, you should.

SPANISH MOON

The studio version is on the fourth album, “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now,” but the definitive take is on the band’s live album “Waiting For Columbus.” Whoa, the bass! Whoa, the horns! Whoa, the groove! Whoa, Lowell’s vocal!

There’s whiskey and bad cocaine
Poison get you just the same
And if that, that don’t kill you soon
The women will down at the Spanish Moon!

THE FAN

The live take from “Hoy-Hoy!” It’s dark and dirty…

I heard you got an infection from a guitar player of great renown!

TWO TRAINS

The live take from “Hoy-Hoy!” You can hear the fingers on the frets, the fingers on the keys!

ROCKET IN MY POCKET

Live, it kills. From “Waiting For Columbus.”

TRIPE FACE BOOGIE

Live, from “Waiting For Columbus,” you can’t help but get up and move, shake a tail feather, even if you’re alone when this comes over the speaker or headphones.

MERCENARY TERRITORY

It’s so DARK! This is the same sound the Band was selling, but live Little Feat did it even better. Levon Helm was a great singer, but Lowell’s just as good, if not better, and he wrote, but he’s slowly fading into the rearview mirror, he’s not being remembered.

Except for those who believe.

I did my time in that rodeo
It’s been so long and I’ve got nothing to show

Yes, that’s what being in a band is like. Round ’em up, go on the road, and see what happens. And oftentimes, all you’ve got left is your memories.

Well, I’m so plain loco
Fool that I am I’d do it all over again

Sure, some people get rich, but most are bit by the sound, the lifestyle, they’ve got no choice, they want in!

Who knows, a century from now people may come to the greatness of Lowell George, because when you underplay, when you focus on getting it right as opposed to telling people how great you are…they know.

Rhinofy-Little Feat Primer

1. You’ve got to get along. If you don’t have good people skills, you’ll never succeed, even if you run your own business.

2. Money talks. He who has cash has leverage, and someone always has more than you do. There’s rarely a deal between equals.

3. Leverage is not always about money. I.e. if you’re an unsigned band that can sell out arenas, you’ll get an incredible deal from the label.

4. If a deal is too good, it probably is. In other words, if the other person can’t make any money, there’s going to be a problem.

5. The best deals are win-wins.

6. If you’re not willing to risk, if you’re not willing to give something up, you’re going to sit on the sidelines. Sure, the label might not offer you your dream deal, but the alternative is to go it alone, which is an option, but probably not the one you want since you entered negotiations in the first place.

7. You don’t know everything, you just think you do. If you’re not learning every day, you’re hanging with the wrong people and not applying yourself.

8. The more powerful the person, the less the chance you’ll see them at the conference. The conference is for never have and wannabes and for the purveyor to make coin. In other words, have a good time at SXSW, but the real winners are the people who put on the conference.

9. A contract does not guarantee behavior. At most it’s a guideline. If you think suing to get what you want is a solution, that the contract entitles you to win, you’re naive.

10. Some people use litigation as both a business strategy and a profit center. If someone has deeper pockets than you, you’re not on an equal footing.

11. The real world is very different from books. In other words, there are very few professors who can succeed in the real world. Theory is one thing, practice is another.

12. Lawyers are worth every dollar you pay them. So choose wisely and don’t expect a deal. You need an outside voice. Someone who knows the pitfalls.

13. News often isn’t. It may be on the Business page, but frequently the corporation has a relationship with the journalist and wants a certain story told.

14. If you haven’t been screwed, you haven’t been in business. There’s more than one way to fail, you learn lessons from your defeats, which is why so many want to hire those who’ve failed, because they’ve gained so much experience!

15. Nitpicking is for losers. If you can’t let something go by, if you want the other party to live up to every letter of a contract, you’re going to find yourself an outcast by the sidelines.

16. Winners see tomorrow as well as today. If you don’t have the exit strategy in place when you’re negotiating a deal, you’re going to find yourself in an uncomfortable position down the line.

17. Those who give the best advice are the hardest to get to know, and the hardest to get to speak at length. The powerful don’t want to know the powerless, there has to be an advantage in it for them, or else the response will be very brief.

18. Time is irreplaceable. Never waste someone else’s. Make your pitch short and to the point and thank the other person for listening. You think you’re explaining your point, ensuring success by going on at length, but the truth is the other person is rolling their eyes and looking at their watch, wondering how they can get out of this meeting and never ever speak with you again.

19. Most conference calls are a waste of time. Do your best to avoid them. If you’re on one, talk only business and make it brief.

20. Respect your adversary/opponent. Treat people with dignity, dividends will follow.

21. Don’t take you or your business too seriously. Make jokes.

22. Have fun. Work takes up too much of your time not to.

23. Break the rules. All the winners do. School is all about rules, which is why those who’ve done well in school rarely do well in business.