This album is INCREDIBLE!

I’m reluctant to write about it. Because of the influx of hate I’m gonna get from people who think Nickelback is meritless and are still laughing at Creed. You see this is not that different from those bands. But Lynyrd Skynyrd was not that different from the Allman Brothers, they too, like Marshall Tucker, could be dismissed as southern rock…but they were so much more than that!

You see that’s the political game, working the refs. To the point where Democrats are gun-shy and won’t say anything negative about Republicans without criticizing Dems too…otherwise there’s a tsunami of abuse.

And I’m gonna get abused here too. By the art rockers, the musos, the people who believe if it’s successful, if it sounds like anything else, if it’s solidly in the pocket of a genre, it must be crap.

But if you’re not one of those people. If you like rock music. If you like power chords, dynamics, changes… If you like nodding your head, putting on an album and letting it play from beginning to end, putting you in a mood wherein the rest of the world does not matter, THIS IS FOR YOU!

The fact that this album has had zero impact flummoxes me.

Then again, it’s Christian music.

Not that you’d know that if I didn’t tell you.

Christian music is usually bad rock and roll from ten years past, the same way country music is seventies California classic rock. But this is something more, it’s not so self-congratulatory, not so solidly other that we mainstreamers can’t pay attention.

I’m not ashamed of being part of the mainstream. I’m not ashamed of saying I like what many other people do. I don’t get my jollies by putting down other people’s taste just because what they like is popular. And this is mainstream music. Just like Nickelback is mainstream music. And they’re bigger than just about everybody else.

Not that I’m endorsing Nickelback, but they’re getting the last laugh, and if you don’t think “How You Remind Me” is a phenomenal record I hope you’re not planning to be an A&R person, I hope you’re not planning to be involved in any role where picking music is crucial.

Unfortunately, Nickelback has not been as good since. I’ve been disappointed by their new music, but I am not disappointed by Rhett Walker. How did people this far off the radar make something this good?

I would have completely missed it if Al Kooper hadn’t put Mr. Walker and his band as the number one pick in his playlist last week. I got it instantly.

Now if Atlantic were smart. If Universal Republic still had its chops. One of them would immediately make a deal for this album and run it up the charts. This is exactly what the audience is looking for, they just haven’t heard it yet.

Rock music has lost the plot. It’s either so hard, so metal, that most people aren’t interested, or it’s so soft, so indie, peopled with bad voices and weak production that other than fans, everybody laughs. There’s a reason Bon Jovi is so big.

And that comes down to “Slippery When Wet,” which is fantastic.

But that album had cowrites with Desmond Child and was produced by Bruce Fairbairn, absolute blue chips. Whereas you won’t recognize a single person involved in the production of “Come To The River.” Take a look:

Come to the River

There’s not a loser on this album. I’m not exactly sure where to tell you to start. Maybe with the track Al picked out, “Get Up Get Out.” This is what Al said:

“Well, this is loud enough to rattle the dishes and get your attention and that makes a good opener. Rhett WAS a wild man, but switched to Christian music (!). Listen as I may, I can’t REALLY find any of THAT in this track. This just simply ROCKS! No bible necessary.”

New Music for Old People – Al Kooper

Or maybe begin with the opening cut, “Gonna Be Alright.”

Sure, it’s got the blasting guitars, but when it breaks down and the band starts singing “whoa-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh, it’s gonna be all right,” you’re gonna look at your computer monitor in shock, you’re gonna throw your arms in the air and sway back and forth like you’re at the gig. These are the moments we’re searching for. When we’re completely gripped by the music and taken away, possessed.

And listen to Rhett’s vocal. Boy, this guy can SING!

I didn’t have to play this album five times to get it. I didn’t have to tap my foot, waiting to be hooked. I was enthralled IMMEDIATELY!

Now I have no idea if they’re any good live. I know that it takes forever to make it these days. And unless you’ve got a certified Top Forty smash, your climb to the top doesn’t spike like a hockey stick.

But I do know that the great unwashed, working day jobs, getting high, just looking for a little satisfaction, would gravitate to this. Would play it at parties. Go to see the band live. Play it in their pickup trucks, their minivans, on their boomboxes down by the river…

Can the music live up to the hype I’ve just given it?

ABSOLUTELY!

Check it out.

If you’re all about fashion, if you revere Anna Wintour and David Byrne and Beck, you can pass.

But if you live in your jeans and believe “Back In Black” is one of the best albums ever made…YOU’RE GONNA BE IN HEAVEN!

Spotify link

Matthews goes after Priebus

Politics is kind of like the entertainment business, everybody’s friends, it’s one giant club, where lifers favor loyalty more than truth and you’re not a member.

I don’t know what’s going on in our country. Facts seem to have gone out of the window and education is no longer revered. It’s like the world’s gone topsy-turvy. He who can stand on the mountaintop and shout long enough wins. The goal isn’t to graduate from college and become a valued member of society, to build edifices and effect change, but to get on television and be famous for your antics, all the while being paid to show up at dance clubs amongst the inebriated masses.

And there’s little truth and honor amongst our media enterprises. They’re all just jealous they’re not bankers. As for the drivers of said companies, the executives, they’re so overpaid you’d think they’re solving world peace. Did you see that Spotify is paying $30 million a year in salaries? Isn’t that like giving a struggling band ten mil a year for effort?

Pandora and Spotify Rake in the Money and Then Send It Off in Royalties

And conventional wisdom is art has no power.

Then you wake up to a video like the one above.

I haven’t seen confrontation like this in the twenty first century. I haven’t seen someone in power nailed to the carpet on national television forever. You know why? If you do, you’re excommunicated from the club, you never get a second interview, being friends is more important than being right.

Chris Matthews’s son is on “Newsroom.” Don’t ask me what character, you won’t recognize him anyway, he’s not one of the leads. But he sits around the table, he’s on the show. And I’m sure his proud papa watches. And you cannot watch and not feel slimy, not if you’re a newsman. It’s kind of like watching a fictionalization of the music business, delineating the myriad ways the labels rip off the artists, then going on TV and declaring you love the artists! They’re like your children! As if you’d steal from the piggy bank of your progeny.

I didn’t catch this video live. It was e-mailed to me.

And now I’m passing it on to you.

That’s how it works in this new connected world.

Unfortunately, we end up with echo chambers of misinformation, right and left, informed and uninformed. The story is out there, but it’s twisted so badly, it oftentimes has no effect.

Then it does. Like with the Arab spring.

People are hurting. And billionaires are duplicitous.

That’s what this election is about. Do you care about your brethren, are we all in this together, or is it every man for himself, and what’s mine is mine.

I’ll make it simpler, do you believe in the welfare state or not? The Republicans don’t and the Democrats do.

Come down on whichever side you want, but at least be honest about it.

Our whole nation is dishonest.

And then there’s a TV show on pay cable pointing this out, striving for the truth, and what does the media-industrial complex do? Decry it! Say it sucks! You know why? Because they don’t have the balls to do the same thing, they’re so inured to the way it is, they can neither lobby for nor recognize change. They’re part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Everybody thinks you’ve got to reach everybody to effect change. This is completely untrue. You’ve just got to reach somebody. You’ve just got to bang the drum. You’ve just got to get the note perfect. And the whole world can change.

That’s the power of art.

I’m not exactly sure what I saw.

I expected the nearly dead, the same audience that went to see Simon & Garfunkel back at Staples in ’03. People living on Medicare and fumes who could barely stand. A celebration of the old, the way it once was. But last night was positively 2012, but in a parallel universe, one in which old rockers don’t lament the passage of the good old days and punk rock never happened, never mind electronic music.

All of today’s touchstones, from TV singing competitions to the electronic drums present on every Top Forty hit, were absent. There was no rapping. No nod to being au courant. It was like it was unnecessary. That being Neil Diamond, and being a Neil Diamond fan, was enough.

What was astounding, other than Neil’s portrayal of “Neil Diamond” and his refusal to have a sense of humor about himself, was the sheer number of hits. I tuned out in the seventies, when he went schmaltz, but there was almost no number I did not know. And it seemed like everybody else in attendance knew every note. Even though there were people in their thirties and forties who weren’t even alive when “Hot August Night” was released.

You remember that double album, don’t you? With Neil dressed in denim and seemingly stroking… And there was the big hair and… You either owned it or never heard it. Back in the day before music was free and if you purchased it, you played it until you knew it.

So there’s a fourteen piece band. And a sixteen piece string section. And if you’ve been to a show with this many players, other than a Philharmonic performance, some classical exercise, you’re lying. It was like all the complaints of the industry didn’t matter. There was no bitching about the reduction of record sales, the banality of radio, the inability of oldsters to have new hits. It was just a straight out assault.

And the audience loved ever minute of it.

It’s kind of like going to see Ozzy, when he sprays water on the audience…it feels so good! For one moment in time you can forget about your troubles, the rest of the world, and just exult in the joy of the music.

Now I’m not saying there weren’t some sappy numbers, but have you listened to “Solitary Man” recently? The production sounds dated, but it’s positively today, the memories in your brain, of love and loss and the feeling that you just may be alone forever. “Solitary Man” sounds like a western, as if Paladin came riding over the ridge, it’s haunting. It’s more punk than all the wannabe crap the tattooed and pierced set is putting out in its search for instant wealth and fame.

And you’re in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame just for writing “I’m A Believer.” Neil said it was number one around the world, remarked how that felt, all I can remember is waiting for the record to come on the radio, the breathy Micky Dolenz vocal, it was the soundtrack to the season, and it’s never been forgotten.

And the early hits, “Cherry Cherry” and “Kentucky Woman”… This is Elvis, just a guy and his guitar. Without the extraordinary range and the twisting sexual moves, but with the same emotional wallop. This was the power of rock and roll.

And just like Elvis never forgot his gospel roots, the musical highlight of the show was “Holly Holy.” Beginning with a slow waltzing beat as if something’s about to be thrown off the Tallahatchie Bridge, the performance then amped up, all the players wailed and the congregation swayed from side to side in reverie.

I’m not saying that I didn’t like “Holly Holy” on the radio, but given the ability to stretch out and emote live the song becomes an affirmation of life and perseverance…

Sing
Sing a song
Sing
Sing a song of songs
Sing
Sing it out
Sing along
Sing sing sing sing
YEAH!
YEAH!

YEAH! Forget school, forget bills, forget heartbreak, forget politics, just go to the show and sing along as your problems evaporate into the sky. I know it sounds stupid, it’s hard to understand sitting passively there on the couch, but if you were there you wouldn’t have been able to resist jumping to your feet, throwing your hands in the air and looking back at your life and thinking how music has ridden shotgun the whole way, and that Neil Diamond was there too, a big part of it.

Of course, the piece de resistance is “Sweet Caroline.” Not a single person was on his bum, everybody was standing and singing, the din was no less than that of the prepubescent cries at a Taylor Swift show. With this melody, failure was erased and optimism returned, with all your positive memories intact.

And “Crunchy Granola Suite” was fulfilling in a way this cynic could not comprehend. Because that’s the power of music, some sit too hip, decrying everything that’s popular, then others don’t deny themselves the power of sound, the pleasure of something that might fly straight down the middle but feels so good!

And Neil had us sing “Happy Birthday” to his mom and he had us all competing to make the most noise and to say there was no cheesiness would be to imply a Big Mac would still taste good without all the trimmings. Yes, you truly wondered where Neil was coming from sometimes, but then you forgot this and continued to enjoy yourself, along with a sea of humanity you’d probably have little in common with outside the venue.

And there were patriotic moments and sappy moments and it was all one big American tribute to the past and what made our lives so great but…

Neil Diamond truly was great. And still is.

Subject: Re: Reality

This past year, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading practically each and every one of your emails for the truth and wisdom they contain. However, the ending of today’s email depressed me.  As the mother of an 18 year would-be rock star, I was thrilled (until 5 minutes ago) that my son (who had previously expressed interest in blowing off college to “work on his music”) is heading off to be a freshman in the music conservatory at Purchase College next week.  I’m worried that you wouldn’t include studying Studio Composition in your advice of “So stay in college. Earn a professional degree”.  And since I think so highly of you, I decided to do what I’ve never done until now which is to bother you with an email.  What IS your opinion on Bachelor of Music degrees?  Useless or useful?

Many thanks,
Alice Tamkin

__________

From: Bob Lefsetz
To: Alice Tamkin
Subject: Re: Reality

1. If he actually learns to read, write/compose, he’s ahead of the game.

2. If he wants to be a rock star, give up. But only he’ll learn this. A few do  make it… I don’t know your kid, but if he’s talented, self-confident, perseveres  and can work every angle, leave him alone in the dark and he’ll find his way home, he’s got a chance…otherwise he’ll just be disillusioned.

3. Life is long. I’d go to a traditional college and one always has time to go broke playing music.

4. As for music education being a way to make money…at least he’s studying  something real, as opposed to marketing, but it’s very tough out there.

__________

It is not my job to give you hope. I am not a website or an app promising you success if you just pay me a few bucks (hopefully every month!) The entertainment business is littered with scoundrels trying to make a profit off your hopes and dreams. I am not one of them.

And I know you hate me for it. At least those not giving kudos.

I saw that movie “Milk,” wherein Harvey’s political opponent said he wasn’t worried about Harvey beating him, because Harvey didn’t give people the one thing they needed, HOPE!

I am not running for office.

What do I know?

There will be entertainment in the future. There will be musicians, visual artists and dancers. But despite more people participating, looking for our attention, ever fewer gain mass appeal.

And it’s all right if you’re plying the niches. As long as you don’t harbor a fantasy of crossing over, as long as you’re happy.

And if you’re happy playing in your bedroom and never selling a thing, that’s fine with me too.

But my inbox is inundated with acts with websites and videos and iTunes downloads hungry for attention and a helping hand to make it. I ask you to align your dreams with your effort. Being successful is more than talent, more than practice, it’s first and foremost a personality issue. Can you befriend people and have them work to your advantage? Madonna excelled at this! Not that you have to be manipulative and dishonest, but it helps!

As for help… If you read me and get a few tips, that’s great. But success comes down to you. And in the arts, it’s extremely elusive.

I’d love to have you prove me wrong! I’d love to have something I say sucked ultimately triumph in a new incarnation down the road.

But this hasn’t happened yet. Because it’s easier to look in the mirror and perform affirmations, saying you’re good enough and deserve success, and quite another to actually achieve it.

__________________________________

Re: Samsung & Armstrong

As for those blasting me that Lance Armstrong never failed a drug test and is innocent… If you were raped and four people saw it but the rape kit was lost would we have to let the rapist go free? Because there’s no physical evidence?

Testing is just one of the means employed to ferret out doping, it’s not the only one.

Please read these two articles:

Witnesses Made Case Against Armstrong Potent

“And in the doping world, that is known as a nonanalytical positive – an athlete implicated not by a positive drug test but by supporting evidence.

In recent years, it has become the new way to catch athletes who cheat.

‘Science can’t decide everything,’ David Howman, director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said. ‘These days, you need to complement a testing program with the gathering of evidence with other methods. To build your case, you put together strands that make one strong rope.'”

And:

Armstrong, Best of His Time, Now With an Asterisk

“Maybe the most telling segment concerns an Irish masseuse named Emma O’Reilly, who was Armstrong’s personal kneader during the 1999 Tour. (She was also asked to make a mysterious run from Spain to France, to deliver some mysterious material across the border.)

During the 1999 Tour, O’Reilly said, her workload had been lightened when one cyclist, the aforementioned Vaughters, dropped out of the race. That left her more time to minister to Armstrong and one other rider. On the team bus, she claimed, she heard several top team officials fretting about a positive test by Armstrong for steroids. They were in a panic, saying: ‘What are we going to do? What are we going to do?’ Their solution was to get one of their compliant doctors to issue a prescription for a steroid-based ointment to combat saddle sores. If Armstrong had saddle sores, O’Reilly said, she would have known.

In ‘Confidentiel’ (page 207), O’Reilly quotes Armstrong as telling her, ‘Now Emma you know enough to bring me down.’

That backdated doctor’s note in 1999 nullified the finding of steroids. Lance rode on. Five years later, during an early stage in Belgium, I referred to a ‘positive test’ in 1999. One of Armstrong’s top advisers sidled up to me in a prerace staging area and said, in unmistakably legal terms, that a nullified result was not a positive test. I granted the legal distinction but always remembered the urgent and specific way that message was delivered.”

__________________________________

I got an e-mail from Xeni Jardin, who is battling breast cancer, that Livestrong helped a lot of people navigate cancer treatment, that the organization was praiseworthy. She implored her Twitter followers to testify, and a number of them did.

But I still refer you to the “Outside” article I referenced in my original piece:

It’s Not About The Lab Rats

“Nevertheless, the notion persists that Livestrong’s main purpose is to help pay for lab research into cancer cures. In an online ’60 Minutes Overtime’ interview after the May broadcast, CBS anchor Scott Pelley said Armstrong’s alleged misdeeds were mitigated because ‘he has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for cancer research.’

Pelley isn’t alone in getting that wrong: a search of The New York Times turns up dozens of hits for ‘Armstrong’ and ‘cancer research.’ An Associated Press story from August 2010 described Livestrong as ‘one of the top 10 groups funding cancer research in the United States.’ The comments section of any article about Armstrong will inevitably include messages like this one from ESPN.com: ‘keep raising millions for cancer research lance, and ignore the haters.’ At one point, the foundation brought in a PR consultant to try and clarify the messaging, but Armstrong himself says there’s only so much they can do. ‘We can’t control what everybody says they’re wearing the bracelets for,’ he told me.

At the same time, though, Armstrong and his supporters help perpetuate the notion that they are, in fact, helping battle cancer in the lab. ‘I am here to fight this disease,’ he angrily told journalist Paul Kimmage at a press conference held during his 2009 comeback. In 2010, the foundation agreed to let an Australian hospital call its new research facility the Livestrong Cancer Research Center. And when I recently visited my local RadioShack, a major Armstrong sponsor, the clerk asked, ‘Would you like to make a donation to the Livestrong foundation to help support cancer research?’

No wonder people get confused.”