We’ve been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
We’ve been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground

What kind of crazy fucked up world do we live in where the highlight of a Bruce Springsteen show is not only a new song, but one that features rapping?

We don’t go to the Springsteen show to look forward, but back. To when we were thin, our skin was smooth and our hopes and dreams exceeded our losses, when we still had our optimism.

But decades have taken their toll. It’s not that we don’t smile, it’s just that it didn’t work out how we planned. So we go to the Springsteen show to remember, who we were, when music was the most powerful medium, when we felt we could change the world.

Unlike MTV, the Boss blinked. He wanted to reinvent himself, test boundaries, but the audience wouldn’t let him. MTV is all about going forward, baby boomers are about a preservation of the past. You don’t want to mess with their memories. You need to record albums, you need to play the hits, you’ve got to look thin and better than they do. Because if you got old, that means they did too. And that’s their worst nightmare. You’re their last, best hope.

So Bruce Springsteen brings this almost twenty person troupe on the road to satiate his fans, to help them escape. Unfortunately, he’s a prisoner of their desires. If he played the entire new album, they’d freak, not only go to the bathroom, but change the cries of "Bruce" to boos.

Billy Joel’s got it right. No one wants to hear the new material. Elton knows this too. They don’t live in fantasy land.

But the Boss must. Because if he’s not the icon his fans expect, they’ll collapse, like humans deprived of oxygen on the moon.

There’s white hair, creaky bodies. Looking for another hit of adrenaline, in a world that cares not a whit about Bruce Springsteen or them. The future has passed them by. Rock and roll does not rule the airwaves, people listen to singles, not albums. And musicians whore themselves out to corporations.

But this is not the way it used to be. When the dinosaurs known as rock stars used to walk the earth. When politicians couldn’t hold a candle to musicians, never mind bankers. When the best way to communicate with each other was via a vinyl record spun at a radio station broadcasting its FM signal in a fifty mile radius.

Those days are through.

But for three hours last night, the assembled multitude got to revisit them.

If you could hear Patti Scialfa’s acoustic guitar, you’re a better person than me. Hell, most of the time I couldn’t even hear Nils Lofgren’s electric. But the one person who dominated, the engine, the freight train behind this performance, was Max Weinberg.

He was on his own riser, right behind the Boss. With a tiny kit resembling a bar mitzvah gift. His job was not to dazzle, but to keep time, to anchor this enterprise. Watching him was a thrill. You could see the effort this job required.

And Bruce himself threw off some special leads. After all, even though it is show biz, to do it right, you’ve got to know how to play.

And about ninety minutes in, the mixer turned up Garry Tallent’s bass way too loud. I thought I was experiencing a Jaco Pastorius tribute concert. I could hear every one of his notes, but not those of the guitars…and I had a great seat.

And I’m not nitpicking. I can tolerate a lot. But this was too much.

And they didn’t do "Jungleland". Which I thought was a requirement. I think Jimmy Buffett has got it right, with his "Big 8", if you’re gonna play forever, there are certain numbers you should not leave out.

But they did do "Born To Run".

And the secondary highlight was a version of "Racing In The Street" that made me tingle. With Roy Bittan’s piano and an understated performance by the Boss, it was a tour de force.

And Tom Morello came out and wowed us on the guitar.

And the soul medley was magical.

And when Bruce crowd-surfed from halfway back to the stage we marveled.

But the peak came near the very end. When Bruce brought out Michelle Moore and they performed "Rocky Ground".

We’ve been traveling over rocky ground. We were all in it together. Protesting the Vietnam war, listening to FM radio, going to the stadium shows. And then suddenly there were winners and losers. Rich and poor. And those who pulled themselves up no longer cared about those they left behind. LBJ’s Great Society was passe.

But today, decades of misadventure have come home to roost. If you took the road less traveled, there’s no way to get back to where everybody else now belongs. Social Security is not enough to pay your bills and you’re on your own.

And the deejays who were your best friend have been replaced by greedy nitwits. Yup, we’ve gone from Pete Fornatale to Ryan Seacrest.

And now being a musician is barely different from being a reality TV star. It’s a way for the great unwashed to win a momentary prize, like those victims of misfortune on "Queen For A Day" way back when.

And even if someone told you there was a good new album, you don’t have time to listen to it. You used to be able to kick back and get stoned, now you might do a doobie now and again, but you’re too busy trying to stay afloat to waste any time.

And you no longer get your news from the radio, but the Internet. And it’s all bad.

So you scrape up a hundred bucks and go to see Bruce Springsteen. Who’s like a traveling preacher of old. And despite all the press, most people don’t care. Just you.

And that’s enough. You just want to go to the show and hang with your brethren, whose names you do not know, but whose lives you’re very familiar with. You had the same experiences, you bought "Born To Run", you went to the show, it energized you, made you think of the possibilities.

And for three hours, the Boss did just that.

And I’m not gonna defend a single element of it. Not the songs, the performance or the audience. Either you had to be there, or it was irrelevant.

We no longer live in a rock nation.

We’re a minority.

But at least we’ve got each other.

_____________________________

You use your muscle and your mind and you pray your best
That your best is good enough, the Lord will do the rest
You raise your children and you teach them to walk straight and sure
You pray that hard times, hard times come no more
You try to sleep you toss and turn the bottom’s dropping out
Where you once had faith now there’s only doubt
?You pray for guidance only silence now meets your prayers
The morning breaks, you awake, but no one’s there

Once upon a time Bruce Springsteen was hungry. Dismissed by his peers and abused by his dad, he had something to prove. And that’s why we were drawn to him. He was not doing what was expedient, playing by the rules, but forging his own path. And even if you didn’t play music, you could use this as a beacon. Hell, Steve Jobs loved Dylan and was inspired by him, and so was the Boss.

And it’s hard to cope when you’re the voice of a generation. People have expectations. But on one hand you just want to be left alone, you want to live a normal life.

But Bruce Springsteen is not normal. You can’t make it if you are. You may think he’s your best friend, but he’s not. He can’t be the life of the cocktail party, can’t be a regular guy, this is all he can do, and he’s doing it for you.

And we don’t take care of our own. The Boss blew his chance by releasing a substandard cut that radio wouldn’t play anyway. You lead with your best. Which in this case is "Rocky Ground".

I didn’t see a single African-American face in the audience. But we all embraced Michelle Moore’s rap above.

Because deep inside we know we’re all in it together. And that things have taken a wrong turn. That we’re truly been traveling over rocky ground. And there’s no smooth highway in sight.

Music still has more power than any other artistic medium.

But you’ve got to take your best shot.

Our whole nation is in ruins.

But maybe this could be our new anthem. Maybe we could all sing this together. Black and white and Democrat and Republican. We’re all just people, we all want a good life, we make up society.

Set Bruce Springsteen free. Let him grow old like you and me. Don’t make him play his hits, that’s selfish. But the Boss must adapt to the new world. No albums, just a steady stream of music. We shouldn’t have to discover "Rocky Ground" in concert. Buried deep in the album, most people in attendance last night had never even heard it.

But they needed to.

Because more than "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" or "Bobby Jean" or "Darkness At The Edge Of Town", it gave them hope.

Music is now a live medium. The recording is secondary. The Boss should continue to play to his fans, but it’s time for him to try to convert some new people too, to recapture the power he once had.

It’s time for him to move forward. To take up the challenge.

And it’s time for the rest of us to regain our optimism, to link arms, to try to save our country.

Bruce can’t do it alone.

"Rocky Ground" – YouTube

"Rocky Ground" – Spotify

"When one understands that consumers now spend more time in mobile apps than they do online (http://bit.ly/zrMv4F) Instagram’s value begins to make sense."

Social Networking Ends Games 40 Month Mobile Reign

This statistic utterly astounded me.

This revolution has been underreported, it seems only techies are in the loop.

In other words, we all ready live in a mobile world, it’s just the mainstream doesn’t know it yet!

Forget the Web, concentrate on the smartphone. Focus on ease of use on the small screen. Flash doesn’t work on the iPhone, if you’re still using it, abandon it today!

Furthermore, with every passing month, more and more we live in an iPhone world:

"Apple Q1 U.S. Smartphone Mkt Shr 59%, Vs. 36% Year Earlier"

In other words, all those people trumpeting Android handsets are blowhards against the tide, just like those Microsofties pooh-poohed Apple a decade ago.

I don’t make the news, I only analyze it.

And he who rules the handset wins.

"Wrapped"

Co-written by Walt Wilkins and Pat Green, I love both versions, but prefer Walt’s, it’s just a little more subtle, you hear the despair and the desire.

In a perfect world, this would be on every cruise ship playlist, every yacht iPod, everywhere Jimmy Buffett rules. People have no idea the music they’ll like, because they’ve never heard it.

"Wrapped" chugs forward like a freight train, you nod your head, you’re in the groove, you’re loving life during every second it plays.

Although the vocal puts Walt’s version over the top, Pat’s take is all about the picking.

This music alone makes the case for Texas… Ha!

"Love Will Stone You"

I’ve been waiting for the right moment to do a tribute to Emitt Rhodes.

But having not been able to get into the proper mood, I’m gonna turn you on to this, from "Mirror", the not as well-received follow-up to the solo debut.

On "Mirror", Emitt distances himself from Paul McCartney and becomes his own man.

And this is my favorite cut from the album.

Come on, that’s why we listen to music, for the TRUTH!

Love WILL stone you, but you WILL come down!

If you’re unfamiliar with Emitt’s work, search on Spotify and check it out. If the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame truly were, Emitt would be in it.

"Used To Get High"
John Butler Trio

It’s a different trio these days, and I haven’t seen the new edition, but this was always the highlight of the shows by the old set. This recorded take is a pale representation of the live rendition. It was like lighting a match, dropping a bucket of ants on every patron, as soon as the band hit the riff you couldn’t help but jump up and dance.

"I Won’t Hold You Back"
Toto

Written and sung by my buddy Steve Lukather…we met because I wrote how much I liked "Make Believe" and wasn’t completely complimentary about the lyrics and he felt I was dissing him and his band. Little did he know that I’m never 100% positive!

And "Make Believe" is on this same album, "Toto IV", the one that won all those Grammys, with "Africa" and "Rosanna"…who knew the song would outlast the actress!

This was a power ballad before they became ubiquitous on MTV, played by guys in long hair and tights, giving the whole concept a bad name.

With backup vocals by Timothy B. Schmit, soaring, anthemic strings and stinging guitar, "I Won’t Hold You Back" starts out quiet and intimate and builds, expressing the emotion we feel in the tumult of a relationship.

Don’t be too proud, too hip to acknowledge and revel in the work of prodigious talent.

And since you guys never talk about your problems, you just endure your pain independently, consider this my gift to you. Since you’re too macho to call a friend and cry, to express how bad you feel since you and she broke up, just put on this record and revel in your misery…it’ll make you feel a bit better.

From: Steve Lukather
Subject: Re:Rhinofy-More Random

Hey Bob,

Thanks man. That was sweet of you. Means a lot really. That song always meant a great deal to me.

By the way, those strings were real and it was the London Symphony orchestra and our old friend James Newton Howard arranged and conducted at Abbey Road London.

You wont see THIS on a recording budget anymore. lol

We went full on for that album.

It was a fun time in my life. I was 24 and on our 4th record. Damn.. where did the time go?

Yer pal

Luke

"Simple Man"
Bad Company

I am just a simple man, trying to be me

And so many don’t like it. They want me to conform, be a member of the group, refuse to ruffle feathers.

But I can’t.

Whenever I try, it’s phony. I can’t ass slap and pretend we’re all bros together. I was born different. The secret is, I’m not the only one.

I am just a simple man, trying to be free

And it’s so damn hard. Because when you go your own way, it’s harder to make money, the press is riddled with the stories of entrepreneurs, they don’t focus on the losers, and there are tons more of those.

I know.

Freedom is the only thing means a damn to me

I’m not talking about that right wing horseshit, where they talk about freedom but want to tell us who to date, how to live, inject themselves into our bedrooms and minds. That’s the opposite of freedom, that’s close-mindedness.

I want to be free to think unpopular thoughts, without being shouted down by jerks who believe if their voice is loud enough, they win.

They call these people bullies.

Which is why I spend so much time alone.

When I listen to Bad Company I feel like I’ve got a best friend riding shotgun.

The band has been almost completely forgotten, "Simple Man" is better than the rest of the album it comes from, but the second record is as solid as can be and the first is a classic.

And that’s not all.

"A Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy"
The Kinks

What kind of crazy, fucked up world do we live in where the Bad Company track with an almost identical title is better known than this classic?

One in which radio is calcified and plays the same damn cuts over and over again.

Eventually, the Kinks got on the radio again.

But none of those cuts were as good as this one.

There’s a guy in my block, he lives for rock
He plays records day and night
And when he feels down, he puts some rock ‘n’ roll on
And it makes him feel alright
And when he feels the world is closing in
He turns his stereo way up high

If this ain’t you, stop reading right now, you and me have nothing in common. This is the essence of the rock and roll experience. The one the baby boomers lived, before their progeny believed being a member of the group was better than having an individual identity.

Dan is a fan and he lives for our music
It’s the only thing that gets him by
He’s watched us grow and he’s seen all our shows
He’s seen us low and he’s seen us high

This is what all the acts have wrong. They’re playing for the money, for the corporation, despite paying lip service, the fans come last. Otherwise, why would ticket prices be so high, why would they keep bitching they’re being ripped off?

This music is what gets us by. We believe in you.

And there’s nothing more an individual can give you.

I’ve spent my entire life living in a rock and roll fantasy.

And it hasn’t been easy.

But when it’s right, it’s fantastic!

And it’s the music that’s gotten me through.

"Hungry Eyes"
Eric Carmen

One of these days I’m gonna do a whole playlist on Eric Carmen’s "Boats Against The Current", an overlooked masterpiece. And I truly believe that, just listen to "Runaway".

But despite a promising start to his solo career, it stalled.

And then, just when we’d about given up hope, came this.

Every weekend we’re subjected to the hype for overblown high concept productions. But it’s the little movies that grab hold of us, that won’t let us go.

Like "Dirty Dancing".

I wouldn’t go to see it in the theatre. But when we rented a videotape my ex-wife watched it three times before the twenty four hours expired and we had to return it.

And I still remember it. The look in Baby’s face, all the hope, all the desire.

And she had the time of her life by ultimately being herself.

Alas, that was the character, the real person, Jennifer Grey, got a nose job and was instantly forgotten. Accept your imperfections, they’re what make you unique and lovable.

"1-2-3"
Len Barry

In the modern era, a record like this would have no chance, it would be trumped by the beat-infused mono-sound of the usual suspects. But Len Barry wasn’t kept down by the Beatles, Top Forty radio truly played the best tracks, and if you’re a boomer, you know every note of this record, an everything but the kitchen sink production with memorable changes and a just shy of a scream vocal.

It’s easy.

Like taking candy, from a baby!

"So Little Time To Fly"
Spirit

This is so hypnotic without being dated psychedelic crap you’ll be wowed if you’ve never heard it and if you know it you’re smiling right now.

Spirit had a couple of hits, but they were much more than that.

The band wrote the riff for "Stairway To Heaven", yup, Jimmy Page lifted it. They’ve been underrated and unjustly forgotten.

In a perfect world, there’d be a Spirit reunion at Coachella and the desert wind would be infused with thinking man’s rock that speaks as much to the genitals as the mind.

Alas, Randy California is deceased, but this record is positively ALIVE!

"Rose In The Garden"
Karla Bonoff

There’s a rose in the garden
It will bloom if you’re sure
That you pay close attention
But leave it room

That’s the dilemma. How do you become close without suffocating the other person.

You’ve been alone for so long. Once you find someone, you can’t help but latch on, staying close, being fulfilled. But they make movies about this. You think it’s reciprocal. But it’s not.

I’m not telling any lies now
I need you
You know how
I think I can see how to let you grow
I’ve got to let you go

Honesty. It’s the best policy, especially in relationships.

Can you lay it all on the line without making the other person feel controlled?

It’s a dilemma.

You’ve been together so long that you see your soul in her or him. You can’t see living your life without them.

But sometimes you have to.

Spotify link

Previous Rhinofy playlists

Feel Like A Rock Star (Duet With Tim McGraw)

I thought they called it COUNTRY music.

If Charlie Rich cut "The Most Beautiful Girl " he wouldn’t be able to get any airplay, because suddenly country is rock. Only it’s a watered-down, wimpy, non-threatening take on the corporate rock of the seventies. As for Hank Williams or George Jones…does anybody under the age of thirty really know who they are?

Artists lead, they don’t follow. They’re not beholden to their audience, IT’S THE OTHER WAY AROUND!

Ever hear a little ditty by the name of "Strawberry Fields Forever"? Not only did it sound unlike anything the Beatles had ever cut previously, it was different from absolutely everything on the radio. So what did the radio do? PLAY IT! And the audience embraced it. Because the Beatles weren’t sniveling idiots asking for likes on Facebook, doing it all for the fans so they could keep up their resort island lifestyle. No, John Lennon was honest, he said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus AND THEY WERE!

But in today’s country if you don’t kiss the ring of the Evangelicals, if you don’t embrace SUVs and a passel of kids you’re not only an outlaw, but a heathen.

When did music become so safe?

As for rock… Top Forty radio refuses to play it and what’s on the rock stations is a parody of itself. Longhaired guys repeating the riffs of generations past, trying to appear dangerous when wimpy Sean Parker is more of a threat.

But it’s a reflection of our whole country. Ivy League graduates want to become bankers, everybody’s trying to acquire a safety net while depriving their brethren of same. And the only innovation is in tech, where there’s a plethora of new cool products and if you don’t innovate, you die.

Kenny Chesney is a Commodore 64. Or a Radio Shack TRS-80. Something impressive in its day but now almost completely forgotten.

Yes, despite all the hype, Kenny’s last stadium tour didn’t sell out, they gave away a ton of tickets. As for Tim McGraw…his career is as challenged as that of his wife, he’s on the verge of being a has-been, that’s why he and Kenny are going out together, they’re scared of doing it alone.

And they listen to the accountants and the lawyers and the program directors, to everyone but themselves.

Wait a minute, wasn’t being a rock star about doing it YOUR WAY? Doing something dangerous, taking a risk, wowing the public instead of celebrating their passive lives?

That’s how screwed up music is, it celebrates the audience’s lifestyle!

The lemmings who go to Kenny Chesney’s shows are not rock stars, believe me. Instead of thinking for themselves they’re beholden to Fox News and money-grubbing preachers.

Oh, get your knickers in a twist. Excoriate me for telling the truth.

That’s the problem in America, no one will speak the truth.

And the truth is modern country music is not. Neither modern nor country. And it’s being held hostage by a corporate, right wing hierarchy that truly abhors rock stars.

Thank god it’s a backwater. It means nothing outside the U.S. and I bet most of you reading this have never heard this lowest common denominator track.

But you should check it out. But only on an empty stomach. Otherwise you’ll toss your cookies.

Kenny! What happened to the man who cut "On The Coast Of Somewhere Beautiful" and "I Go Back"? Maybe instead of trying to placate stadiums you should go play clubs and get your groove back.