I’m going to Memphis, Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee…

The guy on the plane next to me was in the Air Force. He got a call last night to deploy to Tennessee to fire satellites. I asked him if he was afraid of being killed. He told me he put himself in the line of fire so I didn’t have to.

Whew!

No guilt, just a sense of duty. Thank god for people like this.

So I’m on the only direct flight from L.A. to a city that’s located in Tennessee but might as well be in Mississippi. That’s what my driver told me. That the city is located in the southwest corner of the state, Arkansas is across the river and Mississippi is only a hop, skip and a jump away.

In other words, I’m in the south. Where everything’s just a little bit slower and the blacks outnumber the whites and you probably can’t get a decent pastrami sandwich within a thousand miles.

But if it’s soul food you’re looking for, barbecue…

I’m here for Folk Alliance. Which I’ve heard incredible tales about, but one of the reasons I said yes was because I’ve never been to Memphis before.

And I’m stunned, it’s more like Tallahassee than Nashville.

So this driver, he’s got a ’55 Cadillac. He put in a Chevy engine, but most of it’s still sixty years old. And when I start asking him about what to see, where to go, he asks me if I want to take the long way home.

OF COURSE!

Turns out he’s a tour guide. I heard the whole story. From Kansas to the University of New Mexico to teaching English in Saudi Arabia to deciding to get into the tourism business in Memphis because he loved the blues.

I just spent an hour with Tad and he’s my new best friend. You know how some people are just easy to talk to? How the music connects you?

That’s him.

Hell, I decided to take him out to dinner, at Alcenia’s, the joint he made a detour to point out. But he couldn’t, he was off to see James McMurtry, because the music comes first.

And it does in Memphis.

He drove me by Stax.

This is where it happened. Sam & Dave. Rufus Thomas. THIS IS WHERE THEY CUT SOUL MAN! When confronted with greatness your jaw drops, you’re speechless…this is where it all went down?

And Tad drives me past Rufus Thomas’s high school. And the soul food place where they all went during studio breaks… It’s the Four… I can’t remember the name, but it’ll never leave my mind’s eye. Across the street was a juke joint, looked like you could fit maybe thirty people inside. These are not the AEG and Live Nation "clubs" that hold thousands, they’re barely bigger than living rooms.

And he’s telling me all about Booker T., Jones, who played the organ, and Washington, whose name is on the aforementioned high school.

And Steve Cropper went to high school across town. At Messick.

I could just see these guys working it out, it seemed like fun. That’s what’s gone from too much music today, in the dash for cash, the fun’s been squeezed out.

Then, after driving through the projects, we drove by Sun Studios. Laughing, Tad said he was gonna do the full-on tourist trip, he pulled up "That’s All Right" on the CD player.

I shivered.

I was never a big Elvis fan. But hearing this rootsy music, I got it.

And then we drove down to Beale Street. Which is touristy, but still has decent music.

And then by the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot.

It’s just a low-rise sixties model. It’s a civil rights museum now. Tad pointed out the window across the street where James Earl Ray took his shot. Hell, Martin Luther King, Jr. was outside his room discussing the music for that evening’s event when he was cut down.

And on the other side of the building was 422 Main Street. Where James Earl Ray ran out after doing the deed. Big man with the rifle was a coward after the fact.

And then down to the Mississippi itself. Ole’ Man River, absolutely.

It was all about cotton. And when the industry became mechanized, the workers went north, that’s what brought the blues to Chicago.

And now Memphis is most famous for being a distribution center. It’s the home of FedEx, and the warehouses nearby set for instant delivery.

But first and foremost it’s a music town.

Maybe not the only home of soul music, but probably the foremost.

And it’s such a revelation, such a head-turner in a modern economy where everybody prays to the almighty dollar to think back to a time when the music was not only enough, it was more than enough, the grease that got us through.

I would have driven with Tad all night. He had stories galore, he made the history come alive.

You see it all comes down to people. Not the famous ones, but the Americans who industriously do it their way.

If you’re ever in Memphis hire this guy.

Not because I want to pay him back, but because he makes the city come ALIVE!

American Dream Safari

P.S. I looked it up, that soul food restaurant by Stax is called the "Four Way":

Four Way Restaurant

Enough with the self-congratulatory backslapping. Despite the stratospheric ratings, the Grammys were positively antiquated, with a ton of duets/medleys and staging that was state of the art ten years ago.

Look at this:

2012 – Ed Sheeran ‘Lego House’ (live)

The special effects blow everything at the Grammys away. This performance makes Nicki Minaj look like someone who took a left turn on her way to a high school fashion show.

Last time I checked, music was something that went in the ears. And to see Ed Sheeran perform solo is to be touched, in a way that only music can. How many of these moments did we have at the Grammys? Maybe thirty seconds of the Civil Wars?

Music is healthier in the U.K. Because it’s first and foremost about music. There’s an excitement, show biz is secondary. Can you imagine Adele emanating from the U.S? Hasn’t happened yet.

The U.S. story is how Adele got cut off mid-speech. And I’m not condoning that, but you can see her performance from last night online. If you live in the U.K. of course, it’s region restricted, as if I don’t get e-mail from the U.K. every damn day, as if the Internet ends at the Atlantic Ocean.

There’s a plethora of performances from the Brits online. Very few mashups, just people getting to perform their entire songs, solo. Sometimes less is more.

But even better, you can buy last night’s performances on iTunes already!

Brit Awards Downloads

You can’t even watch the Grammy performances online, never mind buy them.

Not that you’d want to.

Ever listen to the BBC World Service? The news looks completely different from a British viewpoint.

We’ve been telling ourselves the United States is the greatest country in the world for so long that we refuse to take chances, to innovate, all we can do is self-congratulate.

Compare the Brits website to the Grammys’:

Brit Awards

Grammy Awards

The U.K. site looks like it was designed yesterday.

The Grammy site looks like it was designed by someone’s nephew in 2004.

Music is supposed to be cutting edge.

Cutting edge is not pairing Chris Brown with David Guetta or Dave Grohl with Deadmau5.

We laughed at the Grammys.

I dare you to laugh at Ed Sheeran’s performance above.

Click quick, this should be down soon:

"Prince – Original Live Reco…"
This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by NPG Records.

This is the original version of "Purple Rain". Cut live at First Avenue.

If I knew that, I’d forgotten it. That "Purple Rain" was live, along with "I Would Die 4 U" and "Baby I’m A Star".

It doesn’t sink in until Prince hits the mic at 3:51. You start to tingle. You’re witnessing history. You don’t believe someone, that a band can be this good. In a year where seemingly every Grammy appearance was lip-synched, you’d think the ability to deliver sans crutches is a lost art. But it’s not. That’s why Prince owns the Super Bowl crown, that’s why he still does great business today.

Yes, MTV blew him up. But before it all began, before you knew who he was, he and his band could BLOW!

Was it something I said?

I’m not sure, but suddenly Dylan’s all over Spotify, and in honor of his appearance I’m going to write about "New Morning", the very first Dylan album I bought.

But not the first I heard.

Sometimes the time is right. It was my first semester at college, and after releasing the disastrous "Self Portrait" only months before, Dylan put out "New Morning". I’d never experienced this, an artist reacting to the press.

Until this time, Dylan had only garnered positive reviews. Sure, he’d switched sound with "Nashville Skyline", but that generated one of his biggest hits, "Lay Lady Lay". And I didn’t think "Self Portrait" was that bad, to the degree I actually heard it, I loved "Days Of 49". But why exactly did he cover "The Boxer"? I wasn’t the only one flummoxed, the critics savaged the album.

And suddenly we had "New Morning".

Which truly was. Dropping the needle is like walking out of the house on an early spring day.

But I want to start on side two, with my second favorite Dylan song ever, "Sign On The Window".

It seems so simple, and it is. But the last verse has more honesty, more insight into the human condition than any song in today’s hit parade, it cuts to the bone.

Build me a cabin in Utah
Marry me a wife, catch rainbow trout
Have a bunch of kids who call me ‘Pa’
That must be what it’s all about
That must be what it’s all about

Get old enough and you’ll realize it is. You think it’s about achievement, putting points on the board, but really it’s about everyday life, and family. And to hear these words from the great seer when I was seventeen truly confused me. He seemed to be rejecting everything he’d accomplished, saying it had little value. What was the path now?

All you had to do was listen, it’s in the words.

Made a big impression upon me. And as the years have passed, I’ve come to realize Bob’s right. I’ve got no kids and that’s a mistake. We’re just animals, born to reproduce. And when we’re gone, we fade away, we’re soon forgotten. It’s about the stolen moment with your child, seeing the world through his eyes, which makes life worth living.

And there are so many other great things about "Sign On The Window". There’s the reference to going to California. And the way Dylan strains up to sing about the weather:

Looks like a-nothing but rain…
Sure gonna be wet tonight on Main Street…
Hope that it don’t sleet

That’s what it’s like living in a small town, thinking about the weather and how it’s going to impact your life.

And the piano playing is so right.

"Sign On The Window" is an understated masterpiece.

"Father Of Night"

It’s only a minute and a half long but it cuts to the bone. Races to the end of the album and leaves you so creeped out you’ve got to start again with the opening track so as not to be haunted.

And it’s the woman singing in the background that startles you, refuses to allow you to coast. She’s akin to the female at the end of "Let It Loose" from "Exile On Main Street".

"New Morning"

The title track. Which opens the second side, but this was always the side I played first.

I first heard it during the brisk Vermont winter. Where it’s hard to be motivated to get out from under the covers and face the day. But I’d drop the needle on "New Morning" and gain courage to go about my business.

It’s the organ, the guitar picking…the way the whole number breaks down around 2:40 and then builds back up again with the drumbeat and the guitar solo…

So happy just to be alive
Underneath the sky of blue
On this new morning, new morning
On this new morning with you

You felt Dylan was casting off the failure of "Self Portrait", truly pushing it aside and starting again, strong as ever.

"If Not For You"

The famous version was done by George Harrison, which was released on "All Things Must Pass" merely a month later.

This is the authentic hillbilly sound all those white boy shoegazers are trying to replicate today, as if they grew up in the holler with no shoes. And at this point, Dylan was already rich, but he captured the feeling so right, maybe it was his Minnesota roots.

"Day Of The Locusts"

The marketing hook for the album, this was the story of Dylan getting an honorary degree at Princeton. We were stunned he showed up, this was before the baby boomers gained power and declared rock and roll legitimate, which promptly killed it.

A completely forgotten track, it was a bit too earnest back then but resonates today, having aged gracefully, disconnected from the forgotten event.

If honors made a life, Whitney Houston would still be alive. It’s about the music. Have fun playing it, because that’s all you’ve got.

"One More Weekend"

Slippin’ and slidin’ like a weasel on the run

Funny how lines stick in your head. I repeat this one endlessly. Dylan sings it like he’s truly slippin’ and slidin’, you can hear the grease in the track.

Or the alcohol.

That’s what living in the boonies is all about, getting drunk.

And that’s what this sounds like, a rollicking good time.

You can hear the confidence, which is what all of us weak-kneed white boys gain with the sauce.

"The Man In Me"

It’s all about the bridge:

But, oh, what a wonderful feeling
Just to know that you are near
Sets my heart a-reeling
From my toes up to my ears

It truly is a wonderful feeling, to escape the loneliness of the wilderness to find a woman who appreciates you, who’ll care for you.

A career is a war. You need support. At this point, Bob had Sara. I’m not sure who he has now. Not just anybody will do, it’s got to be right. And if not, he’ll just get on the bus and resume his endless tour.

The man in me will hide sometimes to keep from bein’ seen
But that’s just because he doesn’t want to turn into some machine
Took a woman like you
To get through to the man in me

That’s the conundrum. An artist seemingly gives it all to the public, but the truth is he reserves a bit for himself, in his heart, which he’s dying to unlock but will only do for the right person, someone he trusts, who will listen to him and make him more than he already is.

"Time Passes Slowly"

It most certainly does.

Once I had a sweetheart, she was fine and good-lookin’
We sat in her kitchen while her mama was cookin

Life happens in the kitchen, that’s where all the heart to heart conversations take place.

Time passes slowly up here in the daylight
We stare straight ahead and try so hard to stay right

Country living. Without distractions, it’s all about simplicity. Trying to do right where there’s enough room to go wrong. But it becomes overbearing, eventually Dylan decamped to Malibu.

Like the red rose of summer that blooms in the day
Time passes slowly and fades away

It goes so slowly, but at the same time, it’s slipping through your fingers. Then it’s gone and if you’re lucky you’re left with a few memories.

"Three Angels"

The best thing about this track is the way it sets up "Father Of Night". It’s like a solo walk down the street, an amble, and then you’ve got the intensity of the final cut.

Still…

The angels play on their horns all day
The whole earth in progression seems to pass by
But does anyone hear the music they play
Does anyone even try?

In 1970, God was still dead. Today too many believe they’ve got an angel on their shoulder, protecting them.

Life is about having more questions than answers. You can either continue to seek, or cop out and accept the simple solution.

"Three Angels" gives you a sense of an ordinary day. Which is always extraordinary.

"Winterlude"

It sounds like ice skating. If you’ve done it, you know what I mean.

"Went To See The Gypsy"

It’s all about the piano figure.

Still…

So I watched that sun come rising
From that little Minnesota town

You never forget where you came from. He might have become the most revered lyricist of his generation, but he was still the little boy from Hibbing, Minnesota. Which, in truth, was no different from New York City. Hustlers, losers, sex and rum. Life’s the same everywhere, it’s just the clothes that change.

"If Dogs Run Free"

At first hard to accept, the more you played it, the more you understood it, but jazz had preceded rock and we were still not ready to tell the older generation they were right, so we were loath to embrace "If Dogs Run Free" at first, but in today’s world where there’s too much on every record and you can’t fight your way to the essence, here it’s right up front for you to chew upon.

The lyrics were minimalist, nothing like the truly big comeback success of "Blood On The Tracks" half a decade later. But even if nonsense was sung over the notes, the music would stand. "New Morning" sounded different from the rest of the canon in 1970, today it sounds like it was cut in a place so foreign that there’s no road back.

"New Morning" does not hit you over the head. But it’s not impossible to get into. The more you play it, the more you like it, the more you want to hear it.

It rewards repetition, give it a shot.

Spotify link

Previous Rhinofy playlists