I saw Little Feat at the Troubadour.

When I was a junior in college, all the music magazines testified about this new album by Little Feat, entitled "Dixie Chicken". So, of course, I bought it.  And played it.  And if you’d taken a picture of my face upon that first time through you would describe my expression as quizzical.  As in HUH?  This is what they were raving about?  It didn’t sound quite like anything else, kind of like white boys from L.A. got sidetracked on their way to New Orleans.  There was no hit single, and if this were the modern era, I probably wouldn’t have given the album another spin, but it being 1973, I played "Dixie Chicken" again and again and AGAIN, because I’D PAID FOR IT!

That’s how it worked.  We could only afford a small amount of music.  Every record was picked with TLC, no purchase was casual, to buy a bummer was to indict oneself as a lame, uneducated music fan.  No one else might have known, but you would, so you gave these records a chance, and more often than not they exposed themselves to you.

But "Dixie Chicken" was a bit beyond that.  First I loved "Juliette".  Then other tracks started to reveal themselves to me, and then not only did I like "Dixie Chicken", I LOVED IT!  I had to go back and buy "Sailin’ Shoes", I was a fan of a band almost no one had ever heard of, never mind had an opinion on.

Moving to L.A. is like arriving in a musical cornucopia.  Not only do the street signs and locations make sense, from their placement in your favorite songs, suddenly all your favorite musical acts are AVAILABLE!  You can SEE THEM!

I dragged Danny to the gig.  He was the only guy at Star Sporting Goods who’d heard of Little Feat.

And this was back when there were tables in the venue, before it was necessary to stand to hear rock and roll, when the music touched not only your body, but your soul.  You’d sit tucked into your seat grooving, with your mind bouncing like a pinball through the stratosphere.

I saw Little Feat again.  At the Santa Monica Civic a few years later.  But that Troubadour gig was the shit.  Because it was solely about the music.  They didn’t have a new album, it wasn’t like this one gig was going to ignite their career, this was a band of players locking into a groove for their fans.

And Little Feat ultimately had a radio hit.  But not only did they not live up to their potential, they never broke through to mainstream consciousness.  Everybody knows who Vanilla Ice is, even if they don’t want to listen to Rob Van Winkle’s music…but stop people on the street and ask them their opinion on Lowell George and they’ll say HUH?

RAMBLE ON

Last week I went to lunch with Jerry Greenberg.  The oldsters are too rich to survive in today’s work for almost nothing music business, but they’ve still got their stories, a treasure trove.

Jerry was there.  When Atlantic signed Zeppelin.  He told me the story.  About Ahmet getting a phone call from Dusty Springfield telling him that Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were starting a new band and he should sign them, this was even before Robert and Bonzo were involved.

And I’m telling Jerry about when I was in high school and in one week, everybody knew "Whole Lotta Love".  It was October ’69.  The track hit the airwaves, everybody bought "Led Zeppelin II" and Taylor Swift doesn’t have an iota of the impact.  There wasn’t a soul who didn’t know "Whole Lotta Love".  That album is all that anybody listened to for a week straight, maybe a month.  Zeppelin was instantly the biggest band in the world.

And sure, "Whole Lotta Love" was the breakthrough, a single edit made by Jerry which Peter Grant finally acceded to, but the thing about "II" was you could play it through and through.

My personal favorite was always "Living Loving Maid (She’s Just A Woman)", it tore through my speakers, but even I know the track that followed it was more magical…RAMBLE ON!

It was like you were on a thoroughbred, riding through the English countryside in the early morning mist.  Loping along without a thought in your brain other than this song.  That’s the magic of great music, its magnetism, it draws you in and won’t let go.

EXPLANATION

You see every Halloween Phish plays an entire classic album.  And rumor was it was gonna be Zeppelin, so the Phearless Phoursome dropped some classic Zep into their set the night before, the 30th.  But on the holiday, the album they covered was WAITING FOR COLUMBUS!

HUH?

I bet most of you have never heard of this double live album, when two vinyl discs didn’t even add up to the length of one CD.

What do you do when you don’t break through?  RECORD YOUR GREATEST HITS!

Well, Little Feat only had one.  But they had all that great music in their catalog that so many people had never heard.  And they were big in England.  And if you think "Waiting For Columbus" took hold in America, you’re rewriting history.  Sure, dedicated music fans now knew who the band was, but still most people knew no tracks.  Although as years passed, "Dixie Chicken" became a standard.  That’s what perseverance will do for you.  Concentrate on cutting something great, not what people want, and you might end up with a cut that lasts, one that truly strikes a chord.

Still, it’s not like Little Feat is the Doors, there’s been no mass renaissance.  So it’s utterly AMAZING that Phish played this live album in its entirety Sunday night.

But it’s even better than that.  They even employed a horn section, just like the original band, featuring Michael Leonhart of Steely Dan’s band.  This was no casual effort, this was a tribute to their forgotten heroes, this was musicians who had to get it RIGHT!

And you’d feel more comfortable if Phish Phucked up.  But they nailed "Waiting For Columbus" so well it makes you TINGLE! Not only do they get the notes right, they duplicate the ENERGY!  Actually, having to cover up for the lack of soul, no one can duplicate Lowell George’s soul, they play with such intensity, such drive, that it’s an aural tsunami that gathers you up and pulls you into the flow.

SPANISH MOON

There was hookers and hustlers, filled up the room

That’s the audience.  Not fat cat bankers who buy up all the good seats, talk and leave early.  But fans, who need to be there, even if there’s no mainstream buzz, even if no one other than those in attendance care.  The music isn’t made for those who don’t care, but those WHO DO!

Forget everybody who doesn’t care.  Did you read endless reams of hype on these Phish shows?  No, YOU HAD TO KNOW! That’s the modern music business.  If you think it’s about hype, you’re probably selling your album below cost on Amazon in order to get a good SoundScan number.  Huh?  WHO PAYS ATTENTION TO SOUNDSCAN!

Anybody can be famous for a day on YouTube.  But can you live in the hearts and minds of your FANS?  That’s all you should care about.

I don’t care whether you download the original or Phish’s rendition of "Waiting For Columbus", but just know that when you’re ready there’s a treasure trove of juicy greatness ready to satiate your aural taste buds.  That’s the modern music world.  It’s not about hits, it’s about LAND MINES!  Just ready to explode and change your life when you least expect it!

Great music is supposed to infect you, make you unable to walk away, never mind turn it off.  It doesn’t compete with movies or television.  The only thing that can equate with great tunes is sex.

So, put on your best look and go down to the show.  There you’ll find like-minded people who may not look like the stars on TMZ, who might not have a six-pack, but they know the power of music.  Join the band!

Hey lordy, join the band, be a good rascal and join the band

Little Feat

Zeppelin

I got it from Evan.

Not that I was unaware of the hype.  But that’s how it registered to me, as hype, and I hate hype. Did you see the "Holiday Movie" sections in yesterday’s L.A. and N.Y. "Times"?  Who reads these?  The newspapers say they must survive, but was this really news?  Don’t we all just wait until the movies come out, whereupon the wisdom of the crowd tells us whether to go or not?  No, these newspaper sections were not for us, they were for advertisers, they were about revenue, they were hype, and like I said, I ignore hype, and more and more people do every day.

But Evan was testifying.  Telling me he enjoyed the book so much that he tracked Jerry down and went to lunch.  And that he’d give me a copy so he’d be sure to see me again, I’d have to return it.

So it lived in the backseat of my car.

I’ve got to have a book in the car.  You know how long you can wait to see the doctor?  I’m not saying you can read "War and Peace", but I’ve read an entire book in waiting rooms this year.

So I was reading Jerry Heller’s book, about Eazy-E, Ruthless Records and West Coast rap.  And I learned a few things and I enjoyed it, especially the fact that Jerry pulled no punches, but occasionally the timeline didn’t make sense and it just made me feel that lunch or dinner with Jerry would be so much better, to hear the stories live in an unexpurgated fashion.

But I don’t need to go to lunch with Jerry Weintraub.

I wasn’t gonna read it.  I’ve had enough of non-fiction.  People telling their tale for money.  But I got hooked.

And I’m not telling you to read it for the stories, but for the sensibility!  You know how your dad always had his lessons, used to whip out stories from his past to illustrate how you should live your life?  That’s what I get from Jerry Weintraub’s book.  It’s like a lesson from your father, which you can ignore, but never forget.  You may not be the same person, but suddenly, when you least expect it you’ll hear his voice, pointing the way.

But the other reason Weintraub’s book is fascinating is it portrays the true entertainment business, the one driven by hustlers, not big corporations surviving on their own momentum.  In the world of the hustler, when he dies, so does the company.  The hustler needs no college degree, no relatives in the business, he can find his own way, by wits alone.

That’s what’s wrong with today’s entertainment business.  Or maybe it’s yesterday’s.  Everybody wants to suck at the tit of the corporation.  Hell, even Jimmy Iovine went inside.  And he’s a hustler.  Same deal with Irving Azoff.  Beware of a hustler running a corporation, because really, he’s only in it for himself.  He’s got no choice, it’s in his DNA.

Or Lyor Cohen telling me about file-trading…  It’s got to be stopped, not for any moral reason, but because Lyor needs to be protected, Lyor needs to get paid.

Unless you understand these Damon Runyon characters, you cannot understand the entertainment business.  They created it, run it and will continue to do so.  People who can talk a mile a minute, promise what they do not have and ultimately deliver it.

Jerry Weintraub heard a casino was offering 50k a week for a show…  He didn’t tell the Boss he had nothing, he created an extravaganza out of thin air.  He cold-called the Colonel ad infinitum until he agreed to put Elvis on tour.  Meanwhile, Jerry learned on the gig, screwed up again and again.  But a hustler adjusts, a hustler learns as he goes along, and when he’s through, he knows more than you.

A hustler knows he’s not the talent.  He hustles so the artist can create.  If someone gives you deep down creative advice, chances are he’s not a hustler and will not get you where you want to be unless he hustled in his youth and is such a big deal these days that he can call all the shots.

Hustlers?  Shawn Fanning’s uncle.  He ruined the record business.  Sure, Shawn and Sean Parker created the service, but it was Fanning’s uncle who saw how much money could be made. And if the labels were run by hustlers, they would have made a deal.  Because hustlers know stasis is impossible, or as Weintraub says, the landscape changes every ten years, the tablecloth is jerked off, the dishes fall to the floor and there are all new settings.  Be prepared.

Steve Jobs?  Maybe the ultimate hustler.  Have you seen that video where he and his minions keep saying everything is great?

Back To The Mac in 104 seconds: Amazing..Phenomenal…Great….Awesome….!

Apple’s breakthrough product, the iPod, was not an innovation, just a better iteration of what came before.  Packaged and sold incredibly well.  A hustler doesn’t have to be an innovator, he just needs to build upon the past, deliver a better lightbulb.

And maybe that’s why tech’s triumphed in the past decade.  Because tech is all about hustlers and entertainment is all about people in suits working for a paycheck trying to maintain what they’ve already got.  Can you believe it’s ten years later and we still haven’t solved the P2P crisis? Eradication doesn’t work, but the rights holders will not admit we live in a new era that requires new deals.  They’re coming from behind instead of in front.  A hustler is always ahead of the game, can you say this about the modern entertainment business?

So we know that one day we’ll wake up and a band we’ve never heard of will be the biggest in the land and its manager/record company will also be someone we’ve never heard of.  A hustler. Who will see no reason to play with the usual suspects, who’d rather do it alone, controlling his own destiny.  A hustler does not want to stay in school, he wants no restrictions, he wants to do it his way.

And then everybody runs to the hustler.  Frank Sinatra calls Jerry Weintraub.  Irving Azoff manages not only the Eagles, but Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs…  Hell, remember when everybody wanted to sign with Interscope?

And the rest of the players decry this.  They say that the hustler is just that.  That he’s not educated, sophisticated, can’t be trusted…  But the clients love the hustler.  Because the hustler will do anything for the client in order to keep him happy and get ahead.  And that’s ultimately what the client wants, to get ahead.  They’re not looking for a friend, they’re not even looking for honesty, they’re looking for success.

So read "Billboard".  Or listen to the guy on the panel working for the label.  You’ll just insure that you’re a loser.

But if you read Jerry Weintraub’s "When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead", you’ll learn how to be a winner.

Jerry Weintraub’s "When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead"

Speaking of age…

Yes, he got this slot because he’s hyping a book, but the former President did not stay on message, he did not need to be loved, he spoke his truth.  And whether you agree with him or not, it was fascinating to see someone who’d been there and done that reflecting on the issues of the day.

Jimmy Carter has not had plastic surgery.  I haven’t seen photos of him dancing in clubs on TMZ.  He’s not trying to be young and hip and that’s refreshing in a world where those over fifty either see themselves as dead or act like thirty year olds, or even twenty year olds.  Why can’t we respect and revere our elders?  Because they don’t blindly consume the crap that America manufactures?

That’s the main reason the old are ignored.  TV’s not interested in them.  They’re not susceptible to advertising, they’ve seen the ruse, they’re no longer impulsive, they want to make an educated purchase and this is anathema to marketers who want your dollars today and to hell with tomorrow.

You can’t talk about sacrifice.  Jimmy put it so well…  That too many Americans feel they’re entitled under God to consume the world’s resources and politicians enable them, afraid to stand up for what’s right.

There’s only so much oil in the ground.

We’ve got issues of pollution and global warming and so many Americans want to do the right thing if only someone would speak the truth and lead them.  But we live in a duplicitous society where everyone wants to be liked, wants to be on the team and slapped on the back.

That’s what we used to love about our artists.  They were loners.

And speaking of loners, isn’t it interesting that Neil Young is one of the few artists of his era who can still tour and get people to listen to his new music?  He never did what was expedient, he didn’t sell out to corporations, he went his own way and look at the dividends it’s paid him!

And Jimmy Carter is not a sexless automaton.  He said one of his most gratifying moments was when his wife was named to the Top Ten Best Legs list.  Come on, how much more human do you want it?  We want to be proud of our spouses.  And despite the protestations of so many, without sex, without intimacy, none of us would even be here, so can we get out of each other’s bedrooms and have some fun?

It’s so refreshing when someone goes his own way.  When he continues to do so even though the spotlight is no longer upon him.  Jimmy Carter was President long ago, but he hasn’t retired, he’s still advocating for peace, justice and the American way.  He demonstrates that you can be a military man and still be compassionate, still be a Democrat.

We’re looking for leaders.  Now more than ever, in an era where we have less, are worried about the future and have more questions than answers.

Leaders get attacked.  They’re derided, people try to tear them down.  But their adherents, their constituency thrives on their directions, and if the message is good and there’s passion involved a force to reckon with can be established.

It’s fashionable to say that music can’t change the world.  But so many of the freedoms you enjoy today were garnered in the sixties, hand in hand with the music of that decade.

Do you want to make a difference or do you just want to get rich?

Do you want to do what everybody tells you to or what’s right?

It’s your choice.  And now, more than ever, you have the tools at your fingertips to get your message across.