Is it forever?

You’ve got to know the first Allman Brothers album was a stiff. Most people were completely unaware of it, but some purchased it after the band blew up as one half of “Beginnings,” which packaged the first two records together. But that first album is a monster, it’s got the original version of “Whipping Post,” albeit “only” five minutes and seventeen seconds long. And it also has the original “Dreams,” ultimately made famous by Molly Hatchet, and a blistering version of “Trouble No More.”

But most people only became aware of the Allman Brothers via “Fillmore East.”

But the band started to break through with its second LP, “Idlewild South.”

Now the sound was different, the first record was produced by Adrian Barber, who also produced the first Aerosmith album, with “Dream On,” but it was only when the Boston band started working with Jack Douglas that they truly broke through. “Idlewild South” was produced by Tom Dowd. And the sound was different, it was as if a scrim had been pulled off of the music, also the record was not as hard-edged.

Maybe it was the inviting opening cut on the second LP that warmed up non-fans to the act, “Revival,” was a Dickey Betts number, his first with the band. Isn’t it funny that the big breakthroughs of the Allmans were written by Betts, it was his “Ramblin’ Man” that finally conquered AM radio in the fall of ’73, it was ubiquitous.

But “Revival” was not.

“Revival” featured the essence of the Allmans, the twin guitars, and of course, Gregg Allman’s voice.

Now the first side of “Idlewild South” also includes the sweet “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” before the internet, when her identity was a rumor, passed fan to fan.

But the first side also included the original studio take of “Midnight Rider,” long before Gregg Allman slowed it down and featured it on his first solo album, before Waylon and so many covered it.

But still, you only had to hear it once. And the funny thing about “Midnight Rider” is you can never burn out on it. It’s one of the few numbers you don’t push the button on when you hear it on the radio.

Which was what I was doing just now, listening to the radio, Outlaw Country on SiriusXM.

Once upon a time, the Allman Brothers were rock. Country was something twangy, however also from the south. But now rock is something different, something headbangers make, or Disney stars trying to look hip do. And if you want the straight ahead flavor, you’re better off looking at hit country. Which is what I was listening to first, on the Highway. But after hearing a number by Carly Pearce on that channel, the next song was too formulaic, so I switched the station to Outlaw Country, and was surprised to hear the Allman Brothers.

Now what you’ve got to know is summer is just beginning in Southern California. It may have snowed at Shasta and Mammoth, even Palisades a few days back, but that’s a totally different weather pattern. On the east coast, summer is winding down. Those late August nights can have a nip in the air, if you’re at camp in New Hampshire, or even Connecticut. The days are getting shorter, the weather is turning, it’s clear, summer is gone.

After Labor Day you’ll get a few hot days, but it’s still cold at night. And then the leaves turn and you might get a bit of Indian Summer, the end of October, certainly November, may be bright and sunny, but it ain’t warm, and you often get the dreaded rain. Summer rain is a relief. Cold, wintry rain is depressing, you don’t want to go out in it, chills you to the bone.

Eventually it snows. And then it’s winter and you’re waiting for things to heat up again.

That’s not how it works in SoCal. It never gets cold, never ever. And the hottest days of the year come at the end of August and into September, even October. I remember the A/C pooped out in my car back in September one year, I debated whether to fix it or wait until the spring, thank god I did, I needed it in the coming days.

It was 96 the other day. Right now 85. And those numbers are not as hot as they are on the east coast, or even the Midwest, because there’s no humidity. That’s the thing about California, complain all you want, real estate values are high, as well as taxes, but the truth is only immigrants leave, natives stay, because you can’t find anywhere else in America where the living is so easy and the weather so good.

Of course there are exceptions to that, but all I’m saying here is you never get depressed over the weather in Los Angeles. Oh, sometimes it rains cats and dogs, but that’s an interesting respite from the days Barbra Streisand lamented in “The Way We Were.” And Streisand lives in SoCal, she did not return to New York.

So the summer is a different vibe. It’s about the aforementioned freedom, as well as joy, exuberance. Which has been absent from most mainstream music these days. Or is evidenced in mindless drivel.

But that’s not the way it used to be. So many of the album rock hits of the seventies were upbeat. Hell, “Hold Your Head Up”?

Not that “Midnight Rider” is exactly upbeat, but it evidences the outlaw mentality. For a generation that was brought up on westerns. Which had to drive if it wanted to explore the new frontier, flying was prohibitively expensive, a rare treat at most.

There was magic in them thar hills. Everybody wanted to go to California first. But there was also Colorado. It was a mentality. And so many records were made in the mountains, even English cats like Elton recorded at Caribou Ranch.

So when you hear those opening notes of “Midnight Rider”…

Actually, it’s an acoustic guitar. Sure, there were folkies, now called singer/songwriters, but even the Stones employed acoustics.

And then the song fell into a groove, an hypnotic groove. I’m not a songwriter, I don’t know if these grooves are a strike of lightning or whether you can create them anytime, on a dime. Then again, so many of the great tracks are covers of Delta blues numbers, or slight reworkings of them. My point being, how do you come up with that “Midnight Rider” groove? Did the band know it when it heard it, was it a eureka moment, or were they oblivious, believing it was just another in a long line of hooks.

Then there are those congas, that you might not even be aware of the first hundred times through. They’re syncopated like the lope of a horse. Once you realize this, you can never forget it.

That’s Duane picking the acoustic. But “Midnight Rider” has balls, evidenced by Dickey’s slashing electric in the chorus.

And sitting atop it all is Gregg Allman. Not a winner on a TV singing show, but someone whose voice evidenced experience, you could see him singing in a dark studio or out there on the range, alone on his horse.

And then Dickey plays during the break, and then Duane comes along on his slide and dances over the whole thing like a fairy laying down dust, an ethereal character delivering that which humans cannot comprehend, a God sprinkling his essence on the track in an unforgettable way.

And then it’s back to the groove.

And eventually to the slow close and fade-out, with Gregg Allman singing over and over again:

“I’m not gonna let ’em catch the midnight rider

Not gonna let ’em catch the midnight rider”

And you believe they never will.

And the number fades on an electric guitar stab off on the horizon, somewhere you want to go, you have no choice but to play the song again, back when you had to go over to the turntable and lift the needle and put it back to where the track began.

Now the truth is Gregg Allman was cool. Yes, he did have that moment after the act’s big success where he sold out a member of the band’s entourage to stay out of jail himself, but ultimately he was forgiven by his bandmates, when they realized this was the best way to make bank, together.

And then he married Cher.

But he did pass out in a plate of spaghetti at an awards show.

Not even Cher could catch the midnight rider.

And there are very few rock stars who live up to the image. One is Steven Tyler, another is Gregg Allman. They don’t have to turn it on, that’s who they are. One lippy and loquacious, the other a southern gentleman, speaking slowly and softly, but making you lean in to catch the wisdom.

Now in truth you learn that most of these rockers are not heroes on a personal level, then again, there’s that music, that magic.

From back when you had to go to the show to experience it. When there wasn’t much more than the music, maybe a t-shirt or a tour program. Could you win people over on your playing alone?

Duane died. We still don’t know who he was. You see he didn’t talk that much, was not interviewed ad infinitum. And then Berry Oakley bit the dust just one year later. Couldn’t anybody convince them to give up their bikes?

No, you can’t stop an outlaw. They can’t be controlled. At best they can be corralled to lay it down on wax.

The road goes on forever.

And then it ends, it stops because you do, you die.

Musicians don’t retire. Didn’t I just read that Ian Gillan tell Eddie Trunk that Deep Purple has no intention of retiring, even though their 2017 tour was called “The Long Goodbye,” the band has dates booked through 2026.

They don’t want to get off the road. Even at home Willie Nelson has been known to sleep on his bus.

The truth is this is all they know how to do. And they can’t get those accolades, that love, anywhere else but on stage. And most of ’em need the money. Whether it was stolen originally, or they blew it themselves.

They’re not looking to retire. They’re the antithesis of the hoi polloi. They don’t want to relax, this is their identity.

Usually it ends when you’re least aware. Either you saw Jeff Beck or you did not, he didn’t do a farewell tour.

And Duane Allman certainly did not. And it’s interesting that he’s remembered more than so many who are still out there. Duane spoke through his guitar, and that was enough.

So what you’ve got is a bunch of deities laying down magic that you couldn’t get anywhere else. Sure, there was Skynyrd, but they were different. The aforementioned Hatchet, even other bands on Capricorn, but none of them had the quality of the Allman Brothers, who were always one step removed, who you didn’t think would do just anything for a buck. They spoke through their music, and that was enough.

And when you hear it you’re reminded.

Not if you’ve never heard it before, then it’s just a glimpse into a past that is certainly in the rearview mirror, that you can’t get anywhere but in recordings.

I remember getting stoned listening to “Idlewild South” in Dave McCormick’s room in Hepburn Hall during a cold January back in ’71.

I remember hearing “Ramblin’ Man” all over campus before it got cold in the fall of ’73.

I remember being infatuated with “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More,” the opening cut on “Eat a Peach” that no one ever talks about, they were into “Melissa,” they named their kids that.

And then there’s “Come and Go Blues” from  “Brothers and Sisters,” an Allman song when everybody was focused on Betts’s “Ramblin’ Man” and “Jessica.”

And in truth, there’s even a classic on the band’s last studio LP, “Desdemona” off of 2003’s “Hittin’ the Note.”

And now all you’ve got is dust. Jaimoe is the only original band member left.

It’s like they all got on their horses and rode into the sunset, sequentially, we’ll catch up with these midnight riders in the afterlife.

But it really all started with “Midnight Rider.” And it’s not in your face, it’s not begging, it’s essentially laid back, sans effects, it evidences a humanity only music can.

That’s why it’s so powerful.

That’s why it’s forever. 

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I just saw this video today.

But it was launched twelve days ago on Kamala Harris’s YouTube channel.

But it’s also on Facebook and Stereogum and “Billboard”…

But it was only when Jake texted this to me that I found out about it.

Today your work is a time bomb. Do not expect instant knowledge and acceptance. People have too much else going on, too much input. And in order to really spread, you need a friend to tell you about it, otherwise it seems like hype.

But nobody likes this so nobody admits this.

The labels and the media like us to believe the entire world is waiting for the new work of Sabrina Carpenter or Post Malone or Taylor Swift when the truth is very few are. I’m not saying their audiences are insignificant, just that they do not cover everybody. We no longer live in a monoculture and the purveyors refuse to acknowledge this, because it’s too confusing, and illustrates their lack of power.

So you’ve got to make something so good that people want to tell others about it.

Sure, you can try and short cut the process, by stunting. But the problem with a stunt, when you try and gain instant virality, is when it fails, it fails completely. Secondly, most people can tell when you’re trying artificially for virality, and it leaves a bad taste in their mouth, meaning further down the line, even if you release something good, they won’t spread the word about it, they’re no longer on your team, they’re out.

So there are two streams, the obvious and the good. Sometimes they intersect, but most times they do not.

Kill someone and it will be in the news for half a day.

Create a great track and it could literally take years to break, but it’s waiting there, to be spread, each and every day of the year.

This is the opposite of the terrestrial radio paradigm. Where either it’s a hit or a stiff. On or gone. Then again, tracks take ever longer to get on the radio chart, illustrating this long process of knowledge and acceptance.

But the bottom line is to grow beyond a hit into a career, people have to like you, you have to have credibility.

When Tim Walz talks about 8-tracks in his vehicles… You know that guy. He may not live for music, but he’s been to shows, he’s got the same bedrock references. Believe me, Springsteen and Seger were bigger in their era than anybody on the hit parade today. We were all working on our night moves, trying to lose those awkward teenage blues, with autumn now closing in.

When Kamala acknowledges Walz, says “okay,” it doesn’t ring wholly true. But when she starts to testify…it’s from the heart, with knowledge. She’s not pandering, SHE KNOWS!

And that makes all the difference. It’s one thing to know a hit, it’s quite another to know the oeuvre, to have context. This is what delivers relatability.

This is why Trump is f*cked, he lacks relatability. And his lies detract from any credibility he may have once had, if ever.

That does not mean no one will vote for him, that just means the landscape has changed in eight years.

Eight years ago there was not as much in the landscape. Stars meant more than they do today. I saw online that Jimmy Fallon, Jon Hamm and Bradley Cooper were partying in the Hamptons. WHO CARES?

Gossip has been devalued. It’s everywhere and means less. So you were here or there, what does that have to do with ME? Today it’s all about the individual, who is a star of his own movie, who is leaving bread crumbs online. As for movie stars… We know they’re many times married, far from intellectual, they can’t even open a film anymore. Exactly why do we adore them? Should we adore them? Less than ever before.

And the musicians… Your songs were not written by you, you’re hawking perfume, what does that have to do with me and my identity, you’re just a poor imitation of a Kardashian, and no one in that family has ANY credibility. Sure, money, but money is not everything. Especially in this world of income inequality. You may not be rich, but you can troll anybody online, you can have impact on social media platforms.

But this almost never has anything to do with art.

Now if you try and fake the game people can tell. Harris knows Too Short from a few bars in this video: https://rb.gy/e8z61s You either know it or you don’t.

So these clips are akin to Bill Clinton playing the sax on Arsenio. But back in 1992 Arsenio reached millions, and there were so few outlets available. The big was bigger.

Today you have to start small. Be everywhere and hope to grow.

But you only grow with authenticity.

There is train-wreck value, but it’s got a very short shelf life. And in today’s world you can be known by many today and still be broke tomorrow.

So Trump keeps playing the anti role, but Hillary Clinton is not running, the game has changed, there’s a new duo in town. The only way to compete is to grow from the bottom up yourself. But Trump doesn’t know how to do this, being born on third base. He thinks you can start at the top and stay there, fearful of losing his perch all the while, which is why he keeps talking about crowd size and ratings.

He cares, most people do not. Either they were there or not. All this hype about “biggest” is for the media, not the people.

And to succeed today, you’ve got to be for the people.

“On the Edge – The Art of Risking Everything”: https://rb.gy/gauj90

No one is going to read this. It’s the new “A Brief History of Time,” you know, the Steven Hawking book everybody bought in the eighties and then found out it was too dense to comprehend, never mind put in the time and effort to make headway.

The bottom line is Nate Silver loves to play poker. And that’s what the first third of this book is all about. If you can get over that hump, you find analyses of Silicon Valley, venture capital, crypto, even an analysis of Vegas itself, but you start off with poker.

I don’t play poker. I don’t even know how to play poker. Cards are not my thing. And to win at poker you’ve got to bluff, and that’s the antithesis of who I am, I’m straight up and straightforward 24/7, deviousness is not in my personality. I’ll say what no one else will, but there’s no hidden agenda.

But what stuns me about “On the Edge” is how the media, along with Nate himself, have been hyping this book to high heaven, and no one talks about actually reading it. I mean if you’re a poker afficionado, go for it, you’ll be in heaven. But if you’re looking for…

Exactly what?

The bottom line is Silver wanted to write a book about poker, and then imposed a framework upon it, coming up with the concept of the River and the Village, two monikers that do not really convey what these groups are about.

But it’s really pretty simple. The risk takers and the establishment. The east coast and the west.

I’ve never seen such a takedown of the east coast academic establishment in a book by someone with education and status who has a name in popular culture.

Like the woman who invented mRNA vaccines, ultimately winning the Nobel Prize. She lost her gig at the big university, she had to sleep in her lab to avoid getting deported, no one believed in her, no one supported her, and it took her a damn long time to get to the destination.

Silver makes the point that institutions just want to get the next grant, they’re much less interested in breakthroughs.

But his skewering of the high and mighty, the east coast educated elite, makes me so proud I escaped, moved to Los Angeles, which everybody who is not here decries.

It’s about the freedom. Not Elon Musk’s b.s. freedom of speech, but the freedom to be yourself, to not conform, to have ideas outside the mainstream.

So that’s the battle, between the east coast elites and the west coast techies who are revolutionizing the world.

Now I’m not down with the techies who want to cast off regulations, who want to work completely unfettered, who lobbied Kamala Harris to get rid of Lina Khan.

But I’m really not down with the so-called Village, where the goal is to move up the ladder in D.C., from campaign worker to lobbyist to…a cushy life.

Those on the west coast want to change the world.

Those on the east coast want the system to never change, while they use their blue chip upbringings to start in the middle and make their way to the top.

But first you have to start with poker.

Huh?

One thing about “On the Edge,” you will never ever drop a penny in Vegas ever again. At least if you read it. The odds are stacked against you. Literally. You can’t win. Maybe momentarily, but definitely not in the long run.

As for those sports books, all that online gambling you read about?

Bottom line, if you’re any good, they cut you off. They limit your bets. So you can’t get rich.

As for making a living playing poker… Good luck. It’s like being a touring golf pro, or a traveling musician, the costs are insane, but in poker there’s no guaranteed income whatsoever.

Read this book and you’ll want to live a straight life. Like the poker star who left the game to work at Bridgewater.

And if you don’t know what that is…

Ain’t that America.

Almost all information is hiding in plain sight. All you’ve got to do is read. But that’s too tough for most people.

Wow, that sounds like a put-down. But my ultimate point here is if you see “On the Edge” as a self-help book, you’ve got it all wrong. You’re born with the amount of risk you’re willing to take. Maybe influenced by your upbringing. You can’t change along the way, you’ll get too anxious.

And that’s one reason the record business is moribund. There’s no risk involved. Everybody’s on salary, looking to get their bonus. The business was started by indies, whether it be Ahmet at Atlantic or Jac Holzman at Elektra. One of Jac’s big breakthroughs was budget classical, i.e. the Nonesuch label. The majors missed this completely. What are the majors doing now?

The reason to read “On the Edge” is to learn about this world you’re not a part of.

And if you’re part of this world, you’ll learn almost nothing new.

But you’ve got to wade through all the poker b.s. first.

Which I think most people are unwilling to do.

Could you sit in the library reading and comprehending a bunch of math gobbledygook in college? Well, think about doing it for fun.

Meanwhile, “On the Edge” is being purveyed as a mainstream book.

There are obvious truths in “On the Edge,” how crypto is being lifted up by the bros left out of the mainstream world, speculators who could never get a gig at the bank, the same people cheering Musk and Trump on on X. It’s obvious if you’re paying attention, but even big media misses this.

But Silver lays it out. Assuming you can wade through.

This is fascinating to me. It’s the Emperor’s New Clothes. Since it’s Nate Silver, since he’s the foremost election prognosticator, he’s getting a complete pass in the media. He’s on all these podcasts…did these hosts bother to read the book? I almost guarantee you not. Because it’s a schlepp, to a great degree in the wilderness, with very few cups of water. And it’s very in-depth, as well as long.

This is the modern world. Tons of people talking about that which they know nothing about while building up that which is unfit for mainstream consumption.

Which is analogous to the music business selling tripe that everybody says is great.

Believe me, we used to have risk-takers in the music business, on the creative side especially. But that required being broke and not complaining about the money, waiting for the audience to catch up with you.

No one’s doing this anymore. The first thing they want is to get paid.

They’re inhabitants of the Village, and they’re not going anywhere.

Hell, one man revolutionized music distribution, Daniel Ek. And became a billionaire in the process. And this is what musicians hate most about him, how rich he got. But he probably struggled more than you do. You’re looking at the end result, not the process.

You’ll ask yourself all these questions if you read “On the Edge.”

But, once again, first you have to wade through the poker section. And the poker analogies that pop up throughout the book.

Are you ready for that?

I believe very few are.

Trailer: https://rb.gy/30b01c

This series gets better and better.

I’ve never read a complete sentence of “Harry Potter.” And although I knew J.K. Rowling wrote genre books under a pseudonym, the reason I watched this series was because it had great RottenTomatoes ratings, 83/93. And you know those exceed my threshold.

Now “C.B. Strike,” or just “Strike” if you’re in the U.K., is not new. It premiered on Cinemax back in 2018, and I even get that channel, I might have heard the name, but I guess I’ve become suspicious of pay cable, and I refuse to watch anything week by week.

But doing research I came across “C.B. Strike,” which is now on Max, and I’m glad I did.

Cormoran Strike is the son of a famous musician and a supergroupie. He dropped out of Oxbridge to go to war, wherein he got half his leg blown off, and after returning and experiencing an up and down relationship with a pedigreed woman, he breaks free and dedicates all his energy to his P.I. business.

As for Robin… She just takes a job working in Strike’s office as a temp, but she’s got a feel for it, and she wants to stick with it, even though the pay is sh*t.

Now Robin is engaged to a putz playing the traditional game. He’s slick and monied, but controlling. And I guess this all comes down to whether you follow your dream or do what is expected of you or just follow the money. “C.B. Strike” is a great advertisement for following your passion.

So there are multiple seasons of “C.B. Strike” and if you look them up online or see them in your Max app, they’re different.

Let’s just stay with the Max app.

The first season, shot in 2018, is seven episodes long and is three different stories, corresponding to three different J.K. Rowling/Robert Galbraith books.

And what you find in the first seven episodes is that the stories are wrapped up pretty quickly, faster than you’d want them to be. Cormoran will have a brain fart, and voila!, he figures it all out.

But the second and third seasons, each made up of four episodes covering a single story each, are superior.

This is one of the few series that gets better as it goes along.

If you watch something with multiple seasons…if you like the first set of episodes, hang in there, oftentimes there’s a learning process and the producers self-correct the next time around.

Really, the third season is excellent. It does have a bit too much explanation as opposed to action at the end, but you’re intrigued the whole time.

Now the suspects in these cases change. But you don’t feel ripped-off by dead ends, and it’s not a complete twist who did it, you can understand it. But you’re guessing, and you enjoy it.

But the best part of the series is the two leads, Tom Burke as Cormoran Blue Strike and Holliday Grainger as Robin Venetia Ellacott.

Burke/Strike almost never raises his voice. It’s not that he’s not intense, it’s not that he doesn’t care, but he speaks softly and it’s so affecting. We’re used to bombastic leads. With thousand watt personalities. That is not Burke/Strike.

As for Robin… Sure, she’s beautiful, but to a great degree she plays against type. She’s willing to get her hands dirty, to go for it.

And of course there’s sexual tension. Will they or won’t they. I’ll let you watch the series and find out for yourself.

Also, “C.B. Strike” is set in an autumn-like U.K. that generates a vibe in the viewer, that adds gravitas. And when you see the modern people against the old buildings… It shows how everybody is just passing through.

Yes, “C.B. Strike” is entertainment. But truly, it’s a cut above. I don’t want to say it’s the best series I’ve ever seen, but like Cliff said, I’m down to seeds and stems.

And if you’ve watched the greats, like “The Bureau,” never mind “Spiral,” ” A French Village,” “Borgen” and “Happy Valley,” you should check out “C.B. Strike.”

Once again, stick with it, it gets better.

Unlike the horrific Max app which qualifies as a beta under Silicon Valley standards. How can Zaslav make all that money while he runs the company into the ground? It’s offensive, but ain’t that America, and you and me have no power.