Tune in Saturday November 18th to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.

Phone #: 844-686-5863

Twitter: @lefsetz

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz

Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/ub75t8vj

YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/yzv9d8pm

“Give me your darkest hour

Give me your deepest fear

Just give me a call and I’ll be there”

When done right, the music is there.

But it hasn’t been there for a very long time.

You want to listen to a great record. It calls out to you. And it’s never about a party, never about a hang, it’s always personal. And that can be Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” or Alanis Morissette’s “Hand in My Pocket,” never mind Sublime’s “What I Got” and scores of classic rock tunes.

Too often it’s podcasts that call out to me today. At least they require total concentration, in a world that’s so distracting and disturbing, it feels good to surrender, just like watching great streaming television, whereas when you listen to a great record it’s just the opposite experience, it’s not hard focus, rather the song sets you free.

I mean how many times have I replayed a track, wanting to catch the words from the top, and found I’ve missed them again. Because as soon as I hear the music it sets my mind free, to roam. And who knows what I’ll think about. But one thing is for sure, it’s personal, it’s from my eyes, my mind, which is quite a respite in this world where people are constantly telling us how to think, what to believe.

So when I step out of the car to go hiking I’ve usually got a podcast in mind. But I must say, the offerings have slimmed, at least what I want to listen to. Enough with the true crime, enough with the bros pontificating and laughing at a party you were not invited to, I don’t want TV on audio, podcasts should be a different experience.

I like news analysis. I can get some great insight, but it’s usually dry. But unlike school, I’m choosing to listen. Learning gets a bad name, I wish I was in charge of education. No, scratch that. I just want to inspire people, show them the magic of reading, of listening, of analysis. Not for my benefit but theirs, to enrich their lives, which are too often somnambulant in front of the TV or drinking and getting high with their friends.

But the educational system eviscerates the upside of reading and analysis, makes it anathema as opposed to a pleasure. What’s great about college is the hang, the bull sessions, you’ll find they’re more important than anything you learn in class. And the benefit of a liberal arts education is you learn how to analyze, how to sift through the information and come up with a conclusion, how to argue your case. Law school was dreadful. I already knew how to do it all from college. Law is not an intellectual pursuit. Just read these cases, positively mediocre writing. Not that there are not intellectuals in law, but they’re a minority.

Then again, there are intellectuals who need to tell you so. Whereas when done right music is not about status, it’s singular, how you respond to it, how it makes you feel. And this is the exact music that is pooh-poohed by the academy, but it is this music that’s gotten me through life. Been there when I’ve been exuberant, been down in the dumps, it’s ridden shotgun my entire life, but too often today it’s old stuff, even though there’s nothing like the discovery of something new.

“I want you to know wherever your road wants to go

I’ll never be far, I’ll always be right where you are”

Hiking is inherently singular, and that can be both rewarding and disillusioning, and to avoid bad feelings I oftentimes reach for a podcast, like I said above. But last night I reached out for a record. I wanted to hear Chris Stapleton’s “Higher,” and it’s been a long time since that has happened.

I did not feel assaulted. I did not feel like Stapleton was my best friend. But I did think he was emoting, feeling something, and we’re all feeling human beings, whether we’re in touch with that or not, whether we deny it or not.

And a great record puts you in a mood, and it takes you on a ride. Sometimes on a roller coaster, sometimes a canoe on a placid lake, but it’s definitely a journey. One too often I don’t want to take. Because of the endless drivel, the endless mediocrity purveyed today. It’s a business enterprise, not an artistic one, no matter what the “artist” says. A great album should exist independent of the charts, independent of the system, it should exist in the ether, Dead Sea Scrolls, tablets on a mountaintop, that don’t beg for attention but just exist, waiting for your discovery.

And I will say that yes, a lot of Stapleton songs sound similar. And as great as his voice is, it sometimes blends into the track, especially live. But when you listen to “Higher” you can’t help but envision a performance, one of yore, in a club, in an out of the way location, with barnboard on the walls, with just acoustic instruments on a low-slung stage. And this is music that can be rendered live, sans hard drive, it breathes, it is not propped up by machines.

Now once upon a time, that pedal steel was akin to biting into a lemon for most boomers. But then Gram Parsons and the rest of the country rockers made it palatable. And Paul Franklin adds flavor, roots “Weight of Your World,” makes it the other, because this sound does not exist outside of music, it’s truly otherworldly, you know you’re in a musical environment. 

And the intro to the song is slow and meandering, well, there’s a groove, but it’s slow, and anything but what you hear on the hit parade, be it on the Spotify Top 50, Top 40 or country hit radio.

That’s one key thing about “Weight of Your World,” it’s authentic. Without pandering. No one is yelling look at us, we’re doing it the old school way!

Not that “Weight of Your World” sounds ancient. Rather, it’s in a long line of country, rock music. It’s the latest exponent, not dated at all.

Not that the lyrics are a breakthrough. This is not Robbie Robertson and the Band. Then again, as great as that music was, so much of it was intellectual. I love “King Harvest (Has Surely Come),” but sans lyrics, sans that story, it wouldn’t be the same.

Whereas “Weight of Your World” is mostly about the sound. Slowed down, absent the hustle and bustle of the modern world. It’s earnest in a world of irony.

As a matter of fact, there’s really nothing new in the words. They verge on cliché but don’t cross that line because of Stapleton’s delivery. Just straightforward, heartfelt, no melisma, none of the oversinging of today’s “stars.” And I was analyzing the weight of the lyrics but then I thought of Brian Wilson’s two most lauded solo numbers, “Lay Down Burden” and “Love and Mercy,” they’re minimal too.

“There will come a time when all the words don’t seem to rhyme

Please lean on me until you find the harmony

When it’s hard to breathe when the right seems wrong

I’ll be the hand that helps you along”

What you picture here is two. That’s what relationships are made up of. And in a scourge, a panic of loneliness, we’re all looking for that connection, someone to be there for, someone to connect with. And relationships, despite the gossip pages, are entirely personal, no one knows exactly what happens behind closed doors.

We all want someone to share with. But as much as we want someone to lift us up when we’re down, we feel even better being there for someone else, lifting them up.

“Wherever you go, wherever you’ve been

Anytime you need a friend”

Forget the words, it’s about the sound. This is the bridge. Yes, “Weight of Your World” has a bridge in a world where many records have no change at all. Sure, it’s classic song structure, but it’s too often been forgotten today, and there’s a reason they call it classic.

Not that I expected to be enamored of “Weight of Your World.” It’s the thirteenth song out of fourteen. And I knew the final track reached me, but last night “Weight of Your World” snuck up on me. After the album finished and started playing again from the top I pulled my phone from my pocket and went back to “Weight of Your World,” I wanted to hear it over again, I needed to hear it over again. And then I repeated the process again and again, I didn’t want to lose the mood.

And then I wondered if it was me. Had it been my mood, my situation, was there a ton of great new music out there but I was missing it?

So I got in my car and turned on the country station and I heard drum machines and platitudes, people in search of glory, bland and ultimately anything but personal.

Now in truth I get the greatest response when I write about something personal. Second comes politics. Much less if I write about the music business. And if I write about music? If it’s new stuff, crickets. Except for the people weighing in to tell me how terrible my taste is. And the funny thing is I save all my e-mail, and everybody’s findable online, and when I look up their taste I laugh. If you’re a dedicated punk, I know you wouldn’t like this stuff, but even more interesting is why you have to tell me so.

And really, this is not about “Weight of Your World.” It’s about the experience that only music can deliver. And in truth you can get it in punk too. Dedicated punks, dedicated fans of heavy metal, feel alienated, like no one understands them, except the artist, what’s coming through the speakers.

There are occasional superstars that are selling the personal, that have you sitting in the assembled multitude feeling it’s just you and the person on stage, but that’s rare. Too often it’s about the penumbra. The grosses, everything but the music. Which when done right is pure experience.

And that’s the magic of “Weight of Your World,” it’s pure. There’s nothing extraneous. Most people have never heard it. It’s buried deep in an hour long album. It doesn’t even have a million streams on Spotify. But it’s there, waiting for you, ready to sneak up on you when you’re ready, when it crosses your path.

“Give me the balls and chains that won’t set you free

Give me the weight of your world

And lay it on me”

I can’t hear “balls and chains” without thinking of Janis Joplin. And there’s another number with the “weight of the world” that is just beyond my reach, but I keep thinking of it, it will come to me, maybe today, maybe a week from tomorrow. And yes, I thought of Brian Wilson’s “Lay Down Burden” when I heard the above words. I also thought of something I said to someone once that I’ve regretted ever since, because it sounded hokey, undercutting its truth, it could not bridge the distance between us. But that was decades ago, and nothing seems to matter anymore, in a world where rock stars are passing on a regular basis, and now my friends too. And the old records are there, but the experience is not the same as something fresh.

“I want you to know wherever your road wants to go

I’ll never be far, I’ll always be right where you are

If you lose your way, if your hope is gone

I’ll be the light that leads you home”

That’s the music. I distinctly remember singing Todd Rundgren’s “Something/Anything?” to myself alone in the Tuileries, it rooted me. And walking the halls of my high school, ironically the ones John Mayer sang about running through decades later, singing to make me feel connected in a world where I felt distanced. But now we can take our music anywhere, and that’s a great improvement. But in truth these songs live in our head, they’re our constant companions. They keep us alive.

From: Niko Bolas

Re: The Immediate Family Movie

To get mentioned in the Lefsetz letter is hipper than the cover of RS, back when they were RS!

Thank you for putting a light on the whole thing. I was blessed to be in the room…

Neeks

How can I sleep after reading your review?   That was the coolest thing to read.  Seriously tears for me. I want to wake my wife up but she’ll kill me. Love to you Bob.  Thank you.

Denny Tedesco

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Thanks so much for the nice review of The Immediate Family Documentary.  Fred Croshal and I have managed the Band since its formation five years ago and we are so proud of the guys and the power of the Film.  Denny Tedesco did a brilliant job directing the Documentary and telling the story of the band members’ careers in a compelling, charming and fun way.  When the public sees the Film, they will be amazed to learn that these iconic musicians played on some of their favorite songs of all time.  I must admit that I, too, would occasionally say “wow, I didn’t know that Waddy played on that tune” or “how did Kootch come up with those great musical ideas”.

Hopefully, the Documentary will remind people that these guys were more than just side musicians.  They helped to define the Southern California sound in its heyday, and contributed to the music in a way that changed the power and impact of the tunes, working with the likes of Keith Richards, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Carole King, Jackson Browne, Stevie Nicks, Billy Joel, Neil Young, Phil Collins, Lyle Lovett, Don Henley, David Crosby, and Joni Mitchell, to name just a few.  To quote James Taylor, “the creative input of these session guys cannot be overstated”.  Unlike the members of the Wrecking Crew, the guys in The Immediate Family played on the albums, but then, were invited to join these iconic artists on the road to re-create the music live, as only they could.  My hope is that once people see the Film, they will do a deeper dive into the music of The Immediate Family, including the Band’s forthcoming Album entitled “Skin In The Game”, and embrace their most current tunes as only a musical family could deliver – “the band behind the scene”.  Let their legacy live on.

 

David A. Helfant | Arpeggio Entertainment

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It was a fun adventure but the reason that I’m in it is Denny came to me and he said everybody I ask about these guys says “they’re the greatest” and I need to know why and you can tell me and that’s the part I played.

Val Garay

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I’m so glad they did this. I hope Craig Doerge, the keyboard player, is in the mix somewhere; his playing was a big part of that sound.  My career started because Craig was always overbooked!! Like you say, it who you know.

Kim Bullard

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Bravo!

I helped Denny Tedesco in the earliest stage of the Wrecking Crew film by giving him contract info for WC alumni in Nashville out of my Musicians Union book. As a studio musician, I was an acolyte if his legendary father, Tommy.

But as influential as they were to me, the Crew were my parents’ generation. The Immediate Family are mine and they had more direct influence on me than the Crew did.

Thank you for your hearty endorsement of the film. After the steep learning and licensing curve on the Wrecking Crew film, Denny got it absolutely right on this one!

Michael Gregory

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We got to do a show with this band at Ardmore Music Hall in the fall of 2021.

Let me tell you that walking into the green room and seeing THOSE faces…wow. What am I going to say to THOSE guys?

I asked Waddy how he got away with playing through a full-on Marshall stack on the Main Offender tour…

“Did you ever play with Keith Richards?”

“Um, nope, haven’t done that”

“Well, he plays LOUD”

I felt like a putz, but hey.

The show was so good, and they were really great to meet. A massive honor.

Jesse Lundy

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Bob , Thanks for posting about this film, I can’t wait to see it . My sister got me a record in 1977 by the Section called fork it over . It was Lee , Russ and Danny and Craig Doerge on keyboards . It was a great record for a 15 year old kid in Upstate NY to listen to and dream one day I want to move to LA and play music . These guys are some of the greatest of all time . I still own the vinyl.

Dan McCarroll

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Can’t wait to see this….I think the first time I saw these guys on stage was when Carole King opened for James Taylor at the Anaheim Convention Center right after Tapestry was released. I think they played for both of them.

Michael Rosenblatt

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Great timing…I literally just met and hung out with Steve Postell at Kenny’s (Loggins) house for his end of tour/end of touring gathering.

Very nice guy and a regular guy, had me punch my info into his phone, had a nice talk for a minute, I guess he’s the rookie of Immediate Family at 20 years. He mentioned it was coming out but I don’t think I realized it was this soon…after meeting him I’m def gonna go check it out!

Wade Biery

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I can’t wait to see this.

Loved “The Section” LPs.

We devoured the back of the album information.

We soon found out these guys were playing on everything!

Brian Quinn

Last Dance Productions

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Can’t wait to finally see this. Growing up in the age of the singer/songwriter, and becoming one myself, these were the guys who made everyone sound so good whether live or on vinyl.
I devoured the recording credits and used to being bring binoculars to shows with Jackson, Linda, James, Dan Fogelberg, and half of the time was spent watching Russ Kunkel drive the bus.
Thank you for the review Bob.
It  makes me even more excited to see this!

Michael Lille

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Movie was great. The immediate family represent a great artistic era with a lot of great memories

John Huie

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I can’t wait for this..

A Classic indeed, as classic as Ancient Rome!

Gladiators with headphones, creating the world of rock ‘n’ roll..

Michael Des Barres…

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Like Lukather pointed out when you interviewed him, session players were given a chord chart, put on the spot, and spontaneously turned raw material into hits by creating signature intros, outros, arrangements, rhythm patterns, and feel.   Especially in  L.A., Memphis, Muscle Shoals, and Detroit.

I enjoyed Immediate Family’s  pre-covid Iridium gig (small Times Square club ).

Paul Lanning

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Thanks! Sounds like fun. On the eagles biopic and Linda Ronstadt’s I am always pointing these guys out to my wife. They seemed like Gods.

Michael Becker

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I really want to go see the Immediate Family .. as a musician that is my generation, and before that the Wrecking Crew movie which I immensely enjoyed as well. They are, however a real California perspective. In New York there was a whole other scene going on that absolutely could match that with some of the finest players in the world. If you were one of the NY Cats fans  from all over the world, knew who you. How many great records came from New York in the 1960s that match anything that came out of LA. When I was coming up during the 70s, there were the legendary players that created so many albums that were part of a core group just like in LA. We had bands like Stuff with Richard Tee,Cornell Dupree, Eric Gale, Gordon Edwards,Steve Gadd,Chris Parker. They set the tone of so many albums that they all were on. Then you have Ralph Macdonald, and his crew at Rosebud studios. You could hear these musicians play at clubs like Mikells and 7th Ave south. The stories are there as well. You had Randy and Michael Brecker, and all the great music and musicians that came out of that collective like Will Lee, and David Sanborn, Steve Khan,Don Grolnick, I saw it all go down and as time went on, I became a part of it and believe me it was a huge honor to be on albums with those guys. There was another scene in New York that was making records with the 60s Artists guitarist like Al Gorgoni who I can’t even believe how many records he’s on

Jason Miles

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I have been wondering if this would be worth seeing. Well into the Great Shutdown®️ and getting very bored at home we turned to endless surfing of You Tube. Having viewed many music videos the algorithm presented Lelend Sklar. I knew of him from reading credits on vinyl and CDs. Having his tour schedule cancelled he took to You Tube and in a charmingly awkward manner shared tracks he had played on while simply staring into the camera or playing along on his bass. My wife and me were enchanted by his calm demeanor and soothing voice. We eagerly await his weekly videos.  I was surprised to learn that he resides in Pasadena, the city I was born in. Lives in a 6,000 square feet home built in the 1930s in the Arroyo area just above the Rose Bowl. Paid $700k back in the late 70’s. Not bad for a side man! He’s probably better off than many of the artists he worked for. Not sure if we will go to a theater to see this. Our last visit to the local cinema was disappointing. The place was a mess. I have my home system with surround sound and my house is clean and neat and I am guaranteed the best seat in the house. Gonna wait for this on a streaming service.

Love the podcasts.

– Bruce Bremer

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A few years ago a bunch of my music geek friends and I went to see The Immediate Family at the Iridium in NYC. One of friends,a gigging bass player, was very excited to See Lee Sklar in particular. The show was fantastic, Danny Kortchmar was a great host and the band, was of course, perfect. After the show Lee Sklar was sitting at the tiny bar having a drink, we surrounded him and started having a great talk about music and life. My bass player friend was so excited (and a bit herbally enhanced). He eventually mentioned Billy Cobham’s Spectrum, a touchstone fusion masterpiece. In his excitemnt and state of mind, he excitedly said he loved it and then asked “Hey, who played bass on that?” (we all almost gasped). Lee, being the gracious awesome gentleman that he is, looked at my friend and quietly pointed at himself, It was an amazing moment (brain fart from my friend aside). We still bust on him about his faux pas years later. Immediate Family are so much more than amazing muscians.

Thanks as always Bob,

Michael Eigen

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Man, this resonates for me on so many levels.  First off, they are my friends, my pals, I’ve played and recorded with all of them except Waddy. Something to look forward to, doncha think?

The learning… You said it so well, we learned more from Rolling Stone than from class. Bruce said it, “We learned more from a three minute record baby / Than we ever learned in school.” A-men to that.

That was my mantra, high school onward, laying out my albums and tracking who played on what, tracing the thread, looking for (or dreaming of) the intersect with my own line, like the branches on Pete Frame’s legendary Rock Family Trees, which I still think of as required reading. I got as much out of three years working for Tower Records in Westwood as music school.

The relationships… Waddy got pointed to LA by Bud Cowsill. I worked at a singing waiter restaurant with Barry Cowsill (RIP) circa 1979. That’s where I met Eric Lowen, Bobby Romanus worked there as a cook before he was Damone in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Rickie Lee Jones, Katy Sagal, Cindy Lee Berryhill, Lee Ving of Fear, Peter Tork, all did time there. But I digress.

I first saw Russel playing with John Stewart at UCLA Royce Hall in 1972. Tracked his family tree like crazy. Then I got to play with him and learned why he’s who he is.

And it was Danny who turned James Taylor on to Peter Asher. “Go see my friend Peter in London.” Go figure, no Danny, no James! I did demos for Danny in 1988, as a session singer, long before we hung as pals.

The hang… Danny said, in an interview we all did during a short stretch, pre-Immediate Family when we had a little trio, Kortchmar, Postell and Navarro… Q: “How do you pick who you play with? A: “First off, it’s the hang.” The hang and the chops, keys to the kingdom. You don’t develop either sitting in your room making music with the laptop.

Brings me to Steve Postell. The new guy in the band, besties with Danny and plays and sings better than all of them. Who is this guy? My brother for 37 years, he produced my first solo album, played on every track of my last one, and led me into these incredible friendships. He was tapped to play in David Crosby’s band, with James Raymond, Christ Stills, Hutch Hutchinson, Jee-zuss H Wow, then fate stepped in and took Croz. I’m so glad Steve is getting his due. He’s a mensch, a master and a monster, with the chops and the hang to run with legends. And he gets better every day.

Retirement… that’s for others. Not them, not you, not me. Still too many lines on the family tree not filled in yet. Still on the road, a-heading for another joint. Retire? No effin’ way.

Denny Tedesco has done an amazing job humanizing a story that could have just been a parade of hits. We made friends at a screening of Wrecking Crew ten years ago, bonded over mutual friendships and the story he was telling. His commitment to these labors of love is watershed. We need him.

I saw the Immediate Family film in January at a screening at United Western. Can’t wait to see it on the big screen in a big dark room. I’ll get to relive the records that made we want this silly job in the first place.

Thanks for the reminder.

Dan Navarro

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Anxiously awaiting this film to arrive in flyover country (MO)

Roberta Mueller

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Yeah I’m pretty sure I’ll be watching this, lol

Peter Roaman

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I. CANNOT. WAIT.

Marc Reiter

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hey Bob
waddy here…..hope you’re well and safe..
to begin with,
sooo very happy that you actually even saw the film…
and then
that you dug it so much was just such a fantastic way to start my day!
it was really lovely reading your words this morning Bob! truly!
so glad you appreciated Denny’s telling of our musical journeys.
blew me away
Thanks VM again rock and roller !
xx
w²:)