NO ONE KNOWS WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT

Even your friends, but go to the grocery store, sit on a train, ride the chairlift, bring up a band, a TV show, any kind of recreational activity, even the NBA and NFL…and the other person will give you a blank stare, they can listen to your story, but they don’t know the reference points, the stars, the plot, nothing. And you’ll find out what is most important to you is not important to them. You may live for streaming television, they might have seen one show on HBO. They might be amped up for March Madness and not only do you not know who is involved, you don’t know who won last year, you don’t know who the coaches or players are and no matter what anybody says, you’ll ignore the hoopla and not watch the final.

As for finals, there’s one every week. A sports contest, an awards show… They all run together, you don’t even pay attention, never mind care who won. The only people who care are the victors and the small number in their coterie. The Oscars… Did you even see the movies? A bunch are on streaming services. “All Quiet on the Western Front,” the front runner, is on Netflix, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” is on Showtime and Apple TV+, they’re readily available, but you don’t bother to stream them. You no longer have the passion. Used to be you followed film like sports, you knew the studios, the actors, now you don’t. Movies are special events, they’re not a consistent world that draws you in and keeps your attention.

As for music… All together it’s burgeoning. Independently? Never have hit acts been smaller. Meanwhile, more are playing stadiums. Your fan base is narrow and deep. No one is exposed to your music who doesn’t want to hear it. The Top Ten is known by almost nobody. Enjoy your status because you are never achieving worldwide domination. Meanwhile, the entire world is encroaching, we’ve got Latin, Korean, the more acts from around the world that penetrate the sphere, the less space there is for your music. You can play, but that does not mean you’ll win. Winning is harder than ever before. Complain all you want, the system is rigged against you, you’re not getting paid, even get some reporter to write an article about you, doesn’t matter, no one is listening, everybody is burrowed deep in their own world, trying to make it work for themselves, they don’t have time for you, they don’t have time for complainers, they only want winners. Even worse, they don’t build winners, you prove you’re a winner and they amplify you.

IGNORE TECH BACKLASH

The boomers control the media and they’ve been in future shock for decades. Ask a boomer to do a PowerPoint. They can’t, but any kid in grade school can. The youth have grown up on technology, it’s second nature. We are never ever going back to a disconnected world. You can disconnect yourself, but the joke is on you, because even your medical appointments are arranged online these days. As for phoning someone… Please stop. The phone allows for errors, text does not. Technology does not spell your name wrong, it does not hear you wrong. Don’t leave a voice mail, use text. It’s clearer, shorter and easier. Kids don’t even set up their voice mailbox!

As for social media… Get over it. People love to connect. Try turning off your phone for a week. You won’t hear from your friends, you’ll be totally isolated. The world runs on relationships and gossip, anything that enhances them will be embraced. Like online dating. The best thing that ever happened for relationships. You can get a date if you want one. Maybe not with the person of your dreams, but did you ever really have a chance of that? Tinder may be looks-based, and looks do count, in the virtual and physical worlds, but a good profile, an honest profile, evidencing your personality, can win you connection. The joke is on those who are afraid to play. The generations that grew up with tech are not afraid.

We’re only going to be more networked. You’re never going to fall out of touch with people, wonder what they’re up to, it’s all online. As for bad actors on Facebook and Twitter and… The dirty little secret is most people don’t pay attention to these words. Sure, they should be excised, but that’s not why most people go on social media sites, they want to connect, information comes second.

And the truth is there’s not enough money in the world to clean up all the social networks. You’d be stunned how few people they have monitoring bad behavior around the globe. This is a problem. But let’s pull back the lens, the truth is people are susceptible to misinformation, and they don’t only get it online.

YOU MAKE YOUR OWN TRUTH

Media has experienced what attorneys did after Watergate, outlets have lost respect. Sometimes through bad behavior, but other times via denigration by bad actors. To the point where we’ve got no authoritative source anymore. Furthermore, half the country believes if you’re an expert you know less, that you’re a victim of the educational system, of corporate America. And it’s not only the right, the left has wackos too. Anti-vaxxers… All those wealthy liberals who won’t inoculate their kids, long before Covid. And a great slew of the educated distrust authority. Want a bizarre medical theory? Talk to those on the educated left. They’ll tell you to see a shaman, employ alternative remedies, the thought of going to a doctor? NEVER COMES UP!

On the right… Fox admits that it didn’t believe the election was stolen, and the message doesn’t reach almost half the country. They don’t want to believe it, even if they’re exposed to it. They’ve got an explanation for everything.

It’s a free-for-all. Everybody does their own research and picks and cobbles together their own beliefs. There’s a thin layer of educated elite who scratch their heads at all this, but they’ve given up trying to change it, it’s a Sisyphean task. And then there are those who work for the man, or who are the man. They won’t go against the company line, they say what is expedient. The corporate spokesperson should be ignored, they’re just the frontline defense, before the high-priced attorneys come on board.

And online there’s information to support any belief.

And when you have Congresspeople who are nincompoops speaking blather that is untrue on its surface, who should you respect? Who’d want to be President anyway?

YOU ARE NOT GOING TO WIN THE LOTTERY

Do not play the market. That’s a professional world, and the pros are experienced and won’t let you win. I don’t care how smart you think you are, the game is rigged for the usual suspects.

As for the lottery itself, it’s a tax on the poor. And money isn’t everything, it won’t make you happy. Having no money will leave you very unhappy, but you only need a small amount. Well, maybe 100k a year. And the truth is 100k a year is middle class today. If you’re making less, downgrade your desires or work yourself into a higher job. If your job requires no thinking, you’ll never make the big bucks. And now that schools teach to the test, kids don’t learn how to think. This is what they teach in elite institutions. And sure, some “government schools” (that’s what the right wing labels public education), are piss-poor, but the truth is a lot of private ones are too. And despite the constant criticism of liberal campuses, you go to college to learn how to think. And sure, not everybody needs to go to college, but even worse, it’s only the elite institutions that focus on learning how to think and analyze, assigning papers, giving essay tests. If college is easy for you, transfer or drop out. And know that college is really about what happens outside the classroom, who you meet and… I hate to say it, in the business world it is all about who you know and if you know nobody you’re not going to move up the economic ladder. Of course there are exceptions, but their number is very few.

NOT EVERYBODY CAN BE AN ENTREPRENEUR

Oh, you can try to create a new business, but that does not mean it will succeed. Most fail. And execution is more important than the idea.

NOT EVERYBODY CAN BE A STAR

Whether it be musical, sports…the odds are long, your dream is dim. Some will make it. And talent comes after work ethic.

THE UPSIDE

The tools are in your hands! You can write a screed and reach people for free! Ditto with music. Like I said above, not everybody will win, but it used to be most people couldn’t even play!

And you no longer have to be lonely. Everyone can find their tribe online. There are a zillion niches, just look at Reddit. Nerd out all you want, there are like-minded people online. And for everyone trying to project a two-dimensional image there’s another one who wants to go deep emotionally. Want to spread your truth, want to organize a group, a protest, any organization, you can do so for free online.

Yes, a lot of these platforms want to charge you, Facebook ads, etc. But the dirty little secret is if you can’t get traction for free, give up, either your idea is bogus or your execution sucks. Everybody gets a ticket, not everybody gets to go on the ride. But the opportunity! It’s for everyone!

And you can access the famous and infamous.

CONCLUSION

You need an attitude adjustment. It’s all right to be overwhelmed, today’s world is overwhelming, but stop thinking it’s someone else’s fault you’re unsuccessful, that the game is rigged against you. Income inequality is rampant, the national government is gridlocked. But that does not mean you can’t go on your own hejira online. YouTube is a hotbed of information. Want to solve a problem at home, just YouTube it. Ditto with Google. If you ask someone what something is, you appear a doofus. I mean can’t you Google that?

Your everyday life is small. Don’t think top down, but bottom up.

But know everybody can be on TV, everybody can be famous for a day, it’s about lasting.

The internet has shrunk the world, we’re all in it together, but we also have so much information at our fingertips. Sure, bad actors are trying to scam us and… It’s your responsibility to educate yourself on money, on web-surfing. You’ve got to be a self-starter. If you’re whining, you missed the point.

And know there’s a story within a story, always. What looks simple usually is not. You can spout nonsense, but the powers-that-be in that field will just ignore you. People didn’t care that you didn’t vax, they were just anxious that you would spread Covid to them! Do whatever you want, just as long as it doesn’t hurt people. Then again, the FREEDOM PARTY speaks out of both sides of its mouth. How is it freedom if you can’t get an abortion, if they’re involved in your personal business?

But the only way to counter this is to use online tools.

Whenever you have a problem, think of the internet first, and the information and people on it. Knowledge is power, never forget that. And most of the information you need to play is available for free, online, you’ve just got to spend the time.

Try to be an influencer, try the shortcuts, but you’re better off finding out what you are interested in and pursuing it via the information and people online. Forget about press, forget about what outsiders say, just do the work, stay the course.

But when you do succeed, don’t expect anybody else to care.

Which is why you must put yourself first, decide what you want to do and execute, don’t be beholden to those who tell you what to do.

The internet is your starting point. Anybody who rails against smartphones and social media and talks about disconnecting should be ignored, ABSOLUTELY! Don’t be discouraged by the weekly iPhone report showing how much time you’ve been online, you’re doing it right, online is where all the action is today. DELVE IN!

Singer-songwriter Willie Nile has never given up. He debuted on Arista with hoopla back in 1980, however legal problems ultimately sidetracked him. But Willie has re-emerged with a vengeance, releasing ten albums between 2006 and 2021. A notoriously energetic and winning live performer, Nile is a natural raconteur who draws you in and makes you a friend. Listen!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/willie-nile/id1316200737?i=1000602459679

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/46b4490b-5a42-4e0d-b339-dc435bcaaa34/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-willie-nile

https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/episode/willie-nile-300106599

“Musk Claims Media Bias in Debate Over ‘Dilbert’ Creator’s Racist Rant – The Twitter chief waded into a scandal involving the cartoonist Scott Adams, as Twitter undergoes layoffs and struggles to lure back advertisers.”: https://nyti.ms/3ICvfwn

It’s never been about money, it’s always been about power.

But money can buy you power.

You didn’t used to be able to become rich as a musician. As for the Beatles and the British Invasion, all those acts did it on a lark, they did not expect lifetime employment, never mind lifetime riches.

But then John Lennon said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus and…

All hell broke loose.

Lennon wasn’t being anti-religion, he was making an offhand remark, which was defensible, especially amongst the youth in an era where “Time” magazine asked on its cover whether God was dead.

But the establishment couldn’t handle it.

The names of the members of that establishment, the pastors and politicians imploring the burning of Beatle records, have long been forgotten, but not John Lennon, even though he’s been dead for more than forty years.

That’s the Lennon/McCartney conundrum. It’s hard to survive the iconized dead, but the reason Sir Paul is always climbing the mountain when it comes to his old bandmate John is not because of melody or changes but viewpoint, John constantly poked the eye of the establishment, he never wavered. He was the punk who always made trouble, who didn’t get along, no one was going to tell him what to do, and this was reflected in his music.

And the Beatles not only changed music, they changed hearts and minds. Drugs were anathema in suburbia before the Beatles. As for war, John Lennon kept advocating for peace.

That’s the power of music, the power of art. Something that has been sacrificed in today’s dash for cash world.

But it’s even worse, whatever message artists have cannot be spread to the masses, not in any cohesive manner. Every act is a silo, from the biggest to the smallest. What is happening in one camp is unknown by another.

And the business is not doing a good job of counteracting this. We used to have the media, most especially “Rolling Stone.” But that magazine now behind a paywall has completely changed its construct, now it’s about politics, about everyday culture, making high level clickbait. Never has the magazine been less influential. As for “Billboard,” who knows what that is anymore, a consumer-facing tabloid with one foot in the industry satisfying no one, with some facts, but no truth in analysis. The “Bible” still doesn’t challenge the established players, the hand that feeds them.

Look at it this way, instead of talking about national issues, moving the needle on where people and this country are and should be going, all the press is about ticketing, AND THE MEDIA CAN’T EVEN GET THAT RIGHT! And if the media can’t get ticketing right, and Congress can’t either, what are the odds that one act can penetrate the national consciousness and move the needle. Low, without industry and media support. Radio used to be music’s medium, but that’s long gone, ever since the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and station consolidation and the loss of localized programming. It’s a veritable Tower of Babel out there. And it’s not like the streaming companies are taking any responsibility, they just see themselves as faceless distributors.

Like Spotify and Joe Rogan’s antisemitic comment.

If you don’t take action, you’re endorsing. That’s a basic principle.

But it’s worse than that. Because it’s not only in music that we don’t have a unifying force, but in the world at large. The most powerful are the billionaires, with ink, and they’re inherently biased.

Fox News built its right wing ignorant audience and Trump glommed on to it and now they’re in a tug of war for power.

And don’t tell me Fox News doesn’t purvey falsehoods and spread ignorance. That’s the essence of the channel! Look at all the right wing stalwarts, true red constituents, who’ve abandoned Fox and Trump, from George Will to Bill Kristol to Rick Wilson to Steve Schmidt…the list is endless, they believe the lunatics have taken over the asylum, and they’re pushing back.

But they don’t have the platform of Fox.

And the platform is everything.

And Rupert Murdoch controls the platform. And Murdoch is more powerful than almost any politician, because he (or she) who controls the news controls the public consciousness.

Murdoch owns Fox, never mind the “New York Post” and other media outlets, and Rupert has an agenda. And included in that agenda is not truth, but ratings, income, and a personal agenda that befits…people like himself, billionaires, who want no regulation, who want to be able to act willy-nilly, with no consequences.

Yeah, all the “little folk” railing against regulations. Wait until their building collapses in an earthquake, or a train derails…then they’re clamoring for regulation, but it’s too late.

And now Elon Musk owns Twitter. And he’s a free speech absolutist.

If you’re a free speech absolutist does that mean you can cry FIRE! in a crowded theatre? That’s something that the government won’t even protect. Yes, the government is not a free speech absolutist, that is not the law. As for businesses… There’s no obligation of “freedom of speech.” No shoes, no service. Ditto no shirt. Or dirty, stinking clothing. But you should be able to say whatever you want on a corporation’s platform?

No.

But Elon Musk owns Twitter and he’s beholden to no one.

And everybody’s afraid of him. He’s challenging the government, breaking its laws time and again. But there’s no unity of response, because now Musk is a national hero amongst the right. Kanye is a national hero amongst the antisemites, does that mean he should pay no penalty?

Kanye’s paying quite a penalty. And Adidas is sitting on $500 million of Ye merchandise that it can’t sell.

But not only does Elon Musk pay no price, he’s weighing in on issues concerning others.

Scott Adams makes racist comments and the media outlets WHICH PAY Adams, HAVE CONTRACTS with Adams, have booted him and his cartoon “Dilbert.” Sign a record deal, be on television, your contract will have a morals clause, violate it and you pay a penalty, the contract is terminated. But somehow this should not happen with Scott Adams because…you should be able to say whatever you want with impunity? Where does that work, NOWHERE!

Unless you’re Rupert Murdoch or Elon Musk.

Murdoch might be nailed by Dominion. As for Musk… Why isn’t this guy a national pariah? Instead, he’s a hero to the right. Mostly impressionable young men, the same ones who don’t have good jobs and can’t get laid. They’re angry at the establishment, in some cases justifiably, but they’re being steered astray by those who have an agenda detrimental to society.

What’s next? You can insult your boss and you’re a hero?

If you want to be unrestrained, you need to be an artist. And don’t equate financial success with artistry, sometimes they’re the same, oftentimes they are not.

An artist speaks for themselves, they gather information and filter it through their heart and mind and speak their truth, unfettered. They don’t care about the consequences. A great artist is the antidote to society, the guardrails and the leader. And oftentimes artists challenge the status quo, they’re ahead of the public.

And sometimes it’s in their lyrics and sometimes in their identity and public behavior and sometimes it’s both.

“Money doesn’t talk, it swears”

Bob Dylan wrote that before “Like a Rolling Stone” broke on AM radio. Sure, he liked the money he made from covers, but even more he wanted to speak the truth, following in the footsteps of his hero Woody Guthrie.

Who are the heroes speaking truth today? Who are the mentors?

TV contestants want to be Mariah Carey, who is in many ways a national joke.

Ice-T and N.W.A. told us tales form the ‘hood. When the L.A. riots broke out, we could see everything they were saying about the police and conditions in Compton was true. It changed public perception.

But that was pre-internet.

Now, nobody has that reach or that power.

But they could.

First and foremost we need the artists. We’ve got a few, but we need to laud artistic success before monetary success. If you’re not willing to leave money on the table, you’re probably not an artist.

The only way to stand up to the billionaires is via art and identity. But instead of challenging the billionaires, today’s performers want to be billionaires! That’s like winning the lottery, almost impossible.

All it takes is one great artist to lead the way.

But that artist has to be found and amplified.

That’s not the game music is playing today. It’s all about the money.

Music has power that can stand up to money, that can change hearts and minds. But it has to be embraced and spread. And right now the performers and the infrastructure are doing a piss-poor job of it, TO EVERYBODY’S DETRIMENT!

I was Al’s drummer in the eighties – early nineties… He discovered Jimmy Vivino and me when we were newbies in Phoebe Snow’s band. Coincidentally, I was living at Lookout Farm at the time (owned by John Simon). That band included just Jimmy Vivino, Harvey Brooks, myself and Al. That same Child is a Father music stripped down and naked. No horns.

The effect was sublime.

People would often say the best part of those Bottom Line shows Al’s storytelling – and it’s hard to argue that, but for me, the emotional high point of any Al Kooper show was the twelve hits out of the bridge of More Than You’ll Ever Know – with Al pleading, for real,  “I just gotta hear you say it, yeah yeah yeah.”

That there is the blues!

Thanks for all your words.

Love,

Gary Gold

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I would have been 14, in January of 1968,. That’s when I found an acetate in an issue of a short lived music magazine called EYE, from Al Kooper’s newest group, Blood Sweat and Tears.

The mix was sublime – whoever put that compilation of snippets together was a genius. As I recall, it began and ended with the start and ending of “I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know.” No one hearing that acetate would have been able to resist the lure. I had to have that album. And once I had that album, it rarely left my turntable. In the more than 50 years since, I’ve worn out several copies of the LP before switching to a CD format, and eventually, an online version.

I can’t quit it. It’s got a hold on me, it won’t set me free – I can’t quit that album. Every song, from the overture to the underture is a gem, bonding me irrevocably to Al Kooper, and exposing me to the wonderful writing of Harry Nillson, Randy Newman, and Tim Buckley. Every song is indelibly etched on my memory, as alive and as effervescent today as it was then. The CD was, quite simply, magic. And I never forgave the band for unceremoniously and surgically deleting the heart and soul from the band and replacing Kooper with Clayton-Thomas as their vocalist. DCT was and is great – but he’s no Al Kooper.

Roxanne Tellier

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I brought The Child is Father to the Man to Middlebury second semester senior year, early 1968–along with the Electric Flag’s first album and Paul Butterfield’s Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw. They were great records from the first great rock & roll horn bands. All genius. You’ve got to remember that Al Kooper was a soul singer. When I interviewed him in 1970 for Zygote magazine, before my run at Crawdaddy, he told me, “I have a Black soul.” He had a soul singer’s attitude and passion, but an entirely different and personal set of chops. This is a soul song in the Otis Redding/Wilson Pickett/Sam & Dave/Solomon Burke/Chuck Jackson realm, except Al can’t sing it like that. He emotes how he emotes—personal, trebly, Jewish! Glad you’re giving this cut the attention it deserves; it’s been 55 years and it still gets to me.

Peter Knobler

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For some reason I received this post a day or two after receiving the post with everyones’ reaction to it…

I saw BS&T at the Mississippi Coliseum in October of 1971 when I was about 14 years old. I’d heard all the hits on Top 40 radio but I’d never heard a horn section live. Good lord it was amazing. I don’t remember anything else about the concert. I was simply astounded by the sound of those horns.

I’ve been a fan of the ‘horn bands’ (Chicago, Ballinjack, Tower of Power, Chase, Cold Blood, etc…) ever since.

We used to play all of ‘em on on WZZQ-FM. I think it’s a safe bet you can’t find a ‘classic rock’ station playing any of them now.

carry on,
Bill Fitzhugh

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Composer, author, educator, musician, sideman, producer, musicologist, storyteller and honorary doctorate. He’s got it all. Al Kooper is a national treasure and we are fortunate to have him. Thanks for a nice way to enjoy a peaceful Sunday morning with a cup of coffee and a story about one of the greatest songs ever written.

Bob Anderson

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I was 14 when our cousin Peter (the actor Peter Riegert) came to visit his California relatives. He told me and my older brother he wanted to buy us a record. He knew Steve Katz from when he was in the Blues Project, and Peter bought us “Child is Father to the Man”. Cliff and I knew Kooper from the Blues Project, because our older sister knew Katz from when she stayed with Peter’s folks. We were a bit disappointed with the album choice, our hearts and ears full of Hendrix et al. Long story short: we adored the album, and it felt like it was our secret, because we  seemed to be the only kids on the West Coast who knew anything about it, like we’d been with the Blues Project. And I still get a charge listening to it, for the nostalgia, yes, but for the excellence mostly. BTW you didn’t mention what I consider to be Kooper’s magnum opus: “The Modern Adventures of Plato, Diogenes, and Freud”. Terrific string arrangement by I assume John Simon.

“The games that people play can only bore you
But only those who know you don’t ignore you
And how many times have i come there to restore you
And found you lying on the couch
with Father Time
And the clock on the wall’s a bore
While you wander past the door
And find him lying on the floor
While he begs you for some more
You’ve frozen time” (?)

Now that’s writing. Might have that last line wrong.

All the best,

Berton Averre

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Folks rightfully remember Al Kooper for an unparalleled career in the music biz but let us not forget that fellow BS&T member (also Blues Project co-founder) Steve Katz literally saved Lou Reed’s career after the dismal failure of “Berlin” (only much later recognised as the masterpiece it is) by producing one of the greatest live albums of all time “Rock & Roll Animal.” Although Lou often dismissed his Steve Katz produced album “Sally Can’t Dance” (Lou’s highest US charted album ever) I’m here to tell you that Lou himself took me into the studio to listen to the final mixes of that unfairly derided album (“Ennui” is still stunning in my humble opinion) and he was totally enamoured with the results and couldn’t have been happier with the production. Don’t know why he changed his mind.

From Paris,
Elliott Murphy

PS: Just to be totally transparent I should mention that Steve Katz also produced my third album “Night Lights” (rated 4**** on All Music Guide) which featured the vastly underrated Velvet Underground member Doug Yule on guitar and vocals as well as Billy Joel on piano. Just saying …

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As for Kooper’s masterpiece, I bought it new at Karl Graf’s in Lafayette Plaza where I worked in high school. I used to get classmates albums at my employee discount until Lia Vigorito called the store to see if her album came in that I special ordered for her. It was an oddball title that outed my racket and left me out of a job.

Did you know Karl Graf played clarinet in a band that played for the Big Three in Yalta? Just a bit of Bridgeport musical trivia.

I used to make regular bus trips downtown when his store was on the corner of Main and Fairfield (where the ‘new’ courthouse is) and Rudy Frank’s, the soul music shop in town, that was just across Main down Fairfield a half block. They had listening rooms! Artists would do in-stores there!

Lots of musical history in that town.

Be well,

Ken Shain

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For years and years after that album, I believed Melba and Valerie were just about the best of the best backup singers.  I still hold them in the highest regard.

And this particular song stuck out to me like it did to you, from listening to the original album when it first came out.

And Fred Lipsius’s sax solo, I can still hear it in my mind all these years later.

R. Lowenstein

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And al kooper produced and arranged the first appaloosa album—what a gem—john parker compton had IT for a wee slice if time—recall seeing him on Sundays at the Cambridge Common (moments before seeing Wild Thing….and boy are they a different story for another time)

Frank

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Bob, Thanks for giving this song, and album, perspective and kudos.  Funny thing about “I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know”.  Just to focus on the lyrics for a moment, Kooper goes for it…he’s a blob on the floor at the foot of his lover: Total surrender….totally committed to capturing THAT feeling, the vulnerability and magesty that so many of us songwriters have poked at but rarely delivered with out falling into soft or sappy.  As much as I love the singer/songwriters of that era, there seemed to be a lot of metaphoric waxing on that we as the listening public undinable loved….but this is a bullet straight to the heart of that emotion.  Not easy to be so direct, and that is where Kooper’s delivery comes in.  Can’t find many singers better than, or should I say more emotive than the late Donnie Hathaway, but Kooper’s version comes from deep inside.  A true gem.  Thanks again Bob.

Brad Cole

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“Everything but the cape.” Nice.

Growing up in New England and living in Boston after I graduated college in 1094, I knew Al Kooper to be a Boston legend.

I ran into him at a comedy club – a Robert Schimmel show. I’m not one to approach “stars” but I couldn’t resist. It was Al F*cking Cooper. No story here – just a bit of hero worship.

Al used to have a great website/email, “new music for old people.” That was so damn good.

Judd Marcello

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OMG! Your take on “I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know” brought tears to my eyes. At 3 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Thanks for your great thoughts.

 

Bob Askey

Longmont, CO

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Also a huge fan of Child Is The Father. But this track which I have on a vinyl promo of
“Easy Does It” still gives me goosebumps.  If I can’t get Springsteen to sing “Jungleland” at my funeral this will have to do. EE

Eron Epstein

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Like you I have listened to this song and album since it came out and still do to this day. I read your earlier writing about the albums after the first one with Clayton Thomas and disagree with you and others as I loved the songs and the way he sang them especially the hits. I do agree the first album over all was not matched again. I am probably skewed a bit as during my high school years from 72-75 our high school Friday night dance band included horns and played both rock n roll like James Gang, Steppenwolf, BTO, etc but also played several songs from BS&T, Chicago, Tower of Power, and Chase after our basketball and football games in the gym as we danced. Probably because of that Forbush High band I still revisit many of these bands albums and always will. Not sure why Clayton Thomas gets such a bad rap but then everyone can have an opinion about music and that is just fine. Anyway thank you for giving us the heads up about this upcoming doc as I can’t wait to see it. Aloha Bob!

Van Fletcher

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FM radio in NYC loved “Child Is Father To The Man” upon its release in 1968; not because BS&T were a local band, but because the songs were that good.  WNEW-FM played “I Can’t Quit Her”, “House in the Country”, “Something Going On”, and “I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know”. The djs at the station picked their own music, and knew that this album was special since they played so many different cuts. I never owned the album, but I know these songs like I know every song by the Beatles – it was that memorable.

Stuart Taubel

MC Mentholyptus Productions

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Years ago I saw Al in the aisle at a NAMM show. I introduced myself and told him he’d been a major influence on my career in the music biz. He shook my hand, half-smiled, and deadpanned, “don’t blame me, man.”

First BS&T album is still among my most influential. The opening riff to that song has been my wife’s ringtone on my phone for 20+ years.

Daniel Liston Keller

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Bob—Since you mentioned James Brown: Al’s call-and response schtick with sax player Fred Lipsius five minutes into “Somethin’ Goin’ On” is lifted almost verbatim from James’ 1964 track “Oh Baby Don’t You Weep”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNXEzCWZsfE  It’s at 4:20.   Paul Lanning

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I Love You More Than YouÄ…ll Ever KnowË› was literally Al’s homage to “It’s
A Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World.Ë›

William Nollman

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Still love the first BS&T album and have had the pleasure of working with Al Kooper on a few occasions

Around 1995 I was working on a project called “Woodstock Diaries” a more accurate telling of the weekend in 69. The three part doc included many acts that were not in the original movie and although BS&T played at Woodstock, they were not part of our project because they could not agree how to share the  advance every artist was offered from the film company (I think it was around $8000) , so their performance got left on the cutting room floor. Seems to fit the narrative you say is in the upcoming doc on the band, and I am looking forward to seeing it.

Mark Linett

P.S. Paul Schafer turned the song into a great James Brown moment……Check it out….. it starts around 13:30 in this clip

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Here is an impressive lineup of ‘Al Kooper & Friends’ from 1994 on YouTube that includes both Al Kooper and Steve Katz. First is ‘Something Going On’ featuring Al.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOSOtiaS_xY …and here’s ‘Morning Glory’ with Steve from the same performance  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx5Y9FVMxmM  This band is made up of some of the same guys from the first BS&T album as well as players like Will Lee on bass. You’ll see how good they were.

 

Somebody mentioned that Jim Guercio had been left out of the upcoming documentary. I’ve read Al Kooper’s and Steve Katz’s books and they mention that they had been impressed with the songs of The Buckinghams like ‘Kind of a Drag’. These songs were produced by James William Guercio and planted the seed for the direction that BS&T would take. Also Kooper said that ‘I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know’ was written due to his fondness for James Brown’s ‘This Is A Man’s World’. Great band, great songs.

John Nixon

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Growing up in my Brooklyn neighborhood the teenage music cognoscenti were in one of two camps, that of The Blues Project or that of the Butterfield Blues Band. I was in the former.
My dad knew someone who got me in to see them backstage at the Café Au Go Go and a starstruck me got to ask Al Kooper for his autograph. He was as kind and friendly as anyone could be.
I saw them there for multiple shows as well as at their “final” Town Hall performance, and saw Blood, Sweat and Tears first performance at the Café Au Go Go after that. Frank Zappa and The Mothers were playing upstairs at The Garrick Theater at that time and they came down to see the show as well.
I later fought through a huge snowstorm to see Al’s career retrospective at The Bottom Line celebrating the 25th anniversary of Child is The Father To The Man. The horn section at that show was the best I’ve ever seen.
Can’t wait to see the film.

Paul Burstyn

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Home run, Bob.
It’s been many months since I listened to CIFTTMN but I’ve listened to it so many times I could hear every note and nuance of the song as I read your words.
The emotion and feeling Al puts into the song is so genuine …you believe every word of it!
It’s in my Top 5 list of greatest albums…maybe #1.
Every single song is unique and special and so artfully produced and performed.
It’s late in the evening as I write this but you can be sure come tomorrow morning I’ll be listening…volume up…and singing my heart out.
Alan Crane

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I saw Al Kooper and BST in 67 or 68 at La Cave in Cleveland and purchased the album around the same time. Really liked the cover. Saw BST without Kooper in 68 or 69 when they opened for Janis J. Nowhere near as good.  I actually forgot all about the album until Spotify came on the scene and now it’s part of my playlist. It’s still a great LP.

Don Calkin

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You should listen to their great version of Carole King’s “Snow Queen” on 1972’s “New Blood” which is a really good album. The song morphs into a cover of Herbie Hancock’s incredible composition “Maiden Voyage”. The album is perfectly played throughout and covers a wide range of genres which was the original DNA of the band.

It’s a shame that BST which were a really tight outfit from the very first album could not keep it together.

Olivier Chastan

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I was a big BS&T fan, saw them at my first Fillmore East visit. Loved the first 2 albums, but 3 & 4 lost me. I got back into the fold with later albums: New Blood, No Sweat, Mirror Image. Introduced me to jazz like Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage.”  Looking forward to the film.

-Hank Stone

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I became a huge BS&T fan in my youth compliments of my older brother.  Any music Bill listened to HAD to be cool!  But I must respectfully disagree with you on the subject of David Clayton Thomas.  As good as Al Kooper is, his vocal talents are not in the same class as DCT.  DCT has one of the most powerful & compelling voices in Rock…ever IMO.

I agree with you on the song “I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know” being a masterpiece…however, my favorite rendition features not Al Kooper on vocals, but a version with DCT & BS&T I saw on “The Midnight Special” on NBC TV sometime in the Mid-Late 70s.  I have never been able to find it on YouTube, or anywhere else, which is a shame because it is AWESOME.  I actually recorded all those music TV Shows on my little cassette recorder (long before anyone had home VCRs!) & played that tape until I literally wore it out!

The TV performance of that song was similar to the version on the 1975 Album “Blood Sweat & Tears in Concert Featuring David Clayton Thomas” .  This live version is slower, more pared down & less “produced” than the one with Al Kooper on “The Child Is The Father To The Man”.  But great music all the same!

Love your podcast & your emails…thanks for bringing it!

Andy Allen

Houston, TX

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When BS&T played The Psychedelic Supermarket in Boston on Feb 1968, they played You Made Me So Very Happy, Smiling Phases and More and More with Al singing them. Arrangements were all in place when DCT came in. A bootleg exists and here is but one clip of Smiling Phases :

Paul Bronstein

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My Child is a Father to Man’s cover had a white circle from wear and tear from the vinyl

inside.

Remember going to the Fillmore East to see Al Kooper and his Super Session band,

where they introduced this guitarist named Johnny Winter.

Drove home in an epic blizzard on the Palisades Parkway and despite not being able to see five feet in front

of us, it didn’t matter. Because that’s what you did when you were a young punk

with your whole life ahead of you, a car full of your best friends in the seats next to you, and fueled from experiencing

an evening of ridiculously amazing live music.

Janie Hoffman

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I have the first three BS&T vinyls, which still permeate my South Florida home with great music and fond memories.

I attended Kent State University from 1965 to 1970.  In the fall, 1969, BS&T performed at Kent State in one of their smaller gymnasiums.  Of course, we were truly engrossed with the exciting music and the intimate setting.  My date for this concert was my girlfriend, Sandy Scheuer.

As a side note, Sandy Scheuer and I attended the Kent State May 4th, 1970, rally.

Unfortunately, Sandy was one of the four students killed that day.  James Michener’s book,  “Kent State: What Happened and Why” gives an accurate detailed account of this calamity.

Whenever any of the Kent State tragedy comes to my mind, I always have a great memory of Sandy at the BS&T concert,  “I Can’t Quit Her.”

Joel Schackne

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I saw Blood Sweat and Tears perform many times from their beginnings through about 1974. I never saw a bad show by them. I remember hearing about them having a new singer and in September of 1968 I saw them perform at the Fillmore East for the first time opening up for the Chambers Brothers. They were freaking off the hook. The band was incredibly tight and David Clayton Thomas say what you Will about him had the audience mesmerized with his version of God Bless The Child.. I saw them a few more times at the Fillmore after that when they were headlining and they basically always sold out the place.

I also agree with you on BST 3 but the next record BST 4 was very underrated with some really great and some very crisp playing.. when the album came out …in the summer of 1971 my girlfriend and I were staying with my parents in Florida over the summer selling carpeting before the fall semester started. There was a place near Fort Lauderdale called Pirates World ‘s, and when we saw they were going to be there I bought the album got familiar with the material and went and saw an absolutely spectacular concert by them there.. it just wasn’t the Columbian gold that was kicking in but the band was really tight and playing great material again..

Greetings from Lisbon
Peace,Jason Miles

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Bob – I coincidentally listened that track yesterday. Well, maybe not so coincidentally, as you & my fellow readers have been waxing poetic about pre vs. post-Al Kooper BS&T, of late…

That first BS&T record was the first LP I bought with my own pre-teen hard earned money! Remind sometime to tell you how, a few decades later,  Al Kooper himself was responsible for me asking my  wife (of near 28 years now, thank you very much) to marry me. He may not even realize how that happened…maybe you’ll print this and he’ll read it here. It’s been years since we’ve seen each other, but as you know – not only is Al a brilliant musician and genius, but he’s a good cat & my wife Vickie & I are glad to have called him a friend way back when.

Bob Reeves
Nashville, TN

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Shouldn’t Al Kooper be in the Rock Hall of Fame. Voters, please! He has never even been nominated!

Larry Mollin