Now that’s a rock star.

You remember rock stars, don’t you? Probably not if you’re a millennial or younger. Rock stars were musicians who channeled the truth, who stood up to corporations and bad behavior around the world. They were explicit, not complicit. And they and their messages were so powerful that money rained down upon them.

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

First we had MTV. Which soon made looks more important than the music. Good luck getting signed if you weren’t beautiful. They had whole teams of people to help write your songs, to groom you, because there was big money at stake, and the executives wanted it. That big money was based on technology, i.e. the CD, which sold for two times viny and cassettes, yet to “help the format” artists halved their royalties, with promises they would be raised once the CD got traction, and this never happened. It was a game, the major labels, MTV, radio and print media were in cahoots. They built beautiful stars, who became more and more vapid.

And then came the internet. The paradigm was blown apart. But within the last decade a new order has been established, akin to the old one, but this time on steroids. Now the major labels sign very few acts, and don’t release any music from said acts until they’re sure they’re going to be hits. Furthermore, they have untold power at the streaming services, because they provide the lion’s share of their product, not only new music, but catalog, which represents in excess of 50% of streaming by everybody’s calculation. So every major label priority gets priority at the streaming service. It’s put on banners, it’s put on playlists, it’s given a chance. Good luck with your indie record. And as was proven in the movie business over the last forty-odd years, if you don’t have a library/catalog you can’t pay the bills, you end up selling or going out of business, because it’s the already paid-for assets that generate reliable income at essentially no cost while you do your best to make new hits. And now it’s even easier, it used to be impossible to get all your catalog in the retail store, you’d be lucky to get a greatest hits package, but today every one of the label’s owned songs appears on streaming services, and a lot of the past is better than what we’ve got today, but no one on the inside will say so. And don’t expect a whistleblower in the music business, where loyalty is everything.

So “The Wall Street Journal” did a series on Facebook based on documents received from a whistleblower. But not only were the lengthy, detailed articles behind a paywall, they were in print, and most people don’t read, at least not beyond the headlines and captions on news or social media sites. It was big news amongst the intelligentsia, but that leaves out most Americans. But today the whistleblower went on “60 Minutes”: 

https://cbsn.ws/3l7Z4KY

It’s less than fifteen minutes, you can afford the time, and it’s fascinating.

First and foremost Ms. Haugen. She’s a 37 year old woman. She’s the antithesis of Elizabeth Holmes. She’s the antithesis of today’s social media influencers, the Paris Hilton/Kim Kardashian paradigm, where it’s only the exterior that counts and money trumps everything. Haugen went to the not even 25 year old Olin College, an engineering specialty school, and ultimately got an MBA at Harvard. Should you listen to the uneducated nitwit in your neighborhood or Ms. Haugen? It’s no contest.

“Ms. Haugen was initially asked to build tools to study the potentially malicious targeting of information at specific communities.”

That’s from the one hour old “Wall Street Journal” article on Frances Haugen, now that she’s revealed herself, they’re detailing her history. You can read about it here:

“The Facebook Whistleblower, Frances Haugen, Says She Wants to Fix the Company, Not Harm It – The former Facebook employee says her goal is to help prompt change at the social-media giant”: https://on.wsj.com/3oCEynw

But that’s behind a paywall. It took twenty five years, but that’s where the internet is going, I point you to this article centered around Patreon in “Bloomberg Businessweek”: 

“Patreon Battles for Creators by Investing in Original Content – Ahead of a potential IPO, the $4 billion startup is transforming itself as competition from tech giants intensifies”: https://bloom.bg/3D8hEIN

It used to just be Patreon. Then came Substack. Now all the usual suspect platforms want to be gateways for content provided by citizens that sits behind paywalls so the creators can get paid. So what we’ll end up with is a bunch of niche creative providers, forget whether they get paid or not, who will reach tiny slivers of the public as the big outlets get bigger, then again will the big outlets gain dominance? This is still up in the air. Sure, the “New York Times” has just under 10 million subscribers, but we live in a country of 330 million, and those subscribers aren’t all Americans. Ditto music, the big acts might be bigger than the indies, but in the aggregate, the indies are quite large. Never mind that there’s only so much money to go around. Everybody wants to get paid, they’re sick of giving it away for free, they’re going behind paywalls. And if you don’t pay, soon you’ll be in the dark.

But not on Facebook or Instagram, because there you’re paying with your attention, the time you’re logged-on, during which they can serve you advertising.

That’s right, Facebook changed the algorithm a couple of years back such that content that delivered a reaction was favored. Because you’d interact with said content and you’d stay on longer, it was a win for Facebook, but a loss for society.

Haugen says that Facebook turned on safety systems before the 2020 election, but once the contest was over, they turned them off, end result being the 1/6 insurrection.

That’s what everybody was saying on Workplace, the Facebook intranet where everything was available to everybody.

So Haugen wanted to move to Puerto Rico. Facebook said she couldn’t work there. So Haugen decided to quit. But during the month she transferred her projects to new people, she downloaded as much information as she could from Workplace. She was stunned what she could see and she was stunned that no one saw her looking, especially in areas outside her purview. Bottom line, Facebook commissioned internal studies that detailed over and over again the negative effects of the service. Instagram’s negative influence on teenage girls. The trade of drugs and human beings in plain sight. How people who posted frequently or were famous were whitelisted and could say anything with impunity.

And then she contacted the SEC and provided this information to “The Wall Street Journal.”

Now what happens?

Well, even Haugen says that breaking up Facebook wouldn’t work. She says there must be governmental regulations because the company prioritizes profits over safety.

But it’s worse than that. Facebook is not a manufacturer of physical goods. Half of the world is on Facebook, and the bottom line is the service is now out of the control of the company. As bad as it is in America, it’s a free-for-all in most countries. And, once again, it’s Europe cracking down on the service, saying it’s interfering with government, not the U.S.

“a betrayal of democracy.”

That’s what Haugen says about Facebook turning off its restrictions after the election. And democracy does hang in the balance. It’s been three and a half years since the Cambridge Analytica story broke, but now the anti-Facebook movement is gaining momentum.

But don’t expect Workplace to be available to all Facebook employees in the future, they’re gonna close that loophole posthaste, never mind already shutting down internal operations that deliver information the brass doesn’t want to hear. If you don’t hear it, it doesn’t exist, right?

Wrong!

But you knew that.

But you also thought the power resided in the public. Like yesterday’s inane anti-abortion/women’s rights marches. I sympathize with the sentiment, but not the method. We marched all the way through Trump’s term, did it make a difference? Of course not. It’s the twenty first century, not the twentieth. Battles are fought online. That’s where you make your statements and organize, a person behind a computer is much more powerful than a person at an evanescent rally.

But really, we need the big players, the government, the investors to get involved or no change happens. I wish it were otherwise, but it’s not. That’s what voting rights are all about. At least you get a say in theory, but if the rules make it too hard for many to vote, and a partisan legislature is in charge of the results, irrelevant of the public’s will, look out.

This is what is happening right now.

And what is everybody doing?

Looking to make a buck for themselves. Everybody’s deep in their hole, trying to elbow out others to get ahead. They’ve got contempt for others, there is no common good. That’s what “Squid Game,” the most popular show in the world, is all about. It’s not a revelation, it’s reality. People will do anything to survive, to keep the world running how they want it to.

Meanwhile, people are addicted to social media. At least there are alternatives to Amazon, but no boycott of the operation has ever worked. But California has instituted warehouse workplace rules targeting Amazon. Good luck working in another state. Where odds are you’re going to get hurt, with repetitive stress injuries if nothing else. Oh, Amazon provides aspirin and band-aids, but the truth is you’re just a cog in the system, disposable, while the company and Wall Street make ever more money. That’s another message of “Squid Game.”

So one individual has already had a huge impact. What are the odds other major tech companies will be reaching out to hire her? NADA! She’s white hot, untouchable, let’s hope she gets a big whistleblower settlement, but even if she does, that takes years.

Meanwhile, our nation, our world, is being run by a college dropout with tunnel vision. And his number two is leaning into him, not the public at large, screw the public, it’s all about money, isn’t that the essence of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos?

But there’s a lot more truth in “Squid Game” than any of today’s music. And the goal of “musicians” today is to sell out to the corporation, or become a corporation, to sell crap to brain dead listeners. That’s to be lauded?

No, Frances Haugen is to be lauded. She will be remembered, the Spotify Top 50 will not. Because Haugen did something important, took a stand, risking her career, her future. Who else is doing this?

And if this were the pre-internet era, this “60 Minutes” story would be known by essentially every citizen, if they didn’t see it, they’d hear about it, but “60 Minutes” no longer has that kind of reach, nothing on network TV does anymore. Then again, Facebook hate knows no political boundaries, it can appeal to both right and left.

But not really.

Did you see that YouTube shut out anti-vaxxers? Trump wants back on Twitter. Trump had more reach than anybody in the world, now it’s been scaled back, but he’s already convinced his troops that Democrats are socialists who will ruin society and they must fight to protect their way of life, however bogus it might be. That’s what 1/6 was about. And the word was spread on Facebook. And despite all the doublespeak of Nick Clegg and the rest of the Facebook press team, we know it’s true.

In reality, Mark Zuckerberg needs to lose his job. He can keep his money, but he can’t have his hands on the steering wheel of Facebook anymore. But that would require the board to have balls, which it doesn’t possess. Unlike Uber, where Travis Kalanick was exiled for bad behavior, Facebook throws off a ton of money, and since profits are everything, there is no change unless the government insists. But you can’t get agreement on anything in D.C. And not only is there no longer any trust in Congress, there’s no trust in the Supreme Court. And Ted Cruz is single-handedly holding up the appointment of 59 ambassadors, how does that help us exactly? https://nyti.ms/3Abb5Ds

But welcome to the modern world.

Where what happens online supersedes everything else. And it happens so fast that elected officials cannot keep up with it. And the internet itself is fluid, so you end up playing a game of Whac-A-Mole.

Meanwhile, China is clamping down.

But Evergrande has revealed the country’s economic underpinnings are shaky. But Xi is trying to minimize the bad influences of the internet, he’s trying to tamp down celebrity culture, he’s trying to return China to the past, and ultimately that will never work. What did the Rascals say? “People everywhere just want to be free”?

But things have to get really bad before they react.

They’re really bad at Facebook. This is the first shoe dropping.

What’s next? 

Mandates work.

That’s the story this week. Fewer than 1% of United Airlines employees refused to get vaccinated when told they needed to get the jab to keep their jobs. That’s right, out of 67,000 employees, only 593 refused to get the shot. Two months ago, only 70% of the airline’s employees were vaccinated, now only 1% are not.

But it’s not only United. Tyson Foods reported that 91% of its employees are now vaccinated, and the deadline has not yet arrived. As for the New York health system, it went from 75% to 92% today. Many individual hospitals are even higher. St. Barnabas in the Bronx went from 80% to 97%. Mohawk Valley went from 70% to 95.6%. https://wapo.st/3uyvp0p

What drove the increase? Economics!

“Of Vaccine Mandates and Facing Reality”: https://nyti.ms/2Yo3a8V

“The point is that most vaccine resistance isn’t about deep concerns, but it often involves assertions of the right to give (misguided perceptions of) self-interest priority over the public interest. So, luckily, many resisters fold as soon as the calculus of self-interest reverses, and refusing to take their shots has immediate, tangible financial costs.”

Turns out when it comes to money, people will bite the bullet, get the shot. You read about people sacrificing their jobs, but they’re a distinct minority.

As for the mentality of the true believers, you must read this article in “Vox”: 

“Why people who don’t trust vaccines are embracing unproven drugs – Inside the upside-down world where Covid-19 vaccines are dangerous and ivermectin is saving lives”: https://bit.ly/3FfVaay

“‘People listen to people “from their group” and whom they think they can trust,’ David Dunning, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, told me. ‘People really don’t know what science is, and so do you feel you can trust the person giving you advice, rather than appraising their expertise, becomes the thing.'”

It’s about cults. You always twist the facts to support your position. The doomsday cult waits for the world to end, and then when it doesn’t they’re joyous, because of their belief the rest of the world was saved!

“In communities of hardened vaccine skeptics, new information isn’t necessarily treated as an opportunity to reassess their beliefs. Instead, new facts are seen either as affirmation of what this community already believes or as a distraction that should be dismissed because it doesn’t neatly sort into their anti-vaccine narrative.”

And:

“That theory holds that, within the American right, the concepts of loyalty and betrayal are more influential to their worldview than on the American left. Staying true to your group is a powerful pull for conservatives.

‘For these folks, facts mean nothing; membership and identity, everything,’ Bernstein said over email. ‘Groupishness, in-/out-group differentiation … is much stronger on the right.'”

In other words, there’s no chance of convincing these hard core deniers with logic, it just won’t work, they’re invested in their position, facts don’t matter.

But money does.

As does the ability to function in a society. If you make life hard enough, people will get the shot. You can’t smoke in a theatre, in almost any public place, and you shouldn’t be allowed inside one if you’re not vaccinated. Turns out most people want vaccine mandates, it’s just that politicians lack the will.

And then we have the strange case of California…

The Republicans thought they would dethrone Newsom and turn the Golden State into a Covid-19 free-for-all like Florida or Texas. But their efforts resulted in a debacle, Newsom won almost three-quarters of the vote. And thus emboldened, he declared that all students must be vaccinated. Elections have consequences, the people spoke and it turns out the Republicans are in an even worse position in California, whose inoculation rate is so high and Covid prevention laws so tough that the state’s infection and death rate are consistently amongst the lowest in the nation.

We need more politicians to do what is right as opposed to what is wrong because they’re afraid of a minority of their constituents.

We need more vaccine mandates.

We need to make life so hard for the unvaccinated that they decide to get the shot to their benefit.

Mandates work, we need more!

(Spoiler alert: Yes, some plot points of “The Many Saints of Newark” are revealed below, but they’re not super-significant and if you bother to watch this turkey you won’t care. As for “The Squid Game,” I haven’t finished so don’t be a jerk and e-mail me about it, STAY SILENT!)

It’s terrible.

The hottest show on television today is “The Squid Game.” Netflix expects it to be the most viewed show on the service ever! But I didn’t see an iota of advance publicity, there was no hype, its popularity is being driven by word of mouth, unlike “The Many Saints Of Newark.”

I’ve watched some Korean TV. It’s different. It’s slower, the characters can be stylized, and if you asked me if it had international appeal, that Americans would be tuning in to see this dystopian drama in a foreign language, I would have said NO WAY! And to tell you the truth, I’m only halfway through and I still don’t get the mania, but I’m going to finish it, because I want to be part of the discussion, in a world where the only communal touchpoints are generated by politics, it’s good to have something available to all that we all watch and talk about.

No one will be talking about “The Many Saints of Newark,” unless to remark how bad it is, if that.

So for over a year, we’ve been subjected to hype on this prequel to “The Sopranos.” Did we need it, did we want it? No. But we were certainly intrigued. The hype centered over the casting of Michael Gandolfini as his father, Tony Soprano, at a young age, and contrary to the sledgehammer of publicity his role is pretty small, he pulls it off somewhat believably, better than most of the scene chewers in this two hour waste of time.

It’s almost a comedy. NONE of the performances ring true. Oh, they did a good job of casting people who look like their elder selves, but they’d have been better off focusing on their acting ability. Especially laughable is the young Silvio Dante, who has got all of Little Steven’s mannerisms down, but ends up looking like a cartoon.

As for Ray Liotta… His plastic surgery has settled in and he no longer looks like a goon and he’s okay, but really as the brother, not as “Hollywood Dick” Moltisanti. And Liotta’s performance is better than every other one except for Vera Farmiga’s as Livia Soprano, but even she has scenes that ring completely untrue, like when she’s speaking with the guidance counselor.

So the film begins with Hollywood Dick returning from Italy with his new bride and you’re already confused, WHO IS WHO? It takes half an hour or more to realize Hollywood Dick is Christopher’s grandfather. And Christopher’s father “Dickie” not only doesn’t ring true, you can’t understand what is going on in his life, he’s got Giuseppina in an apartment but is he still married and then when Johnny Soprano comes home from prison he’s talking about a new baby as if it’s his and if you’re not confused, you wrote the damn script.

And the focus is on imagery rather than script or performance. Then again, it doesn’t always ring true. There’s a cab ride where the meter stick is so worn out it couldn’t possibly be contemporary, it looks like the relic it is.

And we don’t even know what year we’re in!

Sure, it starts off in 1967, but then Tony is a teenager and there’s no mention of year and you’re really not sure, not that you care.

James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano had an inner anger that was always visible. And he was rarely over the top, unlike Big Dick and Little Dick. As for Junior… I love Corey Stoll, he was great in “House of Cards,” but he looks like a Jewish accountant here, not a member of the Mafia.

And they all hang out but the context, what they’re doing, is never really explained. The other Mafia families, the Blacks moving in on their territory. Actually, the only performance that rings true most of the time is Leslie Odom, Jr.’s, after he’s back from down south, he’s got that edge, that inner anger. As for Little Dick, aka “Dickie,” killing people… He looks like a guy who’d confess instantly, weary of a nervous breakdown, he’s not a cold-blooded killer.

So what we see here is David Chase is not the genius.

I was always surprised that the guy who took over “Northern Exposure,” which resulted in a step down in quality, could generate something as good as “The Sopranos.” Obviously it was the peripheral people, like Terence Winter, who was not involved in this abomination.

I never would have gone to a theatre to see this. Covid or no, especially with the bad reviews. This is just an expensive TV movie. That no one really wants to see. A curio. You truly can’t go home anymore. Thank god James Gandolfini is dead and couldn’t participate in this piece of crap, it would stain his legacy. It remains intact. Unfortunately, James is still dead.

Big Pussy, Paulie Walnuts, Christopher… All the original characters had a core of evil. It might be wrapped in niceness when out in public, but there was no doubt these people would do what it took to protect their business, to survive. And they were a family, and Tony was quite obviously the boss. Who exactly is the boss here? Dickie doesn’t live up to the role, certainly not hothead Johnny, who seems to be modeling his role on James Caan’s in “The Godfather.”

This movie was promoted in a positively old school way. And the old school is dead. Word was out on this turd long before the average citizen could see it. The hype didn’t matter, it was instantly disregarded, you can’t pull the wool over the audience’s eyes today. You’ve got to focus on the product. TV is still not like music. Sure, there’s a lot of product, but nowhere near the amount there is in music, where 60,000 tracks are uploaded to Spotify every week. So if you’re on the big platform people will give you a chance and if the show is any good they’ll tell others and you’ll have a viral hit. This is what has happened again and again and again, from “Stranger Things” to “Tiger King”…

It’s hysterical to watch old Hollywood burn right in front of our eyes. They’re gonna blame it on Covid, but the truth is everybody is accessible online, and it turns out two-dimensional actors are not that interesting, we don’t want to model our behavior after them. And then the Silicon Valley titans disrupted the old industry, built on fraud, not paying investors and profit participants, and not investing in the future either. The old Hollywood moguls were crooks, playing a game of street ball. It wasn’t about education, it was sharp elbows, how else does a hairdresser like Jon Peters get to run a studio and ultimately lose billions?

So now the studio heads are faceless. And when they try to move forward, the rest of old Hollywood freaks out. Yes, your product has to be on the flat screen, day and date, wake up to the present. As for the agencies bitching… Their money doesn’t come from movies and music anymore anyway, it comes from sports and other non-Hollywood elements of their behemoth operations. Sure, they prepared for the future, give them credit, but the glamour of the movie business does not pay the bills. As for the leverage of the stars… For years they’ve been unable to open pictures. Scarlett Johansson was lucky she was in a superhero movie, and did you see that Disney settled with her? They don’t want a precedent.

The action is in series, not movies, and it’s all on the flat screen. “The Many Saints of Newark” even leaves us hanging in the end. What we really needed was a series, thank god we didn’t get one.

From: Dave Frey

Subject: Re: Re-The New Mad Dogs & Englishmen Movie

Hi Bob,

As a promoter it’s rare to get props so I really appreciate you mentioning Lockn’ in your Learning To Live Together letter. During my 7-year run with Pete Shapiro our thing was to try to present once-in-a-lifetime artist collaborations. We had some big ideas and swung hard at them, like pairing Clapton with TTB (and Whitlock, Bramlett, Keys et al) to do Layla. That incarnation of our idea never got off the ground, but the TTB next one, Mad Dogs did. I’d seen Mad Dogs & Englishmen at the Evanston Theater on Central St when I was 11 and then bought the record. Pete, who’s younger, got it but didn’t connect like I did so he gave me the rope. I first tried to pair Joe with TTB and we got close, but sadly Joe died and the idea did too.

Later on Wayne called and said Derek & Susan were still up for it as a celebration. So again Pete gave me the rope and we worked out a deal and secured Leon. My next inquiry was to The Boss who wasn’t available, and when Paulo Nutini didn’t work out the focus switched to different singers doing their own interpretations. That’s when Wayne Forte really stepped up and we confirmed Rita Coolidge, Chris Stainton, Claudia Lennear, Chris Robinson, Dave Mason, John Bell, and others, and don’t forget Susan Freaking Tedeschi, Wayne was totally immersed, he even put up show posters!

Pete reminded me the budget was spiraling; “did I know what I was doing?” On a financial basis… it was out of control, sorry Pete. But Shapiro’s always been a great music film and video producer https://fans.live and he had the foresight to bring in (and vouch for) Jesse Lauter to document everything. Jesse found the original photographer Linda Wolf who we also flew in, Linda recently released a great book called “Cocker Power.” She and Mary Beth Aungier became invaluable because I couldn’t stop. They were tasked with the Easter Egg hunt and they found Bobby Torres, Pamela Polland, Bobby Jones, Don Preston, Donna Washburn, Jim Price, Daniel and Matthew Moore, and others. Some had been out of the game for years and wouldn’t come. Not Keltner, he wasn’t going to travel but said not to worry, the show would have “the pocket” because Leon and Stainton were there (and don’t forget Kofi Burbridge too!). Steve Martin stepped up too and got Chuck Blackwell and Sandy Konikoff’s info from Leon. Leon officially passed the baton to Derek who did what he does so well, he became the wizard, the eye of the hurricane, and a master music director.

At the rehearsals everyone seemed so happy to be together again, it was like a good high-school reunion. But there were serious challenges too. Marketing learned it was hard to message, sprawling, obscure, few knew what it was, especially without Joe. Then the day before doors a derecho storm hit the site and we lost Thursday. Our incredible crew recovered the site, re-permitted everything, and then Pete and I pushed most of those bands into shorter sets on Friday. No one slept for 3-days.

Come Friday night I stopped to breathe and my wife and I watched the show from out in the crowd. Everyone killed it of course, but when Leon sang “Mad Dogs & Englishmen” on his own, and we used two spotlights, one on Leon and the other on a center stage mic where Joe would have stood, there were few dry eyes in the crowd. I know it’s an old trick, and I sure hope it was captured on Jesses film. Afterward Leon shared that he was grateful because the show got him and Joe in touch again. The last thing he told me was to thank my mom for letting me see the movie at such a young age. So thank you mom, and thank you Bob for the acknowledgement.

Dave Frey

Lockn’ LLC & Lockn’ Farm LLC

Managing Member / Owner

P.S. And after all this time I still run into people that say they had no idea what they were about to see, but that MD&E then became one of their favorite shows ever. But to be candid, the show lost a fortune and raised my blood pressure, considerably.

_______________________________________

From: Wayne Forte

Subject: Re: The New Mad Dogs & Englishmen Movie

It is extremely satisfying to know that you watched our documentary as closely as you did and more so that you truly enjoyed it.  While we (our director, co-producer, editor and I) would have loved nothing more than to tell all the individual stories in depth, it would then have been an over 3 hour film.  To that end, we were advised from the start, by multiple people, that we should not make a documentary film longer than 1 hour!  Well, that was definitely not going to work for us so, as 1st time director and producers, we proceeded to tell the story we  had planned to tell, however bearing in mind, though it was a tough decision, that ‘shorter’ may be better than ‘longer’.

We also had some comments from the ‘peanut gallery’ that there should be more ‘live performance’ in the film (bear in mind that very few people have actually seen the final doc so goodness knows where those comments were coming from!?).

In the end, suffice to say, there were a number of things we wanted to have included that we finally had to leave on the editing room floor, in order to get the doc to under 2 hours (and there were hours and hours more of interviews and live performance which had to be left out).

We, as ‘1st timers’, learned the lesson of toiling for hours and hours and days and days (which led to months and months then years), agonizing over what to leave out and what to include.  And, as you pointed out, it did take years for us to raise the funds to finally complete the project, all while we were slowly working on piecing the film together (6 years total – 1 year of being turned down, 3-4 years of fundraising, including 2-3 years of license clearances, mostly due to COVID, and for me, add another year of setting up the actual concert event with the festival producers).  In fact, after a year of being turned down by both corporations as well as individuals we finally decided to take the ‘DIY’ route, similarly as we had done with both the Tedeschi Trucks Band as well as The Derek Trucks Band prior, and proceed with the project independently by raising the funds ourselves.  And, while there were many, many ‘non-believers’ along the way (both corporate as well as individuals), there were also the ‘believers’ who understood what we were attempting to achieve and produce, or at least believed in us, the team of creators, and were willing to financially support the project.  As they say, ‘it takes a village’, however it takes ‘people’ to make the village and without them, there would be no film.

However, from the beginning (that is, following the huge success of and reaction to the live event), we all felt that this film HAD to be made and the story HAD to be told, not for ‘the money’ but for Joe, for Leon, for the Mad Dogs and for the history of music (something which has resided in the back of my mind for 6 years now).

Given the amount of time, care and effort involved in this project (and a certain amount of ‘love’) it is nice to know that the efforts have already been appreciated.

Thanks again.

_______________________________________

From: JD

Subject: Re: Re-The New Mad Dogs & Englishmen Movie

BOB 

I second every word of Elton’s letter. Mad Dogs and Englishmen was source of mad inspiration for me and Leon’s writing and playing cannot be over estimated. Try playing “Song For You” and you’ll get a wee sample of his brilliance. Thank you and thanks Elton for sending the big Amen to one of the giants on whose shoulder we stand.

 

JD Souther

_______________________________________

From: Andrew Oldham

Subject: Re: Re-The New Mad Dogs & Englishmen Movie

Bob;

They were rehearsing in Westport CT, i was living, well, transposing, on nearby Ridgefield Rd.

Manager Nigel Thomas and Man of War Denny Cordell brought Joe over for a meet and greet. Nobody accepred my standard supper, Stouffer’s Beef Stew bathed in Vodka, and the silence in the living room was grim.

Then Joe spoke, “So this is what’s between Boston and New York?”

Bless you Joe and all the wings you sung on…

Everbest, o

_______________________________________

From: Michael Des Barres

Subject: Tweet by Michael Des Barres on Twitter

Leon Russell statue installed at Church Studio youtu.be/RY1nzdO4QZ8 via @YouTube Richly deserved. The prince of Peace…& Rock ‘n’ roll.🎵

_______________________________________

From: Terri Haram

Subject: Re: The New Mad Dogs & Englishmen Movie

Hi Bob, 

I just wanted to make a comment about Tedeschi and Trucks. A few years back I went to see them at the Ryman. I was in town working, saw they were playing and was able to score a ticket, front row on the side. It was my first and only Ryman show. I was glad a friend had convinced me to go. I was completely blown away. 

Live music always gives me an emotional and sometimes physical (I’m a bit of a cry baby when the music moves me) response. I don’t believe I stopped crying through the entire show. I was just so moved. I was on the side of the stage where Derek plays so was fortunate to be so close and watch him (through tears) the entire night. He as well as others in the band saw how moved I was. At the end of the first set I yelled out for a pic (yes I am that person!). How did I not notice Derek doesn’t use a pic? I was mortified! Derek, the kind soul that his is didn’t just laugh and blow me off. He reached down, tore the set list off the stage and brought it over to me. I couldn’t believe it. Such a great gesture!! I was going to be a fan after that concert, but because of Derek’s kindness, knowing I was having an emotional and physical response to the music, I will be a fan for a lifetime!!

Buy the ticket, take the ride!!

Terri H.

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From: Craig Anderton

Subject: Barking up the wrong tree

With older recordings that were done in analog studios, I think comparing CD or SACD to vinyl is missing a very important point. The comparison should be what sounds closest to the analog master tape. To my ears, SACD does that better than vinyl or CD. SACD has the most inherently “analog” sound.

I believe one reason why SACD sounds better than CDs, and closest to analog tape, is due to the output filtering.

CDs have a brutally sharp output filter in order to pass frequencies below 20 kHz, while totally suppressing the 44.1 kHz clock signal.

Vinyl has to deal with preamps that use the RIAA curve. This introduces massive amounts of equalization on playback (up to 20 dB of bass boost and up to -20 dB of treble cut!). It basically “undoes” the massive amounts of bass cut and treble boost applied to the record to try and overcome vinyl’s lack of bass response and surface noise.

However…SACD’s clock frequency is so high that even the most gentle, neutral filters can remove the clock signal from the output.

So I believe the difference people hear among these various technologies is more about the difference among reconstruction filters, not the technology per se. With SACD, audio goes through much less, and much gentler, processing between the playback medium and your ears.

Vinyl does not accurately reproduce the sound of analog tape. Vinyl is a signal processor, but it processes the sound in a way that some people like.

Craig

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From: Robert Heiblim

Subject: Re: Eagles MoFi Vinyl

 

Oh oh Bob, you are showing signs of audiophilia! No worries, I too am a recovering audiophile. This is not to be confused with what overlays this which is the luxury market for scarce goods also inhabited by audio lovers. You are right of course that you have to spend more than on a Bluetooth speaker, but you can get grand sound for the prices you mention as my friend and speaker designer Andrew Jones for example makes some great sound at reasonable prices.

The differences you hear and real. Of course much depends on your room, your particular set-up, the actual recording you are listening to and its mastering, etc., the gear and personal taste! This of course is part of the fun isn’t it? Many things we all love are the basis of arguments, discussions and fights like music itself, cars, wine, fine cigars and lovers. All things we debate but in the end have fun with.

I see many old friends and acquaintances weighing in like Joel Selvin or Michael Fremer. They are right in many ways, but I have been here since the beginning of digital and my take is a bit different.

My friend Dr. Anazawa of Denon/Nippon Columbia and his team built the first digital recorder. As he told me, it would take at least 30 years for everyone to learn how to use the system. New methods of miking the instruments, new ways to mix and master. He accurately predicted to me that producers would use the extra dynamic range for volume at first rather than quality. How right he was and early CDs sure show this.

Much has been learned and developed. I was involved in the sale of the first PCM100 to Record Factory in 1975, we have gone far beyond that now and from 14 bit to 24 bit with much better filtering and other tech. Answers to your concerns about bass or high frequency issues.

On the other hand I too love vinyl, but not for the sound per se but the ritual. It takes involvement. It makes you listen more and getting up to move the tonearm or change the disc, it is easier to listen to ALL the tracks while pressing a button on your device is so easy. Vinyl is showing the love of music and listening. As you know over 80% of the music sales are streaming, but more than 90% of the listening too so while I respect that some digital music is tiring to listen to that is not a blanket condition.

It does not matter to me. What matters is the love of the music. With so many types and artists and approaches there is room for every opinion. 

Just get some decent sound!

thanks for posting.

Robert

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From: Preston Bealle

Subject: Beach Boys—i had the same 1966 trip to LA that you did, but from New Canaan

My Dad took us out there, and he knew everyone, so I sat at a Dodger game with Jack Benny, Cary Grant, and Mervyn LeRoy in Walter O’Malley’s box. We went on the Batman set and Robin tried to pick up my sister and get her away from my parents for the night.

One year later, my Dad says “We’re moving to LA”. He became vice president of the Dodgers. He was apologizing for removing me from high school  in 9th grade and starting over, across the country. Having seen it, as you did, I said “What? Are you kidding? Let’s go tomorrow!”  Loved it ever since and spend the winters out there now.

Preston

Darien, CT

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From: Lee Kelley

Subject: Re: The Path

Bob,

This rings so true to me.  Playing drums since I was 8 years but growing up in a time where most parents didn’t see music as a viable living.  They were great with me playing in the house everyday for hours and supported school band through high school.  They told me I had to get something to fall back IF music wasn’t in the cards.

Instead, I learned playing in bands/with others from watching one of the best East Coast regional bands, Sugarcreek. When Sugarcreek broke up in 1990 and leader, Rick Lee, wanted to form a new band, he picked me while in my senior year into getting my BA in English.

During those college years, we studied the Joseph Campbell book, “The Power Of Myth.”  The idea of “Follow Your Bliss” was instilled in me and is to this day.

Anyway, after getting “Too Much SyLviA” up and running as a variety band, my parents saw it was viable although unconventional.  They became even more supportive of my path than ever before.

January 2022 will mark my 25th year in Nashville; 24 years on the road with national acts and going into my 3rd year with Hank Williams Jr.

I kind of believe that we don’t really pick music as much as music picks us.  If you watch the “Count Me In” drummer doc on Netflix, my launching pad was identical to Taylor Hawkins’

Follow Your Bliss!!

Sincerely,

Lee Kelley

Lebanon, TN

www.leekelleyondrums.com

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Subject: Thank you very much….

Bob,

 

Thank you so much for taking a serious critical listen to the new Mobile Fidelity vinyl and SACD releases. I really appreciate your enthusiasm, as it is obvious our entire high-end audio community reads. Actually, I received more comments from record industry executives, hi-fi manufacturers, customers, and other high-end audio writers than I have ever received from any previous critique.

Our industry is mostly filled with writers who tend to forget the most important part of music listening. It’s fun! Always getting caught up in the technological jargon and using ridiculous adjectives people do not understand. But your ability to cut to the chase, tell compelling stories, and make people laugh or smile, is one of the keys to your tremendous success. Honestly, I wish more audiophile writers would take a page out of your playbook.

As you know we have some great releases coming soon that I expect will really turn you on. While we hang our hats in a crazy audiophile world, we are all just extreme lovers of great music, and our goals are simple: to provide the best quality pressings to the music lovers who value the art.

If you have any additional comments please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly. 

Much appreciated. 

Catch you on the flip side,

Josh

Josh Bizar

Music Direct/Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab

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From: Jim Horn

Subject: Jim Horn dead

I’m very much ALIVE and don’t appreciate you sending out emails saying I’m dead. You need to correct this ASAP!

A VERY MUCH ALIVE JIM HORN