Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4DYC2n93YFV4EX5nqckmQl?si=ef5a13d808cf491f

I came across this article earlier today:

“We’ve ranked the 15 greatest albums of 1972 – perhaps the most significant year in rock history”

https://www.classical-music.com/features/recordings/best-albums-1972

I wouldn’t agree that 1972 was the best year, there were a lot of great years, but how could you forget 1973, with Paul Simon’s “There Goes Rhymin’ Simon,” which has been completely forgotten, lost to the sands of time, eclipsed by Simon’s world music explorations in the following decades.

But I was perusing this list, and was stunned to find “Talking Book” only number 5, even eclipsed by Yes’s “Close to the Edge” (huh, I like Yes, but this is not even their best album). But I’m scrolling down the list to see what is #1 and it’s “Exile On Main Street.” I thought it was hard to argue with that, however “Talking Book” is really damn good.

Now “Exile on Main Street” was released to coincide with the Stones’ 1972 tour. It was the biggest, most hyped tour in rock history, with coverage in straight magazines as well as the rock press. Probably because of the incredible success of “Sticky Fingers”…the weekend didn’t begin until you’d played “Brown Sugar.” There’s been nothing like this jaunt across America until Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. But the vibe was different. The Stones were selling danger and debauchery, and SEX! I’ll let you come up with the descriptors for Eras, but they won’t be those three.

Ironically, Stevie Wonder opened for the Stones on the ’72 tour. But he was supporting his first truly independent creative work, “Music of My Mind,” and “Talking Book” didn’t come out until October.

I knew “Superwoman,” but I bought “Music of My Mind” anyway, to familiarize myself with the music before the show. This was a regular thing, buying the album of the opening act that you were not so familiar with. I remember buying Fairport Convention’s “Full House” when they were supporting Traffic at the Fillmore. And a year later I bought Humble Pie’s album of the time, “Rock On,” so I knew the material when they opened for Lee Michaels. This was the last tour with Peter Frampton, these are the shows that ultimately became “Rockin’ the Fillmore,” Humble Pie’s commercial breakthrough.

But I also bought “Exile on Main Street” so I would know the new material when I heard it live. That was not the only album I bought that day and although I immediately played it, I found it hard to get into. People forget the original mix, wherein Jagger’s vocals were so low, part of the wash of sound, that you could not make out the words, subsequent remasterings have changed the EQ and the words are more discernible. Also, there was so much material. A double album’s worth. The sum total of the tracks was an hour and seven minutes, and ultimately many CDs had just this much music on a single disc! Yes, the double albums of yore became the single albums of the CD era. And they were even more incomprehensible. With vinyl you knew the act put their best songs at the beginning and end of each side, so you knew there were eight tracks that deserved initial attention on “Exile,” whereas with a CD, the albums of today? Talk about incomprehensible.

But I knew I was flying to Kansas City to visit my college buddy John Hughes and see the band, so I had to make a dedicated effort. So I stayed up all night listening to “Exile on Main Street” on headphones, to the point where it finally revealed itself to me.

The following…

Sometimes it’s in the order of how I got into the tracks, sometimes in order of favorites…

Here we go.

1. “Soul Survivor”

This was the very first song on “Exile” that resonated with me. Interestingly, it’s the very last song on the album. Yes, I waded through all three sides and then my ears perked up for “Soul Survivor.”

There’s the tone of the intro guitar, the way Mick slurs his words, the pre-chorus, but most of all, it’s the staccato guitar

2. “I Just Want to See His Face”

Speaking of the CD era…

“Exile” was short enough to fit on one disc, whereas some double albums of the pre-CD era had tracks cut to fit on one CD. And I bought the “Exile” CD in the eighties, but it wasn’t until this century that I got hooked on this track. It’s so otherworldly. How did they come up with this?

“You don’t want to walk and talk about Jesus

You just want to see his face”

Is this really about religion, believing, or more of a dare or more of the Stones being equal to God or..?

The magic is in the electric piano played by Keith Richards.

Play “I Just Want to See His Face” when you’re alone. Preferably after dark. You won’t exactly be spooked, but something close.

3. “Ventilator Blues”

“When your spine is CRACKING!”

This is the second track I got into on “Exile.”

Having loved “Soul Survivor,” I played the fourth side a bunch. But then loving “Ventilator Blues,” I played the third side over and over.

It’s the groove, you ultimately settle into it with the band. And then there’s Mick Taylor’s resonator guitar…

And then there are the horns and Nicky Hopkins’s tickling of the ivories, a thin sound that sticks out, not like an organ that blends in.

“Exile” is the peak of Mick Taylor’s work with the band. Taylor added a lyricism…and his solos were ethereal and far different from Keith’s. The final statement is “Time Waits for No One” on the “It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll” album. And then he was gone.

Now I loved “Ventilator Blues” so much I’d drop the needle on it again and again to the point where ultimately it was no longer one of my absolute favorites on the album. I love it when I hear it, but I don’t search it out, don’t get a hankering to hear it.

4. “Casino Boogie”

Funny how only three tracks on “Exile” don’t have their own Wikipedia page, and two of them are my favorites, “Soul Survivor” and this (“Turd on the Run” is the third).

As for the lyrics, they aren’t so special, then again we couldn’t hear them on the original vinyl. Words would stick out… I always thought Mick sang “protest music,” but the internet tells me it’s “grotesque music.” Who knew?

Once again, it’s the groove, the sound of the guitars, the horns.

I taught a for credit course during winter term of 1973 at Middlebury. The final was…you had to choose one of the five proffered songs and write about it. One was “Casino Boogie.”

5. “Let It Loose”

There was a letter to the editor in “Rolling Stone” that said the writer wanted to marry the woman who sang the vocal at the end of this song.

At this point this is a well known number, but it didn’t used to be. No one ever talked about it. Today I think about “Let It Loose” a lot, I sing it in my head, it’s embedded in there.

6. “Loving Cup”

Ends side two like “Let It Loose” ends side three. I see them as a pair.

I went to see Phish at the Forum twenty years ago, and I’d be lying if I said I knew most of their material, but I’m standing on the floor and all of a sudden I hear something, I ask myself, ARE THEY PLAYING LOVING CUP?

They were and they regularly do. When you find someone else likes an album track that no one ever talks about like you do, it warms your heart.

7. “Stop Breaking Down”

I heard it over and over as I played side four after getting into “Soul Survivor” but it’s only become a favorite of mine in the last couple of years.

“Stop Breaking Down” is a Robert Johnson song, not that I knew it at the time, the Johnson revival in America truly didn’t start until 1990, when Columbia released “The Complete Recordings.” But the English acts were STEEPED in the blues, they changed ’em up a bit and served them to white teenagers in the U.S. who’d missed the memo.

It’s the slide guitar that makes this so great. But it’s not the only great thing in this number. Throughout “Exile” Jagger’s vocals are not mannered in the way they sometimes became. And although there was the international coverage of his marriage to Bianca, Mick was still just a rock star, not a playboy, but someone who’d been arrested for drugs and…the Stones were always the flip side to the Beatles and were seen that way. The Beatles warm and fuzzy, the Stones dark and dangerous…stay away. Jagger was not Bono. He wasn’t interested in saving the world, never mind being embraced by world leaders. But ultimately the Stones made so much money it allowed them to hang with the richest people in the world. Today musicians are nowhere near as rich as so many people, they can hang and entertain the billionaires, but despite hefty paydays for privates, in truth they’re just court jesters. So that guy you see in your mind’s eye when you hear Jagger today…he wasn’t that guy back in 1972.

8. “Shine a Light”

It’s the organ, like a whisper, that hooked me.

Once again, I played the fourth side a bunch after getting into “Soul Survivor,” so I was very familiar with “Shine a Light” and as the years have gone by I haven’t reached out to it…

The fourth side is more in your face, it’s less subtle, it’s like a live show, the band is amping up to close the show. There are none of the quiet songs of the first three sides, those are behind you.

And then there’s the piano, starting in the middle of the song, played by Billy Preston (like the organ earlier).

And then there’s Mick Taylor’s solo guitar… You don’t get this lyrical playing in the eras before him or after. He added a distinct flavor that was more Bluesbreakers than Stones. But more rock than the blues of Eric Clapton.

But “Shine a Light” is not about any specific player, it’s definitely a group effort, everybody shining.

It’s the fourth most played song from “Exile” on Spotify, which is surprising, not that it doesn’t deserve the play.

9. “Happy”

This starts side three. You dropped the needle and it took off. This was (and still is!) rock and roll.

This is also Keith’s breakthrough vocal. It’s so surely him. And not subtle, like “You Got the Silver.”

And then there are the lyrics. Once again, in the original EQ you only heard snippets.

“Always took candy from strangers”

The Stones were the other, this was not the pandering of “artists” today. Hell, today parents don’t want kids to even TALK to strangers! We’d been told our entire lives how we had to do it, and then the Stones came along and said we didn’t have to do it that way…in a jocular way, like anybody who was hip rejected the status quo.

Once again, this was and still is Keith’s signature song.

HOWEVER, if you don’t know it, and you probably don’t, or you haven’t listened to it recently, you’ve got to listen to “Slipping Away,” the closer on “Steel Wheels,” the outro after the change will drive you insane, in a way that burns from the inside out, that is not exterior, but interior.

“Steel Wheels” was a comeback album, the Stones were not sure they  meant as much as they once did. Turns out they did. But there seems to have been an extra effort put into this album.

The single was “Mixed Emotions,” and it got a lot of attention yet is not a staple today, but it should be. In this case, the lyrics resonate.

And one more from “Steel Wheels,” “Hearts for Sale.”

The funny thing is “Slipping Away” is the second most streamed song from “Steel Wheels” on Spotify. Only “Mixed Emotions” has more, and it’s not even a million more.

10. “All Down the Line”

A tear. Hold on to your hat. The train is leaving the station. This is the band firing on all cylinders.

Once again, I got into this after getting into “Soul Survivor” and playing the fourth side again and again.

Really, what puts “All Down the Line” over the top is the outro. It’s not run of the mill before that, but it’s not pure magic until:

“Won’t you be my little baby for a while

Won’t you be my little baby for a while

Won’t you be my little baby for a while

Won’t you be my little baby”

This alone will make you want to run away and join the rock and roll circus. You too want to be on stage singing with the assembled multitude at the top of your lungs.

And don’t forget Mick Taylor’s slide guitar dancing all over the track, oftentimes without being in the forefront, just a flavor in the cut.

11. “Tumbling Dice”

Was the single, released in advance of the album. Got immediate airplay, but it didn’t last.

In retrospect, this is not the definitive version of this song, not that there’s a recording that is better, however…

I went to see the ’75 tour at the Forum, you know, with the flower petal stage and…

The Stones were like the Grateful Dead, as in they were not great throughout, it took them a while to find their groove, but about half an hour into the show, after being kind of disappointed with what had come before, the band played “Tumbling Dice” and I GOT IT! It had more soul, extra dynamics, I’ve loved the song since.

Yet, the person who really made “Tumbling Dice” a standard was Linda Ronstadt. Who performed the song on her 1977 album “Simple Dreams.”

Sure, it seemed like Linda was doing somewhat of a caricature of Mick, but unlike the Stones’ version the vocal was up front and center, WAY UP FRONT AND CENTER! And she and the band got the refrain right, even better than the Stones’ original. When she sings and they play “tumbling dice…” And her outro, where there’s air between the instruments and vocal…it out-Stones the Stones’ recording.

But if you listen to the music today, Linda’s take does not have the punch of the Stones’ original. Does it need a remaster or was this the way it was cut?

12. “Shake Your Hips”

Sounds like it was cut in a basement in the south of France way after dark. This is not west coast rock and roll, this has got…what you never saw on TV. Believers, rock and rollers, were in this club as the day was waning, the lights were low, bodies were in motion, you could feel sex in the air, this feels and sounds like the fantasy people at home had when they listened to this music, they just wanted to be INCLUDED! Throw off the constraints and let loose!

A Slim Harpo original.

13. “Torn and Frayed”

Ultimately an hypnotic groove, albeit with a country feel.

It’s definitely Stones, and that’s why it works. It’s in they’re oeuvre, in a way “Sweet Virginia” is not.

Side three is relatively slow, leading up to the genius “Loving Cup.”

Meanwhile, “Torn and Frayed” was the ethos of rock and roll, as in rough around the edges.

14. “Sweet Black Angel”

Supposedly about Angela Davis, who we read about occasionally in the west coast press in a “Where are they now?” way, she was an educated revolutionary back then. We’ve got left and right today, but we don’t have an Angela Davis. Then again, the conservative white establishment couldn’t handle her friendship with John and George Jackson…

“Sweet Black Angel” creates a mood, it’s nearly a 180 from “Torn and Frayed,” which comes before it. And “Sweet Black Angel” isn’t even three minutes long. It’s here and it’s gone. But it stuck out. If you knew “Exile on Main Street,” you knew it…I’m not so sure people know it today.

15. “Sweet Virginia”

The Stones had a rep for doing this countrified stuff.

This started side two, so it got a lot of attention, it stuck out, it was not embedded into the  middle of a side, you dropped the needle and heard it. HOWEVER, it was that classic line that drew attention:

“Got to scrape that sh*t right off your shoes”

You couldn’t say the s-word on a record back then. And I can’t spell it out completely in this screed otherwise it won’t break through the spam filters of corporations. So the execs can swear like stevedores, but the patina of puritanism still holds.

I mean “Sweet Viriginia” is not offensive, it’s kinda good, but nowhere near as good as the peaks on “Exile.”

16. “Rip This Joint”

A good change of pace after “Rocks Off,” whatever you thought of that track, you forgot about that now, you were swept onto the dance floor in something that hearkened back to the fifties.

“Wham, bam, Birmingham

Alabama don’t give a damn”

Sounded a little too much like Bowie’s “Wham bam thank you ma’am” in “Suffragette City” from “Ziggy Stardust,” which came out the following month, in June of ’72.

I’m not saying the Stones copied Bowie, not whatsoever, but what I am saying here is…

I cringed when I heard those words in the Bowie song. He was selling a level of sophistication, intelligence, this was so obvious and base. I mean really?

I thought I heard the same thing in the Stones’ song, because the phrase was part of the vernacular, and the lyrics were so indecipherable…turns out I was wrong, not that I was sure back then, but somehow I associated this hackneyed phrase with the song and…

I’ve got nothing against “Rip This Joint,” except it’s not on the high level of the rest of the record. This is a song for the fourth side, something to be buried deep (and in this case, the fourth side was so fast!)

17. “Turd on the Run”

The title is almost a stunt, the word “turd” is not in the song.

The track is almost impenetrable. Like whatever they were doing in the studio, where their heads were at, we can’t really figure it out.

Still, the guitar was striking, but never changed, I won’t say it verged on monotony, but it was one of the causes of the track being hard to penetrate.

However, there was that one line that stuck out:

“Well I lost a lot of love over you”

He was not the winner here.

18. “Rocks Off”

It’s not that bad, but…

The Stones were legendary for killer openers. “Sympathy for the Devil”? “Gimmie Shelter”? “Brown Sugar”? And “Rocks Off”????

“Rocks Off”…it sounds like something constructed on paper, to be an opener, and it misses the mark by so much. If it had been on the fourth side… But the OPENER???

There’s no magic. If you can find it, you’ve got a much lower bar than I do.

It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just not that good, certainly not great!

I never ever have a hankering to hear “Rocks Off.”

And a low blow scatological title… I expected something a bit better, a little less in your face and obvious from the Stones.

What a disappointment.

In conclusion, I must mention that “Exile on Main Street” was produced by Jimmy Miller. He added a special sauce, not only to the Stones, but Traffic and…

Now when everybody was talking about “Sticky Fingers,” which penetrated society at large in a way that no previous Stones album ever had, I maintained that their best work was “Let It Bleed.” I mean that’s got the all time greatest intro track, the haunting at first and then bleating “Gimmie Shelter” (it’s spelled with that extra “i” on the original album, and I’m sticking with it).

At the time, the cognoscenti all said “Beggars Banquet” was the best, and that sold not only less than “Sticky Fingers,” but less than “Let It Bleed.”

“Beggars Banquet”…

Let’s not forget this was the follow-up, a reaction to the poorly received “Satanic Majesties,” and just like that album was bombastic, “Beggars Banquet” was more quiet, more introspective, more “Americana” than what had come before. And there are so many great songs on “Beggars,” from “No Expectations” to “Stray Cat Blues” with its legendary intro to “Salt of the Earth” (and “Factory Girl” too!) But the whole thing feels more personal, more licking one’s wounds than the confidence of the in your face “Let It Bleed.”

Of course “Beggars” had “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Street Fighting Man” but they almost stood apart, and didn’t have the same feel as the rest of the record, and “Street Fighting Man” came out long before the album…

So…

I must say I play “Beggars” a lot today. It works in 2025, as in there’s so much going on that if you play for victory, for domination, it doesn’t work, you can only look inward, which “Beggars” does, and it resonates.

So…

I hate to abandon “Let It Bleed,” but…

Is “Exile on Main Street” the best Stones album?

You’ve got to know, NOBODY said so until about ten years after it came out, it was seen as a disappointment, an indulgent wrong turn prior to that. When the tour was over, it fell off the charts and didn’t last in the culture.

Then again, not only does “Let It Bleed” have “Gimmie Shelter,” but “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” never mind “Midnight Rambler,” and as good as “Exile” is, not one song can match the first two, or even the third, so…

I guess I’m just trying to bring attention to “Exile.” It’s not like there’s one song you hear on the radio, at parties, in the background, no…you have to make an effort, you have to sit down and let it penetrate, and that does not happen fast, it is not hit and run.

Is “Exile on Main Street” the best album of 1972? How in the hell do you compare? And “Talking Book” was a revolution and a revelation. Stevie Wonder was seen as a Motown singles artist and you rarely heard him on rock radio, but now… “Superstition” had been written for Jeff Beck, and that clavinet!! And “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” is an absolute standard. And I ADORE “Big Brother.”

But the Stones were selling something different. It was a dented up Oldsmobile, not a flashy Cadillac. And there’s no sense of the band playing to the audience except for “Rocks Off.” “Exile” is a peek into another world. Sure, “Sunshine of My Life” might be a standard, but “Exile on Main Street” itself is a standard! You take it as a whole, it hangs together, you can only cherry-pick after you know the whole album.

So…

She survives!

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gloria-gaynor/id1316200737?i=1000715608955

 

 

 

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/066665fc-e814-48a2-a23f-9b2e27c6e188/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-gloria-gaynor

 

Subject: Re: Velvet Sundown

Look up the artist “Nick Hustles” on Spotify. This is clearly AI too. This person is using a 60-70’s Soul sound, but using lyrical content from today’s world. Pretty creative. 220k monthly listeners and 100k+ subscribers on YouTube.

Why are people bitching? They feel they deserve to know if it’s AI before they begin listening? Did they deserve to know Marshmello’s identity before listening to his music? There’s still a human behind all these AI creations and it takes creativity + managing several AI tools to connect everything together.

Eddie Laureno

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From: Stephen Knill

Subject: Re: One Step Ahead

After playing bass on Eric Carmen’s first solo album and realizing I wasn’t best equipped for the touring life (at 22) I went to work for PIKS Corporation who not only distributed Arista (Carmen’s label) but also Chrysalis, Splitz Enz label  As the junior promo man, I was given the tertiary markets. So I wandered off to secondary Ohio towns, western PA and and upstate NY.

What a great education. People there played new records. Tommy Nast in Syracuse, Bernie Kimble in Rochester (RIP) Tom Teuber in Buffalo, Ted Utz in Utica and Garret Hart in Erie all played the first Split Enz album for me. Like WMMS in Cleveland, they decided what went on the air.

I also got to work the Alan Parsons I Robot album for Arista. After the promising response to his previous album, Arista came up with a cool tastemaker event. They hosted listening parties with Alan and his songwriting partner, Eric Woolfsen, in small venues The album was played back in quad, (which was pretty new at the time,) to show off the album’s marvelous production. Not many people had those systems. But Eric Carmen did. So we hosted the event at his Cleveland apartment overlooking Lake Erie. The night was perfect. The sun was setting, the catering immaculate, libations flowed and the album was declared a hit. That was 49 years ago. 50 for Carmen’s first solo album.

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From: Trevor de Brauw

Subject: Re: The Pixar Flop

Both my six year old and my twelve year old have wanted to see this movie since we first saw the trailer over two years ago – but I had no idea the movie was out yet until I saw your newsletter. In fact, my eldest mentioned it just a couple of days ago saying that it feels like they’ve been advertising the movie forever now – and that’s a huge part of the issue here. The modern world moves too fast for endless marketing campaigns –  when potential audiences are marketed the same project for that long it either causes burnout and/or creates the psychic effect that the release is never really coming. Whereas a film like Sinners, which I only heard about in the month leading up to release, I saw in the theater first week.

Word of mouth will always be the most powerful driver, but marketing can work with a shorter runway since it approximates the feel of word of mouth.

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From: John Hyman

Subject: Re: The Titan Documentary

Hi Bob,

You have reminded me of a day in early September, 1974.  My folks offloaded me into Battelle and we said our goodbyes.  I was sort of stumped about what to do next, knowing that I knew absolutely no one.

I found myself in a line — maybe by Old Chapel? — to acquire sheets and towels from (do I have this right?) Foley’s Linens.

Anyway, a perfectly friendly fellow in line behind me tapped me on the shoulder and introduced himself: “Hi, I’m Court.”  I had never heard of such a name.  I thought to myself: “I don’t think I’m in Meriden anymore.”

John

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Subject: Re: Lightnin’ Strikes

Bob, Thank you for writing about Lou. I had the pleasure of playing a bunch of shows with him. I was the drummer in Jay Traynor and the Americans . Jay was the first Jay . We did a summer of oldies revival shows and we were the house band for all the acts . Lou Christie , Little Anthony , The Drifters etc. I was 19 and I have to say Lou Christie was a trip . He would do his Karate kicks and sing falsetto like nobody’s business. When I ended up moving from Albany to NYC I first lived on 48th and 9th in Hells Kitchen. I ran into Lou on the street on day only to find out he lived on the same block . I stayed in touch with him over the years and he always wanted to know about new up and coming singers and bands . He was a very interesting person. I hope all is wellBob and hope you are healthy and happy . 

All the best,

Dan McCarroll

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Subject: Mike Garson podcast

Bob,

I just had the chance to listed to your podcast with Mike Garson as the guest. I enjoy the one’s you do with people who I know but really like the ones with people I don’t. Despite having Bowie records and reading liner notes back in the day I didn’t remember his name though I had to have read it.

What an interesting story. Great job as always not asking the rote questions interviewers ask. There was so much there from his childhood to the roundtrip travel for a 10 minute piano lesson.

This should be a must listen for anyone who wants to be a musician or artist. It’s a lesson in the hardships of following a dream – the guy played with so many stars and bands and yet was forced to refinance his home to survive at times. True commitment to his art.

People like him make the world a more interesting place. Good work.

Neal H. Bookspan

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From: Kevin Korchinski

Subject: Re: Tyler Childers At The Hollywood Bowl

Bob,

First off, I’m a Childers fan – honest writing,  great songs.

I live in Saskatchewan,  Canada’s ultimate flyover province.  I was listening to a Childers Playlist last summer – yes Spotify –  and noticed he was playing Calgary.  I checked and the Saddledome was sold out already  – 16,000 plus. I had heard zero and there was no Canadian tour, even just the usual suspects.

I checked in with an ex-label colleague in Calgary and she commented it sold very fast.

I wish Canadian promoters would pay more attention – there are a lot of these “Americana” type artists that could so well here – at least soft seaters – rather than a bar in Billings. Maybe once the Canadian dollar gets more normal…

Kevin

Regina, SK

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From: John Hartmann

Subject: Re: Brian Wilson

Bob; Genius is not task specific. If Brian had chosen to be a cobbler, Lady Ga Ga would be sporting his boots today. I was The Beach Boys television agent, at the Morris office, from ’63 – ’66. If they did TV I would be there as part of the team.  Brian was at the height of his musical skills. He was very warm, fuzzy and huggable.

He invited me to visit him and Marilyn at their home. It was during the piano in the sandbox and Brian in the bed era. He came alive in the studio. I watched in awe as he cut a single note out of “Help Me Rhonda,” by eye with a razor blade. Computers have a hard time doing that.

We will forever bear the weight of his absence, and luckily we will have the music to soothe the pain.

As ever, Hartmann

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Subject: Re: Brian Wilson

Wonderful tribute Bob…thank you. I followed the same path through that era, and the BEACH BOYS music that you describe so well. As an Air Force family in late 1962, my Dad was stationed at Vandenburg AFB on the coast near Lompoc, CA, after living 3 years in Omaha.  I remember kids in Omaha saying “You’re gonna see the Ocean!” when we left. I got a transistor radio that Christmas, and California did have that something! At some point I borrowed a neighbor kid’s old acoustic guitar and began picking out single-note instrumental surf music we heard on local radio from the likes of Dick Dale and The Del-Tones and The Ventures and The Surfaris, but the BEACH BOYS were the top, and I loved those records along with all the other kids in Junior High! We had our own music to listen to now, beyond the Johnny Mathis, Della Reese & Patsy Cline music my folks were into, let alone Elvis and the “Frankies”! We experienced the Kennedy assassination there in California and watched Jack Ruby kill Oswald on live TV, and listened on the radio as “Cassius Clay” defeated Sonny Liston for the Heavyweight Title. And then we watched the BEATLES on the Ed Sullivan Show! These are intense memories all connected to our “life in California” at the time!

I could never have predicted that 2 years later we would be stationed in London England and I would go on to meet Gerry & Dan, who loved the BEACH BOYS as well, at an American high school and forming a band together. Graduating in 1969, our band morphed into AMERICA with vocal harmony being a key element and ultimately meeting the BEACH BOYS in person for the first time when they performed in London, including Brian who was not performing with the Boys by then, but he did travel to Holland for a short time while the Boys were recording the album “Holland” and we performed with them along with new members Blondie Chaplin & Ricky Fataar…Dennis was there but Ricky was helping out on drums as I recall. Brian was very withdrawn and shy on that first meeting, but we got closer over the years.

We returned to the U.S. in 1972 with a hit single and album, settling in California, and began a long history of touring and bonding with the Beach Boys over the next 50 years! During those decades, Brian was active of course but reclusive. We loved Carl and he and Mike kept things on track in the ensuing years with Al always being solid, along with Bruce and the fantastic band mates they put together. We had a great time with all of them, band and crew, over the years. Then when Brian did eventually return to performing with the Boys and doing his solo tours we would have some good times with everyone! The last time was a successful tour of Australia in 2016. The stories are limitless…

And at the center of that music was always the inspired mind of Brian Wilson, and we were awe-struck and privileged to be around him and that body of work during those times…and still are! Rest in Peace dear Brian.  Thanks Bob…Dewey Bunnell

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From: Laurel Fishman

Subject: You probably already know about this, re: Velvet Sundown

https://aicommission.org/2025/07/ai-band-the-velvet-sundown-used-suno-is-an-art-hoax-spokesperson-admits/

I’m reading the news all day. I get up and check my phone for twenty to forty minutes, then I read three physical newspapers and throughout the day I surf the apps and the sites.

Now in truth, there’s less and less in the physical newspaper that has not already been published online. However, you see articles in the physical paper you glance over/don’t see online. Because the layout is different and it’s easier to see what is important. The physical paper is on its last legs, yet I’m willing to sacrifice print because online news is so much better, it can accommodate more and be posted as it happens.

The first article I want to hip you to I found in today’s wakeup ritual on my phone:

“The Problematic Politics of Trump’s Bill: More Lower-Income Americans Are Voting GOP – The class inversion of the two parties is making it harder for Republicans to cut the social safety net”

Free link: https://www.wsj.com/politics/the-problematic-politics-of-trumps-bill-more-lower-income-americans-are-voting-gop-0b6288d0?st=aPWk4r&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

On one level, the title says it all. But if you click through you’ll see bar graphs and other information.

If you’re a boomer, if you were conscious in the last century, this is utterly amazing. The script has flipped, the Democrats are the party of the rich elite. But it seems that only now is anybody acknowledging it.

Republican representatives are wary of voting against the wishes of their constituents, but if they don’t support Trump they will be primaried and…

If the Republicans don’t come through for their lower income voters will they switch to voting for Democrats in 2026? This is an interesting question, read the article for more.

The second article I want to hip you to I found in the print version of today’s “New York Times”:

“How Republican E.V. Cuts Could Put U.S. Carmakers Behind China – China’s lead in electric vehicle technology, which is already huge, could become insurmountable if incentive programs are slashed, auto experts and environmentalists say.”

Free link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/business/ev-cars-us-china-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.TU8.wA3q._SL5X6wNJr02&smid=url-share

Once again, the headline tells it all, but if you dig deeper, America’s isolationist policies could come back to bite it in the ass.

Unfortunately, the above information is not contained in the rabble-rousing news on social media and other sites that are all opinion, this is what we depend on paid professionals/the derided old media for.

But you should know this information.