Your experience meeting a famous musician.

“Lefsetz Live,” Tuesday July23rd, on Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863

Twitter: @lefsetz

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I’m shocked, positively shocked I tell you, that Metallica was caught scalping its own tickets. What kind of bizarre business do we have where ticketing is opaque and every customer can’t sit in the front row for fifty bucks?

Come on kids, not only does scalping your own tickets go back generations, it’s been proven ever since the digital era that the concert ticket industry doesn’t want to explain itself to the hoi polloi, never mind a government that can’t understand it and is always one step behind, like Ticketmaster is with the bots.

The truth is scalpers provide a service.

And in this case, the scalper LOST MONEY!

Sure, the scalper got good tickets, but he also had to take bad ones. Kinda like the days of cut-outs, when retailers had to take the bad with the good, hoping the good would sell enough to cover the cost.

But the real truth is customers no longer care. They understand the game. And it’s only the once a year people and the nitwits complaining. And once you pay attention to the nitwits, the one percent that is vocal, the tail is wagging the dog and you’ve lost control of your business.

Unless you’re a pop star, probably with an evanescent fan base, depending upon whether you have a hit, there’s this belief that the acts and its fans are in it for the long term and must respect each other. Ergo, fan club ticketing. You want your fans to be taken care of. And if you don’t…there is blowback. However no one has been able to quantify that blowback, because certain individuals complain so loudly and others don’t at all.

And speaking of the blowback, not only are we not living in the twentieth century, we’re not even living in the aughts, and if no one amplifies a story, it doesn’t spread and it dies. You may not know what I’m talking about right now. And I won’t even bother to include a link, let’s see how interested you are in Googling and reading a couple of thousand words… I doubt it, you just don’t care enough, you’re paying attention to much more important issues, those that interest you and those relating to the nation at large.

Furthermore, understanding the modern paradigm, no one is blowing this story up. Everybody is remaining silent. Live Nation, Metallica, the individuals involved. Unless you pour gasoline on the fire, it dies out. And people move on. The story is lost in the endless river of information that overwhelms everybody on earth.

Meanwhile, the guy who released the taped phone call, Vaughn Millette, broke the code, and only for his own purposes. He will be shunned for it, the same way Kirsten Gillibrand has been for kicking Al Franken out of the Senate. It’s a club I tell you, and you don’t want to break the norms unless you’re willing to be frozen out.

And how do you think Live Nation pays so much money, and beats other promoters for the tour? This is how that additional money is made! It’s a negotiation between the promoter and the act. Someone’s got to pay the freight.

And the act is in control. This is one of the greatest subterfuges of all time. Everybody believes it’s Ticketmaster, acting independently, when the truth is Ticketmaster just does what the act wants, Ticketmaster takes the heat for the act. Fans just cannot believe their favorites are about the money when they’re about the music. But we’re not living in 1969 anymore folks, no one is saying music should be free. As for the Napster era, that was a result of a technological change that caught the purveyors off guard. They kicked and screamed and then changed their business model.

Now if concert tickets weren’t moving, this wouldn’t be happening. But demand is insane.

And the truth is everybody wants an inside connection, everybody wants to buy tickets on THEIR terms. Who knows what you’ll be doing in six months when the date plays? Better to buy from StubHub or a scalper just before the date. And the price can go down, as it did for some seats in this transaction.

You want to take risk off the table, especially with stadium dates. You want guaranteed money in the bank.

And the media has demonized paperless and the fans hate it because they can’t scalp the tickets themselves and…oftentimes it turns out there isn’t such hot demand anyway, that the on sale, where the bots go crazy, heats up the market beyond reality.

And you like that Amex or Citi gives you advance chance.

And no one is publicizing the number of tickets actually available on the on sale date, often de minimis.

And now we’ve got platinum if you really want to sit in the front row, or close thereto. Superfans can pay.

I’m not telling you all of the above is good, I’m just telling you it’s the way that it now is. And both bands and fans have adjusted to it.

You’re always gonna get people complaining. But the truth is if this was really news, it would go viral. But it hasn’t, not yet.

As for the agitators… Do you think you’re entitled to a BMW at KIA prices?

Furthermore, the people buying from the scalper are willing to pay the freight, they’re not complaining. One can even argue they’re doing the fans a favor, making the rest of the seats cheaper. And the truth is acts never scalp the very best tickets, because they want their fans up close and personal.

Will there ever be sunshine in the ticketing business?

When acts are not worried about appearing greedy and every show is a guaranteed sell-out with no transferability and no uplift.

And if you think that’s gonna happen…

You’re dreaming.

Feelin’ Alright

“Feelin’ Alright” is the song FM radio played first, this is the track that broke Joe Cocker in the U.S. “With A Little Help From My Friends” really didn’t supersede “Feelin’ Alright” until the release of the Woodstock movie, and its subsequent use on “The Wonder Years.” And Cocker’s iteration became so famous, it completely replaced the Traffic original.

Traffic really didn’t gain mainstream success in the U.S. until the band broke up, Stevie Winwood went to work in the supergroup Blind Faith, and then reformed with “John Barleycorn Must Die.”

“John Barleycorn”‘s release was perfectly timed. The late spring of 1970, when the Beatles had their last hurrah with “Let It Be” and FM had finally ascended to domination. Everybody was aware of album rock, singles were for sissies.

But there were three LPs before “John Barleycorn Must Die.” Ironically, the last, the worst, a mash-up of studio and live tracks, got the most traction, or as Joni Mitchell sang at the same time, “you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”. “Shanghai Noodle Factory” was all over the airwaves, and “Medicated Goo” too. And they were a pretty good distillation of the Traffic sound, which was thought to have expired.

But the two LPs that came before, they were the essence of Traffic, then and now.

The first had the most impact. Musos cherry-picked it for covers. You know “Heaven Is In Your Mind” by Three Dog Night, not Traffic, and I hate to say it, Three Dog Night’s version is better, Traffic got the chorus right, but the verses? And Al Kooper made “Dear Mr. Fantasy” ubiquitous with its inclusion on the double album “The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper,” remember the mic cutting out midstream? And Kooper covered “Coloured Rain” on his initial solo LP, “I Stand Alone,” and I must admit I prefer the over-produced Kooper iteration, but no one could exceed the original version of “Dear Mr. Fantasy,” a classic rock track if there ever was one, which Winwood still performs just as well, his electric guitar picking in the outro will blow your mind, have you nodding your noggin, getting into the groove.

But I didn’t get on board until the second Traffic album, when Dave Mason was ensconced in the band once again. Actually, it was two Mason tracks that originally entranced me, the opening “You Can All Join In” and the second side’s “Cryin’ To Be Heard.”

“You Can All Join In” was especially noteworthy because of the lead vocal being in one channel and the supporting/backup vocals being in the other. And we all know the jaunty tracks reach us first.

As for “Cryin’ To Be Heard,” it was exactly the opposite, quiet and dreamy, as if cut in Morocco, this was not made for the radio so much as your bedroom, it still stands up today.

But this is about “Feelin’ Alright,” the first side closer.

Now some people might be aware of Three Dog Night’s 1969 cover of the track, but that never was a hit single, and nobody with cred was buying their albums.

But Three Dog Night’s version was like Joe Cocker’s version, it was UPBEAT! You listen to them and think everything is ALL RIGHT, when the truth is it’s not.

Now at this point, Dave Mason is most remembered for his soft rock hit on Columbia, “We Just Disagree.” But before that he was momentarily legendary for his Blue Thumb solo debut “Alone Together,” which not only came on multicolored pizza vinyl, but featured a triple-panel cover.

At the time the most noteworthy cut was his version of the Delaney & Bonnie cover of “Only You Know And I Know,” but every cut on “Alone Together” is genius, I don’t think younger generations have picked up on it.

But before Traffic splintered, there was that rendition of his song “Feelin’ Alright?”

Now I won’t say I never think of it, that it never crosses my mind, as a matter of fact, I sing it in my head on a regular basis, it’s Dave’s vocal so world-weary, almost understated. But still, at this point, I always think of “Feelin’ Alright” as an upbeat song, hell, the Cocker version is a tear. But last night, “Feelin’ Alright” revealed itself to me.

Of course I got it back in ’68, reading the lyrics, but I was inexperienced then.

You see “Feelin’ Alright” is a breakup song, one not of exuberance, I’M FINALLY FREE, but lamenting what once was, with the singer licking his wounds.

Seems I’ve got to have a change of scene
‘Cause every night I have the strangest dreams

Yup, he’s moved on, physically, leaving the bad memories and mood behind. BUT THAT’S NOT TRUE!

Imprisoned by the way it could have been

The average person is not a celebrity, they don’t crawl from the wreckage into a brand new car. No, they break up and…they’re left alone, contemplating what’s been lost, what’s been left behind.

Left here on my own or so it seems
I’ve got to leave before I start to scream
But someone’s locked the door and took the key

Wow, it’s like solitary confinement. But that’s the way it is when you break up. You can walk outside the house, go to the city center and be around people, but you can’t get the other person out of your head, they don’t leave your mind for a minute.

You feelin’ alright?
I’m not feelin’ too good myself
Well, you feelin’ alright?
I’m not feelin’ too good myself

Honesty. He’s in a bad space, he’s wondering if she is too, you always believe your ex is living it up, are they?

But boy you sure took me for one big ride
And even now I sit and wonder why

Hindsight is 20/20. How did you get wrapped up in their web? You compromise, buy into one thing, and then it’s a slippery slope, you’ve lost your perspective, you’re in a cult of two, and you’re not the leader.

And when I think of you I start to cry
‘Cause I just can’t waste my time, I must keep dry

You’re stuck. You can’t move forward, you can’t live. The world progresses around you, and you’re chained to the past.

Gotta stop believin’ in all your lies
‘Cause there’s too much to do before I die

He went through the meat grinder. He knows there’s a better future out there, he’s got to put one foot in front of another, but right now that’s impossible.

Don’t get too lost in all I say
Though at the time I really felt that way

He’s drunk-dialing, through a song. This is the worst, when you profess your undying love and get no response at all, or the brush-off.

But that was then and now it’s today

He’s apologizing, the tears have stopped, but she’s gotten the message, he’s desperate.

Can’t get off yet, so I’m here to stay
Till someone comes along and takes my place
With a different name yes, and a different face

He truly can’t get off. The merry-go-round of his mind and sexually. And he knows it’s only a matter of time before he’s replaced. But when that happens it will be a bitter pill to swallow, but it will allow him to go on, however haltingly.

You feelin’ alright?
I’m not feelin too good myself
Well, you feelin’ alright?
I’m not feelin’ too good myself

He wants to get his message across, he wants acknowledgement, of his bad space, of how she manipulated and hurt him. But still, he wants to believe she feels what he does and there’s a chance…guys always think there’s a chance.

And even the title is important. The Cocker cover is entitled “Feeling Alright.” It’s clear, he’s fine. But the Traffic original is called “Feelin’ Alright?,” with a question mark, it’s not about him, but her.

I guess that’s something amazing about music, how it constantly reveals itself to you over time, as you gain experience and perspective.

But “Feelin’ Alight” is another reason classic rock is classic. Sure, there’s bombastic stuff like “Smoke On The Water,” and then there’s more subtle stuff like “Feelin’ Alright,” which encapsulates the human condition in sound and lyric.

This is why we keep listening to this music.

All Blues – Playlist

I’d never heard it before.

Peter Frampton has a new blues album, “All Blues,” and although it went to #1 on the blues chart, that’s like being big in Poughkeepsie. But if it were 1969, this album would be all over aficionados’ turntables. Back when the blues still inspired the essence of rock and roll, when the scene was vital and comprehensible.

Actually, wasn’t Humble Pie directly influenced by the blues? Just listen to the “Fillmore” album. And Steve Marriott was a blues shouter par excellence.

But by time Humble Pie clicked in the marketplace, Frampton was already gone. The “Fillmore” double album was his last hurrah, he announced his departure before the tour, kinda like he’s announced he’s retiring from the road after this tour because of his illness. Did you read in the WSJ that Linda Ronstadt now says she was misdiagnosed, she never had Parkinson’s, but progressive supranuclear palsy, and there’s no medication for it? But unlike Frampton, who has inclusion body myositis, Linda wasn’t plying the boards on a retirement tour, she hadn’t made a new album, she kind of faded away and eventually said she was never coming back, but Frampton’s hiding in plain sight, and kinda like David Crosby constantly making albums fearing death, Peter is making albums at a prodigious rate before he’s unable to play at this level.

Now insiders know Frampton can wail. Hell, he was on George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass,” but he’s been forever negatively branded by taking a turn into teenybopper land. But “All Blues” sounds nothing like that.

We used to idolize guitarists. They were into the blues and soloists in England first, but after the Beatles broke in America, we hungered for more, and it wasn’t much later that Clapton became God and Hendrix was a legend and…oftentimes the material was just a framework for the axemen to show their skills… can you say “Spoonful”?

And it was Frampton who played on the Humble Pie “Fillmore” album.

But old rockers are supposed to fade away and not radiate. You don’t find anybody pushing the envelope anymore, they’re just on a dash for cash on the road.

But not Frampton, he’s time-stamped, and that inspires you. When you can see the end, you’re activated.

And Peter pulled an Ed Sheeran, he collaborated with a who’s who of players on many tracks. But instead of jumping genres, “All Blues” is just the blues.

The opener is “I Just Want To Make Love To You,” featuring Kim Wilson on the harp.

But to tell you the truth, Foghat burned me out on this song. I never cottoned to their version, even though I love their later stuff…”when I was stone blue, rock and roll still helped me through”. But Frampton’s iteration is less frantic, it sets down in a slow groove and keeps plowing ahead. And Frampton wails, as well as Wilson.

But actually, I like the second track, “She Caught The Katy” more. If you were in front of your stereo, if you were at the show, you’d be grimacing and playing air guitar.

And Frampton somehow makes “Georgia On My Mind” his own. It’s an instrumental take, the guitar sings the lyrics. Listen.

And now I’m intrigued. I start looking at the other featured players. And on the title track, I see Larry Carlton, a jazz master, a studio legend, so I pull it up. And I thought it was an original. And I didn’t like the subtle groove that began the track, the underpinning just didn’t have that much soul, but when Larry Carlton started to wail, at 1:42, my head about exploded. For a long time it was how fast you played. But then we realized that it was more about style. The key was to gain the skills, and then find your own sound, stake out your own territory. And Carlton shines on “All Blues.”

And then I’m listening to another song on the album, “Going Down Slow,” which features Steve Morse, and I wondered who wrote it and when I pulled up the page, I saw not only that “Going Down Slow” was written by St. Louis Jimmy Oden but that ALL the tracks on “All Blues” were covers, including “All Blues,” and I did not know that. You see the Mississippi roots, the building blocks of the blues, the fascination therewith, came a generation before me, in the U.K., at universities, I knew Robert Johnson like everybody else, and of course Willie Dixon and…there were names I’d heard of but didn’t know the music of.

So I immediately went to Spotify and puled up the original “Going Down Slow,” it was a REVELATION! The track had scratches on it, but it was like a previously unknown era came alive. This was not blues rock, there was almost nothing on the track, it was driven by St. Louis Jimmy Oden’s vocal. Packed into its length of 3:11 was a whole lifetime, it made you want to go down to the juke joints, that no longer exist, and hear this music…it was now obvious why the English cats and the students were infatuated.

Then I decided to pull up the original “All Blues,” by Miles Davis.

And what astounded me was it had the same groove, the same basic underpinning as the Frampton version, it’s just that it swung a bit more. And then Miles started to play and I instantly got it, why Miles is so revered, why he was so cool.

Now I saw Miles live in the “Bitches Brew” era, and I love “In A Silent Way,” but by that time he was far from the original sound that made him famous, he was experimenting with electronics.

And then I saw that “All Blues” is on “Kind Of Blue,” which I’d never really gotten, even though I literally had a copy someone sent me for my birthday, and I knew how famous it was…I just needed an introduction.

I mean if you think you hate jazz, have no interest in Miles, just pull this up, you’ll stop in your tracks, you won’t believe there’s something this good that you’ve never heard before.

That’s where Frampton led me. He knows his roots, he’s amplifying the sound.

And like I said, in a previous era, musos would be all over this album, talking about the playing, but now…

It’s just an artifact, like the original delta blues, waiting to be discovered by a later generation.