From: Joel Selvin<\/p>\n
Subject: Re: Country Joe McDonald<\/p>\n
Date: March 10, 2026 at 10:37:49?AM MDT<\/p>\n
As Bill Graham once introduced them at Fillmore East, Country Joe and the Fish — taking Berkeley with them wherever they go.<\/p>\n
____________________________________<\/p>\n
From: Marc Sedaka<\/p>\n
Subject: Re: Neil Sedaka\/Dad<\/p>\n
Date: March 4, 2026 at 11:35:30?PM MST<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t read the comments from the both of you and not weigh in. Those London years from \u201972-\u201974 were arguably the happiest of my father\u2019s life and undoubtedly his most creative. Solitaire and The Tra La Days Are Over remain the Sedaka family’s favorite albums, and, till the day he died, Neil would refer to songs like \u201cTrying to Say Goodbye\u201d, \u201cAnywhere You\u2019re Gonna Be\u201d and \u201cFor Peace and Love\u201d as his hidden treasures. He revered you both and was forever grateful for your guidance and your contributions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Elton – Thank you for saying that Neil should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It truly is an injustice that he\u2019s not and I\u2019m only sorry that he didn\u2019t live long enough to see it happen. I must also reference something from Bob\u2019s wonderful retrospective that bears clarification. Neil never wanted to leave Rocket Records, but rather allowed himself to be coerced by people close to him who thought they knew better. Yes, he had regrets. But only because he didn\u2019t listen to his heart and do what he knew was right. I don\u2019t know if he ever told you that, but he told me a lot. He loved you so much.<\/p>\n Thank you both for changing his world.<\/p>\n ____________________________________<\/p>\n From: Alex Cooper<\/p>\n Subject: Re: The Wings Book<\/p>\n Date: February 5, 2026 at 7:24:49?AM MST<\/p>\n My lawyer in NY worked for Yoko. He said he only really understood how famous the Beatles were when he walked into a room with the President of the United States and Paul McCartney in it. The Secret Service agents were looking worried. He saw why. Nobody was talking to The President. They all wanted to talk to Paul.<\/p>\n ____________________________________<\/p>\n From: Michael Moniz<\/p>\n Subject: Brett Guerwitz, Epitaph Records Founder Speaks About Spotify<\/p>\n Bob, I\u2019m unsure if you\u2019re familiar with who Brett Gurewitz is founder of Epitaph records and legendary Los Angeles punk band Bad Religion. Listening to him on this recent podcast episode of the podcast Hardlore, I think you might want to listen and even propagate it to your readers because of his take on Spotify. It\u2019s pretty much right in line with you have been saying, and to hear it these days from a mid-level musician and indie label owner is really hard to find these days. It\u2019s a long episode, it covers the history of the band and the label, but you just have to listen at about the two hour mark for about 10 to 12 minutes where he discusses it.<\/p>\n “Brett Gurewitz: Bad Religion, Founding Epitaph Records, Early Punk\/Hardcore & The Shift to Spotify”: https:\/\/overcast.fm\/+AA5US0ZH1Tg<\/p>\n ____________________________________<\/p>\n From: John Van Nest<\/p>\n Subject: Re: Re-Paul Anka<\/p>\n Date: March 9, 2026 at 6:38:06?PM MDT<\/p>\n Hi Bob,<\/p>\n I recorded vocals for a project of Paul Anka\u2019s somewhere around the late 80\u2019s. \u00a0During the sessions, which ran a few days, we talked about a lot of things; family, life, his career, etc. \u00a0I found him to be wonderfully genuine and a truly engaging person.<\/p>\n On the last day, as he was leaving, I felt his hand slide into my pocket, and when I reached in, I pulled out a $100 bill he had given me. \u00a0I explained that tipping wasn\u2019t really customary nor necessary for a recording engineer. \u00a0He replied, \u201cBuy something nice for that little daughter of yours.\u201d<\/p>\n I was always struck by that act of kindness and appreciation. \u00a0I\u2019ll forever be a fan of the man and his art.<\/p>\n ____________________________________<\/p>\n From: Dave Arbiter<\/p>\n Subject: Re: Mac McAnally At The Vilar<\/p>\n Date: February 21, 2026 at 5:27:22?AM MST<\/p>\n Loved this one!!<\/p>\n I’ve been living in one of those Jimmy Buffett 55 (and better) communities for 1-1\/2 years now, in Daytona Beach. Mac plays our community once a year, and it’s impossible to get a golf cart spot on those evenings!<\/p>\n I appreciate you comparing the Parrotheads to the Deadheads. It’s not far off, except by scale. \u00a0Plenty of both here.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Fins Up,<\/p>\n Dave Arbiter\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Latitude Margaritaville\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Daytona Beach, FL<\/p>\n ____________________________________<\/p>\n From: Kevin Cronin<\/p>\n Subject: Re: Man On The Run<\/p>\n Date: March 2, 2026 at 12:40:26?PM MST<\/p>\n Hey Bob,<\/p>\n I came across Man on the Run the other night, and found it to be my favorite post-Beatles doc. I can\u2019t put my finger on why \u2026 and I don\u2019t really care. It simply worked for me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n On a strictly musical level, it\u2019s hard to beat the in-studio piece with Paul and Rick Ruben. And the three-part special on the drama leading up to the rooftop performance was great in its own way. But again, for my money, Man on the Run told the story best. \u2026 kc<\/p>\n ____________________________________<\/p>\n From: Jim Willcox<\/p>\n Subject: Re: Calibration<\/p>\n Date: February 12, 2026 at 7:22:11?AM MST<\/p>\n Hi, Bob, thanks for the write-up\u00a0on TV calibration. I can’t tell you how many times I go to someone’s house and they brag about their new, great TV, and all I see is that\u00a0they have the brightness cranked too high, the image is over-sharpened, they have engaged a high level of motion smoothing, and the colors are boosted to where they look unnatural. We know many people never take their TVs out of the default settings, or won’t pay for a true ISF calibration, so we started offering members the actual settings we use in our labs to get TVs as close as possible to our reference models. We also point out that consumers don’t have to be afraid to play around with the individual settings; you can always easily return to the TV’s default settings in the menu.<\/p>\n Glad this made a difference in the LG OLED TV you bought, a great choice.<\/p>\n The offer\u00a0for a lab visit still stands when you’re on the East Coast.<\/p>\n Best regards,<\/p>\n Jim<\/p>\n James K. Willcox<\/p>\n Senior Electronics Editor<\/p>\n Consumer Reports\/Consumer Reports Online<\/p>\n ____________________________________<\/p>\n From: Steven Marmalstein<\/p>\n Subject: Re: The Billy Preston Movie<\/p>\n Date: February 24, 2026 at 8:09:06?PM MST<\/p>\n Hi Bob,<\/p>\n In 1997, I was a segment producer on a TV special for ABC called “The Three Stooges Greatest Hits.” It was a clip\/variety show hosted by Martin Short and was seen by probably 26 people. We hired Little Richard to appear on the show and sing the accidental hit from 1984 called “The Curly Shuffle” by Jump in the Saddle.<\/p>\n After we handed Richard his 25 G’s in a brown paper bag,\u00a0 we asked him if he wanted to check out the piano, the tuning and whatnot. He said, “I’m good, I have Billy coming in to play my parts for me. I’ll just sing it after.”<\/p>\n Ten minutes later, Billy Preston walks into the recording studio and sits at the piano. He tells the band to start and they play. \u00a0He jumps in and plays his part perfectly. Does one more take, gets up and says hello to Richard. They hug and Richard then reaches into his bag, hands him some cash and Billy leaves. He’s there for maybe ten minutes.<\/p>\n A few minutes later Richard says “Oh no! Billy was supposed to sing back up! I’ll do it but I need some help. Can any of you boys carry a tune?” So me and another producer look at each other and say “yeah, sure” and volunteer for the gig. We grab a lyric sheet, walk into the studio and sing back-up WITH Little Richard! Okay so it wasn’t Tutti Frutty, but wow!<\/p>\n Only in LA.<\/p>\n Here’s the video, which we shot a few days later at the Alex Theater in Glendale.<\/p>\n You can hear us on the “Hey Moe’s”\u00a0in the bg.<\/p>\n “The Curly Shuffle” by Little Richard:<\/p>\n