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Welcome to the continuing saga of the...
Read The Signs (Part 1)...
For 10 years I had recorded-shelved-recorded-shelved songs, that
I hoped would 1 day, become a project that I could release to the world and make
my statement. Of course, with no real plan or strategy in place, it's no
wonder it took
10 years for the
With over 100 radio stations from Commercial to College to the
Internet playing most of the tracks on the cd, and selling downloads from around
the world on
iTunes and other sites, I was now faced with something I had never
I didn't have another 10 years to put together another album and
the bar that had been set by "Rock'n'Roll
4 The Soul" was something to be carefully considered. Artistically, I
had accomplished my vision of what I had wanted to do with
"Rock'n'Roll", and that was make a
classic sounding analog "record" at a time when everything was going "digital".
Every track was recorded on a 24-tk machine using 2" analog tape. I not only
wanted to make a "record" but also an "album", a concept that has
So now the question of the "follow-up" reared it's ugly
head...the writing had begun to appear on the wall. We had reached a certain
level of success for ourselves with "Rock'n'Roll
4 The Soul", but by no means, the kind of success Easier said than done, when set against the backdrop of the Music Industry turmoil that was surrounding every aspect of the Business. For one thing, the biggest tape manufacturers had stopped making 2" analog tape! Recording studios, large & small, were closing their doors and selling off equipment at fire sale prices! And the continuing saga of the the decline in sales and demise of the CD, along with Internet piracy were everywhere...so why on earth would anyone in their right mind want to spend their time & money doing this?!
I don't know why but something told me to call Bruce and discuss
going back into the studio to record another cd. There was no real plan except
to take our time recording enough tracks until it was ready. Take the next year
if necessary...no pressure...nobody really knows what's going on anyway, so
let's take our time...
Read The Signs (Part 2)... So let's take our time? Well, it sounded like a good idea at
the time...the general plan would be to not rush anything...no timetables, no
release dates, etc...let's take our time and make the record we want and when we
finish it, we finish it. One of the things that happened with the making of "Rock'n'Roll
4 The Soul" was that I had finally realized a goal of mine...that
is, being able to call myself a "recording artist". For as long as I can
remember, I've seen that phrase on glossy 8x10s and posters-- It's kind of like the difference between being an "actor" and a "movie star"...they each have different connotations. Ok, so now I consider myself a "recording artist"...which means I probably suck playing live, but that's not necessarily the case either. It's just that I have a vision in my head of what I want to put on tape...or hard disc, as the case may be...and I'm able to do it... The way I "heard " this next album was more organic than "Rock'n'Roll
4 The Soul". Where "R&R" had been big & classic sounding, the
follow-up would be simpler and more straight forward...more "singer/songwriter"
oriented, with stripped down arrangements, featuring more acoustic guitars &
vocals. That's the way I heard it in my Another 1 of the
Bruce & I decided
we wanted to record with one
primary rhythm section to give a consistency to the sound & feel of the new
recording. We both knew where the bar had been set with the Both Steve & Paul are busy session players or on the road
The real
So there's Steve telling the story behind how he came into
possession of the box and then pulling out the maracas, and then
playing the part that they were used on "A Day in the Life"...or the old
wooden tambourine that was used on "Day Tripper" &
"We Can Work it Out" and then laying
a part
The amount of work & music that poured out in those frigid
days of February set the tone and vibe in which
"Read The Signs" would be created. It was very clear from
those initial sessions with Steve & Paul that we had something special, and with
the groundwork laid, the best was yet to come.
Phoenix Rising... This is my time and my turn now. It's taken me 5 years to recover and get my
sense of purpose back after I had abandoned the
DownTown Mystic project on 9/11. I had decided to do a mailing to
Triple A
Radio. As fate would have it, the packages were sitting in the post office on the morning of 9/11
when the planes hit. When I saw
I guess the packages were mailed out, but I never bothered to follow up. Everything just seemed so insignificant in the face of that tragedy. I took it as an omen and felt that I needed time to make sense of it all. I still haven't made sense of it. I don't think anyone has or ever will. I also think that we're all still in shock. One of the reasons I've decided to bring this project back was
a need to "feel" again after being
"numb" for so long. I know there's a good many people who feel the
same way but might not have the outlet that I do. My hope is that this music will help let people feel their
emotions again. This project has a I know it's allowed me to get back in touch with my feelings. That's one of
the main reasons why I hooked up with Bruce Engler this time around. He
had some songs that I always felt a connection to and thought they
It would be very easy to get caught up in the "bottle is half empty" syndrome, but it was another opportunity presenting itself and maybe the most important one of all. You just never know unless you're willing to stop feeling sorry for yourself and take another look at the situation and the possibilities. In a way, it's come full circle for me, and very apropos that I'm working with Bruce Engler on the DownTown Mystic project now. It's been a very karmic journey and in the case of Bruce, I see it as Good Karma coming back to me. They say "you reap what you sow" and I was about to find that out... To quote the famous line, "freedom is just another word for
nothing left to lose"...is pretty much how I felt about going back into the
studio to resurrect this project. Like the Phoenix rising from its own ashes, I
could feel the juices flowing once again when I got back in the studio with
Bruce and my trusty engineer extraordinaire, Ben Elliott.
Originally I had recorded a version of the song
"One More Chance", which I co-wrote
I don't know what it was about the song, except for us literally creating our future, but it always seemed to be the one track sticking out in mixing and then mastering that wasn't quite right. I became so focused on it that I knew it had to be everything we wanted it to be. I would go back to spend an extra day re-mixing it after having already finished a great mix. It always amazes me at the amount of minutia that I can spend on the details of recording a track. After listening to 5 or 6 different mixes for hours on end of "One More Chance", I had this feeling that it still wasn't right. So I went back in and discussed it with Ben. Ben thought we should get it right before continuing on with
mixing the other tracks, while it was still fresh in my mind. When we finished
the new mixes I knew we had finally nailed it. I can't tell you how satisfying
it felt, especially when Ben said that we definitely had improved on the
previous mixes! After finishing mixing the album, I went to master the project.
Again, of course, the one song that would require extra work and be the last one
that needed the last few tweaks would be "One More Chance". It got the
attention of my mastering guy Larry
Bentley, who was also scratching his head about it. So it wasn't just
me! Months after the recording was over and the cds were
manufactured, I decided to finally take the project to the world of
AAA Radio. I
had heard all the debates about the format, non-commercial vs commercial, but it
really didn't matter. I was determined to finally do
I went down to Louisville and attended Non-Comm, which turned out to be a great experience. I still wasn't sure if DownTown Mystic was right for the Non-Comm format, mainly because it definitely rocks more than what most of the stations play. But it was now or never. I met a few of the radio promo people I had been talking to in Louisville and decided to hire them to get the project out to the AAA formats. Two days after returning from Louisville, I got a phone call
from a Program Director in Florida. His name was G.
Michael Keating and his station WBCG, was the only AAA commercial
station in the entire state of Florida. He said he had been listening to the
Taste of Triple A sampler and liked
"One More Chance"
so much that he was adding it to his playlist This was like hitting the lottery on the 1st try! The radio promo guys I had hired wouldn't be going for adds for another 5 or 6 weeks, mainly because the cd wouldn't be mailed out to the stations for another 2 weeks...and we already had our 1st add! This was truly amazing. G. Michael became our "angel" and after 6 weeks of 6-8 spins a week, he put us in "Power Rotation", giving "One More Chance" 28 spins per week...unheard of for the typical AAA station. G. also wrote me an incredible email about how great he thought the song was and that we were "really onto something" with the project...it made my head spin! "Believe me when I say (as a 33-year vet of rock radio and a frustrated musician), One More Chance is a hit! They don't make 'em like this anymore...and they should, all day. It has all the ingredients: lyrics, arrangement, structure, guitar, vocal, length...and not necessarily in that order! It is a wonderful hit track that feels like a refreshing "throw back" to the day when bands and producers recorded songs for longevity. This is Doobie Brothers, or take your pick solid 70s-styled quality adult rock. It is unlike anything out there now, for a long while"...G.Michael Keating PD/WBCG Most
importantly, his words & actions not only validated the project for me as well
as Bruce, but also reaffirmed our belief in everything we held sacred about
Music. 6 months earlier we were totally dejected and suddenly we were on top of
the world. Talk about the
Phoenix Rising...
Old School...
Music has always been the most important thing in my life. Ever since I was a
kid, I've listened to music like people need air to survive.
In a weird way, this "keeper of the flame" is an image I've had of myself for
some time. I used to always pull a certain card from a deck of the Tarot and now
I understand why. The card is "The Hermit" and it's the 9th card in the Major
Arcana deck. It shows a solitary old man with a
The Hermit represents the Magician, the 1st card, at an advanced age beyond the affairs of the world. His lantern lights the darkness for those who seek his knowledge. Of course, I try to be the Magician in this time, with the power to create magic. For me, my ability to create magic comes through music. The true definition of "magic" is "concentration of the will". It's the
ability to create something from nothing. The Magician uses the powers of his
will (will power) to bring forth his desired idea into reality. We all have this
power. It's just learning to focus this ability that's the trick (no pun
intended...ok maybe it is intended). That's probably why they say that "one
person can make a difference" (one of these days I'm going to find out who
"they" are). I happen to be a number "1" by birth, said to be the hardest of all numbers
because it's the rock upon which all the others stand. This brings me to the
study of Numerology, called the "occult study of numbers". The word "occult"
literally means "hidden" and
Pythagoras, who is known as "the father of
Numerology" (he's also known as "the father of Mathematics"), would have his
students Actually, Numerology is the "science of vibrations", and numbers represent these vibrations. We are all familiar with "vibes" and Numerology is a way to study and understand these "vibes". Of course modern science does not recognize Numerology or Astrology, the two oldest sciences known to Mankind. But if Pythagoras is recognized as "the father of Mathematics", why wouldn't Numerology be accepted? Maybe it's because Pythagoras valued "numbers" over "numerals". That is to say that Pythagoras believed that "numbers" measured "qualities", while "numerals" (those things we add, subtract, divide & multiply) measured "quantities". It was around the time of my 27th birthday that I came in contact with
Numerology. My wife gave me a book as a present. Unfortunately, it had no
information about the subject that was of any use to me (it seems you had to
There are only 9 numbers in the universe? But of course! Everything can be added up and broken down to one final number. For instance, add up 24+65+83+34=206; 2+0+6=8...simple, right? Now how does this relate to you? Well, every letter in the alphabet has a number: A-I is 1-9; J-R is 1-9 & S-Z is 1-8. So every letter of your name at birth adds up to a number, and your date of birth adds up to a number. These numbers tell uncanny things about yourself and more importantly, help you to understand who you really are. They represent the "vibes" that make you who you are. How do I know Numerology works? I've done enough charts for people to prove
to them as well as myself that it does. The more I did them, the more I would just "believe".
It became very matter of fact to me. Once you
"believe", things become much clearer Which brings me back to where I started this...with music. In particular, my music and my project. I needed to get back to being creative and expressing a part of myself that I had been denying. Everybody talks about music, but it's become just a by-product of the industry. Nobody really listens anymore. "It's all about the music"...But the reality is something completely different than the perception the industry portrays and it's lead to the very problems the business now faces. So it's fair to say that it made me sick because of dealing with this false reality for too long. I needed to get back to making it "all about the music". So I did. I'm "old school". It begins and ends with the songs for me. And I had some
good songs that needed to be finished in the way I knew they should be done, and
let criticism be damned!
Birth Of A Notion… I was hanging out in London in June of 1994. It was the day after the authorities said OJ Simpson’s wife, Nicole, had been murdered and OJ was the chief suspect…really bizarre news, when I heard it…what the?? Anyway, I was in London hanging with Bert, my bud from Holland...Bert was the
drummer and main songwriter for a fairly big European Metal band on EMI in the
late 70's/early 80's I think (I can't remember their name--sorry Bert) and then
in a
very successful indie promotion company...and we were
invited out to dinner by 2 other characters – Dutch & NuNu, 2 Brits from Music
Bank, which is in the Dutch was house-sitting for the owner of The Original Hard Rock Café in London, who was in the States to be with his wife Maureen (Ringo Starr’s Ex), but I digress... So Dutch was getting us into The Hard Rock for dinner, on the night
when the famed establishment was celebrating it’s anniversary by making all
prices the same as twenty years ago…or something to that effect…the lines
were out the door and around the block and we just walked in behind Dutch, as
the throng of We went downstairs to the bar to wait for a table to clear upstairs and ordered drinks…Dutch was a big young guy and always seemed more like an American to me, while NuNu was some old tough Brit with a strong accent – 2 wonderful characters to pass some time with…great stories they would tell… Now, this is my 1st time in the London Hard Rock and I’m digging
the place…there’s a huge Harley sitting up behind the bar and I’m leaning
against
"You know", I said, "Giants used to walk these streets 25-30
years ago", as my cohorts looked on in a daze, I continued..."you could
probably drive over 95% of the acts today and not know who you hit…think about
The Beatles, The Stones, The
Who, The Kinks, Cream,
Hendrix, etc. all hanging in
the same clubs at the same time! Giants walked these streets!" Everyone
nodded in agreement and we continued to chow down…at these prices we weren’t
going to go hungry…
Meeting Of A Mind… It was in London that I met a wild man from LA
named Tom Fletcher. He was in London doing When I got back from Europe, I went out to LA for a friend's wedding in Malibu and since I had a few days to sightsee, I decided to take a drive up the Pacific Coast Highway to San Luis Obispo and visit my bud Fletch, who was working with a reunited YES...
I met up with Fletch in the make-shift control room upstairs, It was such a great way to spend a day, hearing these
accomplished musicians at work...
An Idea Whose Time Has Come…
Visiting
the London Hard Rock and then
meeting up with Fletch, gave me the
inspiration for I began to examine how different Rock'n'Roll is from today's Rock music...and it was about this time that I went to work with The Discontent in the studio, after I returned from my LA sojourn...
I thought it would be really interesting to record with some new
blood like I learned from playing with Garry & Max how easy it can be when all you have to worry about is your own part...I still try to think of how Garry would play a bass line when I'm working on some of my songs...that's how cool it was to work with somebody like him...
So
I was in the process of getting ready to make records and realized a great
I spent one night rehearsing
with them and then headed into the studio
The Dream… After recording the six tracks with The Discontent, I thought it might be cool to hook up with some other artists. It was at this point that the DownTown Mystic project began to take shape. I began to put some of the finished tracks on Industry Compilation cds that went to Radio stations around the country.
One
such compilation was the VirtuallyAlternative
cd that Jonathan L put out Suddenly, I was getting calls from radio stations wanting to know about DownTown Mystic. Soon there would be some national airplay from this, including some on the Specialty Shows. For those of you who are not familiar with Specialty Shows…they play the new music that gets released to Radio, most of which never gets heard on most stations...they act as the Music Taste Makers, exposing new music to their listening audience... I always felt that the hipper cats would discover the music first and this would turn out to be the case...some of the calls he received were from some very cool people who picked up on things in the music that could only come from someone who knew what they were talking about...when I thought about their comments, they were right on the money! That's such great feedback and it really helps to validate what you were trying to accomplish...ok, enough of this lovefest...
Living The Dream… I realize that I'm obsessed with Rock'n'Roll...to the point that I made it my lifestyle...I know that might seem strange to some, but it's another reality all together. "Normal" becomes something that depends on who's definition you're going by...
I took great satisfaction in the sound of the cd being more of a
"record"...and it's amazing when you're working with other people who
"get" what you're
It can take awhile sometimes, when you're not with other musicians, for you to realize that you don't live in an ordinary way. But music is an invisible language that reaches people in different ways, so it can't ever be expected to be ordinary...but I wonder... How important is MUSIC in people's lives today? The success of the Music Industry was built on the importance of MUSIC in people's lives...it seems like it's just "background music" today...
I think that MUSIC is the ONLY thing that can help people deal with it
because of music's invisible energy that everyone can feel...we all have
emotions...it's When you travel in The Mystic as I do, many things become apparent, that
you don't "normally" see...
Building The Beast… The one thing that always attracted me to The Discontent was the "groove" in their music...not exactly a traditional RnR groove, but a groove that not many of their contemporaries play with...
Playing
with The Discontent
made my music have more of an edge and
Yet
again, another great opportunity appeared before me...The Discontent
wanted
Not only would I be producing, but I would
have a hand in I thought I would try and bring some traditional aspects of RnR to the mix to create a new kind of hybrid that might be something new for Mainstream Rock today...
The
songs at times were a bit strange to me, but at the same time I tried to
An experiment gone awry? I don't think so...
The City Of Angels… LA is the Mecca of the Entertainment Business. If you want to be in
Movies, TV, Radio, Music, anything--LA's the place to be. It's an Industry town and
Entertainment permeates everything. And if it's Entertainment you're looking
for, then the Sunset Strip is the place to visit. With this in mind,
I was off to LA to attend a Label Showcase that The Discontent After our plane touched down at LAX, we picked up It
was late, but a good crowd was on hand, which included some girls who had flown
in from Japan just to be there! There were people from Boston, as well as It was a great show and a good time was had by all...the perfect
start to our sojourn in the City of Angels.
LA Confidential… It was the night before The Discontent showcase in Hollywood. After doing some business at The Viper Room, we were hanging out at The Roxy because Jess wanted to check out the porn stars that his friends said would be there. The night was highlighted by Alexis Arquette, cross-dressing brother of David & Rosanna, who got on stage and proceeded to fellate himself (i.e. gave himself a blowjob!) in front of a shocked capacity crowd. I think this might be one of the signs of The Apocalypse!
The
night of the showcase was Game 2 between The Lakers & Pistons. Detroit had
shocked LA by taking Game 1, causing panic in the faithful and promising to
The
next day the band's drummer Tommy caught an early flight back East. This
left Jessie & Eric free to spend some time visiting with a couple of
Industry Tommy Nast now works at AEG, a company that's involved with the Concert business (they put on Coachella) as well as owning the Staples Center in LA. Tommy's also a major Hockey fan, as are Jess & Eric, so the conversation immediately turned to The Stanley Cup, among other things, like the Lakers pulling out Game 2 in OT. As it would turn out, it would be the Lakers last hurrah.
After
a nice visit catching up with Tommy, we made our way out to Jonathan L's
Jonathan
was one of the innovators in Radio who helped to start the Alternative format,
so music was the #1 topic of conversation on his newly built deck on a gorgeous
Hollywood afternoon. It doesn't get much better than that.
Soul Brother: The Celestial Mechanic… One of the strangest and most beneficial connections in my weird life is having the
same Two Aquarians, one into Astrology, the other into Numerology. Strange that we would both be interested in the 2 oldest sciences known to mankind, but at the same time it makes perfect sense. We formed an immediate bond like 2 long lost brothers discovering each other on the same path.
Monte is a gentle giant who is also known as "The Celestial Mechanic" because of his ability to help those in need of some spiritual guidance, to find it and get a "tune-up" on their spiritual disposition. He created a divination card system based on Astrology called Karma Cards and sold it to Penguin Press, which printed it in 9 languages around the world.
They have
combined their talents to create a cottage industry, based on their spiritual
lifestyle. Their products are used daily by The Enchanted Tarot was made into an award winning CD-Rom. Monte then created The Instant Tarot Reader, which allowed the reader to be able to instantly find the meaning of their Tarot reading themselves. That's because Monte figured out all the combinations that could possibly appear in a Tarot reading and gave the meaning of every one! They have added other divination games & books like The Alchemist and The Psychic Circle, among others to their ever expanding catalog, which can now be viewed on their new website--The Enchanted World.com.
Having Monte & Amy as friends is one of
the many blessings I count in my life. They are that rare couple, whose love and
commitment to each other, make them such a great example of having the courage
to follow your dreams and make them a reality.
Soul Brothers: TP & The Boss… It's hard to believe that Tom Petty has been around 30 years!
What While Tom Petty was considered
the upstart punk from LA, Bruce
Springsteen had just been crowned the TP,like Bruce, has a place all to himself based in this
"tradition" and is now an Elder Not that The Boss has been a slouch...He had the more mainstream
success earlier, so he was never called a "punk". But Bruce got into
his 60's phase in the late 70's and early 80's with "The River".
The Guitar Gods… I have
always found myself to be heavily influenced by the LA "Sound" and can
There was a point
in time when the Guitar God came And now...Time To Rock!
The Guitar Gods: Stephen Stills... One of the most underrated and overlooked guitarists in Rock
History is Stephen Stills.
Nicknamed "Captain Many Hands", Stills guitar playing is a unique style of rhythmic finger pickin', blues and Latin American influences. I became a major fan after hearing his classic Springfield tracks, "Rock'n'Roll Woman" & "Bluebird". Probably more than any other guitar player, Stills is responsible for first bringing acoustic guitar into Rock as a lead instrument. Just check out his acoustic solo on "Bluebird". It still remains one of the best on record. And it wasn't just his great guitar playing with fellow
Springfield cohort, Neil Young, but also
his great voice. The sound of
his voice has a unique and distinct sound like no one else. Years ahead of the
curve, his style combined hard It's Young who always gets the artistic kudos, but for me, nobody from that band could hold a candle to Stills. Outside of The Beatles, nobody was pushing the Rock & Pop envelope like him. He made great sounding records that still stand up today. The 1st CSN album was where the potential he showed with
Buffalo Springfield
One of the things I've always loved about Stills was the fact that he played Gretsch guitars. Outside of George Harrison, I can't think of another player so identified with the brand. He knew what great sound was about and he knew how
unique those guitars sounded. He took Rock into another direction with those
guitars. His songs For a 10 year period from 1966-1976, Stills made some of the best records ever released. His work with Buffalo Springfield alone put him in the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame. But to then go on and do the Super Session with Mike Bloomfield & Al Kooper as a warm up act for Crosby Stills & Nash would be enough greatness for 3 or 4 lifetimes. But Stills was only halfway through this magical period of his career.
For me, Stills is one of the great influences in my musical
life, on my guitar playing & songwriting. His style and technique is so
ingrained in me that I had forgotten how much. One day I got a call from a radio
vet named Doc, who had called to talk about
DownTown Mystic. When I got off the phone, I began to think how much I used to
listen to Stills' tracks on those records, soaking up the sound. I had never
heard anything like it and to this day, I still haven't.
The Master of Space & Time: Leon Russell... One of the great Rock'n'Rollers of all time is the man sitting
at the piano in the top hat from Tulsa, Oklahoma--Leon
Russell. There was a time in the 70's when he was THE
It's somewhat fitting that Leon got his start playing with Jerry Lee Lewis, since he was responsible for the piano's strong comeback in Rock in the early 70's, the same way The Killer was influential for it's sound in the 50's. Leon left Tulsa for Hollywood in the late 50's and wound up being part of the famed "Wrecking Crew", the crack group of LA session musicians that played on the hits of Phil Spector and virtually everything else in the 60's. Leon was right there in the thick of it, playing with everyone from The Beach Boys & Jan & Dean to The Byrds & Frank Sinatra. I grew up hearing him play, without knowing it, on some of the biggest hits of that era.
It wouldn't be until the dawn of the 70's that Leon would
come into my view by playing with
Joe Cocker. The
1st time I saw Leon, he was opening a show with
Procol Harum &
Ten Years After
at The Spectrum in Philly. A week or two later I saw him headlining at the
legendary
Fillmore East in NYC. His opening act was another piano man, starting to make
some noise from England, named
Elton John. I had
great seats over the stage and it was probably the best show I ever saw! Elton
had the "buzz" First you had Elton, with just a 3 piece of piano, bass & drums. All I had heard of Elton was his soft pop hit "Your Song", so when I saw he was just a trio, I didn't expect much. I wasn't ready for him and what he was about to do. But Elton blew me away and brought down the house...it was amazing! It was obvious he was going to become a superstar. Elton had it all. The real question was how would Leon follow that??
Of course, both performers were just starting their solo
careers, on their respective paths to superstardom. The following year, George
Harrison tapped Leon to help him organize the band for George's historic
Concert For Bangladesh, which featured Leon's show stopping medley of
"Jumping Jack Flash/Youngblood". The following year, Leon took advantage of his
star status by releasing his
Asylum Choir II album, which he had recorded
Leon's trademark silver grey beard & long hair are now all white,
but he still tours, doing what he does best. It's unbelievable that his name is
not enshrined in the RnR Hall of Fame, with the career that he's had. Starting
as an in demand session player with the famed
Wrecking Crew, playing on the
hits of the early 60's to writing, arranging & performing with Joe Cocker's
Mad
Dogs & Englishmen, to being the "toast of rock's elite" to his own
superstardom. As far as I'm concerned, Leon Russell will always be the "Master
of Space & Time".
Rocking With The Beatles: Remembering John... 2 guitars, bass & drums...the classic RnR band's line-up...you can alter it by adding a lead vocal or taking away one guitar, but essentially this is the mold from which everything was created from the 60's on...
I believe that sooner or later, all bands have to confront the legacy The Beatles left to the world...and if you follow their blueprint, you will progress in your music...and that's a good thing! So it was with that in mind that The Discontent
took on the unenviable task of It's definitely one of my faves, mainly because of the GUITARS and how hip The Beatles made RnR sound...and the one thing I always loved, was when Lennon discussed Revolver and said it was a GUITAR record!! Any guitarist will tell you what that means...but for Lennon to say it, was very cool... Lennon said he wrote the song after talking to Peter
Fonda, while on
But
rather than try and duplicate a
And John Lennon is nothing, if not a great Rock'n'Roll writer... It's hard to believe that 2005 marks the 25th anniversary of his death...and it's somewhat eerie to hear the line “I know what it’s like to be dead”...but at the same time, somewhat befitting to the great man's memory, being subversive once again in these PC times we now live in... For some reason, I think he would be smiling about
that himself...
The Wild & Wicked: Brian Jones... February 28th is the birthday of Brian Jones. He would be 63 years old today...what a geezer! If you're reading this, then you've undoubtedly read my 4 part tale of Brian's haunting...and I must say it was definitely HIM! The main thing about the experience I had with Brian's
spirit was that I found it odd to be Like Brian's dabbling with the Dark Arts and the
fascination that he and a group of his cohorts had with Aleister
Crowley...who took 666 - "the number of the beast" as his own.
It became somewhat fashionable to be "decadent" back in "Swinging
London" in the 60's. "Sex, drugs & rock'n'roll" was their
mantra. I was curious to know how this number is tied to "the
Devil"? So many myths and superstitions abound. I found out that the American Indians did not believe in
"the Devil". He was created by the "white man". Wicca does
not hold any belief in it either...witch is kind of strange
when you think about it...(witch-which, get it?)
I remember the story of Lucifer, God's favorite Angel, who
fell from Grace because of his jealousy of Man. The Fall Of The Angels has God
casting them to Earth. John Milton's So one day a knock comes on my door and who should be standing there but 2 Jehovah's Witnesses! That's right...I figure they HAVE to know where to find the "Fall Of The Angels" in the Bible, right? Before they could get a word out of their mouths, I pounced on them. I go into my whole spiel..."why is 666 the sign of the devil? Where does it say that in the Bible? But what about the "Fall Of The Angels"? Where is that story in the Bible? I can't find it anywhere!"...they looked kind of nervous but got out their bibles and mentioned a passage here...Nope!...a passage there...Nope! I must have seemed possessed to them...more likely
psychotic...I continued by
saying I know the story, but where did Interestingly enough...I found out that there were various books by lesser prophets that at one time or another were part of the Bible, but dropped for various reasons. Believe it or not...The Book of Enoch tells the tale of the Fallen Angels, going so far as to say that the reason they got kicked out of Heaven was because they were sent to watch over the humans, and ended up having sex with them! Now THAT just might be the reason old Enoch got the heave-ho! But I digress... The story of Brian Jones
was compelling, and it was
amazing to me to find out just how many people still remember and care about him
and his memory, via fan clubs, particularly That could all change later this year when a new movie gets premiered at Cannes called
"Stoned"
(originally titled "The
Wild & Wycked World Of Brian Jones"). It was interesting to learn that the film's director,
Stephen Woolley, has been involved with the
The Man In The High Castle: Philip K. Dick... One of the great minds of the 20th (and some say the 21st) Century is a science fiction writer named Philip K. Dick. It's interesting that his 1st book, "Solar Lottery", was published in 1955...the same year as the birth of Rock'n'Roll. He certainly had the spirit of a rocker and is generally credited with creating the genre of "CyberPunk". Clearly ahead of his time, Dick would continue to turn out nearly 50 books (as many as 7 in a year!) and assorted short stories up to his untimely death in 1982 at the age of 53...just months before the groundbreaking sci-fi flick "Blade Runner" was released, based on his 1968 novel, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?". Since his death, more films have been made including, "Total Recall", "The Minority Report" and "Paycheck". Ever since Hollywood discovered Dick's genius, a more critical eye has been cast upon the author and his work, finally resulting in the acclaim his talent & genius never received while he lived...except, of course, by those of us who were turned onto him and became faithful readers and believers. I know he's had a great deal of influence on my thinking. I first heard of Philip K. Dick from an
article titled, "The
Most Brilliant Sci-Fi Mind on Any Planet" by Paul Williams in
Rolling Stone. I
Probably the
biggest theme in Dick's books is what is reality? He had
an uncanny way of building a world with one reality, and then turning
it on it's head, blowing your mind in the process. After reading a few of his books, you
became more aware of just how fragile things could be. Certainly, my experience
with Brian Jones had made me
Despite
winning the Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 1963 for "The Man
In The High Castle", as a sci-fi
writer, Dick would not be taken seriously by mainstream critics. He gained a
cult following that included people like John
Lennon, who wanted to option
Dick's novel "The Three Stigmata of Palmer
Eldritch" for a movie. Many feel it to
be THE story of what the LSD experience is like, which made the legend of PK Dick
grow even more, since he wrote it years before actually taking the drug! He
wrote for 20 years on methamphetamines and was afraid to stop taking the drugs
because he didn't think he would be able to write without them. The irony was
that once his did stop the drugs, he found that his natural state of writing was
to go for days and even weeks without sleep. Eventually, this would take it's
toll. As he grew older, his body had a harder time recovering from the abuse he
put it through when writing and a series of strokes put an They say that "great minds think
alike" and though I certainly wouldn't put mine in the same category as his,
I
do find myself reflected in his thinking. When I thought I might be crazy, I
found that there was someone who already knew and more importantly, understood,
the illusion of reality. What we believe to be reality in this world isn't
necessarily the True Reality for everyone. For me, Philip K. Dick
is a visionary and one
of the most important writers and thinkers of the Modern Age. With every passing
year, his status will continue to grow.
©2001-10 Sha-La Music, Inc.
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Fletch was putting together a mobile studio for them to
record some new material...their first such efforts together since the
80's...they were rehearsing in an old bank building
right off the main drag and it was kind of a startle to walk into the main stage
area after the long ride up
![[ Philip K. Dick, 1928 - 1982 ]](images/pkd.gif)
