Peter Gabriel Inducted Into Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame

Peter Gabriel, already a member of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame for his work with Genesis, was inducted now as a solo artist. Kind, humble, and talented. Having worked with Peter on his So tour, I know firsthand the quiet authority he possesses. Congratulations to a great musician, a warm human being, and an inspiration to all artists.

In his acceptance speech, Peter Gabriel urged young musicians to use their imaginations.

“Surround yourself with brilliance. The brilliance of who you love being around — and the brilliance of their talent.”

He ended with a moving meditation on the power of music.

“Watch out for music. It should come with a health warning. It can be dangerous. It can make you feel so alive, so connected to the people around you, connected to what you are inside. It can make you think that the world should and could be a much better place. It can also make you very, very happy.”

 

Source:
Pic: personal archives

Beatles Arrive in America 50 Years Ago

Fifty years ago today on February 7, 1964, The Beatles arrived at JFK airport – and music, culture, life was never the same! But before they got off the plane, they were worried: would anyone even care?

“We heard that our records were selling well in America,” said George, “but it wasn’t until we stepped off the plane … Seeing thousands of kids there to meet us made us realize just how popular we were there.”

I Wanna Hold Your Hand was at the top of the Billboard chart and stayed there for 7 weeks. And tickets for The Beatles’ first, live Ed Sullivan Show broadcast in New York City went on sale and sold out. John, Paul, George and Ringo were instantly embraced and adored – becoming influential cultural icons – then, still, and forever.

Fifty years later, Paul and Ringo are still putting out albums and still performing. So, what does 50 years mean to Ringo?

“We’re still out there doing what we love to do and that is to play.”

 

Source:
George quote: Time, February 7, 2014
Ringo quote: CBS This Morning, February 7, 2014

Losing Buddha and Finding Solace with a Little Help from George Harrison

Being sad sucks. Listening to George Harrison’s Here Comes The Sun helps. It has provided solace in a week of mourning. It has been a nurturing companion providing me with hope that there will soon be light.

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it’s all right
Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it’s all right

You see, my Buddha passed. Perfectly named – yes, he had a big pink Buddha belly – Buddha was possessed of a calm, sweet, kind nature. Is it remarkable, fortuitous even, that it was George Harrison’s own signal of enlightenment that I was steered toward to help me deal with the loss of my precious Buddha? Palliative, meditative, uplifting, and altogether positive, Here Comes The Sun is the comfort food that is feeding me, filling me with hope.

Little darling, the smiles returning to their faces
Little darling, it seems like it’s years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it’s all right

An indication of exactly how persuasive it is, did you know Carl Sagan thought Here Comes The Sun should be included on the Voyager spacecraft’s Golden Record to provide any entity that recovered it a representative sample of human civilization? How cool, how appropriate.

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes

I miss Buddha so much. My heart is breaking. Yet here is this song about looking forward. That happy times will come again when the sun comes out. That there is a promise for new beginnings. That “… it’s all right.” I sure do hope so. In fact, I’m clinging to that.

Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been clear
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
It’s all right, it’s all right

 

Source:
Here Comes the Sun: Words and Music by George Harrison, copyright 1969 Northern Songs, from the Beatles’ album, Abbey Road.

Music Review: My Favorite French Singer-Songwriter

  

 

A rare artist America should know, October 19, 2013
By Yvette Perry

This review is from: Amoureuse (Audio CD)

Having a French family, my visits to Paris always yielded happy discoveries. And one of the earliest, and surely the best, was Veronique Sanson. I have loved her since I was a teenager. Now that I no longer have a cassette player, I knew it was time to get one of my favorite albums, Amoureuse, on CD. So happy that I found it here on Amazon, where the sound quality is exactly as it was on the original release. This is, to me, her best album. Every song is memorable. In fact you’ll find yourself humming the tunes long after you’ve hit the “off” button. I think they are perhaps the songs she is most known for. Her voice, her lyrics, her melodies – put together her songs are made luminous. Trying to describe her by saying that she’s a bit Linda Ronstadt, a bit Joni Mitchell, well, it’s just too pat. (Although she was married to Stephen Stills!) She’s a unique artist and one of vast talent. If you catch her live performances on YouTube, you will find how easily and powerfully she connects with her audiences. I hope you will give this album a listen. This artist is well worth your time!

Sources:
Amoureuse album cover: Veronique Sanson Official Website
Review: Amazon
Concert 1979 (Live): YouTube/Michel Didier

How Do You Write a Song, Mark Knopfler?

You know Mark Knopfler. Dire Straits. Sultans of Swing, Romeo and Juliet, Tunnel of Love, Money for Nothing. And solo albums, too. A great songwriter. And that voice. So distinctive, gruff yet honest. He mixes different styles and genres of music, blends them to make a sound that is his alone. Put together that voice, the lyrics, the melodies, the music, and he makes you feel what he feels.

But it’s that Mark Knopfler is one of the greatest guitarists on the planet. That’s how I consider him first and foremost. No doubt about it.

He came out with a new album last year, Privateering, which is finally being released here in the U.S. now. He told Rolling Stone that he’s more in love with writing songs than he’s ever been, and credits a sense of discipline that has developed with age … and that his perspective as a writer has definitely shifted over the years:

“I don’t know whether your heart ever necessarily changes, but time changes the way that you perceive the world, and you just hope it gives you more empathy and all those other things.”

Oh, so now Money for Nothing is in your head and it won’t stop? Yeah, try to get that guitar riff out of there. Better yet, don’t! You’re welcome.

 

Sources:
Privateering: Mark Knopfler Official Website
Interview: Rolling Stone
Pic of Mark Knopfler performing in Barcelona, Spain: Miquel Benitez/Redferns via Getty Images

 

What’s On Your Summer Reading List?

There’s nothing like summer to catch up on our reading. And there’s no better time to reflect on the state of books. To that point, this week Seth Godin’s admonitory post, An End of Books, riled our sensibilities and our core emotions. In it he states, “Books, those bound paper documents, are part of an ecosystem, one that was perfect, and one that is dying, quickly.” Then he evaluates these endangered species: bookstore, library, publisher, our book shelves, and even the Pavlovian response of our reading process (!). But he ends on a hopeful note of reinvention. Thankfully. Because I love to read. I love the feel of a book, the turn of a page, and the thrill of discovery.

So, it’s summer. We can take the plunge into that pile we’ve been building for just this moment. I’m starting with my favorite author’s latest, Daniel Silva’s The English Girl. Gabriel Allon, master art restorer plus Mossad assassin equals #1 bestseller. Then it’s on to Khaled Hosseini’s And The Mountains Echoed, The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith, I mean J.K. Rowling, and The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes, hailed as this summer’s must read, much as Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl was last year. And what a great read that was!

The rest of my summer reading includes Meg Wolitzer’s The Interestings, Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews, Lexicon by Max Barry, and Brad Thor’s latest thriller, Hidden Order. He’s always topical and always action-packed. And the urban drama, Ivy Pachoda’s Visitation Street, is said to recall another fave author, Richard Price. In that case, I’m into it.

I’m really looking forward to getting into Roots drummer and Jimmy Fallon’s bandleader, Questlove’s memoir, Mo’ Meta Blues and to learning much more in Harry Nilsson: The Life of a Singer-Songwriter by Alyn Shipton.

Still to come is Roy Peter Clark’s next glamorous book on grammar, How to Write Short, out August 27, Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep in September, and Jo Nesbo’s next Harry Hole thriller, Police, in October.

Last but not least, The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter than You Think by Brian Hare will remind me who’s really the smart one around here.

I order a lot of my books from the Public Library. You can also check out Amazon’s Best Sellers of 2013 and the weekly NY Times Sunday Book Review.

Now it’s time for me to stop writing and start reading. What are you reading this summer?

 

Sources:
Seth Godin’s quote: Seth’s Blog, August 15, 2013
Pic: Charles Schultz

Good Thing It’s Book Lover’s Day Because I Love Books

I love to read. I have books all around me in every room. Books I’ve read and books I want to read. And there’s nothing like summer to catch up on your reading. So Book Lover’s Day is the perfect excuse to say adios to any more work (good thing it’s Friday!) and start digging in.

I’m celebrating with my favorite author’s latest, Daniel Silva’s The English Girl. Gabriel Allon, master art restorer plus Mossad assassin equals #1 bestseller. Then it’s on to Khaled Hosseini’s And The Mountains Echoed, The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith, I mean J.K. Rowling, and The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes, hailed as this summer’s must read, much as Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl was last year. And what a great read that was!

The rest of my summer reading includes Meg Wolitzer’s The Interestings, Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews, Lexicon by Max Barry, and Brad Thor’s latest thriller, Hidden Order. He’s always topical and always action-packed. And the urban drama, Ivy Pachoda’s Visitation Street, is said to recall another fave author, Richard Price. In that case, I’m into it.

I’m really looking forward to getting into Roots drummer and Jimmy Fallon’s bandleader, Questlove’s memoir, Mo’ Meta Blues and to learning much more in Harry Nilsson: The Life of a Singer-Songwriter by Alyn Shipton.

Still to come is Roy Peter Clark’s next glamorous book on grammar, How to Write Short, out August 27, Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep in September, and Jo Nesbo’s next Harry Hole thriller, Police, in October.

Last but not least, The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter than You Think by Brian Hare will remind me who’s really the smart one around here.

I order a lot of my books from the Public Library. You can also check out Amazon’s Best Sellers of 2013 and the NY Times Bestseller List.

It’s time to stop writing and start reading!

 

Source:
Pic: Charles Schultz

Rowling, Rolling Stone, and the Role of Beethoven

Some Friday faves for you.

So there’s this well-reviewed thriller, The Cuckoo’s Calling, modest sales, debut author, name of Robert Galbraith. Turns out this very well written and very well paced novel is by J.K. Rowling. And now sales are going through the roof. But wait, there’s more. Rowling is disappointed about the leak of her pseudonym. She enjoyed the anonymity. Well, she can say goodbye to that.

Hard to miss the brouhaha built up this week surrounding the cover of the Rolling Stone. See, you have to phrase it that way, the cover of the Rolling Stone. Because there’s a song out there that makes it impossible not to refer to it that way. Anyway. Glamorizing terrorism or savvy marketing or good journalism, here’s my take.

About that Da-da-da-DAAHH thing. You know those first four notes of Beethoven’s Fifth? How we know, we can feel, we anticipate the rest? That’s because our brain’s transmitters are bustling. A professor of neuroscience explains why that’s such a great thing for music lovers. Oh, and about the pic of Beethoven the Dog…sorry about the mix-up.

 

It’s Friday. Here’s What Happened This Week

Happy Friday and here are 5 articles to ponder. Enjoy!

Dustin Hoffman makes a deeply emotional declaration on our perception of beauty.
“If I met myself at a party I would never talk to that character.” Playing Dorothy in Tootsie made him realize that he had been brainwashed into only engaging with attractive women. This great and peerless actor sheds a few tears at this epiphany and we love him even more.

 

The Academy Awards will present a concert of Oscar-nominated songs.
Three days before the next Oscar show, a special concert on February 27, 2014 at UCLA will feature the songs and film scores that will be up for an Oscar. The Academy stated, “A symphony orchestra of L.A. studio musicians will perform a suite from each score … it is our hope that either the original artists or the songwriters will perform their own songs live.” This Oscar first could become an annual event. More music? Sounds great!

 

Two movies with the same name. Oh, and they’re practically a century apart. So why is there a problem?
A new film coming out next month, The Butler, based on a true story, stars Forest Whitaker as a butler who served in the White House from Eisenhower to Reagan. And what a cast. It includes Liev Schreiber, Terrence Howard, Mariah Carey, James Marsden, Oprah Winfrey, Jane Fonda, Robin Williams, Melissa Leo, John Cusack, and Vanessa Redgrave. Wow. So what’s the problem? There was an old, very old, short silent film from 1916 that was also called The Butler. And now there’s a battle over the use of that title. Although it seems crazy, it’s also complicated. And probably has to do with … yep, money.

 

White House presented the National Medal of Arts this week to some pretty terrific artists.
Presenting the award to George Lucas, Tony Kushner, Renee Fleming, Herb Alpert, Allen Toussaint, the Washington Performing Arts Society, and the other recipients, President Obama said, “We celebrate people like our honorees here today not just because of their talent, but because they create something new. They create a new space and that becomes a lasting contribution to American life.” The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), which manages the award, recognized Tony Kushner (see pic) for his “contributions to American theater and film … his scripts have moved audiences worldwide, marrying humor to fury, history to fantasy, and the philosophical to the personal.”  Musician and record label founder, Herb Alpert, “is also a philanthropist who shares the power of arts education with young people across our country.” And George Lucas, “by combining the art of storytelling with boundless imagination and cutting-edge techniques, Mr. Lucas has transported us to new worlds and created some of the most beloved and iconic films of all time.”

 

There’s a new American orchestra of student musicians. Their mission? To brave different parts of the world each year and boldly be America’s youth ambassador.
The new National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA) is made up of 120 musicians 16 to 19 years old. Founded by Carnegie Hall and its Weill Music Institute, NYO played its first concert this week at Purchase with Joshua Bell and Maestro Valery Gergiev. Next stops are the Kennedy Center, the Proms in London, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg. Sure sounds like mission possible.

 

Sources:
Dustin Hoffman pic: Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty
Oscar heads pic: Premiumhollywood.com
The Butler pic: The Harvey Weinstein Company
White House pic: Ralph Alswang
NSO-USA pic: Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute

David Chase Sings Goodbye to James Gandolfini

Sopranos creator David Chase gave a loving, considered eulogy this week in tribute to his star and friend, James Gandolfini, who played his great creation Tony Soprano. A humorous/serious and buoyant/reverent tribute it was. And like all his productions, he paired it with the appropriate music. Music as soundtrack to what we do. As he always does. As do I. So included in his scenario is just the right song. Here’s the Sopranos episode that never was, the story he “told” to Gandolfini:

“… You know, everybody knows that we always ended an episode with a song. That was kind of like me and the writers letting the real geniuses do the heavy lifting: Bruce, and Mick and Keith, and Howling Wolf and a bunch of them. So if this was an episode, it would end with a song. And the song, as far as I’m concerned, would be Joan Osborne’s (What If God Was) One of Us. And the set-up for this — we never did this, and you never even heard this — is that Tony was somehow lost in the Meadowlands. He didn’t have his car, and his wallet, and his car keys. I forget how he got there — there was some kind of a scrape — but he had nothing in his pocket but some change. He didn’t have his guys with him, he didn’t have his gun. And so mob boss Tony Soprano just had to be one of the working stiffs, getting in line to get on the bus. And the way we were going to film it, he was going to get on the bus, and the lyric that would’ve [played] over that would’ve been — and we don’t have Joan Osborne to sing it:”

If God had a face
what would it look like?
And would you want to see
if seeing meant you had to believe?
And yeah, yeah, God is great.
Yeah, yeah, God is good.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

“So Tony would get on the bus, and he would sit there, and the bus would pull out in this big billow of diesel smoke. And then the key lyric would come on, and it was:”

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us?
Just a stranger on the bus
trying to make his way home.

“And that would’ve been playing over your face, Jimmy. But then — and this is where it gets kind of strange — now I would have to update, because of the events of the last week. And I would let the song play further, and the lyrics would be:”

Just trying to make his way home
Like a holy rollin’ stone
Back up to Heaven all alone
Nobody callin’ on the phone
‘cept for the Pope, maybe, in Rome.

What made this a great story that would have been a great episode was, c’mon people, say it with me now: the music. When a song evokes just the sentiment you wish to convey, well, that’s magic. It’s what David Chase does out of his knowledge of and his passion for music. He understands the power of music. It is the reason I connect with him. It is how I live and breathe. Music is woven through all my writing – you find it in my posts here. But it is especially omnipresent in those posts found in my other blog, Lollapalingo.

David Chase sent Tony Soprano off with a great story with the perfect song.

And he sent James Gandolfini off with a song from his heart.

RIP, James Gandolfini.

 

Sources:
David Chase eulogy: Alan Sepinwall/HitFix
(What If God Was) One of Us lyrics:  Eric Bazillian/Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. (1996)
Tony Soprano Pic: HBO