Mailbag

From: Siggi Hilmarsson
Subject: siggi's yogurt thank you
Bob,
I am so glad to hear you like our yogurt, thanks for the kind words in your newsletter. Happy we could provide you with an alternative to your beloved coffee yogurt!
I am not sure if it is your thing but would love to send you some fun siggi’s swag if appropriate. Just send me an address.
Either way thanks again, and if you are ever in NYC and want to play a game of ping pong while sampling future triple cream products, an oddly delightful combination of activities, just let me know!
My very best,
siggi
siggi hilmarsson | founder & ceo | siggi’s dairy
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From: Mike Pinder
Subject: Re: Ray Thomas
Hi Bob,
Thank you for this lovely tribute to my best mate Ray.
Cheers,
Mike
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From: fernando perdomo
Subject: Re: Loneliness
Bob,
My name is Fernando Perdomo. I am the bass player on "Rainbow Ends"
Your kind words about this labor of love is just what I needed to start 2018 right .
A little backstory .. Chris Price who produced it had gotten in touch with Emitt via a mutual friend.. it took years of hanging out with him for Emitt to start showing him song Ideas.. I will never forget the day Chris took me out to lunch and said .."We are making a friggin Emitt Rhodes Record" ..
This has happened a few times in my life.. I produced 5 Andy Pratt Albums and Chris and I produced Linda Perhacs' first album in 44 years (I just co produced a second Linda record with Pat Sansone of Wilco)
As a devotee of Emitt's work I was delighted at the concept of making a record for him .. Emitt played all the instruments on the first 3 albums he made but he insisted on having a band for this one.. so Chris assembled a dream team around Emitt. Jason Falkner and Roger Manning of Jellyfish/Beck. Taylor Locke of Rooney, and Joe Seiders of New Pornogaphers. I had the daunting job of being the first non Emitt Rhodes bass player on an Emitt Rhodes Record. I looked back at the days I would pick out the bass lines from the Dunhill Debut. .I knew the language of his bass playing.. equal parts Paul McCartney/jim Fielder of Blood Sweat and Tears/ and Carol Kaye.
Making the record was not easy.. but it was a total joy to see Emitt Smiling making music again .
Now your enthusiasm is the icing on the cake.
THANK YOU
-Fernando Perdomo
PS Emitt is writing new songs.. album 5 may happen this year!
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From: Andrew Oldham
Subject: Re: Don't Bring Me Down
bob;
george harrison; fuzz guitar? all things must pass but not this one.
harrison gave us many wonders but not the fuzz.
first use i know of is an LA made eddie hodges 1962 45rpm arranged by jack nitzsche and produced by terry melcher. the fuzz player is either billy strange, glen campbell or bassist carole kaye (if there's a nitzsche-ite out there with better data i'd love to know more.) next came frankie laine in 1963 with a mann and weil song "don't make my baby blue" again arranged again by nitzsche and produced by melcher. (the move do a crackin' version of this song on Shazam !)
then came keith with "(i can't get no) Satisfaction" at RCA, courtesy of Jack and a walk down Sunset to a guitar store.
four weeks later the east coast responded with the bob crewe produced "let's hang on" by the four seasons.
bob had heard the stones record a few days after we recorded it when i was in new york mastering at bell sound.
god bless bob .... not enough us do, especially those who decided on how he would be portrayed in " jersey boys ".
and jack nitzsche.... what a divine difference he made in our lives.
thanks ALO
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From: Rubinson David
Subject: Re: Harvey's Tune
Hi
Far be it for me to quibble over credit for things done 50 (!) years ago-
but Grape Jam was the idea of me and MG, and was recorded in late 67/early 68- with Al K and Mike B playing on it.
It gestated from the camaraderie we all shared- Al and MB and others from their bands or friends hanging out together at the Columbia Studios on E51st Street. For me, and I’m sure for the others, this was a way to break out of the limiting and restrictive confines of LP making, and yielded a space and freedom that structured LPs lacked.
Super Session was a great continuation of the concept- and became extremely successful both as a record and promulgating concept.
Thanks very much,
DR
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From: Eric Bazilian
Subject: Re: Mindhunter
The Fincher/Hooters video, I think he had just left Industrial Light & Magic... youtu.be/YKy4riaOBMk
It’s the song that basically ended our career in the US and opened up Europe for us, go figure.
I’ve heard a lot from friends here in Sweden about Mindhunter. Got a few days to chill up here in the north, maybe it’s time for a good binge.
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From: Michael Urbano
Subject: Re: Mindhunter
In the 80's I played drums in a band called Bourgeois Tagg. Our very first video was directed by David Fincher, it was like his first or second video. Easy going, smart, relaxed person. Very likable and he already had an acute attention to detail.
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From: Terry Walsh
Subject: Re: Graham Parker
Hi Bob,
I grew up with Graham Parker constantly in my high-school aged ears. My friends and I learned that Springsteen recommended GP, so we caught on after "Squeezing Out Sparks”. We played his first four albums in heavy rotation and have followed his career ever since.
In 1997 I found Graham online on his own website, answering fans’ questions. He answered my general question asking how I might get my band signed by a record label. He did it with such care and wisdom that I knew no one was ghostwriting for him. In essence he said that what happened to him won’t happen to me. It was sound advice, but more than that, I had conversed with one of my heroes! I couldn’t believe Graham Parker was that accessible.
A few years after that I was shocked to find out that GP plays an under-the-radar solo gig at a downtown Minneapolis bar called Brit’s Pub, on their (usually) sun-drenched rooftop lawn. To this date he still plays the show every July. Brit’s barely promotes it, and they don’t even charge a cover!
I’ve played in a Van Morrison cover band in Minneapolis for fifteen years now, so I found out who books music for Brit's and pitched us as a cheap option to serve as Graham's backing band. He turned us down initially, but after a few years of maneuvering I eventually got The Belfast Cowboys onto the bill. Graham loves Van Morrison too, so he gave us the green light. Once we’d proved that we knew what we’re doing, he surprised us by coming onstage to sing a song. My hands were shaking, but not with fear. That was five years ago.
Over the past few years he’s sung “Tupelo Honey” and “Redwood Tree” with our nine-piece band. We also got him to do his own “Heat Treatment” and “White Honey” with us. We still haven’t convinced him to do “Fool’s Gold”, but maybe next year. Yes, it’s quite a thrill. This past July I got to talk to him at length about Stiff Records and “Howlin’ Wind.” He confirmed that I’d misheard a lyric on “Between You and Me”. I'd been singing the word “bit” instead of “split” for forty years. It was surreal to hear it directly from the source.
I’m happy to report that Graham’s still great, and much more down-to-earth than many artists who have achieved his heights might be.
Terry Walsh
The Belfast Cowboys/St Dominic’s Trio
www.belfastcowboys.com
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From: Paul Cantor
Subject: Re: Festival Lineups
Festivals once thrived because they were offering an alternative to what was being celebrated in the mainstream. You went to Coachella or Bonaroo to escape the very things that were being sold to you everywhere else. By going, you were saying: I am this kind of person. In a strange way, those festivals gave its attendees a kind of identity.
Now though, that identity itself is very mainstream, the left and right having moved to the center. Meanwhile, the center itself has become kind of hollow. So, if you're a festival, you've got some problems there, because the very thing that people used to attend for -- that alternative -- is now the same reason why people might be inclined to stay away. Shit, these days, some of the worst people on earth, people you ran away from in high school, are at these festivals. And they're mainstream festivals, don't let anyone lie to you about that.
Ultimately, you can't be too mad about it, because the festivals themselves are businesses, and they've got to survive somehow. There's a lot of competition, and you can only stay so close to your roots before you realize that the roots aren't even the roots anymore, that the roots have grown into this other thing, and you're either growing along with it, or you're getting left behind. Definitely a challenge, towing that line between where it's been, where it's at and where it's going -- but shit, if it was easy it wouldn't be show business.
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From: George Gilbert
Subject: Today's Mailbag
Bob:
First of all, I hope you are able to overcome the medical issues you're confronting as quickly as possible with the least amount of pain. My late father used to say ad nauseum that "when you have your health you have everything". As I got older I began to understand when he was talking about.
I was not only surprised that your "mailbox" today included my email to you about my speaking to Robert Plant at the R&RHOF about Moby Grape (I didn't email you with any expectations; just one music fanatic sharing with another music fanatic) but was laughingly proud to see that you also ran an email from my son Leo Gilbert, who is 22 and a double major (marketing/communications) senior at Tulane. His email could have used a little copy editing but that's besides the point. Is this the first father/son email appearance in your mailbag?
I could say that I'm passing the torch but I passed it years ago. I'll tell you a story about Leo that I think you will appreciate.
Leo was diagnosed in pre-school with a condition called "sensory integration disorder". Children with sensory processing issues can be oversensitive to sights, sounds, textures, flavors, smells and other sensory input. This can make a trip to a toy store or a restaurant an overwhelming experience for them. Other children with sensory processing issues are under - sensitive to information they receive through the senses. This can lead to other problems. Sensory processing issues can impact a child’s social skills. It can also cause difficulties in the classroom . We learned that most children grow out of their sensory issues but while they're living with them it's a heavy burden for a child to carry.
And if that wasn't enough for Leo to have to overcome, he also was diagnosed as ADD.
Both my wife's and my head was spinning with this news especially because we didn't know if there were any schools in NYC that would understand how to help him. We did our research (not easy since there was no internet of today then) and brought him to school after school to be interviewed but none seemed to "get" him or be right. We were at our wits end. Then at the last minute we were told about the Gateway School. We scheduled an interview (at that time it was renting space from an Episcopal church on the East side of Manhattan). Right from the start we realized that they not only fully understood Leo's diagnosis but they knew exactly how to educate him to enable him the overcome his physical and learning issues.
We also found out that they had one opening for his year (Kindergarten) and many many applicants. This was a task much more difficult than getting an unknown artist a record deal (something I had been able to do).
As fate would have it, while Leo was being interviewed I read the brochure that detailed the history of the school and saw a name I knew very well - Flom.
It turned out that Jason's older brother Peter was diagnosed with learning issues. This was in early 1964 when learning issues were barely understood and "acting like a boy" was often the explanation for ADD.
Jason's mom Claire knew that Peter was very smart and she was not going have him parked in the NYC public school special ed classroom where he would fester and never achieve his potential. So she did her research and she found a teacher at Columbia University's Teachers College who was the leader in the then pioneering field of learning disability diagnosis and education.
Elizabeth Freidus joined forces with Claire Flom to establish The Gateway School of New York. Their mission and vision w as to teach bright children who had trouble learning how to learn, to educate their families and the professional community about the nature of learning disabilities, and to develop and disseminate effective instructional approaches and programs for students with special needs.
One of the key elements to their approach was a very high student - teacher ratio - a classroom with no more than 9 children and 3 teachers - which assured a one teacher for two students. Small classrooms also meant not many students were admitted and with a very high demand for entry, we were left wondering what could we do to get him in.
Not having the financial resources to buy his way in (which we later found didn't work at Gateway anyway), I made the Hail Mary pass.
Jason and I knew each other - mostly from me shopping him bands in his A&R role at Atlantic (he was just about to start Lava) and we had a cordial relationship but we were by no means close friends. But when you have a young child who has needs you can't personally fix you do anything you can so I reached out to Jason and explained to him that as fate would have it, my son had learning issues and the school his mother founded for his brother was the best (only) school in NYC that could help him. I told him I would be eternally grateful if there was anything he could do to help me get my son in.
Leo was accepted and when I called Jason to thank him he was humble about helping and was glad that everything worked out!! As further confirmation that the Gateway School was the right place for Leo, I subsequently found out that Shel Silverstein was a benefactor!
Soon after Leo started K it was meet-the-teacher time and his class was coordinated by the head K teacher Gillian Ragovoy.
After the meeting ended I asked Ms. Ragovoy if she was related to Jerry Ragovoy. She looked stunned and asked if I knew her dad!! I explained that I didn't but as an obsessive reader of credits I was very familiar with his work as a songwriter and producer. She explained that they had not been in touch for many years - he apparently had left her mom for another woman and Gillian, her mother and her sister felt that they had been abandoned. That was my que to stop kvelling about her dad and I told her I was sorry and left it at that.
That, however, didn't stop me from sharing with 5 year old Leo the fact that his teacher was the daughter of one of the great, now forgotten, songwriters and producers of the 60's. Over the course of his K year and as he got older I played him Jerry's greatest songs - "Time Is On My Side", Piece OF My Heart", "Stay With Me", "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" and some his best productions - Bonnie Raitt, Butterfield Blues Band and others.
After a few years, Ms Ragovoy had a child and reconnected with her dad. This lead to him coming to visit her at school one day. Leo was now 10 and when he got home he was excited to tell me that he met Jerry Ragovoy that afternoon. It turned out that over those years, though Ms Ragovoy was no longer his teacher, since the Gateway School was so small he would see her almost every day and would often tell her that he had heard some of her Dad's songs and how great they were. So on the day that Jerry visited, Gillian wanted him to meet Leo as much as she wanted Leo to meet him. As you might imagine, Jerry was surprised that a 10 year old knew who he was let alone could tell him that he was familiar with some of his greatest compositions.
To say I was envious that Leo got to meet an talk to Jerry Ragovoy is an understatement. The next time I brought Leo to school, I thanked Gillian for introducing Leo to her Dad and she told me that her father was so moved by the fact that a 10 year old knew his work; he told her that perhaps he wasn't going to be forgotten after all!!
I left the school that morning smiling with the feeling that in a small way I had helped Leo perform a Mitzvah and that, though it wasn't consciously planned, I was passing the torch to him!!!!
As one keeper of the flame to another, I think you understand.
Happy Holidays,
George Gilbert
--------------------------------------
George T. Gilbert, LLC
Attorney At Law
____________________________________________
From: Ben Baldwin
Subject: Re: The Michael Wolff Book
If the marketing department for the next Game of Thrones book wasn’t thinking about a surprise digital drop of the book with no warning, they are now. And if they aren’t, they should!
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