There are those who know me personally - if anyone does - know before I began writing books, I spent a lot of years - actually what I call "years of night", meaning I didn't have a lot of days, in the music business. Nights were when you made your living. I was a singer, singin' all kinds of music: doo-wop, progressive jazz (remember The Four Freshmen, the Hi-los? Prob'ly not.), rock and roll, blues. Finally, I sang songs that were about heartbreakin', womanizin', cheatin', hard-drinkin' and fightin'. Did they all end in "in"? Songs like "Brother Jukebox" and "Hank Williams You Wrote My Life" and others. Those two and more were written by my friend, Paul Craft, who also wrote for the Eagles, Linda Ronstad and Dolly Parton. There were also lesser songs in this genre that I didn't sing (one has to have standards), songs like "If I'da Killed You Then I'd Be Gettin' Out Now" or "Ain't No Trash in My Trailer Since You Left."
It was those latter clubs, some with chicken wire in front of the bandstand to ward off beer bottles, in places like War, West Virginia and Penns Grove, NJ, that introduced me to a number of things the other music scenes hadn't provided, such as going to sleep on Monday and waking up on Wednesday on a bus, somewhere, with people, some of whom I knew and others who had just joined the fray while I was sleeping. It was a "Brother Jukebox, Sister Wine" kind of existence.
I was thinkin' about some of those experiences late last night when I realized my blog had been pretty much ignored while my brain was searching for the next novel. I then asked myself was music or writin' the most fun. Ever do that? Ever ask yourself what the best time, the best period of your life, the one with the most fun was? Just for you. Don't think about anybody else.
Looking back, I would have to say music was the most fun time without question. Musicians have no responsibilities except for the music. Musicians have no responsibilities except for the music. But, I also have to admit writin' is a good time, too, and less damaging and safer. I would also have to admit that the life experiences I got through music gave me things to write about. (Nothin' Left to Lose). We will talk more about this later. I'm off to Virginia, but I'm not invitin' Brother Jukebox or Sister Wine.
Welcome.
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Monday, January 21, 2013
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
In My Opinion: Lists
Maybe it's a time to consider questions and I have so many of them I could spend several lifetimes trying to answer them, but answers are usually subjective. One of the questions I am most frequently asked is what is your "Favorite" book? Movie? Oops! Those who ask more often than not use the word "Film". They assume I am sophisticated. Who is your favorite actor? Actress? Then again, I'm asked, what do you consider the "Best" book? Movie? (Oops again...) Film? The questions are totally different and rarely do they require the same answer.
If I were asked to name some of the "Best" films I've seen, I would have to include "The Mark" with Stuart Whitman (nominated for an Academy Award), Maria Schell and Rod Steiger, but it is not one of my favorites. It is very dark though it has positive resolution. The same with "Night of the Hunter" with Robert Mitchum. I don't think I could ever refer to any film as dark as these, as good as they are (In My Opinion), as a "Favorite". A "Favorite" for me is one I want to see over and over.
"Shadows in the Sun" is one of my "Favorites". Is it a great film? Is it one of the "Best"? No. (In My Opinion). It's a decent film, has a few interesting nuggets, good performances, but not one I would consider for my list of "Best" films. And what of the ones that overlap? For me the consummate example would be -- get ready to laugh at my lack of intellect -- "Pretty Woman". Fluff? Probably yes. Chick Flick -- a term I think demeaning -- not quite. Entertaining? Absolutely. A best film? Yes (In My Opinion).
Technically, after thirty years of acting and directing, along with the music -- I was a busy little bee. Wonder where all that energy went? -- I can give some evidence. The writing is superb. Does it make a statement about mankind? To say that would be a stretch, but does everything labeled "The Best" have to make a statement about mankind? And, personally, (and I know a number of generally classed as "significant" people) I don't know anyone who is qualified to do that. The writing in this film achieves its purpose.
From a theatrical point of view, I have seldom seen, across the board, better performances by a cast of characters. From the leading characters to the hotel manager (Hector Elizando) to the elevator operator (one of the best "bits" I have seen), the shop ladies, who are so typical of exaggerated "class" -- I know some of those -- Jason Alexander, slimy enough to make one's skin crawl, all the way down to the character who walks the streets of Hollywood shouting "What's your dream? This is Hollywood. Everybody has a dream!" Maybe that's the statement about mankind. The film, IN MY OPINION, is perfectly balanced, but my opinion is the only perspective I can speak from, a fact many pontificators ignore.
Why write this little bloviating piece of opinion? Because we are constantly bombarded with "Best" and "Worst" and "Favorite" lists, and some are even more absurd: World's Most Absurd Warning Signs, Ten Most Ridiculous Phobias, World's Best Shin-Kicker. Films, books, music, artists and performers seem almost sensible by comparison. The problem I have is that the compilers or authors of these lists do not preface their list with the three simple words: IN MY OPINION, which is all it really is.
If I were asked to name some of the "Best" films I've seen, I would have to include "The Mark" with Stuart Whitman (nominated for an Academy Award), Maria Schell and Rod Steiger, but it is not one of my favorites. It is very dark though it has positive resolution. The same with "Night of the Hunter" with Robert Mitchum. I don't think I could ever refer to any film as dark as these, as good as they are (In My Opinion), as a "Favorite". A "Favorite" for me is one I want to see over and over.
"Shadows in the Sun" is one of my "Favorites". Is it a great film? Is it one of the "Best"? No. (In My Opinion). It's a decent film, has a few interesting nuggets, good performances, but not one I would consider for my list of "Best" films. And what of the ones that overlap? For me the consummate example would be -- get ready to laugh at my lack of intellect -- "Pretty Woman". Fluff? Probably yes. Chick Flick -- a term I think demeaning -- not quite. Entertaining? Absolutely. A best film? Yes (In My Opinion).
Technically, after thirty years of acting and directing, along with the music -- I was a busy little bee. Wonder where all that energy went? -- I can give some evidence. The writing is superb. Does it make a statement about mankind? To say that would be a stretch, but does everything labeled "The Best" have to make a statement about mankind? And, personally, (and I know a number of generally classed as "significant" people) I don't know anyone who is qualified to do that. The writing in this film achieves its purpose.
From a theatrical point of view, I have seldom seen, across the board, better performances by a cast of characters. From the leading characters to the hotel manager (Hector Elizando) to the elevator operator (one of the best "bits" I have seen), the shop ladies, who are so typical of exaggerated "class" -- I know some of those -- Jason Alexander, slimy enough to make one's skin crawl, all the way down to the character who walks the streets of Hollywood shouting "What's your dream? This is Hollywood. Everybody has a dream!" Maybe that's the statement about mankind. The film, IN MY OPINION, is perfectly balanced, but my opinion is the only perspective I can speak from, a fact many pontificators ignore.
Why write this little bloviating piece of opinion? Because we are constantly bombarded with "Best" and "Worst" and "Favorite" lists, and some are even more absurd: World's Most Absurd Warning Signs, Ten Most Ridiculous Phobias, World's Best Shin-Kicker. Films, books, music, artists and performers seem almost sensible by comparison. The problem I have is that the compilers or authors of these lists do not preface their list with the three simple words: IN MY OPINION, which is all it really is.
Monday, May 14, 2012
What Am I Going to Write Next?
Ahh, what a question! When I began the quest to write a book, I started, as many writers do, with a story that was nothing more than "Bibliotheraphy". Did I coin that word? In any case it was centered around a rather unsettled life I was going through at the time, not that much has changed. After putting that beginning aside for twenty years to pursue borderline careers in Rock & Roll and theatre and at the behest of college bud, Tom Robbins, I picked it up again.
I was again unsettled, but thought maybe if I continued where I left off, I could prime the pump. When I read it, I couldn't believe how (wonderful? No. Awful) it was, but it was a beginning, so I persisted. After two thousand pages with nothing happening, characters I could no longer relate to, affected description and more, I threw it away and faced the proverbial question: "What am I going to write next?"
I was lucky in one sense. I didn't have to live up to a previous "best-seller". I didn't really have to live up to anything, but I didn't have a subject, so I began another self-serving "Bibliotherapeutic" (I know I coined that one) novel. It would have been easier to write a biography of someone else. I did complete it, though not my literary therapy, and even came up with a decent title: A Slow and Careful Dance. A couple of agents liked it, but did nothing with it; consequently I went back to my old technique and "put it aside". (It is still there). The same question then faced me again: "What am I going to write next?"
I asked friends and fellow scribblers and was answered by one friend with a question. Don't you love that? Actually, it got me started on the right track. The question was, "What do you love most?" Obviously, in my previous two attempts it was "myself", but that didn't work. I thought about it for a minute and a half and answered. "Music." It was a revelation. An epiphany. I was elated and then asked myself what I was going to write about music.
The answer was not immediately apparent, but the more I thought about it, the more I knew there was something to that suggestion. I had, after all, been in the business for many years, had taken part in almost every form of music, except classical. Pop combos, progressive jazz, doo-wop, rock and roll country and finally management. Much has been done with R&R(Almost Famous) and Doo-wop(The Five Heartbeats), so I discounted those. It was in the last two, especially management, where I believed I could use the knowledge I had gained through experience and come up with a decent story line.
I had been in Nashville when the country music industry changed. The old familial atmosphere was becoming a money-driven environment that competed with the most popular forms of music. Lyrics began to loosen up a bit with sex becoming a significant ingredient via Kris Kristofferson (Help Me Make It Through the Night), the white and black hats arrived and with all these changes, the more seedy elements of Rock & Roll and other forms of music tagged along.
This was where the story lay. I had dealt with these elements in managing groups I represented in Philadelphia and New York. Michael Corleone had nothing on some of the people I had to work with back during my Rock & Roll days and the general public had no concept of what the industry was like. Even many of the performers had no idea. They had people like me to handle those things. The story was there. The characters were there. I could write about something from first-hand knowledge that provided information that not many people knew. Now all I had to do was write it.
The ghosts of novels abandoned past haunted me, but I made up my mind to persist and the quest began.
I was again unsettled, but thought maybe if I continued where I left off, I could prime the pump. When I read it, I couldn't believe how (wonderful? No. Awful) it was, but it was a beginning, so I persisted. After two thousand pages with nothing happening, characters I could no longer relate to, affected description and more, I threw it away and faced the proverbial question: "What am I going to write next?"
I was lucky in one sense. I didn't have to live up to a previous "best-seller". I didn't really have to live up to anything, but I didn't have a subject, so I began another self-serving "Bibliotherapeutic" (I know I coined that one) novel. It would have been easier to write a biography of someone else. I did complete it, though not my literary therapy, and even came up with a decent title: A Slow and Careful Dance. A couple of agents liked it, but did nothing with it; consequently I went back to my old technique and "put it aside". (It is still there). The same question then faced me again: "What am I going to write next?"
I asked friends and fellow scribblers and was answered by one friend with a question. Don't you love that? Actually, it got me started on the right track. The question was, "What do you love most?" Obviously, in my previous two attempts it was "myself", but that didn't work. I thought about it for a minute and a half and answered. "Music." It was a revelation. An epiphany. I was elated and then asked myself what I was going to write about music.
The answer was not immediately apparent, but the more I thought about it, the more I knew there was something to that suggestion. I had, after all, been in the business for many years, had taken part in almost every form of music, except classical. Pop combos, progressive jazz, doo-wop, rock and roll country and finally management. Much has been done with R&R(Almost Famous) and Doo-wop(The Five Heartbeats), so I discounted those. It was in the last two, especially management, where I believed I could use the knowledge I had gained through experience and come up with a decent story line.
I had been in Nashville when the country music industry changed. The old familial atmosphere was becoming a money-driven environment that competed with the most popular forms of music. Lyrics began to loosen up a bit with sex becoming a significant ingredient via Kris Kristofferson (Help Me Make It Through the Night), the white and black hats arrived and with all these changes, the more seedy elements of Rock & Roll and other forms of music tagged along.
This was where the story lay. I had dealt with these elements in managing groups I represented in Philadelphia and New York. Michael Corleone had nothing on some of the people I had to work with back during my Rock & Roll days and the general public had no concept of what the industry was like. Even many of the performers had no idea. They had people like me to handle those things. The story was there. The characters were there. I could write about something from first-hand knowledge that provided information that not many people knew. Now all I had to do was write it.
The ghosts of novels abandoned past haunted me, but I made up my mind to persist and the quest began.
(To Be Continued)
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