Mailbag

From: Kevin Cronin
Subject: Re: Sugar Babe (Live at Berkeley 1971)

Yo Bob,

Stephen Stills is my musical hero. Supremely gifted on acoustic and electric, genius songwriter, (I wrote one with him, so I witnessed it in real time), and that voice. I had the honor and pleasure of singing a live duet with Stephen on "Almost Cut My Hair" shortly after David Crosby's passing …a career/life highlight for me. And Stephen is more at peace now than at any other time our paths have crossed. Good on you for singing Stephen's praises here. When I release my little memoir, Stephen's praises will be sung once again, in long form, from the rooftop of my soul, and deservedly so. … kc

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From: TS Bitterman
Subject: Re: Sugar Babe (Live at Berkeley 1971)

Hi Bob,

Crew guy here 

I became a bigger fan of Stephen Stills after working for him.

"Never meet your heroes"…

hmmph, then pick better heroes

Cheers, TS

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From: Fay Morgan Hine
Subject: Tina article

was a great read/tribute, fab … Roop produced better be good to me as you probably know … grammy winner 1985 … he was proud of that.
bests fay hine

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From: Paul Ill
Subject: RE: Tina Turner

Long ago and far away at the beginning of this century, Guy Chambers flew the great drummer Brian McLeod, exemplary guitarist Eric Schermerhorn and me first class to London on Capitol Records' dime. Our calling was to record four songs with Tina Turner at his studio in Primrose Hill. Tina and Guy had written the  tunes with the singer from Train. The label put us up at the Ritz Carlton. Those were the days, man…

Upon arrival, Guy told us, "Come to the studio tomorrow. We will track the four tunes to Tina's guide vocal. She's still here in London. She will come to the studio the day after and have a listen. We'll see what happens from there." 
Day two, the four of us were in audio Heaven, tracking to Tina's guide vocal. It was amazing… After a really good day in the studio Guy said, "Stick close tomorrow, who knows what's going to happen…"

Day three I was having lunch in Primrose Hill with an amicable ex girlfriend when my phone rang. Those were the flip phone days. Guy said, "Come by the studio." Five minutes over to Guy's studio, I walked in the front lounge and there's Tina Turner with her impeccable husband. The room was vibrant with her presence. It was like that of an Ascended Master's. She greeted me, saying "Hello," to which I replied, "Lifetime debt of gratitude, Miss Turner, for your music and your artistry, She replied, "Well thank you. Guy is in his control room."

I went through the door, Guy said with a smile,  "Stay in here. Tina likes the vibe so much, she wants to track the four songs live with us. Brian and Eric will be here any minute." Richard Flack,  Guy's brilliant engineer was placing a packing blanket out in the main room of the studio for Tina to stand on while she sang. That way should could move and groove with no extraneous noise.

We did the three passes of the four songs, Tina in the room with us, singing live, as if she were at Wembley or Yankee Stadium. Absolute heaven. For all intents and purposes, one of the best, if not the best musical day of my life. The masters remain unreleased, presumably safe, but sadly unheard, languishing gems, collecting dust in the Capitol vaults.

A few years later Guy let me know that Tina had come to LA by herself without a bodyguard or a personal assistant to pack up her musical director's condo in West Hollywood. Sadly, he had passed away. As Guy explained it to me, Tina's actions were part of her Buddhist practice. Tina Turner - impeccable and every way. Simply the Best.

Peace and Love,
Paul ILL

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From: Jean Sievers
Subject: Re: Tina Turner

Brian Wilson LOVED Tina Turner more than anyone… well more than most he ever spoke about.. . She was a unique talent.. Brian never saw gender or color he only saw TALENT, vibes… and he hears it all.  He observes.. and he always talked about Tina Turner. 

For the almost 3 decades I've worked with him her name has always been present in one way or another.

As a producer, songwriter and vocalist he loved and respected "River Deep Mountain High" .. of course .. Always watching what Phil Spector was putting out he was blown away by that track and talked about it often. But Tina and Ike's cover of the brilliant John Fogerty..  Creedence Clearwater song "Proud Mary" was a song he was in awe of.. Its still a reoccurrence in his playlist.  To this day he still wants to do another version of it. 

He loved Tina.. her voice, her energy and her spirit.. She was a survivor of abuse just like he was.. Having someone who was supposed to love them.. tell then they were pieces of shit.. unworthy.. Gosh can you imagine? Then succeeding to the point they did…

One of the last times we were on tour in New York he went to see TINA: The Tina Turner Musical.. He LOVED it!! Was Blown away by it. 

When I saw him a few weeks ago.. We talked about him going to see some theater and he asked to go see that show again.. 

Well now he will see it again as a tribute to a woman, artist and colleague that he so admired and respected.

RIP Tina Turner..Brian Wilson will always love you.

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From: Chuck Woodford
Subject: Re: Succession Finale

Hey Bob,

You reference to Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma's "Ella Baila Sola." really hit home with me as i recently DJ'd a 'Kick Off The Summer Party' Memorial Day weekend at a local country club here in Denver. Over the course of an hour this is just a small sampling of the requests I received, primarily from 7-17 year olds.

Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma-Ella Baila Sola.
Morgan Wallen-Last Night
Bebe Rexha-I 'm Good
Aqua-Barbie Girl
Johnny Cash-Ring of Fire
Quinn XCII-Another Day in Paradise
Miley Cyrus-Party in the USA
Marshmello-Shockwave
Ozzy-Crazy Train
Jack Black (from Super Mario Bros)-Peaches
Shakira-Waka Waka
Weezer-Buddy Holly
Alan Walker-Faded
Abba-Dancing Queen
Pinkfong-Baby Shark
Taylor Swift-Paris/Anti Hero
Lil Dickie-Earth
Alice Cooper-School's Out

Great Caesar's Ghost, you wanna talk about eclectic!! We oldsters might want to think that our kids are just slaves to pop music but TikTok and Youtube are completely upending the delivery system for our kids when it comes to every form of entertainment, especially music.

As someone who works in radio, I appreciate how finite my career is going to be. Ask anyone under the age of 40 how relevant radio or corporate curation is to them and you'll get blank stares. Ask the same demo if they even have a radio in their home! Hell, I don't even have a functioning radio in my home and I've been in this industry for almost 35 years.

We oldsters can continue to clutch furiously onto the ways of the past but to denigrate and ignore the impact of social media and word of mouth is to bury your head in the sand.

I have two teenage boys and I'm constantly amazed at the diversity of artists they want to share with me. "Dad, you gotta hear this" has quickly become my new favorite phrase in my house.

Be well and Go Nuggets!!

Chuck Woodford
Denver

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Hi Bob,
 
Just saw your article about Apple using Dreamer in the VisionPro Ad.  I really appreciate it and you made a lot of great points. This is a Roger Hodgson song he wrote before Supertramp.  He brought his demo to the band so they could learn it.  Wanted you to know that the Dreamer version Apple used is actually from two different rerecordings from Roger Hodgson.  Apple put together parts from Roger's orchestra and band performances and did a really great job. 
 
Could you please post links to his versions of his song and let your readers know that this song is performed by Roger Hodgson?   It's not with the band Supertramp. 
 
YouTube Links below
 
 www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCqs7LF9nk4
 
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju_JxXC0WO8
 
Also, I noted that your Spotify and iTunes links go to a Supertramp version of Dreamer.  Here are links to Roger Hodgson's Dreamer on Spotify and iTunes. 
 
open.spotify.com/track/0gHDyTISdHGoycw1glA9Zu
 
music.apple.com/us/album/classics-live/502038005
 
Thanks for your support of artists all these years.
 
My best,
 
Linda Tyler
 
Harmonic Management

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From: Kevin Cronin
Subject: Re: Stolen Moments

Hey Bob,

Okay, "Stolen Moments", this is my first listen, and I like it a lot. Very Tom Petty…same chords in both verse and chorus. The whole song is one simple chord pattern, just like "Free Falling". In 1976, I brought my "Time For Me To Fly" into the studio for consideration, and a famous producer, (who shall remain nameless to protect the guilty), turned it down. His reason: it only had three chords. I knew that was the lamest reasoning ever, but I was the new guy in the band so I sucked it up.

It's easier to write songs with a ton of chords. Try writing one with only three. Lucinda and Tom know how. Okay now Joni Mitchell is singing about how she wishes she had a river so she could sail away…beauty.

I was listening to Chris Stapleton Radio on Spotify yesterday. I had to stop my workout four times in a row to check my phone and see the song/artists I was hearing. I have no idea if these are new or older songs, and I don't give a shit. Good songs are good songs. They never get old …once they are good, they are always good!

1. Chris Stapleton, "Millionaire"
2. Cody Johnson, "Nuthin' on You"
3. Luke Grimes, I missed the title, but the line: "I'm a falling star without a midnight sky" stuck with me. And the song was great
4. Brandi Carlisle, "Most of All" … this song stops me in my tracks no matter what I'm doing.

Good songs do that. They put your life on pause for three and a half minutes, maybe even longer. You have been echoing my thoughts a lot lately. Looking forward to the podcast … kc

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