check Oz Noy(particularly nice is, of all things the bonnie raittballad "I cant't make...). also, a guy on youtube lastname Seven, an unbelievable teletype, Ted Greene (the end of Have yourself a Merry), Trane with the WyntonKelly Trio, F-bomb Oscar Peterson,fiddle heavyweight Leonid Kogan, oud guy Bacanos, no shortage ofego-grinders out there, dead and alive. Also, never thunk I'd see it, but the live version of Donny Hathaway singing a song for you is better, yes, betterthan the record. whew. Just heard of Buddy Miles'passing, and although we've all heard the stories (seeWilson below) and crappy music stuff, have we also heard the studio side "we've got to livetogether"lately? His G#s andBs sounded likeeverybody elses' Ds.Very natural. Youtube puts out whatever, so you have to sift, of course. Buddy could
really sing and could flat play the drums, that's it.and, be honest. He wasn't the only guy out there with
a leather vest and a bottle of amyl nitrate .
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whom do you love- you must know it means everything to me when my famous mates call, even if it's only to try to get me to pay back the money they've lent me over the years. i only keep their money as a keepsake, commemorative notes, if you will, to remind me ...... ah, well. regardless, dave witham called from a kansas city rib joint and greg leisz from a sperm auction in new mexico i think, and im always thrilled to hear what they're up to. i heard a bit of dave's new record with the great jon cross and jay andersen,(greg played on a few things too), and it sounds amafuckzing. real and deep. i knew early on those two should be together; my horning in was what delayed their success. (missed it by that much) so... i have needs, right? when i read over this, this sounds like false modesty, but it's not. its true modesty, and i learned it from being around them.
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...I was supposed to be giving some songwiting advice to some kids and I said"Write this down: I cant stand myself when you touch me. Now, when you write something and if it's not as good as that, keep trying."
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.when you hear wilson, you are a different person from then on. everything you do has a bit of him in it, even if it's just that you realize how shitty you are .I used to think that my goal was to have somebody feel about my stuff the way I feel about his. The pretense of that makes me shudder. Some college reviewer asked me my influences once and I said "you know, the usual, dylan, wilson, those guys." He says" oh yeah the beach boys are my favorites too." ...... serves me right..
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Mike Finnigan brought Jerry Wexler over to my house one night and Wex told this great Wilson story about how Buddy Miles, 19 at the time, was pissed about the money being late and stormed into Wilson's dressing room waving a gun around exclaiming " I wants my money", you know. Wexler says Wilson, in a cape, walks up to Buddy, slaps him, turns, and says over his shoulder " dont ever wave a pistol at me before a show"
saw nate wood (my pal from our new band the treehuggers) in his great band Kneebody at the temple bar and they smoked. (apparently, cause the music had no form ,new bending, new phrasing, some chinese notes or something...no just kidding) supergood, tunes written by shane, ben and adam and everybody playing together, pretty refreshing. Claudia quintet opened and they were good too, an apparently looser presentation, but they probably were serving possum, new york style.heavyweight sightings, nels cline, and I think the guy from wilco also. Everybody had a good time at the band's expense; they said they thought theyve been better,....scary.
Saw the old thing on vh1 on Jimi. Nice to see him again. Wish he was still around.
Speaking of the Treehuggers,(I haven't told nate the name yet) we want to play some gigs....any ideas are welcome. will travel
Craig buhler, dave witham, brian atkinson, john ferraro and jay hamilton in Dana point at the renaissance and it was. playing craigs new album and some other stuff and sounding fine. Everybody blowing their tops and people digging it. Could happen again soon, meantime get the record "Capistrano Sessions" same guys as the gig.
My kid Maggie is going to have a baby in May. Congratulations to Jason and Maggie
and Kellie my other is trying to get to Hope University in the Fall. Way to go Steks.