Spectacular Records #3
From the opening piano, stumbling gently down the stairs of time like a sad old barfly… “Funny How Time Slips Away”, the George Jones 2005 masterpiece encapsulates everything signature about the old, authentic Nashville.
From the opening piano, stumbling gently down the stairs of time like a sad old barfly… “Funny How Time Slips Away”, the George Jones 2005 masterpiece encapsulates everything signature about the old, authentic Nashville.
Coincidental yet couldn’t be more fitting, today’s number is 25! Long time friend and fan Angelo Valenti is #25 and the first winner of a signed A View From 3rd Street album. Congrats Angelo and thank you for many years of support!
You’ll be receiving a notification where you can give us an address and specify how you’d like the album signed.
Much more coming to other subscribers and a continued thanks to all-
Jude
Ever love a song for years then realize you have no idea what they’re singing about?
Some songs can bring us to tears. Some make us want to fight, get romantic, or maybe tell a story. A lot of lyrics these days are like a dox. He cheated on me! She’s a gold digger! Personal, universal, gender power, inner struggles, outer struggles… lots of angles.
Then there’s Donald Fagen. He’s in his own sandbox at the far corner of the playground. Nobody can really tell what he’s building over there, but with black rimmed glasses taped on one side, button up shirt with pencil in pocket, topping his creation off with a 1/2 pint of milk and pyramid made of cheese slices from the cafeteria… tada! pure gold!
“I.G.Y.” stands for International Geophysical Year, and is the first track from his 1982 LP “The Nightfly”.
A four chord Fender Rhodes beginning with swirling electric piano notes and 2& plucks, like a cheap sci-fi alien aircraft cruising in from another planet to an immediately infectious jazzy/reggae influenced groove… enter the horn section to a down modulation and first verse. One thing is clear with Steely Dan and Fagen alike, they sound like no one else, ever.
Even McCartney, likely the greatest songwriter of our time shows influence. We can hear a mixture of 50’s rock & roll & British skiffle music with even more musical references to the 20’s. I’m not a theologian of Beatle bibles, but would bet young Paul had exposure to much 20’s era music growing up.
With Fagen you just can’t tell. We know he loves Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles… and it’s evident his jazz influences are greater than his pop… but what pop did he listen to? There’s no Beatles, no Stones here. No Hendrix or Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. There’s R&B, but how rare for a jazz/R&B lover to have this much pop success when it appears he didn’t really listen to or even care for the genre?
His drum and percussion tracks are always perfectly recorded, perfectly in the pocket, even isolated. Ringo’s like that. Check out a solo Beatle track sometime and you can feel the song even before all the bells and whistles. This is the foundation of a hit song, and Fagen/Becker know when they have it.
Probably why Steely Dan would cast sessions with all different players to get a panoramic soundscape of the best direction to go. Genius if you’ve got the budget. Few do.
‘You’ve got to admit it, at this point in time it’s clear‘. So much predictive programming on the subject made people think we must already have the technology. Certainly in 30 years time (the 80’s) we’ll be real life Jetsons.
‘On that train all graphite and glitter – Undersea by rail’. -Such cool imagery, and scores a kind of futuristic ‘Virgin Railway’. We’ve had the concept for high speed rails that could move us under oceans for years. They’ve yet to appear, but still fun to think about. And what an image, “all graphite and glitter.. undersea by rail”.
‘Ninety minutes from New York to Paris, well by ’76 we’ll be A-ok’ -He’s truly marching to the beat of his own drum. I’m so happy to read lyrics that don’t need to explain themself. This is a totally random inspiration you can read about in an interview or make your own interpretation… anything goes.
Why does it work? Because the chorus.
“What a beautiful world this will be What a glorious time to be free”
That’s universality. That’s driving a convertible to summer beach. Flying to Costa Rica or parasailing over Hawaiian shores. Skiing down powder slopes in the California sun. Fine Columbian (Hey Nineteen) at the Hollywood Bowl with your friends before the lights go down. The crowd cheers, and Fagen’s chorus is what everyone hears no matter the band, no matter the song. This groove with these words are everyone’s best time. It’s part of his genius. It doesn’t matter what he’s talking about in the verse because yeah, what a beautiful world it will be. Let’s make it now!
I love records that are spectacular in all directions where writing, performance, recording, production and vocals all come together in one cohesive package. Innovation and inspiration… all the pieces make us feel something special. It’s a gift when it works.
Before even studying a record, I know it’s great because there’s this feeling of envy in my gut. I can’t not play it, no matter whether I love the artist or not. It makes me want to get to work. Great records have always done this to me. On the contrary, lifestyle records or trendy, hipster fads do just the opposite. I listen, nod my head, and know I won’t be putting it on in the car. Rarely have I been wrong.
Elvis made me pick up a broom and imitate him. The Beatles made me want music as a life. Santana’s “Samba Pa Ti” inspired me to play lead guitar. CCR made me want a band. “Pump It Up” and “Working Week” by Elvis Costello made me want to be a songwriter.
Nowadays it’s songs/records with creative chord changes, lyrics that inspire, smart production, sounds from an innately talented mixer, a smooth, instinctive vocal and maybe most of all grooves with a solid bass line and beat… everything.
First entry, and in no particular order but just what’s in my head at this time may be a surprise- Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Put Your Records On”.
“Three little birds sat on my window – And they told me I don’t need to worry”.
It’s a carefree lyric, but clever in it’s use of images to create the feeling of someone breaking through the walls and challenge in life. The birds (innocence) swing by to console and remind her how to find herself, and the next line is beautiful:
“Summer came like cinnamon, so sweet
Little girls double-dutch on the concrete”
A rich vision here, conjoining the senses of sight and smell. When a female sings ‘little girls double-dutch on the concrete’, it’s a strong inner-city image. A reflection of innocence she now longs for. She’s reflecting back to a time there were few problems in her world. The scent of cinnamon is reminiscent of something mom (your best friend as a kid) would be baking in the kitchen.
Pre-chorus conflict:
“Maybe sometimes we got it wrong but it’s alright
The more things seem to change
The more they stay the same Don’t you hesitate”
Somewhere she messed up. Haven’t we all. She thought she graduated from one hard place, only to find she’s in another. Pain is pain. So you moved on, got stronger but the hurt feels the same. Forgiving ones self is usually the first step to fixing. Don’t even think about it, just go.
The chorus:
“Girl, put your records on
Tell me your favorite song
You go ahead, let your hair down
Sapphire and faded jeans
I hope you get your dreams
Just go ahead, let your hair down
You’re gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow”
Little in life gives you the immediate impact of taking away a hurtful, regretful moment like putting an old record on to make you happy. “Sapphire and faded jeans” – I love that… Sapphire is a blue image akin to blue jeans, but sparkling like youth. ‘Faded jeans’ are something we’ve all owned and felt a deep attachment. When the day comes we have to toss them it’s like losing a chapter of our life. A tangible metaphor for great times, hard times, people we found, people we lost, all of it. If our blue jeans could talk…
Such a great lyric, and displays experience from the songwriter. I don’t know which of the three writers were most responsible for this… maybe they all played a part… but so good.
The track begins with a 3 bar intro of a single gut string note, then two, then three… transitioning horn swell into the downbeat- ‘Three little birds’ verse begins. An affirmative walking groove of 90 bpm is a perfect companion for shedding self-doubt and finding your strength. The verse is comprised of the same chord progression as the chorus, with an 8 bar B-section & breakdown for a fitting palette reset to start dipping to the beat of the chorus.
This kind of neo-soul is implied but not as obvious as a Jill Scott or Angie Stone since it’s on a classical guitar and not a stereo panned Rhodes piano. The ascending chord progression plays over a descending bass line, which lends symmetry to the lyrical ups & downs. All these elements work together to make us feel like dealing with our problems. Inspired! Producers Steve Chrisanthou and Jimmy Hogarth did a flawless job.
Corrine’s vocal is silky, yet not manipulative. She conveys the perfect sentiment of the words she sings. The use of background vocals are abundant but not that noticeable unless you focus. It’s more a subliminal group in her head like ‘we got you!’
This record was hugely successful in both the US and UK, and has been covered, synced and soundtracked many times. Where there’s inspiration, success follows. Spectacular!
Cheers-
Jude
People love to leave their best impression. IG, FB, TikTok & X are filled with good fortune. Good folks on lavish vacations, new cars, remodeled homes, infinity pools, pricey ‘fits’ for every day of the year, perfect bodies, or even just “# blessed I found the love of my life.” If social media were a gauge for human success, we’d want for nothing.
I try not to use it as a ‘show & tell’ for adults, but sometimes my lack of revealing personal issues lead some to believe I don’t have any.
And that impression couldn’t be farther from reality. The truth is, the last 6 years have been the most challenging of my life. I don’t talk about it publicly other than broad-strokes… because it’s ugly. It has to do with people. Trust. Betrayal. I chalk it up to paying a karma from long ago, and some beliefs that may need an adjustment.
Back in the 80’s there was an SNL skit with Al Franken playing a character named Stuart Smalley… an insecure, effeminate man in pastel blue and purple sweaters looking sheepishly in the mirror, reciting things like ‘I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it people like me!’
It was pretty funny actually, but as I got older I realized it was also a little sad, because it ridiculed and laughed at something most people desperately need… and now more than ever. Positive reenforcement. Positive beliefs. Positive affirmations.
Before I had a hit song on the radio, I was in a state. My first record had gone straight to the ‘has-bin’ and my deal with Warners was in jeopardy. I struggled to make rent.
Funny side note… one day Michael Bay, the director was still in college and you know… a rich kid from Brentwood, all that. Anyway he visited my apartment because our girlfriends were friends, and as he stepped inside he looked all around, up and down along the walls and ceiling in amazement. I wasn’t sure what he was going to say but finally he opened up his mouth and laughed ‘you live here??’. Ha! Funny I was kind of proud of that apartment until that day!
Anyway, a dear friend and sort of guru handed me a copy of the Louise Hay book ‘You Can Heal Your Life’ and said ‘Jude I think you need this’. I did.
One message from the book was that whatever is wrong with you is due to your very own belief system. True or false I liked it. It left me in control, not anyone else. It also came with a tape of daily meditation/affirmations. I did it every day. Until I felt a shift. And you know, it worked. Not only then, but every time I’ve had to reinvent or realign myself.
The next record ‘A View From 3rd St.’ wasn’t exactly Dark Side Of The Moon on the richter scale, but it did a few significant things to change the quality of life. I created my own signature sound… plus ‘Baby, It’s Tonight’ was a huge radio song and earned a good deal of money from airplay. It also allowed me to keep my record deal.
Coming from a fairly healthy amount of dysfunction… little play on words there… I like what Tony Robbins says about self calibration. He likens it to a pilot with a navigation system. The plane drifts and constantly goes off course. The navigation system adjusts repeatedly and brings the aircraft back to a place where you can literally land it on a dime.
That’s most of our brains, emotions and life. Constantly going off course and in eternal need of calibration, realignment and self-care. It’s like our bodies and the gym. We don’t go to a gym and work out for 6 months, then say ‘ok i’m good!’. We have to eat right and constantly work our body parts with motion and muscle. The same is true with ‘E’motions and mental health.
In my Fresh Coffee YouTube page, I’ve created 10 videos with subliminal affirmations. This is music you can put on and just go about your business, but the messages are heard through the subconscious. There will be more in the next year with real voiceovers. It’s fun to create, and well… I do it because I need it. Feel free to check them out sometime, or there are many others online. Consistency is key.
https://www.youtube.com/@freshcoffee6879
I’d open up about the pineal gland and what TV, film, music and graphene oxide, aluminum, fluoride and wi-fi are doing to us, but it would make this post conspiratorial and too long, so will have to save it for another time. Cheers!
Jude
Disclaimer: I have no intention of making this a religion based page or to preach to anyone. This is a current topic, and one way overdue.
SO… the world has stepped in to act as our conscience and lend at least a grain of sanity into the Cloward-Piven reshaping of this poor ol’ country of ours. Never has a land tried harder to appease everyone’s everything. Never has a land been so shamed for doing so.
The Olympic committee barred Lia Thomas from competing, because that’s the way it should have been all along, duh.
Then, with so many Catholic and Christian countries around the globe like Italy, Mexico, Spain, Phillipines etc., witnessing the opening ceremony to the games act out a Last Supper blasphemy ritual, these Catholic countries didn’t waste a minute to call out what has become a very normal blatant disregard for Christianity.
Thank you world. America would never have the fucking balls. If they did, they’d surely point out the equally hard to swallow beliefs of Muslims, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists… but you’ll never hear that. Why? The answer is simple. They don’t fear Christians. It’s like that scene in 1985’s “Witness”, where the local teens are all picking on the Amish as they try to get through town, because they know the Amish won’t fight back. It’s ‘against their religion’.
All one needs to do is watch any modern American or British show to see how our film and television makers feel about Christ.
Remember when Larry David ‘splashed’ on the painting of Christ’s face, and the naive and brainwashed Christian mother and daughter thought Christ was crying. guffaw guffaw. Not.
How about the more recent EVIL, where Kristen delves into the world of Catholicism and Exorcisms and becomes a demon who cheats, lies, murders. The list goes on and on so much that it’s impossible to keep score. I notice it in almost every show I watch.
It’s never a Muslim, never a Hindu or Buddhist, never a Rabbi… always Christ, and to be honest people have had enough.
If you don’t believe me, you’re probably not a Christian so you wouldn’t notice. I’m not a church goer, but I pray with consistency, and i do come from that small town, middle class world of church goers and feel passionately willing to fight for their right to believe what they want without ridicule from a completely hypocritical media, who by the way pays homage to Satanic symbolism on an equal basis.
Walking on water, Immaculate conception, miracles… whatever. I also believe in the rights for Muslims to believe in 72 Virgins, for Hindus to have a series of Gods and past lives, or for Jews to think they’re ‘ God’s Chosen Ones’, even though all are hard to grasp with our limited logical and dimensional minds.
If I had to guess, based on shows i’ve watched on Netflix, HBO and the rest, my number would be 85% of all shows have at least one scene with a smear toward Christianity, using insanity, violence, poverty, drug abuse, hypocrisy or worse… pedophilia, incest, child abuse, mass murder. They’ve also managed to tie this to southerners in general. The southern accent automatically makes you a Maga hat wearing AR-15 toting Christian right wing nut bag menace to society… an existential threat.
Producers of all film and TV need to be held accountable, for this is the REAL hate speech, and these are the first people at the podium calling others racist, homophobe, xenophobe, antisemitic.
I’ve seen so many posts on social media since the Olympic opening with people saying to Christians, ‘get over it’, or ‘you’ve jumped the shark of sensitivity’, but you know what? People have had it… especially coming from those who profess to love so much, then publicly seethe, dox and spew venom on anyone who disagrees with their extremely narrow-minded rainbow agenda.
The world owes Christianity a profound and sincere apology. One massive boycott from Christians would affect any product on the market. They’ve done their able best to make sure most Christians don’t have a microphone to organize this, but keep pushing, media -they’ll make a microphone of their own.
I just don’t see Kamala in there. I don’t see democrat puppeteers sticking with her. This is a formality… a sequence of getting Joe out, having him do the ethical thing by choosing his VP, then causing a reason she can’t continue. Somehow, some way, they’re going to make Michelle come out of hiding, incensed with anger, proclaiming she didn’t want to do it at first, but now (due to recent events) feels a calling that she must do it. Must do it for minorities, for black women everywhere. The nation will go wild and it’s Obama 2.0. Newsome will be her running mate.
If I’m wrong i’ll eat my post 🙂
Both sides are well aware of the fact that Americans have the attention span of a gnat. They love to jump on the latest trends as if they’re on the cutting edge of facts. Remember the viral photo of Zelensky and his wife? I saw it about 100 times in one day at the beginning of the Ukraine conflict. Where are they now? So in 2024 it’s best to catch people pretending they know before too many facts are revealed.
Whatever they do, I pray they don’t resort to the usual ‘lone gunman’. Everyone’s onto it.
A poker tell, if you’re not familiar with the game, is when someone has a tick or habit they always do unconsciously with a good hand/bad hand. If you’re up against a player enough times, you begin to learn these signals. A lot of players wear dark sunglasses so you can’t see their eyes. I don’t think it should be allowed, but then again I don’t play poker so … I don’t care. The point is, the energy has to go somewhere.
These kinds of signals appear in life on every level. I study people so it’s interesting to me, the body language, choice of words, tone of voice, emotions, levels of anger, the anatomy in general…
For instance, when a politician gets into office, especially high office… one tell I’ve learned is that if they didn’t truly earn it? If they were somehow ushered in by some powerful money and flushed out the competition unethically or unlawfully, the tell is that they show no true emotions of victory. In fact there’s an arrogance to their words and their wins. They have something to teach us all now and have little shame in being preachy or indignant against any opposition.
A true showing of victory, like climbing Mt. Everest or winning an NBA championship would be falling to a knee or welling up with tears, a break in the voice, the face turns flush. It’s a hard thing to hold back. But it transfers to those witnessing because it’s real. Only you know how hard you fought, and how much strength, commitment and discipline it took. You want to drop to the floor and profess….’There is a God and he loves me!’ And the entire audience feels it, not just those who are on the team or benefit from the win.
Too often we’re faced with someone we fight for in the voting box, only for them to get elected, then stand up before the world and tell us what we’re about and what we’re not about. They show little emotion. Like aliens reading cue cards… ‘laugh here’. ‘smile big’. ‘act strong and sincere’. It’s pathetic.
There’s also a poker tell when you know you can’t lose. I learned this from the desk side of the music business. In my early days of making records I thought it was luck or un-luck. I’d get down on myself for not scoring big. Then I became a manager and learned, some are connected. To who? That’s for another time. But connected to real power.
They can be mean, vulgar, short, stout, homely, or downright disgusting in appearance… even half witted (though few of them are). Doesn’t matter. They know they’re ‘made’ men & women and cannot be fucked with. They don’t get shaken by threats, and they deal death blows where you don’t even really know who killed you. They exude nothing but confidence at all times. And why wouldn’t they? They know they can’t lose.
There are poker tells by those most under mind control. Whether it’s a cult like Scientology who’s members believe they’re saving the planet, or ones faithful to a news network, newspaper or website who’s feeding them agenda-driven information. They’re told what to think every day, every hour… who to love, who to hate. They get daily doses of soundbites with narrative. Video clips edited with voiceovers telling us what we’re seeing. Over time this indoctrination makes us angry to witness opposition. “Don’t you fucking get it you moron!” we think. We start to believe that if all these blind cult followers would just die, somehow the planet would be a better place. We don’t know we’re deep in a cult of our own.
This is a tell. If you had an open mind and original thought… if you saw people believing in a God you didn’t pray to, or loving a country they came from that were our sworn ‘enemy’… would this enrage you? If so, i’m sorry for you. It must be hell on earth to feel this way.
If you found a friend was voting for a candidate you didn’t believe was good for the country, would it make you hate your friend? That’s where we’re at now, and from my perspective, this is a poker tell. It means you’re deep, deep under mind control. You are fighting for your abuser.
Do with this information and perspective on human behavior what you will… or I will destroy you!
🙂
In my high school years, I became friends with an older kid by maybe 2 or 3 years… his name is Joe Soliz. He played guitar in a rival band, and we started hanging out together, just jamming and trading licks in the ol’ Quad Cities in Illinois.
A brief time had passed, and the next thing I knew Joe moved to Southern California.
I, on the other hand was experiencing the effects of smoking too much weed, failing high school, no job, no girl… basically feeling like the biggest loser on the planet. I was overweight, breaking out in my face from so much junk food, and so low in self-esteem I couldn’t take looking at myself in the mirror anymore. A re-invention was needed. No idea how to do it, but knew something had to give.
I reached out to Joe and asked if I could come visit him for a month to see how I liked it. He graciously agreed, so I sold my car to buy my very first plane flight to Los Angeles. Never forget it was a prop plane that brought me those two thousand miles. A loud flight it was!
When I arrived, he and his roommate had a kind of spare room they’d throw clothes and old towels in, and I got to sleep in there… probably on the floor. I honestly don’t recall. What I do recall was the taste of freedom. The taste of California climate. The sun, the palm trees, the girls… I’d walk down the street in the early afternoons, always barefoot, to a place called Licorice Pizza and shuffle through all the new releases and listen to music through my new So Cal set of ears.
The first album I bought was Dixie Dregs ‘What If’. Steve Morse’s guitar work was just incredible, and still being a fan of the band Kansas, they sounded a bit like an instrumental version. Next was Karla Bonoff’s first record.
Both of these were playing in-store and I had to buy them immediately after hearing. I have both copies to this day, and though the Dregs have kind of been abandoned by my musical taste as an older man, I will hold Karla’s record as a lifer. Whenever it comes back into rotation it’s like hearing it again for the first time.
Anyway, I was enjoying California just for the sheer presence of it. Loving beyond words a brief month I got to feel like I had no past… no definitions of who I was. Literally soaking up and sucking up any sunshine and air I could get, I was happy to be alive for the first time in a long time. As silly as it may sound every living thing… even a palm tree in the middle of a street median… would make me think ‘wow… that’s a California tree… it looks so different and cool’. I was almost jealous of the tree! That’s how much I loved it here. That kind of feeling is absolutely priceless.
My mind started to work overtime as to how I might be able to make a go of it here. What would I do? Joe’s roommate played in Vegas on weekends and was always saying the casinos paid really well if you could get a gig. So I set out to do that. My days were spent soaking up the California dream, and the nights were spent playing guitar with Joe and talking about how we could get gigs.
One day Joe got a call from a service he belonged to called The Musician’s Contact Service. It was a way for musicians to meet other musicians and form bands, find players etc. On this particular evening I could hear Joe pick up the phone. “Hi, yeah I play guitar. What’s that? No, no sorry man I don’t sing… but you know what? Let me pass the phone over to a friend of mine who’s visiting. He sings really good and can play too”.
As he passed the phone to me he whispered ‘Jude this guy says he has a record deal but listen man, most of these people are full of shit so beware’.
I took the phone as a quick-study-street-smart imposter and said “Hi” (almost disbelieving before even giving him a chance)
The guy on the other end of the phone very nicely said “Hey! My name’s Moon and I have an album out on Capitol Records. I’m looking for guys to be in my band for some upcoming tours.” “So I hear you can play and sing really well?”
“Yes I can do that”
“Well, what do you sound like… or I mean, can you give me a description of your voice?”
“Hmm… let me put it this way. I can sing anything Paul McCartney can sing, ok?”
“Haha, wow that’s pretty confident. I guess I’ll have to hear you now!”
So to make a long story short, he sent a friend down to Anaheim to pick me up, take me to Sun Valley where he was renting a house, I auditioned for him in his living room, then spent the next 3 years of my life on the road, traveling every city of the US and 2-3 times a year to Europe.
This was a Godsend. I couldn’t have worked it out better if someone gave me a ‘blueprint your future kit’. For someone like me, an untrained musician who grew up on radio and rock & roll, to get this kind of experience… let me put it this way. I’ve heard we have angels in life, and I believe Joe Soliz was one of mine.
My life forever changed.
So the point of this very personal story? Sometimes we need to experience the edge. We also need to put ourselves in a place where we appreciate every small thing. Then we have to give our troubles up to God, the Universe, or whoever you happen to pray to or believe in. We think worrying will help, but it doesn’t. It only begets more worrying. Miracles lie in faith, gratitude and appreciation for this life.
So next time you’re in a tight spot, know there’s a way through… and one that’s better than you could ever design yourself.
And thank you Joe Soliz, Moon Martin… and quite a few other angels that have been there along my yellow brick road.
Love, Jude
Have you reached a place in life where literally nothing we were ever taught rings true anymore? From what’s in our water to what they feel they must put in our blood seconds after birth. Education they usurped then decimated. The war on drugs? Frequencies changed or eliminated. World wars and ‘necessary’ invasions. The stock market. Medicine. Moon landing. Mars? Mass shootings, 9/11, magic bullets, magic passports, farming and food in general… even baby food. All consumer products. CIA, DEA, FBI, NASA, NSA, DOJ, IMF, WEF, JDL, IRS, OPEC, DHS, CFR, Trilateral Commission, The Catholic Church and Vatican, Hollywood, The Music Business, Ivy Leagues and secret societies, Google, Facebook, X, Spotify, Amazon, … where does it stop? Seemingly, it doesn’t.
Maybe Santa Claus and Disney movies were designed to get us used to fairy tales. If you are NOT here, then I don’t blame you and even kind of envy you. However, if you ARE here, we can be friends 🙂