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Father Time
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2/25/2017 3:57:27 PM
I'm a rock star
in my own mind. Maybe that's enough. No, isn't quite.
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2/26/2017 8:34:31 AM
Okay, shall we converse on this amazing subject?
Dare I utter a mutter or a flutter or a piece of bread and butter....
Well I am going to contemplate this...
the short answer right off the top of me head, yeah we are,
but there's room for improvement, that goes for both you, and I,
oh that's funny, George just said "and even us, we suck now!"
hahahaha you got me George.
I'll be back. Ha.
Oh shit, that was FUNNY George.
"speak for yourself, George" said John.
No it's okay, I'll vouch for George's character, John,
you actually do suck too. Now you do. Me? Oh I totally suck.
Oh okay, see now I have to even define that, we couldn't just
leave it as George made a funny, could we.
It's hard, sometimes, being old and tired and whatta ya mean
I'm not world famous yet, and all that, to keep being inspired
and creative, creative often comes from inspired,
but it can also lead to inspired, like, I've felt creative sometimes,
while uninspired, and then, out of momentum I'll begin to GET inspired.
The odd thing is I know my craft now, better than ever before,
let it GO, John.
"what does he mean we didn't swing?"
John, I think Scott meant that his finely attuned ear
could in fact detect that we threw that together
like a tuna noodle casserole when given ten minutes
notice unexpected company was coming.
Look, on the whole Rock Star thing,
what occurs to me, and yeah, I walk around thinkin' I'm a rock star too.
And, in a way, guess what, I am. And you are.
Star, what is that?
start there.
What is, "Star".
Who defines it?
I say it begins from within or forget it.
It begins by me, (I'm going first person here)
deciding, I'm a Star.
What's a fucking Star?
It's a big fucking light in the sky isn't it.
A Big Light.
I Will Be A Big Light.
So that, is a decision.
One you made. One I made.
And, we're doing it,
we simply want to get BETTER at it,
and that we can, is a Gift, which is namely,
'if we're still breathing, we may still decode this thing yet.'
And I'd still work with you. Yeah I get it, I am the Superest Pain in the ass ever,
Kryptonite doesn't even stop that shit. I know. Look, if it's any comfort to you,
I annoy myself, like, constantly. I blow a take in a recording, it's off the charts.
Oh my God.
The harder you try at something, sometimes, the crazier it makes you.
And I'm a sack o' nuts, and I still ain't there yet.
We may have to break out the Wesson Oil.
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2/26/2017 8:41:59 AM
I also actually have ---wow---
just came to mind, yeah that's another one....
and that's too many.
I have at least three songs,
where I'm mentioning being a rock star, yeah.
"Rock Stars From Mars" by BEATLESEX
(which, I believe, is on my IMP Bsex page as we speak,
and that one may be the best of the bunch)
there was also another by Bsex,
which I don't think is presently published,
I'd have to go hear it again, but the memory of it is not
so impressing me that I wanna run to the archives
get it on a flash drive and release it.. "Baby I'm A Rock Star" is that one.
And I also did, an ALJ one,
"Lesley Jane, The Tomato-Headed Rock Star" which is catchy,
but probably ultimately self congratulatory and fairly pointless.
I'm my own worse critic sometimes, but that's good.
It means, just maybe, maybe I'll get my big fat stupid ego out of the way,
and one day actually figure out how to make the real shit,
that makes everybody call you a rock star.
That's the cut to the chase answer.
We can be this. We're so damned close by now, it's almost a thing
you could just howl out a window about. You know, sudden release
of a howl of frustration. 'what's that?' 'oh that's that weird guy,
think he's a musician'.
We need, to make, better songs.
I do. My band does.
That's why George can MAKE the joke, and it becomes very funny,
of 'we suck now'.... because and I've said this before,
George probably remembers the 'gist' of being a Beatle better
than any of the other Beatles. Well Paul puts on the best Live Show,
we'll give him that, he's basically never stopped touring hasn't he.
Better songs.
Bottom line, nobody really is a Rock Star,
until they tap into how to pull those bloody classics right out of your ass.
Till then? We're dreamers, patting ourselves on the backs.
We need to write better songs, and then record them well. And then maybe...
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2/26/2017 10:41:58 AM
Yeah, more I think about it, more I think it all comes down to being a skilled songwriter to the point you can be a hit songwriter. In the movie "Eight Days A Week", Paul claims he and John wrote about 300 songs. John says he thinks it's actually easily twice that number, citing 'we really wrote a whole lot of shitty ones that we wouldn't show anybody, I mean, a lot of them, so I think, Paul isn't counting them'.
I think a key attribute in the 'how do actually do this'...
is basically being your own drill sergeant, putting yourself to work on it,
even when you don't want to, especially when you don't want to.
John said a very intelligent thing to me this morning, it does still happen
on occasion. He said, basically in line with the 'gotta keep at it' school
of reckoning, he said "look at the guys in the old gold rush, who were
the ones whom it all 'panned out' for (that's actually a term FROM the gold rush!)
they are the ones who kept at it all day, dipping that pan in the water,
again and again, all goddamned day... it's like playing a slot machine somewhat,
but no there still is skill involved in song writing, it's not quite as hit or miss
as a slot machine or dipping the pan in the stream trying to find gold....
still, the point is, some idiot who stumbles into gold, yeah maybe,
but odds are it's the ones at it all day who walk away the richest."
Well no, actually that's a much longer form of what he said this morning,
he embellished now as I wrote it all out...
basically he said originally
it's the ones doing it all day, as opposed to the idiot who got lucky
then went to the Saloon and drank his nugget's worth.
Something to that effect.
And I can also tell you, in the interest of professional courtesy and that we are musical peers, for me how it works is, usually how it works,
there's been exceptions... but mostly, if I have a song going,
I kind of have to finish that song, before I can have a clear head
to think up another. And sometimes, I don't even much like the song.
And yet, if I ever want to write songs and get to the good ones,
I have to keep going. The difference is, well, I'll sooner put them out.
Unless they are truly awful. Like, I, we, just wrote a song,
which we're not sure is dumb as a box of soapflakes. But it has a sound.
And we'll approach it as professionals, do a proper recording of it,
since now we can so there's no excuse not to.
And who knows, maybe by the end of the work part, we like the thing.
Or not. Sometimes we've done a song, and then we don't even put it out.
But hundreds more than Paul claimed? Really John?
"yeah, I think we burnt them in a mock ceremony"
Mock ceremony?
"Okay, we were drunk, probably, but seriously
wanted to get rid of them so that no one would find out, that wasn't mock."
So, John, here's a million dollar question,
may as well interview the idiot, been working with him all this time,
and now I have him on the spot, aha....
John, what marked the change that you can think of now, Sir,
where the line was crossed over,
from 'we're writing crap' to 'oh fuck, maybe we really CAN do this'?
"I don't know"
Well that's helpful, thank you.
"maybe you stop trying to be so clever, or, I don't know...
at a certain point, they just began to happen, maybe I still don't know why."
Okay that sounds honest enough doesn't it.
It's a climb, we haven't fallen off Dreamer's Mountain yet,
so let's keep climbin'.
And back to the studio....
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Larree
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2/26/2017 11:15:14 AM
Most of the old "rock stars" play at county fairs.
The definition has changed. Salesmen call themselves "rock stars" when they have a good month. Cops call themselves "rock stars" when they write a lot of tickets. Street sweepers call themselves "rock stars" when they finish sweeping the streets before lunch. A "rock star" ain't got nothing in the world these days!
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2/26/2017 12:25:17 PM
---- Updated 2/26/2017 12:28:57 PM
Wow. You do say a lot of astute things.
It's true the very term "Rock Star" is a cliche now,
which everybody loves to use in application to their own segment of reality.
And you're right about them playing country fairs and all...
In 1985, I warmed up, me and the Beatle cover band I was in
back when I discovered I was channeling Lennon for real,
we warmed up for Tiny Tim. Who was pretty famous in the late 60s.
Not only were we the warm up act, but get this,
the promoter comes to us all quiet, saying 'uh, Tiny Tim doesn't have a band'...
that's how tight it got for him, 'band? fuck a band, I wanna eat,
and I hear it wasn't much either, like he opened a can of tuna,
had his girlfriend who got all his money whack him off, that was a day...
I recall me and my wife sitting in the same room with Tim
while he went on for about three hours, about a bit of everything
but mostly a lot of nothing. But he had mentioned how he generously
take care of his women, which they appreciate, and went into
detail... already said too much.
Long and short, the promoter was asking us, a Beatle Cover band,
if we would be willing to play behind Tiny Tim.
Asked the whole band this question, right there in the dressing room.
Whole band sat there dumbfounded, not knowing what to say.
Suddenly I realized, I was the most musically adept in the group,
so if anyone was gonna answer it was me, so I said 'yeah, sure'.
I had the best ear in the group,
so when we got on stage,
(rehearsal? you think any such thing occurred? ha. noooo, none of that)
and Tim was doing,
I mean, literally, his whole friggin' set list,
was literally songs from the nineteenth century,
you know 1800s.... some I'd heard... 'let me call you sweetheart'
was one of them, I remember me mum singing me that
when I was a tot..
mostly, none of us had never heard any of these songs,
but as I had the best ear in the band,
the rest of the band, followed me,
they played what I played.
at the end, Tim closed with "when the saints go marching in"
and I always (this nonsense went on for a three day gig)
ended up bunny hopping across the stage while Tim played,
and that, made the audience go nuts. Tim never knew it wasn't him.
What, I was gonna tell him?
Some chick asked for my autograph,
"you stole the show" she said, I said "shhhh, but thank you."
It's nice that the world found it's way to enjoy the term, "Rock Star",
but really,
when you think of just that,
'a "rock star" ain't got nothing in the world these days..'
(lovely reference to The Who's "Young Man Blues")
this to my mind implies,
Rock Stars Ourselves Need To Hit The Refresh Button
On The Very Definition Of The Term.
All comes back to, Keep Writing Them Songs.
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Larree
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2/26/2017 1:59:42 PM
Great story about opening for Tiny Tim and backing him up!
And yes, it all comes back to writing the songs.
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2/27/2017 9:36:16 AM
yep,
and, don't look now,
but I smell a second wind coming on....
oh Hell No, that did not at all come out right. We're old men,
that has a whole 'nother meanin', whoops.
I sense, a second wind, coming on for us all.
You included, there, Big Larree.
I'm just trying to figure out where the heck you got
a heart-shaped pizza from. I'd eat my heart out with one of them things.
Wait a minute, I ain't so sure that came out right either... oh nevermind.
Yeah, everybody, up and make better records....
it's up to all of us.
Don't wait for mainstream to do it, ya'll will be waiting a lonnng time.
It's up to us, all of us.
Rock The Casbah, Folks.
Rock it like Bingo Bango Bong.
We're All Rock Stars Here.
IMP... It's Where The REAL Rock Stars Live.
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2/27/2017 9:50:28 AM
Okay, now I'll post from this one,
since it let's my most vocal ghostie friend be more a part of it...
"but George is here too now" yes, John we know.
More about The Adventures Of Lesley Circa 1985.
This was, in fact, the last gig I played with the Beatle cover band,
as it was on this excursion, that my brain really began to grasp
that I was indeed channeling Lennon---I'd already seen me do it on video,
and that nearly made my head tip over and fall off...
now I'd just played a weekend's worth of remote County Fair gig...
(In a lovely little town in Ohio, outside of Cleveland, called Willowick I think)
and, I don't know if anyone knows or much thought about it,
but Mr Tim was actually a very large and tall man.
I don't know if that came across on television.
He was a nice man, a warm man, a kind man.
A man with wit and intellect, and my wife and I
sat lone in a large dressing with him for about three hours
one night before a show, as he talked of all manner of things,
some rather unexpected, like tales of how his women
'took care' of him... the bit about him opening a tuna can,
I'd heard that from someone else, so I can't vouch for him having
said that, though I can believe it... he really wasn't a sort to put on airs,
he was, well he was famous and more so than many of us will ever get
to be, and inside that bubble of fame, was a humble soul,
I realized, as he spoke, this guy is a lonely soul.... ah, aren't we all...
He wore this suit...
the whole time, I doubt he had brought another.
It was as big as he was, and seriously,
the guy was darn near seven feet tall,
and probably weighed oh,
something equal to a Harley.
And when he played on stage,
he did this little dance in place thing,
sort of almost marching,
matter of fact you probably could have marched
to some of his set list, really nineteenth century stuff,
and he's playing it all on his famous uke,
which he'd set up to be electrified, nothing at all fancy,
wire going all 'round the thing, but you could plug in into
an amplifier, he plugged into my amplifier actually
and I was then also his 'soundman'...
and I just trained my ear on what he played,
and banged out the corresponding guitar chord,
with the rest of the band watching me like a hawk
for which chord I was playing....
there was also a band at this same gig
that played Credence Clearwater Revival songs,
later on, in the evening, (Tim wasn't around,
I don't know if he was in the same hotel, or what,
probably went to bed early) we got drunk with the Credence band,
whoopie doopie we have um fun.
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2/27/2017 9:52:36 AM
PS...
we just put out a new BEATLESEX record,
it's a new one, we did enough of all the old ones for now....
and we think we like it.
Yeah it's one we did for the Scientists.
Well nobody much thinks about them do they.
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2/27/2017 9:56:22 AM
Last note on this....
because Lennon was spewing forth out of me face so much,
Tiny Tim actually suggested to me,
that I should change my name to John Lennon Jr. I kid you not.
easy mistake to make, people hear his voice coming out,
they assume it's me.
No, I sound more like Mal Evans, really. Actually like Pete Shotton more to the point.
But that's what Mr Tim said. Well he meant well.
God Bless You In Heaven, Tiny Tim.
Oh yes,
obviously we did "Tiptoe through the tulips" ... that's his most famous number.
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2/27/2017 9:58:21 AM
oh, and because Lennon's voice got his (Tim's) brain gears going,
he told me of a time he made a tape for George Harrison,
singing Nowhere Man,
and then years later,
on a radio show called The Lost Lennon Tapes,
there it was, Elliot Mintz,
longtime friend of the family to the Lennons,
introduced it on this radio show,
there it was, Tiny Tim singing Nowhere Man.
I said "oh shit" remembering Tim telling me about it.
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2/27/2017 10:01:52 AM
An underscoring point I am seeing appear, to and with, all this....
You know,
We All ARE Rock Stars....
Yeah you too Big Time.
See that? You're not only a Rock Star, Scott,
your very name, is Big Time.
I call this calm before the creative storm 'the precipice'....
Okay, less talkin' about it, more doing it....
Seriously we're all more rock stars than we realize.
And very soon, the whole realm in which we exist,
will begin to overshadow, the mainstream....
I believe so, yes. I have Great Expectations For Us All.
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2/28/2017 11:51:34 AM
Here's a Boost. If you didn't want it, you don't have to thank me.
You're A Rock Star.
It takes one to know one,
and, just by the dint of what it is I do and who it is I do it with,
I am a Rock Star myself.
Well, I'd already forgotten our new record, 'how does it go again?'
that's understandable, 'cause, I have had so many tunes pass through
my head, I'd forget my name if I didn't have so many songs
with my name in the title.... funny though I can't remember a one of 'em.
Okay Lesley Jane The Tomato-Headed Rock Star,
do I have that one out here? I should check that.
It's pretty pointless, but boppy and fun anyway...
No, I actually have a point somewhere, occasionally I locate it.
Anyway, the most recent Bsex one,
the one for the Scientists... "Schrodinger's Girl"
(had to think a bit to remember how to spell that)
is quite good. Gets me dancing all over the place.
Nice work Boys. I'm glad I took up with you.
Even if I'm now probably the craziest person in the world.
Live a lie, it may make you crazy.
Life a life set on only finding and learning the real truth,
and it will definitely make you crazy.
But I'm a Rock Star.
And so are you, Mr Time.
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2/28/2017 11:55:15 AM
---- Updated 2/28/2017 11:56:31 AM
PS,
I omit key elements, 'cause of a part of my brain that is retarded, dead, or both...
I just re-listened to the new BEATLESEX record, and yeah, it rocks, it rocks hard.
So, absent minded professor sort that I may be,
I do know, I am a Rock Star.
And I'm telling you, You, Scott, Are A Rock Star.
Do we wanna be Bigger Stars Than We Are?
Probably.
A common thing among Stars,
it's called 'an Ego'.
No one is saying we can't,
and if they do,
poo poo doody foot on them, for they lie, they lie, they lie lie lie.
We're Rock Stars.
But let's be bigger ones.
Let's make Better Records.
Collectively or Individually.
Thar yew go.
I took a couple days on that last record,
and it pays off, to really take the time it needs to sound right.
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