Klaus Voorman

This looks quite cool.

Beatles Christmas Mash

From the brilliant TJT of the fabulous Beatles Remixers Group, of whom I remain in awe.

The one you never make

The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley. Alanna Nash. Simon & Schuster. 416 pages.
by Richard Pachter

Several years back, I had a brainstorm; so I wrote up a proposal for a book, The Management Secrets of Brian Epstein and Colonel Tom Parker. How could I lose? After all, The Beatles and Elvis were the biggest entertainment acts in history, and I could surely glean a few relevant chestnuts from their (deceased) managers' experiences to spin into a pop biz book. Instant bestseller!

A consultation was set up with a very big agent who quickly brought me back down to earth and suggested (among many other things) that maybe these two guys' careers weren't the greatest templates for business success.

As I revised, then abandoned, the proposal, I realized that in many ways these artists probably succeeded in spite of these two supposed management masterminds! Epstein, for example, gave the Fab Four's merchandising rights away to a casual acquaintance for a pittance, costing him and his unknowing clients untold millions of dollars.

Then there's The Colonel. He was a carnival huckster, and that's not a euphemism or hyperbole, but an accurate description of what he was until his last days. But his story — and how he interacted with his client and the world of business — offers a fascinating lesson, several, in fact.

In this new book, journalist Alanna Nash tells the tale of the man the world knew as ''Col. Tom Parker,'' and that's where the lies begin: with his name. It has been an open secret for more than 20 years that ''Parker'' (not a colonel in any army in this world) was really Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk, an illegal alien from The Netherlands.

The Colonel's immigration status may have been the reason that he never allowed Elvis to tour outside of the United States. It could also explain why Parker never visited his charge during Elvis' celebrated two-year hitch in the U.S. Army. But Nash posits a bigger, darker reason for the fake Colonel's fear of transoceanic flying: He had committed murder in his native Holland and lived in mortal terror of being discovered.

He also possessed a thoroughly autocratic management style, which effectively killed Presley's chances for diverging from the former carnie's exploitative formula for success. And despite the huge sums Elvis earned, Parker demanded tribute — payment beyond even his admittedly exorbitant fees and commissions — from anyone who wanted to do business with him.

The manager also had an interesting view of his role; when a journalist asked if it were true that he took 50 percent of his client's earnings as a commission (a typical percentage is 15 percent), Parker replied, "That's not true at all. He takes fifty percent of everything I earn.''

It's all a very fascinating story, and Nash's diligent research keeps her narrative as far away as possible from supermarket-tabloid territory. For business people, she provides a vivid illustration of the notion that talent can be just as easily mismanaged as it can be handled correctly — and often more profitably, at least in the short term.

In the absence of each of their handler's flawed guidance, perhaps The Beatles might have been relegated to England's cabaret circuit, and Presley might have continued to drive a truck in Memphis, but maybe not. After all, in business, sometimes the best move of all is the one that you never make.

published 7/28/03 in The Miami Herald

Friday Outfake

I loved Free As A Bird, so here's another Lennon demo that was "finished"... not by the remaining Beatles, but by some other guys.

A magazine, not a novel

...while he grew up treating an album like a novel, younger listeners, freely downloading music and setting their iPods on shuffle, are more likely to treat it like a magazine.
From the NY Times article on Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails

Interesting metaphor. I think some albums may, indeed, be novels: Supertramp's Crime of the Century, the Kinks' Muswell Hillbillies, Electric Ladyland by Jimi Hendrix, Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall by Pink Floyd... but The Beatles ("White Album") is surely a magazine as is The Who Sell Out.

Some albums are open to interpretation: Kind of Blue anyone? Who's Next?

Also interesting are Reznor's methods of distributing his music; free, with several choices (Apple Lossless? I am so there!). While it's the perfect way (or a perfect way) for successful artists to go their own way upon completion of their recording contracts, it's not for everyone. New artists, in particular, might not be able to pull it off, BUT... if I were advising a baby band, I'd say, "Go for it."

Why the hell not? Other than an initial advance (of their own money), bands typically get little or no royalties, so why not use the Web to market music? It's a pretty inexpensive way to find an audience without having to deal with all sorts of filters and intermediaries.

Of course, for established acts, there's always Wal-Mart. Perhaps not for Nine Inch Nails, though you never know.

Friday Beatles

From the Help movie, of course.

Sir Paul

Like many Beatles fans, I have ambivalent feelings toward the music of Paul McCartney. Regardless, he's had a remarkable life and when this all-but-authorized biography came out, my Sun-Sentinel editor, the formidable Chauncey Mabe, assigned me to review it.

KNIGHT'S GAMBIT: SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY CONTROLS NEW VERSION OF THE RISE AND FALL OF THE FAB FOUR
By RICHARD PACHTER
Published Sunday, November 23, 1997 in the the Sun-Sentinel

PAUL MCCARTNEY: Many Years From Now. Barry Miles. Henry Holt. 654 pp.
In March of 1997, with a tap on the shoulder by Queen Elizabeth, Paul McCartney became Sir Paul, the only Beatle to be knighted — though in 1965, along with John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, he received the Member of the British Empire honor.

The long and winding road that led to this occasion is the oft-told tale of the formation, success and dissolution of the Beatles, the best, brightest, most famous and successful popular musical aggregation in history.

With scores of biographies, reminiscences and memoirs already available, what, then, does this new book offer that is unique?

With the exception of Hunter Davies' authorized 1968 Beatles biography, all the others lacked the active participation of Paul McCartney. This book, Many Years From Now (a better title would have been Yesterday), is essentially the official McCartney version of events.

Written by Barry Miles, co-founder of International Times (a British underground publication from the '60s) and former Apple employee, with the active participation of Sir Paul, this lengthy tome uncritically presents Paul's version of the story of the Beatles' pre-Fab Four days, their early struggles, later successes and eventual excesses.

Given McCartney's unique perspective, his first-person recollections are invaluable and highly worthy of preservation and dissemination. Harrison already has written his autobiography, I Me Mine, with longtime (and recently deceased) Beatles confidante Derek Taylor. Unfortunately, Lennon never wrote his memoirs, though numerous interviews, especially the one given to Playboy's David Sheff, published shortly after his assassination, were sometimes painfully revealing and always enlightening. Even Ringo's memoirs would undoubtedly be interesting, though of limited reliability, perhaps, given the subject's persistent alcoholic haze.

But Miles' book is not labeled "authorized" or "as told to," so the reader assumes some degree of objectivity. Without impugning his motives, there is scarce presentation of anything negative on McCartney's part throughout the book. Indeed, the agenda here is the rehabilitation of McCartney's image. His role as a progressive force on par with Lennon is a constant theme throughout the book, which is puzzling and unnecessary given his prolific accomplishments.

Miles also takes his cue from the works of one of Lennon's most notorious detractors, Albert Goldman, and his infamous The Lives of John Lennon biography which presented Lennon as a hopeless drug addict and his wife, Yoko Ono, as an artistic fraud and a manipulative, self-serving, opportunistic shrike. In fact, given the nature of the characterization of the Widow Lennon in Miles and McCartney's book, it's doubtful that she will be inclined to cooperate and collaborate with McCartney on many future endeavors.

Regardless, Miles does give McCartney's insatiable curiosity, enormous creativity and vast achievements ample coverage. His sprawling narrative, which concludes with the Beatles' breakup (with a brief coda updating Sir Paul's recent accomplishments), covers most significant events in the former Beatle's life in exhaustive detail.

Miles also provides a thoroughly authentic whiff of '60s countercultural earnestness and idealism, as well as its tragically sleazy underbelly of hard drugs and the resultant emotional wreckage. He consistently (and disconcertingly) speaks of himself in the third person through the book and extravagantly recounts his own activities in the context of his subject's life and times. But the bygone era of grooviness and good vibes is recounted with genuine affection absent undue sentimentality, a major achievement given the author's clear attachment to that era.

Considerable space is given to McCartney's recollections of songwriting sessions and his collaborations with Lennon. Beatles fans will especially treasure these bits; in each case Paul recalls the context and content of each member's contribution, graciously allowing Lennon the benefit of any doubt as he soberly but warmly dicusses each tune's origin and the creative dynamics therein.

McCartney's recent foray into the world of classical music is mentioned in Miles' addendum. His first work, the Liverpool Oratorio, was well-received by fans, though the reviewers were less kind. His new piece, Standing Stone, is set for its U.S. debut shortly.

At 654 pages, including index and bibliography, Many Years From Now is best enjoyed by devout Beatles fans or researchers seeking McCartney's take on a particular event. It's difficult to recommend to the uninitiated or casual reader. In addition to its exhaustive text and exhausting prose, the book contains several minor factual errors, as well as the usual first-edition typos. For general readers — or the less fanatical fans — other Beatles-related books may be more rewarding.

The Beatles Remixers Group

"For anyone who likes remixes, enhancements or otherwise altered Beatles recordings. Uploads encouraged."

There are several volumes of remixes out there, under the name "Tuned to a Natural E." They are not for everyone, but for me, I couldn't get the smile off my puss, listening to Vol. 1 on the way home, driving through crappy traffic the other night.

It's also always nice to know that there are people who are crazier than you!