Bob Deakin Short Stories

Sailing, takes me away to where I’ve always heard it could be.

Every time I see a pink flamingo, even a fake one dressed like Angela Lansbury on Murder, She Wrote, I think of Christopher Cross’s tremendously successful self-titled album and smash hit song, “Sailing,” from 1979. The cover features an illustrated pink flamingo perched on one leg in the middle of a pond, encircled in a green background, and I remember it on the floor of many a living room at the time, usually leaning against the base of the stereo having recently been played.

Why I remember this is because the album was so mellow – adult contemporary before the category even existed – and I would see the most unlikely of characters with the album in their possession. My sister had it, and I could understand that, but my brothers did too and they were much more prone to crank Pink Floyd or Steve Miller at the time.

I used to hang around at the local volunteer firehouse at the time too, and even some of the biggest, toughest guys could be seen with the album or cassette in the firehouse or in their car on the way to a football game. I even saw the flamingo album under the arm of the occasional classmate at my junior high school, which blew me away seeing as how image conscious junior high school students were and have always been.

The album may have appealed to such a broad audience because it featured some of the hottest musicians of the time including Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers, Don Henley of the Eagles, guitar legends Larry Carlton and Eric Johnson as well as vocalists Nicolette Larson and J.D. Souther. It also had a rocking tune in “Ride Like The Wind,” which made its way into other genres such as NASCAR and the NBA as a theme song for highlight films.

I listened to the album cover to cover many times, as I did with anything my brothers and sisters had in the house, and I always thought it was a rather forgettable album save for the two hit songs. I really liked “Ride Like the Wind” for its steady thumping drum part that I used to play on my own set, and the smoking guitar solo at the end. Speaking of which, with Larry Carlton and Eric Johnson booked for the sessions, why would Christopher Cross play the lead guitar solo in the song? In any event, he nailed it.

I will admit, however, that I always loved the song “Sailing” and its mesmerizing, rudimentary guitar rhythm as the main verse. I was, however, afraid to play it loud enough for anyone else to hear or to be seen with the album because it was so feminine – from Chris’s simpy lead vocals to the wistful title track and more than anything else, the album cover with the pink flamingo.

I wasn’t even sure flamingos really existed except for yard decorations, and further research has taught me that flamingos do exist in colors other than pink. As for the record company, I’d be willing to bet Warner Bros. had second thoughts about the album cover, which may have even pushed them over the edge to spring for Michael McDonald’s and Don Henley’s session fees.

As it turns out, I quickly realized that I was the only one afraid to flaunt my affection for the album. “Sailing” was taking everyone else away to where they always heard it would be, but I was afraid to come out from belowdecks.

Copyright 2009

I watched Michael Jackson’s This Is It at the local movie theater this past weekend and walked away struck first and foremost by the sadness that I’ll never be able to enjoy his talents anymore. When any entertainment superstar that was a part of our childhood passes on – whatever the circumstances – a part of our youth passes with them.

None of us knew him personally, even the few I’ve met who did know him personally, but I feel as though I’ve lost something; like someone took all my Michael Jackson and Jackson Five albums off the shelves and sprinkled a thick layer of dust on them. All of mine are in mint condition but they just aged 25 years overnight.

For me, the same thing happened with John Lennon, Elvis Presley, George Harrison and Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys. I grew up with these musicians staring at their photos, lyrics and liner notes on albums as I listened to the music intently, sitting on my bedroom floor, on the living room couch with headphones on, driving around in my car or lying on the beach or in an open field. Their music created visions that would last a lifetime, but once they were gone those visions became memories, which are nice but sad.

I could live by quotes such as Neil Diamond’s “Used to be’s don’t count anymore, they just lay on the floor ’til you sweep them away” from “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” (I can’t believe I just quoted that song) or Ricky Nelson’s “If memories were all I sang, I’d rather drive a truck” from “Garden Party.” I choose not to however, because the songs I’ve loved are too good to sweep away or abandon. Listening to them or watching the videos may be sad but they still bring joy. I just now will be forever separating the past from the present.

This Is It provides an effective and original insight into the planning of the concert tour of a megastar and the way Michael participated, albeit we don’t see how often he was actually at rehearsals, which was probably not as often as suggested judging by the cheers from the cast and crew when he did show up. Nonetheless, the footage of his performances at rehearsals is at times, nothing short of spectacular.

The quality of the images is very good and the sound is excellent. Most of the film is shot onstage at Staples Center in Los Angels with a live band playing and much of the lighting and special effects in operation. It begins with an opening montage of interviews with the dancers who are being chosen for the tour, a la American Idol, but fortunately it quickly moves on from there into the rehearsals. I felt that this introduction to the dancers actually took away from the film, as from there on, I got the impression that they weren’t seasoned professionals as much as amateurs star-struck by Michael. In addition to that, compared to him, they looked like amateurs, as anyone would.

There is a scene late in the This Is It where Michael is blocking the dance steps for “Billy Jean,” then lets the drummer vamp the rhythm as he goes through an extended series of steps based on the famous video. It was unrehearsed, as he bypassed much of the singing to focus on his moves. Michael is at his best here and moviegoers see the best of his dancing, and the scene is a great show by itself and the reason Michael Jackson was who he was. There may have been better acrobats, better singers and better choreographers, but no better performers than present in these few minutes of film, from a 50 year-old at that.

He appeared to have lost nothing over the years, and his audience – his backup dancers in front of the stage – were in awe, as the film displays.

Also a very touching scene is his rehearsals for “Human Nature.” His voice sounds great, and the tenderness of the song is aptly reflected in the light show and the emotions of the cast and crew as they watch.

The film also gives insight into the creation of an updated version of a film sequence for “Thriller,” shot in 3D, once again with the Vincent Price voice-over, as well as new film vignettes for other songs. We get a lot of concert producer and director Kenny Ortega barking orders to the cast and crew while nurturing the star – a common contradiction experienced by anyone who has ever been part of a major label film shoot or recording session.

Michael appears healthy although gaunt, which has been the description of him for the last 25 years. He is seen watching playbacks of video, coaching musicians and dancers and we see a touching explanation of his views on the environment as he discusses the recording and film footage for “Earth Song,” from his HIStory album. It’s a bit trite, following four decades of environmental concerns from musicians, but the footage is well produced, typically in line with Michael’s touch.

There are no shots of him away from the stage on his own time, but the film is a documentary of the preparation of a concert tour, so as much as I wanted to see that, it may not have been available for the film.

All in all, This Is It gives an effective insight into the production of a major tour that is not rife with the usual rock & roll eccentricities seen in many other ‘tour films’ such as fights, drug use or legal battles. Michael is portrayed as a gentle soul, extremely prepared, compassionate and demanding of himself. Not a surprise to anyone, but in the past tense a somber finality.

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the production and the concise editing and organization of the piece as a whole, which runs just short of two hours. I’m not a Michael Jackson fanatic, nor a dance aficionado, but I have been forever taken with his artistic genius, and am sad for the passing of part of my youth and the new found layer of dust on my albums.

Copyright 2009

Donald Fagen during the Heavy Rollers Tour in 2007.

Saw Steely Dan’s Heavy Rollers Tour the other night at the Hard Rock in Orlando. Nice venue, seats about 2,000 in a pretty cozy setting with balconies and standing areas surrounding. Much smaller setting than I would expect for a Dan show, and a much worse sound system.

I realize it’s not 1977 anymore so I wasn’t expecting a polished, cutting-edge performance with hot new material. However, they played “Two Against Nature” which has a nice, shuffle beat, which was the title song from that album in 2000. It was the best song of the night even though most in the audience probably thought it was a new tune.

Familiar songs included “Hey Nineteen,” preceded by Fagen explaining a fun experience with some chick on the beach with a bottle of Cuervo and some “other stuff” a long time ago. Soon after, “Bad Sneakers” went over big with the crowd, which sang every song, word for word, with him throughout the night.

I dressed in a bright Hawaiian shirt, shorts and sneaks and, not so surprisingly, fit in perfect with the rest of the crowd, only younger. Every guy in the place looked like Barry Gibb with a Hawaiian shirt and a girlfriend/wife with big blond hair. There was no pot smoking at the show, as you would be immediately cuffed and arrested if you did, but I venture that almost everybody at the show would have lunged at a joint if busted out. By rough estimation, I would imagine that the crowd had a collective hundreds of thousands of pounds of dope smoking experience.

Music fan’s intuition.

The band was good but not great. Good bass player, but the Dan is not about the bass guitar. Jon Herington played lead and rhythm guitar throughout the show but didn’t stand out, partly because the sound system didn’t let him. Walter Becker showed up but wasn’t in top form, and I honestly don’t know what top form is for Becker in a live setting. I said the same thing after I saw him in the mid-90s at a Dan show in Boston. I bet people said the same thing in the 70s. He nails it in the studio with hours to kill on each bar but doesn’t do it live, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

I have no problem with that. I would much rather listen to a polished, rehearsed and calculated performance on tape than I would live so I’m never going to hold that against him.

Four-piece horn section for the show: Trumpet, alto-sax, baritone-sax and trombone. They were okay. I wasn’t expecting the Brecker brothers, Chuck Findley, Tom Scott, Jim Horn, David Sanborn, Wayne Shorter and all the rest, but it’s Steely Dan, and they set the bar high a long time ago. All of the sax solos sounded like somebody just blowing notes in the key of the song. Not the first time I’ve seen that at a live show. As a matter of fact, that happens pretty much every time I see a live show. That’s why studio musicians are studio musicians. That’s also why recordings sound better than live shows.

This is Steely Dan; not the Grateful Dead: Have I made my point? I understand if you don’t like my cynicism.

The drummer was great. Keith Carlock. Never heard of him but he carried the band with his energy. I hate to say that had to happen at a Dan show but it did. He didn’t play all of the licks like they were played on the albums (historically a problem of mine) but he was really good. They actually played “Aja” and his solos made for the most entertaining moments of the night. Not exactly Steve Gadd but it was good and very powerful. The crowd was leaning on his every move.

Overall, not such a great show. I saw them in ‘94 and that was great show. Classy, reserved and restrained. Last Saturday night it was an attempt at a rock show and it didn’t need to be. Steely Dan fans don’t need that. They want sophistication, precision, brilliant instrumentals and Donald Fagen. There’s no reason why this show couldn’t have provided that. It would be the perfect tonic for every other concert out there; which is what Steely Dan has always been about.

Fagen looked really weird, which is cool. He leaned, peculiarly, over his Fender Rhodes electric piano all night looking like a white Ray Charles. He looks pretty cool although I’m not totally convinced that he’s not blind. He wears these heavy, dark sunglasses and grimaces around at the audience as if he’s on drugs, which I pray that he is. He conducted the band all night long with hand cues and that made me feel better. He’s still in charge.

What it comes down to is, if you’re going to charge $50 to $150 for tickets for your show, give your fans a show. You’re Steely Dan. Act like it. I want to see ugly guys playing great instrumentals, not hot chicks singing “Dirty Work,” which one of them was allowed to do, singing lead. I realize David Palmer hasn’t been with the band since the early 70s but Fagen could have sung that lead and done it well.

Do I sound like a Dan snob?

Guilty as charged.

Walter Becker sang “Monkey in Your Soul,” which was good to see. If he wasn’t at the show I would have felt cheated. Steely Dan songs ain’t exactly “You Are My Sunshine” so I can’t fault anyone for not playing the licks like they sounded on the album, but I want to. They played “Kid Charlemagne” and Becker and Herington did okay but how do you nail that song? We all know that Larry Carlton played lead on that recording and now we know why: He was remarkably better than pretty much everybody, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

I wish that one of these days we could see a Steely Dan concert of Fagen, Becker, and the rest of the studio legends that produced these tunes. I want to see Lee Ritenour, Carlton, Chuck Rainey, Michael McDonald, Sherlie Matthews, Venetta Fields, Clydie King, Victor Feldman, Steve Gadd and all of the rest of the studio cats on stage, making like they did in the studio.

I’m very demanding but Steely Dan created this monster that I have become. I am sorry for that but it wasn’t me, it was they who stepped upon the platform, telling me about the man who gave me the news.

“He said you must be joking son, where did you get those shoes.”

When I stop trying to figure that line out I’ll stop going to see Steely Dan.

(Originally published on Bob Deakin’s Blogspot Site in 2007)

Copyright 2007