Traveling the Tried & True Path on Pandora

You all know how much I adorePandora Radio and the whole idea of discovering music based on what your own likes and dislikes are without any "genres", "user ratings" or what's considered "cool" or "radio-friendly". Back in 2006 I first explained how Pandora works in Follow The Clay Path To New Music and since that first blog I always did at least one from each new Clay album: A Thousand Different Ways, and then two for One My Way Here Part 1 and Part 2 - and imagine my excitement when Pandora added in Clay Aiken's Tried And True.

To refresh your memories - from Pandora's About page:

When was the last time you fell in love with a new artist or song?

At Pandora, we have a single mission: To play only music you'll love.

To understand just how we do this, and why we think we do it really, really well, you need to know about the Music Genome Project®.

Since we started back in 2000, we have been hard at work on the Music Genome Project. It's the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Together our team of fifty musician-analysts has been listening to music, one song at a time, studying and collecting literally hundreds of musical details on every song. It takes 20-30 minutes per song to capture all of the little details that give each recording its magical sound - melody, harmony, instrumentation, rhythm, vocals, lyrics ... and more - close to 400 attributes! We continue this work every day to keep up with the incredible flow of great new music coming from studios, stadiums and garages around the country.

With Pandora you can explore this vast trove of music to your heart's content. Just drop the name of one of your favorite songs or artists into Pandora and let the Genome Project go. It will quickly scan its entire world of analyzed music, almost a century of popular recordings - new and old, well known and completely obscure - to find songs with interesting musical similarities to your choice. Then sit back and enjoy as it creates a listening experience full of current and soon-to-be favorite songs for you.

You can create up to 100 unique "stations." And you can even refine them. If it's not quite right you can tell it so and it will get better for you.

The Music Genome Project was founded by musicians and music-lovers. We believe in the value of music and have a profound respect for those who create it. We like all kinds of music, from the most obtuse bebop, to the most tripped-out drum n bass, to the simplest catchy pop tune. Our mission is to help you connect with the music YOU like.
We hope you enjoy the experience!

So I decided to start my second exploration with one of the songs I've become addicted to on Tried And True - It's Only Make Believe. A quick check of the attributes for this song, Pandora lists:

• jazz influences
• acoustic rhythm piano
• intricate melodic phrasing
• busy horn section
• thru composed melodic style
• acoustic sonority
• major key tonality
• mid-tempo swing feel

And right off the bat, the first song Pandora chose to get a feel for what I like was a song by the Brian Setzer Orchestra. I love Brian Setzer! This song was Love Partners In Crime and the attributes they list are: jazz influences, demanding instrumental part writing, intricate melodic phrasing and busy horn section. Starting off great - thumbs up for me!

Next came - Van Morrison. Now everyone who knows me knows how I feel about Van Morrison - but who'da thunk he'd be the second song on my Clay Aiken It's Only Make Believe path? They suggested This Love Of Mine from Van's Magic Time album and it was one of two covers he did on that eclectic album.  It's also one of the few songs Frank Sinatra wrote the lyrics to. I can definitely hear the similarities to It's Only Make Believe. A quick check of the attributes and sure enough - it's got: jazz influences, mid-tempo swing feel, major key tonality and busy horn section but it's also adding in:

• blues influences
• dynamic male vocalist. 

Pandora does this to see what other attributes you might like so it can suggest additional music for you. One person may give this a thumbs down and after enough thumbs down to a blues influence, Pandora won't suggest any more. But for me? I'm a blues fan so of course, thumbs up! A quick click on the song title and it brings up additional information about This Love Of Mine. Similar songs . . . well in addition to Pick Up The Tab by Chris Cain Band and Ain't Gonna Worry No More by Wayne Hancock and How Sweet It Is by Michael Buble . . . two Clay Aiken songs show up . . . There's A Kind of Hush and Mack The Knife. Be still my heart . . . Clay and Van. Now that's a connection most people won't make but that's what is so fabulous about Pandora. It's about the music. Not the hype.

Continuing with the blues influence, the next song in Pandora's selection was You Are My Sunshine by Marva Wright, the Blues Queen of New Orleans, and she's terrific.  But Pandora is smart - and they move closer to the attributes we started with by now suggesting I Love Being Here With You. I know this song from one of my Diana Krall albums . . . but this was Queen Latifah's version and no hesitation - thumbs up for sure. I wasn't familiar with her album Trav'lin Light but a quick stop at iTunes added this terrific version to my iPod. Checking in on the song I can see we're back to the jazz influence, busy horn section and mid-tempo swing feel that I found irresistible in It's Only Make Believe.

Sugar Pie by Nelson Adelard is next up and keeps with the attributes originally discussed but also adds some r&b stylings. I've never heard of Nelson Adelard before but with Pandora it's easy to find out background information on the singers they have selected. Wow - how did I miss him? I love this guy but can't find anything on Amazon or iTunes . . . luckily I found his Official Website and was able to pick up some songs there. Now you see why I love Pandora? How else would I have ever heard of Nelson Adelard?

Roomful of Blues brings more blues and electric instrumentation to the mix and I love this next song, Jona Lee Again, it's a group I'm not familiar with (shame on me!) - so I clicked on them to find out more: A nine-piece outfit for the majority of their existence, Roomful of Blues was founded in Westerly, RI, all the way back in 1967, by guitarist Duke Robillard and pianist Al Copley. I really love them - and downloaded the whole Standing Room Only album from iTunes. What a great find!

Obviously there's a reason why I love It's Only Make Believe because song after song is getting a thumbs up and the next one is no exception . . .Duke Robillard. Guess what? He's a founding member of Roomful of Blues! OK - this is making sense. I couldn't buy When Your Lover Has Gone on iTunes but I was able to buy the mp3 from Amazon off the album, Swinging Session with Duke Robillard.

So my path is heading in a very interesting direction and because it's MY path - and mine alone - I'm probably going to get presented with different songs than another person might - even though we'll both start at It's Only Make Believe. It's all based on what I've given a thumbs up or thumbs down to. But I have to admit - I'm way more thumbs up than down on this ride I'm taking.

Next song with a big thumbs up was Keb' Mo' and Wake Up Everybody. This brought back some more r&b influences (and another trip to iTunes) to pick up the entire Peace...Back By Popular Demand which is an album of 10 protest and peace songs from the 1960s and 1970s. For me, a hippie who participated in my fair share of protest marches - this album as a gorgeous rending of some important songs like The Times They Are A Changing and Imagine with some wonderful soul-jazz-funk added to them. Am I glad to have discovered this gem!

After my quick trip to iTunes I'm about ready to try another song off Tried and True. I chose What Kind of Fool Am I - which in general terms seems quite different from It's Only Make Believe. But a quick check of the attributes of this song and I see that there are many similarities as well:

• jazz influences
• laid-back swing feel
• intricate melodic phrasing
• through composed melodic style
• prominent percussion
• acoustic rhythm piano
• major key tonality
• orchestral arranging

So my journey starts with Ketty Lester and Lonely People Do Foolish Things. Ketty Lester is a wonderful singer who had a hit in the early 1960s with Love Letters but who's career never really took off. What a treat for Pandora to start off with this little gem who's additional attributes were: r&b influences and vocal-centric aesthetic

Next up is Brian Setzer (remember him from my previous path with It's Only Make Believe?)! This song is Lonely Avenue from the album Songs From Lonely Avenue . . . A Soundtrack to an Unwritten Film . . . an ode to film noir - great album. Lots of similar attributes and of course, thumbs up from me. I love his version and the guitar solo is fabulous.

Beyond the Sea - but not Bobby Darin's version - is up next. Matt Belsante - that's a name I'm not familiar with. He's a young man - only 26 now and this song is from his album Blame It On My Youth, recorded when he was only 23! He has a kind of Michael Buble feel to him but I find his voice and style more authentic. I picked up a couple of tunes off this album from iTunes.

Ohhh - this is fun . . . Harry Nilsson singing Makin' Whoopee!  off his A Little Schmilsson in The Night album and just terrific. It's got the usual attributes but also some new ones: string section beds; a light swing groove and orchestral arranging. I just had to pick up this tune!

Oh look . . . Linda Eder is up next singing This Time Around from her It's No Secret Any More album. Yummy - Linda's version was one my father absolutely adored and played all the time. He discovered her late in his life and her music brought him great pleasure. No hesitation - thumbs up for me!  I guess possibly because Linda's voice is theatrical - the next suggestion is a bit too Broadway for me with Pal Joey's Happy Hunting Horn - but that's an easy fix. Click thumbs down and move on to Bonnie Raitt's Everything That Touches You. This song adds to the jazz influence and string bed attributes with acoustic rock instrumentation and acoustic rhythm guitars. Thumbs up and I'll be eager to see what this new song does to my path . . . but not tonight as I'm ready to close Pandora down for the evening.

I know I'm going to be continuing on these musical journeys discovering fabulous old and new music - old and new artists -- familiar and unfamiliar singers -- all from the kernels there were It's Only Make Believe and What Kind of Fool Am I. And what better way to end this blog than a performance of What Kind of Fool Am I by Clay Aiken at Bringing Broadway Home.



Next trip down Pandora I think I'll check out where Unchained Melody and Mack The Knife lead me. This is addictive!

DISCLAIMER: The photos of Clay Aiken have nothing, zero, nada to do with Pandora or singing these songs or anything . . . they are just simply gorgeous and begged to be used! Thank you to Diana Levine, photographer.

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Roomful of Blues
Duke Robillard
Keb' Mo'
What Kind Of Fool Am I
Matt Belsante
Harry Nilsson
Linda Eder
Bonnie Raitt

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Destiny's Child Part 3

Two years ago when I started the Destiny’s Child blog that has turned into a Destiny’s Child series, I marveled at what some may think is just a bunch of coincidental events. While I do believe in the occasional coincidence, there’s something to be said for a series of intertwined events, days apart or even decades apart that set your life on a path of higher learning or bigger experiences. I believe life is a series of fateful events influenced by our own decisions and commitment. That feeling of coincidence is really just reinforcement of the fate that awaits you. Or there may be an event that seems like part of every day life that will eventually reveal itself as a connection between past and future.

A few months ago, I decided to change jobs. I had heard of a new job opportunity at an iconic international company that would allow me to work in an industry that has always fascinated me. The word on the grapevine was that it is extremely difficult to get hired at this organization. I networked hard and was able to secure a phone interview which ended with an appointment for an onsite interview. Thirty minutes after I hung up the phone, I received a call from my daughter at college. She is studying Public Relations and had to create a mock press release based on an assigned company and she had emailed it to me for review. I opened my email and saw the logo of the company that had just invited me onsite. I had four more events like that happen to me in a ten day period of time. Coincidence? Or was this my own personal version of The Force?

Earlier this week, a number of entertainers who were either native to Raleigh, North Carolina or who had a deep connection to the North Carolina Theater in Raleigh performed at a benefit concert. Performers included Broadway legend (and former NCT director) Terrence Mann along with Broadway singer/actress Lauren Kennedy. Also in the “cast” were actress Sharon Lawrence, and singers Quiana Parler and Clay Aiken-Multi-platinum recording artist, Broadway actor and Raleigh’s unofficial tourism ambassador.

He opened the show singing Home from The Wiz. How appropriate. He talked about sitting in the Memorial Auditorium for the first time, while watching a production of Big River starring Marty Moran as Huck Finn. Years later Clay was invited to play Sir Robin in Monty Python’s Spamalot on Broadway. The actor preceding him? Marty Moran. I discussed that Circle of Life in Destiny’s Child Part 1.

There was a lot of talent in this benefit concert that night. But in the video and audio of the show, a few things were clear to me. First, Clay can sing anything. Fans have always laughed that he can sing the phone book but he seemed determined to prove it. He dueted with various performers and easily slid from Broadway singer to pop singer depending on song and partner. As Nan said, she watched three different Broadway songs from three different shows and saw three different singer/actors. He embodied the song and morphed that embodiment to suit the mood. He sang traditionally and then he played with his voice as if it was an acoustical guitar and a trumpet all rolled into one. In Those Magic Changes from Grease, he seemed to be having a jamming session with himself and all of the Clays were thoroughly enjoying it.

And then there was his performance of Mack the Knife. This is such a strange song, it’s about a killer sneaking around slitting people’s throats and yet it's performed with this jazzy flair. What does this have to do with Destiny? Clay sang this song on American Idol in 2003 in the show that put him in the final. He needed to nail the performance, they had changed the words to his previous song at the last minute and he had stumbled a bit. That night found a young man on stage who was feeling the pressure to nail it.Sing it big and they will like it. This week it was the seasoned professional who sang a sadistic song with a sassy, grooving ease. He felt no pressure to nail it because he owned it the minute he opened his mouth.





As an aside, what is UP with his voice? The man has always had a voice better than 90 percent of the singers out there and it improves when he’s live on stage. But 2010 Clay? His voice is even better technically and the notes are effortless as always but there’s something more there now. I feel a joy and abandonment in his singing that I haven’t seen in a few years. I was thinking about it today as I was driving home from work (at that iconic new company that ultimately hired me last month). He sings with a sense of freedom to explore and experiment. He sings with no pressure, likely born from working with a new record label that finally, in his own words, gets him. He sings with hope. Does he sense the hand of destiny too?

So what else did our sister Destiny have in store for him this week? Sure, he stood on that very stage three months ago as he recorded a PBS special that had a smashing premiere in Chicago this month and will be airing on PBS stations nationwide in August. Interesting, but by itself probably a mere coincidence at best. But the memory, the event, the intersection of dream and reality began a lot earlier. It began when a 17 year old Clayton entered a regional performance competition and stood on that Raleigh stage in a sparkly blue vest and sang a song that was too big for most adults. He sang it with little nuance, just the “all in” naiveté of a teenager, but the judges rewarded him for the raw talent of it all.

Fast forward (or flashforward as Clay said that night) fourteen years to that very spot where the untamed wild pony had impressed a group of local educators and parents. He’s a household name now, about to embark on his ninth tour in seven years. He returned to sing that same song, not because he had a choice but because there was no other choice. He had to close that circle. I’m sure Miss Destiny has a few more waiting. I wonder if he has an aunt named Emmy.




Many thanks to GBB, Fountaindawg, Brightstar and toni7babe for their talents and treasures in the pictures and film clips on this blog. Check out Destiny’s Child Part 1 and Destiny’s Child Part 2 to see this amazing life.

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The Classics - and The Classy!

Everyone knows I have eclectic taste in music. I like my rock to really rock (not the Daughtry-kind) so I still play Ten Years After and Pink Floyd and The Doors. I still go to cafes to listen to folk music and I see Tom Paxton every single time he's playing near me - even as recently as a few months ago and at 72 he's still funny, warm and emotionally touching. And over the holiday weekend I was thrilled to be sitting in a wine bar in my little town, sipping a martini and listening to the fabulous jazz guitarist and legend, Bucky Pizzarelli still dynamite at 84 years young. I don't know why it is that I don't gravitate to one kind of music only but I feel fortunate that I don't. I know music is subjective and some people simply don't "feel" anything but pop or classical strikes them right. I have a million moods and a million songs to fit them. I think I'm lucky that way.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how musical history gets diluted by a constant drumming of media spin. Voices that were once called "golden" or "legendary" now can be sneered at by using the two dreaded words "easy listening". Is listening supposed to be hard? Sure there is music that sounds like it belongs in an elevator. Hey, the Beatles music has been converted into that. And some singers do have ordinary voices or predictable phrasing and aren't very interesting - some from the 50s and 60s . . . and even some from the "contemporary 2000s". All one has to do is turn into American Idol every now and again to be convinced that there are hundreds of ordinary voices out there.

I do realize that many people simply do not like "standards" or "those kind of arrangements" or "that kind of voice" and I understand as I've never understood the appeal of Madonna or much pop music for that matter. Or rap. Give me blues and rock any day but I have zero interest in hearing Shakira or  Katy Perry.  And while I love r&b - it's the voices of Sam Cooke or Otis Redding I long for - not much of what is contemporary r&b. So I do understand when people listen to standards and just don't care for it.  But I also think that many others simply don't really know the music they are quick to dismiss. Sometimes sounding "easy" is really really difficult and takes considerable talent.

I've been thinking a lot about this particularly since Clay Aiken's new album Tried and True arrived at my doorstep. Now I love Clay's voice but I've never been one who's said "he can sing the phone book and I'll be happy". I have zero interest in hearing the phone book sung by anyone - including a voice as interesting as Clay's. Music matters to me. I wasn't happy when I heard he was singing "covers" but I became much more interested when I heard he was singing "standards". I never tire of hearing Ella sing "They Can't Take That Away From Me" and Kenny Rankin's version of 'Round Midnight will be on my deserted island.  So I was excited about this album - and it didn't disappoint me at all. And Clay's rendition of Misty keeps inching over on Sarah Vaughan's which shocks the heck out of me!

I intend to write more about Tried and True later, especially since it includes some amazing arrangements -- and Linda Eder's vocals on Crying and David Sanborn's sax on What Kind Of Fool Am I (two artists I adore) - but today, listening to some recent interviews with Clay about why this album means so much to him and why he wanted to sing what he has been calling "singer's songs" - I've been drawn to hearing some of the voices Clay has mentioned: Andy Williams and Johnny Mathis. WHAT?????? Snoozy Andy in his cardigan? Boring Johnny of the lush romantic elevator music? Nope. Not those people because I don't know who those people are. I've been thinking and listening to the real Andy Williams and Johnny Mathis. That's right.

Andy Williams, the man who in the 1960s was one of the most popular vocalists in our country. The man who, at the time, was signed to the biggest recording contract ever and who earned more gold records than any man other than Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and . . . oh yeah, Johnny Mathis. Andy Williams, who's television variety show ran for nine years and won three Emmy's.  That Andy Williams. So I relistened to some Andy Williams music and remembered why he was so popular. The ease of his vocals, the smoothness, the control. His lovely vocal ability shines in this version of Scarborough Fair with Simon and Garfunkel:



. . . or the way he can mix it up with the likes of Antonio Carlos Jobim in The Girl From Ipanema:



And then I thought, I haven't really listened to Johnny Mathis in a long long time. I mean everyone made out to Johnny Mathis music - but had I really listened? I admit I don't own any Johnny Mathis songs. I wasn't a fan although I recognized his beautiful voice. So I needed to really listen. And once I did I had my "aha" moment. Put that voice together with a great song like Michel Legrand's Pieces of Dreams and I'm lost in it.

.

And it's perfection when connecting so emotionally to a song like 99 Miles From LA:



So Clay - if you want to show your wonderful vocals and your sublime interpretative skills singing "singer's songs" - like you did in this version of Unchained Melody on The View - please do.



I know a great song by a great singer will never go out of style.

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What a Difference a Decca Makes

As we countdown to Clay Aiken's album dropping on June 1st, I think most fans are still trying to get used to all these constant teasers of songs, tidbits of information, firsts class PBS special, beginnings of videos for viral marketing and just overall respect from his record label. And the full scale promotion hasn't even started yet. I can now forget he who shall not be named and the old label that I've always said should be a Harvard Business Review case study in how to boot the marketing of a sure thing.

Why?-because someone finally gets it. And pretty soon the whole world is going to get it, again. They are going to remember why they liked Clay Aiken in the first place. They are going to wonder why he hasn't had been allowed to explode in song like this before, probably because they never even know about his last album.

Here's a taste of some of the music, the great arrangements and the voice that launched a thousand redials on my cell phone just about seven years ago this month. (If you get a Rufus Wainwright video, just hit refresh.)


Clay said in that video that they chose songs from the best singers of our time. Perhaps that's because he's the best singer of HIS time.

Want to pre-order the album? You've got all kinds of options.

Go to itunes and hear snippets from the tracks plus a bonus song of You Don't Have to Say You Love Me. If you're like me, you want instant gratification at midnight on June 1st.

Go to Live Nation and pre-order the album and get an immediate download of Suspicious Minds.

Go to Amazon and have your choice of an album, a deluxe album with two bonus songs or a DVD.

The album is up on other sites including Best Buy and Barnes and Noble too.

Thank you, Decca. Thank you for fulfilling a lot of my wish list blog back in October right down to the non use of that Claymate tag. Thank you for the foot tapping at my desk when I can't get a 30 second snippet out of my brain. Thank you for the smile that lights up Clay's face more than usual. Thank you for getting it.

UPDATE 5-27-2010
Check out the new (and very nicely done) Clay Aiken fanclub site. It has three full songs from the new album and snippets from all of Clay's albums.

www.clayaiken.com

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The Smell of Lilacs

I arrived home from work last Friday, eager to see the nice new landscaping for which my condo association had collected all those exorbitant special assessments. And it didn’t disappoint. Rusted-out iron fence gone, new sod, freshly planted flowering shrubs, trees trimmed back. Everything looked great. I walked up my front steps, put my key into the lock, and burst into tears.

Now, I guess you couldn’t be blamed for chalking it up to one of those hormonal things. Maybe that was part of it. But mostly, it was the smell…

…of lilac bushes. New ones, on either side of my front door.

Lilacs were, hands down, my mother’s favorite flower. My grandmother’s, too. For as long as I can remember, there was a big lilac bush monopolizing our front patio, the product of one of my mom’s few successful forays into the world of horticulture. (I’m reminded – as I’m sure my mom would be -- of the famous Dorothy Parker adage “You can lead a horticulture, but you can’t make her think.” That phrase was pretty much the sum total of our collective knowledge on the subject, because in that one respect, I'm a chip off the old block.)

Just about everything my mom planted quickly died. Her tomatoes shriveled on the vine, her peonies laid their rosy heads in the grass and gave up the ghost, her lilies held their own funeral. Her attempts to maintain an herb garden were a running joke. About the only vegetation that seemed to thrive, ironically, was poison ivy. Our house would have made a great “before” picture for Better Homes and Gardens.

But that lilac bush was truly a triumph. Even my father’s occasional clumsy slips with the lawn mower couldn’t vanquish it –- it bloomed faithfully every year with zero effort on my mom’s part, making it the ideal plant. Its scent would get stronger and its branches fuller and purpler until one day my mom would gleefully venture out with a basket and a pair of shears and cut herself some nice big bouquets that perfumed the entire house for at least a week. I think this made her as happy as it was possible for her to be; she felt genteel out there cutting her own flowers, Jane Austen-style. Those lilacs were evidence that despite what she evidently saw as her miserable fucked-up life, she had created one thing that was really beautiful.

A couple of decades sped quickly by; my mom fought cancer and lost. Her beloved lilac bush survived her, but somehow it seemed to sense that its biggest fan was gone forever – it hung on but was never quite the same. My dad sold the house and moved across town, and the new owners decided to demolish it to make room for one of those huge ubiquitous “McMansions” springing up all over suburbia. A corner lot that had once comfortably accommodated a smallish ranch house with a horseshoe pit, badminton court, sandbox, picnic table and numerous fruit trees would now only have room for this aluminum-sided behemoth with its golf weathervane and lawn jockey, laughably out of place alongside the flat cookie-cutter stucco houses populating the rest of the block.

A few days after our old house was razed, my dad and I bravely drove over to take a look. It’s hard to describe what it’s like to see your childhood reduced to a surprisingly small trench in the ground, surrounded by nothing but piles of dirt. Not a trace of our lives there remained -- no grass, no trees with our initials carved into them, no handprints in the cracked sidewalk leading up from the driveway, not even the cracked sidewalk! And no lilac bush. It had, finally, taken a big yellow bulldozer to put an end to its hardy existence. As I stood with my father contemplating that dusty vacant lot, I was thinking that in many ways I mourned its loss most of all.

We heard a happy shout and swung around to see Hank and Marian, our former next-door neighbors (and my parents’ weekly bridge partners) ambling toward us. Marian had been a beautician who worked out of her kitchen – when I was a child, my mom used to funnel her seven bucks every few months to give me (bad) pixie haircuts. Hank was a retired cop who was missing a finger – he always claimed, thrillingly, that he lost it in an armed robbery at a liquor store; my dad privately slipped it to us that an accident with a circular saw was the real culprit.

After we exchanged pleasantries, shared a few pithy comments about the stark change in the landscape and joked about the monstrosity to come, Marian made a touching confession:

“I hope you don’t mind, hon,” she said, giving my shoulder a friendly squeeze, “but the night before your house was knocked down, Hank and I came over for a last lil’ look-see, and we ended up digging up your mom’s lilac bush.”

I was speechless for a second. Swallowing hard, I croaked, “You did?”

“Yeh, well…it was just gonna get plowed under anyways, and I figured your mom wouldn’t mind. So we—“

“Where is it now? I asked.

“Over there,” Marian replied, pointing. We walked a few yards toward their house, and sure enough, there it was next to their back fence, its purple blooms nodding at me in the breeze. I wanted to throw my arms around it.

“You don’t want it, do ya, hon?” she asked, concerned. “’Cause if ya do, I can stick it in a pot or something and ya can plant it somewheres else.”

“No,” I assured her. “It’ll be much better off with you. Knowing me,” I told her with a shaky laugh, “I’d probably kill it.”

Marian let out her unique gravelly three-packs-a-day chuckle. “Hey, if your mom couldn’t kill it, NOBODY could.”

Good point. Still, it looked content where it was, so I left it. I hope it got lots of sun and Marian enjoyed it as much as my mom had.

My dad and Hank and Marian are all gone now – I like to picture them, and my mom, as they were back in the 1960s – playing bridge on Hank and Marian’s screened-in porch on a hot summer evening, knocking back Miller High Lifes and happily chain-smoking their Parliaments.

And me? I have a lilac bush next to my front door again. I think my mom would have loved that.

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Back in Town

You know when you have a great experience and you try to hold the memory in your mind as time tries to erase it? The more time that elapses, the more it fades and at some point you wonder if it was even as good as you remembered it. Was I just caught up in the moment? Did I have a bad week and that was just something better than everything else?

Back in March, I wrote a blog describing a trip to Raleigh where we saw the taping of Clay Aiken’s PBS Tried and True: Live! concert special, which will air in August of this year. Fans have described it as the OMG concert because that’s the phrase that punctuated the Memorial Auditorium in words, thoughts and exhausted but excited chatter well into the early morning hours back at the hotel.

I tried to focus on the fact that the album drop date is right around the corner on June 1st. I focused on the Ticketmaster Tango for his upcoming Timeless tour with friend, Ruben Studdard. I must have done a pretty good job of describing the Raleigh event and its sound of big band with a modern twist because my husband agreed to attend the show in Foxwoods.

But every few days, someone who wasn’t there asks us to describe the concert. What was that new note like in Unchained Melody? How did Clay and Linda Eder sound in their duet of Crying? People who know Clay has a great voice figured we were exaggerating when we say he never sounded better.

International Media is producing the PBS special for Decca Records. Today, they gifted us with a three minute montage of some of the highlights. (They did not include the aforementioned songs; it might be too much to handle.) What I love is that the band is just as into it as the audience. Hang on to your headphones and give a listen.

Oh and Clive? Who’s Sorry Now…

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Male Call - A Clay Aiken PBS Concert

It was going to be a stormy ride down to North Carolina for the PBS concert last week with my wife and NY/New England friends in more ways then one. Not only was the weather going to be a factor on the drive, but my confidence for what we were going to witness wasn’t all that high either. Could it be the result of my faith in any record label was non-existent? After all Clay had recorded what I believe was the best music I had ever heard on the cd On My Way Here and got no promotion by that old label (I refuse to use their name) and no air play. I bummed out further knowing that I would probably never hear any of those songs sung live and never get to feel the excitement and energy Clay infuses in his songs and delivery when on tour.

I was more concerned Clay had hit his musical plateau. I couldn’t blame him after the past few years of struggle he’s endured with his career. He’s been subjected to a label that wouldn’t support him, negative press and little promotion of his music. I knew the guy could take a punch both metaphorically and physically but after hearing he had to have his jaw broken twice to correct a very bad situation, I could understand a desire to hang up the vocal chords. I fell into that Andy Williams, Moon River trap, and I was sure he was going to sing sappy middle of the road songs that I doubt I would like or ever want to buy. How does that make his new label Decca Records any different from the last? Ok his press had taken a sudden turn positive lately and he was finally getting the opportunity to put his music on tape, and PBS no less. But covers? No please not covers.

So on the night of the concert I didn’t have the usual excitement I feel when seeing Clay live. Sure some of the spark was still there but more worry than anything else. You could feel it in the crowd as we gathered prior to the opening of the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium. Things didn’t get better either. When we got to our seats, right in front of us at eye level was a huge PBS floor camera. Oh yes, the night was going downhill quickly.

Convinced by others to do something about our seats I made my way down to the usher now talking with a couple of people. Using all the charm and sex appeal this guy could muster I informed her of our plight and asked if she could do anything for us. She had a few envelopes with tickets of people able to move seats, but we weren’t listed and it ended up I would have to go to the box office and throw myself on their mercy to see if they could relocate us. As I was moving towards the door to go to the box office the usher ran up and said hold on I have seats for you and took me to a young lady with a bright orange t-shirt. She was dealing with someone else and said hold on, so I waived to my wife to come down and we began a long walk down the side aisle of the dress circle. My heart sank, she was going to seat us in one of the side sections of the dress circle, when all of a sudden we got to the first row and turned. I’m convinced she was an angel of mercy because she took us to the 3rd row where there were open seats and said in a pure angelic voice, “Sit where you want to”. Ah, excuse me but any seat and she replied “yes”. We ended up third row, dress circle, center seats. Great the best seats we had ever had for an indoor Clay concert and he was going to do standards. It was like fate was saying “you’re going to hate this and I’m going to rub it in your face”.

Then the curtain came up. The 10 piece jazz band burst into the opening number (with 2 cellos & 2 violins) Clay with his back to the audience, turned, approached the microphone and that voice that’s sweet to the ear, blew me away for the next couple of hours. A totally new sound and direction, this is the start of something good.

So what have we learned so far? Never underestimate Clay Aiken. I knew that. How did I let myself forget it? Never again!

My hats off to Decca Records, to Clay’s positive management, to those amazing arrangements, and some of the most outstanding lighting I’ve seen. The staging and song selection was unique and the jazz band behind Clay was oh so sweet. Don’t miss this PBS special when it airs this summer and do pick up Clay’s new cd Tried and True when it releases in June. These “standards” are anything but standard.

Oh and Clay sang the dreaded Moon River so simply and wistfully, it still haunts me.

Should a known!

UPDATE: For a look at Clay Aiken's new album cover, check out this blog:
Albumartexchange

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There Are Places I Remember

I’m back off the road again after a four day journey to see Clay Aiken’s special concert that was filmed for PBS. I will spare you the crazy adventures of three New Englanders and one New Yawker through parts of Virginia on the way down to Raleigh.

I didn’t quite know what to expect with this concert. This era of music is not mine and was only partially my parents. We knew 3-4 of the songs by name and they really didn’t excite me. As I walked into the Memorial Auditorium, I just wanted it to be good. This was a very important concert for him.

I shouldn’t have worried. From the minute the curtain rose and a debonair Mr. Aiken stood there with his back to us in a pose that can only be described as C to the OOL, my head was spinning. I think I described it later as OMG overdrive. I’m not sure I took the requisite number of breaths per minute for a person sitting down.

He opened with Mack the Knife. I’m too young to remember Bobby Darin and to me this song was always something a cruise singer would do in some schmaltzy rendition in the all night lounge. How wrong I was. You couldn’t help but move your shoulders in a sort of sitting strut. The last note was so long that I think the seasons changed from spring to summer.

The band was a mix of traditional and jazz orchestra. There were about 15 musicians on stage but the wall of sound that filled that Auditorium sounded like twice that number. They were really getting into it as well, which added a level of enjoyment to the show.

Song after song from the 50s and 60s but with a twist. It was like being transported in the Way Back Machine but we’d landed in an alternate universe where they still sounded true to their era but with a side dose of 40’s big band/swing and a heaping teaspoon of the unique voice of Clay Aiken. Songs I was sure I would hate sounded like nothing I expected and that I must hear again. June 1st is just too far away. I feel like an addict on involuntary withdrawal.

And he was in his element. The man belongs on a concert stage but this was something we’d not seen in his six years with RCA. First class production. Support from the highest level of the new record label. A lighting show that was like another instrument on stage. We didn’t get to see Vince Gill or David Sanborn, who are the musical guests on this album. But when Clay explained that he wanted to do a duet with the best female voice and he introduced Linda Eder, it made the circle of support complete. They sang a duet of Crying that made it my second favorite song of the night. He hit notes that sounded like they were just invented. Her voice was as smooth as maple syrup on a cinnamon pancake.

The show had his usual moments of humor and a wonderfully nostalgic appearance by longtime friend, Ruben Studdard. I won’t spoil the special medley they sang, get yourself to one of their shows this summer.

There was a special tribute to his teachers, many of whom were in attendance. He thanked them for their work and for their impact on his life and softly began a version of the Beatles’ In My Life, accompanied by a guitar and a single cello. His voice was a bow across my heartstrings. Many people were deeply affected. Probably because the line “there is no one compares to you” meant him and meant us -because that night we were one.

But there was one song that I can’t get out of my head. One song that I figured was a good idea for the album, even though I would probably skip the track since I’ve heard him sing it dozens of times in concert. When he introduced the song and said he had sung it his whole life and was so thrilled to have his own version, I thought he meant his own professionally recorded one.

That wasn’t what he meant.

He started the familiar refrain of "Oh, my love…my darling, I’ve hungered for your touch.." But something was different. It was enough of the core melody to know the song but he was hitting different notes, minor key notes, lilting notes. When he got to the build up for the money note-that falsetto that defines whether the song owns the singer or the singer owns the song-well, I can’t put into words what happened. The voice, the band, the lighting all combined to create what I’ve heard described as an earthquake, an airplane taking off, a lightning bolt and a gunshot. We literally felt pushed back against our seats. He more than owned the song. He stole the song away from anyone who might ever try to sing it again. All of you singers with Unchained Melody in your set list? Don’t even bother anymore.

The Tried and True album is scheduled to come out on June 1st and we hope they can edit this special to be aired around the same time, so that it isn’t delayed. I can’t wait any longer than I have to in order to “see” this album again. (Update: The special will air in August.)

Tried and True was a great title when I first heard about it. It seemed to describe these songs. Good, familiar, safe. Now, I don’t think it fits. What he did with these songs was anything but familiar and safe. And it was so far beyond good, I’m going to write to Merriam Webster to ask them to create a new adjective.

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On The Road Again

On the road again -
Just can't wait to get on the road again.

Thursday morning after the tenth review of my packing list, I’ll load my suitcase in the car and head south. I might leave the music off for awhile and just absorb the sound of the road with the sound of my thoughts. It will take me about an hour and forty-five minutes to get to Nan’s house, depending on the ever present construction on Route 7. I met her in 2003 and they were working on Route 7 back then.

2003. Hard to believe it’s been that long since we met up at a restaurant to plan a Clay Aiken fan get together. We’ve been to many places together either meeting up at some airport or driving to all parts of the northeast running on little sleep, caffeine, adrenaline and excitement. This time, we’ll wait for another good friend to arrive and start the trek south. South to Raleigh...affectionately called Mecca by many in the fandom.

On the road again
Goin' places that I've never been.
Seein' things that I may never see again

We weren’t going to make this trip. During these hard economic times of employment uncertainty, rising costs of healthcare and college tuition- sacrifices have to be made. I had resigned myself to the fact that I would get to watch this concert on PBS in June. I like to try to get to the “one-of-a-kind” events, like the snowflake lighting in New York City or the Sedaka tribute event. They each have special memories that can’t be duplicated in the way one show from a 30 city tour can, despite the fact that Clay’s extraordinary quick wit makes each concert unique. And a televised concert was on my wish list blog to Decca Records a couple of months ago. Sigh, this was going to be harder than I thought.

Then something happened. A spark was lit and it made the thought of missing this concert/taping unthinkable. The spark was started by Clay himself with his arranging a special pre-sale for the fans and answering every question imaginable about the taping. It was so good to see him so excited. This was a big deal. How could we miss it? When Nan suggested that we drive the 10+ hours but break it up over a couple of days, I quickly decided that it was time to a cash in those American Express points that had built up over years of paying for concerts, hotels and flights. One concert was going to pay for another. The struggle that Clay had in keeping his recording career moving despite a lack of support from his label would be rewarded with all the support he deserves from this new label. And we need to be there to celebrate that as he unveils his new album for television.

The message boards are in a pre-travel state. It’s the day before most begin their trips. It’s the “one more sleep” day. It’s funny but the chatter on the boards almost feels like real audio. Like you can hear everybody saying the words that they are only typing on a keyboard. It’s bursting through my monitor in sound bites (soundbytes?), the way the voices came through the television in Poltergeist.

On the road again -
Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway
We're the best of friends.
Insisting that the world keep turning our way

It’s a special man and a special voice that can create this bond amongst so many strangers. Some of us have been friends for seven years now. Some of us will meet for the first time. People are coming from nearly forty states and three countries on planes, trains, busses and automobiles. But all roads lead to Clay this week. Because Tried and True is more than an album title. It’s a bond between singer and fan.

The life I love is making music with my friends
And I can't wait to get on the road again.

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Tried and True

Tried and True…Tested and proven to be worthy and good
(Merriam Webster)

It has a nice ring to it. It’s one of the phrases that sounds like what it means. It’s also a contradiction in the feel of its sound. Kind of hard and soft at the same time.

Clay Aiken has announced that his upcoming album will be a collection of songs from the 50’s and 60’s. The songs like the album title are tried and true. To some people they are classics, to others “oldies” with memories. But to some, they will be new. In fact, thanks to the touch of Chris Walden, we may just be in for an audio version of “everything old is new again”.

While my preference is for original music, I’m intrigued by what Clay and his collaborators can do with this music. He seems to be involved in every aspect of the album and on his last cover album, the song that had the most Clay influence was Broken Wings. And he made it completely new. I would expect that some songs will have a traditional arrangement but Clay has hinted that some of the arrangements are the most incredible he’s ever heard.

And if that wasn’t enough to whet the appetite, the album is being previewed next month at a onetime only concert that will be taped for airing on national television, likely in the second quarter. In my wish list blog to Decca a few months ago, that type of promotion was right at the top. I can hardly wait for the general public to see Clay in his natural element. Capturing your senses with his voice in one minute and tickling your funny bone with the next breath. Most of the audience that discovered him on Idol knows he is a great singer but only those who have seen him in concert know of his frighteningly quick wit.

The concert is being filmed in Raleigh, NC. I wasn’t planning on going but there’s something about Clay’s excitement for this project that sort of compelled me to agree to drive down from New England with some other crazy friends who also got caught up in the sensation of a new beginning. Fans are called it the new Deccade in honor of his new label, Decca Records.

Clay and his team set up a special fanclub presale last week. It was funny to see Clay posting and answering questions during the time leading up to the pre-sale. I don’t think he ever realizes what we go through to get tickets for his shows. He probably doesn't realize that on the day of a Ticketmaster Tango, you wake up early with your heart beating. You review the seating chart and the buying strategy a hundred times. You panic when you momentarily forget your Ticketmaster password. You swear at the screen when the jumbled word requires the Rosetta Stone. (The real one, not the one that Michael Phelps used to learn Chinese.)

You totally freak out when Clique doesn't put your password up on time and you have to get to work. So you back out of your garage while forgetting to put the garage door up.

Not that I've ever done that or anything.

So Clay’s excited, the fans are excited and the label seems excited. The promotion of Tried and True (or TnT as it will likely be affectionately abbreviated) will begin in the late spring. There’s magic in the air this time, not wishful thinking.

Tested and proven to be worthy and good

Seems to me it describes the singer as well as his album.

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15 Minutes...times a few million

I've been watching a lot of the live music shows this year; including the AMAs, Hope for Haiti concert and tonight, the Grammy Awards. My brother reminded me today that we always used to watch them as a family and my dad would growl "They're all on drugs". Not anymore, Dad. Now, they're all on ProTools.

A couple of things have struck me as I watched these shows. First, a startling number of today's biggest names in music simply cannot sing live. They've relied on so much technology or the camouflage of the spectacle to disguise that basic fact. Gaga is one of the few that combines the flash with the vocals. (Black Eyed Peas, I'm looking at you. You couldn't even sing in step with your own music tonight.)

The second thing that I noticed is that the same names are chosen to perform again and again at these events. Shakira performed at the AMA and Haiti benefit and she was just plain bad both times. Does the industry associate name recognition with talent? If that's the case, Spongebob SquarePants should open next year's Grammys.

Is Beyonce really that good that her ass gets kissed everywhere she goes? I will give her the credit of knowing her audience and feeding them exactly what they want. But when I saw the scene with her and Jamie Foxx in Dreamgirls where he tells her character something like "your voice is just ordinary", I immediately thought to myself that he just described Beyonce. But she's treated like royalty by the industry regardless of whether she has a hit or a miss. I mean tonight she was introduced as one of the most "exquisite and compelling artists of our time". Oookay. The screeching my ears heard after that introduction begs to differ.

Some hit it every time. Mary J. Blige always looks and sounds great. Taylor Swift deserves everything she has earned. Girl can't really sing that well live but she's so bright and fresh and her songs are important ones for her target audience. Her parents have earned my admiration.

When it comes to the Grammys, I always think about Clay Aiken. One of the best voices in the industry and one that actually sounds even better live than recorded. My hope is his new album due this summer will be nominated for Best Traditional Vocal Album. I hope Decca works their magic.

Recently, Clay asked his fans to help tally up his live performances on stage, along with his television appearances. I assumed the performance count would be high, he has toured nine times and starred for eight months on Broadway. But the overall number of total stage and television appearances was more than 750. I've been here for all of that and I was still impressed.

Clay's entering his eighth year as a professional singer/actor. I chuckle at those who desperately have been proclaiming his fifteen minutes are over...for the last seven years. Most careers in entertainment should be so troubled.

Clay's latest blogs have been oozing excitement over what is to come this year, as he readies promotion for his first album with Decca Records. We've been promised news in a week and I have a feeling that it will match one of my longtime wishes for him. His label seems excited about what he's created too, with tweets about the album revealing a little bit each time. Now I'm no novice, I recognize planned, pre-promotion when I see it. But planned promotion, pride and primetime have been missing from his mix for so long that I almost forgot what it's like.

So, I'll sit here tonight and watch the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences reward some very deserving nominees, ignore some equally deserving artists and rubber stamp award some that just make me wonder if they have naked pictures of the accountants that tabulated the votes.

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Does Lefsetz get it wrong or right?

I've been subscribing to the Lefsetz Letter (written by music industry veteran, Bob Lefsetz) for about a month now. Some things I don't agree with, much finds me nodding like a bobblehead and a few I skip because the topic doesn't interest me. But most of the time I read them to the end. His musings about where the music industry needs to go are the ones that I find most thought provoking.

This afternoon, I got his latest about Simon Cowell and the whole American Idol/X Factor story that has been the entertainment story of the day. Here is an excerpt.
Simon Cowell is a star.

I like Kelly Clarkson. She's cute, honest about her weight/body image and is a good singer. But she's not a star. Her best material is written by others. And she has the depth of an Oreo cookie. If I asked her to wrestle between higher taxes and a social safety net, I'd expect her to go blank and suggest we get another drink.

But I'm sure Simon Cowell has an opinion. Real stars don't exist in a vacuum, but in the environment, they're aware of their surroundings, their context.

As for the other "Idol" winners...

Clay Aiken couldn't admit he was gay. Oops, he wasn't the winner that year? Well, he got the longest ride, which is just about over. A real star is not afraid of who he is, he owns his identity, he doesn't fake it.

Adam Lambert played coy with his sexual identity until the competition was over. Stars don't leave us guessing about where they stand. And after coming out, selling his music, Adam resembled nothing so much as a cartoon.

Let's see, other "Idol" victors...

I just can't think of one.

Oh yeah, that young woman, the plump one, what was her name again? Jordin Sparks... Let's see, we've got Jim Morrison, college-educated, writing poetry, and Jordin's number one asset is her smile. Whoo-hoo!

I'm not saying "Idol" will crumble without Simon Cowell, although I do expect it to sustain a deep ratings hit, but the reason the show has been so successful is because of this one man, who won't wear a tie on camera, who smiles like the Mona Lisa, daring us to wonder what he thinks, and when he speaks states his own, unequivocal truth. That's a star.

That's why we revere stars. They're not beholden to a boss. They do it their way.

Mmm... God, everybody on the hit parade seems to be beholden to someone else. Thanking their sponsors... Doing whatever their labels tell them to do... Unwilling to offend anyone in their pursuit of the brass ring. No wonder the public likes the song at most, and why music doesn't drive the culture.

Steve Jobs? The biggest rock star on the planet. Does whatever he wants, is beholden to no one and releases the best damn products. Don't agree? That's just the point, stars have haters, from the beginning of time. At least people CARE, have an opinion. Who's got an opinion on all those evanescent singers in the Top Forty?

Speak your mind. Take a stand. Don't be afraid to offend. The opposite is death.



I agree with him that Idol will crumble without Simon. He was the core of the show, regardless of the talent (or lack thereof) in any given year. It long ago lost my attention and I can't remember the last time I watched the show. Season 4, maybe? But the one thing you can say for most everyone from Idol is that they can sing and they can sing live.

But I disagree with his rather simplistic view of what makes a star. I am ambivalent about Kelly Clarkson but I don't think writing your own material makes you a star. It didn't matter for Frank Sinatra or Elvis Presley. She's still one of the best vocalists out there, when she's not yelling. There are plenty of singers out there singing their own stuff and it's crap.

Clay Aiken didn't have to admit he is gay, it isn't anyone's business and people need to come out on their own timeframe. It doesn't impact his ability to sing and entertain. Of course, I'll readily admit I am a fan of both his singing and acting, take a look around this blog and that's obvious. According to his interviews when he came out, he hadn't even told his brother until three years after Idol ended. Growing up in North Carolina, I am not so sure his Southern Baptist family would have appreciated learning that from Ryan Seacrest on the Wednesday night elimination show. As he has said a few times, he grew up with people who thought being gay is a choice.

Curious that Bob's letter came out today though, as Clay's new label just tweeted that they are listening to his new album due early this year and it sounds amazing. With that one tweet, this label (Universal's Decca) has done more online promo through social media than his old label at RCA did in the previous six years. Or as the fans are fond of saying "Clive took platinum and turned it to gold". Writing his own stuff? He wrote the brilliant Lover All Alone and Clive didn't even put it on his album. It was put on the next album and got the best reviews of any track.

Not sure how Lefsetz could say that Clay's on his way out either. Let's see, a year ago he was wrapping up a critically acclaimed 8 month run on Broadway. He had surgery on his jaw and did some charity work while he recovered and could sing again. He has been recording since summer, traveling all over Europe to work with the best musicians Decca could hire.

Lambert? Cartoon is a good word. (Back off of this blog, Glamberts. Your comments won't get printed. Been there done that putting up with the crazy ass extreme faction of the Claymates.) Oh and yay for Decca using the word FAN in their tweet and not the "C" word.

I'm not a fan of country but Carrie Underwood is shining brightly right now. Of course she's blonde, pretty and can carry a tune. If she failed, she would have really had to work on it.

Comparing singers to Steve Jobs (who is brilliant in many ways) isn't just apples and oranges.
It's so different, it's apples and lawnmowers. (That's apple with a small "a".) He answers just to shareholders so once he knows what the market wants, he has far more power at his disposal to deliver it.

Oh and this? Speak your mind. Take a stand. Don't be afraid to offend. The opposite is death.

Take a stand? Don't be afraid to offend? That's the Clay Aiken, post Idol that I know. I don't think Bob has followed Clay's blog or his fanclub posts on politics, the media, the music industry, or even American Idol. He blogged about Somalia on Huff Post. Blunt is putting it mildly. And that is what his fans love most about him, beyond the talent. We always know where Clay stands, even if we don't agree.

Decca is excited and so are the fans. We've got a new album on the way, a likely tour and special. And that's just what we know about so far. We're here seven years later. That's a star to me.

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