Branching out Ellen? Good for you. This was a well thought out piece, definitely timely, especially as one of the fountainheads of music is ablaze.
You are so correct about a lot of artists not having a trusted “soundboard”. So many hangers on but at the end of the day no one to trust. You are also correct that many are not as well off as a casual onlooker may suspect. Fame takes them up but that doesn’t last forever. The falls for the vast majority are precipitous.
I will look forward to tracking your new paths in 2025. Good luck to you in all your endeavors.
Daniel, thanks so much for your ongoing support, and for your professional validation as someone who has been on the inside of the rock world and seen everything firsthand.
At the end of the day, we're dealing with human beings who struggle with life just like the rest of us, and who have taken a path less traveled to live an artistic life and give us the fruits of their creativity.
I just felt, given how many artists are dying and getting sick, that I wanted to honor and acknowledge that, as well as find ways to give back some fraction of the pleasure and joy and comfort that they have given me over so many years.
At the very least, in an economy that has largely abandoned them, I want them to know that they are valued and to keep their faith and hope. Spotify be damned.
Actually in some ways they might struggle more than the rest of us. I’m not a psychologist by any stretch of the imagination, but have been around enough artists of all levels to know they are not “wired” like the rest of us. To be completely honest with you, that is why I was successful at doing what I did. As I told many a youngster aspiring to be me “You can’t have the same habits as the people who are paying you to look after them”. I think it’s great what you are attempting to do and will be willing to assist in any small way I can.
Thanks for that offer! I really appreciate it and will keep it in mind.
Your advice to those aspiring to be you is completely in synch with John Byrne Cooke's stance when he worked as the road manager for Big Brother & the Holding Company and then Janis Joplin. I'm now reading his biography of Janis.
The band wanted to fire him because he wasn't hanging out with them, smoking dope, etc. and didn't act like a member of 'the family.' He told them he had a job to do and they could hire a hippie for $50 a day to do what they wanted from him, but someone to keep them safe and organized and ensure that they got paid was his job and what kept them in business. Turned out they had no clue what his job was because he was hired by Albert Grossman and no one ever explained it to them. They never saw any of what he did on days off or behind the scenes.
About being wired differently, yep, true in many cases. I'll have to write about that at some point (with my psychologist hat on).
Branching out Ellen? Good for you. This was a well thought out piece, definitely timely, especially as one of the fountainheads of music is ablaze.
You are so correct about a lot of artists not having a trusted “soundboard”. So many hangers on but at the end of the day no one to trust. You are also correct that many are not as well off as a casual onlooker may suspect. Fame takes them up but that doesn’t last forever. The falls for the vast majority are precipitous.
I will look forward to tracking your new paths in 2025. Good luck to you in all your endeavors.
Daniel, thanks so much for your ongoing support, and for your professional validation as someone who has been on the inside of the rock world and seen everything firsthand.
At the end of the day, we're dealing with human beings who struggle with life just like the rest of us, and who have taken a path less traveled to live an artistic life and give us the fruits of their creativity.
I just felt, given how many artists are dying and getting sick, that I wanted to honor and acknowledge that, as well as find ways to give back some fraction of the pleasure and joy and comfort that they have given me over so many years.
At the very least, in an economy that has largely abandoned them, I want them to know that they are valued and to keep their faith and hope. Spotify be damned.
Actually in some ways they might struggle more than the rest of us. I’m not a psychologist by any stretch of the imagination, but have been around enough artists of all levels to know they are not “wired” like the rest of us. To be completely honest with you, that is why I was successful at doing what I did. As I told many a youngster aspiring to be me “You can’t have the same habits as the people who are paying you to look after them”. I think it’s great what you are attempting to do and will be willing to assist in any small way I can.
Thanks for that offer! I really appreciate it and will keep it in mind.
Your advice to those aspiring to be you is completely in synch with John Byrne Cooke's stance when he worked as the road manager for Big Brother & the Holding Company and then Janis Joplin. I'm now reading his biography of Janis.
The band wanted to fire him because he wasn't hanging out with them, smoking dope, etc. and didn't act like a member of 'the family.' He told them he had a job to do and they could hire a hippie for $50 a day to do what they wanted from him, but someone to keep them safe and organized and ensure that they got paid was his job and what kept them in business. Turned out they had no clue what his job was because he was hired by Albert Grossman and no one ever explained it to them. They never saw any of what he did on days off or behind the scenes.
About being wired differently, yep, true in many cases. I'll have to write about that at some point (with my psychologist hat on).
Exactly