So, I had this meeting with Bill Dees yesterday. The idea was to come up with some sort of plan regarding the release and promotion of his new record. Step by step stuff, some things need to be put in place, like a website and the artwork blah, blah blah.
Part of the reason I keep up with all of these guys that profess wisdom about music 2.0 is that, from time to time, I am involved in this indie music circus on a real level and, it’s always a situation where you need to maximize resources. What’s the best way to go about this, eh?
Bill, by the way, is sort of detached from the goings on in the music industry. You can be that way if you wrote one of the top 5 airplay songs of all time. So, I’m talking about how vastly the landscape has changed since Bill’s last record (”Castin’ My Spell” ‘06) and I realize, I’m trying to explain how Radiohead parlayed giving the album away into a successful venture, to a guy that played the Ed Sullivan show the year I was born; to a guy that toured with the Beatles and the Stones in the early days of mania for both. Bill just kind of rolls with the punches and, I think he came away with a sort of, let’s not put expectations too high, let’s have some fun with it, hey, I think we got a good record here attitude.
Anyway, Bill had his fill of the talk and said; “Let’s go get something to eat”. He’s like that, a meeting isn’t a meeting, a social situation isn’t official until we break bread. I said; “Well, I’m going to have to follow you because, I don’t know my way around these boondocks”. So, Bill knows a Mexican place, I am going to follow him there and then we’ll part ways after dining.
Bill is 69 years old a survivor of life, the music industry, quadruple bypass surgery and he is now a man at peace walking in the Spirit. Mild mannered and jovial.
He gets in his Jeep and takes off down the two lane black top like his ass is on fire. I’m having trouble even keeping him in my sights. We get to this crossroads and there is traffic coming. I know we have to turn left to get to Forsyth which, is like 4-5 miles, and that’s the part where I really need to follow him; when we get towards town.
Bill hesitates for a second and then, he just can’t stand it, I know he knows that I need to follow but, he just can’t do it-he pulled out in front of the traffic. Now, his move wasn’t all that risky but, if I would have pulled out behind him well, it wasn’t worth finding out. So, he’s just flying down the road and I’m sitting there waiting for nine cars to pass before I can go.
And, I had to laugh because, I realize that no matter what has happened, deep down this guy is still the crazy, red assed, roughneck, teenager from the windswept plains of Borger that was digging Elvis and rock and roll when it really happened. That spirit is still in him, you can’t get it out of him. And, that’s why he still wants to sing and make records.
As, I pulled through town, I spotted the Mexican place, the Jeep and Bill Dees grinning from ear to ear and, I pulled in.
“Sorry, about that Jack, those cars seemed like they sped up after I pulled out in front of ‘em. I thought you were going to give it shot anyway. I think you could’ve made it”.
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Tags: Beatles, Bill Dees, blah, elvis, indie music, Jack, Music, music industry, Radiohead, rock and roll
patdarnell and men of pause wrote,
Like Dan Akroyd in Blues Bros: “We’re on a mission from God.”
like a boil
where we toil
on palms of our hands
steering us clear
in our git away
to familiar lands
blisters raised
from bitters
we raise today
i made it
you made it
with work of our hands
i made it
you made it
with the work of our hands.
patdarnell and men of pause’s last blog post..UPDATED: June 13 — Another Red letter Day for Darnell’s
Link | June 13th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Gary wrote,
Nicely written, Jack - can’t wait to hear the album
Gary’s last blog post..“I feel as if I’ve come home”
Link | June 13th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
J wrote,
“…he is now a man at peace walking in the Spirit.”
Great statement/image. Some days (no,–make that “most days”) I find that the music industry and peace are mutually exclusive. Hope your situation is much different.
J’s last blog post..So what is a Bonnaroo?
Link | June 13th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Pribek wrote,
Hey thanks, guys.
Pat-your verse? It’s nice-eloquent.
Getting more peaceful as it goes along J.
Link | June 14th, 2008 at 12:14 am
axe victim wrote,
Great writing Jack. I am feeling comfortable here. It’s like an opening scene from Northern Exposure…
Link | June 14th, 2008 at 6:57 am
Pat and the friends wrote,
yep, tendered to the article you wrote here, encouraging like your break-through on the Dees’ degree… because it felt celebragadatious. word.
Pat and the friends’s last blog post..I do not know what this one is…
Link | June 14th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Pribek wrote,
Very nice, Blashe Blashe!
Link | June 15th, 2008 at 2:39 am