Pribek

I’m sitting around the Winnebago doing some last minute homework for the gig tonight. Cody’s South-Springfield MO, if you’re in the area. There are a couple of tunes we haven’t played yet and there is the threat that we might throw ‘em out there un-rehearsed tonight. I’m getting a kick out of re-visiting some of these tunes that I haven’t thought about playing in a while. Remember “Hot Legs” by Rod Stewart? It has some great guitar stuff on by St. Louis guy, Billy Peek. Check him out, he’s still getting it. I always thought Billy had a great take on the Chuck Berry kind of stuff. That makes sense because he played with Chuck for years. But, that’s not all he has in the trick bag-good player and singer.

The ice is melting right now but, it looked rough for a while. Here’s a couple pics from yesterday afternoon.

The road out…

The winters, here in the Ozarks, aren’t as rough as a lot of places. We do get the ice though and, because of the hills it males driving treacherous. This will give you a better idea.

I’m just going to hit on a couple of things that caught my eye today and get it all in one shot here; in the interest of time.

I’ve been writing a lot about the music biz lately. Here is an interesting BBC article about the music industry in China.

Whereas the US and Europe are still finding ways to counter piracy, Chinese record companies have already decided it is a lost cause, finding other ways to make money which are not directly related to music sales.

This comes from necessity rather than by choice, says Shen Lihui, the head of China’s largest independent label, Modern Sky, based in Beijing.

One thing a lot of artists are doing is, playing well paying corporate events where they sing a song in a product promotion capacity.

Pop artist Agi said this.

“People abroad definitely come to see you perform for no other reason than they are a fan of your music,” she says.

“But on the Chinese mainland there could be a hundred other reasons. They think you’re pretty, or whatever. Music is just a tool to sell things.”

I hear a lot of talk about how the music business is changing and it needs to adapt-find new revenue streams. All of those “new” revenue streams involve music as a loss leader at best. In other words, what’s happening with music in China is the next wave in your neighborhood.

Last week I read a story about how fans of The Carpenters were making an effort to save the house that the pop duo bought and featured on an album cover. This is a situation where the fans are trying to raise money to buy the house from the present owner who, wants to tear it down and build a new one.

This piece from Reuter’s is also about preserving a house as some kind of monument.

Poet and author Charles Bukowski is gone but the bungalow where he penned his first novel still stands, as bedraggled as the writer himself, and city leaders say they will save it as a literary landmark in a city better known for its Hollywood glitz.

The Los Angeles City Council was expected to vote next week to preserve the faded stucco home in the shadow of Hollywood where the hard-living Bukowski lived from 1963 to 1972 and wrote the autobiographical novel “Post Office,” among other works.

The city’s Cultural Heritage Commission has recommended the nearly 90-year-old property’s designation as a historic monument, rescuing it from demolition by developers looking to put up condominiums.

Now, I’ve seen the documentaries and clips where Bukowski sits around this very house (hovel), all liquored up and spewing forth his views on society and humanity. A few things come to mind.

Why do we need to keep the house; isn’t the body of Bukowski’s work what should be of importance? The words ought to cover it. Do we need to see the type of self-imposed squalor that may have inspired them in some way? Maybe we should keep one of his empty vodka bottles around too.

In the Carpenters’ case, fans are attempting to pay the cost. With the Bukowski house it’s the “city’s Cultural Heritage Commission” meaning, taxpayers.

Is Bukowski culture?

“Hollywood is famous not because everybody has been a saint or a nun,” Los Angeles City Councilman Eric Garcetti said. “It’s always attracted complicated and important people and Charles Bukowski certainly fits that mold.”

Thanks for clarifying, Eric. Evidently, Mr. Garcetti thinks that Bukowski fits the cultural standard. Is the house “complicated and important”?