Notes_Norton

I asked my date to meet me at the gym today. She didn't show up. That's when I knew we weren't gonna work out.

We Suck Young Blood – Radiohead

I'm glad I know sign language, it's pretty handy.

It was a great time to be a musician, when every hotel from a Holiday in and up, every decent restaurant, every singles bar, every adult lounge, and even the bowling alleys had live bands, 6 nights per week. Anyone halfway decent could get a gig. And with that work experience on stage, become an accomplished player. One of the band I was in for a few years started out adequate. We played a bowling alley in Ft. Lauderdale (Manor Lanes), a couple of dives, as we got better, bars on “The Strip”, oceanside in Fort Lauderdale, FL and bars in Miami like "The Peppermint Lounge". We had improved to being decent by then. A manager picked us up and we went on the road playing singles bars in college towns (this was before DJs). With all that experience we continued to improve, and eventually were the warm-up band for big stars, in concert, as they promoted their new albums. We were courted by a major label but were dropped when our manager and the label couldn't agree on money (it was a bad deal, but I still wish we would have taken it sometimes). It was quite a trip, but I don't think a 5-piece band today could get enough work. Bars now have open mic nights, DJs, karaoke, sports TV land, and there isn't the big demand for musicians that there used to be. I'm lucky, I'm gigging 15 times this month, and it's dead-slow season. Notes ♫

Teenage Lobotomy - Ramones

The missing 'link'?

When we toured Michigan, the Cereal Bowl, in Battle Creek was the only bowling alley we played. It was in the lounge, and it was huge. I tried googling it, but it's no longer there. It was the "in" spot for singles back then. That was long ago. ♪ Michigan seems like a dream to me now ♪ Notes ♫

The Work Song – Cannonball Adderly

Did you play in "The Cereal Bowl"?

How did I not know about this subtle and captivating piece of music? I must be living under a rock or something.

Is his name Richard? Willie?

^^ I'll answer that ^^ It Ain't Me Babe – Bob Dylan But I'll tell you who to blame it on... Blame It On The Bossa Nova - Eydie Gorme

OK, I looked it up. I guess my idea wasn't so original. But mine has a drum beat at the end. And does his have the exact same distribution of various rests? I don't think so. Just a slacker IMO. I was never into John Cage, when introduced to some of his 'legit' works it didn't turn me on, so I never looked for anything else by him. Gig got rained out tonight. I kept the deposit, and they will reschedule. I'll apply it to the new date. It's summer so it pays to be flexible. The rainy season usually starts mid-May and runs to the end of October, but it started early this year. We're doing more outdoor gigs this year than we did before COVID, so I suspect there will be more of it. Back on topic. On tomorrow's gig, I'm going to do my best to quote other songs during my imrov solos. Send lawyers, guns and money. Notes ♫

I think I'll copyright a song that consists of 32 bars of rests for every instrument in a full orchestra, followed by one sixteenth note on a snare drum. The rests will consist of whole rests, down to 64th notes, plain and dotted, and also include various triplet rests. Then when anyone records a song with a bit of silence in it. I'll sue. I don't care how long, I'll cry infringement. Notes ♫

How did you get away with it? The auto censor nuked it when I posted it. I should cry favoritism, get a lawyer and sue the bot. I need Protection (use a ******?). I'll send a French Letter via certified mail. I'll put on a Raincoat and march on the streets during inclement weather. The bot is trying to bust my Balloon. I can't Rubber stamp this action. The bot is tying to Sock it to me. How can I practice Safe Sax now?

Agreed.

Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody's Home – Etta James The rhythm section is super-tight. The drummer set a groove, with the 2s and 4s way behind the beat. Etta could have talked this song and it would have sounded good. But she was on top of her game when she recorded it. Nice job.

Don't Blame Me – Taylor Swift

Think of all the licks that we use as the vocabulary of our music. They evolve through time, the boogie woogie piano part of the swing jazz era became a bass line in the early rock days, and so on. There are thousands more like this. We all learn from what came before, and we are all influenced by what we hear, so some of it is going to come out. In both jazz and folk music, there is a tradition of quoting a few bars of another song in a new song. It's homage, not plagiarism. If you steal the melody, or the lyrics, that's an obvious violation. But the rhythm? Or the chord progression? Come on. Samples are different. They are using someone else's performance. I'm not sure if the paying for them is right. After all, a visual artist can make a collage of different images to create a new work of art, and he/she doesn't have to pay royalties. Perhaps the musicians should be paid for the session work? I don't know. The original intent of copyright law was to protect the income of the original artist by being stolen and used by another. There is no way Sheeran's song is hurting the income of the heirs of Marvin Gaye's estate. Funny thing about copyright. If someone creates a cure for cancer, he patents it, and gets fewer than 20 years of protection. Yet a 25-year-old person can write a song, live to 100, and his/her copyright is good for 75 years after he/she dies. The cure for cancer gets 20 years of protection, and the theoretical song above gets 150 years. That just doesn't seem right to me. But this is all just my opinion. Insights and incites by Notes ♫

I saw an ad for burial plots, and thought to myself, this is the last thing I need.

Would I get away with Rubber for the *****? That censored word took me by surprise. I thought that was the respected name for that piece of safety wearable. OK, I'll hit "Submit" and we'll see if the word rubber is banned. Craig mentioned bowling alley's. We did the Cereal Bowl in Battle Creek, Michigan. It was the biggest bowling alley lounge I ever gigged in. Before DJs took over a big chunk of our business, there were so many live music venues, anyone who was halfway decent could get a gig. And there were plenty of girls who were attracted to musicians. We called them "band-aids" with no disrespect intended. Beautiful girls, and I thank them all for the fun we had together. Notes ♫

Bang A Gong (Get It On in Europe) – T Rex

I think Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines was a bad decision, and this, a good one. The purpose of copyright is to protect the income of the original artist. In no way did either of these songs hurt the income of Marvin Gaye's estate. I knew Marvin a little when I was with Motown, and I don't think he would have sued. So there is a moral, don't be influenced by anything Marvin's heirs can sue you for. Chord progressions "No" Background rhythms "No" Melody "Yes" Lyrics "Yes" It's really simple. Insights and incites by Notes ♫

On the road, gigging at a different college town's singles bar, two weeks in the same place (sometimes four)--after the free-love revolution, and before AIDS put a ***** on it. That was as close to heaven as any generation of young folks ever got.