Christiern

It grieves me that I am so ignorant after spending a lifetime in the music business. It grieves me that you are so much of a grudge-holder that once somebody gets on your Bitch List (even if for good reason) that you look for any and every opportunity to discredit anything they do To imply that Quincy Jones played no role in the Michael Jackson albums other than standing back and "letting it all happen" while he put his name on it is just pitiful. I know people who were around for those sessions, and your claim is just pitifully wrong. There were teams at work (as is true with any project of the scope of these), but Quincy Jones made the "executive decisions" and guided the process all the way. But in the World Of Chris Albertson, no, Quincy Jones did some of my friends wrong 50 years ago, so Quincy Jones will never ever accomplish anything on his own volition and ability, no matter what. Anything with Quincy Jones' name on it is tarred with fraudulence. You will never be convinced you otherwise. I take it back, I'm not grieved. It's not sad that you've become so myopic in your hate and paranoia, It's just...irrelevant to the real world. Michael Jackson records didn't get made in basements, with one guy and one tape recorder in one afternoon. They were very much corporate affairs. Stick to the world you know (and I know, you once roamed the halls of Columbia, full of loathing for John Hammond & Clive Davis). To be sure, you have had a good life in the music business and can be proud of what you've done. But to think that you have any valid insight into the part of the industry that makes things like Michael Jackson records other than "It's full of bad people", hey, sorry, but...go pick on someone your own size, like Orin Keepnews. You are letting your assumptions get the better of your judgement, Jim. I happen to be quite outspoken and unwilling to play the industry game. That may be a fault, but I prefer honesty when it comes to giving creative people their due. You may have noticed that I have expressed much admiration for the real achievement of John Hammond, and I have on several occasions voiced my gratitude to Clive Davis for the help he gave me by correcting some of John's less admirable moves (ones that affected me adversely). "Loathing" is not something I wander around with, not even in the "halls of Columbia." Disrespect? Sometimes, but that is something else. Apropos giving or not hiving praise, I have made and published positive observations regarding the work by Quincy (although not his trumpet work), but only when I thought the work was his. Ego-driven exaggeration is commonplace in the entertainment industry, so I accept that as a fact of life, but when it impairs someone else's career, I feel a need to speak up and tell it like it is. You seem to find fault with that—c'est la vie. As for your assumption that I don't have "any valid insight" into the Michael Jackson (i.e. pop) side of the business, you would probably be surprised (shocked?) to learn how close I was to that scene. Sorry to have rattled you so, but callous conjecture does not sit well with me. Well, at least your posting count went up.

It grieves me that I am so ignorant after spending a lifetime in the music business.

Jim, I think you have painted yourself into a corner on this one. That video you posted does nothing for your Quincy defense.

Jim, how do you know that Quincy really was responsible for Thriller and/or Off the Wall? The man has a long history of taking credit for the work of others (going back at least 50 years). I know that's difficult for you to recognize, but...

I just posted the first installment of a series of interviews I did with Sam Wooding in 1975 It is several hours long, the first part is 90 minutes and deals with Sam's early years, up to about 1918. Here's a direct link.

May you have many more, and all of them in good health!

I have several printers, so I use several kinds of ink cartridges. I find HP to be outrageously overpriced, so my 3 HPs get little use. One of them is a color laser that needs 4 cartridges costing about $180 EACH! My Samsung monochrome laser printer is fine and not expensive to maintain, and then there is my Kodak all-in-one. I bought the Kodak because their cartridges are quite reasonable—the printhead is in the printer, so the cartridges don't need to contain one. I understand that having to buy cartridges containing new printheads is part of what makes HP ink cartridges so expensive. I also find that I have far less need for any kind of printer these days, e-mail being the reason. As for your original question, I learned never ever to buy the kind of replacement cartridges that require you to physically refill. NEVER! The ready-made ones are not all bad, there are certain brands that work just as well for me as the ones supplied by the printer manufacturer. Epson is priced to eliminate the substitute temptation.

Added to my blog: My take on the Grammys.

I absolutely hated what she did to Dolly Parton's song "I Will Always Love You". I think she took it beyond the cringe—it was literally painful to my ears. I soon learned that many Europeans had been nauseated by that overkilled passage. I still find that was interesting for I haven't heard of any other performance (except a decidedly inferior one) affecting people so adversely. Does anyone else recall reading about this?

Sad to say, this does not come as a surprise.

I have never had a bad experience with Lorraine. I found her obviously genuine fondness for Jabbo to be a very positive thing. It isn't easy to run a jazz club in NYC and so many of those who have were despicable.

I spent a few years as a disc jockey during the LP era, when one rocked back and forth to cue up a disc. The opening grooves of American Decca albums invariably turned grey and noisy due to the awful material used in their pressings. Bill Russell knew what to do about bubbles...

I agree, Dan—definitely different. This one ranks high on my Scamo-meter.

I thought jazz musicians were cats!

Yeah, I've heard that Microsoft does this sort of thing.

No Parlking lots are uncommon, even in LA

Type, indeed—thanks, GA R.

A NYC-based record company that specialized in rock called to tell me that they had just signed their first jazz group. They asked me if I would mind going to hear the group so that I could advise them what to do with it. "Sure," I said, where are they playing?" "In the valley," they said. It turned out to be at Donte's and they flew me out there, booked me into a hotel for the night, and provided me with a limo. Yes, there was a time when the recording industry was doing quite well. Funny thing is, I don't recall the name of this group.

Let's take off those green shades....

Chewy: "i didnt know he was black, i heard that he was like the countercultural person in straight-Verve, and he was took lots of lsd and during the freak out recording sessions, he never left the orgy room." You need to stop reading old copies of The Reader's Digest. BTW, I vaguely recall hearing that he died from suicide. Does anyone else remember hearing that?

Wilson was black, but he mostly A&R'ed sessions by white artists like Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel—that alone made him stand out in the business. John Hammond was not too pleased when Wilson replaced him as Dylan's producer.He died while still in his forties.

Not an easy request to fulfill, I would imagine. Did your friend ever manage to straighten himself out? Agree, cabbage is great! I like all vegetables that aren't okra or eggplant. I wish I could find celery beets in NYC—I know they have to be available, somewhere. My favorite wildlife is Ptarmigan, a bird that is found in cold regions, like Norway, Iceland, Canada and, I guess, Alaska. If it is prepared right, in a rich brown gravy, I think it tops all fowl when it comes to taste—and no other meat I know of has that taste. It is in the grouse family, there are several varieties and it's size is small—one bird per person, all dark meat. There used to be a Scandinavian food shop on NYC's East Side that carried Ptarmigans, but it vanished many years ago. Anyone her ever had this treat?

It's a slim volume, but—then again—it only covers Lonnie's Toronto years. Skimming through it, I have a favorable impression. I'll read it and return.

I watched Soul Train regularly and today I have seen numerous news segments, but none that mentioned what I think is an interesting fact: it was among Fred Astaire's favorite shows. I heard him talk about it in a TV interview and I'm sure that he also did so on other occasions.

If money is everything, I guess you would be right, but these were not poor folks looking for a handout from Mr. ME. JSngry: "Sarah probably got a real nice piece of change for doing the gig and her people were probably able to pimp "she's featured on the new Quincy Jones album!!!" bit as leverage when needed." To an artist of Sarah's stature, being (you call that "featured"?) on a Quincy Jones album was hardly something to brag about or impress people with. Quincy had money and a hyped up name, Quincy did not have the respect of his fellow artists—not the ones who had dedicated their lives to the music. Your comments reflect the materialistic mindset that has diluted the music business.