by Bob Lefsetz
The Lefsetz Letter
What if I told you this book was full of tech talk, read like a manual and was filled with arcane details…would you read it anyway?
I DID!
Ken Caillat was smart enough to get a cowriter, unlike Carole King. And he’s not afraid to sling shit, some of the stories about Lindsey Buckingham will horrify you, like how he punched his girlfriend in the face. But what keeps you reading are the memories… Of when music was the most powerful medium on the planet, when it drove the culture and the highest personal achievement was international rock star, not banker.
I’m not saying if Fleetwood Mac started today they wouldn’t make a deal with Pepsi, wouldn’t go on "Idol", but it was a completely different era, that stuff was anathema, it was all about the MUSIC!
Ken Caillat remixes a single another engineer flubs and suddenly he’s driving his Audi up the coast to the Sausalito Record Plant, to record a follow-up to an album that’s not yet a hit. Sure, what Ken references as the "white album" had impact, but it wasn’t until after they started recording during the NoCal winter that it went nuclear, and the band’s manager/attorney Mickey Shapiro called and said if they could record just one more hit album, they’d be set for life!
Talk about pressure.
But Mickey was right.
John McVie drinks so much he has to leave early, but determined to get his bass parts right he shows up before everybody else, to rerecord them.
Everybody looks down on Stevie Nicks because she doesn’t play an instrument, not knowing she’d eventually become the biggest of the bunch.
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I finished it. Some things I knew and have known for years, whereas some I didn't. I LOVED it! It was an amazing journey back and I can't tell you how many times throughout the read I caught myself smiling. I believe all 5 of them were blessed from God with not only talent, but insight. Stevie is one of the most prolific poets ever; that's why she is so huge. (And I do believe that even if I weren't an English/Composition teacher I would still know this) Those of us who are massive fans of her solo work know this all too well :) Ken, the book is fantastic! The technical terms made it all the more interesting; I play piano, yet I am blissfully unaware of some of the terminologies you used. What tedious work it is, making an album and an epic one at that.
ReplyDeleteI liked the book too.
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