hey - hey - hey! that's what I say!

 

Pier 60, Clearwater Beach

------------------- [excerpt from Keith Richards book] -------------- Then came "Satisfaction," the track that launched us into global fame. ...I wrote "Satisfaction" in my sleep.... The miracle being that I looked at the cassette player that morning and I knew I'd put a brand-new tape in the previous night, and I saw it was at the end.  

Then I pushed rewind and there was "Satisfaction."  It was just a rough idea.  There was just the bare bones of the song, and it didn't have that noise, of course, because I was on acoustic.

        Mick wrote the lyrics by the pool in Clearwater, Florida, four days before we went into the studio and recorded it -- first at Chess in Chicago, an acoustic version, and later with the fuzz tone at RCA in Hollywood.

It was down to one little foot pedal, the Gibson fuzz tone, a little box they put out at that time.  I've only ever used foot pedals twice -- the other time was for Some Girls in the late '70s, when I used an XR box with a nice hillbilly Sun Records slap-echo on it.  But effects are not my thing.  I just go for quality of sound....

        One hit requires another, very quickly, or you fast start to lose altitude.  At that time you were expected to churn them out.  "Satisfaction" is suddenly number one all over the world, and Mick and I are looking at each other, saying, "This is nice."  Then bang bang bang at the door, "Where's the follow-up?  We need it in four weeks."  

And we were on the road doing two shows a day.  

You needed a new single every two months; you had to have another one all ready to shoot.  And you needed a new sound.  If we'd come along with another fuzz riff after "Satisfaction," we'd have been dead in the water, repeating with the law of diminishing returns.  

        Many a band has faltered and foundered on that rock.  "Get Off of My Cloud" was a reaction to the record companies' demands for more -- leave me alone -- and it was an attack from another direction.  And it flew as well.

        So we're the song factory.  We start to think like songwriters, and once you get that habit, it stays with you all your life.  It motors along in your subconscious, in the way you listen.

___________________________________

{excerpts from Life, by Keith Richards with James Fox.  Back Bay Books / Little, Brown and Company.  New York - Boston - London.  2010.}

________________________________________

On You Tube go to the video named

The Rolling Stones - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (Official Lyric Video)

uploader / channel:  ABKCOVEVO

and -- PLAY!   ♫ ♪ ♪

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this has been a Filmways presentation, darling

 

♫ ♫ ♪  ♪

Green -- Acres is the place to be

Farm -- livin' is the life for me!

Land -- spreadin' out, so far and wide --

Keep Manhattan, just gimme that countryside

New -- York is where I'd rather stay!

I -- get allergic, smelling hay

I -- just adore a penthouse view

Darling I love you but give me Park Avenue

The chores!

        The stores!

Fresh air!

        Times Square!

You are my wife --

        Good-bye, city life

Green Acres, we are there!

______________________________________

That wonderful, spunky intro song for the 1960s situation-comedy, Green Acres stays in your mind once you hear it.

        (Maybe the CIA could use it as a secret weapon to control Putin...)

In third and fourth grade, I would come home from school knowing the night that show was going to be on.  Eddie Albert reminded me of my dad, kind of.

        I think my favorite part of the show was the theme song, though!  It was sung by the two stars of the show, Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor and told its own little story with conflict and comedy.

When "Oliver" is pitching hay and on the second scoop, he throws the pitchfork along with the hay and then looks befuddled -- "Where did it go?  I just had it?" -- That used to be funny every single week, and it is still funny now, on You Tube!

        And at the end of the theme song, that pose where Gabor and Albert stand together looking straight ahead and he's holding the pitchfork (which he has evidently re-captured), prongs-up -- taking their stand as committed farmers, it's an homage to American Gothic, a famous 1930 painting by Grant Wood.

The Green Acres theme song was written by Vic Mizzy (1916 - 2009).

A "fuzz-box" distortion of the guitar sound was used; this effect also featured in the Rolling Stones hit song "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction."

        That song, and the Green Acres series came out in the same year:  1965.

At the end of each episode, as the credits were shown, the theme song was played with instrumentals, no lyrics.  When the song was over, the "Filmways" logo would appear and the audience would hear the voice of Eva Gabor saying, with brisk, silvery drama in her Hungarian accent:  "This has been a Filmways presentation, dah-ling!"

        Somehow I knew that way of speaking, and saying "dah-ling" like that, was glamour.

-30-

the beautiful pool

 

(Reader Comments under a New York Times article about Air-bnbs)

Angela

Texas

I've never had any trouble with any AirBnB stay (all with private citizen hosts), but all the negative stories I've heard in the last couple years definitely makes me wary for the next time I reserve one!

RB

Maryland

I'm done with Air B n Bs.  They are nearly always flawed in some way relative to what is promised in their listing and I'm tired of wasting my energy dealing with crappy service and inaccurate listings.

My last 5 Air BnBs:

1) A unit in an apartment complex with a big sign on the front door that said:  "No AirBnBs permitted" which made for an awkward stay and a difficult encounter with a security guard),

2) An apartment that had a bathroom that smelled like a swamp (the owner / manager eventually sent a repair person, which was a pain in the neck since they were there for hours and didn't resolve the situation),

3) A house with 3 bedrooms where the third bedroom was a loft rather than a bedroom,

4) An apartment with a washer / dryer, but oops, actually there wasn't a dryer at all -- the owner made an "error" in the listing (FYI - it's not fun drying your clothes on a balcony in rainy season) and --

5) a house where the beautiful pool was occupied by monkeys doing the breaststroke (this was Asia).

Penner

Taos, New Mexico

The number of airbnbs has exploded as second home owners, out of town buyers and corporations have purchased homes.

In places like Taos it's almost impossible to find a place to rent if you are not able to pay thousands of dollars a month; tough luck for someone who is a teacher or social worker or works in a service industry.

This Airbnb boom has also priced first time home buyers and local families out of the market as many homes are purchased sight unseen with full cash offers.

Airbnb started out as a good idea but it is a monster now.

Greed has destroyed the business model.

Sandra

Virginia

I used to use Airbnb.  I liked the local hosts and had some good experiences.  But I'm done with them.  Like many things, a good idea eventually went bad.

Randy

Los Angeles

why anyone would pay such an exorbitant nightly rate is beyond me.  I have given up on Airbnb -- hotels are much more cost effective, often have more amenities, better service, transparent rates, etc., etc.

EL 

Boston

...Key I think to using Airbnb:

1) Make sure your host is who they say they are.  Find social media.  Communicate by phone.  Read reviews.  Make sure the hosts are local or even on-property.  Do NOT stay with faceless properties.  The vast majority of problems I've observed happen when the host is not local and / or there's a management company.  It is not hard to figure this out.

2) Search the same property to be sure it exists / isn't being peddled by OTAs.  Talk to the hosts!  If you find the same property on multiple sites, either go directly to that site or AVOID.

3) If a shared space, ensure there are locks on the doors.  Ask about other occupants at that time.  Who will have access during your stay?  Google-walk the neighborhood.  Do you feel safe?  Understand the entry procedure clearly.

4) Ensure you have a backup option -- hotels acceptable / available in the area.  I once elected to stay in a dwelling that was not seasonally appropriate, and didn't feel safe.  I knew I had a backup hotel nearby that could accommodate me.

                                                   |

-------------------------------- @EL, You're absolutely right about all of this, but my problem is that having to have sophisticated insights and forensic abilities in order to get a truthful view of a property is an outrageous burden to put on a consumer.

        Basically, you can't believe an Air BNB listing at face value.  That is at best false advertising and at worst, blatant fraud.

Maureen O'Brien

Long Island, New York

Next time you need to travel - use a hotel.  They are set up to receive travelers.  airbnb is set up to receive your credit card #.

-30-

you have to be a detective when you go on a trip...?

 

        The one Reader Comment that said staying in an AirBnB included the experience of "listening to footprints above" -- I notice sometimes people say "footprints" when they mean "footsteps."

        You can hear footsteps, but footprints you can only see.

In the mystery books I read when I was grade-school age, the characters often found clues to the mystery's solution by studying footprints.

The Hardy Boys:  Footprints Under The Window

The Dana Girls:  The Circle Of Footprints

One more Airbnb reader comment:

Paco Diablo

South Carolina

We're done with Airbnbs, it's back to normal hotels for me.

Last year my wife was staying in Glyfada, a suburb of Athens, Greece, and the place was broken into, money and jewelry taken.

We suspect it was the hosts, who may have had a camera in the apartment, as the thief knew exactly where things were kept and disturbed nothing else in the place.

The police were called and the hosts tried to blame my wife saying that she left the door opened, however, she speaks Greek and told the cops that she had made sure she locked up before she and her sister left to go see their father who was dying (which is why they were in Athens in the first place).

The girls left to spend the rest of the time in a nearby hotel, with a safe in the rooms I might add.  What did Airbnb do about this?  Nada.

My advice if you do stay in these places is to make sure that there is a secure safe to lock up valuables in and to check for hidden cameras OR just stay in a hotel.

__________________________________________

Wow.

That's a Nancy Drew mystery book waiting to be written, right there.

(Love that the hosts tried to blame the customer -- she left the door open -- and she understood Greek, and set the facts straight!)

-30-

a nice idea gone mad

 

[more Reader Comments on Air-bnbs]

~ Staying in a shed with a bed in Hawaii was my last Air BnB experience.

~ I think I am done with Airbnb.  The good ones are more expensive than a hotel and the bad ones are irritating with their funky bathrooms, no lock on the bedroom door, and hosts who are wacky and / or unavailable.  It was different 10 years ago.

~ Speaking as someone who has the questionable pleasure and reverse privilege to live downwind from a private short-term vacation rental in a formerly peaceful and quiet residential neighborhood -- 

these cleaning fees seem still not nearly high enough, judging by the non-stop party ruckus coming down the hill all day and night, the litter strewn about ... the squealing tire noise pollution from those drunk late-night returns from town.

It's a nice idea gone mad ...

~ Hotels do it better and cheaper.  Why not stay at a professional place rather than deal with amateur hour?

~ Last one we tried we canceled because the host acted reluctant to rent and asked strange questions like "How did you reserve this?"

        "Uh, on AirBnb where you listed."

~ Reviews are another reason to question staying at an Airbnb.  We stayed at one in Hawaii that was nice, but the owner was a bit of a nut job - telling us how he charged a previous guest because of some scratches on the floor from using the chairs that had no protectors on the feet.  

        By that time we were there and checked in so we were stuck but it definitely had us looking over our shoulders the whole time.  Then we didn't get our damage deposit back until we had left a review that he had read and responded to........so how honest do you think we could be?

------------------------ Bingo!

~ A few months ago, our daughter booked an AirBnB without reading the fine print.  Upon arrival she discovered she was responsible for washing the bedsheets and remaking the bed.  Because she had to be out the door at 4:45am to catch a flight, she slept on the sofa.

The owner noticed that the laundry pod hadn't been used, and accused our daughter of not following the rules.  

It was a VERY expensive eight hour stay.

Nick in Denver

~ Exactly, I didn't even consider buying a home in a building that allows short term rentals; I've been there before.  

Clueless guests asking residents and the front desk for help and parking in the wrong spot; rowdy guests throwing parties, and security problems because we didn't know who our neighbors were going to be from week to week.  

We even had a porn video being shot in a unit and on the rooftop patio.

Matthew Nichols

~ I was done with airbnb when hosts started asking me to lie for them.

"Say to the concierge you're a friend of mine"

umm - no...?

David Schwartz

~ We were refused entry to our Airbnb in Vegas because it was in a gated community that didn't allow them.  It said in the check-in instructions that we shouldn't tell the gate guard that we are staying in an Airbnb or they would refuse our entry. ...

~ It makes perfect sense that listings are down.  It's something people "try out".  AirBnB moves into a new market, like Indonesia, properties get picked up, word spreads, business is good, and finally people decide they want a real hotel for less instead of staying in a smelly place, listening to footprints above, and leaving the key under a flower pot.  

Then it's time to move to a new market.

-30-

a parsimonious, irritable acquaintance

 

Recently read an article about AirBnBs and for some reason they sound spooky and kind of sinister, to me.

(Overactive imagination...?)

reader comments

-------------------------------

--------- It takes just one bad AIRBNB experience to be over it forever.  Been there, done that.

----------- I just LOVE staying in a nice hotel, can't understand why anyone would prefer to be in a stranger's house.

--------------------- Once or twice I have stayed in Airbnb with relatives who booked things -- the anonymous key pickup, no contact with owner or management, the cheap but good looking furniture, faucets that didn't work -- it left a poor impression....

---------- Before, AirBNB was a no-brainer, much better prices, convenience and comfort than hotels.  Now, AirBNBs and hotels are almost equally annoying, expensive and inconvenient.

----------------- It's the Uber model:  too many drivers, too many rentals.  Air B and B makes money but the hosts / drivers don't.  I suspect we are about to see a tsunami of local regulations limiting the number of short term rentals in a lot of hot markets.

------------------- We have used AirBNB throughout Europe with such mixed results that we don't use it anymore. ... we loved some of the experiences and loved a more authentic-feeling stay, yet vacations are too short to waste on housing problems.  The photos and reviews seem to be phony too often.

--------------------- I used to use Airbnb for apartment rentals in some cities.  Last time I did (late 2021) the host was supposed to meet me with the keys, and I'd texted her when my plane landed.  I ended up standing on a busy street in light rain for an hour before her "assistant" finally came with the keys.  

        I realized right then that if I had checked into a hotel instead, I would have been to my room within 10 minutes.  The inconsistency just isn't worth it for me.

----------------- Aside from the horrendous cleaning fees, and laundry lists of do's and don'ts some of these hosts post, the greatest lesson I learned (the hard way) is that if the owner does not post pictures of the property from the outside it's because they know you would NEVER want to stay there.  

This happened to me so many times in Gainesville, Florida I decided to no longer work in that area as a traveling professional.

------------ It will happen to you eventually, if you use the service enough.  Had an expensive place with good reviews tell me I was being excessively picky because the front door didn't close, or lock.  Back door didn't even have a lock.  Just the start of the problems there.  

        My bad review somehow never seemed to make it on their listing.  I have stayed in great places too -- but there is often little accountability with the bad ones.

-------------- AirBnB isn't capitalism, it is a kind of digital-era theft that legislatures haven't caught up with.

-------------------- I used Airbnb for a while, never a big fan, but I've sworn off it now, too many bad experiences and the value just isn't there.  I get it, you can find some real gems, great places that are reasonably priced.  

But for every gem, there are 5 clunkers and it can be difficult to know ahead of time.  Reviews are meaningless and unhelpful.

        Simple things like, did the owner give you the right code for the door, become hugely important.  

Arriving after dark and being unable to get in because the owner gave you the wrong code.  

Calling the owner for a couple hours because they were busy and not responding, trying to get the code.  

This has happened to me and I'm sure many others.  

Is the owner spying on you?  Yeah maybe, nobody verifies if there are cameras in the house and we've all heard stories of this being the case.  Along with all sorts of other things that are just unthinkable in a hotel.

---------- I'm on Long Island.  Party companies have rented some very nice homes that have amenities like basketball courts and pools.  Each summer for the last three years, the cops have had to be called over gun use, including one shooting....

--------- many if not most owners of multiple units are clearly do-it-yourselfers, offering inconsistent / uneven service, uneven renovation quality, difficultly in accessing the units upon arrival, and not knowing the current condition of an apartment ...

        Adding to these issues is a consistent tendency to nickel and dime everything (minimal kitchen & bathroom supplies including towels, etc.), along with occasional reminders to highly rate their units, and the experience is akin to staying with a parsimonious, irritable acquaintance.

------- Air BnB was great when people were renting *the homes they live in* when they happened to be out of town.  But it seems mostly evil now....

------------------ Airbnb has no incentive to correct these problems, because they have no skin in the game.  The traditional rules of supply and demand don't work when you are only a platform; their incentive is to saturate markets because that drives up absolute revenue, even if the renter loses individual revenue.  

"Disruptive" companies are largely about assuming revenue and transferring risk.

-30-

to live in this period of time

 

the cover of Bob Dylan's first album - 1962

[more Reader Comments on Dylan book - NYT]

Houdini

New York City

IDK Bob Dylan talking about Sinatra?  It doesn't get much better.

Richard

Juneau

That's some kick-ass writing.  Dylan the essayist, his latest phase just hitting his stride.

JRO

Pgh

80 plus and still writing relevant music!  All the while jammin out on the never-ending tour.  Bob Dylan, the man, the myth, THE LEGEND!

East / West

Los Angeles

In no particular order (except alphabetical) you have:  Bob Dylan Joni Mitchell Van Morrison Neil Young All the other past and contemporary songwriters may be great and even geniuses, but none will ever compare to the above listed four.  What a privilege to live in the same period of time as them.

[one comment whined that Bob Dylan is "irrelevant"]

Melanie

Mississippi

@Scott R Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016, and his latest album, Rough and Rowdy Ways, was released in 2020 to critical acclaim -- including his first-ever Billboard chart-topping single, "Murder Most Foul."  He is currently touring the world, playing sold-out shows.  That sounds pretty relevant to me.

Matt0147

Pennsylvania

Once again, my heart stopped.  When you put a picture of Bob on the front page, please add in large font "Dylan Alive!"  The day he leaves us will be a very sad one.  Still the best songwriter ever.

Buckeye

Lakewood, Ohio

Dylan is the Shakespeare of our times -- a once-in-500 years talent.  The scope and scale of his music is breathtaking.

Bill Entsminger

Grove City, Ohio

Bob being Bob....if you don't get it then you haven't been paying attention

Jeffrey Waingrow

Sheffield, Massachusetts

Dylan creates a mood, paints a picture, even conjures a new sort of reality.

Malcolm Mackenzie

Naples, New York

I teach sixth grade 47 years deep in the trench.  Every year when I mention Bob Dylan, there are a few students who already know his music.  Amen.

J D

Patagonia

'Students of Dylan have long known to just listen and not ask why.' -- Ben Sisario Ain't it the truth!  Great piece - thanks

John

Oakland

Spectacularly overrated pastiche.

Cate

California Bay Area

Bob Dylan's way with words takes my breath away.  Every single time.

Johnl

DOYLESTOWN, Pennsylvania

Bob Dylan and his music changed all of the popular music that followed.

Herbie

Denver

Thank you Bob Dylan

JCD 

Salt Lake City, Utah

Love the Dead, love the Beatles. love the Boss and U2.  But Dylan is in a class by himself.  I engage with his art and I am so deeply moved.  It is beautiful...timeless

Juliet

Paris

@Jorge I love that song too.  How did a folksinger create one of the greatest rock songs ever?  Two words:  creative genius.

Teddy Chesterfield

East Lansing

Not surprising for a Nobel laureate, but boy can Dylan write.

Big Daddy

Phoenix

I have pre-ordered the book.  Dylan has always been five steps in front of everyone else.  He is a muse for me, and others, I'm sure.

DMW 

Yellow Springs, Ohio

When I was 17 in 1973, my Dad sneered at me, "The only philosophy you know is Bob Dylan and the Beatles."  He was largely correct and I've since tried to correct that gap in my training.  But, looking back, I might have done a lot worse.

CSR

Los Angeles, California

When I was ten, my sister handed me a stack of Dylan albums and said "Here kid, listen to this." 

 I've never been the same.  

I planted myself in front of our stereo and wrote down every line of every song.  His writing is just breathtaking.  

        Even now, sixty years later, when I've experienced something particularly profound or painful, some line from Dylan will play in my head.  He is a thread in the fabric of my life.  I am forever grateful for his words and music.  

And I'm very grateful to my sister.

Craig

Amherst, Massachusetts

...my father handed me an album and said:  "This guy is going to be important."

Columbus

Very few artists and writers stand the test of time -- Beethoven, Van Gogh, Whitman.  Amazing that we are living with one who will:  Dylan.

Annessey

Girl from the North Country

"And take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind Down the foggy ruins of time Far past the frozen leaves The haunted frightened trees Out to the windy beach Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow"  Looking forward to the read, thanks Bob

Coureur des Bois

Boston

At 77 all I can say is that I feel so blessed to have been together through life with Bob Dylan and I never use the word blessed.  He's been saying it true and I am grateful that he will be with us when the deal goes down.  

I read a lot of Thoreau and I see Dylan as another man who gets to the heart of the matter.  

To me he is really two people.  In real life he is Bob Zimmerman like all of us just another flawed individual.  In his songs he is Bob Dylan a mythical person in a myth we all share.  

Strike another match

Steve

Pacifica California

...No surprise that his writing is interesting.  And to the guy who keeps typing okboomer -- 2019 just called, it wants its zinger back.  (might want to look up "zinger")

Diamond Joe

New England

"Students of Dylan have long known to just listen and not ask why."

That sums it up so succinctly.  Long live Bob.

-30-