End of a Great Era

I awoke yesterday to the news that Clarence Clements had died the night before (Sat. June 10, 7pm) and it was similar (in the past) to when I got the news that a  Major Rocker had passed. I will always remember where I was when I heard about Jimi,  Janis, Jim M, Elvis, even Rick Nelson.

It may have been a combination of things that caused it to hit me so hard: There was 20 minutes of sobbing before I could even get out of bed. I'm still trying to sort it all out.

Even though I never met Bruce Springsteen or his band, I've been on board with their mission and music since year one; 1973. The folks at radio KLOL 'got' it right away and were solidly behind this new guy Springsteen, 'played Greetings From Asbury Park album  with a passion (remember when radio had passion?). A local music venue, Liberty Hall, hired Bruce and his band right away (when gigs were few and far between). They played the former movie theater 2-3 times before moving to larger music halls.

It was a lot like finding religion; I was telling everyone I knew about this guy and his amazing approach to music. I made just about everyone I knew sit and listen to the first and second Springsteen albums.
I have always said Rock and Roll is a religion. I have never believed it more than now. No doubt the Unitarian in me finds it easy to stretch the definition to fit.

The music of my youth was/is a place I could find hope, answers to my questions about love and life.
It still lifts me up in a way little else can.
Bruce Springsteen's vision still amazes me, first in how his ideas are so massive and seemingly limitless in scope. Second in that he doggedly achieved what he set out to do, but most importantly, he did it with his tribe, his band. They all grew together to become not just one of the worlds greatest rock bands, but a force that effected the path of countless lives.

Sound like an overstatement? I don't think it is.

There are millions of followers of the man's music around the world. What we are followers of is more than the music. It is the underlying message:

There is a "Promised Land" waiting in this life.
You can make a good life for yourself no matter the circumstance of your birth
All men are brothers
Dignity starts with courage

Alright, I also like his politics. He is on the side of everything I am on the side of.
All that realization came to pass over years, through discovery.

But back to The Big Man.

There really was something magical about the two of them on that stage together. Everyone knew it.
I wonder now if Bruce would have gone as far if he and Clarence had never met.
Right now it is hard to imagine Bruce out there minus Clarence Clement's amazing presence.
It is a void I am feeling personally.

Ch Ch Ch Changes

I'm starting to wonder if those people burning the hectics in the olden days might have had something. (kidding).

The changes going on in the world (present day) are really huge and are really scary. It is like the ground shifting... especially when I talk to friends in the entertainment industry and their story is the same as mine.
Reading the Albert Brooks novel "2030, What Really happens to America", is like reading a prophecy that is coming true before our eyes, (screw 2030).
Whole industries disappearing, ways of life with it.
Now as we all know, when something disappears, something else takes it's place right? True that, but all too often what "takes it's place" is far less than the original.
If we agree that all problems are spiritual in nature, we have our meditations cut out for us now and for the foreseeable future.

A Hamburger now for payment next Tuesday

Being a 'Lord of Land(s) is not dull, and often rather amusing (when it's not terrifying). We have 2 small properties we own and lease to people seeking shelter from the heat. At present we are marketing one of them as our prior tenants skipped out a month ago.
Not being Caldwell Banker or Century 22, seems to lead just about everyone with an angle to our door.
I know people gotta have a place to live, etc. And that includes felons, bankrupties, people with pets with reputations for killing people, and so on. We weed them out with our criteria list usually. That explains why so often we are left with people who didn't read the list or don't think we mean it.

I got a nice note from a young lady informing me she had just signed a lease with her present landlord, but would break it if I could give her a better deal... How exciting!

We had a fella with a roomate who offered to rent the house at $145 discount/month in exchange for him signing an 18 month lease instead of a 12 month lease. The same man told me clearly how his credit was bad and he didn't make much money right now. He felt I should take it because ultimately he would pay more in the 18 months than I would collect in a regular 12 month lease. He even did the math for me!

It reminds me of a time many summers ago when management was changed in a resort my band had worked for about 3 years. Of course I was canned and dirt cheap teenage bands were brought in. After a few weeks, the agent booking the room called to offer me the rest of the summer if I brought my group back. I told him what I had been getting (good money and perks). He said "oh no, they're not doing anything like that now." So I asked "why should I be interested in coming back if they don't at least match what I've been making?" His (sincere) reply: "This is EVERY WEEK for the rest of the summer!" Can these two guys be related?

Anyway, if you know somebody reasonably set that needs a comfortable place to live...