Ken Caillat's book...bits and tidbits

[bombaysaffires]

Well, my book arrived late today. I've only been skimming through it... One of the first bits I noted was his claim that Stevie did not sequence Rumours as claimed all these years..... Judy Wong did!

[CADreaming]

Originally Posted by bombaysaffires

Well, my book arrived late today. I've only been skimming through it... One of the first bits I noted was his claim that Stevie did not sequence Rumours as claimed all these years..... Judy Wong did!

Don't tell her!

[Blueletter18]

I'm about 70 pages into it, and I love it! You feel like you're right there in the control room of the studio. He writes that none of them can write or read music, which is fascinating. There are already a bunch of little anecdotes I've come across that I've never heard before. Caillat can seem harsh in his descriptions of the band members sometimes, however it is clear that he respects them as people and as musicians.

[darkcat]

I thought the bit about not miking Stevie when she plays the tambo was interesting, they let wanted to record Mick playing it instead. Interesting read so far, Ken certainly didnt hold back when it came to JC either.

[Artemis]

I loved the story of Stevie sobbing when she had to cut parts from Silver Springs, but once she realised that she either cut lines from it, or lost royalties by having less songs, the sobbing stopped and she became ruthless Also loved how she rescued The Chain and was all smug about it.

[bombaysaffires]

Originally Posted by Blueletter18

I'm about 70 pages into it, and I love it! You feel like you're right there in the control room of the studio. He writes that none of them can write or read music, which is fascinating. There are already a bunch of little anecdotes I've come across that I've never heard before. Caillat can seem harsh in his descriptions of the band members sometimes, however it is clear that he respects them as people and as musicians.

that would be inaccurate regarding Christine, who is classically trained.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by bombaysaffires

that would be inaccurate regarding Christine, who is classically trained.

Yeah, her dad would be spinning if she couldn't read or write music. Michele

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by bombaysaffires

that would be inaccurate regarding Christine, who is classically trained.

Maybe not, though. From personal experience, that's a skill that can go away if unused for a great length of time, and I seriously doubt that she would have needed to read music in the decade leading up to Rumours.

[louielouie2000]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Maybe not, though. From personal experience, that's a skill that can go away if unused for a great length of time, and I seriously doubt that she would have needed to read music in the decade leading up to Rumours.

This is absolutely true. I played almost a half dozen different instruments from elementary school up through the end of high school, but a decade later, I most certainly cannot read music anymore. I also was able to speak, read, and write Spanish at that time... but have lost that skill as well. Even though Christine was classically trained, she focused her talents on playing in jams & by ear for the majority of her career. I could easily see her not reading music by the time of Rumours, especially given her alcohol & drug usage at that juncture.

[elle]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Maybe not, though. From personal experience, that's a skill that can go away if unused for a great length of time, and I seriously doubt that she would have needed to read music in the decade leading up to Rumours.

huh? i didn't use it for the last 3 decades and i can still read notes and play their instruments when my kids have to practice for school. it's like riding a bike or learning how to ski, i suspect.

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Maybe not, though. From personal experience, that's a skill that can go away if unused for a great length of time, and I seriously doubt that she would have needed to read music in the decade leading up to Rumours.

She never lost her sight-reading skills. She has said in comparatively recent interviews that she likes to work through Beethoven, et al at a leisure pace at home. Most likely, she is what a classical musician would term an "intermediate" player, certainly not concert level, but not a novice either.

For what it's worth, I didn't lose my sight reading skills either. I stopped playing piano for two decades when, this past year, I returned to it and started working through some Bartok I had never played before. It was a little rough at first, but by the end of the second week, I was working through those pieces pretty quickly.

[David A]

I just finished Ken’s book, and I was somewhat startled, and baffled and confused. Keep in mind, I am a LB fan #1 and FM fan #2, I did read CAH’s book about her time with FM and LB, and the picture she painted of LB wasn’t all that flattering, but I decided to just squash it. But, after reading Ken’s book, it is amazing how many demons LB must have had back in the day. But, I am confused how to feel about him now.

. I mean, I guess one can say he is a human being and we all make mistakes, and that let’s face it, he never put himself out there to be a role model, and maybe I should stick to loving his music and not care to much what kind of person he was/is. But, I’ll admit, for the most part vie always admired the person he is, not so sure any more

. I would say that FM may be great musicians, but I’d say not such great people, after reading this book.
. I do think FM was never obligated to take care of these people that worked with them, I mean Loyalty is one thing and judging from this FM doesn’t have any, but as far as taking care of these people, that wasn’t their job or duty, if people were too busy smoking dope or too stupid to make sure that they weren’t paid, then that’s on them and not the band.
. It’s weird, LB never struck me as a guy who people would be afraid of, if he was choking ppl, and I was there, I would have jumped in, heck LB isn’t the Hulk, so I wonder why people never did that, or if he choked me, like he did Ken, I would have punched him square in the face. People seemed really scared of LB, and for the life of me, don’t know why
. I am not going to even try and rationalize him abusing people, it’s just not right, and I wonder if he still even knows what he did, and down the road, id hate for his kids to read these things about their father. Its one thing to read these things about someone you idolized, but to read them about your Father is another.
. I do tend to agree with Ken that for the most part, LB was an unhappy person, that is self inflicted, and I sure hope he is a happier person today
. It’s strange, as bad as LB may have been, I tend to think w/out him being assertive, and we would never have gotten what we did from the band, which is a strange trade off
. 1997 Dance Time, I always did wonder why FM didn’t work with Richard and Ken again, loyalty again, and I do think that it would have been nice of LB to include Richard
. I tend to think that LB isn’t the greatest friend per say, he strikes me, after reading many books, that he would be someone who would befriend you for his use and advantage, and then after time, would pull away. Out of sight, out of mind per say. Example, I’ve always wondered why LB never kept in touch or worked more with Richard, Ken, Ray Lindsey, etc. I guess what im saying, is LB doesn’t strike me as a good friend to have. Whereas Mick strikes me as someone who would never forget you or help you (if he could)
. Ken, in some ways, I think was a little harsh on LB, but then again, these stories have been re told by others, so it’s hard to find ways to defend LB
. At this point, since they are older, I tend to think that FM or LB doesn’t care what we think, and I guess they have earned that right.

Bottom line, it’s a little harder today, after reading this book, to admire LB the man, I still adore the Musician, but the man himself isn’t as pretty as I may have thought, and it’s a little sad, because I think he may have hurt a lot of people along the way, I really wish he would write a book, do a interview to defend himself, or work with some of his old partners again.

David

[Silver Springs]

Probably naive of me, and I don't expect anybody to agree; but I have a lot of faith in people changing. It's true that Lindsey had a lot of personal demons back in the day, and when you're that unhappy you behave in irrational and downright dangerous ways. Although there are stories out there of him appearing as a diva now (I think it's probably a case of him demanding the best in order to portray his passion at its best), I like to think he's changed for the better. He's always been a romantic type, and he has a family now. Maybe that's helped to pave over alot of his personal problems and fill in some of those missing pieces in his life? Alot of people might have negative things to say about him, but a hell of a lot have absolutely glowing compliments for him. It's all relative, I guess.

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by Silver Springs

Alot of people might have negative things to say about him, but a hell of a lot have absolutely glowing compliments for him. It's all relative, I guess.

Really? I have not heard any glowing anecdotes about Lindsey. No, I have not searched for them, but it seems like all you hear about are these unsavory accounts from former associates and lovers. True, Stevie has had nice things to say about him, but it's mostly been something to the effect of "he's not as much of an a-hole since he got married and had kids." Not exactly glowing. Lindsey has received praise for his guitar mastery, music production and his energetic live performances. But Lindsey as a person? Not so much.

I think the Destiny Rules documentary is about as close as we are going to get to observing the behavior of the "evolved," modern-day Lindsey. He seems pleasant enough most of the time. But there also seems to be this uneasy calm about him that occasionally seeps through via the occasional backhanded compliment or dig couched as "constructive criticism," e.g., the Bob Dylan verb tense conversation with Stevie. Rather than becoming a genuinely nicer person, he just seems to have learned to smile as he kicks you in the shin. Nevertheless, it's light years' worth of evolution from strangling one's neck!

[Betsy]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

... Lindsey has received praise for his guitar mastery, music production and his energetic live performances. But Lindsey as a person? Not so much.

I think the Destiny Rules documentary is about as close as we are going to get to observing the behavior of the "evolved," modern-day Lindsey. He seems pleasant enough most of the time. But there also seems to be this uneasy calm about him that occasionally seeps through via the occasional backhanded compliment or dig couched as "constructive criticism," e.g., the Bob Dylan verb tense conversation with Stevie. Rather than becoming a genuinely nicer person, he just seems to have learned to smile as he kicks you in the shin. ....

Very nicely and eloquently put.

Something I have wondered about, (and of course, it is absolutely none of my business....)

There is the account of LB's performing and being very ill, later to be discovered that he had/has epilepsy. I presume it is under control with medication or perhaps his body has changed and he no longer has the ailment.

Wasn't its presence discovered during the Rumours era and maybe some of the unpleasant personality traits are side effects of the medication?