Jagger, Clapton, Midler & More Honor Atlantic's Ertegun

[enchanted]

No mention of Stevie at all in Rolling Stones article about the event......after she took pictures with one of the editors .........that magazine seems to ignore Stevie alot........why I can't figure out.

[foxyluva]

Originally Posted by enchanted

No mention of Stevie at all in Rolling Stones article about the event......after she took pictures with one of the editors .........that magazine seems to ignore Stevie alot........why I can't figure out.

They have made it pretty clear that they don't take her seriosuly as an artist. And after they gave TISL 2 stars out of 5, I really don't care for their opinions anyway...

[Livia]

It was filmed:

On Tuesday 17 April 2007, a memorial tribute was held in New York City for Ahmet Ertegun. The founder of Atlantic Records and co-founder of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame died on 14 December 2006 at age 83 from injuries suffered in a fall at a Rolling Stones' concert at New York City's Beacon Theater in October.

With business partner Herb Abramson, Ahmet founded Atlantic Records in 1947 with a $10,000 loan. He parlayed it into one of the most successful labels of all-time. He was responsible for recording Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Ruth Brown, Ray Charles, Bobby Darin, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Cream, the Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Allman Brothers Band, CSNY, Sonny & Cher, Stevie Nicks, Roberta Flac, AC/DC, Jewel, Stone Temple Pilots, Matchbox Twenty, Kid Rock, Death Cab For Cutie Missy Elliott, and others far too numerous to mention. In 1983, he co-founded the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum with Rolling Stone Publisher Jann Wenner and Seymour Stein (founder of Sire Records).

A large part of the evening was given over to musical performances. Wynton Marsalis opened the tribute with the standard, "Didn't He Ramble". Eric Clapton was part of a band that included Dr. John. They performed Stick Mc Gee's "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" (Atlantic's first hit) and "Please Send Me Someone To Love", which was recorded by Percy Mayfield. Later, they backed Solomon Burke for his performance. Other performers included Stevie Nicks, CSN&Y, Ben E. King, Kid Rock and Sam Moore, Phil Collins, and a reunited Genesis.

The rumoured Led Zeppelin reunion did not happen.

Mick Jagger described him as a "wicked uncle with a wicked chuckle. Ahmet was a fantastically well-rounded man who was able to talk about geopolitics, able to talk about medieval Islamic history - and able to pick the next Vanilla Fudge single." The diversity of the speakers also served as a testament in itself: NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Henry Kissinger, David Geffen, Kid Rock and designer Oscar de la Renta. Daryl Hall (Hall & Oates) said, "He cared first and foremost about the artist and the music - much more than the business. He believed that if the artist was true to him or herself, good business would follow." Bette Midler, who served as host summed up the evening when she said, "Only Ahmet could have brought this group of people together."

Cameras rolled, but it's unknown whether a commercial release is in the offing. The film is expected to go to the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.

http://www.whereseric.com/news/2007/...lebration.html

[Livia]

Mick Jagger, Rockers Celebrate Ahmet Ertegun

Mick Jagger proved a couple of things last night at the memorial concert for Atlantic Records’ Ahmet Ertegun: that he’s an excellent public speaker and that he can juggle at least one girlfriend, an ex-wife and two kids at the same time.

Jagger was one of several trenchant speakers at the memorial, a deftly executed concert mixed with eulogies directed and produced by Taylor Hackford, Joel Gallen and David Wilde.

The other speakers — David Geffen, Henry Kissinger, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Oscar de la Renta, Jann Wenner — also proved to be charming and concise in their amusing memories of the lively Ertegun.

Bette Midler was the clever, if unofficial host (she also sang a couple of songs with her usual aplomb, including Tom Waits’ “Shiver Me Timbers”).

Everyone should have a send-off like this, but no one else ever will. The show commenced with a New Orleans-style funeral parade led by Wynton Marsalis playing a raucous “Didn’t He Ramble” as a gang of musicians marched down the aisles of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

They were followed by R&B great Solomon Burke, seated in his traditional throne, singing his first Atlantic hit, “Just Out of Reach,” with Eric Clapton’s band, and Clapton himself playing a stinging guitar on “Please Send Someone to Love” and “Drinking Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee.”

There was more and I’ll get to it, but in the audience there was an eclectic mix of music folks from Ahmet’s world and society types from his wife, Mica Ertegun's, rarified atmosphere: Dominick Dunne with sister-in-law, Joan Didion; Joe Allen and Annette Tapert; Ashton Hawkins of the Metropolitan Museum; Jamie Niven; and literary agent Lynn Nesbitt. They were not the usual types who turn up for rock music events.

But it was because Ertegun moved so easily between these worlds that he became a legend, but since it was mostly a music night, the latter group looked a little horrified and intrigued as the music proceeded.

One of my friends in the music biz referred to the society types — lots of expensive suits and jewelry — as “The Others.”

And in the middle of it all was Mica Ertegun, a magnificently gracious, beautiful woman who lived through her husband’s wild life for 40 years.

Backstage, before the show started, she popped into all the dressing rooms to greet the performers — even if she didn’t really know them.

She hugged Sam Moore and reminisced with Solomon Burke, who sang at her wedding and even at a recent anniversary party. Kid Rock greeted her and so did John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin.

Meanwhile, Hackford and the other organizers worried that there was no sign of Ben E. King. But he made it and sang “Don’t Play that Song for Me” -- which Ahmet wrote for the Drifters -- with John Paul Jones and Foreigner’s Mick Jones playing behind him. It was lovely.

There were electrifying performances by the Manhattan Transfer (“Sing Moten’s Swing”) and Phil Collins solo (“In the Air Tonight”) and with Genesis (“Follow You, Follow Me”) that showed the breadth and depth of Atlantic’s amazing run after their R&B heyday in the 1960s.

But it was that heyday that ruled the show. Helen Mirren, Hackford’s wife and recent Best Actress Oscar-winner for “The Queen,” went gaga for Moore’s sizzling duet with Kid Rock on “In the Midnight Hour” and “I Thank You.”

“It was the best moment of the whole show,” Mirren raved.

She was right, but she also could have included Stevie Nicks’ unexpected knockouts on Led Zeppelin’s “Rock & Roll” and her own Top 40 hit “Stand Back” with all-star sidemen Waddy Wachtel, Danny Kortchmar, Cliff Carter, Leon Pendarvis, Steve Jordan and Willie Weeks.

Crosby, Stills and Nash did a poignant (if a little flat) version of The Beatles’ “In My Life,” but pulled it back together for a sublime reading of “Helplessly Hoping” with Neil Young.

Indeed, it was Young, with Stephen Stills, who summed up the evening by playing “Mr. Soul,” a song from their Buffalo Springfield days. This was maybe the coolest grace note, because Ertegun’s nickname could have been “Mr. Soul.”

Still, there was a lot going on and more speeches. Midler hit the nail on the head when she said of Ahmet, “He lived the life everyone wanted.” But this is Midler’s milieu, and she’s good at live performance.

It was Jagger, Kissinger and Geffen who really made the night. For Jagger it couldn’t have been easy. He sat in the front with girlfriend L'Wren Scott while ex-wife Jerry Hall and two of their kids were further back in the orchestra.

Later, Jagger made a brief appearance at the lavish supper hosted by Mica Ertegun at the Central Park Boathouse. Hall stayed and enjoyed herself.

Jagger’s speech, though, was a highlight of the night.

“Some people say Ahmet was like a father figure to them," he said. "To me, he was a wicked uncle with a wicked chuckle.”

He recounted many late nights with Ertegun in the '70s, many of which ended with Jagger going home first at 4 a.m. The pair, he said, often attended the Olympics together, with Ertegun buying their seats from scalpers (“ticket touts”) while Jagger awaited the outcome.

One time, Jagger recalled, he met with Ertegun to discuss the promotional budget for a new album. Ertegun -- Jagger mimicked him very closely — responded, “We’re going to take all the money and blow it all on the first day on one big f----ing party!”

Geffen, who never speaks publicly, recalled how Ertegun helped him launch Asylum Records with Jackson Browne and put him on his way to making billions.

He asked Ertegun how to make a lot of money in the music business. The elder statesman told him to pay attention, then got out of his chair and walked, bent over, clumsily. Geffen didn’t get it. “You have to bump into genius,” Ertegun explained.

And then to the party, where Paul Shaffer led the "Saturday Night Live" band through a series of Atlantic hits.

Bad Company’s Paul Rodgers sang along, as did Zeppelin’s Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, The Band’s Robbie Robertson and J. Geils Band’s Peter Wolf, although none of them performed in the show.

In the end, it was Ahmet’s night, and it was perfect. Some people were missing — Aretha Franklin was performing in Texas, Roberta Flack was MIA without explanation, Keith Richards sent a note that his mother was ill (this sent nervous laughter through the room considering what Richards said he did with his dead father).

Music moguls of Ertegun’s era, like Clive Davis, Doug Morris and Walter Yetnikoff, were absent. Ertegun’s partner, Jerry Wexler, himself a legend, sent a video in which he poignantly thanked Ahmet for their amazing life together at Atlantic.

Ertegun’s influence will be felt forever, even as the music business stumbles its way into the next generation.

But it was amazing to see what he left behind. The range of his success is astounding. The jazz and R&B came first. But he loved cabaret, hence Midler and Manhattan Transfer. He had an ear for rock, whether it was the Rolling Stones, Foreigner, Zeppelin or Yes. He appreciated female rockers like Stevie Nicks and the late Laura Branigan (she would have turned 50 this July), a particular favorite.

Ertegun’s eclecticism and open-mindedness was the key to his survival and success. If only someone were brave enough to emulate him now, there might be a record business.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,266714,00.html

[val721]

Mick Jagger And Sstevie Nicks In A Picture Together. My Life Is Complete. Damn.

[SortaSavageLike]

You know, Mick Jagger's one handsome devil. Compared to Keith Richards.

[catinthedark]

Originally Posted by Johnny Stew

AHHHH!!!! Stevie & Neil Young! Oh, please, oh, PLEASE work together! *drools*

i would love to hear their voices together. i can't imagine whether it would be good or bad. i think HE has one of the most perfect voices to sing harmony with (especially with linda ronstadt and nicolette larson) but they have higher, crystal clear voices. i'm not sure, for example, emmylou harris (whose voice i adore, and which i would say is in a similar category to stevie's) would sound as perfect with him.

and while i think stevie and lindsey were born to sing together, and that her voice is almost as perfect with tom petty, her duet with bruce hornsby was purely uninspiring. know what i mean?

but i'd certainly love to hear them together and judge for myself!

[Tee Dee]

More photos at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevien...92731902/show/

[Musicman408]

Stevie looks great. She's so adorable, gotta love her.

[vermicious knid]

I wanted to post that picture with Helen Mirren, but I couldn't find a way to do it, not even looking in my temporary internet files.

[Betsy]

My favorites are the photos with Kid Rock holding the mike. The look on Stevie's face is playful! I wonder what she was thinking and what he was saying to her...

[skcin]

Originally Posted by Tee Dee

More photos at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevien...92731902/show/

Thanks for posting this link.

[gldstwmn]

Hasn't it been a while since Stephanie played with Danny Kortchmar? I bet that was fun.