The Gulf Coast Dispatch
Disproportionate Things

Michael Jackson’s passing came damn close to crashing the World Wide Web or the Internet. I’m never clear on what is who when you get down to it. What I am clear on is that things are quite unbalanced.

In the last week Les Paul and Jim Dickinson died. And the Internet didn’t even shrug.

It’s not that you shouldn’t love Wacko-Jacko, to each his own, and there’s no accounting for taste, as the sayings go, but, Jesus Christ, shouldn’t there be a little less cult of celebrity and a little more music appreciation, especially since we can learn so much and venture so far online?

I think of MJ and Quincy Jones in the studio for the Thriller recordings. Theses guys chained a dozen 48-track machines together in search of the ultimate album! The sound was literally so dense that it wouldn’t fit on the vinyl: the pressing plant returned the masters for a redo.

That kind of wild story doesn’t happen without Les Paul, 40 years earlier, in his garage with a screwdriver and a reel of tape…

Jim Dickinson was an American icon, as well. I had the great pleasure of seeing him perform in a Memphis hotel room earlier this year. My friend Pete from Shut Eye Records was in the audience that evening. Pete has a thought or two on Jim that we’ll publish here on Friday, so be sure to check back for his piece and the accompanying playlist. It’s sure to be informative, entertaining, and most important, pertinent.

JH