This Is How It Really Goes

The Globe and Mail reports that Gordon Lightfoot is changing the lyrics to "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." This is in light of new evidence that suggests the ship was sunk due to a rogue wave and not the result of the crew improperly securing the hatches.

"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is one of Lightfoot's most endearing and popular songs. A ballad in the true sense, it tells the story of the doomed freighter, which sank in Lake Superior. Until now, conventional wisdom held that the crew had neglected to secure the hatches and when the ship encountered high waves that washed over the deck, the holds rapidly filled with water leading to the Edmund Fitzgerald's demise.

The seventh strophe goes like this:

When suppertime came the old cook came on deck
He said fellas it's too rough to feed ya
At seven p.m. the main hatchway caved in
He said fellas it's been good to know ya

Out of respect for the families of the crew and because of the new information, Lightfoot is now singing the seventh strophe like this:

When suppertime came the old cook came on deck
He said fellas it's too rough to feed ya
At seven p.m. it grew dark, it was then
He said fellas it's been good to know ya

Lightfoot has said he is only changing the lyrics during live performances, he won't re-record the song. Kudos to him for being aware enough to recognize that the lyric should be changed, although he concedes the strophe has been conjecture from start to finish. Granted, unless he records a live album, most of the Great Unwashed will never hear Gordon's new version. The new lyric absolves the deckhands and deflects attention away from the families of the crew, who have had to live with the theory that their loved ones were negligent resulting in the catastrophe.

I wonder how long will it be before Lightfoot's old label Warner Brothers sues him for changing the lyrics?

A Fractured Music Business Fairy Tale

Once upon a time a vinyl record album cost about eight dollars. Once upon a time a vinyl 45 cost one dollar (for two songs). Then technology changed and we were told the new format was better, it may be expensive to begin with but eventually prices will come down. That technology was the digital compact disc or CD. Suddenly vinyl records disappeared and became collector's items. Suddenly turntables and cassette decks vanished. Overnight entire collections of music became obsolete.

The new technology had taken over and we were forced to do three things: 1) replace the vinyl records with CDs; 2) buy new hardware to listen to the CDs; 3) pay the inflated price for CDs because the labels thought the public forgot that they promised to lower the price once the CD became popular.

Then the technology changed again much to the dismay of the record labels. The music business was becoming more democratized. Computers and the Internet changed the rules. The labels panicked. There was much hand-wringing and many predictions of doom. The sky was falling. Chicken Little was running around with no head.

Eventually the labels realized the potential of the new technology and the Apple store was born. The people rejoiced and bought one song. The record labels were suspicious, but the money changed their minds. But it was a Pyrrhic victory. Sales of the old new technology plummeted.

The labels had the answer. Remember, we forgot they promised to lower the prices of CDs to vinyl album prices once the CD caught on. Remember, the labels know we forgot. Plus, they claimed we should be happy with CDs, after all there are more songs on a CD than on a vinyl record, ergo that is justification for the inflated cost. But we were not happy. We complained about crappy music. We continued to buy one song.

And now, in a vain attempt to recapture what was lost, the record labels are testing, for a short period of time, selling CDs for ten dollars or less. In other words, vinyl album price. But we should not rejoice. We should feel sorry for them. After all, they are losing buckets of money and this price slashing is their version of a drowning man reaching for a life preserver.

It's a pity he can't swim.

It's a pity the labels didn't keep their promise.

R.I.P. The Record Store

I was in a mall a couple of days ago and decided to peruse the HMV record (and I use that term loosely) store. One of the pleasures of mall shopping, for me, is spending time in a record store. In the halcyon days of vinyl records, there were usually two or sometimes three record stores in a mall, depending on the size of the mall and I could spend a good couple of hours between them browsing the sale walls, the delete bins, and the catalogue product. Unfortunately, that activity has become something I fondly remember. With the decline of CD sales exacerbated by music downloading and the fact stores like WalMart and Costco heavily influence the market, record stores are fast going the way of the dodo. Extinct.

Of all the music retailers in Canada, HMV has survived while other chains such as Music World and Sam the Record Man have slid into music business oblivion. For HMV though, survival meant diversification. The stores sell more DVDs and video games than CDs. The inconvenient truth is, CDs are fast becoming obsolete although there are music geeks out there that, like me, prefer to have a tangible musical artefact not just a digital copy on an iPod or computer. And there are still "real" record stores around to serve us, Megatunes in Calgary comes to mind. 

It was inevitable that the retail music business would fall off once online stores like the Apple Store and eMusic came into being. Consumers like the convenience of buying one song as opposed to buying an entire album for one song. It's the digital version of the 45, plus online stores are fast. The music is instantly downloaded into your music reproduction device of choice. It's impulse buying at its finest. It doesn't say much for creative continuity though. Not all albums are just a collection of songs, some are cohesive works that must be appreciated in their entirety. Pink Floyd recognized this and recently sued their label EMI to stop selling individual tracks.

I miss the old record stores, but like a lot of other things, selling music has changed with the times. It's had to in order to survive. The old record store atmosphere can still be found in the smaller indie stores or the used-CD stores and there's always Amazon and Ebay for hard-to-find stuff. Eventually the record store will suffer the same fate as the drive-in movie theatre, the milkman, and the rotary dial telephone. And I hope that doesn't happen too soon.

Change the Anthem...Again?

It has started all over again. In the recent throne speech, Governor General Michaëlle Jean said, "Our Government will also ask Parliament to examine the original gender-neutral English wording of the national anthem."

Think now of "O Canada," the offending line is, "In all thy sons command." What about the daughters? That's the argument. Well, that line was inserted in 1914 during the years of the first World War. At that time it was sons that Canada was sending to war. But of course, that does not account for the women that serve our country. And in the interest of equality, the government now thinks we should re-visit this issue.

It is not the first time the line has been questioned. In 1993, then-prime minister Kim Campbell supported the O Canada Fairness Committee's attempt at an amendment that would change the line to "in all our hearts command." Obviously nothing happened. In 1990, the Toronto city council voted 12-7 to recommend to the federal government that the line be changed to "true patriot love in all of us command." Also in contention, the lines "our home and native land," and "God keep our land glorious and free." The former ignoring the contributions and sacrifices of the aboriginal people and the latter stating something that will never happen.

It's curious that the conservative government chose to bring up this issue after Canada's terrific performance at the Winter Olympics. Was it the thousands of people gleefully, and many times spontaneously, singing the anthem that sparked the interest, or was this planned all along?

On one hand, I hope the anthem stays the same. We've already lived through one change. In 1980, The National Anthem Act added the phrase "From far and wide, O Canada" to replace "And stand on guard, O Canada." I know I wasn't the only person that sang the old lyrics after the change. Given that I don't sing the anthem on a regular basis, it has taken a while to sink in.

On the other hand, I don't see anything wrong in changing the line to reflect something more gender neutral, like "in all of us command." But then there's the native and god thing. This could go on forever.

Maybe we should use that swinging version of "The Maple Leaf Forever" that Michael Bublé sang at the Winter Olympics closing ceremonies. How does that go?

In days of yore, 
From Britain's shore
Wolfe the dauntless hero came
And planted firm Britannia's flag
On Canada's fair domain.

Whoops. French Canadians won't be singing that.

Let's ask Neil Young to write a new anthem.

Mar. 5/2010 UPDATE:
The Georgia Straight reports that the anthem will not be changed.

Look Again, It's Not Bon Jovi

Friday night, Feb. 26, I spent not watching the Winter Olympics; instead I attended a concert/show at the Cascades Casino in Langely, BC with my musician friend Michele Raye. A Bon Jovi tribute band called Blaze Of Glory was playing in the casino theatre. Michele knew a couple of the players, so we payed them a visit.

I thought I was not familiar with Bon Jovi's catalogue beyond hits like "Livin' On A Prayer," "Wanted Dead Or Alive," and "You Give Love A Bad Name." I confess that as the show progressed I recognized more tunes, Bon Jovi has entered my subconscious through osmosis. The band, of course, attempted to "be" Bon Jovi. Lead singer Ted Moore bore a passing resemblance to Jon Bon Jovi and the guitarist, Randy Robertson, dressed like Ritchie Sambora complete with long, black leather coat; black, designer cowboy hat; and requisite Stratocaster. Being a faux Bon Jovi was the task for these guys and, all in all, they pulled it off quite well.

The show was hampered, I thought, by an uneven mix throughout the night. Yes it was a rock show, but the presence of the "ice-pick-through-the-ear-drums" frequencies and overbearing bottom end took away from the band's efforts. Musically the band was precise in recreating Bon Jovi's sound and songs. The talk box was used by Robertson in "Livin' On A Prayer," along with the 12-string acoustic guitar in "Wanted Dead Or Alive." Musical subtleties were lost in the mix, which was unfortunate but did not damper the enthusiasm of the audience. For the most part, the crowd sang along, women danced by themselves and groped at the singer just like a real Bon Jovi show, and after all was sung and done, the band received a standing ovation and returned with an encore.

The Cascades Casino is a smaller casino and therefore does not have the budget for the big name acts. Perusing the upcoming shows revealed tribute bands seem to be the rage there. Up next on the calendar is a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute followed in the coming weeks by a Rolling Stones tribute and a Patsy Cline tribute. Along with faithful musical recreations, all of the groups, Blaze of Glory included, bore a passing resemblance to the original act. And this is key for audience acceptance. There is a level of authenticity these groups need to achieve in order to maintain the charade. The music is one component of this authenticity, the other is the visual representation. The audience, many of whom might never have the opportunity to hear the original acts in concert, buy into the act based on these authenticity markers and concomitantly do their part to fulfill the fantasy. They cheer, sing, grope, and dance just as if it was the real Bon Jovi on stage and not an impostor. Interesting phenomenon.

So, while other musicians toil away at cover songs in the "old" bars, some manage to capitalize on the success of other groups and take the cover band strategy to a new level. It's not enough to perform songs by other musicians, now actually "being" a famous musical act can be a lucrative gig. It's the cover band on steroids. And kudos to the players for pulling it off. There are not a lot of venues left for cover bands anymore, but for old rockers being someone else can be worthwhile.

Just a small footnote, while searching the Interweb I found a Bon Jovi tribute band based in Dallas, Texas called Blaze Of Glory: The Ultimate Bon Jovi Experience. I am writing about the Vancouver-based band with the same name.