John Lennon had this great ability, especially on Abbey Road, to make his arrangements sound like a gimp dragging a foot but in a lovely way. Was listening to Lenny Kravitz on the B.O.N.K. today and realized that Lenny at least stylistically understood this and how to make it sound like that. There’s even a drum fill in “I Built This Garden for Us” that sounds eerily familiar. I like Kravitz a lot. Though he, like a zillion other brothers won’t get their due like Mike Jackson. I’m especially thinking of Billy Preston, who was just…damn. They didn’t line up for miles when Billy died, but they should have.
I have always believed that Jackson angered the Muses by scarfing up the Beatles’ catalog, and that all of his misfortune can be attributed to their wrath upon him. At any time, had Jackson simply returned the catalog free of charge to Sir Paul, his boils would disappear, his wealth would return, his schnoz would grow back, and he would have a brand new family to boot.
I have also always believed that Jackson could have robustly rejuvenated his career had he simply given up the stage at age 35, followed in the footsteps of his mentor Q, and become a producer. Can you imagine what he could have accomplished with his money and his gravitas behind it?
Or, what if he’d made this move in concert with Hurricane Katrina?
He could have single-handedly created a brass-band RAGE across America. He could have had teenage girls across America throwing their panties at tuba players.
Dare to dream.