Alexander Yoffe, a lawyer for Bill Murray’s golf apparel company, William Murray Golf, has responded to a humorous request from Peter Paterno, a lawyer for The Doobie Brothers, to stop using, without permission, "Listen to the Music" in his commercials.
Yoffe of Yoffe & Cooper writes, "First, I would like to compliment you on finding levity in the law at a time when the world and this country certainly could use a laugh. Your client’s demand was able to cut through the noise of the news cycle and remind us how much we all miss live music these days...
“We would also like to confirm that both our firm, and the good folks at William Murray Golf, are indeed fans of The Doobie Brothers’ music, which is why we appreciate your firm’s choice of ‘Takin’ It to the Streets,’ rather than to the courts, which are already overburdened ‘Minute by Minute’ with real problems.”
Yoffe then pointed out that Murray using the song was not a bad things for the Doobies, before adding, "In the immortal words of Mr. Murray — the more relaxed you are, the better you are at everything… so let’s pour one up and unwind with a listen of the recently-released [Doobies] Quadio box set and plan to cross paths at a Doobie Brothers’ 50th anniversary show in 2021 when some level of normalcy resumes...
“As your client so aptly stated in this classic song in question, ‘What the people need is a way to make them smile’ — which both Bill and the Doobies have been doing for decades, as world-class entertainers.”
Yoffe also promised to send each of the Doobies William Murray Golf shirts to "hopefully win each of you over as new fans of the brand… At least that’s ‘what this fool believes.'”
David Coverdale is 69 today. His broken marriage turned into a huge song for Whitesnake. the song was "Here I Go Again" written about a dozen years before it hit number-one in America. It was originally on Saints and Sinners and re-recorded for Whitesnake in 1982 and 1987 respectively. It was # 1 the Billboard Hot 100. Here is David Coverdale.
“‘Here I Go Again’ was a document that I wrote in Portugal, much earlier than you guys heard the song. It was, I think, 12 years old when I had a number-one in America with it. That was documenting the break-up of my first marriage, when two people who at one time were very much in love turned into cat and dog. What I would do in those days was rent a house in the South of France, or the Caribbean, or whatever and take like a writing holiday. That particular song was in Portugal."
Don Felder turns 73 today. He came up with the song Hotel California which ended up being the title track of the album that went up to #1. Glenn Freyand Don Henley helped out. When guitarist Don Felder presented the initial demo for "Hotel California" to Don Henley and Glenn Frey, it was given the working title "Mexican Reggae." But when the Eagles began recording the song many months later, Felder tells us he'd pretty much forgotten the demo and was working on new solos for it with Joe Walsh. Until Henley walked into the studio, that is. Don Felder talking about Don Henley:
“He says, ‘No, no, no. You gotta do it like the demo,’ ‘cause he had been listening to the demo over and over and over. So I had to call up my housekeeper back in Malibu – we were in Miami in the studio – have her go look through my cassettes and find this cassette that said ‘Mexican Reggae’ on the outside of it, put it in a blaster and play it. She held the phone up to the blaster and we recorded it. And I had to sit down and learn note for note what I just made up on the spot, which turned out to be the solo you pretty much hear on the record right now.”
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers bassist Ron Blair was born on September 16th, 1948. There was this time when Ron wasn't around, but bass legend Duck Dunn was, so he played on a recording for the album Hard Promises. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench can't recall why their bassist, Ron Blair, wasn't around for the session for "A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)." But he says that it gave them an opportunity to work with the legendary player for Booker T. & the MG's and Eric Clapton, Donald "Duck" Dunn.
"Duck was around and Duck was an idol of ours and he was a very good friend of ours. So you get an opportunity to play a song with Duck Dunn, you take it. And he's going to shape it without bossing anybody around, just the way that he's gonna play is going to do something really crazy to the feel and just lovely, so that it breathes and relaxes a little after the intro and it picks back up when the chorus come in and it backs down again to the verse. Just lovely what he did."
Today (September 15th) marks the first anniversary of the death of Cars frontman Ric Ocasek, who succumbed to heart disease in his New York apartment at age 75 . The Cars song "Good Times Roll" was not really about good times. The late Ric Ocasek, who wrote it sayss you shouldn't take it at face value.
“That was my song about what the good times in rock ‘n’ roll really mean, instead of what they’re supposed to be. It was kind of a parody of good times, really. It was kinda like not about good times at all.”
Oddly enough 2 members of Lynyrd Skynyrd no longer with us had birthdays today, Ed King (who was in the psychedelic group Strawberry Alarm Clock (Incense and Peppermints) and Steve Gaines. the song "You Got That Right" was written and sung by both Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines. it was on Street Survivors which was the last for Ronnie Van Zant, new guitarist Steve Gaines and his sister Cassie, who sang backing vocals. The three of them died in the tragic plane crash that took place just three days after the album was released. Former drummer Artimus Pyle recalls a song that strongly bears their stamp, "You Got That Right."
“’You Got That Right,’ of course, was written by Steve Gaines. He and Ronnie sang it together. I love that, because Steve Gaines, I’ll have to tell you, was one special human being. He was always playing his guitar, walking around the hotel with it on. We kidded him about sleeping with it. Steve was just a real great person. One of my very favorite tunes. I love the energy of the song, I love some of the things I was able to do on drums and I love Ronnie and Steve’s vocals.”
