[NewMusic] Peacock: A baboon's ass?

[Phillip Greenlief]

Mark Helias and I talked about this when I visited him last time (he's a
good friend of Gary's). I'm not sure why it came up - he told me Peacock
was not rude in his conversation with Elvis - and no one actually heard
that conversation but Gary and Elvis. He told me Gary just said he'd
rather not play on those tunes, and he said it in a respectful way. Fair
enough - the guy has a right to make decisions about who he's going to
play with. Mark also said that was the first time Gary had heard that
Elvis was going to "sit in"...Konitz gave him no advance notice.

I like Elvis' early work, but I haven't been such a fan of these
"collaborations" he's done in the past decade. I've heard him say that
he doesn't really care if his "old fans" like his "new music" - fair
enough - stick to your guns and follow your path. I respect that too.

My opinion is why do rock stars think they can just show up at a place
like the Iridium and everyone is supposed to bow down to them and take
orders? You could easily write a piece that argued the opposite of
Dworkin's opinion...that the arrogance is really on Elvis' side...but he
approached Lee with respect and wanted to work with him - I believe they
had already worked together on another project, if I'm not mistaken. I
just think it should have been discussed over the phone in advance, not
in the club a few hours before the band hits the bandstand. Isn't that
what any of us would have wanted in that situation?

It's totally blown out of proportion in that article, the tone of which
reads like an effort from a high school journalist.

PG



Phillip Greenlief
c/o Evander Music
PO Box 22158 Oakland, CA
94623-9991
www.evandermusic.com

-----Original Message-----
From: newmusic-bounces at music.mills.edu
[mailto:newmusic-bounces at music.mills.edu] On Behalf Of
grobair at emusician.com
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2007 12:42 PM
To: New Music
Subject: Re: [NewMusic] Peacock: A baboon's ass?

Damon sez:
<<He is beyond needing a payday and backing a rock singer, even a
decent one is not something he should have to do.L>>

Absolutely. But he could also have been respectful about declining the
invitation (if the rude quote from him is accurate, which we don't
really
know). 

<<I have been in that situation several times and made a similar
decision.>>

You turned down a chance to play with Elvis Costello? That's worth
putting
on your resume. Thankfully, you weren't asked to play with Jeff Tweedy's
band: I hear the guitarist is a sell-out. <insert winking emoticon here>


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