Johnny Cash 1932 - 2003
Johnny Cash, the Man in Black, passed away early this morning due to complications from diabetes that caused respiratory failure. Johnny was born in Kingsland, Arkansas, in 1932 and learned to play guitar during a time in the US Air Force and eventually made it to Memphis, Tennessee where he would launch his musical career. Johnny’s wife, June Carter-Cash, passed away earlier in May which makes this a very difficult year for the Cash family. Read the full story HERE.
Some of my earliest childhood memories were sitting in the back of the family car as the eight-track churned out Johnny’s raspy tales of the common man fighting against diversity as I looked out the window with the Maine woods passing beside. I think we had all the Johnny Cash eight-tracks and vinyl when I was growing up. Live from Folsom Prison was one of my favorites and ‘A Boy Named Sue’ would crack up my brother and I every time the dusty needle would find the groove on the console stereo. His purist, minimalist, yet powerful approach to his music would always set him apart in my mind from other musicians and group him into a class with other legendary minstrels like John Hartford, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Billy Bragg, Hank Williams Sr., Elizabeth Cotton and many other fine artists.
S. Remington – Editor
PhreshWater.com
Questions and Comments: editor@phreshwater.com
9.12.2003
9.10.2003
Would You Like Fries With That?
Apple iTunes just announced that they have broken the 10 Million Download threshold. That’s what I just said: 10 Million songs downloaded. Realize that these are paying customers, returning on a regular basis, and undoubtedly buying more downloadable singles via digital delivery. And, let’s not forget these folks aren’t wasting gas and time driving over to the mall for that overpriced $17 CD. This is legitimate, good-old American capitalism having a multiple corporate orgasm. Read the full story HERE.
On the other side of this factoid is the music industry and the RIAA. While the other major labels cringe in a corner pointing their fingers at Kazaa, Sony Music has finally decided to unleash their own digital music delivery service. The RIAA, instead of going after Kazaa directly, has resorted to dragging 12 year old girls into court so their grief stricken mothers can cough up $2000 in the name of copyright infringement. Read the full story HERE.
I find it amusing that Apple can make a great success evolving into the digital age and the legal live music trading community (Furthur, Sharingthegroove.org, and Etree.org for example) are zipping merrily along while the other faction is resorting to suing Junior High School students instead of building a legitimate network of their own. Should the American public be taking the fall for the blatant laziness of the music industry moguls while they sun in Cancun on the Billions of dollars a year they siphon from your pockets on overpriced CD’s? Give me a break.
Evolution isn’t always pretty. Some species die out and some get obliterated by large meteors and then there are the weaklings who get eaten by the larger, stronger members of the group. You don’t need a calculator to figure out that 10 Million paid downloads will clearly exceed the $2000 extorted from the credit card of Brianna Lahara's mom. These types of scare tactics do nothing but backfire and seem to do nothing more than increase the chances of the crime occurring more frequently. Maybe GW Bush will have all of these Kazaa downloaders put to death in Texas? I guess in a country where it’s common that sports figures can buy their way out of double-murders and rape that $2000 is quite a discount but it won’t solve the problems of the RIAA’s or the record labels lack of foresight.
S. Remington – Editor
PhreshWater.com
Questions and Comments: editor@phreshwater.com
Apple iTunes just announced that they have broken the 10 Million Download threshold. That’s what I just said: 10 Million songs downloaded. Realize that these are paying customers, returning on a regular basis, and undoubtedly buying more downloadable singles via digital delivery. And, let’s not forget these folks aren’t wasting gas and time driving over to the mall for that overpriced $17 CD. This is legitimate, good-old American capitalism having a multiple corporate orgasm. Read the full story HERE.
On the other side of this factoid is the music industry and the RIAA. While the other major labels cringe in a corner pointing their fingers at Kazaa, Sony Music has finally decided to unleash their own digital music delivery service. The RIAA, instead of going after Kazaa directly, has resorted to dragging 12 year old girls into court so their grief stricken mothers can cough up $2000 in the name of copyright infringement. Read the full story HERE.
I find it amusing that Apple can make a great success evolving into the digital age and the legal live music trading community (Furthur, Sharingthegroove.org, and Etree.org for example) are zipping merrily along while the other faction is resorting to suing Junior High School students instead of building a legitimate network of their own. Should the American public be taking the fall for the blatant laziness of the music industry moguls while they sun in Cancun on the Billions of dollars a year they siphon from your pockets on overpriced CD’s? Give me a break.
Evolution isn’t always pretty. Some species die out and some get obliterated by large meteors and then there are the weaklings who get eaten by the larger, stronger members of the group. You don’t need a calculator to figure out that 10 Million paid downloads will clearly exceed the $2000 extorted from the credit card of Brianna Lahara's mom. These types of scare tactics do nothing but backfire and seem to do nothing more than increase the chances of the crime occurring more frequently. Maybe GW Bush will have all of these Kazaa downloaders put to death in Texas? I guess in a country where it’s common that sports figures can buy their way out of double-murders and rape that $2000 is quite a discount but it won’t solve the problems of the RIAA’s or the record labels lack of foresight.
S. Remington – Editor
PhreshWater.com
Questions and Comments: editor@phreshwater.com
9.08.2003
Warren Zevon 1947-2003
Warren Zevon was born in Chicago on January 24, 1947. Early in his childhood his family moved to Los Angeles, California where he studied classical piano and as a junior high school student had as an acquaintance the legendary Russian pianist Igor Stravinsky. Warren’s big musical breakthrough would come in 1978 with Jackson Browne producing his second album entitled ‘Excitable Boy’ which featured the Rock and Roll classic ‘Werewolves of London’.
While beginning work on his latest release ‘The Wind’ Warren started experiencing chest pains and consulted a doctor for the first time in 20 years. Having been diagnosed with lung cancer Warren knew this would be his final work and propelled himself into the most intense creative period of his life. Read full story HERE
Warren’s collaborations included 2 albums with R.E.M., Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, and Neil Young just to name a few of the impressive list of modern music legends. Rolling Stone.com has an extensive online biography of Warren Zevon which can be found HERE.
Warren, may you rest in peace…
S. Remington – Editor
PhreshWater.com
Questions or Comments: editor@phreshwater.com
Warren Zevon was born in Chicago on January 24, 1947. Early in his childhood his family moved to Los Angeles, California where he studied classical piano and as a junior high school student had as an acquaintance the legendary Russian pianist Igor Stravinsky. Warren’s big musical breakthrough would come in 1978 with Jackson Browne producing his second album entitled ‘Excitable Boy’ which featured the Rock and Roll classic ‘Werewolves of London’.
While beginning work on his latest release ‘The Wind’ Warren started experiencing chest pains and consulted a doctor for the first time in 20 years. Having been diagnosed with lung cancer Warren knew this would be his final work and propelled himself into the most intense creative period of his life. Read full story HERE
Warren’s collaborations included 2 albums with R.E.M., Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, and Neil Young just to name a few of the impressive list of modern music legends. Rolling Stone.com has an extensive online biography of Warren Zevon which can be found HERE.
Warren, may you rest in peace…
S. Remington – Editor
PhreshWater.com
Questions or Comments: editor@phreshwater.com
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