CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE Throughout my life, my love of music has brought me a vast number of great songs and artists from different eras and genres. Every time I discovered a new song, it seemed like I was able to better explore my feelings and emotions and push the limits of what my mind was capable of, understanding and exploring everything that surrounded me. Music has played a major role in helping me feel connected to the universe. Some songs feel perfect for our mood at a given moment, but songs also have the ability to change our moods.
I feel the need to pay my respects to the musicians whose work affects me so powerfully, both the new ones I discover and the ones whose melodies I have been enjoying since I was a child. For this reason, I strive to learn as much as I can about my favorite songs and the musicians behind them. Songs are a lot like people. There is always a story behind them.
There are millions, if not billions of combinations of notes that a creative mind can put together when composing music that can give us humans goose bumps and motivate us in turn to help create worlds that can connect us to other worlds. One of my earliest experiences feeling the magic of music occurred while sitting in front of the big screen in Izmir as a kid, watching George Lucas’s Star Wars enhanced by John Williams’s music, especially the main title theme. That movie helped me realize that there was something magical about the universe as well as our own planet.
Touching songs and classics like Bread’s “Lost Without Your Love,” Morris Albert’s “Feelings,” Gipsy Kings’ “Moorea,” the Beatles’ “And I Love Her,” Loggins and Messina’s “Danny’s Song,” Cat Stevens’s “Oh Very Young,” the Alan Parsons Project’s “Ammonia Avenue,” Spandau Ballet’s “Through the Barricades,” Chopin’s Ballade No.1 in G Minor Op. 23, Christopher Cross’s “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do),” and Stanley Myers’s “Cavatina” (the theme from the movie The Deer Hunter) are all proof that humans are capable of giving the rest of us a glimpse of hope that heaven indeed might exist.
A few years ago, I was sitting at a local Irish bar one evening, next to an older gentleman who looked to be in his seventies. He was sipping on his whiskey while I was enjoying a pint of Guinness. A song came on the jukebox, and I said to myself, “Nice! Dan Fogelberg.” He turned to me and said, “You sound like you know your music.” I thanked him and we had a nice conversation for the next few minutes, sharing our taste in music — anything from the Carpenters to Gilbert O’Sullivan.
In one of those fortunate coincidences, I had just started reading about Dan Fogelberg in those days. I had heard some of his songs before, but I didn’t know the person behind them. Dan Fogelberg was an amazing musician and songwriter who left this earth at the age of fifty-six from prostate cancer. The song playing on the jukebox that day was “Leader of the Band,” a beautiful tune he had written for his father.
Sting’s 1987 album Nothing Like the Sun was one I listened to regularly starting in the late ’80s and into the ’90s. I learned that the song “They Dance Alone” had an important meaning behind it; it was a tribute to Chilean women who mourned for their lost loved ones, particularly their husbands and sons, as a result of the dictatorship in their country.
I recall listening to a lot of Van Morrison, especially his Moondance album frequently along with Ottmar Liebert's Nouveau Flamenco in Sonora. Both albums have been a big source of support for me ever since the mid-’90s.
As I have mentioned more than once in previous chapters, Steely Dan is a very special band to me. With the dark humor mixed into their complex lyrics, their songs are often complicated and can be difficult to interpret. Their amazing musical style and consistent quest for perfection puts them up there with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd in my opinion. The musical geniuses behind the group, Donald Fagen and the late Walter Becker, wrote songs that bring pleasure to millions of music fans around the world to this day. While they were the main songwriters, a lot of credit should also go to the musicians who helped develop the band’s sound in the early years, as well as the expert session musicians who contributed to so many of their amazing songs.
There is a reason why Steely Dan is a special band. Besides possessing above average intelligence and being musically talented, Donald and Walter were extremely picky about every piece of sound, so there were times it took many recording sessions until they were fully satisfied with their records. For the two of them, it wasn’t as much about how talented the musician was but rather how their playing ability and musical style fit within the particular songs they wrote and wanted to produce. As a result, we the listeners have been able to enjoy tunes that many consider to be out of this world for over five decades.
I must have been around twelve when I first heard the Steely Dan song “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.” After hearing it so many times in the ’80s and ’90s, I got burned out on listening to it and didn’t give it much time for many years. About ten years ago, I took a deeper look into the song. What was it about? Who were the musicians playing each of the instruments? I learned that the man behind that great guitar solo was Jeffrey Allen “Skunk” Baxter. He played the guitar on many Steely Dan songs including “My Old School” and worked with many diverse musicians over the years.
Gaining knowledge about songs can enhance the listener’s experience and help you develop a higher level of appreciation for them. Looking deeper into the Steely Dan catalog, I would soon find myself soaking in the great guitar solo on another song called “Kid Charlemagne,” a song I had also been listening to since the early ’90s. I would soon discover the name behind the amazing fifty-second guitar solo I have been enjoying for many years. That player was Larry Carlton.
I am always deeply moved by the sounds that come from Steve Khan’s Gibson guitar on “Glamour Profession.” This masterpiece was composed and played in a way that speaks of the perfection Steely Dan always aimed for, at least in my opinion.
Anyone who ever heard “Aja,” “Bodhisattva,” “Your Gold Teeth II,” and “Do It Again” can never forget the great guitar solos on those songs. The credit goes to Denny Dias (along with Walter Becker and Larry Carlton on Aja), the guy who perhaps played the biggest role in the establishment of this extraordinary band by placing an ad in 1970. I always loved the fact that his ad included the sentence “Assholes need not apply.”
There are so many reasons why Steely Dan is an extraordinary band. But if I could pick just one, it would be their strong belief in the power of sonic diversity.
The contributions of talented musicians such as Jeff Porcaro, Michael McDonald, Elliott Randall, Michael Omartian, David Sanborn, Chuck Rainey, Hugh McCracken, Wayne Shorter, Jay Graydon, Steve Gadd, and many more to Steely Dan songs that millions of fans enjoy listening to should also not be forgotten.
Gary Rossington, the last original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, sadly passed away on March 5, 2023. Not that many years ago, I remember researching to see if he was touring and how his health was. I was only five years old when Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane crashed on October 20, 1977. I spent a lot of time reading about the band and their tragic accident. “Free Bird” is one of my favorite songs of all time. Not only because it is a beautiful piece of music with one of the greatest guitar solos of all time, but also because it represents how important being free personally is to me and how difficult it can be to achieve complete freedom and independence. Often we hold the key to our own freedom but either don’t know it or don’t have the courage to unlock the doors that stand in our way.
After the great guitarist Ed King’s departure, Steve Gaines had recently joined the band at backup vocalist (and his older sister) Cassie Gaines’s suggestion. Steve was an amazing guitar player and unfortunately they both lost their lives in the crash.
In addition to many of their well-known songs, a song written by Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins became one of my favorites many years ago. It’s called “The Ballad of Curtis Loew.” I always wondered if it wasn’t for that plane crash, how many more great songs this great band would have produced.
I feel fortunate to have enjoyed a few whiskeys and cigars with my good buddy Frank in the past. It’s hard to beat good conversation with a good friend while enjoying some good tunes. He was the person who introduced me to the work of Gordon Lightfoot and a few other quality musicians, such as Hayes Carll. I had heard a couple of Gordon’s songs in the past, but I didn’t know a lot about him. His songs such as “Carefree Highway,” “Early Morning Rain,” “Sundown,” “If You Could Read My Mind,” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” are all great. I read the sad news that we lost Gordon Lightfoot as I was working on this book. He was eighty-four. Thank you for all the great tunes, brother.
B.J. Thomas left us too, in May 2021. I first heard his song “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in the ’80s in Akhisar, Turkey, as a kid. I regularly enjoy songs such as “Hooked on a Feeling” and “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song.”
A few years ago, I watched a documentary of one of my all-time favorite bands, the Eagles. It had to be around 1986 when I first heard “Hotel California” back home and I have been a fan ever since. Very a few musicians and bands have touched me as much as the Eagles. Their songs have the power and ability to bring out so much of my emotions. A few years ago, I watched the documentary History of the Eagles. I’ll put it like this: Don Henley and Glenn Frey were amazing songwriters and without their songwriting abilities this band wouldn’t be as famous as they are. At the same time Don Felder was a very talented guitar player who was a big part of this band. The world owes Hotel California mainly to Don Felder. I highly recommend Felder's autobiography Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974-2001).
I was very sad to find out Glenn Frey’s passing in 2016. I feel fortunate to be able to see them live in 2014 in Fresno. This concert to this day is one of the best concerts I have ever been to. I remember Glenn Frey telling a few stories and talking about his uncle who had affiliations with Fresno. I hope someday I can stand on that corner in Winslow, Arizona next to Glenn’s Statue and sing “Take It Easy”. RIP Glenn! Thank you for all the great tunes brother.
As difficult as times were in America in the ’60s and ’70s, and with so much still to overcome and fix judicially, there is much to admire about this country. I think about Elvis Presley playing his guitar on the porch in the movie Love Me Tender, Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone series, and Jackie Gleason in The Honeymooners as a fraction of the many wonderful things about America that have become a part of who I am.
More recently, my friend Charles introduced me to a very interesting song called “Avant Gardener” by Courtney Barnett, which I got hooked on.
Anyone who hasn’t heard the Bob Marley album Legend is missing out on some of the greatest songs ever written. I knew a few songs of Marley’s while living in Turkey, but I got to know many more of his songs during my Seaside and Sonora days. “Satisfy My Soul” is one of my favorite songs to listen to on this album. “Stand Alone” and “Could You Be Loved” are great songs I regularly enjoy listening to that bring back so many memories from my Sonora and Santa Cruz days.
I wish I had known about the Grateful Dead earlier in life. I started to listen to this amazing band in the ’90s when I was living in Sonora. Sonora had a good share of Deadheads in those days, and I became friends with many of them. These modest, down-to-earth, and intelligent guys and gals possessed an unimaginable amount of knowledge not just about music but about many other topics. One of my favorite Grateful Dead records is the live album Without a Net. The song “Eyes of the World” on that album is over sixteen minutes long and a joy to listen to.
I am grateful that my friends from Coyote Creek restaurant Charles, Doug, Gino, and Jim all shared their stories and interactions with the Grateful Dead when I worked there. They had cooked and catered for the band and listening to their stories over a cold beer was an amazing experience for a Turkish immigrant like myself.
As I mentioned in earlier chapters, as a young immigrant, I learned a lot — not just about music but also about life — from my friends in Sonora. My musician friend Jeff, with whom I went to the Steely Dan concert in 1993, is the very definition of a free spirit and full of interesting stories. Jeff and I reunited a few years ago and started to see each other at least once a year. He is full of life, has a lot of knowledge of various topics and subjects, and is a friend I learned a great deal from. I still remember the story he told me about his hiking experience with one of my favorite musicians, Alan Parsons, when he was living in Santa Barbara.
Have you heard of Elmer Bernstein? One of my all-time favorite movies “An American Werewolf in London” wouldn’t be the same without his musical contributions. Dim the lights, light the candles and play Elmer’s score for a truly moving experience.
The Beatles have been a legendary band to me since my childhood and always will be. How can music be so simple and yet so perfect? All of their songs were a big part of our lives during our elementary and high school years back home and they continue to take weight off my shoulders to this day.
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