Nepotism runs wild in most businesses. I could have been hired at the newspaper because of my father's reputation. And yes, not every person wants to ride on their relatives coat tails either.

Having an 'in' in the business sure helps if you want to do it though. And many talented people have had that opportunity in the music business. I have nothing against that. On the other hand, some relatively untalented people have gotten there solely on their family connections. It's probably been happening for as long as we have been humans. The son of the chief or king gets first shot at being the next chief or king.

And "The Hit" works both ways. I once saw an interview with Tony Bennett and the interviewer asked him if he every got tired of singing "San Francisco". Tony's answer was (and I'll paraphrase): How can I get tired of singing it? It's a great song, it's the song that put me on the map, and it's the song my fans want to hear. So no, I never get tired of singing it.

This put Tony up 3 notches in the ladder of my esteem.

The first song I learned by ear was "Harlem Nocturne". I almost wore out the Viscounts LP moving the needle back and forth trying to pick out each note of the song. I still play the song, not as often as I used to, but once every couple of months when it is appropriate for the audience. And I still love to play it.

We're all happy doing different things. If being a musician was easy, or if being a musician was something everybody wanted to do for a living, people wouldn't pay me to have so much fun on the job.

Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

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