I toured the country in a rock band, and was the opening act for the stars of the day while their hits were #1 on Billboard. Almost got there ourselves, but the contract the record company offered was so bad our manager tried to make it better for us, and Motown looked elsewhere for someone to exploit.

It would have been nice, but it didn't happen.

I've played concert halls, cruise ships, singles bars, yacht clubs, country clubs, dive bars, show bars, supper clubs, and just about anywhere a musician can play.

I've never written a song that I've liked, but I've improvised solos since I was a little kid. I think I'm very good at that and my audience seems to agree. That's the output of my spontaneous creativity. It's my bliss.

I've written quite a few styles for Band-in-a-Box. Unlike trying to write songs, there are no lyrics to get in the way. Whenever I try to write a song, the words seem either corny or copied to me. So writing styles gets me to write music without words.

I don't care that I didn't write the songs that I sing/play in my duo.
  • When I was playing classical I didn't care that Beethoven and Tchaikovsky wrote the songs.
  • When I was in a jazz band I didn't care that the songs were written by Rodgers & Hart, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis or Harold Arlen.
  • When I was in a blues band I didn't care that the songs were written by Willie Dixon, Otis Rush, Jimmy Reed or Louis Jordan.
  • So playing pop music why should I care that the songs were written by Barry Mann, Jeff Barry, Doc Pomus, Ellie Greenwich, Carole King, Burt Bacharach, Paul McCartney, or Elton John?


Some people write well, some people play well, some people do both, some people do neither. There are those who look down on people who don't write their own songs, but that's not my problem.

I play quite well and sing well too. Like Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Elvis Presley, Stan Getz, Lester Young, Sweets Edison, Tom Jones, Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Whitney Houston, Three Dog Night, The Temptations, The 4 Tops, Joe Cocker, and so many others, I'll just have fun interpreting songs other people write.

After all, a race car driver doesn't have to build his own car.

Other than two 'day jobs' I had while investigating what it was to be 'normal' I've made a living doing and nothing but music. I haven't made a career of being a wage slave to some faceless corporation but instead, I'm living my life on my own terms.

Other than those two short 'day jobs', I wake up in the morning, go to bed at night, and in between do what I want to do and what I love to do. Now that I'm older, I realize that living a happy, fun-filled life is the true meaning of success.

Insights and incites by Notes

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

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