Here’s an excerpt:

Chapter Five, Personalities, Politics and Powerbrokers

Somehow late night talk shows became a logical first step for politicians to reach voters. Somehow rock stars became a political voice of the disenfranchised. Somewhere along the way, American politics and pop culture personalities began to blend.

Blame it on Ike letting cameras into the White House, and perhaps Clinton blowing his sax on The Arsenio Hall Show – ‘celebrity creep’ into American politics seems to spread over time. Each campaign and each candidate changes the rules, receiving endorsements from big stars and taking lots and lots of their money.

G8 Summit, Gleneagles, Scotland, July 2005 Pres. George W. Bush, rock star Bono, First Lady Laura Bush and musician Bob Geldof hold a working meeting on Africa at the G8 Summit. Geldof praised Bush for delivering billions to fight disease and poverty, and blasted the U.S. media for ignoring the achievement. Geldof said Bush “has done more than any other President so far. This is the triumph of American policy.” (White House photo by Eric Draper.)

It is commonplace for celebrities to stump for candidates, throw lavish fund-raisers and donate mountains of their own cash. Television advertisement wars, funding a “ground game,” and a connecting with voters takes big money. And, there is lots of ‘gold in them hills’ – Beverly Hills! Bottomless wells of cash await that can make or break a candidate’s chance at success.

Oval Office, The White House, December 1970 Superstar Elvis Presley poses for an official photo with Pres. Richard M. Nixon.  The photograph remains one of the most requested documents from the National Archives.  Presley wrote Nixon a lengthy letter expressing disdain for hippie drug culture and asking to be named a “Federal Agent At Large.” Nixon, eager to gain inroads with young people, granted Presley’s wish and presented a badge from the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Presley got his wish.  At Presley’s request, the meeting remained a secret until the Washington Post broke the story in 1972 (Courtesy National Archives.)

Glamorous Hollywood stars helped Truman and Eisenhower kick-start national optimism after Word War II. Fleetwood Mac’s hit “Don’t Stop (Thinking About Tomorrow)” became a powerful refrain for President Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign. Perhaps no campaign involved so many vocal celebrities as President Obama’s 2008 race for President. There was a day when a candidate thought hanging around with rock stars sent the wrong signal. When that star is someone like heartland rocker Bruce Springsteen, it might send just the signal the candidate needs to reach a key voting bloc.

Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles, California, June 1967 Hollywood mogul Lew Wasserman and Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson at the President’s Club Dinner. Wasserman was one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, and perhaps its’ first lobbyist. In 1966, he installed Johnson confidante Jack Valenti as head of the Motion Picture Association of America. His influence grew so great, both Johnson and Jimmy Carter offered Wasserman cabinet positions. (LBJ Library photo by Yoichi R. Okamoto.)

Nowadays, celebrities share political panels and campaign stages with candidates regularly. The lines have been blurred. Americans have grown so accustomed to the nexus between Hollywood and politics that they are electing many familiar faces — Singer Sonny Bono and Love Boat purser Fred Grandy became Congressmen, action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger became a two-term governor, and actor Ronald Reagan became a two-term President. How did they do it? When asked by a group of students which experiences best prepared him for the presidency, Reagan once said, “You’d be surprised how much being a good actor pays off.”

Fourteen days later, on August 22nd, they posed together for a final promotional photo shoot, which was their last appearance together at any Beatles event. Although one more album was released (”Let it Be”), “Abbey Road” was the last album recorded by the band, which was already virtually dissolved as a unit. Yet the album was a great artistic and commercial success. The “Let it Be” album was intended to be released first, but the group did not think it ready. They moved on to record “Abbey Road” and released it on September 26th and October 1st, 1969, respectively, in the UK and the US. The cover photo, fittingly designed by Paul (as he was the only member who had a passion to keep the group together; even as he finally sued to end the partnership), depicts the band’s final crossing of “Abbey Road,” toward their studio home of the prior eight years. Ironically, even bizarrely, convicted murderer and “wall of sound” creator, Phil Specter, did the final mixing in 1970 of several songs on “Let it Be,” almost as an audition. He was not aware there would be no more Beatles, although he did some work for Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band.

I was, and am, a great Beatles fan. Then again, most rock music lovers are. As a fan of professional sports, I found many similarities in these seemingly dissimilar cultures.  An obvious similarity is both have Halls of Fame. Both cultures encourage respect for the success of the great ones who came before them, as well as those contemporaneous to them. The Beatles, for example, loved Buddy Holly’s group “Buddy Holly and the Crickets” and, of course, Elvis (Lennon said “before Elvis there was nothing”). Even their name, in part at least, was recognized by them to be similar to the Crickets and helped them choose the name “Beatles” (prior names included Johnny and the Moondogs, and The Silver Beetles).

Of course, not everyone is a Beatles fan. Lead singer Michael Stipe, of the group R.E.M, when asked in a 1992 Rolling Stone interview about the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, responded that the Beatles were like elevator music. He did not even respond to the Stone’s question. Stipe, I believe, was being honest. Yet, his lack of awareness as to their impact was profound. I know “standing on the shoulders of giants” leaves him cold, but that sentiment also reflects a severe lack of existential awareness. I have never felt the same about Stipe or R.E.M. since.

In 2008, a book in “words, pictures and music” by Barry Miles, named The Beatles Phenomenon, was published.  Miles wrote McCartney’s official biography in 1998.  My 17-year-old daughter spent five weeks at Oxford this summer (studying Shakespeare and playing “Hamlet’s” Guildenstern in the Oxford debating hall; yes, Guildenstern). My birthday occurred while she was away. One of her classmates had just bought Miles’ book for her brother’s birthday. My daughter, who became a Beatles fan from the 2007 movie musical “Across the Universe,” bought the book for me for my birthday. What is interesting about this is, 40 years after the last Beatles album, teenagers are still buying Beatles books. Before I get into my primary “thesis” and inevitable political “take away” about the Beatles, there are a few facts I find fascinating about the group. In no particular order, here are a few:

-Their famous “mop top” haircut was designed by Astrid Kirchherr, girlfriend of Lennon’s art school friend and early band member, Stuart Sutcliff. I already knew that. What I did not know, is she copied the style from the French movie actor Jean Marais’s portrayal of Oedipus in a 1959 Jean Cocteau movie (”Le Testament d’Orphee”). The Oedipus irony is priceless, given the cultural, political and social revolution which was the 1960s.

-The first top 20 hit by the Rolling Stones (UK) was given to them by the Beatles. It was “I Wanna be Your Man.” The fact that Ringo sang it one year later is amusing. The Stones were desperate to get an album out and enlisted Lennon and McCartney’s help. The Beatles literally completed writing the song (which they already had begun earlier) in the presence of the Stones in the latter’s studio in less than an hour. As Lennon later said “that’s how much importance we put on it.”

-Of the 183 songs written by the Beatles, 73 were written by Lennon, 69 McCartney, 17 Lennon/McCartney, 22 Harrison, and two Ringo. Lennon and McCartney agreed their songs would always have a joint credit. I always thought McCartney had written more, but this was incorrect.

-The number one selling rock group from 2000-2009 is still the Beatles, having sold 27 million albums. According to Billboard, the Beatles have had 19 number one albums. Elvis was second at 10, tied with Jay-Z. Tied for fourth are Springsteen and the Stones with nine. The Beatles and Elvis are the only acts estimated to have sold more than a billion albums. Michael Jackson, ABBA, and Queen sold about 350 million. The Stones sold 200 million, Springsteen 120 million, and Jay-Z 50 million. Paul McCartney and Wings sold almost as many albums as Springsteen, 100 million (not counted in Beatles total). Michael Stipe’s R.E.M, sold 50 million. Not bad for a group who hates standing on the shoulders of giants.

-Finally, on the trivia front, which segues nicely to the next paragraph, is that McCartney, Lennon and Harrison first picked up a guitar in 1956 (Paul) and 1957 (John and George). Six years later they were the most famous group in history at that point in time, as well as since. How did this happen?

As a child and young teenager, I lived and died for the Los Angeles Dodgers. I read all things Dodgers, that I could get my hands on. That meant reading about the Brooklyn Dodgers. Branch Rickey, the famous and successful Brooklyn Dodger GM who signed Jackie Robinson, once said “luck is the residue of design.” This quote always stuck with me. Baseball is driven at the micro level by randomness and luck. It is a game of probabilities; a bounce of the ball this way, a failed close call that way, a great timely play by an outfielder, etc. Over the long run, however, the best tend to win out.

The Beatles were, of course, lucky. Working with Brian Epstein and George Martin was timely and serendipitous. But their luck, too, was the residue of design. If it wasn’t Martin and Epstein, it would have been someone else. Why? Their work ethic and commitment to being a successful rock group was phenomenal. Lennon and McCartney came together in 1960, joined shortly thereafter by George Harrison (who himself aggressively sought acceptance by Lennon and McCartney). There were a number of other members who came and went, the most famous being Pete Best the drummer. He was fired before their first album was cut, and a drummer from one of Liverpool’s top groups, “Rory Storm and the Hurricanes,” Ringo Starr, was hired in his place.

As Barry Miles documents, their workload was astonishing. Between August 1960 and early 1963, they performed more than 800 hours on stage (not including practice) in Hamburg, Germany alone. During that same time period, they appeared almost 300 times at Liverpool’s “The Cavern.” This does not include other venues they played. This is astonishing and surely accounts for their success. Yes, they had skill, but work is what made them the Beatles. George Harrison said: “[In Germany] we learned to work for hours on end, and keep on working at full peak even though we reckoned our legs and arms were ready to drop off.” This work ethic created their prolific song writing ability. McCartney describes their first recording session for the album “Please Please Me”:

We’d been playing the songs for months and months and months before getting a record out. So we came in the studio at 10 in the morning, started it, did one number, had a cup of tea, relaxed, did the next one, a couple of overdubs…we just worked through them, like the stage act. And by 10′ o’clock that night, we’d done ten songs and we just reeled out of the studios, John clutching his throat tablets.

They also were among the first singer song writers in history. This was rarely done prior to the 1960s. They released 12 original albums (one double) between 1963 and the beginning of 1970; additionally they released 30 non-album tracks. Elvis never wrote a song. They did two full length feature films, did hundreds of radio and television appearances (when counting interviews). They lived in close to squalid conditions and played for little money prior to late 1962. They also were heavy users of various forms of amphetamines. They consciously sought diversity in their sound and the songs they played. They were willing to play covers as well as their own songs. They drove themselves to improve. Any venue was an opportunity.

When Brian Epstein happened on to them in 1962 in Liverpool, he saw great potential, although he had no experience as a producer, being merely a record shop owner. But he was a promotional wizard at heart and committed himself to their success. He also took advantage of the Beatles’ business naivete (which they eventually over came). He signed a deal in which he received 25% of the gross (normal was 10%) and the Beatles paid expenses and split the remainder. Still, the Beatles never resented Epstein. Lennon always said that Epstein provided the organizational and marketing skills to supplement their work ethic to make them successful. The Beatles, at Epstein’s urging, were also willing to stop wearing denim and leather and switch to those funky suits. They felt no less “authentic.” More than 70 million people watched each of the two Ed Sullivan appearances in early 1964 when they first came to America. They sounded great. The population of the US was 180 million. To put that in perspective, Obama and Palin each drew about 40 million to their nominating speeches in a country of 300 million.

The Beatles were obviously great. They were great because they are fun to listen to. They could make it seem so easy, which makes them even more fun to listen to. The White Album, consisting of about 35 songs, was an astonishing random assortment of various sounds and melodies. It was as if they were playing with their competition.  But it was not easy. It came out of effort as well as brilliance.

So what political message am I going to pull from this 40th anniversary of the dissolution of the Beatles? It is obvious, right? They were poor, but not victims. They did not ask for hand outs. They could not have been invented by a government program. They pursued self interest but provided enjoyment for hundreds of millions. Why is this not the message of our current president and his congressional allies? Why does Sonya Sotomayor credit affirmative action, rather than her own hard work, for her success? She distorts what should be her message. Why does the Democratic Party look to give to protected groups of people while taking from others? Why aren’t we encouraging work and the entrepreneurial spirit instead of demonizing the profit motive? McCartney is worth 1.5 billion. As economist Don Boudreaux says, “only $1.5 billion?” Not everyone who works as hard and as passionately as the Beatles will become mega-wealthy, but without hard work and motivation, there can never be any success. Why is this not the economic message of our day? As George Harrison once sang, we have this instead from our Government.

Let me tell you how it will be,
There’s one for you, nineteen for me,
‘Cos I’m the Taxman,
Yeah, I’m the Taxman.
Should five per cent appear too small,
Be thankful I don’t take it all.
‘Cos I’m the Taxman,
Yeah yeah, I’m the Taxman.

(If you drive a car car), I’ll tax the street,
(If you try to sit sit), I’ll tax your seat,
(If you get too cold cold), I’ll tax the heat,
(If you take a walk walk), I’ll tax your feet.
Taxman.

‘Cos I’m the Taxman,
Yeah, I’m the Taxman.
Don’t ask me what I want it for
(Ah Ah! Mister Wilson!)
If you don’t want to pay some more
(Ah Ah! Mister Heath!),
‘Cos I’m the Taxman,
Yeeeah, I’m the Taxman.

Now my advice for those who die, (Taxman!)
Declare the pennies on your eyes, (Taxman!)
‘Cos I’m the Taxman,
Yeah, I’m the Taxman.
And you’re working for no-one but me,
(Taxman).

You are realizing your age today if you grew up in the 1970s or ’80s. Farrah Fawcett, whose iconic image was as ubiquitous on the bedroom walls of American teenage boys as Kim Il Sung’s was in the homes of North Koreans, died of cancer at 62 yesterday. Age is the cruel fate of all sex symbols. In Fawcett’s case, she not only contended with Father Time but with the public’s changing tastes that dated what once symbolized sex. Demographics, and Sir Mix-a-Lot, killed the pin-up girl monopoly of bleach-blond anorexics. But even twenty years after her heyday, ’70s postergirl Fawcett so symbolized sex that her 1995 appearance in Playboy became the bestselling issue of the 1990s. To put this in perspective, an over-the-hill Farah Fawcett beat Pamela Anderson, Jenny McCarthy, and Denise Richards in their primes.

Six years after Farrah Fawcett appeared on the bestselling poster of all time, Michael Jackson released the bestselling album in history. Thriller was so big that, not only did it inspire fashion and dancefloor trends, it outsold numbers two and three on the all-time list combined. Jackson, who before our eyes morphed from cuddly, precocious singing/dancing machine to the world’s biggest pop star to Howard Hughes, died yesterday too. For Jackson, life’s victory lap–that even an overweight and jumpsuited Elvis enjoyed–eluded him. The last image embedded in the public’s mind is that of Michael Jackson in a courtroom rather than on a stage. A court of law acquitted him of sexually abusing a minor. The court of public opinion convicted him of being strange. Seeing Farrah Fawcett in her red bathing suit, or Michael Jackson moonwalking, brings us back to a time when we were young. News of their deaths reminds us that we’re old.

Perhaps more than any other fifties rock and roller, Buddy displayed a capacity for growth, for pushing the boundaries of The Sound. At the time of Buddy’s death he was living in New York City, married to a young woman born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and hanging out in coffeehouses, where he listened to beat poetry and flamenco guitar; at the same time he had booked a steel guitar player for the recording session that he didn’t survive to attend. Buddy was both growing in new directions and sinking his roots deeper into that fertile American earth from which The Sound had sprung. Who knows what great music this restless creative spirit would have brought forth in the sixties and seventies? Maybe in Heaven Buddy will play us all a new song.

It’s a great day to celebrate the genius of the American muse that gave rise to Buddy Holly, who deeply absorbed both Bo Diddley and Bill Monroe, and then filled the West Texas plains with a new American tune equal parts swampy blues and lonesome mountain pining. Only in America my friends, only in America could The Sound spring forth; a music as traditional as the bluegrass tunes that the Crickets cut their teeth covering, as radical as Buddy’s Fender Stratocaster, which redefined what a guitar could look, sound and feel like. Like another great American rock and roller, Johnny Ramone, Buddy’s guitar style was all about machine-gun fast downstrokes. A Hungry Sound, a Mighty Sound.

It’s funny when people talk about the British Invasion of 1964 as some sea change in the sound of popular music, because at first all those British groups, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones included, sounded astonishingly like…Buddy Holly. Indeed, both Paul McCartney and Keith Richards gratefully acknowledge their debt to Lubbock, Texas’ favorite son. Maybe the truth is that by 1964 the world was finally ready to fully open up its ears to The Sound, and the British Invaders reaped the harvest that Buddy sowed.

But today let’s not grieve or recriminate but remember and celebrate, because on that windswept American plain the car is fast and the girl is beautiful, the music lives and liberates and we’re gonna shake it just a little in the middle of the night…

All Hail Buddy Holly, and His Big American Sound. Rave On!

When Elvis, Scotty and Bill found their way to the heart of American music with their recording of “That’s Alright, Mama” in 1954, they (and Sun Records owner/producer Sam Phillips) knew they had done something special. Elvis found the heart of America — the place where country, blues, and gospel meet — many times over in his music. Indeed, after his artistic decline in the ’60s, he willed himself to a second period of creative genius and genuine accomplishment at the end of the ’60s and early ’70s. Am I wrong in thinking that listening closely to the music all by itself can make us love our country more?

With his superb two-volume biography of Elvis, Peter Guralnick has made himself the essential chronicler of Elvis’s story. Guralnick of course tells the true story of the day in December 1970 when Elvis met Nixon in the White House. The story of the visit provides insight into Elvis’s patriotism as well as comic relief in the denoument of Elvis’s life.

Elvis admired law enforcement officers and collected the badges of police departments he visited. In Los Angeles on a secret getaway from tensions at home in Memphis, Elvis became inflamed with the desire to be deputized by the federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangersous Drugs (BNDD). He inveigled his friend Jerry Schilling to join him on a quick trip to Washington. Bodyguard Sonny West would fly in from Memphis to meet them. Elvis asked Schilling to take out some cash for the trip, which Elvis ended up giving away to soldiers returning from service in Vietnam.

California Senator George Murphy was coincidentally on the flight from Los Angeles to Washington and Elvis sought out Murphy back in tourist to enlist his assistance. On the flight Elvis wrote out a letter to President Nixon:

Dear Mr. President 

First I would like to introduce myself. I am Elvis Presley and admire you and Have Great Respect for your office. I talked to Vice President Agnew in Palm Springs a week ago and expressed my concern for our country. The Drug Culture, The Hippie Elements, the SDS, Black Panthers, etc do not consider me as their enemy or as they call it The Establishment. I call it America and I Love it. Sir I can and will be of any Service that I can to help the country out. I have no concerns or motives other than helping the country out. So I wish not to be given a title or an appointed position, I can and will do more good if I were made a Federal Agent at Large, and I will help out by doing it my way through my communications with people of all ages. First and Foremost I am an entertainer but all I need is the Federal credentials. I am on the Plane with Sen. George Murphy and We have been discussing the problems that our country is faced with. Sir I am Staying at the Washington hotel Room 505-506-507. I have 2 men who work with me by the name of Jerry Schilling and Sonny West. I am registered under the name of Jon Burrows. I will be here for as long as it takes to get the credentials of a Federal Agent. I have done in depth study of Drug Abuse and Communist Brainwashing Techniques and I am right in the middle of the whole thing, where I can and will do the most good. I am Glad to help just so long as it is kept very Private. You can have your staff or whomever call me anytime today tonight or Tomorrow. I was nominated the coming year one of America’s Ten Most outstanding young men. That will be in January 18 in my Home Town of Memphis Tenn. I am sending you the short autobiography about myself so you can better understand this approach. I would love to meet you just to say hello if you’re not too busy.

Respectfully,
Elvis Presley

Upon his arrival in Washington on the morning of December 21, Elvis dropped the letter off at the White House and went off to a meeting (arranged by Murphy) with the director of the BNDD to seek a badge. He instead met with BNDD deputy director John Finlator, who refused Elvis’s request for a badge. Back in the hotel room, however, Schilling received a call inviting Elvis to the White House for a meeting with the president.

Elvis’s letter had prompted internal deliberations over the wisdom of a presidential meeting. Dwight Chapin’s memo to Bob Haldeman summarizing Elvis’s request is a bit clueless. The second page of the memo has Chapin’s earnest advice and Haldeman’s somewhat more astute response. Chapin writes: “[I]f the President wants to meet some bright young people outside of the Government, Presley might be a perfect one to start with.” Haldeman responds: “You must be kidding.” The meeting was nevertheless promptly approved and arranged. Elvis, Schilling, and West met up with White House aide Bud Krogh for Elvis’s 12:30 meeting with the president in the Oval Office.

Bud Krogh’s memo summarizes the meeting:

Presley indicated to the President in a very emotionial mamner that he was “on your side.” Presley kept repeating that he wanted to be helpful, that he wanted to restore some respect for the flag, which was being lost. He mentioned he was just a poor boy from Tennessee who had gotten a lot from his country, which in some way he wanted to repay.

Elvis thought he could be helpful to Nixon “in his drug drive” and Nixon expressed “his concern that Presley retain his credibility.” It was at this point that Elvis made his pitch for the BNDD badge. Nixon told Krogh that he would like Elvis to receive a badge. Krogh wrote in a subsequent account of the meeting:

Elvis was smiling triumphantly. “Thank you very much, sir. This means a lot to me.”…Elvis then moved up close to the President and, in a spontanous gesture, put his left arm around him and hugged him.

Not done yet, Elvis asked the president if he would see his friends Schilling and West: “It would mean a lot to them and to me.” Schilling and West were ushered into the Oval Office. Nixon gave them the same tie clasps and cuff links with presidential seals that he had already given Elvis.

Elvis prompted Nixon: “You know, they’ve got wives too.” According to Guralnick, Elvis and Nixon then rummaged through Nixon’s desk for suitable presents for the wives. 

After lunch in the White House mess and a tour of the White House, Elvis was presented with the BNDD badge by Finlator at Krogh’s office. Finlator also promised to send along additional credentials. “Leaving the White House,” Guralnick writes, “Sonny and Jerry never stopped to ponder the many strange things that had occurred on this day. As far as they were concerned, there was one thing, and one thing only, responsible for whatever had happened to them, good or bad: they were with Elvis Presley.”

At least this particular chapter of the Elvis story had a happy ending.