avatarJeremy Roberts

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d over the phone like I was?</p><p id="da3a" type="7">How about this: Try to picture Ivanka, the object of her creepy father’s even creepier lust, punching a time clock! That will happen around the same time I start flying jets.</p><p id="709d">Maybe I’m being overly sensitive. I mean, if I could make my own sea salt while basking under the Mediterranean sun, wouldn’t I bleat about it later? Shit, no. I would not.</p><p id="1c29">So you know, the column’s focus was on scent and how it evokes particular memories. Here is the passage that set me off:</p><p id="d741"><i>When I was in Spain this summer, we sun-dried our own sea salt in Majorca, then went to a little shop near where we ate dinner to buy flor de sal harvested from the same Ses Salines salt flats. When I popped open the can — later back at home, my kids shouted, “it smells like Majorca!”</i></p><p id="c3f4">“Gee, kids! How cool is that? Know what? Get outta here”</p><p id="d35c">For those of us who don’t vacation in Majora, <i>flor de sal</i> means Salt Flower. Now, is it me, or is this type of self-important strutting gag-worthy?</p><p id="0c73">I’m not so offended by the message as much as I am by the way it was conveyed. As if the messenger had no clue of the disparity around her and the reality that people are struggling to make ends meet, for God’s sake. Struggling to feed themselves and their families. Working for minimum wage.</p><p id="051d">I get that this magazine is about beauty, not our country’s economy but all I can say is, the salaries must be pretty damned good.</p><p id="22b4">We, as writers, understand that words are powerful and the <i>way</i> in which we say things is as important, or maybe more so, as <i>what</i> we’re putting out into the world. I’ve learned this particular lesson the hard way. More than once.</p><p id="d5bd">Admittedly, I’m particularly sensitive in that I haven’t received an actual paycheck in almost two years. And I’m better than that. Much better, yet I can’t seem to catch a break. So, where someone else might read the editorial and think of it as “aspirational,” I think, “WTF?” Just as I do when I see TV commercials touting luxury automobiles as holiday gifts. What world are we living in?</p><p id="8d58">This is what doesn’t compute: While the editor raves about her kids raving about Majorca, there are other, less privileged children starving in this country. Their parents would love to afford a bus ticket, let alone a first-class airline ticket to Spain.</p><p id="f2ee">A little empathy for others, folks. That’s all I’m asking.</p><p id="184a">According to <i>nokidhungry.org</i>, in the United States, one in seven children lives with hungry. The bigger picture: According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), more than eleven hundred children in our country live in “food insecure homes,” which means the family members don’t get enough to eat in order to live in a manner that’s deemed “healthy.”</p><p id="7845">Maybe the editor should set her cannister of DIY sea salt aside and chew on these stats:</p><p id="1300"><b>Over 4.5 million U.S. kids live in food deserts and lack access to grocery stores with fresh fruits and vegetables.</b></p><p id="742e"><b>On average, children in rural areas are more likely to experience food insecurity and lack access to quality health services.</b></p><p id="7f6a"><b>Close to 1 in 3 American children are overweight or obese, and obesity in children has more than tripled over the past 35 years, putting children at higher risk for serious, even life-threatening health problems.</b></p><p id="a02e"><b>In communities where Save the Children works, an average of 59 percent of children do not have access to fresh, healthy foods; in some areas, it’s as much as 98 percent.</b></p><p id="bc2d">Here’s more self-satisfied bunk from the editorial:</p><p id="c1b6"><i>In (country), last summer, my daughter and I treated ourselves one afternoon to tea at the (uber-luxe) hotel. Now, the scent of not only jasmine tea but also jasmine fragrances brings me half a world away to that fancy dining room, nibbling on tiny sandwiches

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and cakes.</i></p><p id="0408">Again, maybe I’m being unfair and bristly. But the manner in which this was written is offensive, in my humble opinion. Plus, the older I get, the less idiocy I can tolerate.</p><p id="712b">Maybe if she’d included some type of giveaway to the first fifty readers who wrote back via email, describing their favorite scents and what they evoked for them. Jasmine fragrance oil could be the giveaway. I don’t know.</p><p id="7d81">Perhaps this editor should stick to writing about lip conditioners and designer perfumes and the wonders of glycolic acid. Meanwhile, if the craving for a “tiny cake” should come upon her, she could always shove a Twinkie up her bum.</p><p id="444c">I’d like to thank <a href="undefined">Helen Cassidy Page</a> for her input here. She gave me the virtual slap upside the head that I needed. But, sweetly.</p><p id="6d7e"><i>Sherry McGuinn is a slightly-twisted, longtime Chicago-area writer and award-winning screenwriter. Her work has appeared in The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and numerous other publications. Sherry’s manager is currently pitching her newest screenplay, a drama with dark, comedic overtones and inspired by a true story.</i></p><p id="2284">As always, I appreciate your reading. If you’re up for more:</p><div id="974d" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/haiku-how-to-51d0685c1ad6"> <div> <div> <h2>Haiku How-To</h2> <div><h3>A primer for the sexually inquisitive.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*yQwyx3SGkE3-oZlWW1dC9g.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="654f" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/did-i-fail-my-mother-3323d4907780"> <div> <div> <h2>Did I Fail My Mother?</h2> <div><h3>All the things I should have said, and didn’t.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*IBboE8lKu9O0Q4Ga0aEGhQ.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="9067" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/the-hot-women-of-medium-c66515ba6bbe"> <div> <div> <h2>The Hot Women of Medium</h2> <div><h3>Smart, funny, gutsy and SMOKIN’!</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*sUDy3LYDjjZKQqXsMfyptQ.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="1a63" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/ive-never-received-1k-claps-b1dd0d9c56b9"> <div> <div> <h2>I’ve Never Received 1K Claps</h2> <div><h3>Wounded…and wondering.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*zAfXUminR_ELCNKW8Ppsgw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="11fc" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/its-official-i-m-an-a-hole-347624d73cd7"> <div> <div> <h2>It’s Official: I’m an A-Hole</h2> <div><h3>“Medium Madness” has me by the throat.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*r4v7h4lCPyj7liblwp-GNQ.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

A brisk interview with Eric Clapton’s ‘Unplugged’ keyboardist Chuck Leavell

Jerry Lee Lewis, “Back to the Woods,” blues piano masters, recording sessions, the Mother Nature Network, and essential Chuck Leavell albums encapsulate a killer and no filler interview with the veteran Rolling Stones and Allman Brothers Band pianist. Photography by David Braun

Chuck Leavell, an almost original member of the Allman Brothers Band and a veteran keyboardist for the Rolling Stones since 1981, has worked with a dizzying array of artists such as Eric Clapton, George Harrison, the Black Crowes, and John Mayer. When he is not touring or conceiving setlists with the endearing, often bickering Glimmer Twins, Leavell steps out on his own to support Back to the Woods, a heart-felt tribute to the long neglected piano blues and boogie masters of the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s with Keith Richards and Mayer supplying healthy doses of six string fury.

Guilty as charged for unleashing the well-written and fascinating memoir Between Rock and a Home Place, Leavell sat down for a brief email conversation shortly before fulfilling a unique one man band benefit show for GraceWay Recovery in February 2010. GraceWay is a non-profit, faith-based, long-term substance abuse and addiction treatment center for women in Albany, Georgia, coincidentally the hometown of two further piano prodigies — Ray Charles and Ray Stevens. While the published piece is arguably all killer and no filler, it’s cachet within my writing arsenal cannot be overestimated— it was my debut interview.

Two piano maestros collide for Thanksgiving — Chuck Leavell giddily poses beside Jerry Lee Lewis in Los Angeles during the Rolling Stones’ 40 Licks Tour in 2002. Image Credit: The Chuck Leavell Collection

The Chuck Leavell Interview

What is the story behind the photo of you and the iconic last man standing, Jerry Lee Lewis?

I’ve known Jerry Lee for many years. I played a show with him once in Rome, Italy. That particular photo was taken on the Stones’ Forty Licks Tour when we were in Los Angeles, and Jerry Lee came to a Thanksgiving dinner we had. And of course, I am a fan and have been inspired by him tremendously.

Who did you research before tackling Back to the Woods [2012]?

Mostly the blues masters of the piano, especially Little Brother Montgomery, Leroy Carr, and Cow Cow Davenport — all for the preparation for Back to the Woods.

If you were discussing your essential albums with a non-fan, which ones would you pick?

Well, the first record I did with the Allman Brothers Band — Brother and Sisters — would be one, as well as Eric Clapton’s Unplugged live album, recorded 20 years later. And my own records, including Forever Blue: Solo Piano [2001], Southscape [2005], Live In Germany: Green Leaves and Blue Notes Tour [2007], and obviously Back to the Woods would all show folks what I do.

Do you still contribute to recording sessions?

Absolutely — I’ve played on quite a few sessions. In the 21st century it’s mostly been with contemporary country artists such as Montgomery Gentry [My Town, 2002 and Back When I Knew It All, 2008], Miranda Lambert [Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, 2007], Martina McBride [Eleven, 2011], and David Nail [I’m About To Come Alive, 2009 and The Sound of a Million Dreams, 2011].

Do you play any additional instruments besides piano?

I play a bit of guitar and some mandolin. I haven’t played them in public…but one day!

What can fans expect at your solo concerts?

I don’t give away my performances, but I will tell you that it will cover a good bit of my career.

What is the purpose of the Mother Nature Network?

I co-founded my conservation venture with my partner Joel Babbit in 2009. Joel is a brilliant creative person with a long and successful career in advertising and public relations. We launched MNN.com and are now one of the most visited environmental websites in the world.

Our aim is to give the best possible news, information, and educational tools to folks that want to do better on environmental issues. We’ve worked hard to make it comprehensive, accurate, easy to navigate, and understand.

It’s been a great experience, and we continue to grow significantly every month. We’ve recently merged with two different Discovery properties, and MNN is now the No. 1 most visited environmental website in the world. I’m very happy about that.

[Author’s Note: “That’s Chuck Leavell, Not Chocolate Milk: In Concert with the Stellar Rolling Stones Pianist” details the GraceWay Recovery benefit near the musician’s South Georgia home. A masterful raconteur, Leavell’s anecdotes range from Hank Williams, country music, the secret to a successful marriage, the songs he composed for the women in his life, touring with George Harrison during a 1991 sojourn in Japan, to the confused, funny reaction he received from a six-year-old fan after listening to Eric Clapton’s epochal Unplugged album for MTV].

Chuck Leavell puts conservation into action by practicing a controlled burn at his Charlane Plantation in Dry Branch, Georgia, circa March 7, 2009. Image Credit: The Chuck Leavell Collection
On February 6, 2010, the day after playing a one man band benefit for GraceWay Recovery at the Albany Municipal Auditorium in Albany, Georgia, conservationists Chuck Leavell and wife Rose Lane Leavell are seen with shovels digging a hole for a soon to be transplanted tree outside the female alcohol and drug rehab facility in South Georgia. Photography by Harrison Greene
On July 28, 1973, Chuck Leavell rehearses backstage with the impossibly famous Jerry Garcia just before the Allman Brothers Band took the stage for the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen, which once received a Guinness Book of World Records honor for “Largest Audience at a Pop Festival” with an estimated 600,000 folks in attendance. Leavell had no idea the shot existed until almost 45 years later. The Band, featuring Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, and Garth Hudson, were also on the bill. The Grateful Dead leader is clutching a 1957 Fender Stratocaster “Alligator” guitar given to him by Graham Nash. Garcia contributed pedal steel to “I Used to Be a King” and “Man in the Mirror,” part of the British singer-songwriter’s debut solo album “Songs for Beginners,” as well as “Teach Your Children” from Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young’s septuple platinum “Déjà Vu” 1970 long player. Photography by Joe Sia / Bill Graham Archives / Courtesy of Dan Beeson
“Alberta, Alberta:” Eric Clapton and pianist Chuck Leavell are seen backstage at the Royal Albert Hall sometime between February 13 and March 9, 1991, part of the guitar god‘s fifth residency at the venerable London concert venue. The following year Leavell participated in “Unplugged,” Clapton’s best-selling album of all time commissioned for the MTV music network. Image Credit: The Chuck Leavell Collection

© Jeremy Roberts, 2010, 2018. All rights reserved. To touch base, email [email protected] and mention which story led you my way. I appreciate it sincerely.

Music
Environment
Interview
Piano
Rolling Stones
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