Month: June 2015

Say The Word…Love!

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For a great majority of Beatles Fans (the Boomer variety), these quotes from John and Paul are oh-so true. The golden thread of memories we share with loved ones is, in many cases, longer than the days that unspool before us. We’ve been blessed with a joyful past – rich and full. And you know that can’t be bad! But there’s a flip side to that bounty of yesterdays.

 

In the last couple of months, my Fest Blog has included a final, loving tribute to Cynthia Lennon and one for John’s sound engineer, Dennis Ferrante. And in the year ahead, we’re sure to say goodbye to more of that original group who made up The Beatles Family. It’s that “time of the season,” and we all know it.

 

I was mulling over this situation last week – thinking how very sad it is that, in most cases, we only express how much people have meant to us when we’ve lost them. Then we scramble to write eulogies and memoires. We publish favorite photos on Facebook and place stuffed animals beside lighted candles. We pause to pay homage. But unfortunately, these tender tributes never reach the ears of the departed.

 

Too little, too late.

 

So…for the next two weeks, I’m encouraging you to “Say the Word…Love!” to someone you cherish. You might speak to:

 

1) A teacher or mentor from long ago who challenged you to become your best, who molded you (intentionally or unintentionally by a quote, deed, or direction) into the person you are today
2) A faithful friend who’s always there for you…the person who’s your “thick and thin, Stu Sutcliffe” kind of soul mate
3) A parent, grandparent, aunt, or cousin…some family member who (expecting nothing in return) has blessed you with unconditional love
4) An inspirer…a favorite performer, writer (for me, it was Maeve Binchy…why didn’t I tell her???), artist, achiever, or public figure who has stirred you to be greater and better
5) A faith guide who has lifted you to a higher plane
6) Or a…well, you get the picture!

 

There is someone out there who deserves your thanks, someone to whom the words have never been said. Say them. Email, text, scribble by hand, telephone, Instagram, or “say the word,” face-to-face! But no matter what you do…say it! Don’t wait until it’s too late to speak the emotions that are in your grateful heart.

 

In 1965, John Lennon gave us this advice. It was good then. It’s great now. Listen:

 

Everywhere I go I hear it said
In the good and the bad books that I have read:
Say the word, and you’ll be free!
Say the word and be like me…
Say the word I’m thinking of
Have you heard the word is “love”?
It’s so fine…it’s sunshine!
It’s the word: LOVE!

 

Love: you have 14 days to express it. Don’t delay!
Ready? Steady? Say, say, say!

 

For a bit of inspiration, CLICK HERE to listen to The Beatles singing “The Word”

 

Jude Southerland Kessler is the author of the John Lennon Series: www.johnlennonseries.com

 

Jude is represented by 910 Public Relations — @910PubRel on Twitter and 910 Public Relations on Facebook.

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He Engineered the soundtrack of life: A tribute to Dennis Ferrante

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The job of a Sound Engineer, as I understand it, is to oversee the mix of volume levels, sound effects, and instrument inputs in the recording studio…to work magic so that the artist’s song is presented in its very best light. Sometimes this involves moving microphones, and shuffling amplifiers and drums around so that the sound reverberates in a more effective manner. Sometimes this involves ingenious solutions like sticking overcoats in the drums to muffle them. Whatever it takes, a sound engineer does it.

 

That is what Dennis Ferrante did for John Lennon and Yoko Ono at The Record Plant in New York City. And that, essentially, is what Dennis did with his life.

 

Dennis was given “the gift” of a bum heart. During his life he had numerous heart surgeries, and in his last years, he was living with the use of only twenty percent of his heart in functioning condition. But with that twenty percent, he loved more, laughed more, and celebrated more than anyone I know. Dennis Ferrante was exuberant.

 

I first met Dennis when he guested on my “John Lennon Hour” show on BeatlesARama Radio. I had prepared 12 questions to ask Dennis during our hour together. In 60 minutes, he answered three. Dennis had a way of telling a story (with all the trimmings!) that kept an audience captivated. He didn’t answer a question with terse facts or data. He answered by unveiling – bit by bit – his colorful, thrilling adventures. He answered by letting the listener into the electrifying world in which he lived. When Dennis told a story, you walked his walk. His answers were lengthy and fascinating and chock full of life. You sat enraptured by the things Dennis said.

 

And when Dennis talked, everyone laughed! He was witty, raucous, and bold. When I greeted Dennis on that first show that we did together, I said, “So glad to have you with us, Dennis!” And he fired back, boldly, in his New Jersey accent, “So glad to be had!” I cracked up.

 

Over the next three years, Dennis appeared on my radio show three times, and when I moved to BlogTalkRadio, Dennis moved with me. The week that Cynthia Lennon died (and my heart was broken), I phoned Dennis and asked him if he would be my guest – I needed someone special that week to lift my flagging spirits. He immediately agreed. And even in that gloomiest of weeks, he made me smile.

 

Dennis wouldn’t take “sad” for an answer. On any given day, even in the hospital I imagine, he was mischievous, hilarious, and badly-behaved.

 

Dennis had incredible stories about his years in the studio with Cher, John and Yoko, Harry Nilsson, Lou Reed, and so many others. His stories of restoring Duke Ellington’s music to its original vibrancy and life (a meticulous task that won him a Grammy) were riveting. But he never told those stories to “name drop” or boast. He told them because they were funny; he told them because they made people grin, ear to ear. He told them because hearing those stories made others happy. You couldn’t be in Dennis’s presence without laughing. He was THAT guy. He was the one you wished you could be.

 

Dennis wasn’t without his problems. He had flat-lined several times before he died. Quite frankly, he knew his time was limited.

 

I had already invited Dennis to be on my radio show for my birthday this coming November, and he’d responded, “I’ll be there, if I’m still here.” Dennis knew his heart was iffy at best. But that never dampened his mood. Like any good sound engineer, he mixed magic…but in the studio of his life. He equalized and blended his attitude so that the only sound we heard was joy.

 

We all face tragedies daily, large and small. But it’s our choice to let those roadblocks control us or to shuffle things around and adjust levels so that we control them. Dennis engineered the soundtrack of his life. It’s now a heavenly anthem. And the angels are smiling.

 

 

To hear Dennis’s last interview with Jude (and it’s a classic!) go to:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thejohnlennonhour/2015/04/03/johns-sound-engineer-dennis-ferrante-makes-you-smile

 

 

 

Jude Southerland Kessler is the author of the John Lennon Series: www.johnlennonseries.com

 

Jude is represented by 910 Public Relations — @910PubRel on Twitter and 910 Public Relations on Facebook.

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The Real Amazing Race

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I hear you:  “Reality shows are bad. The people who watch them are idiots.” Thus sayeth the Facebook commentators.

 

But wait a minute…Really?  Are you including “The Amazing Race?” Because there is nothing tacky or foolish about demonstrating, season after televised season, that determination and tenacity are the twin sisters to success, and that “NEVER GIVE UP” are the three most important words in the English language…well, second only to “Love One Another.”

 

For 12 exciting weeks on “The Amazing Race,” couples of many varieties (fathers and daughters, partners, husbands and wives, brothers, friends, etc.) compete against one another as they trek the far reaches of the globe to perform incredible feats of bravery, skill, and endurance. And each week, one couple is eliminated. But it is never whom you think.

 

The couple who is lagging behind…hopelessly floundering in last place…that couple quite frequently rallies to push to the front and handily edge out a cocky, “woop-woop” team who was oh-so-certain that they “had it in the bag.”  And every time this happens, I stand up and cheer!

 

I love people who don’t give up. I love the man or woman, boy or girl who lives by my dad’s favorite quote, “Quitters never win, and winners never quit.”

 

The Beatles’ entire career hung on that philosophy. It was their core value.

 

Think of the times they could have thrown up their hands and surrendered:

 

When they failed the Carroll Levis “Search for the Stars” audition and were bested by Nicky Cuff’s Sunnyside Skiffle Group.

 

When they glimpsed their pathetic lodgings in Hamburg’s Bambi Kino and realized they were playing The Indra (not The Kaiserkeller), situated at the wrong end of the Grosse Freiheit.

 

When John lost Stu.

 

When they blew the New Year’s Day Decca Audition.

 

When the EMI “audition” ended with George Martin’s comment that he would opt for a studio drummer in recording scenarios.

 

When The Cavern fans punched George Harrison in the eye and shouted, “Ringo NEVER! Pete Forever!”

 

When John’s comment to Maureen Cleave about The Beatles’ immense popularity eclipsing the popularity of Christianity led to death threats and Beatle burns.

 

When Brain Epstein passed.

 

I could go on and on…and so could you. There were hundreds of times when The Beatles had “every reason on earth to be mad,” when they were entirely justified in saying, “That’s it! We’ve had enough! To hell with this shite!”

 

But they didn’t. They pushed on. They worked harder. They ignored vile people who said unfair things. They held their heads up and focused on the end of the race, not the temporary pain. They endured hard times and bad conditions. They took the punishment of “now” to get to the reward of “later.”

 

Theirs was an Amazing Race. Across the globe. A feat of endurance. A pledge to keep trying, no matter what.

 

Theirs was the true reality show, and despite incredible odds, they emerged from a hungry pack of over 600 Merseyside skiffle groups to win the grand prize.

 

Like The Beatles, we can only be defeated if we surrender. Today, no matter what, let’s take another step. Let’s try again. Let’s look ahead…let’s remind ourselves that when we think we’ve nothing left, there is still a shred of something inside to push us across the finish line.

 

Never give up. That’s an amazing mantra. In the reality show of life, it transforms everything.

 

Jude Southerland Kessler is the author of the John Lennon Series: www.johnlennonseries.com

 

Jude is represented by 910 Public Relations — @910PubRel on Twitter and 910 Public Relations on Facebook.

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