Before I get into the downfall of music, which is the title of this post, I will once again explain something about my health: in all humility I state this, I was given gifts in music that outweigh the greatest of the greatest of all musicians who have lived. I have stated before that unless you have heard me live in remedial and lackluster health, you would not know this based upon my Youtube videos. I have stated while in remission at 34 I had recorded an album. A double disc with over 30 songs, which 28 of them were recorded in less than 48 hours. When I went out of remission, 2 were left. Some covers, mostly originals. I did not pick up the guitar until the age of 21. Every song that I recorded was done in one take. Absolutely no pitch correction and no overdubbing. I became ill again, still fighting for my life, waiting for those surgeries to save it; to save me.
If I believe it is for God's purpose, then I must believe that it is for something greater than even I could imagine, for myself and for others. The days I pick up the guitar, it's as if I've only been playing for a month. I can sing no more. Other than a few million people, there is no one that knows my abilities. I became seriously ill a few months after picking up the guitar.
But there's hope. From 30 to 33 and a half I went through something similar as I'm going through now. But while in remission I was better than I ever had been. During this time, where I feel if I had been healed, or had my surgeries, none of the corruption or downfall of music would have ever happened for I have been given the responsibility of setting the example of what music is: truth and love, an absolute. I suffer and watch the idiocy of others. I watch the gimmicks. I watch Miley Cyrus and Kanye West degrade and disrespect the absolute that is music. People half naked at award shows. Too arrogant to apologize. Not being capable of finishing a sentence, but apparently responsible enough to run for president. The hypocrisy of it all, the hypocrisy of ourself. I have often stated there is a fine line between chauvinism and chivalry and there is even a finer line between arrogance and confidence.
I heard recently Mel B from the Spice Girls stating that the Spice Girls were not over night successes as previously believed. That they had spent a whole year forming their band, practicing before they had their hit song. Are you kidding? A whole year? It takes you 13 years just to get through your schooling. Several years to graduate college. I listen to people like Vin Diesel state "Everyone wants me to do an album." First, that's not true: I don't. And second, then do it. What's stopping you? What's stopping him is that technology does not have the pitch correction that would be needed for his tone deaf voice. We have children representing us musically. We have politicians who act like children representing our opinions. Selfishly and incorrectly. This is not only weird, this is bordering on fantasy. We must know our limitations so that we can succeed without expectation.
We have people in the celebrity world who name drop their best friends. Who name drop their spouses. Who kiss ass and blow smoke up each other's asses. They're sycophantic. When is wearing a mop on your head, or a meat suit not only responsible, but mature and a representation of the global united love that is music? Why are people worshiping these children? Why is Taylor Swift such an angry vindictive child? That can only write about and throw under the bus another human being, through her perspective and opinion and her infinite wisdom, as she has not even reached the age of 30, all of her broken relationships, which begs the question, who gives a shit Taylor? It must be difficult going through such sufferings, making multimillions, living off of the gossip of your own life, and outing what should be personal of another human being's life. Will she please grow up already? I wonder if she pays her exes royalties for her verbal abuse and defamation of character.
Kanye West is an imbecile. He is arrogant. He hurts people. He believes that his opinions are the only valid opinions worthwhile. His greatness is the fact that he learned how to sew to make millions and millions off from a clothing line, while millions of people are sewing his clothes for a dollar a week. We have Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert talking about having sex with other people, while married, and everyone wonders why they're divorced. We have Justin Bieber who has absolutely no talent and has put forth no hard work, and is the perfect example of irresponsibility and corruption, who is yelling at the camera man who provide him the forum (the world's forum) because he could not rack out a dance move. People enveloped in this world. When the power couple today is that of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.
A person who has achieved nothing but that of what other people have given her through sex. We have people like P Diddy using a kettle bell to threaten someone's life and nothing comes out of it; when people are being arrested and imprisoned because they stole a candy bar because they are starving. We have Caitlyn Jenner, who makes millions for simply learning about herself through a tv show. The lies and the deceit. Caitlyn says 'I'm still learning and trying to accept myself and I'm 65, but everybody else do it now, or you're just hateful and bigoted.' And though this is off topic, no, transgender is not the same that gay and lesbian was 30 years ago. She states while talking to her ex-wife Kris, that I did not leave you knowing that I was going to transition. But started taking hormones two years before their divorce.
Where is Rock n Roll? Where did it go? It is with the people who rock out every night, but can't even get a return phone call from a so called record company because they don't want to take their clothes off and make a sex tape. MTV music awards this year were disgusting. Have you noticed how they've changed from just 5 years ago? Why is Miley Cyrus hosting this and also the 2015 Rock n Roll hall of fame induction? Why does she think that having a song called Peace Motherfuckers is going to cause peace when you are calling people motherfuckers? Why is nobody stepping up and stopping this? I guarantee you this, the moment my health is restored, we are done with all this nonsense. I will set the example, not only for music, but for humanity as I am a man who speaks nothing but the truth and lives the truth and I will pour every penny I have, if that means billions into resurrecting music. It is our only hope. If you are a Christian, it is one of the first subjects that is mentioned in the bible as a form of love, respect, honor and celebration. Either people shout or shut down. Where's the conviction? Let me tell you something that I know for a fact, as the infinite wisdom of a 20 something Miley Cyrus says there is no Elvis Presleys out there. There is always somebody out there. I will admit this: a lot of musicians who are great with talent and hardwork for their craft still sit in their garage and hope somebody drives by and recognizes them or rather hears them and gives them recognition. Record companies have become impossible as they do not accept unsolicited material. What does this mean? You have to know somebody to know somebody. It's like you must have experience to get this job, but this job is the only way to have experience. There are a rare few people that have made it at a young age and are considered legends. Who have changed this world for the better. Aretha Franklin was 14. But if American Idol existed when she was that age, do you think she would have said after 3 years of singing, this is my only chance? Because some would-be-has-been tells her she doesn't have it? Let's talk about Elvis Presley for a moment. Before Elvis ever became Elvis Presley he had sang in public close to 10,000 times. Stevie Ray Vaughan played just about the same. He was booed off the stage at a festival, and the next year headlined it. What I see is that nobody paid their dues, they are handed everything. Most have no talent or work ethic. They care more about their image and their gimnmick than about their music.
Beyonce is an enigma. I have heard her personally sing gospel in church and she was phenomenal Yet her mainstream music is horrible. Here's how a song works. You want an example? Check out anything by Kenny Loggins. Or any song from the 20s- the 80s. here is your formula, you must have a beginning, a middle and an end. You must have verses, a chorus, a bridge and a hook. You must have a melody. You must have great lyrics. If you are not talented enough to do this with your instruments, there are many who have done it vocally. It's called story telling. Johnny Cash is a great example of this. The greatest example of using just a few chords without the formula I have just spoken of is Don McLeon's American Pie. has everyone gone tone deaf? Is that why we accept this shit we call music? Why does everybody think they can sing now? It takes years to perfect yourself musically, let alone to be a band that lives in the pocket of tightness.
As Huey Lewis says, backbeat rhythm is the heart of rock n roll. It is a 2/4 4/4 beat. It is a 12-24bar blues. It is understanding 5/8 timing, legato, modulation. Legato meaning to string together. If you don't know these things, you are not ready. And to give you an example of how talent can start you out, but the lack of hard work and education of your craft can leave you stranded, I will speak of Kenny Wayne Shephard. Go on Youtube and check out any one of his guitar lessons. And 9 out of 10 times when he is describing a scale he is using he says I do not even know what this scale is called. With 35 years of guitar playing under his belt, you would expect more. Music is life, life is music. To grow we must learn and educate. And though we can not know everything about music, if the only scale that you can know and name is the pentatonic, burn your guitar now. Obviously, I am not speaking of beginners, but he picked up the guitar at 5. (And what kind of guitar lesson is that? I don't know shit, so listen! Hope you didn't learn shit either.) I'm not saying you can't be in the mainstream without knowing them, I'm saying you better learn them. I can take my own music that was played in my sickness, on Youtube, and they do not have this. I can use myself as an example of what not to do with music. Try to get anyone else to say that about themselves. You give me my health, you put a guitar in my hand and a mic, you take every musician out there today and put them on a stage, as I was born with perfect pitch and have them play a song. I will play their own song immediately after them, infinitely better. And if you don't believe you can do this, you will just be another Miley Cyrus.
The downfall of music is the laziness of the youth. And it is a shame to see the old greats singing alongside these imbeciles to become relevant again. Tony Bennett singing with Lady Gaga. Shame on Tony Bennett and shame on Lady Gaga for thinking she could even be in the same category as Tony. Tom Jones. That powerful voice. Tony and Tom were horrible. And I believe it's because they had to sing with people who suck. Here's my analogy. If I'm in a car race, let's say the Indy 500 and I lap everyone, there's always going to be one moron that I catch up to that I would literally have to knock him off the path because he will not let me pass by. and he will ride behind me sucking the draft out of the bottom of my car to feel like he's in second place when he's actually in last. I'm going to be frank with you all. I am the best musician on this planet that has ever lived. I have not suffered to the point of torture for this many years to believe otherwise. And no one can tell me otherwise.
If my album had released at 34, the world would be stating this as the old cliche The proof is in the pudding. But I will tell you this, I am that person, I am that man, I am that musician.. But if you have lived your life righteously, no matter what you do, you believe the same thing about yourself. Don't look for validation. Don't look for respect. The only respect we should be concerned about is self respect. And you can not step on a stage half naked, spouting profanity and have self respect. You can not ramble and rant and throw a mic to the ground that you did not pay for saying I'm running for president and walk off stage.
I can't stand Kanye. He is no man. But when he started his speech, how I was rooting for him as it seemed as if he was trying so hard to apologize for the disrespect we have seen him show other musicians and other people. How can you be so arrogant to believe that someone else deserves an award and then make the statement I do not understand or approve of award shows. I have 7 Grammys. They are packed in a box sitting in my garage somewhere. Here's how important these awards are. I can not sell my awards. They must be given back to the academy. I can not give them away. And if I do so I can be prosecuted and they can take away my accreditation. So they can take their awards and shove them up their ass. When I sell a billion albums within the first year, I don't know if I will go to an award show. It's difficult. I don't consider the people who would buy my album fans, I consider them friends and supporters. I would not want to disrespect or let them down. So if I perform an award show/shows in the next year or two, I would be an example of the people who represent me and the people I represent through my music. I have been to every award show there is, multiple times. They used to be fun. You notice how there's no great bands and no big name actors coming to the MTV awards anymore? There's no great hosts. It's a bunch of kids playing house. And there's some record exec and Academy exec letting them do this. What these children don't understand is that they are puppets. People don't make music anymore, computers do. I am not an angry or violent man, but if Kanye West grabs the mic out of my hand, we will see if a microphone can truly fit down another person's throat.
Whoever saw the MTV music awards and enjoyed it is a lost soul. I felt embarrassed for everyone. There was no one there this year that had any talent at all. In fact, only 2% of it was music and that's being gracious. And why are these grown men and women not speaking up? And Kanye kept saying listen to the kids. No Kanye, because kids don't know shit, and the fact that they cheer for you proves my point. Give kids a driver's license, a cell phone, and a lollipop, a trunk full of money, a house in Malibu, and they will still complain that their life is too hard as they are having sex with multiple partners on a daily basis. Take away their phone and their lollipop and they will throw a fit. I suggest we give Kanye a diaper and a baby rattle so he can represent himself in his true nature. You fucking whiner. Be a man.
\I was at the Rock n Roll hall of fame induction with my wife this year. I was supposed to play Pride and Joy with Double Trouble. But I barely made it to the show and suffered through it, not just because of my illness, but because of Miley Cyrus. How can you be at that show and let Miley talk about fucking people? Now I will let you in on some inside secrets. What you see musically, what you hear is very thought out, prepared and scripted. That means there are writers who thought up this debauchery. And someone says, I just want to be part of it and have no dignity.
Look, I'm not going to play music at the AVN porn awards to be recognized. And when I see these legends who have played more in front of live audiences in one year than these children have in a decade, kissing these kids asses, for instance Joan Jett, it's absurd. So I'm going to say this plainly, so pardon my language, in the movie and music industry, when you have no talent and you have not worked hard, this is what is said about how you got a career. Who's your father? You must be somebody's niece or nephew? and who did you fuck? And that is the truth. It wasn't too long ago that bands were touring 300 days out of the year. Now it's 50. So is it the artists fault, if that's what you'd like to call it, that have created the downfall of music? Or is it the execs who are running the show? Well, here's the answer. If I own a restaurant and my cook that I hired spits into hamburgers and I know this, but keep them employed, who's at fault? If I'm a parent and my kid has gotten in 4 car wrecks in 1 year at the age of 16 I'm not letting them drive until they learn how to. And lastly, the downfall of music are the people who buy this shitty music. When they listen to it on Youtube. When the song Baby by Justin Bieber and Ludacris has over a billion views, well, I think that's all I need to say about that. It's called validation.
When Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift are tweeting, and let me mention in a vague nature because of a lack of conviction, about each other, and expect everyone to know who they are talking about when no names are given. And then get on an award show and basically insult each other? They're idiots. This is not about them and their stupid feud. They are forgetting that people are watching. This is worse than high school. So I ask you: What was the start of the downfall of music? Somehow, somewhere along the way, the world decided that an indiviuals notariety through infamy allowed them to be worthy of the resposibility that is music. People are afraid to speak up. They are afraid to burn bridges. But why be afraid when there is no bridge that has been built yet? And those who do have talent and have worked hard, they rest in their laurels. With the music the way it is today, the people who have success, who have talent, who have spent a lifetime paying their dues, still have a mission to complete. It's called setting an example.
Sometimes I tweet to people who I know personally who are musicians that are quite famous, and I state my opinion and give my advice, and even what we call Superfans, will favorite my critique, not only of their music, but more so of their irresponsibility through their poor example and their lack of personality through being enabled, spoiled as they believe the world literally starts and stops with them. When I get healthy, I will speak through my music. But I will still never stop standing up for what is right. So I leave you with this. I will give you the relevance of music in this world. When there is a bad representation through a song, an album, or a personal appearance, no one says no matter, it's okay, it's just music. It's said in movies. It's said in many other forms of work. So I ask you, have you ever spoken these words? So if you value music and you are on social media: search through Twitter, search through Facebook, search Youtube.; Educate yourself and start liking and commenting on those musicians out there who have something to say with their music. The world is not a better place for valuing the people you know through fame. Take the time. There are people out there who deserve to be heard and they are right in front of your face.
Don't let these record execs be your puppeteer. And don't let these kids represent us. Music is too important for that, and if we don't do something now we're going to be stuck listening to computers make tones like Stephen Spielberg's Close Encounters. I don't like Miley Cyrus and I don't like her music. Computers make music for her. And this may be harsh, but if a computer could shit, that is what I think of Miley Cyrus and her music. I hope that I have uplifted you. And if your head's up your ass, that's supposed to be funny. For all those that read this that don't know me, I usually don't speak like this. I have serious health problems like a brain tumor. They affect my mood, my speech, my articulation, but what they do not affect is the truth. And if you like Miley Cyrus, there's no hope for you and you should just end it now.
And though this has a little bit to do with music, but a little not, enough with the giant butts. they're not healthy. Finally, Sia. You want to represent music, but you put a mop on your head. You can not represent something that is derived from love. You can not be a representative of others if you live behind a gimmick and you can not be an example of yourself if you hide behind the mask of cowardice. If you are on the red carpet and you want anonymity by wearing a mop on your head, then don't go. She states that she wants her music to be the representation of herself, well then it can not be overshadowed by the idiocy of the clothing you wear. And actors? Stop coming out with albums. You can't sing. You have no idea what it takes. It is not a part time job, it is a state of being. And this is a well known fact. Musicians are accepted when they get into acting. Tell me one time when an actor has been accepted when they get into music. And on this I will not answer this question, I will leave it to yourself to figure out why. So this is my rant, it is not articulate, as I am needing surgery badly, but focus on the truth, the truth in my statement and articulate it for yourself. The world will be better for you doing so. God Bless
~Joshua Jet Vaughan~
Is her music a representation of our thoughts and feelings? This is a reflection of Miley's ignorant point of view.
This is a reflection and responsibility of the world's point of view.
The Sounds of Heaven
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Food For Thought
Why do people start a sentence with "I'm not going to lie" as if it's an option? Truth is not based on perspective. #FoodForThought
~Joshua Jet Vaughan~
~Joshua Jet Vaughan~
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Joshua's Joys- It Hurt So Bad
Still feeling miserable, but had a day where we could have a little fun. Wanted to do this before he goes in for surgery. My husband the definition of strength, grace, and toughness. No one would know from looking at him that he is in excruciating pain and suffering from agonizing sickness. My husband the rock, the real life Superman. No could play like him and no one can fight like him. I will be posting updates on his health as we get more news. Thank you for all of your continued love and support. Take Care friends.
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