It was a cold, wintery Saturday morning. I was sitting on the couch in our living room with my iPad and a cup of coffee. Surfing around, I came across a YouTube video of Levon Helm playing “The Weight” at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN.
I had just seen Levon Helm in concert a couple of years before, and I had been listening to him and The Band since my college days. It was a great video I came across that cold, Saturday morning. He and his Midnight Ramble band were playing at the Mother Church of Country Music. He was joined on stage by no fewer than a dozen other musicians, including such luminaries as John Hiatt, Sheryl Crow and Larry Campbell.
This clip was a beautifully filmed performance of the last song of the show. The audience was on their feet, singing and clapping along. Levon sang in perfect harmony with his daughter Amy. People were dancing and crying. Their glasses raised in joy and tribute. It was a true celebration.
It was January 28th, 2012. I immediately posted the clip to my Facebook page, and though it certainly did not “trend,” I did get some nice replies.
My friend Michael said “What a great way to start the morning. Just awesome.” Ed, another friend, said “Note to self, when Larry posts a video on Facebook, watch it.” Those comments felt good. I really enjoyed the video of what may be my very favorite song, and I was glad that others had enjoyed it as well.
The wintry weeks went by, and I couldn’t help to reflect on how good it felt to post that video, to share my enjoyment of the song with my friends. The comments I got back were incredibly rewarding. I soon began the practice of posting a new clip every week, calling it my “Saturday Morning Tasty Music Selection.”
Most of my posts did not get much of a response. A couple of “likes” one week, and a few more the next. However, more and more, people would comment on how much they enjoyed the videos I was posting when I ran into them in real life. I posted videos of country songs, disco songs, rock songs, great cover songs, great unknown songs….every week I would find something new.
I looked forward to making these Facebook posts every week, because it gave me an opportunity to think about the music I loved, and to share it with my friends. However, there was something missing.
During this time, I was also reding the book Working Out Loud by John Stepper, a practice designed to help readers find new connections, and to build a better career and a more fulfilling life. Amongst many other wonderful suggestions in the book, Stepper suggests blogging. Though I have always liked to write, I had long ago dismissed blogging as a leftover remnant of the early days of the world wide web.
Stepper, however, encouraged readers to try writing a blog. He argued that when people share what they know, whether they share in a LinkedIn post, a tweet or a blog, more opportunities are created for meaningful connections and continued professional and personal growth.
Connections. Community. Writing. Music. This was beginning to come together for me now. I knew what I needed to do.
In late 2015, I made my last “Saturday Morning Tasty Music Selection” post on Facebook and in early 2016 I began to blog. On www.glickmanonline.com I wrote about music, but I also wrote about technology, collaboration and even sometimes about my family. I wasn’t sure anyone was going to read the blog, but I enjoyed writing. I wrote, and wrote, and wrote and wrote.
I called my music blog posts 1Perfect Song. Every week, I wrote about a song that I thought was great, or that was important in my life. I created a corresponding Facebook group, and slowly over time, people began to read. People shared their own opinions about the music I wrote about, and more and more people followed my blog. Since launching my blog at glickmanonline.com, I have had almost 60,000 views of my articles from readers around the world. I don’t know how that compares to other blogs, but I don’t really care. Those statistics felt good.
I like writing about technology and collaboration, but I really love writing about music. People seem to have connected to articles I have written. The articles with the highest readership are “Spanish Bombs” by The Clash, “Sweet Jane” by Lou Reed and “Impossible Germany” by Wilco. I have no idea why those songs are my most read blogs, but there you have it.
I wrote about “Anchorage” by Michelle Shocked, featuring a character named Leroy, and much to my surprise and delight, Leroy himself has commented on that article. A sound engineer for the Allman Brothers has commented on the article about “Blue Sky.” It has been wonderful and incredibly rewarding to see the reach of 1Perfect Song over the years.
I will still be writing about technology and collaboration at glickmanonline.com, and today I am pleased to announce that with the writing of this blog article, I am launching a new website called 1PerfectSong.com, which will be completely dedicated to the music that has meant so much to me, and to so many others.
Please take a look at the site, and let me know what you think. You can comment on any blog article, or just drop me a note on the “About Me” page. Also, readers will soon be able to buy some great 1PerfectSong.com t-shirts, hats and other swag, with a percentage of all sales going to Justice Aid, a wonderful organization dedicated to promoting justice through arts and public engagement.
I am excited by the challenges and possibilities ahead. Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading and commenting on my blog through the last few years, with a few special thanks to…
- My wife Lynn Glickman, my life and listening partner. Thank you for your full throttled encouragement, and your consistent and enthusiastic support.
- Thank you to my daughters Sophie and Eliana. Your musical tastes could not be more different from each other, but together our family always finds something to enjoy, to sing along to, and to laugh about.
- Thank you to Danny Melnick, president of Absolutely Live Entertainment, for being a wonderful friend and for introducing me to the Justice Aid organization.
- Thank you to my crazy talented cousin Antonio Garcia, who designed the new logo.
So, while this may be a change, we are going to keep going. We are going to keep on keeping on. As the great Curtis Mayfield sang in his shimmering, pristine 1971 song “Keep on Keeping On”:
“Most of your life an be out of sight
Withdraw from the darkness and look to the light
Where everyone’s free
At least that’s the way it’s supposed to be
We just keep on keeping on
We just keep on keeping on”
And, if you have not seen it before, I am very happy to share with you, one more time (it can never be shared too much), the great Levon Helm bringing down the house at the Ryman Auditorium.
1Perfect Song 