IN THIS ISSUE: Nolan's Trojan Horse hits Broadway, Taj Mahal on Bill Withers, and a rare archive interview

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Dear friends,

Welcome to the third edition of the Alchemy newsletter.

On the latest episode of Alchemy: the GRAMMY-winning blues legend Taj Mahal. Taj’s new album (he’s lost count of how many he’s recorded, but it’s more than 50!) is called “Time.” The title track is a previously unreleased Bill Withers song.

That got me thinking about Bill, who was born on the 4th of July - I hope everyone had a festive 4th! I was fortunate to interview Bill a few years before he died and share some recollections from that day below.

But as I write this, there’s considerable commotion just south of me on New York’s Upper West Side… so let’s start there.

And don't forget, we'd love to hear from you. Just reply to this email and let us know what you'd like to see here & what questions you have for me. (I may be answering some in a future newsletter!)

- Anthony

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The Arrival of the Trojan Horse

The construction crews came in over the weekend with cherry pickers and forklifts. By Monday morning, a colossal Trojan Horse was towering over Broadway near 68th Street.

The rearing steed, reportedly more than four tons, straddled two lanes and rose more than two stories high in front of the AMC Lincoln Square theatre, where Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated film, “The Odyssey,” had its New York premiere last night.

The statue is a replica of the wooden horse in the film. Odysseus uses it to hide a small army of warriors, who sneak through the gates of Troy and sack the city.

I doubt Odysseus ever imagined his sculptural weapon would become an Instagram attraction. But Upper West Siders seemed as charmed by the unexpected gift as the Trojans were, snapping selfies all around it. My son, Nick, sent me a video from the scene and I went down to inspect it later that afternoon.

Nick and I were lucky enough to attend an advanced press screening Monday night. The IMAX theatre at Lincoln Square is the largest in the U.S. - 75.6 feet tall & 101 feet wide. We were about seven rows back and wow! As we publish this, a press embargo is still in place - the film opens Friday - but this much I can tell you: Nolan’s film is as epic as the horse out front. When Odysseus is wandering the oceans, trying to make his way home in his small ship, you feel lost at sea. The film was shot entirely on IMAX cameras and the cinematography is stunning. I especially admired Nolan’s decision to avoid CGI wherever possible.

Will the story captivate audiences? I’m curious to see. In my neighborhood, they’re certainly excited to suddenly have a Trojan Horse on Broadway. Of course the taxi drivers are already cursing the traffic jams it’s causing. But "The Odyssey" should have already taught us that unexpected gifts can come with unpleasant surprises.

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This Week on Alchemy: Taj Mahal

I first encountered Taj Mahal in May of 2009 at Madison Square Garden during Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday celebration. Rehearsal day was hectic backstage. Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Tom Morello, Joan Baez, Dave Matthews, and even Oscar the Grouch were all there. As I wandered through the corridors under the arena, I stumbled on Taj who was sitting on a chair in the hall warming up. I leaned against the wall for fifteen minutes and just watched.

Taj was born Henry St. Claire Fredericks, Jr. in 1942 in Harlem. He took his stage name in the late '50s, inspired by Mahatma Gandhi.

Taj was raised in Massachusetts. His mom was a teacher and sang gospel and his father was a jazz arranger, so music has always been elemental for him.

“It gives me the ability to communicate - all the way back into the 10th, 11th, 9th century," he said. "I can connect with musicians in the spirit. I can see and feel that through the music.”

“Does it make you feel part of something bigger?” I asked.

“Oh, most definitely," he said. "I am part of something bigger.”

Taj has won five GRAMMYs, including a Lifetime Achievement Award, and has influenced generations of artists. “He’s got it all together,” Keith Richards has said, “and always did have.” When Hozier joined us on Alchemy, he had recently performed at a tribute concert for Taj in San Francisco and told me how much it meant to play with him.

Taj’s latest album is called “Time.” The title track is a previously unreleased Bill Withers tune. Taj said they met several times before Withers died in 2020 at age 81. “We had a real good vibe with one another,” he remembered.

They struck me as kindred spirits, two proud and highly intelligent artists who refused to be categorized by the music industry.

“I’ve always been a huge fan of Bill Withers because of his fierce independence,” Taj said.

​Click here to see Episode 6 of Alchemy with Taj Mahal.

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From Anthony's Archive

I thought more about Bill Withers over this past Independence Day.

He was born on the 4th of July in 1938 in Slab Fork, West Virginia, a coal mining town. By pop music standards, Withers was a late bloomer.

He released his first album, "Just As I Am," in 1971 in his early thirties. After a nine-year stint in the Navy, he was still working his day job at Weber Aircraft in California.

“It was funny because my first album cover picture was actually taken on my lunch break, cause I didn’t want to take time off,” he recalled when I interviewed him in 2015 for CBS Saturday Morning. “So I said, ‘Send somebody up here.’ You know, they can take my picture. So I’m standing in the door with my actual lunch box. And guys are in the back yelling, ‘Hey, Hollywood!’”

When I hear a Bill Withers songs I think of something my late stepfather, a painter, often said: “What you leave out is often just as important as what you put in.” Withers’ songs are spare. There’s nothing that doesn’t need to be there. Every word is working:

Withers was 77 when we met. He rarely gave interviews, but he’d just been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and was soon to be celebrated with a tribute concert at Carnegie Hall. Ed Sheeran, Dr. John, and Michael McDonald would all perform.

“It’s like a pre-obituary,” he joked when I asked him how he felt about being honored.

Jonathan Butler kicked off the Carnegie Hall tribute with “Lovely Day.” “When that was current,” Withers remembered, “I was getting hassled by a record company for not making hits.” Withers felt increasingly manipulated by the music industry.

“Actually erased an album,” he said.

“Why?” I asked.

“Cause I didn’t get paid. I spent nine years in the military, where there was a decent chance that you might die for $85 a month. You get into up in the hundreds and thousands and you can really get hostile there, you know what I mean? And it’s an affront to you. It’s an affront to your manhood for somebody to say, ‘So I didn’t pay you. So what?’ Really?”

He split from Sussex Records and moved on to Columbia but felt frustrated there too. His wife Marcia managed his publishing business, so he was set financially. In 1985 Withers recorded his last album and just walked away.

This always puzzled me.

"There are so many musicians I know who couldn’t possibly stop,” I said to him.

“I think that’s maybe where my songs were just a wee bit different,” Withers replied. “Whatever I am, I’m satisfied that I was at least valid. I wanted to write some songs that were reasonably profound. And I think I did that.”

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Where I've Been

Alchemy has been given a lot of love in the media over the past few weeks. My thanks to Kara Manning at WFUV in New York, Jim Hanke with the Vinyl Emergency podcast, and Brian Cosgrove of WLIW-FM in Southampton, NY for having me on to share the Alchemy story & talk about the music I love. You can hear our conversations in the links below.

• ​UKNY on WFUV
• ​Vinyl Emergency
• ​The Afternoon Ramble on WLIW-FM​

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