by Shaun Usher
Letters of Note was born in 2009 with the launch of lettersofnote.com, a website celebrating old-fashioned correspondence that has since been visited over 100 million times. The first Letters of Note volume was published in October 2013, followed later that year by the first Letters Live, an event at which world-class performers delivered remarkable letters to a live audience.
Since then, these two siblings have grown side by side, with Letters of Note becoming an international phenomenon, and Letters Live shows being staged at iconic venues around the world, from London’s Royal Albert Hall to the theatre at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles.
You can find out more at lettersofnote.com and letterslive.com. And now you can also listen to the audio editions of the new series of Letters of Note, read by an extraordinary cast drawn from the wealth of talent that regularly takes part in the acclaimed Letters Live shows.
First published in Great Britain in 2020 by Canongate Books Ltd,
14 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1TE
canongate.co.uk
This digital edition first published in 2020 by Canongate Books
Copyright © Shaun Usher, 2020
The right of Shaun Usher to be identified as the
author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
For permission credits please see p. 130
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available on
request from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 78689 559 2
eISBN 978 1 78689 558 5
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
01 HE IS CALLED MICK JAGGER
Keith Richards to Aunt Patty
02 MY HEART ALMOST STOOD STILL
Helen Keller to the New York Symphony Orchestra
03 THANK YOU, AND I HOPE YOU CHOKE
Beatles fan to Nike, Inc.
04 I AM SO CLOSE BEHIND YOU
Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen
05 THANK YOU
Dr Mark Taubert to David Bowie
06 THE GREATEST MUSICAL PLEASURE I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED
Charles Baudelaire to Richard Wagner
07 I HAVE TWO HANDICAPS
Florence Price to Serge Koussevitzky
08 EASY, YOUNG MAN
Charles Mingus to Miles Davis
09 I INVENTED PUNK
Lester Bangs to East Village Eye magazine
10 COMPOSER FOR NITWTS
Erik Satie to Jean Poueigh
11 I HAVE LEARNT TO MASTER MYSELF
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to Nadezhda Filaretovna von Meck
12 IT WASN’T A RIP OFF, IT WAS A LOVE IN
John Lennon to Craig McGregor
13 A GRAND SUCCESS
Lillian Nordica to her father
14 DO YOU STILL REMEMBER ME?
Yo-Yo Ma to Leonard Bernstein
15 GET AT THE VERY HEART OF IT
Ludwig van Beethoven to Emilie H.
16 I DON’T EVEN WRITE TO MY MOTHER
Roger Taylor to Rolling Stone magazine
17 AIDA WILL GATHER DUST IN THE ARCHIVES
Giuseppe Verdi, Prospero Bertani and Giulio Ricordi
18 PLEASE ADVISE
Teo Macero to various at Columbia Records
19 DON’T LET ANYONE DEFINE WHO YOU ARE
Angélique Kidjo to Girls of the World
20 NOT THAT ONE, DOCTOR – IT’S GOT NO RHYTHM
Richard Strauss to Hans Diestel
21 PICTURE THE SCENE
Rik Mayall to Bob Geldof
22 WHO IS KAREN CARPENTER, REALLY?
Kim Gordon to Karen Carpenter
23 POPPY-COCK
Harry S. Truman to Paul Hume
24 THE COLOR OF THE STARS, HER SKIN, HER LOVE
Jon M. Chu to Coldplay
25 IT’S A VIRUS
Tom Waits to The Nation
26 HERBS IS HIS MAJESTY’S
Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry to Tokyo’s Minister of Justice
27 A HARMONIOUS CREATION OF ART
Adele aus der Ohe to Steinway & Sons
28 PLEASE CHANGE YOUR HOLD MUSIC
Dr Steven Schlozman to CVS
29 BLOW ’EM AWAY, KID
Nick Cave to Ptolemy
30 THE CREATIVE URGE
John Coltrane to Don DeMichael
PERMISSION CREDITS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For Billy and Danny
A letter is a time bomb, a message in a bottle, a spell, a cry for help, a story, an expression of concern, a ladle of love, a way to connect through words. This simple and brilliantly democratic art form remains a potent means of communication and, regardless of whatever technological revolution we are in the middle of, the letter lives and, like literature, it always will.
INTRODUCTION
It is my great pleasure to welcome you to Letters of Note: Music, a journey through the letters of others. The common thread of these missives, music, is one of the few things in life to be overwhelmingly positive and profoundly enriching.
Music has the power to unite the most diverse of personalities and heal the deepest of wounds; a single note from a beloved song can transport you to a different time and lift one’s mood more swiftly than the most powerful of drugs. It is no exaggeration to say that without music, were it to be outlawed today, life would have one less dimension. The only truly universal language would be lost, a means of connection would be severed, and the bonds we share would slowly weaken.
So it seems fitting to celebrate something as fundamentally important as music by way of another form of communication, the letter, the death of which, sadly, is far easier to imagine. In our ever-changing world we have surrendered to shiny new devices that promise so much, at the expense of the things that make old-fashioned correspondence so precious. The convenience of being able to tap a slab of bright glass a few times in order to send an emoji to a loved one on the other side of the world is a wonderful thing – and not one to be scoffed at – but the physical act of putting pen to paper, of carefully composing a letter, of being present and undistracted while channelling your thoughts onto the page, all for the benefit of someone else, is a powerful, satisfying, humanising act, the benefits of which are far-reaching.
It is safe to say that without music or letters, we would suffer.
So, let me be your conductor as we celebrate both forms of communication, by way of a melodic collection of letters that spans just over two centuries, beginning in 1812 and ending in 2019. Music is touched upon in letters of gratitude, anger, madness, advice, love, reassurance and joy. We shall travel to 1962, giving you a front row seat in which to enjoy the moment one of our greatest rock ’n’ roll bands forged an early connection; to 1981, when one of punk’s most influential critics traces the genre’s birth back to unimaginable places; to 2016, to see a musical legend bid goodbye to his dear muse; to 1924, to witness the magical thank-you from a grateful deaf music fan to the orchestra she somehow ‘heard’; to 1943 and the heartbreaking moment a women of colour asks a conductor to ignore both her sex and race in a bid to progress; and much more.
Whether you are a music fan or not, these letters of note will fascinate you. And should you for some unfathomable reason dislike letters, I am certain the stories and messages they contain will still enrich your life.
Switch your phones to silent, stop talking at the back, and enjoy the performance.
Shaun Usher
2020
The Letters
LETTER 01
HE IS CALLED MICK JAGGER
Keith Richards to Aunt Patty
April 1962
Since 1962 Keith Richards ha
s been lead guitarist and songwriter in one of the most successful and influential bands of all time, a true living legend responsible for some of the most recognisable riffs in the history of rock ’n’ roll. Such is the level of his fame, it is almost impossible to imagine Keith Richards prior to stardom, before he began strolling onto vast stages to thrill adoring crowds with songs that will no doubt endure for centuries to come. But thanks to a letter he once wrote to his beloved aunt, Patty, we are given such a glimpse. It was April 1962, and Keith was eighteen years old. His words brim with excitement as he describes, among other things, an encounter while awaiting the train to the London School of Economics four months earlier that would ultimately change his life. Three months after he wrote to Aunt Patty, ‘The Rollin’ Stones’ played their first gig at the Marquee Club in London. The rest is history.
THE LETTER
6 Spielman Rd
Dartford
Kent
Dear Pat,
So sorry not to have written before (I plead insane) in bluebottle voice. Exit right amid deafening applause.
I do hope you’re very well.
We have survived yet another glorious English Winter. I wonder which day Summer falls on this year?
Oh but my dear I have been soooo busy since Christmas beside working at school. You know I was keen on Chuck Berry and I thought I was the only fan for miles but one mornin’ on Dartford Stn. (that’s so I don’t have to write a long word like station) I was holding one of Chuck’s records when a guy I knew at primary school 7–11 yrs y’know came up to me. He’s got every record Chuck Berry ever made and all his mates have too, they are all rhythm and blues fans, real R&B I mean (not this Dinah Shore, Brook Benton crap) Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, Chuck, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker all the Chicago bluesmen real lowdown stuff, marvelous. Bo Diddley he’s another great.
Anyways the guy on the station, he is called Mick Jagger and all the chicks and the boys meet every Saturday morning in the ‘Carousel’ some juke-joint well one morning in Jan I was walking past and decided to look him up. Everybody’s all over me I get invited to about 10 parties. Beside that Mick is the greatest R&B singer this side of the Atlantic and I don’t mean maybe. I play guitar (electric) Chuck style we got us a bass player and drummer and rhythm-guitar and we practice 2 or 3 nights a week. SWINGIN’.
Of course they’re all rolling in money and in massive detached houses, crazy, one’s even got a butler. I went round there with Mick (in the car of course Mick’s not mine of course) OH BOY ENGLISH IS IMPOSSIBLE.
“Can I get you anything, sir?”
“Vodka and lime, please”
“Certainly, sir”
I really felt like a lord, nearly asked for my coronet when I left.
Everything here is just fine.
I just can’t lay off Chuck Berry though, I recently got an LP of his straight from Chess Records Chicago cost me less than an English record.
Of course we’ve still got the old Lags here y’know Cliff Richard, Adam Faith and 2 new shockers Shane Fenton and John Leyton SUCH CRAP YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD. Except for that greaseball Sinatra ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Still I don’t get bored anymore. This Saturday I am going to an all night party.
“I looked at my watch
It was four-o-five
Man I didn’t know
If I was dead or alive”
Quote Chuck Berry
Reeling and a Rocking
12 galls of Beer Barrel of Cyder, 3 bottle Whiskey Wine. Her ma and pa gone away for the weekend I’ll twist myself till I drop (I’m glad to say).
The Saturday after Mick and I are taking 2 girls over to our favourite Rhythm & Blues club over in Ealing, Middlesex.
They got a guy on electric harmonica Cyril Davies fabulous always half drunk unshaven plays like a mad man, marvelous.
Well then I can’t think of anything else to bore you with, so I’ll sign off goodnight viewers
BIG GRIN
Luff
Keith xxxxx
Who else would write such bloody crap
‘MICK IS THE GREATEST R&B SINGER THIS SIDE OF THE ATLANTIC AND I DON’T MEAN MAYBE.’
– Keith Richards
LETTER 02
MY HEART ALMOST STOOD STILL
Helen Keller to the New York Symphony Orchestra
2 February 1924
Born in Alabama in 1880, Helen Keller was yet to reach two years of age when she lost her eyesight and hearing due to an illness. Despite such a challenging start to life, she went on to do incredible things. By the age of twenty-three, having already achieved so much, her autobiography, The Story of My Life, had been published, and over the years she travelled the world as a highly sought-after public speaker, giving eloquent lectures on all manner of topics, including her inspiring life story. As an activist, she campaigned tirelessly on behalf of the marginalised; all told, she authored a dozen books and many articles. On 2 February 1924, the morning after Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall, Keller wrote a letter of appreciation to the New York Symphony Orchestra and announced a personal breakthrough: a new-found ability to ‘hear’ music through touch alone, with her fingertips acting as a bridge between melodic vibrations and her mind’s ear.
THE LETTER
93 Seminole Avenue,
Forest Hills, L. I.,
February 2, 1924.
The New York Symphony Orchestra,
New York City.
Dear Friends:
I have the joy of being able to tell you that, though deaf and blind, I spent a glorious hour last night listening over the radio to Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony.” I do not mean to say that I “heard” the music in the sense that other people heard it; and I do not know whether I can make you understand how it was possible for me to derive pleasure from the symphony. It was a great surprise to myself. I had been reading in my magazine for the blind of the happiness that the radio was bringing to the sightless everywhere. I was delighted to know that the blind had gained a new source of enjoyment; but I did not dream that I could have any part in their joy. Last night, when the family was listening to your wonderful rendering of the immortal symphony someone suggested that I put my hand on the receiver and see if I could get any of the vibrations. He unscrewed the cap, and I lightly touched the sensitive diaphragm. What was my amazement to discover that I could feel, not only the vibrations, but also the impassioned rhythm, the throb and the urge of the music! The intertwined and intermingling vibrations from different instruments enchanted me. I could actually distinguish the cornets, the roll of the drums, deep-toned violas and violins singing in exquisite unison. How the lovely speech of the violins flowed and plowed over the deepest tones of the other instruments! When the human voice leaped up trilling from the surge of harmony, I recognized them instantly as voices. I felt the chorus grow more exultant, more ecstatic, upcurving swift and flame-like, until my heart almost stood still. The women’s voices seemed an embodiment of all the angelic voices rushing in a harmonious flood of beautiful and inspiring sound. The great chorus throbbed against my fingers with poignant pause and flow. Then all the instruments and voices together burst forth—an ocean of heavenly vibration—and died away like winds when the atom is spent, ending in a delicate shower of sweet notes.
Of course, this was not “hearing” but I do know that the tones and harmonies conveyed to me moods of great beauty and majesty. I also sensed, or thought I did, the tender sounds of nature that sing into my hand—swaying reeds and winds and the murmur of streams. I have never been so enraptured before by a multitude of tone-vibrations.
As I listened, with darkness and melody, shadow and sound filling all the room, I could not help remembering that the great composer who poured forth such a flood of sweetness into the world was deaf like myself. I marvelled at the power of his quenchless spirit by which out of his pain he wrought such joy for others—and there I sat, feeling with my hand the magnificent symphony which bro
ke like a sea upon the silent shores of his soul and mine.
Let me thank you warmly for all the delight which your beautiful music has brought to my household and to me. I want also to thank Station WEAF for the joy they are broadcasting in the world.
With kindest regards and best wishes, I am,
Sincerely yours,
[Signed]
HELEN KELLER
LETTER 03
THANK YOU, AND I HOPE YOU CHOKE
Beatles fan to Nike, Inc.
30 March 1987
In March 1987, a black-and-white Nike Air advert appeared on television that was unremarkable but for one detail: its soundtrack had been plucked from the sacred back catalogue of one of history’s most recognisable bands, The Beatles. It was the first time that one of the Fab Four’s songs had been used for such a purpose. To complicate matters, the surviving Beatles were unaware: its usage had been cleared, in part, by John Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, seemingly without consultation. Unsurprisingly, a messy lawsuit soon reared its head, a many-limbed beast that persisted for two long years before finally being put to rest in 1989, out of court. The advert was banished for ever. Much swifter, however, was the retribution served by a furious Beatles fan by way of this letter, sent to Nike’s advertising department shortly after the advert first aired. The letter, I am told, now hangs at the company’s head office.
THE LETTER
March 30, 1987
Nike, Inc.
Advertising/Marketing Dept.
3900 SW Murray
Beverton, OR 97005
Dear Sir or Madam:
This letter of complaint is in response to a very nauseating advertisement of yours which I saw on television yesterday. From your complete lack of taste you have created a commercial for your “Michael Jordan” shoes which exploits, defiles and utterly insults Beatles’ fans, and all others of musical distinction. Your debasement of the Beatles’ song, “Revolution”, in the commercial ad is apparently indicative of your lack of integrity as a business. Your tactic, obviously, is to use the Beatles’ universal popularity to sell your product. Have you sunk that low? “Is nothing sacred anymore?”, as the cliché goes? Your only motive is to make more money for your greedy selves, and in the process you seemingly could not care less that you have trampled and befouled the precious memories of millions and millions of people throughout the entire world. Your kind makes me puke; you low, vacuous, malodorous perverts. Your dearth of sensitivity is equaled only by your plethora of obnoxiousness. To your credit, you have waited nearly seven years since the death of John Ono Lennon; but it was obviously not done out of respect (Huh? What’s that?) for the deceased.