When I was twenty, not long before turning twenty-one, and listening (consecutively / simultaneously) to Sergeant Pepper, Stravinsky, Hendrix, Bartok, Clapton with Mayall, I heard one musician in many bodies, singing / playing with one voice, in one language with many dialects. This was the perception / insight / experience which took me from the world of the about-to-be-becoming partner in estate agency, soon to set off to London to study for a degree in Estate Management, and instead sent me into as fine a liberal education as I might conceive: that of the working (and aspirant) musician.
Dilemma: how to engage with a listening community which is generous enough to take an interest in my work, but whose interest is expressed & manifested in such ways as to unintentionally hinder music appearing, and to bring me repeatedly to despair?
The difference between the despair provided by the music industry, and that provided by fan / enthusiasts, is that the music industry sets out to undermine the artist intentionally; the enthusiast does so in ignorance.
As a working generalisation (and anticipating hostile reactions from well-meaning, generous audients) this contains enough accuracy to terrify any of us who love music. And yet we simultaneously conspire to prevent it entering our world, by all manner of "justifiable" and well-argued "opinions" and assumptions which direct our unintentionally damaging conduct.
Paul Murray has written to me personally. He comments on this entry to my Thursday Diary:
"... a letter from ET-poster Paul Murray of Colorado, offended firstly by his non-encounter with Fripp in Boulder, and secondly by Fripp's response in the DGM Diary to his reporting of the non-encounter in ET. Paul takes me to task for not addressing his logical deconstruction of my assumptive Diary comments and, he suggests, attacking him personally instead".
Toby has ruled out "Encounters" from ET, which deprives Paul of a public forum for his arguments. Fripp has access to the Diary, and the DGM Guestbook is probably not an appropriate forum for this polemic. So, Paul is disadvantaged in public debate. This is unfair.
May I invite Paul to post his third letter / posting to the DGM Guestbook? I'm not sure whether this will enable us to move to any resolution of two very different positions; but, as the disagreement began in public, it seems appropriate to attempt resolution also in public.
I make the assumptive leap that Paul will feel able to post to the Guestbook for a fair and unmediated presentation of his position; I hope the discussion field is level; and I quote from his letter:
Paul writes that he is not offended by the non-encounter as such - "a non-issue" - but my assumptive Diary comments. "My criticism lie in (RF's) assessment of the rude fan ... of which I might be included... It doesn't disqualify my from saying, `Hey, this is a poorly formed opinion and this is why...".
Paul continues: "If a person is going to engage in a debate, then said person should engage in the debate at level of criticism and analysis. Calling an argument long or rude ... is not a meaningful response in a debate".
Paul's third letter / posting is reasonable, moderate and well argued. So, I am able to respond.
Taking Paul's second point first: "if a person is going to engage in debate, then said person should engage ... at (the) level of criticism and analysis".
I have not yet engaged in discussion with Paul over his first two postings. They were not, to my eyes, informed by the spirit of "criticism and analysis", but by reaction. I don't, generally, attempt critical engagement until reaction has released its grip. My reading of Paul's first two letters suggests to me that, mistakenly feeling himself to be unfairly and mistakenly characterised as Rude Fan Murray, Paul reacted. That's my subjective reading of Paul's posts.
(Ironically, Paul's address is the Near-Surface Seismology Group at Colorado School of Mines: "a little shaking below the surface" is how I would describe Paul's first posting).
Taking Paul's first point: "My criticism lie in (RF's) assessment of the rude fan ... of which I might be included... It doesn't disqualify my from saying, `Hey, this is a poorly formed opinion and this is why..."
Three points here:
1. Paul is not The Rude Fan Murray. He is Enthusiast Paul Who Offers To Treat But The Artist Declines To Engage, "tersely but courteously".
2. Paul is not "disqualified" from pointing out that my "opinion" was poorly formed. But if I am to take Paul's comments seriously, I need:
i) The comments to have substance, of effect beyond presenting a deconstructive linguistic exercise;
ii) Paul to be able to put himself in my position;
iii) To have a comparable level of experience to mine.
If this / these were so, the matter my blast was directed towards (continual harrassment) and to whom it was directed (the energy-vampiric) would be a practical occurrence in Paul's everyday life, rather than a theoretical subject to be reasonably debated by rational beings. If the subject were a part of Paul's everyday life, I suspect his interest in artist - enthusiast relations / encounters would become a greater practical matter, even a burning issue, than being a topic for quasi-academic discussion. And if Paul's life & work depended upon him finding practical solutions to this, I suspect the tenor of our exchange would be rather different.
3. RF's "assessment of the rude fan".
This addresses whether RF has any competence to make judgements. I suggest this is governed mainly by RF's:
i) Hands-on (or hands-off!) off experience;
ii) Pyschological qualifications;
iii) Intuitive & instinctive capacities;
iv) Ability to put himself in the place of others.
v) Ability to put himself in the place of himself.
I have no formal qualifications other than "O" & "A" levels. I have performed in all manner of public spaces for 38 years and 7 months; climbed in the back of vans and set off to gigs for 37 years and 4 months, with moderate recognition for 29 years and 7 months, and am now regularly climbing into vans on four continents; have had several hundred fan / enthusiast / disturbed person encounters, including stalking; and received hundreds of fan / enthusiast / disturbed person letters. I have directed Guitar Craft seminars on four continents over a period of thirteen years, to around 1,300 students.
This is life in the front line. It is a battlefield. As a liberal education, it has been more than I could have considered possible at the age of 21. As hands-on experience, more than I would wish on anyone (with the possible exception of a former manager and their solicitor).
The experience confers on me no greater capacity for direct insights and creative seeing than anyone else. Direct insight transcends even reasonable debate between informed parties, engaged in a spirit of critical goodwill.
Another comment by Paul:
Paul: For me, debate is at the center of learning, and it is not about the people in the debate.
RF: For me, mistakes are at the centre of learning. And I trust people over their arguments: firstly, good people don't always have the competence to articulate; secondly, I attach a greater value to what people do over what they say they do; thirdly, I trust my sense of a person's presence beyond anything they say.
My primary response to Paul, handwritten on his e-mail and which will be faxed to him with several other personal comments:
"Thank you: a good letter. Well done. We continue to hold different positions. I don't believe either of them are of any importance, though, & certainly pale in front of our common humanity".
Arnold the Baldy surges behind me. The First & Second String Quartets are moving from section to section on "Random Select" mode, resulting in intriguing and arbitrary juxtapositions.
The Little Horse flew to Morocca with the BBC yesterday. Richard Branson is in a nearby room, about to launch his next balloon attempt. My wife told me (our good-night telephone conversation) she might play golf with him tomorrow. If Toyah's playing of golf in any way resembles her approach to croquet, Richard had best prepare to abandon his plans for ballooning.
06.46
Arny has handed over to Haydn. But still the same musician.
21.47
David & Robert are assembling P1, continuing from this afternon, and Hugh is upstairs completing the artwork. Pam Crook figures and characters grace many of the pages.
22.49
Toyah and I have just spoken. She is still in Marakesh, and up at five tomorrow. During the morning the BBC team is filming in Richard Branson's balloon, and afterwards visiting his new hotel in the mountains.
"There are few things as convincing as death to remind us of the quality with which we live our life."
