Dean Friedman: Healing The World… One Album At A Time
UP CLOSE
⭐️
Dean Friedman
⭐️
UP CLOSE ⭐️ Dean Friedman ⭐️
In 1977, a quirky, funny, infectious Top 20 hit single about a stoned Jewish vegetarian hippie girl in a peasant blouse standing by the Paramus Mall waterfall captured the attention of America. “Ariel” proved irresistible and still stands up today as a timeless piece of perfect pop music.
The artist was Dean Friedman, born and bred in Paramus, but precocious enough to leave home at 15 and be accepted into City College in New York. He had been kicked out of Yeshiva [a school for Jewish children] three times in four years as a kid (“but they always accepted me back.”)
On the basis of his self-titled ’78 debut album, he picked up high-powered management: Alan Pepper of Englewood and the late Stanley Snadowsky. They owned The Bottom Line, the industry showcase club that launched the careers of Bruce Springsteen, Pat Benatar and plenty of others.
“They let me hang out in the back and I got so see Laura Nyro, Dolly Parton and Al Jarreau. It was a great environment and education. Ultimately, though, they fucked me. I did not obey their command to fire my guitar player. As a direct result, they told me I would never get any airplay on New York City radio. And they were true to their word. They had me blacklisted on WNEW-FM. Although `Ariel’ was the #1 most-requested song in the city that summer of ’77, they wouldn’t play any track from my second album.”
That sophomore release, “Well Well,” Said The Rocking Chair, in ’79, became a huge hit in England and started a love affair between the long-haired musician and audiences in Great Britain and Ireland which persists to this day. In fact, Friedman, now 67, is touring abroad this summer on a 40+city tour. He plays guitar, ukulele and whatever piano each venue can provide. “But not at the same time,” he quips.
In 1981, Rumpled Romeo contained “McDonald’s Girl,” originally banned by the BBC, but now fully embraced.
In 1997, a track off his epic 28-tune two-disc Songs For Grownups (“Jennifer’s Baby”) captured the hearts of adoptive parents everywhere including this reporter and his ex who had, indeed, adopted a beautiful South Korean infant from Seoul. Friedman, in this one song, nailed the essence of what it felt like to receive such a bundle of joy.
“That’s what’s kept me going, allowing me to navigate the music business as an independent musician all these years. I owe it all to the Internet and, mostly, my enthusiastic audience.”
But true artistry is not always the province of a cruel music industry. In 2002, after composing, singing and playing his guitar in his treehouse, he was one of the first independent artists to crowd-fund money in support of going into a studio, paying musicians, and creating an album. The Treehouse Journals exceeded all expectations. He’s been doing it ever since. No label, no radio airplay, no corporate backing, he’s a minstrel in the gallery, a fierce indie voice in the face of obstacles that would’ve felled a weaker soul. And his humor has remained intact.
“It’s a combination of sheer stubbornness tempered by a small dose of guilt," he admits. [British rock band] Marillion did the first music crowd-funding to pay for their U.S. tour. I’ve long had my own website. I would sit and write and want to go back into the studio without having to wait another 20 years for some label to grant me permission to do so. So I wrote a letter to the thousand people on my email list. I told them I have these songs, asking if they would pre-order an album. I was concerned folks would just tell me to get a proper job—and some did—but a lot more were fully supportive. The guilt comes in when once I crowd-fund an album and people have sent me their hard-earned cash in advance, that’s a very strong motivating factor for me to actually buckle down, finish the songs, record them and deliver a finished album. That’s what’s kept me going, allowing me to navigate the music business as an independent musician all these years. I owe it all to the Internet and, mostly, my enthusiastic audience.”
He did it for Squirrels In The Attic (2006), subtitled Comedy Songs For Adults, then Submarine Races in 2011, and a two-disc, 30-track best-of called Words And Music in 2012.
Then came his masterpiece.
12 Songs (2013) is so unique, so provocative, melodic, intriguing, over-powering lyrically and different from anything else ever, that a state of artistry was achieved not unlike Harry Nilsson.
“I take that as a huge compliment,” he says. “I’ve always been a big fan of his work. I’ve also taken inspiration from Paul Simon, Taupin/John, Randy Newman and Joni Mitchell. Those are the artists I’ve had an affinity for. It’s in the finding of telling original stories in unconventional ways. Painting pictures with words that conjure up vivid imagery. That’s who I listened to. I grew up in a house filled with show tunes and opera. My mom was a singer who performed on Broadway and in film. Then I got my first transistor radio and my world changed.”
Now comes American Lullaby.
“I’m quite proud of American Lullaby. Hey listen, I’m just trying to do the work—telling stories set to music—and not be too restrained by expectations or convention. I feel like I have a lot more songs inside me.”
Friedman has always been engaged in multi-media pursuits. He produces his own videos. He designed the first virtual-reality video game, as well as interactive musical instruments that have been used in children’s museums around the world and on Nickelodeon TV. He’s also authored the first synthesizer consumer guide.
American Lullaby tells the story of our country’s past, present and even future(!) “I didn’t mean to be so prescient about Russia,” he adds. It’s filled with dark deeds and disaster but couched in soft, gentle tones (“meant to sooth and comfort while gently bracing them for the potential terrors that await”).
“I’m confused, dumbfounded and befuddled at recent events,” he admits.
From “Half Moon,” the name of a Dutch sailing ship in 1609 seeking the Northwest Passage, to the “Drinking Gourd,” commonly known as the “Big Dipper” constellation, that escaped slaves used as a directional guide on their way to freedom, the stories are, ultimately, uplifting. Wait’ll you meet “Peg Leg Joe”! Sure, racism, the pandemic, environmental ignorance, sexism, and an “intractable” culture war “exacerbated by our inane and disastrous politics” are part of this American Lullaby.
But don’t be scared off.
“Hey, I promise,” he yells into the phone. “The album is not all gloom and doom. It’s filled with optimism and faith: not in any god, but in our humanity. I insist on hope, laughter and joy. Our shared emotional trauma is palpable and requires tending to, so some serious silliness is called for.
“Hopefully, the full-time residents of `Stupid Town’ can take a joke. And for those of us lucky enough to have survived the recent cataclysms, it seems to me it’s incumbent upon us, to not just work to heal our wounded world but, to seize every chance we get to celebrate wonder…and propagate joy|”
You can order this must-hear album at Dean Friedman's Website.