Rock Of Ages: Jews who play on the pop music scene.

7.24.98 By Scott Benarde for Baltimore Jewish Times

In 1995, while on the Florida leg of a concert tour, Bob Dylan walked into Temple Beth El in West Palm Beach and attended Yom Kippur services. You would have thought Elijah had come through the door as worshipers did double takes.

Say what you want about Bob "Robert Zimmerman" Dylan's late '70s experience as a born-again Christian, the enigmatic superstar's real roots were showing. Mr. Dylan's synagogue appearance made the local papers. It also made local Jews proud.

It did not make national news, which is probably how Mr. Dylan, who likes maintaining an air of mystery, preferred it. Throughout the rock era, most Jewish performers, songwriters and musicians have preferred keeping their Jewishness and Judaism out of the spotlight.

The Jewish contribution to blues, folk, pop and rock music, and the influence of Judaism on these performers, has been substantial, but little publicized. Identifying as a Jew was considered bad for business.

As Mr. Dylan may have unintentionally illustrated, that's been dramatically changing throughout the '90s. Jewish rockers may not be trumpeting their Jewishness as powerfully as many fans might like, but the truth is they're singing its praises louder than we have realized.

What's changed? The passage of time? The mounting success of pop stars who are Jewish? A nothing-to-lose-attitude of children of Holocaust survivors like singer-songwriter Dan Bern and Justine Frischmann of the British band Elastica? The fact that gentile pop icons such as Madonna think Kabbalah is cool?

Longtime record producer Brooks Arthur, who began his career as the studio engineer on most of Neil Diamond's hit singles and more recently produced Adam Sandler's "Chanukah Song," observes that among Jews in the music business "your [Jewish] pride was more covert back then and now it's overt."

Why?

"Our parents' cry to us was `Be American. Fit in.' So we were changing our ways. We realized 20 years later it wasn't working. For the last 15 years or so many people have been realizing that assimilation and intermarriage haven't been working," says Mr. Arthur, who also engineered and/or produced albums by Van Morrison, Blues Project, Bruce Springsteen, Janis Ian, Bette Midler, Liza Minelli and comedians Jackie Mason and Robin Williams.

It's also a question of mortality.

"I know lots of colleagues who are gone by natural, untimely or abuse deaths," Mr. Arthur says. "You realize you're a couple of steps closer to God. So we're cleaning up our acts. We're picking up where we left off after our bar mitzvahs."

Mr. Arthur, who became ba`al teshuva (observant) in 1982, adds, "I woke up one day and found myself with a little spark of Yiddishkeit, a pintela yid, a little flame. The thirst increased. I went back to study and re-learn Hebrew. I go to shul as often as I can."

Rising new stars rarely think twice about talking about Judaism. Singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb, whose "Stay [I Missed You]" from the "Reality Bites" soundtrack reached No. 1 in 1994, even mentions starring in plays at the Dallas JCC in her official bio. During a TV interview last December when asked what she would be doing for Christmas, Ms. Loeb answered that she celebrated Chanukah.

"I think people have become more proud of their differences. They're not afraid to stand up and say who they are. I'm proud," says Ms. Loeb, who grew up in Dallas, attended a Reform temple and "was bat mitzvahed, confirmed, consecrated and everything. I had a pretty Jewish upbringing."

Singer-songwriter Marc Cohn, 39, winner of the 1991 Grammy Award for Best New Artist, whose parents died before he was of bar mitzvah age, has been re-examining his Judaism in recent years to the point of participating on the critically acclaimed 1996 Chanukah CD, "Festival of Light."

He sings the lead track, a soulful version of "Rock of Ages-Ma'oz Tzur." His recently released album "Burning the Daze" is full of soul-searching. It ends with a song called "Ellis Island." But it begins with a song called "Already Home," which easily could be a metaphor for re-discovering the Judaism of his childhood.

And then there's Adam Sandler's 1996 novelty, "The Chanukah Song." Something must have changed not only for Mr. Sandler to write and record it, but for mainstream radio to play it frequently enough for the album to sell well over 1 million copies.

The Name Game

But society, we know, was not always so tolerant. At the dawn of the rock era in the '50s, even though the owners of many of the major record labels were Jewish, remarks such as Ms. Loeb's were no-nos. Like many film stars, she might have been compelled to change her name to increase her appeal to the masses.

Do you think keyboard player-arranger Manfred Mann and Mountain lead guitarist Leslie West would have been easier to market as Manfred Lubowitz and Leslie Weinstein, their real names? Would J. Geils Band harmonica player Magic Dick have been introduced as Richard Salwitz or lead singer Peter Wolf as Peter Blankfield? How about Cars lead guitarist Eliot Easton? Isn't that name hipper (that is to say, less ethnic) than Eliot Steinberg? Phoebe Snow is cooler than Phoebe Laub; Janis Ian hipper than Janis Fink; ditto Carole King who was born Carole Klein. And which rocks more for the co-founder of Jane's Addiction, Porno For Pyros and the Lollapalooza festival, Perry Farrell or Perry Bernstein?

British blues guitarist Peter Greenbaum simply dropped `baum' to become Peter Green before co-founding Fleetwood Mac in 1967 and writing the now-classic song "Black Magic Woman," which became a big hit for Santana in 1970. (After leaving the band, he would later perform as Greenbaum.)

Some names just don't rock. So Haifa-born Chaim Klein and New Yorker Stanley Eisen, respectively, become Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS. You get the picture.

Al Kooper's parents changed the family name from Kuperschmid long before their son became a Dylan sideman, joined the Blues Project, then founded Blood, Sweat & Tears.

"My parents must have known I was destined for greatness," Mr. Kooper recently joked of the name change.

"I don't consider myself a member of any religious sect, but I have a healthy belief and respect of God," Mr. Kooper says, "although I'm definitely Jewish, my roots are Jewish."

He also calls his early songwriting collaboration with Bob Brass and Irwin Levine a very Jewish experience. "We spoke a lot of Yiddish," at those songwriting sessions, he recalls.

Those collaborations produced "This Diamond Ring," a No. 1 hit for Gary Lewis & the Playboys. (Mr. Kooper currently teaches songwriting and production at Berklee College of Music in Boston and plays weekend concerts with his band The ReKooperators.)

To be fair about name changes, Perry Farrell has discussed his Judaism during concerts, not tried to hide it. Manfred Mann, a South African-born, self-described cultural Jew best known for taking Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen songs to the top of the pop charts ("The Mighty Quinn," "Blinded By the Light") never legally changed his name and still views himself as Manfred Lubowitz.

"I thought Lubowitz didn't sound right as a jazz player," Mr. Mann, er Lubowitz, recalls by phone from London. "I think of myself as Lubowitz."

Leslie West, on the other hand, on Mountain's most recent album, "Man's World," released in 1996, changed all the songwriting and production credits of Jewish singer-songwriter-producer Eddie Schwartz to Eddie Black.

Mr. Schwartz recalls that in the middle of a recording session, Mr. West stopped singing and asked, "Schwartz means black doesn't it?" After a nod from Mr. Schwartz, Mr. West said, "OK, from now on you're Eddie Black."

Mr. Schwartz, who at the time didn't know Mr. West was Jewish, simply answered, "OK, Les, from now on I'm Eddie Black."

Mr. Schwartz, 48, best-known for penning the 1979 Pat Benatar smash "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," says he isn't sure if he would have changed his name earlier in his career, when he had a Top 30 hit as singer Eddie Schwartz. Since he had written "Best Shot" under his own name, he kept Schwartz.

Sour Notes

Another reason Jewish performers kept their pedigree quiet was, of course, fear of anti-Semitism and the accompanying possibility of losing work.

Nashville-based singer-songwriter Henry Gross, a transplanted New Yorker (and a yeshiva graduate), said his Jewish colleagues were reluctant to discuss the subject because being Jewish in the Bible Belt was a career death warrant. Mr. Gross, best known as a founding member of Sha Na Na and for the 1976 Top 10 hit "Shannon," is an outspoken Zionist, but has a sense of humor about the situation. He jokes about starting a Nashville TV show called "Heeb Haw."

And try being the only Yid on the tour bus. Mickey Raphael, the harmonica player in Willie Nelson's band, has had that distinction for 25 years.

He's lost count of the times he's had to remind folks that the term "Jew 'em down" is not one of endearment or that in regards to Jesus, "We didn't kill him." (These were not problems with Willie Nelson.)

Guitar and bass player Harvey Goldstein was 19 when he took the stage name Harvey Brooks after he "got into a Jew boy scenario" and was attacked during a break at a gig in Michigan in the early '60s.

"I took that name to avoid conflicts," says Mr. Brooks, 54, who grew up in a kosher New York home (but rebelled against it). "I thought, `Just let me get a professional name without any connotations, the blandest name I can find.' In those days you wanted to blend in. It was easier to blend in than fight your way in."

Brooks may have been a bland name, but his bass playing was anything but. He got his break playing on Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" album in 1965. "Al Kooper called me and told me Dylan needed a bass player. I didn't even know who Dylan was."

Goldstein/Brooks went on to record and/or perform with Judy Collins, Richie Havens, Eric Anderson, Phil Ochs, The Electric Flag, The Doors, early Jefferson Starship, Donald Fagan and the Fabulous Thunderbirds.

Not every Jewish rocker acquiesced to a name change.

Singer-songwriter-keyboard player Barry Goldberg and his friend, guitarist Michael Bloomfield, of Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Electric Flag fame, out of sheer pride would not change their names. But then they had a role model -- Mr. Goldberg's uncle Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg.

"It hurt me, not changing my name," says singer-key-board player-songwriter Mr. Goldberg, 57. "Bloomfield and I were really into our heritage and traditions and proud of our names and if people didn't like them it was tough. We were emphatic about keeping our real names."

Chicago-born Mr. Goldberg was so proud, he even released a blues album in 1969 with Mr. Bloomfield called "2 Jews Blues."

Many Jews in the record business, Mr. Goldberg says, "told us not to [make the record], but we felt that's who we are and ... if Jews don't have the blues after what we've been through, well..."

Much of Mr. Goldberg's Jewish pride came from watching his uncle, the Supreme Court justice.

"I thought of my uncle Arthur using Goldberg and being proud of it," Mr. Goldberg says. "He blazed through politics and the legal system and faced a lot of adversity. Every time he met with Lyndon Johnson, he went in there like a hero. When [John] Kennedy needed advice, he would call my uncle. It made me feel proud."

Observance, And Christmas Albums

Rockers observing Shabbat? Not many. In fact, many Jewish pop singers have recorded best-selling Christmas albums. Neil Diamond has recorded two. Credit contemporary jazz saxophonist Kenny G (Gorelick), who has one of the hottest-selling Christmas albums of the decade, for also releasing "The Jazz Service," music for Shabbat eve.

(Producer Brooks Arthur explains the Jews-making-Christmas-albums this way: "Christmas is American now, a national holiday that on a lot of levels no longer is religious and Christmas sales are 60 to 70 percent of annual sales at retail so why not get on the ride? And if you make some money from a Christmas album, give tzedakah, give money to your shul.")

Even so, many of these Jewish rockers try to acknowledge, observe or worship as best as they can in an industry that makes it tough to do so.

Bob Dylan's son-in-law, rocker Peter Himmelman, is the Sandy Koufax of rock `n' roll. He won't perform on Shabbat, let alone Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur. (Unfortunately, he also has never had a hit record.)

On the other hand, the Jakob Dylan-led Wallflowers' 1997 album, "Bringing Down the Horse," has sold some 4 million copies and earned the band a pair of Grammy Awards. And while Wallflowers keyboard player Rami Jaffee performs on Friday nights, he cares enough to honor Shabbat by saying the blessings over the wine and bread before the show.

Mr. Jaffee is not alone in trying to rock `n' roll and also pay more than lip service to Judaism. Rockers are more willing to discuss their Jewishness and, in many cases, less reluctant to let it show.

Lou Reed, (born Louis Firbank), for example, took part in the third annual non-sectarian Knitting Factory Cyber-Seder on April 12 at Avery Fisher Hall in New York's Lincoln Center. All 640 seats were sold for what was also a United Jewish Appeal fund-raiser. Organizers estimate between 6,000 and 8,000 people visited the cyber-seder Web site. Sandra Bernhard, John Zorn, the Klezmatics, Hannah Fox of the band Babe the Blue Ox as well as a host of avant garde New York musicians also participated. Knitting Factory owner Michael Dorf, 35, (who opened the club 10 years ago using money saved from his bar mitzvah), has turned the place into a flagship performance space for Jewish musicians.

Spin Doctors drummer Aaron Comess, 30, says he didn't realize until recently that studying for his bar mitzvah was one of the musical highlights of his life. This from a guy who co-wrote a pair of Top 20 hits, "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" and "Two Princes" and whose band's debut album in 1992 sold 5 million copies.

"I was brought up in a kosher home," Mr. Comess says. "I was playing piano at 5 and always knew music was what I wanted to do. Studying the tropes, the melody notations of the Torah, was an amazing musical experience. We had an incredible cantor at our temple and he made me learn the hardest melodies, and the melodies they use on a lot of these prayers are incredible. I learned how to sing and read Hebrew. It was a real drag then, but looking back it was a pretty cool thing."

Spin Doctors co-founder and singer Christopher Baron -- whose last name is Gross -- is also Jewish. Lead guitarist Eron Tabib is Jewish and a sabra (native Israeli) to boot.

Putting Thoughts In Words

If Janis Ian, 46, still got the radio play she received in the '60s and '70s for songs like "At Seventeen," more people would have discovered "Tattoo," her song about the Holocaust, which was on her 1993 album "Breaking Silence."

It includes the lines: "She steps out of the line to the left/and her father to the right/ One side's a cold clean death/ the other is an endless night."

"I always wanted to write about the Holocaust. As a kid I grew up on stories about it," she says, adding that, "As a 10-year-old I saw a book in my parents' library and saw the infamous pictures of bodies on carts with arms and legs dangling and I remember asking what it was."

Ms. Ian, who says "Judaism means everything to me," wasn't thinking about the 10 Commandments when she wrote the song "Honor Them All" from her latest album "Hunger."

"I just wanted to write something nice about my family," she explains of the "honor your father/Honor your mother/Honor yourself above all" lyrics. What Yiddishkeit!

Mr. Schwartz, the Toronto-born songwriter, credits attending Zionist camps from ages 9-15 for helping him develop his music.

"I learned lots of Hebrew folk songs and dances of modern Israel. I think the wonderful spirit of those songs, the spirit of strength through adversity, had an influence on me and is thematic to what I do as a writer. I have tremendous pride about that," Mr. Schwartz says.

As Jewish musicians hit their 40s, more are beginning to reflect on their heritage.

Mr. Raphael, 46, who traces his family to Sephardic Jews of Spain, spends much of his free time on tour with Willie Nelson reading about Jewish history and the Kabbalah. The books are often provided by a Reform rabbi he met after a concert at the (kosher) Concord Hotel in New York in 1991. (At dinner before that concert Mr. Raphael had to explain to disgruntled band members why they couldn't order milk with their steak dinners.)

Something keeps pulling people back in various ways.

Take tough-as-nails record executive Henry Stone (born Epstein). He started in the record business in 1948 and would make some of the first records by Ray Charles, James Brown, Sam & Dave and give a break to a couple of eager kids who would go on to form KC & the Sunshine Band. Unable to have a bar mitzvah at 13, he finally became an official son of the commandments in 1992 when he traveled to Israel and was bar mitzvahed on Masada -- at the age of 71.

There are still trails to blaze for Jewish pop stars.

For a dozen years, producer Arthur has been trying to interest record company executives in doing the ultimate Jewish album: He wants to call it "Songs Are Like Prayers."

He imagines Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Bette Midler, Melissa Manchester, Barry Manilow and other Jewish stars on the same record singing classic or newly-penned Jewish songs in Yiddish as well as English.

No record company will bite.

"I want to make the absolute, definitive Jewish album and no one [at the record companies] wants to buy into it," Mr. Arthur says. "Yet Linda Ronstadt can sing Mexican songs in Spanish and sell a million copies and Gloria Estefan does `Mi Tierra' [an album of traditional Cuban songs]," which also sold a million copies.

Still, Jewish musicians have come a long way.

Bassist Mr. Brooks, who changed his professional name from Goldstein all those years ago, now says of the switch: "If I had to do it again, I wouldn't."

Scott Benarde is a journalist based in Del Ray Beach, Fla., who is working on a book about the Jewish contribution to popular music from 1958-1998.

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