Committees, Elections and Picassos, or It Happens Every Time

Before a tour, or during the first few concerts of one, we have people lamenting and complaining that this isn’t right, or that isn’t the way it should be, or Clay could do this and that differently or, better still, change it altogether. There’s always someone who wants things to be different.

This happens every time.

How about forming a committee, coming to a decision and then presenting it to Clay. Only there’s a problem here because committees are famous for only one thing - wasting everyone’s time. Most of us have sat in on a committee meeting in our time, haven’t we? Has anything ever been decided? I mean, set in writing with everyone happy over it? Somebody has an idea, sets it on the table for discussion and everybody else finds things to pick at. As the witty - and astute - Will Rogers once said “ Other than traffic, there is nothing that has held this country back as much as committees.”

So let’s say that Clay, the democratic being that he is, decides to pitch his own plans in the round file and find out what the fans want, each one individually. But what do they want? I mean, I know what I want, but my friend who I talked with earlier today wants something else. I’ve been in this situation before - trying to get my three kids to agree what they wanted to do on our ‘ family day Sunday’ we tried to hold on occasion when they were still at home. Dad and I would come up with suggestions and even invite suggestions from them. There would always be a fight, of course.

But we’re all adults here, not adults trying to deal with children ( nor committees ). So maybe we could agree to elect one person to decide what Clay’s to do. We’re all used to the democratic system, right? So let’s be democratic. That should make everyone happy. So who should we vote for? Well, we have an executive banker somewhere in our little club. She makes sensible decisions about lending money, so she can surely make the right decision here. But then Samie might not like the idea because she doesn’t like bankers as she didn’t get her car loan approved. But she teaches kindergarten so always has to come up with clever innovative ways to keep the kids interested . Maybe her. No? Why? Because what does she know about singing? Okay, then, how about Lilly. She’s an opera singer. And as Clay can sing anythin..... No? You’re afraid she’d make him do opera all night? Well then, we have Olivia over here. She used to write drama for television. Bet she could get some great material going for Clay. Not her because we don’t want music not drama? Okay, how about my idea? Why not let Clay decide?

People. Please remember your own words throughout the years. Pretty much everyone, after the initial shock of whatever Clay’s decided to do to entertain us has worn off, have all pretty much agreed on one thing. That the tour was ‘ the best ever”. “The most fun”. And he was gorgeous and sexy throughout, whenever he wasn’t being a dork, that is, and not everyone agreed on his choice of hair and jeans. But other than that... you know. Please remember that we all, whether we were fortunate enough to be able to attend or not, had a good time.

Think about it. Think about what Clay’s really all about. Think about how innovative he really is, and without much input from us. Because with all the negatives and all the doubts, there really is one truism in all this, and that is that Clay is unique in one respect. He can make you do one certain thing, even sometimes against your will. He can make you like something you really don't want to like.

This man takes a child's drawing and shows you the Monet underneath. Or maybe more like a Picasso, because his mind seems to think in abstract. The first show is the outline, and each successive show he fills it in. A blue stroke over here, a splash of red there. And by the end of the tour, there's a masterpiece, incredibly complex. A treasure to be hung on your feature wall and treasured forever more.

This happens every time.