The life you save may be your own

This afternoon my new Pod Blogger pal Sebastian Prooth, in Leeds, England was walking me through several installations on my new PC, here in Desert Hot Springs, California. I started to feel weak, so I excused myself and went to have a sandwich. While I rushed through lunch, my chest tightened and my left arm suddenly felt like there were thousands of volts of electricity running through it! From all of the symptoms I was experiencing, I assumed I was having a heart attack!

I said a prayer and started to use a method I learned 30 years ago from Dr. Henry Mundt, an expert in deep relaxation techniques, who taught me ways to instantly relieve stress. It’s called a 2-2-5, a simple breathing excercise that calms anxiety. A method so effective that I’m able to slow down my heart and decrease my blood pressure in just a few minutes. It wasn’t long before all of the symptoms subsided…but I was severely shaken by the experience.

A few minutes later, after a few more 2-2-5s and I got back onto Skype and called Sebastian. He told me to call a doctor right away ’cause it sounded like I was having a stroke…the kind that claimed his grandfather a few months ago! I told him that I used a few 2-2-5s to calm me down, the same exercise I showed him that made his voice deeper and more resonant when he recorded podcasts. I was ready to continue letting him show me how to use new programs he just installed, but he asked instead to do a few 2-2-5s along with me. He said that he had been stressed out all day and could stand a little deep relaxation himself.

As we went through the breathing excercise, we heard our voices deepen as we both started to relax. When he asked me to show him the steps I take to enter into deep meditation, I was tired but happy to share the routine I’d been using every morning for the past 30 years.

1. Inhale through the nose [ count 1…..2…..] Exhale through the mouth.

2. Inhale through the nose [ count 1…..2…..] Exhale through the mouth.

3. Inhale through the nose [ count 1…..2…..3…..4…..5 ] Exhale through the mouth.

Close your eyes and repeat the 2-2-5 breathing pattern ’til you’re relaxed.

Then with your feet flat on the floor, with your hands on your knees or in your lap, visualise yourself walking down a long flight of stairs. Count backwards from 100 as you descend. 100…99…98…at a leisurely pace…relaxing a bit more with every step until you finally reach the bottom.

Take a moment to enjoy the feeling…like you’re floating with no cares in the world. then repeat, “Positive thinking brings results I desire, Positive thinking brings results I desire”. Say this with conviction 10 more times…then take a another deep breath.

Finally visualize an elevator door opening in front of you…you get on and press the button marked 10…watch the elevator ascend from level 1 up to 10 to your regular level of consciousness…then continue your normal activities.

I guess it was the equivelant of rebooting a computer. I felt more energized than I had in years and realized that if Sebastian hadn’t asked me to show him my deeper meditation technique when he did, I might not be here writing this piece.

I want to thank him for what he did and when he installs my sound recorder tomorrow, the first thing I’m going to do is record the relaxation technique and make it available to anyone who e-mails me for a copy.

IRVING GREEN R.I.P. ROCK N PERPETUITY!

IRVING GREEN  2/6/16 – 7/1/06

What do Sarah Vaughn, The Platters, Brook Benton, Patti Page,
The Diamonds, Del Vikings, James Brown, Dinah Washington,
Roger Miller, Jerry Lee Lewis, Frankie Laine, The Troggs,
Wayne Fontana, the Mindbenders, the Troggs, Leslie Gore, Blue
Cheer, Manfred Mann, Steam, Freddie and the Dreamers, Dusty
Springfield, Keith, Paul Mauriat, Jay and the Techniques,
David Bowie, The Blues Magoos, Spanky and Our Gang, Crispian
St. Peters, Jerry Butler, Bobby Hebb, Louie Armstrong. and
Rod Stewart all have in common?

They all recorded for Irving Green, who owned Mercury Records,
a little indie who could… and did… become a major label!
He also owned Smash and distributed Phillips records and all
of their subsidiaries. He was one of the first champions of
Rock and Roll and Mercury was the first major company to
promote Black artists to crossover into the Pop mainstream.
It also was the first to have an African-American as Vice-
President of A+R, Quincy Jones.

Although he repeatedly asked me to call him Irv, I always
called him Mr. Green, out of respect for his daughter Kelli
Ross, who was my partner in Alouette Productions. Not many
people knew that Mr. Green was a silent partner in our
publishing and administration firm.

He was one of the few CEOS I’ve ever known who an artist
could talk to. Although he wasn’t a producer, I remember
when James Brown recorded briefly for Smash, he wouldn’t go
into the recording studio without Mr. Green being there.

From time to time he’d ask me to go “undercover” for him. In
the last days of Cameo-Parkway records, he asked me to
introduce him to my friends Neil Bogart, who was running the
label and Bob Reno, who was with the publishing company. He
wanted to get them to come over to Mercury, but Neil and Bob
wound up going to Buddah Records instead. A few years later,
Bob Reno did have a successful stint at Mercury, as head of
MRC publishing and later as head of A+R.

When the Lovin’ Spoonful were about to re-sign with Kama-Sutra,
Mr.Green sent me to Wilkes-Barre to meet up with my old pals
and offer them a check for a million dollars to defect to
Mercury! When I mentioned to him that he hadn’t signed it, he
said, “When they sign a contract…I’ll sign the check!”

The last time I saw him it was 35 years ago hanging out at
Quincy’s house. He said he would leave the music business
when it stopped being fun. I guess it stopped being fun when
a big conglomerate bought him out. A few years later he went
into semi-retirement and moved to Palm Springs.

Although I’d heard he had become a top land developer, I will
always remember him as one of the greatest developers of pop
music and the human potential. Thank you for believing in me
and helping me to believe in myself.

Rest-in-Peace, Mr.Green.

Respectfully, Artie Wayne

From my forthcoming book, “I Did It For A Song”
Copyright 2009 by Artie Wayne
https://artiewayne.wordpress.com

BACK TO THE R.I.P. ROCK N PERPETUITY ARCHIVES https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/rip-rock-in-perpetuity-archives/

BACK TO ARTIE WAYNE ON THE WEB https://artiewayne.wordpress.com