December 13, 2024 • 37 mins
Trey and Brian keep the beat with Music Mends Minds founder Carol Rosenstein, who fights memory loss with the unforgettable power of song.
Carol Rosenstein is an educator and practitioner in the field of mind body medicine. In 2014 Carol watched as her husband Irwin, a once-vibrant lawyer and pianist, slipped away due to Parkinson's disease and dementia. As communication became increasingly difficult, hope seemed lost—until Irwin sat at the piano and began to play. With each note of familiar melodies, he transformed, regaining his spark and spirit. Inspired by this miraculous moment and the insights of his neurologist on music's power to change brain chemistry, Carol founded Music Mends Minds, to share this extraordinary healing through music with others facing neurodegenerative challenges, igniting a movement that has gone on to impact countless lives.
Brian Phelps is an American radio personality, actor, and comedian best known for co-hosting the nationally and globally syndicated Mark & Brian Morning Show in Los Angeles for 25 years. As the co-lead of his own television series, with multiple roles in movies, and a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Phelps is also an inductee in the Radio Hall of Fame.
Trey Callaway is an American film and TV writer and producer who wrote the hit movie I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, and has produced successful TV series like CSI:NY, Supernatural, Rush Hour, Revolution, The Messengers, APB, Station 19 and 9-1-1 LONE STAR. He is also a Professor at USC.
___________________________________
Make sure to follow us on social media at:
begoodhumanspodcast.com
instagram.com
tiktok.com
threads.net
facebook.com
Carol Rosenstein is an educator and practitioner in the field of mind body medicine. In 2014 Carol watched as her husband Irwin, a once-vibrant lawyer and pianist, slipped away due to Parkinson's disease and dementia. As communication became increasingly difficult, hope seemed lost—until Irwin sat at the piano and began to play. With each note of familiar melodies, he transformed, regaining his spark and spirit. Inspired by this miraculous moment and the insights of his neurologist on music's power to change brain chemistry, Carol founded Music Mends Minds, to share this extraordinary healing through music with others facing neurodegenerative challenges, igniting a movement that has gone on to impact countless lives.
Brian Phelps is an American radio personality, actor, and comedian best known for co-hosting the nationally and globally syndicated Mark & Brian Morning Show in Los Angeles for 25 years. As the co-lead of his own television series, with multiple roles in movies, and a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Phelps is also an inductee in the Radio Hall of Fame.
Trey Callaway is an American film and TV writer and producer who wrote the hit movie I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, and has produced successful TV series like CSI:NY, Supernatural, Rush Hour, Revolution, The Messengers, APB, Station 19 and 9-1-1 LONE STAR. He is also a Professor at USC.
___________________________________
Make sure to follow us on social media at:
begoodhumanspodcast.com
instagram.com
tiktok.com
threads.net
facebook.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Uh, I.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
What too much? Wow?
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Good humans, be good humans. Be good humans, or we
will think you sucked humans, or we will thank you suck.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Wow. Welcome back. If you are watching us on YouTube,
hey do us a big favor? Would you click like
and subscribe? That would be doing this as solid And
while you're at it, can you click glove you can
just click everything.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Awesome.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
So if you're just listening, I've got to I've got
to break this down for you. Brian is in the
studio today wearing this extraordinary black jacket, custom tailored Western style.
This is like for for those of you have a
certain amographic a Porter wagoner, a black jacket. It looks
(01:07):
like it was maybe designed by Newdy if you're familiar
with his work, famous famous San Fernando Valley Western designer.
But it's black with rhine stone music notes, rhine stone microphones.
I have never felt quite so inadequate as a member
of the male species as I do sitting next to
Brian Phelps right now.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
This is the first time you felt that way?
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Well, no, it's happens frequently. But can you please talk
us through what the story is on this jacket.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
First of all, I'm wearing this jacket to celebrate our
upcoming guest today.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Oh okay, good.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
And briefly, how I got this jacket was it was
made for me Dwight Yoakum. You remember oh inside the pocket?
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Sorry, who sings that?
Speaker 1 (01:51):
That's Dwight yoakamlet him.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
So, Dwight Yoakum invited us over to his house. He
was on the show many times Love and so I'm
there with micro friend Mark and and Linda there and
we just sat in his living room with a guitar.
He had a guitar and he was playing all these songs,
some some of his hits, some covers. It was just
a really.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Special he was famous part of that Bakersfield country sound. Yeah,
that's so cool.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
It's our own little private concert in his home. But
we chatted a lot too, and I said, Dwight, I
gotta tell you man, your jackets are that you wear
on stage? You know the long oh yeah, cool rock
and roll but country still oh yeah, yeah yeah kind
of jackets. They I love them. And I said, man,
I've always wanted to take a look at your closet. Jokingly.
(02:39):
He goes, well, come on, wow, So it takes me upstairs,
opens the double closet door.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Just a minute. This is not just a private concert.
You're getting a private tour of the inner sanctum of Dwight.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
You can't go upstairs in the uh in graceland, but
you can if you're invited. So double doors. He opens
it up and they're in a row, just all these
incredible jackets.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Oh, I can't imagine.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
And I said, all right, jokingly again, I said, great,
Can I have this one? And I too, No, but
I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll get my designer
on it.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
No.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Uh, this is legit.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
This is legit from his designer. It's even got Dwight
yoakum tag in the back. Oh my gosh, this designer
makes all Dwight's jackets.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
And so about five six weeks later, show up at
the station early in the morning to do the show
and these are waiting for us. Mine's black obviously, and
Mars was white.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Honestly, this, guys, this is like something you would see
hanging in a rock and roll museum or whatever like that.
That's but it's legit.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
That's from the guy who designs jacket. So cool if
we wore these on a because you're really not something
you could work out to dinner.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Oh I would, Yeah, you would probably.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
But we wore these special on a on a Billboard campaign.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Oh yeah, of course, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Just because there it's you know, they have microphone.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Yeah, now, what's more microphones and more music notes?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
I mean?
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Dwight's also famous for wearing the tightest jeans in the
history of music.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah, tight jeans. And you know, I think he puts
a Doctor Pepper bottle Downy's. I think that's a secret.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
I am definitely not a Pepper in that regard at
any rate. But so, okay, well, here's the thing. Like,
what I also love about this is that it also
celebrates our mutual love for music in general.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yeah, it does, it really does.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
We both were both drummers.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
We've mentioned that many many yes, and we have.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Both been in a multitude of bands. I don't know
how many bands I actually counted, ok before, I've been
in seven seven different bands?
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Wow?
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Since high school? Since yeah, since my very first like
junior high band. Yeah up till I would say for
me eight or nine? Wow, eight or nine?
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Okay, okay, all right, what was your first band?
Speaker 2 (04:48):
The first band was in high school and I though
the first band was I was in seventh grade.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Okay, that's about the right same same with me.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
And I had been playing drums since fourth grade and
they're the senior. The drummer of the jazz band graduated
and I'm seventh grade and I've only been playing drums
for like a year and a half, drum kid, and
I got picked to be their drummer. So all these seniors,
(05:19):
varsity guys, and there's just little O me playing.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Drums stepping up. Well, that means you were fairly salty
for your age.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
I was kind of salty. Show what salty means, but yeah,
I means good Brian. But one of the funniest names
we had, and this was nineteen or twenty on making
money to go to college. I drive home from Illinois
State University to play in this band, and you would
call it a wedding band.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Well that's how you make the money.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Yeah, yeah, So I drive up and you know, it
was amazing money wise for me at that time, of course,
but we were called and the lead singer, whose husband
actually was the manager as well, so we had no
say in what the band game should be, of course
not but she wanted to call it night dreams. Okay,
(06:03):
so many things wrong with this name? Number one, night dreams?
You dream at night? It couldn't have been day dreams.
You known, h But we would send our posters ahead
of time, like a month ahead of time, and a
lot of times these people had never heard the band.
They don't know what to expect, but they would take
a sharpie and cross out night and put wet, or
cross out Dreams and put mirrors. It was just just
(06:26):
so easy.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Can I just make fun of it? Can I just
come at you and the rest of our audience with
a pitch? Here? Sure? Could we just consider re christening
the show night Dreams instead of Good Humans. It's just
a thought, it's a thought. I'll get working on the
logo right away.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
I wouldn't be involved if we did.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
I done.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
But that was one of the bands. But yeah, many
many mini bands, you know, seventy five bucks for a gig,
no roadies, So we would drive three and a half
four hours. Yeah, I'm using. I'm driving my parents car.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Of course you are same.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah, with my drums loaded in and you being a
you understand this, four hours to get there? You gotta
set up huh? First, you unload everything, and that includes
the keyboards and the guitar. We're all helping. But the
worst part is playing four hours great gig, have a
great time, yeah, and then you gotta tear down, that's right,
and then you gotta load up, and then you gotta
(07:19):
drive four hours back.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Yeah. That's when you're hating the guitarists in the band
because they just like and they're done, and you're like, oh,
but I gotta.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Screwing the symbols and putting them in cases.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Yeah, okay. So my first band in high school was
called Metropolis.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Nice.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Yeah, it was right around seventh grade too, except that
and roll, Yes, but of a certain variety. And here's why.
Our lead singer was also floutest in the high school band.
She was also a couple of years older than me, okay,
and I had a mad crush on her. Went high
Wendy anyway, Wendy Wendy played the flute, so, as you
(07:57):
can imagine, we had to do a lot of jeth
Row Tall Okay in this band. All right, so Metropolis
was my first band.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Let me ask you this as drummers, Yes, who was
your favorite drummer?
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Well, okay, honestly, probably Jim Keltner. He's like the drummer's drummer,
session drummer played on everything. He's kind of the unofficial
unofficial Willberry of the traveling Willberry's but like a million things,
or it's a toss up between him or Jeff Picaro
(08:31):
or Steve gadd It's that, it's it's the guys who
most people don't know. We know who the flashy, like
well known drummers are, and they're incredible, but like it's
those la session drummers that I grew up sort of
looking at liner notes to learn about that I gravitate
to her.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, mine is also Jeff Picaro, but before Jeff and
he was in our house band, right, yeah, so many
times so you knew him. Yeah, sweetest guy. And again
I worship him, yeah, since I was Yeah, yeah, first
got a Toto album and worshiped the guy. And my
favorite drummer when I first started playing drums and remained
(09:09):
this because you see him on Johnny Carson all the
time and he was just amazing. Was Buddy Rich. Oh god,
I mean this guy was amazing and I wanted to
be Buddy Rich. So my parents, I think I was
like thirteen or yeah, twelve or thirteen. They took me
to Davenport, Iowa to see Buddy Rich and his band,
(09:29):
his big band.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Wow, that's cool.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Yeah, And I was just this is what I want
to do. I want to do this. Yeah, I want
to Oh my god, he's so cool, you know.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Yeah, and very few people did it as well as
he did.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Yeah. So they announced at the end of the show
that Buddy, you can come up on stage and meet Buddy.
Oh VIP experience those who want to. And you know,
my dad mom wanted to go home. They did, but
they were so sweet. They said, oh, go ahead, get
in line. So I got in line, and as I'm
in line and it's kind of moving slowly and there's
(09:59):
about fifty other people ahead of me to go up
on stage and say, look, I'm thinking, I don't want
to be like everybody else here. I'm going to say
something really cool.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
I'm gonna something he's never heard before, heard before.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
I composed this thing in my head. He's going to
love me, might even ask maybe to have me tour with.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Oh, yes, this is our mutual fantasy. Yeah exactly.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
That's going to be that cool. So I composed this
greeting and this this thing I'm going to say to him.
Finally it's my turn. Well, the guy ahead of me,
he gets up on stage and he goes, I think
you're great.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Oh he choked.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Okay, no he didn't. I think that's what he wanted
to say. Okay, but you're going to do much better
than that. I think you're great.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Man.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
He walks away, and then it's my turn. Now their
buddy rich sits with that pearl drum set of his,
you know, the white sitting on that stool. Yeah, probably
slightly sweaty and cranky at this point. No, he was
wearing a turn nick and a medallion. Just cool.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Oh, this is just ryme, buddy, rime, buddy, just cool.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
He was just the coolest guy. And so I'm here.
I come. I'm going to say what I composed. I'm
going to say it, and I totally forgot what I
was going to say. Oh no, this is what I
came out of my mouth.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
I think you're gray.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Well you weren't wrong, true, but that was it. You
never heard that before. But he looks at me. I'll
never forget. He looks at me. He goes, cool man, Oh, okay, wow,
and I floated home.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Well, listen between cool man from Buddy Rich and an
actual Dwight yoakum rock and roll jacket. You have clearly
benefited greatly.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
But but yes, by the way, I have a drummer's joke. Good.
We you know we've heard all the drummer jokes. Let
me just say this. Most of them are true.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Well, that's true.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
The touch lines are most of them merchant, because we're,
you know, drummers.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Easily replaceable and combustible.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Yes, but I heard one the other day that I'd
never heard before, which I was shocked at because I
thought i'd heard them all.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Good.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Okay, how many drummers does it take to change a
light bulb?
Speaker 1 (12:09):
I don't know, Brian, how many drummers does it take
to change the light bulb?
Speaker 2 (12:12):
For one to change the bulb and three to talk
about how much better Neil Perk could have done it?
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Again? Not wrong, well done? I like that. I like that.
What do you think I mean? Look, so the bands
we've been in the music folks we've been around, Like,
what do you think playing music has kind of taught you?
It's if it's taught you anything in life.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Lucky, very very lucky because being from a small town,
and a lot of people don't understand this at all.
Being in a small town. In school there there aren't
the clicks that are a major big school. You know,
there's the jocks, and there's the nerds, and there's we
did everything. We got to do everything, any thing that
(13:00):
you were interested in. I was in chorus, I was
in band, I played uh football all four years. I
was in sports. I was in this, I was in that,
and you actually in theater and you actually kind of
get you try everything and see what you actually are
kind of liking and what you're you're you're being attracted.
You know, you're you're you're being attracted to go do.
(13:22):
And I just thought that was so lucky. So music
to me opened my mind definitely, and it gave me
a lot of avenues. It got me through college. Yeah, yeah,
you know, and I still to this day, as you know,
I have a little studio at my house and I
still keep my chops up.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
And he's really good, you guys know, he's better. He
is really good. Well, I mean to me, what my
takeaway from from all the time I've spent growing up
playing music with my family and friends and bands or whatever.
What what draws me to it is how it's an
international language and everyone it doesn't matter where you're coming
at it from, like we can all get together and
(13:59):
sink in some and it teaches you, I think, incredible
lessons in cooperation.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Great this little studio I was just talking about. I
build it for one reason. Well, at first I did
a lot of the song parodies. I recorded them in
the studio that I did on Kyo West. But then
I started inviting friends in and I had four or
five guitars, of course my drum sets, and I had
some other instruments, and my close friends I invite in
on a Saturday night. And so I built this studio
(14:28):
basically other than for work. I build it not to
record albums, not to take it seriously, but I build
it so my friends and I have a safe place
to act like idiots. And we did, and we did,
and I had the sign still there. You've seen it.
It says, check your embarrassment at the door, because there's
(14:49):
no such thing you BEU. If you're not musical, if
you can't carry a tune, if you only sing in
the shower, if you'd never played. I don't care. You
have a good time, and they all do. Of course,
the mart help.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Yeah, well, Marguerite has always help everything. But that is
honestly the most important takeaway is that playing music with
other people literally forces you to be sensitive to how
other people express themselves very much, right, So you get
plugged into that, and that experience of working with people together.
To play a song with a group of musicians, when
(15:21):
you finally get in the pocket and the jam is happening,
is unlike anything else.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
It's unforgettable. It's magical. It can be so magical. And
I'm going to tell you a story, and this is
all very very true, and it opened my eyes to
what music can do. My sister is at a care
facility back in Illinois, and I fly back and visit
her whenever I can. And it was on one particular visit,
(15:48):
we're sitting in the common room and my back is
towards the entrance of this facility. My sister's sitting in
front of me, and we're just talking about anything. She
wants to go, we'll talk, you know, just love love
seeing her, and she loves it when I visit, of course,
and she looks over my shoulder and then looks back
(16:10):
at me and gets this smile on her face. She
leans forward and said these four words, Elvis comes on Thursday.
Elvis comes on Thursdays. Okay, so I thought maybe she
was just going off on a tand you just.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Got to go.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
I mean, who doesn't you know me?
Speaker 1 (16:32):
I do know, no, So it does sound like something
you might say to.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Me, Elvis comes on Thursday. So I kind of went
with it. Oh really, And then she kept looking over
my shoulder, and finally I turn around and I look.
There was Elvis what trey eh seventy eight years old,
black pompadour, jet black with the sideburns, the sunglasses, the
(16:57):
high collar, the big belt, and walking through the common
room to get to the activities room. Elvis does indeed
come on Thursdays. His wife was following him, so he's married. Now,
well his wife, I don't know. His wife was a
little younger, but she was carrying all the karaoke equipment.
(17:19):
Was the road. So everybody starts going, and my sister
is so excited because she wants me to see the building.
He comes on Thursdays. So everyone gravitates towards the activity
room and everybody. It was a routine. They had it
all down, all the wheel chournal. Most of these people,
wonderful people are in wheelchairs. Some of them can still
(17:40):
walk around, but they're they're sitting in wheelchairs, right, and
they make this half circle okay, all facing where Elvis
is going to perform. Yeah, and it's very quiet, and
these places can sometimes be a little depressing, of course,
you know, it's very quiet. And I was like, all right,
well this will be fun. And Debbie, my sister's very excited.
He starts as for song, it was Teddy Bear.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Yeah, oh okay, it's actually my favorite Elvis song.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Is it early?
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Okay, trait. This guy had the moves. Seventy eight years old.
He had the hip action had he had the moves,
he had the attitude, the coolness. It was Elvis.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
He was bringing it.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
He was bringing it. So but halfway through the song,
something truly remarkable happens. Okay, everyone started kind of moving
in their chair and swaying, and some were singing along,
clapping to the beat. All right. By his second song,
some were actually getting up out of their wheelchairs and
(18:41):
kind of dancing or shuffling around, spinning around huge smiles
on their faces. So he finishes that song and my
sister kind of wants him to come over.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Sure and say hi, so he get closer to the king.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Yeah that's right, so come over, and Debbie introduced this
and he goes, hey man, how you doing?
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Full on?
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Elvis Man, hey man, how you doing. I'm doing fine,
I'm doing great, but you are you are doing brilliantly.
I thanked him for doing this every Thursday and the
joy he brought to people and the change that came
over them, and I just I just I worship you.
I think you are incredible for doing this, and you
(19:26):
sound amazing and just compliment. Comma compldent compliment. So as
he's opening his mouth to respond to my compliments, in
my head, I'm not kidding, I was thinking this, please
say it. Just please say it, Elvis for me, Just
please say it. And he said and he said, well
like you like you very much? Yes, perfect, like you
(19:50):
like you very much.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
So that's then my sister says, you know, Elvis, Brian
does Elvis to where are you going with this? And
he goes, was that right, young man? Yeah, yeah, I
do Rady, And then he goes wants you to come
on up. I go what I want to come up? Man,
(20:13):
we'll do a duet. Man, let's go. And so we
got up suspicious minds Elvis and I. Elvis was doing
his really cool dancing and I was doing my really
dorky day.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
No, no, no, you are fully prepped for this moment,
like you've at this point you'd been doing this for years.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
And the crowds were cheering, and the more people got
up and dance. But obviously it was a very special moment. Yes,
and it's unexpected happening that day. And uh, it really
opened my eyes to the power of music to see
those people just all of a sudden go from kind
of a morose, kind of a you know, down and unenergetic,
(20:53):
getting on their feet.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
You can literally see people's spirits lifted. You can literally
see them engaged in a myriad of ways. And and
that is a testament to the power of music.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
And that is the joy. That joy is the reason
I wore this jacket, uh, in honor of our of
our upcoming guests.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Okay, well you're gonna be wearing that in every single
show henceforth. But in the meantime, when we come back,
you guys, we are going to meet somebody who also
uses music to lift people up literally around the world,
and unlock all kinds of memories for people who've lost them.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
We will be right.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Back of a bunker.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
We will thank you, suck and welcome back.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Welcome.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Happy to tell you that our guest today is the
incredible Carol Rosenstein. He's the founder of Music Men's Minds.
It's a global now global nonprofit that creates music support
groups for people with Alzheimer's and dementia and other neurological disorders.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Thank you so much for joining us, Kay, Carol.
Speaker 4 (22:15):
Thank you for having me. It's delightful to meet Brian
and Trey. And yes, I'm in your pocket. In the
pocket and your stories are delicious and I can up them.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
I bet that's true. We are delighted to have you
in our pocket. So, Carol, you first began to spearhead
this effort, this incredible effort known as Music Men's Minds,
when your late husband, Irwin was first diagnosed with Parkinson's
I believe in two thousand and six. Is that correct?
Speaker 4 (22:50):
That is correct?
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Would you mind telling us about kind of how this
all got started?
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Then?
Speaker 4 (22:56):
Thank you so yes, this diagnot the diagnosis arrived. And
my background is mind body medicine. For many years, I
got the message loud and clear as a professional. My husband,
of course, did not, and I realized we were in
for quite a road, a real ride. So what actually
(23:19):
happened is, after ten years of Erwin taking medication for
Parkinson's and the medication was dopamine, a synthetic dopamine, his
brain went into a crazy side effect and he was hallucinating, agitated.
We had hundreds of people living in our home, and
(23:40):
he was spent. Of course, called the neurologist, reported my
findings and he said, Carol, we've got to stop the
dopamine medication. Well, of course, for a parkinsonian to be
without that kind of medication pulls the rugout from under
their feet and they become lost in space. Okay, but
(24:06):
I could see her when sitting playing the piano, which
he did socially in our home, and as a wet noodle,
literally draped over the keys minus his medication. After a
few minutes of him hunting and pecking to find notes
to sound like he was playing music, I would see
(24:28):
this wet noodle draped over the keys. Suddenly rise into
a state of reintroduction into the environment rather than being
a lost soul. And I was speechless because I could
see something magical occurring. What was happening? I called Dr
(24:51):
Bronstein reported my findings and Doctor Bronstein said, in a
most nonchalant way, you're watching the power of music changing
brain chemistry. Wow. Said I does that mean that we
can find some like minded souls to come and jam
(25:12):
and make music with us? And Doctor Bronstein said, why not?
Fast forward a few weeks. I called for a launch.
We were connected, of course, to UCLA, to the Alzheimer
Dementia patient care program, and they started to send patients
our way. Others send patients to the launch, and thirty
(25:36):
souls arrived at a location for a launch. I knew
nothing of what was about to happen. Within minutes, somebody
gravitated to the piano. Somebody then gravitated to a rumpet.
My husband went to the ball of instruments and put
down a saxophone, and Sam pulled back his jacket and
(26:01):
pull down a harmonica. And there we had, in fifteen minutes,
four like minded souls never met before, sitting at a
piano with a drum kit, a saxophone and the harmonica,
and these guys were joined at the hip to become
the fifth Dementia band.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
Do you love that name? I couldn't wait for you
to say that.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
Their inaugural band was the fifth Dementia.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
That's just incredible brilliance. That makes me happy, exactly right,
And so obviously what's happening here. I mean, music literally
stimulates increases in dopamine secretion from the brain and it
gives all kinds of new, sustained levels of energy and happiness.
It literally changes a person's in this case your husband's
brain chemistry along with the other players with him.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
And that's the bottom line. Music making, and now we
add socialization is a direct line into our phomisey and
brain and al pharmis just jump to attention in the
moment of music making and push natural happy chemicals to
(27:11):
include oxytocin, and of course the biggest one is the dopamine.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
No, we strongly urge you to go online and we'll
give you all the information at the end of the
show and see some of these videos.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Oh yeah, of.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
These incredible support bands playing. Yeah, you hand out moroccas
you hand out tambourines or not. Who if they don't
want to be involved, they're not, but most of them do.
And they're just playing along with it and and doing
what they do and just the smiles on their faces
and the joy. And they're great songs too, you guys.
(27:47):
You pick great songs for everybody. Everybody knows, everybody sings along.
It's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Well go see that. It's also what helps underscore why
Carol specifically is here to talk with us, because you know,
it's one thing to see this happen in front of
your eyes, it's another thing to then see how this
could help many, many other people around the globe. And
this led directly to you creating this nonprofit of Music
(28:13):
Men's Minds, And at this point it's resulted in the
creation of twenty bands across the country improve the quality
of life for hundreds of people. And and I know
you and I both love this. Some of these bands
have some of the greatest band names I've ever heard.
The Beverly Hills Treblemakers, the Jazz and Novash this one
(28:37):
I love Tunes for the Memory, South bas Songs. These
are just incredible band names. But can you talk to
us more about how these bands work, Carol, we.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
Are blessed to be in partnership with Rotary International Clubs
and so it's a volunteer organization. They've opened the hearts
to us and clubs Rotary clubs around the world in
over two hundred countries who are in the service business
(29:09):
of helping where there are catastrophes. And we are living
a catastrophe because of the every three seconds somebody is
being diagnosed with dementia. Wow, every sixty five seconds, somebody
with Alzheimer's, in every five minutes with parkinson. So we
have a pandemic going, just like COVID that got vaccines
(29:36):
and now our pandemic of neural degenerative diseases. Throw in
those chromatic brain injuryes broken PTSD. We are a living disaster.
And so consequently the Rotary clubs are sponsoring in person
music groups in their neighborhood. Yeah, and so we have
(29:58):
over sixty frands globally. We have a group of Letarians
in the New Jersey area who have now drum circles.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
All volunteers. I'm assuming everyone's volunteers, volunteers.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
This is the beauty of it. So we actually have
one point two million sets of boots on the ground
who are all volunteers. Unbelievable, just how music meant's minds
is going out into the ethers. Not only for seniors today,
but because music is medicine for the mind, we now
(30:39):
are incorporating children to make every musical group intergenerational because
our sceniors lose the facility of speech. And how his
grandson Johnny and granddaughter Benny gonna speak Grandpa Grandma when
they've lost.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
Their traditional each of course.
Speaker 4 (31:02):
But to pick up a uku lately, up the harmonica,
turned on YouTube music that the seniors are familiar with,
the kids rock out and no language is missed because
the language of music is introduced. And my Irwin on
(31:24):
his deathbed, not speaking, not walking, not talking, I would
go in the morning with my with my shakers in
my hand, I would crank up the boom box and
dances into the dancing queen. And my husband, lying in
(31:48):
bed as if he were in the coffin, would hear
the beat of the music and would come his hands
to the beat of the music when the means I
to the sheet, and it was as if you were
dancing every morning together and kissing each other good morning.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
It's so instinctive because I've always just loved it's it's
very special to me when when my kids, when my
friends bring their kids over and the little two year
old is walking around the house in a diaper, but
you put music on and they start doing that.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Yeah, of course instinctive.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
And in one of the articles about you and your
and your your bands, I love this quote and I've
never even thought of this, but it is. It all
comes down to the heart beat in the fetus. The
very first sound you hear is that beat, and for
nine months you are immersed in the NonStop rhythm. So
(32:52):
that's where it's primal. Yeah, affects more. You know, some
people differently, but it is very, very primal.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
But thank you Carol, first of all, so much much
for sharing such a beautiful, heartwarming moment of those those
times with Irwin and what honor you have done his
memory by then taking this thing on a global level,
not just New Jersey in California, but Washington, Connecticut, New York, UK, Canada, Rwanda,
(33:19):
the Philippines, India like this is this has caught fire
in such an inspiring way. And you guys also do
zoom singalongs. I gather this is just so so powerful
an experience that you have identified for reconnecting people who
who who often feel disconnected from the rest of us.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
And assuming Carol, this keeps you pretty busy, does it?
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Not know?
Speaker 4 (33:46):
Not enough hours in my day. But I do want
to say that your listening audience can jump the stream
and watch Elfice Dementia in action every Thursday from two
to three pm Pacific Standard time. Absolutely, and it is
a circus and the seniors are up out of their wheel,
chance and focus are put aside their can givers grab
(34:11):
them by the scurf of their necks and they're dancing
and singing like a two year old.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
Wonderful And don't you love that it's always on Thursdays.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
That's right, Elmes, Carol. We can't thank you enough. We
want to make sure we give all your information where
people can check you out. Check out the bands all
over the world.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
The videos are amazing.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
Please go to Musicmen'sminds dot org. We're going to drop
a link on our Be Good Humans podcast website as
well to make it easy for you. But go check
out how you can join the fun and support such
an extraordinarily worthy cause. Carol, we cannot thank you enough
for giving us something to truly sing about today, and
especially for giving us an opportunity to sing your praises
(34:55):
as a very very good human.
Speaker 4 (34:57):
And I want to introduce you to my open His
ashes are with me every day. Hi, little fox people
Russia about thirty years ago and he's with us right now.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
Look what your wife's done. Look at what she's done.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
You married a very good human, Yes you did. Thank
you so much again, Carol, We really appreciate you giving
us your time today, my pleasure.
Speaker 4 (35:22):
Thanks for the outreach.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
A big kill kill big, We will take you suck.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
I absolutely love her.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
She's wonderful and global.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
It's global once so once again Musicmen's Minds dot org.
Or go to our website, which we would love you
to go to anyway, be Good Humans Podcast dot com.
We'll have a link to that. Also. You have a
great opportunity there to tell us about the good humans
in your lives that you would like for us to
meet and talk to. Also give us some pointers on
how to be good humans in general. There's some there's
(36:00):
all kinds of things. Do us a favor. Also follow
us on the socials, Facebook, Instagram threads, TikTok, and Frankly,
whatever bathroom wall is at your favorite music venue, just
just don't believe what it says there about me. It's
not entirely true.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
Thank you. We don't say this enough, but thank you
all for your interest in the show. Yeah and all
the help you're giving us. Yeah yeah, and your support.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
It's very very true. So Brian, you want to send
us off with your very best rock and roll finish,
all right, let me see, Okay, find it, find the moment,
all right?
Speaker 3 (36:30):
Man?
Speaker 2 (36:31):
Well, I just won't say everybody Elvis, and I want
you all to It'll be good humans like you, like
you very much.
Speaker 3 (36:42):
Speak good humans. Be good humans. Speak good humans, or
we will thank you suck.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
Be Good Humans is executive produced by Brian Phelps, Trey Callaway,
and Grant Anderson, with associate producers Sean Fitzgerald and Clementine
Callaway and partnership with Strawha Media. Please like, follow, and subscribe,
and remember, be good humans.
Uh, I.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
What too much? Wow?
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Good humans, be good humans. Be good humans, or we
will think you sucked humans, or we will thank you suck.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Wow. Welcome back. If you are watching us on YouTube,
hey do us a big favor? Would you click like
and subscribe? That would be doing this as solid And
while you're at it, can you click glove you can
just click everything.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Awesome.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
So if you're just listening, I've got to I've got
to break this down for you. Brian is in the
studio today wearing this extraordinary black jacket, custom tailored Western style.
This is like for for those of you have a
certain amographic a Porter wagoner, a black jacket. It looks
(01:07):
like it was maybe designed by Newdy if you're familiar
with his work, famous famous San Fernando Valley Western designer.
But it's black with rhine stone music notes, rhine stone microphones.
I have never felt quite so inadequate as a member
of the male species as I do sitting next to
Brian Phelps right now.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
This is the first time you felt that way?
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Well, no, it's happens frequently. But can you please talk
us through what the story is on this jacket.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
First of all, I'm wearing this jacket to celebrate our
upcoming guest today.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Oh okay, good.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
And briefly, how I got this jacket was it was
made for me Dwight Yoakum. You remember oh inside the pocket?
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Sorry, who sings that?
Speaker 1 (01:51):
That's Dwight yoakamlet him.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
So, Dwight Yoakum invited us over to his house. He
was on the show many times Love and so I'm
there with micro friend Mark and and Linda there and
we just sat in his living room with a guitar.
He had a guitar and he was playing all these songs,
some some of his hits, some covers. It was just
a really.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Special he was famous part of that Bakersfield country sound. Yeah,
that's so cool.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
It's our own little private concert in his home. But
we chatted a lot too, and I said, Dwight, I
gotta tell you man, your jackets are that you wear
on stage? You know the long oh yeah, cool rock
and roll but country still oh yeah, yeah yeah kind
of jackets. They I love them. And I said, man,
I've always wanted to take a look at your closet. Jokingly.
(02:39):
He goes, well, come on, wow, So it takes me upstairs,
opens the double closet door.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Just a minute. This is not just a private concert.
You're getting a private tour of the inner sanctum of Dwight.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
You can't go upstairs in the uh in graceland, but
you can if you're invited. So double doors. He opens
it up and they're in a row, just all these
incredible jackets.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Oh, I can't imagine.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
And I said, all right, jokingly again, I said, great,
Can I have this one? And I too, No, but
I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll get my designer
on it.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
No.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Uh, this is legit.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
This is legit from his designer. It's even got Dwight
yoakum tag in the back. Oh my gosh, this designer
makes all Dwight's jackets.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
And so about five six weeks later, show up at
the station early in the morning to do the show
and these are waiting for us. Mine's black obviously, and
Mars was white.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Honestly, this, guys, this is like something you would see
hanging in a rock and roll museum or whatever like that.
That's but it's legit.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
That's from the guy who designs jacket. So cool if
we wore these on a because you're really not something
you could work out to dinner.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Oh I would, Yeah, you would probably.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
But we wore these special on a on a Billboard campaign.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Oh yeah, of course, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Just because there it's you know, they have microphone.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Yeah, now, what's more microphones and more music notes?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
I mean?
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Dwight's also famous for wearing the tightest jeans in the
history of music.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah, tight jeans. And you know, I think he puts
a Doctor Pepper bottle Downy's. I think that's a secret.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
I am definitely not a Pepper in that regard at
any rate. But so, okay, well, here's the thing. Like,
what I also love about this is that it also
celebrates our mutual love for music in general.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yeah, it does, it really does.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
We both were both drummers.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
We've mentioned that many many yes, and we have.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Both been in a multitude of bands. I don't know
how many bands I actually counted, ok before, I've been
in seven seven different bands?
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Wow?
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Since high school? Since yeah, since my very first like
junior high band. Yeah up till I would say for
me eight or nine? Wow, eight or nine?
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Okay, okay, all right, what was your first band?
Speaker 2 (04:48):
The first band was in high school and I though
the first band was I was in seventh grade.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Okay, that's about the right same same with me.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
And I had been playing drums since fourth grade and
they're the senior. The drummer of the jazz band graduated
and I'm seventh grade and I've only been playing drums
for like a year and a half, drum kid, and
I got picked to be their drummer. So all these seniors,
(05:19):
varsity guys, and there's just little O me playing.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Drums stepping up. Well, that means you were fairly salty
for your age.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
I was kind of salty. Show what salty means, but yeah,
I means good Brian. But one of the funniest names
we had, and this was nineteen or twenty on making
money to go to college. I drive home from Illinois
State University to play in this band, and you would
call it a wedding band.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Well that's how you make the money.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Yeah, yeah, So I drive up and you know, it
was amazing money wise for me at that time, of course,
but we were called and the lead singer, whose husband
actually was the manager as well, so we had no
say in what the band game should be, of course
not but she wanted to call it night dreams. Okay,
(06:03):
so many things wrong with this name? Number one, night dreams?
You dream at night? It couldn't have been day dreams.
You known, h But we would send our posters ahead
of time, like a month ahead of time, and a
lot of times these people had never heard the band.
They don't know what to expect, but they would take
a sharpie and cross out night and put wet, or
cross out Dreams and put mirrors. It was just just
(06:26):
so easy.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Can I just make fun of it? Can I just
come at you and the rest of our audience with
a pitch? Here? Sure? Could we just consider re christening
the show night Dreams instead of Good Humans. It's just
a thought, it's a thought. I'll get working on the
logo right away.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
I wouldn't be involved if we did.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
I done.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
But that was one of the bands. But yeah, many
many mini bands, you know, seventy five bucks for a gig,
no roadies, So we would drive three and a half
four hours. Yeah, I'm using. I'm driving my parents car.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Of course you are same.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah, with my drums loaded in and you being a
you understand this, four hours to get there? You gotta
set up huh? First, you unload everything, and that includes
the keyboards and the guitar. We're all helping. But the
worst part is playing four hours great gig, have a
great time, yeah, and then you gotta tear down, that's right,
and then you gotta load up, and then you gotta
(07:19):
drive four hours back.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Yeah. That's when you're hating the guitarists in the band
because they just like and they're done, and you're like, oh,
but I gotta.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Screwing the symbols and putting them in cases.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Yeah, okay. So my first band in high school was
called Metropolis.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Nice.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Yeah, it was right around seventh grade too, except that
and roll, Yes, but of a certain variety. And here's why.
Our lead singer was also floutest in the high school band.
She was also a couple of years older than me, okay,
and I had a mad crush on her. Went high
Wendy anyway, Wendy Wendy played the flute, so, as you
(07:57):
can imagine, we had to do a lot of jeth
Row Tall Okay in this band. All right, so Metropolis
was my first band.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Let me ask you this as drummers, Yes, who was
your favorite drummer?
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Well, okay, honestly, probably Jim Keltner. He's like the drummer's drummer,
session drummer played on everything. He's kind of the unofficial
unofficial Willberry of the traveling Willberry's but like a million things,
or it's a toss up between him or Jeff Picaro
(08:31):
or Steve gadd It's that, it's it's the guys who
most people don't know. We know who the flashy, like
well known drummers are, and they're incredible, but like it's
those la session drummers that I grew up sort of
looking at liner notes to learn about that I gravitate
to her.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, mine is also Jeff Picaro, but before Jeff and
he was in our house band, right, yeah, so many
times so you knew him. Yeah, sweetest guy. And again
I worship him, yeah, since I was Yeah, yeah, first
got a Toto album and worshiped the guy. And my
favorite drummer when I first started playing drums and remained
(09:09):
this because you see him on Johnny Carson all the
time and he was just amazing. Was Buddy Rich. Oh god,
I mean this guy was amazing and I wanted to
be Buddy Rich. So my parents, I think I was
like thirteen or yeah, twelve or thirteen. They took me
to Davenport, Iowa to see Buddy Rich and his band,
(09:29):
his big band.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Wow, that's cool.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Yeah, And I was just this is what I want
to do. I want to do this. Yeah, I want
to Oh my god, he's so cool, you know.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Yeah, and very few people did it as well as
he did.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Yeah. So they announced at the end of the show
that Buddy, you can come up on stage and meet Buddy.
Oh VIP experience those who want to. And you know,
my dad mom wanted to go home. They did, but
they were so sweet. They said, oh, go ahead, get
in line. So I got in line, and as I'm
in line and it's kind of moving slowly and there's
(09:59):
about fifty other people ahead of me to go up
on stage and say, look, I'm thinking, I don't want
to be like everybody else here. I'm going to say
something really cool.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
I'm gonna something he's never heard before, heard before.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
I composed this thing in my head. He's going to
love me, might even ask maybe to have me tour with.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Oh, yes, this is our mutual fantasy. Yeah exactly.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
That's going to be that cool. So I composed this
greeting and this this thing I'm going to say to him.
Finally it's my turn. Well, the guy ahead of me,
he gets up on stage and he goes, I think
you're great.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Oh he choked.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Okay, no he didn't. I think that's what he wanted
to say. Okay, but you're going to do much better
than that. I think you're great.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Man.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
He walks away, and then it's my turn. Now their
buddy rich sits with that pearl drum set of his,
you know, the white sitting on that stool. Yeah, probably
slightly sweaty and cranky at this point. No, he was
wearing a turn nick and a medallion. Just cool.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Oh, this is just ryme, buddy, rime, buddy, just cool.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
He was just the coolest guy. And so I'm here.
I come. I'm going to say what I composed. I'm
going to say it, and I totally forgot what I
was going to say. Oh no, this is what I
came out of my mouth.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
I think you're gray.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Well you weren't wrong, true, but that was it. You
never heard that before. But he looks at me. I'll
never forget. He looks at me. He goes, cool man, Oh, okay, wow,
and I floated home.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Well, listen between cool man from Buddy Rich and an
actual Dwight yoakum rock and roll jacket. You have clearly
benefited greatly.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
But but yes, by the way, I have a drummer's joke. Good.
We you know we've heard all the drummer jokes. Let
me just say this. Most of them are true.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Well, that's true.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
The touch lines are most of them merchant, because we're,
you know, drummers.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Easily replaceable and combustible.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Yes, but I heard one the other day that I'd
never heard before, which I was shocked at because I
thought i'd heard them all.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Good.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Okay, how many drummers does it take to change a
light bulb?
Speaker 1 (12:09):
I don't know, Brian, how many drummers does it take
to change the light bulb?
Speaker 2 (12:12):
For one to change the bulb and three to talk
about how much better Neil Perk could have done it?
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Again? Not wrong, well done? I like that. I like that.
What do you think I mean? Look, so the bands
we've been in the music folks we've been around, Like,
what do you think playing music has kind of taught you?
It's if it's taught you anything in life.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Lucky, very very lucky because being from a small town,
and a lot of people don't understand this at all.
Being in a small town. In school there there aren't
the clicks that are a major big school. You know,
there's the jocks, and there's the nerds, and there's we
did everything. We got to do everything, any thing that
(13:00):
you were interested in. I was in chorus, I was
in band, I played uh football all four years. I
was in sports. I was in this, I was in that,
and you actually in theater and you actually kind of
get you try everything and see what you actually are
kind of liking and what you're you're you're being attracted.
You know, you're you're you're being attracted to go do.
(13:22):
And I just thought that was so lucky. So music
to me opened my mind definitely, and it gave me
a lot of avenues. It got me through college. Yeah, yeah,
you know, and I still to this day, as you know,
I have a little studio at my house and I
still keep my chops up.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
And he's really good, you guys know, he's better. He
is really good. Well, I mean to me, what my
takeaway from from all the time I've spent growing up
playing music with my family and friends and bands or whatever.
What what draws me to it is how it's an
international language and everyone it doesn't matter where you're coming
at it from, like we can all get together and
(13:59):
sink in some and it teaches you, I think, incredible
lessons in cooperation.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Great this little studio I was just talking about. I
build it for one reason. Well, at first I did
a lot of the song parodies. I recorded them in
the studio that I did on Kyo West. But then
I started inviting friends in and I had four or
five guitars, of course my drum sets, and I had
some other instruments, and my close friends I invite in
on a Saturday night. And so I built this studio
(14:28):
basically other than for work. I build it not to
record albums, not to take it seriously, but I build
it so my friends and I have a safe place
to act like idiots. And we did, and we did,
and I had the sign still there. You've seen it.
It says, check your embarrassment at the door, because there's
(14:49):
no such thing you BEU. If you're not musical, if
you can't carry a tune, if you only sing in
the shower, if you'd never played. I don't care. You
have a good time, and they all do. Of course,
the mart help.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Yeah, well, Marguerite has always help everything. But that is
honestly the most important takeaway is that playing music with
other people literally forces you to be sensitive to how
other people express themselves very much, right, So you get
plugged into that, and that experience of working with people together.
To play a song with a group of musicians, when
(15:21):
you finally get in the pocket and the jam is happening,
is unlike anything else.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
It's unforgettable. It's magical. It can be so magical. And
I'm going to tell you a story, and this is
all very very true, and it opened my eyes to
what music can do. My sister is at a care
facility back in Illinois, and I fly back and visit
her whenever I can. And it was on one particular visit,
(15:48):
we're sitting in the common room and my back is
towards the entrance of this facility. My sister's sitting in
front of me, and we're just talking about anything. She
wants to go, we'll talk, you know, just love love
seeing her, and she loves it when I visit, of course,
and she looks over my shoulder and then looks back
(16:10):
at me and gets this smile on her face. She
leans forward and said these four words, Elvis comes on Thursday.
Elvis comes on Thursdays. Okay, so I thought maybe she
was just going off on a tand you just.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Got to go.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
I mean, who doesn't you know me?
Speaker 1 (16:32):
I do know, no, So it does sound like something
you might say to.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Me, Elvis comes on Thursday. So I kind of went
with it. Oh really, And then she kept looking over
my shoulder, and finally I turn around and I look.
There was Elvis what trey eh seventy eight years old,
black pompadour, jet black with the sideburns, the sunglasses, the
(16:57):
high collar, the big belt, and walking through the common
room to get to the activities room. Elvis does indeed
come on Thursdays. His wife was following him, so he's married. Now,
well his wife, I don't know. His wife was a
little younger, but she was carrying all the karaoke equipment.
(17:19):
Was the road. So everybody starts going, and my sister
is so excited because she wants me to see the building.
He comes on Thursdays. So everyone gravitates towards the activity
room and everybody. It was a routine. They had it
all down, all the wheel chournal. Most of these people,
wonderful people are in wheelchairs. Some of them can still
(17:40):
walk around, but they're they're sitting in wheelchairs, right, and
they make this half circle okay, all facing where Elvis
is going to perform. Yeah, and it's very quiet, and
these places can sometimes be a little depressing, of course,
you know, it's very quiet. And I was like, all right,
well this will be fun. And Debbie, my sister's very excited.
He starts as for song, it was Teddy Bear.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Yeah, oh okay, it's actually my favorite Elvis song.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Is it early?
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Okay, trait. This guy had the moves. Seventy eight years old.
He had the hip action had he had the moves,
he had the attitude, the coolness. It was Elvis.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
He was bringing it.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
He was bringing it. So but halfway through the song,
something truly remarkable happens. Okay, everyone started kind of moving
in their chair and swaying, and some were singing along,
clapping to the beat. All right. By his second song,
some were actually getting up out of their wheelchairs and
(18:41):
kind of dancing or shuffling around, spinning around huge smiles
on their faces. So he finishes that song and my
sister kind of wants him to come over.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Sure and say hi, so he get closer to the king.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Yeah that's right, so come over, and Debbie introduced this
and he goes, hey man, how you doing?
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Full on?
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Elvis Man, hey man, how you doing. I'm doing fine,
I'm doing great, but you are you are doing brilliantly.
I thanked him for doing this every Thursday and the
joy he brought to people and the change that came
over them, and I just I just I worship you.
I think you are incredible for doing this, and you
(19:26):
sound amazing and just compliment. Comma compldent compliment. So as
he's opening his mouth to respond to my compliments, in
my head, I'm not kidding, I was thinking this, please
say it. Just please say it, Elvis for me, Just
please say it. And he said and he said, well
like you like you very much? Yes, perfect, like you
(19:50):
like you very much.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
So that's then my sister says, you know, Elvis, Brian
does Elvis to where are you going with this? And
he goes, was that right, young man? Yeah, yeah, I
do Rady, And then he goes wants you to come
on up. I go what I want to come up? Man,
(20:13):
we'll do a duet. Man, let's go. And so we
got up suspicious minds Elvis and I. Elvis was doing
his really cool dancing and I was doing my really
dorky day.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
No, no, no, you are fully prepped for this moment,
like you've at this point you'd been doing this for years.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
And the crowds were cheering, and the more people got
up and dance. But obviously it was a very special moment. Yes,
and it's unexpected happening that day. And uh, it really
opened my eyes to the power of music to see
those people just all of a sudden go from kind
of a morose, kind of a you know, down and unenergetic,
(20:53):
getting on their feet.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
You can literally see people's spirits lifted. You can literally
see them engaged in a myriad of ways. And and
that is a testament to the power of music.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
And that is the joy. That joy is the reason
I wore this jacket, uh, in honor of our of
our upcoming guests.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Okay, well you're gonna be wearing that in every single
show henceforth. But in the meantime, when we come back,
you guys, we are going to meet somebody who also
uses music to lift people up literally around the world,
and unlock all kinds of memories for people who've lost them.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
We will be right.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Back of a bunker.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
We will thank you, suck and welcome back.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Welcome.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Happy to tell you that our guest today is the
incredible Carol Rosenstein. He's the founder of Music Men's Minds.
It's a global now global nonprofit that creates music support
groups for people with Alzheimer's and dementia and other neurological disorders.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Thank you so much for joining us, Kay, Carol.
Speaker 4 (22:15):
Thank you for having me. It's delightful to meet Brian
and Trey. And yes, I'm in your pocket. In the
pocket and your stories are delicious and I can up them.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
I bet that's true. We are delighted to have you
in our pocket. So, Carol, you first began to spearhead
this effort, this incredible effort known as Music Men's Minds,
when your late husband, Irwin was first diagnosed with Parkinson's
I believe in two thousand and six. Is that correct?
Speaker 4 (22:50):
That is correct?
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Would you mind telling us about kind of how this
all got started?
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Then?
Speaker 4 (22:56):
Thank you so yes, this diagnot the diagnosis arrived. And
my background is mind body medicine. For many years, I
got the message loud and clear as a professional. My husband,
of course, did not, and I realized we were in
for quite a road, a real ride. So what actually
(23:19):
happened is, after ten years of Erwin taking medication for
Parkinson's and the medication was dopamine, a synthetic dopamine, his
brain went into a crazy side effect and he was hallucinating, agitated.
We had hundreds of people living in our home, and
(23:40):
he was spent. Of course, called the neurologist, reported my
findings and he said, Carol, we've got to stop the
dopamine medication. Well, of course, for a parkinsonian to be
without that kind of medication pulls the rugout from under
their feet and they become lost in space. Okay, but
(24:06):
I could see her when sitting playing the piano, which
he did socially in our home, and as a wet noodle,
literally draped over the keys minus his medication. After a
few minutes of him hunting and pecking to find notes
to sound like he was playing music, I would see
(24:28):
this wet noodle draped over the keys. Suddenly rise into
a state of reintroduction into the environment rather than being
a lost soul. And I was speechless because I could
see something magical occurring. What was happening? I called Dr
(24:51):
Bronstein reported my findings and Doctor Bronstein said, in a
most nonchalant way, you're watching the power of music changing
brain chemistry. Wow. Said I does that mean that we
can find some like minded souls to come and jam
(25:12):
and make music with us? And Doctor Bronstein said, why not?
Fast forward a few weeks. I called for a launch.
We were connected, of course, to UCLA, to the Alzheimer
Dementia patient care program, and they started to send patients
our way. Others send patients to the launch, and thirty
(25:36):
souls arrived at a location for a launch. I knew
nothing of what was about to happen. Within minutes, somebody
gravitated to the piano. Somebody then gravitated to a rumpet.
My husband went to the ball of instruments and put
down a saxophone, and Sam pulled back his jacket and
(26:01):
pull down a harmonica. And there we had, in fifteen minutes,
four like minded souls never met before, sitting at a
piano with a drum kit, a saxophone and the harmonica,
and these guys were joined at the hip to become
the fifth Dementia band.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
Do you love that name? I couldn't wait for you
to say that.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
Their inaugural band was the fifth Dementia.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
That's just incredible brilliance. That makes me happy, exactly right,
And so obviously what's happening here. I mean, music literally
stimulates increases in dopamine secretion from the brain and it
gives all kinds of new, sustained levels of energy and happiness.
It literally changes a person's in this case your husband's
brain chemistry along with the other players with him.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
And that's the bottom line. Music making, and now we
add socialization is a direct line into our phomisey and
brain and al pharmis just jump to attention in the
moment of music making and push natural happy chemicals to
(27:11):
include oxytocin, and of course the biggest one is the dopamine.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
No, we strongly urge you to go online and we'll
give you all the information at the end of the
show and see some of these videos.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Oh yeah, of.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
These incredible support bands playing. Yeah, you hand out moroccas
you hand out tambourines or not. Who if they don't
want to be involved, they're not, but most of them do.
And they're just playing along with it and and doing
what they do and just the smiles on their faces
and the joy. And they're great songs too, you guys.
(27:47):
You pick great songs for everybody. Everybody knows, everybody sings along.
It's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Well go see that. It's also what helps underscore why
Carol specifically is here to talk with us, because you know,
it's one thing to see this happen in front of
your eyes, it's another thing to then see how this
could help many, many other people around the globe. And
this led directly to you creating this nonprofit of Music
(28:13):
Men's Minds, And at this point it's resulted in the
creation of twenty bands across the country improve the quality
of life for hundreds of people. And and I know
you and I both love this. Some of these bands
have some of the greatest band names I've ever heard.
The Beverly Hills Treblemakers, the Jazz and Novash this one
(28:37):
I love Tunes for the Memory, South bas Songs. These
are just incredible band names. But can you talk to
us more about how these bands work, Carol, we.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
Are blessed to be in partnership with Rotary International Clubs
and so it's a volunteer organization. They've opened the hearts
to us and clubs Rotary clubs around the world in
over two hundred countries who are in the service business
(29:09):
of helping where there are catastrophes. And we are living
a catastrophe because of the every three seconds somebody is
being diagnosed with dementia. Wow, every sixty five seconds, somebody
with Alzheimer's, in every five minutes with parkinson. So we
have a pandemic going, just like COVID that got vaccines
(29:36):
and now our pandemic of neural degenerative diseases. Throw in
those chromatic brain injuryes broken PTSD. We are a living disaster.
And so consequently the Rotary clubs are sponsoring in person
music groups in their neighborhood. Yeah, and so we have
(29:58):
over sixty frands globally. We have a group of Letarians
in the New Jersey area who have now drum circles.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
All volunteers. I'm assuming everyone's volunteers, volunteers.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
This is the beauty of it. So we actually have
one point two million sets of boots on the ground
who are all volunteers. Unbelievable, just how music meant's minds
is going out into the ethers. Not only for seniors today,
but because music is medicine for the mind, we now
(30:39):
are incorporating children to make every musical group intergenerational because
our sceniors lose the facility of speech. And how his
grandson Johnny and granddaughter Benny gonna speak Grandpa Grandma when
they've lost.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
Their traditional each of course.
Speaker 4 (31:02):
But to pick up a uku lately, up the harmonica,
turned on YouTube music that the seniors are familiar with,
the kids rock out and no language is missed because
the language of music is introduced. And my Irwin on
(31:24):
his deathbed, not speaking, not walking, not talking, I would
go in the morning with my with my shakers in
my hand, I would crank up the boom box and
dances into the dancing queen. And my husband, lying in
(31:48):
bed as if he were in the coffin, would hear
the beat of the music and would come his hands
to the beat of the music when the means I
to the sheet, and it was as if you were
dancing every morning together and kissing each other good morning.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
It's so instinctive because I've always just loved it's it's
very special to me when when my kids, when my
friends bring their kids over and the little two year
old is walking around the house in a diaper, but
you put music on and they start doing that.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Yeah, of course instinctive.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
And in one of the articles about you and your
and your your bands, I love this quote and I've
never even thought of this, but it is. It all
comes down to the heart beat in the fetus. The
very first sound you hear is that beat, and for
nine months you are immersed in the NonStop rhythm. So
(32:52):
that's where it's primal. Yeah, affects more. You know, some
people differently, but it is very, very primal.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
But thank you Carol, first of all, so much much
for sharing such a beautiful, heartwarming moment of those those
times with Irwin and what honor you have done his
memory by then taking this thing on a global level,
not just New Jersey in California, but Washington, Connecticut, New York, UK, Canada, Rwanda,
(33:19):
the Philippines, India like this is this has caught fire
in such an inspiring way. And you guys also do
zoom singalongs. I gather this is just so so powerful
an experience that you have identified for reconnecting people who
who who often feel disconnected from the rest of us.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
And assuming Carol, this keeps you pretty busy, does it?
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Not know?
Speaker 4 (33:46):
Not enough hours in my day. But I do want
to say that your listening audience can jump the stream
and watch Elfice Dementia in action every Thursday from two
to three pm Pacific Standard time. Absolutely, and it is
a circus and the seniors are up out of their wheel,
chance and focus are put aside their can givers grab
(34:11):
them by the scurf of their necks and they're dancing
and singing like a two year old.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
Wonderful And don't you love that it's always on Thursdays.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
That's right, Elmes, Carol. We can't thank you enough. We
want to make sure we give all your information where
people can check you out. Check out the bands all
over the world.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
The videos are amazing.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
Please go to Musicmen'sminds dot org. We're going to drop
a link on our Be Good Humans podcast website as
well to make it easy for you. But go check
out how you can join the fun and support such
an extraordinarily worthy cause. Carol, we cannot thank you enough
for giving us something to truly sing about today, and
especially for giving us an opportunity to sing your praises
(34:55):
as a very very good human.
Speaker 4 (34:57):
And I want to introduce you to my open His
ashes are with me every day. Hi, little fox people
Russia about thirty years ago and he's with us right now.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
Look what your wife's done. Look at what she's done.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
You married a very good human, Yes you did. Thank
you so much again, Carol, We really appreciate you giving
us your time today, my pleasure.
Speaker 4 (35:22):
Thanks for the outreach.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
A big kill kill big, We will take you suck.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
I absolutely love her.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
She's wonderful and global.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
It's global once so once again Musicmen's Minds dot org.
Or go to our website, which we would love you
to go to anyway, be Good Humans Podcast dot com.
We'll have a link to that. Also. You have a
great opportunity there to tell us about the good humans
in your lives that you would like for us to
meet and talk to. Also give us some pointers on
how to be good humans in general. There's some there's
(36:00):
all kinds of things. Do us a favor. Also follow
us on the socials, Facebook, Instagram threads, TikTok, and Frankly,
whatever bathroom wall is at your favorite music venue, just
just don't believe what it says there about me. It's
not entirely true.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
Thank you. We don't say this enough, but thank you
all for your interest in the show. Yeah and all
the help you're giving us. Yeah yeah, and your support.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
It's very very true. So Brian, you want to send
us off with your very best rock and roll finish,
all right, let me see, Okay, find it, find the moment,
all right?
Speaker 3 (36:30):
Man?
Speaker 2 (36:31):
Well, I just won't say everybody Elvis, and I want
you all to It'll be good humans like you, like
you very much.
Speaker 3 (36:42):
Speak good humans. Be good humans. Speak good humans, or
we will thank you suck.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
Be Good Humans is executive produced by Brian Phelps, Trey Callaway,
and Grant Anderson, with associate producers Sean Fitzgerald and Clementine
Callaway and partnership with Strawha Media. Please like, follow, and subscribe,
and remember, be good humans.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!