IRVING: NO RETIREMENT PLAN

A new profile of Irving Azoff in Sunday’s L.A. Times—a surprisingly intimate and, we must say, gorgeously written piece by Alex Pappademas—offers a fascinating counter-narrative to the graceful retirement plan of outgoing CMG boss Steve Barnett.

"[Don] Henley and I are having a race," goes a quote from the still-puckish 72-year-old mogul, calling out the man who is arguably his most famous client (and a few months his senior). "Neither one of us has given in. Neither one of us is going to retire."

Swirv, whose career trajectory is recounted in the piece, offers sage advice on the blighted touring landscape and dealing with "unmanageable" clients, to name but a few scintillating topics, as he gazes out the window of a rented home by Pebble Beach.

There's plenty of tasty material in the piece to savor, not to mention alternately thoughtful, tender and salty commentary on the likes of The Eagles, Steely Dan, Kanye West, Travis Scott, Eddie Van Halen and more. Son Jeffrey, Joe Walsh and others offer illuminating context. It's a fabulous read to take your mind off election stress; check it out here.