Blog Archives
A Love Supreme At 50
50 years ago in February, 1965, John Coltrane released A Love Supreme. One of the greatest albums in any genre, the record represented the culmination of Coltrane’s spiritual rebirth after recovering from heroin addiction nearly 10 years earlier. Coltrane pledged his horn to god during his struggles and Supreme is the sound of a man [...]
Black Moon Risin’
On Wednesday afternoon my Facebook wall began to light-up with the frantic news that outsider musician and Nashvillian par-excellence, Dave Cloud, was in an intensive care unit as a result of his battle with cancer. The news came out of nowhere for most of the rocker’s friends and admirers and yesterday’s announcement of his death [...]
Who is Tom Wilson?
I’m fascinated by the career of lesser-known music producer Tom Wilson. One reason Wilson is so fascinating is the fact that he played a central role in the development of crucial musical movements of the 1960′s, but even today’s most informed music maniacs offer only blank stares at the mention of his name. That’s why [...]
Gene Vincent Lives
Today we celebrate the birthday of one of rock ‘n’roll’s original madmen: Gene Vincent embodied sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll about a decade before the emergence of an American generation that would take hold of those values and recreate world culture in a new era of freedom and expression. By 1969 Vincent was a [...]
Happy Birthday, Alice!
Today we celebrate the birthday of Vincent Furnier who was born February 4, 1948. Better known as Alice Cooper, the black-clad rocker made a name for himself when he pushed the outrageousness of his proto-glam theatricality toward the macabre, becoming the primary architect of shock rock. Here’s Furnier in a Rolling Stone interview from last [...]
The Coming of the King
Many folks think of the Ed Sullivan Show when they think of The Coming of Elvis Presley. Closer to the mark, folks often remember his third appearance on the Dorsey Brothers Stage Show in March of 1956 when he sang “Heartbreak Hotel.” Presley’s national debut actually occurred on January 28 of 1956 on the same [...]
Beautiful Dreamer
Kim Fowley is dead. Los Angelino, garage rock professor, underground icon and architect of The Runaways, Kim Fowley has been ill with cancer for some time and as of tonight, he’s no longer with us. If the name Kim Fowley doesn’t immediately have your bells ringing, here’s some of his Rolling Stone obit to fill [...]
All Dolled Up
This New York Dolls documentary was just uncovered by Noisey and it’s required viewing for anyone interested in punk’s early greatest days. From the site… Directed by Nadya Beck and Bob Gruen, All Dolled Up: A New York Dolls Story is a feature-length documentary that was filmed in 1972, and sees the then-married pair follow [...]
Black Planet at 25
This year is the 25th anniversary of the release of the Public Enemy’s Fear of a Black Planet. The ambitious concept album followed-up on the success of It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. That album’s socio-political observations found the band comparing that record to Marvin Gaye’s What’s Goin’ On, but the [...]
Hugh Hefner Lives!
Last night, I was feeling sleepy, thinking about hitting the hay. Out of nowhere my girlfriend told me that Hugh Hefner had died — she was surfing the internet on her phone. “Damn, Hugh Hefner is dead. The end of an era,” I thought. The truth is that Hugh Hefner was likely the last victim [...]
