Blog Archives
Coney Island Birthday
Along with all my Halloween horror posts, I’m going to dedicate some of this month’s content to Lou Reed who left this plane three years ago on October 27, 2013. This year we’re also celebrating the 40th anniversary of Lou’s sixth solo album, Coney Island Baby, released in February, 1976. Here are some words from [...]
Bye Bye Baby
45 years ago, October 4, 1970, Janis Joplin died of an overdose in a Hollywood hotel. On May 2, 20016 I published a review of the then-new Janis: Little Girl Blue DVD in The Contributor. On the anniversary of Joplin’s death, here’s another look at that review. The film is currently streaming on Netflix… Academy [...]
Midnight Visitor Waits
If you follow me on Facebook you might have seen my ornery post last week wherein I linked to an announcement about Leonard Cohen’s new album, and complained about my Nashville music peers constantly celebrating “great” songwriters who shouldn’t even be allowed to mutter Cohen’s name in their prayers. GREAT is a big word, and [...]
Jimi Jams
Over the weekend Open Culture pointed back to one of its own posts to remember Jimi Hendrix’ death in London on September 17, 1970. Here are a couple of great acoustic performances with some words from Open Culture… Solo acoustic recordings of Hendrix—film and audio—are incredibly rare. In fact, the only other footage may be [...]
Who Stoned Whom
Under the moniker Ian & Sylvia, Ian and Sylvia Tyson were a Canadian folk duo that came to occupy a central role in the folk music revival that rattled and twanged out of Bleeker Street, beyond Greenwich Village, and into the popular music charts in the early 1960′s. The pair moved to Greenwich Village where [...]
Dawn of Moon
Keith Moon “The Loon” was born on August 23, 1946. Moon was a flat-out genius, one-of-a-kind rock ‘n’ roll drummer who found a perfect home for his chaotic style in a little band called The Who. Moon was also the poster boy for excessive appetites, and one of rock’s most famous casualties. From playing in [...]
Kamikaze Clash
One last Clash post to finish off the week and to remind readers that I’ll be on Edward Brinson’s Eigthties/Schmeighties show on WXNA radio in Nashville today to celebrate Joe Strummer’s birthday. We’ll hit the air this morning at 11 AM Central Time. Tune in here, and enjoy a fun look back at Joe and [...]
Scrutinizing SANDINISTA!
Today I want to take another look back at The Clash as we continue our remembrance of the band 30 years after their breakup in 1986. Check recent posts for commentaries and documentaries about Joe Strummer; the band’s eponymous debut; and their masterpiece, London Calling. This post jumps ahead to the band’s fourth release, a [...]
Bob’s Bible
Talking to a friend today the subject of Dylan’s born again music came up. Even Dylan fans will dismiss Bob’s so-called Christian period which roughly spans the late 1970′s through the early 1980′s. But, here’s the thing: those records are all great discs full of classic songs. Why do so many miss the treasure? I [...]
