Joan Chandos Báez – Joan Baez — is a big topic. Since everyone knows her and holds an opinion, it ironically makes it less necessary to go into details...
Archive - March 2018
Elvin Bishop hardly has blues roots. He was born in Glendale, CA and lived near Elliott, IA until he was ten, when his family moved to Tulsa. His community was...
Country Music Television notes that today would have been the 73rd birthday of country music star Tammy Wynette. Here is more on Wynette, who was known as the...
It seems as if alto saxophonist Art Pepper had two careers: As an influential musician and as a heroin addict who was jailed on several occasions. In his...
Herbert Jay Solomon – Herbie Mann – is perhaps the best known and greatest jazz flutist. Mann’s Wikipedia profile says that Mann – who lived from 1930 to...
What can really be said about KISS? Wikipedia perhaps sums it up best: …the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s with their elaborate live...
Laura Marling is a British singer/songwriter/guitarist. Three of her first four albums — in 2008, 2010 and 2013 — were nominated for Mercury Awards...
HT: ES He had a stern visage and chiseled features (or was it stern features and chiseled visage?), invariably was called “Leonard” and generally...
The Drifters seem to be more of a brand and franchise than a band. The Wikipedia profile says that the group, which it defines as having its (many) feet in doo...
It’s interesting to see the wide divergence of acts with whom talented musicians played during their studio days, if they had any. Little Feat’s...
Reading Music
The stories of the great bands and musicians are fascinating. Musicians as a group are brilliant, but often troubled. The combination of creativity and drama makes for great reading.
Here are some books to check out.
Duke Ellington brought class, sophistication and style to jazz which, until that point, was proudly unpolished and raucous. His story is profound. The author, Terry Teachout, also wrote "Pops," the acclaimed bio of Louis Armstrong. Click here or on the image.
What else is there to say? Here is the story behind every song written by The Beatles. Click here or on the image.
The Grateful Dead don't get enough credit for the profound nature of its lyrics. Many of the band's songs are driven by a deep and literate Americana ("I'm Uncle Sam/That's who I am/Been hidin' out/In a rock and roll band" and "Majordomo Billy Bojangles/Sit down and have a drink with me/What's this about Alabama/Keeps comin' back to me?").
David Dodd's exhaustive study tells the story, song by song. Click here or on the image.
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