The Daily Music Break has about 1,200 posts. These include audio-only
The Daily Music Break has about 1,200 posts. These include audio-only
The Daily Music Break has about 1,200 posts. These include audio-only
The Daily Music Break has about 1,200 posts. These include audio-only
Republican
Republican
One of the most influential blues players of the last century was Sam Hopkins, better known as Lightning.
“Surviving New America: Hope Thomas and Her Enemies”
“Surviving New America: Hope Thomas and Her Enemies”
It's 2029 and Hope Thomas has an abortion in Texas. The state wants to make her the first woman executed under new laws that allow capital punishment for the procedure.…
Asleep at the Wheel Celebrates Bob Wills and Western Swing.
Asleep at the Wheel Celebrates Bob Wills and Western Swing.
Things Couldn’t Have Turned Out Better for Dolly Parton.
Things Couldn’t Have Turned Out Better for Dolly Parton.
Different Goodbyes From Glen Campbell and Johnny Cash
Different Goodbyes From Glen Campbell and Johnny Cash
Walter White’s America
Walter White’s America
The use of America’s “A Horse with No Name” in the third episode of the second season of the show Breaking Bad was perfect. The clip above is not…
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass: “Spanish Flea”
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass: “Spanish Flea”
https://youtu.be/9-_2QpbXMbw Without doubt, the most surprising thing I’ve learned during the years I’ve been doing this website is that Norah Jones is Ravi Shankar’s daughter. That’s simply impossible to beat. It's also…
Gene Ammons Helped Fuse Bebop and Chicago Blues
Gene Ammons Helped Fuse Bebop and Chicago Blues
Perhaps nothing is as soothing and peaceful as cool saxophone music, and Gene Ammons was a master. Ammons, known as “The Boss” decades before Springsteen came along, played with all…
Podcast: A Conversation with Marisa Anderson
Podcast: A Conversation with Marisa Anderson
A Conversation with Marisa Anderson: https://dailymusicbreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/marisanndersonfinal.mp3 Marisa Anderson is a great and unique guitarist in her playing, what she writes and her choice of material to cover. This…
The Andrews Sisters and Jump Jazz
The Andrews Sisters and Jump Jazz
Minnesotans LaVerne, Maxene and Patty Andrews (originally Andreos) became a star act rather early. Their father was Greek and mother was Norwegian. The sisters' first big hit — in 1937…
Danay Suárez: “Yo Aprendi”
Danay Suárez: “Yo Aprendi”
HT: EAW At its core, Cuban music relies on “calidos.” That, according to Insight Cuba, refers to “a type of social unification” that existed among slaves transported to the island from Africa.…
Podcast: Why Was Louis Armstrong the Great Louis Armstrong?
Podcast: Why Was Louis Armstrong the Great Louis Armstrong?
https://dailymusicbreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Yanow-with-intro2.mp3 We all know–and most of us love — the jolly, overweight trumpeter with the huge smile, gravelly voice and out-sized personality. It is assumed in popular culture that Louis Armstrong…
The Cadillacs: His Real Name is Mr. Earl
The Cadillacs: His Real Name is Mr. Earl
The Cadillacs were great, both before and after Earl Carroll sang one of the most recognizable lines in modern music: “Well now they often call me Speedoo, but my real…
The Rolling Stones: “All Down the Line”
The Rolling Stones: “All Down the Line”
"All Down the Line,” a great Rolling Stones song, probably is in the band’s second tier in terms of popularity and recognition. It’s not “Honky Tonk Women,” “Satisfaction” or “Paint…
Marcus Robersis Old School and New School
Marcus Robersis Old School and New School
Marcus Roberts is as impressive as any musician covered by The Daily Music Break. It’s not fair to the others to say more impressive, since some personal struggles are not…
The Isley Brothers “Fight the Power” and “Shout”
The Isley Brothers “Fight the Power” and “Shout”
The version of “Shout” embedded below is the Saturday Night Beech-Nut Hour hosted by Dick Clark. The first two or three seconds are priceless if you are 50 years old or older. — was…
Charlie Parker: “Dexterity” and “Yardbird Suite”
Charlie Parker: “Dexterity” and “Yardbird Suite”
The saga of Charlie Parker is well known and told in many places, including Wikipedia and Ken Burns’ Jazz documentary. Genius, drugs, alcohol and early death. Bebop is a lot like advanced physics: It…
Assessing the Value of Vinyl Records: It’s Not About the Money
Assessing the Value of Vinyl Records: It’s Not About the Money
There are several keys to finding the value of vinyl records. Go for it...but be prepared to settle for a million dollars worth of memories Most of us have crates…
Video: Pete Seeger’s Very Well Lived Life
Video: Pete Seeger’s Very Well Lived Life
Musicians become institutions simply because they are around for a long time. The music they created has become the soundtrack of people’s lives, deeply associated with happy and sad events…
Sleepy John Estes: “Down South Blues” and “Mailman Blues”
Sleepy John Estes: “Down South Blues” and “Mailman Blues”
John Adam (Sleepy John) Estes was a sharecropper who lived from 1899 to 1977. He made his debut recordings, according to Wikipedia, in Memphis in 1929. The profile has a…
Happy Birthday, Paul Desmond and Willie (The Lion) Smith
Happy Birthday, Paul Desmond and Willie (The Lion) Smith
A couple of pretty important jazz folks celebrate birthdays in late November. In fact, the juxtaposition of the two styles shows just how incredibly broad the genre is. Paul Desmond…
A Conversation with Steely Dan’s Jon Herington
A Conversation with Steely Dan’s Jon Herington
Jon Herington on Steely Dan, playing across genres, guitarists he admires, running his own band and more: https://dailymusicbreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/herington-final-april-8cc.mp3 The Daily Music Break's first interview was via Skye with Steely…
Video: Author Kent Gustavson on Doc Watson
Video: Author Kent Gustavson on Doc Watson
Arthel Lane “Doc” Watson, who lived from 1923 to 2012, was undoubtedly one of the most influential of American musicians of the past 100 years. The conventional wisdom is that…
The Grand Ole Opry and The Foggy Mountain Boys
The Grand Ole Opry and The Foggy Mountain Boys
One of the most important institutions in country music – and, therefore, American music – is the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. On October 18, 1925, the management of The National Life &…
Welcome to The Daily Music Break
Welcome to The Daily Music Break
Thank you for visiting. The Daily Music Break offers great music regardless of era or genre. Simply, it's all good (or most of it, anyway). Here is an index of most…
Podcast: A Conversation with David Bromberg
Podcast: A Conversation with David Bromberg
David Bromberg has played everything with everyone, or at least it seems that way. His profile is deep and wide: Bob Dylan, Levon Helm, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, The Beastie…
From the Vault: Just Getting Started…
From the Vault: Just Getting Started…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZO1uMjz3n3w Hello, thanks for stopping by. There is no better place to start anything than with Louis Armstrong. Here he is supporting Dizzy Gillespie. Armstrong was the old guard and…
Johnny Cash Sings “Cocaine Blues”
Johnny Cash Sings “Cocaine Blues”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pKbVo6n5Lws The Daily Music Break is re-posting great music that original was featured when the site was younger. This originally posted on March 11, 2012. There is so much out…
Georgia Field Hands: “Mary Don’t You Weep”
Georgia Field Hands: “Mary Don’t You Weep”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MDh2zRm1dwQ This spiritual is one of the great clips on YouTube, for my money. Plucking these five Georgia field hands -- almost certainly share croppers or tenant farmers -- out…
From the Vault: The Great Levon Helm
From the Vault: The Great Levon Helm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pcgxuGiI7wU Editor's Note: The Daily Music Break will increasing re-post old material, which makes sense because there is so much great music embedded in them. This particular post originally appeared…
Howlin’ Wolf: “Sitting on Top of the World”
Howlin’ Wolf: “Sitting on Top of the World”
https://youtu.be/85_gmHCBoMs The Daily Music Break is re-posting old posts because so much good music is attached to them. This post originally appeared on March 15, 2012. The home page image,…
Jeff Beck, Imelda May: “Remember (Walking In the Sand)”
Jeff Beck, Imelda May: “Remember (Walking In the Sand)”
https://youtu.be/GUDNPxkh1DQ Editor's Note: This post originally appeared on March 16, 2012. The clip is not the same one that originally appeared, so some of the commentary below no longer will…
House of Pain: “Jump Around”
House of Pain: “Jump Around”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZaz7OqyTHQ The Daily Music Break is re-posting items from earlier in the site's history. The first line below makes it clear that this post -- a classic -- originally was…
Quite a Trip: The Great Ray Charles Hits the Road in His Shortest Number One Hit
Quite a Trip: The Great Ray Charles Hits the Road in His Shortest Number One Hit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qI_nrfxV2ps Everyone should listen to Ray Charles. In a sense, it's impossible to have the full story about American music without doing so. In 2012, Performing Songwriter posted an interview…
Send More Chuck Berry
Send More Chuck Berry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK6MElklfvM (The Daily Music Break periodically re-posts content from earlier in the life of the site. This post, which has been tweaked due to the disappearance and reappearance of the…
Phish: “Sneaking Sally Through the Alley”
Phish: “Sneaking Sally Through the Alley”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8hCA9LSA4I Editor's Note: The Daily Music Break is reposting music that appeared earlier in the history of the site. It was good then, it's good now. This post originally appeared…
Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald Swing “Mack the Knife,” Which is a Scary Song
Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald Swing “Mack the Knife,” Which is a Scary Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8vbhXK-u_g Mack the Knife is a beloved jazz standard. Besides Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darin are heavyweights who recorded it. Here is a fabulous version by Armstrong. The…
Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir: “I’ve Been All Around This World”
Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir: “I’ve Been All Around This World”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JkbA15QMscs The Daily Music Break is re-posting earlier material. The video is pretty awful, but the song is not. This originally posted on March 21, 2012. It's kind of silly…
The Leningrad Cowboys and the Red Army Choir: “Sweet Home Alabama”
The Leningrad Cowboys and the Red Army Choir: “Sweet Home Alabama”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=KGFnkDCmsnE Editor's Note: We are re-posting material that previously appeared at The Daily Music Break. This originally posted on March 22, 2012. The US wages a decades-long cold war with…
Johnny and Edgar Winter: “Highway 61 Revisited”
Johnny and Edgar Winter: “Highway 61 Revisited”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BpnZo9pXV7s The Daily Music Break periodically re-posts older material. The music gets better over time. This post originally appeared on March 23, 2012. Since we posted this, sadly, Johnny Winter…
Nat King Cole Got His Kicks on Route 66
Nat King Cole Got His Kicks on Route 66
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dCYApJtsyd0 (Editor's Note: Happy New Year. I've given up on finding good music for the holiday. There isn't too much. Check out yesterday's post for what I could find. TDMB…
Everybody Knows Leonard Cohen
Everybody Knows Leonard Cohen
https://youtu.be/T4rf7bAApM4 Editor's Note: The Daily Music Break periodically re-launches old posts. This post on the great Leonard Cohen originally appeared on March 29, 2012. Since then, the site has posted k.d.…
From The Vault: Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs’ “Down the Road”
From The Vault: Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs’ “Down the Road”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DhOuIoG55Tw (Editor's Note: The Daily Music Break periodically re-posts great music. Earl Scruggs died on March 28, 2012, two days before this post--in a slightly different form--initially appeared. ) Earl…
Gary Clark Jr.: “Bright Lights”
Gary Clark Jr.: “Bright Lights”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=x_ZeDn-hHGE The Daily Music Break -- which celebrated its third anniversary yesterday -- periodically re-posts material from the archives. This post initially appeared on March 31, 2012. I don't know anything…
From the Archives: The Short, Sad and Brilliant Life of Bix Beiderbecke
From the Archives: The Short, Sad and Brilliant Life of Bix Beiderbecke
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bpIZde7lVoY Editor's Note: From time to time, The Daily Music Break re-posts older content. Alex Welsh and Fred Hunt's version of Davenport Blues is haunting, especially in the context of Davenport…
Richard X. Heyman: Cornerstone
Richard X. Heyman: Cornerstone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Pd3LvGJcDXc Here is a tune, Cornerstone, that was suggested by a site visitor. I like it. Here is Richard Heyman's site, his Wikipedia page and links to four other songs:…
From the Vault: Alpine Kat’s “The Large Hadron Collider”
From the Vault: Alpine Kat’s “The Large Hadron Collider”
http://www.youtube.com/embed/j50ZssEojtM Editor's Note: The Daily Music Break re-posts great music from earlier in the site's run. This is among the most creative videos on the site. It originally posted on…
Jerry Reed and Chet Atkins: “Mule Skinner Blues”
Jerry Reed and Chet Atkins: “Mule Skinner Blues”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iup-7qSa7a4 Jerry Reed is one of the few guitarists who could hold his own with Chet Atkins. Indeed, in the clip above, Reed leads. Reed was a very funny good…
Thelonious Monk’s “Blue Monk”
Thelonious Monk’s “Blue Monk”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_40V2lcxM7k The Daily Music Break periodically re-post artists and posts from earlier in the site's run. Here is the great Thelonious Monk's "Blue Monk." This post originally appeared on April…
Porcupine Tree: “Dark Matter”
Porcupine Tree: “Dark Matter”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMc-75oLgU8 Some very nice music suggested by a site visitor. The tune above suggests to me that the band has listened to its share of Pink Floyd, though they have…
Billie Holiday was Lady Day
Billie Holiday was Lady Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GwdNqtJzWYA Billie Holiday would have been 97 on Saturday. Wikipedia has a particularly good bio of her sad life and its even sadder ending--broke, broken, addicted and about to be…
The Clancy Brothers: “Finnegan’s Wake”
The Clancy Brothers: “Finnegan’s Wake”
The Clancy Brothers, who played with Tommy Makem until 1969, were great talkers as well as great singers. About half of the above version of Finnegan's Wake is a reading…
