One of the most unique and, happily, positive stories in recent music history is that of Doc Pomus. It wasn’t easy. The bottom line is that Pomus...
Category - 1950s
Dolores Williams, aka LaVern Baker (with several name stops along the way, including “Little Miss Sharecropper”) became the second woman inducted...
A major force in Chicago, Carl Davis, has died at age 77. Here is part of the obituary in The New York Times: Though Chicago’s soul scene was less celebrated...
The passing last week of Andy Griffith led Phil Arnold, who runs ElvisBlog, to post an item on the links between the two icons. He described an appearance of...
Phil Phillips lone hit is one of the great songs of the rock era. Here is a version by Tom Waits that was used in a very good movie of the same name (which...
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.
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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.