Nobody can say that Willie Nelson follows the crowd. He started as a button-downed singer-songwriter in Nashville and now is the world’s oldest hippie...
Category - Country
John Hiatt’s work has been covered by many artists, including Jewel, Buddy Guy and Roseanne Cash. Riding with the King was the cover tune of an album by...
The great news is that Wanda Jackson still is going strong. Her current tour lasts into September. The Queen of Rockabilly often performed with Elvis (here is...
Bonnie Raitt, usually an electric slide player, shows her versatility in the clip above. Raitt started her tour this week and has a new album, Slipstream. She...
Editor’s Note: The Daily Music Break periodically re-posts music from earlier in the site’s run. This post initially appeared on April 28, 2012...
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 old boy, who...
(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...
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...
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...
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.