Tell me, tell me, if you think you know. The pride of Oakland, CA. Here is more on the band: Tower’s musical odyssey actually began in 1968 when Emilio...
Category - Funk
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...
Low Rider, above, doesn’t start until about a minute and half into the clip. It is interesting to watch Don Cornelius hold court, however. War has a...
Thanks to my friend Tim for letting me know about Robert Randolph and the Family Band. A couple of paragraphs about the band’s new album, We Walk This...
Something had been missing from this site. I couldn’t figure it out. It finally hit me: Falco singing “Der Kommissar.” Here are the...
I look for any rationale for playing great tunes. So, happy 58th birthday, Mark Avsec. Avsec was the keyboardist in Wild Cherry, whose Play that Funky Music...
I don’t really understand it, from the spaceships landing and the guy in the diaper, but it all is very funky and the musicianship is great. Believe it...
I can’t think of a performer as intense as James Brown in terms of both talent and personality. There really isn’t anyone close. And it...
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.