There isn’t much else to write about Tom Petty that hasn’t been written since his passing. Somebody dying young is just a profoundly sad thing...
Category - Rock
The early rock and rollers faced a bit of a challenge as they aged. The genre inherently is that of young people — or at lest was at its inception. Those...
Guitarist Larry Campbell has played with everyone. He was in Bob Dylan’s Never Ending Tour band, which ran from 1997 through 2004. He has played with Levon...
Les Dudek, who is one of the many great guitarists who run a bit under the radar, had an interesting history by the time he was born, according to Wikipedia...
This Day in Rock says rather vaguely that “People Got to be Free” by the Rascals “was a hit this day” in 1968. I suppose it was. And it probably was on August...
There are a great number of important musical birthdays at this time of year. Recently, The Daily Music Break posted on Junior Kimbrough and Ramblin’...
Wikipedia offers the impressive statistics that 19 musicians have been full time members of the progressive rock band Yes. Indeed, Stereogum’s Phil Freeman...
The Chemical Brothers are Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, high school friends who formed the band in 1989 in Manchester, England. The band, according to Wikipedia...
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 the highest...
The James Gang was in the second tier of rock acts from the perspectives of popularity and record sales. However, the James Gang had their moments, their fans...
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.