http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV_SSTjIT-E A Conversation with Marisa Anderson: Marisa Anderson is a great and unique guitarist in her playing, what she writes…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcDH3Qe4nDQ It is great that the 125th anniversary of Leadbelly's birth is being commemorated with a five CD boxed set from…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/a6vmlg37dto Odetta was an influential singer in the 1960s folk/protest movement era. Here is how Wikipedia starts its profile: Odetta…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zM18HENqNbk Los Lobos, Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir do perhaps the greatest American patriotic song. Thanks for visiting the site.…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DZWIJOU44Vc Like Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen has managed to remain relevant as a musician and as a lyricist despite being…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DxaVOeudtU The guitar hero superman started with Jimi Hendrix and continues today. There is a long list of great ones:…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd-Kwg7RF0c John Adams (“Sleepy John”) Estes was born in Ripley, Tennessee on January 25th of 1899 or 1900. The earlier…
https://youtu.be/1-Taae2zLfA?list=RD1-Taae2zLfA David (Junior) Kimbrough was born on this day in 1930 in Hudsonville, Mississippi. Wikipedia says Kibrough’s two most noteworthy…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv_THWZ8-T8 Periodically, The Daily Music Break will highlight an important song, Please send candidates to dailymusicbreak1@gmail.com. Evidence of the importance…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKUtQdNpPfg Music Choice, an audio-only cable channel, is a great place to hear music. There are about 20 specialized channels…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkBqTWBIkKw Here are Stevie Ray Vaughan and Lonnie Mack performing "Double Whammy." The site has covered SRV before. Lonnie Mack…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfAY4vzxm_8 Guitarist and harmonica player Will Shade was one of the main players of the very important Memphis Jug Band.…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqWJKW7Np0Y I got into a traffic jam--a pretty bad one--on The Long Island Expressway earlier today. This came on WBGO,…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy2tEP3I3DM Here is the beginning of Mississippi Blues Trail's entry on Otis Rush: The blues form reached both artistic and…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34VJzHT9nuk From Wikipedia: Tampa Red (January 8, 1904 – March 19, 1981), born Hudson Woodbridge but known from childhood as…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxoGvBQtjpM This Day in Music relates that on August 13, 1952 Big Mama Thornton recorded Leiber and Stoller's "Hound Dog" which,…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxiEMpcI83E On June 9th, The Daily Music Break posted a poll asking who are the greatest electric blues guitarists. The…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdbrIrFxas0 There are interesting anniversaries every day and, of course, birthdays of note. On this day in 1967, for instance,…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUB_LQ9jfwk Walter Horton, who also was known as Big Walter Horton, Mumbles Horton and Walter “Shakey” Horton, was a Mississippi-born…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd-Kwg7RF0c John Adam (Sleepy John) Estes was a sharecropper who lived from 1899 to 1977. He made his debut recordings,…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hucTDV1Fvo Last week, I did a post on the passing of Samuel Charters, a very important researcher and blues archivist.…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBJ3E1d58CU The video of rural life Mississippi in this featurette about slide master Mississippi Fred McDowell is so interesting that the music…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkCCnbzCN4w Fulton Allen – Blind Boy Fuller – was born in 1908 in Wadesboro, North Carolina. He became completely blind…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n19NsYMH3TU Merry Christmas from Dr. John, Leon Redbone, Ken Peplowski and The Daily Music Break. The song is "Christmas Ball Blues."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5z3fcco3ys A Conversation with Doug MacLeod: Doug MacLeod is a bluesman, which I believe he would consider a great compliment--it…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wq_2A7sDAk Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown was an extraordinarily gifted musician. Many folks are aware that he was a great and influential blues guitarist.…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZvTWa3_fdY Memphis Minnie was a female blues guitarist and singer in what was an overwhelmingly man's world. They should make…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAkEQpgl6MY I could only find one video of Mississippi John Hurt, which is surprising considering how popular he became in…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VlCwLH_xWE The Homemade Jamz Blues Band, from Tupelo, Mississippi, consists of three Perry siblings: Lead guitarist Ryan, bass player Kyle and drummer…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJU_ac9hJkI I happened to see "Tow Boat Blues" by Washboard Sam after posting some of his music this morning. The song…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnxeyOV0u38 Perhaps the name "Washboard Sam" implied that he was a specialty act or a lightweight. He was neither. An interesting…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMI5KHPFDns It's interesting that Robert Lee McCollum -- Robert Nighthawk -- never got the recognition accorded other blues players, many of…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8gUpvllN5Q Legends aren't dependent on mystery. Louis Armstrong and The Rolling Stones are legends, and they have been all over…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxykqBmUCwk Leadbelly -- Huddie Ledbetter -- is a legend. The outlines are contradictory: Leadbelly was a murderer who sang kids…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kVCsSzWoV7g Those are two great nicknames, and there probably were more. Champion Jack Dupree led an interesting life, it seems.…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Fm1qtX7Mz5w Big Bill Broonzy was one of the most important blues players of the twentieth century. The problem: Broonzy --…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=CCqbKdnHZTs I am not a guitar player, but to me Furry Lewis' technique seems unique. "Kassie Jones" is a song…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=MYdKho_5Y9A Blues Traveler was featured in a cute scene in Blues Brothers. Elwood Blues (Dan Aykroyd, of course) performed Rock Me…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bjzuSO27fA This Day in Music reports that today is birthday of Maria Muldaur (1943) and George Jones (1941) and the anniversary of Johnny…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hki1qZvG14 Keb' Mo' is Kevin Moore. Here is the beginning of AllMusic's bio of the throwback blues performer: Guitarist/vocalist Keb'…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWLAAzOBoBI B.B. King is introduced in the above clip by Jimmy Walker, of Good Times fame (Dyn-O-mite!). The song is of How…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRWgtYtrrj8 Jan Mark Wolkin's profile of Mike Bloomfield is affectionate and very interesting. This passage describes Bloomfield's early exploits in…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWdq4yXaZdI Here is the beginning of Wikipedia's profile of Marcia Ball: Marcia Ball (born March 20, 1949, Orange, Texas, United…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFqK6PBq-hA Aaron Thibeaux (T-Bone) Walker was ranked number 47 on the list of greatest guitarists by Rolling Stone. Here is…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkOMiA_uGso Wikipedia on Tom Waits. Daniel Durchholz's definition of his voice is priceless, and pretty much on target. Thomas Alan…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVxorhmYADc The great Delbert McClinton cuts across many genres. Here is All Music's take: The venerable Delbert McClinton is a legend among…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=WOOFx9c6qyA Here is a bio on Bo Diddley: Born Otha Ellas Bates (later known as Ellas McDaniel), 28 December 1928,…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/R9I6lQNK6Ok Here is how AllMusic starts its bio of blues guitarist and singer Susan Tedeschi: Guitarist, singer, and songwriter Susan…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/0ra7_Pt5DTI Andrew Jones Jr. is the guitarist on the great song above. From Wikipedia's entry on harmonic player Charlie Musselwhite:…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/N0jRX69mxcE Bukka White's bio is interesting, particularly the involvement of John Fahey. You can hear White's influence in his music. Please…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/CgWhxB5EkmQ The nicely done bio of the duo at Concord Music Group is quite affectionate: Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee were…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/fnWxZtI3ONY Statesboro Blues, a song that of course is familiar to contemporary music fans, is credited to Blind Willie McTell. McTell…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/ytVww5r4Nk0 Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James appears to be a very interesting person. Wikipedia describes his playing style: James often played his…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IAtZANlu0h0 Taj Mahal has been around forever. The only thing that seems to have changed is that he gained a…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=7EHfvbOX7VI As this paragraph from his bio at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame site makes clear, Big Joe…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kzk0g36MFeo The above, which features Mick Taylor, was recorded at John Mayall's 70th birthday concert in 2003. It's not the…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtLwuPCUEdg Not too much to say about Vaughan. The videos speak for themselves. High on the too-long list of musicians…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=43-UUeCa6Jw Ragtime, perhaps because of the popularity of Scott Joplin, is associated with the piano. There also is a school…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyVhBfIFbiQ Editor's Note: The Daily Music Break periodically re-posts great music that has been on the site before. This post…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/cnVSUH6_oBY Alabama Shakes is from Athens, Alabama. The singer, Brittany Howard, is a powerhouse. The band was suggested to me.…
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…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcAxJ1_8NBc I know, I know. You are sick of classical versions of "Purple Haze." Sorry about offering another. Actually, just…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvipPYFebWc H/T: Cousin Ed Lindsey Stirling takes the violin in unique directions. Stirling -- who also is a performance artist,…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uemFFyQ2UW4 Argentinian Daniel Barenboim is a pianist – he is considered one of the greatest alive -- and the general music…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygn7ORgPbEE&feature=youtu.be HT: ES He had a stern visage and chiseled features (or was it stern features and chiseled visage?), invariably…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPYVR_xSr9U There were two Georg Telemanns: Georg Phillipp and Georg Michael, who was his lesser known grandson. Georg Philipp Telemann,…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COR3lMXKAfg The beginning of Blair Johnston’s profile of Pablo Casals at AllMusic offers this quote from the Spanish cellist: he life…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvgl_2JRIUs Things sometimes work out in a strange way. Sir Edward Elgar -- composer of the graduation standard "Pomp and Circumstance"…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQI5LtRtrb0 French composer Georges Bizet hit an unfortunate daily double: He died young and his career epitomizes the artist whose…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBQfHJA2Lng Andrés Segovia – formally, Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña – was one of the greatest and most influential guitarists…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JthxVHkRT9Y Philip Glass is a leading member of the minimalist school of music. Wikipedia defines minimalism as having “a steady…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr0ixoV8mtc Classicalalmanac.com reports that on this day in 1922 a The New York Philharmonic concert was broadcast for the first…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3P7JZ-EGmg Frédéric François Chopin didn't seem to have much fun. His story is reminiscent of Franz Schubert's, which isn't a good…
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9m2dh_igor-stravinsky-1965-conducts-lulla_music ClassicalNet explains the importance of Igor Stravinsky, who lived from 1882 to 1971: Russian/international composer who began two of…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkIULqYxiPU Johannes Brahms is grouped with Ludwig van Beethoven and Johann Sebastian Bach as the "Three Bs." (This is not to…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmEJLoawItU Bomb disposal may be the only vocation more terrifying than playing in a classical orchestra. Think about it: A…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vuclgz-6uqQ Franz Schubert, according to profiles, lived a short life, spent most of it writing various forms of music of…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=WPjNphbbla0 It must have been terrifying to be an artist in the Soviet Union during World War II. Classical composer Dmitri…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFQpPbjJWTc This is from the Vienna's Philharmonic Orchestra's 2013 New Year's concert. I intended to post it yesterday, but never…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=NnKTM0aLjZI Classical Net has details on the guy with the greatest first name in music history. For an instant, I…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Qnla_5zrHAE Vladimir Horowitz was a towering figure in classical piano. The descriptions suggest that he ran at full tilt, but…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=YabEfOQRG3U Here is the beginning of Wikipedia's profile of Alexander Borodin, who seems to have been an interesting fellow: Alexander…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPcnGrie__M An interesting quote from Jascha Heifetz--considered one of the greatest violinists ever--on the importance of rehearsing: "If I don't practice…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/cuOpM43FIDo Antonin Leopold Dvořák was born in the village of Nelahozeves in Bohemian, which now is in the Czech Republic. Here…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvP7JZWOZMw Charles Ives, one of the most acknowledged of American composers, was demanding on performers because of his reliance on…
Here is the beginning of Claude Debussy's profile at Encyclopedia Britannica: Claude Debussy, in full Achille-Claude Debussy (born August 22, 1862, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France—died…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/x2LunPxZjlY Above is Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 1 performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker conducted by Iván Fischer. Oszkár Ökrös…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPUYn_wpHeI Here is AllMusic's description of Mozart's Flute Concerto No.2 In D Major, K.314: For nearly two hundred years, scholars believed…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojeLyPo_Wz4 The great tenor sings Ave Maria. Pavarotti was born in 1935. We had some fun with a Pavarotti/Spice Girls collaboration a while…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqODySSxYpc The choice for today's post came down to either part 1 of Verklaerte Nacht (part 1) by Arnold Schoenberg as…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/RM9DPfp7-Ck A classical cellist could be intimidating. Yo-Yo Ma, however seems like a regular guy. But, of course, somebody who…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xxb7yNG0DGc Leonard Bernstein's performance of George Gershwin's piece, which premiered on February 12, 1924, is in two sections. The continuation…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=r4h0R4QHhvw The fifth and last section of Aaron Copland's ballet, Rodeo, is written as either Hoedown or Hoe-Down. Details on…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3cl6QoZSDw Classy for the weekend. If you remember the television program for which this was the theme, you (like me)…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/28GPy7yRl88 Truly. This is Borge's version of Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. The other guy isn't credited in the…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlOk5wV0DRo Tony Thomas, a good friend of the site, sent this clip of Sturgill Simpson. Writes Thomas: "Simpson has had…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hPcO4pYxlo Doc Watson is one of the most important people in the history of American music. Clearly, his technical mastery…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbEstJ98TcM They held the Merle Haggard memorial concert last night at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, according to The Tennessean.…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msuwzraeoQU Good news from Salon: It’s been a long time since we heard from iconic country singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn, but…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MSkQlZy5e0 On January 13, 1968, Johnny Cash recorded a live set at Folsom Prison near Sacramento. It became perhaps the…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szEAqKbAGz4 Both the lyrics and delivery of this song are intense. From Wikipedia: Joseph Arrington, Jr. (August 8, 1935–August 13,…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B1Oj8fMwdI&list=PLqAz_IDdOzlgtT3bXMq4Iz1e0yxGdtXX1 Shelby Lynne is a versatile country singer/song writer. Her album, "I am Shelby Lynne," won the Grammy for Best…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-c66SJPuUI On this day in 1997, Chet Atkins Day was held in Nashville, according to Country Music Television. The site…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCg6FdvTUgA This stanza is, of course, from the classic "Up on Cripple Creek," which was written by Robbie Robertson and…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zprRZ2wFQD4 Townes Van Zandt is a legendary singer songwriter. To some degree, he was the stereotype: A brilliant writer who…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc4e-HdlhPY Country Music Television notes that today would have been the 73rd birthday of country music star Tammy Wynette. Here…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C81CinZgDx0 Blaze Foley was a highly eccentric but brilliant singer/song writer who lived and died in Austin. He led a…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbeBRvCO7cw Ricky Skaggs started early and still is going strong. He has deep roots in the older traditions of country…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrnSDoc7wm8 The mournful "Black Peter" is one of the great Garcia/Hunter songs, especially Hunter's lyrics. It's more than a rock…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1ewHxNoqkA Being the son or daughter of a celebrity seems to be a particular burden. Especially if the parent is extremely…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uDKI8i1dSI The Nashville Scene this week reported that Mac Wiseman, Hank Cochran and Ronnie Milsap were inducted into the Country…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRyqePcMxJ4 Editor’s note: TDMB is reposting great music from the early days of the site. This was originally posted on…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxpPL_aY190 Lucinda Williams, a singer-songwriter born in 1953 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, mixes elements of blues, folk and country music. Her…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwBNBcFAFso Dolly Parton -- the woman whose figure launched a thousand jokes -- is a serious musician. Beyond that, the…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnEMOQTh27s Ernest Tubb was a second generation country music star. Profiles of the singer/songwriter paint him as a follower of Jimmie Rogers,…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1sSFLFYllY There is more of a split between old and new country music than between generations in other genres. The core of…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN0iOkMNZqQ John Hartford loved the Mississippi River and the life along its banks. He was an extraordinarily talented and engaging…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyDNnQbbkSQ Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra's operatic "Ghost Riders in the Sky" was number one the Billboard charts during this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55huxAW0ccw Forbes reports that Toby Keith earned $65 million in 2013, $10 more than Taylor Swift--who really isn't a country…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d5-v0XVXE8 There are brilliant writers and performers who work within a genre and produce something that has one foot --…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=B0QXyYK1FAU Elvis is the King, but Roy Acuff is the King of Country Music. The stories of how performers got…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=HrdBA2vHB4k Here is the first paragraph of the Associated Press story on the passing of Cowboy Jack Clement: “Cowboy” Jack…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1wZVVMKojw This beautiful song was written by Gillian Welch for the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? It is performed by…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=hVHQsmIaDBY Jim Foglesong, a legendary country music executive, died Tuesday in Nashville. Foglesong signed Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Barbara Mandrell,…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQvthkWzflc As usual, everything I thought about a song turned out to be wrong. I've Been Everywhere (above) -- a song that…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=-HFCuBLAjXo Unfortunately, Glen Campbell is battling Alzheimer's Disease. Vintage Vinyl News reported last month that the disease is having an impact.…
Roy Acuff: The Wabash Cannonball/Back in the Country Glen Campbell: Rhinestone Cowboy/Wichita Lineman The Carter Family: Cannonball Blues Johnny Cash: Cocaine Blues Cowboy…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/Xvw4_YOWNXM Bob Wills, who fronted the band Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, was instrumental in the development of western…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKFLp5xCvO0 Talent gets handed down in strange ways: Gillian Welch's parents, according to Wikipedia, were writers for The Carol Brunett…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D1QiKBxNTw A very comprehensive collection of information about Emmylou Harris is available here. Basic biographical information is available at many…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XYij4OpOY6E#! Kitty Wells, called The Queen of Country Music, has died at age 92 in Madison Tennessee. Wells, originally Ellen…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nqjepfQZwzY Nobody can say that Willie Nelson follows the crowd. He started as a button-downed singer-songwriter in Nashville and now…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=U5c1k949Zn4 Doc Watson: 1923-2012 Shady Grove with David Holt Deep River Blues Sally Goodin with Bill Monroe Sitting on…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7UrueP3aM40 John Hiatt's work has been covered by many artists, including Jewel, Buddy Guy and Roseanne Cash. Riding with the…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=O0uq1vNHIUI The great news is that Wanda Jackson still is going strong. Her current tour lasts into September. The Queen…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qecodpVYAJo Bonnie Raitt, usually an electric slide player, shows her versatility in the clip above. Raitt started her tour this…
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…
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…
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…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaJyzIOSh8I Lucy Kaplansky was a successful, rising young singer/songwriter in Chicago and New York City, but decided to go in…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6TW3NPYj0g Tom Paxton was born in Chicago in 1937 and spent his childhood in Oklahoma and Arizona. Wikipedia says that he was…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=rVTiDhOR35g Dave Van Ronk is refreshing, even 50 years later. I only feature two songs in a post, but if you…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/RwgjMfi1YF8 Calexico has released eight albums. This is how AllMusic describes the band: Calexico, a Tucson collective of musicians focused…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfF5W2-cjZg Last.fm has an interesting profile of John Prine: The son of William Prine and Verna Hamm, his grandfather had…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qL1C1ffKa4 Here is the beginning of the bio of The Mamas and the Papas, perhaps the most important predominantly vocal…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWTQYFvMrck The amount of talent on YouTube and similar sites is astounding. Many of the performers are not complete unknowns,…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Q0DqPSF2fyo This site offers all the information that anyone can ask for about the great Gordon Lightfoot. It links to…
https://youtu.be/wnvCPQqQWds Happy Memorial Day. Here are some essential songs, including Grand Funk Railroad's timeless classic "We're an American Band." Among…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT1cxP3JT0c The Daily Music Break is reposting some great music that appeared earlier. This post -- with a different version…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1BSMatMlEQ Earl St. Clair -- actually Earl Johnson II -- is a talented young singer, songwriter and producer. NPR has…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KeOR-VuUrg Here is a new hip-hop video from Donnie Bonelli and Atheist, hip-hop performers from Utah. The song is Shakeface.…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ojC0mg2hJCc The Roots are busy: They are a very successful hip-hop group and, at the same time, the house band…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=5dbEhBKGOtY The David Guetta video above -- which I saw while eating breakfast in Salamanca, Spain, a few days ago…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=HKdhbp_JHcI One of the biggest differences between music now and when I was a kid -- and certainly prior to…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ic5vxw3eijY I became aware of Estelle through the hit American Boy (above) simply because my daughter had the radio tuned…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/F1pwGVfV8S4 Actually, it's not a hard question if you look closely at their faces. Rapper Shawnna -- above performing Gettin'…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3g7OPzWnkw A headline referring to Saturday Night Live made me think of this great video. That's about as thin a rationale…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p65xs9KpxQA This song, written in 1967 by Ashford and Simpson, has been recorded several times. The infectious version above was…
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…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiqclXgAFBQ Rudy Vallee would have turned 115 years old today. Wikipedia says that Vallee -- Hubert Prior Vallée -- "...was…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6TiooNqPmE This is a 2001 reenactment of General Charles Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, which essentially ended the Revolutionary War.…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV3Ct4yj0eo James McPherson's "Battle Cry of Freedom" is considered by experts to be the best one-volume history of the Civil…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqEmjmlxOqo H/T: SK A friend posted this fascinating song on his Facebook feed, or whatever it's called. The YouTube notes…
https://youtu.be/aPG9GcykPIY?list=RDaPG9GcykPIY I am not trying to minimize ebola, the enterovirus and ISIS. These are serious issues, three diseases that must…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPLS5nNFWTU One hundred years ago this week -- July 28, 1914 -- Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and the First World War…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Mxrh1CrMmTY Martial music is out of style. That's a good thing, if it means that people are less militaristic. The…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=p3afGi3REu8 Sea Chanties are great. Rob Ossian's Pirate Cove has a wealth of good information. Wikipedia defines them well: A…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiGPbHnpQks Hazel Dickens' song Fire in the Hole is the title track from the 1987 John Sayles movie Matewan, which tells the story…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/bDJPnG3RDxU Documentary filmmaker Les Blank--many of whose films had musical subjects--died on April 7. Here is Blank's Wikipedia entry. The…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/MGs2iLoDUYE The introductory panel of Randy Newman's song about the greatest river flood in American history says that the water…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/RY7OWOUKH0k On Saturday, I posted an item about the earliest sounds ever recorded. I cross-posted on DailyKos -- a cultural/political site…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHZfewPCziU&feature=player_embedded ...Hard to believe. Here is Run DMC's performance. The dual concerts, which were driven by The Boomtown Rats' Bob…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fagH03fxY7c Scott Joplin lived at the very outer edge of the communications age, and even saying that is pushing it.…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3Drw4aZhdT8 I bet people who were around during World War II would say this song sums up many of the…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UORKwBTKWqw It appears that Dusty, who died in 2003, is an institution in Australia. Other songs are Pub with No…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDTQQWSmo8s Some calming, peaceful and introspective music for an early February Friday. I guess for some people it is...and there's…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfsgHyymG8E There seems to be a very tangible continuum between the generations of Irish music. The mantle is systematically handed…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rOiLVo8yIJE Flogging Molly is best described at its YouTube Channel: The Los Angeles-based post-grunge seven-piece Flogging Molly are an interesting…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFUSD23ZXEw Above is a great video of Duke Ellington performing one of the most important jazz pieces ever, the beautiful…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzPZvKSdN7g In the video above, Herbie Hancock explains to the audience and a rapt Elvis Costello the story behind the…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrQQaiaN1O8 Tenor sax player Stanley Turrentine, a native of Pittsburgh, lived from 1934 to 2000. Wikipedia's profile notes that his…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzIV-zWsJCs Sometimes, lesser known musicians are responsible for the direction that music takes. Anderson Meade Lewis – better known as…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6TmogXhOZ8 The classic jazz community is celebrating the centennial of Ella Fitzgerald, who was born on April 25, 1917. Fitzgerald,…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbiHobuEEk0 The connections between country, blues and early jazz are clear. Where some forms of modern jazz fit in the…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv9NSR-2DwM Last week, I posted a video on the Steely Dan song "Deacon Blues by a fellow named Nerdwriter (hopefully, not…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=pfc%3A78JhMJfWloY&feature=s2lp&src_vid=jHF2L2zbDaY&v=78JhMJfWloY Music really is universal. "The Waters of March" ("Aguas de Marco") is a beautiful samba or bossa nova song (I am…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-Wcw_te_AI Here is what Jazz Giants says about Hank Mobley: Mobley began playing tenor saxophone as a New Jersey teenager…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhXF6XfduPQ I watched "American Hustle" on television Saturday night and was caught by this song. It's "Long Black Road" from Electric…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOcT9iooEpo I heard this pretty song -- "Melba's Tune" -- while driving the other night. I'm reasonably well acquainted with…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB7nl9sh3to Jazz trombonist, guitarist, composer and arranger Eddie Durham was born on this day in 1906. An excerpt from Wikipedia's…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsGrbvy871I Charlie Shavers would have turned 95 years old today. Shavers, a jazz trumpet player who performed with all of…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s62MrU8mHx4 The Playbill site has the following entry for July 9, 1930 in its highlights of show business music history: In today's…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCG3kJtQBKo The great Lena Horne would have turned 98 years old today. Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was born in Bedford-Stuyvesant,…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kC4JZbrQxw All About Jazz reports that the very important clarinet and saxophone player Sidney Bechet was born on May 14, 1897.…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt5xN0xJVXs Trombone players don't get enough respect. It seems as if it is a terribly difficult instrument to play. One…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqSLoxwkCYE Jazz/blues organist Jimmy Smith was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, in 1925 or 1928 -- there is some uncertainty on…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW641zgPOqQ Benny Golson is important for more than his tenor sax playing. Golson -- who still is active -- was earlier…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4aHWG7aqPM H/T: Nino Arobelidze Jimmy Victor Scott was a unique, intense and highly emotive vocalist -- but not a lucky…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnaQhx-J2_A Miles Davis was one of the most important musicians of the twentieth century. He was famously difficult to get…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlw-YWl6OsQ Marcus Roberts is as impressive as any musician covered by The Daily Music Break. It's not fair to the others…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP1kScgRBiw Three notable birthdays today: Hugo Montenegro, Horace Silver and Clifford Jordan. There is relatively little video of tenor sax…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfWc52smNs8 Minnesotans LaVerne, Maxene and Patty Andrews (originally Andreos) became a star act rather early. The first big hit -- in 1937…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hxZBYDaVTA&feature=youtu.be Progressive jazz guitarist Matt Panayides was nice enough to send over links to his work. Matt has an ongoing…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxByDgpLmss It's fascinating to consider what artists do when their countries are under military occupation. France during the Nazi era…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJm3wdb2r8s Maxine Sullivan, who jazz critics think is unfairly forgotten, was born on May 13, 1911. Her first and biggest…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4XJdYk2DIA Jazz pianist Lennie Tristano is called an improvisational genius and groundbreaker -- but one who was difficult to get…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=eih67rlGNhU The Lower East Side of Manhattan produced a prodigious amount of talent, including the Gershwins, Irving Berlin, The Marx…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYDiZcAJY44 Jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery was called the best player since Charlie Christian. Praise doesn't get any higher in that…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlu5ADDvVlw Wikipedia does a great job of writing opening paragraphs that succinctly highlight the subject's influence. This profile of the…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIq5w-NogWA This is the beginning of the profile of the great tenor saxophone player Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins from his website:…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QH1e6G0K3Pk Let me say this as delicately as possible: Conceptually and objectively, I understand that tastes are different. One man's…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=1DLX3TAPknA In 1945, Duke Ellington recorded I'm Just a Lucky So and So. Check out Tony Bennett's version, which is…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWXELfT-pMk The remarkable ability of New Orleans to produce trumpet (and cornet) players -- which began with Buddy Bolden and…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJaD09M5Iko Carmen McRae lacked the notoriety that several other female vocalists received. But she was one of the greats. Here…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFuypO3zlP0 From his body language while playing to his unique, free flowing improvisations, there is nobody like Keith Jarrett. This…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4hPii_RVHE Jazz pianist and singer Diana Krall is married to Elvis Costello. Their wedding, according to Wikipedia, took place at…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=zqNTltOGh5c "Trane & Miles" focuses on the making of "Kind of Blue," which is the best-selling jazz album of all…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=MjCg7o1quAQ Papa Jo Jones, one of the greatest jazz drummers, appears in the remarkable video above. It is part one…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S6qahrToXU The long and important life of Marian McPartland ended last week on Long Island, where the British native had…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=54HwF8mVlaw This profile of the great guitarist Freddie King seems to have been written by a family member: Freddie was…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Fty3Nzc-oiY#t=235 The Chordettes' performance on the Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show that aired on February 22, 1958 -- a program hosted…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ReGGPNQpz0o Here is the start of The Washington Post's obituary of George Duke: George Duke, a Grammy-winning keyboardist who crossed…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=CkynRE1VoI8 Richie Cannata, who has long been associated with Billy Joel -- he was his sax player through 1982 -- and…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo7qiXkTu4s The list of legendary trumpet players from the New Orleans area doesn't begin or end with Louis Armstrong. Indeed,…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Coa5hiNamdo Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov had more than a great (31 letter) name. Flight of the Bumblebee, of course, is familiar. It…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=XzG3vllEwyg Sidney Bechet, one of the giants of early jazz, wanted to lead. Bechet, like fellow jazz pioneer Jelly Roll…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=dfuHwPtVQOc Fun and well produced video for sort of a holiday afternoon. Here is the band's website.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QSmYTc1Jv7w I remember listening to Ornette Coleman many years ago and deciding, simply, that it wasn't for me. I didn't…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/sPfrBxHgLmA For years, Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was synonymous with playing Auld Lang Syne on New Year's Eve. He also…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/kuGO8IY50b4 Trumpet player Freddie Hubbard, as the first two paragraphs of his AllMusic profile show, was one of the mainstays…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkGjDbKauVo Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton was a New Orleans-born "Creole of color" who is considered to be one of the most important…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c-rVoBdZDE Here is the beginning of Patti Page's obituary in The New York Times: Patti Page, the apple-cheeked, honey-voiced alto…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=o2In5a9LDNg Brubeck's biggest piece, Take Five, above. Below is a cute idea on presenting Blue Rondo à la Turk using aerial footage above Los…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=jvNsjNoq79I Benny Carter was apparently was one of the class acts in jazz, according to just about everything written about…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=LxzhBvK00cw The great trumpeter was born on this day in 1922. He passed away in 1999. The clip of Java…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFV8VngqDho&list=PLjG7IQIqN32eTtxW6Fph9gFVyGubGWF26 The great drummer Art Blakey was born on Oct. 11, 1919 in Pittsburgh. Here his band -- Art…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Cx-TxiBi43c The musicians on Naima, above, are Coltrane on tenor, McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on base and Elvin…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/9-_2QpbXMbw Without doubt, the most surprising thing I've learned during the seven or so months I've been doing this website…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cuhFQAzgnFQ Many folks reading this post know more about Miles Davis than I do. So it makes little sense for…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=rDy1wrK-gCc Dexter Gordon's website sums up his importance in one line. He was, it says, "the first musician to translate the…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQhTpgicdx4 Wikipedia, as usual, sums it up nicely: Often regarded as the first important European jazz musician who made major…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHEQ-m4KSaQ The Girl from Ipanema, most famously performed by Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, is almost certainly the best known…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vDW0ANRim8 The quintet playing Pennies From Heaven, according to Songbook, is comprised of Lester Young on tenor saxophone, Bill Harris…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo68oqbNLMA The above probably predates The Thundering Herd, which was the great name that Herman used for years. It was…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ySszeu4H4QI Unlike some other jazz greats, there is a tremendous amount of great Ella Fitzgerald material on YouTube and other…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/x52x5hjpD5k This recording features Charlie Christian, Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillespie. Christian was a member of Benny Goodman's sextet and…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VeKp1Mq25kc In a post about Henry Mancini earlier this week, I linked to an iMDB bio that mentioned the relationship…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Q0RutCQ4oQk The "cat" Mancini refers to in his little intro is sax player Don Menza. He played a key role…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tHiPQpUv2c0 The saga of Charlie Parker is well known and told in many places, including Wikipedia and Ken Burns' Jazz…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ec-FrnaU0rs The site will feature Oscar Peterson more fully in the near future. In the meantime, this clip is recommended…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0DmtPvFa_W8 This clip, from the television program Jazz Party, is more than eight minutes long -- but the climax is…
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x280nt_ben-webster-and-teddy-wilson-old-fo_music#.UZKyhLU4vPY The comments to the above clip point out that Ben Webster clearly is crying after Teddy Wilson's piano solo.…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/AiQfhwWcDkk The Daily Music Break periodically re-posts older content. This pretty remarkable video originally appeared on April 27, 2012. This…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LKe6yH3ZwGo Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller was a riot, a great musician, the prototype of the vested fat stride piano player…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR6pHtiNT_k This is a fascinating clip -- and not just because it features Louis Jordan, which usually would be enough.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVP7NABFyBk&feature=youtu.be Above is my daughter, Emily, performing yesterday. The guitarist is Basilio Georges, who Directs Flamenco Latino. They -- and…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=GWlWzG8i8hQ Here is the start of a bio of Tito Puente that no longer seems to be onlin: Tito Puente…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BoQNj2tlZhg In 1999, Ry Cooder coaxed several Cuban musicians out of retirement to record an album. The project was filmed by Cooder's friend Wim…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eORG34xxBq0 The Daily Music Break was supposed to feature a podcast with country singer/songwriter Dan Weber today. We were halfway…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3GqrGdf_vk Brothers Ian and Dustin Meadows, who are from Chester, Connecticut, trace their roots to their parents record player --…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxyXbsk4bRc#t=29 This nice newly released song and video from The Tallest Tree is "I'll Be Your (For You)." It reminds me…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcnIhzaDTd0 I heard "Avant Gardener" on WFUV, the Fordham University radio station. It's a great song. Below is "Depreston," another good…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ubh4DpcsWo Trumpeter Theo Croker is releasing an album, "AfroPhysicist," tomorrow. Croker -- here is his Facebook page -- is the…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zYu0OqZ7T0 Here is what Deep Elm Records says about the band Lights and Motion: Epic. Stunning. Moving. Deep. Spectacular. Brilliant.…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpYUyrd0vhM Last month, I posted a query asking for new music at ProfNet, a site that links editors/reporters with sources.…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoEEsHYunCM&feature=youtu.be Above is new music from a Chicago-bred band called Animal City. The name of the song is "Drummer Sister."…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dih7K1QGGig Here is what the Seattle Times said about Vaudeville Etiquette. The band's website offers this: Seattle folk-rock band Vaudeville…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=oDuif301F-8 New blues from St. Paul and the Broken Bones. This is from the band's website: Front man Paul Janeway’s…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic_Jblk3l9E Singer, songwriter and guitarist Ani DiFranco was born in 1970 in Buffalo. She moved out of her parents’ house…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p-OFHW5WGA&list=PLcokbmNMLVWH3dqCmeK-PnHivz7CjmztB The singer Bedouine has quite a background: Azniv Korkejian – Bedouine – is of Armenian descent. She was born…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j16MsgNtypM Another artist from the electronic pages of WFUV, the radio station of Fordham University in the Bronx. This is…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThLAGl1fGdU These folks are tremendous. Here is more on Underhill Rose: Harmonies. Soul-touching lyrics. Eye-catching stage presence. Underhill Rose has…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSyvHofiJng Rickie Lee Jones takes some getting used to, but she is tremendous and unique. Her first album offered her…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3KiOyD-bCw Laura Marling is a British singer/songwriter/guitarist. Three of her first four albums -- in 2008, 2010 and 2013 --…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C3uRqjA8UE Marketers are smart people, and know when they hear a song that will work in a television commercial. There…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQLY6AcnXEA Miley Cyrus' cover of Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" is from Saturday Night Live's 40th Anniversary…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUTf5qvS0Lo It's essentially an endless winter in the northeast, so it certainly doesn't hurt to enjoy some Jimmy Buffett music. In…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAwKl3dTMZs Wikipedia offers an extraordinarily precise -- some would say anal -- explanation of the genesis of the name of Fountains of…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=LsZvo0ZtfUw H/T: Luke P. I remember the first song I heard by Dire Straits. It was "Sultans of Swing," which of…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz3ZbP0IF7A&feature=youtu.be h/t: Charlene S Berkman, D.M.D. I am always looking for good music for TDMB. Indeed, a few weeks ago, my…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajy8abMtam0 H/T: Walter W. Emmanuelle Seigner has been married to Roman Polanski since 1989. She is an actress -- her husband…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwuL3Up_mpg The numbers in this single sentence in Wikipedia's entry about Francesco Stephen Castelluccio -- Frankie Valli -- are a good…
Amsterdam Klezmer Band: Op een Goppe/A Chassid in Amsterdam Black 47: Funky Céilí The Clancy Brothers: Finnegan’s Wake Juan Luis Guerra: La Guagua/Bachata en…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/GZL4Th-KG7A Here is the beginning of what Wikipedia says about Squeeze: Squeeze are a British band that came to prominence…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xnCoo7vYqI Here is a brief but interesting bio on Andy Williams at The Telegraph. Moon River, which was William's signature…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4RabQLuj4N8 A couple of Supremes notes for June 30. You Keep Me Hanging On was recorded on this day in 1966.…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oMCsc4Iqvqc Bobby Darin -- born in 1936 as Robert Walden Cassotto in the Bronx -- accomplished a lot in his…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=penvn9VL32Y Modest Mouse - Dashboard from Jenny Ko on Vimeo. Dashboard is sort of the dream you would have after…
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…
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…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-hs4PeVR9k&feature=youtu.be Editors Note: This appreciate of the band X was submitted to the site by Morrie Bee, a visitor and…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Gp6lYQrqSE Joe Strummer, the lyricist, rhythm guitarist and singer for The Clash, was born on this day in 1952, according…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijiazWlawUY Places to learn about the band are its Facebook page and blog. The two songs that will be recognized by non-fans…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=91oq6d4gYiQ The Ramones came from Forest Hills, which is in Queens, New York. Forest Hills also produced Simon and Garfunkel.…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rNoR8jnPRU Other notable hits by The Clovers include "Love Potion Number Nine," "Blue Velvet" and "Ting-a-Ling." Click here or on…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlPE1rEdAdI Perhaps the most fun thing about editing The Daily Music Break is running into music that I've never heard…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyM8NVl4yBY The Platters, an important bridge between Tin Pan Alley and early rock-and-roll, was a group that was formed in…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXlsJKP_FWI Love Train, above, has gotten a second life in Coors beer commercials. There are versions with far better audio…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/71MUwJOiK9o Dolores Williams, aka LaVern Baker (with several name stops along the way, including "Little Miss Sharecropper") became the second…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/p9uZvrsAoyE The Cadillacs were great, both before and after Earl Carroll sang one of the most recognizable lines in modern…
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9na86_bunny-wailer-live-chiemsee-reggae-s_music The relationship of the three reggae giants who emerged from The Wailers -- Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxtfdH3-TQ4 HT: MC AllMusic’s Jo-Ann Greene summed up the status of Desmond Dekker in her long and detailed profile: Probably…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezxm_R4oWAo The song above is "Canopy." This is from the band's Facebook page: Singers Phil Grajko and Michel Aubertin met in…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaV9GYPSM94 This is the beginning of Wikipedia's profile of the influence band The Specials: The Specials, also known as The Special…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnRZSBmpc74 Burning Spear, as the Wikipedia entry below makes clear, is a man named Winston Rodney: Rodney was born in…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPv_BAKIhlo The Skatalites, a long-standing Jamaican band play ska, which is a precursor to reggae. Wikipedia, believe it or not,…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jV8FWoaytM Tomorrow is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the murder of Winston Hubert McIntosh, who was known as Peter Tosh. He…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6U-TGahwvs (Editor's Note: Have a musician or band you love? Consider contributing to The Daily Music Break. Send us a…
Oliver Twist asks for more porridge. Victorian Web describes this as "James Mahoney's interpretation of George Cruikshank's frontispiece for Dickens's…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6d4RuXauXP8 The Gothamist has the fascinating story of Lipa Schmeltzer, a member of the Skver sect of Chasidic Judaism. The singer/danger/songwriter is…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlIxKpweWws This Day in Music reports that today is gospel star Cissy Houston's 81st birthday. Above, Houston sings "Peace in…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zSif77IVQdY Alison Krauss' version of this traditional was recorded for the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which was released…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=vruy2GRUsV8 I can't think of a performer as intense as James Brown in terms of both talent and personality. There…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNxfPAF1frM There isn't much else to write about Tom Petty that hasn't been written since his passing. Somebody dying young…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWISUpftfbs ...and it's a good thing. The David Scott Weaver Band performed last week before an audience of German Shepherds,…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmZoQFYYx8U&list=RDkmZoQFYYx8U Yes Wikipedia offers the impressive statistics that 19 musicians have been full time members of the progressive rock band…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxb5Ztq5aa4 Check out this very insightful and interesting interview in Rolling Stone of Warren Haynes, who was in The Allman…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SSPnRK2Ads Spin posted an article yesterday describing a staged variety show being planned by David Byrne. The program will be…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx-Ru2wQFNc Sometimes things just happen in neat little bundles. Yesterday, my wife, daughter and I spent much of the afternoon…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy7QdOdgzN4 H/T: Ed A. Anything is complicated if you think about it long enough. Take tribute bands, for instance. In…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep7dp1HgZnw Great version of a rarity--a funny southern rock song. It's a great genre, but generally not a lot of laughs.…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSDD8rgUiNc This is a tremendous deconstruction of Steely Dan's "Deacon Blues" by a guy who calls himself Nerdwriter. He looks…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0kXfPrHHcw Two from a NPR Tiny Desktop Concert recorded this year. I haven't follow the band closely and was surprised…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s71asqGhVb4 This is how the Seratones, who hail from Shreveport, Louisiana: We, the Seratones, are four musicians highly skilled in…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qCezXycdkE This is yesterday's Facebook posting by Neil Ratner, who bills himself as the Rock Doctor. His posting are always fascinating.…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaHxPi9dM7o Leon Russell was a straight-out genius. He was a gifted songwriter, a member of The Wrecking Crew, the musical…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO8ahHedcnk&feature=youtu.be I highly recommend the Facebook Page of Neil Ratner, who calls himself the "Roc Doc." His entertaining posts have…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTo79sPCVXA Marketers have a strong sense of what sticks in people's minds and what gets a particular reaction. They study…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmR00cErBdw This Week in Music reports that on this day in 1960 Chubby Checker appeared on American Bandstand and performed…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCFnzSCzoYA This is Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" played a student orchestra from the University of Indiana’s Jacobs School of Music. The…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DO-Ddqbqgs The importance critics and fans ascribe to Kraftwerk is startling. Consider this, via Wikipedia: According to The Observer, "no…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hgz-q76KtQ What can really be said about KISS? Wikipedia perhaps sums it up best: …the group rose to prominence in the…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n3OepDn5GU&list=RD0n3OepDn5GU Roxy Music was an influential English band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry and Graham Simpson. Wikipedia positions their…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeQsZOQqO6I Music in general is an acquired taste. Progressive rock, perhaps, is more so. Among prog rock bands, none are…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AzEY6ZqkuE This post initially appeared at The Daily Music Break. It's been edited and expanded a bit. It’s ironic that…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLuNemggM9I The Pixies, according to the profiles, was an influential indie band that had great impact on the acts that…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE5Z3Q_ZO-4 Second efforts must be terrifying. Second books, second albums, second anythings. You've worked your whole life to attain a…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZGn4LncY0g Then long and interesting bio of Jonathan David (known as JD) McPherson goes beyond most artists’ site profiles. Of…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxA3atHD2QM The Spencer Davis Group had a few hits. In the final analysis, however, the band probably is best remembered…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyM8NVl4yBY The Platters, an important bridge between Tin Pan Alley and early rock-and-roll, was a group that was formed in…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28E8WKZ614w According to Bobborst.com, Santana's "Smooth" was tops on this day in 1999. It still sounds great. Here is a…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYc8Txm0cYw Tribute concerts honoring Chuck Berry's sixtieth birthday -- memorably commemorated in the great concert film "Hail! Hail! Rock and…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9dmSfMeOzY Davy Knowles is a 27-year-old blues/rock guitarist from the Isle of Man who has the right guitar heroes: Three…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZmiefQ5y4U The Reuters obituary was pretty much right on the mark, quite an achievement considering that it was printed just…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Shb4ZCUZGDo For a band of some importance, there is almost no decent video of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen.…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxVxQ92tkgQ Wikipedia says that Jan & Dean's song was tops 51 years ago today. Wikipedia, which knows everything about everything,…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVNFCJoy1hU Everybody gets old, only some do it gracefully. Above is "Bad Romance" with the very beginning cut off. Beck…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU5zqidlxMQ During a podcast I conducted last week with Denny Somach -- the author of "Get the Led Out: How Led Zeppelin Became…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUpP7CnW4yA Wikipedia does a great job of illustrating what other guitarists -- very good guitarists -- thought of Danny Gatton:…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrMUh0fA3D8 Del Shannon's "Runaway" was number one from April 23 to May 20, 1961, according to Bobborst.com. The song was…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cab_XlnJZjc It's interesting to see versions of familiar songs from the days before they lost their edge and were exiled…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=wYl9JcslnWM Music has a great ability to renew itself. Check out Ryan Shupe & the RubberBand, a bluegrass group from…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE-JQzj2aEA Posts about super bands such as Led Zeppelin are difficult simply because virtually any rock fan who comes to…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzdnILRvVKo Every discussion of Robin Trower mentions Jimi Hendrix somewhere -- usually at the beginning. It's undeniable that Trower sounds…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RH276U5PiGQ I didn't liked Elton John when I was young. Youth defend their cultural choices aggressively, and I was into…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwkO1y4bTEE The reasons that older rock bands get back together probably are varied, from nostalgia to creative urges to boredom.…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHW6qL67R2M The Black Sabbath lead singer and everyone's favorite crazy old rock-and-roll uncle was born on this day in 1948.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvWHQMH-G4A On Monday, TDMB featured Gioacchino Antonio Rossini’s “The Barber osf Seville,” so it seems to make sense to follow it…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vF1o6zg9vI This is the beginning Wikipedia's profile of Wilco: Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois.…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33Jaodra7AY To be perfectly honest, the stereotypical guitar hero -- the flamboyant virtuoso with superhuman skills -- is a bit…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Uc26EFI1_nw Lots of great writing has been done about Freeport, New York's Lou Reed in the day since his death.…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=BLhD-h1LRQs The influential band from Athens, Georgia was active from the 1980s until 2011. Here is the beginning of its…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=HLOniKqfoX0 Bill Haley & His Comets' Rock Around the Clock was the number one song for virtually the entire summer of…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=S9dT4fp_7xY ZZ Top was offered $1 million apiece by Gillette to shave their beards for a television commercial in 1984.…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=_t2g_uAj8Vk I don't know much about Widespread Panic, other than they come from the same school of music -- and…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=56SAxtf-RTg I will just list the names of the people I recognize. There no doubt are some I missed. Stevie…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=rKaQzQAlNn4 Mama Told Me (Not to Come) was number for the weeks of July 11 and 18, 1970. It may come…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=NlQhgdVsuI4 A well done site dedicated to the alternative band, Radiohead at Ease, has the bio: It was somewhere in…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=jC6sLQg3gkk It's really not correct to say that one thing is more unique than another. Unique is binary: The thing…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/St6jyEFe5WM Taking a rock song from the 1960s and, 30 or so years later, throwing the Danish National Concert Orchestra behind…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkUpfw4Hf3w The great rock and blues guitarist died in February, 2011, according to This Day in Music. This is Parisenne…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbfMlk1PwGU In addition to classics such as Ain't That a Shame (above) and Blueberry Hill (below), Domino had hits such as Blue Monday, I'm Walkin' and Walking…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEqDjz4jCaQ Elvis Costello's birth name is Declan Patrick MacManus. He changed it in 1977 and, nine years later, back to…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGNOfRzDysw From Wikipedia: Talking Heads was an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bqeSGpP9PI Little Richard entered a New Orleans recording studio to begin two days of recording. Things were not going well…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZtncR6gfOo Warren Zevon wrote songs that were unlike any others. Wikipedia starts its entry with the right tone. Zevon, it…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp6LT2MdaPI Frank Zappa was a singular personality in the history of rock music. He was as important for his iconoclastic…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/4whXWlxdNDk Mick Taylor was the lead guitarist for The Rolling Stones before Ron Wood. One of the commentators suggests that…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/UIVe-rZBcm4 On this day in 1968, Iron Butterfly's In-a-Gadda-da-Vida entered the U.S. charts, where it sold 4 million copies.…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz44fpGcFu0#t=19 These are the last moments of the Bruce Springsteen/Paul McCartney concert in Hyde Park, London on Saturday. The concert…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=h4CrCTndkKc The Rolling Stones -- actually Jagger and Richards -- played The Marquee Jazz Club in London on this day…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjfhsLuOEWI&feature=player_embedded It's ironic that a band that started as an informal side project from two of the pillars of The…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nSAoEf1Ib58 From a review in the Boston Globe of the Beach Boys concert Tuesday night at the Bank of America…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=G2h_WQy44rw Here is an entertaining interview with These United States' Jesse Elliott from Seven Days, an online publication in Vermont.…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9IVojgL2zmQ Dire Straits wasn't quite The Beatles, The Who or The Rolling Stones, but it no doubt was one of…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_HKYMhgsso&list=PLQgx94C94lnQm9mGw0QQzFwQ1YsBgEDUe This morning the site featured The Blasters, who are heavily influenced by rockabilly. In this video, the great Imelda…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=JpDK-YRpObU The Blasters performance above is from the first Farm Aid in 1985. I wasn't familiar with the band, but…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UnKmhOu0Gio Sly and Family Stone, a band that electrified Woodstock, was perhaps the primary bridge between funk and rock and roll.…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DYoLGS6uzao This band was suggested by a site visitor. It's sort of like Lynyrd Skynyrd married the B-52s and their…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1FekVR_SC5M It's a great trivia question: Name a performer who recorded with Frank Zappa and Frank Sinatra. The answer is…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=_S4S3Gy1hfU Santana's performance of Soul Sacrifice at Woodstock put the band -- and, of course, Carlos -- on the map.…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=93mv8LPtmro Some bands always sound fresh because their sound is so unique. Steely Dan, for instance, fits that description. Traffic…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Elsge3oYYYA My son vouches for these guys, though I read a few pages of Anthony Kiedis' autobiography and, well... Anyway,…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xogiUUMy_RU Fork in the Road almost certainly is unique among videos made by superstars. If you haven't seen it, check it out.…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6jxsCvZoQs4 The Daily Music Break periodically repeats posts from earlier in the site's run. This was originally posted on April…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=O-IcKVWoeTQ Editor's note: TDMB is reposting great music from the early days of the site. This was originally posted on…
https://youtu.be/Kp9G0zkorio Editor's Note: The Daily Music Break periodically re-posts music from earlier in the site's run. This post originally appeared,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQwzJ6VvUD0 It's amazing how many great movies featured music composed by Bernard Herrmann. Here are some highlights: Citizen Kane; The…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=V_w3UG6C_Mo There is a lot of great music in old comedies. The Bob Hope of the 1930s and 1940s was…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VeKp1Mq25kc In a post about Henry Mancini earlier this week, I linked to an iMDB bio that mentioned the relationship…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Q0RutCQ4oQk The "cat" Mancini refers to in his little intro is sax player Don Menza. He played a key role…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XsxdQW1s8E Two songs from The Lost Bayou Ramblers were on the soundtrack of "Beast of the Southern Wild." It's a great movie.…
https://www.youtube.com/embed/3rcHvxPccRQ This weekend was the fourth time that Sonny Landreth played at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Festival. His name can get…
