Classy for the weekend. If you remember the television program for which this was the theme, you (like me) are not a youngster and from New York. Here is a recreation of the show’s opening and more on Leroy Anderson. The description says that the performance above was by an...
Flogging Molly is best described at its YouTube Channel: The Los Angeles-based post-grunge seven-piece Flogging Molly are an interesting mix of traditional Irish music and spunky punk rock. “Spunky,” I’m sure, is an adjective that often comes up in discussions of punk...
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 last toured with Taj Mahal in 2009, but took a break during which a close friend, her parents and brother Steve — also a...
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 wasn’t always fun to watch. I know the outlines of his story — poverty that was so intense that he was sent home from school for...
Ragtime, perhaps because of the popularity of Scott Joplin, is associated with the piano. There also is a school of ragtime guitar, however. Elizabeth Cotten was one of its best known adherents. Other famous players are Blind Blake and Blind Willie McTell. According to this bio, in the...
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.
