This Day in Music notes that on July 20, 1940, Billboard magazine premiered the modern version of its charts. Previously, according to the site, best seller...
Tag - Frank Sinatra
I will let This Day in Music trace the barest outline of the extraordinary career of drummer Earl Palmer, who died at age 64 on this day in 2008: Worked with...
Harry James was one of the most important performers of the World War II era–and not just because he played a major role in the career of Frank Sinatra...
The site has a news item today that reports the American Pop Music Hall of Fame is seeking input from the public on which group or performer should be in the...
The question of whether or not we need a new hall of fame is a good one. That isn’t, however, the one being asked by The American Pop Music Hall of Fame...
It’s a great trivia question: Name a performer who recorded with Frank Zappa and Frank Sinatra. The answer is Lowell George, the driving force behind...
Mack the Knife is a beloved jazz standard. Besides Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darin are heavyweights who recorded it. Here is a...
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.
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.
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