Some people say that jazz is an acquired taste. If so, an avant-garde jazz trombonist — which is what Roswell Rudd is — is an advanced acquired...
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The numbers in this single sentence in Wikipedia’s entry about Francesco Stephen Castelluccio — Frankie Valli — are a good illustration of...
The Beach Boys‘ Shut Down, in honor of what is happening in D.C. Also check out the Flogging Molly’s Don’t Shut ‘Em Down.
Blues Traveler was featured in a cute scene in Blues Brothers. Elwood Blues (Dan Aykroyd, of course) performed Rock Me Baby with the band later. He seems to be...
Eartha Kitt would have been 86 years old today. Above, she sings I Want to Be Evil, in a video that has one odd camera angle after another. Here is more on the...
As the bio below suggests, Eumir Deodato is by far best recognized for his version of Richard Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra in 2001: A Space Odyssey...
The CD turns 30 years old today. The Next Web notes that on Oct. 1, 1982, Billy Joel’s album 52nd Street – which initially was released in four years earlier –...
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...
The beginning of NPR’s bio of bassist Ray Brown does a good job of quickly defining who he was — and the company he kept: Grammy Award-winning...
A couple of Supremes notes for June 30. You Keep Me Hanging On was recorded on this day in 1966. It also is the birthday of Florence Ballard, one of the...
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.