When I used to go to bars frequently–this is a long time ago–once in a while a band would rise above the very respectable, predictable and often...
Tag - rock music
“Check It Out” is a new and frequent feature pointing to good music found on the Internet. Chuck Berry was a hit machine who was one of the...
This is a very sad story. Ironically, it started as a funny anecdote about a person’s last few hours. One of rocks legendary feuds is between Ginger...
An interesting question is how rock musicians grow old. These folks made their claims to fame when they are young men and women. Unlike athletes – who are told...
WSOU, the radio station of Seton Hall Radio in New Jersey, posted a very nice interview with Tom Keifer, who the guitarist and front man for Cinderella. The...
Nothing illustrates the broad outlines of the family of musicians more than strange juxtapositions. Sometimes these are for good causes: Rockers and classical...
Making the call on which video to use for the top of this post was easy. Most obviously, “Keep on Growing” is a great song. Beyond that, it offers...
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...
The guitar hero superman started with Jimi Hendrix and continues today. There is a long list of great ones: Rory Gallagher, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Leslie West...
H/T: Ed A. Anything is complicated if you think about it long enough. Take tribute bands, for instance. In some cases, it’s easy. But what about 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.
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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.