So in my last post I listed my top ten rock songs. But in the same vein as my top ten albums and corresponding albums that didn’t quite make it, I wanted to list songs here that are great but missed it by that much. I’ve … Continue reading My Favorite Rock Songs (2) – The rest
I can still recall when we lost Janis Joplin. It was 1970 and the NY Daily News headline screamed, “Janis Joplin is Dead.” And it surprised me that the headline was so outrageously big because until that point I don’t think I realized how famous … Continue reading Janis Joplin
I happened to hear the song “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” by Gil Scott-Heron on the radio today. This was an expression used by some in the ’60’s but he’s the guy that wrote a song with that name. It is actually in the … Continue reading Gil Scott-Heron – The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
First post here. You’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed You’re gonna have to serve somebody Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord But you’re gonna have to serve somebody In the late ’70’s Bob Dylan – who is … Continue reading Bob Dylan (Final of 3 – How Many Roads)
First post here: Dylan started out as every bit the folkie. Heavily influenced by artists such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Leadbelly and Robert Johnson, he actually visited Woody in the hospital as he lay dying of Huntington’s Disease. But what people sometimes forget – … Continue reading Bob Dylan (2)
There is a TV commercial that shows Bob Dylan talking to the IBM Watson computer. (It astonishes me that he would even do a commercial.) The computer tells Dylan that he’s analyzed all his lyrics and most of them are about “the passage of time … Continue reading Bob Dylan (1)
It’s hard to believe now but back in the late ’60’s, and throughout the ’70’s, fusion was very popular. Not so much in a Top 40 sense but as with a subset of people who’d really come to appreciate a high level of musicianship through … Continue reading Jazz-Rock (Fusion)
Update – Dan Hicks died of cancer in February 2016 after I wrote this. He was 74. Not exactly sure what made me think of these guys, but this is a band that was popular largely in the early ’70’s. Their sound is best described – … Continue reading Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks
Rod Stewart? Really? Didn’t he do, “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” Sure. Does he now sing old standards like Gershwin and Cole Porter? Well, yeah. Isn’t he some Las Vegas showboat? Guilty. But that’s not the Rod I know. (Speaking metaphorically). My earliest memory of … Continue reading Rod Stewart
Wikipedia: “Race records were 78 rpm phonograph records marketed to African-Americans during the 1920’s through the early 1940’s. They primarily contained race music, comprising a variety of African-American musical genres including blues, jazz, and gospel music, though comedy recordings were also produced. These records were, then, the majority of commercial recordings … Continue reading “Race Records”
Music Enthusiast - At the junction of rock, blues, R&B, jazz, pop,and soul 