Blogcritics

The Best Beatles Songs You're Not Already Sick Of

Nick Deriso — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 08:11:02 EDT

Some of our favorite Beatles songs that didn't become hits.
by Nick Deriso and PicoWe are a couple of music reviewers who are proud of our divergent tastes. Nick's got you covered from David Allen Coe to Marcus Roberts, while Pico swerves wildly between The Subdudes and John Scofield.But there's a place we come together (heh): The Beatles. A conversation we had the other day in the wake of the...

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

Sleeper Picks: Johnnie Johnson - Blue Hand Johnnie

Nick Deriso — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 07:57:41 EST

Every legend has at least one sideman who made him great. Count among them Johnnie Johnson, the sleeper pick's sleeper.See, you've been listening to him for years, as the barreling bar-room pianist in those old Chuck Berry records.Do yourself a favor, if you love that early rockin'-88 style of pop music: Pick up this release on Evidence, which was Johnson's first as a band leader. (He died in July 2005.)Johnson and Berry worked together on several seminal hits, including "Maybelline" -- and the blues B-Side "Wee Wee Hours" -- in a collaboration that lasted in the studio and on the road through 1973.So, yeah, most folks probably bought "Blue Hand Johnnie" because of Berry. You'll stay, however, to hear how it plays out because of Johnson's easy-rolling blues genius. Ironically, his take on "Johnny B. Goode" -- which Johnson clearly had a good bit of influence on -- in one of the weaker tracks.Later, Johnson sued for credit on several other tunes, including "No Particular Place To Go", "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Roll Over Beethoven." He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.Nick's Picks: "Johnnie's Boogie," Fats Washington's "O.J. Blues" and "Black Nights" -- along with what may be my favorite version of "See See Rider" ... and that's saying something.Listening again reminded me of this story: Johnson was known to be as passionate about alcohol as he was the keyboard. But, Berry recalls in his autobiography declaring that there would be no drinking in the car while the band was on tour. Johnson complied with the request ... by putting his head out the window.

Musical musings by Something Else! "We're not saying this is the best music ever; we're just saying...