Thursday , March 28 2024

Tag Archives: Classic Rock and Oldies

Manfred Mann

A lot of people know keyboardist-bandleader Manfred Mann from his prog rock-leaning Earth Band days of the ’70s, and especially for his interpretation of early Bruce Springsteen songs “Blinded By the Light,” “For You” and “Spirits In the Night.” But Mann’s first band, called simply “Manfred Mann,” was one of …

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Boston – Do Look Back

Being that they have come to symbolize ’70s corporate, artificial rock, and have recorded diminishing versions of the exact same album five times now, it is easy to forget how great the first Boston album was. Guitarist/songwriter/engineer Tom Scholz created a simultaneously elegant and rampaging electric guitar sound that is …

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Johnny Cash, Legendary Man In Black, Dies

Johnny Cash died early this morning in Nashville. As Dean writes, the official cause was complications from diabetes, but we all know he just didn’t have the strength without June – some love songs are sung with life. Although he couldn’t have been more contemporary, winning a Grammy (his eleventh) …

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Sam Cooke

If really, truly forced to pick my favorite singer of all time under penalty of castration or death or something, I suppose I would pick Sam Cooke (not that I have any hesitancy about Cooke, I just hate to be pinned down). His floating, creamy, earthy, stirring soulful marvelousness is …

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Deferring the American Dream: Thoughts on “Margaritaville”

Mexico has always been a refuge for Americans at odds with the American Dream. The American Dream makes demands: demands of time, effort and value conformity. The only way to escape the demands of the American Dream, within America, is to become homeless. This is a most distressing alternative – …

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Warren Zevon: Attention Must Be Paid

Warren Zevon died yesterday. Steve Rhodes has the news here. He lived four times longer than was predicted when his cancer was announced a year ago (almost to the day) – that, and the amazing accomplishment that is his new album The Wind, amounts to a near-total victory over entropy. …

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Runaround Sue

People have the impression that when I was DJing those fraternity and sorority parties at UCLA, USC, and all over SoCal back in the go-go ’80s, there was nothing but the mad chaos of beers, bongs, babes, and beats. Oh ye jumpers to conclusions! There were moments of near-Germanic precision. …

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Roy Orbison

And if I’m going to talk about Chris Isaak, I’d be seriously remiss to not acknowledge the stylistc and thematic wellspring from which Isaak derives, the late great Roy Orbison. In late-’59 Fred Foster, the owner of Monument Records and its producer, heard the pop potential of a shy rockabilly …

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Classic Dylan Albums Out in SACD Format 9/16

Continuing my stomp through musical history in oversized muddy boots, I hereby declare Blonde On Blonde the greatest Dylan album EVER! Not much controversy there, but it’s still true. Bob Dylan is the most important American songwriter of the last 50 years and, arguably, the greatest white blues singer of …

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