Like Ray (Charles), Aretha was a hands-on performer, a two-fisted pianist plugged into the main circuit of Holy Ghost power. Even though we produced Aretha in a way that we never produced Ray, she remained the central orchestrator of her own sound, the essential contributor and final arbiter of what fit or did not fit […]
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I should be done with the sixth entry of my Nicky Hopkins series in the next week or so. That post will cover the events of 1968, the same year this syrupy pop gem came out. The Iveys were basically Badfinger before Badfinger and “Maybe Tomorrow” was their first release on Apple Records, the label’s […]
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On Tuesday I was lucky enough to see the very first 50th anniversary tribute performance of Sweetheart Of The Rodeo at The Theater at Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. It was Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman from The Byrds and Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives as backing band. It’s a partnership that […]
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“I saw my flag on the moon and I was just as proud as I could be I saw my flag on the moon, oh Lord I was just as proud as I could be Well, you know that I love my country Baby baby, but my country don’t love me” –Otis Spann, “Moon […]
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When reviewing the worst days in music history, why not start at February 3, 1959? Of course, that’s the day Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper died in an Iowa plane crash. If you know this date, it isn’t because you’ve been going through a Holly phase and were doing online research. […]
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