The Roots of Keith Richards

Posted by Lance Davis - May 26, 2014 - Billie Holiday, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Flying Burrito Brothers, Gram Parsons, Keith Richards, Lester Young, Little Walter, Muddy Waters, Otis Redding, Robert Johnson, Rolling Stones, Slickers, Slim Harpo, Smokey Robinson, Warren Zevon

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I recently finished Keith Richards‘ autobiography, Life (2010), and I don’t know why, but I was surprised at the pathos, honesty, insight, and sense of history. The Rolling Stones have turned into a corporate-sponsored pirate ship, so I think I internalized my disappointment in what their legacy had become. I put off reading Life […]

The Roots of Levon Helm

Posted by Lance Davis - May 27, 2012 - Bill Monroe, Conway Twitty, DJ Fontana, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Levon Helm, Little Richard, Louis Jordan, Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, The Band

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Today would’ve been Levon Helm‘s 72nd birthday. Such a weird, humbling sentence to write. Following his death on April 19, my original plan was to survey his entire career, which in retrospect was absurdly ambitious. I still may do some smaller version of that, but the survey vacuum was quickly filled by the internet, with […]

The Bo Diddley Legacy – Part 1 of 2

Posted by Lance Davis - June 7, 2008 - Bo Diddley, Cab Calloway, Chess Records, Jelly Roll Morton, John Lee Hooker, Kool Moe Dee, Louis Jordan, Muddy Waters, Robert Palmer (writer), Sam Cooke, Soul Stirrers

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“My music has a little bit of a spiritual taste, but it’s also primitive. I play the guitar as if I was playing drums.” –Bo Diddley A musician doesn’t beat a drum, he plays a drum. He coaxes multiple rhythms from that drum, in an effort to tell his story and to support others contributing […]