Seven Cool Things About Santana
The Woodstock guitar impresario has lived a charmed life. 1) An immigration success story Carlos Santana was born in Autlan...
Author: Andrew Goutman
When Soul Music and Rock Shared the Top of the Charts
Call it serendipity. It took the sixties for the mass market to feel the rush of rock ‘n’ roll sung...
The ‘Blurred Line’ Between Song Piracy & Subconscious Imitation
Even with the absence of malice, a ‘substantial similarity’ can get a songwriter in trouble. A handful of high-profile cases...
Have a Hearty Laugh for the Holiday!
The Season’s Upon Us The holidays are mostly about family and there’s also the solemnity of the spiritual celebration. But...
Jim Croce: So Many Songs, So Little Time
Another tragic plane crash shortened a career that had full-blown potential. Three prominent plane crashes come to mind, involving rock...
New Stalking Horse in VA Privatization Shakedown
Bill would enable ‘third lane’ private sector care without VA oversight or scientific scrutiny. Sneak Attack You can almost imagine...
What Happened to Hitchhiking?
Hitchhiking peaked in the sixties and seventies. Then, it just vanished. If you’re an urban or suburban Philadelphian making a...
Why Are We Talking About Medicare For All?
People have short memories of the painstaking process to bring about the Affordable Care Act. For disclosure’s sake, I must...
Great Rock Albums Were Abundant in the Year 1969
50 years ago today, the greatest band ever called it quits while two huge ones launched. The Beatles’ Last Hurrah...
Two Beloved Hit Songs Were Minted When Graham Nash Swapped Rock Bands
‘Marrakesh Express’ and ‘He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother’ hugged the charts in 1969. You remember the Hollies…the Merseybeat-type band...
Poetic Justice? Two Diplomatic Women Break the Stonewall
The honor of two accomplished women vs. Trump’s ‘grab ’em by the p—-.’ Two foreign service veterans were the first...
An Army Story: Cold War Kid and a Father’s Love
I was a campus activist who got drafted in Nixon’s lottery. My father helped me get through it. May 4,...
What’s Up with our Trumpy Attorney General?
History will not be kind to William Barr, once thought to be principled, who seems to have ‘gone rogue,’ chasing...
Playlist: Five Truly Awesome Rock Guitar Recordings
All were released during the golden age of rock: the sixties. The essence of rock is the electric guitar. Yes,...
The Cover-Up of the Biggest Disaster in Music History
A vault said to contain a half-million song masters of the Universal Music Group went up in flames 11 years...
History Dept.: FDR’s 1944 ‘GI Bill of Rights’ Helped Create America’s Modern Middle Class
One shining moment in history has withstood assaults on the notion that government can be a force for good. We...
Trump Continues Baseless Claims of Voter Fraud in New Hampshire
VP Pence’s defunct ‘election integrity commission’ specifically traveled to NH to sniff out voter fraud. They left with their tails...
Who Are the ‘Antifa’?
The false equivalency between an anti-fascist protest group and white supremacists is the centerpiece of Trump’s reelection campaign. We Go...
By the Time We Got to Woodstock…
The audacity of rock ‘n’ roll overcame traffic jams, rainstorms and mass hunger. It was the best of times and...
The Sixties Blues Revival
The blues had a baby and they named it rock ‘n’ roll. There’s this thing we call the blues. In...
The Beatles’ Early Recordings: Baby Steps Along Abbey Road
Revolving drummers. A chance meeting in Hamburg. The Beatles find a home at EMI. This story begins in the unlikeliest...
Odious Warmonger John Bolton Really, Really Wants to Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran
An ‘architect’ of the disastrous Iraq war, Bolton sets his sights on inciting war with Iran. Listen up, mothers and...
Dem Courage, Republican Cruelty on Full Display in PA Senate
Unhinged GOP state Senate leader shouts down Democratic colleague pleading for cash assistance program for poor. If you’re not here...
Best Summer Rock Songs from the Sixties and Seventies
I feature five from rock’s greatest decades, plus some honorable mentions. Summer just opens the door and lets you out....
The Mueller Report Did Not Say, ‘No Collusion.’ Read It!
Or else watch famed director Rob Reiner’s cinematic summary of the report’s finding. Before we get to the Mueller Report,...
Apple Shutting Down iTunes! Well, Kind of, Maybe…
Nothing changes for Windows users. For Mac fanatics, a paywall looms. It’s official! At last week’s World-Wide Developers Conference in...
First Impeachment: Striking Similarities Between Andrew Johnson, Trump
It seems the only difference between Andrew Johnson and Donald Trump is that Trump doesn’t drink. Who could have predicted...
Rocketman Elton John’s ‘Border Song’ a Cry for Peace, Down with Bigotry
Aretha Franklin honored the John/Taupin songwriting duo by covering ‘Border Song’ two years later. Unlike many of his musical brethren...
There Would Be No ‘Elton John’ Without Lyricist Bernie Taupin
With the release of the movie ‘Rocketman,’ we honor a unique and uber-successful songwriting partnership. Due to be released tomorrow...
James Taylor’s Apple Debut a Triumph Despite Secret Life
Even the glow of Apple and Beatles greatness couldn’t deter JT’s drug dependence. In the recovery business, moving to another...
Impeachment? Nah. Democrats Should Keep Their Eyes on the Prize: the 2020 Election
There are other ways to hold the president accountable. And Trump will just weaponize his Senate acquittal. After the release...
Donald Trump Is a Russian Asset…
…even if he doesn’t realize it. The president remains the foremost threat to our national security. It’s right there in...
Mueller Report: The (White) House of Lies
Trump and Republican deceit are a disgrace to America. In the 2018 midterm elections–the one in which the Democrats recaptured...
Tales from the Cultural War: Sports Betting and Pot Legalization
Despite widespread pot legalization, many Americans, especially minorities, are getting busted for possession. One striking parallel between sports betting and...
Trump Attacks on Media Having Opposite Effect on Aspiring Journalists
Journalism educators like Temple’s David Mindich are inclined to emphasize truth, accuracy and non-partisanship. Another day, another Trump attack on...
John Fogerty’s Creedence Gig Was the Best of Times, Worst of Times
After leading the most popular band in America, Fogerty ended up in court accused of plagiarizing himself. Bob Dylan’s Advice...
Net Neutrality Not Dead Yet
The underlying conflict is a familiar one: the role of government to enforce fairness. “It ain’t over till it’s over.”...
Nature-Loving Main Line Artist Revels in Distinctive Patterns
Susan Curtin is disciplined in Pointillism, a difficult painting technique that distinguishes her landscapes and portrayals of animals. “The tendency...
America Unwillingly Reliving Its Racist Past
We have a president of the United States who’s a racist. Most Americans aren’t buying his lies. We’ve been through...
Payola, Radio Song Royalties, and Sinatra’s Dying Wish
While streaming compensation was recently bolstered, traditional broadcasters still don’t pay song royalties to performers. In the Beginning…Payola At the...
Philadelphia Ended Cash Bail for Minor Offenses and the Sky Didn’t Fall
New crusading DA Larry Krasner believes bail reform actually makes the city safer. And now he has proof. So you’re...
The 27 Club: A Rock Club That Nobody Joins Willingly
It just so happens that rockers who died at age 27 left us the most wanting. Here are the first...
Millennial Socialism Preference Incites Sixties Flashbacks
Yippie! Millennials will need to learn from our mistakes. No drugs. No violence. That was a minute and a half...
Hey Trump, Kamala Harris Has Your Number
While California AG, Kamala Harris put the hammer on for-profit college scams like Trump U. Amid the endless stream of...
Satirical Rock Is About Subversion, Pushing Boundaries
Frank Zappa was the godfather of satirical rock. When he died, the genre went with him. For the record, folks:...
Clive Davis Scores Bruce Springsteen for Columbia Records
Bruce Springsteen, an unknown bar musician from New Jersey, plants a flag on the label of Bob Dylan. At the...
Like the Berlin Wall, Trump’s Fetish Is an Affront to Humanity
The only ‘border emergency’ is inside the White House. Let’s be clear: There is no “border emergency.” Our country is...
For Your Consideration: Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio
There’s way too much at stake for Democrats to make the wrong choice. One of the things I like about...
Compiling the Lies and Havoc of the Trump Presidency
Seven articles from this website spotlight “alternative facts,” corruption, incompetence and a sneering disrespect for democracy. Prologue I watched shell-shocked...
Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime”
Paul’s holiday ditty is a gift that keeps on giving. Musicians who are able to write catchy songs are usually...
John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” a Christmas Treat
John and Yoko’s Christmas song was the pinnacle of their unique anti-war activism. There’s no better tribute to a song’s...
AG Nominee William Barr to Rehash Uranium One Sham
Facts don’t get in the way of right wing mythology. Just ask Hillary Clinton. With Jeff Sessions out the door...
The Jefferson Starship Enterprise
Jefferson Airplane’s departure from its psychedelic roots was not a charted course. Jefferson Airplane’s musical prominence in the psychedelic sixties ...
PHILLY SPECIAL: DA Larry Krasner Reviving Prosecutor’s Moral Compass
Krasner is changing the culture by emphasizing fairness over notches on a prosecutor’s belt. The prisons of this country are...
Ballot Design Probably Doomed Florida Democrat in Recount
A striking parallel to the 2000 Florida Gore vs. Bush presidential election crisis. Last week, Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew...
Not ‘Happy,’ Trump? Pharrell Still Wants His Song Back
Pharrell Williams joins a long line of artists infuriated by Republican misuse of their songs. The campaign season isn’t really...
Midterms 2018: Closing Arguments for the American Family
Gross Negligence? Fear-mongering the crisis at our southern border can’t hide the fact the fact that Trump and the Republicans...
Main Line Artist Had Brush with Chaplin Greatness
Dolya Goutman’s odyssey included a stop at Charles Chaplin’s mansion and a friendship with the screen legend’s two eldest sons....
The Trump Administration’s Covert War on Weed
Like the Affordable Care Act, Trump is sabotaging something Americans clearly want. There are lies, damned lies and…policy statements from...
A Partisan Warrior on the Supreme Court?
Here is the infamous “crying” video of Brett Kavanaugh at his confirmation hearings, in which he blames a left-wing conspiracy...
Impeachment Quagmire: Trading a Bad Liar for a Good One
Short of a Mueller smoking gun, Mike Pence takes impeachment off the table. Prologue There’s no better summary of the...
When The Rolling Stones Crossed Over to Atlantic
The label switch came with a cast of characters: Ahmet Ertegun, Marshall Chess and Prince Rupert Loewenstein. The first meeting...
By Topic: Favorite Websites of One Learned Progressive
There are countless sources of progressive political information on the web. I narrow it down by topic. As you can...
Teachers Inciting ‘Blue Wave’
With midterms looming, Americans can show their overwhelming support for public education. Isn’t it time the largest profession in the...
Aretha Franklin Found Greatness with Atlantic R&B Pioneer
Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler’s breakthrough: Let Aretha be herself. As the old saying goes, there are no guarantees in...
VA Update: Are the ‘Mar-a-Lago Three’ VA’s Shadow Rulers?
Trump’s cronies at his Florida country club have no US military or government experience. Well, it seems Donald Trump is...
Remember Helsinki! ‘The Appeasement Summit,’ Revisited.
The following video, 3 minutes, 10 seconds long, was published by Guardian News and shown here courtesy of YouTube. It...
VA Privatization: Conservatives’ Dream, Veterans’ Nightmare
This veteran, along with just about every veterans group out there, oppose this scheme. You know the Trump administration is...
