Herb Alpert Is Perhaps the Most Successful Instrumental Performer in Pop History
Alpert’s unique trumpet sound is the upshot of experimental studio overdubbing and trips to Tijuana bullfights. About two years before...
Politics, Nostalgia & Rock 'n' Roll
Alpert’s unique trumpet sound is the upshot of experimental studio overdubbing and trips to Tijuana bullfights. About two years before...
‘Better to be judged by 12 than carried by six.’ Tragedy in Uvalde, Texas We’ve all shed tears for the...
Starting as strictly backup players to two legendary performers, The Band developed a likable and totally unique sound. Prologue The...
There are reasons why Republicans are okay with jeopardizing the right to an abortion, which is supported by a majority...
There’s a powerful new tranquilizer in the street drug supplies of Philadelphia and other cities that’s causing mysterious body wounds...
Putin regards liberal democracy as on its last legs. Will the US prove him right or wrong? Donald Trump, presumed...
The death of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins recalls a genre whose distinctive sound influenced bands in other musical hotspots,...
The songs are, as they say, all over the map. There’s a bonus round at the end. Since no aging...
Ask the good people of Tulsa, Oklahoma: American history cannot be unlived. Critical Race Theory You know that conservatives have...
My reminiscence of being part of a crew who got up before dawn to hawk a tabloid newspaper on Philadelphia...
Both voting rights bills died in the Senate and elections remain vulnerable to partisan bad actors. Let’s embrace what’s possible....
The Justice Department, state prosecutors, and the House Select Committee are on the case. In the 2020 post-election craziness in...
Here’s a Top 10 playlist of songs about friendship (plus a bonus round). Naturally, the Beatles, Stones and Dylan top...
That year in rock was kind to the great Chuck Berry, who scored his first and only #1 hit with...
Their charges and sentences have been lenient compared to the BLM George Floyd protesters, many of whom are doing hard...
The Fab Four recorded jolly ad-libs for their fan club members to celebrate the Christmas holiday. You better believe frenzied...
‘Sloop John B’ and ‘Sail On, Sailor’ were off the charted course from the Beach Boys’ idealized California culture. ‘If...
“Having election deniers run elections is like having arsonists take over the fire department.” Sound the Alarm If you are...
You can get anything you want (excepting Alice). During my adult life, I have made a ritual of listening to...
As a massive public figure, Clapton must realize that spouting his pro-COVID nonsense could have grave consequences. Paraphrasing the Independent:...
The faux journalist’s election year misadventure targeted Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who conservatives love to hate. You might have heard...
The cheating Houston Astros get off with a wrist-slap, while Pete Rose, a man with a gambling addiction, gets the...
Even with the bitter taste of the Maharishi and Yoko Ono’s unwanted presence, the Beatles created a masterpiece. Most rock...
Printed-word storytelling is not a lost art in this new crop of rock books hitting bookstores and libraries this fall....
Texas Republicans’ strict ‘pro-life’ stance conceals a culture of death. Election Audit for Texas? Being from the east coast, my...
His drug addiction hidden from view, Apple Records could sense the immense talent in a young James Taylor, the first...
There was always a chance for a racial confrontation in the German town where I was stationed. So we opened...
The story behind Traffic’s deep dive into British folk music. Prologue: Steve Winwood At the center of it all was...
But just in case COVID exists, say Republicans without evidence, its spread is being caused by recent immigrants. I can’t...
The flight of the Jefferson Starship Enterprise was not a charted course. Did the Jefferson Airplane betray its “Haight-Ashbury” roots...
Republicans still have the edge in redrawing state maps. That means gerrymandering is alive and well. Prologue At first blush,...
Though on the surface a Euro-democracy, Hungary under autocrat Viktor Orban has dismantled democratic norms much like Donald Trump tried....
Six essentials about the reclusive Nyro, who wrote songs that others made into hits. Prologue Right around reaching my teenage...
Republicans are busy changing the rules to make it easier for their party to overturn the will of the voters...
Q: Who shot Ashli Babbitt? A: The people who keep asking that question. All of a sudden, six months after...
Rubber Soul marked the end of ‘Beatlemania’ and heralded the dawn of creating the gold standard in recording artistry. You...
The Ameican Experiment began with a raised fist towards the mightiest of world powers. It was built for the long...
Is relitigating the past the smartest electoral strategy for the GOP? The bogus recount of ballots cast in Arizona’s Maricopa...
Priscilla Bohlen on her second go-round in art: ‘It’s a great life!’ It was author F. Scott Fitzgerald who said...
On recording the greatest record album of all-time. The Beatles album Revolver, forever in the shadow of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely...
A break-away third party? A Trump indictment? The demise of our democracy? Will the fever ever break? Autocrats of the...
The song was based on a poem that Crow’s producer found in a Pasadena used bookstore. The Nineties: Rock’s Last...
Gig workers lack safety net protections, while internet-based companies save on labor costs and receive a government bailout. Prologue The...
Republicans weaponize political misinformation through a right wing echo chamber. When it’s debunked, some damage filters through. Rogue Recount Here...
Since 1910, African Americans have been stripped of 90% of farmland that was legally their own. Prologue: 40 Acres and...
Two original Yardbirds have kept the flame burning long after the band’s final 1968 concert. Three Guitars It is a...
Or maybe Babe Ruth was the ‘American Cristobal Torriente.’ If I should see [Cristobal] Torriente walking up the other side...
Blues guitar great Kenny Wayne Shepherd has become prey to a racial reckoning. Kenny Wayne Shepherd, longtime blues guitarist, singer...
The story of a clash of cultures in the late ’70s. In the midst of all those great rock acts...
Here are five truly awesome guitar recordings, released during the golden age of rock. This is a chord. This is...
50 years ago, ‘Imagine’ and ‘What’s Going On’ validated rock ‘n’ roll as a force for social change. Janet Jackson...
Ace songwriting and production team Holland-Dozier-Holland helped make Berry Gordy’s dreams come true. Back in the Day If you came...
In the House, Democrats can benefit from primary challenges by Trumpian extremists. Conventional wisdom. It’s a bear when it works...
The sixties was a time for breaking down racial barriers. Music was no exception. The Way It Was By the...
The rioters included dozens of financial deadbeats and some convicted of violence against women. Requiem for an Ex-President With Donald...
‘The Swampers’ in Muscle Shoals integrated soul, rock and the blues to become sought-after, elite instrumentalists You’re in rock ‘n’...
With impeachment acquittal likely, there are other remedies to hold Trump accountable. Impeachment For those of you wishing upon a...
The late ‘Wall of Sound’ producer was allowed on George Martin’s sacred turf. The results were not pretty. The Late...
Part I: Get government on the side of workers and make the ‘gig economy’ a personal choice. Scalia’s Revenge One...
British Invaders Eric Burdon’s Animals made the song famous in 1964. A young Bob Dylan gave it a whack two...
Mike Bloomfield’s and Al Kooper’s excellent adventure recording “Like A Rolling Stone” Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper met at the...
The band played a key role in both the blues and Southern rock’s revivals in the seventies. During my freshman...
John and Yoko’s Christmas song is a stirring reminder of their unique anti-war activism. This week, we mourn the 40th...
Defund the police? Words matter. Down-ballot losses couldn’t have come at a worse time. First, the good part. We can...
The movie premiered before our time, but TV created new generations of fans. The Wizard of Oz was the Super...
Savoring instances of the charmed but tragic life of rock’s last guitar God. The rock world on Oct. 6 lost...
Democrats pull a 2016 in reverse, while Trump and Giuliani spin baseless and dangerous conspiracy theories. Joe Biden’s path to...
Nobody’s buying the Hunter Biden smear, and so this year’s ‘October Surprise’ is Trump surrendering to widespread coronavirus spikes. Prologue:...
The Republican death cult seems to have given up trying to slay the beast. The issue before us is no...
Even a small shift toward Democrats among working class women could spell payback in battleground states. In this pandemic election...
One song was actually a collaboration. Most recipients of Bruce’s songwriting had career revivals. There is a commonality to these...
The education secretary is also gifting private and Christian schools with PPP funds while public schools go begging. A federal...
This fall marks 50 years since the groundbreaking ‘Tea for the Tillerman’ hinted at Cat Stevens’ escape from pop stardom....
The president has vowed to permanently shut off the funding spigot for Social Security and Medicare if reelected. Donald J....
What kind of president or human being cheers on gun-toting racist agitators? Prologue On April 19, 1995, a truck packed...
Trump and his crony Postmaster trying to concoct chaos and confusion over the election. It’s not about the money. According...