Ten Songs From 1967 That Shaped Prog-Rock (Revisited)
Sean Murphy1. "Heroes and Villains", The Beach Boys What has tended to get lost or forgotten in the shuffle of sensationalistic trivia (of the infamously aborted SMiLE sessions) is that Wilson…
Orrin Keepnews: Hero for America’s Music (Revisited)
Orrin Keepnews frequently talked about jazz the way war veterans will talk about experiences on the front lines. There were at least two reasons for this. One, it was never…
None More Black: Reassessing Black Sabbath’s First Three Albums (or, The Unholy Trinity)
In the classic movie Chinatown, the villainous Noah Cross offers a sardonic take on his longevity. “I’m old,” he laughs, adding the immortal line, “Politicians, ugly buildings and whores all…
Straight, No Chaser (Revisited)
This Sunday's New York Times magazine features a lengthy, but worthwhile appraisal of John Cheever by Charles McGrath. The piece reassesses Cheever's current status (McGrath correctly concedes that Cheever, who…
Don Drummond: Music Was His Occupation (Revisited)
Check out this elevator pitch: Impoverished youth becomes a mostly self-taught musician. This reticent, eccentric musical genius scraps together an existence in an environment where squalor, violence and indifference are…
Where the Hell is Shafi Hadi?: A Poem (Revisited)
(*Saxophone player Shafi Hadi, born Curtis Porter, is best-known for his association with jazz legend Charles Mingus, and played on the seminal recording Mingus Ah Um, from 1959. He dropped…
The Prog Rock Holy Trinity, Cont’d, Part Three: Genesis (Revisited)
There are several things that make it challenging to discuss old school Genesis. First, virtually everyone knows and probably prefers the Phil Collins incarnation (or worse, people detest that outfit,…
Harold Ramis: Empathy for the Rebel (Revisited)
Consider this: a world without Animal House. Or Caddyshack, Stripes, Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day. I can’t fathom how much less happy my childhood would have been without any one of…