Abbey Road, Again
So, a few quick thoughts after spending a good chunk of the last 24 hours obsessively listening to the entire Abbey Road Deluxe Edition set. One, I highly recommend any…
So, a few quick thoughts after spending a good chunk of the last 24 hours obsessively listening to the entire Abbey Road Deluxe Edition set. One, I highly recommend any…
October ’08. In the spirit of two quintessentially American inventions (obsessions, really), baseball and rock and roll, it seemed like a swell idea to merge the two in a lighthearted…
Burn all the political books and essays: trivia masquerading as analysis that mostly measures horse races and trends, at best attempting to make sense of what's already history; if you…
Of course his father was a bricklayer, and it could be said that his son, born Peter Edward Baker, was one as well. But instead of a shovel he picked…
I’ve written a little bit about prog rock; my series “The Amazing Pudding” at PopMattersand rankings of the best prog albums and Top 100 Classic Prog Rock songs (and many, many reviews, etc.) When it comes to the…
I don’t even have a question, but here is the answer: Whenever I listen to Abbey Road, I find myself feeling grateful that the collective world of musicians did not, upon hearing…
Happy Birthday to the Boss. 70 years young. The best tribute I can offer is one I wrote five years ago, on the occasion of the (overdue) release of his…
We tend to believe (or want to believe?) that the best artists emerge, fully-formed, as though they were uncommonly blessed or destined. While in certain cases this impulse is intended…
New York City would be unimaginable without jazz, and vice versa. Here then is a tribute for --and by-- several musicians who help define and celebrate the cultural mecca of…
I visited my mother’s grave the first several years for the same reason I used to attend church: it was expected, it was meant to make me feel better, it…