Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown: Remembering Michael Jackson (Revisited)
Sean MurphyHow do you know you've made an indelible impact on culture? Here's how. Listen: this story has been told so many times it is inextricable from the history of America.…
Roky Erickson: Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Genius (Revisited)
(For the remainder of the month, I’ll be revisiting some personal favorites, all of which are available in my recently-released collection, MURPHY’S LAW VOL. ONE, which is available NOW!) Preface You’re…
Robert Johnson: The Centennial of an American Genius (Revisited)
(For the remainder of the month, I’ll be revisiting some personal favorites, all of which are available in my recently-released collection, MURPHY’S LAW VOL. ONE, which is available NOW!) Does any…
Borne Back Ceaselessly Into the Past: Steinbeck, Nostalgia, Empathy and Amtrak (Revisited)
(For the remainder of the month, I’ll be revisiting some personal favorites, all of which are available in my recently-released collection, MURPHY’S LAW VOL. ONE, which is available NOW!) WHEN I…
ALL HAIL THE KING: Happy Birthday, Chazz!
Today would have been (and, still is) Charles Mingus’s 94th birthday. I’ve written about him often and I’ll continue to write about him, not only because he is one of…
Ten Songs From 1967 That Shaped Prog-Rock (Revisited)
1. "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…
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…
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,…