Forever Never Changes: Remembering Arthur Lee
Sean MurphyArthur Lee died seven years ago today (August 3, 2006). I not only am keen to remember --and celebrate-- his life and work, I also appreciate the fact that the…
What A Long, Strange Trip It Was…
Jerry Garcia, had he lived, would have turned 71 yesterday. I've never been a big fan of the Dead but, while I tended to disdain them in the past, I…
Like The Dude, Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson Abides
Few Jethro Tull fans could resist the prospect of a new DVD with more than six hours of live footage. It’s debatable how many fans would be overjoyed to learn…
Classical Music Can Kick Your Ass!
You want a piece of that guy? He reduced pianos to splinters (sort of) and he had the quickest hands in the west. The East, too. Sergei Rachmaninoff is one…
Amy Winehouse: Lack of Love is a Losing Game (Revisited)
Last year, when I was making the list of what I considered the 50 best (rock) albums of the decade, I had this to say about Amy Winehouse's Back To…
From The Annals of Inscrutability…Robert Plant! (Revisited)
3/2/2011: After praising The Marshall Tucker Band I reckon it's time to break out the big guns. Everyone can list a handful --or more-- songs that have presented lyrical challenges.…
T-Model Ford, R.I.P.
Slowly, steadily, inexorably, they are leaving the planet. One at a time. We will never see men like this again. American-made in every sense of the phrase, they came up…
Titoro, Three Times (Revisited)
An amazing tune by Billy Taylor, played three times. The first one is coupled with the incredible "Oscalypso" (which is also covered in fine fashion by Curtis Fuller and my personal…
Improving Upon Perfection, Part Seven
(Parts 1-6 of this series here, here, here, here, here and here.) Having just written, at length, about King Crimson (check it HERE), it seems appropriate to revisit another song…
Mingus Speaks. We Listen.
Charles Mingus did not do small. He was a big man, with big appetites, big ambitions, big grievances, big passions, big skills, and above all, a big vision. By any…