1967 and the Prog-Rock Progenitors* (Revisited)
Sean MurphyProgressive rock reached its full potential in the ‘70s, but its roots trace back to the previous decade. While an attempt to determine when and with whom prog-rock formally originated…
The Once and Future King: ‘SMiLE’ and Brian Wilson’s Very American Dream
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Icarus soars too close to the sun. Othello, vulnerable and halfway crazy, mistakenly trusts the evil Iago. The product of a celebrated…
Pet Sounds: The Kind of World Where We Belong
5/16/66. A day that changed music, forever, for the better. A case could, and probably should, be made that we ought to refer to rock music as "BP" and "AP"…
Ten Songs From 1967 That Shaped Prog-Rock
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…
1967 and the Prog-Rock Progenitors*
Progressive rock reached its full potential in the ‘70s, but its roots trace back to the previous decade. While an attempt to determine when and with whom prog-rock formally originated…
Improving Upon Perfection, Part Two: Brian Wilson and Danny Gatton
One of the best ballads ever? No question. Brian Wilson, whom one can never say enough about, evinced such astonishing growth in such a short period of time, only The…
They Will Rock You, They Are The Champions: The Consummate American Bands (Revisited)
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…
The Once and Future King: ‘SMiLE’ and Brian Wilson’s Very American Dream
What if I were to tell you the 21st Century has already produced its great American novel? And what if I told you it was actually written almost five decades…
They Will Rock You (They Are The Champions)
Part One: Introduction (and Apology) 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…