Jeff Beck: The Guitar Grandmaster
Sean MurphyAs impossible at it is to believe Jeff Beck has died (aged 78), it’s just as difficult to fathom that he was with us in the first place. If you’re…
THE BLACKENED BLUES, One Poem at a Time: Jimi Hendrix’s Hair
I’m happy to announce that my first poetry collection, The Blackened Blues, is available wherever you buy books (yes, *wherever*, so you don’t have to put more money in Rocket Man’s…
Eddie Van Halen: Rock Music’s Book of Revelation
photo courtesy of Salvatore Ferro When it comes to Eddie Van Halen, we are talking about an artist everyone would agree was, through the typical combination of hard work, good…
Jimi Hendrix: Five Decades Gone
It was 50 years ago, today. Attention, of course, must (and will) be paid, but the real question remains: what more can possibly be said, at this point, about Jimi…
Ennio Morricone, The Master
Certain things are anathema to the mature writer: hyperbole, cliché, groupthink, money--just kidding, (mostly). Sometimes, and the instances are rare enough to be exceptions to the rule, one can speak…
Murphy’s Laws: 49 Infallible Observations on the Occasion of Turning 49
“With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone.” That, from the ever-quotable Oscar Wilde. Does age impart wisdom? Maybe. It definitely provides opinions. Some of them, perhaps, are worthwhile.…
SEAN MURPHY AND E. ETHELBERT MILLER: ON THE MARGIN AT WPFW 89.3
It was my considerable pleasure to have an extended chat with E. Ethelbert Miller last week on his weekly WPFW show "On the Margin." A bit more about Ethelbert, here. And…
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…
God is (Still) Not Dead: Jimi Hendrix at 75
It was 75 years ago, today. Attention, of course, must (and will) be paid, but the real question remains: what more can possibly be said, at this point, about Jimi…
Lou Reed: Rock and Roll’s Dark, Beautiful Heart (Revisited)
EVERYONE WHO JOINS A ROCK BAND WANTS TO BE HEARD. The good ones want to be unique, while the pretenders tend to imitate what has already been done. The soulless…