National Poetry Month Meets Howlin’ Wolf
Sean MurphyNational Poetry Month rolls on. Thanks again to Decolonial Passage for publishing "Howlin' Wolf's Harp" last summer. This one appears in Rhapsodies in Blue (and I read it last week…
Jeff Beck: The Guitar Grandmaster
As 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…
Led Zeppelin: Day by Day
Imagine Led Zeppelin in our contemporary culture, with smart phones and social media documenting their every activity and utterance—a ceaseless spectacle. It’s impossible. Literally; obviously. But it’s possible that the…
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…
Led Zeppelin on Led Zeppelin (Revisited)
We tend to not think of Led Zeppelin as actual human beings. The reason, of course, is that they are not. At least not in the ways that can be…
Led Zeppelin on Led Zeppelin
We tend to not think of Led Zeppelin as actual human beings. The reason, of course, is that they are not. At least not in the ways that can be…
What Is and What Will Always Be: A Fresh Look at Led Zeppelin’s Familiar Masterpieces
Shamelessly utilized other artists’ work, didn’t bother to acknowledge the source material most of the time, became famous, influential and wealthy, is celebrated years later as a creative force without…
Taking It All Too Hard: Unironic Love For Phil Collins (Revisited)
After taking on the "holy trinity" of classic era Genesis, wherein Phil Collins arguably got short-shrift (I mean we had to discuss Peter Gabriel!), it seemed appropriate to revisit my…
Ten Albums That Supposedly Suck (But Do Not): #1 (Revisited)
1. Led Zeppelin, In Through the Out Door (1979) There are three distinctive types of Led Zeppelin fans. The first group knows Zep is great because of the classic songs…
Robert Johnson: The Centennial of an American Genius (Revisited)
5/8/2011: Does any single figure loom as large over an art form as Robert Johnson? Bach and Shakespeare come to mind, but classical music, like literature, took centuries and multiple…