Welcome To My World
I’m Sean Murphy, and you might have heard me on NPR's "All Things Considered" or seen my name in The New York Times or The Huffington Post, among others. As a contributor to…
I’m Sean Murphy, and you might have heard me on NPR's "All Things Considered" or seen my name in The New York Times or The Huffington Post, among others. As a contributor to…
Jim Morrison took his last bath on July 3, 1971 in Paris. R.I.P. Lizard King. (I wrote, in what most normal people would consider painful detail, about The Doors in…
Not a fan of Led Zeppelin, The Clash’s Paul Simonon once opined: “Just looking at their album covers makes me want to throw up.” When it comes to Pharoah Sanders,…
If Ian McDonald had done nothing other than be a crucial (arguably the crucial) member of the band that, in 1969, recorded the album that launched a thousand pretentious, proggy,…
Happy 70th birthday to Ozzy Osbourne, the self-proclaimed Prince of Darkness. If you'd guessed, circa 1974, or 1984 (or 1994, etc.), that any of us would be celebrating John Michael…
If Edgar Allan Poe—and his writing—has not aged well and seems more than a little passé for 21st century sensibilities, it’s not entirely his fault. Like others who have done…
Of course his father was a bricklayer, and it could be said that his son, born Peter Edward Baker, was one as well. But instead of a shovel he picked…
I’ve written a little bit about prog rock; my series “The Amazing Pudding” at PopMattersand rankings of the best prog albums and Top 100 Classic Prog Rock songs (and many, many reviews, etc.) When it comes to the…
Herman Melville is not only, arguably, our most American author; he is America. Author of the most successful second act in literary history (posthumous, alas), Melville is sui generis as…
The Prince, on his Throne Happy 70th birthday to Ozzy Osbourne, the self-proclaimed Prince of Darkness. If you'd guessed, circa 1974, or 1984 (or 1994, etc.), that any of…