Top 25 (American) Musicians: #24 in the Series
America’s foremost R&B contingent of the ’60s was Booker T. and The MG’s, led by Hammond B3 whiz Booker T. Jones. Stax Records, the phenomenal studio behind this week’s featured band, Booker T. and The MG’s—and countless other soul-defining artists—was based on McLemore Avenue in Memphis.... Read the full story
Top 25 Musicians
Dick Young’s essential 25 musical artists, ranked in order from #25 to #1. Check back each week for the latest listing and an essential album or three from each. Click here for #25. Number 25 on my list of 25 essential musical artists is the group I rate as America’s second-best rock-and-roll band,... Read the full story
RIP Jerry Garcia 9 Aug 1995
It was hot and strangely quiet when we rode into Bertucci’s in Amherst, Massachusetts, on our Harleys. Once inside it quickly became clear that we were the only customers. The waiter finally came around and, when I inquired where everyone was, his downer of a response was, “Oh, man. Jerry died.”... Read the full story
Where I Come From
Where I Come From is the New Riders Of The Purple Sage 2009 CD release, they’re first in years. Featured are long time Jerry Garcia and Grateful Dead cohort David Nelson and steel guitar wiz Buddy Cage. Great tunes from Nelson and Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. Enjoy! Read More →
Front
The most popular form of jazz in the ’60s was not avant-garde or even hard bop, but soul jazz. The organ groups (which usually featured guitar, tenor and drums) emphasized blues, ballads and soulful renditions of standards. Guitarist Randy Caldwell revives that style in lively fashion for this... Read the full story
Do That Thing!
An excellent set from Willie recorded in the years before he moved to Verve, with a sound that’s a bit more Latin, but still inflected with all the sense of groove and jazzy inflection that you’ll find on Willie’s best work. There’s not as much singing or cover versions on the... Read the full story
September of My Years
From the evocative cover painting to the impeccably chosen songs within, this 1965 album harkens back to Sinatra’s great Capitol-era concept albums like In the Wee Small Hours and Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely. The theme revolves around a man approaching his 50s, looking back with a mixture... Read the full story
Mojo
Some time in the last few years Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers took a left turn. Maybe it was when Petty woke up in the night with the idea of reuniting his first band, Mudcrutch, to cut the album they never got a chance to make back in the early 70′s. Maybe it was when the Heartbreakers assembled... Read the full story
Point of No Return
Though already in business in 1961 with his own record label, Frank Sinatra was contractually obligated to give Capitol one more record before moving on to Reprise. Sinatra gave them the ironically titled Point of No Return, which is hardly the deal-fulfilling throwaway one might expect. Expertly arranged... Read the full story
Harps & Angels
Award winning musician Randy Newman’s childhood began in Los Angeles but included time spent in New Orleans, absorbing the city’s signature rhythm & blues to accompany his family’s pop-orchestral endowment. He meshed his musical roots with strong doses of singer-songwriter creativity,... Read the full story
