By Jeff Burger Like such artists as the Bee Gees and Fleetwood Mac, the Animals had more than one distinct incarnation. As part of the first wave of the British Invasion between 1964 and 1966, they produced 11 deservedly acclaimed U.S. hit singles, including such bluesy rock staples as “It’s My Life,” “We Gotta Get Out […]
By Jeff Burger Classical Treatment for Rod Stewart’s Classics Rod Stewart now has something in common with Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly, the Carpenters, Elvis Presley, and the Beach Boys: like those other artists, he has had the vocals from his early hits wedded to new symphonic arrangements by London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The 15-song You’re in […]
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By Jeff Burger Steve Goodman Before the Fame Steve Goodman, who died from leukemia in 1984 at age 36, has now been gone for as many years as he lived. Today, it’s likely that some folk fans don’t even recognize his name while others think of him only as the author of “City of New […]
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By Jeff Burger Game Theory’s eight original albums, which were reissued with bonus tracks between 2014 and 2017, leave little doubt that this was one of the smartest and most underrated indie-rock groups of the 1980s. If you need additional proof, though, you’ll have it shortly, via an unexpected bonus to the catalog: Across […]
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By Jeff Burger The film Masked and Anonymous—which first appeared in 2003 and has just been reissued on Blu-ray—boasts a list of credits that would make most any movie fan sit up and take notice. The cast includes such household names as Jeff Bridges, Jessica Lange, John Goodman, Penelope Cruz, Angela Bassett, Bruce Dern, Mickey […]
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From a career standpoint, Sam Cooke’s Keen Records period bears comparison to Elvis Presley’s days at Sun. Presley made seminal recordings at the latter label before his new manager, the hard-driving Colonel Tom Parker, signed him up for stardom at the much larger RCA. Similarly, Cooke spent an important transitional period at Keen before another […]
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What would happen if many of the country’s leading musicians, singers, and songwriters lived within a few minutes of each other and regularly dropped into one another’s homes to play their latest tunes and trade ideas? You don’t have to guess at the answer because that’s what happened in Southern California’s Laurel Canyon in the […]
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Perhaps it was the holiday season that inspired them. Or maybe it was the venue—Asbury Park, New Jersey, where some of the participants have roots. Possibly it was the fact that the concerts were for charity. Or that so many talented and like-minded musicians had gathered on the same stage. Maybe it was all of […]
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“In the same way the Bible is divided into the Old and New Testaments, Marty Stuart’s musical career is divided into everything that came before 1999 and everything that came after. The dividing line is The Pilgrim, Stuart’s 10th studio album.” So writes music historian Scott Bomar in a preface to the book that accompanies […]
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The latest evidence that 1998’s The Complete Hank Williams is erroneously titled is Pictures from Life’s Other Side, a six-CD, 144-track collection of performances from the country legend’s 1951 radio show on Nashville’s WSM. (These are commonly known as the Mother’s Best recordings, because the Mother’s Best Flour Company sponsored the 15-minute programs.) Much of […]
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