The Lovin’ Spoonful, whose origins the Mamas and the Papas chronicle in their hit “Creeque Alley,” ranks among the most notable products of New York’s Greenwich Village folk explosion. Combining elements of that genre with blues, pop, rock and roll, and jug band music, the group scored seven consecutive Top 10 hits—five in 1966 alone—including […]
Bentley’s Bandstand: May 2026By Bill Bentley Marc Broussard, SOS V: SONGS OF THE ’50S. There are soul singers and then there are soul singers. Marc Broussard is easily on the top rung of those still in the spotlight. His voice is so strong and so true that it’s one in the miracle zone. Really. This […]
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Back in 2020, this column featured 16 folk, pop, and rock artists and bands that deserve wide acclaim but have attracted only cult followings. Here are 10 more. Bobby Charles The late Bobby Charles was a gifted singer who also wrote many memorable songs, including “The Jealous Kind” (Ray Charles, Delbert McClinton, etc.) and “Walking […]
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Relatively few albums warrant expansion into box sets that deconstruct their development with alternate takes and mixes, outtakes, and demos. But if any LP merits such treatment, it’s the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, Brian Wilson’s 1966 masterpiece, which is widely and deservedly regarded as one of the half dozen or so best albums of the […]
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Abigail Lapell Sings Her Way to Motherhood, plus a Rockabilly Anthology Sometimes a whisper can pack more punch than a shout. Witness, for example, the music of Nick Drake—or the similarly understated folk recordings of Abigail Lapell, whose atmospheric work might also occasionally remind you of Pentangle, Fairport Convention, or early Donovan. The Toronto-based singer, […]
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You’ve heard of Donald Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill? This writer would rather talk about big, beautiful box sets. Here (listed alphabetically, by artist) are 21 of popular music’s most spectacular gargantuan anthologies, each featuring 10 or more discs. Mildred Bailey, The Complete Columbia Recordings of Mildred Bailey (2000, 10 CDs). You’re probably wondering who the […]
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Bentley’s Bandstand: April 2026 Leeann Atherton, GOOD GOD. Roll back all the music since the Earth welcomed humans walking uprighht all those centuries ago, and there’s a good chance that gospel exhortations would be among the earliest. As soon as voices rose high, it was thankfulness that cracked open the spirit. Now, all these years […]
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Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Dale Watson has been railing against mainstream country music for decades. In a 1995 number called “Nashville Rash,” for example, he complained that “I’m too country now for country, just like Johnny Cash.” Added Watson: “[It] breaks my heart to see my heroes fadin’ away / Shoulda known it when they […]
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You’ve likely never heard of Dan Penn and, if that’s the case, one reason is probably that you’re not the sort of person who reads songwriting credits. If you were, you’d know this Alabama native from the many popular songs he has written or co-written—the Box Tops’ “Cry Like a Baby,” Janis Joplin’s “A Woman […]
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Lacking clout when he entered the music business, John Mellencamp acquiesced to his manager’s insistence that he change his name to the ostensibly more marketable Johnny Cougar. But after he began to score hits, the Indiana native started billing himself as John Cougar Mellencamp before finally reverting to John Mellencamp. A new two-CD set called […]
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