Li’l Andy, The Complete Recordings of Hezekiah Procter (1925-1930). Well, here’s a novel idea—both figuratively and literally: Montreal-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist Li’l Andy penned a novel about an early-20th-century folk, country, and jug band musician from North Carolina he called “Hezekiah Procter.” Andy also put himself in the shoes of that character to write […]
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Paul Simon’s Seven Psalms, his first album since 2018’s In the Blue Light, isn’t quite like anything he has done before. For starters, it’s more prayer than pop, more meditative than melodic, and it is subdued enough to make even songs like “America” and “The Only Living Boy in New York” seem sprightly by comparison. […]
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Truth is a rabbit, is a rabbit, is a rabbit Truth is a rabbit in a bramble bush. “Truth is a Rabbit” by Randy Brown from the CD Dream Big This month’s lyric is from one of my songs from my first solo record, released in 2006. This was before I added the “Lewis” to […]
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DVDs Capture San Francisco’s Glory Days, plus Frankie Ford, Bill Pritchard, Cal Tjader, & David Deacon For a brief time in the late 1960s and early 1970s, San Francisco was at the center of what appeared to be a burgeoning new world, one in which rock bands were not just musicians. They were in the […]
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In a mere five-year period leading up to mid-1971, Stephen Stills built quite the resume. In 1966, he co-founded the great Buffalo Springfield and wrote what became its best-known song, “For What It’s Worth.” Two years later, he appeared with Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield on the hit Super Session album and co-founded the ultra-successful […]
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Grooves & Cuts April 2023 – By John Apice Pat Boone & Ann-Margret – Octogenarian New Music Two peculiar releases were recently made available & I’m not certain why or what the motive was except for generating nostalgia with the added benefit of income. As talented as both artists have been throughout their careers — […]
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Blood, Sweat & Tears garnered some attention with its February 1968 debut album, Child Is Father to the Man, but the jazz-rock group really took off after the release that December of its eponymous sophomore LP. That record, on which Canadian vocalist David Clayton-Thomas replaced Al Kooper, topped U.S. charts, sold millions of copies, and […]
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Bentley’s Bandstand: April 2023 By Bill Bentley Walter Bishop Jr., Bish at the Bank: Live in Baltimore. Pianist Walter Bishop Jr. was one of the all-time finest pianists in jazz, even though he doesn’t have as well-known a reputation as many other players. That might be because Bishop often pursued teaching positions in colleges, or […]
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The Vogues, Cowboy Dave, Julie Christensen, Fruit Bats, Adam Klein, Arkansauce, and Charlie Parker The 1960s were a golden era for pop vocal groups, with acts like the Four Seasons, the Association, and the Mamas and Papas riding the charts. All those outfits still garner attention but the Vogues…not so much, probably because they scored […]
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Early Rockers Darlene Love, Dion, Clyde McPhatter, & Charlie Feathers This month has witnessed the rerelease of music from four important voices from rock’s early days. Let’s start with Darlene Love, whose Live 1982—a vinyl album from 1985—just debuted on CD and standard-definition DVD. Love, one of Phil Spector’s greatest vocalists, was a one-woman hit […]
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