Music & Film Reviews: Graham Parker ‘Live at Rockpalast,’ Queen’s ‘Rock Montreal,’ Little Richard’s ‘Right Now!’ and More New Releases Graham Parker Concert DVDs Reissued with a Bonus English rocker Graham Parker’s Last Chance to Learn the Twist, which came out last year, was just the latest chapter in a distinguished career that has spanned […]
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Music Reviews: The Cryin’ Shames, plus Desmond Dekker, Delroy Wilson, Ken Boothe, Dr. John, and Cris Jacobs The Cryin’ Shames, a mid-sixties beat/pop group from Liverpool, England, were barely even a one-hit wonder on their home turf. Their sole significant chart tune, a 1966 cover of the Drifters’ “Please Stay” credited to Burt Bacharach and […]
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Bentley’s Bandstand: April 2024 By Bill Bentley T Bone Burnett, The Other Side. For an album that opens the door on the next side of life hoping there is one, T Bone Burnett’s new and truly classic release offers an understanding of what could be. There is such a seductive permanence on songs like “He […]
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Music Reviews: Chip Taylor’s ‘Behind the Sky,’ plus Jazz Giants Chet Baker, Sun Ra, and Art Tatum, and More “Write what you know,” goes the standard advice, and longtime singer/songwriter Chip Taylor has taken that suggestion to heart on his new album, Behind the Sky. He has done so even though what he knows most […]
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Dickie Betts photo by Kirk West photography On a weeknight in summer 2002, I was on vacation in Dewey Beach, Delaware. After putting the kids to bed, I headed over to Bottle & Cork where Dickey Betts was playing with his solo band, Great Southern. It seemed like too small a room for someone who […]
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Music Reviews: The Doors Live in Sweden in 1968, plus Gene Clark; Richard, Cam & Bert; and the Flying Burrito Brothers Doors fans can’t go wrong by picking up Live At Konserthuset, Stockholm; September 20, 1968, a mesmerizing new two-CD or three-LP set. It documents the final night of a celebrated European tour, which was […]
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Willie Nile, Live at Daryl’s House Club. Rock singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Willie Nile has been releasing albums since 1980, but he has been particularly prolific over the last two decades when he has issued the lion’s share of his notable CDs. This latest release, his fifth live album, preserves an impassioned 2022 performance at […]
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Music Reviews: The Wandering Hearts, plus Domenic Cicala, the HawtThorns, Dawn Landes, and the Glass Hours Since they released their eponymous sophomore album in 2021, the British folk trio The Wandering Hearts have hooked up with a new producer, Steve Milbourne, and signed with a new label. In addition, the group’s two female members […]
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Bentley’s Bandstand: March 2024 By Bill Bentley Gary Clark Jr, JPEG Raw. The mothership has landed. Gary Clark Jr. is an artist who has been heading for the outer limits for over 20 years. Starting as a wonder in Austin while still a teenager, he first had to move past the Blues Dude tag and […]
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Music & Book Reviews: Wonder Women of Country, plus Thee Sinseers, Matt Blake, Pete Ham, and Eddie Hinton This column rarely covers EPs—the unending flood of full-length CDs is more than enough to keep a critic busy—but a six-song set called Wonder Women of Country: Willis, Carper, Leigh is too good to ignore. The Texas-based […]
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