‘Magic Dick’ Salwitz: Still Whammin’ and Jammin’ at 72

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With a nickname like "Magic Dick" you'd better be damn good at what you do. And Richard Salwitz is one of the best -- harmonica players, that is. Today's the 70th birthday of the man who helped put the whammer in the jammer of the J.Geils Band -- from the group's 1965 origins in Worcester, Massachusetts, through their breakup in 1985. In "The Rolling Stone Record Guide," music journalist Dave Marsh described Magic Dick as possibly "the best white musician to ever play blues harmonica."

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Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby?

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The Rolling Stones' 1966 release, "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?" isn't a song normally thought of as a Mother's Day tribute tune. Nor was it intended as such. Its ambiguous lyrics hint that mom's doing something of a shadowy nature. Mick Jagger sings the narcissistic lyric, "tell me a story about how you adore me." Shouldn't that line be the other way around? Okay, so although this is definitely NOT a song you'd want to include on your mix-tape for Mother's Day, it does serve as a reminder: have YOU seen your mother lately, baby? Today let's take a look at the women who gave life to some famous entertainers.

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Rick Nelson: ‘You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself’

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"But it's all right now, I've learned my lesson well. You see, you can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself." Those are lyrics from "Garden Party, a 1972 Top Ten single released by the late singer/actor Rick Nelson. The one-time teen idol who came to fame as the son in the popular 1950s TV show "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" (featuring his real-life parents) would have turned 75 today. He wrote "Garden Party" in response to being booed by audience members at a 1971 oldies show in Madison Square Garden (a "Garden Party").

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An American Celebration….in Plzen, Czechoslovakia

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On May 4, 1991, the people of Plzen, Czechoslovakia, were celebrating "American Day" to mark the 46th anniversary of their city's liberation from the Nazis by General George S. Patton’s U.S. Army at the end of World War II. It was a major event, and I was lucky to be there to take part in it. I had arrived in Czechoslovakia on April 25 to begin a public relations campaign on behalf of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. At that time, my company was hoping to form a joint venture with a Plzen firm, Skoda, for the purpose of producing power generation equipment. When I heard about the American Day celebration scheduled to take place on May 4, I saw a PR opportunity I couldn't pass up.

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67 Shots in 13 Seconds: The Kent State Tragedy and the Songs that Immortalized It

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Devolution. devəˈlo͞oSHən. The descent or degeneration to a lower or worse state. My personal example: "The human race appears to be in a state of devolution - evolving backwards toward an earlier Neanderthal period - as evidenced by the barbaric killing of four unarmed college students by troops with M1 rifles." I'm referring, of course, to the Kent State University killings of May 4, 1970. The most famous song to emerge from the tragedy was Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's "Ohio," which was released one month after the slaughter. Through the years artists have released at least 30 lesser-known songs about the massacre. Here are a few.

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