Give me your music, your art, your huddled masses of words and rhythms yearning to breathe free.
“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 “Ricky” in the popular 1950s TV … Read more
On this 45th Earth Day I can’t think of a better tune to listen to than “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology),” a song written and performed by the great Marvin Gaye. I’ve always been moved by the song’s haunting melody and the vivid images expressed in its lyrics. Where did all the blue skies go? … Read more
Once upon a time there were these cool retail shops called “record stores,” where we browsed through bins of lovely vinyl to our hearts’ content and discussed the latest releases with store owners and fellow shoppers. And even though we sneered at chains like Pittsburgh-based National Record Mart for prevailing over the small independently-owned stores … Read more
An important event on this date kicked off what would become an indispensable element of rock-n-roll music for time immemorial. On March 2, 1955, legendary R&B master Bo Diddley entered a Universal recording studio in Chicago and burned onto vinyl his song “Bo Diddley.” With it’s distinctive five-accent rhythm beat, it launched a thousand rock … Read more
Today is the 68th birthday of multi-instrumentalist Edgar Winter, who – along with his deceased brother Johnny – was highly recognizable as one of the few albinos in rock. But far beyond that, he’s also a talented keyboardist, saxophonist and percussionist who’s famous for fusing jazz, rock and blues. His Edgar Winter Band is best … Read more