Give me your music, your art, your huddled masses of words and rhythms yearning to breathe free.
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
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Rockabilly King Carl Perkins? Yes, “Blue Suede Shoes.” Congratulations. I hope no one out there thinks that Elvis wrote this rockin’ ditty. His version seems to be the one everybody remembers. Chalk it up to hair and hips. But it was the El’s … Read more
“Everyone else wanted to be Elvis; I wanted to be Scotty,” Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards once told music writer James L. Dickerson. He’s referring, of course, to Scotty Moore, the finger-picking phenomenon who has long been considered rock’s first lead guitarist. Mr. Moore, who turns 83 today, was Elvis Presley’s sizzling sideman from 1954 … Read more
December 19, 1980: That was the last time I dropped a quarter into a jukebox and had the pleasure of hearing THREE songs. I’m guessing they might have been “Whip It”, “Emotional Rescue”, and “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”. Why on earth would I recollect those kinds of details? Because they relate to a … Read more
Composer and pianist Scott Joplin, The King of Ragtime, was born on November 24, 1868. Most people know his music from the 1973 movie “The Sting,” which featured his tunes as interpreted by the late pianist Marvin Hamlisch. The movie won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score and Adaptation in 1974 – all thanks … Read more