Writers on the Storm: Books, Authors, Poets

And, on Lead Typewriter — Lester Bangs!

by

Does a typewriter qualify as a musical instrument?  To Lester Bangs, it did.  The brilliant, outrageous rock journalist who died in 1982 at age 33 from a cocktail of Darvon, Valium, and NyQuil, once joined the J. Geils Band on stage and proceeded to write/perform a live concert review on his “miked” Smith Corona typewriter. … Read more

Baseball is Poetry: “Casey at the Bat”

by

“Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic, Sung in the Year 1888” is considered the Grand Slam of baseball poetry. Penned by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, it was first published in the San Francisco Daily Examiner on June 3, 1888. Casey at the Bat The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day;The score … Read more

Marianne Faithfull’s Tears Gone By

by

“I slept with three of them and then decided the lead singer was the best bet.” That was burgeoning pop singer Marianne Faithfull in 1964, telling New Musical Express magazine that the quickest route to success would be to snag a Rolling Stone — most strategically, Mick Jagger. What a cocky thing to say, I … Read more

Captain Fantastic’s Brown Dirt Cowboy

by

Images of the old American West and scenes of Southern country life have inspired countless British rock recordings through the years – from Rod Stewart’s early solo LPs to the Rolling Stones’ late-‘60s country honk tunes. But none match the early way-down-yonder albums of Elton John. And no wonder. His lyricist Bernie Taupin was in … Read more

Walking the Haunted Chambers with my Guide, Emily D.

by

If Halloween is about taking a little trip to the dark, spooky, loony side of life, then every day is Halloween for me. Always has been. I was born in the Season of the Witch, and the mysterious and the macabre are my muses. For me, thrills and chills don’t come in the form of … Read more