“Songs in the Key of Life”—Stevie Wonder (1976) Added to the National Recording Registry: 2005 Essay by Bill Hart (guest post)* How does one judge the importance of a work of recorded music? Stevie Wonder’s “Songs in the Key of Life” enjoyed enormous popularity and sales; had a profound influence on other musicians and garnered critical accolades from reviewers. Yet the musical significance of this album is still not fully explained by these conventional measures. The significance of “Songs” as a groundbreaking album seems only to have grown over the years. Its influence is... Read More
Rob Stoner: A Life of Music
Rob Stoner: A Life of Music Few musicians can claim to have opened for the original Jeff Beck Group in ‘68 (with Rod Stewart, Nicky Hopkins and Ronnie Wood), backed Don McLean on his perennial hit and album, American Pie and then helped Bob Dylan reinvent himself (again) in a series of albums and roadshows in the mid-‘70s—in what is now recognized as a peak of creativity for that mercurial troubadour. Rob Stoner did all that by the time he was 27 years old. Stoner didn’t stop there: he played with guitarists as legendary as Chuck Berry and Link Wray, as great as Mick Ronson and as... Read More
The Congos- Heart of the Congos
The Congos- Heart of the Congos Dig into “reggae” or “roots reggae” and one album seems to stand out: The Congos: Heart of the Congos. This record enjoyed a following but was made far more accessible by subsequent reissues, the most notable being a re-master done in the ‘90s by the Blood & Fire label in the UK. Even if you don’t think you like reggae or Jamaican music, this one is worth owning. It combines beautiful vocal harmonies with a driving rhythm section and a production so in touch with the soul of the music that the recording is part of the performance itself.... Read More
Caravan “In the Land of Grey and Pink”- The Canterbury Scene
Caravan “In the Land of Grey and Pink” -The “Canterbury Scene” Caravan’s “In the Land of Grey and Pink,” released in 1971, is generally considered one of the best representations of the so-called “Canterbury Scene.” What, you may ask, is the “Canterbury Scene”? To me, it is a very imprecise label for an offshoot of progressive rock that had no specific style, and was not necessarily even linked to the cathedral city from which it drew its name. Commentators often point to the pastoral aspects of the music, or the peculiarly English sense of whimsy associated with... Read More
Never Say No To a Rock Star In the Studio With Dylan, Sinatra, Jagger and More by Glenn Berger
Inside A&R Studios in its Heyday-Glenn Berger Recounts the Golden Era Working with Phil Ramone This is the rare “insider” book on the rock music business in its heyday: rare because unlike the name-dropping, image-burnishing autobiographies of many fabled artists and engineers, often told from the vantage point of age and (sometimes faded) celebrity, we are in the studio—Phil Ramone’s to be exact—witnessing the performances and engineering craft of the best in the business through the eyes (and ears) of a young intern/apprentice/assistant engineer. The author, Glenn... Read More
Prog Rock Obscurities – by Ken Golden
Prog Rock Obscurities – by Ken Golden Any list of recommended albums is simply a snapshot representing a momentary state of mind. Here are 10 prog rock albums that will require some digging but if you are a fan of the genre you will be rewarded. Don’t think of this as a definitive “top 10” just 10 great ones in no particular order: Spring – same (RCA Neon). Neon was RCA’s answer to Philips Vertigo label. In fact they poached Vertigo founder Olav Wyper and he set up shop offering similar fare. Spring was from Leicester in the UK. Their sole album was released... Read More
JOSH WHITE: JOSH AT MIDNIGHT REMASTERED (Ramseur Records Ram 1-811)
Blues is both some of the simplest and hardest music to play: I don’t care if it’s played on a Les Paul pumped through a stack of Marshalls or a beat down acoustic guitar from an old ’78—it isn’t the notes, it’s the feeling, the tone and rhythm that convey the emotion, not pyrotechnics. Josh White is somewhat of an enigma to me- he was around in the earliest days of the rural blues, learning his chops from street performers in the South where he grew up. White helped popularize a regional style of “Piedmont blues,” known for its distinctive fingerpicking and alternating... Read More
Dead Can Dance’s INTO THE LABYRINTH: A COMPARISON OF PRESSINGS
Into the Labyrinth: Comparing Three Vinyl Pressings Dead Can Dance’s Into the Labyrinth is probably the most accessible and well-known album by the group/duo of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. For those familiar with the album, it is a striking blend of aboriginal polyrhythms, Celtic spiritualism, with mid-Eastern influences, medieval chants and powerful electronica/ rock, all pulled together and made coherent by the haunting sing song of Gerrard’s ethereal voice and the contrasts of Brendan Perry’s more conventional, but distinctive, vocal style. For those unfamiliar with Dead... Read More
Featured Book Review: The Godfather of the Music Business: Morris Levy
This book—an in-depth biography of Morris Levy, a legendary music business figure with reputed “mob ties” —is long overdue. We seem to have a collective fascination for scoundrels, thugs and gangsters. But Levy was no mere thug: from his Birdland, a midtown jazz club where Charlie Parker, Coltrane, Monk, Miles, Bud Powell and Count Basie played, to his mass marketing of pop music in the decades that followed, Levy had a keen sense of where the business was headed and capitalized on it. Yet Levy always remained a shadowy figure, even decades after his death.... Read More
Ageless Troubadour: A Chat with Ian Anderson
Few popular artists have remained as relevant or inventive as Ian Anderson over the course of nearly fifty years. Best known as the flamboyant front man of Jethro Tull, Anderson is a gifted songwriter, showman and performer. He is also someone who has repeatedly redefined himself throughout his professional career. Transitioning from electric blues to minstrel-tinged rock, Anderson established an identifiable sound that became uniquely associated with Tull: drawing on medieval motifs, hard rock, folk and other elements, Anderson and the band invested the troubadour’s ballad... Read More