For one evening’s entertainment at my Harvard 50th Reunion, four of us presented 30 songs to be voted on by our classmates in order to arrive at a Class of ’68 Top Ten (see “’60s Top Tens,” above). Each of us took seven or eight songs to champion. Here are the ones I put into […]
From the moment she started singing at the Bowl Saturday night, you knew Natalie Merchant still had one of the greatest, if not the greatest, female voices in rock (not that she admits to being a rock singer). With the power of a foghorn, the timbre of an oboe, her voice is a musical instrument; […]
Although not averse to visiting should I get to Cleveland, I have never considered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to be a meaningful institution. The only “hall of fame” that means much to me is Major League Baseball’s, the oldest and by far the hardest to get into. Although imprecise, there are also established […]
What a privilege to spend 90 minutes listening to Joan Baez from the second row of the Arlington Theater (thank you, UCSB Arts & Lectures)! With appropriate song and still-beautiful voice and brief but intimate introductions, she took us back to 1959 coffee houses in Harvard Square and before, up through the draft-resistance and anti-war movement and […]
In my Top 100, each artist is limited, fairly or not, to one entry. In partial compensation I herewith list my favorite ten songs for my favorite artists – a deep dive, if you will, into the music I like. Bruce Springsteen Jungleland Glory Days The Rising Born to Run Darkness on the Edge of […]
Back-to-back nights at the Bowl brought us shows headlined by Ryan Adams (Thursday) and Weezer (Friday). The first was perfect, the latter a disappointment. I only knew about a third of Adams’s songs, but I enjoyed every one. Scoring a walk-up seat in the center of the sixth row made Adams’s exchanges with the raucous […]
Arlo Guthrie’s show at the Lobero on Thursday (4/8/16) was billed as part of his Alice’s Restaurant 50th Anniversary Tour. The tour is spanning three years, which may be testament to his advanced age (my own) or his commercial needs but also encompasses the three years that elapsed between the “massacree” in Stockbridge, MA on […]
[fusion_text] Aerosmith, Dream On Lee Andrews & Hearts, Teardrops The Band, The Weight Bee Gees, I Can’t See Nobody David Bowie, Changes Laura Branigan, Gloria Garth Brooks, Callin’ Baton Rouge Jackson Browne, The Load-Out/Stay Mary Chapin Carpenter, He Thinks He’ll Keep Her Leonard Cohen, Hallelujah Sam Cooke, You Send Me Elvis Costello, Allison Jim Croce, […]
A shout-out to the #1 Song of the Year on Sirius XM’s Spectrum station: S,O.B. by Nathaniel Ratefliff and the Night Sweats. Although the title is abbreviated, the song’s principal lyric is “son of a bitch,” sung in a raucously infectious style. How long ago was it that “son of a bitch” would not have […]
If Joan of Arc were reincarnated today, she could do worse than finding herself in the person of Florence Welch, British rocker and star of Florence & the Machine, who performed at the Bowl last night (10/20/15). With barefoot purity, strong voice, handsome face and flowing red mane, Florence overflowed with charisma and could have […]
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