In the Wake of the Grateful Dead in 1973
Looking back after 50 years at the Grateful Dead’s pivotal year of 1973, including Wake of the Flood and three November nights at Winterland.
blues
In Music Doc ‘Born in Chicago’ Chicago Blues Cross Color Line
Music documentary Born in Chicago captures the white musicians who bristled at 1950s American conformity and turned to Chicago blues for a whole new world.
Bluesman Lazy Lester Performs “Nothing But the Devil” (premiere)
Recorded live in performance for NPR in 1998, “Nothing But the Devil” ably captures the spirit and soul of Louisiana bluesman Lazy Lester.
The Nearly Lost World of American Folk Music
If not for two eccentrics, Harry Smith and Moses Asch, American popular music wouldn’t have so many roots in folk music and we’d all be the poorer for it.
Funky Bluesman Bobby Rush Offers All of His Love
As the title All My Love For You suggests, this is a love album. Blues artist Bobby Rush solicitously offers his feelings and suggests the best is yet to come.
Mitch Woods Finds ‘Friends Along the Way’ on Boogie-woogie Blues Journey
As Mitch Woods and friends show us, the blues never get old, even when it’s the new release of a more than five-year-old record with bonus cuts.
When Record Labels Blasted Through the Barriers in Segregated America
While their motives were more mercenary than musical, American small record label impresarios could hear the barriers falling between the races right before their ears.
The Many Sounds of Bob Dylan’s Voice
Are Bob Dylan’s improved vocals in his later years a deliberate aesthetic choice? Has he re-focused his attention on the art of singing?
Dr. John’s ‘The Montreux Years’ Highlights His Very Best
The 14 performances recorded over 26 years at the Montreux Jazz Festival capture New Orleans’ Mac “Dr. John” Rebennack at the peak of his powers.
‘Heaven Stood Still: The Incarnations of Willy DeVille’
While Europe embraced Willy Deville’s Bohemian multi-genre artistry, most US listeners remained ignorant of his music. The documentary Heaven Stood Still was made, in part, to rectify that.
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Bob Dylan’s Art Is Best Served Naked
As Bob Dylan learned, only through baring of one’s soul does one show the way forward, providing both a glimpse into the other and perhaps the shape of things to come.
How Keith Richards’ Drug Bust Opened the Mainstream for Disability Activists
Keith Richard’s 1977 drug bust in Toronto led to the controversial “Blind Date” benefit concert in nearby Oshawa. Many benefited, but not in the way you think.