, ,

AMANDA & THREE BOOKS

If you’re looking for a first-hand account of Jennings’ journey from a burgeoning, polished rock and roll artist to a country music superstar, this 2009 memoir is an essential read. Waylon: An Autobiography recounts many of Jennings’ most difficult life chapters, from the loss of his close friend Buddy Holly to his struggles with addiction. It also serves as a tribute to Colter, who helped inspire him to improve his life.
, ,

CAPOTE: IN COLD BLOOD

Capote´s distinctive, high-pitched voice and odd vocal mannerisms were bought to life in Philip Seymour Hoffman's Oscar-winning portrayal of him in the 2005 movie, Capote.
,

WRITERS WRITE TO RIGHT WRONGS  

McCormick died in 2015, a poor, unhappy man unable to let go of his Johnson manuscript or the “Monster.” Now that the book and the field recordings have been released, we know more about Johnson and Texas blues, but we are still left with burning questions. The biggest question of all is what might have happened if Johnson’s life had not been cut so short and he had lived to become a crucial figure in the tumultuous changes in American music during the 1940s and ’50s. In a forthcoming Curmudgeon Column, we will try to provide an answer.
,

ALL THE SONGS A PRINCE CAN BRING YOU

this is the most in-depth exploration of Prince's songs ever written

SOMEWHERE DOWN THAT CRAZY RIVER

Musician and 24 actor Kiefer Sutherland, a Canadian, wrote: “The loss of Robbie Robertson is heartbreaking. Canada has lost an icon, and music has lost a poet and a scholar.”

BENNETT LEAVES FINAL GIFT

In all of the work he did with contemporary artists, he never sounded age-inappropriate, said music critic Jim Farber. Bennett always bent them to his musical will, never the other way around, he said.
,

DAVID CROSBY: R.I.P.

Mr. Crosby was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame two times, as a member of each group, was at the heart of the Laurel Canyon music scene in Los Angeles and was considered one of the founders of folk rock.

A CROSBY COLLECTION OF SONG

The title track to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s first album, its lovely scat singing, seamless harmonies and otherworldly ethos (“And I feel like I’ve been here before”) makes this more than merely a song, but a defining encounter.

COMMUNICATING WITH CROSBY

We got in a room together and there was a chemistry. And you could tell. When that happens right in front of you, you go for it. When you see it, man, you know it. And it’s irresistible to me. I could see plainly that all three of them can write and sing and play at a really, really really high level. But the main thing, though, is that when the four of us are together, there’s a friendship and a space to contribute that’s unmatched.

BYRD WATCHING:

Because Crosby felt responsible for and was widely credited with popularizing the song "Hey Joe", he persuaded the other members of the Byrds to record it on Fifth Dimension. By Younger Than Yesterday, the Byrds' 1967 album, Crosby began to find his trademark style on songs such as "Renaissance Fair" (co-written with McGuinn), "Mind Gardens", and "It Happens Each Day"; however, the latter song was omitted from the final album and ultimately restored as a bonus track on the 1996 remastered edition. The album also contained a rerecording of "Why" and "Everybody's Been Burned", a jazzy torch song from Crosby's pre-Byrds repertoire that was initially demoed in 1963.