book Archive
25 May 2018
Billy Edd Wheeler: The Fire Ain’t Gone Out
Billy Edd Wheeler is a West Virginia-born American troubadour, an important part of the Appalachian storytelling tradition. He’s written songs made famous by Johnny Cash, Kenny Rogers and Richie Havens, but songwriting is only part of the man’s impressive body of work. The latest from the pen of the prolific Wheeler – a pillar of
15 Feb 2018
Now Available: ‘Reinventing Pink Floyd’
Today is the official publishing date of my first book. I’m incredibly pleased. This day has been a long time coming. I’ve known since I was a pre-teen that I wanted to be a music journalist when I “grew up.” I’ve been writing professionally for quite a long time now, and I’ve been a full-time
10 Dec 2017
Book Reviews for the End of 2017
With so much of 2017 spent writing a book of my own, I’ve found less time than usual to read the works of other authors. Happily, three titles that I did read were all superb. Here’s a quick close-to-end-of-year rundown. Women of Motown: An Oral History by Susan Whitall Seeing Whitall’s name on this book
09 Dec 2017
Book Review: Richard Lloyd – ‘Everything is Combustible’
Discorporate and We’ll Begin. Everything is Combustible is not your run-of-the-mill rock memoir. But then Richard Lloyd is nobody’s idea of a run-of-the-mill rock musician. As a founding member and leading light of Television, Lloyd was at the front edge of New York City’s music scene in the late 1970s. And Everything is Combustible addresses
04 Nov 2017
A Pink Floyd Anniversary
I first discovered the music of Pink Floyd in the mid 1970s. The Dark Side of the Moon had already been out a few years, and Wish You Were Here had been released, too. Animals hadn’t yet come out, so this would have been 1976. I was 11 or 12 years old, and the music
10 Jun 2017
Book Reviews: Two by Rev. Keith A. Gordon
Today I present a special Saturday blog post. — bk And I thought I was prolific! One of the leading lights among my music journo brethren has released yet another – actually, two – book in his ongoing series of criticism/review collections. With astounding regularity, in recent years the Right Reverend Keith A Gordon has
28 Dec 2016
Best of 2016: Books
2016 has been a busy year for me. Though I have been working part-time as a music journalist for more than a decade, early this year I made the transition to writing full time. What that has meant in practical terms is that I’ve transitioned – for the most part – from strictly writing about
31 May 2016
Book Review: Rollin’ ‘n’ Tumblin’
I don’t claim to know whether Reverend Keith A. Gordon‘s title is an honorific, or if he’s truly a man of the cloth. But what I do know is that he’s here to spread the good news. And that news takes the form of a new book crammed full of album reviews (with some book
18 Mar 2016
Book Review: Dave Morrell — 1974 The Promotion Man
I haven’t seen the current HBO series Vinyl. Among those whom I know who have seen it – those whose aesthetic judgment I place some faith – the consensus is that it’s not all that great; I leave others to decide. But what I do know – and what the existence of such a series
17 Nov 2015
Only in America: The Lloyd Price Interview, Part 2
Continued from Part One… Any biographical sketch of Lloyd Price makes mention that he was one of the organizers of the legendary Rumble in the Jungle, the 1974 prize fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. That event took place in Kinshasa, Zaire. But what always goes unmentioned is Price’s involvement in Zaire 74, the