essay Archive
01 May 2023
Essay: Romeo Void — Live from Mabuhay Gardens 1980
Note: The following is an essay I wrote for inclusion in the April 2023 CD release of a live show by Romeo Void. Thanks to a late-breaking veto by a […]
22 Apr 2023
Take 5: George Harrison
February 25 marked the 75th anniversary of George Harrison’s birth. Between the later years of The Beatles and his untimely death in 2001, Harrison helped out his musical friends may […]
17 Apr 2023
Take Five: Ray Manzarek
Keyboardist, singer and songwriter Ray Manzarek came to fame in the 1960s with The Doors, the groundbreaking band fronted by charismatic vocalist Jim Morrison. In the years after Morrison’s death, […]
05 Apr 2023
Take 5: Alice Cooper
For the most part across his more than five decades as a professional musician, Detroit-born Vincent Furnier has focused on making music under his own (stage) name, originally with the […]
31 Mar 2023
‘Music to Your Ears’ Preview: DSOTM
Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon was and remains a landmark album. Released 50 years ago this month, at the height of the rock era, DSOTM is both […]
26 Mar 2023
Take Five: Phil Collins
Phil Collins is best known as the lead singer and drummer in Genesis, and as a solo artist. His peerless drumming is a key component of what makes those recordings […]
23 Mar 2023
Take Five: Andy Summers
Andy Summers is best known as guitarist in The Police, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands of the 1980s. That band’s reggae-influenced take on new wave […]
18 Mar 2023
Take Five: Michael Nesmith
Michael Nesmith would have celebrated his 80th birthday last December 30; he passed away in 2021 after an acclaimed tour with former bandmate Micky Dolenz. The talented musician and songwriter […]
16 Mar 2023
Take Five: John Paul Jones
Though best known as Led Zeppelin’s bassist/keyboardist, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer John Paul Jones had a flourishing career as a session musician and arranger in the years before […]
13 Mar 2023
Take Five: Jimmy Page
Five significant Jimmy Page sessions before Led Zeppelin Like his bandmate John Paul Jones, guitarist Jimmy Page was an in-demand session musician in the years before Led Zeppelin. Page’s journeyman […]