If Chuck Berry molded his music from his love of jazz, country, pop and blues, Bo Diddley, who moved from McComb, Mississippi, to Chicago in 1934, retained a gutbucket earthiness blending overtones of the rawest Delta blues with sounds of […]
If Chuck Berry molded his music from his love of jazz, country, pop and blues, Bo Diddley, who moved from McComb, Mississippi, to Chicago in 1934, retained a gutbucket earthiness blending overtones of the rawest Delta blues with sounds of […]
Ernest Tubb’s son Justin was a 20-year-old country singer in 1955, and unimpressed by the nascent sounds of rock ‘n’ roll. Even so, as a songwriter he had an ear for a great lyric no matter the style. Hearing one […]
Generally panned at the time of its release, Etta James’ 1973 self-titled album for Chess comes off somewhat better today. Perhaps we’re more accustomed to the concept of a raging R&B star paired with a hit-minded rock producer, in this […]
No vocal group has ever had or is ever likely to have two lead vocalists any better than the Temptations of 1964-68. Most of their leads went to David Ruffin — he’s the one beaming, pleading and sobbing on “My […]
After a live reunion in 1983, the Everly Brothers recorded three studio albums that showed they could transcend nostalgia. On EB 84, producer Dave Edmunds crafted a rock/country sound that suited the Everlys’ talents, from the Rockpile-flavored “I’m Taking My […]
If sales figures were a guiding compass, Doug Sahm was at best a minor regional artist who enjoyed brief pop chart success in the mid-to-late 1960s. But given his sphere of influence as a Texas musician — he was the […]
The years covered by this two-disc set coincide exactly with Muddy Waters’ reign on the Billboard Rhythm & Blues charts, the same charts that big sellers such as the Platters, Fats Domino, B.B. King, Ruth Brown, the Drifters, and, uh, […]
Like a stick of dynamite with a short fuse, the Memphis-based Rock ‘N’ Roll Trio exploded in 1956. Fireworks on record were matched by brawls offstage between brothers Johnny and Dorsey Burnette, which blew up into the band’s demise. The […]
FRESH TRACK: Mackenzie Shivers – ‘a cautionary tale’Check it out
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