With the passage of many years, well-considered opinions frequently become prejudices, unless freshened by re-examination. I remember quite well that I disliked the Kingston Trio’s music, but for the life of me I can’t say why, except that they weren’t […]
The cover photo on The Essential Earl Scruggs shows the world’s most famous and influential banjo player seated, holding his instrument with both hands. He’s not quite impassive — the corners of his mouth are turned up ever so slightly […]
Next to Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson is probably the most important figure in the prehistory of alt-country-or-whatever. Dylan proved that songwriting trumped vocal prowess and that you didn’t even have to make literal sense to get a feeling over. Kristofferson […]
Though the title suggests it’s a compilation, this twenty-track set is a straight reissue — right down to the liner notes — of the first album Lester Flatt recorded for Los Angeles label CMH back in 1976. Off of major […]
Ordinarily, the release of a country star’s latest greatest hits package into the marektplace would hardly be cause for comment. And yet there is more to John Anderson than his first major hit, “Swingin’”, and its current unhappy echo, “Somebody […]
