Say songwriters are not poets and you’ll get little pushback. Of course Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Lennon/McCartney and a few others have earned critical acclaim for “creating poetry.” But, while great lyrics help make overall great music,…
Who knows why seemingly insignificant (at least in the moment) sensory experiences become associative triggers for the rest of our life? Why does a specific smell, sound, vision, taste or emotion immediately take us back to another place and time?…
So I’m sitting by myself in a corner of this dimly lit, old-timey New York bar, on a maroon leather bench seat leaning against the wall with a bar-height, round oak table and three empty barstools between me and a…
Discover new music. How’s that for a simple sounding new year’s resolution? And to prove that contemporary music is alive and well, here are 10 brilliant songs and albums to sample, produced this past year. “Die Waiting” by Beck from…
It all started with The Beatles, Herman’s Hermits, Buffalo Springfield and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Since the sixties I’ve been an obsessive consumer of music — first on vinyl, then cassette and for the past 30 years on CD. My selective…
It’s comfortable, hanging out with an old friend — you understand one another, speak the same language; and differences in age, culture and personality only make time together more entertaining and worth the while. Spending a month traveling the United…
What does today’s music have in common with all the best of previous generations? Plenty, if you give it a listen. You’ll experience equal or better musicianship, songwriting and creativity. For example, here is my A-Z list of favorite artists…
There is proof that on rare occasions, an individual part can produce something equal to and sometimes even greater than the whole group, as it were. Here are 20 cases in point of addition by subtraction: Without The Drifters, Ben…
The classic songs of despair, depression, loss and occasionally hope should come with a warning label: “CAUTION: Repeat listening may cause melancholy.” Although, these classics could make for a great pity party mixtape. “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel “Why”…
Another music list … This time it’s songs with water themes, of which there are a bunch. Something to whet everyone’s appetite: from seas to oceans, sloops, bridges, docks of bays, boardwalks and waterfronts: “Take Me to the River” by…
