Music
Music
Dead Musicians
The other day as I listened to songs on my iTunes playlist, I thought about how many of my favorite musicians are dead. Most of them died early, too. Jim Morrison, 27. Jimi Hendrix, 27. Karen Carpenter, 32. Keith Moon, 32. Bon Scott, 33. Lowell George, 34. A few others lasted a little longer. Harry
Like a Girl Saying Yes: The Sound of Bix
The first time Benny Goodman heard Bix Beiderbecke play cornet, he recalled, he wondered, “My God, what planet, what galaxy, did this guy come from?” (Skretvedt). Listening to him throughout my life, I’ve had the same feeling. So did hundreds of musicians who heard Bix during his short lifetime, and so have thousands of listeners
Rock N’ Roll Ghosts
Paul Westerberg of The Replacements famously wrote, “Growin’ old in a bar, ya grow old in a bar” in his 1985 song “Left Of The Dial.” I spent fourteen years of my life proving him right in an effort to become a successful musician. When I first started playing out in clubs, MTV had just
Van Morrison: The Little Giant of Blue-Eyed Soul
I saw the danger, yet I walked Along the enchanted way. . . . “On Raglan Road” More than three months now and I just can’t get the music of Van Morrison out of my heart and feet. After five full decades his voice, his songs, his high-art approach to backstreet blue ballads and stonegood
A Full-Tilt Tribute to the 1896 Harmonica
A harmonica? The thing’s only four inches long! All kinds of notes are missing! Harp players have to show up with a briefcase full of different keys, just to play! They’re so tinny and shrill! So why would a serious musician ever choose the harmonica to play music on? Admittedly, this is good question. But
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Novels and Collected Works
Dead Musicians
The other day as I listened to songs on my iTunes playlist, I thought about how many of my favorite musicians are dead. Most of them died early, too. Jim Morrison, 27. Jimi Hendrix, 27. Karen Carpenter, 32. Keith Moon, 32. Bon Scott, 33. Lowell George, 34. A few others lasted a little longer. Harry
Like a Girl Saying Yes: The Sound of Bix
The first time Benny Goodman heard Bix Beiderbecke play cornet, he recalled, he wondered, “My God, what planet, what galaxy, did this guy come from?” (Skretvedt). Listening to him throughout my life, I’ve had the same feeling. So did hundreds of musicians who heard Bix during his short lifetime, and so have thousands of listeners
Rock N’ Roll Ghosts
Paul Westerberg of The Replacements famously wrote, “Growin’ old in a bar, ya grow old in a bar” in his 1985 song “Left Of The Dial.” I spent fourteen years of my life proving him right in an effort to become a successful musician. When I first started playing out in clubs, MTV had just
Van Morrison: The Little Giant of Blue-Eyed Soul
I saw the danger, yet I walked Along the enchanted way. . . . “On Raglan Road” More than three months now and I just can’t get the music of Van Morrison out of my heart and feet. After five full decades his voice, his songs, his high-art approach to backstreet blue ballads and stonegood
A Full-Tilt Tribute to the 1896 Harmonica
A harmonica? The thing’s only four inches long! All kinds of notes are missing! Harp players have to show up with a briefcase full of different keys, just to play! They’re so tinny and shrill! So why would a serious musician ever choose the harmonica to play music on? Admittedly, this is good question. But