Bloggerhythms

Country, rock and pop artists who perform cover versions or use outside songwriters for their primary source material are never respected as much as the stars who compose their own music, but classical and jazz musicians don't seem to be held to the same high standard. Their updated interpretations of the great composers or definitive jazz tracks are often praised. To me, that just isn't fair, especially when there are superb musicians who know how to properly deliver great songs from the past. Christian Parker, Patrick Cleary, Earl Poole Ball and Jay Dee Maness specialize in celebrating the great recording artists and composers that made names for themselves in country-rock. Last year the foursome revived an entire 1968 LP, Back at Home , originally recorded and released by the late, great Gram Parsons ' International Submarine Band of which both Ball and Maness were members. Now the quartet is back with American Cosmic Revival, ...

Because they had too many hit singles in the mid-60s some rock fans believe The Guess Who were only commercially minded, middle-of-the-road rockers, but nothing could be further from the truth. While they did place eleven singles in the top forty - including seven in the top ten - the Canadians proved they could be a dynamic, hard rocking, live act. One of their heavier records, "American Woman," gave them the distinction of being the first group from north of the border to have a #1 single on America's Hot 100. All these years later, the Winnipeg, Manitoba outfit still hasn't earned the same respect as many other classic rockers, but  Live at the Paramount proves they deserve it. This concert album was recorded in Seattle, WA on May 22, 1972 shortly after lead guitar player Randy Bachman - who went on to have additional success with Bachman-Turner Overdrive - left the band. For this Paramount show pianist and lead singer Burton Cummi...

The D'Addario brothers - known to most of the world as The Lemon Twigs - have released six full-length albums, an EP and a live set. Their latest, Look For Your Mind! is getting a lot of buzz and deservedly so. Hailing from Hicksville, Long Island, NY brothers Michael and Brian - now 25 and 27 years old - began their careers ten years ago writing and singing their own songs, playing all of the instruments themselves and even producing their own records. They operated differently on this album. In addition to all of the guest musicians lending their assistance The Twigs brought their sturdy road warriors - bassist Danny Ayala and drummer Reza Martin - into the studio with them. Despite their ages the young duo's taste in rock music shows them to be heavily influenced by a long list of 1960's legends on this fourteen-song gem of a record.  Revolver era Beatles instantly comes to mind. The Twigs make full use of woodwinds, brass, strings, a synthesizer, and ...

Much has been written about the troubles of the late guitarist Peter Green (1946 - 2020), the founder of Fleetwood Mac. After leaving the band in 1970 Green spent most of the decade either in jail or in hospitals due to mental illness that was heavily fueled by his unfortunate usage of LSD. You can read about the sad and sordid details of his personal life at various stops along the Internet. Regardless, Green was considered one of the premier blues-rock guitarists of the classic rock era and many considered him the equal of Eric Clapton, the man he replaced in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Green released one poorly received solo album, The End of the Game , not long after he left the Mac but it took another nine years until he issued In the Skies , quite possibly the best work he's done outside of his famous band. Green sang lead on the LP's only four songs with vocals. The rest are instru...

Last week Bob Dylan introduced us to his band's new guitar player. Joel Paterson is a very talented electric and acoustic axman who specializes in releasing concept albums that show off his unquestionable versatility playing instrumental covers of  rockabilly, country,  jazz, blues, and  western swing. On his own, Paterson has recorded two Christmas records, an album of original, acoustic blues, and  two albums of Beatles' classics. I first discovered Paterson last year playing lead and steel guitar on an album starring upcoming singer-songwriter Annie Dolan with whom he shares equal billing on a set of tunes that emphasizes her fine vocals on a bunch of old pop, rock, and country standards mostly from the fifties and sixties. Let It Be Guitar! was originally released in 2019 and again in 2023 as a digital only album. Paterson's choices are mostly from The Beatles' touring years, and that could be because th...

Among the seemingly endless number of songs Gerry Goffin and Carole King wrote together is "I'm Into Something Good." As usual, during their songwriting partnership she wrote the music and he wrote the lyrics. "Something Good" was first released in 1964 by Earl-Jean McCrea who only used her hyphenated first name on the record. McCrea was also a member of The Cookies, a girl group who earlier had R&B and crossover successes with "Don't Say Nothin' Bad (About My Baby)" and "Chains." (The latter was later covered by The Beatles on their full-length, debut LP, Please Please Me. ) Both of these Cookies' hits were also written by Goffin and King. Earl-Jean's version was a pop-rhythm and blues single that only reached #38 on the Hot 100. The 45 rpm was arranged by King and produced by Goffin. ...

Emerson, Lake & Palmer superfan, Andy Pincus, posing with Keith Emerson's "World's Most Dangerous Synthesizer" Do you want to marvel at Keith Emerson's very own Moog synthesizer? Do you also want to hear someone play it live? Are you interested in the history of ARP and Moog synthesizers? Do you want to learn about electronic wind instruments, keytars, guitar synthesizers and electronic drums? Do you want to test drive an electro-theremin yourself just like I did? If your answer is yes to any of those questions you'll need to visit one of the coolest music museums you'll ever find, the hands-on  Museum of Music Technology (MMT) in Harleysville, PA, a small but bustling suburb about forty-five minutes from Philadelphia and only about two minutes from the Pennsylvania Turnpike. MMT is operated by EMEAPP , a 501(c) (3) privately owned, non-profit ...

Walt Parazaider during a performance at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, AZ Photo used by permission of Ken Young & Wikipedia In the early 70s Chicago meant almost as much to me as The Beatles did and I'll love their early studio albums forever. No one was more disappointed than me when the band's music took too much of a turn toward hornless power ballads. Even so, the sad news of Walter Parazaider's passing at age 81 on June 17th hit me harder than many other deaths of more famous and celebrated musicians. He had been suffering from heart disease and Alzheimer's for close to a decade. Parazaider earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Depaul University in classical clarinet but after being influenced by The Beatles' "Got to Get You into My Life" he helped organize the band that eventually became Chicago with his friends - guitarist Terry Kath and drum...