Bloggerhythms

Roger McGuinn is in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Byrds, one of the most famous and influential American bands of all time, so it isn't necessary to plow into his long musical history here. His legacy is why people will explore Treasures From the Folk Den , a traditional folk song CD that perfectly explores his pre-Byrds folk roots. Treasures is an all-star CD that sprang from a feature McGuinn ran on his official website in which he recorded an old traditional folk song each month, and posted it on the site, along with a complete history of the song and how each one came into his life. To make this CD McGuinn traveled around the country to sing and record with the world's most famous folk artists in their homes. He sings with Joan Baez and Eliza Carthy on "Wagoner's Lad," he duets with Judy Collins on "John Riley," and on "Alabama Bound" he harmonizes with Pete Seeger. "John The Revelator" features Jean R...

The Saw Doctors first three studio releases were all cut from the same cloth. They were irreverent and often light-hearted, pub rock albums with vocals sung through an echo chamber effect that frequently made the lyrics difficult to understand. Too often the Docs sounded like a bar band trying to adjust to a big arena. Fortunately the lyric sheets that came with each CD helped a lot. The only time the echo effect caused a problem with lyric comprehension was on their compilation of singles, EPs, and oddities, Play It Again Sham! (2003), and that was because the disc didn't contain a lyric sheet. Then on their fourth and fifth studio albums, Songs From Sun Street (1998) and Villains (2002), the Docs went to a folk-rock sound, featuring more acoustic instruments and upfront vocals that were easier to understand. The difference in sound was more a result of the production style rather than in the songwriting, arranging, or attitude. With the release of The Cure the bar band sound tha...

Reflecting back on the history of popular music I have come to the conclusion that not only was much of the best pop music of the world produced during the period from 1964 to about 1980 but that is also the era in which pop music was most revered. I contend that never before in history has music meant so much to a single generation. It is a phenomenon that may never happen again. Even allowing for the fact that this is the era I grew up in, and came of age in, (and therefore I may look upon it with both prejudice and some fondness) I still believe my thoughts are accurate. This premise is strictly based on my observations. I have no hard data. During that decade and a half poets and literary types embraced popular music. Folk music became mainstream. Could Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, and Peter Paul & Mary get played on rock radio today? Radio embraced them all in the 60s. Jazz made the pop charts. Could Miles Davis be played on rock music stations today? He was then. Progressive r...