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Jackson Browne’s 1986 single "In the Shape of a Heart" was a big hit in certain circles. It went to No. 10 on the adult contemporary chart, but rose to only No. 70 on the Billboard Hot 100. Those stats prove that even though it was a very large cult fourteen years into his recording career the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer was still largely devoid of a mass audience. Additional proof lies in this story behind the song from the album Lives in the Balance . On the surface "Heart" was one of Browne’s more melodic and mainstream offerings, but lyrically it's a bit heavy for the Top 40. The singer-songwriter said it's about his first wife, Phyllis Major, who took her own life in 1976. The mostly forgotten tune's sadness is in complete contrast to its moderately paced, bright arrangement. If you’re not listening closely, "Heart" sounds like a typical love song but it's really another example of the deeply personal and sad tone Browne frequently s...

I've never written a single word about tribute bands before today because I've always believed it was tacky to build your entire repertoire by stealing the songbook of old rock acts. Of course, an overabundance of bad, glitzy Elvis impersonators never did anything to change my mind. (The King deserves better). I've only attended a couple of tribute concerts over the years and they were always local acts playing for free at outdoor summer festivals. I've never gone to one by a highly professional band that earned their living pilfering from others but Leonid & Friends have made me change my mind. If they ever come to the Philadelphia area I'm buying tickets because these crooks are really, really good. Leonid Vorobyev is the Russian leader of a Chicago tribute band that has eleven singers and musicians that also includes members from Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus. The group has a woman singer and sometimes a string section when needed. The famous, 70s rockers hav...

It's been a long time since I've heard anything like The Wine of Youth , Zach Phillips' third album overall and his first in thirteen years. It's a record for those of us who grew up on 70s singer-songwriters. The reason for that statement should be obvious to anyone who is familiar with the music the San Diego resident and native Chicagoan makes.  It's been written that Phillips' sound is reminiscent of Dan Fogelberg and Jackson Browne. Both descriptions fit although the Fogelberg comparison is far more accurate. The Wine of Youth is a beautiful sounding, melodic, thirteen song set of electric and acoustic Americana music with a little bit of perfectly placed Laurel Canyon harmonies that make you want to listen to the opaque lyrics. Back in the day artists would write about the Golden State in a way nobody would ever rhapsodize about places like Connecticut, Kansas, or Delaware and Phillips proves that is sometimes still the case.  The album possesses a vibe t...

My blog has always been only about music and I've tried hard to avoid controversial topics, especially politics and religion, unless what I was writing about was somehow related to the music I was discussing at the time. I swore I'd never break that rule but the President's comments trashing our men and women who died in combat have driven me to the edge of madness. Do not take what follows as an endorsement of either liberal or conservative politics although those of you who know me are aware of my views. I promise you I will never get this preachy again. This is about my father, Vincent Charles Ricci, born in 1911 of two Italian-American, immigrant parents in Brooklyn, NY. He enlisted in the army in 1940 because the navy wouldn't accept him during peace time because he wasn't tall enough. He once told me his goal was to eventually be stationed at Pearl Harbor because that is where he heard the fun was. Who wouldn't want ...

Embed from Getty Images (L-R) Hicks, Barrow, and Demps in 1962 You will be forgiven if you've never heard of Jacqueline Hicks, Marlene Barrow-Tate, and Louvain Demps, known professionally as The Andantes. Almost nobody outside of Motown Records has heard of them either but as sure as you're reading this article you most certainly have heard them sing. They were the anonymous vocal trio who sang backup on what is reportedly 20,000 Motown songs. They were the go-to girls for the groundbreaking record company from 1961 until 1972 when Berry Gordy moved most of his business to Los Angeles. Until the move Gordy and the producers at Motown considered The Andantes' work so important that if one of them wasn't immediately available for a recording session it was often postponed. Smokey Robinson considered them an indispensable asset to the label. In 1961 Hicks and Barrow, both teenagers, were part of a trio singing in churches and they were just getting their f...