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Every time I tell myself that the music I love the most earned my affection only because it was the soundtrack of my generation - and not because it's superior to what followed - I have an experience like the one I had on Saturday night and I get defensive of the classic rock era all over again. That experience was Graham Nash. The two-time hall of famer played a two hour set of music that spanned his entire career. He played acoustic guitar, harmonica, electric piano, and regaled us with a lot of stories. Nash's only sideman, Shane Fontayne, supplied electric guitar while harmonizing eloquently with the star all evening. Fontayne has also played lead for Sting and Bruce Springsteen as well as serving as the second lead guitarist for Crosby, Stills, and Nash. He also worked with Joe Cocker, Chris Botti, and Marc Cohn and recently released his first solo album. The Blackpool, UK native opened the show with two Hollies' songs, "Bus Stop" and "King Midas I...

In short, Graham Nash's Wild Tales is one of the best musical autobiographies I ever read. To his credit the singer-songwriter used a lot less ink than Keith Richards needed to tell his tale while offering us many riveting details about his personal life and solo career, as well as the careers and lives of The Hollies, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Mama Cass Elliott, Joni Mitchell, and a whole lot more. Nash grew up very poor in Manchester, England but unlike a lot of kids in his situation his home life was relatively stable with two parents who loved him even though his father was eventually imprisoned for theft (unfortunately it appears he was innocent). An interesting pre-Hollies anecdote is about a 1959 battle of the bands that featured a lot of up and coming British rockers including Nash and his best friend from childhood, Allan Clarke, with whom he would eventually form The Hollies. This is where the two teenagers first encountered three Liverpool kids who...

Yesterday the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame held their annual induction ceremonies. This year ABBA, Genesis, The Hollies, Jimmy Cliff, and The Stooges were the honorees and, once again, disagreements have arisen over who is deserving of membership. As always, the only real eligibility requirements are that you can not be inducted until twenty-five years after you made your first record and (here is where the controversy begins) you must make a significant contribution to the art form. There are artists in the hall who most definitely are not rock musicians but their influence on the music has been significant. That explains why Cliff was inducted. The Stooges were only marginally popular with the masses but were critical favorites. The opposite is true of ABBA. They were hated by the music snobs but were hugely popular worldwide. Genesis were lucky enough to receive both widespread popularity and artistic acceptance. My favorite among this year...