Posts

Luther Vandross

September 27, 2013 |

“I love background vocals so much that I can’t breathe.” June, 1995 By phone from Luther’s apartment in Manhattan The recent must-see documentary “20 Feet from Stardom” explores the plight of the great backup singers. Millions have heard their voices, but not their names. They ply their art in the shadows in near anonymity. Despite…

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Tom Petty

October 15, 2013 |

“…I am in favor of going around the country in large American cars.” March, 1983 The Long After Dark Tour I don’t remember much about this interview other than that it was the first time I spoke to Tom Petty and I felt a bit apprehensive waiting in my little apartment in Somerville for him…

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Aretha Franklin

November 5, 2013 |

October 9, 2013 I came across the YouTube clip below the other day and seeing the young, Afro-ed Aretha Franklin brought back a happy memory: seeing the Queen of Soul in concert for the first time.

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Lou Reed 2003

November 8, 2013 |

  “…I certainly think everybody knows what it’s like to desire something that is bad for you. Cigarette smoking. Heroin. My ex-wife.” January 16, 2003 By phone from Reed’s New York home Release of “The Raven,” Reed’s last solo studio album I thought Lou Reed might hang up on me before this interview ever got…

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Chet Atkins

December 19, 2013 |

“I never listen to my records. I can’t stand to hear them.” October, 1994 By phone from Chet Atkins’ Nashville office “Simpatico” duet album and tour with Suzy Bogguss It took me a long time to learn to appreciate Chet Atkins. Under the influence of the Gram Parsons/Clarence White-era Byrd’s “Sweetheart of the Rodeo,” I…

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Abbey Lincoln

March 24, 2014 |

  “….I never got any offer from the Americans. They figured I was dangerous or something.”   May 14, 1996 By phone from her apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan Abbey Lincoln was more than a remarkable singer and songwriter: She was a remarkable person, who made a mark as a civil rights…

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Dickey Betts

March 31, 2014 |

“Gregg Allman has decided to try to justify this thing by running around the country claiming I’m strung out on drugs and too drunk to play music. It’s just ludicrous.” September 8, 2000 By phone from a hotel room in Chicago I spoke to Dickey Betts in the midst of what must have been six…

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Barry White

April 9, 2014 |

  “I cut the music I love to record. I do it whether it’s a hit or not. It’s the love for the music I’m into.” June 1 (or 2), 1995 By phone from the Tutwiler Hotel, Birmingham, Alabama   Oh. My. God. That voice. Barry White is the kind of person you want to…

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Edie Brickell

April 28, 2014 |

“I would never listen to his ideas as far as writing goes.” – Edie Brickell, on her husband Paul Simon. August 16, 1994 By phone from Montauk, Long Island, New York   Edie Brickell charmed many people as the winsome lead singer of the New Bohemians – perhaps no one more so than Paul Simon,…

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Aimee Mann

May 5, 2014 |

“It doesn’t even pay to sell out.”   January, 1996, in advance of the “I’m With Stupid” release and tour By phone from her home in Los Angeles I caught sight of Aimee Mann on TV last week. She was rocking out with Ted Leo, her unlikely partner in a new band, The Both. Singing…

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