“I think there’s as much self revelation in “What Is This Thing Called Love” by Cole Porter as there is in any song by Kurt Cobain.” Elvis Costello is nobody’s idea of Dionne Warwick. But in 1998 he pulled off playing both the Warwick and Hal David roles when he teamed up with Burt […]
David Maxwell
“See, I’ve always had this identity crisis, whether or not I was a jazz or blues musician.” For decades Boston blues fans could sleep easy knowing that David Maxwell was on the scene. From the 1970s until February 15, 2015 – when Maxwell died at […]
Bob Dylan speaks: the MusiCares speech
“A lot of people don’t know this, but the blues, which is an American music, is not what you think it is. It’s a combination of Arabic violins and Strauss waltzes working it out. But it’s true.” – Bob Dylan After reading provocative excerpts from the 30-minute speech Dylan gave at the MusiCares […]
Scotty Moore
“I didn’t get rich, but it was better than picking cotton…” We can debate who invented rock and roll, but there is no question that it was Elvis Presley who turned it into an earth shaking phenomenon. He also did something equally revolutionary at the same time: He made the guitar the most […]
Merle Haggard (1999)
“…you’ve got these perfect people performing perfect music and it’s perfectly boring to me.” At the end of the 1990s, Merle Haggard was one disgruntled country music legend.
Oscar Brown Jr.
“Liberating the slaves is not popular.” It’s a mystery: What killed Oscar Brown Jr.’s career? Rule out drugs, booze, out of control ego or any of the usual suspects in tales of show biz ruination. The cause of Brown’s baffling fade remains unclear, but undoubtedly had to do […]
Aretha Franklin (1995)
Aretha Franklin hates the new biography about her, “Respect” by David Ritz. She’s condemned it: “a very trashy book…full of lies and more lies about me.” I didn’t hate it. It’s the best book yet about the Queen of Soul. That said, I’m kind […]
“Tracks” by Robyn Davidson
Last week I went to see “Tracks.” It’s a new movie, but it took more than 30 years to get made. In June, 1981 I was writing for The Real Paper, the smaller of Boston’s two alternative weeklies and the place where I began my journalistic career in January, 1981. My editor handed me […]
Johnny Winter’s Coming Out Party
When I heard that Johnny Winter had died on Wednesday, I flashed back to the first time I heard him play. But then whenever I thought of Johnny Winter, I thought back to that night – December 13, 1968 – which I am sure was just as […]
Cornell Dupree
“What I consider ‘me’ is a funky blues player.” From Dupree’s home in Ft. Worth, by phone August, 1995 Hang on and get ready for a super-funky-blues/soul ride thanks to some truly amazing video. Cornell Dupree, the subject of this interview, is the main man here and it’s a treat to hear and watch him […]