“It isn’t every day a 54-year-old quadriplegic records a record….” There are comeback stories. And then there’s Curtis Mayfield’s comeback story. In mid-August, 1990, he was about to perform at an outdoor concert at an athletic field in Brooklyn. The opening act, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, had finished their set. Mayfield, guitar […]
Mose Allison (1994)
“One of my first public appearances was at a talent contest. I sang and played Fats Waller’s ‘fododo-de-yacka-saki want some seafood mama.’ I could just see the teacher saying, “This boy is going straight to hell.” Wondering what Mose Allison was up to lately, I checked his […]
Nina Simone (1992)
“I don’t think I’m difficult. Not at all.” The prospect of interviewing Nina Simone was thrilling. And slightly terrifying.
B.B. King (1980)
“A guy comes out of the gumbo, he likes to walk on concrete awhile.” October 14, 1980 Lippman House, Harvard University, Cambridge When B.B. King came to Harvard University, it was a special day. Not only for the fortunate few who got to witness an intimate performance in a small wooden house […]
Ben E. King (1987)
“I’ve come to accept that ‘Stand By Me’ is my secret key to survival…” In early 1987 Ben E. King – who died April 30 at 76 – was enjoying an entirely unexpected return to the upper reaches of the pop charts. The original recording of his 1961 song “Stand By Me” had become a […]
Burt Bacharach (and Elvis Costello, Part 2)
“No one has to push me to be complex.” If there has been a musical menage à trois more sublime and more successful than that of composer Burt Bacharach, lyricist Hal David, and singer Dionne Warwick, I can’t think of it.
Elvis Costello (and Burt Bacharach, Part 1)
“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 […]
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 […]
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 […]