Category Archives: Music

“I find it very difficult myself to make movies where I know right from the beginning what the end is going to be.” — Bob Rafelson

It’s his birthday today. In 1965, television producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider placed an ad in the Hollywood Reporter: MADNESS!! AUDITIONS Folk & Roll Musicians-Singers for acting roles in new TV series. Running parts for 4 insane boys, age … Continue reading →

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“The duty of youth is to challenge corruption.” — Kurt Cobain

“The kid has heart.” — Bob Dylan, after hearing Nirvana’s song “Polly” for the first time Today is Kurt Cobain’s birthday. I’m not over it. There are defining moments in a generation, moments everyone remembers. For my generation it was … Continue reading →

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“Listen, I never meant to make money. I never wanted it. I’m a singer, man.” — Gene Vincent

The problem with Elvis is like the problem of, say, the sun. The sun blots out stars. The sun creates heat waves. The sun is a good thing but there’s a hell of a lot else going on besides the … Continue reading →

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Josh White, singer of “the fighting blues”

You could call [Josh White] the minstrel of the Blues, except that he is more than a minstrel of the Blues… Josh is a fine folksinger of anybody’s songs — southern Negro or southern white, plantation work songs or modern … Continue reading →

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February 3, 1959: The Day the Music Died

Buddy Holly was #13 on Rolling Stones’ 100 Greatest Artists list, and John Mellencamp wrote a very touching couple of paragraphs about Buddy Holly as the ultimate hillbilly, and how important that was: I was just a little kid when … Continue reading →

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“I still keep my watch two hours behind.” — Lisa Marie Presley

It’s her birthday today. Her absence still seems a little unreal. My reaction to her untimely death was so strong – and had nothing whatsoever to do with her dad, but with my own experience of her presence in the … Continue reading →

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“All these weird stages in my teenage years are documented. Why did no one tell me how terrible some of those outfits were?”– Justin Timberlake

“The thing is that my idols have always been the types of guys who could do anything: Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Sinatra, Dean Martin; and when you look up to people like that, you don’t accept that you need to … Continue reading →

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“You can’t fake this music.” — Etta James

Etta James was born on this day. She grew up rough. Real rough. It’s a terrible story of near-constant abuse and neglect. She was in the foster care system, she never knew her dad. She had an early gift for … Continue reading →

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“Voices ought not be measured by how pretty they are. Instead they matter only if they convince you that they are telling the truth.ā€ — Sam Cooke

It’s his birthday today. I highly recommend Peter Guralnick’s thoughtful and informative biography of Sam Cooke, Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke, which gives a good sense of the revolution of his career. Moving from gospel, where he made … Continue reading →

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Happy Birthday, Leadbelly

From Tennessee Williams’ play Orpheus Descending: LADY: What’s all that writing on it? VAL: Autographs of musicians I run into here and there. LADY: Can I see it? VAL: Turn on that light above you. [She switches on green-shaded bulb … Continue reading →

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