Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Chantilly Lace” by The Big Bopper Jiles “Jape” P. Richardson became a radio D.J. in 1952 and worked for ten years (with a two year break in the middle for army duty) at Texas radio station KTRM where he ultimately became their music director. While working at a sock hop, he decided to change his name to The Big Bopper after he witnessed teenagers dancing to a new dance called The Bop. Richardson wanted to get into the performing side of the business because he saw it as a way to earn enough money to buy his own radio station. So when a promo man from Mercury Records gave him the...

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Karn Evil 9 1st Impression” by Emerson, Lake & Palmer There was a time when dinosaurs roamed the earth. I’m not talking about the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Hadrosaurus, or even your garden variety Pterodactyls. These dinosaurs wore coats of proggy sounds typified by 20 minute epic-length, multi-movement suites of music. These were dinosaurs that went by names like King Crimson, Gentle Giant, Genesis, PFM, The Moody Blues and Yes. There was no pretention in what they were doing, yet many of them were very, very pretentious. And if you were a rock fan of the 1970s, you ate it up. You loved it. There was nothing better. But a funny thing happened...

2013 A(Nashville, TN) May 14, 2013 – The Americana Music Association announced nominees today for the 2013 Honors & Awards in Los Angeles at the Grammy Museum®.  The ceremony featured performances by now nominated artists Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale, T Bone Burnett with Lisa Marie Presley, Elizabeth Cook and The Milk Carton Kids.  The program was broadcast live on AXS TV, who will present a special encore presentation of the event later this evening at 9PM ET/6PM PT.  Shovels & Rope, with four nominations, followed by Emmylou Harris and Miller, with three each, lead the nominee slate while many other notable artists were recognized including:  Rodney Crowell, John Fullbright, Lauderdale, The Lumineers, JD McPherson, the aforementioned Milk Carton Kids, Bruce...

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “I Married Myself” by Sparks American brothers Ron and Russell Mael formed the group Halfnelson in 1970. Their first two albums were recorded in Woodstock, New York, produced by Todd Rundgren and released on the Bearsville record label. Both records tanked on these shores, so the brothers broke up the band, changed their name to Sparks, moved to England, got on the glam bandwagon and formed a new band that has gone on to endure for decades. In a musical world dominated by David Bowie, Mott The Hoople, Lou Reed, The New York Dolls and Queen, the newly reformed Sparks caused a sensation across the pond in 1974 with songs like...

  Jimi, Sir Paul …. and Miles Davis?! Could we have seen an album recorded by a band that included both Jimi Hendrix and Paul McCartney. Well, it might have been closer to reality than you ever dreamed.  And those two weren’t the only giant names that might have been included. The story takes us back to October 21st, 1969.  Mr. Hendrix was putting together a band to record some new music. He had three of the four pieces he wanted. He would of course be on guitar. The drummer would have been jazz great Tony Williams.  On trumpet, why of course it had to be Miles Davis….. and it was. Jimi need a bass player and on the...

  34th Annual Blues Music Award Winners Last Night the 34th annual Blues Music Award winners were announced at a ceremony at  Cook Convention Center in Memphis, Tennessee. We have the nominees and winners listed below. —————————————————————————————————————————————– Acoustic Album **Not Alone – Ann Rabson w/ Bob Margolin** -** winners listed first** Billy Boy Arnold Sings Big Bill Broonzy – Billy Boy Arnold Blues on Solid Ground – John Primer Deeper In The Well – Eric Bibb Talking Guitar – Paul Rishell Acoustic Artist **Eric Bibb** Carolina Chocolate Drops Doug MacLeod Harrison Kennedy Paul Rishell Album of the Year **Show of Strength – Michael Burks** And Still I Rise – Heritage Blues Orchestra Double Dynamite – The Mannish Boys Son of...

  “The Rides” to Release debut album in August LOS ANGELES, May 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – No stranger to top flight musical partnerships, legendary singer-songwriter and Buffalo Springfield / CSN / CSN&Y principal Stephen Stills unites with fellow guitar slinger Kenny Wayne Shepherd and venerable Electric Flag keyboardist Barry Goldberg to form the new all-star blues-rock group The Rides. The multi-generational outfit’s debut album, Can’t Get Enough, is set for CD, digital, and vinyl release August 27 on 429 Records.  Featuring four co-written originals, a handful of covers, and a vintage, previously unrecorded Stills gem, Can’t Get Enough was inspired by—and is an homage to—the now-classic 1968 album Super Session, which featured Stills on guitar on one side, and the late Mike Bloomfield on the other (Bloomfield had founded Electric Flag with Goldberg, who also played on Super Session, as did Blood, Sweat & Tears keyboardist Al Kooper).  As The Rides bring...

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Undo The Right” by Willie Nelson “If you can’t say you love me say you hate me / And that you regret each time you held me tight, If you can’t be mine forever then forsake me / If you can’t undo the wrong, undo the right.” Totally brilliant in its simplicity! And so is this demo recording made for Pamper Music, the music publishing company owned by Ray Price and Hal Smith. Only Willie Nelson could put this song over so matter of fact, and that’s why he is not only considered one of the greatest songwriters of all time, but also one of the greatest song stylists bar none....

Paul McCartney returned to the stage tonight in Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. It was his first show of 2013 and he pulled out some real gems.  He opened with “Eight Days A Week” he claimed it was only the second time that he has ever played it live. Another surprised was “Your Mother Should Know” which also was played by for the second time. It was never played by the Beatles. ”Hi, Hi, Hi” hadn’t been played since 1976. (File photo) Here’s the full set list from Brazil Eight Days a Week  (The Beatles) Junior’s Farm (Wings) All My Loving (The Beatles) Listen to What the Man Said (Wings) Let Me Roll It (Wings) Paperback Writer (The Beatles) My Valentine Nineteen...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#858 in the Series) is Telekinesis, Dormarion (Merge Records) It is May 3rd, and I’m just saying it right now. This will be the album of the summer. Hailing from Seattle, Telekinesis (Michael Benjamin Lerner’s one-man show) has just rocked my life with the new album Dormarion. Sometimes I struggle with writing the same thing about all the bands I like. They’re all good for pretty much the same reasons: folksy, rootsy, soulful, rooted, vintage, twangy, jangly, whatever. Telekinesis is different, and not necessarily my usual fare. But man is it good. They’ve got driving, bright acoustic guitar, a bit of gravel in the voice, an oh-ohoh-oh right away. Right away I know...