The Dave Brubeck Quartet recorded and released “Take Five” on its 1959 album Time Out. Composed by Paul Desmond , the group’s saxophonist, it became famous for its distinctive, catchy saxophone melody and use of quintuple time, from which the piece got its name. It was also the first jazz recording to sell over a […]

The release of Tea For the Tillerman, in 1970, (one of two of his two albums that achieved Triple Platinum in the U.S.) resulted in his international breakthrough. The album was a top-10 Billboard hit and reached Gold record status within six months of release in the United States and in Britain. Combining Stevens’ new […]

Nick Hornby’s cult novel High Fidelity,on the surface, might be about the arrested development of an independent record store owner and his frustrated on-again/off-again girlfriend. What it has become is a love letter to music geek subculture. The book celebrates the minute details of record nerd OCD - top five lists, mix tape philosophy, if […]

“Heart of Glass” existed in Blondie’s live repertoire as far back as 1975 under the title “Once I Had a Love”. The song that eventually became their major crossover and biggest hit (or “sell-out” as the New York punk scene angrily dubbed it) originally had a plodding reggae beat. It continued to evolve through 1978, […]

“Stop lighting the audience.” In 1987 Billy Joel, his family, and his full touring band, played six shows in the Soviet Union, three each in Moscow and Leningrad. Joel was one of the first American rock artists to play there since the Berlin Wall went up. To offset the cost of the trip, the concert […]

Forever Changes was Love’s third studio album and released in November 1967. Fronted by Arthur Lee, the LA based band’s album has been continuously hailed by music critics. The record was not a commercial success yet its mesmerizing blend of folk-rock and psychedelia has held up over the years. Songs like “Alone Again,” “The Red […]

In 2001 the beloved “quiet one” George Harrison passed away at age 58 after a long battle with cancer. Though always known as the lead guitarist of The Beatles, George Harrison’s solo accomplishments were many. Stepping out of the shadow of Lennon/McCartney, he achieved the first #1 single of any ex-Beatle with “My Sweet Lord”, […]

Sing Along, (Resist the Draft), End the War
Alice’s Restaurant is Arlo Guthrie’s most famous work. Often referred to as a musical monologue the song is based on a true story that began on Thanksgiving Day in 1965. Guthrie’s song is a satirical, deadpan protest against the draft and the Vietnam War and recounts a true […]

Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention’s debut Freak Out! remains one of the most ambitious debuts in rock history. A seminal concept album pre-dating Sgt. Pepper, it simultaneously foreshadowed art rock, punk and everything in between. Deconstruction abounded as all four LP sides questioned rock convention, warped assumptions about “commercial pop”, made pointed social […]

According to legend, an Atlantic Records secretary giddily nicknamed Wilson Pickett “The Wicked”, and it’s obvious why. His persona was naughty, raw and oozed the dirtiest, sweatiest Southern funk. His raspy, mischievous growl, supported by either the mighty Stax house musicians Booker T & the MGs or the giants of Muscle Shoals, left behind a […]