Posts by Alby

I probably feature John Prine more often that some people would like, but this is the rare Prine tune that he didn't write himself, though he did sign its composer,…

The glam rock years were strange ones, kids. Bands, particularly in England, put on makeup, glitter and androgynous outfits in emulation of David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust. Most of them took…

A lot of people think this is the Rolling Stones, but it's actually Jagger backed by a band of studio musicians for his star turn in the film "Performance." That's…

Python Lee Jackson was an Australian band, founded in 1965, that tried its luck in England in 1969. Despite catching the attention of producer John Peel, they didn't make it…

The only song by this quintessential San Francisco psychedelic outfit to make the singles charts, this Santana-sounding 1970 cut talks about something in short supply these days in fire-ravaged California.…

This Holland-Dozier-Holland tune was a No. 1 hit for the Supremes in 1966, just a year before Long Island band Vanilla Fudge slowed it down and turned the song's minor-key…

A song I play every year as the elegy for the baseball season. Paul Simon's natural melancholy, some jazzy chords and the harmonica wizardry of Toots Thielemans combine to roll…

Another 1969 track El Som couldn't squeeze into October was the last top 40 hit by the Box Tops, featuring lead singer Alex Chilton, a 16-year-old high school student when…

El Somnambulo did a great job of highlighting some of the music of 1969, but he left a big one out -- the song that topped the Billboard charts for…