In California in 1969, just about every folk-rock band and musician was dabbling in, or fully embracing, country rock. Not Neil Young. He went straight country, no rock, on the…
It's the height of peach season and I couldn't resist. Local orchards have millions of peaches, and I hum this tune every time I buy a half-peck. Remember when this…
Put on your shaggin' shoes. This song is on any Carolina Beach Music compilation worth hearing. General Johnson, lead singer of the Chairmen of the Board, toured the beach circuit…
If white churches had music like this at their services I'd go more often. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11UD4odvMgY After his run as a pop singer, B.J. Thomas had a long career in gospel…
Don't know if you saw it, but Charles Barkley made an unwelcome-by-Democrats point during this week's debate coverage: “I think all politicians take black folks for granted,” Barkley told reporters.…
The lead track on "Wild Honey," the Beach Boys' back-to-our-roots album following the "Smile" disaster, this soul-flavored confection was a throwback even in 1967. The Beach Boys were considered has-beens…
Elvis' last No. 1 hit -- and that only in Cashbox, not Billboard -- in its first live performance, about two weeks after he recorded it in late March 1972.…
This SNL skit dates to 1982, when Ronald Reagan was president. Would he have been elected if the "African monkeys" tape had been released to the public? Given what we…
Technological progress has rendered some old songs obsolete -- "Please Mr. Postman" and "The Letter," for example, are set in an era when people still used snail mail to communicate…
This was written in the wake of the first Arab oil embargo, but it's remarkable how little the geopolitics of the Middle East have changed in decades since. The only…
The lead-off track to "Never a Dull Moment," the 1972 follow-up album to Stewart's mega-hit "Every Picture Tells a Story," finds Rod the Mod struggling with his new-found success. Like…
Though it's a quintessential summer song, the single, recorded for an album but rushed into release shortly after the band's triumphant set at Woodstock, didn't reach its No. 2 chart…