Arts and Entertainment

Cut 1. Side 1. Album 1. A friend of mine and I once put together something we called "The Adrenaline Tape". Every song had to get your pulse racing. I…

Cut 1, Side 1, Album 1. Some artists say 'Here I am' right out of the gate.  Like this guy:

Did someone mention Dave Alvin? I did. After he left the Blasters b/c he and his brother Phil just couldn't get along, Dave joined X for one album. This great…

Glad to see a couple of other Tom Russell fans on the board.  Here is my fave song of his, this time performed by one of my favorite singer-songwriters, Dave…

So I'm watching this film noir on Turner Classic Movies.  It's called 'The Window', it's really suspenseful and it features this child actor named Bobby Driscoll, who was on loan…

We close out a week of early 70's soul goodness with this Grammy Award-winning slice of what made Philly the Soul Center Of the Universe at the time:   Don't…

Staying with Philly producer/composer/arranger Thom Bell, he turned Motown afterthoughts The Spinners into Atlantic Records soul stars. He wrote and produced this classic:

'Backstabbers' by the O'Jays wasn't just one of the greatest songs of the '70's. The album with the same name was, IMHO, one of the great soul albums of all…

One of the great soul ballads of all time. Out of the Philly Gamble and Huff stable.  Of course, it really should have been Teddy Pendergrass and The Blue Notes,…

Yesterday, we featured a great song written by Dan Penn and Chips Moman. Today, another great one written by the duo.Today's clip from, of all things, the Merv Griffin Show,…

Not all great soul singers became famous.  Which doesn't minimize their greatness. James Carr was a great soul singer. But he suffered from a bipolar disorder that led to him…

This song should be sung in front of the White House every day that Trump occupies it: Curtis Mayfield is on my Musical Mount Rushmore. This is one of the…

We're finishing out the week with a Curtis Mayfield trilogy. In this second installment, Curtis and the Impressions exhort their followers to Keep On Pushing. Written in 1964, one of…