Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 10/31: Al Kooper and Stephen Stills, “Season of the Witch”
Donovan wrote and recorded this song in 1966, after guitarist John Renbourn of Pentangle showed him how to play a D9 chord at a house party. People who were there say the IrishScottish folkie then spent seven hours playing around with it, and “Season of the Witch” was written soon after. It was considered one […]
Song of the Day 10/30: The Traveling Wilburys, “End of the Line”
This one’s for the Trump administration and the entire Republican Party, which is indeed facing the end of the line. The Traveling Wilburys were rock history’s most peculiar supergroup — five middle-aged singer-songwriters, all but Tom Petty past their commercial peaks, combining their writing and singing talents just for the fun of it. The project […]
Song of the Day 10/29: Blind Faith, “Can’t Find My Way Home”
This one’s for all the poor saps at Trump’s Omaha rally the other night who got stranded miles from shelter in freezing temperatures when their buses didn’t show up. Apparently, whoever’s writing this Reality Show From Hell is overly fond of ham-handed metaphors. That’s the version that’s spawned a hundred covers, but it’s not the […]
Song of the Day 10/28: The Moody Blues, “Go Now”
As the days until the election dwindle, I find this tune going through my head — the “since you gotta go, you better go now” part, not the “I don’t want to see you go” part. This was the first big hit for the Moody Blues in their first incarnation, with Denny Laine fronting the […]
Song of the Day 10/27: Fleetwood Mac, “Dreams”
These are strange times in America, and not just because one of our political parties has gone full fascist. We live in a country where a 42-year-old song can re-enter the pop charts just because an Idaho warehouse worker posted a video of himself lip-synching the song and drinking cran-raspberry juice as he skateboarded down […]
Song of the Day 10/26: The White Stripes, “Seven Nation Army”
It’s been an awful year all over the world, which might help explain why a woman confronted Edinburgh, Scotland, street musician Matt Grant last week by grabbing his guitar from his hands and smashing it on the sidewalk. Deprived of his means of earning a living, Grant posted an appeal on GoFundMe. He got a […]
Song of the Day 10/25: Jerry Jeff Walker, “Mr. Bojangles”
It almost has the certainty of scientific law: Any hell-raising musician will reach his commercial peak with a song that’s slow and sentimental. It certainly proved to be the case for Ronald Clyde Crosby, better known as Jerry Jeff Walker. Like Townes Van Zandt, another Texas outlaw-country legend, he managed to become famous despite never […]
Song of the Day 10/23: The Spencer Davis Group, “Gimme Some Lovin'”
Note: This is a guest post by Nathan Arizona. Spencer Davis, who died this week at 81, was one of the most important pioneers of British electric blues-rock and the whole British Invasion. He’s not one of the most famous, but maybe he should be. Davis led the Spencer Davis Group, formed in Birmingham in […]
Best Pro Rasslin’ Segment In ForEVER!
As many of you know, my El Somnambulo monicker comes from my fictitious lucha libre background, featuring my legendary but totally made-up feud with the dastardly Teletubbymundo. I love pro rasslin’s zaniness, which WWE has excised from its product as Vince McMahon falls deeper into senility. Fortunately, a new alternative, AEW (All Elite Wrestling), premiered […]
Song of the Day 10/22: Audience, “Indian Summer”
This week might have been too damp to qualify as actual “Indian summer” weather, but I’m not going to let that stop me from resurrecting the only charting single ever released by the British band Audience during its five-year original existence from 1969 to 1973. Though usually lumped in with the progressive-rock movement, Audience’s blend […]
Song of the Day 10/21: Gen X, “Dancing With Myself”
The jokes about Jeffrey Toobin, the CNN pundit and New Yorker writer who was suspended for exposing himself during a Zoom meeting, pretty much write themselves, but that hasn’t stopped people from taking their shots — I particularly liked the wag who declared that Toobin shouldn’t resign, he should stick it out. Far be it […]
Song of the Day 10/20: Jeff Bridges, “Maybe I Missed the Point”
Actor Jeff Bridges tweeted out some news yesterday by quoting his most iconic movie character: “As the Dude would say, new shit has come to light.” That was his way of announcing that he’s been diagnosed with lymphoma. Though “The Big Lebowski” might be his best-remembered role, it’s not the one that earned him his […]
Song of the Day 10/19: The Beach Boys, “‘Til I Die”
Mike Love is still adding to his resume as rock ‘n’ roll’s biggest asshole, this time by headlining a Trump fund-raising concert in Orange County without telling Brian Wilson and Al Jardine beforehand. That duo quickly disavowed any connection with Trump, and you can tell they wish they could cut their connections with Love as […]
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