Archive

The Sweeter Side of Philadelphia Soul In 1974, the vocal group Blue Magic released the single “Sideshow.” A summer hit that year, it went to #1 R&B and reached #8 on the pop charts. The elegant arrangement could have easily been mistaken for a new song by The Stylistics: falsetto lead, lush strings, muted brass, […]

A wonderful album made in a Dallas rehearsal space launched separate solo careers for two musically driven siblings On the Dallas Famous podcast in May 2023, singer-songwriter Salim Nourallah recalls a story of his mother finding a declaration he wrote when he was young. It stated that he would become a musician and a producer […]

After two albums of guitar distortion and atmospheric sounds, a stunning folk-inspired alternative It began with a trip to Italy in 2000. Toledo, Ohio based singer-songwriter Jessica Bailiff was already an established recording artist who had released two albums filled with guitar noise and hazy backwards recordings. A friend there introduced her to something new. […]

Beauty and conviction from one of Brazil’s most important artists During a 2014 tour, Joan Baez performed five shows in Brazil. At the March 23rd date in São Paulo, she sang “Pra não dizer que não falei das flores” to an appreciative crowd. The song, also known as “Caminhando,” took on the presence of an […]

Nilsson’s first RCA album wasn’t a hit, but it showed a versatility that impressed a well-known band from across the pond In May 1968, John Lennon and Paul McCartney held a press conference in New York to announce the formation of Apple Corps. During the Q&A, a journalist asked the new businessmen to name their […]

A grand album by an off the radar singer-songwriter with a keen gift for melody and a taste for melancholy John Cunningham takes long gaps between his album releases. And, with each new record, the production is more textured and more elaborate. Happy-Go-Unlucky (2002) is number four, not counting a debut EP, and for this […]

The Kinks, one of the big three of the early British Invasion, were virtually non-existent on the American singles charts in the late sixties. One rogue music journalist saw to it that the band’s British singles and unreleased gems were made available for hard-core fans One of the greatest joys in my personal music discovery […]

An Unearthed DIY Classic Finally Gets A Proper Release An album like this couldn’t have been made in 1994. Strumming acoustic guitar and angel-like vocals. Minor keys, eerie piano, violin and cello. This isn’t the sound of a grunge band. And it’s DIY, recorded in a house in Livonia, Michigan, when big labels still ruled […]

The singer left a decade of fine albums from the fifties and sixties, but today she seems mostly forgotten Why is one of the best jazz stylists of the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s not as well known as other vocalists of her time? This has been a perplexing question since I first discovered June Christy. […]

The Memphis megastar’s second release on Hi Records found its groove in the singers’ early influences. Al Green’s hits from the early 1970s are some of the most luscious recordings ever put on wax. “Tired of Being Alone,” “Let’s Stay Together,” “Call Me (Come Back Home)” “I’m Still in Love with You,” these songs define […]