Son of a Preacher Man
by Cat Johnson
“Son of a Preacher Man,” widely considered one of the greatest singles of all time was first recorded in 1968 by Dusty Springfield and included on the landmark album Dusty in Memphis. Written by John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins, they originally offered the song to Aretha Franklin, who turned it down. After hearing [...]
Little Miss Dynamite
Before the British Invasion, there was Brenda Lee. After the British Invasion, there was Brenda Lee. Little Miss Dynamite, who signed with Decca as an eleven year old in 1956 and had her first top-ten hit with “Sweet Nothin’s” in 1959 went on to sell over 100 million records worldwide, traversing genres from rockabilly and [...]
Monk and Coltrane at Carnegie Hall
As the story goes, in 2005 while thumbing through tapes in the Library of Congress, Larry Appelbaum discovered some reels labeled “Carnegie Hall Jazz 1957″ with “T. Monk” handwritten on the back.
Finding lost Thelonious Monk recordings would make any day great, but the heart-racing moment came with the realization that the saxophonist on the tapes [...]
Dark Was the Night-A Red Hot Benefit
Topping my favorite-music-of-the year list is Dark Was the Night, a compilation put out by the creative and tenacious folks at The Red Hot Organization. This “international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS” has been releasing amazing compilations for two decades, embracing just about every genre and style in their [...]
Billy Bang – VIETNAM the aftermath
This is the most powerful and haunting album in my collection. I’ll go months or a year without putting it on because it is so far beyond the “music as entertainment” notion. The time and place have to be just right, because this is something that you want to slowly absorb and reflect upon. It [...]
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