At 22 Barbra Streisand traded guts for glitz and sacrificed her artistry on the altar of auto-adulation. She became a megastar cum décolletage, morphing from a talented loser into a loser of a talent. Here she is aged 20 –a truly stunning vocal artist.
Continue reading...Song Of the week
052: The Lovin’ Spoonful, ‘Girl, Beautiful Girl’
In which Jeff bemoans maybe turning down a job with a very famous Hollywood director.
Continue reading...043: The Left Banke, ‘Pretty Ballerina’
A precious, delicate flower from 1966.
Baroque & roll.
062: Martha and The Vandellas, ‘Heat Wave’
Ok, hotshot–what group of musicians played on more number one hits than the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, Elvis, and the Beatles combined?
Continue reading...210: Tigran Hamasyan, ‘Drip’
Tigran’s website says he plays “atmospheric punk jazz improvisations fused with the rich folkloric music of his native Armenia”. Me? My binge is in its sixth day and I still have no idea what I’m listening to. But I’m still listening.
Continue reading...045: Julie London, ‘Bye Bye, Blackbird’
How Julie London enticed Jeff into basshood
Continue reading...039: Blind Willie Johnson, ‘Motherless Children Have a Hard Time’
Willie was blinded at age seven when the lye his stepmom threw lye at his dad and missed. Willie sang on the street corners of Beaumont, Texas and slept in a li’l church. When it burned down, he slept there in a rain-soaked bed and caught pneumonia. And you think you got the blues?
Continue reading...025: The Zombies, ‘Care of Cell 44′
The only love song I know of a guy eagerly awaiting his belle’s release from prison.
Perhaps there should be more.