John Prine – Spanish Pipedream
Oldies Songs A Simple Dream of Freedom and Escape, Sung from the Heart of an American Everyman When John Prine released “Spanish Pipedream” in 1971 as part of his self-titled debut album…
Walter Becker – This Moody Bastard
A Solitary Confession Draped in Smoke and Irony When Walter Becker released “This Moody Bastard” on his 1994 solo debut 11 Tracks of Whack, the world finally heard the quieter,…
Wizzard – Buffalo Station-Get On Down to Memphis
A Frenzied Southern Dream: When Roy Wood Drove British Glam to the Edge of Madness In 1973, Roy Wood — the wild-haired polymath who had already founded both The Move…
Ted Nugent – Name Your Poison
A Reckless Pulse of Defiance — The Unrelenting Spirit of “Name Your Poison” Released in 1978 as part of Ted Nugent’s fourth studio album Weekend Warriors, the fiery anthem “Name…
Steely Dan – Don’t Let Me In
The Ghost of a Door Never Opened — Steely Dan’s “Don’t Let Me In” and the Sound of Genius in Formation Buried deep in the archives of early Steely Dan…
Slade – You’ll Never Walk Alone
A Roar of Defiance and Devotion Echoing Through the Storm When Slade unleashed their live album Slade on Stage in 1982, it was more than a document of a band…
Jackson Browne – Baby How Long
A Soulful, Late-Career Question: An Artist’s Gentle, Unsentimental Inquiry into the Duration of Enduring Love. For those of us who have followed the long, reflective career of Jackson Browne, the…
Sweet – Santa Monica Sunshine
A Glimpse of the American Dream: A Sweetly Melancholy Hard-Rock Road Trip, Capturing the Band’s Deep Longing for California Freedom. The year 1971 was a pivotal moment for The Sweet.…
Steely Dan – Two Against Nature
A Late-Career, Jazz-Rock Examination of Two Lovers Who Find Dangerous Solace in Their Shared, Reckless Deviation from the Norm. The return of Steely Dan in the year 2000 was nothing…
Mountain – Taunta (Sammy’s Tune)
A Wordless Elegy: The Hauntingly Beautiful Instrumental that Revealed the Lyrical Soul of a Hard Rock Titan’s Quietest Genius. In the thunderous world of early 1970s hard rock, the band…