George Harrison – What Is Life
Oldies Songs A triumphant declaration of love and identity When What Is Life burst into public consciousness as the electrifying first track of All Things Must Pass (1970) by George Harrison, it…
Steely Dan – Mock Turtle Song
A Whimsy of the Submerged and the Unrehearsed In the curious folds of Walter Becker’s creative archive lies Mock Turtle Song, credited to Becker (with his long-time partner Donald Fagen)…
John Prine – Summer’s End
A soaring, audacious burst of glam‑rock bravado from life on the edge When Wear a Fast Gun emerges from the thunderous machinery of Wizzard Brew (1973), it carries with it…
Wizzard – Wear a Fast Gun
A whirling call to arms in chrome-and-horns bravado When the Brighton-born glam-rock alchemist Wizzard unfurled their debut album Wizzard Brew in 1973 under the direction of the mercurial Roy Wood,…
Walter Becker – Little Kawai
A Private Farewell Hidden in Jazz Shadows and Hawaiian Light Released in 1994 on Walter Becker’s only solo album, 11 Tracks of Whack, the haunting “Little Kawai” closes the record…
Slade – OK Yesterday Was Yesterday
The Fragile Bravado of Letting Go: Slade’s Bittersweet Reflection on the Vanishing Yesterday In the mid-1970s, as Slade stood at the crossroads of their glitter-drenched superstardom and a more mature…
Jackson Browne – Casino Nation
A Quiet Reckoning with the American Dream, Sung to the Echo of a Fading Republic When Jackson Browne performed “Casino Nation” for his 2008 live collection Solo Acoustic, Vol. 2,…
Ted Nugent – Violent Love
A Dangerous Seduction: When Desire Turns to Fury in Ted Nugent’s “Violent Love” Released in 1980 as part of Ted Nugent’s hard-charging album Scream Dream, the song “Violent Love” stands…
Mountain – You Better Believe It
A Promise Carved in Riff: “You Better Believe It” by Mountain When the New York hard rock collective Mountain released their fourth studio album Avalanche in July 1974, the record entered the U.S. Billboard 200 at No. 127…
Roy Wood – Songs of Praise
A Joyful Hymn to Solitude and Creation: Roy Wood’s Songs of Praise and the Ecstatic Freedom of the Self When Roy Wood released Boulders in July 1973, the eccentric founder…