Van Halen “Ice Cream Man” (1978)
Van Halen wasn't exactly my favorite thing. This song was a definite exception.... Read More
George Thorogood “It Wasn’t Me” (1978)
As legend, or some old music magazine, has it, an interviewer once asked George Thorogood why he didn’t write more of his own songs, to which he replied “Because Chuck Berry already wrote all the f*cking songs that ever needed to be written.” I can’t quite call this a direct quote, but I’m pretty confident...... Read More
Poco “A Good Feelin’ To Know” (1972)
..the group Poco, a band whose warm harmonies, jangling guitars and checkered membership put them at the nexus of the incestuous late ‘60’s/early ‘70’s California country-rock scene..... Read More
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young “Almost Cut My Hair” (1970)
I didn’t get a haircut or shave for roughly two years. Yeah, some circumstances in my life changed…whatever. But the best answer I could muster, the truest, when people would ask me why I’d let things go is that I’d kind of always thought about trying it and, well, for the same reason dogs lick...... Read More
Ten Years After “I’m Going Home” (1969)
Years ago I was sitting around having drinks with a bunch of friends when someone introduced this very interesting question: If you could place yourself at any moment in history, what would it be? Most people had some very profound answers. I believe I remember three of them: One was to be present for the...... Read More
The Who “The Real Me” (1973)
John Entwistle always said he did not play the bass. He insisted he played the bass guitar. The difference was not merely semantic. The man nicknamed “The Ox” established a treble-rich sound unlike most anyone in his era or since (per Entwistle’s own description: “Full treble, full volume”). And I would suggest, nowhere is it...... Read More
Beatles “I’ve Got A Feeling” (1970)
There’s not a lot to say about the Beatles that hasn’t already been said, so I won’t try much here. But I chose this song because in many ways it seems a perfect exemplification of what made the Beatles what they were – which was, c’mon, the greatest band of all time. This was at...... Read More
Allman Brothers Band “Trouble No More” (1969)
Is it possible the most influential member of a band that existed for 45 years was in it for just it’s first 3? Duane Allman was one of 6 founding members of the Allman Brothers Band in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 – along with his brother Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks, and...... Read More
Bob Seger “The Fire Down Below” (1976)
You’re listening to a good tune, enjoying it as you go through the verse-verse-chorus-solo sections, and at a certain point as the chorus circles around again, you feel the coda forming, the familiar parts of a song wrapping up, and sadly you know it’s about to end. And then – euphoria! – it re-starts. Even...... Read More
Little Feat “Dixie Chicken” (Waiting For Columbus) (1978)
What band and album was the most played in your freshman college dorm? Kind of a defining characteristic of the times, right? I arrived at Tulane University in the fall of 1979, and moved into the fourth floor of Sharp Hall, where people were trying to establish their identity, at least in part, by what...... Read More