The Blues Brothers’ B Movie
In my review of Delbert McClinton's concert this weekend, I mentioned that my introduction to him was through the Blues Brothers' version of his song, "B Movie Boxcar Blues." Here they are performing it on New Year's Eve 1978 at the last concert at Bill Graham's...
Delbert McClinton
Delbert McClinton came to St. Louis last night. The first time I saw him perform was in 1979, but he's now 74 and I figured this might be my last chance, so my friend Bob Russell and I went down to the Sheldon Concert Hall to see him -- and we were not disappointed....
Rip Off Riffs
In light of the courtroom victory for Marvin Gaye's family about Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke plagiarizing "Got To Give It Up" for their song "Blurred Lines," my colleague Frank O. Pinion played this video on his KTRS show yesterday. It's full of examples of...
Randy Bachman: Every Song Tells a Story
If you've listened to rock radio in the last 50 years, you're familiar with the work of Randy Bachman. With his groups The Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive, he had a long list of hits, including "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet," "These Eyes," "Taking Care of...
Marching Rock
A college marching band performing classic rock songs may not sound like a great idea -- until you see the medley the Ohio State University marching band did last Saturday. Not only did they play songs by the Scorpions, Kiss, and Edgar Winter, but also turned...
Best Thing I’ve Read Today
An in-depth profile of Billy Joel by Nick Paumgarten in The New Yorker: Billy Joel has never really been hip. He is widely loved but also, in many quarters, coldly dismissed. The critics got on him early. “Self-dramatizing kitsch” (Dave Marsh); “A force of nature and...
Shut Up And Jam, Ted
Ted Nugent has been in the news again, with an Idaho tribe uninviting him to perform at their casino because of his "history of racist and hate-filled remarks." It's the same reason I stopped having him as a guest on my radio shows a decade ago -- his vitriol became...
Ozark Music Festival
Forty years ago this month, the town of Sedalia, Missouri, was home to one of the largest music festivals in American history -- the Ozark Music Festival, on the grounds of the Missouri State Fair. The lineup included some of the biggest rock acts of 1974 (as seen on...