If ever there was a case of the media building up and then knocking down a band, it was the one involving Fleetwood Mac in the late 70s and early 80s. The critics cheered when the group—newly energized by the addition of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks—delivered its chart-topping eponymous album in 1975 and the… Continue reading A Deluxe Reissue for Fleetwood Mac’s Underrated Mirage
Jim Kweskin and Geoff Muldaur, Penny’s Farm. This is the next best thing to a reunion of Kweskin’s influential Jug Band, which produced half a dozen fine albums between 1963 and 1967: a collaboration by its prime movers, Jim Kweskin and Geoff Muldaur. A crew that includes Van Dyke Parks offers backup on steel guitar,… Continue reading Don’t Miss These Five
Springsteen fans who want to read about the man and his music have long been able to opt for everything from biographies to books about the albums to coffee-table photo collections. Now comes Gillian G. Gaar’s Boss: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band—The Illustrated History, which attempts with considerable success to be all this… Continue reading A One-Stop Print Shop for Springsteen Fans
This isn’t the first album to pay tribute to pop songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David and it probably won’t be the last. It might, however, wind up being remembered as the best. Because Bacharach and David’s compositions constitute mainstream pop, some listeners undoubtedly dismiss them as inconsequential. But there’s a reason why their fans… Continue reading A Winning Tribute to Bacharach and David
Giulia Millanta, Moonbeam Parade. What first drew me to this album was that Michael Fracasso, one of my favorite artists, not only declared himself a Giulia Millanta fan but contributed vocals to one track. That track, the melancholy “If You Ask Me,” turns out to be just one of the highlights on this eclectic, adventurous,… Continue reading Big Pleasures from Little-Known Acts
Offspring of famous artists face skeptical audiences whose first inclination is often to suspect that they’re simply cashing in on their household names. What such audiences fail to consider is that the children of stars inherit genes as well as monikers. That’s undoubtedly one reason why many of them—including Hank Williams Jr., Julian Lennon, and… Continue reading A Noteworthy Louise Goffin Compilation
