Posts

Todd Snider, Prolific Songwriter, Gone at 59

So many of my personal friends and music business professionals who I love and respect clearly loved singer/songwriter Todd Snider.To them and to all of Todd Snider's fans, I offer my 2007 conversation with him where Todd is very much alive.

Redbeard Rocks! Labor Day Playlist

Here is a "RedbeardRocks! Labor Day" playlist with ninety minutes of job-themed songs from A to Z, "A Hard Day's Night" to ZZ Top "Just Got Paid". Punch the clock, hit the road, and crank these songs celebrating how hard you work to make this country work.

The Band- Stage Fright @55- Robbie Robertson

Widely viewed along with Bob Dylan, The Byrds, and Gram Parsons as  fathers of  the Americana musical movement, The Band also may have  been one of rock's first alternative groups. In part one of this classic rock interview, main songwriter Robbie Robertson ("The Weight","The Night They Drove Ol'Dixie Down","Up on Cripple Creek","The Shape I'm In") helps me make that case on the 55th anniversary of "Stage Fright".
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Traveling Wilburys Vol 1- the late George Harrison and Tom Petty

Each night on the 2018 sold out Jeff Lynne/ ELO concert tour, one of the biggest crowd roars came when Lynne performed a song from his "other band", the Traveling Wilburys, and flashed brief melancholy glimpses of the time when rock's ultimate Dream Team convened at a barbeque attended by Lynne, George Harrison, Tom Petty, and Bob Dylan, with Roy Orbison soon to follow. George and Tom share wonderful stories here In the Studio.
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Jimi Hendrix Experience- Electric Ladyland pt2- Mitch Mitchell, author John McDermott

Jimi Hendrix and his British trio the Experience created a landmark double album in 1968 called "Electric Ladyland",  but this deep into the 21st century it may be difficult for many to fully understand the context in which it was made and the world into which it was subsequently released. Experience drummer the late Mitch Mitchell & Hendrix biographer/film director John McDermott tell the story from the inside.
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The Band’s Robbie Robertson

Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Robbie Robertson has died at age 80. As an elder statesman of twentieth century rock, as well as 21st century film soundtracks, we were blessed by his stories, wit, and wisdom multiple times here In the Studio.

The Byrds- Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman, the late David Crosby

David Crosby of The Byrds has died at 81. The members of the original Byrds - singer/songwriter/electric 12-string guitar player Roger (Jim) McGuinn, singer/songwriter David Crosby, the talented but tortured late singer/songwriter Gene Clark, bass player Chris Hillman, & the late drummer Michael Clarke - were always unabashed in their acknowledgment of their influences, equal parts American folk singers, Bob Dylan, and the Beatles. Yet instead of being hopelessly derivative, somehow they ended up being one of the greatest imprints on both the form and substance of rock and country music to this day.  McGuinn, Crosby, and Hillman join me in this ultra-rare classic rock interview covering the first four Byrds albums Mr Tambourine Man,  Turn Turn Turn, Fifth Dimension , and Younger Than Yesterday in February 1967. - Redbeard
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Rod Stewart- Every Picture Tells a Story 55th Anniversary

When the Jeff Beck Group made their American debut at New York City's Fillmore East, no one in the audience watching  the young lead singer Rod Stewart hide behind the backline amps  due to major stage fright could have imagined that the raspy-throated rooster-haired Englishman would become an international star just three years later with his third solo album, 1971's "Every Picture Tells a Story". 

Steve Earle- Guitar Town

"Guitar Town " Steve Earle shares here In the Studio for his #1-charting Country debut in March 1986: "I'm a straggler from what was going on in Austin and Nashville in the mid-70s. I had good teachers, Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff Walker, B.W. Stevenson...when I first got to Nashville on any given night, you could go to Guy's house. And he'd have everybody, from the street level where I was to Mickey Newbury and Neil Young, with the guitar going around. So it was a good place to learn. Then, basically cocaine sort of created a caste system  and killed that real fast!"

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers- Rainy Day Women #12 & #35- Gainesville 11-4-93

Maybe I chose this terrific version of Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Women #12 and #35", performed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at a homecoming Gainesville FL concert in November 1993, because the calendar says 4-20.  But then again, with Tom…