According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, although Otis Redding consistently impacted the R&B charts beginning with the Top Ten appearance of “Mr. Pitiful” in 1965, none of his singles fared better than #21 on the pop Top Forty until the posthumous release of “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.” Redding wrote […]

Released in November 1965, “My Generation” by The Who seemed to define the musical generation gap between rock and the music of the big band and jazz era. The song was characterized by fake stuttering on the word “generation” and other words in its lyrics. It was an over-the-top celebration of youth (”I hope I […]

In 1951, with the band the Soul Stirrers, Sam Cooke began his writing and recording career on Specialty Records. For six years, he established a new standard for gospel expression. At the height of his gospel career, Cooke made an abrupt change in professional direction. His first pop single, 1956’s “Lovable,” was released under the […]

The story behind the recording of Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be The Day,” is a classic story in music industry 101. It was actually recorded several times and was the subject of law suits and career mismanagement.
“That’ll Be The Day was written by Buddy Holly and his producer Jerry Allison. The song had its beginnings in […]

Quick to compare his achievement to Thomas Edison’s invention of the lightbulb, and to take credit for every dance that came in its wake, Philadelphia-raised Ernest Evans will be the first to tell you that before the Twist, no one could be found dancing apart to the beat. With a stage name suggested by […]

Blood On The Tracks was released on January 20th 1975. It was Dylan’s 15th studio album 15th studio album, and it marked Dylan’s return to Columbia Records after a two-album stint on the Asylum Records label. Fans and critics alike insist that this album sits in the top tier of his all time greatest albums […]

Rick Darnell and Roy Hawkins wrote “The Thrill is Gone” in 1951, but it didn’t become a hit until Riley B. King — better known as B.B. King B. B. King — recorded it in 1969 for his album Completely Well. King had been performing steadily on radio stations around the south and toured extensively […]

In the late 1930s, young composer Billy Strayhorn met Duke Ellington. Duke told him he would be in touch again in the near future, but time went by and Strayhorn heard nothing. He got in touch with Ellington’s office and found out the band was playing in Harlem. Strayhorn then traveled to New York to […]

Considered by many to be the Who’s greatest album, Who’s Next had its roots in the disastrous Lifehouse project, which Who bandleader Pete Townshend has variously described as intended to be a futuristic rock opera, a live-recorded concept album and as the music for as a scripted film project. The project proved to be intractable […]

Released in February 1957, Miles Davis’s legendary Birth of The Cool was culled from three days of recordings; two 1949 and one from 1950. As the title infers, these recordings were seminal in the birth of the cool jazz era.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine in Allmusic.com sums it up:
“The Birth of the Cool remains one of the […]