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Out in the Street: The 1980s Minneapolis Rock Scene and the Press
Out in the street … another sound beckoned from down the street – loud rock music. A few steps in that direction, the rock music erased all other sounds. … there was a dance going on. This was clearly where it was at tonight. A 5-piece local band, the Young Bloods, was playing for the…
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Rolling Stone Reviews: Bringing Rock Criticism to the Dailies
Introduction “Rolling Stone Reviews” ran in newspapers nationwide from the mid-1970s to the end of the century. Prominent music critic Dave Marsh wrote the syndicated column during its early years. Rolling Stone magazine produced the column and two other syndicated features, “Rolling Stone Notes” and “Rolling Stone Profile.” “Reviews” did more than assert the magazine’s…
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Dickey Betts and the Florida Press: Just Another Guitar Player
Introduction When guitarist Dickey Betts recently passed away, it brought back decades of memories. I first heard Betts in a show by the Allman Brothers at a tiny seafood joint in West Palm Beach Florida about 1969, before they became famous. From the first note, the band had the crowd on their feet booging along…
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A Remarkable Look Inside LA’s 60s Rock Scene
Introduction LA’s 60s rock scene is often overlooked compared to its Bay Area counterpart. Los Angeles and San Francisco were the twin poles of the blossoming California counterculture. LA was a power center, home to major record labels like Capitol. The city had a high-level hit machine with bands like the Beach Boys, who topped…
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Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution
Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution was a music documentary that aired on CBS in 1967. The Summer of Love was around the corner and a generational revolution had spread from San Francisco to around the globe. This article in the April 26, 1967 Los Angles Times helped spread the word. It shows how mainstream print…
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Sun Records’ Revolutionary Music and The Memphis Press
Sam Phillips’ Sun Records played a significant role in the evolution of rock ‘n’ roll. It was one of the many independent record labels that diversified American music after the Second World War. Sun Records gave a breakthrough to artists such as Jackie Brenston and Elvis Presley, who disrupted the calm waters of pop music…
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This Day in Music Journalism: Bruce Springsteen “Teeters on the Brink”
Springsteen’s words show the intense loyalty to his bandmates the charismatic singer is known for. In April 1974, Springsteen and the E Street Band were still playing in small clubs and had no best-selling records. Jon Landau wasn’t in the picture yet. However, another young rock critic, William Howard, saw Springsteen’s extraordinary power to move…
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How to Write About Music In the Historical Present
While authoring The Life and Writings of Ralph J. Gleason, I used a technique called writing in the historical present. This involves using the present tense to write about events that occurred in the past. Here are a few examples of how I used this method to bring the reader into critical moments in Gleason’s…
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Ralph J. Gleason’s First Liner Notes for Fantasy Records
In 1952 Ralph Gleason wrote his first liner notes for Fantasy Records. The Bay Area record label recorded emerging musicians in the San Francisco jazz scene. Dave Brubeck was one of these artists. Distinctive Rhythm Instrumentals was the pianist’s second Fantasy album. Many others followed. Brubeck recorded for Fantasy since 1949 and, in 1952, had…
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The Fascinating Reception of Country Music by Black Postwar Journalists
The release of Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter sparked intense public debate over the definition of country music in a nation bedeviled by stereotypes about race and music genres. So, I thought you might be interested in how country music was covered in Black newspapers during the music’s postwar wave of popularity. Especially, how Black writers came…
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