Tower of Babel

I’m aware that the critical consensus holds that Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is Elton John’s greatest masterpiece, and that’s a hard position to argue with. But I would posit that it’s actually Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. A slightly romanticized account of Elton …

Tonight’s the Night

The 1970’s were not such an innocent time. A lot of people died. The hedonism and freedom of the rock’n’roll lifestyle, which had seemed like all fun and games, turned out to be short path to an early grave. Many luminaries died to much lamentation. …

Thunder Road

We just got through the 4th of July ‘weekend’ and one of the more torturous aspects of that holiday is being forced to listen to “patriotic music”, which, besides a lot of songs about beer and pickup trucks, consists heavily of people who obviously haven’t …

Then Came You

I keep stumbling across Dionne Warwick lately, so I guess it’s time she got some more attention. As a Motown diva, she was always a little underrated, I think. But she is having something of a career renaissance right now, because at the age of …

Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out

Now this is the kind of big, start-the-party number that makes fans flock to Bruce Springsteen concerts. Not quite going into full climactic-anthem territory, but still a real workout. Obviously, it sounds better live than it does on record. Made for the stage, as they …

Tell Me When the Whistle Blows

Which Elton John album would you take to a desert island? Everyone may have their own answer, and the thing about Elton John is that even his less-good albums all have at least a moment of something wonderful. But clearly, the answer is Captain Fantastic. …

Tangled Up In Blue

Though I’ve heard Bob Dylan sing this song hundreds of times, I still have to listen attentively through to the end just to hear what he’s going to say next. The album version may never change, but Dylan is given to altering the lines every …

Sweet Emotion

You don’t see me posting very many songs by Aerosmith because, not to put too fine of a point on it, they are incredibly stupid. There might be some cold comfort for them in knowing that they are actually the best among a cohort of …

Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication

Parliament-Funkadelic is what happened when Motown met magic mushrooms. At least that’s my theory. Because 70’s funk music is the cosmic spacechild of the psychedelic drug wackiness of the 1960’s and the consummate musicianship of professional R&B and jazz players. All the guys who had …

Still Crazy After All These Years

It’s fun to paddle out and discover new things, but how about something as warm and familiar as a childhood blanket? For the many of us who grew up with Paul Simon, his voice truly is like one of the familiar comforts of home. He …