Recently I was asked by a magazine writer to name my ‘favorite Billy Joel song’. That is a tough ask. To pick my all-time fave tune from a man that has sold out Madison Square Garden more than any other artist? I mean come on! I was struck dumb. He…
Category: Turntable
Tom Waits Reads Charles Bukowski
Many years ago it was my great luck to see Tom Waits perform in a very small venue in Chicago. He was really just becoming the star he eventually would. But back then it was an insiders group that braved a nasty Midwestern storm to see his show. A single…
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Start by watching the video on You Tube. (After the short commercial). Beautiful no? But this is not my favorite version of this amazing song. That would belong to the inimitable Judy Garland. But Keith Jarrett brings such sincerity to it that it is one I’m listening to upon learning…
The Pain & Genius of Roy Buchanan
“Sweet Dreams, released in 1972, remains the finest moment in the career of the man who was damned with the accolade ‘the guitarist’s guitarist’. Lauded by the likes of Jeff Beck, Gary Moore (who covered the blues-rock thriller ‘The Messiah Will Come Again’) and, more recently, Joe Bonamassa, Buchanan never…
“Remember When”, Alan Jackson
There are certain songs that make you fall in love with your life partner all over again… If you are very lucky. And this song is certainly one of ‘those songs’ that will release that emotion. It is his patience and strength that I find in his voice that makes…
Songs On My Turntable Now
I’ve loved music even longer than I’ve loved words. I think most of us have. We don’t need to learn anything to listen to music it could be reasoned. But… you actually do need to learn to listen. The world around us is filled with music. The sound of the…