Category Archives: Music

Four books about Bob Dylan, reviewed in free verse

Carl Benson’s The Bob Dylan Companion: Four Decades Of Commentary Clinton Heylin’s Bob Dylan: A Life In Stolen Moments, Day By Day 1941-1995 Paul Williams’s Bob Dylan: Performing Artist, The Early Years 1960-1973 Paul Williams’s Bob Dylan: Performing Artist, The … Continue reading

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Bob Dylan’s New Morning, and Dylan & the Dead; and Bob Dylan & The Band’s Before the Flood and The Basement Tapes

I’m a big fan of the remastered series of Bob Dylan’s catalogue that Columbia’s been piecing out to us over the years. I don’t think they sound as good as pristine copies of the original vinyl, but for digital versions, … Continue reading

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Bob Dylan’s Together Through Life

There’s a funny thing that happens whenever Dylan releases an album that the critics like (I think it averages out at one every three releases). When they fall all over themselves praising an album, as they did 2006’s Modern Times, … Continue reading

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James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown

A lot has been said and written about A Complete Unknown, pretty much all of it of it good. There are so many ways for a movie like this to go wrong, and director James Mangold seems to have avoided … Continue reading

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Stein Urheim’s Speilstillevariasjoner

Norwegian guitarist and composer Stein Urheim has an extensive back catalog on the Hubro label going back a dozen years, and also has contributed to the music of several other Hubro artists (and favorites of mine), including Frode Haltli’s Avant … Continue reading

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Ry Cooder 1972-1995: An omnibus review

Ry Cooder (Reprise, 1970) Into The Purple Valley (Reprise, 1972) Boomer’s Story (Reprise, 1972) Paradise & Lunch (Reprise, 1974) Chicken Skin Music (Reprise, 1976) Showtime (Warner Bros., 1977) Jazz (Warner Bros., 1978) Bop Til You Drop (Warner Bros., 1979) Borderline … Continue reading

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Charles O’Connor’s Angel on the Mantlepiece: The Resolution Suite, and Ray Randall’s Polly Swallow

Chuck Lipsig wrote this review. Whitby is a small English port on the North Sea with a long history, dating back to the seventh century. Its famous sons include explorer James Cook and 19th century photographer Frank Meadows Sutcliffe. It … Continue reading

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John Stewart’s Havana

John Stewart was an early member of the Kingston Trio, replacing Dave Guard in 1961. He wrote one of the Monkees’ greatest hits (“Daydream Believer”). He inspired Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac to play guitar. Buckingham paid him back for … Continue reading

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Various artists’ Expresso Bongo, Original London Cast Recording

Liz Milner wrote this review. Why did I spend an inordinate amount of time tracking down this forgotten London musical from 1958? To quote our Music Editor’s response to my query, “Sir Thomas More singing to a Latin jazz beat? … Continue reading

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The Barn Owl Band’s Barn Owls Live

Tim Hoke wrote this review. I’m often disappointed with recordings done by dance bands. Outstanding dance bands generally can’t reproduce that energy in a studio, and the end result is lackluster, even boring. By recording in a live setting, The … Continue reading

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