Bob Stanley provides an utterly comprehensive and much-appreciated reference guide for the world of pre-rock pop music. We just need to carve out a million hours to stream the music.
In The Philosophy of Modern Song, Bob Dylan conveys his thoughts in his signature styles, as in his lyrics, he can be plainspoken, gnomic, and over the top.
Bob Dylan’s The Philosophy of Modern Song is an awful book, awash with misogyny and crusty old man rants like a drunken, MAGA hat-wearing uncle.
The desire for personal love, secular community, and religious redemption make for a powerful package on Ruthie Foster’s Healing Time.
In this excerpt from Bob Stanley’s history of pop music, Let’s Do It, the music and stories of iconic singers Judy Garland and Billie Holiday are forever intertwined.
Tom Waits splashes about in his “puddle of consciousness”, testing Michael Goldberg’s sense of humor in this interview excerpted from Goldberg’s new book, Addicted to Noise.
Rory Block offers blues takes on female pop hits. The best songs on Ain’t Nobody Worried showcase her soulful guitar playing as much as her expressive voice.
As extremist minorities corrode social liberties, it’s time to take our rusting democratic values to Joe’s Garage where Frank Zappa waits with his sleeves rolled up.
Even the Rolling Stones fans who could endure “Lady Jane” never recovered from Jagger’s falsetto, among other things, in “Emotional Rescue”, but that’s their loss.
Young Blood showcases Marcus King’s masterful ability to wring all the emotion out of a note and hit listeners between the ears with a double-headed weapon.
Acclaimed Americana artist Chris Pierce switches on the electricity for the blues-drenched tune, “45 Jukebox”.
Bob Dylan’s 1966 song, “Visions of Johanna”, stirred Germaine Greer, Greil Marcus, and other notable critics to argue the song’s meaning and influences. Who is right?
