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The Rebel Rockin' Roots of Punk Rock Humor

Humorists have served as the conscience of cultures ever since (and before) court jesters ridiculed omnipotent royalty for its hypocrisy, pomposity, and corruption. Punk continues to fulfill that essential social role in relation to the powers-that-be of the modern world.

Music

Chuck Berry Made Americans Surrender to the Rhythm

Chuck Berry was not only the true king of rock 'n' roll, the architect and originator -- he was also an astute anthropologist of American culture.

Music

Bowie, Dylan, Little Richard Among the Best Pop Music Boxed Sets

Here are some of the most notable boxed sets this year in rock and pop...

Greg Kot

Music

Holy Rollers, Rock 'n' Rollers, and the Birth of Rock Music

While today rock is ubiquitous, few of us really understand the nuts and bolts of rock’s beginnings and especially not of rock’s crucial debt to the so-called "holy rollers" of the Pentecostal church. That Pentecostal-rock connection is a key to understanding what makes rock 'n' roll what it is.

James A. Cosby

Music

Rock 'n' Roll Is Dead? Again?

Actor Jack Black recently joined a long line of prognosticators shaking the death rattle for rock 'n' roll. However, Foo Fighter Dave Grohl says, "There will always be rock 'n' roll." If saltine crackers are any way of judging, I'm with Grohl on this.

Music

Little Richard: Here's Little Richard

Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" stakes its claim as the beginning of rock 'n' roll.

Music

All That Glitters: Led Zeppelin - "Rock and Roll"

In the hands of a force like Led Zeppelin, a tribute to the golden age of rock music will inevitably sound thoroughly '70s -- wantonly libidinous and bone-crushingly heavy.

Music

Jimi Hendrix, the Patron Saint of Alt-Blackness

Forty years after his death, Jimi Hendrix looms larger - and deeper - than ever within the black cultural pantheon. Even though he wasn't really 'black'.

Music

Electric Purgatory: The Fate of the Black Rocker

Little Richard once proclaimed that "rhythm-and-blues had a baby", and their offspring was rock 'n' roll.

Reviews

Little Richard Live at the Toronto Peace Festival, 1969

This brief documentary by legendary rock ’n’ roll verité artist D.A. Pennebaker provides a glimpse of a '50s firebrand’s re-emergence as a novelty act amid the final days of a decade he helped to create, but in which he had played almost no role.

Reviews

Various Artists: The Imus Ranch Record

Music

Esquerita: The Other Originator of Rock 'n' Roll Camp

This ultimate "odd man out" -- homosexual, black, bizarre-looking, crazy-behaving, and even crazier-playing rocker -- was pushed into the shadows beyond the bright lights of Little Richard.

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Celebrity Duets

As Michael Bolton oozed across the floor, my interest began to go south faster than a carpetbagger on roller skates.

Matt Cibula

Reviews

Pop Ten

The 70 Best Albums of 2018

The 10 Best Indie Rock Albums of 2018

The 10 Best Country Albums of 2018

The Best Shoegaze and Dream Pop of 2018

The 20 Best Folk Albums of 2018

The 10 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2018

The 25 Best Electronic Albums of 2018

The Best Jazz of 2018

The Best Metal of 2018

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Humorists have served as the conscience of cultures ever since (and before) court jesters ridiculed omnipotent royalty for its hypocrisy, pomposity, and corruption. Punk continues to fulfill that essential social role in relation to the powers-that-be of the modern world.

Chuck Berry was not only the true king of rock 'n' roll, the architect and originator -- he was also an astute anthropologist of American culture.

Here are some of the most notable boxed sets this year in rock and pop...

Actor Jack Black recently joined a long line of prognosticators shaking the death rattle for rock 'n' roll. However, Foo Fighter Dave Grohl says, "There will always be rock 'n' roll." If saltine crackers are any way of judging, I'm with Grohl on this.

Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" stakes its claim as the beginning of rock 'n' roll.

In the hands of a force like Led Zeppelin, a tribute to the golden age of rock music will inevitably sound thoroughly '70s -- wantonly libidinous and bone-crushingly heavy.

Forty years after his death, Jimi Hendrix looms larger - and deeper - than ever within the black cultural pantheon. Even though he wasn't really 'black'.

Little Richard once proclaimed that "rhythm-and-blues had a baby", and their offspring was rock 'n' roll.

This brief documentary by legendary rock ’n’ roll verité artist D.A. Pennebaker provides a glimpse of a '50s firebrand’s re-emergence as a novelty act amid the final days of a decade he helped to create, but in which he had played almost no role.

Little Richard's Specialty hits stand the test of time, but the rarities in this package do not.

This ultimate "odd man out" -- homosexual, black, bizarre-looking, crazy-behaving, and even crazier-playing rocker -- was pushed into the shadows beyond the bright lights of Little Richard.

As Michael Bolton oozed across the floor, my interest began to go south faster than a carpetbagger on roller skates.