Tag Archives: Beatles

The Luckiest Man Alive: Happy Birthday Ringo Starr, The Man Who Brought The Beat To The Beatles
Happy 77th (!) Ringo! Source: The Luckiest Man Alive: Happy Birthday Ringo Starr, The Man Who Brought The Beat To The Beatles

BROKEN BISCUITS & A STROKE OF LUCK: How Corin Ashley Picked Up The Pieces To Assemble The Most Challenging Music Of His Life, and Made Himself Whole Again
“Then, on January 6, 2016, an awful thing most 40-somethings like Ashley don’t ever think about happening – because it would be too awful to ponder – happened. Corin suffered a stroke that paralyzed the playing fingers of his left hand and all but wiped out his vocal cords in one felling swoop. Suddenly, just like that, from a hospital bed far away from the stages he had stood on since he was a teenager in cover bands, Ashley didn’t know if he’d ever speak again, much less sing or play. “

THE KING IS DEAD (But Johnny B. Goode Lives On): Chuck Berry, Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Pioneer Architect of Youthful Abandon, Dies at 90.
Chuck was/is a progenitor of the gloriously messy swamp of cross-pollinated sounds we call rock ‘n’ roll. With his own influences as disparate as T-Bone Walker and Nat “King” Cole, Berry burst on the national scene in the early 1950s as a five-tool artist who wrote, sang, played, performed, and created an exciting new form from existing traditions, effortlessly fusing elements of nascent Teenage Pop (which he helped invent), Tin Pan Alley, Blues, R&B, Rockabilly, Swing, and even Country and Western.

KEYS TO THE HIGHWAY: Remembering Nicky Hopkins, Session Man To The Stars
No wonder Nicky Hopkins felt right at home next to Jeff Beck’s wailing electric guitar. On the day of his birth, Feb. 24, 1944, an air raid hit his hometown of Perivale, England. It was 72 ago today that the late, great British pianist/keyboardist, a longtime session ace and sideman to the stars, as well as core member of […]

Turntable Spins: Our 2015 Playlist in review & rotation
RPM: Jonathan Perry’s Life In Analog was viewed about 8,500 times by casual visitors, avid readers, and loyal subscribers (whaddya waiting for pardner — it’s a free ride!) from 89 countries in 2015. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 3 sold-out performances for that many people to see it. Chances are, if you’re reading this, you had a stage-side seat.

GENIUS NEVER DIES: John Lennon’s 75th Birthday Gift To Us All (In His Life And Ours)
There is much that I’m not certain of in this world because, yes, it’s true that tomorrow never knows. But one thing I am sure of is that true genius that makes its mark on the universe never dies — no matter how many small, insignificant men or organized armies try to snuff, shoot, or silence it. So I remain heartened and convinced, with utter certainty and clarity, that John Lennon’s spirit will never be vanquished and that his strong, singular voice and vision will live now and forever.

TIME CAPSULE: On Matthew Sweet (But Not His ‘Girlfriend’) Hitting The Half-Century Mark
Cueing up Matthew Sweet on the ole turntable in honor of his birthday this week got me thinking about time (but then, doesn’t everything?). The notion of time speeding up and (thankfully) slowing down, and how it defines and marks us, after all, is precisely the effect certain music and albums have on our lives. In the case […]

The Luckiest Man Alive: Happy Birthday Ringo Starr, The Man Who Brought The Beat To The Beatles
“I consider him one of the greatest innovators of rock drumming and believe that he has been one of the greatest influences on rock drumming today … Ringo has influenced drummers more than they will ever realize or admit. Ringo laid down the fundamental rock beat that drummers are playing today and they probably don’t […]