Tag Archives: Music

Marc Estrin : The Revolutionary Messages of Classical Music

Johannes Brahms by Lucian Tidorescu. Protest music:Radical themes of the great composers The Brahms Requiem is also movement music, unbearably beautiful, revealingly deep — like our afflicted lives. By Marc Estrin / The Rag Blog / January 25, 2010 In … Continue reading

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Songbird Kate McGarrigle : Heart Like a Wheel

Kate McGarrigle. Photo from BeatCrave courtesy McGarrigles.comKate McGarrigle:The fading art of singing together “Some say the heart is just like a wheel, once you bend it, you just can’t mend it…” By Carl R. Hultberg / The Rag Blog / … Continue reading

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MUSIC / Dynamic Compression : Yes, It Really is Too Loud!

Christopher Clark graphed the peak levels of and RMS levels of three hit songs a year over the past three decades. Here is a link to a PDF of his full poster, “A Visual History Of Loudness.”The loudness wars:Why music … Continue reading

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Liam Clancy : Putting the Irish in Folk

>Above, Liam Clancey. Below, The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem.The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem:Irish music and the American folk scene By Carl R. Hultberg / The Rag Blog / December 17, 2009 In the beginning it was William Clancy, … Continue reading

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Rocking New Hampshire : James Montgomery and J. Geils

James Montgomery, coiling and kicking. Photo from The Sun Chronicle.Rocking New Hampshire blues:James Montgomery and J. Geils at The Middle He rushes forward on stage like a ranting king exhorting the other players, filling in rhythm details with showy flashes … Continue reading

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Prepare to Howl : Dana Lyons’ ‘Three Legged Coyote’

A happy holiday howl:Dana Lyons’ Three Legged Coyote is an irreverent hoot By Harvey Wasserman / The Rag Blog / December 6, 2009 If you’re bummed by Obama, nagged by nukes and turned totally off by your TV, here’s a … Continue reading

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RIP Bobby Keane : The Rise and Fall of a Music Man

Ritchie Valens, left, and Bob Keane, then president of Del-Fi Records, on TV show in Los Angeles, 1958. Photo from Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images.Musician and music biz progidy:The ill-starred life of Bobby Keane By Carl R. Hultberg / … Continue reading

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Bitter Tears : The Untold Story of Johnny Cash

Top, Cash’s album, “Bitter Tears,” met with opposition from the music industry. Below, Pima Indian Ira Hayes, celebrated by Johnny Cash, helped raise the flag at Iwo Jima, an act caught in the famous photograph by Joe Rosenthal. Hayes died … Continue reading

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Through the Gate in ’66 : Howling Wolf Au Go Go

Chester Arthur Burnett, aka Howling Wolf.When I was sixteen:Hitting the Village with my grandfather Wolf sang every song to the pretty hippie boy sitting directly in front of me, who turned out to be Davy Jones of the Monkees. By … Continue reading

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Hall of Fame Concerts : Rocking the Garden!

Hall of Fame rock ‘n rollers: Bono and Mick Jagger. Photo from Mirror, U.K.Hall of Fame benefit: Taking rock and roll to a new level By Harvey Wasserman / The Rag Blog / November 3, 2009[With Gary Baumgarten and Abbie … Continue reading

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Dick Flacks : Pete Seeger’s Project

Celebrating Pete Seeger:Our political troubador More than any other individual, he had conceived and fostered a tradition of protest song that drew from a number of cultural roots, had significant political consequence, and reshaped the forms and content of popular … Continue reading

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American Jazz Musicians Struggle in Retirement

More than 100 musicians and supporters of “Jazz for Justice Artists!” turned out for a rally that began at the Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village. Photo: Kirsten Luce/New York TimesAfter years filled with jazz, struggling in retirementBy Emily S. … Continue reading

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