By Brian Arsenault Richie Havens (1941 – 2013) was not the greatest or most celebrated musical figure of his generation. He was something better. Richie Havens was an embodiment of the notion that we could all live together, black and white, all people, as people should live together. He was a gentle voice amidst a… Read More An Appreciation: Richie Havens (1)
By Devon Wendell I was very saddened to learn that Richie Havens passed away on Monday, April 22, 2013, of a heart attack at 72 years young. I wasn’t born early enough to witness Havens during his heyday of the ‘60s, performing the small folk clubs in New York City in the early part of… Read More An Appreciation: Richie Havens (2)
So Long Alvin By Brian Arsenault I clicked on the computer the other morning and there was one of those awful Daily News kind of headlines so prevalent on the internet; something like “Guitar Icon Dies.” I inhaled sharply. I listened to them all. Which one was gone? Then an even worse headline: “Alvin Lee… Read More An Appreciation: Alvin Lee of Ten Years After
By Don Heckman It was déjà vu all over again at the Greek Theatre Friday night. As it always is whenever Bob Dylan, James Taylor, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys – among others – turn up for a live performance. Which may explain with the iconic pop acts are the ones that draw… Read More Live Music: Crosby, Stills & Nash at the Greek Theatre
Crosby, Stills & Nash Crosby, Stills & Nash (Audio Fidelity) By Brian Arsenault It’s been more than 40 years since Crosby, Stills & Nash created the true goose bumps moment at the Woodstock Music Festival — for most folks via the film, rather than in the flesh, but no less striking for that. They sat… Read More CD Review: “Crosby, Stills & Nash”
By Devon Wendell Unlike the countless amount of posthumous Hendrix anthologies released over the past several decades, West Coast Seattle Boy traces Hendrix’s career as a session guitarist. The material reaches from gigs in the early to mid ‘60s — with some of the greatest legends of soul, including The Isley Brothers, Don Covay, Rosa… Read More CD Review: West Coast Seattle Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology
by Dave Gebroe In the early morning hours of August 16, 1969, Sly Stone held hundreds of thousands of love children in the palm of his hand. Watch the “Woodstock” documentary, and see for yourself. More than any of the other performers, Sly nailed it. He owned that audience. He then promptly hunkered down,… Read More On Second Thought: Sly Stone — “High on You” (1975)
The International Review of Music 