GENERATIONS

The “big package,” it turned out, was the Ode Records production of Tommy. Indeed, as a product it was a bit like the rock equivalent of Ben Hur with an all-star cast. The original Tommy, the brain child of Pete Townshend and The Who, was the self-proclaimed first rock opera. It was The Who’s first […]

The “big package,” it turned out, was the Ode Records production of Tommy. Indeed, as a product it was a bit like the rock equivalent of Ben Hur with an all-star cast. The original Tommy, the brain child of Pete Townshend and The Who, was the self-proclaimed first rock opera. It was The Who’s first […]

In February 1973, the Vietnam War — the longest war in American history to that point — is drawing to an end. More than any war before it (except the Civil War), it confused and divided the American people, forced many to disavow their government, become cynical of its intentions. It led to the beatings […]

http://youtu.be/Qn85BeeiwZo The world press, though entirely cynical nonetheless runs the stories and interviews. Like The Beatles before them, John and Yoko prepare to invade America, to carry their message to the heart of the beast. It is then that John Lennon’s visa is denied. The Ono / Lennons keep at it. They fly to Canada […]

“Give Peace a Chance” is released on July 7, 1969. In November of that year John returns his medal honoring him as a “Member of the (Order of the) British Empire” (M.B.E.) to “protest Britain’s involvement in Biafra and support of America in Vietnam.” He also says that he returns the M.B.E. to protest “Cold […]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwNg4lHFj7I&feature=youtube_gdata_player This video is a link from You Tube. All copyrights remain with the original copyright holders.

They have a new record out: Exile on Main Street, a great title for the new Rolling Stones: the once-ragged band of London’s cold-water flats are now English tax refugees living on France’s Côte d’Azur. Stories of Bill Wyman lunching with Marc Chagall appear in the press. The gaunt outlaw of rock ‘n’ roll, Keith […]

I met Boz in London where Glyn Johns was producing Boz’s second album. I remembered Boz tearing at his hair, a man almost finished recording his record, most of the tracks completed, without a single lyric written. I remember Boz, a great cook, standing over a stove in Pacific Heights, San Francisco, pouring wine into […]

Peter Asher, once head of Apple Records’ Talent Division, where he signed James Taylor, and, prior to that, as “Peter” of Peter and Gordon (World Without Love”), had moved to Los Angeles taking James Taylor with him. Peter, who at first appears so shy that he may hesitate to ask you for the time, somehow […]

This video only viewable directly on You Tube: here. It was quiet in the car, the morning after the gig of the night before. I’m still wondering what we are going to do about a cover, and, as with the journey north, a good deal of my attention is consumed wondering if I’ll survive, when […]