Authors and critics might be correct when they write off Detroit-area saxophone player Steve Mackay as simply a sideman to the Iggy Pop-led Stooges in the early ’70s, but doing so sadly undervalues the importance of his contributions. Hired hand or not, any musician would want to be involved in making a musical masterwork. Continue reading
While any music fan would likely be hard-pressed to recognize the name of Thomas Erdelyi, his contributions to the Ramones, the birth of punk rock and rock ‘n’ roll as a whole long ago earned him a critically important place in the American musical pantheon. Continue reading
Pete Seeger never looked like a revolutionary. Sporting squinty eyes, usually dressed in bland, workman-like clothes and with a banjo on his knee, Seeger had none of the flash and theatrics of others who brazenly go against society’s currents. Continue reading
News broke Tuesday that Pink Floyd co-founder and longtime musical hermit Syd Barrett had died last week, concluding one of pop music’s great vanishing acts. Although his creative output totals only a few dozen psychedelica-infused songs, Barrett’s influence permeates not only his ex-bandmates’ classic albums but countless artists today. Continue reading
With his passing, it’s important to remember the former Beatle George Harrison and shedding light on the self-proclaimed “dark horse.” Continue reading
Curtis Mayfield’s delicate falsetto always had a cool feeling to it. And yet, it was the burning-passion of his songs that solidified his reputation as one of soul music’s greatest singer-songwriters and social critics. Mayfield died on Dec. 26, 1999. He was 57. Continue reading
Thirty years after he was part of turning rock music on its head, Rick Danko, bassist and vocalist for the Band, died on Dec. 10. Though Danko’s and the Band’s fame have been mostly forgotten in recent years, their legacy and vital importance in rock music can’t be understated. Continue reading
Soundbytes Music Column 