Rock
Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil on the Prospects of a Solo Album
Kyle Meredith With… Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil jumps into the Delorean with Kyle Meredith to revisit the Screaming Life/FOPP compilation, the “Room Without a View” single, and how the Seattle band found inspiration in The Melvins, Malfunkshun, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and The Beatles. The guitarist also recalls writing page-turner music for the Encarta 95 program, the label issuing the Alive in the Superunknown CD-ROM, and forming The No WTO Combo alongside Krist Novoselic and Jello Biafra. Upon their return to the present, Thayil also says he was about to do a tour with The Blasters’ Dave Alvin before t...
Little Richard Was a Quiet Civil Rights Pioneer Whose Concerts Helped Push Culture Past Segregation
“With Richard, although they still had the audiences segregated in the building, they were there together. And most times, before the end of the night, they would all be mixed together,” — producer H.B. Barnum in biography ‘The Life and Times of Little Richard.’ The early history of rock ‘n’ roll is a story of segregation — and Little Richard, who died of bone cancer at 87 on May 9, was a key player in the fight to destroy it. Because of Jim Crow laws, and racism in general, African-American musicians from Louis Armstrong to Charlie Parker to Motown revues traveling through the South spent much of the 20th century relegated to black hotels and black restaurants, denied entrance even to hotels where they were headlining. Ballrooms and auditoriums dr...
With Little Richard’s Death, Only Two Members of the Inaugural Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class Are Still Living
Rock’n’roll really does keep you young. But not immortal, sad to say. With Little Richard‘s death today (May 9) at age 87, now just two members of the inaugural class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are still living — Jerry Lee Lewis, who is 84, and Don Everly, the older of The Everly Brothers, who is 83. The other members of the first class, from 1986, have all died. Three of them were inducted posthumously: Buddy Holly had died way back in 1959 (at age 22), Sam Cooke in 1964 (at age 33) and Elvis Presley in 1977 (at age 42). But all of the other members of the inaugural class lived to see their inductions and in fact made it into the 2000s, which suggests that rock’n’roll really does keep you young. But not immortal, sad to say: Ray Ch...
Here’s How Billboard Reviewed Little Richard’s ‘Tutti Frutti’ in 1955
The song was Little Richard’s first entry on a Billboard chart in 1955. There wasn’t much else like “Tutti Frutti” when Little Richard premiered the song in 1955. The risqué song about sex and dancing, helped Richard land performing slots in clubs, and later established him as a certified hitmaker. The track also earned him his first career Billboard chart entry in 1955, debuting at No. 12 on the Best Sellers in Stores chart in November 1955, and later reaching No. 17 on the Most Played in Juke Boxes tally in 1956. Before that, though, Billboard reviewed the song in the October 29, 1955 issue of the magazine, calling it “A cleverly styled novelty with nonsense words.” Here’s the full mini-review from the magazine, alongside other by The Cadillacs, Piano Red, Margie Day and Rollee McG...
Ranking: The Beatles’ Albums from Worst to Best
Almost everybody has a Beatles moment. Mine came when I was 10 years old, riding in the middle row of a 1994 Dodge Caravan on a family road trip from Indiana down to the Great Smoky Mountains. My step-brother had just gotten cassette copies of 1962-1966 and 1967-1970, better remembered as “The Red Album” and “The Blue Album” by anyone who grew up with parents who’d spent the ’60s as teenagers. We played those tapes non-stop from Kokomo to Gatlinburg and back again, the sounds of “Love Me Do” and “Ticket to Ride” and “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” on a continuous week-long loop. I remember tears welling in my eyes during “In My Life”, the hairs raising on the back of my neck at the start of “Eleanor Rigby”, the strange kaleidoscopic friendliness that radiated off of “Penny Lane” and “All Y...
Foo Fighters Share 2006 Skin and Bones Concert Film for Free: Watch
In 2006, the Foo Fighters performed an acoustic concert at Los Angeles’ Pantages Theatre. The show was packaged as a CD and film, both called Skin and Bones, and as a charity fundraiser the Foos have now released that iconic footage for free. Watch it below. The movie was directed by Danny Clinch, who appears on-stage during “Another Round” to play harmonica. In addition to the usual Foo crew of Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, and Chris Shiflett, frontman Dave Grohl was joined by the tour team of Petra Harden, Drew Hester, Rami Jeffee, and Pat Smear, the latter two of whom subsequently joined the band as full-time members. The performance at the Pantages Theatre had been proceeded by a lengthy acoustic tour. Before a rendition of “Next Year”, Grohl explained how that experience had chang...
Filter’s Richard Patrick Reflects on ‘Short Bus’ at 25: I Was Done Riding Trent Reznor’s Coattails
‘I had taken a risk that I was going to make it on my own, and not gain notoriety as the guitar player for Nine Inch Nails anymore.’ Richard Patrick spent the last weeks of the winter of 1994 with Ben Grosse at Pearl Sound in Canton, Mich., overseeing the final mixes for what would become his vitriolic industrial outfit’s inaugural offering, Short Bus. Cut off from the outside world, with his focus squarely on finishing his 1995 debut LP, the Filter frontman had no idea one of the unfinished record’s tracks was already in heavy rotation at rock radio stations nationwide thanks to a last-minute request from the producers of the soundtrack for an underknown Billy Zane-anchored horror film. The song, of course, was “Hey Man, Nice Shot,” which appeared in Tales From the Crypt ...
Bob Dylan Sets New Album ‘Rough And Rowdy Ways,’ Releases ‘False Prophet’: Stream It Now
Bob Dylan has been busy of late. The master songwriter and Hall of Famer dropped a new song in March, the 17-minute epic “Murder Most Foul,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Rock Digital Song Sales, his first-ever leader on a Billboard chart. Then in April, he shared “I Contain Multitudes.” At midnight, Dylan released another new track “False Prophet” and announced a new album Rough And Rowdy Ways, due out next month. “False Prophet” is accompanied with a sinister piece of artwork that could be an old poster for a Hammer Horror film. We’re greeted by a skeleton in a sharp suit and top hat, carrying an old-school hypodermic in one hand, and a mystery present in another. His shadow is that of a man hanging from a noose. The song itself isn’t quite so grim. It’s a slow blue...
10 Famous Beatles Locations You Can Visit
On Location is a new series that brings to life the places you know from songs, album covers, and music history. Consider it a blur between travel guide and liner notes to your favorite albums. The Beatles: you’ve heard the songs, seen the footage, and heard about the places. What you may not have done yet, though, is step into their world. The Midas touch of the Fab Four has turned everyday locations from London to Liverpool — such as a crosswalk, an office building, a local street, and a pub — into some of the most iconic locations in music history. To see these locations in person for the first time is like finally being in the same place as a partner with whom you’re in a long-distance relationship: they’re always there, but to be able to actually see them adds an almost indescri...
Reignwolf Fights “Cabin Fever” with New Song Recorded in His Garage: Stream
Jordan Cook of Reignwolf has been isolating like the rest of us, and like the rest of us he’s going a bit crazy. He’s channeled those emotions into the new quarantine banger “Cabin Fever”. Cook recorded the song in his garage using one mic and a a 4-track recorder. He pounded out that violent drum beat himself, while attacking the guitar riffs with nervous, almost jittery fingers. The lyrics are urgent and wild. “I go insane! Insane! Insane! Insane!/ Wait for tomorrow to be yesterday.” In a statement, he explained how the song came together with “tension” baked in. “The song came together quickly and I didn’t want to wait to record it so I used what was available. I dusted off the 4-track, set up a single mic in the garage and went to work. It felt like old times when I used to r...
Axl Rose Just Took a Shot at Steve Mnuchin, and The Treasury Secretary Fired Back
Axl Rose is the most enigmatic of rock stars. The Guns N’ Roses front man doesn’t release music nearly often enough, and he’s not prolific on social media. When he does unleash, oh boy, folks pay attention. The Hall of Famer let fly with a tweet Wednesday night, taking full aim at Steve Mnuchin, the polarizing Secretary of the Treasury. “It’s official! Whatever anyone may have previously thought of Steve Mnuchin he’s officially an asshole,” Rose tweeted. It’s official! Whatever anyone may have previously thought of Steve Mnuchin he’s officially an asshole. — Axl Rose (@axlrose) May 6, 2020 Mnuchin, who looks like a guy who’s great at counting money but not big on beefs, actually shot back. “What have you done for the country lately?,” reads his tweet, which he completed with an emoji...
Lollapalooza Opens the Vault on Foo Fighters’ Classic 2011 Concert
Lollapalooza is hoping to wait out the coronavirus pandemic, delaying the lineup announcement but not cancelling just yet. In the meantime, the Chicago institution has begun releasing classic performances from the vault. First up was The Strokes 2010 comeback concert, and now today, Thursday May 7th, the festival has shared the Foo Fighters’ legendary show from 2011. Tune in below beginning at 8:00 p.m. EDT. That 20-song gig was notable for bad weather and a great performance to overcome it. “I don’t give a fuck if it’s raining tonight!” frontman Dave Grohl howled into the audience. The torrential downpour reached its zenith during “My Hero”, as the audience shouted along in one wild and muddy mass. At the end of the show, Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction joined Grohl on stage for a ...
