Posts From Jeff Tamarkin
Byrds’ ‘Sweetheart of the Rodeo’ @50 Live: Review
They didn’t dare bill it as a Byrds reunion, but to those fans who caught a show on one of the year’s most talked-about tours, that’s exactly what it was.
Read More
‘Smiley Smile’: The Beach Boys Album That Wasn’t Supposed to Be
Their followup to ‘Pet Sounds’ was a quick replacement for an abandoned masterpiece-to-be. Some fans didn’t love it, but in time its reputation has grown.
Read More
‘The Band’s With Me’: A Former Groupie Lays It All Down
The memoir is a vivid, raucous, hilarious snapshot of a side of of the rock world once ubiquitous. Romano makes no excuses for any of it, nor should she.
Read More
BS&T’s David Clayton-Thomas: Interview
DCT: “I had to go back to Canada to renew my visa. A couple of days later I got a call. ‘Do you want to try out for the band?’ I said, ‘You’re damn right.’”
Read More
1966: The Year in 40 Classic Rock Albums
From this moment on, the rock album became a statement in itself, a measure of significance. Artists began looking at their albums as unified works.
Read More
The Mighty Manfred Mann: From ‘Do Wah Diddy Diddy’ to ‘Blinded By the Light’
They underwent frequent personnel changes, including several lead singers–and they were named after the keyboardist–but they kept producing hits.
Read More
Donovan Interview: Sunshine Superman and Jimmy Page
In a freewheeling, often revealing conversation, the Scottish singer-songwriter and Rock Hall inductee talks about his first big hit of the psychedelic era
Read More
Beach Boys’ Al Jardine Talks ‘Pet Sounds’: ‘Ahead of Its Time’
The Beach Boys’ founding member Al Jardine speaks with Best Classic Bands on the making of the group’s iconic album, ‘Pet Sounds’
Read More
When Motown Went to ‘War’—Edwin Starr’s #1 Hit @50
When Motown’s chief was reluctant to release an antiwar song by the Temptations as a single, another singer stepped in to re-record it. It went to #1.
Read More
‘Ringo’: His 1973 Solo Breakthrough, With a Little Help From You Know Who
Although he’d had a couple of solo hits post-Beatles, the albums just weren’t happening. Then he reached into his phone book and made a few calls.
Read More