Posts From Jeff Tamarkin
1968—The Year in 50 Classic Rock Albums
Rock was still very intense in ’68 but it began giving way to quieter, more roots-oriented sounds. More than anything though, the music was diverse.
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Linda Ronstadt Documentary Review: ‘I Have to Sing’
From the beginning of her career, Ronstadt was never not going to be a sensation. Only the natural course of life could make her stop singing.
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Friend & Lover’s ‘Reach Out of the Darkness’: So Groovy Now
The song begins with a lyric that could only have been written in the late ’60s: “I think it’s so groovy now that people are finally getting together.” And the record was attributed to artists whose name could only have
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Donovan Interview: Sunshine Superman and More
In a freewheeling, often revealing conversation, the Scottish singer-songwriter and Rock Hall inductee talks about his first big hit of the psychedelic era
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The Beach Boys’ Al Jardine on Pet Sounds
The Beach Boys’ founding member Al Jardine speaks with Best Classic Bands on the making of the group’s iconic album, ‘Pet Sounds’
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13 Bands That Changed Their Lead Singers
You can’t imagine the Stones without Jagger or Zeppelin without Plant. But these 13 bands all changed their lead singer and lived to tell the tale.
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That ‘Don’t Touch My Records!’ Scene in ‘Diner’
The film is a portrait of a time in America when all seemed innocent and carefree but was not: bubbling just underneath, trouble and tension.
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The Classics IV Trio: ‘Spooky,’ ‘Stormy’ & ‘Traces’
They had three huge hits in less than a year and a half. Who were they and what became of them? We look back at the brief career of the Classics IV.
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Melanie on ‘Candles in the Rain,’ ‘Brand New Key’ & More
“I was just Melanie, the cute flower child person. To the hip people, the real hipsters, I became the cool person to bash. I don’t know how that happened.”
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The Beatles’ Forgotten Top 20 Hit: A ‘Sweet’ Story
A top 20 hit in the U.S., yet it has received virtually no radio airplay in decades and is almost never mentioned in accounts of the band’s early days.
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