Posts From Jeff Tamarkin

‘MacArthur Park’: Jimmy Webb’s Recipe for a Hit

“Someone left the cake out in the rain/I don’t think that I can take it ’cause it took too long to bake it.” Love it or hate it, here’s the story

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72 From ’72: The Albums That Rocked Our World

What a year for classic rock music! We listened to dozens of new albums that would still sound great decades later. Here are the best.

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Remembering Marty Balin, Jefferson Airplane/Starship Singer

The singer, who co-founded the Airplane in 1965, and later joined the offshoot band Jefferson Starship and went on to a solo career, died in 2018 at 76

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Randy Bachman of the Guess Who & BTO: Interview

In our extensive conversation, the Canadian rock great tells the story of his biggest hits with two legendary classic rock bands

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‘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.

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Byrds’ ‘Sweetheart of the Rodeo’ @50: Concert 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.

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David Clayton-Thomas Interview: His Early Years With Blood, Sweat & Tears

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.’”

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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.

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The Animals: A Final Interview with the Five Original Band Members (The Early Days)

In 1983 the British Invasion band famous for “House of Rising Sun” got together one last time. Our editor spoke with all five members

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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

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