Posts From Jeff Tamarkin

New Book Celebrates Trouser Press Music Mag’s 50th Anniversary

“We called ourselves ‘the alternative to the alternative alternatives,'” says co-founder Ira Robbins.

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Herb Alpert Interview: Still Trying to Reach the Promised Land

For a while, in the mid-’60s, he was outselling the Beatles with his group the Tijuana Brass. Now in his late 80s, he still goes to work every day.

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John Sebastian Interview: Recapturing the Lovin’ Spoonful ‘Magic’

After refusing to re-record his old hits with the Lovin’ Spoonful for decades, John Sebastian did just that with guitarist Arlen Roth. He tells us why.

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Mike Bloomfield & the Electric Flag: Long Time Comin’

He was an American guitar hero before there was such a thing. In 1967 he put together a new but short-lived band that combined blues, soul and rock.

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Beatles Documentary, ‘Eight Days a Week’: Review

The 2016 film is “a nonstop rush of adrenaline, a comfort-food feast of melodic guitars and impeccable harmonies, unbridled creativity and boundless artistic determination, cheeky wit and newness and wonder and youth. And screams—lots of screams.”

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13 Books That All Hippies Owned

In order to be a bona fide hippie, it was imperative to familiarize oneself with certain books. We’ve chosen a baker’s dozen

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‘One Toke Over the Line’ on ‘Lawrence Welk’—Huh?

In what has to be one of the most surreal moments on TV, the song was interpreted for viewers of a show that had no idea what a toke was.

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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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When Zappa Was ‘Only In It for the Money’

The third album from the genius and his motley band lampooned society and the hippies escaping it. We look back at a ’60s masterpiece.

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Tom Rush Has No Regrets—And a Great New Album

Not only a renowned singer-songwriter in his own right, Tom Rush helped popularize peers like Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Jackson Browne.

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