Posts From Mark Leviton

Mark Leviton

Mark Leviton began writing about music and pop culture in 1967, with credits in Rolling Stone, Creem, Fusion, Bay Area Musician, LA Weekly, Phonograph Record and many fly-by-night publications. For 25 years he worked for the Warner Music Group and Rhino Records, producing hundreds of compilation albums and historical reissues, placing recordings in films and TV, and generally having a blast. His bi-weekly radio show "Pet Sounds" is heard on KVMR-FM in Nevada City, CA and the website www.petsoundsmusic.com.

‘Johnny Rivers at the Whisky à Go Go’ @60: Rockin’ on Stage

If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to dance to live rock and roll at a Los Angeles discotheque in 1964, here is your answer.

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Graham Parker ‘Squeezing Out Sparks’: Simple As a Heartbeat

The 1979 album doesn’t have a weak song or performance, and continues to be cited as the British singer-songwriter’s greatest achievement.

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Joni Mitchell ‘Ladies of the Canyon’: Painting the Canvas

The album sets out clearly the direction Mitchell would take for the rest of her career, leaving behind the constraints of folk music.

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The Allman Brothers Band’s ‘Eat a Peach’: Farewell to a Brother

Started before the death of Duane Allman, and completed after he was gone, the album served as a poignant, multifaceted farewell to the guitar great.

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The Doobie Brothers—‘The Captain and Me’: Polishing a Diamond

By the time they started recording their third album, the San Jose band had transformed itself into an eclectic and progressive group.

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Todd Rundgren ‘A Wizard, A True Star’: Brilliant & Baffling

Was Todd’s against-the-grain psychedelic album a masterpiece or a slab of unintelligible self-indulgence? We look back at a ’70s classic

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Van Morrison and ‘Moondance’: A Brand New Day

Always singing as if his life depends on a good take, the 1970 album is a lesson in musical brilliance, flexibility and hard work.

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Genesis’ ‘A Trick of the Tail’: A New Beginning

The album proved that Genesis was set to achieve commercial and artistic successes beyond what they’d accomplished during the Peter Gabriel years.

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John Prine ‘The Missing Years’: With the Heartbreakers

The album, with its great lineup won him the first of his four Grammys.

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Elvis Costello and the Attractions’ ‘Get Happy!!’: Stack of Tracks

The album is packed with “20 original hits by the original artist,” some of the most intense, gut-wrenching, clever and joyfully sad songs he ever wrote

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