Chris Whitley’s short, restless career encompassed folk, noise rock, jazz, country, mainstream rock and the blues. He was discovered by producer Daniel Lanois who helped him score a major label record deal with Columbia Records in 1988. His first album, “Living With The Law” was a mainstream rock affair with good songs that gave him […]
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Love Sick” by Mariachi El Bronx
This choice cover comes from the exceptional multi-artist 3-CD set called “Chimes Of Freedom – The Songs Of Bob Dylan” released in 2012 to benefit Amnesty International. I love what Mariachi El Bronx do with this song, completely recasting it to fit their sound. Actually Mariachi El Bronx is the alter ego of the Los […]
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Generation Landslide” by Alice Cooper
Some records keep getting better with time. “Billion Dollar Babies” by Alice Cooper is certainly one of them featuring songs like “Elected,” the title cut (featuring guest artist Donovan), “Sick Things,” “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” “Unfinished Suite” and this song. The album was originally packaged like an alligator skin wallet complete with photos, a […]
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Freedom Fighters” by Todd Rundgren’s Utopia
They were originally billed at Todd Rundgren’s Utopia for their first few albums in 1974 and 1975, and then they just became Utopia…but under any name they were just another vehicle for Todd to go all prog on us instead of sticking to the radio-friendly pop and blue-eyed soul that he’d been serving out up […]
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Soul Sacrifice” by Santana
This blazing performance comes to you from the Woodstock Music & Arts Fair, the mother of all rock festivals. It’s amazing to watch a then, mostly unknown, Carlos Santana catch fire in front of the biggest audience he had ever played to at that point…not to mention that he was tripping his face off on […]
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “I’ve Had Enough” by Pete Townshend
One of the gems I picked up on a Record Store Day was the second volume of Quadrophenia demos by Pete Townshend pressed on 10″ vinyl. The first volume was released in November 2011 on Black Friday Record Store Day. Also in 2011, The Who released a deluxe Quadrophenia CD box set that featured the […]
Song Of The Day – “Joy In Repetition” by Prince
Editor’s note: this originally ran on January 18, 2012 There are guitarist who can play from the head, but rarer are the guitarists who play from the heart….you know, the ones whose emotions are left out hangin’ to dry with each note. Jimi Hendrix did…so did Jerry Garcia and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Derek Trucks sure […]
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “He’s My Baby” by Jean Shepard
There was an interesting time during the late 1950s where straight Country ‘n’ Western music melded with then-burgeoning Rock ‘n’ Roll and Rhythm ‘n’ Blues, giving birth to classic Rockabilly. Capitol records was a hotbed for Rockabilly recording crossover artists like Ferlin Husky, Faron Young, Wanda Jackson, Hank Thompson, Jerry Reed, Gene Vincent and Skeets […]
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “A Change Of Horses” by Ian Anderson
They said it couldn’t be done! Ian Anderson created a sequel to Jethro Tull’s classic 1972 album, “Thick As A Brick” answering the question “What ever happened to Gerald Bostock?,” the fictional character at the heart of the original album. Well, 40 years later and now we have “TAAB2” or “Thick As A Brick 2” […]
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Sixteen Saltines” by Jack White
He may have changed his color schemes from red and white to blue for his first solo record, but this song isn’t a White of a different color musically…and that’s a good thing! As the NY Times recently stated, he’s a “Jack Out-Of-The-Box” when it comes releasing records. In an effort to try alternative means […]
