Music
McGuinn gives Byrds'-eye view of the band's evolution
By ED MASLEY
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Roger McGuinn was a Brill Building songwriter working the Bobby Darin beat when a new band out of England got him thinking.
"My job," the guitarist says of his days at the New York hot spot for hit-makers, "was to write songs like the ones I would hear on the radio.
Country stars honor Mandrell with tribute album
By RONNA RUBIN
Sunday, November 19, 2006
You don't have to look far to find fans of superstar Barbara Mandrell. Although she officially retired from the music business 10 years ago at the age of 48, she can still count many of today's top stars as fans.
"To me, she is the epitome of an entertainer," says Kenny Chesney.
John Mayer's ongoing saga gets bluesy boost
By CHUCK CAMPBELL
Sunday, November 19, 2006
"CONTINUUM," John Mayer (Aware/Columbia)
"Continuum" puts John Mayer on the fast track to middle age _ in all the good ways.
The 28-year-old singer-songwriter sounds remarkably seasoned as a performer and far more contemplative as a lyricist than he did on both 2001's "Room for Squares" and 2003's "Heavier Things."
Obviously, his current solo release was strongly influenced by his blues work with veteran musicians Pino Palladino and Steve Jordan _ with whom he recorded the live 2005 release "Try!" as the John Mayer Trio.
Toby Keith: 'Rock 'n' roll is dead'
By MARK BROWN
Friday, November 17, 2006
Toby Keith has some news for the music world.
"I'm not saying this to be facetious, but it's true and it's sad _ rock 'n' roll is dead," he says. "I never thought I'd live long enough in my life to hear that."
Songwriters and singers, he says, are having to gravitate toward country music to get anything heard.
"You've got so many artists trying to move to Nashville and find their format," he says.
A Q-and-A with all of the piano-playing 5Browns
By ANDREW DRUCKENBROD
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Classical music has had the Three Tenors, Anonymous 4, Les Six and even the 12 cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic. Now it has the 5 Browns.
This group is a family affair.
Strokes outplaying the crazy attention
By RACHEL LEIBROCK
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Fabrizio Moretti is glad to have survived the hype.
After all, the New York drummer's band was once held up as the Savior of All Things Rock 'n' Roll.
Not that the members of the Strokes, who are touring, didn't sometimes find themselves buying into the buzz.
Because when every other rock critic declares your band to be at the forefront of (pick your genre) the garage/new wave/modern rock revival, well, sometimes it's a little hard not to listen.
"It got to the point where I was like, 'Are we the new face of rock 'n' roll?' " says Moretti, talking on his cell phone from Los Angeles.
"But that's a bad place to be, and when you find yourself there you have to desensitize yourself."
The Strokes created a big stir in early 2001 when a major-label bidding war broke out, based on the strength of the word-of-mouth media upswell and the release of the quintet's demo, "The Modern Age."
The three-song EP impressed critics with its lean, edgy guitar riffs and icy vocals undercut with candy-sweet hooks.
But later that year, when their first full-length album, "Is This It," was released, the Strokes _ Moretti, singer-songwriter Julian Casablancas, bassist Nikolai Fraiture and guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr.
Elton John back on track; two classical releases
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Rock/Pop:
Elton John. "The Captain and the Kid." (Interscope)
Capturing the sound of 30 years ago is often easier for cocky young artists than the ones who actually labored back in the day; the Stones being a prime example.
On "The Captain and the Kid," Elton John finds it rather smooth sailing, particularly with songwriter Bernie Taupin, guitarist Davey Johnstone and drummer Nigel Olsson all on board.
"The Captain" is billed as the sequel to "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy," the last truly acclaimed album from John's '70s heyday.
See you again on 'The Dark Side'
By SCOTT MERVIS
Sunday, November 05, 2006
It begins with a simple, soothing request _ "Breathe ... breathe in the air" _ and then proceeds to blow your mind.
Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon," released in the post-hippie haze of 1973, is a staggering work that helped define a new era of high fidelity rock while also acting as an essential rite of passage for teenagers experimenting with things to breathe in other than air.
Spawned by a band with an acute identity crisis and only modest prior success, it became a monster, lingering on the Billboard Top 200 for 741 consecutive weeks, the longest of any record in history.
Team Timberlake, Timbaland yield tentative results
By CHUCK CAMPBELL
Sunday, November 05, 2006
"FUTURESEX/LOVESOUNDS," Justin Timberlake (Jive)
The women of pop have taken some transitional journeys lately. Nelly Furtado went sexy, Christina Aguilera went retro, and Beyonce went for a ride with manipulative producers.
Justin Timberlake does a bit of all three on "FutureSex/LoveSounds," his follow to 2003's "Justified."
Producer Timbaland, the force behind Furtado's "Promiscuous" summer breakout, thoroughly works over Timberlake for the singer's latest outing, sometimes adding his own gruff vocals to the mix (as he did with Furtado).
Boys in Carolina Rain find security in their work
By RONNA RUBIN
Sunday, November 05, 2006
It was job security that brought together the three members of country music up-and-comers Carolina Rain. Actually, it was jobs in security.
Singer/songwriter Rhean Boyer had taken a job as a security guard at Belmont University near Music Row in Nashville when he met fellow guard (and baritone singer, guitar and banjo player) Marvin Evatt.
