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Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Tears of a Clown
“If there’s a smile on my face, it’s only there trying to fool the public, but when it comes down to fooling you, now honey that’s quite a different subject.” I don’t think there is a better opening line of lyrics and verse melody ever crafted in a pop song. It’s the perfect combination of clever introspective word…
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My New Music Video, Chain Letter!
UPDATE: 12/22/2013. This song has undergone an significant overhaul in the past few months. First, the immortal Feliziano B. Flores came by to help me flesh out the chorus and middle part. Mr. Flores was wonderfully inspiring, providing incredible work under time pressured conditions and my less than reliable producing. I thank him for that. Still,…
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Making More Rock And Roll, Deconstructing Sgt. Pepper
Well, I haven’t updated the ole’ website in a good while, and the reason is because I’m still making more rock and roll. The intention of this humble little corner of internet space was never to be a daily rock and roll blog, that happened more or less organically. The site was created to feature…
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Happy 72 John Lennon, Woman
Well, if John Lennon had survived, he’d be 72 years old today. I do think its kind of strange to wish a dead man happy birthday, but this is John Lennon, a guy that still lives in my fantasies and dreams. Along with Martin Luther King Jr., JFK, RFK, and Bob Marley, John Lennon is…
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Petula Clark, Downtown, A Sign of the Times
Normally, when you think about the end of the baseball season, you don’t think about Petula Clark, but I do. I’m a rabid New York Mets fan, and when I was a kid, I had a VHS of “Amazin Era,” a film about the history of the New York Mets from 1962-1985. I watched that…
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The Bobby Fuller Four, I Fought the Law
The year was 1966. Bobby Fuller was a 23-year-old Texas rocker, riding high off the chart topping success of “I Fought the Law.” He had moved out to California, been experimenting with LSD like the rest of his generation, and then suddenly, he died. How? Why? Nobody is really certain to this day. He was…
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The Beach Boys, Good Vibrations
“Good Vibrations” was never my favorite Beach Boys song. Its taken me years of casual indifference before I really warmed up to it, and it was only when I found the song’s proverbial sunny side. For years I was turned off by the songs aggressive psychedelic atmosphere. I was always slightly afraid of the dark…
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The Beach Boys, God Only Knows
After accidentally realizing that he was a musical genius, Brian Wilson stepped up his efforts by the mid 60s. Looking for a more serious direction, he began collaborating with lyricist Tony Asher, who helped interpret Brian’s musical ideas into focused lyrical concepts. The increased level of lyrical and musical sophistication also stretched the limits of…
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The Beach Boys, Surfer Girl
It’s hard to imagine that summer is almost over. I’m actually on my third summer in a row. Just when summer ended in 2011, I jetted for Sydney, and spent 5 months there just as Australia’s summer dawned, fully missing America’s cold months. I returned home in March 2012, just in time for Spring, hence…
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The Beach Boys, In My Room
Followers of this site know I have about one billion tributes, breakdowns, and videos of my favorite group ever, the Beatles. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think I am some sort of pasty, Union Jack waving, North Englander filled with way too much national pride. The reality is, that while I am pasty,…