(Above: At 79 Sonny Rollins still has plenty to say with his horn.) By Joel Francis Sonny Rollins’ saxophone has the power to bend time. For nearly two hours Thursday night, the jazz legend and his five-piece band melted minutes like hot butter in front of a near-capacity crowd at the Walton Arts Center in [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Joel Francis’
Review: Sonny Rollins
Posted in Concert review, tagged Bob Cranshaw, Bobby Broom, Clifton Anderson, In A Sentimental Mood, jazz, jazz legend, Joel Francis, Kobe Watkins, music, Noel Coward, Saxophone Colossus, Sonny Rollins, Walton Arts Center on April 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The Day the Music Survived
Posted in Music history, tagged American Pie, Bill Haley, Bo Diddley, Bo Diddley Beat, Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Don McLean, Elvis Costello, Elvis Preley, Eric Clapton, Fats Domino, Fender Stratocaster, Jeff Beck, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimi Hendrix, Joel Francis, Johnny Cash, Little Richard, Neil Diamond, Not Fade Away, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Beach Boys, the Beatles, the day the music died, the Rolling Stones, Weezer, White Stripes, Woodstock on February 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Above: “True Love Ways” is The Daily Record’s favorite Buddy Holly song. By Joel Francis Fifty years ago this week, the plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper crashed in an Iowa cornfield, claiming its passengers and 22-year-old pilot Roger Peterson. The event became known as “The Day the Music Died,” but [...]
The Elgins – “Darling Baby”
Posted in Motown, tagged Berry Gordy, Elgins, Hitsville U.S.A., Holland-Dozier-Holland, Joel Francis, soul music, Temptations on January 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The Elgins – “Darling Baby,” Pop #72, R&B #4 The Elgins started as a trio in 1962 who called themselves The Downbeats. When they added frontwoman Sandra Edwards (nee Mallet) and another singer, they switched their name to the Elgins. That wouldn’t have been a problem, except copies of “Darling Baby” were already being pressed, [...]
Stevie Wonder – “Uptight (Everything Is Alright)”
Posted in Motown, tagged Berry Gordy, Clarence Paul, Hitsville U.S.A., Joel Francis, Ray Charles, soul music, Stevie Wonder, Uptight on January 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Stevie Wonder – “Uptight (Everything Is Alright),” Pop #3, R&B #1 By Joel Francis Nearly two years after success of “Fingertips,” Little Stevie finally found a follow-up hit – just in the nick of time. Motown had just about given up on him. Never mind that Wonder hadn’t been given much to work with: an [...]
Remembering Ron Asheton of The Stooges
Posted in Music history, tagged Andy Warhol, David Bowie, Dick Dale, Dinosaur Jr, free jazz, Guitar gods, Iggy Pop, Impulse Records, Joel Francis, John Coltrane, MC5, My Generation, No Fun, Obituary, Pete Townshend, Pharaoh Sanders, Pink Floyd, pre-punk, punk rock, R.L. Burnside, Raw Power, reunion band, Rolling Stones, Ron Asheton, Seek and Destroy, Sex Pistols, Sonic Youth, the Beatles, the Damned, The Stooges, the Who, the Yardbirds, Velvet Underground, White Stripes on January 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
(Above: The Stooges do “1969″ in 2007.) By Joel Francis When Ron Asheton started playing electric guitar in the mid-’60s, there were no signs pointing the way he wanted to go. The Beatles were just starting to experiment with feedback and backwards instrumentation on their albums; Pink Floyd was buried in the London underground and [...]
Rock Hall Celebrates 50 Years of Motown
Posted in Motown, Music history, tagged Berry Gordy, Bobby Rogers, Diana Ross, Fox Theater, Funk Brothers, Hitsville U.S.A., James Jamerson, Joel Francis, Mary Wilson, Motown Turns 50, museum exhibit, Rick James, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Rock Hall, Stevie Wonder, The Miracles, the Supremes on January 9, 2009 | 6 Comments »
Above: Part of the new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame exhibit celebrating 50 years of Motown Records. The exhibit is open all year. (Photo courtesy of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.) By Joel Francis It may seem hard to believe, but “the sound of young America” is 50 years old. To celebrate [...]
Another Side of Norah Jones
Posted in Album review, review, tagged A Tribe Called Quest, Andre 3000, Beyonce, Come Away With Me, El Madmo, Fugees, hip hop, J. Dilla, Joel Francis, Little Willies, Norah Jones, OutKast, Q-Tip, Talib Kweli, Wilco, Wyclef Jean on January 5, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Above: Norah Jones strolls through Wilco’s “Jesus, Etc.” at the 2008 Bridge School Benefit concert. By Joel Francis When Beyonce sang “a diva is a female version of a hustler” she probably wasn’t thinking of Norah Jones. Jones has made her name with impeccable background music that is tasteful to a fault and straddles the [...]
Martha and the Vandellas – “Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things)”
Posted in Motown, tagged Berry Gordy, Hitsville U.S.A., Holland-Dozier-Holland, Joel Francis, Kim Weston, Martha and the Vandellas, Martha Reeves, soul music, the Supremes on January 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Martha and the Vandellas – “Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things),” Pop #70, R&B #22 By Joel Francis Martha and the Vandellas didn’t do many ballads. Their best-known songs – “Heat Wave,” “Jimmy Mack” and “Nowhere to Run” – are all relentlessly upbeat. Despite the drastic change in tempo, the three songs above share at [...]
Four Tops – “It’s the Same Old Song”
Posted in Motown, tagged Berry Gordy, Delroy Wilson, Four Tops, Funk Brothers, Hitsville U.S.A., Holland-Dozier-Holland, Joel Francis, KC and the Sunshine Band, soul music on December 26, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Four Tops – “It’s the Same Old Song,” Pop #5, R&B #2 By Joel Francis There’s a good reason why “It’s the Same Old Song” sounds so much like the Four Tops’ previous hit, “I Can’t Help Myself:” both songs are built on the same chords, only in reverse order. When “I Can’t Help Myself” [...]
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Bo Knows Hollywood
Posted in Industry commentary, tagged birth of rock and roll, Bo Diddley, Cadillac Records, Chess Records, Chuck Berry, Howlin Wolf, Joel Francis on December 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
By Joel Francis After last week’s three-part history of Chess Records, several readers wrote in expressing disgust that Bo Diddley was ignored in the film “Cadillac Records.” It appears Diddley may be having the last laugh. The New York Post reported yesterday that a deal is underway with Apostle Pictures for a documentary on the late [...]
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