Music
July 16, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Dion — Dion DiMucci — turns 84 on Tuesday. Three years ago he released a new set of recordings titled Blues With Friends. The friends ranged from Jeff Beck and Joe Bonamassa to Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen. I thought Dion sounded like an artist in his prime. When I saw that the disc was going to be released in 2020 it served as the occasion for a special life
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July 9, 2023 — Scott Johnson
“Walk Away Renee” is the beautiful pop song written by Michael Brown, Bob Calilli, and Tony Sansone. Brown played keyboards in the Left Banke — “Banke” is a giveaway that we are in the era of the British Invasion. Brown was 16 when he wrote the lyrics. The song broke through to reach number 5 in 1966. Brown’s father, Harry Lookofsky, had the keys to the studio and helped produce
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June 25, 2023 — Scott Johnson
I had wanted to see vocalist Tracy Nelson sing since I was a college freshman and I came close. Having bought tickets to see her perform with Mother Earth in Boston in early 1970 or so, I waited patiently in the theater for her to take the stage. Some time after the appointed hour, Tracy came out to announce that the band’s instruments hadn’t made it from San Francisco. I
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June 23, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Taking a break from the news last night, I attended the 11th annual Grateful Dead Meet-Up At the Movies at the AMC multiplex in Edina, Minnesota. It featured the Dead’s first appearance at Chicago’s Soldier Field (June 22, 1991). The band played to a packed stadium on what must have been a somewhat cool evening. Most of the band were wearing sweatshirts and looked, almost unbelievably, well-groomed. With a running
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June 11, 2023 — Scott Johnson
John’s post about “Both Sides Now,” “Hermits’s Hermits,” and the New York Times has had me thinking. I have been thinking of other British Invasion groups (other than Herman’s Hermits, that is) such as The Zombies. How long before the Times attributes “The Rhyme of the Reason” to Harry and the Racefakers? I actually went to see Herman’s Hermits at the old Minneapolis Auditorium in July 1966. They headlined a
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June 7, 2023 — John Hinderaker
Scott does as much as anyone to promote knowledge of the history of popular music, and yet memories fade as the years go by. I found this correction in today’s New York Times depressing: An obituary on Saturday about the former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Harvey Pitt misstated the name of a pop group that had many hits in the 1960s. They are Herman’s Hermits, not Hermit’s Hermits. The
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June 4, 2023 — Scott Johnson
I extracted this from our archives to post as one of my favorites this past Memorial Day weekend and changed my mind at the last minute. I thought a few readers might enjoy a dose of beauty and joy courtesy of Ann Hampton Callaway this morning. This is from December 2018. * * * * * I had not heard of Ann Hampton Callaway before her audacious 1999 release To
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May 28, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Power Line observes its twenty-first anniversary this Memorial Day weekend. I am taking the liberty of looking back by pulling out three of my favorite posts of the past twenty-one years. This is the second. Since I wrote it in August 2020, Chris Hillman has published the memoir Time Between: My Life As a Byrd, Burrito Brother, and Beyond and I have taken in hours of Chris Hillman’s Burrito Stand
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May 21, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Bob Dylan celebrates his 82nd birthday on Wednesday. When he snagged the Nobel Prize for Literature a few years ago, I pulled out all the stops by posting a big set of my favorite covers of his songs. I don’t have any stops left to pull, but I’m adding a few more covers (again) this year in honor of his birthday this week. In my estimation Dylan is first and
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May 21, 2023 — Scott Johnson
This coming Wednesday is the birthday of Minnesota native son Bob Dylan; he turns the ripe old age of 82. It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there. I want to celebrate him as long we’re both still around to enjoy the occasion. He is a remarkable artist, self-invented, deep in the American grain. A few years back I visited Dylan’s old home at 2425 7th Avenue East in Hibbing.
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May 7, 2023 — Scott Johnson
We went to see Richard Thompson performing at the Dakota this past Monday and Wednesday evenings. Thompson is a giant of British folk and folk-rock — a founding member of Fairport Convention and singer/songwriter of awesome gifts. In Fairport and in his own career after leaving the band he has drawn on the British folk tradition to write classic songs that sound like part of it. He titled one of
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May 2, 2023 — Scott Johnson
While we were out at the Dakota last night taking in British folk giant Richard Thompson came the news that the singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot had died at the age of 84. He was a proud Canadian, but one wouldn’t call him a Canadian folk giant. He was a folk giant simply — a brilliant songwriter, an old-fashioned carouser who was also an incurable romantic, and a pensive kind of man’s
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April 27, 2023 — John Hinderaker
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is in Washington, meeting with Joe Biden. So far, the most newsworthy aspect of Yoon’s visit has been Joe Biden’s collaboration with the sycophant press to impersonate a mentally competent president. But let’s take two minutes out of our fight to preserve civilization to enjoy a moment of fun, courtesy of President Yoon. During the state dinner at the White House last night, Yoon
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April 23, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Out of the blue yesterday my wife asked me, “Do you like Elton John?” Well, I like pop music. I like well-written pop songs of every genre, from folk to blues to soul to country and rock. I thought I would program an hour’s worth of music, I think mostly lesser known, of a few favorites that take me out of myself and send me off looking for more of
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April 21, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Ammo Grrrll reflects on Alan Jackson’s THE OLDER I GET. She writes: I know that Scott covers the music beat. I’m not trying to poach on his territory, especially since he does a darn fine job with it. But every once in awhile a piece of music just seems to fit perfectly as a theme song for what’s going on in your life. This has happened to me a few
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April 2, 2023 — Scott Johnson
We went to see singer/songwriter Karla Bonoff perform at the Dakota in downtown Minneapolis this past Thursday evening. Her site is here. Her upcoming tour dates are here. When the Dakota announced the show we jumped on the tickets and snagged seats at Table 150, directly in front of Bonoff. I took the photo below from our table during her first number. Bonoff performed with Nina Gerber supporting her on
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March 26, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Aretha Franklin — the Queen of Soul, as Steely Dan reminded the “sweet young thing” in “Hey Nineteen” — died in August 2018. Jon Pareles recounted her life and work in his excellent New York Times obituary. Dominic Green paid tribute to her as “simply the finest popular singer of her generation.” Dominic also wrote a brilliant review of the Amazing Grace documentary for the Spectator. Yesterday was the anniversary
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