The Once and Future King: ‘SMiLE’ and Brian Wilson’s Very American Dream
Sean MurphyStop me if you’ve heard this one before. Icarus soars too close to the sun. Othello, vulnerable and halfway crazy, mistakenly trusts the evil Iago. The product of a celebrated…
50 Years Later: His Dream is Our Dream
In 1963, 200,000 people participated in a peaceful civil rights rally in Washington, D.C., where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in front of…
God Is Dead (Again): Remembering Stevie Ray Vaughan
Twenty-three years ago today. First day of classes, junior year. Standing in the bathroom with too much shaving cream and not enough whiskers, getting geared up for another semester of partying…
Sanctuary*
I visited my mother’s grave the first several years for the same reason I used to attend church: it was expected, it was meant to make me feel better, it…
For My Mother on Her 70th Birthday
I’m scared, I said. “It’s okay,” she said. “You know I’ll never leave you, right? I would never leave this place without you.” How many times did she tell me…
Art and Life (One Year Later)
(2003) Every so often I can’t help hoping that there will be a knock on my door and when I open it, who is there but my sexy soul mate,…
The Past is Calling: The Who’s ‘Quadrophenia’ (Revisited)
Most popular Who album? No. Most important Who album? No. Most influential Who album? No. Best Who album? Definitely. More: Best album of the ‘70s? Probably. More? Best rock album,…
Hey Gibson, Let’s Talk Guitar Albums (Revisited)
(August, 2010) Okay. Gibson (the fine folks who bring us some of our best guitars) has recently announced their selections of what they deem the Top 50 Guitar Albums ever.…
Elvis Is (Still) Dead: Long Live The King (Revisited)
Poor Elvis. The one-time king is now more often the (big) butt of jokes (see?). But his musical and cultural imprint remains huge and will forever be impossible to escape…
Thoughts on the Olympics, Improvisation and Jay Adams (Revisited)
The Olympics, particularly the two most popular sports from each season—the gymnastics and figure skating—sells itself, accurately, as an embodiment of competition and tension, complete with a touch of voyeurism.…