“Hey, I know that guy! It’s Neil! Turn around, quick!” Stephen Stills, struggling musician and songwriter, was riding shotgun in a white Ford Econoline Van driven by his manager, Barry Friedman. The date was April 6, 1966. In back was his old friend, Richie Furay, another aspiring singer-songwriter. They were stuck in a huge traffic […]
For centuries opera was dominated by larger-than-life characters: legendary gods and goddesses, mythical figures from ancient Greece and Rome, kings and queens. But as opera became an ever more popular form of entertainment, that model began to change. The operatic form continued to evolve during the post-Romantic period. Composers began turning to stories about simpler, […]
Tearing down and setting up. That’s the worst thing about playing drums in a classic rock band. Especially at my age. Tearing them down, packing them in the van; taking them out of the van; setting them up; tearing them down again, cramming them in the van and hauling them back again. Doing all of […]
The city of Los Angeles looms large in Beatles folklore. Outside of London and Liverpool, no other place has influenced the Beatles more than the sprawling metropolis of L.A. Ringo Starr still lives there with his movie-star wife Barbara Bach. They own two residences: one in Silver Lake, and another in Malibu. John Lennon spent most […]
In response to a question about the current state of the music industry, famed music producer Tony Visconti told an audience at the annual SXSW festival in Austin, Texas several years ago that pop music “Can’t get any worse!” Visconti claimed that record labels are simply repeating the formulas of the past, with diminishing returns. […]
Nicolo Paganini [1782-1840] was arguably the world’s greatest violinist. His incredible virtuosity totally revolutionized the instrument, and his amazing skills led many people to believe he had made a Faustian deal with the Devil in order to acquire his seemingly inhuman abilities. Paganini was so unbelievably good that audiences in the pre-Victorian era were convinced […]
[The scene takes place inside the plush offices of IMAGEMAKERS, a major New York PR firm. A kindly old black man with white hair [Mr. Jones] is led into the inner sanctum. He shuffles quietly to one of the big leather chairs at the foot of the enormous desk of Carl Anderson, one of the […]
Jason Darensburg's Blog-o-rama 