Photo Credit: Disney+ In 1963, the same year that the Beatles first became a phenomenon in the UK and Europe, Kurt Vonnegut published the novel Cat’s Cradle. In the book, the protagonist ultimately discovers that the founder of the religion that he follows devoutly is, and always was, just a man. This is sort of the feeling… Read more
In the rock era alone, there have been many, many cover versions recorded and released. From live-only interpretations to deep album cuts, to #1 hits (even the Beatles, who we’ll get back to in a minute, started as a cover band). In some cases, artists’ cover songs are well-known just because the original already proved… Read more
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Ringer illustration It doesn’t even take a million streams on Spotify or three sold out nights at Madison Square Garden to be labeled a “sellout”. Virtually any commercial success in music will inevitably invite claims that an artist has “sold out” and ironically enough, this label is most likely not to come… Read more
Photo Credit: Mary McCartney McCartney III is actually the eighteenth solo album that Sir Paul McCartney has put out under just his name. So why III? It’s the third such release on which McCartney plays all the instruments himself (or almost all). McCartney has acknowledged that this time it was largely born out of necessity,… Read more
Photo Credit: Ilya S. Savenok Other than “Elvis,” there’s probably only one other first name in rock which when spoken by itself is shorthand for not just a musical genre but also an entire subculture. Of course we mean (cue echo and deep voice): “Ooooooooozzzzzzzyyyyyyyy.” At the beginning of the Seventies, Mr. John Michael Osbourne… Read more
Photo Credit: Scott Robert Ritchie Eight years as a member of the Beatles means it’s safe to say you’ll never have to go work in a car wash. Still, probably not a lot of people were betting on Ringo Starr ever having a successful solo career: his songwriting credits could be counted on one hand, and his monotone singing style was usually trotted out for one lead vocal per album. Even his fundamental role as drummer… Read more