Hard times in the jungle… “Now, what I want is Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life…. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts; nothing else will ever […]
What Dickens and Sinclair tell us about Insys and Equifax
Jim Booth
Novelist, college professor, rock musician - are we getting the band back together? Maybe....
Hey Jude: Paul acts the peacemaker…
In a song canon filled with incredible moments “Hey Jude,” a song of conciliation and consolation by Paul the peacemaker, is one of the Beatles’ finest. “He told me that he’d been […]
Walter Becker: every word was true… (S&R Honors)
Walter Becker and his partner Donald Fagen created some of rock’s darkest music, giving voice to the disenchanted, the cynical, those who, to paraphrase, want a name when they lose. “All night […]
Toward a geography of rock: part 4, the West – good vibrations in a heart-shaped box…
“Any minute playing ‘Good Vibrations’ is a minute that I feel spiritually whole. I hope that any minute hearing it is the same.” – Brian Wilson “I sing and play the guitar, […]
I Me Mine: George lets go of the little i…
George looks past desire to find happiness. “I Me Mine is the ego problem. There are two ‘I’s: the little ‘i’ when people say ‘I am this’; and the big ‘I’ – […]
Little Richard: the ecstasy of cognitive dissonance…
Little Richard is the victim of enough cognitive dissonance for at least three people. “Elvis may be the King of Rock and Roll, but I am the Queen.” – Richard Penniman Reading the […]
I’m Happy Just to Dance with You: one for George…
“This one anyway was a straight co-written song for George.” – Paul McCartney “That was written for George to give him a piece of the action.” – John Lennon Like most old musicians, my […]
Money for nothing? Concert tix ain’t what they used to be…you know, free….
“We haven’t had that spirit here since 1969…” – Don Henley, Glen Frey, Don Felder, “Hotel California” “It’s is a free concert from now on…” – John Morris, announcer, Woodstock, 1969 Let […]
I Feel Fine: John Lennon, rule breaker…
“That’s me completely. Including the electric guitar lick and the record with the first feedback anywhere. I defy anybody to find a record – unless it’s some old blues record in 1922 – that […]
Toward a geography of rock: part 3, the South – looking backward to go forward…
Joke told around Harvard Yard: “Q: How many Southerners does it take to change a light bulb? A: Five – one to change the bulb and four more to talk about how […]
Progressive Culture | Scholars & Rogues 