Chicago – I’m A Man (1969)
The year is 1969. The air is thick with the scent of burning rubber and fresh vinyl. It’s the cusp…
Canned Heat – Let’s Work Together (1970)
The year is 1970. The cultural hangover from the sixties—the idealism, the dust of Woodstock, the quiet collapse of a…
Alice Cooper – I’m Eighteen (1972)
The air in the garage was thick with stale beer and the metallic tang of frustration. It was late 1970,…
Muddy Waters – Got My Mojo Workin’
There are certain tracks that don’t just play; they arrive. They kick down the door of whatever room you’re in,…
Patsy Cline – I’ve Loved And Lost Again
It is an easy myth to believe that Patsy Cline sprang into the world fully formed, a perfect torch singer…
Aretha Franklin – I Dreamed A Dream
The studio in the early nineties must have felt different for Aretha Franklin. By 1991, the towering architect of classic…
Sarah Vaughan – Misty
The memory of late-night radio is a sense-memory for a critic of a certain age—the low-light hum of the dial,…
Merle Haggard – Medley
The first time I heard a Merle Haggard “Medley,” it wasn’t on a pristine vinyl re-issue or a modern high-fidelity…
Loretta Lynn – You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man)
The year is 1966. The world is a whirlwind of psychedelia and pop polish, but deep in Nashville, Tennessee, the…
Rolf Harris – Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport
The air is thick with dust and the silence of a wide-open continent. We are standing on the edge of…