Is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum worth arguing about? Some say no – the whole idea of enshrining punks and metalheads in some shiny glass-plated pyramid that many of them would rather [...]
Welcome to RCR’s 5th Annual Holiday Song Roundup (if you need time to review, here are links to one, two, three and four). Not sure if I can put a finger on the prevailing mood this season. I’ve [...]
I’d brag about the music scene we grew up with in the Akron area, but the reality of it is a lot more complicated. Let’s just say it was fitful, but usually memorable. Joe Walsh and [...]
Jazz drummer and bandleader Chico Hamilton passed away last week at the age of 92. Often associated with cool West Coast jazz, Chico also could kick it up a few notches and play a lot closer to [...]
Here’s a re-post that opens with RCR’s formal mission statement (if we had to boil it down into a tidy little tag line, I guess it would be “Pay It Forward, [...]
By now I’ve slogged through at least five recent TV shows about the assassination of President Kennedy. I can describe virtually every conspiracy theory (the CIA did it, says Oliver Stone) and [...]
I should’ve posted this on Veterans Day, but I didn’t come up with the idea until I heard a piece on NPR about the Doolittle Raid during World War II. Led by James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle, the raid [...]
I was exploring the vast holdings of my digital music empire and came across quite a few songs named C.C. Rider, See See Rider, Easy Rider Blues, I Know You Rider… basically, several variations [...]
I think I grew up in the wrong era. Toss me in a time machine and set it for 1946, Central Avenue, Los Angeles… and give me some greenbacks too, because I’ll need a sharp zoot suit with a [...]
At RCR, we recognize that our loyal readers aren’t here simply to honor the deceased. Occasionally you expect us to plow through a stack of new releases and offer a few recommendations for your [...]
I’ve spent quite a bit of time on this site complaining about contemporary Nashville country (for example, here and here). And just when I decide to finally leave it alone, a massive brawl breaks [...]
Let’s revisit one of our first posts, from October 2009 (Bo Diddley passed away the previous year at the age of 79). He signed his name “The Bo” and was referred to by The New [...]
Is there a more perfect hybrid in American music than Memphis Soul? Give me a hard-driving rhythm section, throw in some screaming horns and a sanctified gospel singer, add some tasty blues [...]
OK, at this point you’re probably thinking, “Yet another post about an unsung and predictably deceased guitar hero? Why can’t you just tell me what’s going on with the Kardashians?” In response [...]
I don’t think I can shed any new light on the legacy of John Coltrane. But I can answer the question, how did a white, middle-class kid from Akron – a 12-year veteran of parochial schooling – get [...]
I’m not afraid to admit when I’m wrong. Screwed something up back in ’82 and took full responsibility for it – by blaming the guy who gave me bad information. So now I’m back on the hot [...]
Bass players need a little love. At least that’s what I heard from our friend Rene Villanueva (in foreground at right), bassist for the mighty fine San Antonio-based rock ‘n soul band Hacienda [...]
SOUL! See you kids TONIGHT… Did YOU work on your BOOGALOO? It’s a Mashed-Potato, DO the ALLIGATOR, Summertime NORTHERN SOUL Dance CRAZE, and the kids are going NUTS! Another invitation to [...]
Here’s a re-post from 2009 that looks back at one of America’s greatest independent labels, Cincinnati’s King Records. Its huge catalog includes seminal recordings by some of the most [...]
I must be wired to read these “10/50/100 Greatest _______ of All Time” lists, almost as a form of self-torture. They seem to exist for the sole purpose of pissing me off, because I’ve never come [...]