Curator

November 2024

Peter Guralnick’s essential book on Southern soul, Sweet Soul Music (1986), begins with a long rumination on, among other things, what defines the music. After giving some background on his reasons for writing the book and the research it required, he wrote: “I suppose I should make it clear from the outset that when I speak of soul music, I am not referring to Motown, a phenomenon almost exactly contemporaneous, but appealing far more to a pop, white, and industry-slanted kind of audience.

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June 2024

The Doors seemed to fade in people’s memories in the years following lead singer Jim Morrison’s death in 1971, but returned to popularity in 1980. In his 1979 movie Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola used “The End” from the Doors’ debut album to powerful effect, and the following year the publication of a Jim Morrison biography, No One Here Gets Out Alive, brought Morrison and the band renewed attention. Written by Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman, it presented a sensationalistic portrait of Morrison, and its reliability has been questioned. It was a massive seller, however, and its descriptions of rock-star debauchery probably helped solidify Morrison’s place in the pantheon of 1960s heroes.

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March 2024

Of the many figures in popular music whose careers flourished in the 1970s, Bob Marley’s appeal reaches into more cultures and continents than any other musician I can think of. His cultural appeal is also multifaceted. For many Western pop-music fans, he defines reggae music. Activists take inspiration from his songs about the struggles of people in the developing world. His advocacy for pan-Africanism, along with his messages about the plight of the victims of the African diaspora, have made him popular in Africa and in countries where people of African heritage have been relocated.

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November 2023

For a few years in the 1960s, the Byrds were a great American rock’n’roll band; maybe, the great American band. They popularized the 12-string electric guitar, sang in complex, indescribably beautiful harmonies, and did interpretations of Bob Dylan’s songs that even people who thought they didn’t like Dylan could love. The band’s first five albums stand easily beside the best music of the time, and members of the band wrote terrific songs with strong melodies that still sound fresh.

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September 2023

The Rolling Stones have been a working band, with a few personnel changes, for more than 60 years, and have been a visible and active part of popular culture for nearly all that time. There have been a few dull moments, perhaps, but it’s hard to think of another rock’n’roll band or musician, aside from Bob Dylan, that has enjoyed such a long, sustained stretch of popularity and relevance. The Stones may not have the hip currency now the band had in the past—who does?—but a Stones tour is still a big, stadium-filling event.

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July 2023

On August 17, 1969, the final scheduled day of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, Sly & the Family Stone appeared onstage at 3:30 a.m. Stage announcer “Chip” Monck’s sonorous voice brought the group out, and they played a tight, 50-minute set. Two songs from that performance, “Dance to the Music” and “I Want to Take You Higher,” made their way onto Michael Wadleigh’s documentary film of the festival, and were among its most electrifying moments.

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April 2023

“James Brown was born to lose. He refused to accept that fate.” Those words begin the biography of the Godfather of Soul included in the booklet that accompanied Star Time (1991), a four-CD anthology that presents a comprehensive overview of Brown’s career. Harry Weinger and Cliff White continue the story: “Brown was determined to be Somebody. He called himself ‘Mr. Dynamite’ before his first Pop hit, and ‘The Hardest Working Man in Show Business’ before the business knew his name.”

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December 2022

Andy Partridge, the chief songwriter and coleader of the band XTC, has a chip on his shoulder about being from Swindon, a city of 233,000 in Wiltshire, about 70 miles west of London, England. In 2016, he explained why to an interviewer from Louder: “To the English, anything that comes from Swindon must have comedic value. And I think it’s held us back terribly.” He went on to say that if the band had been American, or even came from the northern city of Manchester, birthplace of many great English groups, it would have been held in higher esteem. “We were f**king brilliant,” he asserted: “One of the greats.”

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September 2022

Spirit is not exactly a forgotten band. Two of its songs, “I Got a Line on You” and “Nature’s Way,” have been constants on classic-rock radio playlists. Beyond those tunes, however, the typical rock fan probably hasn’t heard much from a group whose first four LPs rank among the best of the late ’60s and early ’70s. Perhaps Spirit’s eclecticism ended up limiting its appeal. At times its music could be pegged as progressive or hard rock, but it also included elements of jazz, folk, and even classical music. For all its ambition, Spirit wrote memorable songs that should have led to a much larger following.

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July 2022

The history of rock music is filled with musicians who were one-hit wonders, or whose career was somewhat brief but had a lasting impact. The Velvet Underground’s recording life was a mere four years, but inspired countless other bands. Of course, two of the original members, Lou Reed and John Cale, went on to have long careers in music. Music journalist Lester Bangs’s essay “Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung” makes a convincing argument that Count Five’s lone hit, “Psychotic Reaction,” was more influential than the entire recorded output of some bands.

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