Archive for May, 2013
Stevie Nicks’ “Landslide”
The story behind “Landslide” as told by Stevie Nicks: It was written in 1973 at a point where Lindsey [Buckingham] and I had driven to Aspen for him to rehearse for two weeks with Don Everly. Lindsey was going to take Phil’s place. So they rehearsed and left, and I made a choice to stay […]
Hal David
“What the world needs now is love, sweet love/It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.” Those words from the 1960s standard “What the World Needs Now Is Love” came from the pen and imagination of lyricist Hal David. If that had been the only song he’d ever written, his place in contemporary […]
Jude Johnstone: Shatter
Hit songwriter Jude Johnstone’s newest release is a shimmering showcase of her jazzy, bluesy stylings and profoundly personal themes. One of the best of her 30-year career.
“Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head”
By late 1969, Burt Bacharach and Hal David were kings of the pop songwriting game. With over 20 Top 40 singles by their vocal muse Dionne Warwick, cover versions of their songs by an A-Z of artists including Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones and Ella Fitzgerald, movie soundtracks, TV specials and a Broadway musical, they’d done […]
Donovan
Donovan talks about his experiences with the Beatles on their famous retreat to India in 1968, and shares the story behind his hit “Sunshine Superman.”
Happy Birthday, Pete Seeger!
“He’s had one of the most perfect lives of anybody I know.” That was filmmaker Jim Brown’s response when asked why he profiled Pete Seeger in a PBS “American Masters” documentary. Few would disagree with Brown’s assessment. In a career that’s spanned over 70 years, the 94-year-old Seeger has embodied the idealism that once defined […]