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Orrin Keepnews, one of the most respected producers in jazz history, played an integral role in the birth of modern jazz.
Lydia Hutchinson
Lydia founded Performing Songwriter magazine in 1993 and served as the publisher and editor until folding the print version in 2009. She now oversees Performing Songwriter Enterprises, the website, and produces creative workshops with hit songwriters.
Lydia Hutchinson's Latest Posts
Shel Silverstein
Performing Songwriter looks back at the creative life of Shel Silverstein, a beloved poet, author, artist and songwriter.
Elton John’s American Debut: August 25, 1970
On August 25, 1970, Elton John made his U.S. debut in a legendary six-night sold-out run at West Hollywood’s Troubadour. John’s eponymous first album—which was released in the states on July 22—had landed on the Troubadour owner Doug Weston’s desk with a request for the undiscovered pianist to play a date as his club. Weston, […]
ASCAP SCORES Portland Video With Dave Berg & Tony Esterly
Video Premiere for Songwriters Dave Berg, Tony Esterly and Students from America SCORES Portland Co-Write “The Best Me I Can Be.”
Alan Freed and the Radio Payola Scandal
On Nov. 20, 1959, DJ Alan Freed was fired from WABC radio when the pay-for-play scandal erupted. Here’s the story behind that era of pay-for-play, when the ’50s music scene was the convergence of a number of seismic factors.
The Mysterious Death of Jim Morrison
Paris. July 2, 1971, early evening. Jim Morrison and his girlfriend Pamela Courson went to the cinema to see Pursued, a western starring Robert Mitchum. At another theater, Jim Morrison sat alone, watching a documentary called Death Valley. Across town, at the Rock ’n’ Roll Circus nightclub, Jim Morrison scored some heroin and OD’d in […]
From A Distance
Julie Gold tells the story of writing the Grammy-winning song “From A Distance” while she was a still secretary at HBO, and how it changed her life.
Remembering Les Paul
On what would be Les Paul’s birthday, Performing Songwriter celebrates him with some entertaining and inspiring stories he told us in 2005, including ones about Bing Crosby, Django Reinhardt and W.C. Fields.
John Lennon and the FBI
In March 1972 John Lennon’s visa was revoked and deportation proceedings were filed after President Nixon decided the most dangerous man in America was a singer-songwriter with bad eyesight and a British accent.
Harold Arlen
The story of Harold Arlen, the great American songwriter who gave the world such classics at “That Old Black Magic,” “One For My Baby,” “Come Rain or Come Shine,” and his crowning masterpiece “Over the Rainbow.”
George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” Copyright Case
On Jan. 10, 1971 Bright Tunes Music filed a copyright infringement case against George Harrison for the similarities of “My Sweet Lord” to Ronnie Mack’s “He’s So Fine.”
