Best of PS
Remembering Jeff Buckley
Buckley’s legacy is one of a beautiful free spirit who left his promise unfulfilled. As Bono from U2 said, “Jeff Buckley was a pure drop in an ocean of noise.”
The Perseverance of Michael Johnson
A tribute to the brilliant singer, songwriter and artist Michael Johnson, who died on July 25, 2017, along with an essay he wrote for Performing Songwriter: “Thoughts on Perseverance.”
Duke Ellington at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival
When he brought his orchestra to the Newport Jazz Festival on July 7, 1956, 57-year-old Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington revitalized his career with an inspired performance.
The Mysterious Death of Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke was shot to death on Dec. 10, 1964 outside an L.A. Motel under mysterious circumstances. With many questions left unanswered, Performing Songwriter takes a look at that fateful night.
Stories From Elvis Presley’s Band
Rare stories from the band who backed Elvis Presley in his final years: Glen D. Hardin, James Burton, Ronnie Tutt and Jerry Scheff.
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 […]
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In March 1972 John Lennon’s visa was revoked and deportation proceedings were filed after President Nixon decided the most dangerous man in America was a singer-songwriter with bad eyesight and a British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.
The Mysterious Death of Kurt Cobain
The death of Kurt Cobain on April 5, 1994 left unsolved questions, inconclusive evidence and lingering suspicions, and each year the mysteries are re-examined and new theories hatched.
Casablanca Anniversary: “As Time Goes By”
Seventy-one years ago, on November 26, 1942, the classic film Casablanca premiered at Hollywood Theater in NYC to coincide with the Allied invasion of North Africa and the capture of Casablanca. The film, staring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henried, focuses on a man torn between love and virtue—Bogart’s character must choose between his […]