Category Archives: music

Driving to the grocery store is usually a mundane activity which I nevertheless enjoy. But today gave me an epiphany, one I had to share with my friend from the ‘burg, Forrest Hummel (named Steve Layne by his parents, corrected by his peers in Jr High). Forrest and I share a love for music, heContinue reading “Cream!”

Ain’t it great when that perfect tune comes around on your device? It could be something that reminds you of the best moment in your life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k33x_Efa5Lk. Or it could be the saddest song ever, sung here by my pal, Ann Arbor’s own Bill Kirchen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eb_Bz4SssxM. That was December 10, 1971, at Crisler Arena, packedContinue reading “some tunes”

I’ve just uploaded 5 videos to my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjgcSvb5riojGVFQnxYcjgg which I established expressly for this exercise. My favorite band ever is Commander Cody and His Lost Planer Airmen. I’ve never been happier than I’ve been at their concerts. I’ve been privileged to establish relationships over the years with Bill Kirchen, Commander’s lead guitarist, andContinue reading “You Tube!”

Ray Kamalay and I are about the same age. Except he has talent. He took his ’74 philosophy degree from U of D and did who knows what, but on the side became quite an accomplished singer and jazz guitarist http://www.raykamalay.com/. I met him November before last when he came to perform for one ofContinue reading “Ray”

Any boomer music stream, like Spotify, will eventually roll around  to play Jackson Browne’s “These days”,  a song he wrote at age 16 and made a hit in 1973 from  his second album, For Everyman.  Greg Allman had a big hand in the song’s arrangements. Across the decades, it still weighs on the shoulders ofContinue reading “These days”

It’s remarkable how fast things can happen on a whim.   I get a regular nudge on my e-mail from BestClassicBands.com.  Always entertaining stuff immersing me in the music of my boomer past.   A recent offering of forgotten hits of the British Invasion included a hit by one young Jonathon King “Everyone’s gone to the moon”Continue reading “London Calling”

Two Wednesdays before last, my daily treat from Bandsintown (https://www.bandsintown.com/) included a collection of video clips of several rock icons from my day performing on the Ed Sullivan show https://bestclassicbands.com/ed-sullivan-rock-classics-2-11-18/.   I got around to watching them the Friday following – wow – and it got me to thinking of another great thing we’ve lost toContinue reading “concerts”

A dear friend who had just almost lost her ear to skin cancer surgery sent me diving into the Cat Stevens songbook seeking the tune about losing body parts (Moonshadow, it turns out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c49aDWrzeA) and got me reveling in his first albums that somehow we all adored in the midst of all that heavy rockContinue reading “Miles from Nowhere”