live from your speakers

During the time he walked this planet, Thin Lizzy singer and bassist Phil Lynott was a hero, a demi-god, 6’ 1” of pure, swaggering Irish cool. He made anthems for the working man – indelible songs like “The Boys are...

What we lost when we lost Donny Hathaway was immeasurable – an impeccable, emotive voice; a songwriter of enormous depth; a composer whose melodies were intricate amalgams of soul and classical influences. There’s a reason we still play songs like...

Led Zeppelin gets deserved kudos for their combination of heaviness, melody, sexuality and their sweaty British take on American blues music. One could be pardoned for listening to “The Crunge,” “Livin’ Lovin’ Maid,” “Black Dog,” “Immigrant Song,” or a dozen...

To witness the Doors perform at the height of their powers was to witness a Shamanic ritual, a juke-joint blues set and a poetry reading, all in one. At the heart of it all was the shaman/bluesman/poet James Douglas Morrison...

After a string of gold records in the mid-’70s, the funk band Rufus and their lead singer Chaka Khan found themselves at an unsettling point in their partnership. Khan was obviously the focal point of the band, the one member...

You gotta hand it to ol’ Bocephus; the man is a survivor. You don’t carry around the name of one of country music’s greatest voices and then make country music your life’s vocation, if you don’t have the goods to...

Black Sabbath brought the best out of Ronnie James Dio. Whatever high-level mystical mojo Dio had on his own (the lush operatic tenor, the “horns up” hand sign, simply being Ronnie James Dio, etc.) was amplified by the formidable crunch...

To hear Rickie Lee Jones sing in any setting is to hear the hippest, grooviest voice you’ve ever encountered slip and slide through songs that tell a wild story one moment, open the heart to the possibility of love and...

Genesis' first live albums were recorded and released at important moments for the band. The first, 1973's GENESIS LIVE, captured them four albums into their career, and featured singer Peter Gabriel in full flower (almost literally, considering his stage outfits...