This month marks the 46th anniversary of the Tate/LaBianca murders committed by Charles Manson and his cult-like Family. A nightmarish event with lasting cultural impact, music is central to its story. This and last weekâs posts explore the connection. At … Continue reading →
A Sharp Turn A girl. A daughter, a sister, a lover. A prostitute. Ruby lips. Thin, delicate, pretty. Big feet. A fat girl. A clutz, a clod, a chub. A drunk girl. Drowned, lost, forgotten, betrayed. A dead girl. A … Continue reading →
Neil Young, New York 1970 photo by Joel Bernstein This is the fourth and final post of our initial discussion of Neil Young’s “Ohio.” Here are the first, second, and third posts. I know, I know. On the fourth post … Continue reading →
Crosby, Stills, and Nash perform “Ohio” at a May 4 Commemoration at Kent State University, 1997 (photo: Kent State University archives) This is our third post on Neil Young’s “Ohio.” Read the first here and the second here. In researching … Continue reading →
Devo from left, Bob Mothersbaugh, Mark Mothersbaugh, Alan Myers, Gerald Casale and Bob Casale This is the second post in our series on Neil Young’s “Ohio.” Read the first post here. “It’s still hard to believe I had to write … Continue reading →
John Filo’s Pulitzer Prize winning photograph of the then 14 year old Mary Ann Vecchio kneeling over the body of Jeffrey Miller, one of the four Kent State University students killed by National Guard troops at on May 4, 1970. … Continue reading →
Neil Young This our fourth post so far on the familiar murder ballad “Tom Dooley.” –The first post discusses some of the history behind the song. –The second post discusses the history of the song itself, from regional to international … Continue reading →
As we saw earlier in the week, thereâs great controversy about âPowderfingerâ and what story it is trying to tell us. What always gets to me about this song are the two things that I know it’s about for sure. … Continue reading →
As I mentioned in my first post, there’s no small controversy over what, exactly, âPowderfingerâ is about. Aided by the abundance of specific details in the lyrics, especially about that boat, almost all interpretations nod to Youngâs political sensibilities in … Continue reading →
Neil Young This week we take a look at âPowderfinger,â the classic Neil Young song. Although itâs been discussed ad nauseam by die-hard Young fans and is the subject of no small controversy among them (weâll get to that in … Continue reading →
