Content tagged 'Folk Rock'

46 years ago today, Stephen Stills released the song that would go on to become the biggest hit single of his entire career. The origins of the phrase that drives “Love The One You’re With” are a bit murky, but the recurring rumor that continued to run rampant on Wikipedia is that Stills heard Billy Preston utter the words, after which he reportedly asked for and received permission to write a song around them. The only problem with this story is that there doesn’t seem to be a single interview with the late Mr. Preston wherein he says anything about it, and you’d think there would be. On the

51 years ago today, Buffalo Springfield performed their first show in front of a proper audience. It was at the famed Hollywood club The Troubadour, and the players involved – just in case you don’t know them by name – were Richie Furay, Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Dewey Martin, and Bruce Palmer. Their name was one that they swiped from off the side of a steamroller, but how they came together in the first place isn’t quite as simple a story. Stills and Young had their first encounter in Thunder Bay, Ontario, when Stills was a member of a New York folk group named The Company and Young was fro

21 years ago today, Tracy Chapman had a single enter the Billboard Hot 100 which would go on to become the biggest US hit of her career. Maybe that’s because American TV viewers had already been given a chance to absorb the song and start to fall in love with it half a dozen years before it was actually released. Yes, it’s true: in 1989, Chapman had performed “Give Me One Reason” when she was the musical guest on the Christmas episode of NBC’s Saturday Night Live. But having found success in road-testing songs before recording them, she didn’t rush to put this particular track on an album, eve

38 years ago today, Stephen Stills entered the Record Plant studio in Los Angeles and started recording the first major-label album using all digital equipment…and we’re still waiting to hear it. In fact, Stills was actually the first major-label American artist to record using digital recording and mastering equipment, period. Using a 3M system which was installed with the intention of replacing the existing analog system, engineer Michael Braunstein first recorded Stills and the California Blues Band performing a new take on Stills’ song “Cherokee,” which appeared on his self-titled debut al

There’s been a lot of love doled out to Jethro Tull’s SONGS FROM THE WOOD album here at Rhino over the course of the past month or two. Of course, that outpouring of love has come about in particular because of the LP celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, but it also helps that it’s commonly considered to be one of Jethro Tull’s all-time best studio offerings. If you’re a diehard fan, then you probably picked up the multi-disc box set we released a few months ago. If you’re more of a purist when it comes to your sonic medium, then you may have picked up the vinyl reissue of the album tha

25 years ago today, David Crosby made a one-off appearance on the ABC sitcom Roseanne, playing the husband of another noted singer of the ‘60s, ‘70s, and…well, ever since, really. For the majority of his career, Crosby has been known almost exclusively for his music, having come to fame as a member of The Byrds before jumping into a collaboration with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash – and, yes, sometimes Neil Young – that turned him into a household name. In the 1990s, however, Crosby decided that he wanted to start pursuing a side career in acting, and while it didn’t take him into territory t

On this date in 1943, James Joseph Croce was born in South Philadelphia, which means that he would’ve been 75 today. In celebration of this occasion, we’re going to take a few paragraphs to talk about the last album that Jim Croce released in his lifetime: LIFE AND TIMES, which celebrates its 45th anniversary later this year. Recorded at New York City’s famed Hit Factory studio and produced by Terry Cashman and Tommy West, LIFE AND TIMES arrived on the heels of Croce’s 1972 album YOU DON’T MESS AROUND WITH JIM, which provided two additional hit singles to Croce’s catalog: the title track and “

“My first four albums have been, for me, an apprenticeship. The new album … is my thesis,” said Al Stewart upon the release of his PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE. The 1973 collection marked a shift from the British singer-songwriter's folk roots to the progressive pop approach that would soon make him world famous. Recorded at London's Trident Studios with a small army of accompanists (including Yes' Rick Wakeman and Fairport Convention's Dave Swarbrick), Stewart takes listeners through the decades of the 20th century on eight well-crafted originals including “Roads To Moscow,” “Soho (Needless To Say)” and “Terminal Eyes.” His first release in America, this concept album shows Al Stewart truly hitting his stride, and we'll give PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE another spin today in honor of his birthday.