Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Traffic’s ”Dear Mr. Fantasy”
Although Steve Winwood was just shy of 19 when he formed the group Traffic in the spring of 1967, he was already a veteran...
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: The Grateful Dead’s “Touch of Grey”
In the summer of 1987, the Grateful Dead made it into the Top 10 with the only hit single of their 30-year career: “Touch...
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Jackson Browne’s “Late For The Sky”
Browne and the late legendary engineer Al Schmitt look back at the masterful title track of 1974's "Late For The Sky."
2014
Classic Tracks: Liz Phair’s “Supernova”
Building on the success of her debut album, Exile in Guyville, Liz Phair came back with a rockin' ode to her boyfriend, "Supernova."
2013
Classic Tracks: Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers’ “Tomorrow People”
Two albums into his career, Ziggy Marley took a gamble on working with a producer team that had never made records for anyone other...
2013
Classic Track: Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Pride and Joy”
The story of the recording of this Classic Track begins far from Texas, in Switzerland at the Montreux Jazz Festival in July 1982.
2012
Classic Tracks: Eddie Money, “Two Tickets to Paradise”
Eddie Money burst onto the scene at an interesting time, with New Wave, Blue Collar Rock, Country Rock and more all in full-flower. Money...
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Love’s “My Little Red Book”
A look back at the first charting single from Love.
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Chubby Checker’s “The Twist”
There have been dance fads as long as people have danced to novelty records -- but few have had the enduring appeal of Chubby...
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Ray Charles’ “What’d I Say”
Ray Charles' best-known hit was first improvised on-stage to fill time at the end of a gig...and became legendary.
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On”
"Let's Get It On" embraces love and lust, the spiritual and the carnal fused together in an uplifting union. Recording it was not as...
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: The Doors’ “Riders on the Storm”
“When we first recorded ‘Riders on the Storm,’ it was a nice, light song—but when we got into mixing it is when it all...
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: The Band’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”
Decades later, it's difficult to put into words just how bold and fresh and affecting those opening lines were in 1969.
2015
Cool Spin: Pink Floyd, ‘The Endless River’ (Columbia)
This first CD of “new” Pink Floyd music in 20 years (still without Roger Waters) was largely put together by David Gilmour, co-producer Phil...
2014
Classic Tracks: “I Scare Myself,” Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks
One of the most interesting and engaging groups to burst onto the pop music scene in the early 1970s was a San Francisco Bay...
news
Marcella Araica: Making Waves in Miami Recording
Even as women continue to make great strides in areas from politics to corporate boardrooms, they are still rare in the recording business outside...
news
Richard Thompson: Home Alone for ‘Acoustic Classics’
Richard Thompson’s latest album, Acoustic Classics, is an unexpected gift to his many devoted fans—solo acoustic versions of 14 of his finest songs, spanning...
2014
Classic Tracks: “Life in a Northern Town,” Dream Academy
Every once in a while a song comes totally out of left field, far away from the mainstream, and for some inexplicable reason becomes...
news
First Aid Kit: Haunting Americana from Sweden (and Nebraska)
Like a lot of people, my first exposure to the duo known as First Aid Kit—Swedish sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg—came from seeing their...
news
Atlanta Mixer/Engineer Miles Walker
When you look at all that Atlanta-based mixer/engineer Miles Walker has accomplished in the decade-plus since he graduated with honors from Berklee College of...
news
Railroad Earth Hits Its Stride with ‘Outlaws’
Those who describe the music of Railroad Earth as “jamgrass” are to be forgiven. After all, the band’s sound is often dominated by a...
Films-TV
Jersey Boys: Stage Hit Makes Realistic Transition to Screen
Has the live singing in the hit film adaptation of Les Miserables changed the game for everyone else making an on-screen musical? Is the...
Films-TV
Superhero Science and Technology: Marvel’s Avengers Come Alive in New Interactive Exhibit
There seems to be no limit to the number of spinoffs that can be generated from the world of Marvel Comics superheroes. The flood...
news
Producer/Engineer/Musician Bryan Bell: Making a Laptop/Studio Hybrid Work
If you’ve never heard of Nestler & Hawtin, a pair of soulful young singer-songwriters from Oregon, don’t fret. They’ve barely ventured outside of their...
news
Chicago Producer Brian Deck
Brian Deck has been a leading light of the Chicago music scene for going on three decades now, one of those classic multi-hyphenates: musician-engineer-producer-studio...
news
Cloud Cult Strips Down for ‘Unplug’
For their tenth album, the eclectic Minneapolis-based indie band Cloud Cult, led by the extraordinary singer and songwriter Craig Minowa, decided to try something...
news
Nathan East: Bass Monster Steps Out With Solo Debut
Bassist Nathan East has played on literally hundreds of albums by musicians of every stripe over the course of an extremely successful career that...
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Big Star’s “September Gurls”
Big Star never had anything close to a hit record, yet here we are writing about them in Classic Tracks. Why?
news
Ozomatli: Bright Days for Eclectic L.A. Groove Band
Famously energetic and fabulously eclectic, the L.A. band Ozomatli shows no signs of slowing down after close to two decades of practically nonstop action....
Films-TV
Music for ‘True Detective’: T Bone Burnett Digs Deep for Eerie HBO Drama
It’s been awhile since the ending of a season of a limited TV series has been mourned as widely and intensely as HBO’s True...
news
Classic Tracks: “The Letter That Johnny Walker Read,” Asleep at the Wheel
Asleep at the Wheel co-founder and leader Ray Benson estimates that around 100 musicians have cycled in and out of his group over the...
news
Blue Rock Artist Ranch: Deep in the Heart of Texas
As Texas’ music mecca, Austin has developed a healthy recording scene to service the ever-growing number of acts who have grown up there or,...
Facilities
Studio Trilogy: Recording Oasis in Downtown SF
Located smack dab in the heart of San Francisco’s ultra-creative and growing SOMA (South of Market) district, on the edge of downtown, Studio Trilogy...
news
Classic Tracks: “First We Take Manhattan,” Jennifer Warnes
With 20/ 20 hindsight, it makes perfect sense that Jennifer Warnes’ exquisite 1986 album, Famous Blue Raincoat: The Songs of Leonard Cohen, became a...
news
Chris Dugan: From Nu-Tone to JingleTown
It was one of those right place, right time situations. Chris Dugan and his partner, Willie Samuels, had been recording local punk, metal and...
2014
Classic Track – New Riders of the Purple Sage, ‘Dirty Business’
After psychedelic music had its heyday in the late 1960s, many musicians decided to take a trip sideways down country roads. The Flying Burrito...
2013
Classic Track – Lou Reed, “Dirty Boulevard”
Few songwriters have captured the spirit of New York City better than the late, truly great Lou Reed. Okay, it wasn’t always the most...
Films-TV
Sound for Picture – Ender’s Game: Earth vs. Alien Creatures in Future Space Wars
Ender’s Game, director/screenwriter Gavin Hood’s ambitious and arresting film version of the best-selling 1984 science fiction book of the same name, has deservedly received...