Music
Reading Time: 3 minutesHISTORY OF THE SUMMER OF LOVE — 1967: DRUGS When I was a Resident Assistant at Berkeley in the early ’70s, a local police officer I knew gave me a tour down Telegraph Avenue. He told me: “All the major drug deals on the West Coast go down within a two-block stretch of Telegraph Avenue.…
Reading Time: 6 minutesConcert review of the “History of the Eagles” tour at the Denver Pepsi Center.
Reading Time: 8 minutesCONCERT REVIEW: JAMES TAYLOR AND CAROLE KING TROUBADOUR REUNION IN DENVER Peanut Butter and Chocolate… Two great tastes in music came together for the Troubadour Reunion tour, celebrating the 40th anniversary of their first time performing together at The Troubadour Club in Los Angeles originally in 1970. The reunion concert was held at the Troubadour…
Reading Time: 2 minutesHISTORY OF CHRISTMAS MUSIC Music early became a marked feature of the Christmas season. But the first chants, litanies, and hymns were in Latin and too theological for popular use. The 13th century found the rise of the carol written in the vernacular under the influence of Francis of Assisi. The word carol comes from…
Reading Time: 2 minutesHISTORY OF A SACRED ORATORIO The genteel reception accorded the original debut performance stood in marked contrast to the savage hostility which greeted the work less than a year later in London. The English aristocracy and churchmen began an unrelenting campaign against the work and its creator. They labeled it “a profanation,” scandalized at “the…
Reading Time: 4 minutesHISTORY OF 09.09.09 What makes this date unique, different from other repeated dates like 08.08.08? Here’s a hint: Number Nine, Number Nine, Number Nine… These are the lyrics to “Revolution 9” from The Beatles‘ self-titled “White Album,” which if played backwards might sound like “turn me on dead man.” But there are at least three…
Reading Time: 8 minutesCONCERT REVIEW: THE BEACH BOYS AT THE US AIR FORCE ACADEMY Nothing says fun, fun, fun more than walking into the Arnold Hall at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs than seeing attendees in their ’60s and ’70s who have “brought their own bottle”… of oxygen. Admittedly, the Academy is located 7,250 feet…
Reading Time: 6 minutesConcert Review: James Taylor at Red Rocks in Denver In December I was in Tokyo. I’d been in Asia for 2 weeks already and I was worn out, cold, lonely, and homesick. As I walked by a Starbucks in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, I heard the strains of James Taylor. It took me home.…
Reading Time: 5 minutesConcert Review: Stevie Wonder at Coors Amphitheater in Denver Stevie Wonder has toured only once since 1988. It’s been 13 years since he has graced Denver with a concert, and Denver welcomed him back with open arms to Fiddler’s Green at the Coors Amphitheater. Despite starting 30 minutes late, he played for over two hours…
Reading Time: 4 minutesCROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG AT RED ROCKS IN DENVER The show called “An Evening with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young,” Freedom Of Speech ’06 was one of three sold-out events at the Denver Red Rocks open-air amphitheatre. Their first tour since 2002 started in July in Philadelphia. Their 2000 reunion tour was their first…
Reading Time: 2 minutesHISTORY OF A SACRED ORATORIO The genteel reception accorded the original debut performance stood in marked contrast to the savage hostility which greeted the work less than a year later in the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, London. The English aristocracy and churchmen began an unrelenting campaign against the work and its creator. They…
Reading Time: 8 minutesPAUL MCCARTNEY AT PEPSI CENTER IN DENVER Sir Paul McCartney last visited the Denver Pepsi Center in 2002, where he performed what has now been captured on his album Back in the US. It was the best concert I’ve ever been to, and I’ve been going to major concerts for 35 years. Why was this?…