Bob Ruggiero

“Kick out the jams, motherfuckers!” The exhortation is one of the best-known in rock and roll history, even if it appeared at the beginning of the debut album by a group which never rose about cult status in their lifetime. But as the authors of a new book on that...

It’s understandable why the general public’s perception of what music writers do is based on Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical 2000 film Almost Famous. Hanging out with the band for a week! Backstage and hotel parties! Drugs! Groupies! But the reality of profession in 2024 is that for features to advance a...

Of all the genres of historical and popular fiction, the one that probably has the most ingrained archetypes is the Western. You’ve got the strong, good, white hatted (and usually white skinned) hero. The dastardly black hatted or mustachioed villain. The damsel in distress. The old coot/drunk. Settings of stagecoaches,...

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It’s always something of a jolt for fans of a band when its first original or classic member dies. A reminder that even “ageless” rock stars face mortality—and that the listener’s own march toward death is keeping up at the same pace. Still, it was something of a shock in...

Unless you’re a Classic Rock music nerd/liner note reader, the name Jesse Ed Davis is probably unfamiliar to your eyes. But you’ve definitely heard his guitar stylings. That’s him ripping the searing electric solo on Jackson Browne’s “Doctor My Eyes.” That’s him strumming the lush, syncopated guitar intro on Rod...

It seems that there’s a Randy Newman for all sorts of music listeners. Like acerbic/satirical/edgy/intelligent pop songs? He’s the guy who wrote tunes from the POV of a slave ship captain pitching an all-expenses paid American journey to skeptical African natives (“Sail Away”). And about American militarism (“Political Science”), fervent...

We currently live in an age of audio wonders. Recording technology, software, and computer programs like Pro Tools mean that artists both world-famous and utterly unknown can make high-quality recordings in their comfort of their own bedrooms and never get out of their PJs.

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For nearly 50 years, biographer Robert Caro has been working on his massive, sprawling, set of books on the life of former U.S. President Lyndon Johnson. Now 89 years old, Caro is reportedly wrapping up the fifth and final volume for publication. Authors Allan Kozinn and Adrian Sinclair are younger...