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The Beatles, Watching Rainbows
On January 14th, 1969, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr were sitting around Twickenham Studios. George Harrison had temporarily quit the band, so John was on piano, Paul was on electric guitar, and Ringo was behind the drums. John led the shortened group through a new improvised jam he had been fooling around with…
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The Notorious B.I.G., Hypnotize
Biggie. Everybody loves him. In fact, he’s the most searched artist on my website. “Hypnotize,” the first single from 1996’s “Life After Death” LP, is perhaps his best pop song. Now, by pop song, of course I just mean pop smash, not “pop song” in the traditional sense, because obviously its strait hip-hop. But a…
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John Lennon Singing Lead on Get Back
The Beatles are one of those bands so famous, that to the untrained ear of the average person, its hard to tell which Beatle is singing what. Of course, such distinctions are “Beatles 101” to hardcore fans, but part of the confusion lies in the seamless harmonic blend Lennon and McCartney produced in many of…
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RIP Nick Ashford and Jerry Leiber
Two songwriting icons passed away yesterday, and ironically, both were halves of legendary songwriting teams. Nick Ashford, legendary Motown songwriter, who was paired with his wife Valerie Simpson, died at 70 in Manhattan. Jerry Leiber, partnered with Mike Stoller, co-wrote some of Elvis Presley’s greatest hits, died at 78 in Los Angeles. Among Ashford’s greatest…
