This category can only be “Editor’s Choice.” An attempt to recognize those artists that have continued to build their fan base over an entire career and have carved out a special place for this web site to roam. It is surely a matter of taste, who may qualify as ones favorites. We will continue to add musicians and authors to this tab.
Richard Thompson is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He made his début as a recording artist as a member of Fairport Convention in September 1967. He continues to write and record new material regularly and frequently performs live at venues throughout the world. Wikipedia
in memorium
Producer, songwriter, arranger, session pianist, solo artist — Allen Toussaint wore all these hats over the course of his lengthy and prolific career, and his behind-the-scenes work alone would have been enough to make him a legend of New Orleans R&B. Thanks to his work with numerous other artists, Toussaintbore an enormous amount of responsibility for the sound of R&B in the Crescent City from the ’60s on into the ’70s. His productions kept with the times, moving from rollicking, earthy soul in the ’60s to gritty, rambunctious funk in the ’70s. As a composer, Toussaint proved himself a consistent hitmaker, penning more than a few gems that have since become R&B standards and been covered by countless artists working in many different styles. In keeping with that across-the-board appeal, Toussaint worked in some supporting capacity for a wide variety of rock and blues legends, particularly from the ’70s on. On top of all that, Toussaint waxed his own records from time to time, enjoying a creative peak in the ’70s with several albums that highlighted his laid-back vocals and elegantly funky piano work. Even if he wasn’t always the most visible figure, Toussaint‘s contributions to New Orleans music — and to rock & roll in general — were such that he earned induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
in memorium
Crumley was the quintessential novelist for post Vietnam War America. His disillusion was equal to his romantic streak, the both of them stoked by abundant appetites and consumption of just about every substance under the sun. He was a slumming poet in the vein of his icon, Chandler, and a consummate writer’s writer, capable of more feeling and more beauty in a sentence than many authors could fit into a book. Ask your favorite crime writer for a list of their most admired books and the odds are you’ll find The Last Good Kiss or some other adventure from the C.W. Sughrue or Milo Milodragovitch series among them.
(Crimereads)
in memoriam
Dr. John, Rock N Roll Hall of Fame inductee, 6 time Grammy winner, songwriter, composer, producer and performer, created a unique blend of music which carried his hometown New Orleans at its heart, as it was always in his heart.
in memoriam
Poet and novelist Jim Harrison spent much of his life in Michigan on a farm near where he was born, as well as Montana and Arizona. His connection to rural landscapes was evident in his free-verse, imagistic poetry, which often explores human and animal drives set against an unforgiving natural world. Noting the poetry’s relation to Hemingway’s prose style in a review of Harrison’s Selected & New Poems 1961–1981, poet and critic Richard Tillinghast declared in the New York Times that “Mr. Harrison has few equals as a writer on outdoor life, the traditional heritage and proving ground of the American male.”
Harrison earned a BA and MA at Michigan State University, and he taught briefly at SUNY Stony Brook. After the publication of his first collection of poetry, Plain Song (1965), he returned to Michigan, where he worked as a freelance journalist and laborer until he began to earn a living from his writing.
Harrison published more than a dozen collections of poetry, including Livingston Suite (2005), Saving Daylight (2006), In Search of Small Gods (2009), Songs of Unreason (2011), and Dead Man’s Float (2016). He was also well known as a fiction writer, publishing numerous novels and collections. His novel Legends of the Fall (1979) received considerable critical acclaim and was made into a 1995 feature film. Harrison wrote several screenplays for Warner Bros. and other studios. He served as poetry editor of The Nation and coeditor of Sumac. He wrote a food column, “The Raw and the Cooked,” for Esquire magazine, and his collection of essays, Just Before Dark (1991), includes some of his food writing along with literary and nature essays. Harrison died in 2016.
“Simply one of the finest singer-songwriters of his generation, Alejandro Escovedo’s critical cachet has always outstripped his name recognition and commercial impact.” — Slant
Brothers Noah and Adam Levy were already veterans of the Minneapolis rock scene when they formed The Honeydogs in 1994. Elder brother Adam spun his favorite country, soul and rock influences into a vintage sounding batch of songs on the band’s eponymous 1995 debut, which featured bassist Trent Norton. Noah took time off to record and tour with Golden Smog featuring members of The Jayhawks, Wilco, Their second outing, featuring added guitarist Tommy Borscheid, Everything I Bet You (1996) further honed the band’s merging of country and rock, sounding like a Flying Burrito Brothers/Beatles/Clash hybrid. The band toured extensively and secured a major label deal with Mercury Records–leading to their first commercial release, Seen A Ghost (1997 )
NRBQ is an American rock band founded by Terry Adams (piano), Steve Ferguson (guitar) and Joey Spampinato (bass).[1][2] The group formed in the mid- 1960’s. Through various incarnations, all of them relevant, they remain a force nearly 55 years later.
Happy 75th birthday to Garland Jeffreys – a true original, an absolute treasure of a songwriter, and an ASCAP member for 48 years. May you forever stay wild in the streets…
Younger generations of musicians have heard Jeffreys’ call. He’s been covered by everyone from LA punkers The Circle Jerks (who gave his song “Wild in the Streets” a hardcore makeover, turning it into an unofficial anthem of the skatepunk community) to neo-folk act Vetiver. And he continues to be a staple for TV and commercial placements. As but one example, a recent episode of 13 Reasons Why features both the Circle Jerks cover of “Wild in the Streets” and a raucous reinterpretation by the Peruvian-American psych-punk band Los Huaycos.
It is a matter of taste, who may qualify as ones favorites. We believe that those listed in this category have earned favoritism in many ways. We will continue to add musicians and authors to this tab. Take a moment and check them out.
