Behind the Teen Idol Mask, David Cassidy’s Can’t Go Home Again in 1973 Sounded Like a Plea to Escape Fame
Can’t Go Home Again catches David Cassidy in 1973 at the uneasy edge where adoration,...
Melody Era
A Happy Tune With a Dark Heart: John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Bad Moon Rising Reached No. 2 in America and No. 1 in Britain
Bright on the surface and shadowed underneath, Bad Moon Rising turned a 1969 radio smash...
When Linda Ronstadt Toughened Up: Tumbling Dice and the FM-Fueled Road to Living in the USA
Tumbling Dice became something sharper in Linda Ronstadt’s voice: not a copy of the Rolling...
The Same Words, a Darker Heart: How Josh Turner’s 2010 ‘I Wouldn’t Be a Man’ Recast Don Williams and Steve Wariner’s Hit
Josh Turner did not simply revisit I Wouldn’t Be a Man in 2010. He stepped...
The Sequel Couldn’t Repeat 1977, but Bee Gees’ Someone Belonging to Someone Gave Staying Alive Its Heart
Someone Belonging to Someone is the sound of the Bee Gees returning to a world...
Before Conway Twitty’s No. 1, Bee Gees’ 1978 B-Side Rest Your Love on Me Revealed Barry Gibb’s Country Soul
Hidden on the back of a pop phenomenon, Rest Your Love on Me let the...
The Song That Turned Night Into Freedom: Neil Diamond’s Thank the Lord for the Night Time Hit No. 13 in 1967
A celebration of evening freedom, Thank the Lord for the Night Time turns the end...
Before Barbra, the Silence Cut Deeper: Neil Diamond’s 1977 You Don’t Bring Me Flowers on I’m Glad You’re Here with Me Tonight
Before it became a legendary duet, You Don’t Bring Me Flowers was a solitary confession....
Where 2006 Country Found Its Soul: Josh Turner and Ralph Stanley Turned ‘Me and God’ Into More Than a Duet
Me and God mattered because Josh Turner and Ralph Stanley made faith sound intimate, inherited,...
That Quiet 1992 Heartbreak: Linda Ronstadt’s Perfidia in The Mambo Kings Still Casts a Spell
In The Mambo Kings, Linda Ronstadt turned Perfidia into more than a soundtrack selection. She...
Where Her Voice Turned Home: Linda Ronstadt’s La Cigarra and the 1987 Canciones de Mi Padre Mariachi Turning Point
On the 1987 album Canciones de Mi Padre, La Cigarra became more than a song...
The Train That Kept Rolling: Emmylou Harris’s ‘Luxury Liner’ and Gram Parsons’ Legacy in 1977
On Luxury Liner, Emmylou Harris turned a fast-moving Gram Parsons song into a 1977 statement...
The road felt older in 1981: Emmylou Harris’s Born to Run on Cimarron gave Springsteen’s anthem a country-rock soul
Emmylou Harris turned Born to Run into something startlingly different on Cimarron: not a city-street...
Before Trio Had a Name, Emmylou Harris’ Light of the Stable United Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt in a Sacred 1979 Moment
Light of the Stable is one of those rare Christmas songs that feels humble and...
So Quiet It Feels Like Prayer: Emmylou Harris’ Bright Morning Stars Became the Soul of 1980’s Roses in the Snow
A song carried out of the mountains and sung without hurry, Bright Morning Stars lets...
Before the Break, John Fogerty and CCR’s “Hey Tonight” Powered Pendulum’s Final Top 10 Hit in 1971
“Hey Tonight” rushed in like pure good-time rock, yet its 1971 chart run also marked...
A Dream Gone Ragged: John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Lodi Was Green River’s Most Heartbreaking 1969 Portrait
Lodi is one of John Fogerty‘s finest acts of musical honesty, a 1969 song in...
Lost in the 1971 Frenzy, The Partridge Family’s Friend and a Lover on Up to Date Revealed the Real David Cassidy
More than a sweet TV-pop tune, Friend and a Lover catches the exact emotional line...
When David Cassidy Turned Tough: Go Now in 1972 Revealed the Live Edge TV Never Captured
David Cassidy used “Go Now” in 1972 to reveal the side of him television could...
The Power Was in the Whisper: Linda Ronstadt’s 1974 “Willin’” on Heart Like a Wheel Is Vocal Mastery Hiding in Plain Sight
On “Willin’”, Linda Ronstadt proves that true vocal greatness does not always arrive in a...
The Magic Was in the Blend: Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor Made Get Closer One of 1982’s Warmest Duets
A bright 1982 duet on the surface, Get Closer reveals something deeper when Linda Ronstadt...
For One Brief Year, the Bee Gees Were Two Brothers: How I.O.I.O. Lit Up the Cucumber Castle TV Era
In 1970, I.O.I.O. captured the Bee Gees in one of their most unusual seasons: a...
The Lost 1971 Bridge: Neil Diamond’s Walk on Water Between Tap Root Manuscript and Stones
Walk on Water caught Neil Diamond in one of those rare in-between moments when an...
The Opry Moment That Changed Everything: How Josh Turner’s Long Black Train Became a 2003 No. 13 Country Hit
Before radio turned it into a hit, Long Black Train was a warning song that...
When Linda Ronstadt Sang ‘Alison,’ Elvis Costello’s Hurt Became the Tender Soul of 1978’s Living in the USA
Linda Ronstadt did not simply cover ‘Alison’; on Living in the USA, she quietly transformed...
The No. 1 That Sounded Braver Than It Felt: Emmylou Harris and ‘Two More Bottles of Wine’ in 1978
Two More Bottles of Wine sounds like a breezy country hit, but its heart is...
A Whisper That Reached No. 1: Emmylou Harris’s Beneath Still Waters and the Deep Country Heart of Blue Kentucky Girl
In 1979, Emmylou Harris found the hush inside heartbreak on Beneath Still Waters, proving that...
In Two Furious Minutes, John Fogerty Turned Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Travelin’ Band Into a 1970 Rock-and-Roll Storm
Travelin’ Band turns the thrill of success into a blur of engines, hotel rooms, and...
Lost in the 1972 Hysteria, David Cassidy’s Take This Heart Was the Softest Truth on Cherish
On Take This Heart, David Cassidy sounds less like a pop phenomenon and more like...
That 1980 Top 10 Jolt: Linda Ronstadt’s How Do I Make You Gave Mad Love Its Electric Edge
With “How Do I Make You”, Linda Ronstadt turned longing into urgency, delivering a 1980...