Robin Gibb’s Late Spark: Bee Gees’ Embrace Found Dance-Floor Life on Their Final Album
On the Bee Gees’ last studio album, Embrace let Robin Gibb carry a late burst...
Melody Era
Gratitude Changes the Room on Josh Turner and Pat McLaughlin’s “What He’s Given Me” from King Size Manger
On “What He’s Given Me”, Josh Turner lets Christmas feel less like spectacle and more...
At the Ryman, a Grim Joke Deepened: Josh Turner Covers Hank Williams’ ‘I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive’
At the Ryman, Josh Turner turned Hank Williams’ dark country wit into a live moment...
Linda Ronstadt’s Quietest Choice on Jimmy Webb’s Easy for You to Say Made Get Closer Ache Differently
On Get Closer, Linda Ronstadt let Jimmy Webb’s wounded elegance speak softly, turning Easy for...
Before the Big Ballads, Linda Ronstadt’s ‘He Darked the Sun’ on Silk Purse Showed Her Country-Rock Nerve
On Silk Purse, Linda Ronstadt found a shadowed country-rock song and sang it as if...
A Darker Prayer on Cowgirl’s Prayer: Emmylou Harris Enters David Olney’s “Jerusalem Tomorrow”
On Cowgirl’s Prayer, Emmylou Harris turns David Olney’s “Jerusalem Tomorrow” into a quiet reckoning between...
Emmylou Harris Hit the Gas on Drivin’ Wheel, the White Shoes Cover That Refused to Sit Still
On White Shoes, Emmylou Harris made Drivin’ Wheel feel less like a borrowed song than...
Quiet Hurt Runs Deep in Emmylou Harris’s I Had My Heart Set on You from Thirteen, Written by Rodney Crowell and Paul Kennerley
On Thirteen, Emmylou Harris made a Crowell-Kennerley heartbreak feel almost private, proving how much country...
One Linda Ronstadt Harmony Reframed Emmylou Harris’s Queen of the Silver Dollar on Pieces of the Sky
On Pieces of the Sky, Emmylou Harris gave Shel Silverstein’s barroom queen a voice of...
Before Creedence Clearwater Revival Hit Full Stride, “Get Down Woman” Put Their 1968 Debut in the Blues Room
Before Creedence found its sharpest silhouette, Get Down Woman showed John Fogerty carving a Bay...
A Family Movie Became Swamp-Rock Trouble on John Fogerty’s “Wicked Old Witch” from Déjà Vu All Over Again
A child’s viewing of The Wizard of Oz opened a sly back door into John...
David Cassidy Sounded Like a Man Rebuilding Himself on Touched By Lightning from Romance
On Touched By Lightning, David Cassidy stepped out of the teen-idol shadow and into the...
David Cassidy Sounded Older Than the Show on The Partridge Family’s Alone Too Long from 1973’s Bulletin Board
On Alone Too Long, the bright Partridge Family frame gives way to a quieter, more...
Linda Ronstadt Barely Raises Her Voice on “Roll Um Easy”—That Is the Power of Prisoner in Disguise
On Roll Um Easy, Linda Ronstadt turns a Little Feat song into a study in...
The Quiet Exit Linda Ronstadt Chose: Old Paint and the Cowboy Soul of Simple Dreams
At the end of Simple Dreams, Linda Ronstadt turned from hit-making polish toward an older...
A Restless Signal in Neil Diamond’s Signs, the 1976 Beautiful Noise Track Robbie Robertson Produced
On Signs, Neil Diamond enters the textured world of Beautiful Noise, where Robbie Robertson frames...
The Brother Who Usually Blended In: Bee Gees’ Closer Than Close Put Maurice Gibb Forward on Still Waters
On Still Waters, Closer Than Close let Maurice Gibb move from the center of the...
A Deep Voice Finds Bob Dylan’s Road: Josh Turner’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece” on Endless Highway
On a tribute album built in The Band’s long shadow, Josh Turner turns Bob Dylan’s...
The Quiet Trap Inside Linda Ronstadt’s 1975 “Prisoner in Disguise,” with J.D. Souther Close Behind
In Linda Ronstadt’s 1975 title track, freedom sounds less like escape than the brave admission...
A River Becomes a Reckoning: Emmylou Harris Sings Merle Haggard’s Kern River on 2008’s All I Intended to Be
On All I Intended to Be, Emmylou Harris turns Merle Haggard’s Kern River into a...
Loretta Lynn’s Hurt Turned Elegant in Emmylou Harris’s Grammy-Winning 1979 “Blue Kentucky Girl”
In Emmylou Harris’s hands, “Blue Kentucky Girl” became less a plea than a poised return...
A Phone Call From Fogerty’s Lost Vault: John Fogerty’s “Telephone” and the Hoodoo Mystery
John Fogerty’s “Telephone” carries the strange weight of a song that survived as a trace,...
David Cassidy’s Be Bop A Lula Turned The Higher They Climb Into a Riskier Self-Portrait
On The Higher They Climb, David Cassidy reached back to rockabilly and found a sharper...
Before Trio Had a Name, Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, and Emmylou Harris Lifted My Blue Tears on Get Closer
Before the word Trio became a promise, three voices met inside My Blue Tears and...
When the Film Fell Away, Neil Diamond’s Skybird Kept Jonathan Livingston Seagull in Flight
In Neil Diamond’s Skybird, the Jonathan Livingston Seagull soundtrack turns flight into a language of...
A Sunlit Detour With a Shadow: Neil Diamond’s Acapulco on The Jazz Singer Soundtrack
On the 1980 The Jazz Singer soundtrack, Neil Diamond let Acapulco sound like a vacation...
Barry Gibb Was Changing in Plain Sight on Bee Gees’ Nothing Could Be Good from Living Eyes
On Nothing Could Be Good, the Bee Gees turned down the glare of the disco...
Their comeback had sharper edges: Bee Gees’ Bodyguard, One’s second U.S. single, pushed forward
With Bodyguard, the Bee Gees did not simply revisit their past; they dressed their harmonies...
When Lancaster Took ‘Firecracker’ Live: Josh Turner’s Crowd-Sparked 2012 Cut From Live Across America
In Lancaster, Josh Turner’s “Firecracker” becomes less a polished country single than a room full...
When Josh Turner’s Baritone Met the Spotlight: “Would You Go With Me” Live at the 42nd ACM Awards
At the 42nd ACM Awards, Josh Turner brought a country hit into the television glare...