Free Ride
Mike Pinera’s Image of Freedom
Fellow Passengers: This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of rock guitarist and vocalist Mike Pinera, who turns 64 today. He began his music career in Tampa, Florida, where he formed the group Blues Image. The group moved to Miami to be the house band for a local club that featured touring bands the [...]
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Gustavo Santaolalla Scores Freedom
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of Argentinian composer Gustavo Santaolalla, who turns 62 today. He began his artistic career as a fusion musician, merging traditional Latin folk music with rock and roll. After recording with several groups and as a solo artists, he turned his attention to composing for the big screen, [...]
John Conlee’s Common Freedom
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of John Conlee, who turns 66 today. Born and raised on a farm in Woodford County, Kentucky, Conlee was one of the original supporters and performers for Willie Nelson’s Farm Aid when it began in 1985. Conlee had already performed a benefit concert for the National Farmers [...]
Satchmo – Feeling Fancy Free
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of the founding father of jazz, Louis Armstrong, born in the Battlefield neighborhood of New Orleans on this day in 1901. He was 11 years old when he fired a pistol on New Years Eve, a misdeed which got him labeled a delinquent and packed off to [...]
Yusuf, aka Cat, Sings Out
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of Yusuf Islam, the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens, who turns 64 today. I have such fond memories of learning to play his version of Morning Has Broken for children’s church as an eleven year old, and then later giving his Tea for the Tillerman album [...]
Woody’s Freedom Land
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of the late great Woody Guthrie, who was born 100 years ago today. Guthrie was one of my earliest musical influences; my father, who worked at Dunham’s Music House, brought a charred songbook home he had salvaged after the music store burned down sometime in the mid [...]
Don’t Fence Cole Porter In
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of the great musical theatre composer and lyricist, Cole Porter, born this day in 1891. As one of the principle contributors to what is commonly called the great American songbook, it is ironic that he was as much or more at home in Paris than in the [...]
Micki Steele’s Jangling Freedom
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the lyrics of Michael Steele (aka Micki, not to be confused with the chair of the Republican National Committee). This bassist, vocalist and songwriter for various jangle pop groups from the 70s to the 90s, turns 57 today. She started out with Joan Jett in a teen girl group, [...]
Stevie Nicks on the Edge of Freedom
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac and solo fame, who turns 64 today. This mystical gypsy and bella donna of classic rock has one of the most recognizable voices in the rock world, as well as one of the most recognizable personas, with her wispy blond hair [...]
Pete Townshend Sees Freedom
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of Pete Towshend, guitarist and song-writer for The Who, who celebrates his 67th birthday today. I love learning that the classic rocker who is credited with starting such iconic features as heavy feedback sound, the windmill arm strum, and guitar-smashing in concerts started his musical career with [...]
Steve Winwood’s Still Free
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of the rock and roll Hall of Famer Steve Winwood, who turns 64 today. Steve, or back then Stevie, was a choirboy in Birmingham, England’s St. John’s church, where he first started sneaking over to the organ to discover one of his many musical passions. By the [...]
Jean Redpath’s Accent on Freedom
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of Jean Redpath, the prolific purveyor of traditional Scottish music, who turns 75 today. With over 20 albums to her credit, recorded from the early 60s to the present, and with continuing appearances on radio shows such as Prairie Home Companion and television shows such as Late [...]
Robert Smith’s Cure for Despair
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of Robert Smith, front man and songwriter for English rock band, The Cure, who turns 53 today. His distinctive look, with pale face, black eyeliner, red lipstick, and teased hair, along with his lyrics of angst and depression, set the stage for the Goth rock genre and [...]
Fanny Crosby’s Freedom
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of hymn writer Fanny Crosby, who was born on this day in 1820. As much as any of the famous preachers of the era, Crosby’s music is responsible for the Great Awakening revivalism movements that marked the 19th century. She rivals Charles Wesley and Isaac Watts for [...]
Carrie’s Cautious Freedom
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of the most successful American Idol alumna and country music phenom, Carrie Underwood, who turns 29 today. Her skyrocketing and unparalleled success has led to myriad awards and accolades, and she has a substantial crossover appeal beyond the country audience. Her stylistic range was apparent from the [...]
Doc Watson: As Free As They Come
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of Arthel “Doc” Watson, who turns 89 years young today. What an absolute treat to reflect on the life of this national treasure, who was one of the formative influences in my early attempts to learn guitar. I remember my uncle Tony teaching me Doc’s version of [...]
George Harrison’s Heart and Soul
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of the late great George Harrison, who would have turned 69 today. He is my favorite of the Fab Four; I love the brightness of his disposition and the depth of his spirituality. I really fell in love with his music when he fronted the Concert for [...]
DeYoung’s Got To Be Free
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the voice of Dennis DeYoung, keyboardist and front man for the 70s arena rock group, Styx, who turns 65 today. One of my clearest teenage memories involves seeing Styx at the Asheville Civic Center, when they and Mott the Hoople were the opening acts for the KISS Alive tour. [...]
Sheryl Searches for Freedom
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of Sheryl Crow, who turns 50 today. The 9-time Grammy winner got her start writing commercial jingles, then gained fame by singing background vocals and duets with the likes of Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger, before coming into her own as a solo artist in the 90s. [...]
Dimensions of Freedom
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of Florence LaRue, one of the voices of the 5th Dimension, who turns 68 today. LaRue shared vocals in the jazz/pop/R&B quintet with Marilyn McCoo, Billy Davis, Jr, Lamonte McLemore, and Ron Townsend. After McCoo and Davis left to pursue duo and individual careers, LaRue became the [...]
In the Arms of Freedom, Fly Away
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the lyrics of Sarah McLachlan, the golden-voiced balladeer of British Columbia who turns 44 today. I was a relative latecomer to McLachlan’s music; I’ll admit that like many I was first introduced to her music through the chick flick “City of Angels,” in which the tear-jerker song “Angel” was [...]
Richie Havens Riffs on Freedom
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the artistry of Richie Havens, the Greenwich Village poet turned singer-songwriter who turns 70 today. He gained his fame when he opened the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in the summer of ’69. He gave the growing audience a marathon 3 hour set, having been told by the festival [...]
Foo Fighting for Freedom
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of the seven-time Grammy winner Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters, who turns 43 today. Grohl, the multi-talented drummer for Nirvana, began the Foo Fighters as something of a one-man band after Kurt Cobain’s death. He played all the instruments and sang on the debut recording in ‘95, [...]
Footloose and Fancy Free
This week’s Free Ride* blog muses on the songs of Kenny Loggins, who turns 64 today. The soft-rock singer-songwriter, who penned hits for artists as diverse as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Michael McDonald, first gained fame in his duo work with Jim Messina of Buffalo Springfield fame in the early 70s. He went [...]
Burton’s Eyes of Freedom
This week’s Free Ride muses on the songs of Burton Cummings, who turns 64 today. Most people will recognize his voice and keyboard work from the Canadian supergroup of the late 60s, The Guess Who, which he formed with guitarist Randy Bachman. For a take on the freedom theme, we can look at this groups [...]
One Maniac for Freedom
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of Mary Ramsey of 10,000 Maniacs, who turns 48 today. You gotta love the world of alt rock, where a classically trained viola player gets to be the star. Mary Ramsey started out playing her big fiddle and singing background for the group, but took over lead [...]
Eddie Kendricks on Cloud Nine
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the legendary falsetto voice of The Temptations, the late great Eddie Kendricks, who would have turned 72 today. Kendricks, a co-founder of the Motown super group and one of its lead singers from 1960 – 1971, died of lung cancer in 1992 in his native city of Birmingham. For [...]
Meg White, Loose and Free
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the artistry of Meg White, who turns 37 today. The iconic drummer gained fame for her work with the Grammy-winning duo, the White Stripes. She gained as much notoriety for the mystery surrounding her relationship with the other half of the band, Jack White, since they were apparently married [...]
Flying to the Land of Ozzy
This week’s Free Ride* reflects on the music of the quintessential madman himself, Ozzy Osbourne, who turns 63 today. From heavy metal to reality tv, he has exercised his freedom in some truly outlandish ways, even by the standards of the crazed culture of rock and roll. For some lyrics that speak to his understanding [...]
David Holt, Free as a Little Bird
This week’s Free Ride* reflects on the music of David Holt, songcatcher extraordinaire, who turns 65 today. He has spent the large majority of those years learning, collecting and performing traditional folk songs and preserving the stories of the artists who pioneered the roots music of America. Born in Texas and raised in California, he [...]
Someday We’ll All Be Free
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the voice of Donny Hathaway, who would have turned 66 today (for a reflection on the tragic ending of his life, check out a post from my Daily Passages blog a few months ago). Hathaway, known for cranking out some great r & b duets with Roberta Flack in [...]
Hank Williams Frees this Doubtful Mind
Today’s Free Ride blog honors the late Hank Williams, who would have turned 87 today. One of the great voices as well as songwriters of country music, he carved out quite a legacy in his 29 short years, charting 11 number one hits between 1948 and 1953. Cheatin’ hearts and good lookin’ cookin’ and son [...]
Music of 9/11
Here on the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Free Ride blog muses on the epic Live Scenes from New York, by the progressive metal band Dream Theater. The 3-disc live performance piece was released on September 11, 2001. It was quickly recalled and later re-released with a different cover, because, eerily, the original [...]
Freedom’s Undefined Fire
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of Todd Lewis, front man for the 90s alt rock post-grunge group from Texas, the Toadies, who turned 46 yesterday. Most people who listen to that genre will recognize their biggest radio hit, Possum Kingdom. I started paying attention to them when the hypnotic song, I Come [...]
She Ain’t Gonna Set the Captain Free
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the career of Daryl Dragon, aka the Captain, who turns 69 today. Who would have thunk that a keyboardist for the Beach Boys and a background singer for Pink Floyd would have paired up to provide the mid-70s with the epitome of campy and cheesy pop music? But I’ll [...]
Robert Plant’s Rambling Freedom
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of Robert Plant, the wailing front man for the supergroup Led Zeppelin, who turns 63 today. He typically provides my answer to the question, “if you could sing like anybody in the world, who would you want to sound like?” I know of few singers with the [...]
The Power of Dan Fogelberg
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of Dan Fogelberg, who would have turned 60 today had cancer not cut his life short in 2007. I always associate Fogelberg with a neighbor friend of my growing up years, Ginny, who got me to play Longer Than for her wedding. I was not a fan [...]
Elliott Smith’s Distorted Freedom
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of Elliott Smith, the Academy Award nominated indie folk legend whose battle with the demons in his life ended tragically in 2003 at the age of 34. He would have turned 42 today. Even if you’re not into the indie folk genre, you might be familiar with [...]
Alison Fiddles Freedom
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the amazing talent of Alison Krauss, who turns 40 today. She’s been fiddling for 30 of those years, and has been winning Grammys for 20. Her 26 Grammy awards is the most for any singer, most for any female artist, and third overall. I believe she might have still [...]
White Noise of Freedom
This week’s Free Ride* muses on some lyrics from Ed Kowalczyk, former front man of the 90s band Live. The Talking Heads-influenced Kowalczyk, who turns 40 today, is another of the many artists who are convincing me that the 90s was a real Renaissance decade for rock music. While not in the same league as [...]
Sir Paul: Always Free, Occasionally Cheap
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the genius of Paul McCartney, who turns 69 today. I have the great fortune of being in England now, and Kim and I are traveling today to the Lake District, which has some pretty cool history for McCartney. I learned something new about Sir Paul on this trip. As [...]
Donnie’s Down With Freedom
This week’s Free Ride muses on the songs of Donnie Van Zant, one of the famed trio of brothers from Jacksonville who turns 59 today. The Van Zants cut a wide swath through the terrain of southern rock from the 70s to the 2000s. Donnie, somewhat overshadowed by older brother Johnny of Lynyrd Skynyrd fame [...]
One Mama’s Free Advice
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and The Papas, that four-part harmony folk sensation of the late 1960s. Michelle, who turns 67 today, was married at the time of the Mamas and Papas popularity to “Papa” John Phillips. She shared songwriting duties with him, co-writing such hits [...]
A Firebrand for Freedom
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songbook of John Fogerty, who turns 66 today. Fogerty has the distinction of making all three ranks of Rolling Stone magazine’s lists of greats: great guitarists, great vocalists, and great songwriters. His fellow band mates, including his late brother Tom, in Creedence Clearwater Revival, might have questioned whether [...]
Ronald Isley Shouts Freedom
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of an r&b icon, Ronald Isley of the Isley brothers, who turns 70 today. He has covered a lot of ground, musically and personally, in those 70 years. Musically, he got his first break at age three, when he won a $25 war bond at a spiritual-singing [...]
Bobby’s Simple Song
This week’s Free Ride* muses on one of the protest songs of Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bobby Darin, who would have turned 75 today. To be perfectly honest, it was a long time before I knew there was a folky-protest side to Bobby Darin. I basically associated him with the Righteous Brothers’ song [...]
Strobe Light Freedom
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the wonder of the one hit Thelma Houston brought us when she covered the old Blue Notes classic, Don’t Leave Me This Way. Houston turns 65 today, and has added some acting credits to her disco hit (with roles on such memorable shows as Simon & Simon and Cagney [...]
Free Willie
This week’s Free Ride* muses on one of the great icons of Americana, Willie Nelson, who turned 78 yesterday. Willie is still working full throttle, with over 150 tour dates last year and not slowing down this year. He is an amazing conundrum of country music, defiantly and freely evoking leftist politics and values in [...]
A Song and a Si for the Weary
This week’s Free Ride* muses on the songs of human rights activist and songwriter Si Kahn, who turns 67 today. He’s one of the few performers covered here on the Free Ride blog that I’ve had the opportunity to cross paths with on several occasions. Over twenty-five years ago, when Si Kahn was beginning work [...]
Dusty’s Goin’ Back
This week’s Free Ride* reflects on the music of rock and roll Hall of Famer Dusty Springfield, who would have turned 72 today. The British pop singer with the soulful voice had a four decade career, starting in the 1950s, and is most widely known for the popular r & b hit Son of a [...]
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