DOCTOR MY EYES The first time you probably heard him. But I discovered him at the Fillmore East, opening for Laura Nyro in December 1970, during her annual Christmas spectacular, they were both managed by David Geffen, ergo Jackson’s appearance. Very few people impress you the first time out, especially if you’re completely unfamiliar with […]

NATHAN LA FRANEER If you bought “Joni Mitchell,” aka “Song To A Seagull,” when it came out, you’re a member of a very exclusive club or you’re lying. There were no famous covers, no big media campaign, the record barely made a noise. Yet, when you discovered it sometime thereafter, which you did if you […]

What if after a long bout of writer’s block you put out an album nearly as good as your debut, but most people ignored it? Then you’d have Karla Bonoff’s 1988 LP “New World.” Produced by Mark Goldenberg of Cretones fame and released on Danny Goldberg’s Gold Castle Records this gem sank like a stone…what […]

SOMEONE TO LAY DOWN BESIDE ME Linda Ronstadt was America’s sweetheart, the coolest rock chick who owned the airwaves, she released her third smash in a row, “Hasten Down The Wind” and the killer track, which finished the LP, was “Someone To Lay Down Beside Me.” The instrumentation was perfect, haunting, the sheen shone, and […]