Many a bedroom-based songwriter has gone the 4-track-and-a-dream route after getting shot in the ear by the inspirational indie rock of Guided By Voices. And who can blame them after hearing the compre …

The shorthand history of the Williams clan can be heard in "Family Tradition." As autobiographical songs go, Hank Jr. is no victim of "truthiness." He also sings about his "rowdy friends," who in the f …

"December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night!)" holds a place in pop history for having been a Top 20 hit twice, with 18 years separating its two chart peaks (at #1 in 1976 and a remixed version at #14 in  …

Traffic delivered prog to the progs, folk to the folkies, psychedelia to the space cadets, and pop to the hook-lovers (notably on "Hole in My Shoe"). And they were criminally underrated as a for …

In its early days, Traffic was run along cooperative lines: the band's four members shared a cottage in rural England, in which 1967 debut Mr. Fantasy was hatched - it's an arty, eclectic curios …

Classically trained, and musically grounded in gospel and jazz, pianist Ramsey Lewis represents the A-list of easy listening. His smoothly flowing style - which reached a commercial highpoint during th …

It took a lot of balls to be a black Irishman in 1970, and even more to front a rock band that couldn't help but cut anthems. Which is what made the late, great Phil Lynott the perfect frontman for Thi …

Few bands in alt-rock made such a lasting impression using so little - minimal, guitar-less instrumentation behind spare, sleepy-eyed songs that, for all intents and purposes, were drugs themselves. Th …

Back in the '60s, John Mayall was Britain's blues-school marm, known in circles as the "Godfather of British Blues." His tutelage touched the careers of many great musicians, including Eric Clapton, wi …