RICHIE HAVENS REVISITED
Brooklyn born and raised, Richie Havens (1941-2013) began hanging out in Greenwich Village in 1959, as a street...
R.I.P.
ON THE WAY TO PARADISE: MY TRAVELS WITH JOHN PRINE
John Prine hit the ground running with his debut album in 1971, a seamless masterpiece of what seemed...
GOODBYE MICHAEL NESMITH: AN ENTRY FROM MY DIARY
James Grauerholz, the bibliographer and literary executor of William S. Burroughs (1914-1997), was the late writer’s friend, intimate...
THE PKM CRYPT CRAWL: NEW YORK
Cue the spooky Halloween music because we’re going on a stroll among the grassy knolls of New York...
BAT OUT OF HELL: THE REAL JIM STEINMAN
When Jim Steinman died in April, the only thing most people knew about him was Meat Loaf. Specifically,...
HEARTBREAKERS: THUNDERS VS. PETTY; OR, WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Johnny Thunders and Tom Petty would seem to have little in common other than the names of their...
JACK KEROUAC: BASKING IN THE GOLDEN ETERNITY
By the time Jack Kerouac died at 47 in 1969, he’d exiled himself from the 1960s youth culture...
SKULL FORMING: TIM WRIGHT AFTER PERE UBU
Years ago, the celebrated composer and multi-instrumentalist Elliott Sharp got to know and perform with Tim Wright, the...
SYLVAIN SYLVAIN: SLEEP BABY DOLL
Sylvain Sylvain was the secret weapon of the New York Dolls, the diplomat and cheerleader who held the...
ALL THINGS MUST PASS AT 50: GEORGE HARRISON’S INNER LIGHT SHINES ON
When George Harrison released his epic “triple album” on November 27, 1970, Beatle fans worldwide realized the gig...
LUX INTERIOR: WHERE ON EARTH DID YOU COME FROM?
The Cramps’ frontman was impossible to miss, on or off stage, the perfect foil to his equally striking...
DIANE DI PRIMA: HER LIFE AS A BEATNIK AND WOMAN
Diane di Prima (1934-2020) was a poet, artist, activist and teacher who navigated countercultural landscapes of both the...
MY BEST BUDDY NICK TOSCHES
Songwriter and musician Austin Brookner met writer Nick Tosches in 2008. The connection was Tosches’ words—both on the...
MY FAVORITE ALCHEMIST: AN HOMAGE TO HAL WILLNER
The release of Hal Willner’s final recorded project, Angelheaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan & T.Rex, got...