I think that Help! is the most underrated Beatles album of all. While some reviewers quite disparage it, others render it some praise (e.g. for being adventurous in the use of […]
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Nina Simone: “God, God, God”
Nina Simone (1933-2003) was not an ordinary person. She was not. I wish I had time to do justice to her achievement, but she was talented to an extraordinary degree. […]
Read moreKate Bush: “Cloudbusting”, Childhood and Compromise
This is a strange, moving song: the music is powerful, but the song as a whole does not share in the power, at least not as it should. I think […]
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Ben Shapiro and the Beatles
Background When I was about ten years old, I borrowed an illustrated book on Judaism from Parramatta Library. I recall being struck by a picture of an elderly Jew in […]
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“The Coast of Amalfi” – Steve Harley
“The Coast of Amalfi” is a visionary, almost transcendent ode to a mystic insight. Lovingly fashioned by a very experienced and talented musician, it makes for a very special song, […]
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The Ballad of John and Yoko
I do not consider this to be one of Lennon’s great songs, but it is much under-rated both for its musical and its cultural depth. It draws on a variety […]
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An Appreciation of Lennon’s “Walls and Bridges”
Many years have passed since I first heard it, and only now have I come to grips with the Walls and Bridges album. For no other Lennon record has it […]
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