[Part 4 of 4] But what price popularity? Though it’s hard to find a truly critical word written about Supernatural, given the excitement of Santana’s long-time fans at his return to the spotlight, in fact it’s a rather uneven record. The collaborative tracks on Supernatural and the 2002 follow-up album Shaman (featuring appearances by Musiq, [...]
[Part 2 of 4] The name “Santana” points always in two directions: both to the band originally called the Santana Blues Band (shortened to Santana by the release of their first album), as well as the band’s founder and lead guitarist. The ambivalence captured in that name—is Santana a band or a man?—registers something [...]
[Cherished Readers: I'm going to use the occasion of Carlos Santana's (re-)appearance at Woodstock last month to think a little bit about the shape of his extraordinary career: today and for the next three days. My thanks, in advance, for your bearing with me.--KD] On July 17, guitarist Carlos Santana played the Bethel Woods Center for [...]
[The second in a two-part post started yesterday, previously published in the Chronicle of Higher Education.] In the documentary All You Need Is Love (2008), Tony Palmer quotes Eric Burdon, of the Animals: “If you want to see what an American black is going through today, where his mind is at, go see Jimi Hendrix, [...]
I dropped the story of Ice-T and “Cop Killer” midway on Thursday, in deference to our regular Friday feature, Mystery Science Auditorium; let’s finish up that story now. The song was “greeted” with predictable, and not altogether unreasonable, outrage. Tipper Gore went after Body Count in The Washington Post, comparing Ice-T’s message to “Hitler’s anti-Semitism [...]
Let’s get finished with Valleys of Neptune now with all due dispatch. “Mr. Bad Luck”: forgettable (given the proviso, ventured yesterday, that all of these tracks bring something of value). Let’s move on. Hendrix’s almost seven-minute instrumental version of “Sunshine of Your Love” is the track (after “Valleys of Neptune”) that’s been getting the most media [...]
[Owing to some technical problems out here on the road, this week's Mystery Science Auditorium has been pushed back to Sunday: with apologies.--KD] Having begun Thursday with some general comments on Hendrix’s new Valleys of Neptune, I’d like to venture some specific remarks about a handful of the album’s more remarkable tracks today and tomorrow. [...]
When talking about It Might Get Loud with some friends (see post for Feb. 24), the inevitable questions were raised. First: are Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White really the logical choices to represent three “generations” of rock guitarists? Wouldn’t Clapton have been as interesting, or more, than Page? Slash is just four years [...]