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Benjamin Wagner joins the guys for a frank discussion about mental health in the midst of Mental Health Awareness Month. He's spent a good amount of time thinking about -- and researching the subject. His new film, Friends & Neighbors, is the result of that work. Benjamin tells Jeff and Matt how his own mental health struggles influenced the movie -- and what he learned once he finished the project.
In Friends & Neighbors, Benjamin thinks back to the words of his friend, Fred Rogers -- known to the world as Mister Rogers -- and how he always encouraged people to "look for the helpers." For Benjamin, one of those helpers, beginning in his formative years as a teenager, was definitely music. One of the key albums was R.E.M.'s Reckoning. He shares his love for both the record and the band itself -- and why he really respects what they did from the beginning to the way they handled the end of their career.
We also discuss Benjamin's first interview -- which happened to be with R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe -- and moments from his incredible run at MTV News which lasted for nearly two decades. As it happens, you can hear a whole lot more about Benjamin's time at MTV. He's got an essential podcast, You Hear It First: An Unofficial and Unfiltered History of MTV News, where he's been interviewing an incredible mix of people from the network -- including many of his former colleagues. For those of us who grew up with MTV News -- and perhaps eventually worked in the industry themselves -- it's a fascinating journey.
Friends & Neighbors is screening this month at select locations and will feature panel discussion with Benjamin and others. You can find information on those screenings here. And If you're not in range to attend a screening, you can stream it during the month of May by visiting the film website.
You can also find information on Benjamin's previous movie, Mister Rogers & Me at the film's official website. The movie is available for streaming on many major platforms.
Thanks so much for listening to the program as always! Join us for further discussion at Jeff's website at Jefitoblog. We'll see you there (and we'll be back soon enough with Benjamin #3. You'll see what we mean after listening to this episode.) -
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Emmy-nominated songwriter Ben Arthur released his third album, Edible Darling, in 2004. A longtime friend of the podcast (long before there was a podcast, in fact), Ben joins Jeff and Matt to look back on the album in its 20th anniversary year. He recaps his rollercoaster experience navigating the music industry in those early years and how it ultimately influenced where he's gone with his life's work since then.
To date, Ben has released 10 albums and an ongoing series of singles, with his most recent song release being "Bless Your Heart" earlier this year. He is the creator and host of SongWriter, a podcast that turns stories into songs. SongWriter is launching its sixth season and has featured guests/collaborators that include Questlove, Joyce Carol Oates, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, Susan Orlean, Neil Gaiman, George Saunders, Katie Melua, David Sedaris, and Steve Earle.
Our thanks to Ben for hanging out with us. We had a blast looking back at one of our favorite albums and learning more about what was going on at the time.
If you're new to The Record Player, check out our extensive archive of past episodes wherever you get your podcasts! Keep the experience going and visit Jefitoblog for more thoughts from Jeff (and more abuse from Matt). Thanks so much for listening! -
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Legendary producer Tom Werman joins Jeff and Matt to talk about one of his favorite albums, Who's Next, by the Who.
Tom is one of the best kind of people you can hope to meet in the music industry, because not only is he very talented as a producer, but he also is a music fan at heart. That's something that comes through again and again as you're reading his new memoir, Turn It Up: My Time Making Hit Records In The Glory Days Of Rock Music (Featuring Mötley Crüe, Poison, Twisted Sister, Jeff Beck, Ted Nugent, Cheap Trick, And More).
Yes, that's a very long title, but the good news is that if you needed a refresher course about Tom Werman and his life's work, you just got it! One of the great things about Turn It Up is that you get the stories about Werman's experience working with the mentioned artists (and more), but you also really get an inside look at what a producer does -- and how they do it. It's a valuable fly on the wall perspective on a number of levels, but Tom is able to explain the very technical job he did -- without getting overly technical in the way he illustrates that process.
As it happens, the roots of the book began with a column that Tom wrote, The Producers, which ran at Jeff's website, Popdose. It's an interesting prequel that Jeff and Tom talk about as the interview begins. Tom has long been one of our favorite people when we think back to all of the albums we own that have his name in the liner notes, so it was a real joy to get a chance to dig in with Tom and discuss his career.
P.S. Are you reading Jeff's words at Jefitoblog yet? Goodness gracious, get on over there and become part of the discussion!
P.S.S. Here's a link to the Who's Next / Lifehouse box set that Matt mentions during the conversation with Tom. It's essential if you're a fan of the album. -
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Andy Timmons is one of our favorite folks to talk about music with and he returns to the program -- with his guitar once again in hand -- to discuss his love for Peter Frampton's fourth studio album, 1975's Frampton.
Andy tells Jeff and Matt why Peter has been such an important influence on his own career -- and he shares the story of how he came to write his newest single, "The Boy From Beckenham" as a tribute to Frampton. Happily, Frampton himself joined Timmons to play on the track. It's a heartwarming look at how a musical friendship deepened between the pair as a result.
We discuss a lot of different things with Andy on the Frampton tip, including the Sgt. Pepper movie -- and yes, as you might expect, there are some side topics as well, like Monty Python and the Holy Grail. and Andy's surprising connection to the late, great Louisville record store, ear X-tacy. We're up to our usual BS, in other words. But in all seriousness, it was a wonderful hang with Andy, which wrapped up with each of us dashing out the door to go get Thai food. A perfect start to the weekend!
Our thanks to Andy for the time. You can see the music video for "The Boy From Beckenham" right here. Make sure to visit Andy's website to stay in tune with everything that he has going on. Thanks for listening!
Related Links:
Andy's GuitarXperience
Andy's Electric Truth album.
The Shout! Factory reissue of the Sgt. Pepper movie. -
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The Reverend Shawn Amos is our guest today on the podcast. Matt has had a conversation with Shawn in the past, so he knew that Jeff would love speaking with The Good Reverend.
Shawn opened up right away, getting deep and personal with Matt and Jeff about a wide variety of sociopolitical topics surrounding his latest album, Soul Brother No. 1, including the reckoning with past traumas that informs the music making up the album. But don't let us give you the wrong impression — much like many of the songs on the record, this was an honest, joyous exchange rather than a truly heavy conversation.
Long story short, we really loved talking with Shawn — in fact, it was so satisfying to talk about Soul Brother No. 1 that we almost didn't have enough time to get into his love of Johnny "Guitar" Watson's Ain't That a Bitch. (Never fear; we did get there eventually.)
Soul Brother No. 1 is out May 3 on Immediate Family Records. You can find more info via Shawn's links here.
Here also is a link to his book, Cookies & Milk, which we discussed during this episode!
Our thanks to Shawn for spending the time with us! -
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UCR's Allison Rapp is back with Jeff and Matt for another episode of The 1974 Project. This time, they're talking about On the Border by Eagles and digging into a bunch of related (and yeah, sometimes, unrelated topics). For instance, why do so many people hate the Eagles? Why do people get worked up about calling them "the Eagles" instead of "Eagles" when the band is discussed.
What was it like covering the recent trial regarding the allegedly stolen Hotel California lyrics and being in the presence of Don Henley? Allison shares details about that experience. For those of you who take a drink every single time that Jeff says, "It's fine," you're in luck once again this episode.
Because this is The Record Player, there are also stray references to Michael McDonald and Chicago. P.S. Make sure that you read Michael's upcoming memoir, because it rules.
Our thanks to Allison as always for joining us. You can catch up on her latest work at Ultimate Classic Rock by following this link. We hope you enjoy this episode!
Some of our favorite lists from Allison -- including a couple mentioned in this episode:
55 Times Albums Shared a Name
Shelved Songs: 22 Songs That Took Years to Complete
24 Songs About Managers and Record Executives
Oh yeah, please don't forget to read Jeff's stuff at Jefitoblog. The universe thanks you. -
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We couldn't miss out on the chance to post a new episode of The Record Player on a rare Leap Day!
As one of our comrades said very recently, "Happy Leap Year, to all who celebrate!"
We're back with the latest installment in The 1974 Project, our ongoing collaboration with Ultimate Classic Rock spotlighting a variety of albums that were released, as you might have guessed, in 1974.
UCR's Nick DeRiso joins Jeff and Matt to discuss What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits by the Doobie Brothers. The wide-ranging conversation touches on a number of topics including a Doobies song that was once compared to both Chicago and Eagles, bands with two drummers, the Doobie Liner and five-time Grammy Award winner Michael McDonald.
There's more, but those are the dubious highlights of our discussion. Nick also shares details regarding Journey: Worlds Apart, his new best-selling book about Journey and its many eras and side projects. Our thanks to Nick for taking the time! -
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Mike Duquette of The Second Disc and Duque's Delights is in the hot seat with Jeff and Matt to discuss The Seeds of Love by Tears for Fears.
Matt has been waiting two years and several days to have an in-depth conversation with Mike. But he's also been waiting since the early '90s to find someone to have a similarly long conversation about The Seeds of Love. On this day, two dreams came true at one time.
For only the fifth time in the history of this podcast, Jeff and Matt agree on an album. (Okay, now you can really tell that Matt writes these dumb episode descriptions.) We celebrate some important life happenings for Mike and in general, have a great conversation about Tears for Fears.
Our thanks to Mike for joining us. -
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The latest episode of The 1974 Project finds Jeff and Matt teaming up with Matthew Wilkening of Ultimate Classic Rock to discuss the self-titled debut album by Kiss, which was released on February 18, 1974. But the conversation covers a lot of territory involved with just being a music fan. Sneaking out of the house to go buy albums. Parents putting their foot down regarding bands/music they find to be objectionable. How the albums that you're hearing can change your impressions (positively or negatively) regarding a band/genre. Rogue school bus drivers helping to facilitate further musical education.
On the subject of Kiss, we talk about the merits and stereotypes surrounding the first album. The album cover that could have been (but unfortunately, was not). The underrated Kiss record that more fans should embrace. Should you listen to the entire Kiss discography from top to bottom? What is "Nothin' to Lose" really about? How do you feel about '80s Kiss? An alternate reality where Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons follow through with Wicked Lester and Kiss never happens.
Our thanks to Matthew for joining us!
Related:
Were Kiss Really Asked to Dress Like Clowns on Their First Album: https://ultimateclassicrock.com/kiss-clown-album-cover/
'Detroit Rock City' Movie Pretty Much Ends Kiss Reunion:
https://ultimateclassicrock.com/kiss-detroit-rock-city-movie/ -
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Van Halen's self-titled debut celebrates its 46th anniversary this month (today in fact, as this is being posted). Jeff and Matt celebrate by welcoming journalist Steve Rosen to discuss this legendary album.
Steve brings unique insights to today's discussion as someone who was covering Van Halen from the moment that the album hit the shelves. He became friends with Eddie Van Halen, kicking off a series of conversations that lasted more than two decades. Those discussions have now been collected into a book, Tonechaser - Understanding Edward: My 26-Year Journey With Edward Van Halen.
Now entering its third printing, Tonechaser is not just a collection of interviews -- Rosen has gone far beyond that, taking the original conversations, adding in additional context and details. Folks who love a fly on the wall perspective, you'll love this book.
Our thanks to Steve for taking time to hang out and talk VH with us! -
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Our second entry in The 1974 Project focuses on Court and Spark, Joni Mitchell's sixth studio album. UCR's Allison Rapp once again joins Jeff and Matt to discuss a number of topics related to the album. We talk about the impact that Court and Spark had on Joni's career -- and why it stands out when compared to the rest of her discography. How challenging is it to navigate Joni's overall body of work? How was it received by some of her peers, then and now?
Allison also shares her experience seeing Joni's live performance at the Gorge ("near" Seattle) in 2023 -- and her own origin story with Joni's music.
P.S. -- here's some more information on the Gorge documentary that's mentioned during this episode. -
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The wonderful Bill Lloyd returns to The Record Player nearly two years after he stopped in to discuss Paul and Linda McCartney's RAM with us.
This time, we're talking Todd Rundgren with Bill and the conversation spirals in a lot of different directions -- including plenty of record collector nerd chatter. We also discuss Look Into It, Bill's latest solo release, which has a really cool music video for the initial single, "This Ain't My Parade."
Our thanks to Bill as always for taking time to converse about music with us! We had a ball.
P.S. Here's a link to the absolutely essential Rundgren book from Paul Myers that we mentioned during our conversation.
P.S.S. Don't forget to check out the newly reborn Jefitoblog. -
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Kudos to Chris and Stephanie from Ida Mae for helping Matt and Jeff connect the dots when it comes to the music of Richard and Linda Thompson. We loved getting a chance to dig into their Pour Down Like Silver album.
There's a new Ida Mae album that demands your ears also, called Thunder Above You. This particular conversation with Chris and Stephanie has been in the production vault for a minute and we're thrilled to finally be able to share it with you.
Jeff also shares some details regarding the rebirth of Jefitoblog -- and we preview the forthcoming trip to Bootleg City. Longtime readers and listeners, you'll be happy to hear that Bootleg City is once again being recognized as a proper town....or is it a village? The "City" part has always been a bit overblown, that much is known. There's a new sheriff in town....and a new Mayor. The Great Gross-Off is back in action at Jefitoblog and there are mumblings about Rock Court and many of the other features you know and love. This reboot is a good one, so don't miss it.
We also talked about how Pour Down Like Silver is yet another example that not everything is on streaming. If you guessed this might spark Matt to go on a tangent and talk about some examples, you'd be correct. Related to that, our buddy Mike Duquette is going to dig deep into that topic as part of "Stream Police," his new column at Duque's Delight which will focus on "unstreamable music." We can't wait!
There's probably some other stuff that we talked about as well in the really, really long intro, but that's why it's there for you to dig in and find out! Enjoy.
P.S. Did you listen to our first episode of The 1974 Project regarding Bob Dylan's Planet Waves? Our next episode regarding Court & Spark by Joni Mitchell lands next week! -
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Bob Dylan finally reunited with the Band officially to record the Planet Waves album in 1974. The stories behind the creation of Planet Waves and the events of the subsequent tour will make you wish that time machines were a real thing.
Planet Waves is just one of a number of albums marking its 50th anniversary here in 2024. As it happens, Ultimate Classic Rock recently collected 50 albums turning 50 this year and Jeff had an idea: Why don't we spend part of each month in 2024 discussing some of those albums at the 50-year mark?
This conversation about Planet Waves is the first installment of The 1974 Project. Jeff and Matt welcome UCR's Allison Rapp to talk about a bunch of Bob-related subjects as they examine how Planet Waves came together. How does it stand up against the rest of Bob's catalog today? Was David Geffen ultimately the villain? Can you imagine these songs without the Band playing on them?
We also discuss Bob's feelings about the '74 tour -- and dig into some fun Bob quirks. Subway sandwiches! Welding! Al Jarreau! Plus, Georgia Satellites guitarist Rick Richards drops in (virtually) to share some amusing Bob anecdotes from his personal experiences.
Our thanks to Allison for joining us to spend a bit of time in the Dylan rabbit hole!
Related:
Here is the UCR article that Jeff wrote (and doesn't remember) about Planet Waves.
We mention Ray Padgett's excellent Dylan newsletter and if you're not already reading that, now's a great time to jump in as he's going through each show of the '74 tour. -
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Our guest today is a longtime friend of the podcast, David Lebovitz. He brought us two album choices and while it's always an enticing idea to discuss Warren Zevon, we tabled that and begged for him to talk about a really weird Johnny Cash album with us instead. Thankfully, he bent to our will. If you've never heard of this particular Johnny Cash album, you're in for quite a ride. We dig into why it's such an intriguing and mystifying entry in his catalog of work -- and David came prepared with quite a bit of material.
Big thanks to him for putting this album in front of us! David's all over the place on socials -- here are his many links in the form of a good old-fashioned link dump, as the kids call it.
https://twitter.com/leboismhttps://bsky.app/profile/leboism.bsky.social
https://letterboxd.com/leboism/
https://ko-fi.com/leboism
https://thedavidbugle.substack.com/
David also suggested the following Salon article for further reading about this album.
Here also is the documentary that he references during the conversation, plus the book about Bitter Tears.
P.S. If you enjoy this podcast, we'd love it if you were moved to join our Patreon. The Record Club offers all sorts of bonus content related to this podcast and beyond -- including advance listens to our episodes and additional bonus audio! Thank you for your support and listening ears! -
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Katherine Yeske Taylor is our guest today on The Record Player and boy, this conversation was an absolute joy. We discuss her new book, She's a Badass: Women in Rock Shaping Feminism, which is coming out on January 16, but we also dig deep into a bunch of different topics.
Katherine is a fellow music journalist who began her career as a rock critic in Atlanta in the 1990s, interviewing Georgia musical royalty such as the Indigo Girls, R.E.M., and the Black Crowes while still a teenager. Since then, she has conducted several hundred interviews and contributes regularly to Billboard, Spin, and American Songwriter, among others. She is a longtime New York City resident and is extremely active in the downtown rock scene.
We talk a good amount of journalism shop -- including the many things and particulars that go into the craft of interviewing. Katherine also shares a lot of good Athens stories and tales of how music can intersect with life in some pretty cosmic ways.
R.E.M.'s Automatic for the People weaves in and out of the discussion -- with some choice memories filtering through the songs and moments. If this episode doesn't make you want to visit Athens, you probably should think about visiting Athens.
If there's any justice, Katherine's book will become a valuable resource -- both now and in the coming years -- for anyone who wants to know the often difficult path that women in rock have traveled as part of the ongoing fight for gender equality.
Our thanks to Katherine for an inspirational, illuminating and entertaining discussion. We'll look forward to the next round! -
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Welcome to our longest episode to date! Matt and Jeff are joined by Peter Lubin, who returns to the podcast to talk about an important artist in his A&R career, blues guitarist and vocalist John Campbell.
But this time, Peter also brought additional ammo: We were thrilled to also welcome British music journalist Harry Shapiro, who recently published a great book about John's career called John Campbell: Spirit of a Bluesman.
Heavily researched with a wealth of new interviews and previously unknown information, Spirit of a Bluesman is an essential read, especially if you've been curious to learn more about the all-too-brief career of John Campbell. We devoured every page in less than a weekend and were subsequently stoked to get the chance to take a deep dive into John's career with Harry and Peter.
If you've never heard of John Campbell, this can be your entry point to his work, a journey that's well worth taking. We use John's 1991 One Believer album as our center, but we also delve into many other aspects of his career and life. Our thanks to both Peter and Harry for sharing so much of their wisdom! -
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Guess who finally decided to return with a new episode? To be fair, we have no real good excuse...except LIFE!
In that vein, what a thrill it is to be alive when you're speaking with someone like Cidny Bullens, and going through selected bits of the incredible adventure that has been his life.
His career has seen him sharing the stage with Sir Elton John, Rod Stewart -- and even Bob Dylan, just to name a few from his extensive highlight reel. He takes stock of his life and the journey that it has led him on with his memoir, Trans Electric: My Life As a Cosmic Rock Star.
Beyond the key career moments that he details in his book, Cidny also reveals his own healing process and how he ultimately found himself and transitioned from female to male ten years ago. Going through the process, he found unexpected love, becoming a stepfather and a grandfather. Happily, he also discovered his true voice and true power as a performer.
We really enjoyed speaking with Cid and getting to go inside his experiences both past and present. He continues to work tirelessly on new music and recently put out Little Pieces, his latest album via Kill Rock Stars. Look also for a forthcoming collaboration with Lucinda Williams, where he'll revisit one of his own songs for a new single that's expected to be released in 2024.
For more about Cidny Bullens, we highly recommend reading David Browne's excellent profile which recently ran at Rolling Stone. And of course, for goodness sake, don't miss the book. You won't be able to put it down.
Our thanks to our dear comrade Angie for helping to make this conversation happen. Kudos! -
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The music gods are truly smiling, because Brother Cane is hitting the road for a reunion tour this fall. On top of that, the band has recently put out a 30th anniversary reissue of their debut album on both CD and vinyl -- marking the first time, by the way, that the record has been out on wax!
That seemed like a good enough excuse to get Damon Johnson on the horn to talk some music with Matt as part of the latest Bonus Track. Damon shares lots of Brother Cane stories, digs into some Lynyrd Skynyrd talk -- and tells the tale behind the new Brother Cane songs that are finally hitting our ears....and that's just scratching the surface on the topics we covered during our nearly hour-long chat.
Enjoy it and make sure to hit Brother Cane's website to get all of the details regarding the music and the upcoming tour dates!
New Music From Brother Cane:
"Blinded by the Sun" https://youtu.be/GUeRx1vl4bM?si=5jPiynxjxymD4CGq
"Are You in There Anymore" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWCch_4Uyag -
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Guitarist Mike Connell of the Connells is our guest on the latest installment of The Record Player. The North Carolina band has had a busy few years, including the long awaited arrival of a new studio album, 2021's Steadman's Wake. Their entire back catalog went digital, including a few things that had been out of print. Here in 2023, they released their first-ever official live album called Set the Stage.
This summer, their 1993 album Ring was expanded to a double disc in honor of its 30th anniversary, adding a full bonus disc of previously unreleased tracks.
Mike joins us to discuss all of the above and also shares his thoughts and memories regarding The Kinks and their seminal compilation, The Kinks Kronicles.
As a bonus (depending on your point of view), Jeff and Matt dig into a chunk of random items in the podcast intro, a throwback of sorts to their sorely missed Cassingle entries. So for those of you who were hoping we'd discuss a bunch of random stuff? It's your lucky day!
Our thanks to Mike for joining us and sharing some great stories about the band's history. We had a ball chatting with him.
If you like what we're doing with the podcast, join our Record Club on Patreon for all sorts of bonus material, including exclusive interviews and other material. Thanks so much for listening and for your support! - Laat meer zien
