The boy sitting at the piano is seven.  He is wearing pajamas and swinging his feet.   Above him is a poster of a mountain village we bought before he was born, when we were still a couple, waiting uneasily for our first child together.  It was dicey for a…

In the summer of 2012, my buddies and band mates from the 70s – Bob Miller, Mike Shaw, and Ben Wisch — decided to get together to record some new tunes.  I wrote Abide in June and we recorded it with Oliver Ignatius at Mama Coco’s Funky Kitchen in Brooklyn. On…

Unbeknownst to Michael Tearson, he discovered me. When I was thirteen years old, living in a Philadelphia suburb with parents whose musical adventures consisted of Harry Bellafonte and Barbara Streisand, I spent many long evenings listening to him. There were some really good DJs in Philly in the late 60s,…

Unbeknownst to Michael Tearson, he discovered me. When I was thirteen years old, living in a Philadelphia suburb with parents whose musical adventures consisted of Harry Bellafonte and Barbara Streisand, I spent many long evenings listening to him. There were some really good DJs in Philly in the late 60s,…

Aretha Franklin, “Through the Storm”     ”Clive’s Cringes,” by Hunter Pope, is an ongoing series examining Clive Davis’s more “interesting” signings  for Arista Records. Check out part one for a full explanation. Disclaimer: Aretha Franklin is the definitive queen of soul. Her voice still shines with gospel glory to this day. But,…