Rock musicians
'Posthumously Released Prince Album Speaks To Today's America'
Six years before his death in 2016, Prince recorded — but did not release — Welcome 2 America. Who knows why Prince opted to hide it away in 2010; this album's sound is very much of-the-moment.
Cameras, Chaos And Cognac: How Bob Gruen Photographed The Spirit Of Rock 'N' Roll
Photographer Bob Gruen spent decades capturing the lives and performances of rock stars of the '60s, '70s and '80s, including John Lennon, the Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, Tina Turner — and many more. Gruen put in many hours backstage, in studios and on the road, sometimes doing drugs and drinking until dawn with his subjects.
In Charming Film 'Begin Again,' Music Can Save A Life
Keira Knightley plays a heartbroken singer-songwriter who teams up with a drunken producer in Begin Again. Irish director John Carney, who had a surprise hit with the musical Once, hit his mark again.
Graham Nash Has 'Wild Tales' To Spare
As part of Crosby, Stills & Nash, the British singer-songwriter helped define a West Coast sound. Here, he discusses the influence of Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers and marijuana on his career, as well as his new memoir, Wild Tales: A Rock & Roll Life.
Remembering Ray Manzarek, Keyboardist For The Doors.
The mythology surrounding The Doors generally centers on its lead singer, Jim Morrison. Morrison is still considered one of rock's tortured poets, but The Doors' sound was based largely on Ray Manzarek's keyboard playing. His are the riffs immortalized in songs like "Riders on the Storm."
This interview was originally broadcast in 1998.
Jerry Lee Lewis: Live, Singing As If Life Depended On It.
In 1958, Lewis suffered a precipitous decline in popularity when people learned that his new wife was not only 13, but also his cousin. Nobody would touch his records. Then, in 1963, he signed a deal with Smash and it looked like things were getting better.
In Memoir, Neil Young Wages 'Heavy Peace'
Waging Heavy Peace is about his music, raising two sons with special needs, and his own medical conditions, which have included polio, epilepsy and a brain aneurysm.
Autosalvage: The Psychedelic Band That Vanished.
There are lots of stories about the band that got away. For rock historian Ed Ward, one of those groups has always been Autosalvage, a New York quartet who made one album and then stopped playing.
Neil Young: The Fresh Air Interview.
Young's latest album with Crazy Horse, Americana, features songs many of us learned as children, like "Oh Susannah" and "Clementine."
Brownstein And Armisen's Comedic Take On Portland
Saturday Night Live's Fred Armisen and rock veteran Carrie Brownstein are the team behind the IFC show Portlandia. "All of the stuff that makes people different, that's the stuff that's celebrated" on the show, says Brownstein. "If you're normal ... it's no fun."