Rock

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles the late Gram Parsons, who added a country flavor to rock with groups like The Byrds.

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles The Funkadelic, a black psychedelic band whose big hit was the 1978 song "One Nation Under A Groove." Several members of the band, including leader George Clinton, started out with The Parliaments, a fifties Doo-Wop group.

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles The Velvet Underground. Sponsored by Andy Warhol, the band was a favorite of the jet-set crowd but reviled by the hippie culture that couldn't comprehend their music. The band featured Lou Reed and violist John Cale. Their best known songs include "Waiting for the Man," "Heroin" and "Sister Ray."

Rock Critic Ken Tucker reviews "Shoes Best," a collection of 22 songs by Shoes, a grass-roots band from Zion, Illinois that is still trying to make it in the rock world on their own terms, without glitz and hype. They grant few interviews, never tour, and insist on complete control of their image.

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles the brief regional revival of a cappella singing in the mid-60s. Some of the groups included The Five Fashions from Stanford, Conn., The Q-Tones from Philadelphia, and the Zircons from the Bronx.

Rock Critic Ken Tucker reviews the debut album of singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman.

Rock star, teen throb and matinee idol Rick Springfield. Springfield, who starred in the popular daytime soap "General Hospital," has a new album, his first in three years.

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles one of the most eccentric rock groups from the other side of the Atlantic - the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (circa late 1960s). They infused their music with a typically British brand of humor, such as that associated with Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Rock Critic Ken Tucker reviews "Crossroads," the 2-CD, 73-song retrospective of the 25-year career of British guitarist Eric Clapton. The package includes previously unreleased material.

Rock historian Ed Ward takes on the notion that old-time rock and roll had no message or meaning, that it was simply fun. This is the message that the purveyors of collections of 50s and 60s hits are conveying in ads that recall the "fun" of the era without also evoking the harsher realities.

Comic Sandra Bernhard. She's best known for her appearances on "Late Night With David Letterman" and in the Martin Scorsese film "The King of Comedy." She's now starring in the Off-Broadway one-woman show "Without You I'm Nothing," that is part stand-up comedy, part satire on the "women of rock and roll."

Rock Critic Ken Tucker reviews "I'm Your Man," the new Leonard Cohen album.

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles Alan Freed, one of the most famous, and most notorious, disc jockeys of the 50s and 60s. Freed was one of the first disc jockeys on a mainstream station (WJW in Cleveland) to play the black rhythm and blues that was the foundation of early rock and roll.

Irish rock musician Pierce Turner. His first band, The Major Thinkers, became popular with New York's East Village crowd and had a hit song in "Avenue B." Turner's debut album, "It's Only a Long Way Across," was produced by minimalist composer Phillip Glass.

Ken Tucker reviews a home video documentary about Fairport Convention, one of the most eclectic folk bands of the 60s and early 70s.

Rock Critic Ken Tucker reviews two albums by Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello featuring previously unreleased material. The two have been longtime colleagues and collaborators. Lowe has been the producer of many of Costello's albums.

Rock Critic Ken Tucker reviews new albums by George Strait and Steve Wariner. Their music is marketed as country, but Ken says their style is similar to that of singer-songwriters of the late '60s and early '70s, like James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt.

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles the band Brinsley Schwarz. During the 70s, this band started the pub rock scene, where people put off by the glamour posturing of popular rock stars could hear rock-n-roll in informal and inexpensive surroundings.

Rock Critic Ken Tucker reviews "Naked," the long-awaited album from The Talking Heads. The album experiments with a variety of genres, including Funk, African Pop and Salsa.

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles Louis Jordan. Between 1930 and 1950, Jordan spearheaded the rhythm and blues sound. He was one of the very first crossover artists, appealing to both blacks and whites. Ed focuses on the Louis Jordan who pioneered rap music.