Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The early-1970s singer-songwriter tradition that Josh Rouse taps into is gracefully summarised here in a collection of tracks from the cusp of that decade compiled by the writer Jon Savage. Subtitled Protest, Sorrow, Hobos, Folk and Blues, it draws together underrated forerunners of today's alt.country scene such as Jesse Winchester and Danny O'Keefe, life-worn, lovelorn troubadours such as Nick Drake, Donovan, Loudon Wainwright and Meic Stevens, and the mature flowerings of veteran West Coast bands such as Jefferson Airplane, The Byrds and Steve Miller Band. These were some of the babies thrown out when punk changed rock's bathwater, and assembled like this, they give the lie to the great canard of punk being a necessary demolition of tired, pompous old modes. This presents a folk/rock scene bristling with diverse, vibrant approaches, from the blues surrealism of Little Feat's "Hamburger Midnight", to the dervish virtuosity of Leo Kottke's "Hear the Wind Howl", to the orchestral pastoralism of The James Gang's "Ashes the Rain and I", one of Joe Walsh's early experiments in broadening rock's tone and texture, before he took The Eagles' shilling. Highly recommended, not least for the inclusion of Danny O'Keefe, an overlooked talent deserving of a serious career reassessment.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments