by Xinhua GUIYANG — During the day, Yang Zhi works as a blind massage therapist, and at night, he is the lead singer of ‘Zhe Er Gen,’ a band that enchants the vibrant streets of Guiyang, capital of southwest China’s Guizhou Province. Bathed in the stage lights, passersby often halt in surprise as four …
Category Archives: music
Action, Progress, Habit In A Walk With God
by Kevin Burton There is a song I love by the band Chicago called “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is.” Did you ever notice, it starts with walking? The song’s philosophical statement is about the rat race. It’s about living up to the world’s standards and being in a big, ever-increasing …
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New Beatles Song Is Neither Now Nor Then
by Kevin Burton Think of the individual Beatles’ colossal talents, with egos to match. Think of the group putting together an album. It’s John Lennon trying to get his songs on the record, Paul McCartney doing the same and George Harrison fighting to be heard at all. There is creativity, artistry, but …
One Final Encore For The Beatles
by Kevin Burton I’m guessing the final Beatles song, to be released later this week, will be neither a bang, nor a whimper. Or maybe it will be a bang, and a whimper and everything in between. That would be fitting for a band that was and is “ way beyond compare” to …
Carolina And The Mind Of James Taylor
by Kevin Burton You can take the boy from Carolina but you will never extract Carolina from James Taylor. That’s how it works. Our inner compass points toward home. When we can’t be there physically, our minds take us there. Sometimes it’s better that way. Just as Penny Lane is in the …
Coast To Coast: Billy Joel’s “Stop In Nevada”
by Kevin Burton On the Billy Joel portion of our rock and roll road trip you could have reasonably expected “New York State of Mind” or even “Allentown.” Instead we swing west to look at “Stop In Nevada.” This song fits very well into our road-trip theme. Today’s tale includes one of …
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The Answer My Friend, Is In The Dictionary
by Kevin Burton I don’t know that Merriam-Webster consults Bob Dylan or vice versa, but the two are tied in today’s word list. “Blowin’ in the Wind” is among Dylan’s best and best-known works. So as not to be long-winded, let’s go directly to the dictionary’s list of words about the wind: Sirocco …
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Tell A Stranger About Philadelphia Freedom
by Kevin Burton Trying to wrestle down he lighter-than-air 70s anthem “Philadelphia Freedom” by Elton John is like trying to tell a stranger ‘bout rock and roll. You kind of can’t. You can parse the words if you like, look into its origins, the elements that went into it. But in the end …
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Elvis Makes Two Stops In Kentucky
by Kevin Burton Before he was a cultural icon, Elvis Presley was a truck driver. Good reason to let Elvis drive part of our Coast To Coast rock and roll road trip. “Blue Hawaii” is out, as that would require a plane or a boat. Our next travel destination: Kentucky. Kentucky Rain …
Coast To Coast: California Dreamin’
by Kevin Burton Texas has its outsized pretentions, but California for most of a century was considered the American promised land. This was reflected throughout popular culture, including in music. So there is no shortage of songs we could use to represent the Golden State in our summer rock and roll road trip …
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