It's time to rank the best of what went around and came around again.
BILLY JOEL
The Stranger
(Columbia/Legacy)
As punk and disco exploded, the Piano Man's deeply unhip 1978 breakthrough proved that top-shelf Broadway/Brill Building songwriting could still sell - and, occasionally, rock. "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" and "Anthony's Song (Movin' Out)" remain priceless snapshots of Annie Hall-era NYC, the title track bares real teeth, and the Kenny Chesney fave "Only the Good Die Young"
Forty years ago in July, eight years before his death, Elvis Presley began a stand of 57 shows at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, a concert run that restored the King to a throne he'd spent most of the previous decade abdicating.
Yet, the image of Elvis in Vegas is largely misunderstood; over time, it's become a tableau of ersatz entertainment, a signifier for everything that went wrong with Presley, a distillation of what any self-respecting critic of rock & roll disdains.
Chris Isaak
This week in the RFT, freelance writer Roy Kasten interviewed Tom Russell about his creative process, especially for the new album Blood and Candle Smoke, which prominently features the sounds of Calexico, and some of his strongest compositions after over 30 years of songwriting. He'll be in the St. Louis area this weekend, with a show at Off Broadway Friday night and at Turner Hall in Mount Olive, Illinois on Saturday. Outtakes from the interview below.
Roy Kasten: Tell me about the recording
