1970s
Nobody understands heartbreak like Linda Ronstadt did between 1969 and 1975. Nobody. Not even a novelist who has spent half a century exploring heartbreak through a series of epic, life-rupturing literary works, renowned for their dissection of the romantic condition. Ronstadt might have been singing lyrics written by other people
books
BRUCE CHATWIN - ON THE BLACK HILLTelling the story of identical, psychically entwined twin brothers living on a hillside on the Wales-Herefordshire border - and, simultaneously, the story of farming life in the 20th Century - On The Black Hill feels like a book specifically written for me: it has
country rock
Crazy Horse: At Crooked Lake (1972) If you've heard and enjoyed Crazy Horse's eponymous first album and bought into the myth that it's the only great thing they ever did without Neil Young, scrub that from your mind right now with extra strong detergent.
ace records
The excellent Ace Records recently invited me to to pick my top ten songs on their label. This is what I wrote about them.