1971 Archives – How Good It Is

And once again my voice has a case of Peter Brady. I need to quit recording late at night. We have a variety of diss tracks here for you, all but one of them dating back to before they were even called such a thing, before the rise of hip-hop music. This isn’t to take … Continue reading "183: Diss Tracks" The post 183: Diss Tracks appeared first on How Good It Is .

You might remember a few episodes back when I teamed up with Mike Messner. He’s the host of the Gordon Lightfoot appreciation podcast Carefree Highway Revisited. Well, Mike is back, and this time around we’re talking about Lightfoot’s first big American hit, “If You Could Read My Mind.” I actually went looking around for the … Continue reading "165: If You Could...

Bill Withers was an aspiring musician, but he kept his feet on the ground for a long time. Even after his first album started to climb the charts, he kept working his job assembling bathrooms in an airplane factory because he thought the music industry was fickle. He wasn’t wrong, incidentally. But in his case … Continue reading "136: Ain’t No Sunshine" The post 136: Ain’t...

NOTE: I got word that there was a problem with the uploaded file. It should be fine now. Apologies for those of you who had hassles. Let me start by thanking the show’s newest Patron, Scott Fraser, for joining the family! Next: my apologies: I counted on taking a week’s break but not two. I … Continue reading "134: Maggie May" The post 134: Maggie May appeared first on How Good I...

Hi, gang. I’m recording in the Southern Studio this week (and next week) so apologies for audio issues. It’s a lot harder to do what I do when I’m using different equipment to do it. Case in point: what you’re getting here is actually the SECOND recording of the show. You see, when I record … Continue reading "120–The career of Paul Pena" The post 120–The...

John Fogerty had already picked up some popularity with his band The Golliwogs, but Uncle Sam came a-calling in 1966. In order to avoid being sent to Vietnam, he instead enlisted in the Army Reserves, where he served for a while until he was discharged honorably. In the days that followed the discharge, he wrote … Continue reading "Episode 106–Proud Mary" The post Episode 106–Pro...

Murray Head is one of those guys whose name you may or may not know, but you’re certainly familiar with some of his work. In 1970 he worked on a concept album with Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. The first single from that album was written and recorded before the entire rest of the … Continue reading "Episode 40–Murray Head" The post Episode 40–Murray Head appeared first...

In 1970, Led Zeppelin band members Robert Plant and Jimmy Page wanted a new song to use as the centerpiece of their concerts. so they retreated to a cottage in Wales, as you do in these situations. And when they emerged, they had the genesis of the song that’s made so many “Best of…” lists, … Continue reading "Episode 26–Stairway to Heaven" The post Episode 26&#...