Tag Archives: Journalism

Archives: James Taylor – Circular Magazine

Comments Off

walkingman Happy Monday. I’m super excited to share a new addition to the site today, Cameron’s 1973 story about James Taylor from Circular magazine. Circular was Warner Bros. promotional magazine and this story profiles James and his latest album, Walking Man. Most of the quotes are from James’ longtime manager, Peter Asher. We hope you like it.

J. Taylor Ends the Wait

It was mid-1970 when America first stumbled onto a gently brilliant, yet fairly obscure album called Sweet Baby James. Seeing it as an oasis in the midst of psychedelia’s dying embers, the public catapulted a somewhat dazed and retiring Carolinian guitarist-composer named James Taylor to superstardom. Gold records, the cover of Time Magazine, adoring throngs . . . it all came in quick succession, and Taylor retreated to write deeply probing and introspective songs that filled infrequent, but well-crafted albums like Mud Slide Slim and The Blue Horizon and One Man Dog.

Not until the recent Walking Man, however, has James appeared content and positive in his work. The mood of the new album is bright and confident, the songs strong and true. In short, James Taylor has presented a solid case against the John Lennon school of thought that “genius is pain.”

Read the rest of this post

Filed under News
Jun 23, 2014

Archives: Brothers and Sisters

Comments Off

brothersandsisters

We dip into the archives again with this (brand new to the site) feature on the Allman Brothers Band release of (the now classic) Brothers and Sisters. Cameron talks with Capricorn Records’ Mike Hyland, guitarist Dicky Betts and co-producer Johnny Sandlin for the August 6, 1973 issue of Circular Magazine.

Brothers and Sisters Album Ambles On In

Mike Hyland, Capricorn Records national publicity head, is glad that Brothers and Sisters is finished. Now that it’s on the stands a full year after its initial release date (under the fallacious title of Lightnin’ Rod), Mike will no longer have to spend his Macon days explaining to everyone from The Peoria Street Press to The New York Times why the new Allman Brothers Band album has been delayed another few weeks.

Read the rest of this post

Filed under News
Jun 7, 2014

Archives: Black Sabbath – San Diego Door

Comments Off
sabbath72

Black Sabbath – Circa 1972

Cameron interviews Black Sabbath’s one and only Ozzy Osbourne for this 1972 interview for the San Diego Door. Ozzy is at his talkative and entertaining best here, so do check it out.

Black Sabbath Interview

You mentioned a few minutes ago about how tedious is to be on the road for as long as Black Sabbath has. 

Yeah. And as soon as you go home, you’ve got to start thinking about the next tour, so you’re not getting any rest. It’s not that the physical work is so tiring, it’s the mental work. You’ve got new albums to think about. You got to worry about whether you’re overexposing yourself, whether you’re not doing enough. You’ve got all this bullshit to think about.

Y’know before we went on this tour, I had an infected throat. I had a very bad throat that I noticed three days before we came (to America for the tour), which wasn’t any fault of ours or our management because we were going through this big change-around in the business-side. We didn’t know whether to go on the tour or not. So we just came over anyway… I couldn’t work the first week. My throat gave out completely. This is… what… our seventh tour of America. Major tours, too. We all feel very, very tired. We’ve done seven tours in just over a year, now. We’ve worked so much in this country it’s driving me loopy.

Are you happy with the new album?

Read the rest of this post

Filed under News
May 18, 2014

Archives: The James Gang

Comments Off
jamesgang72bw

The James Gang in 1972. L to R (Jim Fox, Dale Peters, Domenic Troiano and Roy Kenner)

In 1972, Cameron sat down with (one of the many configurations) of the James Gang in this lengthy interview for the San Diego Door. There’s some interesting discussion around the music business, life without Joe Walsh (who left the band the prior year) and their recent albums, Straight Shooter and Passin’ Thru. We hope you like it!

James Gang Rides Again

Not unlike those James Brown records that constantly remind us all that he of “the hardest working man in show business,” those James Gang biographies always seem to emphasize that the James Gang is “the hardest working band in show business.”

Read the rest of this post

Filed under News
Apr 25, 2014

Josh Ritter – Golden Age of Radio Liner Notes

Comments Off

goldenageofradio A new addition to the site today is Cameron’s liner notes for Josh Ritter’s Golden Age of Radio reissue. Enjoy!

Nothing quite beats the power of a song that arrives perfectly. It can be the melody from a distant window, a guilty-pleasure piece of pop fluff or even the exquisitely wrong song at the wrong time. The fact is that life can be the best d.j. of them all. A song or an artist can land in your life in the most profound and mysterious ways and from that moment on that record defines an afternoon, a season, a city or a life. Such it is with Golden Age of Radio, an album that casts a spell from first note to last. Josh Ritter had already made a record before it, but Golden Age was his first as a fully-committed, this is my life and there’s no heading back recording artist. The album arrived with a suitcase full of promise, bags packed perfectly. The music has the assurance and the sly commitment of a writer capturing exactly the mood he was chasing.

Read the rest of this post

Filed under News
Apr 11, 2014

Deep Purple – Circular Magazine

Comments Off
blackmorehughes

Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and bass player Glenn Hughes- Houston Astrodome in August 1974. Courtesy of CNN

Here’s new addition to the Journalism archives. It’s Cameron’s interview with the always quotable, Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple. This Q & A was done for Circular Magazine’s November, 1974 issue. Cameron also spoke with Ritchie on related (and different) topics during the same time period for the following publications:

A Cynic’s View of Deep Purple

The additions of singer David Coverdale and bassist Glenn Hughes, Burn, the well-publicized American tour on Starship One, the California Jam . . . It seems like the last Deep Purple barn-storming ended just a couple weeks ago. Yet those prolific rogues are assaulting Fall with another burst of activity. A strong new LP, characteristically titled Stormbringer, has just been released. An international tour is already underway. Suffice to say Purple is back for more pillage with scarcely a moment’s rest. 

Read the rest of this post

Filed under News
Mar 1, 2014

Marriott on Humble Pie & Small Faces

Comments Off

marriott

It’s hump day and we’ve got a new addition to the Journalism section. Here’s an interview Cameron did with Humble Pie’s Steve Marriott back in 1973 for the L.A. Times. We hope you like it.

No Upper-Crust Pretensions for Humble Pie’s Steve Marriott

With Humble Pie’s eight album “Eat It” riding high on international charts and its current worldwide tour doing SRO business every stop, Steve Marriott, the spirited English rock ‘n’ roll band’s lead-signer, song writer, guitarist and mastermind, is a man content.

Read the rest of this post

Filed under News
Jan 29, 2014

Elton John: My Life in 20 Songs

Comments Off
eltonjohnterryoneill

Courtesy of Terry O’Neill – Getty Images

Cameron explores 20 songs with Elton John that encapsulate his legendary career in this Rolling Stone article from this past October.

Elton John: My Life in 20 Songs

Cameron Crowe explores Elton’s journey from Reginald Dwight to technicolored pop sensation to rehab and back

“You don’t mind if I play it loud, do you?”

It’s morning in Las Vegas, and sunlight fills the condo that serves as Elton John’s home during his latest run of shows at Caesars Palace, part of the residency known as “The Million Dollar Piano.” Wearing a white terry-cloth robe, he moves to the stereo system like an athlete, arms swinging crisply at his sides. Soon, he’s locked and loaded his latest album, The Diving Board. Many who’ve just spent the past year and a half working on arecording might then leave the room, allowing the listener his own experience. Not Elton John. He sits down on a small sofa in front of the speakers, closes his eyes and listens along with you. And yes, it’s loud.

Read the rest of this post

Filed under News
Jan 22, 2014

David Crosby: Remember My Name-Out Now on DVD/Blu-ray & Digital!


  • Almost Famous- Paramount+
  • Aloha- Starz, DirecTV
  • David Crosby- Starz, DirecTV
  • E-Town- FUBO
  • Fast Times- TUBI
  • Jerry Maguire- Netflix
  • Say Anything...- FUBO,Paramount+,MGM+
  • Singles- Vudu
  • Vanilla Sky- Prime Video,Pluto TV
  • We Bought A Zoo- Disney+