Robert Johnson

Latest Articles

Cool killer

Ace Atkins runs down Machine Gun Kelly
Ace Atkins’s new novel is what the movie Public Enemies should have been.
By CHARLES TAYLOR | May 18, 2010

The Rolling Stones | Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert

ABKCO (2009)
This live 1969 Madison Square Garden set was released at the band's peak, following Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed , preceding Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street , and recorded a week before the disaster at Altamont.
By JON GARELICK | December 09, 2009

Brendan Hogan | Long Night Coming

Self-released (2009)
Self-released (2009)
By TED DROZDOWSKI | October 21, 2009

Play by Play: June 5, 2009

Plays A to Z
Boston's theater schedule
By JEFFREY GANTZ | June 02, 2009

Play by play: May 29, 2009

Plays from A to Z
Boston's theater schedule
By JEFFREY GANTZ | May 27, 2009

Play by Play: May 22, 2009

Plays from A to Z
Boston's theater schedule
By JEFFREY GANTZ | May 19, 2009

Bob Dylan Unboxed

Everything you wanted to know about Tell-Tale Signs but were afraid to buy
This October, Columbia Records is releasing Tell-Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006 , a collection of recordings by Bob Dylan that are different from recordings issued on the seven studio albums he released in that period.
By GUSTAVO TURNER | October 15, 2008

Cassandra Wilson | Loverly

Blue Note
Blue Note
By JON GARELICK | June 09, 2008

18 big hits

Providence local music: 2007 in review
This year, the number of great albums increased twofold across all genres, from hip-hop to metal, from swing to punk.
By BOB GULLA | December 18, 2007

Beyond the White Stripes

Alison Krauss and Robert Plant lead an Americana resurgence
There’s a blues and old-school R&B resurgence rumbling in the indie-music underground, and it goes well beyond the icky thump of the White Stripes.
By TED DROZDOWSKI | October 30, 2007

Long Journeyman

Willie Nile, Club Passim, June 22, 2007
Willie Nile may not be a household name, even among serious musos.
By JIM SULLIVAN | June 25, 2007

Sleight of hand

Ricky Jay releases an album
Ricky Jay laughs when I tell him he reminds me of Fred Astaire.
By TED DROZDOWSKI | February 20, 2007

The Blowhard Bulletin

Sundlun’s desire to restore local ownership is on the money
Last week’s Phoenix carried an intriguing article, by ace news editor Ian Donnis, about how Bruce “Captain Blowhard” Sundlun, our esteemed former governor and all-around giant raving character, was looking to have a local group of investors buy the Providence Urinal.
By PHILLIPE & JORGE | December 13, 2006

Cowboy Junkies

Long Journey Home: Live in Liverpool | Zoë
Regardless of whether you think of this Canadian outfit as pretentious somnambulists or artful rock poets, they’ve carved out a grass-roots career since bursting onto alt-rock radio with a barbiturate cover of Lou Reed’s “Sweet Jane” in 1988. Cowboy Junkies, "Sweet Jane" (mp3) Cowboy Junkies, "Misguided Angel" (mp3)
By TED DROZDOWSKI | December 04, 2006

Fancy footwork

Halitosis Hall denizens still excel when it comes to self-inflicted woes
Could Little Rhody get a national award for the skill with which its politicians steadily shoot themselves in the foot?
By PHILLIPE & JORGE | November 29, 2006

The five-year itch

The Narrows celebrates a big anniversary; JP Jones helps
Fall River is not what you’d think of as a natural home for a “music geek’s paradise.”
By BOB GULLA | November 28, 2006

The Stones

An essay on the older
This article originally appeared in the August 26, 1994 issue of the Boston Phoenix.
By CAMILLE PAGLIA | November 16, 2006

Both sides of the blues

Meantone and Samuel James tackle America’s original musical form
When the Streets put out Original Pirate Material in 2004, there was much agreement that the crazy cadenced rap coming out of that Brit’s mouth was genuinely as original as music gets nowadays, exploring the very edges of contemporary music.
By SAM PFEIFLE | November 15, 2006

The incredible Moses Atwood

You want old school? This here’s old school.
Those of you searching for the heir apparent to Micah Blue Smaldone and Ray LaMontagne need look no further than Moses Atwood, Portland’s latest pure, unadulterated talent.
By SAM PFEIFLE | October 18, 2006

Juliana's web

By MATT ASHARE | July 18, 2006

Racky Thomas at Johnny D's

Blues with soul
The freshly written graffiti in the men’s room at Johnny D’s read, “It ain’t blues . . . it ain’t shit.”
By TED DROZDOWSKI | February 21, 2006