Posts From Jeff Tamarkin

Jeff Tamarkin

Jeff Tamarkin

Best Classic Bands Editor Jeff Tamarkin has been a prolific music journalist for nearly five decades. He is formerly the editor of Goldmine, CMJ and Relix magazines, has written for dozens of other publications and has authored liner notes for more than 80 CDs. Jeff has also served on the Nominating Committee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and as a consultant to the Grammys. His first book was 'Got a Revolution! The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane.' He is also the co-author of 'Shell Shocked: My Life with the Turtles, Flo and Eddie, and Frank Zappa, etc.,' with Howard Kaylan, and 'Carlos Santana: Love, Devotion, Surrender: The Illustrated Story of Santana's Musical Journey.'
The Scene: How the Song Came to Be

Dion’s Moving ‘Abraham, Martin and John’

Tension was in the air in 1968 and rock music reflected the turmoil. Then came a voice from the past, gently singing of non-violence and hope.

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FEATURES: Listicles

16 Songs That’ll Make You Feel Groovy

Nobody says groovy anymore. But there was a time when they said it a lot–and sang it too. Here are some of the grooviest songs you’ve ever heard.

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FEATURES: Interviews

Dave Clark on ‘All the Hits’: ‘The Imperfections Made Them Perfect’

“We believed the song should have that same excitement of when we played live,” he says, on recording the big DC5 hits like “Glad All Over.”

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FEATURES: Interviews

Savoy Brown’s Kim Simmonds and 5 Decades of the Blues

The guitarist, singer and songwriter formed the British blues band in London in 1965. “When I started, all the club bands were playing Motown”

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NEWS PLUS: RIP – Rock In Perpetuity

Essra Mohawk, Singer-Songwriter With Ties to Zappa, Garcia, Lauper, Tina and ‘Schoolhouse Rock,’ Dies

Although she never made the Billboard charts, she was highly respected and consistently prolific for more than 50 years.

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The Scene: The Classic Rock Legacy

Cream: Rock’s Short-Lived First Supergroup

Formed by blues fanatics in 1966 and gone by ’68, Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker redefined what a rock band was capable of doing.

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FEATURES: Interviews

Gregg Allman on the Allman Brothers Band’s Legacy

In 2015, the ABB mainstay was leading his own band and released a killer live album. This conversation with the legend has never before been seen.

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REVIEWS: Album Rewinds

When Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen Were ‘Lost in the Ozone’

There was much more to this genre-defying band than “Hot Rod Lincoln.” Here is the back story of a truly versatile and unique group.

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The Scene: Rocking The Tube

When Frank Sinatra Joined the Fifth Dimension

Frank Sinatra did not love rock music, but for his 1968 TV special he sang along with soul-pop hitmakers the Fifth Dimension and fit right in.

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REVIEWS: Album Rewinds

‘Hums of the Lovin’ Spoonful’ & The Evolution of Their Good-Time Music

For their third studio album, the band knew that it wanted no two songs to sound alike. The result: no two songs sounded alike.

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