Swedish-born singer Neneh Cherry’s four-decade-long career has ricocheted between a number of genres including hip-hop, jazz, and trip-hop. Her first single in 1988, “Buffalo Stance,” cemented her standing as a no-nonsense Black feminist voice in contemporary urban music. This year Neneh released her sixth album, “The Versions.” It’s a collection of cover songs of some of Cherry’s biggest hits, and is performed exclusively by female artists including Robyn, Sia, and Neneh’s daughter Tyson. On today’s episode Bruce Headlam talks to Neneh Cherry about her bohemian upbringing in Sweden, New York and London with stepdad Don Cherry, the famous jazz trumpet player. Neneh also recalls how she first met The Slits, the legendary all-girl punk group. And why despite scoring her first big hit with a cheeky rap verse, she never considered herself a real MC. Hear a playlist of all of our favorite Neneh Cherry songsHERE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today on the show, we're welcoming Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter, Lyle Lovett. Lovett follows in the footsteps of Texas troubadours like Guy Clark, Walter Hyatt, and Townes Van Zandt. In 1986, Lovett helped lay the foundation for the alternative country and Americana movements with his debut, self-titled album. Since then, he has continued to light up country music with a rich blend of country, big band, blues, folk, and jazz. All of those sounds are on display in12th of June—his first new album in a decade. On today’s episode Lovett speaks to Bruce Headlam about his new album, a project rooted in home and family, which makes sense considering at 64 years-old, he's a new dad to twins. Lovett also shares stories of his early days playing gigs around Texas A&M. Hear a playlist of all of our favorite Lyle Lovett songsHERE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today we have a fun follow-up to last week’s episode with Johnny Echols from the band Love. This week we’ll hear Rick interview the last two living members of The Doors—guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore—about coming up in the LA rock scene alongside the band Love, who The Doors idolized and then later eclipsed. The Doors formed in 1965 and burned white-hot, releasing six albums in five years, until the death of their larger than life lead singer, Jim Morrison. In their brief time as a band, The Doors quickly became one of the biggest acts of the late 60s. Their anti flower-power appeal was accentuated by Jim Morrison’s heavy, brooding lyrics, and keyboardist Ray Manzarek’s frenzied organ licks. On today’s episode Rick Rubin talks to Robby Krieger and John Densmore about their tumultuous history with Jim Morrison—who John refers to as a “Kamikaze drunk.” Both Robbie and John recall LSD-fueled stories from their early gigs with The Doors. And the role Acapulco Gold played in Jim Morrison’s songwriting process. Hear a playlist of all of our favorite Doors songs HERE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today we’re closing out Black Music Month by celebrating one of Rick Rubin’s favorite albums of all time—Forever Changes by the band Love. Formed in 1965, Love was a groundbreaking, interracial L.A. group. While their name isn’t usually mentioned alongside historic psychedelic bands like The Byrds or The Grateful Dead, Love’s influence is vast. Their charismatic, fashion-forward black frontman, Arthur Lee, inspired Jimi Hendrix’s look, and in the mid-60s Love was one of the hottest bands in Hollywood. In 1967 Love recorded their third album, Forever Changes. It was the last album for the original core group with guitarist Johnny Echols and co-writer Brian McClean. The album ushered in an entirely new sound for the band, combining Baroque sounding strings with horns and folky instrumentation with poetic lyrics. On today’s episode we’ll hear some of Rick Rubin’s conversation with Detroit rapper Danny Brown, who like Rick, places Love’s album Forever Changes at the very top of his greatest albums of all time list. Then, we’ll hear Rick in conversation with Love’s lead guitarist Johnny Echols about the intense turmoil surrounding the recording of Forever Changes. Echols—who grew up straddling both Black LA and the psychedelic strip—explains how Love was responsible for getting The Doors their record deal, only to be quickly overshadowed by The Doors mainstream success. Echols also recalls first meeting the Beatles when they were an opening act for Little Richard. Check out our playlist for this episode here! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today we’re continuing our celebration of Black Music Month with the incredible jazz legend, Sonny Rollins. Rollins is an American tenor saxophonist and composer who is widely regarded as one of the most influential jazz musicians of all time. Sadly, now at 91 years-old, Rollins no longer plays as a result of pulmonary fibrosis. Fortunately for us though, he's able to look back over an eight-decade career that started at the beginnings of Bebop, and included playing with the Rolling Stones, and performing on stages all over the world. On today’s episode, Justin Richmond talks to Sonny Rollins about one of his first big gigs in 1949 playing alongside other jazz icons like Bud Powell and Fats Navarro. He also explains why he no longer actively listens to music, and for the first time ever, Rollins talks about how Charlie “Bird” Parker is the reason he kicked drugs. Subscribe to Broken Record’s YouTube channel to hear all of our interviews:https://www.youtube.com/brokenrecordpodcastand follow us on Twitter@BrokenRecord. You can also check out past episodes here: https://brokenrecordpodcast.com. Hear over nine hours of our favorite Sonny Rollins-featured songsHERE. If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts be sure to sign up for our email list atPushkin.fm. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today on the show, we’re talking to Grammy award-winning musician, Adrian Quesada who's best known as one-half of the Black Pumas. During the pandemic Adrian started working on a solo project inspired by his longtime love of psychedelic music and Latin American love songs from the ‘60s and ‘70s. The result is an album calledBoleros Psicodelicosthatreached number one on the Billboard Latin album chart when it was released earlier this month. On today’s episode, Adrian and a few of the singers featured on the album—iLe, Angelica Garcia and Tita—talk about how the new album came together, their collaborative process, and how boleros and baladas fit into Latin music today. Subscribe to Broken Record’s YouTube channel to hear all of our interviews:https://www.youtube.com/brokenrecordpodcastand follow us on Twitter@BrokenRecord. You can also check out past episodes here: https://brokenrecordpodcast.com. Hear a playlist of all of the songs mentioned in this episode HERE. If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts be sure to sign up for our email list atPushkin.fm. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today we’re talking to Dan Charnas—author, hip-hop journalist, professor, show runner, former A&R person for Def American, and also a longtime friend of Rick Rubin's. Charnas's latest book,Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, The Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythmis the product of four years of exhaustive research and nearly 200 interviews. On today’s episode, Rick Rubin speaks with Dan Charnas about how the roots of his new book go all the way back to a trip to Detroit with rapper Chino XL to work with the producer then known as Jay Dee. Rick and Dan also reminisce about their earliest memories together and Dan shares what it was like meeting Rick’s mother, Mrs. Rubin, for the first time. Subscribe to Broken Record’s YouTube channel to hear all of our interviews:https://www.youtube.com/brokenrecordpodcastand follow us on Twitter@BrokenRecord. You can also check out past episodes here: https://brokenrecordpodcast.com. Hear a playlist of all of our favorite songs produced by J Dilla as well as songs Dan Charnas worked onHERE. If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts be sure to sign up for our email list atPushkin.fm. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today we begin our month-long celebration of Black Music Month with PJ Morton—the New Orleans based singer/songwriter, producer, and keyboardist for Maroon 5. Morton recently released his eighth studio albumWatch The Sunfeaturing collaborations with artists such as Stevie Wonder, Nas, Jill Scott, and Wale. On today’s episode, PJ Morton talks to Bruce Headlam about what it was like growing up as a preacher’s son and how his relationship with gospel music has impacted the way he makes music. He also talks about being a recovering workaholic, and his friendship with the great Stevie Wonder. Subscribe to Broken Record’s YouTube channel to hear all of our interviews:https://www.youtube.com/brokenrecordpodcastand follow us on Twitter@BrokenRecord. You can also check out past episodes here: https://brokenrecordpodcast.com. Hear a playlist of all of our favorite PJ Morton's songs HERE. If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts be sure to sign up for our email list atPushkin.fm. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sharon Van Etten joins us today—the singer/songwriter who Pitchfork recently crowned an “indie rock institution.” Earlier this month, Van Etten released her sixth and arguably best album,We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong. On today’s episode, Broken Record producer Leah Rose talks to Sharon Van Etten about recording her new album in her L.A.-based home studio during lockdown while attempting to balance domestic life. Sharon also explains how her inner Jersey girl comes out onstage. And why wearing leather pants and heels on stage post-pandemic feels so daunting. Subscribe to Broken Record’s YouTube channel to hear all of our interviews:https://www.youtube.com/brokenrecordpodcastand follow us on Twitter@BrokenRecord. You can also check out past episodes here: https://brokenrecordpodcast.com. Hear a playlist of all of our favorite Sharon Van Etten's songs HERE. If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts be sure to sign up for our email list atPushkin.fm. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today we’ll hear Rick Rubin talk to one of his all-time favorite vocalists, Tom Jones. With his soulful baritone and unique interpretation of the American R&B and gospel, Jones became a mainstay at hip venues in London, New York and Las Vegas with now-timeless hits like “It’s Not Unusual,” and “Green Green Grass Of Home.” On today’s episode, Tom Jones shares stories with Rick from his remarkable career, including the first time he met Elvis on a movie set in Hollywood—and the night he turned down an invitation to join Little Richard on stage out of fear he’d be deported. Tom also talks about why he thought Burt Bacharach’s lyrics to “What’s New Pussycat” were a joke the first time he heard them. Subscribe to Broken Record’s YouTube channel to hear all of our interviews:https://www.youtube.com/brokenrecordpodcastand follow us on Twitter@BrokenRecord. You can also check out past episodes here: https://brokenrecordpodcast.com. Hear a playlist of all of our favorite Tom Jones songs HERE. If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts be sure to sign up for our email list atPushkin.fm. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.