Gary Graff | |
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![]() Graff in 2019 | |
Born | 1960 (age 62–63) |
Occupation | Music journalist, author |
Nationality | American |
Subject | Rock music |
Gary Graff (born 1960) is an American music journalist and author.
Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Graff attended Taylor Allderdice High School where he wrote for school newspaper The Taylor Allderdice Foreword. [1] [2] He received his Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri. [2] He wrote for the Detroit Free Press from 1982 until 1995 when there was a strike at the newspaper. Graff refused to cross the picket line and subsequently lost his job. [2] [3] Graff has contributed to publications including The New York Times , Billboard , The Boston Globe, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, and San Francisco Chronicle , [4] as well as writing a regular columns for Guitar World Magazine, Ultimate Classic Rock and Consequence. [2]
In 2005, Graff published The Ties That Bind: Bruce Springsteen A to E to Z. One reviewer said that the book "comes close to being the definitive study" on Bruce Springsteen. [5] He is also the founding editor of MusicHound's "Essential Album Guide" series, which began with MusicHound Rock in 1996. [2] Graff is also a frequent contributor to The Drew and Mike Podcast and the Bob & Brian radio show on WHQG in Milwaukee, WI. He now lives in Detroit, Michigan. [6]
Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. It was produced by Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos from June through October 1972 at the budget-priced 914 Sound Studios. The album was released January 5, 1973, by Columbia Records to average sales but positive critical reviews.
The River is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. It was released on October 17, 1980, by Columbia Records. Springsteen's only double album, The River was produced by Jon Landau, Springsteen, and bandmate Steven Van Zandt. The album was Springsteen's first to go number one on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart and spent four weeks at the top of the charts. "The River" was nominated for Best Rock Vocal Performance at the 1982 Grammy Awards.
The Best of the Band is the first greatest hits package by Canadian-American rock group the Band. Featuring ten tracks taken from six of their first seven albums, it featured two tracks from the first, second, third and seventh albums, one each from the fourth and fifth, rounded out by the 1976 single "Twilight".
Brand New Dance is an album which Emmylou Harris released on October 16, 1990. Produced by Richard Bennett and Allan Reynolds, the album mixed a rather eclectic collection of covers, including Bruce Springsteen's "Tougher Than the Rest", and Dave Mallett's "Red, Red Rose". Though it sold reasonably well, it was Harris' first studio album in fifteen years to yield no top forty country singles, and marked the beginning of a commercial decline for the singer, which would ultimately lead her to redirect her music away from mainstream country, a few years later.
Slap! is the fourth studio album by anarchist punk band Chumbawamba. A radical redefinition of the band's sound and attitude, the songs now inspires dancing more than moshing, and the lyrics are celebratory as opposed to victimist. The cover art is the popular kitsch painting Chinese Girl (1952) by Vladimir Tretchikoff.
"Hanky Panky" is a song written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich for their group, the Raindrops.
In Concert is a live triple album by the Doors released in 1991. The songs were recorded at several concerts between 1968 and 1970 in Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Copenhagen. The Doors' producer, Paul A. Rothchild, remarked, "I couldn't get complete takes of a lot of songs, so sometimes I'd cut from Detroit to Philadelphia in midsong. There must be 2,000 edits on that album."
The Blue Ridge Rangers is the first solo studio album by John Fogerty, the former lead singer and lead guitarist of Creedence Clearwater Revival.
"The Ties That Bind" is a song written and performed by Bruce Springsteen. It is the opening song on his fifth album, The River. It was the second song recorded for 'The River', at The Power Station in New York on April 9–11, 1979. The recording engineer was Bob Clearmountain. After Springsteen injured himself driving an ATV, forcing a one-month halt, Neil Dorfsman became the chief engineer when sessions resumed. Springsteen wrote the song during September - October 1978, while on the road during the Darkness Tour. After introducing it on November 1, 1978, it was played every night during the final two months of the tour.
"Fade Away" is a 1980 song written and performed by Bruce Springsteen, accompanied by the E Street Band. It is contained on his album The River, and the second single released from it in the United States, reaching the top twenty in both the United States and Canada.
"The River" is a song written and recorded by Bruce Springsteen, accompanied by the E Street Band, in 1979. The title track of his fifth album, it was a hit single in parts of Europe in 1981; it reached No. 25 in the Netherlands, and the top 10 in both Sweden and Norway. Its B-side was either "Independence Day" or "Ramrod", depending on the country of release.
"Independence Day" is a song written and performed by Bruce Springsteen. It was originally released on his fifth album, The River, in 1980. It was recorded at The Power Station in New York, on April 24–25, 1980.
Backstreets Magazine is a published quarterly Bruce Springsteen fanzine that has been covering the music of Springsteen and other Jersey Shore sound artists since 1980. On February 3, 2023, the magazine's publisher and editor-in-chief announced that the magazine will cease publication after one final upcoming issue and will stop updating its website.
Bill Holloman is an American jazz and blues tenor saxophonist and trumpet player.
Toby Warren Scott is an American record producer, engineer and sound mixer. In addition to serving as an engineer on 18 Bruce Springsteen albums and numerous live performances, Scott has also recorded artists including Bob Dylan, Natalie Merchant, Steve Perry, Bette Midler, Blue Öyster Cult, Tommy Tutone and Little Steven & The Disciples Of Soul.
MusicHound was a compiler of genre-specific music guides published in the United States by Visible Ink Press between 1996 and 2002. After publishing eleven album guides, the MusicHound series was sold to London-based Music Sales Group, whose company Omnibus Press had originally distributed the books outside America. The series' founding editor was Gary Graff, formerly a music critic with the Detroit Free Press.
Wall of Sound was an American music website that provided news, reviews and information on musical artists. The site was launched and developed in the mid-1990s by Paul Allen's software and website company, Starwave, in Seattle, Washington. In April 1997, Starwave entered into a joint venture partnership with ABC News, which expanded the coverage of the company's internet services into the ABC domain. A year later, Wall of Sound – along with Starwave sites such as Mr. Showbiz, NBA.com and NASCAR Online – was part of a joint e-commerce initiative between ABC and ESPN.
This Is a Journey...Into Time is a live album released in 1993 by the Washington, D.C.-based go-go band Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers. The album consists go-go renditions of classic jazz and swing songs performed with a go-go beat.
Free Yourself is the debut studio album released in 1977 by the Washington, D.C.-based go-go band Experience Unlimited.
Live & Early Singles is a compilation album released on February 17, 2004, by the Washington, D.C.-based go-go band Trouble Funk. The album consists of a compilation of the band's earlier singles from the late-1970s to the early-1980s.