There’s typically an inner dialogue happening when serious Bruce Springsteen fans hear a new record the first time, especially one on which he unleashes the power of the E Street Band and its version of the wall of sound. Letter To You Bruce Springsteen Columbia, Oct. 23 8/10 It…

Joan Osborne burst onto the scene 25 years ago singing “One of Us,” a song penned by The Hooters’ Eric Bazilian. The song’s theological speculation about God’s smelly bus ride transubstantiated itself into a chart-topping hit and a bunch of Grammys as the first single from Osborne’s debut album,…

In the 1919 essay “Tradition and the Individual Talent” poet T.S. Eliot writes, “No poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone. His significance, his appreciation is the appreciation of his relation to the dead poets and artists. You cannot value him alone; you must set…

The man is a songwriting legend, but Bob Dylan is no Al Yankovic with accordion-led Christmas music. Welcome to the second RIFF Rewind Hater Special! That special time when I get to let all the pent-up vitriol out of my system by ripping on things I specifically dislike. You…

The Weather Girls performing “It’s Raining Men” whilst surrounded by a scene of absolute carnage as the aforementioned men lie dead and dying around them, having inexplicably fallen from the sky. Michael Fish and Sian Lloyd look on, bewildered. Requested by Anthony Mitchell pic.twitter.com/LCPefmRCap — Jim’ll Paint It (@Jimllpaintit)…

Joan Osborne has come full circle. Most musicians start with covers, move on to their own songs, and if they’re lucky eventually get covered themselves. And Osborne has more or less followed that pattern. Joan Osborne, Will Champlin 8 p.m., Friday, Oct. 27 Bankhead Theater, Livermore Tickets: $40-$80. “I…

Bob Dylan’s The Band has been an influence on Midlake’s Eric Pulido for years, because that band allowed each musician to have an individual voice. Each took turns leading songs in a round-robin manner, with the others supporting. All the musicians were friends outside of The Band, and had…

Josh Rosenthal’s daughters Emma (L) and Hazel with William Faulkner; not interested in ice cream. Oxford, Miss. In June, I took my daughters on a musical journey to New Orleans, all around Mississippi, Memphis and Nashville. We ate praline bacon, went to Preservation Hall, saw Degas’ house, Fats Domino’s Katrina-waterlogged piano,…

BERKELEY — The fact seems impossible to imagine now, but almost 51 years ago, Bob Dylan polarized his audience when he “went electric.” After a few years cutting his teeth on meditative folk songs, many political in nature, the eternal shapeshifter Dylan morphed into the first of many characters…