“COWBOY CARTER.” I don’t really like modern country music, at least the mainstream country that gets radio airplay and genre awards. Even beyond my issues with its exclusionary practices and politics, nearly all of it feels derivative. It’s been so insular for so long it’s gone full Habsburg. So…

Catfish Hunter of the Oakland Athletics pitching during a game from his 1974 season with the Oakland A’s. Hunter was an eight-time All-Star, 1974 American League Cy Young winner and was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987.Courtesy: 1974 SPX/Diamond Images via Getty Images. As of this…

Chuck Berry circa 1958, Courtesy: Wikicommons. This is supposed to be a humor column. Granted, nobody has ever admitted to finding it funny, but that’s the general idea. But this week I’m not really feeling particularly humorous. Fortunately for me, it’s also kinda a column about music history now,…