FEATURES

JAMBANDS: If you ever wanted to know where they learned their licks, here’s your answer. (Our proofreader wants to know where they learned punk.to.a.shun.) Improvisation, from Robert Johnson on up

EARLY ROCKERS: In the Civil Rights years, rock was black, white, and anything in between. Dion, Curtis Mayfield, Bobby Darin, Paul Anka, Ricky Nelson and Chubby Checker all changed the course of music, and we still don’t give them enough respect

DEPARTMENTS

From the Field: Downtown Fred shows up in towns across the US, and explains why he’s drawn to amps like a moth to the flame

Influences: Different coasts, different backgrounds and yet the same passion—for different music. Bob Weir, meet Neil Sedaka

Kickin’ in Your Stall: On becoming a teenager, and how you can do the Dirty Dog and still be respected in the morning

On the Record: My Morning Jacket, Ted Russell Kamp, Mighty Mike Schermer, Pine Leaf Boys, Big Pete Pearson, and a few groups with only two names

Collecting: The Allman Brothers Band, a family business

Also Appearing: Chuck Berry, Tea Leaf Green, and the Black Crowes—sounds like designer colors, but they’re DVDs. Bobby Darin, Neko Case, Phil Lesh also on DVD, and Duane Allman in print

Re.Issues: Elektra Records set the pace as the heady music of folk merged into the blues and morphed into psychedelic, from 1963 to ’73. Reissues of ELO, Warren Zevon and the Buckaroos help round it all out