Author: Matthew Barlow

Art Bergmann Remember Her Name Weework Art Bergmann should be rich and famous.  He is Canadian punk rock nobility.  Away back in the mists of time (and the rain forest Vancouver is carved out of), Bergmann was the frontman of the seminal punk band, the Young Canadians.  Vancouver was once a major epicenter of the punk rock world, but no one knows this.  Perhaps it’s because Vancouver is isolated in the Pacific Northwest, deep inside that rain forest.  The nearest city is Seattle.  And in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Seattle was as unimportant as Vancouver.  But Vancouver...

Black Sabbath The End (Live) Eagle Vision Black Sabbath packed it in earlier this year.  The original members had got back together in the 2000s, ending the era of Tony Iommi and a rotating cast of guests.  Sure, some, like the late, great Ronnie James Dio, filled in admirably. But, otherwise, Sabbath was largely forgettable without Ozzy, Geezer, and Bill Ward.  Nevermind the fact that that sentence sounds like the Muppets Band.  Ward was forced out a few years ago, largely for health reasons.  The lads ARE all fast approaching 70, and they’ve lived harder than your average 70...

Robert Plant Carry Fire Nonesuch/Warner My buddy Rob says that Robert Plant became a musician over the past decade.  I think that’s a bit harsh, Plant wasn’t just a pretty face in Led Zeppelin.  Take, for example, the writing of ‘Kashmir,’ which took several years for the band to put together.  Jimmy Page wrote the bulk of the music, with input from both John Bonham and John Paul Jones, but also from Plant.  Plant was, of course, the lyricist for the band.  And writing lyrics for ‘Kashmir’ was particularly challenging for Plant due to the complexity and time signature...