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☆ Sally Kempton, Rising Star Journalist Turned Swami, Dies at 80
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( Penelope Green | More About Penelope Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Sally Kempton, who was once a rising star in the New York journalism world and a fierce exponent of radical feminism, but who later pivoted to a life of Eastern asceticism and spiritual practice, died on Monday at her home in Carmel, Calif. She was 80. Her brother David Kempton said the cause was heart failure, adding that she had suffered from a chronic lung condition. Ms. Kempton’s literary pedigree was impeccable. Her father was Murray Kempton, the erudite and acerbic newspaper columnist and a lion of New York journalism, the ranks of which she joined in the late 1960s as a staff writer for The Village Voice and a contributor to The New York Times. She was a sharp and talented reporter — although she sometimes felt she hadn’t properly earned her place as a journalist and owed it largely to her father’s reputation.

Persons: Sally Kempton, David Kempton, Murray Kempton, —, Bob Dylan, ”, Frank Zappa Organizations: New, The Village, New York Times, The Times Locations: New York, Carmel , Calif

The first time Albie Cullen said goodbye to the Grateful Dead was on Aug. 9, 1995. A co-worker told Cullen, an attorney for a Boston-area music label, that Jerry Garcia, the Dead’s iconic lead guitarist, had died that day. The Grateful Dead had replaced departed members before, but this was different. With his rootsy tenor, Santa-gone-gray beard and unmistakable plucking, Garcia had defined a touring juggernaut and its vibrant subculture, which had become synonymous with the ’60s. The band’s four surviving original members agreed they would never use the name “Grateful Dead” without Garcia.

Persons: Albie Cullen, Cullen, Jerry Garcia, ”, Garcia, Bob Weir, Weir, Garcia —, Bob Dylan’s “, ” Cullen Locations: Boston, Hampton Beach, N.H

☆ 'The Blacklist' series finale review: The James Spader series checks off its final name with an overdue finish (SPOILERS)
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers about “The Blacklist” two-part series finale, “Raymond Reddington.”CNN —Like a lot of things in Hollywood, “The Blacklist” didn’t know when to quit, hanging on for two listless seasons beyond the exit of Megan Boone as Liz Keen in 2021. Yet the show at least knew to provide viewers with a pretty definitive ending, as it did with the two-part series finale that officially bid farewell to James Spader’s oily master criminal Raymond “Red” Reddington. While the precise fate of the task force remained somewhat murky, that seemed like a bit of an afterthought. With Reddington gone, “The Blacklist” had checked off the one name that really mattered, in a show that, other than its usefulness to NBC, should have left Reddington to rest in peace years ago. Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Dembe's name.

Persons: “ Raymond Reddington, Megan Boone, Liz Keen, James, Raymond “ Red, Toby Leonard Moore, Dembe, Hisham Tawfiq, Reddington, Bob Dylan, Pat Garrett, Billy the, –, Donald Ressler, Diego Klattenhoff, Spader, Keen Organizations: CNN, FBI, NBC Locations: Hollywood, Spain

☆ This new ETF is trying to give investors a way to trade on the music industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Jesse Pound | In Jesse-Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A new thematic exchange-traded fund is trying to give investors a way in to music and entertainment by combining some of the industry's biggest U.S. stocks along with international holdings and some companies with no obvious music connection at all. The Clouty Music, Media and Entertainment ETF (TUNE) began trading Thursday with 50 stocks in its portfolio. There are only a handful of music industry stocks available to investors, such as Spotify , Warner Music Group and South Korean company Hybe. The TUNE ETF, which has an expense ratio of 0.65%, includes those stocks but also others in media and entertainment. The music industry is also one area that could see significant change alongside the recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence.

Persons: Bob Dylan, David Umeh, Umeh, it's Organizations: industry's, Media, Entertainment, Sony, Spotify, Warner Music Group, South, Fox, Netflix, Pfizer, Korean ETF Locations: South Korean

☆ John Mellencamp Just Might Punch You
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Rob Tannenbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

I’m not a nostalgic person, but I can tell when I play it for the audience that they are. I could do a whole show of hits if I wanted to, but I don’t. I don’t know if that girl made it home, so I wrote a song about her. Bob and I were painting together one day, and I asked him how he wrote so many great songs. In all seriousness, he said, “John, I’ve written the same four [expletive] songs a million times.” I’m going to get in line with Bob on that.

Persons: “, ”, ” Jack, Diane, you’re, Bob Dylan, “ John, I’ve, ” I’m, Bob, It’s Organizations: America Locations: America, Portland

☆ Before Dylan, There Was Connie Converse. Then She Vanished.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Howard Fishman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Connie Converse was a pioneer of what’s become known as the singer-songwriter era, making music in the predawn of a movement that had its roots in the Greenwich Village folk scene of the early 1960s. But her songs, created a decade earlier, arrived just a moment too soon. And by the time the sun had come up in the form of a young Bob Dylan, she was already gone. She had vanished from New York City, as she eventually would from the world, along with her music and legacy. student heard a 1954 bootleg recording of Ms. Converse on WNYC, that her music started to get any of the attention and respect that had evaded her some 50 years before.

☆ Michael Kors and Naomi Watts on Fashion and Women’s Health
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Cody Delistraty | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

“In an industry that is so focused on women, we are not seeing enough women rise in managerial [roles],” said fashion designer Michael Kors to Kristina O’Neill (left) onstage. Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Wall Street JournalOn Tuesday night, as the sun set over the Hudson River at Spring Studios in downtown Manhattan, the designer and philanthropist Michael Kors and actor and entrepreneur Naomi Watts weighed in on what the future might hold for their industries. The “after hours” edition of The Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything Festival, hosted in collaboration with WSJ. Magazine, opened with cocktails followed by performances of Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke” and Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” sung by students from the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts High School in Queens, New York.

☆ Gordon Lightfoot’s 10 Essential Songs
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Rob Tannenbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Bob Dylan once named Gordon Lightfoot one of his favorite songwriters, and called the musician “somebody of rare talent” while inducting him into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986. On Dylan’s 1970 album “Self Portrait,” he even recorded Lightfoot’s “Early Morning Rain,” and the respect was mutual — Lightfoot listened carefully to Dylan’s songs, which instilled in him “a more direct approach, getting away from the love songs,” he once said. In an expansive career that drew from Greenwich Village folk and Laurel Canyon pop, Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr., who died on Monday at 84, was embraced by a diverse group of musicians: Elvis Presley and Duran Duran, Lou Rawls and the Replacements. “Lightfoot’s is the voice of the romantic,” Geoffrey Stokes of The Village Voice wrote in 1974. “We’re capable of sensitivity and poetry.” In the process, Lightfoot became one of the most successful recording artists of the 1970s.

May 1 (Reuters) - Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, best known for folk-pop hits such as "If You Could Read My Mind" and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," died on Monday in a Toronto hospital, it was announced on his official Facebook page. Canadian news outlets CTV and the CBC cited a family representative, Victoria Lord, as confirming his death. Known for his evocative lyrics and melodic compositions, Lightfoot received five Grammy nominations over the years and won 17 Juno awards, Canada's equivalent. Lightfoot emerged from the folk music movement of the mid-1960s with signature tunes such as "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" and "Pussywillows, Cat-Tails." In it, Lightfoot coupled a soaring melody with poignant lyrics about the sailors' last hours.

☆ Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian Folk Singer-Songwriter, Dies at 84
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( William Grimes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Gordon Lightfoot, the Canadian folk singer whose rich, plaintive baritone and gift for melodic songwriting made him one of the most popular recording artists of the 1970s, died on Monday night in Toronto. His death, at Sunnybrook Hospital, was announced on his official Facebook page and website and confirmed by his publicist, Victoria Lord, and B.C. Fiedler, his longtime Canadian concert promoter. Overnight, he joined the ranks of songwriters like Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs and Tom Paxton, all of whom influenced his style. When folk music ebbed in popularity, overwhelmed by the British invasion, Mr. Lightfoot began writing ballads aimed at a broader audience.

☆ Harry Belafonte, who mixed music, acting, and activism, dies at 96
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Bill Trott | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Belafonte was born in New York City's borough of Manhattan but spent his early childhood in his family's native Jamaica. A few weeks before the launch, Belafonte told Rolling Stone magazine that singing was a way for him to express injustices in the world. "We were instructed to never capitulate, to never yield, to always resist oppression," Belafonte told Yes! "The Navy came as a place of relief for me," Belafonte told Yes! Belafonte was the first Black performer to win a major Emmy in 1960 with his appearance on a television variety special.

CNN —Harry Belafonte, the dashing singer, actor and activist who became an indispensable supporter of the civil rights movement, has died, his publicist Ken Sunshine told CNN. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Belafonte, left, plays a school principal in a scene from the film "See How They Run" in 1952. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Belafonte poses with the Emmy Award he won in 1960 for the musical special "Tonight With Belafonte." Fred Sabine/NBCU/Getty Images Belafonte and other recipients of Albert Einstein Commemorative Awards display their medallions after being honored in 1972. He is survived by his wife Pamela, his children Adrienne Belafonte Biesemeyer, Shari Belafonte, Gina Belafonte, David Belafonte, two stepchildren Sarah Frank and Lindsey Frank and eight grandchildren.

☆ Factbox: Facts about actor-activist Harry Belafonte
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

* Belafonte received a Tony Award in 1954 for his role in Broadway's "Almanac" and became the first Black actor to win an Emmy for a 1959 television variety special. * Belafonte received three Grammys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award. * Although Belafonte and co-star Dorothy Dandridge were accomplished singers, their vocals in the 1954 movie "Carmen Jones" were sung by LeVern Hutcherson and Marilyn Horne. * Belafonte's movies often had racial themes. * Belafonte produced the 1984 movie "Beat Street," one of the first movies about break-dancing and hip-hop culture.

☆ ‘Personality Crisis: One Night Only’ Review: David Johansen Gets the Scorsese Treatment
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( John Anderson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

If “Mean Streets,” “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull” and “Goodfellas” had never existed, Martin Scorsese would still occupy an exalted place in American cinema, strictly for his documentaries. His films on The Band, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, New York City, Italian opera and Fran Lebowitz constitute a singular catalog of movies, all of which are purely entertaining while exploring the complicated space where public image, art and personal history co-exist. Mr. Scorsese’s evident interests as a nonfiction filmmaker come together in “Personality Crisis: One Night Only,” his study of a less-than-obvious subject— David Johansen , onetime New York Doll and proto-punk rocker, who for several decades has also performed as Buster Poindexter , pompadoured lounge lizard and crooner of standards, novelty songs and the work of David Johansen. This is how Mr. Scorsese, credited as co-director with David Tedeschi , frames this portrait of a New York institution: during an early 2020 gig at the upscale Café Carlyle (which Mr. Poindexter refers to as a “boîte” and a “joint”), where the alter ego performs the work of the original.

☆ U.S. composer Burt Bacharach dies at age 94
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Bill Trott | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Bacharach and David had 30 Top-40 hits in the '60s alone. I'd hear his melodies and I'd hear lyrics. I'd hear rhymes, I'd hear thoughts and I'd hear it almost immediately." Bacharach and David scored the Neil Simon Broadway musical "Promises, Promises," which won them two Tonys and a Grammy. While star performers made his songs hits, Bacharach said he also enjoyed performing himself and making a personal connection with smaller audiences.

☆ Burt Bacharach, legendary composer of pop songs, dies at 94
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Bacharach was both an innovator and throwback, and his career seemed to run parallel to the rock era. He was an eight-time Grammy winner, a prize-winning Broadway composer for "Promises, Promises" and a three-time Oscar winner. Fellow songwriter Sammy Cahn liked to joke that the smiling, wavy-haired Bacharach was the first composer he ever knew who didn't look like a dentist. Bacharach was essentially a pop composer, but his songs became hits for country artists (Marty Robbins), rhythm and blues performers (Chuck Jackson), soul (Franklin, Luther Vandross) and synth-pop (Naked Eyes). He's everybody's composer ... Burt Bacharach!"

Justin Bieber has become the latest high-profile artist to sell his share of the rights to his music. The deal includes the publishing rights to a back catalogue that spans over 290 titles, including hits "Sorry," and "Despacito." “The impact of Justin Bieber on global culture over the last 14 years has truly been remarkable,” Merck Mercuriadis, founder and CEO of Hipgnosis Song Management said in a statement. Bieber joins a growing body of artists, including Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, in making major deals to sell the rights to their back catalogues. In January 2022, it was revealed Dylan, 81, had sold the rights to his entire back catalogue to Sony.

☆ Why companies are eager to strike massive music catalog deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

In the last few years, generational stars have inked nine-figure deals to hand over the rights to their catalogs. And, younger artists have taken part in the action too, with singers such as John Legend and Iggy Azalea striking deals. Now, services like Spotify and Apple Music have revolutionized the music industry. Unlike legacy companies, these new businesses don’t have a long track record managing music. The labels, he said, often have a disparate set of goals, including creating new hits, which could distract them from the singular mission of managing older music.

David Crosby, the legendary singer-songwriter and founding member of the Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, has died, a source close to the musician confirmed Thursday. The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee died after a long illness, his wife said in a statement to Variety. "David was fearless in life and in music," Nash said. Crosby, Stills & Nash — later known as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young when joined by musician Neil Young — were founded the following year and released a series of hits with "Marrakesh Express," "Just a Song Before I Go," "Woodstock" and others. From left, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills & Nash in San Francisco, on Nov. 23 1991.

Jan 19 (Reuters) - David Crosby, one of the most influential rock singers of the 1960s and '70s with the Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY) has died at the age of 81, Variety reported on Thursday, citing a statement from Crosby's wife. "I don’t know what to say other than I’m heartbroken to hear about David Crosby. He fell "as low as a human being can go," Crosby told the Times. In the 2019 documentary "David Crosby: Remember My Name," he made clear he hoped they could work together again but conceded the others "really dislike me, strongly." After his release, Crosby told People magazine he had beaten his addictions.

☆ Bob Dylan says that streaming has made music 'too smooth and painless' and people are now 'pill poppers, cube heads and day trippers'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bob Dylan told The Wall Street Journal that streaming has made music "too smooth and painless." He said people are now "pill poppers, cube heads and day trippers." Dylan said that streaming has made music "too smooth and painless" in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, published on Monday and timed with his new book "The Philosophy of Modern Song." We're pill poppers, cube heads and day trippers, hanging in, hanging out, gobbling blue devils, black mollies, anything we can get our hands on. Dylan has over 9 million monthly active listeners on music streaming platform Spotify.

☆ Want to make difficult conversations easier? Use this Bob Dylan-inspired phrase, says bestselling author Susan Cain
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Natasha Piñon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

If you're a folk music aficionado, you might be familiar with this line: "Speaking strictly for me, we both could have died then and there." And according to bestselling author Susan Cain, it holds the key to making difficult conversations a lot easier. Sinek backed her up: "Can you imagine if every opinion that someone expressed, political or otherwise, started with 'Speaking strictly for me?' That simple phrase does several key things at once, by Cain and Sinek's estimation — all of which can help when navigating difficult conversations. "Their shoulders relax as soon as they hear that phrase," Cain said.

☆ Bob Dylan’s teenage love letters sell for over $650,000 at auction
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Zoe Sottile | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Bob Dylan’s teenage love letters sold for a whopping $669,875 on Friday. The “unprecedented archive” was sold by RR Auction, a Boston-based auction house specializing in unique memorabilia. He wrote about preparing for the local talent show, shared short pieces of poetry, and continually professed his affections for Hewitt, according to RR Auction. Hewitt, born in 1941, settled with her family in Hibbing, Minnesota, during her early teenage years, according to RR Auction. The couple’s first date was on New Year’s Eve in 1957, according to RR Auction.

Ernaux, the first French woman to win the literature prize, said winning the award was "immense". "It's a long path that she makes in her life," Swedish Academy member Anders Olsson told Reuters. "I did not imagine at the time that 22 years later, the right to abortion would be challenged," Ernaux told reporters in Paris. 1/7 French novelist Annie Ernaux talks to the media after being announced as the winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature, in Cergy-Pontoise, France October 6, 2022. "I always said that I did not want to get the Nobel prize," she told reporters at her French publisher Gallimard's office.

☆ Famed litigator Randy Mastro is joining King & Spalding after more than 20 years of representing big clients for Gibson Dunn, from Chris Christie to James Dolan
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-16 | by ( Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Randy Mastro, a fixture at Gibson Dunn since 1998, is leaving the firm, four people told Insider. Star attorney Randy Mastro is leaving Gibson Dunn & Crutcher after more than 20 years, four people told Insider. Mastro has spent more than two decades at Gibson Dunn, which he first joined in 1989. By 2014, Chevron had run up a $32 million tab with Gibson Dunn, a bill it tried to make Donziger pay, according to Reuters. Do you know Randy Mastro or more about why he left Gibson Dunn?

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