@buffalotomband My new book LEON RUSSELL: The Master of Space and Time’s Journey Through Rock & Roll History here found.ee/LeonRussell
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Articles by Bill Janovitz
Last-Minute Holiday Gift Guide: Music-Themed Books - Article View - Desert Local News – Palm Springs & Coachella Valley’s Online Newspaper
Below are three recommended titles for the book lover on your holiday gift list or yourself... Title: Eternally Electric: The Message in My Music Back in 1988, Debbie Gibson scored her first Billboard Hot 100 chart topper with “Foolish Beat.” With that achievement came another one: the youngest female artist (at age 17) to write, produce, and perform a No. 1 hit — a record she still holds today.
Patti Smith, Paul McCartney, The Grateful Dead: A Survey Of 2025’s Music-Themed Books
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 10: Patti Smith performs the album Horses live on stage during the 50th Anniversary Tour at Paramount Theatre on November 10, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jim Bennett/Getty Images) Getty Images As it has been for at least 20 years now, the popularity of music memoirs and music-themed books in the publishing industry shows no signs of flagging — and 2025 was no different.
What Drove Their Music
The Wall Street Journal | October 24, 2025 Known for their 'cool detachment,' the Cars found a musical sweet spot with spiky power pop buffed into a commercial sheen. From 1978 to 1988, the Cars were a model contemporary rock band-and ubiquitous on radio and MTV. The band's arresting sound was evident from their very first single, "Just What I Needed": Synthesizer melodies and minimalist song structures combine This story is from the October 24, 2025 edition of The Wall Street Journal.
THE CARS | Kirkus Reviews
You might think this is a perfect match between author and subject—and you’d be right. A comprehensive look at the New Wave band from Boston that charmed the world. The 1980s had more than its share of one-hit wonders and bands now lost to obscurity, but the Cars have endured—“You Might Think,” “Drive,” and more are still radio and playlist staples.
Bill Janovitz (Buffalo Tom) and Jesse Lauter Talk Leon Russell
Leon Russell had the kind of music career that you’d think could never be forgotten, scoring huge hits in the early 1970s, collaborating with the likes of Bob Dylan and George Harrison, and generally feeling ubiquitous in the rock world. But even though he’s been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and has been touted by just about every major star of the era, Russell’s name isn’t really known to casual listeners anymore.
Leon Russell, the musician's musician: New book takes an in-depth look at his life and career
Host Robin Young speaks with author and musician Bill Janovitz about his new biography “Leon Russell: The Master of Space and Time’s Journey Through Rock and Roll History,” which looks at the influential musician’s life and career.
Rock ’n’ Roll Reading: 12 Books that Evoke ‘Daisy Jones and The Six’
1Songs in Ursa Major Set in the summer of 1969, the star-crossed characters may be named Jane and Jesse, but this 2021 sleeper is loosely based on the love affair between Joni Mitchell and James Taylor. The historical novel by a former book editor vividly conjures the folk-festival scene and how much music was a man’s world, with little room for female creativity and ambition.
The first biography of influential, shadowy rocker Leon Russell
Review Leon Russell: The Master of Space and Time’s Journey Through Rock & Roll History By Bill Janovitz Hachette, 592 pages, $31 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores. A selective list of Leon Russell’s collaborators reads like a roll call of rock divinity: Jerry Lee Lewis, the Beach Boys, Ike and Tina Turner, the Rolling Stones, Joe Cocker, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Elton John.
List of People I Interviewed
Here is a list of the folks I spoke with for the book: Elton John Bruce Springsteen Willie Nelson Eric Clapton Steve Winwood Rita Coolidge Randy Newman Dave Mason T Bone Burnett Bruce Hornsby Ronnie Milsap Susan Tedeschi Derek Trucks Paul Shaffer Jim Keltner James Burton Lenny Waronker Jon Landau Russ Titelman Claudia Lennear Cheech Marin Richard Carpenter Glyn Johns Steve Cropper Terry Manning Gary Lewis Ian Hunter Dwight Twilley Van Dyke Parks Bobby Whitlock Dean Torrence Taylor Hackford...
Bill Janovitz at Harvard Book Store
presenting Leon Russell: The Master of Space and Time's Journey Through Rock & Roll History in conversation with TOM PERROTTA Location Harvard Book Store 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138 Tickets This event is free; no tickets are required. Harvard Book Store welcomes BILL JANOVITZ—author and founding member of the Boston-based band, Buffalo Tom—for a discussion of his new biography Leon Russell: The Master of Space and Time's Journey Through Rock & Roll History.
So Sad About Charlie
One of my favorite musicians, from my favorite band, has passed away. Here is something I wrote in 2012 about Charlie’s playing. Wild Horses Recorded: December 3-4, 1969, Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, Sheffield, Alabama Releases: LP Sticky Fingers April 1971 Single June, 1971 US, charting at number 28 Recording the White Man’s Blues in the Deep South.
Let Him Dangle - Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello Add to Song Favorites ♥ Overview ↓ User Reviews ↓ Variations ↓ Attributes ↓ Song Review by Bill Janovitz Elvis Costello sings, "Bentley said to Craig 'Let him have it Chris.'" And so went the story of the case of Derek Bentley, a 19-year-old man who was hanged in England in 1953 for the murder of a policeman.
The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street
Home > Academic > Music & Sound Studies > Popular Music > The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street By: Bill Janovitz Published: 02-19-2005 Format: Paperback Edition: 1st Extent: 174 ISBN: 9780826416735 Imprint: Continuum Series: 33 1/3 Volume: 18 List price: $14.95 Online price: $10.46 Saving: Save $4.48 (30%) Tell others about this book Lorem About The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street Tracing the creation of Exile on Main Street from the original songwriting done while touring America...
Virtual Happy Hour Week Five
By Bill Janovitz on 4-19-2020 in Uncategorized Virtual Happy Hour with Bill: Episode 5 Posted by Buffalo Tom on Saturday, April 18, 2020 Quarantine Martini Setlist: The Bus; Fortune Teller; Taillights Fade; Little Mascara(Replacements); White Paint Morning; The Swimmer; Larry; Summer; Thunder Road (Bruce Springsteen); Tangerine (with Laura and Lucy); Age of Consent (New Order, with Lucy); Gold Day (Sparklehorse, with Lucy); Sparklers; I’m Allowed; Lately I’ve Let Things Slide (Nick Lowe);...
Virtual Happy Hour Week 3
By Bill Janovitz on 4-06-2020 in Uncategorized Virtual happy hour with Bill, week 3 Posted by Buffalo Tom on Saturday, April 4, 2020 Quarantine Negroni ?
Virtual Happy Hour with Bill, Week Two
By Bill Janovitz on 3-29-2020 in Uncategorized Posted by Buffalo Tom on Saturday, March 28, 2020 If you want to contribute, Paypal janovitz.bill@gmail.com or Venmo @bill-janovitz TNot necessary, but totally appreciated. This week, we sent a big chunk of change to Partners in Health to help the fight of the Coronavirus in the poorest areas of the world. I imagine I will be back to do another show next Saturday at the same time. To be confirmed. https://www.pih.org/
Virtual Happy Hour with Bill
Virtual Happy Hour with Bill By Bill Janovitz on 3-22-2020 in Uncategorized This is it. The Big Show. Starting with a martini for early happy hour. Posted by Buffalo Tom on Saturday, March 21, 2020
The Holy Grail
I sell real estate as a day job, with a specialty in midcentury-modern homes in the Boston suburbs. More often than not, we help folks edit down their stuff. It is rarely a painless process. Yesterday, my partner John and I just happened to stop by to do an impromptu video shoot on a listing we have coming up this spring.
Live at the Burren May 2019
By Bill Janovitz on 11-22-2019 in Uncategorized Many of you know I have been playing a monthly residency on Saturday nights at the Burren Backroom in Somerville, MA. This is the only show so far that we recorded with multi-track. I finally got around to listening and doing a quick mix of some songs. I will post what I have so far. The first two feature Phil Aiken. Scottish Windows/Tangerine Almost Beating Leave Me Alone sung by Lucy Janovitz, the New Order song.
Let It Loose, Happy Birthday Mick.
Happy birthday, Mick. An excerpt from my Rocks Off book about favorite vocal of his performances. Let It Loose Recorded: July and October-November 1971 Villa Nellcôte, Villefranche-sur-mer, France (Keith Richard’s rented house December 1971 Sunset Sound Studio, LA Releases: LP Exile on Main Street May 1972 The Gospel of the Rolling Stones. Soon after Brian Jones died, everything about the Stones seemed to reset.
Covers of the Weeks Vol. IV by Bill Janovitz
Here Come Those Tears Again
The Zen of Elliot Easton
Elliot Easton Change No Change, Elektra 1985 “Act like you’ve been there before,” is what Vince Lombardi advised one of his players who danced in the end zone after a touchdown. Fuck that. “I played with Elliot Easton!” I shouted as I bounded off the stage like the 52-year-old child that I am. Most of the super-accomplished musicians with whom I was sharing the stage at the Wild Honey Foundation benefit concert at the Alex Theater in Glendale, CA, were used to this sort of thing.
Happy 75th Keith. Excerpt from Rocks Off:
Happy 75th to Keith Richards. Here is a bit about him via his ballad, “Coming Down Again,” from Goat’s Head Soup, excerpted from my book, Rocks Off: 50 Tracks That Tell the Story of the Rolling Stones. It is missing some of the formatting and footnotes, so grab yourself a copy of the book.
Tumbling Dice
By Bill Janovitz on 11-11-2018 in Essays, Rocks Off Book “Good Time Woman,” one of the outtakes included in the expanded Exile On Main St. box set, just came up today on shuffle in my car. It is the most complete of a number of iterations, a handful of recorded versions familiar to Stones fans from bootlegs that led to “Tumbling Dice,.
Aretha Franklin, Rest in Peace
By Bill Janovitz on 8-16-2018 in Editorial, Essays My uncle, a mentor, had been murdered the day before and I was still stunned, but the waves of emotion were beginning to boil up and seep through in that state of shock when I finally went to see Aretha Franklin perform for the first time, in 2009. My wife and I had gotten tickets well in advance, obviously. In fact, they were amazing seats in the orchestra, just a few yards from where the Queen of Soul was to stand or sit at the piano.
Record Producer David Bianco Has Died
Man, news of David Bianco’s passing has really hit us hard. Buffalo Tom always made records with people who had made records we really loved. That and personality were the main criteria. We first learned about Dave from his killer production of the Teenage Fanclub record, Grand Prix, which all three Buffalos Tom adored. But he had amazing stories about working on landmark albums by Jagger, Petty, AC/DC, and… yeah, you might have heard of some of them.
50th Anniversary of Jumpin’ Jack Flash
By Bill Janovitz on 5-24-2018 in Rocks Off Book, Rolling Stones Books On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the release of the single, here is my entry on the song in my book, ROCKS OFF: 50 Tracks That Tell the Story of the Rolling Stones. This has been my ring tone for about 10 years. Never tire of it. Single May 1968, charting at number one in the UK and number three in the US There was nothing about love, peace and flowers in Jumpin’ Jack Flash.
Chaos in “Exile”: The Rolling Stones record their masterpiece
And even when the recording was going well, it was disorganized. Bill Wyman recalled, negatively, that Andy Johns would often be trying to record overdubs in the basement kitchen while people, dogs, and children, ate and made noise in the same room: “I remember Gram Parsons sitting in the kitchen in France one day, while we were overdubbing vocals or something. It was crazy.
Tom Waits “Take It With Me”
By Bill Janovitz on 11-05-2017 in Essays I was on a treadmill circa 2002 when this song first punched me in the gut. When Tom Waits came to the last bridge and verse of “Take It With Me,” it took the wind out me and I had to stop running. at the end of the day It’s got to be more is all you own and in that town there’s and in that house and in that woman with me when I go It wasn’t the first time I had heard the song.
Cover of the Week 48
By Bill Janovitz on 10-02-2009 in CoTW, Cover of the Week Project, Uncategorized [Updated and reposted September 19 in response to this insanity.] I used to play “Rocket Man” during some solo acoustic sets in the early/mid-’90s. The only places I recall playing it are in the U.K. Specifically, I remember a set in Wales. I think this is because there might have been a recording of it. I was actually already starting the recording when it was requested in the below thread/post by one Billy Peregoy.
PART TIME MAN OF ROCK
By Bill Janovitz on 1-11-2011 in CoTW, Cover of the Week Project, Uncategorized In an attempt to relate what Grant Hart meant to me, I pulled out this old blog posts. This was from February 2009: When Buffalo Tom first went on a tour, it was 1989 and it was in Europe. Until we got there, we couldn’t fully comprehend that there were people who listened to our music over there.
This Is All You Need to Hear to Understand Prince Was a Genius
Prince performing at Super Bowl XLI. Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images I first wrote a version of this in December 2009 for an old blog I had. The one-year anniversary of Prince’s death brought it to mind and it seems even more relevant than when I first wrote it. Have you seen this video? It has been passed around on the web for a while now. Stay with it until you have seen Prince solo to the end of the song.
The Day I Delivered Ribs to Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley. YouTube I’ve been reading a lot about Chuck Berry since his passing a couple weeks ago. An equally iconic rock ‘n’ roll guitarist, Bo Diddley’s name is often mentioned in the same breath as Berry’s in the obituaries celebrating his remarkable career, which reminds me of this story. I was set to graduate from UMass in 1988, but had to go an extra semester after a bout of mono in my junior year laid me up so long that I had to drop a couple of classes. I was in no hurry anyway.
A Post-Election Playlist to Soothe Your Frayed Nerves
After the most demoralizing presidential election in recent memory, I was lucky enough to play a record release party Friday night for one of my bands. Gathered in the warm and laid-back atmosphere of the beloved Q Division recording studio in Boston, people drank beer, chatted in hushed tones about the week’s news, and let loud rock ‘n’ roll music wash over them. We all blew it out together, walking out into the cold night afterwards with our ears ringing, our shirts stained with beer and sweat.
Forever a Showman, It’s Never a Dull Evening With Elvis Costello
Before Tuesday night it had been a while since I’d seen Elvis Costello in concert. I won’t test your patience with “back in the day” stories, I have only a few, and the first show was not until the spring of 1984, when he performed solo (just the man, his guitars and a keyboard) at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. I was 17. A few months later, I got to see him with the legendary Attractions.
PART TIME MAN OF ROCK
By Bill Janovitz on 7-31-2016 in Rocks Off Book This just came up on shuffle. I have loved this song deeply from the moment I bought the album, the (on cassette!) day it came out. So I figured I would excerpt the entry for the song, from my book, Rocks Off: 50 Tracks That Tell the Story of the Rolling Stones. Forgive the lazy lack of formatting.
Bubble of Froth | PART TIME MAN OF ROCK
By Bill Janovitz on 7-09-2016 in Editorial Demonization is natural and can even be enjoyable, particularly in the hands of someone who is sharp-witted, sharp-tongued, a great writer, or rhetorical speaker. Many of us love to throw sharp jabs, flip and cutting remarks, or witty rebuttals to those whose positions seem indefensible to us. Especially in the age of social media, when we no longer have to type up a letter to the editor, get a stamp, start the walk to the mailbox, and….
He’s With the Band
You will be forgiven for wondering if the world needs another Rolling Stones book. Of course it doesn’t. But this is not “only rock ’n’ roll.” This is a cultural juggernaut, a superstar band with a singular body of work that both influenced and reflected multiple generations.
The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones
Stanley Booth, a member of the Rolling Stones’ inner circle, met the band just a few months before Brian Jones drowned in a swimming pool, in 1969. He lived with them throughout their 1969 American tour, staying up all night together listening to blues, talking about music, ingesting drugs, and consorting with groupies.
Cover of the Week 56
Have you seen this video? It has been passed around on the web for a while now. Stay with it until you have seen Prince solo to the end of the song. What you see here until about the 3:30 minute mark is a perfectly serviceable and respectful cover version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," a tribute to George Harrison. You have the studied aloofness of Tom Petty, sleepwalking through the vocals and acoustic strumming.
Revisiting Plundered My Soul in 2015
My love for this song grows each time I hear it. I feel it would have been one of the best songs on the original Exile on Main St. release had they finished it. So here I revisit the final chapter of my 2013 book, Rocks Off: 50 Tracks That Tell the Story of the Rolling Stones. As of this posting, I have just a few remaining hardcovers to sign and send for $10.
Sara Watkins Stole My Heart Away
It’s such a simple song, but one I have been obsessed with ever since hearing it on my car radio a few weeks ago at the stroke of midnight on WUMB, a local college station here in Boston. I can’t stop playing it. It brings me joy, so much so that I have started more than one day with it. But it makes me weepy as well. Male menopause must be real, people. This morning for instance, I played it after breakfast as I was on my way out of the house.
Distinguished & Award Winning Global Publisher in 41 countries
December 3-4, 1969. Keith and Mick stood at the same microphone at Muscle Shoals, lights dimmed, splitting a fifth of bourbon, and simultaneously sang the melodies and harmonies on the three songs that they had recorded over three days: "Brown Sugar," "You Got to Move," and "Wild Horses." That's your rock 'n' roll fantasy right there, pal.
Sneak Peek: Five-Bedroom Sudbury Modern
Interior photos by Lara Kimmerer, except as noted. Click any photo to enlarge and watch as a light box slide show. This is a sneak peek of a listing coming soon. Watch this space for exterior shots and more details. This large, updated, and meticulously maintained Core Contemporary is our second listing in Sudbury this year. It will be coming on the market the first weekend in May in the mid-$600,000s.
The 40th Anniversary of Keith Jarrett’s Legendary ‘Köln Concert’
2015 marks the 40th anniversary of The Köln Concert, a landmark album by jazz pianist Keith Jarrett, who played a solo concert at Carnegie Hall last week. Few albums have touched me as deeply as this one. As a 16-year-old kid who knew very little from the jazz world, I first heard a selection from the record on the nightly “Eric in the Evening” program on WGBH FM, Boston’s public radio station.
Joe Cocker, Soulful Interpreter of ’70s Hits, Has Died
Joe Cocker—who passed away this week—was a giant. And giants usually come with apocryphal stories. This particular one may not be 100 percent true. But from what we know of his life, it certainly fits the Legend of Joe. My band, Buffalo Tom, was recording in Los Angeles in 1993. We got to meet an odd assortment of rock stars coming in and out of the famous Cherokee Studios on Fairfax in Hollywood.
Winter Is Coming, Here’s the 10 Best Rock Docs Streaming on Netflix
Seasonal Affective Disorder has set in early this year in the Northeast. The dark, short, cold days are not conducive to staying in shape for those of us who do not attend gyms but instead prefer to exercise outdoors. Personally, I like to cycle, but I am not “hearty” by any reasonable definition of the word. As soon as my favorite activity requires a third layer of space-age fabrics, I retreat to the basement and put my bike up on a trainer for some soul-sucking indoor spinning.
The Longest Article Ever About the Best Record Ever
Stevie Wonder performs at the Rainbow Theatre, London, January 28, 1974. (Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images). Stevie Wonder is heading out on a short tour that will bring him to Madison Square Garden on November 6, performing his landmark classic album, Songs in the Key of Life, from start to finish. The album is an emotional juggernaut, an immensely generous gift from the heart of a genius, and a masterpiece by almost any measure.
Cape Cod Modern and Tomorrow’s Houses: New England Modernism
I hate the to be the bearer of bad news, but with the kids heading back to school and Labor Day weekend upon us, the unofficial end of summer is here for those of us in the northern hemisphere. But we each have our ways of savoring those precious remaining days.
CoTW 115 - It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
New Music: A Long Island of the Mind
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