Greg Kot
Co-host "Sound Opinions." Former music critic at Chicago Tribune. Author of 7 books, including "I'll Take You There," “Learning How to Die," "Ripped."
- You want protest songs? They've been arriving like news bulletins. Springsteen weighed in with "Streets of Minneapolis" and named names -- like "Ohio" for a new era of WTF government-sanctioned violence. But new takes on what's goin' on are arriving every day. Two new favorites are in comments.
- Time to give the drummer some. Oh, and by the way, Jack DeJohnette was also an accomplished composer and pianist. In this @soundopinions.bsky.social bonus episode I pay tribute to the late, great DeJohnette and an LP he helmed in 1980 amid a stellar year for new-jazz must-owns. bit.ly/4bN2Dkg
- 51st anniversary this week of the album that was for many the gateway into Bob Dylan's music. Some spiel and a link to our in-depth @soundopinions.bsky.social interview with the unsung Minneapolis musicians who helped make "Blood on the Tracks" a masterpiece here: www.facebook.com/share/p/1AT6...
- Not just a great mockumentary, but a film so spot-on about the ridiculous/poignant/unintentionally hilarious side of rock 'n' roll that a number of bands I interiewed suspected it was about them. @soundopinions.bsky.social interview with Rob Reiner (RIP) on "This is Spinal Tap": shorturl.at/GtwDx
- The day the Staple Singers met MLK: "Pops returned from his meeting with King at Dexter Avenue Church and gathered his family at the hotel in Montgomery. “If he can preach it, we can sing it,” he said, and essentially set the group’s course for the next 10 years. www.facebook.com/share/p/1Dba...
- Thanks to Dan the Automator decades ago, I rediscovered this classic groover from Willie Bobo. Latin soul at its finest: "Fried Neck Bones and Some Homefries." Here's a taste on @soundopinions.bsky.social: bit.ly/49J40hp
- Spieling on Bob Weir in this @soundopinions.bsky.social bonus podcast. A HT to BW and the world he helped create, where "the music plays the band." Here 'tis: shorturl.at/5AgNk
- One year in 35 songs. My 2025 mixtape: open.spotify.com/playlist/3ri... And a few words about why these songs and why now: bit.ly/49MZfEy
- “When I listen to The Raincoats, I feel as if I’m a stowaway in an attic,” Kurt Cobain once wrote. Raincoats cofounders Gina Birch and Ana da Silva give us the goods on that indelible debut album, and the post-punk kicks that followed. The Raincoats on @soundopinions.bsky.social: bit.ly/4pCzPhE
- Fare thee well, Bob Weir. I wasn't always into the Grateful Dead, but Weir and his accomplices pulled me in. A few words about the guy who kept going Furthur in his life and music: www.facebook.com/share/p/17DS...
- I've been making year-end mixtapes for decades. Yeah, I still call it a mixtape. Here's the 2025 edition. Please enjoy: open.spotify.com/playlist/3ri...
- Thinking about Bowie this week, which leads me back to Sinead and this moment at Metro in 2016, a few weeks after DB's departure. ... www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkI6...
- I'll be teaching a class at the University of Chicago's Graham School for "lifelong learners" in the spring. The topic feels more timely than ever. If interested, sign up soon. Class size is limited. Hope to see some of you there. graham.uchicago.edu/course/rocki...
- A quarter-century later, "Kid A" still sounds like the future. But Radiohead's performance in Grant Park the next summer was just as revelatory. Here's why: bit.ly/4jlk9xD
- Yeah, that was something. Carole King-Gerry Goffin wrote the song, Aretha at the piano delivered it to the world.
- Joe Ely was such a robust presence, his death still doesn't seem real. A few words about a life well lived on Sound Opinions: shorturl.at/egDkk
- The Roches in flight on SNL 1979. They made a lot of new fans that night. Whenever I put together an Xmas mix, this has to be the leadoff track, every time. www.facebook.com/reel/1010033...
- Best I can do this holiday season to spread some good cheer is this pix I took a few weeks ago: Dusk at Ayers Rock/Uluru in Australia after a rare rainfall. A sacred space in a special part of the world.
- Jeff Tweedy just released a helluva album (actually, three albums) and we had a conversation about it and the times we live in on @soundopinions.bsky.social . As the man said, "Creativity eats darkness." bit.ly/44D0qDK
- Reposted by Greg KotThe Vanity Fair photographer from the Susie Wiles story. Holy. Shit. www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/...
- Joe Ely, RIP. His records as a solo artist or as a member of the Flatlanders tower above. I once asked him about where all that wild wanderlust in his music began, and he had a ready if unexpected answer: www.facebook.com/share/p/1Knp...
- My 25 favorite albums of 2025 as well as Dero’s on @soundopinions.bsky.social : www.facebook.com/share/1DNp4x...
- Steve Cropper (RIP) had few equals as a minimalist guitar master, an artist who put a premium on space, concision and groove. He was the perfect combo musician in Booker T and the MG’s— no wonder everybody from Neil Young to Bob Dylan wanted to work with him. Link in comments.
- Alan Light makes the case that "Rumours" is the rare classic-rock record that still sounds modern, hooky and painfully honest about relationships unraveling. We break down the music, the history, and why young listeners continue to claim it as their own. Listen here: bit.ly/4pOXj3R
- Neil’s 80th birthday and the 50th anniversary of “Zuma” arrived only a few days apart this month. Monumental moments both. As I rhapsodize: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/l...
- We used to call the debut LP "Cars greatest hits." Somehow the 2nd LP, "Candy O," topped it, at least in my world. Can a band that sold 43 million albums still be underappreciated? Buffalo Tom's Bill Janovitz, the band's biographer, makes the case on @soundopinions.bsky.social: shorturl.at/hvsrQ
- Come for the movie (which I loved) and stay for the soundtrack. A few words about Jonny Greenwood's thrilling score for "One Battle After Another." shorturl.at/s0Mro
- A playlist for Neil's 80th. Could've been easily twice as long, but these 40 songs ring true. open.spotify.com/playlist/0kU...
- Neil Young is 80. Somehow he's made it this far without turning into a greatest-hits jukebox. When he tours, he plays whatever the hell he wants. In one of our interviews, I asked Young about how he managed to avoid turning into a "heritage act" unlike so many of his peers: shorturl.at/T1GOC
- 50th anniversary today of an album that I picked up the same week it was released, when I was a college freshman. I've got a longer chapter on Patti Smith and "Horses" in a forthcoming project, and here's a slice: www.facebook.com/share/p/1BU6...
- Still can't believe D'Angelo's gone, but then again, those three studio albums are for now, then & always. We run it all down, including our memories of one of the greatest concerts we'd ever seen: @soundopinions.bsky.social and the D'Angelo experience: bit.ly/4oiILZA
- From 11 years ago today, at the LBJ library in Austin, Texas -- a fitting home for Mavis and the story of her family's civil-rights activism. Plus this gives me an opportunity to mention that there will be new, updated edition of "I'll Take You There" coming soon.
- Best review I've read in this season of renewed appreciation for "Nebraska" isn't a review of the so-so Hollywood biopic, but an essay by Bill Janovitz, an author & songwriter (Buffalo Tom). There's a "meanness in this world," as Springsteen sang, and now we're living in it too. shorturl.at/EhpHk
- The great drummer & band leader Jack DeJohnette (RIP) played on some of my favorite recordings across several decades, including the Charles Lloyd Quartet's "Sombrero Sam" (from the "Dream Weaver" LP 1966), Miles Davis' "Live Evil" (1971) & "Special Edition" (1980). www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4m9...
- A few words about Tony Fitzpatrick -- an artist, poet, instigator, activist, story-teller and hard-core Chicagoan whose contributions were often beyond words. @soundopinions.bsky.social bonus podcast: tinyurl.com/yewyaybb
- Rough Trade Records founder Geoff Travis and his partner Jeannette Lee give us the lowdown on their partnership with River Lea Records and a new wave of rough-hewn folk on @soundopinions.bsky.social. It got me thinking about some of my favorite Rough Trade records, which I list here: bit.ly/3WeT98C
- Chicago was getting after it today. Proud of my city. Miles and miles of citizen activists. Boisterous but peaceful protest. But kings? No thanks.
- D'Angelo, the son of a preacher man, connecting the dots between generations. In the lineage of the greats, an incalculable loss. www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMb8...
- Stunned by the death of D'Angelo at age 51. He left behind a small but powerful legacy: Three vital LPs and a series of concerts that I'll never forget. In 2000, "Voodoo" was my album of the year, and here's a little bit of what I wrote about it back then: shorturl.at/JxNvB
- Arthur Baker has been crafting perfect beats since the '70s for myriad artists across multiple genres: New Order, Afrika Bambaataa, Bob Dylan, Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springsteen, Neneh Cherry, Al Green + many more. The @soundopinions.bsky.social interview: bit.ly/4q741mz
- Reposted by Greg Kot[Not loaded yet]
- Chicago lost one of its best today. RIP Tony Fitzpatrick. I met Tony through Steve Earle, whose LP covers frequently became canvasses for Fitzpatrick's artwork. Jon Langford & Tony collaborated on a tribute to another one-of-a-kind Chicagoan, Lin Brehmer, at the Hideout in 2023 (pic below). (1/2)
- I talked to Bob Mould in Chicago last night: “I’m astonished at the lack of protest music in the face of everything that’s out there today.” Then he went out and did something about it. Like his recent albums, his solo set spoke to what's happening in our streets. The review: tinyurl.com/3xd56ndw
- How the scene that emerged in a funky Manhattan neighborhood shaped the future of American music. @soundopinions.bsky.social with author David Browne. My spiel here: bit.ly/4gVKQYx Interview with David here: bit.ly/4mRRyjT Enjoy!
- Jim Kimball (RIP) put the overdrive into bands such as Laughing Hyenas, Mule, The Jesus Lizard, and more. He also did some fine work with Duane Denison and Ken Vandermark in a completely different musical vein. A few words about a drummer supreme on @soundopinions.bsky.social: bit.ly/42fkXNs
