Rev. Keith A. Gordon
@rocknrollreverend.bsky.social
The “Reverend of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” Gordon has been writing about classic rock and blues music for 50+ years for over 100 publications worldwide, and has written 30 music-related books, including Nuggets Redux, Planet of Sound, and Spirit...On Track!
It's your Monday Morning Bootleg Playlist, post-Thanksgiving edition & this time around we have steamin' hot flapjacks from Jethro Tull (West Germany 1972), Talking Heads (Berkley CA 1979) & Syd Barrett (studio outtakes & live tracks, many with David Gilmour, a couple with Pink Floyd). #bootlegs
December 1, 2025 at 2:47 PM
It's your Monday Morning Bootleg Playlist, post-Thanksgiving edition & this time around we have steamin' hot flapjacks from Jethro Tull (West Germany 1972), Talking Heads (Berkley CA 1979) & Syd Barrett (studio outtakes & live tracks, many with David Gilmour, a couple with Pink Floyd). #bootlegs
Living in Detroit circa 1978-81, punk rockers Cinecyde were one of the more exciting bands on a thriving Motor City rock scene alongside outfits like Destroy All Monsters, Flirt & Sonic's Rendezvous Band. This 2015 Italian import LP collects all of Cinecyde's singles & included a bonus 45!
November 12, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Living in Detroit circa 1978-81, punk rockers Cinecyde were one of the more exciting bands on a thriving Motor City rock scene alongside outfits like Destroy All Monsters, Flirt & Sonic's Rendezvous Band. This 2015 Italian import LP collects all of Cinecyde's singles & included a bonus 45!
Lemme see if I got this right...after 15 years of trying to "replace" the ACA (a/k/a "Obamacare") with an-eternally imminent "better" GOP program, great Grandfather Blockhead's plan is to replace Obamacare with...well, #Obamacare but with more paperwork? (Thanx to @jefftiedrich.bsky.social!)
November 10, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Lemme see if I got this right...after 15 years of trying to "replace" the ACA (a/k/a "Obamacare") with an-eternally imminent "better" GOP program, great Grandfather Blockhead's plan is to replace Obamacare with...well, #Obamacare but with more paperwork? (Thanx to @jefftiedrich.bsky.social!)
It's been a couple of months since I posted one of these, so here's your Manic Monday Moanin' Bootleg Playlist: The Byrds' Eight Miles High (Holland 1970), The Rolling Stones' Live at Silverdome (Michigan 1981), and Last Defender of the Faith from R.E.M. (1995 Monster tour).
October 13, 2025 at 1:58 PM
It's been a couple of months since I posted one of these, so here's your Manic Monday Moanin' Bootleg Playlist: The Byrds' Eight Miles High (Holland 1970), The Rolling Stones' Live at Silverdome (Michigan 1981), and Last Defender of the Faith from R.E.M. (1995 Monster tour).
It's been a while since I've done the Manic Monday Moanin' Bootleg Playlist, so here 'tis! Today's list is narrow but deep, with the Who's "Live On Air 1965-1967" (early radio performances) & "Live In Holland 1969" along w/Pink Floyd's "Montreux 1970" & "Live In Germany - Eclipsed" (1972).
August 18, 2025 at 3:09 PM
It's been a while since I've done the Manic Monday Moanin' Bootleg Playlist, so here 'tis! Today's list is narrow but deep, with the Who's "Live On Air 1965-1967" (early radio performances) & "Live In Holland 1969" along w/Pink Floyd's "Montreux 1970" & "Live In Germany - Eclipsed" (1972).
Album of the Day: Luke Haines & Peter Buck's Going Down To the River...To Blow My Mind. Veteran British rocker Haines mines a musical vein similar to Robyn Hitchcock, Martin Newell, and The Jazz Butcher), falling somewhere in the middle with his own psych-drenched and folk-influenced rock sound.
August 7, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Album of the Day: Luke Haines & Peter Buck's Going Down To the River...To Blow My Mind. Veteran British rocker Haines mines a musical vein similar to Robyn Hitchcock, Martin Newell, and The Jazz Butcher), falling somewhere in the middle with his own psych-drenched and folk-influenced rock sound.
I'm the sort of geek that reads Smithsonian magazine, but I'm also the sort that writes letters to the editors of Smithsonian, like this recently-published (and yes, edited...) missive ("Harmonica Wizard") touting Country Music Hall of Fame member & first star of the Grand Ole Opry, DeFord Bailey!
August 4, 2025 at 3:42 PM
I'm the sort of geek that reads Smithsonian magazine, but I'm also the sort that writes letters to the editors of Smithsonian, like this recently-published (and yes, edited...) missive ("Harmonica Wizard") touting Country Music Hall of Fame member & first star of the Grand Ole Opry, DeFord Bailey!
I'm a sucker for these "Nuggets" styled comps of psych & garage rock bands (I wrote a book about 'em!), so I gleefully grabbed a copy of Psychedelic Unknowns, Vol. 1 featuring obscure rockers from The Calico Wall, The Sound Sandwich, The Evil I, Spaced & others, exclusive from Get Hip Records...
July 9, 2025 at 5:48 PM
I'm a sucker for these "Nuggets" styled comps of psych & garage rock bands (I wrote a book about 'em!), so I gleefully grabbed a copy of Psychedelic Unknowns, Vol. 1 featuring obscure rockers from The Calico Wall, The Sound Sandwich, The Evil I, Spaced & others, exclusive from Get Hip Records...
It's Manic Monday Moanin' time again & another "Bootleg" AM playlist with CDs by R.E.M. (Madison WI 1982), the Waterboys (live 1989?), the Pretty Things (original 1967 Emotions tapes & live tracks), & the New York Dolls (NYC 1973 demos). Sound quality varies, but all are above average sonically...
July 7, 2025 at 2:18 PM
It's Manic Monday Moanin' time again & another "Bootleg" AM playlist with CDs by R.E.M. (Madison WI 1982), the Waterboys (live 1989?), the Pretty Things (original 1967 Emotions tapes & live tracks), & the New York Dolls (NYC 1973 demos). Sound quality varies, but all are above average sonically...
Another deep pull from the seemingly bottomless and possibly anecdotal old "box in the attic," this fashionable Metro magazine 5th anniversary t-shirt with design by the peerless Tim Shawl! The Metro was a groundbreaking Nashville music mag in the '80s that I wrote for & occasionally edited...
June 19, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Another deep pull from the seemingly bottomless and possibly anecdotal old "box in the attic," this fashionable Metro magazine 5th anniversary t-shirt with design by the peerless Tim Shawl! The Metro was a groundbreaking Nashville music mag in the '80s that I wrote for & occasionally edited...
More stuff found in a box in the attic: my well-worn (well, ragged) Jason & the Scorchers Fervor tee-shirt circa 1981 or '82, likely given to me by Jack Emerson, the band's manager... #tshirtlife
June 17, 2025 at 7:33 PM
More stuff found in a box in the attic: my well-worn (well, ragged) Jason & the Scorchers Fervor tee-shirt circa 1981 or '82, likely given to me by Jack Emerson, the band's manager... #tshirtlife
Stuff found in the attic: my worn-out vintage Cat's "Last Chance Dance Party" t-shirt from Labor Day 1982. This is the infamous show featuring Jason & the Scorchers and the White Animals where Jason climbed up a billboard pole beside the stage in the Cat's parking lot in Nashville... #tshirtlife
June 17, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Stuff found in the attic: my worn-out vintage Cat's "Last Chance Dance Party" t-shirt from Labor Day 1982. This is the infamous show featuring Jason & the Scorchers and the White Animals where Jason climbed up a billboard pole beside the stage in the Cat's parking lot in Nashville... #tshirtlife
Dug out of another old box in the attic...a vintage '70s Prairie Sun t-shirt that I grew out of decades ago. Prairie Sun was a cool counter-culture zine distributed through a Midwestern record store chain that I wrote for sporadically (I was VERY sporadic in the late '70s). #tshirtlife
June 17, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Dug out of another old box in the attic...a vintage '70s Prairie Sun t-shirt that I grew out of decades ago. Prairie Sun was a cool counter-culture zine distributed through a Midwestern record store chain that I wrote for sporadically (I was VERY sporadic in the late '70s). #tshirtlife
It's Monday Moanin' "Bootleg edition" again, and this AM's playlist includes Mott the Hoople, Traffic, Midnight Oil, and Detective, music spanning the globe from 1971 through 1990...and the sound quality on all of them is surprisingly good!
June 16, 2025 at 2:26 PM
It's Monday Moanin' "Bootleg edition" again, and this AM's playlist includes Mott the Hoople, Traffic, Midnight Oil, and Detective, music spanning the globe from 1971 through 1990...and the sound quality on all of them is surprisingly good!
That feeling when you find what you were looking for (and more) when shopping for used books, and for less than a double-sawbuck! #booksky
June 10, 2025 at 2:03 PM
That feeling when you find what you were looking for (and more) when shopping for used books, and for less than a double-sawbuck! #booksky
I'm a sucker for vintage zines from the '70s, especially music rags, so yesterday's flea market haul was fantastic & cost me only $14 for the five zines shown here. The Whole Earth Catalog Last Supplement is the gold here, with writing by Ken Kesey, Paul Krassner & Alan Ginsberg, among others!
June 2, 2025 at 1:45 PM
I'm a sucker for vintage zines from the '70s, especially music rags, so yesterday's flea market haul was fantastic & cost me only $14 for the five zines shown here. The Whole Earth Catalog Last Supplement is the gold here, with writing by Ken Kesey, Paul Krassner & Alan Ginsberg, among others!
It's "Monday Moanin'" time again and back to work this AM with a soundtrack comprised of live bootleg CDs from Strawbs, Cactus, and Green On Red...
May 12, 2025 at 2:13 PM
It's "Monday Moanin'" time again and back to work this AM with a soundtrack comprised of live bootleg CDs from Strawbs, Cactus, and Green On Red...
Album of the Day: The Essential Sandy Bull, a two-disc compilation of the avant-garde guitarist's 1960s-era recordings for Vanguard Records. Pigeonholed as a "folk" guitarist, Bull's wandering muse led him to blend folk, jazz & blues sounds with Indian and Arabic-influenced drones and ragas.
April 28, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Album of the Day: The Essential Sandy Bull, a two-disc compilation of the avant-garde guitarist's 1960s-era recordings for Vanguard Records. Pigeonholed as a "folk" guitarist, Bull's wandering muse led him to blend folk, jazz & blues sounds with Indian and Arabic-influenced drones and ragas.
Mad magazine & its irreverent brand of off-kilter humor and satire was a HUGE influence on me as a young curmudgeon. I still buy the various Mad compilation paperbacks with old & newer material. Here the Reverend models his brand-spankin'-new "Spy vs Spy" t-shirt...
April 2, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Mad magazine & its irreverent brand of off-kilter humor and satire was a HUGE influence on me as a young curmudgeon. I still buy the various Mad compilation paperbacks with old & newer material. Here the Reverend models his brand-spankin'-new "Spy vs Spy" t-shirt...
David Johansen may have passed over the Rainbow Bridge, but his medical bills remain...help out his family and buy a Johansen "LUV" t-shirt from Sweet Relief (as shown here by our fetching model!) #DavidJohansen tinyurl.com/5xcrske7
March 2, 2025 at 6:04 PM
David Johansen may have passed over the Rainbow Bridge, but his medical bills remain...help out his family and buy a Johansen "LUV" t-shirt from Sweet Relief (as shown here by our fetching model!) #DavidJohansen tinyurl.com/5xcrske7
It's no secret that I love musty old music magazines, underground newspapers and comix, so it was with no little joy that I found these three issues of the long-gone midwestern zine Prairie Sun from 1978 & '79 - which offer aspects of all three - for a decent price on eBay. Yup, I wrote for 'em...
February 25, 2025 at 1:47 PM
It's no secret that I love musty old music magazines, underground newspapers and comix, so it was with no little joy that I found these three issues of the long-gone midwestern zine Prairie Sun from 1978 & '79 - which offer aspects of all three - for a decent price on eBay. Yup, I wrote for 'em...