Seth Rogovoy, a contributing editor at the Forward, is the author of Bob Dylan: Prophet Mystic Poet (Scribner) and Within You Without You: Listening to George Harrison (Oxford University Press).
Seth Rogovoy
By Seth Rogovoy
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Culture Why We Shouldn’t Criticize Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize Snubs
Bob Dylan’s entire 54-year career can be read as one controversy following another. He started out as a traditional folkie who then betrayed tradition by writing his own songs. Then he betrayed the movement when he forsook topical and political protest songs for more personal, poetic musings. Then of course he shocked everyone by abandoning…
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Music One of the Greatest Rock and Roll Songs of All Time was Inspired by a Jewish Bookseller
One of the Band’s most enigmatic yet best-known songs is “The Weight.” It’s in the Top 50 of Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”; in the Top 15 of Pitchfork’s “Best Songs of the Sixties”; and one of the “500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll,” according to the Rock and Roll Hall…
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Culture How The Klezmatics Changed Music — and My Life
It’s only a slight exaggeration to say the Klezmatics changed my life. Somehow I made my way to the Knitting Factory nightclub in downtown Manhattan in April 1997 to see the album release concert for the Klezmatics’ album “Possessed.” I was there in part as a music critic of 15 years’ standing, and partly out…
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Culture The Secret Jewish History of Robbie Robertson and The Band
Of the many revealing moments in Robbie Robertson’s terrific new memoir, “Testimony” (Crown Archetype), one stands out for what it says about the legacy of the esteemed, influential rock group, the Band, for which Robertson served as chief songwriter and guitarist; what it says about Robertson’s relationship with his fellow Band-mate, Levon Helm, with whom…
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Culture The Secret Nazi History of Gym Shoes
What is it with athletic shoes? Why do they keep getting inextricably entangled with Nazis and anti-Semites? Perhaps you’ve heard of the recent controversy surrounding New Balance, which began when, the day after Election Day, the Boston-based company’s vice president of public affairs, Matt LeBretton, said to a Wall Street Journal reporter, “The Obama administration…
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Culture The Secret Jewish History of Mose Allison
There are two misconceptions that need to be cleared up about the late Mose Allison. One: in spite of the rich, jazzy, Southern blues sound embedded in his piano playing and vocals, he was white, not African-American. Two: in spite of his name, he was not a member of the tribe of Moses. Allison was,…
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Culture How 5 Jewish Artists Paid Tribute to the Late Leon Russell
The great American singer, songwriter and keyboardist Leon Russell died in his sleep this past Sunday, November 13, at age 74. While never a household name, Russell’s career as a session musician, sideman, songwriter, and producer saw him work with a significant slice of rock and pop royalty — everyone from the Rolling Stones to…
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Culture Is Leonard Cohen’s New Song His Most Jewish Ever?
Leonard Cohen has died at 82. Here are Seth Rogovoy’s thoughts, originally published in September, about the title track of Cohen’s recent album “You Want It Darker.” For his 82nd birthday on Wednesday, September 21, 2016, Leonard Cohen gave the world a gift: a sneak preview of his upcoming album, the title track of “You…
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