BOOK REVIEW: The Rolling Stones

For over fifty years, the music of the Rolling Stones has been blasted out of our speakers and performed on concert stages across the world. As absolute legends of rock music and the longest continually active band of their generation (if not of all time), the time was ripe...

Read More

Matching Fitness Expectations With Your Age (or, I'm Not Going to TakeThis Getting Older Thing Laying Down!)

Just a short personal post on getting a little bit older and not being too happy about it... The other day while I was out for my run, I became frustrated yet again that my average pace the past year or so has been slower than it used to be. I've also been getting increasingly frustrated with the fact that I seem to get sore and unable to run more...

Read More

BOOK REVIEW: Beatlemania: The Real Story of the Beatles UK Tours 1963-1965

The Beatles' legendary tours of America between 1964 and 1966 are etched in rock and roll lore, as are their various tours around the world. Which Beatles fan doesn't know about their Australian tour when Ringo was ill and a substitute filled in for a fortnight? Or their disastrous...

Read More

Great Album Art From the CD Era

For those of us who take our music seriously and also who remember the (original) days of vinyl, the art and packaging of the album as a self-contained work of art is as important as the music contained within.  While the art of the original vinyl era of the 1960s and 1970s...

Read More

BOOK REVIEW: The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones

They've been called "the greatest rock and roll band in the world," and for a time during the late 1960s and early 1970s, it was hard to argue that it wasn't true.  Bursting onto the rock music scene in 1964 in the wake of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones are music history's...

Read More

Star Trek: Living Long and Still Prospering

Spock, Kirk, McCoy...man, do I love this show!The recent passing of Leonard Nimoy was not entirely unexpected given that he was in his 80s and had been suffering from health issues the past year, but it was nonetheless sad.  The outpouring of tributes from his friends,...

Read More

New Twitter Handle

I've been using the twitter handle @blackbookblur since I joined twitter back in 2010 because in those days, I was only writing my Blur books. However, since the scope of my writing & various projects have grown a lot since then, I thought it was time for a handle that reflected that.  As of right now, I am @rocknrollchem on twitter, so please...

Read More

Interview with Jake Rohrer, author of A Banquet of Consequences

The Rock and Roll Chemist is privileged to bring you the following interview with Jake Rohrer, former go-to guy (think of him as a quasi-manager) for legendary 1960s rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival.  As a bit of background, in the photo above Jake Rohrer is pictured...

Read More