Nat King Cole

Natalie Cole

Classic Christmas: Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas

Over the holidays, we're looking back at some classic Christmas albums taking some track by track and just digging on others. ​Let me just get this out of the way right off the bat: I don't care for Mannheim Steamroller. I think their music is odd and a little creepy. But, that doesn't mean 1 ... More >>

Classic Christmas: Ella Fitzgerald's Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas

Over the holidays, we're looking back at some classic Christmas albums taking some track by track and just digging on others. ​There is an admission that I have to make having written all these Classic Christmas posts this year. When I think of Christmas, I don't think of carols or choirs or ... More >>

Sex and Spacemen: The Weirdest Christmas Songs We Could Find

Photo illustration by John Seaborn GrayI want to believe.​Just the other day, Rocks Off sat at the computer, blank-faced and still, the cursor blinking uninterrupted. See, normally at this time of year, we come up with a list of depressing Christmas songs. This year, though, there was a proble ... More >>

Classic Christmas: Johnny Mathis' Merry Christmas

Over the holidays, we're looking back at some classic Christmas albums taking some track by track and just digging on others. ​On the popular '70s and '80s sitcom The Jeffersons whenever George wanted to get Weezie in the mood, all he had to do was mimic the voice of Johnny Mathis while singi ... More >>

Classic Christmas: A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra

​There are many arguments to be made about music, but one that I doubt anyone could actually win is the one that goes, "There was someone in music at some point cooler than Frank Sinatra." Trying to make that argument is like trying to say Kobe was better than Michael. Sure, you can say it, bu ... More >>

A Modern Throwback: Mel Torme's Christmas Songs

​Mel Torme holds a special place in the hearts of Gen Xers because of his re-occurring appearance on Night Court and his classic guest stint on Seinfeld. In fact, Torme put in quite a bit of time on TV and in films despite the fact that his main gig was as a singer and composer. Torme was old ... More >>

Old School

Musicians in their 70s and 80s are keeping Houston's traditional blues scene real.

We Want to Dine with These Five Dead Famous People

Consummate hostess: Dolley Madison.​5. Dolley Madison. Forget about Martha Stewart. As First Lady, Madison took the role of hostess to a whole new level, earning accolades for her brilliant dress, witty conversation, and terrific dinner menus. And she had moxie as well domestic graces: She off ... More >>

Idol Beat: Movies Is Magic

​It's time for American Idol, the show that dares ask the question, "What the f*ck is will.i.am still doing here?" Seriously, when do they make him a judge? In case you hadn't heard, Jennifer Lopez was selected World's Most Beautiful Woman by...Cat Fancy or something. This provided a brief re ... More >>

Rock & Roll: Invented In Houston?

Project Row Houses/ houstondeco.comThe Eldorado Ballroom around the time Ted Williams would have been covering it for the Houston Informer​Rocks Off is pulling double shifts this week - are we ever - so on our "break" that ended a few minutes ago, we repaired to a nearby watering hole for a co ... More >>

What Is Classic Rock Today?

​What is classic rock in 2010? 15 years ago, it was was the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who, anything Eric Clapton touched and every band your dad played in his car while he was making out with the girls he met before your mom. That's how we know classic rock: Big riffs, big voices, in ... More >>

Omara Portuondo

Cuba's first lady of song celebrates her 80th birthday with the world

FAIL: Morrissey, Scott Weiland, Whitesnake, Conspiracy Theorists

​Morrissey Loves Animals So Much It Makes Him Racist: Morrissey has been one of the biggest ambiguously snarky pussies in all of rock music for some years now, popular among 15-year-old bisexuals of all races and creeds. Sometimes, however, the former Smiths frontman likes to make a straightf ... More >>

Lemonade Stand

Hope Stone's Jane Weiner says, "When life gives you lemons, make art"

R&B Legend Ivory Joe Hunter To Get State Historical Marker

​Rocks Off's predecessor John Nova Lomax, who normally reports on much more sordid goings-on in East Texas, tipped us off to a story in today's Beaumont Enterprise that reports late Texas R&B legend Ivory Joe Hunter will have an official Texas State Historical Marker erected at his gravesite n ... More >>

The Musical Minds That Made Booker T The Soul Man He Is Today

​How good a musician is Booker T? Along with the rest of the MGs, the house band of seminal soul imprint Stax who had several instrumental hits of their own besides backing Stax's powerhouse roster (Rufus Thomas, Albert King, Sam & Dave, Otis Redding...) throughout the '60s, the Memphis-born m ... More >>

How Texas and Alabama Match Up... Musically

​ For once, Rocks Off is grateful for this sinus-splitting headache (thanks, Mike Stinson!), because it gives us something to focus on besides the fact that we are crawling out of our skin waiting for kickoff tonight. At this point, sports pundits have analyzed the Longhorns and Crimson Tide to wi ... More >>

Midwinter Graces

The sounds of Christmas 2009 from Bob Dylan, Sting, Tori Amos, Rob Halford and more.

Tender Mercies

Bombing survivor Sam Baker comes to grips with forgiveness on Cotton.

Seal

Bombing survivor Sam Baker comes to grips with forgiveness on Cotton.

Sonidos y Mas: Carnaval with Brasil Brazil

www.brasilbrazilshow.comFormed by veteran Brazilian singers Ana Gazzola and Sonia Santos, Los Angeles-based band Brasil Brazil celebrates the music of their native country with an elaborate show that includes several standards and original songs - a formula they devised when they first starte ... More >>

Cool Out on Your Commute

2009 is only a few days old, and Houston's radio climate is already improving. Not on the FM dial, which remains a wasteland north of 91.7 (same as it ever was), but starting at 4 p.m. today, commuters can immerse themselves in the swinging sounds of Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, B.B. Kin ... More >>

Classic Rock Corner: Blues/Soul/R&B In Memoriam 2008

Ah, that nasty Grim Reaper took a lot of great musicians this year, and his scythe cut a wide swath across all genres, including many heavyweights in the blues and R&B world. The greatest loss comes in the form of someone who was a man, a song, and a beat all in one... Bo Diddley, singer-songw ... More >>

Digitalia: iTunes' Top Holiday Songs

The holiday season is a time to enjoy favorite pastimes like expanding your credit-card debt, eating way too much food, and arguing with your relatives. And of course, there's the best staple of them all: butchering holiday jingles. Never finding a song they didn't want to shill, iTunes offers an e ... More >>

Americans Recording Mexican Songs

The Bueno, the Bad and the Muy Ugly

Pro Athlete Musicians

Athletes step off the field and into the studio

Ring in the Holidays at Charles Brown Blues Fest

Athletes step off the field and into the studio

Classic Cuban CDs

Reissues of six classic Cuban CDs

Chico Hamilton

Juniflip, Believe, 6th Ave. Romp, Heritage

Unforgettable

Four singing actors make magic in Nat King Cole & Me

Cole Hearted

The Ensemble Theatre offers some musical Healing

New Angels in Rock Heaven

Scoring the grim reaper's 2004 harvest

Blizzard of Oz

Dubya, Ashlee and Bill O'Reilly have spun Racket's mind into the twilight zone; also, two local retro-cool institutions bite the dust

I'm Not Dreaming of a White Christmas

No snow and no Bing for Racket

Xmas Marks the Spot

A guide to new holiday discs, from surprise presents to Tannen-bombs

Diana Krall

A guide to new holiday discs, from surprise presents to Tannen-bombs

The Gift Of Music

2001’s top ten picks

Finding Her Voice

Onetime Texan Heather Bennett roams freely in the Big Apple

On the Off-Road Again

Country legend Ray Price continues to take the path less traveled

Best Houston Rocket

Cuttino Mobley

Ska Fathers

When searching for the source of the Jamaican sound, look no further than the Skatalites

Key Ingredient

Pianist Ahmad Jamal may have had a bigger impact on jazz than you think

Soul Brother No. 1

Top 10 reasons why Ray Charles is a genius

The Real Diva

Nancy Wilson returns from jazz-pop limbo

Rotation

Nancy Wilson returns from jazz-pop limbo

Rotation

Nancy Wilson returns from jazz-pop limbo

Static

Nancy Wilson returns from jazz-pop limbo

Charles in Charge

A new collection confirms Ray Charles's position as the architect of soul

Color of the Blues

A new collection confirms Ray Charles's position as the architect of soul