Because he’s written so many great tunes for other performers, some people might get the wrong idea about Marshall Crenshaw. He’s also a fine singer. No matter how many celebrity vocalists have tackled his stuff, nobody puts more into a Marshall Crenshaw song than the man himself. If you somehow have overlooked the music of this 55-year-old Detroit native, you should immediately dive into the pond with the 2006 double-CD of his early stuff, Marshall Crenshaw: The Definitive Pop Collection (Rhino), then fast-forward to his new one, Jaggedland (429). Naturally, the voice sounds a little more lived-in almost 30 years later, but the songs are every bit as finely crafted. Crenshaw is guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with him.
Crenshaw: For the last couple days, I’ve been listening and re-listening to “Sitting In The Park” by Billy Stewart, a really beautiful record and one of my all-time favorites. I searched for a video of it and found one for “Summertime” instead. Billy was discovered by Bo Diddley and recorded (mostly) for Chess Records. Almost anything on that label is a good bet, but maybe you knew that already.
