Ian Whitcomb: The Troubadour Of Lost Time
Kirk Silsbee, Arroyo Monthly, January 2009
POET HOLLY PRADO once observed: "A city either wants you or it doesn't." Ian Whitcomb was a history student at Dublin's Trinity College with a passion for pop music when he arrived in Los Angeles in 1965. As a lark, he had recorded a song that Tower Records picked up and made a national hit: 'You Turn Me On'. It was a piano-pounding rocker to blues changes that jumped out of transistor radios that summer.
Total word count of piece: 2706
Best Databases: RBP is Runner-up in Best Niche category
Video: Johnny Marr talks about Rock's Backpages
RBP on Spotify: The Absolute Best o' Burt
RBP Album Club, June 13th: Miki Berenyi and Lucy O'Brien celebrate a Blondie classic
Essential Listening: Mick Gold meets Patti Smith in '76
Essential Reading: RBP's awesome Ozzy anthology
Essential Reading: Nina Antonia introduces her new poetry collection
RBP Album Club, July 11th: Nick Hornby and Nick Coleman celebrate Southside Johnny's debut