David Rensin
David Rensin has written thirteen books. Most recently he published ALL FOR A FEW PERFECT WAVES: The Audacious Life and Legend of Rebel Surfer Miki Dora (HarperEntertainment 2008), which is also available in the UK from Random House/Yellow Jersey Press. In March 2009 the softcover version was published with nearly 40 pages of new material.
After more than a decade of writing about rock (1969-1980), Rensin became a contributing editor of Playboy in 1981, for which he has interviewed more than two hundred subjects including Bill Gates, Jerry Seinfeld, Cindy Crawford, Billy Crystal, Martin Scorsese, Ben Stiller, Dennis Miller, Bill Maher, Whoopi Goldberg, Sean Penn, Larry King, Julia Roberts, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Shirley MacLaine, Charlton Heston, Jack LaLanne, David Spade, Garry Shandling, and many more. He has also written extensively for Rolling Stone, Esquire, TV Guide, US Weekly, among others
Rensin's next book will be Promises I Made My Mother, which he co-authored with former William Morris Agency Worldwide Head of Television (and current Miss America Organization Chairman) Sam Haskell.
List of articles in the library by artist
America: What This Band Needs Is a Hat Trick
Profile and Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, November 1973
LOS ANGELES – To the crowd at the Hollywood Bowl, America could do – and did – no wrong. But to America, the concert was ...
Beach Boys, The, Brian Wilson: A Conversation With Brian Wilson
Interview by David Rensin, Oui, December 1976
The poet laureate of surf and sand talks about the tribulations of being a genius, his ongoing struggle with things chemical and his monumental plans ...
David Blue: A Natural Progression
Interview by David Rensin, Music World, June 1973
THERE IS SOMETHING about David Blue that screams "Handle With Care." Perhaps a quality attributable to a glass figurine that you hold up to the ...
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, February 1976
ON THE COVER of his first solo album, Teaser, Tommy Bolin's face is creased into a laugh that couples angelic delight and demonic perversity. Considering ...
Jackson Browne: Such a Clever Innocence
Interview by David Rensin, Crawdaddy!, January 1974
I've been out walking,I don't do that much talking These days.These days I seem to think a lot About the things that I forgot to ...
Captain Beefheart Sings For Women
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, January 1973
NORTH HOLLYWOOD – Striding into the small but copiously equipped Warner Brothers recording studio like a bull dressed for a Chinatown parade, Captain Beefheart extends ...
Review by David Rensin, Phonograph Record, November 1972
THERE ARE TYPICALLY three schools of thought surrounding Captain Beefheart. The first love him and feel he can do no wrong. The second find him ...
Harry Chapin Takes 'Taxi' Wherever He Can
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, July 1972
"I NEVER REALLY drove a cab," said Harry Chapin, the filmmaker-turned folkstar, "But I do have a hack license in case of emergencies – like ...
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, January 1974
LOS ANGELES – "I never felt my music was ever really wanted by the Mahavishnu Orchestra," complained drummer Billy Cobham. "I tried having them use ...
Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show: Dr. Hook And The Medicine Show At The Troubadour
Live Review by David Rensin, Music World, February 1973
A LONG TIME ago, when I first heard 'Sylvia's Mother', a song and image Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show would just as soon one ...
Eagles, The: The Eagles Have Stopped Takin' It Easy
Report and Interview by David Rensin, Crawdaddy!, July 1974
With a new lead guitarist, a new producer, a hit and a series of almosts, the Eagles step out on the border... ...
Eagles, The: The Eagles: Desperado
Review by David Rensin, Phonograph Record, June 1973
THE BACK COVER photo may depict the Eagles as dead losers, but with DESPERADO it is clear that nothing is further from the truth. ...
Eagles, The, Linda Ronstadt: The Eagles/Linda Ronstadt: Los Angeles
Live Review by David Rensin, Music World, January 1973
PERHAPS IT was the atmosphere of a college campus where the audience is usually reasonably intelligent and not prone to yelling "boogie" or "rock and ...
Earth Wind and Fire: Signs Rise for Shining Stars
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, January 1976
LOS ANGELES – "Music is a sacred thing and we take it very seriously," Earth Wind & Fire founder/percussionist Maurice White offers during a rehearsal ...
Dan Fogelberg: Home Free At Last
Report and Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, March 1975
LOS ANGELES - For Dan Fogelberg, 1974 ended on a note of modest triumph. Though 6,500 fans jammed the Shrine Auditorium to help the Eagles ...
J. Geils Band: Long Beach Arena, Long Beach CA
Live Review by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, November 1973
"HOPE YOU GUYS have tickets for tonight's show," advised the cop as we hurried for the Arena entrance. We nodded our assent, smiled and kept ...
Elton John at the Hollywood Bowl - July 1973
Live Review by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, October 1973
THE HOUSE LIGHTS dimmed and a lonely spot picked out a single figure onstage. ...
Interview by David Rensin, Crawdaddy!, June 1973
"You try to be a low-key individual and stay out of people's way and you end up owning the top floor of some hotel in ...
Little Feat: Giant Steps Across The Sea
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, April 1975
JACKSON BROWNE said that their founder was "the Orson Welles of rock & roll" and Jimmy Page has called them his "favorite American group." ...
Dave Mason: No More Traffic Jams
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, March 1974
LOS ANGELES – The reporter from the Free Press had one more question for Dave Mason after the interview at his road manager's house in ...
Roger McGuinn: The Post-Flight Is Finally Solo
Report and Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, December 1974
LOS ANGELES – A solitary figure in the Troubadour spotlight, Roger McGuinn swayed gently as he sang: "Hey Mr. D. do you want me to ...
Report and Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, August 1974
THE AUDIENCE is expectant, the music strident, the voice rich and full-throated and sensuous. It's San Diego, the first stop on Maria Muldaur's 30-day road ...
Harry Nilsson: Son Of Schmilsson
Review by David Rensin, Phonograph Record, September 1972
WELL, WELL. Harry Nilsson has sure thrown a big pebble into the music puddle. There's not much to say about the things you hear in ...
Ozark Mountain Daredevils: The Cosmic Corncobs Go North
Profile and Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, February 1974
LOS ANGELES – Bolivar, Missouri, has 5000 citizens and more than a hundred churches, Bible schools and theological colleges full of well-scrubbed Christian boys and ...
Pink Floyd: Vancouver, BC; Seattle WA; San Francisco CA
Live Review by David Rensin, Sounds, May 1975
Trapped on the Moon ...
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, February 1975
LOS ANGELES – "I've never asked anyone to help me or give me a break," declared Billy Preston adamantly. "Whatever I don't have now I ...
Procol Harum at the Hollywood Bowl, September 1973
Live Review by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, October 1973
LOUSY sound systems and poor concerts are not a rarity these days, even for big name attractions like Neil Young or America, but when the ...
Interview by David Rensin, Crawdaddy!, March 1973
LOS ANGELES – Bonnie Raitt is by nature a purposeful woman. On a personal level, she is attempting to forge a new ethic reaching beyond ...
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, October 1974
LOS ANGELES – Along with many of the stars and hopefuls at Chicago's 1971 Black Expo, Minnie Riperton waited patiently backstage to approach the blind ...
Tom Rush's Circle: Joni, James & Cows
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, January 1975
MANFRED, MASSACHUSETTS – James Taylor's nasal drawl crackled insistently across the telephone line from his Martha's Vineyard retreat. "I first heard Tom Rush about ten ...
Leon Russell: Ontario Motor Speedway
Live Review by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, August 1973
"SURE, WE'D LIKE this to be another Watkins Glen," laughed publicist Gary Stromberg, as the blistering sun crept slowly into the sky over the San ...
Santana, John McLaughlin: John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana: Cruisin' With The Guru
Interview by David Rensin, Creem, March 1974
The backseat revelations of Carlos Santana & Mahavishnu John McLaughlin ...
Tom Scott, Joni Mitchell: Tom Scott: Joni's Spark
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, August 1974
LOS ANGELES – Mention the name Tom Scott in jazz circles and recognition is immediate: The 25-year-old horn-playing prodigy from Southern California is well known ...
Traffic Lightens Up for American Tour
Report and Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, October 1974
NEW YORK – Looking only slightly recovered from a two-day-old case of jet lag, Traffic drummer Jim Capaldi strutted into the Providence Civic Center dressing ...
Edgar Winter: The Edgar Winter Group
Profile and Interview by David Rensin, Zoo World, October 1974
EDGAR WINTER tried to relax with little success, his normally impassive face showing signs of serious discomfort as he attempted to fit his six-foot frame ...
Edgar Winter, Johnny Winter: Johnny and Edgar Winter: Two Hazy Shades of Winter
Report and Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, January 1976
OAKLAND – "My band's a dictatorship and Edgar's is a democracy," Johnny Winter blurted out through the hotel-room haze after playing the last of three ...
Neil Young: Unsettling Looseness
Live Review by David Rensin, Music World, June 1973
WRITING ANYTHING about Neil Young is always a labor of love, but the tendency to be both overly critical and sympathetic concerning his artistic fluctuation ...
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