Loraine Alterman
Loraine Alterman Boyle began writing about rock for the Detroit Free Press in 1965 as their teen columnist. While there she was also a stringer for Billboard. She returned to New York after a Detroit newspaper strike in 1967 to edit GO Magazine and R’n B World, weeklies distributed free by radio stations across the U.S.
In 1969 she left to freelance and then was NY editor of Rolling Stone while its main offices were still in San Francisco. She also freelanced for numerous publications including The New York Times, Record World, Family Weekly and was NY correspondent for Melody Maker.
She left rock writing behind when she met and married actor Peter Boyle. John Lennon was best man at their wedding. She has two daughters, Lucy and Amy.
After Peter’s death from myeloma in 2006, Loraine joined the board of the IMF (International Myeloma Foundation). She has produced four comedy benefits in Los Angeles that raised $2.5 million for research to find a cure for this incurable blood cancer. She is also a Broadway producer of Memphis about early rock’n’roll and the upcoming Catch Me If You Can. Memphis won four Tony awards including Best Musical in 2010. She also blogs for the Huffington Post.
Loraine Alterman Boyle lives in New York City.
List of articles in the library by artist
Band, The: The Band: Band Of Gold
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, November 1973
EVEN THOUGH everyone involved is tremendously excited about the Band/Dylan tour (reported on page one), 1973 still has some time left and The Band have ...
Beach Boys, The: The Maharishi, The Beach Boys and the Heathens
Report by Loraine Alterman, New York Magazine, March 1968
"IN BALTIMORE last night in the middle of the Maharishi's talk, a kid got up and yelled 'Maharishi, you're full of it'." Beach Boy Bruce ...
Beatles, The: The Beatles: Four Smiling, Tired Guys Talk About Their Music
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, August 1966
THEY'RE REAL. The Beatles, that is. I had never seen them in the flesh before, so I expected some kind of supermen to step out ...
Judy Collins: Judy In Disguise
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, September 1973
Judy Collins film director? The singer – songwriter has taken a year out of her life to make a movie with a strong Womens' Lib ...
Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen: Hot Licks, Cold Steel & Truckers Favorites (Paramount)
Review by Loraine Alterman, New York Times, October 1972
Truckin' the Blues Away ...
Review by Loraine Alterman, New York Times, June 1974
Setting a Scene for Rock ...
Bobby Darin: Hate to Ruin His Image, but He's Nice
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, November 1967
I REALLY hate to ruin anyone's reputation, but Bobby Darin just doesn't live up to his: During his years in show business, Bobby has often ...
Donovan: A Poet He Is, But The Messiah? Not Donovan
Report by Loraine Alterman, Go, November 1968
GLASGOW'S GENTLEST son, Donovan, breezed into the Plaza Nine Room at New York's famous Plaza Hotel for a press conference. Wearing lavender trousers, a blue ...
Donovan, Cream: Cream/Donovan: The Cream Set Records in Detroit
Report and Interview by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, October 1967
LAST WEEKEND about 4,500 kids proved that Detroit knows good contemporary music. ...
Bob Dylan: Planet Waves (Asylum)
Review by Loraine Alterman, New York Times, January 1974
Dylan Is His Own Dilemma ...
Edgar Winter: How Winter Went Glam and Created A Frankenstein Monster
Report and Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, June 1973
EDGAR WINTER, his wife and his band live in a 13-bedroom white clapboard mansion at Sands Point, overlooking Long Island Sound. 30,000 dollars a year ...
Foghat: Energized (Bearsville)
Review by Loraine Alterman, New York Times, February 1974
Pop: Foghat's Energy Zap ...
Aretha Franklin: With Everything I Feel In Me (Atlantic)
Review by Loraine Alterman, New York Times, November 1974
Aretha, You're the Top ...
Art Garfunkel: Angel Clare (Columbia)
Review by Loraine Alterman, New York Times, September 1973
Garfunkel On His Own ...
Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris: Gram Parsons: Parsons Knows...
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, April 1973
Gram Parsons, former member of the Byrds and Burritos and now the proud owner of a solo album, talks to Loraine Alterman in New York ...
Grand Funk Railroad: Grand Funk's Thin Din
Comment by Loraine Alterman, New York Times, December 1972
THEY'RE too loud. Their playing is mediocre. They can't sing – all war cries for a cobweb-brained establishment confronted with rock-music it can't understand. ...
Donny Hathaway: Donny Hathaway (Atco)
Review by Loraine Alterman, New York Times, August 1971
EVER SINCE Otis Redding's tragic death in 1967, record companies have been searching for the great black hope to fill his shoes. Whenever a new ...
Isaac Hayes: Isaac Hayes... To Be Continued
Review by Loraine Alterman, New York Times, April 1971
The 'Black Moses' Should Move Ahead ...
Jimi Hendrix: The Jimi Hendrix Experience: 'Frantic — Yet Somehow Casual'
Report and Interview by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, August 1967
NO EXAGGERATION: The Jimi Hendrix Experience is the most exciting act I have yet seen in pop music. ...
Review by Loraine Alterman, New York Times, September 1972
Stephen Stills: Manassas (Atlantic); The Impressions: Times Have Changed (Curtom); The Staple Singers: Be Altitude: Respect Yourself (Stax); Tom Rush: Merrimack County (Columbia) ...
Jethro Tull: Can 72,000 Fans Be Wrong?
Report by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, August 1973
I DON'T KNOW how it is in England, but in this country the minute you get too big, too powerful, people start gunning for you. ...
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, September 1973
THE FIRST word out about Jo Jo Gunne raved about their looks – "gorgeous" said those into masculine beauty. An emphasis on appearance always makes ...
John Lennon Talks About Music, Money, Marriage, and Fame
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Viva, March 1975
ONE OF John Lennon's friends, Elton John, spends $5,000 for a pair of sunglasses and buys his manager a yacht for a birthday present. Another ...
Review by Loraine Alterman, New York Times, July 1973
A Bland Carole King ...
Joni Mitchell: Court and Spark (Asylum)
Review by Loraine Alterman, New York Times, January 1974
Joni's Songs Are For Everyone ...
Mothers Of Invention, The, Frank Zappa: Frank Zappa: Head Mother Speaks
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Fifth Estate, The, December 1967
HIS NAME has a certain zing to it. Zappa – a name you don't easily forget. Like the man, Frank Zappa, leader and creator of ...
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, September 1971
THE AMERICAN media has been hammering into people's heads that the solo singer/guitarist/songwriter is "in" and loud, exuberant rock is "out." But, the media forgot ...
Graham Nash: Tales Behind Wild Tales
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Rolling Stone, March 1974
NEW YORK – In the living room of a moss-green suite at the Plaza Hotel, Graham Nash sits at the piano with an harmonica braced ...
Review by Loraine Alterman, New York Times, September 1974
A Rising Star Needs a Setting ...
Review by Loraine Alterman, New York Times, August 1973
Harry? He's Lost in the Woodwinds ...
Yoko Ono, Bette Midler: Bette Midler: Bette Midler (Atlantic); Yoko Ono: Feeling The Space (Apple)
Review by Loraine Alterman, New York Times, November 1973
No Torches for Bette and Yoko ...
Osmonds, The, Donny Osmond: Donny Osmond: Sometimes I Just Can't Believe We're on Top!
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Family Weekly, May 1973
"We finally decided to go with me as a solo. There's no jealousy in the family about the decision. If I sing a solo record, ...
Persuasions, The: The Persuasions: Spread The Word (Capitol)
Review by Loraine Alterman, New York Times, December 1972
GHETTO KIDS don't have parents who can spare a few hundred dollars for an electric guitar like their suburban counterparts. But they do possess an ...
Dory Previn: Dory Previn (Warner Bros.)
Review by Loraine Alterman, New York Times, September 1974
The Perceptive Songs Of Dory Previn ...
Dory Previn: Remembering Dory Previn
Memoir by Loraine Alterman, Rock's Backpages, February 2012
MY DEAR FRIEND of nearly 40 years, Dory Previn, died last week. She was a great songwriter who exposed her deep feelings about love ...
Bonnie Raitt: Give It Up (Warner Bros.)
Review by Loraine Alterman, New York Times, December 1972
Bonnie Branches Out ...
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Smokey Robinson: The Other Smokey Robinson — Songwriter
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, October 1966
BACK IN 1957 Bill "Smokey" Robinson, then 17, bumped into Berry Gordy Jr. Smokey had a stack of about 100 songs he had written, and ...
Rolling Stones, The: Stones Really Nice Guys
Report and Interview by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, July 1966
They Just Hate Stupidity ...
Rolling Stones, The: The Rolling Stones: The Girls Waited 8 Hours, Finally Met the Stones!
Report by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, December 1965
NOBODY'S GOING to get Valerie Stewart, 14, or Patricia Curtis, 13, off their clouds. The guys who put them up on cloud 9 are the ...
Profile and Interview by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, August 1966
THE MONSTER eight-door white Pontiac, looking more like an ambulance than a limousine for stars, stopped in places like Arnold's Park, Iowa; Freemont, Neb.; Sioux ...
Doug Sahm: Arise, Sir Douglas is Blowing Up A Storm
Report and Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, October 1973
THE FUNKY SOUNDS of 'Texas Tornado', Doug Sahm's latest single, blasted out of the stereo in the office of Atlantic Records' co-ordinator of A&R, Mark ...
Review by Loraine Alterman, New York Times, October 1974
The Songwriter Sings ...
Carly Simon: 'I Don't Enjoy Performing'
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Modern Hi-Fi and Music, February 1974
NOW THAT she and her husband James Taylor are parents, Carly Simon has no plans to perform except on vinyl. And with her fourth album ...
Carly Simon, Mary Travers, Dory Previn: Record World Forum: Three Artists on the New Consciousness
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Record World, May 1973
Carly Simon, Dory Previn and Mary Travers are three major artists whose work and lives exemplify the independent role women are assuming in society. As ...
Review by Loraine Alterman, New York Times, October 1972
AT LEAST every other week another group appears that's hailed by its publicists as the biggest thing since the Beatles. in the case of T. ...
Wings: Band On The Run (Apple)
Review by Loraine Alterman, New York Times, December 1973
Paul's Grooves Will Grab You ...
Bobby Womack: Understanding (United Artists)
Review by Loraine Alterman, New York Times, October 1972
ALTHOUGH HE'S one of the most respected rhythm 'n' blues guitarist/songwriters, Bobby Womack hasn't yet hit the big time the way an Isaac Hayes or ...
Frank Zappa, Mothers Of Invention, The: The Mothers of Invention: If You Get A Headache…
Report and Interview by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, July 1966
MOTHERS AND fathers, you thought the Beatles were bad. You got up in arms about the Rolling Stones. Sonny and Cher made you cringe. Well, ...
List of genre pieces
The Apollo Theatre and the Fillmore East: Black and White Music in NYC
Comment by Loraine Alterman, New York Scenes, September 1969
MORE THAN Central Park and city blocks separate the Apollo Theatre in Harlem and the Fillmore East in the East Village. ...
back to LIBRARY
Best Databases: RBP is Runner-up in Best Niche category
Video: Johnny Marr talks about Rock's Backpages
download eBooks and audio interviews
RBP on Spotify: The Very Best of 40-year-old Virgin
RBP Album Club, June 13th: Miki Berenyi and Lucy O'Brien celebrate a Blondie classic
Essential Listening: Green Day grilled by Roy Trakin
RBP Album Club, July 11th: Nick Hornby and Nick Coleman celebrate Southside Johnny's debut
Essential Reading: Bud Scoppa's 1971 Byrds classic