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Soundcheck

Wednesday, August 20, 2008
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  • Jimi Hendrix

    The Death of Jimi Hendrix, Revisited

    A fascinating and innovative musical career was cut short when Jimi Hendrix died in 1970. Today on Soundcheck: a biographer delves into the mystery surrounding Hendrix's final hours and challenges the guitar great's long-accepted cause of death. Later: a live performance from the Jupiter String Quartet.

Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky

It has long been acknowledged that Jimi Hendrix died under suspicious circumstances in 1970. Now, David Henderson's sprawling 1978 biography "Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky," has been published in a revised edition that presents never-before-published information about the hours leading up to Hendrix's death. The new information challenges whether Hendrix really died of a drug overdose – the accepted version of his death for nearly 40 years – and raises the question of whether he was a victim of foul play. Henderson joins us to share his findings.

The Jupiter String Quartet

Earlier this year, the Jupiter String Quartet was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant, one of the most prestigious prizes in classical music. In residence at Lincoln Center's Chamber Music Society Two, the rising young group includes a married couple and two sisters. The foursome performs live in advance of their appearance at the Mostly Mozart Festival.

The Jupiter String Quartet will perform tomorrow night at the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse as part of The Mostly Mozart Festival. The show begins at 10:30.

Mostly Mozart Festival schedule
The Jupiter String Quartet online

audience

Soundcheck Smackdown: When Contemporary Met Classical

Soundcheck

Like vegetables stuck into a delicious meal, contemporary classical music is forced on concert audiences before they are allowed to enjoy their Brahms. So says humorist, critic and author Joe Queenan. Today, Queenan and John Berry, Artistic Director with English National Opera, join us for a Soundcheck Smackdown debate on the merits of contemporary music.

musical clouds

You Are What You Hear

Soundcheck

Washington Post reporter Paul Farhi takes us through some of the most famously botched song lyrics in rock history. We’ll explore why the words we make up are usually more interesting than the real version. Then, listeners confess their favorite and most embarrassing reinvented lyrics.

Leave a comment: Give us your favorite set of misheard lyrics! Were you disappointed when you learned the actual words?

Rosanne Cash and Mark O'Connor

Soundcheck

For her, he was a father. For him, he was a boyhood hero. For the nation, he was an icon. Singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash and composer and violinist Mark O'Connor join us to talk about how Johnny Cash has inspired their musical collaboration. And they will play live.

Katy

Soundcheck's Summer Song Poll

Soundcheck

Every year, popular and critical opinion somehow converge to settle on a "summer song." In 2007, it was Rihanna's "Umbrella." The year before, it was "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley. The practice stretches back to the very dawn of pop radio. Yet defining the essence of a "summer song" is a bit elusive. We enlist the help of Blender editor at large Lizzy Goodman -- and of our Soundcheck listeners, in an online poll.

Cast your vote: Soundcheck's Summer Song Poll 2008

Can't decide? Check out audio and video clips of the contestants here.

Our blog: John Schaefer asks what makes a good summer song,

  1. The Brian Lehrer Show: Mens' Work (08/14/2008)
  2. The Leonard Lopate Show: JFK's Right-Hand Man (08/14/2008)
  3. The Brian Lehrer Show: Governor's Mention (08/18/2008)
  4. The Brian Lehrer Show: Unconventional (08/19/2008)
  5. The Brian Lehrer Show: Sample Mix (08/15/2008)
  6. The Leonard Lopate Show: Cut in Two (08/15/2008)
  7. The Leonard Lopate Show: Rule of Law (08/18/2008)