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Jeff Tamarkin

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Jeff Tamarkin is an American editor, author and historian specializing in music and popular culture.

Career

For 15 years Tamarkin was editor of Goldmine, a magazine for record and CD collectors. Prior to that, he served as the first editor of CMJ (College Media Journal) and as editor of Relix. He was also the first editor of Grateful Dead Comix, and has written for many other publications, including Billboard, Pulse, Boston Phoenix, Newsweek Japan, Playbill, Creem, BAM Magazine, Tidal (service), Spirit, Mojo, M: Music & Musicians, East Bay Express, The Aquarian Weekly, Newsday, Sing Out, Tracks, Harp, The New York Daily News and ICE. He has contributed to the Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music and Allmusic and has written program notes for Carnegie Hall and Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Tamarkin has written the liner notes for more than 75 CDs, for such artists as The Beach Boys, Tom Jones, Jefferson Airplane, Dick Clark, The J. Geils Band, Chubby Checker, Merle Haggard, Dean Martin, Charlie Gracie, Steve Earle and many others, including ABKCO Records' Cameo-Parkway label reissue series. He has also served on the Nominating Committee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and as a consultant to the Grammys.

In the course of his work Tamarkin has interviewed more than a thousand musicians and celebrities, including Roy Orbison, Brian Wilson, Jerry Garcia, Yoko Ono, B.B. King, Carlos Santana, Dave Brubeck, Ricky Nelson, the Ramones, Herbie Hancock, Ray Davies, Elvis Costello, Dexter Gordon, Lou Reed, Willie Nelson, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Webb, Stephen Stills, Wayne Shorter, Peter Tosh, Wynton Marsalis, Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship (most members), Frank Zappa, Ringo Starr, Keith Jarrett, Solomon Burke, Youssou N'Dour, Linda Ronstadt, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Dionne Warwick, Steven Tyler, Frankie Valli, Steve Perry, John Mayall, The Police, Rodney Dangerfield, Chick Corea, Steve Miller, Ricky Skaggs, The Monkees (all four), Jack Bruce, Jon Bon Jovi, Bobby McFerrin, David Byrne, Donovan, Mark Knopfler, Pat Metheny, Joe Cocker, Mike Bloomfield, Little Richard, David Crosby, Ry Cooder, Curtis Mayfield, Scotty Moore, Alice Cooper, Joan Jett, Gary Burton, John Lee Hooker, Ian Anderson, Daryl Hall and John Oates, George Benson, Terence Blanchard, Gregg Allman, Del McCoury, Annie Lennox, Luther Vandross, Diana Krall, String Cheese Incident, Dion DiMucci, R.E.M., Dr. John, Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Cousin" Bruce Morrow, Hank Ballard, David Grisman, Richard Thompson, Jack DeJohnette, Chubby Checker, Graham Nash, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, Mick Fleetwood, Peter Asher, Steve Earle, Marianne Faithfull, Nick Mason, Stanley Jordan, Paul Weller, Dave Clark, Nick Cave, Booker T. Jones, Peter Noone, Melanie Safka, Jimmy Cliff, David Johansen, Dick Dale, Eric Burdon and the other original members of The Animals, Boz Scaggs, Buddy Guy, Dave Davies, Ronnie Wood, Omara Portuondo, Bill Wyman, Roger McGuinn, Jonathan Richman, Mose Allison, Del McCoury, Angelique Kidjo, Michelle Phillips, Dianne Reeves, The Zombies, Lyle Lovett, Aaron Neville, Dan Hicks, Commander Cody, Lita Ford, Wanda Jackson, Pat Martino, Duane Eddy, John Hiatt, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Carl Perkins, Esperanza Spalding, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, Soupy Sales, Mary Travers, Noel Paul Stookey, The Smithereens, Allan Clarke, Jake Shimabukuro, Bill Frisell, Johnny Otis, Iggy Pop, Peter Frampton, Ric Ocasek, Dave Alvin, Phil Alvin, Zakir Hussain, Mike Love, Buck Owens, Peter Rowan, Ronnie Spector, Stanley Clarke, The Blues Project, Don Was, Brian Setzer, Todd Rundgren, John McLaughlin, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Ronnie Milsap, Rick Wakeman, Adam Ant, Kurtis Blow, Clive Davis, John Entwistle, Arlo Guthrie, Michael Hutchence, Peter Gabriel, Cliff Richard, Johnny Winter, Maurice White, Branford Marsalis, Bob Weir, Elvin Bishop, Gordon Lightfoot, Steven Van Zandt, Henry Threadgill, The Doors (all except Jim Morrison), Leon Russell, Tom Jones, Kurt Elling, Robin Gibb, Los Lobos (all members), Weird Al Yankovic, Marcus Mumford, Steve Marriott, Robert Cray, Hiromi Uehara, Jerry Butler, Gary Brooker, Muhal Richard Abrams, Dave Edmunds, Robert Hunter, Christian Scott, Peter Albin, Dave Stewart, Ron Carter, Roy Hargrove, Murray the K, Sandie Shaw, Lionel Loueke, Nicky Hopkins, Mike Rutherford, Maria Muldaur, Roy Brown, Randy Bachman, Meat Loaf, Otis Blackwell, Grace Potter, Bill Medley, Kamasi Washington, Ben E. King, Carl Wilson, Willy DeVille, Lenny White, Darlene Love, Country Joe McDonald, Art Neville, Joe Lovano, The Stranglers, Randy Weston, NRBQ, Sam Moore, Cyril Jordan, Neil Peart, Bettye LaVette, Pete Best, Brad Mehldau, Tommy James, Kevin Eubanks, Gary U.S. Bonds, Bruce Dickinson, Marshall Allen, Barry White, Lucinda Williams, Bill Payne, Paul Barrere, Earl Klugh, Christian McBride, Allen Toussaint, Chris Hillman, Gary Lewis, Violent Femmes, Michael Henderson, Joey Alexander, Bobby Rydell, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Koko Taylor, Sturgill Simpson, Richie Havens, Chico Hamilton, Leslie West, Robert Glasper, Donna Godchaux, John Scofield, Larry Campbell, Lou Adler, Geri Allen, Bill Kirchen, Merl Saunders, Wendy O. Williams, Peter Rowan, Ed Sanders, Tuli Kupferberg, Cassandra Wilson, Bobby Whitlock, Gregory Porter, Al Kooper, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Jimmie Vaughan, Ian Stewart, Toots Hibbert, John Medeski, Chris Thile, Michel Camilo, Jesse Colin Young, k.d. lang, Randy California, Lee Ritenour, Vijay Iyer, Ian Hunter, Jim Carroll, Terri Lyne Carrington, Devo, Dean Torrence, George Wein, Bill Charlap, Sleepy LaBeef, Victor Wooten, Tony Banks, Ivan Neville, Shuggie Otis, Billy J. Kramer, Skeeter Davis, Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil, Edgar Winter, Julian Lage, Doug Fieger, Anoushka Shankar, Hüsker Dü, Klaus Meine, Phoebe Snow, Charlie Gracie, Joan Armatrading, Ryo Kawasaki, Lenny Kaye, Peter Wolf, P.F. Sloan, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Robert Gordon, Eliane Elias, Garland Jeffreys, Pet Shop Boys, Tim Hauser, Marshall Crenshaw, Gerry Marsden, Jonny Lang, Billy Bragg, Tony Allen (musician), Dave Getz, Sam Andrew, Peter Albin, Narada Michael Walden, Billy Cobham, Sippie Wallace, Joyce Randolph, Dave Koz, T Bone Burnett, Pat Boone, Joe Bonamassa, Thompson Twins, Rob Grill, Hasil Adkins, Jim Capaldi, Leo Nocentelli, Dee Dee Sharp, Manu Chao, Jamie Cullum, and Nancy Sinatra.

As a consultant to the Music Club CD label, he assisted in releasing over 180 reissues and compilations, in styles including rock, jazz, country, world music and pop.

After writing short books on Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen, his first full-length book, Got a Revolution! The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane (Atria Books), was published in June 2003. The first biography of the San Francisco band,[1] it was written with the cooperation of all of the band members and placed the Airplane into the context of their times, the volatile 1960s. Got a Revolution was named one of the best books of 2003 by the San Francisco Chronicle and the Boston Phoenix, and received very positive reviews from, among others, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Austin Chronicle, New York Daily News, and The Onion. It was published in paperback in July 2005. Tamarkin collaborated with Howard Kaylan, the lead vocalist of '60s/'70s groups the Turtles, The Mothers of Invention and Flo & Eddie, on Kaylan's autobiography, "Shell Shocked: My Life with the Turtles, Flo and Eddie, and Frank Zappa, etc." It was published in March 2013 by Backbeat Books.

From 2002-2006, Tamarkin was editor-in-chief of Global Rhythm,[2] the leading magazine for world music and global culture, in which he also wrote about music, film, cuisine, politics and other topics. In 2007 Tamarkin was named Associate Editor of JazzTimes magazine, a position he held until 2016 while simultaneously freelancing for many outlets. He was named editor of the BestClassicBands.com website in July 2016.

Personal life

He lives in Hoboken, New Jersey, with his wife, the novelist and book reviewer Caroline Leavitt. Their son, Max, is an actor in New York.[2]

References

  1. ^ Hinckley, David (June 13, 2003). "10 Feet Tall To Just Small, Airplane Bio Still Tells All". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Galant, Debra (April 25, 2004). "The Parent Not Chosen". The New York Times. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
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