“I Know You Rider” galloped into Grateful Dead lore at the dawn of the group’s creation, and remained in their stable of songs for the next 30 years. But the blues standard’s place in the pantheon wasn’t assured until late 1969, when it joined forces with the Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter original “China Cat Sunflower” to […]

No one knew at the time “China Cat Sunflower” made its live debut in early 1968 that the song’s future lay in the Grateful Dead’s past. Officially released via the Dead’s third studio album, Aoxomoxoa, “China Cat Sunflower” slinked around their live sets for the better part of two years before it was paired with […]

KORD’s interactive music player empowers you to deconstruct songs and discover how they were built, track by track. Simply tap on the instruments, a.k.a “stems,” to isolate and combine them any way you’d like (see additional instructions and demo song at the bottom of this page). KORD also shares the stories behind the songs. Exclusive […]

Homer Simpson loves donuts, beer, and Grand Funk Railroad. America’s favorite cartoon dad famously declared his affection for the hard rock group in 1996’s “Homerpalooza,” the penultimate episode of the seventh season of The Simpsons, highlighting among Grand Funk’s virtues “the wild shirtless lyrics of Mark Farner, the bong-rattling bass of Mel Schacher and the […]

Producer and songwriter Norman Whitfield revolutionized the Motown Sound for a new age in music and culture, eschewing the ebullient R&B grooves that propelled the label’s commercial ascension in pursuit of something much deeper, darker and more daring. Working in partnership with Motown hitmakers like the Temptations and Marvin Gaye, Whitfield drew on contemporary influences […]