Darryl Holter

Historian

On the passing of Spider John Koerner

John Koerner

I was really saddened to learn that John Koerner had died. He was an extremely talented guitarist and folksinger who was a mentor to young Bob Dylan and a fixture in the music scene in Minneapolis, especially on the West Bank (of the Mississippi River). John was the last of[…]

The Magic Years: Scenes From A Rock-And-Roll Life By Jonathan Taplin, in Conversation With Darryl Holter

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A few weeks ago, I had the unusual opportunity of re-walking through several years of musical experiences in the ‘60s and ‘70s by reading Jon Taplin’s new book, The Magic Years: Scenes from a Rock-and-Roll Life. As a tour manager for Bob Dylan, The Band, Janis Joplin, the Rolling Stones,[…]

San Francisco’s iconic City Lights bookstore on verge of closing

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San Francisco’s iconic City Lights bookstore on verge of closing Sad news. Another victim of Coronavirus might be San Francisco’s venerable City Lights Bookstore. Like other bookstores in California, including our Chevalier’s Books in LA, it has been shuttered since March 16 and may not survive. I’ve always loved City[…]

Watch Darryl Holter’s Performance & Presentation: Life During the Great Depression in Southern California

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Darryl Holter’s Performance & Presentation: Life During the Great Depression in Southern California From October 26, 2019 at The Glendale Public Library. Darryl Holter sings Woody Guthrie songs and shares stories from Guthrie’s time in Los Angeles. Presented in partnership with the Natural History Museum.     Darryl performs several[…]

The Streets of Los Angeles

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Video Showcase on “The Streets of Los Angeles: a Brief Look at the People Behind the Street Names” by Elisabeth L. Uyeda | December 2018 Los Angeles did not just happen. It was built by real people – and they were as diverse as today’s populace. Combining a blend of[…]

Left Bank Blues: Adventures in Paris 1975

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Left Bank Blues Darryl Holter Adventures in Paris 1975 By Darryl Holter When my daughter Julia was studying music at the University of Michigan she enrolled in a one-month course on “counterpoint” music at the Nadia Boulanger Institute in Paris. Not long after she arrived in Paris I had to[…]

Darryl Holter Reviews The Book 26 Songs in 30 Days

darryl holter book review

Darryl Holter Reviews 26 Songs in 30 Days: Woody Guthrie’s Columbia River Songs and the Planned Promised Land in the Pacific Northwest. for Woody Guthrie Annual The Woody Guthrie Annual is an open-access peer-reviewed journal containing the most up-to-date scholarship on Woody Guthrie, his work and his cultural and political[…]