This guy is still active as a critic - in fact, he's reached pretty far up on the critic food chain - an editor at Rolling Stone.
Here's a few things I found while out googling around.
I'll bet if we were to look long enough and hard enough, we could find his email address and Willy could actually send him what he's posted here. Assuming he hasn't already found the email himself already!
Randy
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http://www.turnituporturnitoff.com/SXSW ... 40416.html
Mary McBride @ Hole In The Wall
“McBride brings the party with her wherever she goes and her upcoming album captures the energy of her live shows and suggests that McBride's fame as a songwriter is right around the corner." --
John Swenson, Rolling Stone Guide to Jazz and Blues
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CIRCUS
March, 1982
Album Review
By
John Swenson
Jack Bruce / Robin Trower - Truce
Wild things were happening in 1967. First, Fresh Cream redefined dynamics in rock and roll with the loudest, cleanest guitar sounds yet recorded, and bassist Jack Bruce had a totally unique approach to harmonics and structure. Bruce was also the lead vocalist, and in live performance it was apparent how much of the band's weight he carried , even in light of Eric Clapton's presence.
Then there was Procol Harum, a keyboards- based outfit whose classically trained organist had recast Bach in a rock format for the great single " Whiter Shade Of Pale." The live sets featured the mighty guitar playing of one Robin Trower who eventually left to front a power trio whose style paid homage to Jimi Hendrix.
Bruce and Trower sounded terrific together on their first outing B.L.T., but Truce has all the marks of a collaboration in full maturity. Bruce and Trower are perfect compliments to each others strengths, and the current line-up, which unites Trower with Reg Isidore, the powerhouse drummer from his first album, makes this one of the best power trios in rock history.
The match is especially interesting in that it pits Bruce's advanced bass concepts against a guitar style that Trower has developed to it's highest level. But Truce works not just because of playing concept; both Trower and Bruce have long-term lyricist sidekicks in Keith Reid and Peter Brown respectively, and while B.L.T. concentrated on Trower /Reid compositions, this time around the Bruce/Brown team carries it's share of the load. So a Trower/Reid song like "Gonna Shut You Down," with it's straightforward funk and Hendrix-style solo spot, is balanced against the Cream-like Bruce/Brown fantasies of "Thin Ice" and the fantastic "Shadows Touching." "Last Train To The Stars" combines Brown's lyrics with both Trower and Bruce's musical ideas, and the thunderous results are the best on the album.
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Tom Russell's 1999 release The Man From God Knows Where was termed "one of the most important folk records ever recorded," by John Lomax III. Rolling Stone and UPI writer
John Swenson noted: "Russell is one of America's great songwriters ... this record is as close to a Homeric treatment of American history as we're ever likely to see ... when somebody is looking for the equivalent of the Harry Smith Anthology in the middle of the next century The Man From God Knows Where is what they'll discover."
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The Proctor & Bergman reviews are by co-editor
John Swenson, a founding editor of "Creem," author of books on Kiss, the Who, the Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Bill Haley, & Simon & Garfunkel, a former contributor to "The Village Voice," and a record reviewer for "Crawdaddy," "Circus," "Rolling Stone," and "High Times."
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Baby Snakes
REVIEWS
Tracks
Zappa always thought in multimedia terms, and the film... captures the circus-like atmosphere of his live performances.
John Swenson
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The Who By Numbers [Remaster] (New Music CD)
Release: 11/19/1996
Recorded in 1975 & 1976. Originally released on MCA (2161) in October 1975. Includes liner notes by Penny Valentine and
John Swenson.
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The art of jazz singing has opened up to exciting new advances in recent years, and Barbara Sfraga is one of its most promising exponents. With Under the Moon Sfraga explores the hidden nuances of Ellingtonia, breathes new life into Bob Dylan's Every Grain of Sand and offers a dazzling technical display on the title track. --
John Swenson, Editor, Rolling Stone Jazz and Blues Album Guide
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The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide
Posted: 2004-03-08
John Swenson, ed.
Random House, New York, 1999
ISBN 0-679-76873-4