Cerphe's Up: A Musical Life with Bruce Springsteen, Little Feat, Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, CSNY, and Many More

Since moving to the DC area from Philly, I’ve tried to find ways to embrace my new home. Cerphe’s book did this in so many ways and PLUS provided me an amazing read on Rock music.

“Cerphe’s Up” is simply one of the best Rock’n’Roll history books I’ve read (and I’ve read a LOT). While the book offers the personal story of the beloved DC-area radio personality, Cerphe Colwell, the narrative also delivers a rich array of stories that will grab the ear of music lovers who may never have had a chance to hear Cerphe’s show back in the days “when the music mattered.”Highlights of Cerphe’s extensive personal photo archive and other previously unpublished photos turn up throughout the book, illustrating his vivid recollections of memorable encounters and friendships with major musical figures including those in the subtitle as well as George Harrison, Van Morrison, Stevie Nicks, Rod Stewart, Steven Tyler, Nils Lofgren, and many more. He draws from the transcripts of recorded interviews he did over the years with these artists, so the quotes are accurate and authentic, as well as entertaining.Cerphe takes us back to the days when WHFS-FM in Bethesda, Maryland became one of the most truly creative and “progressive” radio stations in the country, one with a wonderful team of on-air hosts who let their sense of camaraderie and love of the music captivate the listening audience, who often got to meet them at concerts and other events in the DC area. Cerphe has made the spot-on observation that WHFS and other radio stations like it became “social media” before such a thing existed, bringing a generation of listeners together in a community shaken by the Vietnam War, and united in a counter-cultural reaction to it.Beyond the national names mentioned above, the book also offers a rich appreciation of the DC area’s great local music scene in the WHFS era, with clubs including the Psyche-Delly, the Cellar Door and Childe Harold. There’s a list of most of the artists who played the Childe Harold over the years, as well as an entire chapter devoted to the Cellar Door. The book also includes a detailed index, a rarity in non-academic non-fiction these days.Cerphe also includes chapters about his later radio days when he acted as boss for various famous figures including talk show stars Howard Stern, “the Grease Man,” and G. Gordon Liddy. Those stories are especially funny, and demonstrate how times changed in the post-Vietnam radio era, as the music became secondary to talk radio.It all makes for fun and enlightening reading, and thanks are due to Cerphe’s co-author, the accomplished biographer, Stephen Moore. He clearly deserves lots of credit for shaping the book and making it so informative and readable. It’s worth the price of admission for anyone who loves music.

This new memoir by nationally known radio personality Cerphe Colwell, written with Stephen Moore, is a great, entertaining, humorous, warm and personally revealing narrative of his 40-plus year career in broadcasting. Cerphe describes his roots in a loving family outside of Boston, and how he began his career in a serendipitous way, right out of college at the dawn of the 1970s. He sat in with a friend at a local FM station in Washington, DC, which at the time allowed a few “off-hours” for broadcasting music that he and his friend liked. That station morphed into the first progressive rock station, WHFS, in Bethesda, Maryland, and Cerphe quickly became the most prominent DJ, with a voice born for broadcasting. He describes many fascinating personal stories and interviews he did with rock stars, including those who were just on their way up at the time, who have appeared on his shows over the decades. Cerphe describes his long-term career in the music industry, as both on-air personality and executive with major broadcasting corporations. Unusual for someone in the music industry, he developed an early interest in meditation, vegetarianism, and concern for the environment. Interestingly, he managed to avoid the often-destructive drug indulgences of many of the rock stars over the years. He also touchingly describes how the universe “conspired” to bring him and his wife together after several near-misses; while navigating the “slings and arrows” of life and loss that we all face as decades go by. Today, Cerphe has an internet-based radio network, Music Planet Radio, which has an expanding program lineup, including the flagship program, Cerphe’s Progressive Show. For anyone interested in the inside stories of rock artists – and especially, for people like myself, around the same age as Cerphe, who entered young adulthood at the beginning of the progressive rock era and have traversed the decades since with his voice always in the background of our lives – his book is a “must-read!”

I was born in DC in 1952 and lived through much of the great music and radio history covered in Cerphe’s book. “Growing Up” in DC with WHFS and Cerphe was a privilege and a pleasure. I realize that now more than ever, and “Cerphe’s Up” helped me recall and relive those glorious days. Cerphe, Damien, Weasel and Josh were my heroes back then. My girlfriend and I were among those to make the pilgrimage to the Triangle Towers studio. We didn’t get to meet Cerphe, but did say hi to Weasel and Damien. Also spent many happy nights at the Psyche Deli and the Red Fox Inn. I was a student at U of Md in the early 70s and got to see The Rosslyn Mountain Boys, Liz Meyer, the Nighthawks, Hickory Wind, Danny Galton and The Fatboys and many others at The Italian Gardens in College Park. Also saw Steve Goodman and the Seldom Scene at the Cellar Door more than once.I attended a couple of the landmark concerts Cerphe mentions in the book: Bruce Springsteen at a Shady Grove before anyone knew who he was, unless you were an HFS listener that is, and my favorite concert of all time (still) the Little Feat, Bonnie Raitt and Paul Buttrtfield & Better Days show at Lisner Auditorium(?). I also recall Bonnie brought one of the old black delta blues musicians, cant recall his name though. Any big concert during that period was emceed by Cerphe.I remember laughing at Cerphe whispering “Brace Yourself” before playing one of those hated corporate ads like Sears. Thanks Cerphe for reminding me of how much fun that whole DC scene was back then, and thanks for a great book. Very happy to see you are still at it. Vaya Con Dios!

As a passionate fan of music, I enjoyed reading a book written by a passionate fan of music. One with a front row seat.