Joe McEwen was born in Philadelphia and raised in the near suburbs, where his affection for soul, R&B, blues, and jazz thrived.  His first major experiences as a music writer and critic and radio DJ took place in and around his college years in Boston, writing for the Boston Phoenix and Real Paper, and graduating to the Village Voice, Rolling Stone, and other outlets in the US and UK. He contributed five chapters to the original Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll (1976), to Greil Marcus' Stranded (1978), and numerous anthologies. His first book was Sam Cooke: The Man Who Invented Soul (Sire Books/ Chappell Music Company, 1977).  Joe McEwen currently resides in Laguna Niguel, California.