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Over its amazing 35 year run, Soul Train provided American television viewers with an
incredible panorama, a
veritable cornucopia of
black popular music, and of course, entertained everyone with their
legendary line dance segments. The man who created and hosted the show from its beginnings up until 1993, Mr.
Don Cornelius, was on Wednesday found
dead in his home, an apparent suicide.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 7:28 AM on February 1, 2012
(79 comments)
A decade after the death of renowned folklorist Alan Lomax, his vision of a "global jukebox" is being realized: his vast archive — some 5,000 hours of sound recordings, 400,000 feet of film, 3,000 videotapes, 5,000 photographs and piles of manuscripts, much of it tucked away in forgotten or inaccessible corners — is being digitized so that the collection can be accessed online. About 17,000 music tracks will be available for free streaming by the end of February. NYT article
here.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 9:16 PM on January 30, 2012
(39 comments)
Chances are that sometime, somewhere, out of the corner of one ear, at least, you've heard the iconic (yet all-but-forgotten) "Willie and the Hand Jive". Set to a Bo Diddley beat, it was an infectious little number that made quite a splash back in its day. Here's a fun
live version of the bouncy tune, complete with the three largest dancing girls you're ever likely to see, and here's the
original 1958 recording. The composer of the tune, the son of Greek immigrants who decided that the world of black music was where he wanted to be, was one
Johnny Otis, who has just
died at the grand old age of 90. Shortly after its release, "Willie and the Hand Jive" was covered by early rock icons like
Bo Diddley and, across the pond in England,
Cliff Richard. But apart from his most famous tune, Johnny did a LOT of recording and performing throughout his lengthy career, so there's...
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 12:16 AM on January 19, 2012
(42 comments)
The year was 1969, and even the people who made commercials for the International House of Pancakes were
on acid.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 3:52 PM on January 17, 2012
(77 comments)
Well, bust my britches, here it is January 8, Elvis Presley's birthday! Now, a mere 20 days after the young rock crooner had celebrated his 21st, back in 1956, he stepped onto the stage at CBS Studio in New York City and made his
US national television debut, on the Dorsey Brothers show. Seems he was hot property from the get-go, cause he was back on that stage, straightaway, for five more appearances, on February
4th,
11th and
18th, then again on March
17th and
24th. And, yeah, heck, he was pretty good.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 9:26 PM on January 8, 2012
(42 comments)
If you ever caught NRBQ live, you were most likely treated to some
raucous,
pounding and
undeniably joyful roadhouse revelry that made you wanna drink another beer (at least) and bask in the divine glory of Rock. And. Roll. But it is with a sad heart that I relay the news to you today that the hard-hitting, deeply grooving powerhouse behind the drums, the man who drove America's Best Bar Band to ever more delirious heights of cathartic oneness with the Universe, has left us. RIP,
Tommy Ardolino.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 8:19 PM on January 7, 2012
(27 comments)
Welsh pop idol and blue-eyed soulman Tom Jones as lead vocalist for 60s hippie icons Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young? Seems spectacularly unlikely at first glance, but...
it happened.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 8:37 PM on January 1, 2012
(54 comments)
New Year's Eve is fast approaching, and for lots of folks that means... drinking. Plenty of drinking. And since there's no shortage of singers and songwriters who've had a little something to say about that particular topic, maybe some of the following tunes can serve as an appropriate soundtrack to your own joyous (or not?) imbibing of spirits. For example, there's... Jimmy Liggins with his succinct rendition of
Drunk, and there's...
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 8:24 PM on December 30, 2011
(67 comments)
In 1993 in Dharamsala I met for the first time that amazing music performer, perhaps he was a Rajhastan gypsy. Usually he sat on road side from McLeod Ganch to Dhalai Lama residence. This man-orchestra created great atmosphere, sometimes he sang from eternity even didn't notice listeners. In 2004 I came to Dharamsala and people told me that he passed away.
This video is dedicated to him and to people who knew him.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 5:48 AM on December 29, 2011
(7 comments)
Viewable in its entirety at YouTube,
Ballou is an engaging, inspiring, funny and entertaining documentary film about inner city Washington DC's Ballou High School band.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 5:32 AM on December 26, 2011
(1 comment)
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Jimi Hendrix:
Little Drummer Boy / Silent Night / Auld Lang Syne.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 4:02 AM on December 24, 2011
(10 comments)
When most folks think of "Christmas music" it's doubtful that their next thought will be "the blues", but along with "my baby" or "bad luck" or "leavin' in the morning", bluesmen have long included Christmas as lyric inspiration. Which bluesmen? Well...
Sonny Boy Williamson,
Freddie King,
Blind Blake,
John Lee Hooker,
Lightnin' Hopkins,
Little Milton,
B.B. King,
Smokey Hogg,
Charley Jordan, and last but certainly not least, one of the most influential early bluesmen,
Blind Lemon Jefferson.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 6:23 AM on December 20, 2011
(23 comments)
Never had a whole lotta use for the Lawrence Welk show, but man, when it came time for steel guitar wizard Buddy Merrill and his dazzlingly snazzy stringery to take center stage, the broadcast got a
hella lot better,
fast!
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 5:39 AM on December 19, 2011
(24 comments)
I'm willing to bet that even a lot of you who say "I don't like drum solos" will, well... like
this one.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 8:46 PM on December 17, 2011
(101 comments)
The man who lent his wonderfully warm and soaring voice to the rolling soul ballad
Get It While You Can, the limber southern funk of
Eight Days on the Road, the coolly driving
How Come My Bulldog Don't Bark, the mellow soul lilt (with breathtaking falsetto interjections!) of
I Learned It All the Hard Way and so
many other delightful soul numbers has died. Farewell
Howard Tate.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 3:33 AM on December 4, 2011
(17 comments)
I've been enjoying
listening to
this German guy playing the
German bagpipes. That is, the
Hümmelchen. Check out the cool tuning maneuver at the 0:57 mark of
this clip for some hot Hümmelchen tuning action! And here he employs a
groovy canned beat. Ya! He also dabbles in the
Irish pipes, and loans out his workshop on occasion as a spot for some of the locals to
get a little wild. Oh, and, of course, he also plays the
Rauschpfeife. Yes, the
Rauschpfeife. Hören!
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 10:01 PM on December 1, 2011
(16 comments)
Hans Reichel, of Wuppertal, Germany, maker of exquisitely beautiful
guitars, on which he made
exquisitely beautiful and
idiosyncratic music,
inventor of the delightfully expressive
daxophone, on which he made
delightfully expressive and
often humorous music, creator of
elegant fonts and architect of one of the most
endearingly creative flash websites you'll ever see,
has died at the age of 62.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 5:57 PM on November 23, 2011
(25 comments)
Years before Peter Frampton stuck a tube in his mouth and asked the world, through his guitar, "do you, YOU, feel like I do?" there was a fellow who wanted to make his
pedal steel guitar talk. And talk it did. Welcome to the wondrously weird musical universe of Pete Drake:
Welcome To My World,
Blue Velvet,
Am I That Easy To Forget,
Only You,
Roses Are Red... and here you can see Pete in action, with his whole crew of slightly scary looking players and singers, performing
Forever. And, hey, just for good measure, let's check ol' Pete's sound
without that crazy tube in his mouth, shall we? A snazzy little number called
Panhandle Rag, or this (partial) driving waltz,
The Spook. But wait! There's more! It's entirely likely that you've heard Pete already! You just didn't know it was he providing that gorgeous, slippery accompaniment for Bob Dylan on
Lay Lady Lay. Thank you, Pete!
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 5:30 AM on November 12, 2011
(39 comments)
Folks, tunes like
Scotch Tape (by
Lana Johnidas with the Swinging Strings) and
Portland Rose Song (by
Bert Lowry with Orchestra and Chorus) could only have come from a "vanity" record label like
Film City, who provided us and future generations with a plethora of endearingly awful little masterpieces.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 12:43 AM on November 1, 2011
(7 comments)
Can the human head itself function as a percussion instrument? Why, yes!
Yes it can!
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 10:06 PM on October 26, 2011
(22 comments)
Chernobyl's Radioactive Wolves
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 7:49 AM on October 25, 2011
(34 comments)
In the year 1968, at the height of her powers, one of the greatest singers America has ever produced was in Stockholm, where she served up a breathtakingly powerful and characteristically soulful performance that, lucky for us, was filmed by Swedish television. You know who I'm talking about, of course. "Lady Soul" - parts
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6 and
7.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 5:57 AM on October 15, 2011
(19 comments)
One of America's most idiosyncratic musical geniuses was, of course, the great Thelonious Monk (
Wiki), and what better way to celebrate his birthday today than viewing (in its entirety!) an excellent documentary on the man and his music?
Straight, No Chaser
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 4:18 PM on October 10, 2011
(25 comments)
William Shatner is Iron Man! Yes indeed. It's just a little taste of what's in store for us in his soon-to-be-released
Seeking Major Tom.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 8:42 PM on September 29, 2011
(29 comments)
Over the last two decades, Harold Hackett has sent out over 4,800 messages in a bottle from Prince Edward Island, Canada's smallest province along the Atlantic coastline. Every message asks for the finder to send a response back to Hackett, and since 1996 he has received over 3,100 responses
from all over the world.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 4:29 AM on September 26, 2011
(46 comments)
The year was 1929, and Noah Lewis was blowing the
hell outta the
harmonica.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 4:08 AM on September 19, 2011
(7 comments)
Tomorrow, September 11, 2011, all Americans will, in their own way, in observances public and private, pay tribute to... their
grandparents.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 7:03 PM on September 10, 2011
(43 comments)
A lady, back in 1957, addressing the camera in an elegant evening gown, fit for some grand society ball, had this message for the oldsters: "Now, whatever you think of rock and roll, I think you have to keep a nice, open mind about what the young people go for." She then proceeded to announce Buddy Holly and the Crickets, who obligingly performed their hit
Peggy Sue for the ballroom dancers' pleasure and edification. That same Buddy Holly would've been quite the oldster himself, had he lived to see today, his 75th birthday. So, if you have a little time on your hands today, you might like to learn more about Buddy by viewing
The Real Buddy Holly Story 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9 and
10. Cause, hey, Buddy was not only one of the most unique and vital voices of the early days of rock'n'roll, but he wore the same glasses that every other hipster in Berlin is wearing
right now.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 10:02 PM on September 7, 2011
(60 comments)
blind is a short film (5:17 - in Japanese w/ English subtitles) set in post-nuclear Tokyo. The film may be viewed at the
blind website, at
Vimeo or at
YouTube.
Parents please be advised: although the film features a young child, viewing by young children is not especially recommended, as they may be frightened.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 4:32 AM on September 6, 2011
(29 comments)
Divas do Dylan: Nina Simone's
Ballad of Hollis Brown, Nico's
I'll Keep It With Mine, PJ Harvey's
Highway 61 Revisited, Tracy Chapman's
The Times They Are A-Changin', Emmylou Harris'
Every Grain of Sand.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 4:21 AM on September 5, 2011
(67 comments)
And I say to myself... what a wonderful (
underwater) world.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 7:50 AM on September 2, 2011
(22 comments)
I'm so sorry, Metafilter, really I am. I don't know what's come over me, but I am posting one of the dopiest, most embarrassing celebrity novelty tunes ever recorded. It's by the fellow who played Batman in the 60s TV series, Adam West, in a breathtakingly stupid recording of an utterly ridiculous song called
Miranda. I pray that you'll forgive me for my indiscretion, and I promise I will post some inspiring and worthwhile music next time around.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 2:50 AM on August 30, 2011
(41 comments)
A unique (to say the least) musical voice from the past emerges, with a timely tune to those along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. Yes, friends, it's Nervous Norvus, with
Evil Hurricane.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 6:14 PM on August 26, 2011
(19 comments)
"Call me nuts, but I find extraordinarily endearing the improbable blend of country music traditionalism and tastefully restrained space-age guitar pyrotechnics that can be heard in these tunes." Yes, friends, the fine folks at WFMU are back with the long-awaited 2nd installment of the tasty and wonderful
Country Fuzz Spectacular!
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 8:20 AM on August 24, 2011
(8 comments)
Happy birthday John Lee Hooker! Let's celebrate by listening to some of your older tunes! "Gonna take you down by the riverside, gonna tie your hands, gonna tie your feet, got the
mad man blues" ... "Now the
war is over, and I'm broke and I ain't got a dime" ... "You know I'm a
crawling king snake, baby, and I rule my nest" ... "Gonna get up in the mornin',
goin' down highway 51" ... "Well I
rolled and I tumbled, babe, I cried the whole night long" ... "
I feel so good, let me do the boogaloo"
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 7:06 AM on August 22, 2011
(19 comments)
Want to know what's going on in African electronic / dance music? The
BAZZERK blog will help bring you up to speed. Chock full of fun, fresh stuff.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 9:05 AM on August 3, 2011
(6 comments)
Somewhere along the line, you might've heard one of the biggest hits to ever come out of the world of jazz: it was a song originally made famous by Les McCann and Eddie Harris back in 1969, called
Compared To What. If you were in the right place at the right time, you might've even caught them doing it
live. Or, if you were born a little too late for all that, you might've heard the song performed by
John Legend and the Roots. Well, the man who wrote the song,
Gene McDaniels, has just
left us at age 76. RIP Gene McDaniels.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 8:39 AM on August 2, 2011
(25 comments)
Zany Germans have crazy
nose flute fun! But, wait! Surprising and unexpected beauty can be coaxed from the
nose flute as well. And straight outta Vancouver, the
nose flute man will happily show you how it's done. Unfortunately, I've found that pretty much everything else on the internet featuring this particular type of
nose flute is, well... pretty awful. YMMV.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 9:28 AM on July 29, 2011
(16 comments)
On July 9, the Japanese public broadcaster NHK aired a documentary on the earliest days of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis. There appears to be precisely one place on the internet where it can currently be viewed:
here.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 6:50 AM on July 27, 2011
(44 comments)
The
hoodoo lady and the
hoodoo man had a
voodoo child. Uh huh, yes, yes,
voodoo voodoo.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 7:36 AM on July 18, 2011
(34 comments)
Marlon Brando. Yeah, sure, he could act. Very talented guy. But, hey, he also invented a radically innovative tuning system for conga drums. Played the congas, too. Yup.
That's right.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 8:20 PM on July 3, 2011
(23 comments)
One is never too old to
rock.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 4:37 AM on June 26, 2011
(49 comments)
What is this ad announcing? (note: scroll down slowly!)
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 4:57 PM on June 21, 2011
(97 comments)
You spin me right round baby.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite
at 6:24 PM on June 18, 2011
(67 comments)
