John Prine released John Prine in 1971 with the songs Illegal Smile, Spanish Pipedream, Hello In There, Sam Stone, Paradise, Pretty Good, Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore, Far From Me, Angel From Montgomery, Quiet Man, Donald & Lydia, Six O'clock News and Flashback Blues. An interview from 1971.
posted to MetaFilter by stavrogin at 11:12 AM on June 3, 2008 (38 comments)

Vintage Girly Magazines is a blog devoted to nude photography from the era before Photoshop and breast implants. NSFW.
posted to MetaFilter by jason's_planet at 4:53 PM on May 31, 2008 (62 comments)

Take my arm, my love. Don't write a check from a joint bank account. Hide all the photographs in your home and office which would identify you as a couple. Take off your wedding rings. Touch each other, and talk to each other, in public, in ways that could only be interpreted as you being "friends." A thoughtful post on "self-editing," homophobia, and the day-to-day experience of many LGBT folks, at Shakesville (aka Shakespeare's Sister), by Teh Portly Dyke.
posted to MetaFilter by fiercecupcake at 7:40 AM on May 6, 2008 (179 comments)

The Southern Foodways Alliance is one weighed-down church-supper table, full of oral history/blog projects like The Tamale Trail, the Boudin Trail, interviews and recipes from the Bartenders of New Orleans, photo essay/interviews from Birmingham's Greek-Americans, a mess o'homemade films, and a passel of event and BBQ-shack photos on Flickr, all smothered in the tangy-sweet academic goodness of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at Ole Miss. These folks get my vote for most flavorful, funkiest food-loving folklorists in the lower forty-eight.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 6:07 PM on April 28, 2008 (15 comments)

1,780 Cult Movies Online ~ A huge repository of online movies described as cult classics.
posted to MetaFilter by Dave Faris at 5:51 AM on February 10, 2008 (35 comments)

The Manners Manifesto For example: "(11) Talk to people at the check-out. You don't have to say much. God, even something inane like, "Busy in here, today, isn't it?" or "Not as busy as usual in here, today, is it?" might put us on the road to peace in the Middle East. Carrying on grumping around and spreading those grump vibes certainly isn't going to help."
posted to MetaFilter by feelinglistless at 3:21 PM on January 7, 2008 (145 comments)

Got My Mojo Working was written by the little-known Preston Foster and first recorded in 1956 by the only slightly better-known Ann Cole. It was, of course, the Muddy Waters version that became the hit and a signature song for him: he sang it throughout his entire career, and it has become one of the best-known blues standards of all time. The song itself just has a lot of mojo, you know, so naturally plenty of others have covered it through the years: a small sampling from the YouTubes would include Carl Perkins, Willie Dixon, Elvis Presley, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, JJ Cale, Pinetop Perkins and Louis Jordan. Hell, even Bobby Darin couldn't resist the mojo!. NOTE: Check hoverovers for link descriptions.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite at 6:17 AM on January 6, 2008 (19 comments)

This AskMe post has made me lose my faith in humanity, and I desperately need to spew bile about that.
posted to MetaTalk by Meatbomb at 7:29 AM on December 11, 2007 (454 comments)

The Unsung Joe: Where bit-part actors go when they die. Biographies of the most obscure micro-stars of 1940s and '50s cinema, all remarkably well-researched and richly illustrated.
posted to MetaFilter by jack_mo at 5:51 PM on December 11, 2007 (28 comments)

Almonds. Eat more almonds. They're good for you. The fall harvest is now in and you can get organic almonds online. Also, they're better than pecans.
posted to MetaFilter by five fresh fish at 8:51 PM on November 26, 2007 (59 comments)

He was called "the Telemaster", "the Humbler", and " the greatest unknown guitarist in the world". Danny Gatton, revered by guitarists great and small, never achieved popular acclaim. His refusal to stick to any particular genre of music, and his reluctance to travel had much to do with that. But to those of us lucky enough to enjoy the Washington, DC music scene of the eighties and nineties got to see arguably the most talented electric guitar player this country has produced.
posted to MetaFilter by Benny Andajetz at 4:26 PM on November 27, 2007 (26 comments)

Ever heard of Barbara Lynn? She was a rarity in the world of R&B in the early 60's: a black female songwriter, guitarist and singer. After a couple of decades out of the spotlight, she returned in 1999 with a new album.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite at 8:01 AM on November 4, 2007 (10 comments)

Satan Rides the Media is a documentary about the Norwegian black metal scene and the notorious Varg Vikernes, founder of the one-man band, Burzum. In 1993, Vikernes was convicted for a series of church burnings and the murder of Øystein Aarseth a.k.a. Euronymous of the band Mayhem. Varg's crimes inspired both copycat arsons and the book Lords of Chaos, which led one book reviewer to make the claim that neoconservatism is totally black metal. But if that doesn't quench your thirst for demoniac documentaries, you can always check out the grindhouse flick Satanis, Anton Lavey in a kiddie promo clip to sell Satanism, and Geraldo Exploring Satan's Underground (Parts 1 and 2).
posted to MetaFilter by jonp72 at 5:24 PM on September 5, 2007 (34 comments)

How is favoriting every single comment (in several different threads) different from any other kind of crapflood? It dilutes what (arguably little) utility the favorites have for anyone else, and annoys me because I haven't had coffee yet.
posted to MetaTalk by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:54 PM on August 28, 2007 (251 comments)

Somewhere along the line you've probably heard Bobbie Gentry's brilliant signature tune, Ode To Billy Joe, but unlike previously, now you can see a sad-eyed Bobbie perform it live, displaying the understated Southern soul delivery that, in addition to the delicious lyrics, lazy tempo and no-drums arrangement, made the tune such a milestone in US pop music history. But there was another side to Bobbie: down-home sex kitten! The gal could work a fire-engine red catsuit. Check her out! Go Bobbie!
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite at 10:33 PM on May 29, 2007 (22 comments)

Fifty years ago today Elvis Presley recorded what would prove to be one of the iconic standards of the rock'n'roll canon, Leiber and Stoller's Jailhouse Rock. The song's sly allusions ("number 47 said to number three, you're the cutest jailbird I ever did see") to same-sex prison liaisons went unnoticed (or at least uncommented on) at the time, and it stayed a US #1 radio hit for 7 weeks straight. The unisex production number [youtube] from the movie of the same name has come to be recognized as one of the grandfathers of the pop/rock video. A black-leather-clad, still-svelte Presley performed the song on his 1968 [youtube] "comeback" TV special, and was singing it (slurred delivery, sequins and all) right up into 1977 [youtube], the year of his death. In 1980 John Belushi and company turned in a fine version [youtube] as the closer to the Blues Brothers movie, and the song was a regular feature of their live [youtube] shows as well. Happy 50th birthday, Jailhouse Rock!
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite at 6:47 AM on May 2, 2007 (52 comments)

Embrace the Suck. Intensive military activity creates an incubator for slang. By bringing together people from geographically diverse backgrounds, putting them into stressful circumstances, and teaching them a new language of jargon and acronym, the armed forces create fertile ground for new idioms - many of which return home in civvies when the conflicts are over. In the Civil War, World War I and World War II, in Korea and in Viet Nam, servicepeople created or popularized now-familiar terms like shoddy, hotshot, cooties, tailspin, fleabag, face time, joystick, SNAFU, FUBAR, flaky, gung ho, no sweat, flame-out, and many, many others. Now, the GWOT brings us a new generation of 'milspeak'. Military columnist Austin Bay has published an early collection of neologisms from Gulf War II. On NPR, Bay explains what The Suck is, how to identify a fobbit, and why Marines look down on the attitude of Semper I.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 1:47 PM on March 31, 2007 (66 comments)

An ode to some of the more vibrant personas and memorable events in Metafilter history -- and an homage to the classic tune by The Nails. Lyrics with tremendous amounts of annotation inside.
posted to MeFi Music by cortex at 10:47 PM on February 14, 2007 (91 comments)

"To me, I've always looked upon the stage as a much-hallowed place, a place of worship for real artists, as I said just before. That doesn't just stem from rock n roll days; to me, Judy Garland was a real artist, Al Jolson was a real artist, people like that gave their all and everything for the stage and most of them finished up dying for it as well. In my view, nobody should be allowed to stand on a stage unless they can present the total professional thing, unless they really can sing and really can play. Punk was a total anti-attitude towards music."NWOBHM: How a now-little-known nostalgic reaction to punk called the New Wave of British Heavy Metal changed the world.[much, much more inside]
posted to MetaFilter by koeselitz at 3:09 PM on January 10, 2007 (40 comments)

...He expressed regret that he had said that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus and enclosed a gift for the Oral Roberts University. After quoting the line "money can't buy me love" from "Can't Buy Me Love" he said, "It's true. The point is this, I want happiness. I don't want to keep on with drugs. Paul told me once, 'You made fun of me for taking drugs, but you will regret it in the end.' Explain to me what Christianity can do for me. Is it phoney? Can He love me? I want out of hell."

John Lennon's Born-Again Phase
posted to MetaFilter by y2karl at 10:07 AM on January 4, 2007 (79 comments)

Burnout. [Via.]
posted to MetaFilter by homunculus at 1:06 PM on December 27, 2006 (26 comments)

shaved eyebrows
posted to MetaFilter by vronsky at 6:11 AM on December 19, 2006 (73 comments)

Swamp Dogg (born Jerry Williams, Jr.), is one of the deepest of the deep soul singers. Described as “Wilson Pickett meets Frank Zappa in a bad mood,” and known for his dubious album covers, his association with the anti-Vietnam movement (allegedly) put him on Nixon’s enemies list. Swamp wrote or co-wrote hits for Gene Pitney, Johnny Paycheck, and a host of others. You might have heard his music in samples on tracks by Talib Kweli [mp3] and the Jurassic 5 [.wmv]. Long out of print, his 1970s albums are now available on CD.
posted to MetaFilter by joseph_elmhurst at 4:22 PM on December 13, 2006 (6 comments)

Vegas Meetup: jonmc and pips are getting married!! Saturday 9/23, 9:30 p.m. at the Graceland Chapel. After the ceremony, we're all gonna party at the Carnival Court Flair Bar until the break of dawn. Please join us!
posted to MetaTalk by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:48 AM on September 11, 2006 (80 comments)

Macon, Georgia, the 1840's. African-American Alabama Vest brings his design for a musical instrument to German clockmaker Thaddeus von Clegg. The modern KAZOO is born. It sees its golden age during the Jug Band era. Later it rears its buzzy head on songs by Hendrix, Queen, Red Hot Chili Peppers and many others. Originally made of metal, these days they're mostly plastic. And I, for one, agree that the humble kazoo is the ideal choice for designation as The National Instrument.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite at 7:57 AM on August 16, 2006 (23 comments)