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.
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posted by flapjax at midnite
on Oct 15, 2011 -
19 comments
Jerry Leiber, one of the greatest rock and roll songwriters to ever ply the trade,
has died aged 78. Along with songwriting partner Mike Stoller, he was responsible for so many hits, including but not limited to:
Love Potion No. 9 by The Coasters,
Stand By Me by Ben E. King,
Hound Dog by Big Mama Thornton, later
popularised by Elvis Presley, and, solo, in conjunction with Phil Spector,
Spanish Harlem, as sung by Aretha Franklin.
posted by Len
on Aug 22, 2011 -
63 comments
Ahmet Ertegun was profiled by George W. S. Trow in The New Yorker in a classic piece back in 1978. Ertegun was the son of the Turkish ambassador to the US and he remained behind in D.C. studying medieval philosophy at Georgetown. Instead of devoting himself to his studies he founded Atlantic Records with his friend Herb Abramson. Trow charted how Ertegun moved from tramping through muddy, Louisiana fields in search of hot new sounds to the whirl of Studio 54. Below the cut are links to the songs mentioned in the article, as best as I could find, in the order in which they appear.
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posted by Kattullus
on Aug 17, 2009 -
25 comments
Legendary record man and music producer
Jerry Wexler died on August 15, at the age of 91. His keen insight, and his deep love and appreciation for the artists he worked with resulted in an extraordinary enriching of American music.
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posted by flapjax at midnite
on Aug 17, 2008 -
16 comments
The best CD I've purchased so far this year is the
latest from the
Blind Boys of Alabama. this record features superb vocalizing, great bluesy guitar, and a Sones(!) and Tom Waits(!!) cover. In an age where "gospel music" has sunk into the quagmire of
"Contemporary Christian", its easy to forget that
old-school gospel both
black and
white were
huge influences on rock and roll. Little Richard, for one, took his trademark "Whoo!" from Marion Williams and countless rockers from Aretha to Elvis learned to sing in church.
Now, can I get an Amen?!
posted by jonmc
on Apr 2, 2002 -
25 comments
