Rod and Joann Mainhood, from Oregon City, on guitar and accordion, performing "When I Was Hungry Lord You Fed Me". Rod's yodeling in the home stretch is not to be missed.
posted by flapjax at midnite on May 23, 2009 - 36 comments

Just watch this, I think you'll love it. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on May 6, 2009 - 107 comments

The foot bone connected to the ankle bone, the ankle bone connected to the leg bone, the leg bone connected to the knee bone, the knee bone connected to the thigh bone, the thigh bone connected to the hip bone, the hip bone connected to the back bone, the back bone connected to the shoulder bone, the shoulder bone connected to the neck bone, the neck bone connected to the head bone, now hear the word of the lord...and be sure to check the hover-overs for link details on all this bony business,
posted by flapjax at midnite on May 2, 2009 - 24 comments

If you're in the mood for some of that juicy, satisfying, blues-inflected and soulful-as-hell organ jazz served up Jimmy Smith-style, check out these 1964 BBC TV appearances from Smith and his trio: The Sermon, Wagon Wheels, Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf, Uptempo Blues and Theme from Mondo Cane. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Apr 29, 2009 - 16 comments

Who has the longest necks (on their duttars, that is) and the tallest hats in the music biz? Why the Uighurs, of course. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Apr 2, 2009 - 25 comments

Hey kids, let's go way back, and spend a little quality time with Tampa Red, shall we? Cause, you know, you can't get that stuff no more, and if you missed him, you missed a good man.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Mar 20, 2009 - 7 comments

There's the fascinating autistic musical savant Blind Tom Wiggins. There are musical clowns and minstrels, and poignant images of child musicians. There are tantalizing and truly exotic images of musicians from far-flung corners of the world: India, Persia, China, Japan... all this and more at the Vintage Musicians Flickr group. Oh, and who's that critter with the banjo? Why, that may just be the ORIGINAL LOL CAT.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Feb 26, 2009 - 11 comments

Introducing the Gamelatron, "the world's first and only fully robotic gamelan". Brought to you by the Brooklyn-based League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots, affectionately known as LEMUR.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jan 18, 2009 - 29 comments

Erhu: Water of Rivers (江河水) [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Dec 29, 2008 - 7 comments

Ramblin' Thomas: No Job Blues (1928), J.D. Short: Lonesome Swamp Rattlesnake (1930), Bo Carter: My Baby (1940). [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Nov 28, 2008 - 3 comments

You know, I want you to pick up on this. You know, these lyrics are something else. Just dig this. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Nov 21, 2008 - 20 comments

Gandy Dancers is a fascinating and inspiring look at the music made by the African-American workers in the south who maintained railroad tracks, "lining up" the tracks manually. This hard work required synchronized effort, and the rhythm came from improvised songs. The film features a group of retired Gandy dancers talking about and demonstrating the songs they sang and the work they did.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Nov 12, 2008 - 18 comments

Ain't It Funky is a BBC-produced documentary from 2005 with lots of great performance footage and interviews, as well as period footage from the civil rights era for some historical perspective. James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, Stevie Wonder, George Clinton and many of their key sidemen are featured. Highly recommended. part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. These same YT clips can also be found all together, embedded at Funk Deli. NOTE: Unfortunately, the audio and video are slightly out of sync on part 1. Parts 2 through 8 lock up just fine, though.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Nov 10, 2008 - 18 comments

Fela: Music is the Weapon is a documentary film from 1982 featuring a wealth of live concert footage (from his club in Lagos, "The Shrine") as well as interviews with the legendary Nigerian singer, bandleader and social critic. Here's part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Nov 5, 2008 - 22 comments

Drummer and vocalist Jimmy Carl Black, "the Indian of the group", who appeared on more Mothers of Invention records than you could shake a stick at, has passed away. Here's Jimmy drumming with The Mothers of Invention live on French TV 1968, live on BBC TV 1968, singing with The Muffin Men, 2002, and on one of his last gigs, singing Capt. Beefheart's Dropout Boogie in June 2008, in his duo with mad banjo wizard Eugene Chadbourne which they called The Jack and Jim Show. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Nov 3, 2008 - 49 comments

As a young man in the 1920s, Dock Boggs [previously] recorded some songs that were released as 78s, and they are wonderful treasures of southern Americana, but I was always even more fond of his recordings from the 1960s, when, as an old man, he was rediscovered during the folk boom. So I was delighted to find that three of his 60s-period performances have recently shown up on YouTube. Here's Pretty Polly, Country Blues and I Hope I Live, all from 1966. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Nov 2, 2008 - 15 comments

In case you've never heard him, I'd like to introduce you to the sublimely soulful music of Kazuhira Takeshita, from Amami. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Oct 29, 2008 - 10 comments

Awesome beatboxing gals are doing it for themselves.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Oct 28, 2008 - 32 comments

Though Bessie Smith is regarded as the queen of the early blues singers, Martha Copeland was singing the blues and its variants (and doing a fine job of it) back in the 20s as well. Head over to Internet Archive to hear Martha sing her versions of two of the tunes that made Bessie so famous: I Ain't Got Nobody and St. Louis Blues, the latter with backing vocal chorus from the Hall Johnson Choir. Check out her Dying Crap Shooter's Blues and Sorrow Valley Blues. And there's plenty of Martha Copeland goodness for your ears (RealPlayer) here and here. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Oct 26, 2008 - 9 comments

Dee Dee Warwick, sister of Dionne and a fine soul singer in her own right, recently passed on to that other shore. This blog entry on Dee Dee features mp3 links to her wonderful cover of the Elvis Presley hit Suspicious Minds and the heartrending She Didn't Know. More: I'm Gonna Make You Love Me, Monday Monday and Foolish Fool.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Oct 25, 2008 - 14 comments

There were four young and energetic lads (especially that drummer, wow!) who used to really get the Mods out on the dance floor over in London town, circa 1964. Called themselves The High Numbers. It must be said, though, these blokes weren't above a little bald-faced plagiarism now and again. Well, anyway, a little later they changed their name, and got kinda famous. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Oct 20, 2008 - 85 comments

"Fuhrer, we have some unexpected news: the band you hired tonight have broken down in their van ... we have already hired a replacement band. They play... jazz." Ah, silly Nazi henchmen! They should've hired The Trons. Yes, The Trons. Surely the Fuhrer would've enjoyed The Humans Are Dead. But let's go behind the scenes and meet Greg Locke, the human behind the Trons, who, by day, designs blueberry sorting machines, and has been kind enough to create a Trons MySpace page. But the Trons will ultimately have to go modular. It's the only way a robot band can hope to reform for the inevitable reunion tour. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Oct 18, 2008 - 14 comments

It's not so often that a US Top 40 chart hit is a song whose origins can be traced back 300 years, and even less often that such a song would be sung in Spanish. So when Ritchie Valens went into a studio and recorded La Bamba 50 years ago this month, he carved himself what would become a special place in American pop music history. It was one of those cases of the B side becoming the hit, though: the A side was Oh Donna, which showcased a sweeter, croonier side of Valens (singing in English), but was a somewhat unremarkable tune on its own. Here's a live recording of La Bamba by Valens, who, of course, along with rock'n'roll legend Buddy Holly, lost his life in an airplane crash just as his career was blossoming. Almost 30 years after La Bamba's original release, a version by Valens' natural heirs Los Lobos became a hit once again. And, admittedly, I didn't make it through the entire clip, but it's perhaps worth noting, for the record, that a Barack Obama-related version is available for your listening and viewing, er, pleasure? [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Oct 15, 2008 - 44 comments

I was dancing with my darling to the Tennessee Waltz when an old friend I happened to see I introduced him to my loved one and while they were dancing my friend stole my sweetheart from me... [NOTE: see hoverovers for link details]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Oct 8, 2008 - 45 comments

Don Helms, the steel guitarist in Hank Williams' Drifting Cowboys band, died on August 11. He was 81. Don provided the smooth-as-silk string stylings for over 100 of Hank's tunes, including Hey Good Lookin' and I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry. See Don demonstrate some of that steel guitar goodness in a snazzy version of Blues Stay Away From Me, or this instrumental rendition of Hank's Cold Cold Heart, or this sprightly little number, Fireball Mail. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Oct 7, 2008 - 9 comments

Back in 1963, a TV special called "Folk Songs and More Folk Songs" aired, which featured a cross section of the "folk" artists who were at that time just beginning to receive wider media exposure. Aside from the squeaky-clean, white bread embarrassment of groups like The Brothers Four, the show redeemed itself with performances by a very young Bob Dylan, who sang The Ballad of Hollis Brown (with banjo and bass accompaniment) and Man of Constant Sorrow. And here's two more very early Dylan TV appearances, from Canada, 1964: A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall and Girl From the North Country. Here's the same Girl From the North Country performed years later, once again on broadcast TV, in duet with Johnny Cash, from the Johnny Cash Show. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Oct 4, 2008 - 23 comments

Boom Boom, Talk Talk, Jump Jump, Hey Hey, Go Go, Ooh Ooh, Mony Mony, Sugar Sugar, Chug-a-Lug Chug-a-Lug. OK, that's it for now. Bye Bye Baby.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Sep 29, 2008 - 80 comments

A musician passed away just the other day. In all likelihood you never knew his name. But you've probably heard him, no exaggeration, on thousands of occasions. He was drummer Earl Palmer, and some of the thousands of songs he propelled with his versatile grooves and masterful sense of time include Tutti Frutti and Lucille, La Bamba, Let's Go Get Stoned, I Don't Need No Doctor, Unchained Melody, You've Lost That Loving Feeling... the list goes on and on. Oh, and there's the TV themes he drummed on, like say, Mission Impossible. And here you can see New Orleans native Earl demonstrating how he put the beat under Professor Longhair's classic Tipitina and on Fats Domino's I'm Walkin'. He was one superb rhythmist. Au revoir, Earl Palmer. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Sep 28, 2008 - 31 comments

When the Rolling tones recorded an old blues tune called You Gotta Move on Sticky Fingers back in 1971, it was another instance of a tune by an old black man, known only to blues aficionados, suddenly becoming part of the consciousness of a gazillion people who probably never would've heard it otherwise. But let's pay a little visit to the man who originally wrote and recorded the song, Mississippi Fred McDowell, shall we? Here's a jumping version of Shake 'em On Down, his haunting Going Down to the River, the gospel blues of When I Lay My Burden Down, Highway 61, My Babe (you'll note the similarity to "This Train"), Louise, and his version of the American folk/blues standard John Henry. And don't miss the beautiful 1969 documentary featuring McDowell at Internet Archive, Blues Maker, which features some superlative acoustic performances, and footage of the people and environment of the Mississippi delta country.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Sep 23, 2008 - 40 comments

Body parts in music: Skinny Legs - Soul Finger - Into My Arms - Fingertips - Can't Get You Out of My Head - Skinny Leg Blues - These Arms of Mine - My Pal Foot Foot - (Not Just) Knee Deep - Good Foot - Legs - Toes - Dope Nose - No Nose Job - Pick Yer Nose - Yummy Yummy Yummy (I got love in my tummy) - Lips Like Sugar - Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain - Sunshine On My Shoulder - Grandma's Hands - I Want To Hold Your Hand - Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See - Watch My Feet - Protect Ya Neck - Make Yo Backbone Slip - Baby Got Back - I Like Small Butts - Stomp 'Em in the Nuts and, of course, Punch 'Em in the Dick. [NOTE: see hoverovers for link descriptions] [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Sep 20, 2008 - 80 comments

Iraqi heavy metal? Sure, there's Acrassicauda. They're named after a scorpion. The Guardian has an informative article about them. There's been a movie made about them, which the New York Times has written about. Four members of the group, more recently based in Turkey, were seeking refugee status. Are they any good? I dunno, I guess so, but I''m not all that keen on metal, myself, so I'm not the best person to ask. Just go listen to 'em at their MySpace page.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Sep 11, 2008 - 14 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. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Aug 17, 2008 - 16 comments

So, there was this little rock band from England, and they got pretty famous and all, so famous that they initiated the era of stadium concerts, back in '65, at a little place in Queens called Shea. But there was an opening act that night, led by a sax-blowin' fellow name of King Curtis, and he kicked total muhfukkin ass, and it wasn't even with his baddest band! You can hear them here. Jump Back! [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Aug 15, 2008 - 25 comments

It's the middle of August, and chances are pretty good that it's HOT where you are. Let's lend our ears, then, to some of the most cooling music around, from the Indian bansuri. Air conditioning for your soul. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Aug 14, 2008 - 38 comments

Spy music! Whether it's Lalo Schifrin's theme for Mission Impossible, or Jerry Goldsmith's theme for Man from U.N.C.L.E., or the greatest of them all, John Barry's iconic James Bond theme, you know it when you hear it. Now, for my money, the best spy music in recent years wasn't from a spy movie at all, but an animated superhero film: the action-packed theme and soundtrack for The Incredibles, in which the very talented Michael Giacchino was clearly (and brilliantly) channeling John Barry. And of course, you'll all want to head over here and see what your fellow MeFiers have lately been doing with the genre. [note: see hoverovers for link descriptions] [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Aug 1, 2008 - 54 comments

Brazil's Gilberto Gil, now 66 years of age, is stepping down from his position as Minister of Culture to concentrate, once again, on his music career. That's good news for his fans, and here's some more good news: a huge chunk of his recorded work is available as streaming audio for your listening pleasure. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jul 31, 2008 - 19 comments

Eighty one years ago to the day, barber, banjoist and balladeer B.F. Shelton travelled from his home in Kentucky to take part in a recording session in Bristol Tennessee. Now referred to as the "Bristol Sessions", these recordings are widely viewed as some of the most important and influential in American music history. The four songs Shelton recorded that day, stark, simple and immensely powerful in their unadorned honesty, can all be heard here. After Bristol, Shelton never recorded again. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jul 29, 2008 - 16 comments

These Beatles clips from a 1965 NME show are straight off the mixing desk, so the voices are way up front. Man, those vocals are so loud you can hardly hear Ringo! But let's back it up just a year, to Holland in 1964, and catch one of the rare performances without Ringo. Aside from his brief stint as a Beatle, session drummer Jimmy Nicol also played with zany Swedish instrumental surf rock band The Spotnicks. So, there you have it: Jimmy Nicol, a lucky fella who got to play with two of the greatest bands in the world! [NOTE: see hoverovers for link descriptions] [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jul 27, 2008 - 22 comments

Ever heard a chitravina? It's a 21-stringed musical instrument from India, similar in appearance to the more widely-known veena, but with a sonic character all its own, due in large part to the fact that it's fretless, and it's played with a slide. Here's an NPR feature on the instrument's prime exponent, N. Ravikiran. [NOTE: embedded audio on that last link] [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jul 23, 2008 - 9 comments

Coming in at just under $860,000, the take for the recently auctioned estate of James Brown fell well short of the two million that Christie's had hoped for. You'll want to browse the collection for yourself, of course. If I had the extra scratch, I'd have sure bought this.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jul 19, 2008 - 21 comments

In the little town of Enterprise, Alabama, there stands a bizarre statue that would make any card-carrying surrealist proud: an archetypical Greek goddess raises her arms toward heaven and holds high above her head... an enormous insect. Of course, it's the boll weevil. That cotton-eatin' critter inspired not only the world's only monument to an agricultural pest, but some great tunes as well, from a wide range of artists. [note: see hoverovers for link descriptions] [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jul 15, 2008 - 35 comments

Those familiar with the plaintive falsetto of Delta blues great Skip James will surely hear Skip's influence in the much lesser-known Johnny Temple's Evil Devil Blues, recorded in 1935, which features some delightfully unexpected melodic twists. And though Johnny Temple "never achieved stardom", he does have a Wikipedia page. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jul 5, 2008 - 9 comments

This is utterly delightful: Tara Busch sings the first line from "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" backwards. Of course, you'll wanna check out how well she did it by watching it, um, forwards. Yep, she nailed it. I think I'm in love. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jul 3, 2008 - 107 comments

Now that's what I call diplomacy! The US ambassador to Paraguay has become a music sensation in the country after recording an album of folk songs in the indigenous Guarani language. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jul 2, 2008 - 12 comments

There's just something so pleasing about watching a mixed freight train go by. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jun 30, 2008 - 64 comments

ASIMO Conducts The Detroit Symphony Orchestra
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jun 26, 2008 - 26 comments

Did you happen to see those "making-popcorn-pop-with-a-cellphone" clips that showed up at the end of last month on the toobs? Well, WIRED wrote about it, and a kajillion copycat clips showed up in about the time it'd take to, you know, make some popcorn. Turns out it was a viral, natch, as a cursory search will reveal. But just today a clip appeared that explains how the actual stunt was pulled off. Well, anyway, as you've probably guessed by now, this is all just an excuse to link to Popcorn. Yep, Popcorn. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jun 20, 2008 - 42 comments

Oops! Swiss national broadcaster SRG turned back time on Monday when, while broadcasting an Austria/Germany soccer match, it offered subtitles accompanying Germany's national anthem that mistakenly included the "Deutschland, Deutschland ueber alles" lyrics, a verse popular under Nazi rule but ignored since the fall of the Third Reich. The melody, Das Deutschlandlied, comes courtesy of Joseph Haydn, who penned the ditty in 1797. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jun 18, 2008 - 36 comments

Anyone who thinks Porter Wagoner's twisted, echo-laden psycho-classic The Rubber Room is worth blogging about is someone after my own heart, and anyone who can introduce me to tunes like Voodoo Voodoo and Midnight Stroll is someone I'm gonna make a MetaFilter post on. That's just the way it is. And it just so happens that this particular blog, The Essential Ghoul's Record Shelf, is the new project of MeFi's own beloved, web-prolific Astro Zombie, whose strange and wonderful tunes y'all should listen to as well.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jun 16, 2008 - 27 comments

Baby please don't go, baby please don't go, baby please don't go down to New Orleans, I love you so, baby please don't go.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jun 12, 2008 - 24 comments