Elvis rode to fame on one of her covers and Janis got rich on her signature song, but you haven't truly heard Hound Dog or Ball & Chain until you've experienced Big Mama Thornton belting them out. A seminal blues figure who could play the harp with the best of them, she was true original. In her heyday, Willie Mae was a 6-foot tall, 350-pound, gun-toting crossdresser who led a rough and colorful life and took no guff whatsoever. Emaciated but still powerful, she gives a final raw and expressive performance of Ball & Chain and Hound Dog shortly before her death in 1984.
posted on Jun 20, 2008 - View this thread

Taj Mahal (sound alert) has been delighting audiences for more than 40 years since his debut with Ry Cooder in the pacesetting Rising Sons. He's a multi-instrumentalist most noted for blues, but his life's work spans gospel, Caribbean, Hawaiian and many other genres. Much respected by fellow musicians, he's a 2-time Grammy winner and official blues artist of MA. He loves to go fishin' and if you like fishing too, you can join him on his next Taj Mahal Fishing Blues Tournament, a benefit to aid southern musicians. [more Taj music inside]
posted on Aug 26, 2007 - View this thread

The on-stage rantings of various famous musicians.
posted on Aug 17, 2007 - View this thread

John Lee Hooker performs Gloria and It Serves Me Right to Suffer with Van Morrison; I'm in the Mood with Bonnie Raitt; The Healer with Santana; Boogie Chilluns with the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton; and Roadhouse Blues with Jim Morrison & the Doors (audio only). [Also, Muddy Waters, Etta James and more blues legends & rock combos inside]
posted on Aug 5, 2007 - View this thread

The Indie Band Survival Guide: A fantastic, free, 101 pages collection of useful information for musicians - covers topics such as recording, copyright, major label contracts, commercial radio, promoting your music, band websites, distribution, filesharing and live shows.
posted on Feb 25, 2007 - View this thread

The 50 Craziest Pop Stars Ever - unsurprisingly, there is some crossover with the 50 Most Awesomely Dead Rock Stars.
posted on Feb 25, 2007 - View this thread

If you can stomach (and run) Windows Media Player and are a musician*, perhaps you might find the Muse On Visualizer somewhat interesting. It attempts to extract chord names from the music stream and display them realtime. Then again, maybe you are looking to experiment with chords and music theory or else figure out what you've been banging out. * Yes, I realize +1 of you probably have problems with one or the other of these. Deal. Also, MuseOn is more fun-toy than genius-spot-on-makes-TABs-for-you.
posted on Jan 25, 2007 - View this thread

Buy Syd Barrett's stuff! The estate of Syd Barrett is going up for auction on Wednesday. Some interesting items include several A4 note binders with Syd's handwritten notes, a pair of handpainted speaker boxes and a Pollock-esque handpainted stool.
posted on Nov 28, 2006 - View this thread

New airline security regulations in the UK have taken their toll on the touring musicians who used to be able to take their delicate and/or rare instruments as carry-on luggage. Many are forced to either take their chances in the cargo hold or take ferries to countries with less restrictive security guidelines. Others contemplate staying home from touring completely. (via BBC)
posted on Aug 22, 2006 - View this thread

For most musicians, it's difficult to pinpoint a particular event that forever sullied their image and destroyed their popularity. For 80's rocker Billy Squier, however, the reason is clear. [YouTube]
posted on Aug 11, 2006 - View this thread

After nearly 70 years, blues legend Robert Johnson's guitar has recently surfaced. It's up for sale, but you may need to sell your soul to afford it. Maybe Legba will lend you the purchse price. [more]
posted on Jul 26, 2006 - View this thread

Stripping The Gurus. Sex, violence, abuse and enlightenment. Chogyam Trungpa, the Dalai Lama, Zen masters, exposing the reality behind the facade of various spiritual teachers. Geoff Falk also writes about the spiritual beliefs of rock stars.
posted on Jun 5, 2006 - View this thread

Anthony Braxton and the Tri-Centric Foundation | Wesleyan University recently hosted a semester-long 60th birthday celebration for visionary composer and musician Anthony Braxton. Learn about Braxton's foundation for musical exploration, and his peculiar system for naming his compositions; read a few of his dense and cryptic research papers on many subjects (full contents here); peruse a remarkably comprehensive discography of his works; read a brief and interesting interview with him, and if that doesn't feed your curiosity, dive head-first into an absolutely gargantuan interview with this important composer; listen to interviews with Braxton from 1971 and 1985; and, finally, give a listen to Composition No. 186, part of Braxton's "Ghost-Trance" series.
posted on Dec 19, 2005 - View this thread

And here is 'You Either Get It or You Don't:' Conversion Experiences and The Dr. Phil Show. Also on hand, are They Refused Jesus Too: A Biblical Paradigm in the Writing of Bob Dylan and Popular Music on Christianity in the United States: Christianity's Failure to Love. Taste, perhaps, A Potion too Strong?: Challenges in Translating the Religious Significance of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings to Film. Or consider Curses and Catharsis in Red Sox Nation: Baseball and Ritual Violence in American Culture.
All are selections from The Journal Of Religion And Popular Culture.
posted on Nov 27, 2005 - View this thread

Where are they now? Stories and pictures from the Sunset Strip in the 60s. [some NSFW]
posted on Nov 15, 2005 - View this thread

Dick Waterman takes photographs of musicians. Choose a genre from the menu at the top of the page. The photos are good, but going through the Javascript interface allows you to read about each picture. In this photo of Dylan and Baez, Waterman captured Baez crying because Dylan was ignoring her. In this photo of Rev. Gary Davis, Waterman shows Davis sleeping with his guitar held vertically on his lap. And check out young John Fahey with Son House.This gallery of Seven Guitars was connected to Angus Wilson's play of the same name. My favorite is Elizabeth Cotten. Here's an NPR interview with Waterman.
posted on Oct 21, 2005 - View this thread

Things ain't what they used to be. Blues, jazz, Cajun and country music great Clarence Gatemouth Brown dies at 81. Brown safely evacuated his home in Slidell, but was said to be broken hearted by the devastation wreaked by Katrina on his beloved Louisiana. Alligator bio (sound alert).
posted on Sep 11, 2005 - View this thread

Longtime Mefi member chuq offers a tiny respite from the misery with his report on the survival of many of Louisiana's beloved musicians, including the good news that Fats Domino was rescued from his roof. More coverage here and here. (more)
posted on Sep 2, 2005 - View this thread

Luther Vandross is gone. The great R&B balladeer died today, apparently due to complications from a stroke he suffered two years ago. Believers in an afterlife can hope he's enjoying a dance with his father. After all, he did believe in the "Power of Love". RIP.
posted on Jul 1, 2005 - View this thread

Mississippi Musicians as compiled by the students of Starkville High School, Starkville, Mississippi.
posted on Mar 12, 2005 - View this thread

Deep inside the poetic stylings of John Bon Jovi. To begin, I'd like to look at the opening verses of "Bed of Roses". You may think you understand the meaning behind this poem - that John Bon Jovi likes a lady, and is upset about it. This is just a sign of the brilliant, interweaving complexity of Bon Jovi. You can love the poem at that level, and many have, but let's go... inside.[Coral Link - In case the other doesn't work]
posted on Feb 23, 2005 - View this thread

The Portsmouth Sinfonia to return? In 1974, Gavin Bryars rounded up a group of novices and enthusiastic amateurs, called them the Portsmouth Sinfonia and let them loose in a recording studio. The result: some of the most disturbing classical music ever committed to tape. Intrigued by the concept, the legendary Brian Eno signed up and played clarinet for the orchestra, adding a certain star cachet to the cacophony. On the back of sympathetic TV coverage, there followed a now-legendary concert at London's Royal Albert Hall. Thirty years later, there are plans to release Portsmouth Sinfonia's output on compact disc by way of celebration. A brazen attempt for quck laughs and publicity, a serious exploration of entropy in the musical medium, or simply an early entry in the torture tape experiment?
posted on Jan 11, 2005 - View this thread

Babies Who Rock! (and here's Part Two)
Somehow I don't think Tommy Lee shows these photos off very often...
posted on Jan 7, 2005 - View this thread

The ten most accurately rated artists in rock history! According to SPIN, at least.
posted on Dec 15, 2004 - View this thread

Hello, MUDDA. "The relationship of artist to the business has most often been one of contract and servitude. We believe the way forward must be a partnership in which the artist can take a much bigger role in how their creations are sold, but also have the chance to stand at the front of the queue when payments are made instead of the traditional position of being paid long after everyone else." - Peter Gabriel
posted on Aug 11, 2004 - View this thread

Son of a Bluesman The legend was that if you touched Robert Johnson you could feel the talent running through him, like heat, put there by the devil on a dark Delta crossroad in exchange for his soul. It is why Claud Johnson's grandparents would not let him out of the house that day in 1937 when Robert Johnson, his father, strolled into the yard. "They told my daddy they didn't want no part of him. They said he was working for the devil. I stood in the door, and he stood on the ground, and that is as close as I ever got to him. He wandered off, and I never saw him again." Today, in the working-class neighborhood where he raised his children, Claud Johnson, a rich man, lives in a grand house on 47 acres of property. (After Claud won his court battle in 1998 and was recognized as the son of the blues legend, his lawyer handed him a six-figure cashier's check and begged him to quit hauling gravel. Claud kept hauling gravel for five months. "After 29 years, it just gets in your blood"). His victory stands out in the annals of Mississippi probate law. It took 10 years, two trips to the State Supreme Court and two trips to the U.S. Supreme Court. Not to mention, most of the first two or three generations of blues musicians died without securing rights to their composition. Explains Thomas Freeland, a Mississippi attorney and blues historian: when the San Francisco-based band the Grateful Dead recorded songs by the North Carolina blues musician Elizabeth Cotten, Freeland said, "the story is, [she] bought a dishwasher with the royalties." (more inside)
posted on Jun 2, 2004 - View this thread

Nick Drake BBC2 Special narrated by Achilles [brad pitt].
posted on May 24, 2004 - View this thread

The great studio drummer Steve Gadd is of the most important musicians of the 1970's. Gadd brought bassist Tony Levin (Buddy Rich, Paul Simon, John Lennon, Peter Gabriel, King Crimson) into the business in New York 30 years ago, and that alone is enough to secure a place in history. You may remember his unforgettable groove on "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover", one of many brilliant contributions Gadd made to classics of the 70's pop charts
posted on May 7, 2004 - View this thread

This is Olympian Shadow Farm! Ever heard of the Merrick Foundation? How about Bigfoot Lives? Cougar? Are these guys the hardest working musicians in Portland, Oregon? A bunch of lunatics? And how do you explain this?
posted on Mar 24, 2004 - View this thread

John Coltrane composed many of his later works, including A Love Supreme in this house. Now local preservationists are battling to save the home from demolition. If you want to see this home preserved just send them an email to show your support.
posted on Mar 9, 2004 - View this thread

The Greatest Week in Rock History (Salon link) - 34 years ago today, Billboard Charts had a outstanding album lineup - perhaps not the best albums ever, but for a single point in time, arguably unmatched for quality, originality, and longevity. Take a look back at the roster: the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Tom Jones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Stones, Santana, the Temptations, Blood Sweat & Tears, Crosby Stills & Nash, and Easy Rider.
posted on Dec 20, 2003 - View this thread

Lester Bangs, rock critic. Some reviews to read and enjoy. Patti Smith. Astral Weeks. Captain Beefheart. The Shaggs. Black Sabbath. Weather Report. Lou Reed. There are books you can read about him, too. (Previous mention in this thread.)
posted on Oct 7, 2003 - View this thread

A Pretty URL Is Like A Melody: By a waterfall, I'm calling Who's Who In Musicals, diligently compiled by John Kenrick, a wonderful little resource.
posted on Sep 30, 2003 - View this thread

They've booked arenas, and have an announcement scheduled for Tuesday. Simon and Garfunkel, together for their first tour since '93 (if they don't get into an argument first). I'd suggest those interested get a ticket for one of the early shows, just to be safe...
posted on Sep 7, 2003 - View this thread

SHINE ON YOU CRAZY DIAMONDS "Treating Mentally Ill Musicians Without Removing Their Muse."
posted on Jun 3, 2003 - View this thread

"The roots of Hip Hop Culture will no longer be ignored. Hip Hop's pioneer MC's, DJ's, B-boys and Graffiti Artists finally get to tell their stories.  Travel with the real Hip Hop historians (Ralph McDaniels, DJ Red Alert, Grandmaster Caz, Kool Herc) through their old stomping grounds and listen to them reminisce as we drive down memory lane.  Hush Tours takes you to all the hot spots Uptown (Harlem and the Bronx) giving Hip Hop Culture more than a venue... also a voice."
posted on May 29, 2003 - View this thread

Pop Culture vs. War!! (avert eyes) So Madonna pulls her anti-war video at the last minute, "never to be seen again". Have to say, it sounds just as finely-wrought a piece of art as G.Micheal's Shoot the Dog. Meanwhile, Lil' Kim attempts some bridge-building between the cultures with this subtle intervention. In times of peace, we expect pop musicians to shoot their mouths off about anything - that's what we pay them for. But I haven't been impressed by anything from rock'n'pop yet in this war. (Micheal Moore's press conference at the Oscars rocked harder than any of them). Is it straight forward fear of career death (see Dixie Chicks)? Or is it just that nobody can do this (dylan) or this (Starr) anymore?
posted on Apr 2, 2003 - View this thread

gigposters -- a collection of posters created by artists and musicians to advertise their shows and events.
posted on Mar 27, 2003 - View this thread

Cast Members. NSFW
posted on Feb 17, 2003 - View this thread

I Hate Music is a page devoted to scathing commentary on popular music and the musicians who make it. The author let's loose such gems as: Face it, every single note of music ever committed to paper, vinyl, CD, zeroes and ones sucks harder than Linda Lovelace in a sucking competition with a black hole. There is absolutely nothing going for music. It just plain sucks. (found here) Don't miss out on the very comprehensive archives.
posted on Feb 12, 2003 - View this thread

Tell a joke at some musician's expense. ...or tell a few. Here's something for your favorite bodhran player, or the banjo player in your life. But somehow, the string section gets the worst of it.
posted on Nov 8, 2002 - View this thread

The Pakistani Sufi-Rock band Junoon have released their new English single "No More" which remembers the innocent victims of 9/11 and terrorism everywhere. Penned by Polar Livine of Polarity 1 and Salman Ahmad of Junoon the song can be heard/downloaded at the Junoon Website along with they lyrics. They might not be household names in the US but they are big in the subcontinent and elsewhere. They have appeared on US media many times including NPR took a deeper look in their role in presenting another face of Pakistan. Together Salman Ahmed, Brian'o'Connell, and Ali Azmat have relentlessly called for peace between India & Pakistan and raised enough controversy domestically to be banned by several "Democratic" governments in Pakistan.
posted on Sep 11, 2002 - View this thread

One Less Tourbus. Singer/songwriters tearing down the Oil Economy one gig at a time. Next time you're at a show and the musicians are all winded and sweaty before they even start, this is why.
posted on Sep 10, 2002 - View this thread

Diary for a New America: Because a toilet seat is a terrible thing to waste. Poison drummer Rikki Rockett says the "days of useless acts of hotel destruction are over." Now he's leaving his artistic mark in hotel loos nationwide. See for yourself in the gallery.
posted on Aug 1, 2002 - View this thread

When Rock bands leave their irony at home (or potentially never had any). An outrageously hilarious collection of musicians taking incredibly self-concious photographs of themselves. All of my fellow musicians on metafilter, you will find this particularly hilarious (and cringe-worthy, as you wait to see if the next pic will be...you!)
posted on Jul 25, 2002 - View this thread

John B Spencer died in March. He was 57 though the first time I saw him in about 1986 he looked about 86 so his early demise isn't that much of a surprise. No one will have heard of him but he was brilliant. Truly brilliant, in that he lit up all around him and inspired the pathetic likes of me. Read his lyrics, hear his albums and just sit and wonder at the genius of the public to ignore such talent. Sorry, my blog doesn't appear to be publishing and I didn't want his death to go unremarked. Google doesn't offer much but this is good enough.
posted on Jul 12, 2002 - View this thread

Musicians are really smart. They have larger and more sensitive brains than non-musicians, and their collective IQ is much higher. They have 130% more grey matter in one area of their auditory cortexes. The question of how this explains Ozzy Osbourne nonwithstanding, I'll bet if you're really, really smart, you could be one of the new members of Men Without Hats. Must be very knowledgeable in midi, sequences, and sampling.
posted on Jun 25, 2002 - View this thread

Steve, from the children's show "Blue's Clues," is recording an album with members of The Flaming Lips. And he's got a cool webpage (built with help from Paul Ford of ftrain). (Via pitchfork.)
posted on Apr 18, 2002 - View this thread

Rock Stars who Sell Out. The days when musicians made headlines by wrecking hotel rooms, raging against the establishment and disparaging corporate America seem long gone.
posted on Mar 5, 2002 - View this thread

How many CDs do you have to sell to afford that BMW?Find out how much money musicians don't make with the Royalty Caculator.
posted on Mar 5, 2002 - View this thread