Larry Williams is not as famous as many of his contemporaries, but was responsible for a long string of hits beginning with Short Fat Fannie in 1957. He continued to produce such rock and roll staples as Slow Down, Bony Moronie, and She Said Yeah. His songs are probably better known today through other artists' interpretations of his songs. Williams' songs have been covered by: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Replacements, The Beatles, Johnny Winter, The Who, The Plastic Ono Band, Paul McCartney, and The Jam. Also Sha Na Na. And every garage band in the world. [more inside]
posted by marxchivist on Sep 30, 2009 - 14 comments

Happy 60th birthday, Bruce! [more inside]
posted by jbickers on Sep 23, 2009 - 92 comments

The Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival was held forty years ago today. Performers included: the Doors, Alice Cooper, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry. The highlight for many was the appearance of John Lennon. Lennon was backed by the Plastic Ono Band, then comprised of Eric Clapton, Klaus Voorman, and Alan White (w/occasional vocals by Yoko). "We're just gonna do numbers we know because we've never played together before." D.A. Pennebaker filmed it . YouTube videos of Lennon's set: Blue Suede Shoes, Money, Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Yer Blues, Cold Turkey, and Give Peace a Chance. [more inside]
posted by marxchivist on Sep 13, 2009 - 11 comments

Billy Lee Riley, legendary rockabilly performer and Sun Studios recording artist died on August 2, 2009. His two biggest hits were Flying Saucers Rock and Roll and Red Hot. Billy never achieved the fame of his Sun Records contemporaries Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley. He later went to Los Angeles and worked as a session musician, recording with artists such as the Beach Boys and Dean Martin. His career enjoyed a resurgence beginning in the mid-1990s. He released the Grammy nominated album Hot Damn! in 1997. [more inside]
posted by marxchivist on Aug 8, 2009 - 10 comments

The Who: Maximum Windmill Guitar Contest
posted by marxchivist on Aug 6, 2009 - 8 comments

"She was a rock star," recalls Ira Tucker Jr., who grew up watching Tharpe with his father's gospel group in the 1940s and '50s. "You know, like Beyonce today and people like that. That's what Rosetta was to us." Sister Rosetta Tharpe wasn't the first one to bring black popular music into the church. (Here's the great Arizona Dranes playing barroom honky-tonk piano on the gospel side I Shall Wear a Crown in 1927.) But her fierce stage presence and her original blend of gospel, boogie-woogie, swing and smoking hot blues guitar was a crucial forgotten influence on what we now recognize as rock and roll. (Many more recordings inside. Enjoy!) [more inside]
posted by nebulawindphone on Jul 21, 2009 - 20 comments

For that headbangin' couple, the ones you owe a wedding gift... [more inside]
posted by lapolla on Feb 4, 2009 - 24 comments

It's been 50 years (on Tuesday) since Buddy Holly died. He still has some rabid fans who will be celebrating his life and work, but should the rest of us still care? [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue on Jan 30, 2009 - 38 comments

John Prine Live in 1980 on youtube--with interspersed interviews from around his hometown: in his 1951 Ford Custom Club Coupe (Automobile), down by the train tracks (Bruised Orange) on the porch ( How Lucky) and at the Scene of the Crime (The Accident). Previously [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue on Nov 16, 2008 - 13 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

Paul is NOT dead. Paul goes into the studio, alone, no songs prepared at all. Thirteen songs in thirteen days -- one each day -- Paul playing every instrument, writing lyrics on the fly, ripping a line from a poem, the next spontaneous, off the cuff, really gutsy. The album, Electric Arguments, to be released next month. [more inside]
posted by dancestoblue on Oct 11, 2008 - 116 comments

This past Spring, Oklahoma State Representative Joe Dorman (D-Rush Springs) and State Senator John Ford (R-Bartlesville) joined together to put their bipartisan support behind House Concurrent Resolution 1047, a bill to designate the Official Rock Song of Oklahoma, as to be chosen by the people. As long as the song was written or recorded by an artist from Oklahoma, it would be eligible. The lengthy list of nominees has now been pared down to ten, and the voting has opened online. The finalists vary from Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" (written by Okie Mae Boren Axton) to "Do You Realize," by The Flaming Lips, and my personal pick, Three Dog Night's "Never Been to Spain." [more inside]
posted by Navelgazer on Sep 4, 2008 - 50 comments

VerveFilter: The Verve in Turmoil After Bust-Up on Stage in Osaka The Verve's future is yet again thrown into turmoil after (an apparent onstage squabble) at the Osaka Summer Sonic festival which resulted in guitarist Nick McCabe allegedly being admitted to hospital It is unsure whether or not McCabe will rejoin the Verve to perform at an upcoming festival in the UK. [more inside]
posted by KokuRyu on Aug 13, 2008 - 26 comments

Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On ---- Tutti Frutti ---- Hound Dog ---- Long Tall Sally ---- Good Golly Miss Molly ---- Great Balls of Fire ---- Good Lovin'.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Apr 8, 2008 - 36 comments

If you've seen clips of Bo Diddley performances from the early 60s, you'll surely have noticed the presence of one or more female guitarists on stage, churning out that chunky six-string rhythm alongside the esteemed Mr. Diddley. Might've been Lady Bo that you've seen or heard, or it might've been The Duchess. Either way, hats off to some fine guitarists: women who filled a job category generally reserved (especially at that time) for the menfolk. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Mar 4, 2008 - 13 comments

Jeffrey Lewis brings you The Complete History of Punk Rock and Its Development on the Lower East Side (1950-1975) in eight and a half minutes. [more inside]
posted by StopMakingSense on Feb 27, 2008 - 24 comments

This week I've been perseverating on Chuck Berry's great 1964 song "You Never Can Tell", so now you get to too! Unless you're over 50, you probably know it from the Thurman/Travolta dance in Pulp Fiction, but here are some other versions worthy of your attention: [more inside]
posted by ubiquity on Feb 10, 2008 - 14 comments

Free Bird on piano [YouTube]. The 14-year-old musician, who calls himself UnclassicalPiano on YouTube, currently has 16 other selections, including Stairway To Heaven, Behind Blue Eyes, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Message In A Bottle and Black Sabbath's Paranoid (his main interest is metal), all of which he says he learned to play by ear.
posted by amyms on Jan 15, 2008 - 41 comments

The White Noise Supremacists: Lester Bangs on race, words, post-punk, and society. [more inside]
posted by koeselitz on Dec 17, 2007 - 57 comments

Ike Turner, 1931-2007 Though his music was overshadowed later in life by the success of his ex-wife and his personal demons, his undeniable innovations continue to resonate this day.
posted by anazgnos on Dec 12, 2007 - 83 comments

Hey daddy-o, when you hear that big brash horn section pump out that oddly familiar riff, only to stop cold and make way for that that prescient single note from an electric guitar, followed straightaway by a twangy voice in perfect rockabilly delivery proclaiming "well, she's got a dress that looks like a sack!", then brother, you're listening to the hoppin' boppin' sound of Wally Deane's Drag On. Once you hear it, you'll wonder why Quentin Tarrantino never put it in a movie. Wally Deane: one of the greatest rockabilly acts you never heard of.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Dec 8, 2007 - 21 comments

The 28 Most Recognizable Guitars.
posted by Soup on Dec 6, 2007 - 84 comments

The Lollipops are a collection of stylized cartoon drawings by Craig Robinson of famous rock stars (mouseover text will reveal the artist). 26 of them in alphabetical order appear in this ad for The Observer, entitled "From Abba To Zappa."
posted by jonson on Oct 2, 2007 - 23 comments

It's hard to think of any music that's any more fun than The Ventures, and here they are, live in Japan, 1965, at the top of their game. This footage is really good: Walk Don't Run. Wipe Out. Apache. House of the Rising Sun. Slaughter on Tenth Avenue. Flight of the Bumblebee. The Cruel Sea . . . But WAIT! Opening for the Ventures on that steamy summer night was homegrown Ventures cover band The M-Ventures! Straight outta Tokyo! Check out their versions of The Pink Panther Theme, Surf Rider and Yellowjacket. And in case you were wondering if the Ventures' influence is still being felt in Japan, well, check out 9-year-old guitarist Chicchi's versions of The Cruel Sea, Penetration, Walk Don't Run and Pipeline.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Sep 19, 2007 - 36 comments

Legendary tremolo guitar king Link Wray discovered him singing gospel with the Mighty Clouds of Joy, and figured he might be the kind of rock'n'roll screamer he was looking for. If he was gonna sing the devil's music, though, he'd need another name, so they came up with a rather unlikely moniker: Bunker Hill. Just listen. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Sep 18, 2007 - 14 comments

The 25 Best Pop Song Opening Lyrics, like EVER - a spinner.com 'hit list', complete with wry commentary and abruptly cut-off audio clips. Bonus: 25 more, suggested by people who don't work for the webside. [more inside]
posted by wendell on Sep 6, 2007 - 254 comments

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 by madamjujujive on Aug 5, 2007 - 25 comments

Mefite Fans of rock concert posters are probably familiar with gigposters.com, but here's an interesting list of over 20 other individual designers concert posters sites with tons of designy goodness.
posted by jonson on Jun 21, 2007 - 21 comments

Sex, Drugs and Updating Your Blog. The NYTimes Magazine on the convergence of the internet and pop music.
posted by OmieWise on May 15, 2007 - 24 comments

Danny Sveinson is The Rock and Roll Kid. The 11 year old guitar prodigy from Surrey, BC, has already played the Apollo Theatre in New York, jammed with Les Paul, and opened for April Wine and Colin James. They say he's the next Eric Clapton or Jimi Hendrix. They say he's the next guitar god. His parents say he has to be in bed by ten. How does Danny keep himself grounded under the pressure of fame and the spotlight? He watches birds.
posted by debralee on Nov 29, 2006 - 49 comments

"I don't have any more babes." After offering fans $75 each to show up, Martin Scorsese's film crew prettifies the front row [Coral Cache] of NY's Beacon Theatre for the Rolling Stones' 2007 documentary. Are the boys — not to mention their audience [PDF] — getting a little long in the teeth, or can they rock for ages?
posted by cenoxo on Nov 16, 2006 - 71 comments

It's official. The raw evil of AOL has joined forces with the unbridled hubris of Web 2.0 and killed Rock and Roll. I blame BoingBoing.
posted by loquacious on Nov 10, 2006 - 48 comments

A Town Without Pity. Gene Pitney, the rather dashing rocker behind such hits as "Hello Mary Lou," "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance," and "Only Love Can Break A Heart," has passed away.
posted by Astro Zombie on Apr 5, 2006 - 31 comments

Anarchist rocker and conservative assembly member unite to fight drugs? Well, one drug anyway. He hates it so much he wants it legalized. It shouldn't come as a suprise that Lemmy Kilminster - frontman for Motorhead (legendary Guinness-certified loudest band on earth), former editor of his high school paper, former roadie for Jimi Hendrix, and tinnitus awareness spokesman, would speak out against heroin. "The only drug that I ever saw kill people was heroin. Killed my girlfriend and a lot of my generation. It's the only drug I hate." - Lemmy. But some folks think the nearly 60 year old rocker is not someone "the kids" will listen to.
posted by Smedleyman on Nov 22, 2005 - 38 comments

MySpace has started a record label. Their first signing is a group of "eight heavy metal hooligans" called the Hollywood Undead. Popular on MySpace, they're well on their way to a devoted following.

Their first single "Scene" is available here.
posted by cloeburner on Nov 3, 2005 - 40 comments

After the Storm Sometime this weekend, you may be able to hear one of the best expressions of New Orleans’ role in music and culture available in any mass media. It's American Routes, a weekly show carried on many US public radio affiliates. Programmed and hosted by folklorist and UNO professor of folklore and culture Nick Spitzer, the show normally broadcasts from a studio in the heart of the French Quarter, but has found a temporary home on a Creole/Cajun French/English public radio station in Lafayette. Spitzer told the NYT that he began planning the music for this week’s show as he was fleeing the flooding city in his car, playing Fats Domino’s “Walking to New Orleans." This week’s show highlights New Orleans’ recovery from disasters past, emphasizing the city’s role as the greatest single wellspring of American music. The Crescent City, after all, has either birthed or nurtured everything from jazz, R & B, cajun and the related black-influenced zydeco, soul, blues, gospel, and rock and roll.) With an encyclopedic knowledge of American vernacular music, an utterly democratic spirit, and an unmistakeable respect and love for American musical forms and the people who create them, Spitzer has stepped forward several times this week to serve as a compassionate and optimistic spokesman for the irrepressible creative spirit of a suffering city and a culture in diaspora.
posted by Miko on Sep 10, 2005 - 19 comments

He was the patriarch of the British Invasion. In 1962, he released Britain's first blues album. Before they hit it big, the Rolling Stones opened for him. He was on the Beatles first television special. Later, he was in the memorably-named band The Hoochie Coochie Men with Rod Stewart on lead vocals. His next band, Bluesology, featured one Reginald Dwight, who later changed his name to honour his mentor. Moving to Canada in the 1970s he eventually settled in Vancouver, where he died today after suffering from a chest infection. Ladies and gentlemen: "Long John" Baldry has passed.
posted by docgonzo on Jul 22, 2005 - 9 comments

The star who never was. Part rock and roll history and part cautionary tale, the story of Marcus is too compelling to ignore. Well.... maybe not, but it's worth the read.
posted by elwoodwiles on May 16, 2005 - 11 comments

April is Rap Month on Michaelpella. Watch and listen [avi files] as some internet guy (and an occasional friend) butcher some rap classics by the likes of Ice Cube and Public Enemy. I don't know much about rap, so I enjoy perusing the 50+ song archive chock full of chestnuts like "Runaway," "Rawhide," and "Love Shack." Send in your requests now.
posted by marxchivist on Apr 15, 2005 - 7 comments

Back In Black, Bold, Semibold, Roman, and Light: Ever wanted to write your name in the font The Scorpions used? Or make your wedding announcements in the AC/DC font? Maybe you'd like to create nametags with the official Ozzy font? Here are all the rock fonts you'll ever need, all for free.
posted by fandango_matt on Feb 16, 2005 - 18 comments

The ten most accurately rated artists in rock history! According to SPIN, at least.
posted by scottq on Dec 15, 2004 - 131 comments

Rock and Roll Part 2 Often associated with the glam rock likes of T-Rex, Gary Glitter, and Sweet, the 6/8 schaffel beat (German for shuffle) is now adding a teutonic swagger to minimal techno. DJ and blogger Philip Sherburne puts together this excellent mix (92megs).
posted by dydecker on Aug 16, 2004 - 14 comments

Rolling Stone's 500 greatest albums. Not a bad list at all, but I'm sure that some of us will find something they missed ...
posted by pyramid termite on Nov 21, 2003 - 67 comments

So You Think You Know All About Rock Music, Do You? Well, try Rough Music's Rock Challenge quiz. (Click on the top left-hand corner, where it says "Test Your Rock Knowledge", include nom-de-plume and imaginary e-mail addy - with spaces even - and prepare to ransack that befuddled memory of yours.). There's additional fun to be had by betting on each question. I loved it! Be warned, though: if you're any good, it's a great time-waster! P.S. The site itself isn't half-bad either. (Via LinkFilter.)
posted by MiguelCardoso on Oct 15, 2003 - 24 comments

Do you have to be black to possess that elusive quality known as "soul"? Soul Music's New Face: 16, Blond And British. Joss Stone, the 16 year-old winner of the BBC TV talent show Star for A Night, traveled to Miami to work on songs for a pop album. Instead, she hooked up with a group of gifted but long-overlooked musicians who were among the prime movers and shapers of "The Miami Sound" of the Seventies: Betty Wright ("Clean Up Woman"), Timmy Thomas ("Why Can't We Live Together"), Latimore ("Let's Straighten It Out") and Little Beaver ("Party Down"). Some of them had not been in the studio for years; Little Beaver was working for Amtrak and Timmy Thomas was a college administrator when they got the call. Together they recorded her first album, The Soul Sessions, in only four days. Listen on All Songs Considered or download full mp3 versions of the first 2 songs at Amazon.
posted by probablysteve on Oct 14, 2003 - 46 comments

Sam Phillips dies. [More inside.]
posted by timeistight on Jul 31, 2003 - 14 comments

Greendale. For his recent tour, Neil Young is staying true to form and surprising the hell out of people by performing his new multimedia-rock-opera-dvd-epic-type-thing in its entirety and yelling at the increasingly unruly audience who came to hear his classics. Although a project of this magnitude has long been the domain of wonderfully, unashamedly pompous old bands in the 70's, I find myself rather intrieged. Am I alone in welcoming this kind of concert surprise?
posted by ghastlyfop on Jul 3, 2003 - 47 comments

I wish Elvis had lived long enough to record La Vida Loca... but since he did not, I have to content myself with "Kingtinued", a CD of modern, largely A.E.D. (After Elvis' Death) tunes recorded in the style of the large one. Only the highest quality material was selected for the CD, to be sure.
posted by jonson on Apr 17, 2003 - 13 comments

Yesterday's post about Buddy Holly, spurred me to look deeper into the pop charts back when American Pie was in the top 40. I was fairly amazed at the list of songs charting that week. We've got Horse With No Name, Heart of Gold, Mother and Child Reunion with artists like Harry Chapin, Roberta Flack and Nilsson. Sure, there's some pop pabulum, but I was blown away at the litany of performers whose very personal songs, and not very pop themes, were all be charting together. When compared to today's chart, it makes you wonder - what happened to the pop performer as an artist? Is there room for a unique artistic voice in today's pop?
posted by pejamo on Feb 4, 2003 - 36 comments

The Day the Music Died ...It was February 3, 1959 that Buddy Holley, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper were killed in a plane crash. You need look no further to find one of the true icons of rock and roll than Buddy Holley. Originally scheduled to fly, Waylon Jennings gave his seat to an ailing Big Bopper. When Holly learned that Jennings wasn't going to fly, he said, "Well, I hope your old bus freezes up." Jennings responded, "Well, I hope your plane crashes." This friendly banter of friends would haunt Jennings for years. And can anyone really decipher Don McLeans' "American Pie"? More.
posted by Mack Twain on Feb 3, 2003 - 23 comments