The man behind the classic sound of Al Green, Memphis producer and soulmeister supreme
Willie Mitchell has
passed on. Many of the Al Green sides are legendary, of course, and very well known (as is the fantastic "I Can't Stand the Rain, by Ann Peebles), but be sure and head over to the excellent
Funky 16 Corners where you can hear three of his lesser-known but
deeply grooving productions. Fat stuff. So long, Willie Mitchell, and thanks for the wonderful music.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Jan 6, 2010 -
24 comments
You'd be forgiven for thinking that the iconic American folk song
The Wabash Cannonball was written as a tribute to an actual train, but in fact, in an interesting case of life-imitates-art, the actual train name was inspired by the song. The Lake Erie, Wabash, and St. Louis Railroad Company was formed in 1852, but there was no train called the “Cannonball” when the song was first sung late in the 19th century. There
have been
many,
many,
many wonderful versions through the years, but I think
Roy Acuff pretty much
owns it, wouldn't you say?
[NOTE: See hoverovers for link descriptions] [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Jun 7, 2008 -
20 comments
Kid Bailey was a Mississippi Delta bluesman blessed with the kind of slightly gravel-tinged voice that emanates authority. His recording career was a very short one, however, consisting of
precisely one day, and yielding
precisely two songs. Very little is known about Bailey himself, and the identity of the 2nd accompanying guitarist on his only known recording remains a mystery, though there has been some
some speculation. I've been doing a little speculating myself, regarding some of Bailey's lyrics, and any of you blues linguists who might want to help fill in the blanks, please see the [more inside].
[more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Feb 21, 2008 -
16 comments
There's a whole lotta Mefiers interested in the upcoming
Led Zeppelin reunion, and it got me to thinking, let's pay a little visit to the Poet Laureate of the blues,
Mr. Willie Dixon. After all, without him, there wouldn't have been a
Whole Lotta Love, or a
Bring It On Home, or... hell, there might not have been any Zep
at all... His music has been
interpreted and
reinterpreted by an
astonishing number of
musicians. The man wrote a
whole lotta songs. Oh, and, he played a little bit of
bass, too. He was a whole lotta
great.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Sep 13, 2007 -
28 comments
Adventure - based on the classic text game of the
same name - was the first game ever to contain an easter egg.
It seems laughably primitive these days, but when it first hit shelves, Adventure was a programming masterpiece. The
text version of Adventure (by Willie Crowther and Don Woods) required hundreds of KB and a mainframe computer to operate, so much that Atari brass told
Warren Robinett not to even bother with a 2600 version.
He did anyway, and the results are near legendary. The 2600 version of Adventure went on to sell over a million copies at $25 a pop. For his effort Robinett recieved absolutely nothing beyond his $22,000/year salary.
Play the 2600 Adventure. (Flash) If you're one of those who requires some eye candy, why not download the
Quake 3 Adventure Map, instead?
posted by absalom
on Jan 7, 2005 -
41 comments
Weenies galore: Pre-internet, it was used to drop your pants and sit down in the office photocopier. Now you can
scan your nob and display it proudly to the rest of the world. Now I guess this is what they really meant about the Internet bringing great progress to the world...
(Disclaimer: kids probably shouldn't see this)
posted by betobeto
on Apr 19, 2001 -
29 comments