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. [more inside]
posted by madamjujujive on Jun 20, 2008 - 21 comments

Sounds of America is a new monthly streaming audio program, a collaboration between the National Museum of American History and Smithsonian Global Sound. Up now are 3 episodes: African-American music in New Orleans, Women in American Music, and Freedom Songs of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement.
posted by Miko on Apr 2, 2008 - 12 comments

From Lorrie & Larry Collins - Mercy (1958)
HERSTORY is a YouTube playlist that details the history of women in Rock and Soul music over the course of 50 songs from 1958 to 1981.
To LiLiPUT - Eisiger (1981) [more inside]
posted by carsonb on Sep 25, 2007 - 16 comments

The Rhythm & Blues Review is a one+ hour Google video clip of a 1955 Apollo show featuring Lionel Hampton, Sarah Vaughn, Count Basie, Nat King Cole, Cab Calloway -- and at 1.05, Miss Rhythm herself, blues diva Ruth Brown singing her signature song, Teardrops From My Eyes. Ruth Brown sadly passed away on Friday. [More on Ruth Brown]
posted by madamjujujive on Nov 19, 2006 - 15 comments

Hormone rock "Rock with the cock taken out and it's what a lot of women want to listen to right now"
posted by johnny7 on Apr 11, 2006 - 62 comments

In 1975, over 4 million people attended the funeral of Um Khaltoum who was the dignified voice of female Arabic music. Flash forward thirty years, and the times, they are a-changin'. Unsurprisingly, some consider Nancy an unsuitable role model. Meanwhile, Arab youth are being asked the crucial question, Coke or Pepsi? (Comments more serious than mine appreciated)
posted by IndigoJones on Nov 12, 2005 - 20 comments

Women I grew up worshipping: Penelope Houston, Poly Styrene, Exene, Tina Weymouth. (God knows I'm forgetting a few.) The distaff side of punk and, uh, new wave, at their most lyrical, outraged, and articulate.
posted by adamgreenfield on Oct 3, 2004 - 27 comments

Women Rockin' 4 Women 2002 Festival. THIS IS BIG. Over twenty talented women. Eight female fronted bands. Nine solo female artists. Third annual event. Two sound stages. One venue. One night. Benefitting shelters for victims of domestic violence. More estrogen in one place than you can shake a stick at. You're not busy on September 28th, are ya? Granted, it might be a bit of a commute for some, but... Heaven's gonna touch Earth.
posted by ZachsMind on Aug 30, 2002 - 33 comments

Women Rockin' 4 Women 2001 Festival - If you don't live in Dallas Texas USA, you have two days to get here. If you do live in the Lone Star state, you don't want to miss this. Five Clubs. Over 25 beautiful, talented, guitar-carrying women. One night. Proceeds for this benefit go towards helping the victims of domestic violence. We have great music every weekend in Deep Ellum, but this event's gonna be heaven.
posted by ZachsMind on May 17, 2001 - 8 comments