Give me your music, your art, your huddled masses of words and rhythms, yearning to breathe free.
Give me your music, your art, your huddled masses of words and rhythms, yearning to breathe free.
the Hip Quotient
Give me your music, your art, your huddled masses of words and rhythms, yearning to breathe free.
On this 45th Earth Day I can't think of a better tune to listen to than "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)," a song written and performed by the great Marvin Gaye. I've always been moved by the song's haunting melody and the vivid images expressed in its lyrics. Where did all the blue skies go? Poison is the wind that…
In the early 1960s, in a foggy land far from the steamy Mississippi Delta, there lived a small band of missionaries who spread the gospel of American blues music to British artists seeking spiritual enlightenment beyond the pulpit of mindless pop and traditional jazz. Alexis Korner, born on this date in 1928, was among those prophets. He formed England's first amplified R&B/blues band, Blues Incorporated, with fellow musician Cyril Davies in 1961. Band members included now legendary performers such as drummer Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones, keyboardist Graham Bond, singer Long John Baldry, and singer/guitarist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker of Cream.
Most recording artists in the 1960s were singing about lovin' your brothers and sisters regardless of the color of their skin, but few practiced that ethos better than Sly Stone, who assembled the first - and one of the few - interracial, dual-gender rock bands of the era: the iconic Sly and the Family Stone. They perfectly summed up the generation's quest for total acceptance with their number one hit, "Everyday People," a song that produced one of the most popular catchphrases to emerge from rock culture: "different strokes for different folks." When it came to funkadelic rock and soul, Sly did it first and he did it best. Here's a tribute to him on his 72nd birthday.
An important event on this date kicked off what would become an indispensable element of rock-n-roll music for time immemorial. On March 2, 1955, legendary R&B master Bo Diddley entered a Universal recording studio in Chicago and burned onto vinyl his song "Bo Diddley." With it's distinctive five-accent rhythm beat, it launched a thousand rock songs. The sound sprang from traditional African clave rhythms and gave way to a style known as "hambone" - a technique of making music by slapping one's arms, legs, cheeks and chest while singing simple rhyming songs. Say the phrase, "shave and a HAIR CUT…TWO BITS" and you get a simple idea of the rhythm. Lots of Diddley-based tunes are obvious, like "Willy and the Hand Jive" and Bo's own "Who Do You Love?" But you may not realize just how many songs have been fueled by that distinctive beat. No rocker can resist it! Here's a collection of my favorite Bo Babies. Turn your speakers up loud and go crazy, man, crazy!
The name Stax Records is synonymous with soul music. But did you know that the legendary label of black artists like Otis Redding, Carla Thomas, Wilson Pickett, and Isaac Hayes was co-founded by a white woman who began her career as a school teacher? In the late 1950s, Estelle Axton began investing in Satellite Records, a small label started by her brother Jim Stewart, a former bank clerk. Satellite evolved into Stax, a premiere recording studio specializing in soul, R&B, funk, jazz, and gospel music. Said Booker T. Jones of the M.G.s, "I doubt there would have been a Stax Records without Estelle Axton." The woman known as "Lady A" marketed the business, ran the Stax record shop, helped choose and develop the label's artists, and provided inspiration, advice, and encouragement to writers and musicians.