William Shatner Sings Nearly Blasphemous Version of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” (1968)

in Music | April 10th, 2013

On a lazy summer weekend last year, we asked for a little help from our friends. We asked: “What are the worst Beatles’ covers you’ve ever heard — ones so bad, they’re good?” And boy did you deliver. You rattled off 15 cringe-inducing covers, including Bill Cosby singing “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band;” Sean Connery talking his way through “In My Life;” Wing screeching “I Wanna Hold Your Hand;” Tiny Tim doing damage to “Nowhere Man;” and much more. Looking back, I’m still personally drawn (in a it’s-so-cheesy-it’s-great kind of way) to William Shatner’s version of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” Riding high on his Star Trek fame, Shatner recorded the song for his first music album, The Transformed Man, a 1968 concept album that juxtaposed classic literature with modern pop lyrics. For example, he put lines from Cyrano de Bergerac next to Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man.” Years later, in a 2001 interview, Paul McCartney laughingly gave props to Shatner’s performance.

When you’re done with this piece of work, I’d encourage to visit The 15 Worst Covers of Beatles Songs.

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Artist Shepard Fairey Curates His Favorite YouTube Videos

in Art, Music | April 10th, 2013

In a video for MOCA, the “defining museum of contemporary art” in Los Angeles, Shepard Fairey, the graphic designer and illustrator best known for the Obama Hope poster of 2008, spent a few minutes rapping about the YouTube videos that have inspired him, both personally and professionally. He starts with one we’ve featured here before — Saul Bass’ Pitch for the Redesign of Ma Bell’s Logo. Read all about that fascinating 1969 project here.

Next up comes the 1981 music video for Blondie’s “Rapture” — momentous because it was the first rap video ever aired on MTV and because it features an appearance by graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, who stepped in for Grandmaster Flash when he inexplicably went MIA.

Now let’s roll George Clinton’s video for “Atomic Dog” (1982), an inspiration to Fairey because it layers 1980s-video game imagery on top of prison scenes, creating a “template for what a lot of gangster rappers would embrace later.” Call it the ur-gangsta rap video.

Finally, Shepard refers to videos by The Sex Pistols, the English punk band formed in 1975. But when it comes to selecting a particular clip, he leaves us hanging. So, given that curating YouTube videos is our everyday gig, hope you don’t mind if we lay some “God Save the Queen” on you. Enjoy.

via Boing Boing

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The Rolling Stones Live in Hyde Park, 1969

in Film, Music | April 9th, 2013

As the Rolling Stones gear up for their first full tour in five years, we take you back to a more innocent time, when the band was young and the tickets were not $500 each.

The year was 1969. The hippie counterculture was still in bloom, and the Stones were at a moment of transition. The band was in the process of finishing its Let it Bleed album at Olympic Studios in London without founder and multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones, who was asked to leave the group in early June because of his escalating drug problem and increasingly difficult personality. The Stones replaced Jones with the talented guitarist Mick Taylor. Eager to get rolling again, the group asked a promoter to organize a free music festival in Hyde Park, with the Stones at the top of the bill.

On July 5, 1969, a crowd of between 250,000 and 500,000 people gathered for the concert. Only three nights earlier, Brian Jones was found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool. In his honor, Mick Jagger started the Hyde Park concert by reading a passage from Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Adonais: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats.” The Stones then released thousands of white butterflies and launched into a raw set that included both classics and rarities:

“I’m Yours & I’m Hers”
“Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
“Mercy Mercy”
“Down Home Girl”
“Stray Cat Blues”
“No Expectations”
“I’m Free”
“Loving Cup”
“Love in Vain”
“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
“Honky Tonk Women”
“Midnight Rambler”
“Street Fighting Man”
“Sympathy for the Devil”

The concert was documented by filmmakers Leslie Woodhead and Jo Durden-Smith for Granada Television and was later released on DVD as The Stones in the Park. You can watch the complete film above, although the songs will not appear in the same order as in the concert. It is a fascinating and enjoyable record of one of the most notable concerts the Stones ever gave.

This coming July 6, exactly 44 years and a day after the 1969 concert, the Stones will return to Hyde Park for another concert. This time around it won’t be free. And oh yes: The concert will be sponsored by Barclaycard, from the bank with the trusty slogan, “Fluent in Finance.”

The Rolling Stones Sing the Beatles’ “Eight Days a Week” in a Hotel Room (1965)

The Rolling Stones First Played 50 Years Ago; Watch Them Explode Into Fame Shortly Thereafter

by Mike Springer | Permalink | Make a Comment ( 4 ) |

The World According to John Coltrane: His Life & Music Revealed in Heartfelt 1990 Documentary

in Film, Music | April 8th, 2013

In his short life, John Coltrane continually pushed the boundaries of music. From swing to bebop to hard bop to free jazz, Coltrane was a restless seeker of new sounds. Inspired by the hypnotic, trance-inducing traditional music of North Africa and Asia, Coltrane created a new kind of music that fused jazz and Eastern spirituality.

The World According to John Coltrane tells the story of Coltrane’s quest, from his childhood in a deeply religious household in North Carolina to his early days playing saxophone in the Navy, to his apprenticeship with Miles Davis in the 1950s and his emergence as a bandleader and innovator in the 1960s. Most of the one-hour film is devoted to Coltrane’s later period, when he came into his own. The film is not a biography, in the traditional sense. There is very little about Coltrane’s personal life — his marriages, children, drug problems and declining health. Director Robert Palmer focuses instead on Coltrane’s journey as a musician.

The World According to John Coltrane was made in 1990, and includes interviews with Coltrane’s second wife, pianist Alice Coltrane, and a number of other musicians who knew Coltrane and played with him, including saxophonist Wayne Shorter, drummer Rashied Ali and Pianist Tommy Flanagan. It provides some excellent insights into one of the 20th century’s greatest musicians.

via metafilter

John Coltrane Plays Only Live Performance of A Love Supreme

John Coltrane: Three Great European Performances, 1960, 1961 and 1965

by Mike Springer | Permalink | Make a Comment ( 1 ) |

David Byrne Discusses Here Lies Love, His Disco Musical with Fatboy Slim on the Life of Imelda Marcos

in Music, Theatre | April 8th, 2013

In Imelda Marcos, widow of controversial former president of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos, the twentieth century had one of its most colorful first ladies. Or at least, to make the most obvious possible joke, it had its first lady with the most colorful collection of shoes. In fact, given her country’s history of poverty and corruption, Marcos’ reportedly vast and ostentatious wardrobe made her a controversial figure in herself. Yet she has never seemed wholly unconcerned with her legacy, and in fact remains a member of the Philippine House of Representatives today. She has wished aloud that her tombstone read, simply, “Here lies love,” and that epitaph gives a title to the disco musical that Talking Heads mastermind David Byrne and DJ/nineties electronic phenomenon Fatboy Slim have crafted to tell the story of Marcos’ life. “Probably the first thing you need to know,” writes Allan Kozinn in the New York Times, “is that although it is about Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines, her famous collection of shoes is neither mentioned nor shown.” At the top of the post, you can watch a short clip of Byrne discussing the inspirations for and long gestation process of Here Lies Love, not to mention his efforts to break down the audience’s preconceptions, shoe-related and otherwise.

“Imelda, who was this flamboyant, notorious kind of person on the scene, loved going to discos,” he says. “She loved going to Studio 54. She turned the top floor of the palace in Manila into a club. She had a mirror ball installed in her New York townhouse. [ … ] Maybe there’s a connection between the euphoria you feel in a dance club and the euphoria a person in power has. ” Just above, you can listen to the musical’s title number. Despite having several times listened to and enjoyed the entire Here Lies Love album, I understand it can’t compare to the live version, because the live version makes you dance — literally. Kozinn describes Byrne’s latest venue as “transformed into an ’80s-style disco, and the audience is meant to stand, mill around or, if the spirit moves, dance through the entire 85-minute show.” Byrne has also written about the development of Here Lies Love on his diary, and promisingly. “The staging and the concept work,” he assures his fans. “It works so well that I sort of cried at every performance. [ … ] In the end, I’d say it’s the best thing I’ve done since the Stop Making Sense tour—which I guess is saying something.”

Listen to the New David Byrne/St. Vincent Album, Love This Giant

How David Byrne and Brian Eno Make Music Together: A Short Documentary

Colin Marshall hosts and produces Notebook on Cities and Culture and writes essays on literature, film, cities, Asia, and aesthetics. He’s at work on a book about Los Angeles, A Los Angeles Primer. Follow him on Twitter at @colinmarshall.

by Colin Marshall | Permalink | Make a Comment ( None ) |

History of Rock: New MOOC Presents the Music of Elvis, Dylan, Beatles, Stones, Hendrix & More

in MOOCs, Music | April 8th, 2013

Here’s something I can get pretty jazzed about. Er, maybe that’s not quite the right verb. But close enough.…

On May 13, the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester will launch the first of two MOOCs that will trace the history of rock music. Taught by John Covach, a professor of music theory, The History of Rock, Part One will revisit the 1950s and 1960s, the halcyon days of rock ’n’ roll, which gave us the music of Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Phil Spector, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, and other bands. The course will focus on the music itself, the cultural context from which rock emerged, and how changes in the music business and music technology shaped this new musical form. The second course (scheduled to start on July 8) will move forward to the 1970, 80s and 90s and cover the music of Led Zeppelin, the Allman Brothers, Carole King, Bob Marley, the Sex Pistols, Donna Summer, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, Metallica, Run-DMC, Nirvana, and other artists. Students who successfully complete the course will receive a “Statement of Accomplishment” signed by the instructor.

Other music courses listed in our collection of 300 Free MOOCs from Great Universities include Introduction to Guitar and Introduction to Improvisation. They’re both created by the Berklee College of Music and start on April 22.

Related Content:

A History of Rock ‘n’ Roll in 100 Riffs

The History of Punk Rock

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Bob Dylan and Van Morrison Sing ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,’ 1998

in Music | April 5th, 2013

Recently we posted a remarkable pair of videos featuring Bob Dylan and Van Morrison singing together on a hilltop in Athens. Today we’re back with another rare duet from the legendary singer-songwriters, this one recorded nine years after the jam session in Greece.

The performance took place on June 24, 1998 at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England. Dylan was on a world tour to support his Time Out of Mind album, which was released the previous fall. Morrison shared the bill at some parts of the tour, including shows in North America, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and France. Morrison usually opened for Dylan, but on at least two occasions Morrison closed the show: in his native Belfast, and in Birmingham.

Near the end of Dylan’s Birmingham set, the audience was surprised when Morrison walked onstage in his sunglasses and pork pie hat. The two sang a duet of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” with Dylan playing acoustic guitar and Morrison the harmonica. It was a rare event: With only a couple of brief exceptions earlier in the tour, the two superstars kept their appearances separate. Fortunately, someone with a video camera was there to capture the moment.

h/t Paul Jones

Bob Dylan and The Grateful Dead Rehearse Together in Summer 1987. Listen to 74 Tracks.

Two Legends Together: A Young Bob Dylan Talks and Plays on The Studs Terkel Program, 1963

by Mike Springer | Permalink | Make a Comment ( 8 ) |

David Bowie Releases 36 Music Videos of His Classic Songs from the 1970s and 1980s

in Music | April 3rd, 2013

Last month, David Bowie released The Next Day, his first new album in a decade. That’s a long time to go without an album — long enough that fans could perhaps use a refresher, a reminder of why they should splurge for the new material. So, in conjunction with the release of The Next Day, Bowie has opened the vaults and put online a wonderful set of videos recorded during his golden years. It’s a visual and aural treat. Today, I’ve pulled together my personal favorites, all from the 1970s. That’s how I roll. But, if you’re an 80s Bowie fan, there’s something there for you too. Fashion, Ashes to Ashes, China Girl, a duet with Mick Jagger recorded for Live Aid in 85 — they’re all included in the collection of 36 videos.

Now watch a few of these clips — we’re starting you off above with “Life on Mars?” — and then ask yourself: Are you ready to download The Next Day?

Space Oddity (1972)