In 1967, a young Linda Eastman went to London to photograph the “Swinging Sixties” and snagged exclusive photos of The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. In the midst of it all, she met Paul McCartney, and when the two married in 1969, she had a fixed place within rock ‘n roll’s inner circle.
During the coming decades, she took over 200,000 images. Yes, that means many more photographs of rock stars and artists. But the emphasis also shifted inward, to a new domestic life with Paul and their children — Heather, Mary, Stella, and James. Years later, as Paul prepares to marry again, the photographic work of Linda McCartney (1941–1998) has been published in a 288-page retrospective volume called Linda McCartney: Life in Photographs. It features a forward by Paul and some commentary by Annie Leibovitz. An impressive sampling of Linda McCartney’s work can be previewed on this web site.
Give the piece a listen, especially if you’ve ever considered “Valkyries” too overbearing. The all-piano arrangement does full justice to the music’s power, while also relieving some of its bombast. A definite winner. H/T @brainpicker
Sheerly Avni is a San Francisco-based arts and culture writer. Her work has appeared in Salon, LA Weekly, Mother Jones, and many other publications. You can follow her on twitter at @sheerly.
If you’re looking forward to this week’s release of the Buddy Holly cover album Rave On (and you should be, if only for John Doe’s awesome take on Peggy Sue Got Married), then you’ll definitely get a kick out of the crooner’s first ever known recording. The song is from 1949, and the sound quality isn’t great, but no amount of static can block out the kid’s familiar warble. His voice may not have changed yet, but he’s already Buddy Holly.
We have added this Buddy Holly clip to our collection of 250 Cultural Icons. There you’ll find great writers, dazzling filmmakers and musicians, brilliant philosophers and scientists presented in video and audio.
Sheerly Avni is a San Francisco-based arts and culture writer. Her work has appeared in Salon, LA Weekly, Mother Jones, and many other publications. You can follow her on twitter at @sheerly.
A quicks heads up: If you like Herb Alpert and Engelbert Humperdinck, then this BBC doc is definitely for you. Here’s what you get in 90 minutes:
In-depth documentary investigation into the story of a popular music that is often said to be made to be heard, but not listened to. The film looks at easy listening’s architects and practitioners, its dangers and delights, and the mark it has left on modern life.
From its emergence in the 50s to its heyday in the 60s, through its survival in the 70s and 80s and its revival in the 90s and beyond, the film traces the hidden history of a music that has reflected society every bit as much as pop and rock — just in a more relaxed way.
Invented at the dawn of rock ’n’ roll, easy listening has shadowed pop music and the emerging teenage market since the mid-50s. It is a genre that equally soundtracks our modern age, but perhaps for a rather more ‘mature’ generation and therefore with its own distinct purpose and aesthetic. Contributors include Richard Carpenter, Herb Alpert, Richard Clayderman, Engelbert Humperdinck, Jimmy Webb, Mike Flowers, James Last and others.
Talk about an intimate venue. A group of friends in England have built an unlikely entertainment franchise, filming performances by the musicians they admire–in the backseat of a London taxicab. The project is called “The Black Cab Sessions,” and the method is simple: “One Song. One Take. One Cab.”
It started in 2007 as something of a lark–an improvised collaboration between members of a music promotion company, Hidden Fruit, and a film company, Just So Films–but the project soon took on a life of its own. Musicians responded enthusiastically, embracing the whimsy and challenge of playing in such cramped, unsteady quarters. Now there are performances by about 100 artists on the Black Cab Sessions website. Most of the musicians are young indie acts, but there are some veteran performers as well, including Martha Wainwright, Richard Thompson and Brian Wilson. There are some famous groups, like Weezer, Mumford and Sons, My Morning Jacket and (yes, of course!) Death Cab for Cutie, but many of the most inspired performances are by musicians you might not have heard about.
The music ranges widely–from Delta blues to beatbox, and from hip hop to Paganini. One of the most popular sessions isn’t music at all, in the strictest sense, but a mesmerizing poetry performance by Benjamin Zephaniah. The one rule, according to Black Cab Sessions co-founder Jono Stevens, is that the filmmakers love the artists’ work. “Big or small,” Stevens said in a TV interview, “It really doesn’t matter. It’s about someone we really, really feel passionate about.”
There’s a lot to discover on the Black Cab Sessions website. You can dive right into the collection here, or start by sampling a few of our favorites, including Death Cab for Cutie singing No Sunlight above, and:
Clarence Clemons, the saxophonist who played alongside Bruce Springsteen for four decades, passed away today at 69. The Big Man and his sound will be missed.
Above, a simple mournful reminder of what we’ll be going without: First up, a soulful solo from “Jungleland,” performed in Milwaukee back in March 2008. And then a return to the early days, a youthful performance of “Thunder Road” recorded at the Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ (1978). Clarence takes over at the 6:12 mark.
Ophir Kutiel, aka Kutiman, burst onto the digital scene with The Mother of All Funk Chords in 2009. Now he has resurfaced with a new video. This time, it’s a musical journey through Jerusalem, a mashup that weaves together the sounds of local musicians, creating a visual/aural composition that lets you tap into the unique sound of a city that lives partly in the past, partly in the future, always wavering between optimism and despair.…
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In 1967, a young Linda Eastman went to London to photograph the “Swinging Sixties” and snagged exclusive photos of The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. In the midst of it all, she met Paul McCartney, and when the two married in 1969, she had a fixed place within rock ‘n roll’s inner circle.
