Chicago -
With An Assist From The Old Town School Of Folk Music
“For this Monday National Spotlight, the Kennedy Center join[ed] forces with Chicago’s The Hideout + Old Town School of Folk Music to present Jon Langford, founding member of legendary British punk rock band the Mekons, and the Dill Costa Quartet, who merge Brazilian popular music with jazz.”
Posted on May 26, 2020
By Research and Markets
The “Music Recording Industry – Global Market Trajectory & Analytics” report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering.
The Music Recording Industry market worldwide is projected to grow by US$37.1 Billion, driven by a compounded growth of 7.5%.
Posted on May 21, 2020
By Steve Rhodes
“Wild and outrageous don’t begin to describe Little Richard. He hit American pop like a fireball in the mid-1950s, a hopped-up emissary from cultures that mainstream America barely knew, drawing on the sacred and the profane, the spiritual and the carnal. He had deep experience in the sanctified church and in the chitlin’ circuit of African-American clubs and theaters, along with drag shows, strip joints and, even in the 20th century, minstrel shows,” Jon Pareles writes for the New York Times.
“He had a voice that could match the grit of any soul shouter ever, along with an androgynous, exultant falsetto scream that pushed it into overdrive. He plowed across the piano with a titanic gospel-and-boogie left hand and a right hand that hammered giant chords and then gleefully splintered them.
“He had the stage savvy of a longtime trouper, built by a decade of performing before he recorded ‘Tutti Frutti.’ He had a spectacular presence in every public appearance: eye-popping outfits, hip-shaking bawdiness, sly banter and a wild-eyed unpredictability that was fully under his control. He invented a larger-than-life role for himself and inhabited it whenever a camera or audience could see him.”
He was, as many have recounted, one of the architects of rock ‘n’ roll, along with Chuck Berry and Fats Domino.
Little Richard made a handful of appearances in the Beachwood over the last decade – none of them performing per se, and sometimes in sideways references, but those appearances demonstrate his wide and deep influence. Let’s take a look.
Posted on May 11, 2020
By Steve Rhodes
I’m about to look at a list of Pink Floyd’s greatest 50 songs. I made a Top 10 list (quickly) plus one before I look.
1. Wish You Were Here
2. Free Four
3. Mother
4. The Gunner’s Dream
5. Us and Them
Posted on April 28, 2020
The 12th Annual Celebration Comes From Inside Their Chicago Lair
Featuring Fred Armisen, Jason Narducy, Jon Langford, Andre Vasquez, Cadien Lake James, Shannon Shaw, realbigsilky, Brian Hurd, Max Hersh, Spacebones, Emily Rose, Bev Rage & the Drinks, Monarchy Over Monday, Neptunes Core and, of course, White Mystery.
Posted on April 23, 2020
By Burls Art via YouTube
Damn cool. Plus, sale proceeds will go to Feeding America’s Coronavirus Response Fund. Bid here.
Posted on April 15, 2020
By The Chicago Music Exchange
“Outfitted with handpicked specs like an oval, C-shape, Indian rosewood neck with 9.5-inch radius for a comfortable reinterpretation of this historic instrument.”
Posted on April 13, 2020
By Steve Rhodes
Geez, I just did a post like this for Bill Withers. The loss of John Prine hurts even more – not that there’s a sliding scale.
Like so many others, I was a fan. I can’t say I was a huge fan, though that’s not because there was anything I didn’t like about his work. I just never collected his entire discography; only a few CDs and songs. Now I’m motivated to go back and see what I’ve missed.
Posted on April 9, 2020
By Steve Rhodes
“Bill Withers, a onetime Navy aircraft mechanic who, after teaching himself to play the guitar, wrote some of the most memorable and often-covered songs of the 1970s, including ‘Lean on Me,’ ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ and ‘Use Me,’ died on Monday in Los Angeles. He was 81,” the New York Times reports.”
A onetime Navy aircraft mechanic, ha ha; from the Washington Post: “In 1971, even as his breakthrough hit, ‘Ain’t No Sunshine,’ soared to the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, Bill Withers had a backup plan – he was still employed at an aircraft parts company where he made toilets for 747s.”
Back to the Times:
His death, at a hospital, was announced by his family. His son, Todd, said Mr. Withers had had heart problems.
Mr. Withers, who had an evocative, gritty R&B voice that could embody loss or hope, was in his 30s when he released his first album, “Just as I Am,” in 1971. It included “Ain’t No Sunshine,” a mournful lament (“Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone/And she’s always gone too long/Anytime she goes away”) that cracked the Billboard Top 10.
Other hits followed, perhaps none better known than “Lean on Me,” an anthem of friendship and support that hit No. 1 in 1972 and has been repurposed countless times by a variety of artists.
Withers appeared in the Beachwood a few times over the years. Let’s take a look.
Posted on April 4, 2020
By Pvnch on The Earport via YouTube
With Queenz Flip, Young Chop and Jojo Capone.
Posted on March 31, 2020
