Friday, December 11, 2009

Jeff Buckley

Backstage somewhere with Paul McCartney. Jeff put out one amazing album (Grace) before he drowned in the Wolf River. Also one of the few musicians to do a credible cover of a Leonard Cohen song.

Monday, December 07, 2009

Sunday, December 06, 2009

Jack Nitzsche

Jack Nitzsche (1937-2001) produced and/or arranged gazillions of artists throughout his 63 years. The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Captain Beefheart, Doris Day, the list is nearly endless. Here's his arrangement of the Sonny Bono-penned hit "Needles and Pins".

Monday, November 30, 2009

Bo Diddley

He's a man. Clips from "The Big TNT Show" (1966) and Ed Sullivan (1955). That's a very unusual dance the gals are doing in the second number from the Big TNT Show.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

The Kinks

Here they are performing my favorite Kinks song "See My Friends".

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Bill Haley

There doesn't seem to be too many clips of Bill Haley and the Comets playing live in circulation. Too bad, they were a hot neo-rock-a-billy band. Here's one though, courtesy of good ol' Ed Sullivan.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Talking Heads

Here's Dave and the gang playing the old chestnut "Psycho Killer".

Monday, November 09, 2009

Sam and Dave

Ca. 1967. Listen to their great version of "Soothe Me" from the Stax-Volt Scandanavian tour in '67. Booker T and the MGs and the Mar-Keys are the back-up musicians.

Sunday, November 08, 2009

Chuck Berry

Everybody has a favorite Chuck Berry song. Mine is "Promised Land".
"The 'Hound broke down and left us all stranded in downtown Birmingham". That's poetry!

Saturday, November 07, 2009

The Yardbirds

Ca. 1967-8 line-up consisted of (l-r): Jimmy Page, Jim McCarty, Keith Relf and Paul Samwell-Smith. Here's the group doing a rip-snorting version of "Over, Under, Sideways, Down".

Friday, November 06, 2009

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

The Seeds

This clip of their appearance on "The Mothers-in-Law" TV show may be the greatest rock video of all time. From 1966.

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

The Walker Bothers

Scott (left) and Gary (right) Walker weren't really brothers. They were friends from California who decided to go to England in the early '60s and try to jump on the Brit-Pop bandwagon. They succeeded, and Scott Walker has since become a cult fave. Their early songs were standard-issue covers, but they later scored with songs featuring Scott's gorgeous baritone vocals.

Monday, November 02, 2009

Otis Blackwell

Composer of "Don't Be Cruel", "All Shook Up", "Great Balls of Fire" and many others, I can't find any performances by Blackwell out on the Internets, but here's a version of his song "Return to Sender".

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Kate Bush

"Hounds of Love" is a great album. I never realized that she was inspired by the 1957 film "Night of the Demon", even though I knew there was some old movie dialog in the HoL track. Here's a pretty nice mash-up.



Halloween 2009

Halloween is always a busy time around here. Carving pumpkins (my favorite part), giving out treats to the neighborhood kids (after sampling the candy for purity), and watching some Halloween classics (The Exorcist and The Ghost Goes Gear). Happy Halloween!


Friday, October 30, 2009

Mike Bloomfield

There's not much live footage of this seminal 1960s rock-blues guitarist. Here's "Messin' With the Kid", which looks like it was filmed using a 16mm camera aimed right at the TV!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Terry Reid

Supposedly Terry Reid was Jimmy Page's first choice for vocalist in Led Zepplin.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Zal Yanovsky

Lead guitarist for the Lovin' Spoonful, he was the spark-plug for the band as evidenced in this clip from "The Big TNT Show" (1966).

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

John Coltrane

I'm not a huge jazz fan, but I can listen to Miles Davis or John Coltrane anytime. Coltrane had a crack band when he performed "My Favorite Things" in 1961.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Tim Buckley

There's plenty of good clips of Tim Buckley on YouTube, like this version of Fred Neil's "Dolphins", but I'd never seen this one of him performing "Pleasant Street" before.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Smokey Robinson

One of the greatest songwriters on the 1960s and '70s, he was also an incredibly soulful singer.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Jim Morrison

An out-take from the "Morrison Hotel" cover shoot, 1969.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Gillian Welch

One of the finest singer-songwriters in America.
"My First Lover" and "I Wanna Sing That Rock and Roll" with her perfect foil, David Rawlings.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

This picture is probably from the '50s. She not only sang amazing gospel, but she could really rock the guitar. Take a look at "Up Above My Head" for proof.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Saturday, October 17, 2009

David Bowie

From 1975. I can't quite read the label on the guitar. Hagstrom maybe?


Here he is playing it on "The Midnight Special" in '75:

Friday, October 16, 2009

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

The Who

From 1967. Looks like Keith walked into a door...

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Son House

Backstage, Newport Folk Festival, 1964.

Onstage, undated photo.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Columbus Day Special

Two pictures today:

Frank Sinatra with Dean Martin.

Nancy Sinatra.




Sunday, October 11, 2009

Saturday, October 10, 2009

The Stanley Brothers

Ca. 1964. Ralph on banjo, Carter on guitar.

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Musical People

Pictures of people who make music.
Unknown street musician, Macon, Georgia - 1973