Category Archives: Music

“In our haste, the lump of hash got away and slipped down the sink drainpipe. Panic!”: What happened when Jimi Hendrix created havoc and got banned by The BBC: “On January 2 1969, the Jimi Hendrix Experience flew into London … Continue reading →

“After an absence of several years, playing mostly juke joints in the south, Nighthawk returned to Chicago and attempted to reestablish himself on the local blues scene. Competition was tough for Nighthawk who didn’t play in the popular styles of … Continue reading →

Lou Harrison playing one of his homemade instruments. “Can you ever have too much gamelan? Not with Lou. Lou Harrison’s La Koro Sutro isn’t exactly what you expect. Known for his wonderfully imaginative blend of Asian and Baroque styles, the … Continue reading →

“Mention Southern Soul, and there are certain record labels that spring to mind, including Stax, Hi Records and Fame Records. It’s no exaggeration to say that these three labels are synonymous with Southern Soul. Together they released some of the … Continue reading →

“In the 1950’s and ’60’s, one of the most significant and successful labels offering blues as a strong part of its catalog was run by Leonard and Phil Chess. As Polish immigrants who landed on these shores in 1922, the … Continue reading →

“… With both sets intended to act as companion pieces to each other, there is much for both the casual fan and serious archivist to enjoy. However, the tightened theme of ‘Sumer is Icumen In’ lends it a coherence occasionally … Continue reading →

“Silver Apples were an American electronic rock group from New York, active between 1967 and 1970, before reforming in the mid-1990s. It was composed of Simeon (born Simeon Oliver Coxe III, June 4, 1938 – September 8, 2020), who performed … Continue reading →

“One of three simultaneously released, budget-priced Alligator blues compilations (the other two are Crucial Guitar Blues and Crucial Harmonica Blues), Crucial Chicago Blues is a 12-track anthology of the Chicago-based label’s hometown artists. Harp players such as Carey Bell, James … Continue reading →

“The story of Trojan Records, the most iconic British ska/rocksteady/reggae label, is inextricably linked to that of the Jamaican community in Britain. For seven years, the label — alongside very few others — served as the cultural voice for those … Continue reading →

“In the previous article we discussed Prestige Records in 1960 and how the label started to diversify its portfolio of albums with specialty sub labels. Moodsville was geared towards jazz audiences that wanted something easier on the ear than a … Continue reading →

“The Moray Eels Eat the Holy Modal Rounders is the fourth studio album by the New York psychedelic folk band the Holy Modal Rounders, released in 1968 through Elektra Records. Although Peter Stampfel does not regard the album highly, it … Continue reading →

Coxson Dodd “In Jamaican popular culture, a sound system is a group of disc jockeys, engineers and MCs playing ska, rocksteady or reggae music. The sound system is an important part of Jamaican culture and history. The sound system concept first … Continue reading →

“In the Court of the Crimson King (subtitled An Observation by King Crimson) is the debut studio album by English progressive rock band King Crimson, released on 10 October 1969 by Island Records. The album is one of the earliest … Continue reading →

“The Allman Brothers Band is the debut studio album by American rock band the Allman Brothers Band. It was released in the United States by Atco Records‘ subsidiary Capricorn on November 4, 1969, and produced by Adrian Barber. Formed in … Continue reading →

“As far as I was able to dig it out, Big Mama recorded her original version of ‘Ball ‘n’ Chain’, with Edward «Bee» Houston on electric guitar in vintage Chicago-style, as late as January 1968 — curious, considering that, as … Continue reading →

“John Coltrane recorded the music for a staggering eight albums in just one year–1958. They were released over the course of the next eight years by Prestige Records, a New York label founded by Bob Weinstock in 1949. In tribute to and … Continue reading →

Counting To Boogaloo: Willie Bobo’s ‘Uno Dos Tres 1•2•3’ “… In the 1960s, albums comprised either entirely of covers or otherwise largely populated by them ran rampant, and Spanish Harlemite Willie Bobo went with the flow. For the Puerto Rican … Continue reading →

Astrud Gilberto performing with Stan Getz. “Bossa nova (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈbɔsɐ ˈnɔvɐ]) is a relaxed style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a ‘different beat’ that altered … Continue reading →

“Band of Gypsys is a live album by Jimi Hendrix and the first without his original group, the Jimi Hendrix Experience. It was recorded on January 1, 1970, at the Fillmore East in New York City with Billy Cox on … Continue reading →

“… Today marks 22 years since musical icon, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, passed on. Well known for pioneering the Afrobeat genre, especially with his provocative music, Fela was a multi-instrumentalist, humans rights activist, political maverick, and revolutionary who was never afraid … Continue reading →

“One of the quiet revelations of ‘Meredith Monk: The Recordings’ (ECM New Series) is that Monk herself confides that it was Janis Joplin who set her —and her voice— free. The 13-CD set chronicles the thrust of her career by … Continue reading →

The Police Orchesrta – DR “The Ethiopian Golden Age of Music was an era of Ethiopian music that began around the 1960s to 1970s, until the Dergregime progressively diminished its presence through politically motivated persecutions and retributions against musicians and … Continue reading →

“We live in an age where the consumption of music is increasingly defined and dominated by digital music, and because of that the importance of album covers seems to be diminishing – at least for a generation where streaming individual … Continue reading →

“Most of what you read concerning the Velvet Underground will inevitably note how woefully under-appreciated the group were during its brief lifespan. But the VU were superstars — and not just in the Warholian sense — in certain parts of … Continue reading →

Liberation Music: “What do we remember about Cornelius Cardew? That he was a brilliant avant-garde composer who pioneered free improvisation and led a Scratch Orchestra of musicians and artists; that his father was Michael Cardew, the potter; that he wrote … Continue reading →