"So, let us not be blind to our differences - but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal." JFK, June 10, 1963.
"The phonograph brought me nearest to a sense of divine creative power than anything I ever witnessed before. It raises the question as to the boundary of the human soul, the dividing line between the finite and the infinite."
Frederick Douglass, 1894
Frederick Douglass with his grandson Jospeh Douglass
Abolitionist Frederick Douglass (1817 - 1895) loved music. In one of his autobiographies, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, he wrote that music provided him with his “first glimmering conception of the dehumanizing character of slavery. I can never get rid of that conception. Those songs still follow me, to deepen my hatred of slavery, and quicken my sympathies for my brethren in bonds.”
Many of his political meetings and speeches ended in song; Douglass leading the crowd with his deep resonant voice. He was particularly fond of his grandson Jospeh Douglass, who played the violin. He promoted Joseph and supported his musical training to the fullest extent possible.
In the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 60s, we saw the importance of song.
Now it's time to rise up again, rise up singing...
The Linda Lindas burst on the scene in recent weeks, and it made us realize there is all kinds of GREAT music out right now by female solo artists and females who front bands, including several new, great ones from artists we first met in the 90s or earlier.
The Linda Lindas "Racist Sexist Boy"
ALBUMS
GarbageNo Gods No Masters. Great new album, listening also to the 2017 single "No Horses".
Soccer Mommy "Kissing In The Rain" from the Dark Nights Death Metal soundtrack, which also includes a Manchester Orchestra song "Never Ending".
OTHER WOMEN WE'RE LISTENING TO:
Waxahatchee, Lana Del Rey, Fiona Apple, Phoebe Bridgers, Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen, Dry Cleaning, Big Thief, Adrianne Lanker, Brittany Howard, Miranda Lambert, Julien Baker, Wye Oak, Vagabon, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Norah Jones, Dry Cleaning, Courtney Barnett, and Marianne Faithfull...
I've been a Marianne Faithfull fan for a long time. I've always loved "As Tears Go By" and Broken English. I met her one time and she was lovely. Just discovered her excellent 2004 collaboration with PJ Harvey Before The Poison. I enjoyed 2018's Negative Capability and this year's She Walks In Beauty, a collection of her performances (with Warren Ellis) of some of her favorite poems, including Lord Byron, Keats, and Shelley.
FROM BILLIE HOLIDAY TO BILLIE EILISH... MORE WOMEN ARTISTS OF NOTE: Billie Holiday, Memphis Minnie, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Mahalia Jackson, Carter Family, Odetta, Sister O.M. Terrell, Lucille Bogan, Aretha Franklin, Elizabeth Cotten, Mavis Staples, Janis Joplin, Sandy Denny, Stevie Nicks, Linda Ronstadt, Laura Nyro, Barbara Dane, Phoebe Snow, Mimi Farina, Judy Collins, Joan Baez, Grace Slick, Joan Jett, Karen O, Sinead O'Connor, M.I.A., Blondie, Patti Smith, The Dead Weather/The Kills, Kim Gordon, Carla Olson, Aimee Mann, PJ Harvey, Soccer Mommy, Ex Hex, Weyes Blood, Y La Bamba, X, Valerie June, Cassandra Fairbanks, Lucy Dacus, Mia Zapata, Susanna ... leading to today's Lorde and Billie Eilish...
OTHER RANDOM SOUNDS WE'RE LISTENING TO
Walter Becker & Donald FagenBecker and Fagen: The Early Years. Demos from the future Steely Dan.
Paul WellerFat Pop (Volume 1)(Deluxe 3-disc Version)
Jeff BeckTruth (1968) First solo album with Rod Stewart
We're sad to see Janet Weiss (drums) absent on this release, but despite that loss, Carrie Brownstein (voice/guitar/songwriting) and Corin Tucker (voice/guitar/songwriting) really triumph here.
Carrie, who comedic talents many appreciated on Portlandia, has also done a mockumentary on music and fame, The Nowhere Inn with Annie Clark (who performs as St. Vincent). It looks fun. St. Vincent also has a new rocking album currently out, the excellent 70s pastiche Daddy's Home.
As The Beatles were breaking up in early 1970, George Harrison began recording what would become his three-disc opus, All Things Must Pass, feat. the smash hit "My Sweet Lord".
Bob Dylan's influence appears on the album's first track "I'd Have You Any Time", a Dylan-Harrison collaboration, as well as on Dylan's "If Not For You" (which appeared here before Dylan's version was even recorded). The boxset contains two outtakes which are additional Dylan-Harrison collaborations: "Nowhere To Go" and "I Don't Want To Do It" (later recorded by George for the 1985 soundtrack of Porky's Revenge).
Produced by Phil Spector (some would say "overproduced", which this new mix by Dhani Harrison attempts to correct to some extent), the album featured Ringo Starr on drums, Klaus Voomann on bass, Billy Preston on keyboards, as well as Derek & The Dominos (with Eric Clapton), Badfinger, Peter Frampton, Gary Wright, Gary Brooker, Bobby Keys, Pete Drake,Dave Mason, and Alan White.
It was as dramatic a Declaration of Independence as rock had yet seen. It immediately brought Harrison from out of the shadow of Lennon and McCartney and established him as a major solo artist. This boxset offers a glimpse into that process.
America's new punkrock sweethearts, The Linda Lindas, rocked Jimmy Kimmel last night with their mega-hit "Racist, Sexist Boy", followed by "Claudia Kishi"; proving they are no one-hit wonders.
They've done a few covers of punk classics, but isn't it obvious they would do a killer cover of 7 Seconds' "Not Just Boys Fun" (from the legendary 1984 release The Crew, now celebrated with a deluxe edition on Trust Records)?
