Curio Cabinet / Song Curio
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FREESong CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Before the big band sounds of the jazz era, John Philip Sousa was making epic noise with his Marine Band tunes. Born in 1860, Sousa heard patriotic marches all around him growing up in Washington D.C. during the Civil War. As a band member and, later, a Band Leader of the U.S. Marine Band, Sousa's reputation grew as he standardized both the group's performance habits and musical pieces. The 130 boisterous compositions he wrote became so popular at home and abroad, he was dubbed "The March King" (after Strauss' "Waltz King" title). One of his most famous pieces, Stars and Stripes Forever, was actually written when he was touring abroad and feeling a little homesick. Sousa used the sheer volume of horns and cymbals to impart the sense of exuberance he felt when he thought about his homeland. He sure got the point across; Stars and Stripes Forever was designated the National March of the U.S. in 1987. Nearly 200 years after Sousa's birth, we can still hear the fireworks in his music!
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It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Before the big band sounds of the jazz era, John Philip Sousa was making epic noise with his Marine Band tunes. Born in 1860, Sousa heard patriotic marches all around him growing up in Washington D.C. during the Civil War. As a band member and, later, a Band Leader of the U.S. Marine Band, Sousa's reputation grew as he standardized both the group's performance habits and musical pieces. The 130 boisterous compositions he wrote became so popular at home and abroad, he was dubbed "The March King" (after Strauss' "Waltz King" title). One of his most famous pieces, Stars and Stripes Forever, was actually written when he was touring abroad and feeling a little homesick. Sousa used the sheer volume of horns and cymbals to impart the sense of exuberance he felt when he thought about his homeland. He sure got the point across; Stars and Stripes Forever was designated the National March of the U.S. in 1987. Nearly 200 years after Sousa's birth, we can still hear the fireworks in his music!
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
Amid the past month of serious political unrest, EL-P and Killer Mike have arrived to pour gasoline and champagne on the fires. The duo known as Run the Jewels recently released their major label debut album RTJ4, with songs like Ooh La La proving as urgent and volatile as any of the rap duo's previous work. With guest DJ Premier sampling Gang Starr's DWYCK on the track, EL-P and Killer Mike celebrate the idea of a world without money, class divisions, and violence. There's a sharp contrast between the wealth-bragging rap songs of the early aughts and the current political climate, in which Killer Mike has been a vocal advocate of voting rights and investing in black communities. When RTJ4 came out last month, the duo continued their tradition of giving away their music for free online for those who could not afford to purchase it, proving Run the Jewels continue to put their money where their values are.
Explicit content warning: this video contains strong language.
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Image credit & copyright: Run the Jewels
Amid the past month of serious political unrest, EL-P and Killer Mike have arrived to pour gasoline and champagne on the fires. The duo known as Run the Jewels recently released their major label debut album RTJ4, with songs like Ooh La La proving as urgent and volatile as any of the rap duo's previous work. With guest DJ Premier sampling Gang Starr's DWYCK on the track, EL-P and Killer Mike celebrate the idea of a world without money, class divisions, and violence. There's a sharp contrast between the wealth-bragging rap songs of the early aughts and the current political climate, in which Killer Mike has been a vocal advocate of voting rights and investing in black communities. When RTJ4 came out last month, the duo continued their tradition of giving away their music for free online for those who could not afford to purchase it, proving Run the Jewels continue to put their money where their values are.
Explicit content warning: this video contains strong language.
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Image credit & copyright: Run the Jewels
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Operation Opera: Giuseppe Verdi built it bigger, better, and more tragic than ever. The composer knew how to put on quite the show in Egypt. Commissioned for the Cairo Opera House, Aida was one of Verdi's most extravagantly imagined works when it premiered in 1871. His creative control over the production allowed for lavish Egyptian court set designs, a royally dressed cast, and highly choreographed military marches. But amid all of the pomp, Verdi was confident in his skills and knew how to tug at the heartstrings of his audience. He deftly portrayed the tragic love triangle between the Ethiopian slave-princess Aida, the general Radames, and the thorn in their side: the Egyptian princess Amneris. In the opera, Aida's father forces her to make Radames disclose the Egyptian armies' tactics against Ethiopia (and Amneris hears the discussion), causing Radames to be sentenced to a premature burial, where Aida joins him for their fateful end. In the final song of the opera O terra addio ("Goodbye Earth"), the star-crossed lovers bid farewell to the world that brought them together and kept them apart in such tragic ways. It's a love story for the ages told by the best voices in opera!
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Image credit & copyright: Erich Auerbach/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Operation Opera: Giuseppe Verdi built it bigger, better, and more tragic than ever. The composer knew how to put on quite the show in Egypt. Commissioned for the Cairo Opera House, Aida was one of Verdi's most extravagantly imagined works when it premiered in 1871. His creative control over the production allowed for lavish Egyptian court set designs, a royally dressed cast, and highly choreographed military marches. But amid all of the pomp, Verdi was confident in his skills and knew how to tug at the heartstrings of his audience. He deftly portrayed the tragic love triangle between the Ethiopian slave-princess Aida, the general Radames, and the thorn in their side: the Egyptian princess Amneris. In the opera, Aida's father forces her to make Radames disclose the Egyptian armies' tactics against Ethiopia (and Amneris hears the discussion), causing Radames to be sentenced to a premature burial, where Aida joins him for their fateful end. In the final song of the opera O terra addio ("Goodbye Earth"), the star-crossed lovers bid farewell to the world that brought them together and kept them apart in such tragic ways. It's a love story for the ages told by the best voices in opera!
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Image credit & copyright: Erich Auerbach/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck might not be as well known as his bandmates Eric Clapton or Jimmy Page, but that didn't stop him from making one of the most influential records of the 1960s. As a side project to the Yardbirds, Beck recorded his magnum opus Beck's Bolero in 1966, a psychedelic instrumental based on Ravel's one-movement orchestral piece, Bolero. The song came together during a jam between Page and Beck, where Page began strumming the driving rhythmic pattern of Ravel's piece. Beck then gathered friends like Keith Moon from The Who and then-recording session bassist John Paul Jones (who would later join Page in Led Zeppelin) to round out the recording. What resulted was a three minute epic of spacey, sustained notes, whirring slide guitar effects, and Keith Moon breaking down the song halfway through into a raucous hard rock groove. For Jeff Beck's birthday this week, we're taking a listen to the song that cemented his legacy as a '60s guitar god.
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Image credit & copyright: Jeff Beck
Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck might not be as well known as his bandmates Eric Clapton or Jimmy Page, but that didn't stop him from making one of the most influential records of the 1960s. As a side project to the Yardbirds, Beck recorded his magnum opus Beck's Bolero in 1966, a psychedelic instrumental based on Ravel's one-movement orchestral piece, Bolero. The song came together during a jam between Page and Beck, where Page began strumming the driving rhythmic pattern of Ravel's piece. Beck then gathered friends like Keith Moon from The Who and then-recording session bassist John Paul Jones (who would later join Page in Led Zeppelin) to round out the recording. What resulted was a three minute epic of spacey, sustained notes, whirring slide guitar effects, and Keith Moon breaking down the song halfway through into a raucous hard rock groove. For Jeff Beck's birthday this week, we're taking a listen to the song that cemented his legacy as a '60s guitar god.
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Image credit & copyright: Jeff Beck
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
When the Civil Rights Movement heated up in the late '50s, gospel songs followed African-American congregations from the churches to the streets, and into election booths. The 2009 documentary Soundtrack for a Revolution chronicled the power of music in the movement, with indie band TV on the Radio accompanying the hip-hop and future-Tonight Show band, The Roots, on the call-and-response choruses of Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round. The fierce melody predates songwriter copyright, which drew artists like blues legend Blind Willie McTell, soul singers the Staple Singers, and the gospel queen Mahalia Jackson to put their spin on the track. Under the Civil Rights Movement, the verses transformed from New Testament references to head-on confrontations with Jim Crow, segregation, and varied obstructions to voting and labor equality. With TV on the Radio and The Roots reviving the song, drummer Questlove turns the marching beat into a smooth shuffle, and a topical reminder of what fighting for equality sounds like.
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Image credit & copyright: BBC Music
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
When the Civil Rights Movement heated up in the late '50s, gospel songs followed African-American congregations from the churches to the streets, and into election booths. The 2009 documentary Soundtrack for a Revolution chronicled the power of music in the movement, with indie band TV on the Radio accompanying the hip-hop and future-Tonight Show band, The Roots, on the call-and-response choruses of Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round. The fierce melody predates songwriter copyright, which drew artists like blues legend Blind Willie McTell, soul singers the Staple Singers, and the gospel queen Mahalia Jackson to put their spin on the track. Under the Civil Rights Movement, the verses transformed from New Testament references to head-on confrontations with Jim Crow, segregation, and varied obstructions to voting and labor equality. With TV on the Radio and The Roots reviving the song, drummer Questlove turns the marching beat into a smooth shuffle, and a topical reminder of what fighting for equality sounds like.
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Image credit & copyright: BBC Music
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FREEBlues Piano Song CurioFree2 CQ
Leave it to Bob Dylan to make a down and dirty blues song sound like classic poetry. The Nobel Prize Laureate is releasing Rough and Rowdy Ways this week, his first album of new material in eight years. The single False Prophet is as electric as any classic Dylan tune. Reverb-laden guitar riffs swirl around a rhythm section stomp, as the lyrics tell of a ramblin' mythical being who claims to be the enemy of treason, strife, and "the unlived meaningless life." If the music sounds a little retro, it's because Dylan lifted it directly from Billy "The Kid" Emerson's If Lovin' Is Believing, an electric blues track recorded in 1954 at the legendary Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee (where artists like Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash were discovered). Even Rough and Rowdy Ways' album artwork, which features a menacing and well-dressed skeleton, looks like something straight off of a classic rock cover or pulp detective novel. Curio readers may already know that Dylan has a penchant for taking songs and making them his own. In the case of False Prophet, it's a little bit like he's marrying something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blues!
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Image credit & copyright: Bob Dylan
Leave it to Bob Dylan to make a down and dirty blues song sound like classic poetry. The Nobel Prize Laureate is releasing Rough and Rowdy Ways this week, his first album of new material in eight years. The single False Prophet is as electric as any classic Dylan tune. Reverb-laden guitar riffs swirl around a rhythm section stomp, as the lyrics tell of a ramblin' mythical being who claims to be the enemy of treason, strife, and "the unlived meaningless life." If the music sounds a little retro, it's because Dylan lifted it directly from Billy "The Kid" Emerson's If Lovin' Is Believing, an electric blues track recorded in 1954 at the legendary Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee (where artists like Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash were discovered). Even Rough and Rowdy Ways' album artwork, which features a menacing and well-dressed skeleton, looks like something straight off of a classic rock cover or pulp detective novel. Curio readers may already know that Dylan has a penchant for taking songs and making them his own. In the case of False Prophet, it's a little bit like he's marrying something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blues!
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Image credit & copyright: Bob Dylan
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's not every day that a guitar lesson rakes in three Grammys. Composer and comedy writer Mason Williams released Classical Gas in April 1968, but the tune stayed on the charts through August. Williams wrote the song after a grueling business trip to Las Vegas, relieved to get back to his guitar. People were always asking him to demonstrate his classical guitar chops, so he wrote a finger-blistering piece specifically to showcase said skills. He wrote it as demonstrative "fuel" and dubbed it Classical Gasoline, which was later shortened to Classical Gas. Fellow composer Mike Post eventually joined in and wrote a bridge for the song, and conducted the accompanying orchestra during recording. The song's slow start, with a lone guitar in a minor key, eventually ramps up to an aggressive instrumental refrain. The song manages to mix folksy acoustic guitar with the encompassing, almost intimidating sound of a large orchestra. You could say that this seamless blend of different styles was instrumental to the song's incredible success.
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Image credit & copyright: Michael Putland/Hulton Archive/2010 Getty Images
It's not every day that a guitar lesson rakes in three Grammys. Composer and comedy writer Mason Williams released Classical Gas in April 1968, but the tune stayed on the charts through August. Williams wrote the song after a grueling business trip to Las Vegas, relieved to get back to his guitar. People were always asking him to demonstrate his classical guitar chops, so he wrote a finger-blistering piece specifically to showcase said skills. He wrote it as demonstrative "fuel" and dubbed it Classical Gasoline, which was later shortened to Classical Gas. Fellow composer Mike Post eventually joined in and wrote a bridge for the song, and conducted the accompanying orchestra during recording. The song's slow start, with a lone guitar in a minor key, eventually ramps up to an aggressive instrumental refrain. The song manages to mix folksy acoustic guitar with the encompassing, almost intimidating sound of a large orchestra. You could say that this seamless blend of different styles was instrumental to the song's incredible success.
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Image credit & copyright: Michael Putland/Hulton Archive/2010 Getty Images
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Peace and quiet on a honeymoon? Newlyweds John Lennon and Yoko Ono didn't intend to keep quiet about peace. Knowing their marriage was going to garner a lot of publicity, Lennon and Ono used their honeymoon to stage two "Bed-In" protests against the Vietnam War in 1969. Confused journalists asked Lennon what he was trying to accomplish. His response? "Give peace a chance." Never one to waste a musical opportunity, Lennon and fellow protesters recorded Give Peace a Chance live at the Montreal Bed-In on June 1st. The babbled verses included references to Timothy Leary, Tommy Smothers of the Smothers Brothers, and Allen Ginsberg, who were present during the recording (no bishops, fishops, rabbis, or Popeyes were in attendance, sadly). A month later, the plaintive chant was released as a Plastic Ono Band single, reaching #14 on the U.S. charts and instantly becoming an anti-war anthem. The cause of their protest may not have been a bed of roses, but at least the song is a sweet memory of the event!
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Peace and quiet on a honeymoon? Newlyweds John Lennon and Yoko Ono didn't intend to keep quiet about peace. Knowing their marriage was going to garner a lot of publicity, Lennon and Ono used their honeymoon to stage two "Bed-In" protests against the Vietnam War in 1969. Confused journalists asked Lennon what he was trying to accomplish. His response? "Give peace a chance." Never one to waste a musical opportunity, Lennon and fellow protesters recorded Give Peace a Chance live at the Montreal Bed-In on June 1st. The babbled verses included references to Timothy Leary, Tommy Smothers of the Smothers Brothers, and Allen Ginsberg, who were present during the recording (no bishops, fishops, rabbis, or Popeyes were in attendance, sadly). A month later, the plaintive chant was released as a Plastic Ono Band single, reaching #14 on the U.S. charts and instantly becoming an anti-war anthem. The cause of their protest may not have been a bed of roses, but at least the song is a sweet memory of the event!
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
Little Richard, who passed away earlier this month, gave more to the world of music than just a catalog of his own hits. The self-professed "Architect of Rock 'n' Roll" toured with opening acts who would later follow in his footsteps: the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, and the Animals, to name a few (Jimi Hendrix was also once a sideman in Richard's band). Even rock giants Led Zeppelin owed one of their BillBoard Top 100 hits to Richard: During production of Zeppelin's untitled fourth album, drummer John Bonham began playing the intro of Little Richard's Keep A-Knockin' to loosen up after a bout of frustrating rehearsals. Soon, the steady bopping beat and repeated titular refrain morphed into the beginnings of Led Zeppelin's Rock and Roll. Keep A-Knockin' is a prime example of Richard's signature style—driving piano riffs, simple lyrics (interspersed with enthusiastic "woos!") delivered with great enthusiasm. Guess that makes Little Richard the original rockstar and the original influencer!
Below: Little Richard's firey Keep A-Knockin', and Led Zeppelin's Rock and Roll, a song heavily influenced by the Richard original.
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Little Richard, who passed away earlier this month, gave more to the world of music than just a catalog of his own hits. The self-professed "Architect of Rock 'n' Roll" toured with opening acts who would later follow in his footsteps: the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, and the Animals, to name a few (Jimi Hendrix was also once a sideman in Richard's band). Even rock giants Led Zeppelin owed one of their BillBoard Top 100 hits to Richard: During production of Zeppelin's untitled fourth album, drummer John Bonham began playing the intro of Little Richard's Keep A-Knockin' to loosen up after a bout of frustrating rehearsals. Soon, the steady bopping beat and repeated titular refrain morphed into the beginnings of Led Zeppelin's Rock and Roll. Keep A-Knockin' is a prime example of Richard's signature style—driving piano riffs, simple lyrics (interspersed with enthusiastic "woos!") delivered with great enthusiasm. Guess that makes Little Richard the original rockstar and the original influencer!
Below: Little Richard's firey Keep A-Knockin', and Led Zeppelin's Rock and Roll, a song heavily influenced by the Richard original.
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FREEMusic Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Is that who we think it is? In 2010, a conspiracy theory alleged that Barack Obama was an extra in the music video for the hip-hop song Whoomp! (There It Is). The bouncy tune by Atlanta-based duo Tag Team was pooh-poohed by music critics but managed to hit the Billboard Hot 100 and become a staple at parties and sporting events in the early '90s. Years later, a grainy image circulated the web, showing a man who looked eerily similar to Obama wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses. Proponents of the theory pointed to Obama's love of hip-hop as a reason why he might appear in such a video. After all, he is the only presidential candidate to embrace hip-hop on the campaign trail and musicians like Will.I.Am, Common, and Talib Kweli lobbied for him during the 2008 election. But the idea didn't withstand much scrutiny. Upon closer inspection, the man was found to be wearing gold earrings, which Obama most certainly never had. Skeptics also argued that the ambitious recent law school grad was too busy teaching law and working on his first book to appear in a music video the year Whoomp! (There It Is) was released. Oh, well. We had a hunch an Obama cameo was too good to be true!
Below: Barack Obama's look-alike in the music video for Whoomp! (There It Is):
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Image credit & copyright: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, Life Records
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Is that who we think it is? In 2010, a conspiracy theory alleged that Barack Obama was an extra in the music video for the hip-hop song Whoomp! (There It Is). The bouncy tune by Atlanta-based duo Tag Team was pooh-poohed by music critics but managed to hit the Billboard Hot 100 and become a staple at parties and sporting events in the early '90s. Years later, a grainy image circulated the web, showing a man who looked eerily similar to Obama wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses. Proponents of the theory pointed to Obama's love of hip-hop as a reason why he might appear in such a video. After all, he is the only presidential candidate to embrace hip-hop on the campaign trail and musicians like Will.I.Am, Common, and Talib Kweli lobbied for him during the 2008 election. But the idea didn't withstand much scrutiny. Upon closer inspection, the man was found to be wearing gold earrings, which Obama most certainly never had. Skeptics also argued that the ambitious recent law school grad was too busy teaching law and working on his first book to appear in a music video the year Whoomp! (There It Is) was released. Oh, well. We had a hunch an Obama cameo was too good to be true!
Below: Barack Obama's look-alike in the music video for Whoomp! (There It Is):
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Image credit & copyright: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, Life Records
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
Who says classical music can't be modern? Dutch composer Louis Andriessen has plenty of experience turning the world of classical music on its head. His 1975 piece Worker's Union is a "symphonic movement written for any loud sounding group of instruments." In addition to the unusual orchestration, Andriessen gives a very unusual set of music notation: each instrument reads the same percussive-like notes that move up and down on a single line. The music leaves much to the imagination for conductors and musicians. Andrissen noted: "It is difficult to play in an ensemble and to remain in step, sort of thing like organising and carrying on political action." The intentional disruption of pretentious classical music has been at the heart of Andriessen's work for decades: as a Dutch composer, he participated in protests of classical concerts at the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, demanding more representation of new composers' work. Workers Union is evidence that for his 81st birthday this week, there's still a lot he can teach to classical audiences everywhere.
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Image credit & copyright: Marco Borggreve
Who says classical music can't be modern? Dutch composer Louis Andriessen has plenty of experience turning the world of classical music on its head. His 1975 piece Worker's Union is a "symphonic movement written for any loud sounding group of instruments." In addition to the unusual orchestration, Andriessen gives a very unusual set of music notation: each instrument reads the same percussive-like notes that move up and down on a single line. The music leaves much to the imagination for conductors and musicians. Andrissen noted: "It is difficult to play in an ensemble and to remain in step, sort of thing like organising and carrying on political action." The intentional disruption of pretentious classical music has been at the heart of Andriessen's work for decades: as a Dutch composer, he participated in protests of classical concerts at the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, demanding more representation of new composers' work. Workers Union is evidence that for his 81st birthday this week, there's still a lot he can teach to classical audiences everywhere.
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Image credit & copyright: Marco Borggreve
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FREEBlues Piano Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
The only surviving image of a stately Charlie Patton shouldn't dissuade unfamiliar listeners: by all accounts, the "Masked Marvel" was a bonafide 1920s rockstar. Patton is hailed as the "Father of the Delta Blues" for his influential role in popularizing the genre of acoustic blues developed in the South (particularly at Dockery Plantation in Mississippi, where Patton grew up). His recording of High Water Everywhere, Part 1 tells the tale of a woebegone man who is down on his luck during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. Patton, in his characteristic swagger, hollers and growls through the tune, audibly stomping his feet and changing up his rhythmic strumming patterns with every new line of lyrics. While it might be hard to decipher what Patton is actually saying through crackly 78 RPM records and his heightened drawl, during his heyday, being able to project his voice (without an electric microphone) would have been a feature rather than a drawback for audiences. And if anyone knew how to bring the noise to a hopping party, it was Charlie Patton!
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It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
The only surviving image of a stately Charlie Patton shouldn't dissuade unfamiliar listeners: by all accounts, the "Masked Marvel" was a bonafide 1920s rockstar. Patton is hailed as the "Father of the Delta Blues" for his influential role in popularizing the genre of acoustic blues developed in the South (particularly at Dockery Plantation in Mississippi, where Patton grew up). His recording of High Water Everywhere, Part 1 tells the tale of a woebegone man who is down on his luck during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. Patton, in his characteristic swagger, hollers and growls through the tune, audibly stomping his feet and changing up his rhythmic strumming patterns with every new line of lyrics. While it might be hard to decipher what Patton is actually saying through crackly 78 RPM records and his heightened drawl, during his heyday, being able to project his voice (without an electric microphone) would have been a feature rather than a drawback for audiences. And if anyone knew how to bring the noise to a hopping party, it was Charlie Patton!
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FREEBlues Piano Song CurioFree2 CQ
When a blues song inspires B.B. King to take up the guitar, it's got to be a good one. T-Bone Walker's Call It Stormy Monday features the archetypal 12-bar blues (a musical pattern often based on 12 repeating measures of I-IV-V chords). When the tune was released in 1947, it featured West Coast blues-style instrumentation, influenced by the jazzy big-band sound popular in California. Walker, who was born 110 years ago today, uses his smooth voice to tell the tale of a down-on-his-luck bluesman who can't get any relief until the weekend starts. Walker's mini-guitar solos follow every line of lyrics. As the song progresses, his playing gets louder and more virtuosic, bending those blue notes (altered pitches for emotional effect) like no one had ever heard before. With all that it has going for it, it's no wonder Stormy Monday has become a blues and jazz standard, with many electric blues songs imitating its style. Even without a raincoat or umbrella, T-Bone Walker ensures a bad weather forecast never sounded so good!
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Image credit & copyright: David Redferns / Redferns
When a blues song inspires B.B. King to take up the guitar, it's got to be a good one. T-Bone Walker's Call It Stormy Monday features the archetypal 12-bar blues (a musical pattern often based on 12 repeating measures of I-IV-V chords). When the tune was released in 1947, it featured West Coast blues-style instrumentation, influenced by the jazzy big-band sound popular in California. Walker, who was born 110 years ago today, uses his smooth voice to tell the tale of a down-on-his-luck bluesman who can't get any relief until the weekend starts. Walker's mini-guitar solos follow every line of lyrics. As the song progresses, his playing gets louder and more virtuosic, bending those blue notes (altered pitches for emotional effect) like no one had ever heard before. With all that it has going for it, it's no wonder Stormy Monday has become a blues and jazz standard, with many electric blues songs imitating its style. Even without a raincoat or umbrella, T-Bone Walker ensures a bad weather forecast never sounded so good!
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Image credit & copyright: David Redferns / Redferns
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FREEMusic Song CurioFree2 CQ
Woo woo! For Gladys Knight's 76th birthday this week, we're climbing aboard the sweet harmonies of her signature song! The Midnight Train to Georgia took one very '70s-celebrity-filled route to get to Gladys Knight & the Pips. Country songwriter Jim Weatherly came up with the title while trying to call his friend, Six Million Dollar Man actor Lee Majors. When Majors' new girlfriend, Farrah Fawcett, answered, she told Weatherly she was getting ready to leave on a "midnight plane to Houston." The songwriter thought the phrase would make a good story about a failed Hollywood star going back home. In 1973, Cissy Houston (mother of Whitney) made the song more personal by changing the plane to a train, and the final destination to her home state of Georgia. Later that year, Gladys Knight & the Pips put their stamp on the tune, adding the train whistles and call-and-response backing vocal lyrics to Weatherly's tale of resigned devotion. Midnight Train to Georgia earned Gladys Knight & the Pips their first #1 single, and a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Group, proving that this tune came with a one-way ticket to success!
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Image credit & copyright: Keystone Press
Woo woo! For Gladys Knight's 76th birthday this week, we're climbing aboard the sweet harmonies of her signature song! The Midnight Train to Georgia took one very '70s-celebrity-filled route to get to Gladys Knight & the Pips. Country songwriter Jim Weatherly came up with the title while trying to call his friend, Six Million Dollar Man actor Lee Majors. When Majors' new girlfriend, Farrah Fawcett, answered, she told Weatherly she was getting ready to leave on a "midnight plane to Houston." The songwriter thought the phrase would make a good story about a failed Hollywood star going back home. In 1973, Cissy Houston (mother of Whitney) made the song more personal by changing the plane to a train, and the final destination to her home state of Georgia. Later that year, Gladys Knight & the Pips put their stamp on the tune, adding the train whistles and call-and-response backing vocal lyrics to Weatherly's tale of resigned devotion. Midnight Train to Georgia earned Gladys Knight & the Pips their first #1 single, and a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Group, proving that this tune came with a one-way ticket to success!
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Image credit & copyright: Keystone Press
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
When John Cameron Mitchell first donned blonde locks as the character of Hedwig, he probably never imagined the heights her updo would scale. But taking off Hedwig and the Angry Inch's hairspray-held tresses did play an important part in developing the story about the Berlin-chanteuse's love life and music career. Hedwig's unusual narrative style of playing loosely with time causes the tune Wig in a Box to play as a reminder that the jaded performer was once a lonely "Miss Midwest Midnight Checkout Queen"—who eventually found solace in rock 'n' roll radio... and putting on some makeup. The revealing track helped Mitchell, who turns 55 today, and co-writer and composer Stephen Trask, earn a Tony for Best Revival Of A Musical in 2014 (with Neil Patrick Harris taking on the titular role of Hedwig). In spite of her love stories gone bad and bad gigs gone worse, Hedwig could always rely on a beautiful coif and rockin' tunes to keep her spirits up!
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Image credit & copyright: New Line Cinema
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
When John Cameron Mitchell first donned blonde locks as the character of Hedwig, he probably never imagined the heights her updo would scale. But taking off Hedwig and the Angry Inch's hairspray-held tresses did play an important part in developing the story about the Berlin-chanteuse's love life and music career. Hedwig's unusual narrative style of playing loosely with time causes the tune Wig in a Box to play as a reminder that the jaded performer was once a lonely "Miss Midwest Midnight Checkout Queen"—who eventually found solace in rock 'n' roll radio... and putting on some makeup. The revealing track helped Mitchell, who turns 55 today, and co-writer and composer Stephen Trask, earn a Tony for Best Revival Of A Musical in 2014 (with Neil Patrick Harris taking on the titular role of Hedwig). In spite of her love stories gone bad and bad gigs gone worse, Hedwig could always rely on a beautiful coif and rockin' tunes to keep her spirits up!
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Image credit & copyright: New Line Cinema
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FREEMusic Song CurioFree2 CQ
Voice of Baceprot is really bringing the noise and the funk to the classroom. On School Revolution, guitarist Firdda Kurnia, drummer Eusi Siti Aisyah, and bassist Widi Rahmawati show off the rebellious attitude that made them a breakout trio in Indonesia's heavy metal scene. The group formed in 2014, after finding a System of a Down song on their music teacher's computer; they then taught themselves to play the style of fast and virtuosic instrumentation on display in School Revolution. Interviews with NPR, The New York Times, and The Guardian followed, along with a profile on the group in Assembly, a magazine for girls co-founded by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Malala Yousafzai. In addition to rocking out, School Revolution has a message of sympathy and awareness of the 2 million girls who do not have access to education in Indonesia. That's just one of the ways Voice of Baceprot ("noise" in Indonesian) is breaking down stereotypes and gender barriers, one riff at a time.
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Image credit & copyright: Voice of Baceprot
Voice of Baceprot is really bringing the noise and the funk to the classroom. On School Revolution, guitarist Firdda Kurnia, drummer Eusi Siti Aisyah, and bassist Widi Rahmawati show off the rebellious attitude that made them a breakout trio in Indonesia's heavy metal scene. The group formed in 2014, after finding a System of a Down song on their music teacher's computer; they then taught themselves to play the style of fast and virtuosic instrumentation on display in School Revolution. Interviews with NPR, The New York Times, and The Guardian followed, along with a profile on the group in Assembly, a magazine for girls co-founded by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Malala Yousafzai. In addition to rocking out, School Revolution has a message of sympathy and awareness of the 2 million girls who do not have access to education in Indonesia. That's just one of the ways Voice of Baceprot ("noise" in Indonesian) is breaking down stereotypes and gender barriers, one riff at a time.
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Image credit & copyright: Voice of Baceprot
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
While making a picture loosely based on the rise and fall of Janis Joplin, Bette Midler gave her first starring role a little piece of her heart. She trained in gymnastics for six months prior to shooting The Rose to get the visceral stage performance of Mary Rose Foster, the film's protagonist, just right. In contrast, the eponymous track shows off the vulnerability in the hopelessly romantic rock 'n' roller. It was Paul Rothchild, Joplin's producer and head of the music department on The Rose, who originally brought the song to Midler after it was shot down by the film's producers. Midler knew the solemn piano ballad was just what the audience needed at the close of the film, after experiencing such intense musical sets leading to a tragic ending. That intuition lead a #3 Billboard single and Grammy Award in 1980 for Midler. Today we're taking a listen back to when the Divine Miss M was a budding star of the big screen.
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Image credit & copyright: 20th Century Fox
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
While making a picture loosely based on the rise and fall of Janis Joplin, Bette Midler gave her first starring role a little piece of her heart. She trained in gymnastics for six months prior to shooting The Rose to get the visceral stage performance of Mary Rose Foster, the film's protagonist, just right. In contrast, the eponymous track shows off the vulnerability in the hopelessly romantic rock 'n' roller. It was Paul Rothchild, Joplin's producer and head of the music department on The Rose, who originally brought the song to Midler after it was shot down by the film's producers. Midler knew the solemn piano ballad was just what the audience needed at the close of the film, after experiencing such intense musical sets leading to a tragic ending. That intuition lead a #3 Billboard single and Grammy Award in 1980 for Midler. Today we're taking a listen back to when the Divine Miss M was a budding star of the big screen.
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Image credit & copyright: 20th Century Fox
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
Crack that whip… for freedom? 40 years ago this week, the energy-domed band Devo released their album Freedom of Choice, which contains their most famous tune, Whip It. The song's nonsensical lyrics supposedly took inspiration from two patriotic sources, depending on who's talking. According to singer Mark Mothersbaugh, the lyrics were meant to motivate then-President Jimmy Carter to defeat Ronald Reagan in the 1980 election. Bassist Gerald Casale tells another story: after reading Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, Casale gave Whip It lyrics about endless optimism that verged on propaganda and satire. Regardless, the song came together over a riff inspired by Roy Orbison's Pretty Woman. It also features a busy, motor-sounding Motorik beat, a rhythmic pattern used in experimental German krautrock that employs constant hi-hat and kick drums. We'd go on about the delightful '80s campiness of the song, but we're being told it's time to whip this curio into shape!
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Image credit & copyright: Devo
Crack that whip… for freedom? 40 years ago this week, the energy-domed band Devo released their album Freedom of Choice, which contains their most famous tune, Whip It. The song's nonsensical lyrics supposedly took inspiration from two patriotic sources, depending on who's talking. According to singer Mark Mothersbaugh, the lyrics were meant to motivate then-President Jimmy Carter to defeat Ronald Reagan in the 1980 election. Bassist Gerald Casale tells another story: after reading Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, Casale gave Whip It lyrics about endless optimism that verged on propaganda and satire. Regardless, the song came together over a riff inspired by Roy Orbison's Pretty Woman. It also features a busy, motor-sounding Motorik beat, a rhythmic pattern used in experimental German krautrock that employs constant hi-hat and kick drums. We'd go on about the delightful '80s campiness of the song, but we're being told it's time to whip this curio into shape!
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Image credit & copyright: Devo
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
What has sharp teeth, fins, and nearly 1.9 billion views on YouTube? Pinkfong's Baby Shark song, which has gone far and beyond its intended preschool audience to become a worldwide dance phenomenon. Pinkfong, the little pink fox with a star, shares the name of the Korea-based children's education company that created 2015's Baby Shark video, which first went viral in southeast Asia. Three years later and #babysharkchallenge posts abound across social media, as do cover versions in various musical styles. So where exactly did this preschool k-pop hit initially come from? One of its early predecessors is likely the French traditional song Papa Requin ("Papa Shark"), which, like many old folk songs sung by children, features dark themes and undertones in the lyrics (not that the Jaws theme in Baby Shark's opening is any less ominous). Other sources claim the 2007 German electronic song Kleiner Hai by Alemuel is a direct predecessor. Whatever the origins, it's safe to say this little song has a big bite!
Below: a rendition of Papa Renquin, which features similar lyrics to Baby Shark and a different melody; don't swim in the water when Alemuel's Kleiner Hai is on the hunt; finally, the Pinkfong classic.
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Image credit & copyright: Pinkfong
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
What has sharp teeth, fins, and nearly 1.9 billion views on YouTube? Pinkfong's Baby Shark song, which has gone far and beyond its intended preschool audience to become a worldwide dance phenomenon. Pinkfong, the little pink fox with a star, shares the name of the Korea-based children's education company that created 2015's Baby Shark video, which first went viral in southeast Asia. Three years later and #babysharkchallenge posts abound across social media, as do cover versions in various musical styles. So where exactly did this preschool k-pop hit initially come from? One of its early predecessors is likely the French traditional song Papa Requin ("Papa Shark"), which, like many old folk songs sung by children, features dark themes and undertones in the lyrics (not that the Jaws theme in Baby Shark's opening is any less ominous). Other sources claim the 2007 German electronic song Kleiner Hai by Alemuel is a direct predecessor. Whatever the origins, it's safe to say this little song has a big bite!
Below: a rendition of Papa Renquin, which features similar lyrics to Baby Shark and a different melody; don't swim in the water when Alemuel's Kleiner Hai is on the hunt; finally, the Pinkfong classic.
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Image credit & copyright: Pinkfong
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
Jazz pianist Keith Jarrett sure knows how to make unforgettable music out of a bad situation. The artist, who turns 75 tomorrow, made an outstanding night of The Köln Concert in January 1975, which should have been canceled at the Opera House in Cologne, Germany. Jarrett was jet-lagged and suffering from chronic back pain. He was denied his requested Bösendorfer 290 Imperial—a piano with extra keys in the bass to enrich resonance. What Jarrett got instead was a creaky backstage practice piano barely tuned in time for the late curtain call. Everything had gone wrong that night; but on Part I, Jarrett can be heard busying the bass notes, playing sweeping patterns and coaxing all he can from the keyboard. In spite of his technical difficulties, Jarrett managed to create a masterpiece and the highest-selling solo piano album of all time, The Köln Concert, at 3.5 million units. Leave it to a creative genius to make a broken-down instrument sound like a million bucks!
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Image credit & copyright: Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images
Jazz pianist Keith Jarrett sure knows how to make unforgettable music out of a bad situation. The artist, who turns 75 tomorrow, made an outstanding night of The Köln Concert in January 1975, which should have been canceled at the Opera House in Cologne, Germany. Jarrett was jet-lagged and suffering from chronic back pain. He was denied his requested Bösendorfer 290 Imperial—a piano with extra keys in the bass to enrich resonance. What Jarrett got instead was a creaky backstage practice piano barely tuned in time for the late curtain call. Everything had gone wrong that night; but on Part I, Jarrett can be heard busying the bass notes, playing sweeping patterns and coaxing all he can from the keyboard. In spite of his technical difficulties, Jarrett managed to create a masterpiece and the highest-selling solo piano album of all time, The Köln Concert, at 3.5 million units. Leave it to a creative genius to make a broken-down instrument sound like a million bucks!
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Image credit & copyright: Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images