Curio Cabinet / Song Curio
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FREEJazz Guitar Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Being a jazz great isn't always great. Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong learned this lesson the hard way. New fans of jazz in the '50s considered him old hat, and his cheery public demeanor suffered after openly criticizing President Eisenhower's handling of school integration. One person who never lost faith in Satchmo was Take Five pianist Dave Brubeck; in the late '50s, Brubeck and his wife Iola imagined a musical about civil rights with jazz musicians as global emissaries. They tapped Armstrong as the man bringing goodwill and swingin' sounds to every corner of the world on The Real Ambassadors. Sadly, the record was considered too hip for Armstrong's fans, and too old fashioned for Brubeck's fans when it was released. In spite of their conflicting audiences, songs like You Swing Baby—a duet with Carmen McRae—show Armstrong's gentle voice and Brubeck's smooth keys could share a unified message of racial harmony through musical harmony.
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Image credit & copyright: Jack Bradley/Louis Armstrong House Museum
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Being a jazz great isn't always great. Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong learned this lesson the hard way. New fans of jazz in the '50s considered him old hat, and his cheery public demeanor suffered after openly criticizing President Eisenhower's handling of school integration. One person who never lost faith in Satchmo was Take Five pianist Dave Brubeck; in the late '50s, Brubeck and his wife Iola imagined a musical about civil rights with jazz musicians as global emissaries. They tapped Armstrong as the man bringing goodwill and swingin' sounds to every corner of the world on The Real Ambassadors. Sadly, the record was considered too hip for Armstrong's fans, and too old fashioned for Brubeck's fans when it was released. In spite of their conflicting audiences, songs like You Swing Baby—a duet with Carmen McRae—show Armstrong's gentle voice and Brubeck's smooth keys could share a unified message of racial harmony through musical harmony.
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Image credit & copyright: Jack Bradley/Louis Armstrong House Museum
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FREEBlues Piano Song CurioFree2 CQ
The great American poet Langston Hughes was known for writing about the lives of poor and working class Black people in the early 20th century, and now Louisiana-based multi-instrumentalist Leyla McCalla is reviving Hughes's poetry with a Southern flair. As part of its African American Legacy Recordings series, Smithsonian Folkways is re-releasing McCalla's Vari-Colored Songs: A Tribute to Langston Hughes in October. The original limited release saw McCalla adding her roots-inflected arrangements to Hughes' pieces like Song for a Dark Girl, as well as revitalizing takes on traditional Haitian songs. The melancholic melody follows the life of a narrator who has seen her lover lynched "way down south in Dixie." McCalla's sparse fingerpicking-blues guitar sounds like it could fit seamlessly alongside tracks recorded by Leadbelly or Geeshie Wiley from almost 100 years ago—even if the lyrical themes are eerily present for 2020.
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Image credit & copyright: City Winery
The great American poet Langston Hughes was known for writing about the lives of poor and working class Black people in the early 20th century, and now Louisiana-based multi-instrumentalist Leyla McCalla is reviving Hughes's poetry with a Southern flair. As part of its African American Legacy Recordings series, Smithsonian Folkways is re-releasing McCalla's Vari-Colored Songs: A Tribute to Langston Hughes in October. The original limited release saw McCalla adding her roots-inflected arrangements to Hughes' pieces like Song for a Dark Girl, as well as revitalizing takes on traditional Haitian songs. The melancholic melody follows the life of a narrator who has seen her lover lynched "way down south in Dixie." McCalla's sparse fingerpicking-blues guitar sounds like it could fit seamlessly alongside tracks recorded by Leadbelly or Geeshie Wiley from almost 100 years ago—even if the lyrical themes are eerily present for 2020.
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Image credit & copyright: City Winery
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives in honor of the 50th anniversary of Jimi Hendrix's passing on September 18, 1970./em>
53 years ago, "one of the greatest and most influential debut releases in rock 'n' roll," debuted. Phew, that's some high praise—but it's well deserved for Jimi Hendrix's Are You Experienced. The 17-song album revealed one of the most creative instrumentalists of the '60s as he tried his hand at everything from psychedelic rock to heavy metal to surf rock to free jazz. With hit singles Hey Joe and The Wind Cries Mary, it's easy to miss some of the hidden gems on Hendrix's debut, like Third Stone from the Sun. The instrumental jam documents Hendrix's twin loves of Wes Montgomery and pulpy sci-fi. Behind the main riff, constructed from octaves strummed without a pick in Montgomery's style, you can just make out a slowed-down conversation between Hendrix and his manager Chas Chandler, acting as two aliens. According to Hendrix, the song's story is simple: "These guys come from another planet, you know ... they observe Earth for a while and they think the smartest animal on the whole Earth is chickens [and] there's nothing else there, so they just blow it up at the end." Paging Robert Heinlein!
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Image credit & copyright: The Jimi Hendrix Experience, MCA Records
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives in honor of the 50th anniversary of Jimi Hendrix's passing on September 18, 1970./em>
53 years ago, "one of the greatest and most influential debut releases in rock 'n' roll," debuted. Phew, that's some high praise—but it's well deserved for Jimi Hendrix's Are You Experienced. The 17-song album revealed one of the most creative instrumentalists of the '60s as he tried his hand at everything from psychedelic rock to heavy metal to surf rock to free jazz. With hit singles Hey Joe and The Wind Cries Mary, it's easy to miss some of the hidden gems on Hendrix's debut, like Third Stone from the Sun. The instrumental jam documents Hendrix's twin loves of Wes Montgomery and pulpy sci-fi. Behind the main riff, constructed from octaves strummed without a pick in Montgomery's style, you can just make out a slowed-down conversation between Hendrix and his manager Chas Chandler, acting as two aliens. According to Hendrix, the song's story is simple: "These guys come from another planet, you know ... they observe Earth for a while and they think the smartest animal on the whole Earth is chickens [and] there's nothing else there, so they just blow it up at the end." Paging Robert Heinlein!
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Image credit & copyright: The Jimi Hendrix Experience, MCA Records
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FREEFlute Song CurioFree2 CQ
20th century classical flute owes a great debt to Claude-Paul Taffanel. Born on this day in 1844, the composer founded the French Flute School spent his lifetime revolutionizing the way the instrument was taught and played. A prodigy who played his first concert at age 10, Taffanel eventually became an instructor. He devised plans for students to receive individualized lessons, taught works by foreign composers like J.S. Bach, and learned to play with a gentle vibrato (rapid alteration of notes)—all things previously unheard of in French musical education. The fruits of his flute-composing labor can be heard in his Fantasia "Francesca Da Rimini," a flute and piano duet which likely takes its themes from the work of Taffanel's friend, Peter Tchaikovsky and his symphony Francesca da Rimini: Symphonic Fantasy after Dante. Like the ill-fated lover in Dante's Inferno, Taffnel's flute melodies swoon with desire. At about 3:07 minutes, the wind instrument plays a virtuosic set of arpeggiated notes, relaying the (quite literal) whirlwind of lust Da Rimini endures in the afterlife. Love might actually be hell in Francesca da Rimini's case, but it sure sounds heavenly with Taffanel's flute telling the tale!
Image credit & copyright: Polley Music Library's Cadenza
20th century classical flute owes a great debt to Claude-Paul Taffanel. Born on this day in 1844, the composer founded the French Flute School spent his lifetime revolutionizing the way the instrument was taught and played. A prodigy who played his first concert at age 10, Taffanel eventually became an instructor. He devised plans for students to receive individualized lessons, taught works by foreign composers like J.S. Bach, and learned to play with a gentle vibrato (rapid alteration of notes)—all things previously unheard of in French musical education. The fruits of his flute-composing labor can be heard in his Fantasia "Francesca Da Rimini," a flute and piano duet which likely takes its themes from the work of Taffanel's friend, Peter Tchaikovsky and his symphony Francesca da Rimini: Symphonic Fantasy after Dante. Like the ill-fated lover in Dante's Inferno, Taffnel's flute melodies swoon with desire. At about 3:07 minutes, the wind instrument plays a virtuosic set of arpeggiated notes, relaying the (quite literal) whirlwind of lust Da Rimini endures in the afterlife. Love might actually be hell in Francesca da Rimini's case, but it sure sounds heavenly with Taffanel's flute telling the tale!
Image credit & copyright: Polley Music Library's Cadenza
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FREEMusic Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Some songs just fit their singers like a glove or a hat (does anyone still wear a hat?). For Broadway legend Patti LuPone, The Ladies Who Lunch from Stephen Sondheim's Company is a piece that perfectly plays on her trademark sass and sensibility. In both the 2018 West End revival (London, England) and the 2020 Broadway transfer, LuPone takes on the role of Joanne, the cynical older friend of Bobbie, a New York woman who is hesitant to find love and settle down. Rather than pressure Bobbie to settle down, Joanne dresses down "serious" women and their (pre)occupations as she sings over a breezy samba beat on Ladies. The one-two-punch of Sondheim's brilliant lyrics and LuPone's dramatic vocal range strike a nerve in the final verses: "So here's to the girls on the go / Everybody tries. / Look into their eyes, / And you'll see what they know: / Everybody dies. / A toast to that invincible bunch… Let's hear it for the ladies who lunch." With its mixture of iconic New York power lunches and introspective lyricism, it's no wonder LuPone's rendition of The Ladies Who Lunch has been earning massive praise. We'll drink to that!
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Image credit & copyright: Variety
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Some songs just fit their singers like a glove or a hat (does anyone still wear a hat?). For Broadway legend Patti LuPone, The Ladies Who Lunch from Stephen Sondheim's Company is a piece that perfectly plays on her trademark sass and sensibility. In both the 2018 West End revival (London, England) and the 2020 Broadway transfer, LuPone takes on the role of Joanne, the cynical older friend of Bobbie, a New York woman who is hesitant to find love and settle down. Rather than pressure Bobbie to settle down, Joanne dresses down "serious" women and their (pre)occupations as she sings over a breezy samba beat on Ladies. The one-two-punch of Sondheim's brilliant lyrics and LuPone's dramatic vocal range strike a nerve in the final verses: "So here's to the girls on the go / Everybody tries. / Look into their eyes, / And you'll see what they know: / Everybody dies. / A toast to that invincible bunch… Let's hear it for the ladies who lunch." With its mixture of iconic New York power lunches and introspective lyricism, it's no wonder LuPone's rendition of The Ladies Who Lunch has been earning massive praise. We'll drink to that!
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Image credit & copyright: Variety
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
Hear ye, hear ye this medieval jam! When it comes to partying like it's 1099, bardcore artists like Hildegard Von Blingin’ are bringing out all the harps and whistles in covers of tracks like Radiohead's Creep. A recent viral sensation, Hildegard Von Blingin’ is the moniker of a secret female vocalist who's online identity is a play on the name Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th-century Benedictine abbess, polymath, and liturgical (sacred choral) composer. Von Blingin's charm in interpreting songs like Creep includes lithe vocals with a touch of medieval-esque Olde English lyrical changes like "when thou wert here before / I could not look thee in the eye." With harp, lute, and drum instrumentation provided by collaborator Friar Funk, Hildegard Von Blingin’s sure bringin' the noise and the hey nonny nonnies to the classics!
Image credit & copyright: Hildegard Von Blingin’
Hear ye, hear ye this medieval jam! When it comes to partying like it's 1099, bardcore artists like Hildegard Von Blingin’ are bringing out all the harps and whistles in covers of tracks like Radiohead's Creep. A recent viral sensation, Hildegard Von Blingin’ is the moniker of a secret female vocalist who's online identity is a play on the name Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th-century Benedictine abbess, polymath, and liturgical (sacred choral) composer. Von Blingin's charm in interpreting songs like Creep includes lithe vocals with a touch of medieval-esque Olde English lyrical changes like "when thou wert here before / I could not look thee in the eye." With harp, lute, and drum instrumentation provided by collaborator Friar Funk, Hildegard Von Blingin’s sure bringin' the noise and the hey nonny nonnies to the classics!
Image credit & copyright: Hildegard Von Blingin’
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
Keyboardist Billy Preston wasn't nicknamed "The Fifth Beatle" for no reason. The effusive instrumentalist was a key player in the Beatles' 1968 Let It Be sessions. Preston first met the Beatles in 1962, while they were opening for Little Richard on tour. As the Beatles' fame skyrocketed and in-fighting ensued, Preston was brought in as a collaborator on tracks like Get Back. In the famous January 1969 rooftop concert at Apple Corps headquarters, Preston can be seen wearing a black leather jacket, sitting next to Ringo and adding some much needed R&B keyboard improvisations to the driving-rhythmic tune. While Preston had already made a name for himself as a sessions musician on soul records, his Get Back performances led to further rock recordings on solo Beatles efforts, the Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers, and his own hit albums like The Kids and Me. On the 74th anniversary of his birthday this week, we're listening to Get Back and remembering how Billy Preston made himself one of the most exciting rock 'n' roll keyboardists of the 1970s.
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Image credit & copyright: Robert Altman / Michael Ochs Archives
Keyboardist Billy Preston wasn't nicknamed "The Fifth Beatle" for no reason. The effusive instrumentalist was a key player in the Beatles' 1968 Let It Be sessions. Preston first met the Beatles in 1962, while they were opening for Little Richard on tour. As the Beatles' fame skyrocketed and in-fighting ensued, Preston was brought in as a collaborator on tracks like Get Back. In the famous January 1969 rooftop concert at Apple Corps headquarters, Preston can be seen wearing a black leather jacket, sitting next to Ringo and adding some much needed R&B keyboard improvisations to the driving-rhythmic tune. While Preston had already made a name for himself as a sessions musician on soul records, his Get Back performances led to further rock recordings on solo Beatles efforts, the Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers, and his own hit albums like The Kids and Me. On the 74th anniversary of his birthday this week, we're listening to Get Back and remembering how Billy Preston made himself one of the most exciting rock 'n' roll keyboardists of the 1970s.
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Image credit & copyright: Robert Altman / Michael Ochs Archives
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FREEMusic Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Do cowboys dream of tumbleweed sheep? For Roy Rogers—the "King of Cowboys"—the Grand Canyon Trail was a place (and a song) full of adventure, peril, and a wondrous landscape. In the film of the same name, Rogers and his co-star Trigger (the horse) are the heroes in a plot full of mistaken identities, fraudulent deals, and a silver mine everyone wants to get their hands on. That is, except for Rogers, whose good-guy archetype remains steadfast even in the stickiest of situations. Grand Canyon Trail was one of nearly 100 films Rogers made between 1935 and 1952, a time when he was one of Hollywood's biggest stars. Rogers' music career never took a backseat to his work in movies, though; Grand Canyon Trail features a Western lullaby-like tune where romance and wide-open spaces are all a cowboy's heart could desire. Well, maybe all that and a trusty horse named Trigger (and a dog named Bullet) to keep an eye out for any trouble that comes along!
Image credit & copyright: Grit TV
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Do cowboys dream of tumbleweed sheep? For Roy Rogers—the "King of Cowboys"—the Grand Canyon Trail was a place (and a song) full of adventure, peril, and a wondrous landscape. In the film of the same name, Rogers and his co-star Trigger (the horse) are the heroes in a plot full of mistaken identities, fraudulent deals, and a silver mine everyone wants to get their hands on. That is, except for Rogers, whose good-guy archetype remains steadfast even in the stickiest of situations. Grand Canyon Trail was one of nearly 100 films Rogers made between 1935 and 1952, a time when he was one of Hollywood's biggest stars. Rogers' music career never took a backseat to his work in movies, though; Grand Canyon Trail features a Western lullaby-like tune where romance and wide-open spaces are all a cowboy's heart could desire. Well, maybe all that and a trusty horse named Trigger (and a dog named Bullet) to keep an eye out for any trouble that comes along!
Image credit & copyright: Grit TV
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
50 years ago this week the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath released their breakthrough second album Paranoid with a whole lot of double, double, toil and trouble. Bassist and lyricist Geezer Butler originally wanted to call the album "Walpurgis," after the spring equinox Feast of Saint Walpurga. By the time of recording, however, Walpurgis had been adopted as a holiday by the Church of Satan. Undeterred, Butler penned the lyrics "generals gathered in their masses / just like witches at black masses," for Ozzy Osbourne,, comparing the politicians who manufacture wars to Satan's evil minions. The themes were too malevolent (and political) for Vertigo Records, causing the band to concede Paranoid as the album title, and renaming the tune "Walpurgis" to War Pigs. Even though listeners didn't get to hear Black Sabbath's full vision, the boys from working-class Birmingham still got to lay down one of the heaviest jams, and one of the unlikeliest protest songs in rock 'n' roll.
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Image credit & copyright: Black Sabbath
50 years ago this week the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath released their breakthrough second album Paranoid with a whole lot of double, double, toil and trouble. Bassist and lyricist Geezer Butler originally wanted to call the album "Walpurgis," after the spring equinox Feast of Saint Walpurga. By the time of recording, however, Walpurgis had been adopted as a holiday by the Church of Satan. Undeterred, Butler penned the lyrics "generals gathered in their masses / just like witches at black masses," for Ozzy Osbourne,, comparing the politicians who manufacture wars to Satan's evil minions. The themes were too malevolent (and political) for Vertigo Records, causing the band to concede Paranoid as the album title, and renaming the tune "Walpurgis" to War Pigs. Even though listeners didn't get to hear Black Sabbath's full vision, the boys from working-class Birmingham still got to lay down one of the heaviest jams, and one of the unlikeliest protest songs in rock 'n' roll.
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Image credit & copyright: Black Sabbath
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
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
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
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.
Before riot grrrls or girl power, Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin brought feminism to the pop charts in a big way with Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves. The song was written by singer Annie Lennox, who wanted to see if she could craft "an anthem for women." From there, she knew that she'd need a fellow soul singer and mezzo-soprano to trade verses with; when Tina Turner and a host of others said no, producer Clive Davis stepped in, getting Lennox and Eurythmics bandmate Dave Stewart quickly to Detroit to record with the Queen of Soul herself. When the two forces of Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin later came together to shoot the video for Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves, the screen between Franklin and Lennox flashed footage of suffragettes being arrested, women entering (typically male) industrial jobs, and empowering views of icons like Dr. Angela Davis and Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi, first female Prime Minister of India. Now that's what we call showing R-E-S-P-E-C-T where it was due!
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Image credit & copyright: Lynn Goldsmith
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Before riot grrrls or girl power, Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin brought feminism to the pop charts in a big way with Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves. The song was written by singer Annie Lennox, who wanted to see if she could craft "an anthem for women." From there, she knew that she'd need a fellow soul singer and mezzo-soprano to trade verses with; when Tina Turner and a host of others said no, producer Clive Davis stepped in, getting Lennox and Eurythmics bandmate Dave Stewart quickly to Detroit to record with the Queen of Soul herself. When the two forces of Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin later came together to shoot the video for Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves, the screen between Franklin and Lennox flashed footage of suffragettes being arrested, women entering (typically male) industrial jobs, and empowering views of icons like Dr. Angela Davis and Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi, first female Prime Minister of India. Now that's what we call showing R-E-S-P-E-C-T where it was due!
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Image credit & copyright: Lynn Goldsmith
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FREEJazz Guitar Song CurioFree2 CQ
Happy 100th birthday anniversary to Charlie "Bird" Parker! The bebop jazz legend's centennial celebrations include album reissues, concerts, and of course, a Curio for the ages. Parker's incredible array of musical skills was introduced to the world via 1945's Ko Ko. As a first-time band leader, Parker gathered a stellar group: Max Roach on the drums, Miles Davis on the trumpet, and a last-minute fill-in on the piano by Dizzy Gillespie. As a saxophone soloist, Parker sets off at a breakneck speed, trading riffs with Davis (who would be replaced with Gillespie in subsequent versions) on trumpet before taking off on his own harmonic odyssey. And finally, as an arranger, Parker embeds his solo in the chord changes to Ray Noble's Cherokee, lifting from and putting his own incomparable spin on classic tunes, as he so often did. Some 75 years after Ko Ko was recorded, it still sounds like Bird is taking flight into the uncharted territory of a musical revolution.
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Image credit & copyright: BBC / Herman Leonard
Happy 100th birthday anniversary to Charlie "Bird" Parker! The bebop jazz legend's centennial celebrations include album reissues, concerts, and of course, a Curio for the ages. Parker's incredible array of musical skills was introduced to the world via 1945's Ko Ko. As a first-time band leader, Parker gathered a stellar group: Max Roach on the drums, Miles Davis on the trumpet, and a last-minute fill-in on the piano by Dizzy Gillespie. As a saxophone soloist, Parker sets off at a breakneck speed, trading riffs with Davis (who would be replaced with Gillespie in subsequent versions) on trumpet before taking off on his own harmonic odyssey. And finally, as an arranger, Parker embeds his solo in the chord changes to Ray Noble's Cherokee, lifting from and putting his own incomparable spin on classic tunes, as he so often did. Some 75 years after Ko Ko was recorded, it still sounds like Bird is taking flight into the uncharted territory of a musical revolution.
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Image credit & copyright: BBC / Herman Leonard
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FREEVideography Song CurioFree2 CQ
The Wild West never sounded the same after Ennio Morricone blew into town. The Italian composer, who recently passed away, is synonymous with spaghetti westerns like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Director Sergio Leone, a childhood friend of Morricone, tasked the "Maestro" with scoring his films before they were complete, once noting "the music underlines actions and feelings more than the dialogue." In that spirit, the two-note fluctuation that begins the opening theme is meant to invoke a coyote's howl, and is echoed in the flute, ocarina, and solo voice. Morricone employed several unusual instruments in his orchestral score, including harmonicas and a reverb-laden electric guitar. With a horse-galloping rhythm, Morricone sets the tone of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly as one of the most thrilling tales of lawlessness to ever grace the silver screen. We're saddling up and spinning our spurs one last time for the Maestro!
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Image credit & copyright: United Artists
The Wild West never sounded the same after Ennio Morricone blew into town. The Italian composer, who recently passed away, is synonymous with spaghetti westerns like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Director Sergio Leone, a childhood friend of Morricone, tasked the "Maestro" with scoring his films before they were complete, once noting "the music underlines actions and feelings more than the dialogue." In that spirit, the two-note fluctuation that begins the opening theme is meant to invoke a coyote's howl, and is echoed in the flute, ocarina, and solo voice. Morricone employed several unusual instruments in his orchestral score, including harmonicas and a reverb-laden electric guitar. With a horse-galloping rhythm, Morricone sets the tone of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly as one of the most thrilling tales of lawlessness to ever grace the silver screen. We're saddling up and spinning our spurs one last time for the Maestro!
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Image credit & copyright: United Artists
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FREEBlues Piano Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
What do blues legends like Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf and rock bands like Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones have in common? They all owe a debt to the songwriting talents of upright bassist Willie Dixon, who passed away on this day in 1992. The greatest testament to Dixon's career is the blues standard (I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man (1954), popularized by and likely written for Muddy Waters. A classic example of amplified Chicago Blues, the tune draws lyrical inspiration from Waters' trademark themes of boastful rambling, interspersed with Mississippi Delta hoodoo. Following a lengthier sixteen-bar blues progression, to savor the sustain of amplification, the song is defined by a repeating five-note, stop-time riff that opens into a I–IV–V7 structure in triplet rhythm, with texturing from the band. Dixon certainly had the "mojo" when he handed off Hoochie to Waters during intermission at one of the latter's performances at Club Zanzibar, in Chicago. The song fit Waters so well, he played it live later that same night. With such insight into fellow musicians, is it any wonder Dixon has been inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame?
Below: Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters' versions of Hoochie Coochie Man.
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Image credit & copyright: LouderSound
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
What do blues legends like Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf and rock bands like Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones have in common? They all owe a debt to the songwriting talents of upright bassist Willie Dixon, who passed away on this day in 1992. The greatest testament to Dixon's career is the blues standard (I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man (1954), popularized by and likely written for Muddy Waters. A classic example of amplified Chicago Blues, the tune draws lyrical inspiration from Waters' trademark themes of boastful rambling, interspersed with Mississippi Delta hoodoo. Following a lengthier sixteen-bar blues progression, to savor the sustain of amplification, the song is defined by a repeating five-note, stop-time riff that opens into a I–IV–V7 structure in triplet rhythm, with texturing from the band. Dixon certainly had the "mojo" when he handed off Hoochie to Waters during intermission at one of the latter's performances at Club Zanzibar, in Chicago. The song fit Waters so well, he played it live later that same night. With such insight into fellow musicians, is it any wonder Dixon has been inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame?
Below: Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters' versions of Hoochie Coochie Man.
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Image credit & copyright: LouderSound
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
If it was ever possible to sound super laid-back and furiously innovative, A Tribe Called Quest was the rap band to fit the bill. 30 years ago, the Queens-based group released their debut album, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, with infectious tracks like Can I Kick It?. When most rap groups were taking their samples from James Brown's funk tracks, DJ Q-Tip scratched records over the mellow earworm bass line in Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side, with psychedelic interludes that include works by Sergei Prokofiev and Dr. Lonnie Smith. In verse, lyrics reference street life in New York City; and an easy call-and-response sing-a-long chorus, Can I Kick It?, has sweet vibes for days. Leave it to a Tribe Called Quest to make rap history sound effortless!
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Image credit & copyright: Ernie Paniccioli / Sony Pictures Classics
If it was ever possible to sound super laid-back and furiously innovative, A Tribe Called Quest was the rap band to fit the bill. 30 years ago, the Queens-based group released their debut album, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, with infectious tracks like Can I Kick It?. When most rap groups were taking their samples from James Brown's funk tracks, DJ Q-Tip scratched records over the mellow earworm bass line in Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side, with psychedelic interludes that include works by Sergei Prokofiev and Dr. Lonnie Smith. In verse, lyrics reference street life in New York City; and an easy call-and-response sing-a-long chorus, Can I Kick It?, has sweet vibes for days. Leave it to a Tribe Called Quest to make rap history sound effortless!
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Image credit & copyright: Ernie Paniccioli / Sony Pictures Classics
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
The 1967 Monterey Pop Festival is widely cited as the moment Jimi Hendrix was catapulted into American stardom. But while most remember the event for Hendrix burning his guitar, the singer thought of it in an entirely different way. The lyrics to Little Wing filtered Hendrix's experiences at Monterey Pop through the figure of an angelic woman. Hendrix would later return to the image of this ethereal character in his more tender songwriting moments, sometimes using her as a stand-in for his mother, who passed away while he was young. But in Little Wing, the angel is a spirit of the '60s peace and love motto, floating over Hendrix's subdued musical pyrotechnics. He infused the song with his signature experimental touches: by plugging in his axe to a Leslie (piano-organ) speaker, he achieved a swirling sound to complement the dream-like lyrics and out-of-this-world opening that incorporates bass, rhythm, and lead parts in one unaccompanied guitar. Those were just some of the ways Hendrix ensured his rise to rock 'n' roll legend would amount to so much more than an unforgettable Monterey Pop performance.
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Image credit & copyright: Voka
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
The 1967 Monterey Pop Festival is widely cited as the moment Jimi Hendrix was catapulted into American stardom. But while most remember the event for Hendrix burning his guitar, the singer thought of it in an entirely different way. The lyrics to Little Wing filtered Hendrix's experiences at Monterey Pop through the figure of an angelic woman. Hendrix would later return to the image of this ethereal character in his more tender songwriting moments, sometimes using her as a stand-in for his mother, who passed away while he was young. But in Little Wing, the angel is a spirit of the '60s peace and love motto, floating over Hendrix's subdued musical pyrotechnics. He infused the song with his signature experimental touches: by plugging in his axe to a Leslie (piano-organ) speaker, he achieved a swirling sound to complement the dream-like lyrics and out-of-this-world opening that incorporates bass, rhythm, and lead parts in one unaccompanied guitar. Those were just some of the ways Hendrix ensured his rise to rock 'n' roll legend would amount to so much more than an unforgettable Monterey Pop performance.
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Image credit & copyright: Voka
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FREEMusic Song CurioFree2 CQ
From their hit songs Not Ready to Make Nice to Goodbye Earl, the (former Dixie) Chicks know a thing or two about defiant women. On their new track March March from Gaslighter, their first studio album in 14 years, singer Natalie Maines takes on the mantle of a protester singing "March, march to my own drum / Hey, hey, I'm an army of one." Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire back her up on dobro (a wood and steel guitar held on one's lap) and fiddle, making the tune sound like the precursor to a Wild West gunfight—were it not for the drum machine beat provided by famed Taylor Swift producer, Jack Antonoff. In the span of a 3:53-minute song, Maines references Stoneman Douglas shooting survivor and activist Emma Gonzalez, the climate crisis, and contortion of facts by powerful politicians. It's been 17 years since The Chicks themselves were banned from country radio for speaking their minds about George W. Bush leading the U.S. into the Iraq War. This time around, the three Texan women are driving the Dixie down and all the 21st-century injustices that come with it.
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Image credit & copyright: Liz Collins
From their hit songs Not Ready to Make Nice to Goodbye Earl, the (former Dixie) Chicks know a thing or two about defiant women. On their new track March March from Gaslighter, their first studio album in 14 years, singer Natalie Maines takes on the mantle of a protester singing "March, march to my own drum / Hey, hey, I'm an army of one." Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire back her up on dobro (a wood and steel guitar held on one's lap) and fiddle, making the tune sound like the precursor to a Wild West gunfight—were it not for the drum machine beat provided by famed Taylor Swift producer, Jack Antonoff. In the span of a 3:53-minute song, Maines references Stoneman Douglas shooting survivor and activist Emma Gonzalez, the climate crisis, and contortion of facts by powerful politicians. It's been 17 years since The Chicks themselves were banned from country radio for speaking their minds about George W. Bush leading the U.S. into the Iraq War. This time around, the three Texan women are driving the Dixie down and all the 21st-century injustices that come with it.
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Image credit & copyright: Liz Collins
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
As a man of many alter egos, David Bowie felt Ziggy Stardust's crash-landing in the U.S. merited a rebirth of sorts. Gone was the Spiders from Mars' bandleader, and in his place was Aladdin Sane. A pun on "a lad insane," the character and album ushered in a new era of Bowie's musical legacy. For better or worse, his stay in the States would be marked by glam rock and excessive substance abuse (the latter would cause him to rehabilitate in Berlin, Germany, at the end of the decade). Tracks like the stomping Jean Genie were inspired by a colorful cast of characters: Bowie named the tune after French poet Jean Genet; one of Andy Warhol's acolytes, Cyrinda Foxe (who features in the song's video), would dance around her apartment as Bowie played the melody on guitar; and the lyrics mimicked the actions of the volatile punk rocker, Iggy Pop. The end result is a jagged-sounding pastiche of jeans, Marilyn Monroe, and nutrition-peddling beauticians—in other words, all bizarre images that would rightly make a lad go insane!
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Image credit & copyright: David Bowie Archive
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
As a man of many alter egos, David Bowie felt Ziggy Stardust's crash-landing in the U.S. merited a rebirth of sorts. Gone was the Spiders from Mars' bandleader, and in his place was Aladdin Sane. A pun on "a lad insane," the character and album ushered in a new era of Bowie's musical legacy. For better or worse, his stay in the States would be marked by glam rock and excessive substance abuse (the latter would cause him to rehabilitate in Berlin, Germany, at the end of the decade). Tracks like the stomping Jean Genie were inspired by a colorful cast of characters: Bowie named the tune after French poet Jean Genet; one of Andy Warhol's acolytes, Cyrinda Foxe (who features in the song's video), would dance around her apartment as Bowie played the melody on guitar; and the lyrics mimicked the actions of the volatile punk rocker, Iggy Pop. The end result is a jagged-sounding pastiche of jeans, Marilyn Monroe, and nutrition-peddling beauticians—in other words, all bizarre images that would rightly make a lad go insane!
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Image credit & copyright: David Bowie Archive
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
I beg your pardon, but country singer Lynn Rene Anderson, who passed away on this day in 2015, made the country single Rose Garden a chartopper across both country and pop genres. The thing is, Rose Garden was penned by American singer-songwriter Joe South in 1967 as a more masculine tune with lyrics influenced by Bob Dylan's poetic verses. South's gruffer, original take for Rose Garden was a modest hit; but in 1970, a young Anderson was picked up by Columbia Records. Though her husband and Columbia producer Glenn Sutton, a friend of South's, balked at her insistence on covering the song, he relented, despite knowing that South believed Rose "was not a girl's song—that the song had some lines in it that a girl just would not sing!" Anderson proved South otherwise. The song's twangy guitar, ambling melody, and catchy lyrics pushed the track to No. 3 and earned Anderson her only Grammy. She would go on to top the country charts 14 more times, but Rose Garden was undeniably the greatest hit of her career. Now that's a surefire way to prove that girls can do anything boys can!
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Image credit & copyright: Ron Howard / Redferns
I beg your pardon, but country singer Lynn Rene Anderson, who passed away on this day in 2015, made the country single Rose Garden a chartopper across both country and pop genres. The thing is, Rose Garden was penned by American singer-songwriter Joe South in 1967 as a more masculine tune with lyrics influenced by Bob Dylan's poetic verses. South's gruffer, original take for Rose Garden was a modest hit; but in 1970, a young Anderson was picked up by Columbia Records. Though her husband and Columbia producer Glenn Sutton, a friend of South's, balked at her insistence on covering the song, he relented, despite knowing that South believed Rose "was not a girl's song—that the song had some lines in it that a girl just would not sing!" Anderson proved South otherwise. The song's twangy guitar, ambling melody, and catchy lyrics pushed the track to No. 3 and earned Anderson her only Grammy. She would go on to top the country charts 14 more times, but Rose Garden was undeniably the greatest hit of her career. Now that's a surefire way to prove that girls can do anything boys can!
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Image credit & copyright: Ron Howard / Redferns
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FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
When asked for a hit, Paul Anka is a man who delivers. In 1971, the Canadian songwriter, who turns 79 tomorrow, was charged with writing a tune for Welsh crooner Tom Jones. Taking into account Jones' obvious stage presence as a Cassanova, Anka wrote She's a Lady on a plane ride from London. With a British symphonic-pop sound accompanying him, Jones sings praises of the woman who has style, grace, and "knows her place." While the lyrics may have worked fine for Jones in the 70s, when Anka wanted to record the track for his Duets album in 2013, he knew the chauvinistic tone wouldn't cut it anymore. The opening verse instead features more praises and autonomy for the lady love interest: "she knows what love's about / she turns [him] inside out." After not only having written Jones' hit, but Sinatra's My Way, and the doo-wop classic Put Your Head on My Shoulder, we'll take Paul Anka's word for knowing when a classic can class itself up a bit.
Below: the original Tom Jones recording of She's a Lady, and Paul Anka's updated version.
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Image credit & copyright: Universal Records
When asked for a hit, Paul Anka is a man who delivers. In 1971, the Canadian songwriter, who turns 79 tomorrow, was charged with writing a tune for Welsh crooner Tom Jones. Taking into account Jones' obvious stage presence as a Cassanova, Anka wrote She's a Lady on a plane ride from London. With a British symphonic-pop sound accompanying him, Jones sings praises of the woman who has style, grace, and "knows her place." While the lyrics may have worked fine for Jones in the 70s, when Anka wanted to record the track for his Duets album in 2013, he knew the chauvinistic tone wouldn't cut it anymore. The opening verse instead features more praises and autonomy for the lady love interest: "she knows what love's about / she turns [him] inside out." After not only having written Jones' hit, but Sinatra's My Way, and the doo-wop classic Put Your Head on My Shoulder, we'll take Paul Anka's word for knowing when a classic can class itself up a bit.
Below: the original Tom Jones recording of She's a Lady, and Paul Anka's updated version.
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Image credit & copyright: Universal Records