Sirvavigadas: “a characteristically Hungarian penchant for celebrating misery in an extravagant, nay spendthrift, manner.” —R. Sarlos.
Category: Music
Marc Bolan was the founder, guitarist, songwriter, vocalist, and sole constant member of the English band T. Rex, a group renowned for sensuous grooves and cryptic lyrics chock-a-block with innuendo. When Bolan appeared on Top of the Pops with glitter makeup, the glam era was officially underway. The vocalist also had a memorable way with ballads, as the above performances demonstrate. Most of all, of course, he was The Groover.
Elvis ended up mastering a great many styles and genres, including Gospel, Country/Nashville, Ballads, and…Rock & Roll. An astonishingly dramatic, riveting performer, right up to the end.
Categories
Gospel and Such.
Great moments in Gospel music.
A few notes from Wikipedia: Norman Greenbaum: If you ask me what I based “Spirit In The Sky” on … what did we grow up watching? Westerns! These mean and nasty varmints get shot and they wanted to die with their boots on. So to me that was spiritual, they wanted to die with their boots on.
“I had to use Christianity because I had to use something. But more important it wasn’t the Jesus part, it was the spirit in the sky. Funny enoughΒ … I wanted to die with my boots on.”
“According toΒ The New York TimesΒ article, Greenbaum used aΒ Fender TelecasterΒ guitar with aΒ fuzz boxΒ built into the body to generate the song’s characteristic guitar sound.”
Greenbaum daringly defies any and all Anti-Hand-Clapping ordinances in the above performance, and Ms. Hagen takes a commendable swing at the immortal song, as well.
The great South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, a keyboard giant, is here featured. Though his work reflects the gospel and traditional works of his ancestral home, as well as that of jazz legends Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington, he is much more than their sum. Ibrahim is a master of improvisational high-wire acts that leave the listener spellbound. His is a unique, powerful, mesmeric musical vision.
Brian Connolly, Steve Priest, Andy Scott, and Mick Tucker comprised the glam maestros known as {The} Sweet. SchrΓΆdringer’s definite article notwithstanding, these great men rose to achieve world domination in the 70s. Extraordinary catchiness paired with pure power escalated Sweet to the uppermost echelons. They also projected a sense of great fun, often sorely lacking in hard rock.
Tenor saxophone colossus Theodore Walter “Sonny” Rollins is responsible for a great many of the most monumental jazz tracks ever produced. With John Coltrane, he’s unquestionably at the top of the mountain as far as tenor sax is concerned. As an interpreter of ballads, he remains unsurpassed. Those included here are dramatic, monumental. Given the apparent relaxation with which Sonny plays, the cliff-hanging tension he creates is uncanny. His work with calypso material was groundbreaking. Presented here is but a minute offering from the great man’s catalogue. A premier pantheon inhabitant.
Nick Currie obtained his stage name from the Greek God of satire and mockery. An apt moniker, as the gifted singer/songwriter is supremely adept in both departments. Erudite in the extreme, and equipped with an unfailing wit, the acerbic yet playful Currie has been not only prolific, but highly influential. No less than Jarvis Cocker and Suede’s Brett Anderson list the redoubtable, dependably quirky Momus as an inspiration.
Categories
Trick, Cheap.
Robin Zander, Tom Peterrson, Bun E. Carlos, and Rick Nielsen made copious amounts of aural nirvana, particularly in the late 70s, as Cheap Trick. The concerts in Budokan were recorded in 1978, but not released in the US until demand became so frenzied that Epic had little choice. Intended solely as a Japanese album, the LP jettisoned the band into the realms of world domination. This was preceded by Heaven Tonight, the band’s greatest studio achievement. Several pieces from this classic are captured here performed live at various venues. Cheap Trick’s highs were nothing short of vertiginous.
