Tag Archives: Rock ‘n Roll

ROCK ‘N ROLL : The Sixties Series from American Beat

‘Sugar Sugar’: Bubblegum Gold and more…By Margaret Moser / August 11, 2008 This American Beat series from last year languished under a stack of poorly sorted CDs until my recent excavation. The label’s sense of whimsy and willingness to produce … Continue reading

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Minneapolis/ St. Paul : Rocking the Republicans

Texas-reared singer-songwriter Steve Earle will be rocking the Republicans on Labor Day. Image copyright Charles Devlin.‘Most of the rock concerts during RNC convention week are renegade events aimed at countering the Republican mania, not fueling it’by Keith Goetzman / August … Continue reading

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Bo Diddley : Who Do You Love?

Bo Diddley. Photo © Neal Preston/CORBIS.Bo Diddley’s beat changed the course of rock music. And his lyrics evoked a history that reached all the way to Africa. By Ned Sublette This article appears in the August issue of Smithsonian magazine. … Continue reading

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FILM : Patti Smith: Dream of Life

Patti Smith. Photo by Steven Sebring.‘This androgynous Jersey girl obsessed with Rimbaud and Shelley and Whitman came to the big city 40 years ago’By Andrew O’Hehir / August 6, 2008 Almost at the beginning of Steven Sebring’s documentary “Patti Smith: … Continue reading

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FILM : Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young and the Protest Song

‘CSNY: Déjà Vu’: A Political Concert DocumentaryBy Jennifer Maerz / July 30, 2008 Bob Dylan’s “John Brown” is one of the most moving antiwar songs ever recorded. The track avoids sloganeering, resonating an anti–Vietnam War sentiment with a straightforward, human, … Continue reading

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MUSIC : Gringos Recording Mexican Songs…

Doug Sahm and The Texas Tornados, 1996:(From Left) Flaco Jimenez, Sahm, Freddy Fender, and Augie Meyers. Class personified: Nat King Cole.The bueno, the bad and the muy uglyBy Gustavo Arellano and John Nova Lomax Mexican artists have recorded English-language songs … Continue reading

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Bob Dylan to Jakob : Be a Wallflower?

Jakob Dylan.First convention protester: Bob Dylan?By Tom Webb / July 15, 2008 Has singer Bob Dylan staged the first protest of the 2008 Republican National Convention by persuading his son Jakob Dylan not to perform here in September? That’s the … Continue reading

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If you want to watch today’s vintage video, then just…

…Raise Your HandJanis Joplin and Tom Jones 1970 Somehow Tom Jones and Joplin together just gives me the willies but the backup dancers are worth the video. Besides, I think Tom is going to break a hip trying to keep … Continue reading

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Mesmo’s Desert Digest : The Beat Goes On

Professor Longhair his own self.Bo Diddley, Professor Longhair and Drumming the Clave BeatBy Gerry Storm / The Rag Blog / June 26, 2008 Gerry, aka Mesmo, is a former Austin activist and musician who now lives in harmony with the … Continue reading

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Thorne Dreyer & Margaret Moser :
Austin Rock Musician Benny Thurman Dead at 65

By Thorne Dreyer | The Rag Blog | June 24, 2008 Benny Thurman, a founding member and bassist of the famed sixties rock group the Thirteenth Floor Elevators, died this past Sunday, June 22 in Austin. Thurman was in intensive … Continue reading

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Mesmo’s Reflections on the Sixties

Janis Joplin, folksinger. Austin, Texas, 1965, at The 11th Door on Red River Street. Photo by Bob Simmons / The Rag Blog. Gerry Storm wrote the following reminiscence on Austin music in the sixties for the Texas Ghetto website in … Continue reading

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"Ain’t Gonna Study War No More…"

Vets for Peace hold “Sangha” for Ft. Hood GI’sBy Doug Zachary / The Rag Blog / June 9, 2008 [Doug Zachary is a regular contributor to The Rag Blog. A veteran, he is president of the Austin chapter of Veterans … Continue reading

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