music

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• 5/31/2020
  

  Little Richard: Bold, Pioneering, Complex, and Unapologetic

  by Elwood Watson

  Little Richard left a lasting musical and cultural legacy because of his talent and his willingness to be more boldly black and sexual than other artists dared.

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• SOURCE: Vanity Fair
  5/20/2020
  

  Exclusive First Look at New Photograph of Blues Legend Robert Johnson

  Even if he didn’t sell his soul at the Crossroads, the massively influential Mississippi guitarist remains shrouded in mystery. An upcoming memoir from his 94-year-old stepsister brings new depth to Johnson’s mythos—and the third verified picture of him in existence.

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• SOURCE: American Songwriter
  5/15/2020
  

  Up From The Streets, a Vibrant Documentary on the History of New Orleans Music, Is Essential Viewing

  Because of its profound, often tangled and diverse roots, there have been plenty of quality documentaries on the music of New Orleans. This is arguably the best. 

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• SOURCE: San Francisco Classical Voice
  5/18/2020
  

  A New Biography of Odetta Reveals a Difficult Life Well Sung

  Ian Zack's biography of the singer Odetta reveals a great deal about the limits racism and sexism imposed on her career and the limited terms on which she was accepted by white audiences.

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• SOURCE: BET
  5/19/2020
  

  A New Documentary On Opera Singer Marian Anderson Is Coming To PBS

  A new PBS documentary will commemorate singer Marian Anderson's voice and her activism.

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• SOURCE: Southern Spaces
  5/11/2020
  

  An Unlikely Bohemia: Athens, Georgia, in Reagan's America

  by Grace Elizabeth Hale

  Athens kids built the first important small-town American music scene and the key early site of what would become alternative or indie culture.

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  5/10/2020
  

  Little Richard: An Ecstasy You Couldn’t Refuse

  Little Richard was a challenge to 1950s proprieties: to segregation, to musical decorum, to chastity, to straightness.

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  5/8/2020
  

  Ian Whitcomb, Rocker Turned Pop Music Historian, Dies at 78

  Ian Whitcomb forsook pop stardom to study and preserve forms of music popular before rock and roll.   

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• 4/26/2020
  

  “Dueling Banjos” and Divided America

  by Roger Chapman

  If we could consider our differences as not warfare but call-and-response, perhaps we could find some harmony in the song of our nation.

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  4/19/2020
  

  Dylan's 'Times They Are A-Changin'' Lyrics for Sale for $2.2 Million

  "The Times They Are A-Changin'", written by Dylan in 1963 and released on his 1964 album of the same name, is regarded as one of the most iconic protest songs of the 1960s.

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• SOURCE: IndieWire
  4/13/2020
  

  ‘The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel’: Why the Lifetime Biopic Resonates With Black Women

  Credited with bringing Gospel music to the mainstream, the five Clark sisters overcame humble beginnings in Detroit to achieve international fame as icons of the Gospel music industry.

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  4/9/2020
  

  The Weirdly Enduring Appeal of Weird Al Yankovic

  National economies collapse; species go extinct; political movements rise and fizzle. But—somehow, for some reason—Weird Al endures.  

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• SOURCE: Chicago Sun-Times
  4/7/2020
  

  John Prine Dies at 73; Acclaimed Folksinger, Songwriter Created Classics of Lyricism and Storytelling

  Bob Dylan once said, “Prine’s stuff is pure Proustian existentialism. Midwestern mindtrips to the nth degree. And he writes beautiful songs.”

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• SOURCE: NPR Codeswitch
  3/17/2020
  

  The Classist History Behind Bad Bunny's 'Bichiyal'

  The introduction of the term opened the floodgates for a debate about class, womanhood, and Puerto Rico's long history of reggaeton production.

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• 3/15/2020
  

  The Life and Times of Flamboyant Rock Music Impresario Bill Graham

  by Bruce Chadwick

  The New York Historical Society presents the rock & roll world of Bill Graham (1931–1991), one of the most influential concert promoters of all time, through August 23.

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• SOURCE: NPR
  3/6/2020
  

  McCoy Tyner, Groundbreaking Pianist Of 20th Century Jazz, Dies At 81

  McCoy Tyner was the last surviving member of the John Coltrane Quartet, among the most momentous groups in jazz history. Few musicians have ever exerted as much influence as a sideman.

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• 9/5/19
  

  How The Media Covered Woodstock – and How Woodstock Changed The Media

  by Harlan Lebo

  Woodstock was a milestone – not just in coverage of the music scene, but also in broader media exploration of social and economic issues that affect younger audiences. 

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• 8/27/19
  

  The Cultural History of Woodstock and a Message of Hope

  by Harlan Lebo

   The Woodstock weekend marked the beginning of a new era in America, a new consciousness about the way the world could be.

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  8/1/9
  

  How music took down Puerto Rico’s governor

  by Verónica Dávila and Marisol LeBrón

  Underground music overcame censors to gain popularity and political power.

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• SOURCE: Black Perspectives
  7/1/2019
  

  Kinitra D. Brooks' and Kameelah L. Martin's New Book, The Lemonade Reader, Explores Beyoncé’s Visual Album

  by J. T. Roane

  The Lemonade Reader gathers a newer generation of Black feminist scholars to engage in intellectual discourse and confront the emotional labor around the Lemonade phenomena.