Blind Willie McTell was born in Thompson (Georgia) in 1901. Introduced to the guitar by his mother in 1914, this blind musician began as a street singer and minstrel shows homeless, Medicine Show. Very quickly, it becomes extremely popular in the Atlanta area. From 1927 to 1956, he recorded extensively for many record labels and under different names. Read more here.
This professional gospel singer recorded thirty songs outstanding between 1927 and 1930. Amazing slide guitarist, Johnson has a huge voice in the register. If his music is primarily inspired by religion, it nevertheless falls clearly into the blues, percussion and dancing. Read the full picture.
Blind Lemon Jefferson can be considered the creator of the Texas blues. This Texas blues or blues ruled the south west Texas, but also western Louisiana, southwestern Arkansas, Oklahoma, areas open to Hispanic-Mexican influences.
The song "Talking John Birch Paranoid Blues" by Bob Dylan evokes with humor the John Birch Society, an ultraconservative political organization founded in 1958 to fight the "communist threat" in the United States. The organization takes its name from a military and right-wing Baptist missionary murdered in 1945 by the communists.
singer parody by the methods of the organization, he considered a threat to freedom of expression in the United States because its members accusing anyone that they did not like being communists.
Of all the titles I selected for you this year, there are 16 that I love more than others, I suggest you recognize the performers in this Last Blind-Test 2008:
Far from protest song or revolutionary songs, here is a hymn to the American army, seen as the ultimate bulwark against the advancing Communist background of war Vietnam.
This piece of the Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler date 1965. The military escalation in Vietnam began, but protests against American intervention will then remain a tiny minority. As such, this piece seems very representative of the mindset of the American silent majority of the time.
Game of the Week: Leonard Cohen (and others ..) can sing "Hallelujah" !
[Left to right: Leonard Cohen, Alexandra Burke, Jeff Buckley and John Cale]
The modesty of Leonard Cohen should take a hit. Already forced out of retirement to 74 years by reckless investment of its financial advisor, has resumed the one of its songs is currently in England a carton. Two versions of his "Hallelujah" from 1984 are competing in fact the first place online sales by the end of this year. The reason is simple: the winner emission X-Factor (the British equivalent of New Star), Alexandra Burke , sang the title in the final and made a splash. Purists, who do not want to leave the first place to a reality TV singer, began a campaign to buy the version considered the most successful song, the American singer Jeff Buckley (died accidentally in 1997) . The result: Both versions are vying for first place ... to benefit the finances of Leonard Cohen of course that affects some royalties.
side floor, several versions have been sung, including Cohen himself. The text refers to the Old Testament story of King David , especially in its fight against Saul and his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, wife of one of his soldiers he sent to death. Each artist more or less emphasis on the sexual dimension of this story. Referring also to Samson, who held his power of his hair. [Read more (in English ) here or there ]
Here is the original version of 1984:
Here is version X-Factor:
And one of Jeff Buckley:
Many other versions of the song exist, including that of Rufus Wainwright for the Shrek movie, I offer you a selection, you recognize the interpreter. Not mentioned the version of Sheryl Crow , of Allison Crowe and that of Bono considered one of the less successful. Here
The different stages of progression of Versailles in Paris, during the Bloody Week. (Click on map to enlarge). Source: Atlas- historique.net .
Proclaimed March 28, 1871, the Paris Commune was born of the refusal to surrender to the Prussians and the intense revolutionary ferment that reigns in Paris since the fall of the Second Empire.
The rich province of Katanga (diamonds, cobalt) seceded, soon followed by the South Kasai (well stocked, too, diamonds). (Three cards of the article come from the issuance of cards below).
This manic ska of the dark Lord Brynner used to discuss the Congo crisis, these five years of civil wars that began just days after independence and was not completed with the takeover of Mobutu.
Skip James is one of the most original bluesmen. His playing guitar and piano very special, combined with a memorable falsetto, make recordings of songs terribly captivating.
The exceptional African-American singer Odetta died Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008 at the age of 77. This folk legend recorded few exceptional pieces throughout his career. She was also known for his tireless commitment in the movement for civil rights. Thus, when the march on Washington, August 28, 1963, she performed songs alongside Dylan, Baez and the whole folk scene started.
major influence for artists such as Janis Joplin, Tracy Chapman and more recently, the artist had been invited to perform at the inauguration of Barack Obama, January 20. The disease decided otherwise.
singer Raphael, known to the general public since her duet with Jean-Louis Aubert ("On the road "), received his consecration third album Caravan. In this album, the song "Schengen" indirectly refers to the plight of undocumented immigrants face the increasing closure of Europe's Schengen area .
"The Tonkinese" When the song celebrated the colonization
From "The cap of father Bugeaud," the song colonial has entered into popular culture, thanks to school in particular. But in the early twentieth century, the song no longer celebrated colonial conquest, it conveys the exoticism, eroticism, often on a comic mode that does not hesitate to pour into racism.