Various Authors

Homage to Spanish Anarchism

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Stephen Schwartz, co-author of Spanish Marxism versus Soviet Communism: A History of the P.O.U.M. in the Spanish Civil War, has linked a number of his associates to the film below (which is available on Youtube). Your editor, in turn, passed the link on to another distinguished author of a recent book on the Spanish Civil War, Adam Hochschild, who was wowed: “Amazing. I’ve seen lots of still photos from this time—which must have been in the first month or two after the beginning of Franco’s coup—but didn’t know there was film.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVv6ampdPeY

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Long and Winin’ Road: Jelly Roll Morton and Little Richard

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Jelly Roll Morton’s “Winin’ Boy Blues” from the famous Alan Lomax Library of Congress sessions seems to belong somewhere in the rootsy back story that W.T. Lhamon dug up above. In his account of Little Richards’ rise, Lhamon notes Richard was shy about singing gay sexy lines in his original version of “Tutti Frutti” to the lady lyricist who helped him clean them up (a tad). The history behind that shyness is hinted at in Jelly Roll Morton’s recitation before singing “Winin’ Boy Blues” which, as Morton explained, was part of a campaign intended to forestall any doubts about his own sexuality: “Of course, when a man played piano, the stamp was on him for life–the femininity stamp. And I didn’t want that on, so, of course, when I did start to playing, the songs were kinda smutty a bit. Not so smutty, but something like this.” (I should add that Jelly’s rough and rowdy ways co-existed with a genteel side; he asked Lomax to have the lady stenographer who was transcribing his words leave the room before he did his dirty work of genius and lust.)

He Gotta Go Now

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Per Bob Dylan: “Prine’s stuff is pure Proustian existentialism. Midwestern mindtrips to the nth degree… If I had to pick one song of his, it might be ‘Lake Marie.’” (There’s a great live version here.)

Broadway by Light

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Watch the classic short film from 1958 by William Klein (with help from Alain Resnais and Chris Marker). Click on “Read more” for a bigger screen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2x144mSwtM&t=2s

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Interview with Michael Rumaker

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The following interview with Michael Rumaker, conducted by Ammiel Alcalay and Megan Paslawski, appeared in the City Lights Books edition of Rumaker’s Robert Duncan in San Francisco. Appended to the interview is a note Alcalay wrote for Rumaker’s Memorial service last year.

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Burning Man

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A clip from this 7 minute Q&A between Mike Pompeo and Nancy Amons–a reporter from a local news station in Nashville–made the national news late last week.

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Fires in the Night (A Sequence from “Candy Mountain”)

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Robert Frank’s magnificent picture of kids with sparklers on the beach reminded your editor of night scenes near the end of Candy Mountain–the 1987 road movie directed by Frank along with Rudy Wurlitzer. (Forgive the German subtitles!) Click “Read more” to see a bigger screen.  [P.S. THE EMBED HAS BEEN IFFY – IF THE MOVIE STARTS AT THE BEGINNING, CLICK ON AROUND 1:22.50 TO GO STRAIGHT TO THE NIGHT.] B.D.

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Black History Soundtrack

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Sparked by outrages on the southern border, The Rev. William Barber will speak in Raleigh, North Carolina tomorrow where he’ll aim to update Frederick Douglass’s most famous speech: “What to the Slave is the Fourth of the July?” Rev. Barber’s address is titled: “What to the Immigrant and People of Color is the Fourth of July?” He’ll be speaking at the Pullen Memorial Baptist Church and the name of that institution reminded me of a hero of black music who grew up in Raleigh’s Baptist community. Don Pullen made blue-black music as profound as Douglass’s testament.

For Rev. Barber (and every citizen), three shots of Pullenspiration…

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American Humor

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“Old Town Road”–the country/rap hybrid that’s graduated from tween meme to pop moment, thanks chiefly to censorious types who got it bumped off Billboard‘s country music chart, led your editor to Fly Rich Double’s country/rap jape, “Big Boom.” It’s another novelty song that’s not fated to be an American Country classic. OTOH, there’s at least one video sparked by the song (see below) that may be funny for all eternity. It starts slow but I hope that sexy tractor keeps you rocking until the brothers start their delirious dance…

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(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue

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First contributor Ty Geltmaker steered your editor to “The Life of Gad Beck”—a graphic biography of a gay Jewish hero who fought Nazis in Germany during World War II (and survived). (The image below is from the body of the work…)

Gad Beck 4

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