Time of Liberation 5768

Well peoples of the world, the Time of Liberation is at hand. To get us in the mood dig some live Peter Tosh (1944-1987) at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in 1979 (the song is called "400 Years" [from the birth of Isaac?]) with spliff in hand! Then the Ohio Players give us a refrain we can use ("I Want to be Free"). Finally Richie Havens (b. 1941) brings us "Freedom" from Woodstock (1969).

Captain Blood (1935)

This is another great picture from before WW2. It is an entertaining story of civil war, slavery, piracy, and patriotism that stars Errol Flynn (1909-1959) as Captain Peter Blood, Olivia de Havilland (b. 1916) as the girl (she was 19 at the time), and Basil Rathbone (1892-1967) as an incidental badguy (I've provided their swordfight). Apparently this was a sea-faring rival to "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1935) as they were in theaters at the same time.

Big Joe Turner - Low Down Dog (live 1965)

Big Joe Turner (1911-1985) started as a singing bartender in Kansas City in the old days of formative Rhythm and Blues. He pioneered his own hip style and could be compelled by a paternity test to provide for his love-child that used to go by the name of 'Rock & Roll', a term that has vulgar origins among the so-called jive-talk of the 1940's as in the phase: "lets rock & roll all night long". Anyway, Big Joe is the man, and is not to be taken lightly. Please get down with this selection from long after he had made his name and made history.

Home Is Where the Hatred Is

This song is real cool, dig. "A junkie walking through the twilight, I'm on my way home." The artist is the great Gil Scott-Heron (b. 1949) and the song dates from 1971. The cover is worthy. The lady that sang it was Esther Phillips (1935-1984).

Van Morrison & The Band "Caravan" live

Well here it is, a hip hip song and a fundamental performance. I hope you can identify the key players. If thats a problem for you, then seeking help is the first step. The movie is "The Last Waltz" (1978) and it was directed by Martin Scorsese (b. 1942) and is the last concert The Band gave. It took place on Thanksgiving Day 1976 in San Francisco and this is the best of many performances given by many professionals. Van's outfit is well, hideous, but it was 30 years ago and he was young. The kicking at the end of the song is to be noted.