News & Updates — vintage footage

Passing just two months after Charlie Parker was another genius of the saxophone, tenor player Wardell Gray. He was one of the bright lights of the West Coast scene of the late '40s/early '50s and it's a shame how relatively little-known he is compared to some of the other titans of the era, of which he surely should rank alongside. His style was flowing and melodic, not too heavy. He was one of the players who straddled the line between the swing and bop eras. His first instrument was clarinet but he was inspired upon hearing Lester Young to switch to...

The activist singer Josh White got his start as a homeless teenager, recording his own blues and gospel sides, and cutting sessions for other singers before a period of inactivity due to a serious hand injury. Healed, he starred on Broadway, became FDR's closest friend and was a well-loved country-blues artist in the '40s. One of the most popular artists of the day, he also made some movie appearances at a time when blacks were rarely seen starring onscreen. In fact, White's career was full of "firsts" for black artists...until McCarthyism damaged his reputation with the American public and he...

The pioneering rockabilly artist Gene Vincent whooped things up with the mighty "Be-Bop-A-Lula" in 1956 with his band The Blue-Caps, which was originally intended as a b-side. Other '50s hits included "Race With The Devil", "Bluejean Bop" and "Lotta Lovin". He became an ex-pat in '59 and lived in and toured Europe for several years, at one point his band included a young Ritchie Blackmore. Beset by medical problems from injuries sustained in two road crashes (a '55 crash of his brand new Triumph motorcycle and a '60 taxi crash that killed Eddie Cochran), and his subsequent self-destruction through drink...

A pioneering guitarist and violinist (and a popular singer) in blues and jazz, Lonnie Johnson came from a musical family in New Orleans and learned to play several instruments. He toured the UK for two years and returned home to find that nearly his entire family, save his brother, were killed by the flu epidemic of 1918. The two brothers worked the riverboat scene and Lonnie married blues musician Mary Johnson. In the '20s he recorded several sides for Okeh and toured with Bessie Smith. In 1927 he recorded with Louis Armstrong and with Duke Ellington the following year. His...

Well punkers, here is some glorious Sex Pistols footage from The Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas, January 10, 1978. No riots. Merle Haggard would roll into the venue just nine days later. A YouTube gem: