JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 100th anniversary of Hank Williams’ birth.
Tag: 1930s
Throwback: Happy 106th Birthday, John Lee Hooker!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 106th anniversary of John Lee Hooker’s birth.
Throwback: Happy 94th Birthday, June Carter Cash!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 94th anniversary of June Carter Cash.
Throwback: Happy Belated 109th Birthday, Sun Ra!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates the 109th anniversary of Sun Ra’s birth.
Throwback: Happy 108th Birthday, Billie Holiday!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 108th anniversary of Billie Holiday’s birth.
Throwback: Black History Month: John Lee Hooker
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month — and pays tribute to John Lee Hooker.
Throwback: Happy 105th Birthday, John Lee Hooker!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 105th anniversary of John Lee Hooker’s birth.
Throwback: Happy 105th Birthday, Ella Fitzgerald!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 105th anniversary of Ella Fitzgerald’s birth.
Throwback: Happy 120th Birthday, Son House!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belated celebrates the 120th anniversary of blues legend, Son House’s birth.
Throwback: Happy 114th birthday, Cab Calloway!
JOVM celebrates the 114th anniversary of Cab Calloway’s birth.
Throwback: Happy Birthday, Louis Armstrong!
JOVM celebrates Louis Armstrong’s 120th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 104th Birthday, Ella Fitzgerald!
JOVM celebrates what would have been Ella Fitzgerald’s 104th birthday.
Throwback: Black History Month: Billie Holiday
Today is the eighth day of Black History Month. And if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few days of this month, you’d see that I’ve been featuring Black artists across a wide and eclectic array of genres and styles that I think can guide you towards understanding the Black experience.
Black culture is American culture
Black music is American music.
Black history is American history.
America’s greatest and beloved contributions to the world are Black music styles — the blues, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll and hip-hop.
Black art matters.
You can’t love black art and black artists without loving black people.
Black lives matter — all of them, all of the time.
Arguably one of the most expressive and haunting voices ever recorded, Billie Holiday’s vocals could express yearning, longing, heartbreak and despair within the turn of a single phase. Of course, it shouldn’t be surprising that most of her life was filled with tragedy and heartbreak — with the result being her tragic death at 44.
Throwback: Black History Month: Ella Fitzgerald
Today is the third day of Black History Month. And if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few days of this month, you’d see that I’ve been featuring Black artists across a wide and eclectic array of genres and styles that I think can guide you towards understanding the Black experience.
Through the month — and throughout the year, I hope that you’ll come to understand and appreciate the following:
Black culture is American culture
Black music is American music.
Black history is American history.
America’s greatest and beloved contributions to the world are Black music styles — the blues, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll and hip-hop.
Black art matters.
You can’t love black art and black artists without loving black people.
Black lives matter — all of them, all of the time.
Ella Fitzgerald is one of the greatest vocalists to ever live. ‘Nuff said, folks. Also, the internet is a wonderful place: I didn’t know that she was in an Abbot and Costello film — and I watched a lot of them as a kid.
Throwback: Black History Month: Howlin’ Wolf
Today is the first day of Black History Month. And throughout this month I’ll feature Black artists across a wide and eclectic array of genres and styles that I think can guide you towards understanding the Black experience. Throughout the month I hope that you’ll appreciate these facts:
Black culture is American culture — and Black music is American music.
America’s greatest and beloved contributions to the world are Black music styles — the blues, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll and hip-hop.
Black art matters.
Black lives matter — all of them, all of the time.
I’m a huge blues fan. Howlin’ Wolf is one of my favorite Mississippi Delta/Chicago bluesmen. Songs like “Smokestack Lightnin,'” “Killing Floor” and “Spoonful” have long been blues rock standards — but his work heavily influenced Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts and countless others.