JOVM’s William Ruben Helms pulls out his nerd card — and wishes Rush’s Geddy Lee a Happy 67th birthday.
Tag: throwback
Throwback: Happy 79th Birthday George Clinton
JOVM celebrates George Clinton’s 79th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 56th Birthday, Chris Cornell!
JOVM pays tribute to Chris Cornell — and Soundgarden — on what would have been his 56th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 59th Birthday GURU!
JOVM pays tribute to G.U.R.U. on what would have been his 59th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 81st Birthday Mavis Staples!
Throughout the course of this site’s almost ten year history, I’ve managed to spill quite a bit of virtual ink covering the legendary Chicago-born singer, actress, and civil rights activist Mavis Staples. Going into a deep dive into her career as a member of the Staple Singers and and a solo artist will be a bit gratuitous — but throughout her career, she has received commercial and critical success, as well as a proverbial boatload of accolades. Stapes has received eight Grammy Awards nominations with the Staple Singers, winning one — a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2004. She also received a Grammy nod for a collaboration with longtime friend Bob Dylan. And as a solo artist, she’s been nominated for five Grammys, winning two — Best Americana Album for 2010’s You Are Not Alone and a Best American Roots Performance for 2015’s ”See That My Grave Is Kept Clean.”
She also has been nominated for 11 Blues Music Awards, winning nine, including Album of the Year for 2004’s Have A Little Faith, which featured Song of the Year and album title track “Have A Little Faith.” She’s also won three Soul Blues Female Artist Awards — one in 2004 and back to back wins in 2017 and 2018. Staples was also inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Staple Singers in 1999, was a Kennedy CenterHonoree in 2016 and inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2017.
Today is the legendary vocalist’s 81st birthday and I personally wanted to wish the national treasure a very Happy Birthday. May there be at least another 80 more!
Throwback: Happy 49th Birthday Tupac Shakur!
JOVM shows love to Tupac Shakur on what would have been his 49th birthday — a day late but still . . .
Throwback: Happy 62nd Birthday Prince!
JOVM pays tribute to Prince on what would have been his 62nd birthday.
Throwback: Happy 78th Birthday Curtis Mayfield!
JOVM pays tribute to Curitis Mayfield on what would have been his 78th birthday.
Throwback: Mos Def “Umi Says”/Black Lives Matter
With yet another senseless, televised police murder of a black person, I’ve felt angry and exhausted, demoralized and depressed. When will this nightmare end of unnecessary death end? When will we be free of this?
It just felt necessary to post one of my favorite Mos Def songs, off an album I turn to whenever racism and injustice seems to hurt me to my very core — “Umi Says,” off Black on Both Sides.
Simply put, I want all my black people to be free. Black lives matter. All the time. Every single day.
Throwback: Happy 94th Birthday Miles Davis!
JOVM celebrates what would have been Miles Davis’ 94th birthday.
Throwback: RIP Jimmy Cobb
Growing up, jazz was a formative part of my childhood. John Coltrane was God and Miles Davis was Jesus. Hallowed be thy names! Hallelujah and amen, forever and ever!
Copious amounts of ink — both real and virtual — have been spilled writing about Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, the recording sessions that birthed it and the musicians, who recorded it, which included John Coltrane (tenor sax), Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, Bill Evans (piano), Wynton Kelly(piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Jimmy Cobb (drums) and of course, Miles Davis (trumpet). Personally, Kind of Blue is a quintessential New York album: if you ever get a chance, play the album while walking down a lengthy stretch of Fifth Avenue on a drizzly Spring afternoon. Trust me, it works.
I was heartbroken to hear that Jimmy Cobb, the last living link to Kind of Blue died yesterday and I wanted to pay a tribute to Cobb and the rest of the legendary musicians, who recorded such a gorgeous and meaningful album. I stumbled across this rare bit of live footage of Miles and the crew performing Kind of Blue album track “So What?” live. Check it out. And if you’re somehow unfamiliar with the album, go to Spotify and spend an afternoon with it.
Throwback: RIP Little Richard
JOVM pays tribute to the late and legendary Little Richard.
Throwback: RIP Bill Withers
I had some loose-held editorial plans for the site over the next 24-36 hours or so but when I saw a friend’s Facebook post on Bill Withers’ death, I scrapped those plans for a little bit. We’ve heard most of Withers’ work so much that it’s part of our collective consciousness — and yet, the songs hold up and resonate 40 some years after their initial release. They’re that timeless. And I suspect that kids 50 years from now, will hear the same things that our folks and we have heard in the material. Long live, Bill Withers!
I came across some live footage of Withers shot in 1972 and 1973. The 1973 footage shot by the BBC may be the most famous of the two, and as a photographer it’s intimate, capturing Withers with some tight close ups, in which he seems to explode into your living room.
Also before, I forget Still Bill is arguably one of the best albums ever written and recorded. Nuff said.
Throwback: Happy Birthday Kurt Cobain!
JOVM shows love to Kurt Cobain on what would have been his 53rd birthday.
Throwback: Happy “It Was a Good Day” Day
JOVM celebrates “It Was a Good Day” Day.