St. Patrick’s Day

March 17th marks an American popular and commercial holiday with roots in the liturgical calendar. The first St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City (1848) started and ended at memorials to George Washington and allowed Irish Americans to demonstrate both their love of their heritage and allegiance to  their new country. For many today the holiday presents an opportunity for adults to dye their tongues green.

 

Sure, an’ all, wee Mr. Potato Head® is a registered trademark of Hasbro, Inc.,  used here under the “satire” provision of the Fair Use doctrine, dontcha know.  Mr. Head is a Yank “Baby Boomer,” but clean the paidrín up and he makes a proper little leprechaun.

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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The Telecaster Turns 60

Fender’s classic Telecaster guitar just turned 60 years old. The solid-body guitar that changed County, Rock, and Blues music sounds just as good as ever. Take it from James Burton, Jeff Beck, Merle Haggard, Elliot Easton, Keith Urban, and a few of their pals.

Classic Guitar Riffs

Jason Persse posted his list of the “50 Greatest Guitar Riffs in Rock ‘n’ Roll.” While we may disagree with some of his choices, you can’t beat the way he did it, with streaming sound clips.

“50 Greatest Guitar Riffs in Rock ‘n’ Roll,” Jason Persse, Spinner.

 

Image (“Gentleman in a Blue Jacket with a Red Guitar, after Jacopo Amigoni”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Happy Birthday Elvis

 

January 8, 2011: Elvis Aron Presley is 76 today. So is is his twin brother Jesse. 

Our Elvis is alive; sorry about yours.

 

 

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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Women Rock

Lucy O’Brien has an interesting post in the Britannica blog. Ms. O’Brien is author of She Bop: The Definitive History of Women in Rock, Pop & Soul and She Bop II, and she reflects on the role of women in the music industry, and how it has changed in the past quarter century.

It’s a rich subject. If you agree, here are a few more titles to consider:

Sociologist’s Totems

“The lyrics of contemporary popular song, of rock and rap and country, are the ones which reflect the immediacy of our world, much as theater songs did in the first half of the twentieth century. They are the sociologist’s totems.”

Who wrote that?

Robert Christgau? Simon Frith? Todd Gitlin? Peter Wicke? Robert Palmer? Lester Bangs? Paul Friedlander? R. Serge Denisoff? Greil Marcus?

Grande Finale for the Liberace Museum

 

 The Liberace Museum, a Las Vegas fixture since 1979, closes today, October 17, 2010. The Liberace Foundation promises that the museum’s collection of  flamboyant … objets d’art will tour the country.