Louis Jordan: Hold On
Louis Jordan performs Hold On, a plea to persist even against the largest obstacles, to keep on keeping on.
MORE ...Modern Czechoslovakia
To the tune of Mozart’s A Little Night Music, we take a tour through the height of modernity in early 1970’s Central Europe. This observational documentary about electricity and technology is quite artfully shot for an industrial film. A look at how modern Prague appeared in the early 1970’s.
MORE ...Calypso Blues: Nat King Cole
Tremendous performance of Calypso Blues by one of the true originators of modern popular music, Nat King Cole. In this clip he is accompanied by Jack Costanzo, who became a popular accompanist with Cole, Desi Arnaz, Xavier Cugat, Eddie Fisher, and Frank Sinatra.
MORE ...Delta Rhythm Boys: Dry Bones
The Delta Rhythm Boys perform one of their most famous songs Dry Bones. Feel free to sing along! Ezekiel connected dem dry bones Ezekiel connected dem dry bones Ezekiel connected dem dry bones Now I hear the word of the Lord Well, your toe bone connected to your foot bone Your foot bone connected to […]
MORE ...Duke Ellington’s Black and Tan
Duke Ellington makes his film debut in the short produced in 1929 based on his pivotal composition Black and Tan Fantasy.
MORE ...The Havana-Madrid Show
The Havana-Madrid Show featuring Maya’s Pan-American Orchestra and Carlos and Zedra from 1941.
MORE ...Trip to Where
Trip to Where is a propaganda film produced by the US Navy to warn sailors on shore leave about indulging in psychedelics, which were all the rage in the late 1960’s. The opening sequence, a psychoactive, surreal trip that lasts nearly 8 minutes, is enough to consider this an undiscovered masterpiece of psychedelic cinema. The […]
MORE ...Happy Birthday, Stanley Kubrick.
Marking the 90th birthday of Stanley Kubrick, we take a look back at his earliest film, The Day of the Fight from 1951. The Day of the Fight is the primary touchstone from which Stanley Kubrick’s unique cinematic style would evolve. Like the battling man-apes during 2001‘s Dawn of Man sequence, The Day of the Fight depicts a […]
MORE ...Charlie Williams: Long Black Veil
In this clip, Charlie Williams, backed up by Joe Maphis, performs a solid rendition of Long Black Veil, made famous by Lefty Frizzell and Johnny Cash, on Town Hall Party in 1959. Born in Texas in 1929, and the underrated Williams got his start in radio, taking up residencies in Tupelo, Fort Worth, Pasadena, Los Angeles, San […]
MORE ...Cumberland Ridge Runners: Goofus
In this clip form the 1930s, the Cumberland Ridge Runners perform “Goofus,” a request from a member of the audience of children from a hospital ward that sit beside them. The Cumberland Ridge Runners were a popular radio act in the 1930s, known for their musical virtuosity as much as their on stage antics, as seen here […]
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