Written by Doug Hall on May 20, 2021
If you happened to be on the Williamsburg Bridge anytime from the summer of 1959 through roughly the autumn of 1961, you would have been privileged to hear the sound of a true artist seeking to find new directions and an inner voice on his instrument. Already famous and successful, with constant performing and recording, Sonny Rollins, one of the greatest tenor saxophonists of the Bebop and hard bop eras, had left the public eye, working out his notes alone on the bridge, to find a new conversation with his horn. He would later record
The Bridge, his 1962 comeback album, a direct inspiration, and result of this sabbatical. Rollins’ shift to a more narrative voice and stream of consciousness style on his saxophone would be highly influential, impacting all other jazz horn players to follow.
ROYALSTON, Mass. The recent death of 1960s anti-war and New Left activist Rennie Davis is the inspiration for this article. Without judgment or advocacy, I want to explore the varied shifts in consciousness that have taken place in the lives of several people who, like Davis, were peace and social justice activists during the Vietnam War era.
Only a short time before his death, at age 80, Davis received some media attention because of a new movie about the 1969 Chicago Seven trial. In an obituary written for
The Rag Blog, my college friend, activist and professor Jonah Raskin wrote, “Rennie was a man with a deep moral consciousness who aimed to follow the dictates of his heart and his head no matter where they might take him.”
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“The ACLU may not want it advertised, but this record is pornographic; that’s one of the good things about it.” – Robert Christgau
BY 1989, Miami rap group The 2 Live Crew’s ultimately double-platinum album
As Nasty As They Wanna Be was quickly climbing the hip-hop charts. The lead single, “Me So Horny” was a crossover hit. Their unique blend of Southern rap and “party record” comedy bits had expanded well beyond their core audience of Southern Blacks. The vulgar lyrics and booty-shaking dances had infiltrated the white suburbs. Mothers were appalled to hear their kids’ mouth couplets such as, “
i think that the timing of the beatles arriving coming a few months after kennedy s assassination brought a youthful, fresh energy and really pointed a way towards the future and a creative future. you know, certainly what they were doing was mirroring a lot of things that were happening in society at the time. but they were the ones who had the wheel. they were the ones who were leading that charge as there was a move toward more experimental art, politics, drug culture, looking at eastern religion, all of these things were things that they were the one who is were setting the pace for. all right. allen, thank you so much. appreciate your time. tune in tonight for a special episode of the upcoming cnn s original series, the 60s, the british invasion. it premiers right here on cnn. it was a picture that sent
administration could put out a compromise for catholics today. dan lothian is at the white house. dan, what exactly are you hearing? reporter: that s right, i m hearing that a compromise or an accommodation as they like to call it here, i m hearing this from a senior administration official, will likely be announced today. we re trying to get more details but it will likely be some kind of a balance whereby women do have access to contraceptive coverage but on the other hand you will have these organizations, religious affiliated organizations will not have to directly provide that coverage. it s unclear whether this will be enough to ease the concerns of these religious organizations and others who really were looking for a reversal of this policy. what s clear though is there s been a lot of pressure on this white house over the last couple of weeks, not only from the catholics and other religious groups, but also from lawmakers up on capitol hill. republicans. the republ