The humble beginnings of one of the best rock duos of all time: “Red Bowling Ball Ruth” performed in the afternoon for a small crowd in the hometown of the then-married drum-guitar couple, Jack and Meg White. Audio of their full set can be heard here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjXAFEZUBGY
Another can’t-miss 1965 scene from Don’t Look Back — posted here for posterity — in which Dylan berates, mocks, “questions,” and playfully teases Time Magazine’s Horace Judson. The best part is Dylan’s response to “Do you care about what you’re saying?”
Dylan: How could I answer that, if you’ve got the nerve to ask me?! I mean, you’ve got a lot of nerve to ask me a question like that! Do you ask the Beatles that?
Time: I have to ask you that because you have the nerve to question whether I care…
Dylan: I’m not questioning you because I don’t expect any answer from you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8oGyGo1q-k
This clip of Bowie appearing on a classic BBC television show in the early ’70s, as well as the host’s wonderfully dated introduction, are presented without comment: “This is the face the public wants. An ex-art student from Brixton whose dad worked for Dr Barnardo’s Homes has turned himself into a bizarre, self-constructed freak.”
In which Christopher “Biggie Smalls” Wallace freestyles on the sidewalk, circa 1989/90. A brilliant early moment in his career that will be cut tragically short just 7 years later when he is murdered at 24 years old in Los Angeles. Though the case is still open, there are significant leads implicating police corruption in an alleged cover-up of the investigation and much more in a recent must-read Rolling Stone piece.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AX2bcWtg1Q
A fascinating duet between Björk & PJ Harvey at the 1994 Brit Awards that was recently mentioned by The New Yorker’s Sasha Frere-Jones in his review of Harvey’s latest LP, Let England Shake. As he describes:
Björk stays mum for a verse, and then eases her fifty-foot voice into the song. As Harvey begins to play and sing harder, Björk rockets above her, toying with the words and making disjointed vocal leaps. When they end—not only the song but a certain era of raw performance—on the words “that’s what I say,” it’s absolutely thrilling.
The only observation I’d add is that there are moments (especially toward the beginning) where it feels as though all could go horribly wrong, but, like most artists of this caliber, Harvey and Björk use the challenge to push what could’ve been an, um, satisfying yet less memorable performance into a timeless moment. Just another stop on their respective long-running musical winning streaks.
An infamous — yet debatable — scene from Don’t Look Back, in which Dylan and the so-called “Scottish Dylan” playfully spar via folk song backstage in London.
Despite appearances, there’s a lot going on here, from Bob’s brilliant deal with the Devil ambition, to the Beat-inspired entourage, to Donovan’s priceless cigarette drag. Analyze at will or just let it be. Either way, it’s something to see.
This clip is insane.