Tag: Music

The Lovin Spoonful

by BJM Publishing, posted in Art, Music

The Lovin’ Spoonful was a popular American folk-rock band formed in Greenwich Village, New York City, in 1964 by primary songwriter John Sebastian and guitarist Zal Yanovsky.

The group took their name from a lyric in Mississippi John Hurt’s song “Coffee Blues”. Their style blended folk, blues, jug-band music, and rock and roll, which they called “good-time music”. Beginning in 1965 with “Do You Believe in Magic,” the band achieved seven consecutive Top Ten US hits in 18 months, including “Daydream,” “Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?”, and their chart-topping number-one hit “Summer in the City”

Recently I started doing water color painting again and turned a photo of the result into a poster about music which I do on a regular basis. Hope you enjoy this and I will be writing something in the near future regarding the subject of the painting – Merlin in an upcoming post. So….do you believe?

LOW RIDER

by BJM Publishing, posted in Art, classic cars, Music

The song “Low Rider” from the 1975 album “Why Can’t we be Friends” by War is often thought of as a drug song due to the take a little trip chorus and the line that says the low rider is a little higher but that was not the intention according to the members of the band.

A low rider is a car, and also a culture. “Low Riders” are modified with hydraulic lifts that allow the driver to lower each wheel and make the car bounce. They are often customized with outrageous paint jobs, tiny steering wheels and swivel seats. The culture formed around these cars is big in the Southwestern US, and popular in Latino culture. Most of the band grew up in Southern California and were immersed in low rider culture.

As for War’s history, they are a multi-ethnic musical group formed in 1969 in Long Beach, California. They are known for their blend of jazz, rock, funk, and R&B and their politically charged lyrics. They have released several critically acclaimed albums and are considered one of the pioneers of the funk rock genre.

“Calling ourselves War was a positive thing: we were waging war against war and the conflicts going on in our back yard. Our weapons were our instruments, which fired rhythms, melodies and most of all harmony. We were a multi-ethnic band and we used our songs to bring peace and love.”

  The iconic lead vocals of “Low Rider” were performed by War’s saxophonist, Charles Miller.