Seminal Image #744
Applause
(Rouben Mamoulian; 1929)
for the series:
Seminal Images
October 31, 2007
When Legends Gather #312
Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh and John Mills
for the series:
When Legends Gather
October 30, 2007
Artists On Artists #1:
Patti Smith on Edie Sedgwick
She begins talking about Edie Sedgwick, an early heroine -- "It's funny how heroine and heroin are very similar . . . " -- from the days when Patti first hit New York, and suddenly her voice becomes less assertive. She uses even more 'ya knows' than usual. "Half of Blonde On Blonde was written about her and, uhm . . . she just burned herself out. She was a deb, a socialite . . . I just met her . . . I was a fan of hers . . . I just met her once . . . I thought she was really wonderful." Behind the RayBans the shadows of her eyes have stopped darting. "She was like traveling with Warhol and I used to see her at art exhibits and I wrote a couple of poems about her because I thought she had so much abandon and she was such a fantastic . . . it was the days of like discotheques and the Peppermint Lounge and stuff and she was like, she wore these mini-skirts and had platinum hair and black eyebrows and she was gorgeous, ya know, really American, like rich, ya know, especially like she was upper-class and I was lower-class, I had this sort of like fascination for her . . she was really, totally in tune with her body, all her movements and, ya know, she was really like a rock'n'roll Salome and I really dug that." You get an image of Patti, the gawky girl grown to gawky late-adolescence, watching Edie and getting the germ of an idea....maybe it's alright to be weird...
© Bart Bull, 1976
(This excerpt from an interview with the always demure Patti Smith appeared in the December, 1976 issue of Sounds, and was generously supplied by its author, a just and righteous man of letters named Bart Bull. Señor Bull's blog, which achieves in prose what we seek to achieve with images here, is heartily endorsed by this corner of the Gunslinger quadrangle, for whom it has become a favorite among favorites)
for the series:
Artists on Artists
Musical Indulgence #11
Committed to Parkview
(Porter Wagoner; 2007)
Second only to Kinky Friedman's 'Sold American' in its limning of Country music dissipation and madness, 'Committed to Parkview' was written and recorded by Johnny Cash for his 1976 Columbia LP One Piece at a Time. And no better song could have been chosen to represent what turned out to be Porter Wagoner's welcome, but cruelly brief, career revival.
for the series:
Musical Indulgences
October 29, 2007
Porter Wagoner Dead at 80
All of North America awakens this morning to very sad news of the passing of Porter Wagoner, who succumbed to lung cancer last evening at the age of 80. Variously known to multitudes as leader of the Wagonmasters; the duet partner of Norma Jean, then Dolly Parton; as The Thin Man from West Plains, Missouri, and someone who could wear a spangled, rhinestone-studded Nudie jacket like no man alive, he should perhaps best be remembered as author and singer of some of the finest (and some of the most gloriously deranged) Country music ever committed to record.
For what it's worth, I always preferred his recording of "Settin' the Woods On Fire" to Hank Williams' original.
That's my heresy for today; all in his honor.
More about his life and work can be found in the following Obits:
CMT.com
The People's Daily (China)
The Washington Post
for the series:
Obits
The Art of Science Fiction #8
Operation Interstellar
(by George O. Smith)
(Merit Books; 1950)
for the series:
Art of Science Fiction
October 28, 2007
They Were Collaborators #386
Clara Bow, Jean Harlow and Jean Arthur join forces for The Saturday Night Kid.
for the series:
They Were Collaborators
Collect 'Em All #39
Ann Harding
No. 24 in a series of 50 from Player's Navy Cut Cigarettes
Ann Harding, who was christened Dorothy Gatley, was born in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, on August 7th, 1904. The daughter of an army officer, she began to earn her living in an insurance office, and in her spare time read manuscripts for a film company. Then she joined a group of amateur theatrical players, subsequently appearing professionally in stock companies. This led her to the Broadway stage, and later to Hollywood, where she was persuaded to try screen work while on holiday. Paris Bound was her first film, later productions including Gallant Lady, The Right to Romance and The Life of Vergie Winters.
for the series:
Collect 'em All
Adventures in American Filmmaking #86
Today's Adventure: Charles Chaplin dictates from on high.
for the series:
Adventures in American Filmmaking
The Friends of Milt Hinton #7
Cab Calloway, Chu Berry and Tyree Glenn have fun with some local kids in Durham, N.C. circa 1940
for the series:
The Friends of Milt Hinton
October 26, 2007
Poets are both clean and warm
And most are far above the norm
Whether here or on the roam
Have a poet in every home! #25
Hart Crane
for the series:
Poets are both clean and warm
October 25, 2007
Great Canadians of the 20th Century #10
Winston "Scotty" Fitzgerald
for the series:
Great Canadians of the 20th Century
When Legends Gather #310
Sammy Cahn, Dean Martin and Louis Prima
for the series:
When Legends Gather
Before and After #93: Marilyn Monroe
Before
After
(this post is for the inimitable Mick Farren)
for the series:
Before and After
October 24, 2007
They Were Collaborators #383
Lou Clayton, James Durante and Eddie Jackson
for the series:
They Were Collaborators
Tricky: Scenes from a Life #42
Tricky visits his old workplace (1988)
for the series:
Tricky: Scenes from a Life
When Legends Gather #309
Tony Wilson, Peter Saville and Alan Erasmu
for the series:
When Legends Gather
October 23, 2007
Relevant Quote #93
"All the worst people are good Americans"
-- Norman Mailer
for the series:
Relevant Quotes
Adventures in the Fight Racket #9
Today's Adventure: Sonny Liston anticipates good fortune (1963)
for the series:
Adventures in the Fight Racket
October 20, 2007
And Biograph Was There . . . #3
On November 23, 1903, while dalmations and palookas in firehouses across America smoldered with envy, American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. cameraman F.S. Armitage was present as Pawtucket, Rhode Island's crack Fire Department unveiled its new, state-of-the-art firefighting equipment before a stunned citizenry.
for the series:
And Biograph Was There . . .
They Were Collaborators #381
Three hardcore Carousel Club strippers (and their boss)
for the series:
They Were Collaborators
October 19, 2007
The Art of Cinema #258
Dance of the Vampires
(The Fearless Vampire Killers)
(Roman Polanski; 1967)
for the series:
Art of Cinema
They Were Collaborators #380
Thomas Carr, Roy Cohn, Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy (R-WI) and G. David Schine
for the series:
They Were Collaborators
The Art of Jazz #44
One Flight Up
(Dexter Gordon)
(Blue Note records; 1964)
for the series:
Art of Jazz
The Golden Age of Prurience #43
Pornography Prostitution USA
(Arvin Tokunow; 1971)
for the series:
The Golden Age of Prurience
October 18, 2007
Deborah Kerr dies at 86
Read the obituary here
Thanks to Stephen for recommending this image.
for the series:
Obits
Joey Bishop dies at 89
Backstage with Sands manager Jack Entratter, Joey Bishop and friends wait for their cue.
Read the obituary here.
for the series:
Obits
Before and After #90:
The Hon. Huey P. Long
(aka The Kingfish)
Before
After
for the series:
Before and After
Adventures in the Fight Racket #8
Today's Adventure: Emile Griffith sends World Welterweight Champion
Benny 'The Kid' Paret to the canvas (1961)
for the series:
Adventures in the Fight Racket
October 17, 2007
Artists in Action #273
Montgomery Clift gets medicated
(photo by Stanley Kubrick)
for the series:
Artists in Action
Adventures in American Filmmaking #85
Today's Adventure: George Stevens directs Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor
to turn up the heat on the set of A Place in the Sun (1951)
for the series:
Adventures in American Filmmaking
They Were Collaborators #378
William Wyler and Montgomery Clift
for the series:
They Were Collaborators
October 16, 2007
When Legends Gather #306
Julie Christie, Dirk Bogarde and Monica Vitti
for the series:
When Legends Gather
They Were Collaborators #377
Henry Wallace and Franklin Roosevelt
for the series:
They Were Collaborators
Fun at Bohemian Grove #25
A Bohemian stands by his portrait (1909)
for the series:
Fun at Bohemian Grove
The Ink & Paint Set #24
Lionel Barrymore in The Autograph Hound
(Jack King; Walt Disney; 1939)
for the series:
The Ink and Paint Set
Collect 'Em All #38
Sonnie Hale
No. 23 in a series of 50 from Players Navy Cut cigarettes
Born in London on May 1st, 1902, Sonnie Hale is the brother of Binnie Hale. After being educated at Beaumont College, he made his first stage appearance at the age of nineteen in the chorus of Fun of the Fayre at the London Pavilion, and soon became famous in musical comedy. It was in Germany that he made his film debut, and it was not until after he had made three films there--Happy Ever After, Tell Me To-night and Early to Bed that he appeared in British Pictures. Among his latest are Wild Boy, Evergreen and My Song for You. His real name is John Robert Hale-Monro; he is married to Jessie Matthews.
for the series:
Collect 'em All
October 14, 2007
Artists in Action #271
Cyd Charisse blows a kiss to you (but not to you)
for the series:
Artists in Action
They Were Collaborators #375
Laurence Olivier and Peter Hall
for the series:
They Were Collaborators
Adventures in European Filmmaking #34
Today's Adventure: Everyone on the set of La Dolce vita casts their eyes in a different direction (1960)
for the series:
Adventures in European Filmmaking
October 13, 2007
The Art of Science Fiction #7
Galaxy
(cover by Ed Emshwiller)
(#33; December, 1955)
for the series:
Art of Science Fiction
An Illustrated History of Vice #2
An NYPD Officer catches up on his reading (1970)
for the series:
An Illustrated History of Vice
October 12, 2007
Artists in Action #268
Tallulah Bankhead commandeers two of New York's finest
for the series:
Artists in Action
October 09, 2007
Authors on Authors #8
"Miller is a writer out of the ordinary, worth more than a single glance; and after all, he is a completely negative, unconstructive, amoral writer, a mere Jonah, a passive acceptor of evil, a sort of Whitman among the corpses."
-- George Orwell (on Henry Miller)
for the series:
Authors on Authors
October 08, 2007
Adventures in European Filmmaking #33
Today's Adventure: Alain Resnais lets Delphine Seyrig look through his viewfinder on the set of Last Year in Marienbad (1961).
for the series:
Adventures in European Filmmaking
October 07, 2007
The Art of the London Underground #26
Richmond Park by Dame Laura Knight, RA; 1938
for the series:
Art of the London Underground
Through the Lens of Cyril Arapoff #14
A stall selling spare parts for motor cars and motor cycles. It was said that at one stall it was possible to buy a complete motor car in parts!
for the series:
Through the Lens of Cyril Arapoff
From the Southern Travellers Handbook for 1965/66 #9
Commuting in reverse: None of the daily pushing and shoving here, the frantic search for a vacant seat, the uncomfortable journey. They can pick and choose where to sit, stretch out their legs and travel in style. And there is an abundance of seats on these 'wrong-way' trains for others to do just the same. The trick is, of course, to organise your work - or have it organised for you - so that it takes place outside of Central London.
for the series:
From the Southern Travellers Handbook for 1965/66
From the Sketch Book of Lawson Wood #21
Half a loaf
for the series:
From the Sketch Book of Lawson Wood
October 06, 2007
An Illustrated History of Vice #1
An underground Opium Den in New York's Chinatown (1925)
for the series:
An Illustrated History of Vice
When Legends Gather #303
Nick Adams, Mickey Hargitay and Joe Louis
for the series:
When Legends Gather
The Golden Age of Publicity #3
Bette Davis and Joan Crawford endure one another's proximity in this publicity
still for the Warner Bros. release, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
for the series:
The Golden Age of Publicity
October 05, 2007
Musical Indulgence #10
Cake Walking Babies from Home
(Judith Durham and The Hottest Band in Town; 1974)
Judith Durham has unfortunately become better known to posterity as lead vocalist for an Australian Folk-Rock act called The Seekers, but anyone who has sampled her later recordings (in particular her phenomenal 1974 Pye LP, 'Judith Durham and The Hottest Band in Town') knows her for what she truly is: one of the great latter-day Traditional Jazz singers on earth.
Those who might have believed, with some justice, that the defining word on 'Cake Walking Babies from Home' was wrought by Clarence Williams and His Blue Five way way back in their 1925 recording for Gennett Records may want to give a listen to this powerhouse reading from 1974; introduced by the late Benny Hill.
for the series:
Musical Indulgences
October 04, 2007
Broadcasters #26
When Legends Gather #303
Frankie Howerd and Robin Day
for the series:
Broadcasters,
When Legends Gather
Artists in Action #263
Miles Davis helps Jeanne Moreau develop her embouchure
(vast thanks to Pietro Meroni for this image)
for the series:
Artists in Action
The Roots of Pop Art #11
Flash Gordon on the Planet Mongo
(Big Little Books; 1934)
for the series:
The Roots of Pop Art
October 03, 2007
October 02, 2007
Poets are both clean and warm
And most are far above the norm
Whether here or on the roam
Have a poet in every home! #24
Elizabeth Bishop
for the series:
Poets are both clean and warm
They Were Collaborators #370
Leonard Bernstein and Glenn Gould
for the series:
They Were Collaborators
When Legends Gather #302
Cass Elliot, Michelle Phillips and Jimi Hendrix in 1967.
for the series:
When Legends Gather
October 01, 2007
American Dry Spell #8
Prohibition agents in Chicago consign gallons of hooch to the earth (1921)
for the series:
American Dry Spell
Jack Delano's Trains #4
Departure yard at C&NW RR's Proviso yard at twilight
(Chicago, IL; December, 1942)
(big and brawny thanks to Abraham Hyatt for this image)
for the series:
Jack Delano's Trains
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