Resources

Category: Resources

Goodbye George

It was a very sad day in 2001. George Harrison died of cancer in Los Angeles. Those of you who remember the 20-something George will be stunned to see his son Dhani who looks exactly like him. This clip is from “Concert for George,” organized a year after his death by his widow Olivia and his friend Eric Clapton, who, incidentally used to be married to George’s ex-wife Pattie Boyd.

If you’re under 30 you can get a good sense of George on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website. And the Mudd has a few of his recordings.

More CDs

Sometimes our CD collection has such depth and breadth we can hardly stand it. Today we offer CDs containing piano trios; choral music; an Orff work probably new to you; chants that are, to say the least, unusual and a ’50’s pop vocal quartet.

More Broadsides

living skeletonWe completely missed another hugely interesting resource here at the Mudd: American Broadsides and Ephemera. Since this collection comes from the same company that gave us Early American Imprints, 1801-1819, you can do a “curiosities and wonders” search here, too. The Mudd: for all your curiosities and wonders needs.

You Mean the Mouse SINGS?

singing mouseWe don’t often wish we were in Los Angeles, but we do now. The Hammer Museum at UCLA is hosting Extraodrinary Exhibitions: Broadsides from the Collections of Ricky Jay from now until November 25. The exhibit features “80 examples of 17th-, 18th-, and 19th-century ephemeral advertising sheets known as broadsides…with an emphasis on remarkable entertainers and visual deceptions.” Today’s New York Times has an interview with Mr. Jay along with some amazing examples and descriptions from the exhibit.

The Mudd subscribes to Early American Imprints, 1801-1819 which includes the subject category “Curiosities and wonders.” Here you can find your “Great anaconda or the terrific serpent of Java,” a little tamer fare than Mr. Jay’s singing mouse, enormous head, or living skeleton.

We Like the Rolling Stone

rolling stoneOn this day 40 years ago Rolling Stone published its first issue. The title comes from the Bob Dylan song “Like a rolling stone“. It looked a little different back then – no shiny glossy cover. But its founder Jann Wenner is still the editor and publisher.

The obvious choice for the first cover was John Lennon, a popular entertainer at that time who composed, sang and played guitar, and who’d just finished filming the Richard Lester film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061789/"How I Won the War.

The Mudd subscribes to Rolling Stone and keeps the paper copies for a year. We also have R.S. on microfilm from January, 1978 to June, 2002 for all your fogey rock needs.

Yakkity Sax

sax boomIt’s Saxophone Day! It’s a woodwind made of metal! It’s named after a real guy whose birthday is today! It comes in all different sizes! And what could be cooler than a saxophone, or for that matter, a saxophone player? Once you get past the shades and the slouching demeanor, you’ll find a hug-able human being. So go hug one.

The Mudd has a boat load of recordings, scores and videos featuring the saxophone. Of course there’s Coltrane. But we also feature a composer who writes for saxophone(s) and ghettoblaster. For the less adventurous, how about some saxophone quartets?

They Got Blowed Up Real Good

bucket fireThe Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in which a bunch of conspirators in England tried to blow stuff up, occurred on this day. It’s celebrated as Guy Fawkes Night, Bonfire Night, Fireworks Night, Cracker Night or Plot Night. In any case, explosions and fire are the order the day.

Today’s New York Times has a pretty sad photo of a rugby club viewing a film of a bonfire last year on Guy Fawkes Night. It’s a sorry state of affairs when the mayhem-loving British must discard their customs. But one rogue town will not be moved: “…the Slough Borough Council…decided not to have a bonfire this year. (It will have fireworks, though, along with an Asian Elvis impersonator.)”

Read all about him (Guy Fawkes, not Elvis) in the Mudd.