Sir Mix-a-Lot
The hip-hop MC born Anthony Ray in 1963 would belong on this list even if he’d never given a woman’s booty a second thought. The signs, though, were always there that if he were to rise to the top he’d do so humorously. His first hits were as funny as they were funky. After “Posse on Broadway” put both Sir Mix-a-Lot and Seattle on the hip-hop map in 1988, there was “My Hooptie,” a 1990 effort which may be the funniest of all of hip-hop’s many car anthems—a love song to a “three-ton monster, econo-box stomper,” complete with dragging tailpipe, single hubcap (“’cause three got stolen”), and expired tabs. Still, it was “Baby Got Back” that went big and topped the charts for five weeks in the summer of 1992. It’s become a constant presence whenever frat boys gather to party, whenever women shake what their momma gave them, and whenever a drunken barhopper needs a totally awesome song for karaoke. And if Mix has never quite lived down this greatest hit he’s also never lost his sense of humor: Hear “Big Johnson,” which mocks male peacocking. —MM
Because of him… Northwest hip-hop blew up around the world.
Now hear this: “Posse on Broadway” from Swass finds Mix dubbing himself “the man they love to hate—the J. R. Ewing of Seattle” and picking up a girl in front of the Capitol Hill Dick’s.
Earl Robinson
He composed some of the great patriotic anthems of the 1930s and 1940s, including “Ballad for Americans,” “The House I Live In,” “Joe Hill,” and “The Lonesome Train”—songs that waved the flag in support of progressive issues (organized labor, desegregation, antifascism). In the middle of the communities that combined music and politics in both Seattle and New York, Robinson regularly participated in the early hootenannies that began in Seattle as fundraisers for left-wing causes and later became folksingers’ house parties. His songs were recorded by Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Paul Robeson, Joan Baez, and even Three Dog Night. A regular visitor to Seattle during his years in New York and California, Robinson returned to his home in West Seattle in 1989, where he continued to compose and perform. He appeared several times at the Folklife Festival, which honored him as a beloved elder of the tribe. —JR
Because of him… The Left redefined the sound of patriotism.
Now hear this: When Paul Robeson sings “Takes more than guns to kill a man,” on his cover of “Joe Hill” from Live at Carnegie Hall, 1958 you know you’re hearing the truth.
Wally Shoup
Improvising isn’t just a musical strategy but a guiding philosophy for jazz saxophonist Shoup. The North Carolina native, now in his mid-60s, changed his life to become a musician after hearing the influential 1970 album Music Improvisation Company. Since settling in Seattle in 1985, Shoup has been a tireless engine in the underground noise scenes, where music is liberated from the status of commodity and the only unwelcome dissonance is the concept of “smooth jazz.” He was one of the early organizers of Seattle’s Improvised Music Festival, which began in 1985. His fiery, spasmodic creativity also fuels his paintings (exhibited by the Garde-Rail Gallery) and his work collaborating with groups such as Sonic Youth. —TM
Because of him… Seattle hosts the country’s longest-running improvised music festival.
Now hear this: Shoup’s 2003 album Fusillades and Lamentations is just that: a mesmerizing amalgam of edgy outbursts and hazy dirge.
Published: December 2008
Agreed but would like to add another musician to list. Omar Torrez, most recently on world tour with Tom Waits as his lead guitarist. He is making a splash in other countries and has returned to his blues roots, but with an edgy quality that only playing with Tom Waits could achieve. Hot new music from Seattle’s own.
I have always thought this was true, so many people just………………?
Looking forward to watching this dvd.
I`ve been a Hendrix fan for so many years.
JIMI HENDRIX MURDERED? “NOT IMPROBABLE” SAYS NOEL REDDING…
The name Jimi Hendrix conjures up some of the most colourful and wildest moments that the sixties produced. Hendrix arrived, he conquered and took the music world by storm, got inside your head and went onto the great gig in the sky – all by the age of 27.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience , left you in no doubt that it was exactly that – an experience.
A trio of musicians who came together from both sides of the Atlantic and found common ground, fame and for one third of the group not very much fortune.
For Noel Redding the bass player in the group the experience was not to be forgotten. Since the death of Hendrix 40 years ago, much as been documented about him and the group.
Looking back to the sixties and you could be thinking you are on another planet. Any history relating to that period is taken up with music and culture. The Jimi Hendrix Experience played
it’s part.
Making a timely appearance is a DVD that is being put out by Discs International, containing a never before seen interview with Noel Redding recorded at his home in Ireland in 1988.
It makes fascinating viewing. All the years of seeing film of them in concert and photographs of Hendrix, Redding and Mitchell, you find yourself sitting in a living room not with just a legend – but an ordinary guy talking about his early days with the group. No rock star here, no pretentious name dropping, just plain talking. Listening to him you are left wondering how they made it to top.
I asked producer Will Scally who had the foresight to record this interview how it all came about. “ I had known and been friends with Noel for many years and always found him a very upfront, straightforward guy. We often spoke about doing an interview, he wanted to speak about the band, money, drugs and the death of Hendrix and much more – even speaking about the possibility of Hendrix being murdered. He was on good form that day and wanted to record this for posterity.Sadly Noel Redding died back in 2003 aged 57
For those interested in Hendrix, Redding and the history of sixties rock music this rare visual documentary should not be missed. The Redding Experience Release date
NOVEMBER 2010.
Barry LeveneThis comment has been removed.
Give Floyd Standifer some love, people. I’m sad he’s not on this list.
http://www.seattlepi.com/pop/300902_standifer24.html