Zimbel

Woman at the Bar, Bourbon St., New Orleans — George S. Zimbel, 1955

Ladies & Gentlemen, Dire Straits.

I wonder where you are tonight
You're probably on the rampage somewhere
You have been known to take delight
In gettin' in somebody's hair
And you always had the knack
Fade to black

I bet you already made a pass
I see a darkened room somewhere
You run your finger round the rim of his glass
You run your fingers through his hair
They scratch across his back
Fade to black

Well maybe it's all for the best
But I wish I'd never been lassooed
Maybe it's some kind of test
But I wish I'd never been tattooed
Or been to hell and back
Fade to black

Fade to Black, Dire Straits 1991.

Want more Beans?

More shots of Frances Bean Cobain, shot by Hedi Slimane.

King's Anniversary

In a stark contrast, today not only marks the birth of one of the most important figureheads in popular music, but also the anniversary of the death of another.

Elvis Presley left the building for one final time this day in 1977.
From what my mother recalls of that day as she flew into Hawaii, unawares of the events that unfolded throughout the night, watching the people in the streets screaming and crying and the media circus that followed was as though the USA had just lost their father.

And in a way he was. He was one of the first real cultural icons in music to conquer the transition from the all-hailing country and blues roots to popular rock n roll. And not only that, he graced the silver screen, the magazines and a lot of America (and those around the first world for that matter) considered him arguably the first widely documented "celebrity".

Whether you're a fan or not, Vegas the music world would be a lot different today without his influence, and all tacky jewel encrusted jumpsuits aside you've got to admit - he was a damn cool cat.

Mahalo.

Queen's Birthday

No, not Lizzie.
The Queen of Pop herself is celebrating her 98th 53rd birthday today.
So don't just stand there, lets get to it - here are some images from the photoshoot of Her Madgesty shot by Steven Klein for W Magazine.

Coming of age.

Last week, the daughter of the late Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, Frances Bean Cobain, starred in a photoshoot by Hedi Slimane that showed the world that she is indeed all grown up and looking every bit the culmination of her parents.


I was 9 years old when Kurt took his life, and i remember it very vividly... he was the star in my favourite band at the time and of course being very impressionable it was my first awareness of suicide and the reverbs it made through the music scene.


Learning he had a daughter made me wonder how she could ever get through it once she was old enough to realise the gravity of it all. And ive always had a soft spot for dear Bean.

Seeing her as this beautiful, dark creature appears to me as the full circle of my thoughts and still entraps my interest in following her life and how she survives in the big, bad world that swallowed her father.

POPCULTUREART

Clever.

Light's will guide you home...

Bangla Desh

Well it was 40 years ago today...
                         One of the Beatles told the band to play...

The great and wonderful George Harrison, along with Ravi Shankar, organised an event that would be remembered forever and on this day in 1971 was the Concert for Bangladesh. The purpose of this event was to help the relief effort for refugees in Bangladesh during the warring period between East & West Pakistan that year.

This concert was the first of its kind, and has since paved the way for many other relief concerts (Live Aid, for instance) as a new means to providing charitable support and raising awareness for causes and world issues through music.

The concert raised US$243,418.50. Besides the monetary value this concert provided, nobody could deny the impact that this concert had.

And hey, at they very least it has provided us with some brilliant live music.

Harrison & Dylan

Harrison & Co performing 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' at The Concert for Bangladesh
1st August 1971