NEW YORK -- Chrissie Hynde wouldn't make her own mark in music until a few years later, but her memories of how 1971's daily soundtrack was tied to the times remain vivid.
"Music said something," the Pretenders' leader and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member says at the start of "1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything," an eight-part documentary series that premieres Friday on the Apple TV+ streaming service.
It was the year of Gaye's "What's Going On," No. 1 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the top 500 albums of all time. Joni Mitchell's "Blue." King's "Tapestry." Lennon's "Imagine." The Rolling Stones' "Sticky Fingers." Sly & the Family Stone's "There's a Riot Goin' On." David Bowie's hit "Changes." Gil Scott-Heron's song that became a catchphrase, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised."
Gay-Rees was 4 years old at the time. It took three years to make the series, mostly because of the arduous task of securing rights to about 150 pieces of music, after he was intrigued by the David Hepworth book, "1971 — Never a Dull Moment: Rock's Golden Year."
After a somewhat unfocused first episode, the series settles in with more thematic subsequent pieces. One episode focuses on King and Mitchell and the breaking down of sexual barriers, while "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" zeroes in on Black musicians and how they addressed issues like poverty and treatment by authorities with work that sounds fresh today.
Gay-Rees said he wanted to avoid the look of traditional music documentaries, with shots of creators sitting in control rooms talking about why they added this instrument or that beat.
Instead, songwriting is talked about in the context of the times, so the series feels as much about the history of the year as the music.
"You can't really make a film about John Lennon writing 'Imagine' without asking why he wrote 'Imagine,'" he said.
Besides the crucial music clearances, producers deserve credit for all of the video they dug up, including film of Lennon, producer Phil Spector and musicians recording the "Imagine" album. In another priceless clip, President Richard Nixon introduces a performance by the Ray Conniff Singers at the White House by saying, "if the music is square, it's because I like it square."
Rancho Humilde Records might be the future of L.A. music - Los Angeles Times
On a quiet, hedge-lined block in Downey, the affluent, now majority-Latino suburb in southeast L.A., Jimmy Humilde, CEO of Rancho Humilde Records, is putting the finishing touches on the latest addition to his lavish home: an indoor shark tank. Soon to house a leopard shark and a gray shark, the aquarium sits at the base of a white marble staircase, crowned by a painted fresco of cherubs and a single eagle flying between fluffy clouds. The eagle pays tribute to Humilde's late father.
"One thing that I promised myself is that, if I made it, I wasn't leaving the hood — now I'm two minutes away," says Humilde, now 41. "That's where I get the good tacos."
During the pandemic, the mansion he shares with his wife and two children became the temporary headquarters for his homegrown independent label, which over the past couple of years has disrupted and conquered the highly competitive and often insular world of regional Mexican music. The house has even served as a luxe pandemic crash pad for some of the young artists — from Sonora to Miami to South Central L.A. — that he signed to the label. "They go crazy for the trampoline," he says, waving a tattooed arm toward the backyard.
Dressed in casual blue jeans, a black T-shirt and a fitted cap that reads "Humilde," he swans across the property, past the pool and toward a garage the size of a full mechanic shop. There, he keeps more than a dozen 1960s Chevy Impalas, freshly polished and painted in splashy reds, blues and greens. The cars feature prominently in the music video for "Feeling Good," a 2020 collaboration between Rancho Humilde stars Natanael Cano and Ovi, Chicana rapper Snow Tha Product and Long Beach legend (and regional Mexican music superfan) Snoop Dogg. Humilde couldn't help but appear in the video , gleefully manning the wheel of a teal lowrider.
"You can take the homeboy out the hood," says Humilde, flashing his Cartier watch. "But you can't take the hood out the homeboy."
"It's like a new era of hip-hop," says Humilde. "This genre came in and reshaped the Mexican sound."
Humilde grew up in once-multicultural Venice. "My best friends growing up were Black, Mexican and a white dude named Sean," he says. He tried his hand at a few different instruments, hoping to play in a corrido band someday, "but I was no good at any of them," he laments. "When I heard Chalino Sánchez at 14, I fell in love with the whole corrido movement, the same way I fell in love with N.W.A. But at the time, Spanish music wasn't in. Everyone was into rap and house music."
Humilde dropped out of high school to begin working the flyer party circuit in the '90s . There, he studied the world of L.A. nightlife harder than he had any subject in school; whether it was a hip-hop house party or a warehouse rave, Humilde promoted it. It was through his other job at a taco truck that he forged connections with the city's Mexican American community, who at the time preferred to dance to banda music. He met his business partner, Becerra, by selling him tacos; eventually, they began plotting parties at a house in Compton that J.B. christened "Humilde Rancho," or Humble Ranch. "That's when people starting calling me 'Jimmy el Humilde,' and it just stuck," he says.
Humilde began booking shows for burgeoning corrido acts like Komando Negro and Los Hijos de Barrón — "then we'd play West Coast hip-hop and reggaeton in between sets," he said. "You know, for the girls to dance. I wanted my parties to be different, to be L.A."
Tyler Henry Joins Range Media Partners Music Division As Partner – Deadline
Tyler Henry has joined Range Media Partners as the latest Managing Partner in the rapidly expanding Music division. Managers Charles “CJ” Cook and Phoebe Wang have joined as well. Henry is the highly sought after manager behind artists PARTYNEXTDOOR, Wondagurl, HARV, Los Hendrix, Nonstop da Hitman, Peter Manos, and TikTok super-producer Carneyval, as well as previously having managed social media superstar Cameron Dallas. This announcement comes on the heels of Justin Bieber’s HARV-produced single “Peaches” securing the #1 spot at Top 40 and Rhythm Radio, and follows last week’s news that fellow Range artist Justin Tranter went Diamond-certified for their co-writing on Justin Bieber’s “Sorry.”
The California native began his career early, signing renowned Grammy nominated artist / writer / producer PARTYNEXTDOOR while a student at USC at just 21 years-old. Since then, PARTYNEXTDOOR has received multiple Grammy nominations, over 16 Billion streams as a artist, writer, and producer, signed some of the top producers, and has collaborated with the biggest names in music (Drake, Rihanna, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Bad Bunny, Halsey, Calvin Harris, Summer Walker, etc.) In addition to growing his management roster, he expanded his portfolio, co-founding a publishing Joint Venture with PARTYNEXTDOOR and Warner Chappell in 2016, where they signed superstar producer Murda Beatz and G Ry.
Henry will be joined by Cook in the role of Manager & Artist Relations. Prior to starting his career in music, Cook became an active duty member of the Florida Army National Guard where he serves as an aviation operations specialist. To date, the 24-year-old has safely ran 372 Air Missions, and over 1,000 Ground Missions in support of Operation Spartan Shield, Operation Inherent Resolve, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom. Since then, Cook has been instrumental in operations for PARTYNEXTDOOR as well as co-managing Grammy-nominated producers HARV and Loshendrix with Henry.
Wang, who is the day-to-day manager to Capitol Records’ Peter Manos and TikTok phenomenon, Carneyval, joins Range Media Partners as a Manager. Her love for music developed during her time as a competitive figure skater on Team USA.
School of Music faculty and staff receive Chancellor's Arts Initiative Grants - The UCLA Herb
Three faculty from The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music were among 12 recipients of arts research grants awarded by the Chancellor's Council on the Arts (CCoA) and the university's Office for Research and Creative Activities (ORCA) . The Initiative awarded $150,000 in funding to advance relevant arts research projects that demonstrate originality and contribute to the university's larger commitments to sustainability, equity, diversity and inclusion. School of Music projects include a study of a folk tradition of Northeast Thailand, an investigation of breaking down bias among elementary school students through music education, and a celebration of the Black music of Los Angeles.
Supeena Adler from the Department of Ethnomusicology received funding for her project "Researching, Teaching, and Performing a Folk Tradition of Northeast Thailand." This will enable her to document a specific folk tradition from Northeast Thailand, acquire instruments and costumes representative of the tradition, and provide UCLA students with a rare opportunity to explore it through her Music of Thailand Ensemble course.
Meanwhile Music Education Professor, Lily Chen-Hafteck , will investigate how students in Los Angeles Unified School District elementary schools may benefit from classes designed to teach them the music and cultures of their classmates. Chen-Hafteck's project will provide 30 teachers with training and teaching materials designed to increase students' cultural understanding and appreciation, reducing racial prejudice. The work will take place in 10 Los Angeles schools serving students of low socio-economic backgrounds.
The UCLA Library will additionally co-sponsor an exhibition entitled "Celebrating Black Music in Los Angeles," with the Ethnomusicology Archive . This will be the first large-scale exhibition at UCLA to present a comprehensive look at the city's Black music. The project will span musical genres—covering everything from jazz and gospel to rap and film scores—and feature both well-known figures and those often excluded from history, including Black women musicians and composers, music educators and owners of important music venues.
The CCoA brings together leaders from across the university's three professional arts schools (UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, and UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture); three public-facing arts organizations (the Fowler and Hammer museums and UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance); the UCLA Film & Television Archive, a division of UCLA Library; and the UCLA College Humanities Division. To ensure diverse voices comprising the arts across campus are represented, the council has expanded its membership to include Darnell Hunt, dean of social sciences; May Hong HaDuong, director of the UCLA Film & Television Archive; Cindy Fan, vice provost for international studies and global engagement; and David Yoo, professor of Asian American studies and history and vice provost of the Institute of American Cultures.
The CCoA is also launching GO ARTS UCLA , an online portal that highlights the role of the arts at UCLA and their place within L.A.'s cultural ecosystem. The site brings together a full array of UCLA arts and humanities events and content in a central location. The site offers a full calendar of events, recent feature stories, and the latest news on arts-related research at the university.
Through efforts like the Chancellor's Arts Initiative and the GO ARTS UCLA website, the Chancellor's Council on the Arts is committed to advancing the role of the arts as a vital part of the rich and diverse UCLA experience. The research grants demonstrate the power of the arts within our community and throughout the world.
U.K. Probes Sony Music's Completed AWAL and Neighboring Rights Deal - Variety
Competition authorities in the United Kingdom have begun an investigation into Sony Music Entertainment ’s purchase of the AWAL and Kobalt Neighboring Rights businesses, even after the deal has been completed.
Sony announced on Wednesday that it had completed the purchase that was first announced in February this year. The U.K.’s Competition & Markets Authority, does not challenge the deal’s closure, instead saying that it is “investigating the completed acquisition.”
The $430 million deal represents the transfer of Kobalt Music Group’s recorded music operations and leaves Kobalt Music Group continuing to hold its music publishing business and global digital collection agency AMRA.
AWAL, which has released music by Billie Eilish’s brother and collaborator Finneas, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Little Simz and others, will continue to sign, develop and market its own artists. AWAL services include global marketing, creative, synch and brand partnerships, radio promotion and distribution as well as access to its analytics.
“The CMA has served an initial enforcement order under section 72(2) of the Enterprise Act 2002 in relation to the completed acquisition,” the regulator said, identifying Monday (17 May 2021) as the date of issue.
Section 72 of the act gives the CMA the power to intervene in an in-progress or completed deal if it believes that a merger may breach sections 22 or 33 of the same act. These both concern “creation of that situation has resulted, or may be expected to result, in a substantial lessening of competition within any market or markets in the United Kingdom for goods or services.”
The CMA move triggers a call for written representations about competition or public interest issues. That could be followed by a “Phase 1 Decision.” If that is unfavorable to the deal, a formal “Merger Inquiry” would be launched. As the enforcement order is so recent, the CMA said that it was unable to give any dates for the possible phase one or merger inquiry steps.
The CMA said that it had granted Sony five derogations or exceptions to the enforcement order, which otherwise requires the Sony’s businesses and the target companies to be kept separate.
Most significant is one concerning directors and senior management. As Kobalt requires the resignation of certain directors of AWAL and Neighboring Rights when the deal is completed, Sony sought permission for the appointment of AWAL CEO Lonny Olinick and CEO of Neighboring Rights Ann Tausis to take up similar roles at the target companies. It argued that that this “will ensure that the boards’ functions are discharged by personnel who will remain part of the AWAL or Kobalt Neighboring Rights businesses and have an ongoing interest in their success.” They are to be regarded as employees of the acquired companies, rather than post-merger Sony Music.
Pentucket Regional School District to Hold Virtual Music Conservatory Spring Recital Next Week -
The two-day recital will feature more than 100 Pentucket Regional Middle and High School music students, featuring 55 performances in all. The recital will include solo and group performances including some original work. The faculty virtual rock band will perform the original Otis Redding version of “Respect,” subsequently made famous by Aretha Franklin.
The grand finale will feature the Pentucket Regional High School choir, orchestra, band and percussion virtual ensemble performing a Beatles medley titled “Can’t Buy Me Love.”
The recital also will include a senior tribute, award presentations, and student recognitions.
“Our students have remained as dedicated to their love of music and their education as ever, even in the face of the pandemic, and we are so excited for this opportunity to come together as a community, enjoy their music and recognize their accomplishments,” said Director of Jazz & Bands David Schumacher. “I encourage the community to tune in and celebrate their hard work.”
Earlier this school year, Pentucket Regional School District was honored by the NAMM Foundation as one of its 2021 recipients of the Best Communities for Music Education award. For the past 22 years, this honor has been awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access and education to all students.
The NAMM Foundation is a nonprofit supported in part by the National Association of Music Merchants and its approximately 10,400 members around the world. The foundation advances active participation in music-making by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving and public service programs. For more information about The NAMM Foundation, please visit www.nammfoundation.org .
How Tribute Bands Celebrate Music History | JSTOR Daily
Everyone who's had to dress up as a historical figure for a school project knows that history is just a bit more understandable through reenactment, whether it’s through a biopic, a famous site where people in period costumes walk visitors through the past, or a battlefield reenactment. It also works for music. Tribute bands, which ethnomusicologist John Paul Meyers explains "play ‘note-for-note’ versions of the songs of previous bands, mostly from the so-called ‘classic rock’ era of the 1960s and 1970s," work in the same way.
As Meyers explains, the multimedia experience of a Rain show—with its giant screen playing 1960s-era commercials and clips from the Ed Sullivan Show —thrills the crowd: "the mostly white, middle-aged audience responded with high-pitched cheers… In some sense, the audience was performing as well, by re-creating the kind of enthusiasm that they themselves (or other teenagers) would have greeted The Beatles with over forty years prior." The music functions not just as a way to remember history, but to remember your place in it. To recall the feelings, memories, and emotions of a moment.
But one thing that tribute bands also do, Meyers notes, is strip the music from the context of its time, treating classic songs as if they were "always received the way that they are now received by rock critics, historians, and consumers: as masterpieces and as respected ‘works’ of art, deserving of reverential attention and the status of high culture."
Obviously, opinions were as varied then as they are now. But what tribute bands are doing isn't replicating the time, they're replicating the feelings. In his interviews of tribute band performers, Meyers noted a common refrain: "they described re-creating the history of the music as important and fulfilling work."
JSTOR is a digital library for scholars, researchers, and students. JSTOR Daily readers can access the original research behind our articles for free on JSTOR.
Gary Clark Jr. Recalls Putting Music Over School
In a new Words + Music Audible production, the guitarist remembers frequently nodding off in morning classes as a kid, exhausted from the previous evening's gig.
Born and raised in Austin, Clark picked up a guitar at age 12 and hardly put it down. As a teenager, far less interested in school than in his guitar playing, he played as many local shows as he could, immersing himself in the scene.
"I had spent so much time hanging out with older folks that I was just kind of over it," he says.
All those late nights eventually paid off for Clark, who met promoter Clifford Antone, the man who helped launch Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughn , at an Austin music club owned by Antone. The meeting served as a springboard for Clark's career.
Billboard Music Awards 2021: How to watch, performers and finalists
The man of the hour, The Weeknd, will celebrate his whopping 16 nods with a performance as will Pink, who's receiving Billboard's Icon Award. Alicia Keys is marking the 20th anniversary of her debut album "Songs In A Minor" with a performance of a medley of songs from the project. Korean pop group BTS will be debuting their new single "Butter" at the awards show.
AJR, Bad Bunny and Karol G, DJ Khaled featuring H.E.R. and Migos, Duran Duran, Glass Animals, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis with Sounds Of Blackness featuring Ann Nesby and Twenty One Pilots will also perform.
Billboard Music Award's top artists The Weeknd, who has 16 nominations, and Drake with seven nods, are competing for top artist.
Other finalists include Taylor Swift and deceased rappers Juice WRLD and Pop Smoke. Excluding Drake, all of the top artist finalists are up for top Billboard 200 album. Lil Baby rounds out the five finalists.
DaBaby – thanks to his own hit "Rockstar" and his guest appearance on Jack Harlow's "What's Poppin" – is right behind The Weeknd with 11 bids, and he will battle himself in categories like top rap song, streaming song and collaboration.
Songs battling The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" for top Hot 100 song include DaBaby's and Roddy Ricch's "Rockstar," Chris Brown and Young Thug's "Go Crazy," Gabby Barrett and Charlie Puth's "I Hope" and "Mood" by 24kGoldn and Iann Dior.
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