The 1960 Newport Jazz Festival is perhaps best remembered for Anita O’Day’s legendary rendition of “Sweet Georgia Brown”—a performance she later found herself unable to recall, due to the fact that she was strung out on heroin when she took the stage. But while we can’t help but get shivers when O’Day croons, our favorite bit from those summer concerts is John Lee Hooker’s turn fronting Muddy Waters’ band (above). Strap on the noise-canceling headphones and give a listen—it’s epic.
Azaleas and Other Things « Tiny Cat Pants // Apr 15, 2010 at 9:25 pm
[…] –John Lee Hooker with Muddy Waters’ band. […]
Dan // Apr 15, 2010 at 9:29 pm
Performance is stellar. Audience clips are epic. 1960 looks magical in this clip. Like the people in the audience are being opened to a whole new world by this music.
Brendan I. Koerner // Apr 15, 2010 at 9:45 pm
@Dan: Glad you enjoyed it. I watched this about five or six times before posting. Truly mesmerizing. And I dig the expression on the face of the fan shown c. the 5:18 mark. I get the feeling this was her first live blues show, and it made her a fan forever.
Jeremy // Apr 16, 2010 at 6:14 am
Oh boy, thank you so much for uncovering that. How about the guy in the check jacket strutting his stuff? And the kid watching him?What a great project it would be to excise the crowd shots and see if crowd wisdom could ID them.