Tag: music

June 6, 2013 - A new book called "The Riot Grrrl Collection" is out featuring artwork, manifestos, fanzines and fiction, and details the girl punk rock movement of the 1990s. Girls would hand out zines and fliers at punk rock music shows, and an underground feminist movement came into being, exchanging art and fiction commenting on the male dominated society. It gave rise to such groups as Sleater-Kinney, and even now we see their influence in the Russian punk rock group Pussy Riot. Check out a few pics from the book and a great article by Evelyn McDonald about it on the LA Times Jacket Copy.  (Picture: Carrie Brownstein/Credit: Eliah Hecht CC)

(Joey Covington at his final performance on June 1, 2013- Photo credit: Dean M. Gray/DesertVortex/Flickr)

JUNE 6, 2013 - Sad news in the realm of '60s music, Joey Covington who played drums for one of the 1960s biggest groups, Jefferson Airplane, died in a car crash. His common law wife, thinks that a stroke or other health problem might have been a factor. He apparently drove off the road and hit a cement wall. He wasn't wearing his seat belt. A man at the scene tried to resuscitate, but was unsuccessful. Joey was 67.

Joey was born in 1945 in Pennsylvania and taught himself to play the drums. He started recording music in Johnstown, PA when he was only sixteen. His first group was the Fenways, jammed a while with Jimmy Greenspoon in LA (who later went on to fame with Three Dog Night) and also played with Papa John Creach.

In 1969 he formed the group Hot Tuna with Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen, and also joined Jefferson Airplane; either double-drumming with Spencer Dryden, or sometimes replacing him entirely. He broke his leg and was not able to play drums for their Woodstock show. In the 1970s he went solo, then in the 1980s and 1990s he was part of the group San Francisco Allstars. He was popular in the Palm Springs area, and even played free gigs, and talking to the fans after the show. Read more on Today.com here, and a report with pictures from the local CBS affiliate here.

June 5, 2013 - The punk rock, activist "art collective" Pussy Riot is the focus of a new film by Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorvokin titled "Pussy Riot - A Punk Prayer". The documentary explores what is really going on with the arrest and jailing of three women in Russia, who were merely exercising the right of free speech. The film has had great reviews and acceptance, and won a World Cinema Jury Prize from the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The film is a six-month journey into the lives of the three women, Nadya, Masha and Katia and their ordeal with the Russian justice system facing charges of "hooliganism" after performing a 40-second free speech action at the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow. The church lobbied heavily with the Putin government to come down hard on the girls, and they all 3 ended up with prison time. Their predicament has garnered worldwide attention, and has sent shock waves reverberating through Russia.

Nadya has been freed on appeal, but the other two remain jailed. In fact, there is a new law unofficially called the "Pussy Riot Law" that just passed, that will make the penalties even stiffer if someone else tries this in the future. The new "Pussy Riot Law" calls for one year in jail and a fine of $300,000 rubles ($9,400 US) for "public actions expressing clear disrespect for society and committed with intent to offend the religious feelings of the faithful." If one does it in a house of worship, the penalties get even worse.

Check out an interview with the filmmakers on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart the other night below (fast forward to end), the direct link is here. Also, check out the movie's website here to see the trailer and learn more about the film. Apparently Vladmir Putin likes Dire Straights, so we need to get Mark Knopfler to come out in support of the girls and say, "Free Pussy Riot!", and maybe Putin will pardon them. So Mark, please come out in support of freeing Pussy Riot!

June 3, 2013 - The Clearwater Festival, a music and activism 2-day event that works on cleaning up and protecting the Hudson River, is all set for June 14-15, 2013 with a great line up of activist-musicians. Read more on JTMP Green.  (photo credit: Jim The Photographer on Flickr/CC)

MAY 31, 2013 - Aerosmith, who was blogged about recently by JTMP for showing support for the whale-protecting organization Sea Shepherd, headlined the "Boston Strong" benefit concert to raise money for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. Along with the bad boys from Boston were the Dropkick Murphys, New Kids on the Block, and one of my all-time favorite bands, Boston. Boston opened up with "More Than a Feeling" and the crowd went wild. A bombing victim, Jeff Bauman, who lost both his legs in the tragedy was there, and was flashed on the big projection screen shown smiling and "Boston Strong". Aerosmith played their classics like "Walk this Way" and "Sweet Emotion", and the Dropkick Murphys played 3 songs from their new EP "Rose Tattoo" (featuring Bruce Springsteen) that also benefits the Boston Marathon bombing victims. The J. Geils Band, James Taylor, Carole King, Jason Aldean, Boyz 2 Men and others also performed and sang. The concert proceeds will go to One Fund Boston. 

Watch clips from "Boston Strong" on our JTMP YouTube Channel HERE, and watch Boston open up the show with "More than a Feeling" below, thanks to DGB519 from YouTube below. (Unfortunately, due to high demand, the live stream server crashed and Boston was not aired, so this is the best quality available)