music
son house’s apartment
from son house posted in music by tacopolis
After legendary bluesman Son House recorded with Charley Patton and Willie Brown, taught Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters some licks, and did a stint at Parchman Farm- he left Mississippi for good in 1942.
Although many blues players ended up in Chicago, Son House ended up taking a job with the New York Central Railroad in Rochester, NY.
He was living on the third floor of this apartment building in obscurity until a couple of blues fans tracked him down, and convinced him to come out of retirement in 1964.
view full location details...the fun gallery (former)
from hip hop, graffiti posted in music by pete_nice
Patti Astor was known as the "Queen of the Downtown Scene" and was an underground film actress and culture maven in 1970s and 80s NYC.
She opened up The Fun Gallery at this location with partner Bill Stelling in 1981, and the art gallery featured some of the earliest exhibitions of graffiti and street art, including Taki 183, Keith Haring, Fab 5 Freddy, and Jean Michel Basquiat.
view full location details...alfred e. smith high school
from hip hop, dj kool herc posted in music by pete_nice
Original hip hop DJ Kool Herc attended the Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education High School in the Bronx. He got the name "Hercules" at the school because of his size and his stature, then changed it to "Kool Herc" when he was running with a graffiti crew called the Ex-Vandals.
In 1973, DJ Kool Herc threw the first hip hop dance party.
view full location details...big pink
from bob dylan, the band posted in music by pete_nice
In the spring of 1967, the band that had been calling themselves The Hawks had just arrived back from a world tour backing Bob Dylan. They moved into the Big Pink house (named after the color of the siding) and set up shop in the basement, creating a makeshift recording studio and rehearsal space.
The band grew beards, wore hats, and started calling themselves The Band. Dylan, who was recovering from a motorcycle accident and lived a couple of miles away, spent nearly every evening at Big Pink.
In 1968, The Band put out the album Music from Big Pink which contained their biggest hit, "The Weight." Dylan did the artwork for the album and co-wrote a couple songs.
The bootleg recordings from Big Pink with Dylan and The Band began to circulate, and were eventually as The Basement Tapes.
view full location details...café espresso (former)
from bob dylan, joan baez posted in music by pete_nice
The Café Espresso was a hub of folk music and community gathering for the arts colony in the early 60s. Folk artists like Joan Baez, Ramblin Jack Elliot, and Bob Dylan would perform here when they traveled up from NYC.
Bob Dylan wrote the bulk of Another Side of Bob Dylan in the White Room, an upstairs room that overlooked Tinker Street in the building.
Today, the building is home to the Center for Photography at Woodstock.
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