Boston punk/rock cassette tapes, recorded by Arthur Freedman
In the late 1970s, Arthur Freedman (b. 1957) began to record in the clubs of Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville. The resulting collection comprises over 720 hours of local rock and punk music performances, some with accompanying material such as set lists, tickets, and technical or performance notes, and many otherwise unrecorded. Shown here are cassettes from four of the gigs he attended: Influential post-punk band Mission of Burma, recorded July 25, 1982 at The Paradise (C 37523, with backstage pass) New wave band The Young Snakes, featuring Aimee Mann, recorded April 11, 1981 with Art Yard at The Underground (C 37409) and June 8, 1981 with Someone & the Somebodies at Spit Rumble Semi (C 37407, with set list) All-women punk group Lizzie Borden & the Axes, recorded September 6, 1985 at Jumpin’ Jack Flash (C 37357) Geolocation: Jumpin' Jack Flash, a club at which Freedman recorded in the Fenway neighborhood of Boston.
Arthur Freedman Collection
A digitized live recording from the Freedman collection (a 1981 set at The Paradise by punk/new wave group People in Stores)
"Young Snakes (Aimee Mann) Me & the Girls - 1981 Demo," including footage of Boston punk scene memorabilia (YouTube)
Hanns Eisler and Bertolt Brecht, "In Praise of Learning"
Leftist politics Labor songs Musical theatre collaborators
"In Praise of Learning" is one of three rare 78s of leftist songs recorded around the time of Hanns Eisler’s first visit to the United States in early 1935. With texts by Bertolt Brecht, the record featured the New Singers conducted by Lan Adomian, baritones Mordecai Bauman and Felix Groveman, and alternately Marc Blitzstein and Eisler himself at the piano. The full set includes the songs “United Front,” “The Soup Song,” “The Internationale,” “We’ve Not Forgotten,” “In Praise of Learning,” and “Rise Up.” Geolocation: The Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., where Eisler was interrogated by the House Un-American Activies Committee on the basis of songs like "In Praise of Learning."
Hanns Eisler. In Praise of Learning; Rise Up. Text by Berthold Brecht (N.Y.C.: Timely Recording Co., [1936?]). Record Collection 78-36634
Full track of "In Praise of Learning" (archive.org)
Lauryn Hill, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Rap, Hip-hop, R&B, Soul, Reggae Sampling Love, spirituality, honesty, Black womanhood Concept album
This vinyl record of Lauryn Hill's legendary 1998 album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is part of Classic Crates, a collaboration between the Hiphop Archive and Research Institute (HARI) and the Loeb Music Library assembling 200 albums based on their importance to the hip-hop community (alongside the original records used in their samples). Geolocation: Bob Marley's Tuff Gong Studios in Kingston, Jamaica, where Hill recorded most of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill after beginning production in and around New York.
Lauryn Hill. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (New York: Ruff House/Columbia, 1998) (Originally part of Harvard's Classic Crates Collection)
Music video for "Everything is Everything," from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (YouTube)
Dionne Bennett's essay on The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, originally written for Classic Crates.
Rubén Blades, Antecedente and the 1989 Grammy Awards
Salsa Dance music National heritage Awards
While the original version of this exhibition exclusively featured memorabilia from Rubén Blades's appearance at the 1989 Grammy Awards, such as the backstage pass included here, the online version also incorporates materials related to the album (Antecedente) for which Blades won a Grammy that year, like the poster for the record. Also shown here are a lightly annotated copy of the official lyrics for the track "Nacer de tí" ("Born from you"), addressed to Panama itself, and a handwritten list of possible lyrics to draw from for the traditionally improvised soneos in the song's chorus sections. Variants of these soneos made their way into the final album, first sung by Blades at 1:23 on the studio recording. The third, unused couplet reads: "I am the embrace that waits for those who long to return, I am the hand greeting he who just arrived." Geolocation: Plaza Herrera in the San Felipe neighborhood of Panama City, where Blades grew up.
The Rubén Blades Archives at Harvard University AWM SC Spec Coll 100
Antecedente released 1988; Grammy Awards in 1989; acquired in 2008
"Nacer De Tí", from Blades's 1988 album Antecedente (YouTube)
MaestraVida.com, a website dedicated to Blades' life and work created by Alison Weinstock
Memorabilia (backstage pass); promotional poster; printed lyrics; and manuscript lyrics