Linda Martell appeared on two spoken-word segments on Beyoncé’s latest album, “Cowboy Carter.” Martell, a country singer, made history as the first Black woman to play the Grand Ole Opry in 1969. Five years later, the pioneering singer was out of country music. Billboard has more on Martell’s early career, such as her breakthrough single, “Color Him Father” that peaked at No. 22, and the wider audience that is finally hearing about her now. https://flip.it/YNsHGI #Culture#Entertainment#Music#Beyonce
Currently studying for the #cpacc exam and I found the #legal part surprisingly interesting. This topic was also relevant in a workshop I gave, so here's a couple of law suits that are #accessibility related:
Beyoncé has millions of fans the world over, and she can add a massive admirer to the list — Sir Paul McCartney. The former Beatles frontman says Beyoncé's cover of “Blackbird” reinforces the song’s civil rights message, “and would urge anyone who has not heard it yet to check it out.” Read more from Entertainment Weekly: https://flip.it/DhfrOf #Culture#Music#Entertainment#Beyonce#PaulMcCartney#TheBeatles
"Beyoncé's recent cover of The Beatles classic 'Blackbird' was especially profound to listeners who know that the song pays homage to the Little Rock Nine — a group of Black students who were at the center of the fight to desegregate public schools in the United States."
Beyoncé's eighth studio album was released last Friday. Here's our @Flipboard Storyboard, which collates reviews and deep dives, from Vox's story about "Jolene" and the scorned woman trope to a list of all the artists Queen Bey collaborated with on the album.
I haven't heard the album yet, probably won't ever hear it except whenever various songs trickle in through the membranes of my social media bubble. But I can tell you right now, I don't need a bearded white man in the Washington Post to tell me what I ought to think about Beyoncé’s country music album.
"We’d already picked up a good idea of what country means to her culturally, in her few public statements in advance of 'Cowboy Carter,' amplified in the one trillion thinkpieces published during the last two months, many of which really did help spur a vital conversation about Black exclusion and reclamation in one of America’s most important indigenous artforms. But now “Cowboy Carter” is in front of us as a real piece of music, not just a conversation piece. So what does what might already be the most talked-about album of the 21st century actually sound like?" Variety reports:
Beyonce is an absolute master marketer. The very best. Even more than Madonna and Lady Gaga. Not since Grace Jones and Kate Bush has there been someone who knows how to move the market, get attention and reinvent herself. EXCELLENT ALBUM. BEY DAY!
Happy #Beyonce Day to all those who celebrate! I just started listening and so far so good!
"Cowboy Carter’s” second track is a cover of The Beatles' “Blackbird.” I'm digging it. The instrumentation is almost exactly the same as The Beatles' version, save for some ✨modernization✨ (bass synths, etc.).
Given that "Blackbird” was originally inspired by the Little Rock Nine, I appreciate hearing a quintet of black women singing it while The Beatles back them up.
Tried to passively listen to the new #Beyonce album already this morning and it kept grabbing my attention. Beatles and Dolly, smoke breaks with Willie, genre bending but she’s kind of pissed off about it, Miley Cyrus singing about mortality. There’s a lot going on.
Black women and girls reign supreme at the rodeo, according to Capital B News writer Aallyah Wright. She talked to organizers, competitors, stable owners and young cowgirls about riding, representation, and the pride they feel in Beyoncé's new country album. “Now, she’s finally kicking down the door, whether they like it or not,” says Carolyn Carter, a 65-year-old cowgirl whose daughters, granddaughters and great-granddaughters all compete in rodeo.
Black country music has existed for decades; according to songwriter, educator and novelist Alice Randall, its recorded origins go back to DeFord Bailey's 1927 harmonica performance of "Pan American Blues" at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Now, its time has come — thanks to Beyoncé's "Texas Hold 'Em, which debuted at the top of the country charts last month. Vox takes a look at the century of country that led to "Cowboy Carter."