| General | Well, music, what else? And the arts in general: Film, books, art, photography, etc. | | Music | Various personal Jesuses (and Jesusettes): Elvis, Dylan, Sinatra, Woody, Jimmie Rodgers, Leadbelly, Springsteen, Stones, Kinks, Who, Jimi, Neil Young (& Crazy Horse), John Fogerty, Brian Wilson, Hank, John R. Cash, Buck, Willie, Lefty, Hag, Possum, Sir Doug Sahm, Ray Price, Bob Wills, Bill Monroe, Ralph and Carter Stanley, Pete Seeger, Don Gibson, Gary Stewart, Gram, Lucinda, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Steve Earle, Dave Alvin, Randy Weeks, Mike Stinson, Tony Gilkyson, Byrds, Muddy, Wolf, B.B., T-Bone Walker, Elmore James, Magic Sam, Paul Butterfield, Mike Bloomfield, Otis Rush, Albert Collins, Buddy Guy, Hound Dog Taylor, Jimmy Reed, Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, Son House, Skip James, Blind Willie McTell, John Lee Hooker, Lonnie Johnson, the Velvet Underground (and Nico!), Doors, X, Minutemen, Replacements, Blasters, Los Lobos, Flesh Eaters, Alley Cats, Top Jimmy, Ramones, Television, Sonic Youth, Stooges, MC5, Mitch Ryder, NY Dolls, T. Rex, Patti Smith, Pistols, Elvis Costello, Rockpile (and Messrs. Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds solo) Buzzcocks, Clash, Joy Division, PiL, Can, Neu!, Captain Beefheart, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Willie Dixon, Albert King, Freddy King, the Band, Eddie Hinton, Dan Penn, James Luther Dickinson, Solomon Burke, Howard Tate, Wilson Pickett, James Carr, Arthur Alexander, Lonnie Mack, the Allman Brothers, the Black Crowes, ZZ Top, Booker T. & the MGs, the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, Otis, Al Green, Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside, Kenny Brown, Mr. James Brown, Sam Cooke, Aretha, Miss Etta James, Brother Ray, Stevie, Marvin Gaye, Smokey, the Temps, the Tops, P-Funk, Sly, Prince, Miles, Trane, Ornette, Monk, Bird, Bud Powell, Bill Evans, Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, Sun Ra, Albert Ayler, Satchmo, Lady Day, Pres, the Duke, the Count, Jelly Roll Morton, Nat King Cole, Lee Morgan, Clifford Brown, Art Blakey, Bob Marley, the Heptones, the Mighty Diamonds, Toots & the Maytals, the Congos, Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown, Lee Perry, King Tubby, Phil Spector, Leiber/Stoller, Goffin/King, Bacharach/David, Dusty Springfield, Jackie DeShannon, the Everlys, Carl Perkins, Charlie Rich, Billy Lee Riley, Bo Diddley, Slim Harpo, Link Wray, Roy Orbison, Little Richard, Lee Allen, Irma Thomas, Allen Toussaint, Fats Domino, the Meters, Dr. John, Johnny Adams, Professor Longhair, James Booker, Guitar Slim, Johnny Guitar Watson, Johnny Otis, Tom Waits, Scott Walker, Tim and Jeff Buckley, Nick Drake, Marianne Faithfull, Warren Zevon, Dock Boggs, the Carter Family, Charlie Poole, Clarence Ashley, Doc Watson, the Louvin Brothers, Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant, Joe Maphis, Merle Travis, Hank Thompson, Webb Pierce, John Fahey, Loren Mazzacane Connors, Harry Smith and all that he stands for, Roky Erickson, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, the Gibson Brothers, the Oblivians, the Reigning Sound, the Gories, the Dirtbombs, the White Stripes, the Shadows of Knight, the Sonics, anyone who ever appeared on a Nuggets compilation, the cities of Chicago, Illinois and Memphis, Tennessee, Ludwig von Beethoven, J.S. Bach, and, well, the Beatles, I guess... Oh, and Miss Ruby, of course.
Really, this list could go on forever, and I dont want to crash MySpace, so fill in the blanks... | | Movies | Seven Samurai, Vertigo, In the Mood For Love, Children of Paradise, Apocalypse Now, The Godfather I & II, The Wild Bunch, Lawrence of Arabia, Goodfellas, Mean Streets, The Conversation, Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil, The Grapes of Wrath, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Shadow of a Doubt, Notorious, To Have and Have Not, Casablanca, Ran, Nights of Cabiria, 8-1/2, La Dolce Vita, Jules & Jim, Shoot the Piano Player, Breathless, Contempt, Battle of Algiers, Bob Le Flambeur, Rififi, Night and the City, Le Samourai, Sonatine, Night of the Hunter, the Maltese Falcon, the Big Sleep, In a Lonely Place, Rebel Without a Cause, the Searchers, Rio Bravo, Only Angels Have Wings, Some Like It Hot, Sunset Boulevard, Ace in the Hole, His Girl Friday, The Bride of Frankenstein, (Cocteaus) Beauty & the Beast, LAtalante, Rules of the Game, La Bete Humaine, The River, Out of the Past, Chinatown, Bonnie & Clyde, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, The Long Goodbye, L.A. Confidential, Sweet Smell of Success, Sullivans Travels, Palm Beach Story, Strangers on a Train, North By Northwest, M, Dr. Mabuse the Gambler, Scarlet Street, Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes, The Third Man, Richard III, The Passion of Joan of Arc, Sunrise, City Lights, The General, A Hard Days Night, The Unheard Music, Gimme Shelter, The Decline of Western Civilization (I), High Fidelity, And This Is Free, The Harder They Come, Shock Corridor, The Naked Kiss, Detour, Point Blank, Get Carter, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, Performance, Rashomon, Yojimbo, Battles Without Honor and Humanity, Battle Royale, Hard Boiled, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, 2046, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad & the Ugly, Singin in the Rain, West Side Story, The Wizard of Oz, The City of Lost Children, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the first movie I can remember seeing: Disneys Pinocchio.
Can you tell I spent six years writing program notes for a repertory film exhibitor? | | Television | Don't watch it. My set is a DVD monitor. | | Books | I've got too damn many books to start running em down, so here are a few writers who have inspired me, or inspired awe in me, as a journalist/critic: George Orwell, Lillian Ross, Joseph Mitchell, James Agee, Michael Herr, Hunter S. Thompson, Peter Guralnick, Lester Bangs, Nick Tosches, Stanley Booth, Robert Palmer, Jimmy McDonough, and Robert Gordon. RIP Ryszard Kapuscinski. And toss in Mystery Train by Greil Marcus, who I cant read anymore.
When you get down to it, probably all you need in life is Homer (who Im still trying to read) and Shakespeare. And maybe a copy of Bob Dylan's autobiography.
If stranded on a desert island, I could probably settle for the complete works of Raymond Chandler and a lifetime supply of unfiltered Camels. |
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