(guest blogged by Howie Klein)

  When Nirvana was putting together Nevermind, an album that set the tone for the rock music of the 90s, they weren't all that famous. They couldn't make their album art budget stretch far enough to use a stock photo of a baby swimming so the photographer they hired, Kirk Weddle paid $200 to some friends of his, Renata and Rick Elden, for their use of their 4 month old son, Spencer, for the shot. In 2001, in honor of Nevermind's tenth anniversary (and his own tenth birthday) Spencer did the shot again for Rolling Stone.Last year Spencer, a Nirvana fan, told the NME that at 15 Nevermind still rocks his world. "You still hear the singles being played on the radio and it just doesn't sound dated. Most bands around today can't even get near to what Nirvana did on that album, and I'll always be happy to be a part of it." Today is Spencer's birthday and LNMC wants to wish him a happy one!

Heavy Days
	Artist: Jeff the Brotherhood

Nashville's becoming quite the rock scene lately, with artists such as Jack White and the Black Keys settling around town. The underground scene has also been growing, and I really like the direction it's headed. Here are the brothers of JEFF The Brotherhood, founders of Infinity Cat records, and a pretty creative and talented duo.

Mbube

Sure, you've heard the tune before- as Wimoweh or The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

South African Solomon Linda, a cleaner at a Johannesburg record company as well as a beer hall singer, penned the song in the 1920's, but didn't record it until 1939. American folk music maven Alan Lomax came across the recording in the late 1940's and introduced it to his friend Pete Seeger, whose group, The Weavers, recorded the song under the title Wimoweh (this is a later Seeger recording, if I'm not mistaken). Then more folk artists began making their own recordings of the song. Then came the rock 'n' rollers, the first being The Tokens, whose 1961 recording (as The Lion Sleeps Tonight reached the top of the U.S. charts in 1961.

Solomon Linda died in 1962 with the equivalent of $25 in the bank.

Heaven Just Got Funkier

Earl Palmer, perhaps the most recorded drummer in the history of popular American music, died last Friday at the age of 84. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, the New Orleans native set the beat for an amazing variety of artists, including, Fats Domino, Sam Cooke, Little Richard, Frank Sinatra, Lou Rawls, Bonnie Raitt, and Sarah Vaughan. In the 70's, I had the privilege of working with Earl for a few years in Maria Muldaur's band. He was a brilliantly inventive, caring, man. In recent years, in addition to continuing to play, he served as an executive officer of the LA Musician's Union, working to ensure that older musicians received credit and royalties they were due. We lost an immortal, one of the founding fathers of Rock & Roll.

She who torques the Rock and Roll trinity of girls, cars and guitars 90 delicious degrees. (Sheryl, c-a-l-l m-e....)

In which the Rock and Roll trinity -- girls, cars and guitars – is covered quite nicely. "She Runs Hot".....

guest blogged by SteveAudio

Here's a video that shows Ike & Tina at the height of their combined powers, in 1966, doing the Phil Spector-produced "River Deep, Mountain High":

One of the original bad boys of rock died today:

Ike Turner, whose role as one of rock's critical architects was overshadowed by his ogrelike image as the man who brutally abused former wife Tina Turner, died Wednesday at his home in suburban San Diego. He was 76. Turner died at his San Marcos home, Scott M. Hanover of Thrill Entertainment Group, which managed Turner's career, told The Associated Press.

There was no immediate word on the cause of death, which was first reported by celebrity Web site TMZ.com. Turner managed to rehabilitate his image somewhat in later years, touring around the globe with his band the Kings of Rhythm and drawing critical acclaim for his work. He won a Grammy in 2007 in the traditional blues album category for Risin' With the Blues. But his image is forever identified as the drug-addicted, wife-abusing husband of Tina Turner. He was hauntingly portrayed by Laurence Fishburne in the movie What's Love Got To Do With It, based on Tina Turner's autobiography.

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Hey Bo Diddley which can be found on His Best:The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection .

Four days after suffering a stroke, Bo Diddley walked around the intensive-care unit at Creighton University Medical Center, and doctors were encouraged that the singer-songwriter-guitarist would be able to perform again, his manager said.
The 78-year-old Diddley told his audience that he wasn't feeling well during a show in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Saturday night. Diddley's manager, Margo Lewis, said she had the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer taken to the hospital by ambulance when he appeared disoriented at the Omaha airport on Sunday. Read more...

(guest blogged by Howie Klein)
Last night some exceptionally great bands were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. My two favorites were Patti Smith and R.E.M.

I've had a lot of favorite R.E.M. songs since I first got turned on to their music by my friend and fellow KUSF dj Denise Sullivan in 1982. But the first time I really listened to "Everybody Hurts" it was because someone came running into a meeting at Warner Bros, kind of hysterical, yelling that he was holding the best video he'd ever seen. He played it. I loved it too-- but not as much as I loved the song. I was just floored. I can never get enough of its power, intensity and shear humanity.

Take a look and take a listen and join everyone here at Crooks and Liars World Headquarters in congratulating R.E.M. on a well deserved honor-- and on a career that has brought so much beauty into a world that needs beauty so badly.

Tonight's contest is simple. Send us a paragraph about anything you want-- but using the titles of your 10 favorite R.E.M. songs in the body. Send the enties to downwithtyranny@aol.com and then keep your fingers crossed that you win the XL-R.E.M. hoodie and the DVD, When the Light Is Mine: The Best of the IRS Years.

"Pusherman"

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: "Curtis Mayfield is among an elite few members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who have been inducted more than once. Mayfield was first inducted with the Impressions in 1991 and then as a solo artist in 1999...read on

What can I say..."Superfly"