HATCH SHOW PRINT

Shelves of wooden letterpress blocks


Among the many great things Nashville has to offer (the Ryman Auditorium, Country Music Hall of Fame, burgers at Rotier's), Hatch Show Print easily emerges as the highlight. Located on the city's historic music row district, Hatch has been in operation for over 130 years, making it the country's oldest operating letterpress shop.

Opened in 1875 by brothers Charles and Herbert Hatch (who had learned the art from their father, a printer in Wisconsin), Hatch Show Print's very first job was to print a handbill announcing the arrival in Nashville of Rev. Henry Ward Beecher (brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe), and since then Hatch has steadily produced some of the most handsome promotional documents known to man.

Known primarily for their work with country music stars (for a while, the shop was located directly behind the Ryman), Hatch worked with many black jazz musicians of the day, and paid equal attention to their more overtly commercial projects, investing the same care and sense of design into every poster, whether it was for Patsy Cline or Graves Sausage Co.







Eventually purchased by an entertainment conglomerate, Hatch was donated to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992, who operate it to this day.


A movie poster from 1933.


Graves Whole Hog Sausages

WILL YOU MISS ME WHEN I'M GONE: A CARTER FAMILY PHOTO ALBUM

These photographs, taken by Eric Schaal for LIFE in 1941, were to be the Carter Family's re-introduction to the world beyond the Grand Ole Opry. Having recorded some 350 songs between 1927-1941, the Carters were well established as leading country music talents, but onset of the Great Depression in the early 1930's dashed any possibility of financial success. Having grown tired of playing dances and hootenannies in the mountains around their home, in 1929 A.P. set off to look for work in Detroit, while Maybelle and her husband left for D.C. with similar ambitions.

In 1938, after a slew of intermittent recording sessions and the births of many children, the Carters headed to Del Rio, Texas to record for border-blaster XERA-AM, whose signal was unencumbered by the US law stipulating that radio stations only broadcast to 50,000 watts. Their appearance went out over the air to nearly the entire western hemisphere, and was hugely successful. Record sales surged, and LIFE sent a photographer to the Carter camp, located in the serene Poor Valley area of Virginia. As the magazine was preparing to go to press, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and Carter feature was scrapped.





"Mother" Maybelle Carter




The family at home in Poor Valley




Daughters Anita, June, and Helen; A.P.'s wife Sara, Maybelle, and A.P.




A.P., Sara, and Maybelle




Maybelle, A.P., and Sara




Sara, A.P., and Maybelle



Maybelle




Poor Valley, Va.

9 + 12

9:



12:

SPEED TRIALS

Setting records at the Bonneville Salt Flats, ca. 1948-1953.












all photos from the LIFE archive.

WHITE STAG/MADE IN OREGON

Portland city planners have denied a proposal by the University of Oregon to modify the city's iconic "White Stag" sign, an historic landmark (officially) since 1978. Familiar to anyone who has ever crossed the Burnside Bridge from east to west, the "White Stag" sign, which now reads "Made in Oregon," was built in 1940 to advertise White Satin Sugar. In 1959, White Stag Outerwear purchased and modified the sign, and in 1997 the sign was changed yet again when Sam Naito bought it to advertise his company Made in Oregon.

Suggesting that the "loss of the quirky, historic upper-case 'E' and cut-off 'g' in the text are not in keeping with the landmark character of the sign," the city staff recommendation does make room for modifications if they're in keeping with the aesthetic of the original sign, writing "there may be other options that both respect the historic character of the sign, and promote positive conditions for institutional
identification." We hope not.

In an older incarnation:



How it's looked for the past 12 or so years:



via Oregon Live.

THIS IS THE FUTURE

Wild-man philosopher Slavoj Žižek discusses Children of Men, which he sees as a meditation "on the ideological despair of late capitalism."

MISSISSIPPI RECORDS: PANDIT PRAN NATH

Containing two side-length ragas, this record, released on Mississippi "subsidiary" Change Records, was the first US release for noted singer and spiritual leader Pandit Pran Nath. Pran Nath collaborated with minimalist innovators La Monte Young and Terry Riley, and this record is a great example of the far-out, post-lingual aesthetic he helped to develop, and which was further explored by bands like Sun City Girls.

Earth Groove: Voice of Cosmic India

HERE COMES THE WHISTLE MAN

New York's PBS affiliate WNET is streaming several episodes of acclaimed black variety show SOUL! Originally on the air from 1968-1973, and produced by the openly gay Ellis Haizlip, the show carries the distinction of being WNET's first program filmed entirely on videotape. More than just a musically-focused variety show (musical visitors included McCoy Tyner, Stevie Wonder and Al Green) SOUL! functioned as a space to explore the black experience at large and hosted actors, activists, athletes and political figures.


One of the more interesting performances captured was that of Rahsaan Roland Kirk & The Vibration Society. Blind from an early age, Kirk taught himself circular breathing, and developed a technique for playing multiple horns simultaneously. After working with Charles Mingus and Quincy Jones (notably performing the oft-imitated lead flute line on "Soul Bossa Nova"), Kirk acted as band-leader for most of his career. During his interview with Hazlip, Kirk talks about the trouble with electronic music (mind control), "plantation Earth," and the difficulties of being blind and traveling with a saxaphone. Unfortunately, the episodes aren't embedable, but YouTube is a goldmine.







via The New Yorker