tagged w/ Steve Earle
-
"In the weeks before 11 September 2001, country-rock singer Steve Earle was thinking about putting together an album of protest songs. He already had one in the bag: "Amerika v 6.0 (The Best We Can Do)," an attack on the U.S. healthcare system he had written for the Nick Cassavetes movie, John Q. But when two hijacked jets brought down the World Trade Center and another crashed into the Pentagon, there was suddenly no room in America for dissent.""In the weeks before 11 September 2001, country-rock singer Steve Earle was... more
-
-
This week a group of musicians launched Close Gitmo Now, a movement with an eponymous objective. Why is a group of artists as diverse as Rage Against the Machine, REM, Billy Bragg, Roseanne Cash, Pearl Jam, Jackson Browne and Steve Earle getting involved in the debate over Guantanamo? Because of the use of popular music by military interrogators.
Several references to music as an interrogation tool appeared in a US senate report last year. Records were used to "stress" Mohamedou Ould Slahi during questioning in 2003, including repeated plays of a song by hard-rockers Drowning Pool. Other tracks that were reportedly played at high volume near prisoners include David Gray's Babylon, Metallica's Enter Sandman, Don McLean's American Pie, Queen's We Will Rock You, songs by REM, Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails, Bruce Springsteen, and even theme tunes from Sesame Street, Barney the Dinosaur and the Meow Mix commercials.
While the Meow Mix cats have yet to get involved, a wide range of other musicians have. Plenty of artists are plenty pissed about their music being a torture device. Ask Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello:
“Guantanamo is known around the world as one of the places where human beings have been tortured – from water boarding, to stripping, hooding and forcing detainees into humiliating sexual acts - playing music for 72 hours in a row at volumes just below that to shatter the eardrums. Guantanamo may be Dick Cheney’s idea of America, but it’s not mine. The fact that music I helped create was used in crimes against humanity sickens me – we need to end torture and close Guantanamo now."
Vanguard's Adrian Baschuk took a trip down to Gitmo last year and even spent the night. What going on at the most controversial jail in the world?
The Most Controversial Jail in the World (Video)
Recently on the Current News Blog:
- Pakistan <3's the U.S. - American drones at work in S. Waziristan
- US police make massive Mexican drug cartel bust
- Defining 'dithering' - Dick Cheney accuses President Obama of wasting time
- North American Union conspiracy hits the big time
- Captured by Somali pirates - A journalist's first hand storyThis week a group of musicians launched Close Gitmo Now, a movement with an eponymous... more
-
-
-
-
Copperhead Road is an American country music/country rock album released in 1988 by Steve Earle. Often referred to as Earle's "rock record", Earle himself calls it the world's first blend of heavy metal and bluegrass, while in their January 26, 1989 review of the album Rolling Stone suggested the style be known as "power twang".
The title song "Copperhead Road" tells of a Vietnam War veteran, scion of a rural moonshine bootlegging clan, who returns home to Johnson County, Tennessee (Copperhead Road is an actual road near [Has been renamed as Copperhead Hollow Rd. due to theft of road signs bearing the song's name]Mountain City, Tennessee). The song also inspired a popular line dance timed to the beat of the song.
The songs on side one of the album reflect Earle's politics: the title track attacks the War on Drugs, and the song "Snake Oil" compares then president Ronald Reagan to a traveling con man and draws attention to his "legacy of creative deceit". "Johnny Come Lately" (performed with The Pogues) compares the experience of US servicemen fighting in World War II with those in the Vietnam War, and contrasts the differing receptions they received on returning home. "Back to the Wall" is about poverty.
Unlike some issues-oriented musicians, however, Earle does not limit himself to political material. The second side of the album consists of apolitical works: love songs ("Even When I'm Blue" for example) and a holiday offering ("Nothing but a Child", performed here with Maria McKee]).Copperhead Road is an American country music/country rock album released in 1988 by... more
-
-
-
A group of prominent musicians are joining a campaign to close Guantanamo Bay and demanding the release of records about what music was used during the potential torture of detainees there and at other facilities.
Some of the more famous names in the music industry are formally lending their prestige to an effort being led by retired generals, progressive groups and a former member of Congress to shut GITMO down. The list includes Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Jackson Browne, Rise Against, Rosanne Cash, Billy Bragg and the Roots, all of whom are joining the broader National Campaign to Close Guantanamo which was launched earlier in the week.
Hoping to cast further light on the potential illegalities that took place at the detention facility, the group is also working to obtain records about why and how music was used (under laws authorized by the Bush administration) to effectively torture suspected terrorists. The musicians have officially endorsed a Freedom of Information Act request for the declassification of all secret government records pertaining to music utilized during interrogations. At least two members of the coalition, Reznor and Morello, have had their music linked to interrogations.
"Guantanamo is known around the world as one of the places where human beings have been tortured -- from water boarding, to stripping, hooding and forcing detainees into humiliating sexual acts -- playing music for 72 hours in a row at volumes just below that to shatter the eardrums," said Morello, in a statement provided by the NCCG. "Guantanamo may be Dick Cheney's idea of America, but it's not mine. The fact that music I helped create was used in crimes against humanity sickens me -- we need to end torture and close Guantanamo now."
The National Security Archives will be officially filing the FOIA request on behalf of the National Campaign to Close Guantanamo (NCCG)
lA group of prominent musicians are joining a campaign to close Guantanamo Bay and... more
-
-
FROM THE NEWS BLOG:
This week a group of musicians launched Close Gitmo Now, a movement with an eponymous objective. Why is a group of artists as diverse as Rage Against the Machine, REM, Billy Bragg, Roseanne Cash, Pearl Jam, Jackson Browne and Steve Earle getting involved in the debate over Guantanamo? Because of the use of popular music by military interrogators.
From the Guardian (UK):
"Several references to music as an interrogation tool appeared in a US senate report last year. Records were used to "stress" Mohamedou Ould Slahi during questioning in 2003, including repeated plays of a song by hard-rockers Drowning Pool. Other tracks that were reportedly played at high volume near prisoners include David Gray's Babylon, Metallica's Enter Sandman, Don McLean's American Pie, Queen's We Will Rock You, songs by REM, Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails, Bruce Springsteen, and even theme tunes from Sesame Street, Barney the Dinosaur and the Meow Mix commercials."
While the Meow Mix cats have yet to get involved, a wide range of other musicians have. Plenty of artists are plenty pissed about their music being a torture device. Ask Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello:
“Guantanamo is known around the world as one of the places where human beings have been tortured – from water boarding, to stripping, hooding and forcing detainees into humiliating sexual acts - playing music for 72 hours in a row at volumes just below that to shatter the eardrums. Guantanamo may be Dick Cheney’s idea of America, but it’s not mine. The fact that music I helped create was used in crimes against humanity sickens me – we need to end torture and close Guantanamo now."
Vanguard's Adrian Baschuk took a trip down to Gitmo last year and even spent the night. What going on at the most controversial jail in the world? (posted below)FROM THE NEWS BLOG:
This week a group of musicians launched Close Gitmo Now, a... more
-
