I stumbled across a few minutes of the Blues Bros. movie on TV, featuring the James Brown church scene with Jake and Elwood where Jake "sees the light."

This is one of the great, probably top-five, American movie musicals of all time. (Other contenders that come immediately to mind are Sound of Music, Moulin Rouge, Woodstock, and Little Whorehouse in Texas.)

Anyway, it reminded me of a couple of retro-pop culture items I had been meaning to get off my desktop for a while.

First is this pretty cool Rolling Stone profile of James Brown. I don't think it fully does him justice in some ways, but it's a fresh take from the younger generation and a good attempt at explaining the James Brown mystique in a backhanded sort of way that even an old geezer like me can appreciate.

Second is this Rolling Stone look back at Led Zeppelin and their enormous influence on the American rock music scene. It's a little superficial, but overall I think it captures the essence of the times and the band.

Finally, for dessert I will direct you to this post at Cup of Joe Powell re. Frank Zappa that features a rather amazing video find of one of Zappa's live performances.