‘Napalm Girl' says she has ‘no doubt' who took famous photo amid controversy
It is one of history's most famous photos, an indelible image of fear and helplessness in a long, brutal war. At its centre is a naked nine-year-old-girl, her clothes and skin burned by napalm, her arms outstretched. Her name is Kim Phuc. She is better known as the 'Napalm Girl.'
The photo, officially 'The Terror of War,' won a Pulitzer Prize, was named the World Press Photo of the Year in 1973 and is seen as galvanizing anti-war protests that led to the end of the Vietnam War. Nearly 53 years later, it is under fire as a new documentary alleges the photo was not taken by Associated Press photographer Nick Ut, but a Vietnamese freelancer.
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Winnipeg Free Press
3 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Cultural history of late-'60s rock hits some sour notes
There's a depth and richness in rock 'n' roll that, at its best, rivals other art forms. But to reveal it, the music has to be placed in the broader texture and framework of culture and politics. John Einarson is the Winnipeg author of more than 20 rock-music music biographies. His past subjects include Neil Young, Randy Bachman, John Kay, Ian & Sylvia, The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield. From Born to Be Wild to Dazed and Confused Despite his literary output, he allows his crowning epitaph to be that 'he opened for Led Zeppelin' as the 17-year-old guitarist of local band Euphoria at the Man-Pop Festival at Winnipeg Stadium in August 1970. He's clearly a rock-music musicologist of the first order. And he also knows the tech stuff inside out. As a former rock musician, he writes knowledgably about guitar makes and models, tunings, chord progressions and amplifier manufacturers and sizes. But his focus this time round is conceptual, and much more ambitious than a rock bio. It's a cultural history, viewed through the lens of rock music in the late 1960s. He's set himself a tall order — one he doesn't fill, and which is handicapped by a dubious editorial choice in the book's format. Einarson traces the evolution of rock 'n' roll from psychedelia to heavy rock to heavy metal. Each of the three years he principally treats of — 1967, '68 and '69 — is introduced by a 'Timeline of Significant Events,' multi-page month-by-month one- or two-sentence bulleted lists of significant historical or musical events of each year. It's the kind of pedagogical aid Einarson, a former schoolteacher, might employ for instructing middle or high school students. But it has no business in a cultural history about rock music. Some of the timeline potted summaries also surface in the chapters that follow. But far better if more of them were integrated into the music-driven narrative, and the bulleted lists nixed. The net result: the music isn't fully and seamlessly placed within the larger context of the times and shaping historical events. The book's title encompasses two songs Einarson considers signal recordings for the birth of hard rock — Steppenwolf's Born to Be Wild, released in 1968, and Led Zeppelin's Dazed and Confused, released in 1969. But he begins the narrative in 1965, with the rise of psychedelic music. He charts how psychedelia's gentler, more experimental ethos gave way through 1966-67 to a louder, heavier and more visceral sound, pioneered by the Who, the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Jeff Beck. It finally crystallized in the likes of Steppenwolf and Led Zeppelin, he maintains. He links the evolution of psychedelic-cum-flower-power rock into a darker, heavier rock genre due to worsening geopolitical events — the Vietnam War's Tet Offensive, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy, increasingly violent student and civil-rights protests, the presidential election of Richard Nixon. This heavy rock, often today dubbed 'classic rock,' in turn gave way to a host of successor imitators, collectively known as heavy metal. Heavy metal music's intellectual quotient is near zero. It's a kind of a soma, loudly lulling its fans into ignoring real-world issues. Both early and later practitioners (Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Megadeath, Metallica) are weak derivatives of the pioneers of heavy rock (Jeff Beck, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Steppenwolf). What heavy metal imported was more overt sexual content, dilettantish dabbling in the occult, mysticism and Satanism, and adolescent proto-anarchism. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. But Einarson renders neither a critical judgment nor an endorsing defence of the genre, remaining pretty much mute on its merits or lack of same. This is an intelligent record of rock music's evolution in the late 1960s. But while it's an interesting chronicle, there's a dearth of considered scrutiny. The music's interaction with politics and geopolitics is thin. The music's interaction with contemporary books, movies, plays and television is negligible to non-existent. The broader context of the music is too often missing. As cultural history, it's criticism lite. Douglas J. Johnston is a Winnipeg lawyer and writer.
Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Mark Cuban and Wyclef Jean to headline Global Citizen's first Detroit summit on the future of cities
NEW YORK (AP) — Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, Grammy-winning musician Wyclef Jean of the Fugees and James Beard Award-winning chef Marcus Samuelsson will headline Global Citizen's summer conference on urban revitalization in Detroit, the international anti-poverty nonprofit announced Thursday. Global Citizen is bringing its conference series to a U.S. location outside New York for the first time — and, with Detroit as its host, to a place not-so-long-ago considered the poster child for urban blight as the auto industry's decline pushed the midwestern city toward bankruptcy. The July 10 summit promises to drive commitments to sustainable development amid population shifts and technological advancements that are disrupting cities worldwide. 'That's such an important priority for me and for the organization because that's a place that's analyzing the future of cities. And what do cities mean and how do we invest in cities?' Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans told the Associated Press last month. 'So, Global Citizen NOW: Detroit is going to be a huge part of our strategy.' The nonprofit aims to spotlight Detroit as an example of how investments in young adults spur economic prosperity, accessible infrastructure and food security. Presenting the conference is Bedrock, a real estate firm at the forefront of Detroit's redevelopment that's been buying up properties downtown and renovating many of them for years. With its blend of media personalities, athletes and artists, this edition resembles previous lineups that sought to rally audiences against poverty through recognizable cultural figures. It's also key to Evans' goal of growing the movement to 50 million 'global citizens' taking the platform's recommended actions by 2029. Global Citizen is expanding its footprint this year with additional sessions scheduled in Brazil, Spain and South Africa. Before the conference, Global Citizen plans a July 8 community service event around food access and youth empowerment as well as a free block party promoting Detroit nonprofits. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. The week's programming will end with live music at Jack White's Third Man Records, intended to celebrate what Global Citizen called 'Detroit's rich musical legacy and the power of culture to drive social change.' The city's contributions include the mainstream success of Motown Records, techno music, rap artists such as Eminem and a garage rock scene that birthed the White Stripes. Jean noted the city's pulse is 'unmatched when it comes to music.' 'This ain't just about shining a light, it's about walking hand in hand with each other to get out the dark times,' Jean said in a statement. 'Real issues, real voices, real change.' ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit
CBC
6 days ago
- CBC
Marble bust of rock legend Jim Morrison found, 37 years after it disappeared
The bust was uncovered in Paris during an unrelated investigation Image | CORRECTION Jim Morrison Bust Caption: The grave of American rock singer and poet Jim Morrison stands in France's most famous graveyard, Le Pere LaChaise cemetery, in a photo taken Dec. 8, 1982. The bust disappeared in 1988, and was recovered earlier this year. (Herve Merliac/The Associated Press) Media Audio | As It Happens : Marble bust of rock legend Jim Morrison found, 37 years after it disappeared Open Full Embed in New Tab Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story pages. A marble bust of rock legend Jim Morrison vanished without a trace in 1988, leaving behind only rumours, speculation and a mystery that baffled fans for decades. Now, 37 years later, it's finally been found — unexpectedly uncovered in Paris during an entirely unrelated investigation. On May 16, the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office announced the recovery of the long-missing sculpture. The police's Financial and Anti-Corruption Brigade discovered the bust while executing a search order from an examining magistrate at the Paris Court. For Jeff Jampol, manager of Morrison's estate, the discovery was as unexpected as it was surreal. "I thought, 'Wow, it's a really interesting twist,'" Jampol told CBC's As It Happens host Nil Köksal. "It was really interesting how they came across it while they were undergoing a different operation." Croatian sculptor Mladen Mikulin installed the bust, carved from Macedonian white marble, to place on Morrison's tombstone in 1981, on the tenth anniversary of the Doors frontman's death. But over time, it was vandalized — its nose and lips chipped, covered in graffiti. And in 1988, it disappeared completely. Now recovered, the sculpture is reportedly in the same condition it was when it disappeared — still marred by decades-old graffiti, the nose still broken. There was no immediate word on whether the bust would be returned to the grave or what other investigation might take place, according to The Associated Press. Jim Morrison of The Doors: Rock and Roll Poet for a Generation Larger than life Morrison and the Doors left an indelible mark on the music scene of the 1960s. Co-creating the groundbreaking psychedelic rock band with keyboardist Ray Manzarek in Los Angeles, Morrison helped launch a sound that was dark, experimental and provocative. "The Doors were a very edgy, dark, psychedelic band, and they sang about and spoke of things that most bands do not," said Jampol. "It taps into a certain zeitgeist and a certain part of the conscious and unconscious. [They] stood apart from every other band I knew." The band exploded from obscurity to stardom with their 1967 breakout hit Light My Fire. At the heart of that mystique was Morrison — nicknamed The Lizard King — whose magnetic voice and outlandish performances, became a symbol of rebellion and counterculture. Before his days on stage, Morrison studied film at UCLA was a devoted reader of William Blake, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg — poets whose influence bled into his lyrics. More than a bust In 1971, at the height of his fame, Morrison moved to Paris with his longtime partner, Pamela Courson. He hoped to devote himself to writing poetry. But just months later, he was found dead in their apartment bathtub at the age of 27. Though no autopsy was performed, his death was ruled a heart attack. Morrison was buried in Paris's famed Père-Lachaise Cemetery, resting among cultural giants like Oscar Wilde, Édith Piaf, and Frédéric Chopin. "Jim had commented he would love to be buried there. He's with his fellow artists," said Jampol. Morrison's grave quickly became one of the most visited in Paris. Tourists and fans alike continue to flock there each year on the anniversary of his death. "In a country where you have the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe and the Notre-Dame Cathedral and Euro Disney and the Louvre Museum and the Champs d'Elysées, Jim's gravesite at Père-Lachaise is one of the top five most visited sites in France," Jampol said. For fans, the bust is a tangible connection to Morrison's legacy. But for Jampol, his essence lies elsewhere. "There's so much mythology and lore ... tied up in Jim Morrison and the band," he said. "Some [fans] are attached to physical objects.… They attach some kind of outsized lore to them." "But for us [and] for the Morrison family, we're interested in the art, the music, the poetry and the filmmaking of Jim. That's what's important to us [than] which guitar Robby Krieger played, or which shirt Jim Morrison wore. 'The art and the message is what's key to us."
