This week on From the Vault we listen to selections from our favorite episodes of the past year:
1) Occupy Alcatraz –
Pacifica Radio intimately documented the Occupation of Alcatraz from November 20 1969 to June 11, 1971, presenting a detailed account of the Native American struggle to bring awareness to the repeated treaty violations by the United States; in this restored recording, John Trudell moderates a panel of Indians from various tribes to discuss the occupation.
2) Two Painters: Van Gogh and Lichtenstein –
Roy Lichtenstein, known for his ‘comic strip’ style, is interviewed by Jeanne Siegel in late 1967 or early 1968, and John Lithgow plays Vincent Van Gogh in 1972 dramatic presentation of the personal correspondence of Vincent Van Gogh adapted from the Complete Letters of Vincent Van Gogh, published by the New York Graphic Society in 1958.
3) Big Mama Thornton –
Take in the larger-than-life sound of Big Mama Thornton, a blues singer from Houston, Texas, who wrote and recorded “Ball of Chain,” made popular by Janis Joplin in 1967.