ADAM YAUCH & CAROL SHELBY: TWO ARTISTS WHOSE BODY OF WORK WILL STAND THE TEST OF TIME. THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES.

  MCA on the Bass. Photo credit Mick Hutson/Redfern

 

Last week ended on a bummer of a note with the passing of Adam Yauch aka MCA of THE BEASTIE BOYS. The band provided key cuts to my soundtrack during the late 1980s and well into 1990s. MCA, King Ad-Rock and Mike D delivered much great music during the pre digital download era of vinyl, cassette and CD including Licensed to Ill in 1986, the Dust Brothers sample filled masterpiece Paul's Boutique with its awesome panoramic gatefold cover art slice of Brooklyn in 1989, Check Your Head which saw the band pick up instruments, add Mark Nashita aka Money Mark on keyboards and proceed do their King Crimson/Pink Floyd meets Bad Brains/Funkadelic thing in 1992 and Ill Communication which blended it all together into a seamless mix in 1994. Great memories of catching close to a dozen live shows including attending one of their earliest West Coast performances on the Arsenio Hall show in support of License to Ill and the 1992 awesome triple bill that also included The Rollins Band and Cypress Hill. I was stoked when the Beasties added turntablist Mix Master Mike of the legendary San Francisco crew The Invizibl Skratch Piklz to the mix for Hello Nasty. Their humor, sharp wit and a great beats set the standard. 

Bass players hold a special place in my appreciation of those who create and Adam Yauch's fuzz infused notes will always bring a smile. RIP MCA.

Carol Shelby sporting express stripe overalls in the winners circle at Riverside International Raceway, April 1960

Carol with the 1967 LeMans winning Ford GT-40. Photo credit Dave Friedman / Wieck

 

Today we lost Carol Shelby, one of the iconic figures in motorsport and the man who's name graces the possibly the baddest ass piece of pure adrenaline to be called a car, the Shelby AC Cobra 427.

There are many places that offer up stories of this true American legend, a good one on HOW SHELBY KICKED FERARRI'S ASS can be found at the great blog The Selvedge Yard. 

The story of how Henry Ford II enlisted Carol Shelby along with drivers Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt and the awesome Ford GT-40 seen above in taking it to Enzo Ferarri at the world famous 24 Hours of LeMans in 1967 is the stuff of legend, not to mention that much favored slice of seventies fashion the Ford Cobra nylon racing jacket. Godspeed Carol.

The iconic Ford Cobra racing jacket available via The San Fernando Valley Mercantile Co.