Hey everybody
As I am a chronically unemployed musician and student,I haven't been able to raise the money needed to hit the studio and lay down my new tunes....a couple afternoons in the studio, and a quick turnaround on the pressing in Toronto would make all the difference people...... Everyone who donates gets a free copy of course!
Anything Helps! Secure PayPal donation!
www.camdenblues.webs.com
Monday, February 28, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
This Day In Beatles - Feb 21
February 21, 1961
The Beatles played three gigs in one day....one of the reasons they got so great was all that jamming... The first was a lunchtime show at the famous Cavern Club, then at night they appeared at the Cassanova Club, Liverpool, England, and at Litherland Town Hall, Liverpool.
February 21, 1964
US single release: 'My Bonnie'.
February 21, 1966
US single release: 'Nowhere Man'/'What Goes On'
February 21, 1970
'Live Peace In Toronto', 7th week in the ranking (Billboard).
'Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)' enters the ranking; 1st week in the Top 20 (Billboard).
February 21, 1975
UK LP release: 'Rock'n'Roll'.
February 21, 1982
American radio disc jokey Murry The K died. Murray is thought to be the first to play a Beatles record on the radio in America. During the early days of Beatlemania, he frequently referred to himself as "the Fifth Beatle".
Murray was married six times, he died of cancer a week after his 60th birthday.
The Beatles played three gigs in one day....one of the reasons they got so great was all that jamming... The first was a lunchtime show at the famous Cavern Club, then at night they appeared at the Cassanova Club, Liverpool, England, and at Litherland Town Hall, Liverpool.
February 21, 1964
US single release: 'My Bonnie'.
February 21, 1966
US single release: 'Nowhere Man'/'What Goes On'
February 21, 1970
'Live Peace In Toronto', 7th week in the ranking (Billboard).
'Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)' enters the ranking; 1st week in the Top 20 (Billboard).
February 21, 1975
UK LP release: 'Rock'n'Roll'.
February 21, 1982
American radio disc jokey Murry The K died. Murray is thought to be the first to play a Beatles record on the radio in America. During the early days of Beatlemania, he frequently referred to himself as "the Fifth Beatle".
Murray was married six times, he died of cancer a week after his 60th birthday.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Oasis
February 19 2008
Two releases by rock and roll band Oasis were voted the best British albums ever recorded, in a poll of 11,000 people. Their 1994 masterpiece "Definitely Maybe" came top, while their 1995 mega selling follow-up "(What's the Story) Morning Glory" was second in the vote for Q magazine, and HMV.
Radiohead's "OK Computer" finished third, followed by The Beatles' "Revolver", and the Stone Roses' self-titled debut. The full list of 50 British albums included five by The Beatles.
Two releases by rock and roll band Oasis were voted the best British albums ever recorded, in a poll of 11,000 people. Their 1994 masterpiece "Definitely Maybe" came top, while their 1995 mega selling follow-up "(What's the Story) Morning Glory" was second in the vote for Q magazine, and HMV.
Radiohead's "OK Computer" finished third, followed by The Beatles' "Revolver", and the Stone Roses' self-titled debut. The full list of 50 British albums included five by The Beatles.
Friday, February 11, 2011
This Day In Beatles - Feb 11
Feb 11 1963
In less than ten hours, The Beatles record ten new songs for their first album plus four other tracks which would be the next two singles. John Lennon's vocal on The Isley Brothers 'Twist & Shout' was recorded in one take to complete the album.
Feb 11 1964
The Beatles made their live concert debut in the USA at the Washington Coliseum. Over 350 police surrounded the stage to keep the 8,000 screaming fans in control. One police officer who found the noise so loud, stuck a bullet in each ear as ear plugs. The Beatles had to stop three times and turn Ringo's drum kit around and re-position their microphones so that they faced a different part of the audience. The set list: ‘Roll Over Beethoven’, ‘From Me to You’, ‘I Saw Her Standing There’, ‘This Boy’, ‘All My Loving’, ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’, ‘Please Please Me’, ‘Till There Was You’, ‘She Loves You’, ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’, ‘Twist and Shout’, and ‘Long Tall Sally’.
Feb 11 1965
Beatles drummer Ringo Starr married his long-time girlfriend Maureen at Caxton Hall Register Office in London. John and George attended, Paul was away on holiday.
Feb 11 2008
Heather Mills and Paul McCartney appeared at High Court in London for a hearing to reach a financial settlement for their divorce. The hearing in the Family Division, which was taking place in private, was expected to last five days. The couple, who had a four-year-old daughter, Beatrice, announced the end of their four-year marriage in 2006. There had been speculation among divorce experts, based on recent cases, that the settlement could reach £60m.
In less than ten hours, The Beatles record ten new songs for their first album plus four other tracks which would be the next two singles. John Lennon's vocal on The Isley Brothers 'Twist & Shout' was recorded in one take to complete the album.
Feb 11 1964
The Beatles made their live concert debut in the USA at the Washington Coliseum. Over 350 police surrounded the stage to keep the 8,000 screaming fans in control. One police officer who found the noise so loud, stuck a bullet in each ear as ear plugs. The Beatles had to stop three times and turn Ringo's drum kit around and re-position their microphones so that they faced a different part of the audience. The set list: ‘Roll Over Beethoven’, ‘From Me to You’, ‘I Saw Her Standing There’, ‘This Boy’, ‘All My Loving’, ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’, ‘Please Please Me’, ‘Till There Was You’, ‘She Loves You’, ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’, ‘Twist and Shout’, and ‘Long Tall Sally’.
Feb 11 1965
Beatles drummer Ringo Starr married his long-time girlfriend Maureen at Caxton Hall Register Office in London. John and George attended, Paul was away on holiday.
Feb 11 2008
Heather Mills and Paul McCartney appeared at High Court in London for a hearing to reach a financial settlement for their divorce. The hearing in the Family Division, which was taking place in private, was expected to last five days. The couple, who had a four-year-old daughter, Beatrice, announced the end of their four-year marriage in 2006. There had been speculation among divorce experts, based on recent cases, that the settlement could reach £60m.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Music Trends in Pop Culture 1950-2000
Music Trends in Popular Culture 1950-2000
For as long as there has been recorded history, there has been music. It affects the way we feel, it has been essential for communication, and it captures the essence of generations. The years from 1950 to 2000 represent the largest strides in all aspects of music: how it is recorded, sold, produced, distributed, and ultimately enjoyed by the consumer. The rise of country, the jazz and swing age, and payola in the fifties, the protest minded folk, and psychedelic rock of the sixties, the mega-superstars, punk rock, and arena rock of the 70s, new wave, rap, and music videos in the 80s, and finally grunge and metal in the 90s all make the largest expansion and public exploration the world of music has ever seen.
Pre 1950
The first half of the 19C saw many advances in how music was played, and how it was produced. The electrification of instruments (guitar, bass, etc.), better recording technologies, and the invention of the conception of a teenager as consumer with expendable income to consume the product. The way music was being composed was also rapidly changing, with the idea that you could have a building, with employees coming to punch the clock everyday, to churn out hits of all styles. Some of the time when an artist recorded an album, it rarely had original material, they were often drawing from these professional songwriting pools. Tin Pan Alley and eventually the Brill building in NYC pumped out the hits from as early as 1885 to today. By the 1950s jazz had become a cultural phenomenon, country was tearing up the airwaves, and the general wealth of most of North America during the 1950s allowed many families to have enough money to purchase a stereo system for their home. Along comes Elvis Presley, with his girating crotch and dashing good looks. Issuing singles, which were easy to make, and cheap for youth to purchase. Eventually the teenage sons and daughters started buying a new style of music, sometimes called crooning, which took the basics of the black popular music of the day, and giving it much more saccharine and definably “white” style(s) of music. This was the beginning of a huge escalation of the music industry as a whole, influencing generations of people to come….
1960s
The nineteen sixties are often spoken of .nostalgically, and then re-sold in many forms every decade to a new group of teenagers every ten years of so. The experiment of Woodstock was vainly reattempted, to mixed results in the late 1990s. This was as politically wild and culturally progressive time in history for sure, but it often seems like it was the MOST revolutionary decade ever, part of the sell to counter culture types who buy into it. But there is good reason for all this hype; there were some significant changes in music that heavily influence a variety of communities.
Developments in sound and recording technology, the popularization of drug use, the rise of folk and folk/rock, psychedelic rock, the protest song (which had been around for years and years, but now it was becoming incredibly easy to get and acoustic guitar and start a group), Many amazing artists from the early 1960s are often overlooked for the decade’s post 1965 musical/cultural icons.
One of the hottest politicians ever, increasing the new found teenage frenzy surrounding celebrities, was two time Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. And in the USA, Malcolm X, MLK, and many others would stir the revolutionary tide of the black mentality of the time. This resulted in some of the best music ever put to record being made.
International tensions of the cold war, the “illegal” war in Vietnam, recent memories of the now stale Korean conflict, and the black/women’s rights movements were all lingering in the air when many a young artists decided to express themselves, and tell their stories though song. One the most potent of these young singer/songwriters was Bob Dylan. Still writing songs and recording today, he is generally considered one of the most important artists of the 20th century. His mid to late 60s output especially because of its incendiary protest songs, and original beat poet like lyrical delivery made him a star very early on in his career. Songs like “Blowing in the wind”, “Masters of war”, “Rainy day women # 12 and #35, and of course, the song that changed everything, the top song on Rolling Stones’ 500 greatest songs of all time list: Like a Rolling Stone. At five minutes long, it was the longest single to be played on radio (up to this point, most singles clocked in at 2min 30sec or less), and its popularity coincided with Dylan’s going electric at the 1967 Newport Folk festival. He inspired a countless number of his peers, Jimi Hendrix and The Byrds both re-recorded Dylan tunes early on, to great success. The most covered, and probably most prolific artist of the decade, if not this half on the century.
Black and female artists started to make positive progress with their causes expressed through music by the late 1960s. The jazz of John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, the soothing and soulful records coming out of Motown (Detroit at this time..), the rise of female singer songwriters such as Buffie St Marie, and Joni Mitchell, showed the other that everybody should have the same basic human rights, without regard the race, gender, class, or religion.
1970s
As in the nineteen sixties, the seventies saw many major changes in the industry, and the world. The cold war was looming above the world, living with the constant though that nuclear war could break out at any second. If Woodstock was considered the apex of the sixties hippy/positive love scene, then the Rolling Stones concert at Altamont Speedway in California on December 6, 1969, was the end of that ideological dream world, and the begging of the world’s harsh realities setting in on that generation. Music had become a more and more consumable product, the introduction of the cassette tape, eight track tape, and soaring sales of vinyl would dominate this decade, leading to massive never before seen profits in the record industry. As bands like the Rolling Stones got bigger and bigger, and sound and lighting technologies were being revolutionized, a new breed of concert tour, and expression of consumer demand, led to stadium rock concerts that seemed to just get bigger and bigger as the decade went on. The “stadium rock” is still used today to describe mega selling bands that play huge venues with huge stage shows.
As the general youth were becoming more and more cynical and jaded, music started to pop up everywhere that had so far never been heard. Heavy metal, punk rock, and funk were formed from the ashes of discontent of the previous era’s ideals were burnt to a crisp. Adult contemporary was another new type of music to emerge. As the teens of previous generation who had consumed the sweet sounds of their youth, wanted something the same as they got older. AM radio along with stadium tours prompted a huge rise in record sales for these wuss rock groups. The deaths of some of the world’s greatest musicians in the early half of the decade also left a void that needed to be filled. Led Zeppelin, who had some home grown success in the UK in the late sixties, would rise to be the penultimate rock and roll machine of the 1970s.
1980s
The 1980s saw another development in the cultural phenomenon that was now popular music: the music video. MTV hit the air waves on August 1st 1981, and forever changed the way we hear, and more importantly see, music. The new connection between image and sound would from this day forth be an important part of the business. The giant stadium soft rock and hard rock bands of the seventies all of a sudden had to worry about how they looked. MTV stuck mostly to a small rotation of white artists as the station’s popularity increased. The release of Michael Jackson’s epically hit album “Thriller” in 1982 would quickly change MTV’s tune. The album was a smash success, but they still wouldn’t play it until the record company threatened to pull all its white artists that were getting play on the station. MTV reluctantly agreed, helping to make Thriller and its related videos, some of the best of all time.
Many artists from the previous decades were starting to feel left out. The sudden focus on youth and beauty via the music video didn’t suit some of these (now dubbed) “dinosaur rockers” of the previous decades. A new young breed of music (video) star emerged: Madonna, MJ, etc. would dominate the charts for this decade.
Rap had its roots in 70s funk, poetry, jazz, and protest. Although somewhat visible in the late seventies, by the late 80s rap had exploded onto the mainstream. With the success of artist such as NWA, Sir Mix A lot, MC Hammer, among many others brought mainstream attention to the genre. As in previous decades, and with any new expression of art, there will always be detractors. The violent imagery of street life, drugs, and extremely poor attitudes towards women, cause many an uproar, eventually leading to the formation on the PMRC (parent’s music resource center). This group came up with the now infamous “Explicit Content” stickers on most music.
Punk rock also made a comeback, underground this time. A number of small independent records labels popped up all across the world, to help release music by bands that would normally not have a chance to. Minor Threat, Black Flag, the Dead Kennedys, and their contemporaries taught a whole new generation to rock hard, think for themselves, fight against the horribly right wing politics of the time. Many bands in California, specifically the “Sunset Strip” in LA took the lessons they learned from the blues rock stadium Gods and punk rockers to make what would become “hair metal”. Honest and earnest at first, the genre became watered down and filled with “power ballads” by the early nineties. A couple notable bands of this genre would be: Poison, Motley Crue, GnR, etc.
1990s
By the early nineties, it looked like we were in for another decade of schmaltzy sweet power ballads, and power metal hairdos, until …..Nirvana. Thankfully they came along and saved the day for rock and roll, and completely changed the tide of the industry in the early nineties. This new rock, “grunge” by the media’s definition, was nothing new. Most grunge bands were influenced by the stoner-rock, heavy metal, and punk rock that came before them, therefore lumping the countless sub categories into one, media friendly term.
Rap also surged in popularity among all kinds of youth, black and white youngsters were soaking up the violent message these gangster rappers were often spewing. Although at the same time, mainstream producers were taking the basics of rap into high end studios and producing a newer updated version of R and B that seemed to fill the void of people who wanted a cleaner artist to listen to. Heavy metal also came out of nowhere in the nineties to top various charts and sell huge amounts of records. Without having any regularly played videos, I might add….
The dawn of the internet’s popularity as a household item began around 1995, and exploded over the next decade, leading into the 2000s and the downloading debacle that will dominate this next decade…..
For as long as there has been recorded history, there has been music. It affects the way we feel, it has been essential for communication, and it captures the essence of generations. The years from 1950 to 2000 represent the largest strides in all aspects of music: how it is recorded, sold, produced, distributed, and ultimately enjoyed by the consumer. The rise of country, the jazz and swing age, and payola in the fifties, the protest minded folk, and psychedelic rock of the sixties, the mega-superstars, punk rock, and arena rock of the 70s, new wave, rap, and music videos in the 80s, and finally grunge and metal in the 90s all make the largest expansion and public exploration the world of music has ever seen.
Pre 1950
The first half of the 19C saw many advances in how music was played, and how it was produced. The electrification of instruments (guitar, bass, etc.), better recording technologies, and the invention of the conception of a teenager as consumer with expendable income to consume the product. The way music was being composed was also rapidly changing, with the idea that you could have a building, with employees coming to punch the clock everyday, to churn out hits of all styles. Some of the time when an artist recorded an album, it rarely had original material, they were often drawing from these professional songwriting pools. Tin Pan Alley and eventually the Brill building in NYC pumped out the hits from as early as 1885 to today. By the 1950s jazz had become a cultural phenomenon, country was tearing up the airwaves, and the general wealth of most of North America during the 1950s allowed many families to have enough money to purchase a stereo system for their home. Along comes Elvis Presley, with his girating crotch and dashing good looks. Issuing singles, which were easy to make, and cheap for youth to purchase. Eventually the teenage sons and daughters started buying a new style of music, sometimes called crooning, which took the basics of the black popular music of the day, and giving it much more saccharine and definably “white” style(s) of music. This was the beginning of a huge escalation of the music industry as a whole, influencing generations of people to come….
1960s
The nineteen sixties are often spoken of .nostalgically, and then re-sold in many forms every decade to a new group of teenagers every ten years of so. The experiment of Woodstock was vainly reattempted, to mixed results in the late 1990s. This was as politically wild and culturally progressive time in history for sure, but it often seems like it was the MOST revolutionary decade ever, part of the sell to counter culture types who buy into it. But there is good reason for all this hype; there were some significant changes in music that heavily influence a variety of communities.
Developments in sound and recording technology, the popularization of drug use, the rise of folk and folk/rock, psychedelic rock, the protest song (which had been around for years and years, but now it was becoming incredibly easy to get and acoustic guitar and start a group), Many amazing artists from the early 1960s are often overlooked for the decade’s post 1965 musical/cultural icons.
One of the hottest politicians ever, increasing the new found teenage frenzy surrounding celebrities, was two time Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. And in the USA, Malcolm X, MLK, and many others would stir the revolutionary tide of the black mentality of the time. This resulted in some of the best music ever put to record being made.
International tensions of the cold war, the “illegal” war in Vietnam, recent memories of the now stale Korean conflict, and the black/women’s rights movements were all lingering in the air when many a young artists decided to express themselves, and tell their stories though song. One the most potent of these young singer/songwriters was Bob Dylan. Still writing songs and recording today, he is generally considered one of the most important artists of the 20th century. His mid to late 60s output especially because of its incendiary protest songs, and original beat poet like lyrical delivery made him a star very early on in his career. Songs like “Blowing in the wind”, “Masters of war”, “Rainy day women # 12 and #35, and of course, the song that changed everything, the top song on Rolling Stones’ 500 greatest songs of all time list: Like a Rolling Stone. At five minutes long, it was the longest single to be played on radio (up to this point, most singles clocked in at 2min 30sec or less), and its popularity coincided with Dylan’s going electric at the 1967 Newport Folk festival. He inspired a countless number of his peers, Jimi Hendrix and The Byrds both re-recorded Dylan tunes early on, to great success. The most covered, and probably most prolific artist of the decade, if not this half on the century.
Black and female artists started to make positive progress with their causes expressed through music by the late 1960s. The jazz of John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, the soothing and soulful records coming out of Motown (Detroit at this time..), the rise of female singer songwriters such as Buffie St Marie, and Joni Mitchell, showed the other that everybody should have the same basic human rights, without regard the race, gender, class, or religion.
1970s
As in the nineteen sixties, the seventies saw many major changes in the industry, and the world. The cold war was looming above the world, living with the constant though that nuclear war could break out at any second. If Woodstock was considered the apex of the sixties hippy/positive love scene, then the Rolling Stones concert at Altamont Speedway in California on December 6, 1969, was the end of that ideological dream world, and the begging of the world’s harsh realities setting in on that generation. Music had become a more and more consumable product, the introduction of the cassette tape, eight track tape, and soaring sales of vinyl would dominate this decade, leading to massive never before seen profits in the record industry. As bands like the Rolling Stones got bigger and bigger, and sound and lighting technologies were being revolutionized, a new breed of concert tour, and expression of consumer demand, led to stadium rock concerts that seemed to just get bigger and bigger as the decade went on. The “stadium rock” is still used today to describe mega selling bands that play huge venues with huge stage shows.
As the general youth were becoming more and more cynical and jaded, music started to pop up everywhere that had so far never been heard. Heavy metal, punk rock, and funk were formed from the ashes of discontent of the previous era’s ideals were burnt to a crisp. Adult contemporary was another new type of music to emerge. As the teens of previous generation who had consumed the sweet sounds of their youth, wanted something the same as they got older. AM radio along with stadium tours prompted a huge rise in record sales for these wuss rock groups. The deaths of some of the world’s greatest musicians in the early half of the decade also left a void that needed to be filled. Led Zeppelin, who had some home grown success in the UK in the late sixties, would rise to be the penultimate rock and roll machine of the 1970s.
1980s
The 1980s saw another development in the cultural phenomenon that was now popular music: the music video. MTV hit the air waves on August 1st 1981, and forever changed the way we hear, and more importantly see, music. The new connection between image and sound would from this day forth be an important part of the business. The giant stadium soft rock and hard rock bands of the seventies all of a sudden had to worry about how they looked. MTV stuck mostly to a small rotation of white artists as the station’s popularity increased. The release of Michael Jackson’s epically hit album “Thriller” in 1982 would quickly change MTV’s tune. The album was a smash success, but they still wouldn’t play it until the record company threatened to pull all its white artists that were getting play on the station. MTV reluctantly agreed, helping to make Thriller and its related videos, some of the best of all time.
Many artists from the previous decades were starting to feel left out. The sudden focus on youth and beauty via the music video didn’t suit some of these (now dubbed) “dinosaur rockers” of the previous decades. A new young breed of music (video) star emerged: Madonna, MJ, etc. would dominate the charts for this decade.
Rap had its roots in 70s funk, poetry, jazz, and protest. Although somewhat visible in the late seventies, by the late 80s rap had exploded onto the mainstream. With the success of artist such as NWA, Sir Mix A lot, MC Hammer, among many others brought mainstream attention to the genre. As in previous decades, and with any new expression of art, there will always be detractors. The violent imagery of street life, drugs, and extremely poor attitudes towards women, cause many an uproar, eventually leading to the formation on the PMRC (parent’s music resource center). This group came up with the now infamous “Explicit Content” stickers on most music.
Punk rock also made a comeback, underground this time. A number of small independent records labels popped up all across the world, to help release music by bands that would normally not have a chance to. Minor Threat, Black Flag, the Dead Kennedys, and their contemporaries taught a whole new generation to rock hard, think for themselves, fight against the horribly right wing politics of the time. Many bands in California, specifically the “Sunset Strip” in LA took the lessons they learned from the blues rock stadium Gods and punk rockers to make what would become “hair metal”. Honest and earnest at first, the genre became watered down and filled with “power ballads” by the early nineties. A couple notable bands of this genre would be: Poison, Motley Crue, GnR, etc.
1990s
By the early nineties, it looked like we were in for another decade of schmaltzy sweet power ballads, and power metal hairdos, until …..Nirvana. Thankfully they came along and saved the day for rock and roll, and completely changed the tide of the industry in the early nineties. This new rock, “grunge” by the media’s definition, was nothing new. Most grunge bands were influenced by the stoner-rock, heavy metal, and punk rock that came before them, therefore lumping the countless sub categories into one, media friendly term.
Rap also surged in popularity among all kinds of youth, black and white youngsters were soaking up the violent message these gangster rappers were often spewing. Although at the same time, mainstream producers were taking the basics of rap into high end studios and producing a newer updated version of R and B that seemed to fill the void of people who wanted a cleaner artist to listen to. Heavy metal also came out of nowhere in the nineties to top various charts and sell huge amounts of records. Without having any regularly played videos, I might add….
The dawn of the internet’s popularity as a household item began around 1995, and exploded over the next decade, leading into the 2000s and the downloading debacle that will dominate this next decade…..
February 10
1942, February 10
'Chattanooga Choo Choo' by the Glen Miller Orchestra becomes the first recording to be awarded a Gold record. It was actually just a master copy of the disc sprayed with gold lacquer by RCA as a publicity stunt.
The actual award recognized today as a Gold Record would not be initiated for another sixteen years when the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) borrowed the idea and trademarked the Gold Record. The first Gold single was awarded to Perry Como in 1958 for "Catch A Falling Star" and the first Gold album was given to Gordon McRae for the soundtrack to "Oklahoma".
'Chattanooga Choo Choo' by the Glen Miller Orchestra becomes the first recording to be awarded a Gold record. It was actually just a master copy of the disc sprayed with gold lacquer by RCA as a publicity stunt.
The actual award recognized today as a Gold Record would not be initiated for another sixteen years when the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) borrowed the idea and trademarked the Gold Record. The first Gold single was awarded to Perry Como in 1958 for "Catch A Falling Star" and the first Gold album was given to Gordon McRae for the soundtrack to "Oklahoma".
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
February 9
1981, February 9
Singer Bill Haley was found dead, fully clothed on his bed at his home in Harlington, Texas, USA, from a heart attack.... Haley had sold over 60 million records during his career. Scored the 1955 UK & US No.1 single 'Rock Around The Clock', and became known as the first Rock 'n' Roll star. Haley was blinded in the left eye as a child due to a botched operation, and later adopted his distinctive spit curl hairstyle to distract attention from the blind eye.
A self-admitted alcoholic, Haley fought a battle with the bottle well into the 1970s. Nonetheless, he and his band continued to be a popular touring draw, enjoying a career resurgence in the late 1960s with the Rock and roll revival movement and the signing of a lucrative record deal with the European label Sonet Records. After performing for Queen Elizabeth II at a command performance in 1979, Haley made his final performances in South Africa in May and June 1980. Prior to the South African tour, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and a proposed tour of Germany in the fall of 1980 was canceled.
There seems to be little information extant about Haley's last days...
Singer Bill Haley was found dead, fully clothed on his bed at his home in Harlington, Texas, USA, from a heart attack.... Haley had sold over 60 million records during his career. Scored the 1955 UK & US No.1 single 'Rock Around The Clock', and became known as the first Rock 'n' Roll star. Haley was blinded in the left eye as a child due to a botched operation, and later adopted his distinctive spit curl hairstyle to distract attention from the blind eye.
A self-admitted alcoholic, Haley fought a battle with the bottle well into the 1970s. Nonetheless, he and his band continued to be a popular touring draw, enjoying a career resurgence in the late 1960s with the Rock and roll revival movement and the signing of a lucrative record deal with the European label Sonet Records. After performing for Queen Elizabeth II at a command performance in 1979, Haley made his final performances in South Africa in May and June 1980. Prior to the South African tour, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and a proposed tour of Germany in the fall of 1980 was canceled.
There seems to be little information extant about Haley's last days...
February 9
2009, February 9
Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant took home five prizes for his collaboration with singer Alison Krauss at this years Grammy Awards held in Los Angeles. The duo won album of the year for Raising Sand and record of the year for ‘Please Read The Letter.’ Coldplay, Adele, Duffy, Radiohead, and Peter Gabriel were among other acts to be honoured. John Mayer won Best solo rock vocal performance for ‘Gravity’, Kings of Leon won Best rock performance by a group with ‘Sex on Fire’, Best rock song went to Bruce Springsteen for ‘Girls In Their Summer Clothes’ and Lil' Wayne won Best rap solo performance and Best rap album for Tha Carter III.
Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant took home five prizes for his collaboration with singer Alison Krauss at this years Grammy Awards held in Los Angeles. The duo won album of the year for Raising Sand and record of the year for ‘Please Read The Letter.’ Coldplay, Adele, Duffy, Radiohead, and Peter Gabriel were among other acts to be honoured. John Mayer won Best solo rock vocal performance for ‘Gravity’, Kings of Leon won Best rock performance by a group with ‘Sex on Fire’, Best rock song went to Bruce Springsteen for ‘Girls In Their Summer Clothes’ and Lil' Wayne won Best rap solo performance and Best rap album for Tha Carter III.
Nirvana's In Utero and the Face of New Rock
September of 1993 saw Nirvana at the height of their success, and ready to release their highly anticipated third studio album. Kurt Cobain had been, albeit unwontedly, dubbed the spokesperson of his generation and the entire “grunge” movement, and Nirvana, fundamentally declared the biggest band in the world. No one knew how deep of an impact that album, and the events surrounding it, would shape the course of popular music to this day. The album would go on to chart all over the world, even though the controversies that beleaguered the band from their earliest successes would continue (even after Kurt’s death). On the outside (the artwork) and inside (the lyrics) would be notoriously deemed offensive by many. Cobain would soon no longer be on this earth, but the people closest to him would continue to feel and be affected by “In Utero” for decades to come.
Nirvana planned the record’s sound to depart significantly from the polished production of its previous album, “Nevermind” (released in 1991). To capture a more rough and organic sound, the group hired producer Steve Albini to record “In Utero” during a two-week period in February 1993. The music was recorded quickly with few studio superfluities, and the song lyrics and album packaging included medical imagery that conveyed front man Kurt Cobain’s outlook on his exposed personal life, and his band's new found celebrity.
Albini felt that the sounds captured on “Nevermind” were too controlled and radio friendly, and wanted to record the band with as few double takes and over dubs as possible. Despite the quick recording and mixing, once the label suits heard it, they thought it was too raw to be released, and ordered a remix. The record had been dubbed “un-listenable”. Albini did not want to remix it because he felt is was already the best it could be. After much debate, Scott Litt eventually remixed “All Apologies” and “Heart Shaped Box”, which would be the two main singles off the album. The story that the label had pressured Nirvana was exploding in the press, and the controversy that seemed to dog the band since they signed a major label deal continued.
After much argument, the album was finally released on September 21, 1993 (US release date) and debuted at number one Billboard 200. Despite its initial success, the album would not sell as many units as “Nevermind” did. “In Utero” sales were hampered by the fact that two major US chains (Wal-Mart and Kmart, unsurprisingly) did not want to sell the album due to “lack of consumer interest”. It was later revealed that the chains objected to the album’s artwork, of which Kurt had had a role in designing. The back cover especially, which depicted foetuses lying on orchids, was deemed offensive by many. The chains also objected to the song title of “Rape Me”. The artwork was eventually tweaked to bathe everything in an orange glow as to not be as obvious, and the title of “Rape Me” was changed to “Waif Me”
The revised edition of the album was released March 29, 1994, and was finally picked by the major US chains. This of course reignited the exasperating “selling-out” debate that had followed the band since signing with a major label. Cobain would later explain that were he was from (Aberdeen, Washington, USA), the only way anybody could purchase music was from large retail chains, as there was no real demand for any kinds of independent music stores in smaller towns.
Not long after the release, on April 5, 1994, Kurt Cobain would take his own life (allegedly, but that’s a whole other essay..). The weight of his fame and drug addiction finally wore him out. He left behind a child, and his newly obtained wife, Courtney Love. Just four days after her husband’s death, her grunge rock group Hole released its second studio album “Live Through This”. It was a perfect storm of events causing Courtney Love to take the place of her husband in the general atmosphere of mid 1990s alternative music. Rumours persist the Cobain basically wrote the entire album for her. Only one fact is certain pertaining to this, that he recorded baking vocals on a number of tracks on the album. Courtney’s thirst for fame, and to have her relationship with Kurt viewed of that as a modern day Sid and Nancy, made many wonder about her true intentions of marrying him in the first place. “Live Through This” is generally regarded as one of the best albums of the 1990s, although it never did enter the American top 40. These accolades would be embarrassingly revoked it was ever proved that she did murder him, or he was the one responsible for the bulk of the songs on “Live Through This”.
Another important person formerly in Kurt’s life was Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. After joining the band in 1990 and being swept into the whirlwind of major label music making, he never really had a chance to let his inner singer/songwriter out and let it grow to its full potential. The only evidence we see of what was to come was the song “Marigold” (which Dave composed, played guitar, and sang on) which was released as a B-side to the UK only release of the “Heart Shaped Box” CD single.
Grohl received endless offers to play drums for a number of popular and unknown groups. He played drums with Tom Petty during his Saturday Night Live performance in November of 1994, and was asked to join the band on a full time basis, but politely declined to peruse his yet unnamed solo project. In late 1994, he went into the studio to record what would ultimately become the first Foo Fighters album. Grohl wrote, and recorded the entire album himself. And after a few copies had been passed around the music community, a record deal soon followed. Not interested in being a “solo star” of sorts, he then formed an all-star group of musicians (including former member of The Germs, and Sunny Day Real Estate) to take his music to the stage. The Foo Fighters quickly gained immense commercial success and gained many fans. Album after album, and tour after tour, the Foos became one of the most important bans of the 2000s. A number of line up changes, and some well received side projects (including Grohl’s contributions to Queens of the Stone Ages’s hit 2002 album “Songs For The Deaf”, and his heavy metal project Probot, which featured many of his musical heroes guesting) didn’t slow the band’s productivity in the new millennium. Wining a total of six Grammys (so far!), and releasing an album packed with hits approximately every 3 years, I think its safe to say that Dave Grohl would have never gone on to greatness had he not joined the band in 1990 and had had the music industry experience he gained while he pounded the lit with Nirvana.
“In Utero” may not be the band best know work, but it is one of the most potent. Critics, for the most part, gave the album glowingly positive reviews. It is the album most recommended to people who have never been exposed to the band, and often cited as an influence by many young bands coming up or that have made their way up through the industry in the last 16 years. It was ranked 493 by Rolling Stone magazine in the “Top 500 albums of all time” list. In 2004 Blender magazine placed it 94 in its “100 greatest American albums of all time” list, and was recently certified fives times platinum status by the Recording Industry Association of America.
In conclusion, despite the fact that “In Utero” is not necessarily the band’s most recognized work, it is quickly coming across to be the most influential of Nirvana’s three studio albums. The other members of the band have achieved various levels of success and moved on, leaving the past behind them instead of comfortably resting on their laurels as would have been so easy for them to do after the fact. Courtney Love’s celebrity remains controversial at best because some of us consider her to be the one who helped the band self-destruct. The album will never be far away from my stereo, and I will always go back to it when I need to remember were I come from, and, I suspect, so will a lot of others.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Wardrobe Malfunction!
February 5th 2004
Janet Jackson's right breast became the most searched-for image in net history, Jackson's breast was seen by millions on TV after Justin Timberlake pulled at her bodice during a duet. Search engines reported a big jump in searches for Janet Jackson and Super Bowl, as people turned to the web for images of the event.
Janet Jackson's right breast became the most searched-for image in net history, Jackson's breast was seen by millions on TV after Justin Timberlake pulled at her bodice during a duet. Search engines reported a big jump in searches for Janet Jackson and Super Bowl, as people turned to the web for images of the event.
February 5th 1976
American saxophonist Rudy Pompilli died of lung cancer aged 52. Although not a smoker himself, it is believed he contracted the disease through second hand smoke. With Bill Haley and his Comets, he had the 1955 UK & US No.1 single with ‘Rock Around The Clock’, Pompilli released one solo album, Rudy's Rock: The Sax That Changed the World.
Friday, February 4, 2011
The King of the Jukebox....
February 4 1975
American jazz, blues, songwriter and saxophonist Louis Jordon died aged 66. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", between 1942-1950 he scored eighteen No.1 singles and fifty-four Top Ten hits on the US R&B chart.
After Ellington and Basie, Louis Jordan was probably the most popular and successful black band leader of his day. But in contrast to almost all of his colleagues of all races, he was a major personality in his own right, an all-round entertainer of enormous and diverse accomplishments.
Jordan is believed to have been married five times....As well as singing in many films, and appearing in "Meet Miss Bobby Sox" (1944) and "Follow the Boys" (1944), Jordan starred in several race films: Beware (1946), and Reet, Petite, and Gone and Look Out Sister (both 1947, when the race films ended).
Louis Jordan is described by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as “the Father of Rhythm & Blues” and “the Grandfather of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
On June 23, 2008 the US house of Representatives passed a resolution introduced by Arkansas Representative Vic Snyder honoring Jordan on the centenary of his birth.
Here is arguably his most popular track:
Caledonia!
American jazz, blues, songwriter and saxophonist Louis Jordon died aged 66. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", between 1942-1950 he scored eighteen No.1 singles and fifty-four Top Ten hits on the US R&B chart.
After Ellington and Basie, Louis Jordan was probably the most popular and successful black band leader of his day. But in contrast to almost all of his colleagues of all races, he was a major personality in his own right, an all-round entertainer of enormous and diverse accomplishments.
Jordan is believed to have been married five times....As well as singing in many films, and appearing in "Meet Miss Bobby Sox" (1944) and "Follow the Boys" (1944), Jordan starred in several race films: Beware (1946), and Reet, Petite, and Gone and Look Out Sister (both 1947, when the race films ended).
Louis Jordan is described by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as “the Father of Rhythm & Blues” and “the Grandfather of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
On June 23, 2008 the US house of Representatives passed a resolution introduced by Arkansas Representative Vic Snyder honoring Jordan on the centenary of his birth.
Here is arguably his most popular track:
Caledonia!
February 4, 1968
Working at the now infamous Abbey Road studios, London, The Beatles recorded ‘Across the Universe.’ John and Paul decided the song needed some falsetto harmonies so they invited two young girl fans into the studio to sing on the song. The two were Lizzie Bravo, a 16-year-old Brazilian living near Abbey Road and 17-year-old Londoner Gayleen Pease......looks like it was a good call....
across the universe on you tube
across the universe on you tube
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Wynton!
hey jazz fans...check out this neat AandE documentary from 1985 about Wynton Marsalis' career up to this point:
http://vimeo.com/19302501
http://vimeo.com/19302501
Demos!
new track up on my myspace page! "Hootchie Coochie Man" featuring Cory Richardson on bass, Josh Kuehnel on keys, Mike Dio Giorgio on harp and drums, and myself on guitar and vocals. Enjoy it :
www.myspace.com/thecamdenbluesband
www.myspace.com/thecamdenbluesband
On this day in.....
1960 – British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan speaks of the "a wind of change" of increasing national consciousness blowing through colonial Africa, signaling that his Government was likely to support decolonization.
The Day The Music Died
Today (February 3rd) marks a sad turning point in the history of music. On this date in 1959, a small plane carrying The Big Bopper, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and their pilot, Roger Peterson died when their plane crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa.
After various frustrations with the tour bus they were provided with, they decided a plane should be used to get to the next gigs...other musicians in the entourage could not afford to fly to that evening....thus leading to only the four people mentioned who got on the plane. After investigation, the cause of the crash was determined to be poor weather mixed with pilot error. All aboard the aircraft where under the age of 22.
Who knows what direction these amazing rock and roll pioneers would have gone, had they lived. This incident, was one of many, to usher in the new era of rock and roll....
Interesting note: a young Waylon Jennings was playing bass for Buddy Holly at this time
Don McLean coined the term "the day the music died" in his 1971 hit single "American Pie".
After various frustrations with the tour bus they were provided with, they decided a plane should be used to get to the next gigs...other musicians in the entourage could not afford to fly to that evening....thus leading to only the four people mentioned who got on the plane. After investigation, the cause of the crash was determined to be poor weather mixed with pilot error. All aboard the aircraft where under the age of 22.
Who knows what direction these amazing rock and roll pioneers would have gone, had they lived. This incident, was one of many, to usher in the new era of rock and roll....
Interesting note: a young Waylon Jennings was playing bass for Buddy Holly at this time
Don McLean coined the term "the day the music died" in his 1971 hit single "American Pie".
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