(Vocal/instrumental group, 1973–present) Derrick ‘Ducky’ Simpson co-founded this mighty Jamaican reggae outfit in the early 1970s. The line-up settled with Michael Rose on lead vocals, Puma Jones and Simpson harmonizing, and the legendary Sly and Robbie acting as rhythm section. A deal with Island paved the way for the group’s international reputation. The Grammy-grabbing Anthem (1984) established them ...
His contemporaries Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck might receive more time in the spotlight, but guitarist Ritchie Blackmore (b. 1945) has been similarly influential and innovative during his 40-plus-year career. Born in Weston-Super-Mare, England, in April 1945, Blackmore was given his first guitar at the age of 11 and began taking classical lessons, ...
Frank Anthony Iommi (b. 1948) was born in Birmingham, England. Like so many other teenage boys in 1960s Britain, he was inspired to pick up the guitar upon hearing Hank Marvin and The Shadows. In 1967, after playing in various local acts, Iommi hooked up with three former school mates – Bill Ward (drums), Terry ‘Geezer’ Butler ...
By the end of the 1980s, thrash metal was on its last legs. Metallica and Slayer were on the path towards acceptance by the mainstream and it seemed as though heavy metal was in danger of losing not only the extremity upon which it had been founded, but also its shock value. How ill-founded those assumptions turned out to ...
(Vocals, guitar, 1903–62) Francis ‘Scrapper’ Blackwell is best known as Leroy Carr’s musical partner, but he was also a gifted artist in his own right. In 1928 he recorded ‘Kokomo Blues’, which Kokomo Arnold covered as ‘Original Old Kokomo Blues’, before Robert Johnson retooled it as ‘Sweet Home Chicago’. After Carr died in 1935, Blackwell retired from ...
(Vocals, songwriter, b. 1962) Born in New Jersey and raised in Houston, Black burst on to the scene in the late 1980s. Signed by ZZ Top manager Bill Ham, Black’s double platinum debut album, Killin’ Time (1989), spawned four chart-topping singles, including ‘Better Man’ and ‘Nobody’s Home’. He has duetted with legendary cowboy Roy Rogers ...
(Instrumental group, 1958–65) Bassist Black helped create the rockabilly sound on Elvis Presley’s Sun recordings and in the singer’s live performances from 1954–58 with guitarist Scotty Moore and drummer D.J. Fontana. Ironically, Black became better known commercially through a string of instrumental hits with The Bill Black Combo, a group he formed after leaving Presley in a ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1968–present) Pioneers of heavy metal, Sabbath hailed from Birmingham, England and comprised John ‘Ozzy’ Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Terence ‘Geezer’ Butler (bass), and Bill Ward (drums). Their second album’s title track ‘Paranoid’ was a rare hit single as Black Sabbath’s reputation was built on a series of 1970s albums, featuring doom-laden lyrics set to ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1989–2002, 2005–present) Musically, The Black Crowes were a throwback to the classic rock swagger of The Rolling Stones. Formed in Atlanta, Chris Robinson (vocals), Richard Robinson (guitar), Jeff Cease (guitar), Johnny Colt (bass) and Steve Gorman (drums) combined hard touring and compelling albums such as Shake Your Money Maker (1990) and The Southern Harmony And ...
(Vocal group, 1998–present) The four main players in The Black Eyed Peas – Will.I.Am (Will Adams), Apl.de.Ap (Allen Pineda), Taboo (Jaime Gomez) and Fergie (Stacy Ferguson) – came to the wider public attention in 2003 on the back of the success of their ‘Where Is The Love ?’ single, which topped the charts for a ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1981–2001) Stuart Adamson began with Scottish punk band The Skids. His Caledonian heritage came to the fore with Big Country, as he employed guitar gizmos to create a choral ‘bagpipe’ sound. The epic, yearning songs of debut album The Crossing (1983) played well in America. The follow-up, the more political Steeltown (1984), was a UK ...
(Production team/rhythm section, 1975–present) Sly Dunbar (drums) and Robbie Shakespeare (bass) both worked for various reggae artists, including Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, before coming together at Kingston’s Channel One Studio in the mid-1970s, where their innovative, but funky combination powered the new ‘rockers’ sound. They backed practically every Jamaican artist of note, from Peter Tosh to ...
Roots reggae is probably the best-known genre of Jamaican music. Thanks to artists such as Bob Marley and Burning Spear, it achieved genuine worldwide success. Through these artists and their carefully articulated political dissent, social commentaries and praises to Jah Rastafari, it has been accepted across the world as one of the most potent protest musics. Roots reggae ...
Contemporary music whose ancestry lies in the Western classical tradition finds itself in a curious position. Nothing illustrates this better than the fact that we are not entirely sure what to call it. The label ‘classical’ seems anachronistic, especially when applied to composers who have challenged some of the fundamental assumptions of the classical tradition. ‘Concert music’ is similarly problematic ...
Although the art of the classical singer has traditionally been perceived as the pursuit of technical perfection and tonal beauty, the twentieth century enabled a re-evaluation of what that art should be. Due in part to the technological advances and harrowing events of the times, much of the music was innovative, challenging, moving, powerful and, ...
AUTHORITATIVE
An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...
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Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.
David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
his life, music, art and movies, with a
sweep of incredible photographs.