(Guitar, vocals, b. 1941) Mack’s 1964 debut album, The Wham Of That Memphis Man – chock-full of lightning-fast licks, vibrato-drenched lines and whammy-bar techniques on his Flying V guitar – captured the imagination of a young Stevie Ray Vaughan growing up in Dallas. Two decades later, Vaughan would produce Mack’s 1985 comeback album on Alligator Records ...
Alonzo ‘Lonnie’ Johnson will probably be forever classified as a ‘blues’ guitarist, and – at least in his later years – he seemed to accept the label, albeit somewhat gruffly. But in fact he was a consummate musician, deft enough to move between jazz, pop and blues stylings with ease, and inventive enough to imbue everything ...
(Vocals, b. 1966) From a traditional/bluegrass background, Womack’s self-titled debut album, rich in traditional sounds, was released in 1997, and included such hit singles as ‘The Fool’. I Hope You Dance (2000) sold over three million copies and brought her CMA’s 2001 Female Vocalist Of The Year Award, and more awards followed. After a change ...
1884–1945 Irish tenor McCormack sang the French and Italian opera repertory at Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, and in Boston and Chicago. After World War I he abandoned the stage for the concert platform. His repertory included Handel and German Lieder, but it was his performance of ballads and other light pieces that brought him great popularity. Introduction ...
1925–2010 Australian conductor Mackerras began his career as an oboist in Australia before coming to Europe to study conducting. In Prague he became interested in Czech music, particularly Janáček, whose operas he championed through definitive recordings and performing editions. He was music director of Sadler’s Wells (later English National) Opera 1970–77, Welsh National Opera 1987–92, and later ...
Anthony James Donegan was born in Glasgow, the son of a professional violinist, on 29 April 1931. The family moved to the east end of London when Tony, as he was then known, was two. He finally got the guitar he craved in his early teens. He attended his first jazz club soon after and was smitten ...
(Vocal duo, 1983–94) Cecil Womack began as part of The Womacks, with brother Bobby. Linda was Sam Cooke’s daughter. They both had good track records as soul songwriters before they married and released Love Wars in 1983, the title track becoming their first hit. In 1985, Radio M.U.S.I.C. Man featured unfinished Cooke songs ...
‘I Hope You Dance’, 2001 Despite having recorded since 1997, and continuing to record as a country artist today, duetting with the likes of Willie Nelson, Womack will for ever be associated with country-pop hit, ‘I Hope You Dance’, and the album of the same name. A dedication to her daughters, both the song and album ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1975–present) Chicago native Ed Williams learned slide guitar from his uncle, renowned bluesman J.B. Hutto. During the early years of the Blues Imperials, flamboyant frontman Ed continued working at his day job in a local car wash, but by the early 1980s the band had established a substantial regional following. Their 1986 Alligator Records ...
The premiere torch-bearer for the blues-rock boom of the 1980s, Texan guitar wizard Stevie Ray Vaughan galvanized a generation of players and fans alike with his pyrotechnic licks and flamboyant stage presence. Connecting deeply with both the psychedelic, ‘voodoo chile’ mystique of Jimi Hendrix and the down-home roadhouse grittiness of his biggest guitar influence, Albert King, Vaughan ...
(Guitar, vocals, 1954–90) Born in Dallas, Vaughan distilled Albert King, Jimi Hendrix and Lonnie Mack’s blues and rock stylings on his superb US Top 40 album Texas Flood (1983). Tommy Shannon (bass) and Chris Layton (drums) formed his trusted Double Trouble back-up team. His ferocious but lyrical playing on Couldn’t Stand The Weather (1984) and live showmanship ...
Exploding on to a generally lethargic blues scene in 1983 with his Texas Flood album, Stevie Ray Vaughan (1954–90) administered a high-voltage charge that revitalized the blues with his stunning, ecstatic playing and imagination. He took inspiration from the most stylish of his idols – Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Guy, Howlin’ Wolf, Albert King – but it ...
As the end of the twentieth century approached, the United States – its culture included – entered a rare period of recapitulation, retrieval and, ultimately, renewal. The election as President of ageing Ronald Reagan, ex-movie star and California governor, introduced unexpected neo-conservatism, an ideology that looked back to a rosy, though mythical, ...
It was Louis Armstrong (or Leadbelly, depending on whom you believe) who came up with the famous final word on the definition of folk music: ‘It’s ALL folk music … I ain’t never heard no horse sing.…’ The quote has been repeated ad nauseam throughout the years, but it has not prevented strenuous debate about the meaning of ...
Composed: 1928 Premiered: 1928, Berlin Book by Bertolt Brecht, from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann after John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera Prologue The Ballad Singer sings the ‘Ballad of Mack the Knife’. Act I Peachum controls the begging business in London. His wife’s description of their daughter Polly’s lover, ‘the Captain’, fits the notorious gang leader Macheath (Mack ...
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