(Vocals, 1895–1984) Memphis-born Alberta Hunter ran away to Chicago as a young girl to seek her fortune as an entertainer. She survived the cutthroat world of early twentieth-century jazz long enough to establish herself as a front-line vocalist, albeit in a somewhat less-declamatory style than that favoured by some of her contemporaries. She recorded (sometimes using pseudonyms) for Black ...
(Guitar, b. 1967) The leading exponent ‘acid jazz’, guitarist Charlie Hunter has learned to emulate the organ-bass runs of his inspiration, Larry Young, on a customized guitar. Raised in Berkeley, California, the son of a guitar repairer, he was a street musician in Europe prior to founding Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy in the early 1990s ...
(Vocals, guitar, 1888–1966) James Barnes ‘Peg Leg’ Howell, who lost his right leg after being shot when he was about 21 years old, led a three-man band – Peg Leg Howell & his Gang – in Atlanta during the mid- to late 1920s. He recorded for Columbia between 1926 and 1929 and continued to perform locally until ...
The harp is clearly recognizable from its triangular shape, consisting of the resonator and neck. The strings in all harps run perpendicular to the resonator. In many cases a supporting arm, known as a forepillar, runs from the end of the neck to the resonator to help sustain the strings’ tension. Early Harps Although the earliest known use ...
With the exception of Judas Priest, no metal band has been more influential than Iron Maiden. And it is no coincidence that Maiden first took flight when guitarist Adrian Smith joined the band one month into recording their second album, Killers, in 1981. Adrian Frederik ‘H’ Smith was born in Hackney, East London, in February 1957. ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1974–82, 1997–present) An internationally popular New York outfit emerging from the city’s thriving new wave scene of the mid-to late 1970s, Blondie’s founders were Debbie Harry (vocals) and Chris Stein (guitar), with an eventual supporting cast of Clem Burke (drums), Nigel Harrison (bass), Jimmy Destri (keyboards) and Frank Infante (guitar). More pop-oriented than their contemporaries and ...
David Bowie has inspired more musicians than most recording artists, but he naturally also had his own formative influences. Who Does He Love ? It almost goes without saying that Elvis Presley was important to him: few of the musicians who became teenagers in the Sixties weren’t overwhelmed by The King’s stunning larynx and greaseball beauty. Perhaps revealingly, Bowie ...
A leading figure on America’s West Coast music scene, Jerry Garcia was born in San Francisco in 1942. His father was a retired professional musician, his mother a pianist. The musically inclined Jerry began taking piano lessons as a child. The emergence of Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran inspired him to learn guitar at 15, ...
American guitarist Joe Satriani is widely credited with pioneering the rock-instrumental style in the 1980s, opening up the genre for guitarists like Steve Vai, Eric Johnson and Yngwie Malmsteen. His talent for creating highly evolved music, using a pop-song structure with tuneful melodies before applying his own virtuoso skills, has made him one of the most successful ...
Classical guitarist-composer John Christopher Williams (b. 1941) is a Grammy-Award winning Australian classical guitarist who has explored many styles beyond the classical tradition. John’s father Leonard (Len) Williams was an accomplished guitarist who emigrated from Britain to Australia and was best known there for his jazz playing. He taught John to play guitar, and it soon became apparent that the ...
In the 25 years before cancer ended his life at the age of 46, Mick Ronson (1946–93) became a guitar icon through his seminal work as part of David Bowie’s Spiders From Mars band, work that would lead to production and performance assignments with artists such as Ian Hunter, Lou Reed and Morrissey, as well as American ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1969–74, 2009) A riotous rock band comprising Ian Hunter (vocals, keyboards), Mick Ralphs (guitar), Pete ‘Overend’ Watts (bass), Verden Allen (organ) and Dale ‘Buffin’ Griffin (drums), Mott were about to split when offered ‘All The Young Dudes’ by David Bowie in 1972. This began a string of five hits and two successful albums Mott (1973) and ...
(Vocals, piano, b. 1934) Shirley Horn was successful from 1954 through the mid-1960s in her hometown of Washington, DC. She was promoted by Miles Davis and Quincy Jones and owned a club called the Place Where Louie Dwells, but gradually turned full attention to her family. She returned with records, club dates and concert tours in ...
(Guitar, singer-songwriter, b. 1949) Singer, guitarist and hirsute oddball Nugent was an unlikely axe hero, his outlandish stage act captured on 1978’s platinum-selling Double Live Gonzo! He served his apprenticeship in Chicago’s psychedelic Amboy Dukes before going solo in 1976, his biggest hit coming the following year with the riff-heavy ‘Cat Scratch Fever’. An avid ...
Rock’s most famous and celebrated hippie band, known more for its anything-goes, drug-hazed concerts and legions of ‘Deadhead’ fans than for its body of studio work, The Grateful Dead grew out of a union between singer-songwriter/lead guitarist Jerry Garcia (1942–95), songwriter/rhythm guitarist Bob Weir (born 16 October 1947) and keyboardist/singer Ron ‘Pigpen’ McKernan (1946–73). They were to become ...
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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.