On 1 February 1964, The Beatles’ ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ topped America’s Cashbox singles chart. Six days later, they arrived in New York for their first US visit, and on 9 February an audience of around 73 million people tuned in to see them on The Ed Sullivan Show, which had been booked the previous ...
Indie guitar legend Johnny Marr (b. 1963) was born John Maher in Manchester, England to Irish Catholic parents. He grew up in a household where music was a constant fixture, and he recalled, ‘I always had guitars, for as long as I could remember.’ Guitar technique came easily to young Johnny, and he quickly mastered ...
Punk exploded on to the stagnant British music scene in the mid-1970s with short, fast songs, played with maximum energy and often fuelled by angry lyrics. A musical and social phenomenon, punk was a reaction to the indulgence of glam rock bands, and the perceived elitism of the often highly musically proficient musicians who played in the ...
British blues was born when British musicians attempted to emulate Mississippi and Chicago bluesmen during the 1960s. Led by Eric Clapton and The Rolling Stones, these musicians copied the styles of Big Bill Broonzy, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and B.B. King, and, aided by powerful amplifiers, developed a sound of their own. In the ...
It is a common enough opinion that the words ‘British’ and ‘rap’ are contradictions in terms. Unfortunately, this is indeed the case and it is solely because of the language barrier: rap delivered in any form of English other than American does not sound authentic. To attempt rap in the Queen’s English became known as the ‘Derek B Syndrome’, after ...
Across the centuries and around the globe, many different forms of music have enjoyed mass appeal for a limited period of time. None, however, have been able to match the widespread influence of the popular music that erupted in America during the mid-1950s and, by the second half of the decade, was exerting its grip over ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1974–present) Power-pop quartet from Rockford, Illinois, featuring wacky guitarist Rick Nielsen who were weaned on British Invasion bands. Live album Cheap Trick At Budokan translated their Japanese success (they were regarded as the American Beatles) to home sales in 1979 and spawned hit ‘I Want You To Want Me’. Follow-up album Dream Police (1979) also made ...
In his short life, California guitarist-mandolinist Clarence White (1944–73) conceived innovations that would inspire country and rock guitarists from both a stylistic and technical perspective long after his death. He brought bluegrass picking to the forefront of rock, turning acoustic guitar into a solo instrument. He developed a device for electric guitar that let traditional guitarists sound like pedal-steel ...
By turns avant-garde adventurer, high-voltage rocker and Third World explorer, Yorkshire-born guitarist John McLaughlin has seldom repeated himself. Born in 1942, McLaughlin studied piano from the age of nine and taught himself guitar after becoming interested in country blues, flamenco and Django Reinhardt. A gig with Pete Deuchar’s Professors of Ragtime in 1958 was his ticket to ...
As lead guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Cheap Trick, Rick Nielsen fired the band’s melting pot of pop melodies and punk energy. Nielsen also became a highly coveted session player in the 1970s. With his legendary guitar collection (numbering over 250) and a unique stage wardrobe featuring bow ties and baseball caps, Nielsen’s style made him ...
James Joseph McGuinn (b. 1942) was raised in Chicago and became a fan of folk music as a teenager. He asked for and received a guitar from his parents after hearing Elvis’s ‘Heartbreak Hotel’. In 1957, McGuinn entered Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music, where he studied five-string banjo and guitar. McGuinn’s skills and solo performances attracted the ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1965–68) They surfaced at the tail-end of the ‘British Invasion’ from a mid-Texas scene as self-contained in its way as Merseybeat had been. ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’ – from 1966’s The Psychedelic Sounds Of The 13th Floor Elevators – was a regional hit, but later releases obeyed a law of diminishing returns both artistically and commercially. Today ...
America’s most successful pop group, graduating from fun-in-the-California-sun surf and hot-rod songs to multi-textured, intricately arranged numbers of exquisite harmonic structure, The Beach Boys initially achieved fame with a line-up consisting of the Wilson brothers, Brian (born 20 June 1942), Dennis (1944–83) and Carl (1946–98), together with their cousin Mike Love (born 15 March 1941) and Brian’s ...
Consisting of John Lennon (1940–80) on rhythm guitar, Paul McCartney (b. 18 June 1942) on bass, George Harrison (1943–2001) on lead guitar and Ringo Starr (b. Richard Starkey, 7 July 1940) on drums, The Beatles evolved from Lennon’s grammar school skiffle group The Quarry Men to become the most successful, acclaimed and influential act in the ...
Melding folk with rock, smooth harmonies with jangling guitars, The Byrds enjoyed a short period during the mid-1960s when they were not only publicly acclaimed by their two biggest influences, Bob Dylan and The Beatles, but when they themselves also influenced those icons. Acoustic Folk Pop Jim McGuinn (born James Joseph McGuinn III, 13 July 1942), ...
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...
CURATED
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.