(Guitar, b. 1937) Backed by The Del-Tones, California’s ‘King of the Surf Guitar’ dented 1962’s Hot 100 with ‘Let’s Go Trippin’’. Its immediate follow-ups – also instrumentals – were less successful, but an album, Surfer’s Choice and its ‘Miserlou’ single sold moderately well, and he appeared in associated assembly line movies such as 1963’s Beach Party. ...
‘King of the Surf Guitar’ Dick Dale was born Richard Monsour in Boston, Massachusetts in 1937. Dale learned to play drums, ukulele and trumpet before taking up the guitar, inspired by country music. His first break in music was winning an Elvis Presley soundalike contest. Dale began playing guitar in clubs, solo at first, but later ...
(Mad’-da-lä-na Ca-sü-la’-na) c. 1540–90 Italian singer and composer Casulana worked as a professional singer and composer in Venice and Milan. The first of several volumes of her madrigals appeared in 1568 – the earliest-known printed collection by a woman. In Casulana’s words, it aimed ‘to show the world... the vain error of men that they alone possess intellectual gifts, ...
Southern blues-rock guitarist Dickey Betts was born in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1943. Betts was leading a group called The Second Coming when he met and jammed with the other members of what soon became The Allman Brothers Band. His role as second lead guitarist and his partnership with Duane Allman gave the band their trademark dual-lead sound, ...
1816–75 English composer Bennett was a leading figure of the ‘London Piano School’, a significant group of pianist-composers that included Muzio Clementi (1752–1832), Ignaz Moscheles (1794–1870) and Johann Baptist Cramer (1771–1858). A boy chorister at King’s College, Cambridge, he began studies aged 10 at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM), where his teachers included Cipriani Potter. Close friends included ...
(Vocals, banjo, guitar, 1883–1977) A singer, banjoist and guitarist from southern Kentucky, blinded in a shooting accident in his early twenties, Burnett wrote (but did not record) ‘Man Of Constant Sorrow’, made famous again through its use in the film O Brother, Where Art Thou ? He and his playing partner, the fiddler ...
(Vocals, guitar, b. 1935) Bluegrass was an all-boys club when Hazel Dickens came along from the coalfields of West Virginia with a ‘high, lonesome’ soprano that grabbed the attention of anyone who tried to ignore her. Her singing was powerful enough, but she also developed into a terrific writer of songs about coalmining tragedies and mistreated women ...
(Vocals, b. 1920) West Virginia-born James Cecil Dickens was a long-time fixture on the Grand Ole Opry and is best known for the novelty hits he released in the late 1940s and early 1950s, including ‘Sleepin’ At The Foot Of The Bed’, ‘I’m Little But I’m Loud’ and ‘Take An Old Cold Tater And Wait’. Dickens was inducted into ...
(Vocals, guitar, b. 1938) Delmar Hawkins was born in Goldmine, Louisiana, and is a cousin of Ronnie Hawkins. His biggest success came in 1957 with the self-penned ‘Suzie-Q’ on Checker which, like most of his rockabilly, reflected the strong blues influence in his music. Dale was the first white singer to appear at Harlem’s Apollo ...
(Vocals, guitar, b. 1957) Lauderdale pays his bills by writing hook-laden hits for mainstream-country performers such as George Strait, The Dixie Chicks, Vince Gill and Mark Chesnutt, but his own recordings reflect a penchant for traditional country and a quirky sense of humour that land him in the alt.-country category. He grew up in South ...
Steve ‘The Colonel’ Cropper is an American guitarist, songwriter, producer and soul musician, best known for his work creating the trailblazing soul records produced by Memphis’s Stax label as a member of its studio band, which became Booker T. & The M.G.s, in the mid-1960s. Stephen Lee Cropper was born on a farm outside ...
Singing cowboy Tex Ritter enjoyed two distinctive careers, the first as ‘America’s most beloved cowboy’ (a title bestowed on him by a Hollywood publicist), and second as a recording artist and stage performer, albeit still making occasional film appearances. He also recorded one of the most memorable western themes of all time – ‘High Noon’. A Screen Icon Born ...
(Vocal group, 1961–66) Barbara Alston, Dee Dee Kennibrew, Mary Thomas, Patricia Wright and Myra Gerrard were discovered recording song demos in the Brill Building by Phil Spector, who was looking for a girl group for his new label Philles Records. His Wall of Sound brought them immortality in teen hits like ‘Da Doo Ron Ron’ and ...
As the 1960s approached, the controversy associated with rock’n’roll was superseded by an array of inoffensive smoothies on both sides of the atlantic. However, the ongoing popularity of artists such as Elvis Presley, Bobby Darin, Ricky Nelson, Sam Cooke, and, in the UK, Lonnie Donegan, Billy Fury and Cliff Richard, ensured ...
Characterized by twangy, reverberation-soaked guitars; percussive instrumentals designed to simulate the effect of crashing waves; vocal harmonies underscored by a soaring falsetto – surf music was perfectly suited to an early 1960s pop scene of escapism and innocent fun and was to have a profound and lasting influence on the sound of the rock guitar. Whereas chart-friendly instrumental recordings by ...
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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.