Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on 19 January 1946, in Locust Ridge, Tennessee. Immediately after graduation in the summer of 1964, she travelled from the Blue Ridge Mountains to Nashville, taking with her dreams of country stardom and little else. Ever since, she has thrilled audiences worldwide. An entertainer extraordinaire, Dolly has also become an ...
As the first superstar instrumentalist to emerge from the modern Nashville recording scene, Chet Atkins (1924–2001) was a living legend for most of his life, but the Nashville-based guitarist was also a producer, engineer, label executive and A&R man without peer. Chester Burton ‘Chet’ Atkins was born on in June 1924 in Luttrell, Tennessee. He started ...
One of modern country music’s most remarkable figures, Chester Burton Atkins born in Luttrell, Tennessee, rose from rural obscurity to become one of the world’s most celebrated guitarists and one of Nashville’s most influential record producers. Atkins’ musical vision did much to shape country music during the 1950s and 1960s. Early Years Atkins was born on 20 June ...
(Singer-songwriter, b. 1947) Possessing the voice of an angel, Harris is one of the most adventurous country artists of the past four decades. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, she released a folk album in 1969; but it was her duets with Gram Parsons in the early 1970s that set her on the road. Fine solo sets with Parsons’ ...
The undisputed queen of country rock, Emmylou Harris has long been both a student of traditional country music and a peerless innovator. Even now, some 30 years after she debuted with the tormented genius Gram Parsons, she is still the one others turn to for acceptance and support. Gram Parsons’ Influence Born in Birmingham, Alabama, on ...
(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. 1938) In the early 1960s Rogers joined The New Christy Minstrels, and formed The First Edition in 1968. The following year, the group became Kenny Rogers And The First Edition. Their worldwide hit, ‘Ruby Don’t Take Your Love To Town’, was written by Mel Tillis. In 1973, Rogers went solo, and 1977 brought ...
(Vocals, b. 1946) Linda Ronstadt has had success with many different kinds of music – folk, rock, soul, operetta, show tunes and Tex-Mex – but much of her biggest success is associated with country music and she has been cited as a major influence by such singers as Trisha Yearwood, Patty Loveless and Terri Clark. ...
Country music has spawned numerous superstars, but few can match the impact made by the woman who became known as the Coal Miner’s Daughter. Born Loretta Webb on 14 April 1935 in Butcher’s Hollow, Kentucky, she married Oliver ‘Moonshine’ Lynn in 1949. She has been an inspiration and guide to countless aspiring female acts who followed her into ...
(Vocals, songwriter, b. 1927) This Howell County, Missouri-born artist grew up on a farm and worked in a butcher’s shop before he began singing on local Missouri radio shows. In 1957, Wagoner moved to Nashville and landed a spot on the Grand Ole Opry. In more recent years, with the deaths of longtime Opry stalwarts Roy ...
Born Randy Bruce Traywick on 4 May 1959 in North Carolina, Randy Travis won a talent show at the age of 16, but found his music career progressed painfully slow. Hankering after a more exciting lifestyle, he dropped out of high school in the ninth grade. Music eventually came to his aid, but not without a great ...
(Vocals, b. 1952) Virginia-born Shelton earned a dozen chart-topping hits from 1987 via his blending of country, rock’n’roll and gospel strains, often covering well-chosen older material, like his second No. 1, ‘Life Turned Her That Way’. He won CMA Male Vocalist Of The Year in 1989. During the early 1990s he combined writing children’s books, ...
A blues guitarist best known for his slide-guitar work, Sonny Landreth (b. 1951) was born in Canton, Mississippi. The family relocated to Lafayette, Louisiana, where Sonny was immersed in the area’s swamp-pop and Zydeco music. Beginning as a trumpeter, he was already a virtuoso guitarist in his teens. His earliest role model was Scotty Moore, ...
(Vocals, guitar, b. 1942) Young grew up listening to country music in his native Georgia, played folk music in Greenwich Village and recorded early country-rock with Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman in California. He wove these disparate experiences into vivid story songs that were recorded by the Eagles, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams Jr. and Dolly Parton. ...
(Vocals, b. 1956) Suzy Bogguss served her apprenticeship travelling across America in a camper van for five years, then appearing daily at Dolly Parton’s Dollywood theme park in 1986. Her third album, Aces (1992), achieved gold status and gained a firm chart foothold for the folk-influenced troubadour’s singles and albums. A highlight of her career was making Simpatico ...
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.