(Vocals, 1939–99) British-born Springfield (born Mary O’Brien), formerly of The Springfields, showed her affiliation with American girl-group pop on her first outing, 1963’s ‘I Only Want To Be With You’. Hits by the Brill Building’s best songwriting teams (including Bacharach-David and Goffin-King) earned her respect as the finest white soul singer of her era. Her 1969 album Dusty ...
(Vocals, 1927–2003) David Gordon Kirkpatrick, born near Kempsey, New South Wales, was one of Australia’s most popular country artists from the 1950s until his death. He sold in excess of five million records in his home country with hits such as ‘A Pub With No Beer’ (also a Top 3 success in the UK) and ‘Lights On ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1966–68) Migrating from New York to Los Angeles, Stephen Stills and Richie Furay rehearsed with a third singing guitarist, Canadian Neil Young, who recommended Bruce Palmer (bass) and Dewey Martin (drums). 1967’s Buffalo Springfield was remarkable for an acoustic bias and clever vocal harmonies. A hit single, ‘For What It’s Worth’, and healthy sales ...
(Singer-songwriter, b. 1984) Aimée Ann Duffy’s 2008 debut album Rockferry was the UK’s top seller of the year, an astounding achievement for the singer-songwriter given she grew up with Welsh as her first language. Her retro soul-pop, exemplified by derivative but catchy hit single ‘Mercy’, drew comparisons with Dusty Springfield, while a Grammy award in 2009 confirmed ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1967–71) Randy California (guitar, vocals) had worked with Jimi Hendrix in New York clubland in 1966 before returning to Los Angeles to form what became Spirit with stepfather Ed Cassidy (drums), songwriter Jay Ferguson (vocals) and Mark Andes (bass). Jazzier than most ‘progressive’ rock groups, they released four albums of which 1969’s The Family That Plays ...
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 ...
January George Marries Pattie Boyd George Harrison married model Pattie Boyd at Epsom registry office on 21 January. They had been going out together since meeting on the set of A Hard Day’s Night nearly two years earlier. Paul McCartney was the best man. John Lennon and Ringo Starr were both on holiday with their wives, planned as a decoy ...
September Inducted Into UK Music Hall Of Fame On 14 November 2006, Led Zeppelin were inducted into the UK Music Hall Of Fame in its third year running. The same year as James Brown, Prince, Brian Wilson, Bon Jovi, Dusty Springfield and Rod Stewart were inducted. Queen’s drummer Roger Taylor inducted the group into the Hall ...
Billy F. Gibbons (b. 1949), also known as the Reverend Willie G, led his Texas boogie band, ZZ Top, to international superstardom in the early days of MTV, combining a unique image with driving Southern rock and a series of eye-catching videos. At the music’s core was Gibbons’ tasteful blend of rhythmic crunch and fiery soloing, ...
(Vocals, guitar, 1895–1991) The Kentuckian singer-guitarist was a superstar of early country radio, appealing to the vast mid-western audience of the WLS National Barn Dance with gentle renditions of old songs like ‘Barbara Allen’ and ‘The Fatal Wedding’. In the 1920s and 1930s he sold hundreds of thousands of songbooks and records. After retiring to run a music ...
(Songwriter, vocals, 1918–2006) The sophisticated songs of Cindy Walker were particularly attractive to western-swing performers like Bob Wills, whose recordings helped establish her as one of the top songwriters in country music. From Mart, Texas, Walker also sang, recorded and appeared in films with Texas Jim Lewis. Over time, she concentrated solely on writing ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1968–70) When on a US tour with The Hollies, Graham Nash (vocals, guitar) had sown the seeds of a ‘supergroup’ with ex-Byrd Dave Crosby (vocals, guitar) and Stephen Stills (vocals, guitar) from Buffalo Springfield. The new combine rehearsed in London for an eponymous album that featured hippy lyricism, flawless vocal harmonies and neo-acoustic ...
It makes sense that Australia would be the one country outside North America to develop an important country-music scene of its own. Like the USA and Canada, Australia had a large, under-populated frontier that was settled by English, Irish and Scotch immigrants who brought their folk songs with them. Roughened and toughened by frontier life, those songs ...
1960 Jimmy Page: First-Ever Serious ‘Gig’ Aged just 16, Jimmy Page – whose first guitar was a steel-stringed Spanish guitar on which he learnt to play skiffle, before quickly moving on to rock’n’roll and the electric guitar – played his first ever serious ‘gig’. Though he had been in local bands before, playing for British poet Royston Ellis ...
(Vocals, guitar, songwriter, b. 1964) With 14 gold albums to his name, Kernaghan is the biggest-selling country artist in Australia. He first visited Nashville in 1986, played at Fan Fair, and met producer Garth Porter, resulting in his 1992 double-platinum debut album, The Outback Club. He has recorded with the late Australian legend ...
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David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
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