(Guitar, singer-songwriter, b. 1954) One of new wave’s most celebrated songwriters, Costello (born Declan Patrick MacManus) initially portrayed himself as an angry, revenge-obsessed young man before steadily maturing into a genre-straddling elder statesman. His cheeky appropriation of the name ‘Elvis’ was in tune with the iconoclastic mood of 1977, when his debut album My Aim Is ...
Elvis Aaron Presley was born in his family’s shot-gun shack in Tupelo, Mississippi, on 8 January 1935. His twin brother died at birth, and his mother doted on her sole son. He showed musical aptitude early, and loved to sing at the local First Assembly of God church. His mother, Gladys and father, Vernon, ...
Elvis Presley was the most important figure in popular music during the twentieth century. His influence was enormous, and remains so, nearly 30 years after his death. The recordings that he made during the first few years of his career inspired a whole generation and the initial impact of a country boy singing black R&B changed forever the strictly ...
double bass found its voice with a vengeance, and was free to come out of the twilight into the limelight – even helping to kick off rock’n’roll on early Elvis tracks like ‘That’s All Right (Mama)’. Of all the orchestral stringed instruments, the double bass is the most closely related to the viol, as a direct descendant of ...
the mid-1950s, pop was, for the first time, truly music for the teen masses, to be enjoyed and even performed by teens. In the wake of Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly, guitar sales went through the roof, and it was not long before tens of thousands of juvenile bands began springing up on both sides ...
produced on an increasingly grand scale. It was as if excess was being equated with success and it was also evident that, just 20 years after the likes of Elvis Presley, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis had inspired teenagers, outraged parents and revolutionized Western culture, contemporary music had basically lost touch with its original raison d’être. No ...
bluesman Guitar Slim’s ‘The Things That I Used To Do’ and the irresistible fusion of jazz, blues and gospel on his own ‘I Got A Woman’ (later covered by Elvis Presley), had invented soul music – rock’s spiritual, sensual Afro-American twin. Soul is an innovative blend of musical styles: the Baptist hymn and the juke joint dance exhortation, ...
influenced by country music artists playing pedal-steel guitar, an instrument developed by musicians in Hawaii; horn players and the rhythm sections preferred Cuban orchestras; others heard James Brown and Elvis Presley and decided that funk or rock were the true paths. But the availability of instruments and like-minded souls – both to play with or to provide an audience – ...
remembered as an outstanding blues songwriter; several of his tunes, such as ‘That’s All Right’ and ‘My Baby Left Me’, were covered by pop and rock stars, notably Elvis Presley. Styles & Forms | Forties | Jazz & Blues Personalities | Rev. Gary Davis | Forties | Jazz & Blues ...
Arthur Alexander’s ‘You Better Move On’ was a No. 24 US hit that showcased his country-soul roots. Despite being covered by The Rolling Stones (and having other songs covered by Elvis Presley and The Beatles – the latter covering his biggest hit, ‘Anna (Go To Him)’, Alexander remained largely unknown, and retired in the 1970s. He died while promoting ...
as ‘Boss of the Blues’ is dominated by one song, ‘Shake, Rattle And Roll’, which became an early rock’n’roll anthem as recorded by white artists Bill Haley and Elvis Presley. But Turner’s long career and legacy of R&B hits includes boogies like ‘Roll ‘Em Pete’, the seminal blues of ‘Cherry Red’, and rollicking ribald romps like ‘My Gal’s A ...
the Peacock label in 1951. She toured with Johnny Otis in 1952–53 and recorded her number-one R&B hit, ‘Hound Dog’, with his band. The record, famously covered by Elvis Presley, enabled her to branch out on her own. After leaving Peacock in 1957, she settled in the San Francisco area and worked as a solo artist. She ...
had a big, no-nonsense voice perfect for the blues, yet she was able to manage only one big R&B hit with a song that soon became associated with Elvis Presley, leaving her original version in the dust. Thornton’s recording of ‘Hound Dog’ topped Billboard’s R&B chart for seven weeks in 1953. Thornton would record and perform into the ...
(Instrumental group, 1958–65) Bassist Black helped create the rockabilly sound on Elvis Presley’s Sun recordings and in the singer’s live performances from 1954–58 with guitarist Scotty Moore and drummer D.J. Fontana. Ironically, Black became better known commercially through a string of instrumental hits with The Bill Black Combo, a group he formed after leaving Presley in a ...
and Rainwater as a heartbroken waltz. It’s a lament for the girl that left, but the aching vocal and trilling mandolin hint at a bit of homesickness too. When Elvis Presley made the song one of his first rock’n’roll tracks, Monroe cut a driving, 4/4 version for Decca in 1954. Styles & Forms | Bluegrass | Country Personalities ...
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David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
his life, music, art and movies, with a
sweep of incredible photographs.