(Drums, 1909–73) Possibly the most famous jazz drummer, Gene Krupa played in the ‘press roll’ style of Chicago, where he first recorded in 1927. He was a traditionalist and kept time largely on the snare, with either sticks or brushes, playing two-beat on bass drum. He joined Benny Goodman in 1934 and became a key factor ...
The guitarist in Genesis from 1970–77, Steve Hackett developed a technical skill and tone control that was a vital factor in shaping the band’s music. He also helped to steer the post-Peter Gabriel Genesis towards a new style before leaving to pursue a solo career. An undemonstrative performer, Hackett has been a major influence on guitarists looking beyond the ...
Arguably the most important alternative guitarist of the 1990s, Kurt Cobain (1967–94) was born in Aberdeen, Washington. His parents divorced when he was seven, which had a traumatic effect on Cobain, tainting the remainder of his life. From an early age, he showed a keen interest in music, singing along to Beatles’ songs on the ...
Eugène Scribe (1791–1861) began his career as a dramatist for the Parisian popular stage, writing vaudevilles and comedies. This experience was crucial to his development of the French opera libretto, as he injected a new realism, pace and drama into serious and comic opera, and brought the two genres closer together. During his lifetime he wrote librettos ...
(Tenor saxophone, 1925–74) The son of pianist Albert Ammons, Gene was equally at home in jazz and R&B settings. He was a prolific recording artist and his hard-hitting, emotionally direct blowing in a blues and funk vein also featured in a popular two-tenor band, co-led by Sonny Stitt. His work in a soul-jazz idiom with organists such ...
It’s hard to fathom now – 70 years on – the enormous impact that the laid-back, unassuming Gene Autry (1907–98) had when he rose to national stardom in 1935. Cowboys and western music had enjoyed a certain currency and mystique before he came along, but the first singing movie cowboy’s phenomenal rise inspired an entire generation and changed the ...
(Vocals, 1935–71) Despite a leg permanently crippled in a road accident, Eugene Craddock, from Norfolk, Virginia, rocketed to stardom in 1956 with his multi-million seller ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’ for Capitol. Other hits and movie appearances followed, and along with his group, The Blue Caps, he developed a wild and highly visual stage act. Vincent’s health ...
(Vocals, b. 1943) Texan Gene Watson started out in music at only 13 and recorded for local labels in 1965, but it wasn’t until 1975 that ‘Bad Water’ became his first country chart hit, and the same year’s ‘Love In The Hot Afternoon’ started a successful run of hits on Capitol and, later, MCA. He has ...
1791–1861, French Eugène Scribe, the French librettist, scored his first success with Auber’s opéra comique La dame blanche (‘The White Lady’, 1825). However, Scribe concentrated mainly on French grand opéra, with libretti that matched the genre’s visual and musical grandeur and the dramatic on-stage action. Scribe formed a partnership with Auber, who set no less ...
Eugene Onegin was written after the disaster of Tchaikovsky’s marriage in 1877, and was also influenced by his platonic relationship with his admirer and patron Nadezhda von Meck. Tchaikovsky began Eugene Onegin by writing the famous ‘letter scene’ from Act I, in which the heroine Tat’yana spends the night writing to Onegin, telling him of her love for ...
1899–1985 American conductor Born in Hungary, where he later had a career as a violinist, Ormandy started conducting in the US. After five years with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, he moved to the Philadelphia Orchestra, where he was music director 1938–73. He specialized in large-scale Romantic orchestral works, but he also conducted new music. Introduction | ...
(Vocals, 1935–71) Virginia-born Eugene Vincent Craddock, who wore a steel leg brace after a 1953 motorcycle crash and used it as a stage prop, fronted The Blue Caps: Cliff Gallup (lead guitar), Willie Williams (rhythm guitar), Jack Neal (double bass), and Dickie Harrell (drums). Gallup’s lead guitar work on Vincent’s early recordings has been admired by innumerable rock’n’roll ...
(Vocals, 1941–2006) This University of Connecticut graduate was first recognized in the music business as a composer of hits for Ricky Nelson and Bobby Vee. As a performer, Pitney made a US Hot 100 debut with 1961’s ‘(I Wanna) Love My Life Away’ before climbing higher with two successive film title songs – ‘Town Without Pity’ and ‘The Man ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1976–81) A London punk band consisting of Billy Idol (William Broad, vocals), Tony James (bass), Bob Andrews (guitar) and Mark Laff (drums), Generation X were viewed with suspicion by the punk cognoscenti for their pop leanings and failure to toe the party line. They scored a Top 20 hit with ‘King Rocker’ in 1979 but otherwise their ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1967–98, 2006–present) The core of Genesis – Peter Gabriel (vocals), Tony Banks (keyboards) and Mike Rutherford (bass) – met at school in the mid-1960s. Steve Hackett (guitar) and Phil Collins (drums) joined in 1970 to complete the classic line-up, which recorded Nursery Cryme (1971), Foxtrot (1972) and Selling England By The Pound (1973), albums whose complex ...
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.