(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 ...
(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 ...
(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 ...
(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, 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 ...
Just as sports have their pantheon of greats, the country-music industry established its own Hall Of Fame in 1961 to honour its most influential figures and deepen public understanding and appreciation of the music’s rich heritage and history. A Pantheon Of Country Stars As of 2005, 62 artists and industry leaders – starting with Jimmie Rodgers (1897–1933) and songwriter ...
The singing cowboys did not have the monopoly on country music on the silver screen, although it was their breed that first caught Hollywood’s attention. By the time the 1940s rolled around, several of Nashville’s top stars found that they could expand their careers by bringing their talents to the vast new audiences. Singing Stars In the earlier decade ...
The drum kit is a collection of drums and cymbals played in all styles of rock, pop, jazz and blues. It is also widely used in urban music across the world, such as Afrobeat and reggae. Drum-Kit Construction A typical drum kit comprises a bass drum and hi-hat cymbal played with foot pedals, a snare drum, ...
It is ironic that western music – be it cowboy vocal balladry or ranch-house dance fiddling – began seriously to engage the imagination of the American public as the real West slipped further and further into the past and the country became increasingly urbanized and sophisticated. This capturing of the public imagination was perhaps inevitable, too, not only because ...
The 1950s was a period of enormous upheaval and social change, as the world slowly recovered from the deprivations of the Second World War. Changes were apparent in every aspect of life, but perhaps the greatest was the rise of the ‘teenager’ as a distinct socio-economic class. For the first time, young people had money in their pockets ...
(A&R man, 1889–1986) Arthur Satherley was a pioneering A&R man for several important record companies from the 1920s, responsible for scouting and recording a vast array of country and blues performers. Among these were two important figures whose careers the British-born Satherley helped particularly to shape and steer – Bob Wills and Gene Autry. A legend himself by the ...
(Alto saxophone, arranger, trumpet, vocals, 1907–2003) One of the great arrangers and soloists in jazz history, Bennett Lester Carter wrote some of the first big-band music to fully realize the flowing, legato ensemble of the coming swing movement. His saxophone ensembles were smooth projections of his solo style. ‘Lonesome Nights’ and ‘Symphony In Riffs’ were ...
The most strikingly original and authoritative voice on cornet since Louis Armstrong, Leon ‘Bix’ Beiderbecke set the example for a generation of aspiring white jazz players during the 1920s. His meteoric rise to fame was followed by a dramatic fall from grace that led to his ultimate death from alcoholism at the age of just 28 in 1931. A Self-Taught Genius ...
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.