(Vocals, b. 1949) Alabama-born Richie was in several R&B bands before he signed to Motown with The Commodores. He penned and sang most of their biggest hits like ‘Easy’, ‘Three Times A Lady’ and ‘Still’, all massive smashes during the 1970s. He branched out with Diana Ross on 1981’s ‘Endless Love’. He then went solo and his skill as a ...
Though guitar playing in the 1980s was often thought of as a ‘guitar Olympics’ of sorts, Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora typically eschewed fretboard flights of fancy in favour of melodic, tastefully arranged solos designed to serve the band’s infectious hit songs. While this approach has kept him on the outside of the guitar-hero clubhouse, his impact on ...
(Vibraphone, drums, piano, 1908–2002) Before jazz became highbrow, musicians were cheered, not censured, for being entertainers; Lionel Hampton embraced that model. The more one did, he believed, the more one made. So Hampton was always doing more. During his early years he worked as a drummer. He began experimenting with the vibraphone around ...
1876–1975 English viola player The title of his autobiography, Cinderella No More, indicates the lowly status of the viola when Tertis was young. He transcribed works written for other instruments to build up a repertory for the viola, of which he designed a larger model with an especially rich tone. Introduction | Modern Era | Classical Personalities | ...
(Vibraphone, 1930–90) Vibraphonist Lionel Hampton’s long career included roles as sideman, bandleader, and cultural force that extended beyond the jazz world. Beginning as a drummer, he switched to vibes at the suggestion of Louis Armstrong, and then broke the colour barrier as a member of Benny Goodman’s legendary big band. Hampton’s own groups melded swing with ...
(Guitar, vocals, b. 1941) His Brooklyn busker’s bark and percussive fretboard style was a familiar sound in New York folk clubs in the mid-1960s, mingling a minority of self-compositions with idiosyncratic arrangements of Bob Dylan, Lennon-McCartney, Gordon Lightfoot and other contemporary songwriters. 1967’s Mixed Bag was the vehicle of an international breakthrough that rebounded on the ...
Alabama, who appropriately came from Fort Payne, in Alabama, emerged into the spotlight in 1980, when ‘Tennessee River’ topped the Billboard country charts. Three group members – Randy Owen (guitar, lead vocals, b. 1949), Teddy Gentry (bass, vocals, b. 1952) and Jeff Cook (keyboards, fiddle, vocals, b. 1949) – were ...
The self-proclaimed ‘King of Pop’, Michael Jackson (1958–2009) was the biggest star of the 1980s following the success of Thriller (1982), which remains the world’s best-selling album with sales of more than 110 million. The King Of Pop The youngest member of The Jackson Five, Jackson signed a solo deal in 1971 with Motown Records, aged 13. Within a ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1980–91) The talented Paul Westerberg (vocals, guitar) was the main songwriter of this highly influential alternative rock outfit. Brothers Bob and Tommy Stinson (guitar and bass) and Chris Mars (drums) completed this initially shambolic punk band. After three albums on local Minneapolis label Twin-Tone, Tommy Ramone produced Tim (1985). Westerberg’s hooky garage rock songs pointed forward ...
In the 1980s, the crossover ideal – not just between black and white music, but between rock and pop, and adults and kids – ruled the airwaves. Even the previously personal and introspective singer-songwriters were forced to adjust, and to dilute their piano-based romantic ballads with uptempo, full-band, dance-friendly songs. The brassy soul-pop nostalgia of ...
The history of musical instruments has always been very closely linked to the history of music itself. New musical styles often come about because new instruments become available, or improvements to existing ones are made. Improvements to the design of the piano in the 1770s, for instance, led to its adoption by composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ...
The vibraphone (or ‘vibes’ or ‘vibraharp’ as it is sometimes known), is a percussion instrument that uses an electro-mechanical system to create its distinctive sound. Construction The vibraphone is similar in appearance to a xylophone or marimba, in that it consists of a set of bars arranged over resonating vertical tubes. However, unlike the other, wooden instruments, ...
(Trumpet, flugelhorn, 1928–99) Art Farmer was largely responsible for popularizing the mellow-toned flugelhorn as a solo jazz instrument. A wonderfully lyrical player, he came up in Los Angeles’ Central Avenue jazz clubs in the 1940s and worked with Lionel Hampton, Horace Silver, Gerry Mulligan and alto saxophonist Gigi Gryce. In 1959–62 he and tenor saxophonist Benny ...
Benny Goodman was the first of the great bandleader virtuosos of the 1930s to achieve global success. Through a combination of personal connections, nerve, enormous talent and sheer luck, he parlayed a sequence of opportunities in 1934–35 into a payoff that changed American music. After forming his first band in New York in 1934, he won a ...
Bessie Smith was one of the greatest vocalists of the twentieth century; her emotional delivery and exquisite phrasing has been an influence on instrumentalists as well as innumerable singers, both male and female. Many of her records, including ‘Gimmie a Pigfoot’, ‘Woman’s Trouble Blues’, ‘St. Louis Blues’ and the song that became an anthem of the Great Depression, ...
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...
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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.