(Comedian, 1912–96) Often called ‘The Queen of Country Comedy’, Sarah Ophelia Colley brought smiles of warmth and endearment to several generations of Grand Ole Opry fans in the comic guise of Minnie Pearl. She was a fixture on the Opry for over half a century. Styles & Forms | War Years | Country Personalities | Webb Pierce | War Years ...
Alternative-rock guitarist Mike McCready (b. 1966) was born in Pensacola, Florida. His family moved to Seattle soon afterwards. He was 11 when he bought his first guitar and began to take lessons. In high school, McCready formed a band that disintegrated after they were unsuccessful in obtaining a record contract in Los Angeles. Disillusioned, he did not pick ...
(Guitar, vocals, 1897–1973) Lizzie Douglas was born in Algiers, Louisiana but was raised in Walls, Mississippi. She learned banjo and guitar at a young age and ran away to Memphis in 1910 to work the music circuit under the name Kid Douglas. She toured with the Ringling Brothers circus for several seasons prior to 1920 and also ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1990–present) Emerging out of former Seattle band Mother Love Bone, the classic line-up consisted of Eddie Vedder (vocals), Stone Gossard (guitar), Mike McCready (guitar), Jeff Ament (bass) and Dave Abbruzzese (drums). The spiky hook-laden rock of Ten (1991) sold in large numbers after Nirvana made Seattle alternative bands popular. Touring with the Lollapalooza II circus cemented their ...
‘Lovin’ You’, 1975 Having virtually retired in the early 1970s, Epic Records slowly restarted Riperton’s career in 1973, having her record backing vocals for Stevie Wonder, followed by recording her own solo album, Perfect Angel (which featured Wonder as co-writer and musician), and releasing a string of singles, which culminated in 1975’s No. 1 hit, ...
(Vocals, songwriter, 1917–69) Born in Alba, Texas, Payne is best known as the writer of ‘Lost Highway’, which became an enduring classic after it was a hit for Hank Williams in 1949, and ‘I Love You Because’ (Jim Reeves, 1958), alongside many others. As a recording artist, he had a No. 1 hit in ...
(Comedian, 1910–58) Rodney Leon Brasfield, born in Smithville, Mississippi, was one of country music’s most beloved comedians and a long-time favourite of Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, where he performed from 1944 until his death. He often teamed with fellow Opry comedienne Minnie Pearl and later with singer-comedienne June Carter Cash. Styles & Forms | War Years ...
(Vocals, songwriter, 1936–92) Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Roger Dean Miller wrote and recorded a string of brilliant novelty hits that earned him 11 Grammy Awards, as well as country and pop stardom during the 1960s. Chief among his self-penned songs are ‘Dang Me’, ‘Chug-A-Lug’ – both hits in 1964 – ‘King Of The Road’ and ...
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 ...
As part of the Renaissance (literally ‘rebirth’), which began in Italy in around 1450, the Baroque era was a revolution within a revolution. It saw a break from the Medieval view of humanity as innately sinful. Instead, Renaissance thinking cast individuals as a dynamic force in their own right and gave free rein to human imagination, ingenuity and ...
The word ‘Baroque’ is derived from the Portuguese barrocco, a term for a misshapen pearl, and it was still with this sense of something twisted that it was first applied – to the period between about 1600 and 1750 – in the nineteenth century. In 1768, Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote: ‘a Baroque music is that in which the harmony ...
There is no escaping the crucial importance of World War I (1914–18) in the formation of the Modern Age (as the first half of the twentieth century has come to be known). The war changed irrevocably the development and directions of almost all pre-war innovations in politics, society, the arts and ideas in general. Declining economic conditions also altered ...
Although the art of the classical singer has traditionally been perceived as the pursuit of technical perfection and tonal beauty, the twentieth century enabled a re-evaluation of what that art should be. Due in part to the technological advances and harrowing events of the times, much of the music was innovative, challenging, moving, powerful and, ...
The drum is perhaps the oldest instrument known to man. Drummers have always sought increasingly sophisticated ways of refining their art and gaining access to as broad a palette of sounds as possible and, in many instances, have embraced the electronic revolution as enthusiastically as their keyboard-playing counterparts. Early Electronic Drums Early electronic drum systems included the Electro-Harmonix Space ...
Fiddles, generically, are bowed lutes. The term ‘fiddle’ denotes a stringed instrument with a neck, bearing strings that are sounded by the use of friction rather than plucking or striking. Playing the Fiddle In almost all fiddles the world over, friction is provided by a bow strung with rosined horsehair. The hair is tensioned by the springiness ...
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.