(Vocal/instrumental group, 1993–present) The Old ’97s named themselves, when they formed in Dallas in 1993, after Johnny Cash’s version of the 1906 train-wreck ballad, ‘The Wreck Of The Old 97’. But the group’s chief songwriters, Rhett Miller (vocals, guitar, b. 1970) and Murry Hammond, seemed influenced as much by the pop-punk of The ...
(Jo-van’-ne Gas-tol’-de) c. 1550s–1622 Italian composer Gastoldi spent much of his career in Mantua, where in the early 1590s he composed music for a production of Battista Guarini’s famous play, Il pastor fido (‘The Faithful Shepherd’); although the production was scrapped, Gastoldi published some of his music in 1602. He is best known, however, for his ballettos ...
Of all the guitar players of the last 40 years, none produce music as confounding yet beautiful as Allan Holdsworth (b. 1946). His blinding speed, fluid legato, impossible intervallic leaps, perplexing chord voicings and unpredictable melodies have made his style one of the most mystifying to guitarists everywhere. Allan Holdsworth was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire ...
For 35 years Mike Oldfield (b. 1953) has created work that melds progressive rock, folk, world music, classical music, electronic music, new age and dance. He is best known for his hit 1973 album Tubular Bells, which provided a theme for the movie The Exorcist, broke new ground as an instrumental concept album, ...
Southern blues-rock guitarist Dickey Betts was born in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1943. Betts was leading a group called The Second Coming when he met and jammed with the other members of what soon became The Allman Brothers Band. His role as second lead guitarist and his partnership with Duane Allman gave the band their trademark dual-lead sound, ...
It used to be easy to talk about rap or hip hop, because essentially everybody knew where they stood: the artists made 12-inch singles that didn’t get played on the radio; they dressed in acres of brightly coloured leather, with people break-dancing and body-popping around them; and nobody came from farther west than New Jersey. Back in the day ...
When The Sugarhill Gang and Kurtis Blow made an impact on the mainstream pop charts in 1979, rap was immediately palmed off as a novelty. However, the style not only survived, but has proved to be so influential that, in varying degrees, pop, rock, heavy metal and reggae have all borrowed from hip hop ...
The period between the late-1940s and the mid-1960s is described as the Golden Age of gospel music. During this time, attention was focused mainly, but not exclusively, on the quartets that crisscrossed America on what was known as the Gospel Highway, filling the role of pop stars for the black religious community of the times. These aggregations ...
(Rin’-hold Mo-ret-zo’-vech Gle-âr) 1875–1956 Russian composer Glière studied with Taneyev and Arensky at the Moscow Conservatory where he was professor between 1920 and 1941. He was chairman of the Organizing Committee of USSR Composers (1938–48) and received many state awards. His style, in the tradition of Russian Romanticism, features expressive melody, brilliant orchestration and reflects the folk music of ...
There is no distinct boundary line between the early and old-time country era, when the music was still relatively unshaped by the American mainstream, and the modern age, when country music’s popularity and ubiquity have made it very much a part of the mass culture. But it was in the 1920s, due to the emerging radio and ...
(Guitar, vocals, 1901–68) Born and raised in Georgia, James Arnold was taught to play guitar by his cousin. He moved to Buffalo, New York in his late teens and to Chicago in 1929. He worked outside music, making bootleg whiskey, but also played occasional jobs. He first recorded for Victor in 1930 as Gitfiddle Jim ...
(Vocal group, 1930s) The Girls Of The Golden West were Millie (1913–93) and Dolly (1915–67) Good (real name Goad). They starred during the 1930s on Chicago’s WLS and recorded for Bluebird and ARC. Regionally popular and influential – they inspired Pee Wee King, among others – they were particularly renowned for their close harmony and harmonized yodelling. Marrying, ...
Born in Henderson, Tennessee, in 1918, Eddy Arnold has not only shown remarkable longevity as an artist (his career spans seven decades and he has sold more than 80 million records); he was also a pivotal figure in country music’s dramatic stylistic shift during the 1950s from rough and rural to urbane and sophisticated. Speaking Through Song A ...
1678–1721, German In 1705, Barthold Feind – whose real name was Aristobulos Eutropius or Aristobulos Wahrmund – was practising law in his home city, Hamburg, when he wrote his first libretto for Reinhard Keiser (1674–1739), Octavia. Keiser needed a replacement at this time, after the death of Christian Heinrich Postel, who had been his librettist ...
1707–93, Italian By profession a lawyer in Pisa, Carlo Goldoni became resident poet at several Venetian opera houses. There he devised and specialized in the opera buffa libretto and wrote over 100, using pseudonyms for some of them. Goldoni left Venice for Paris in 1762 and for some years became well known and much admired for his work ...
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.