(Guitar, harmonica, banjo, vocals, 1896–1972) Gary D. Davis was born in Laurens, South Carolina and was completely blind by the age of 30. He taught himself harmonica, banjo and guitar and played in string bands throughout the teens, going on to work the Carolinas as a street singer in the 1920s. Ordained as a ...
Blues and hard-rock guitarist Gary Moore was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1952. He began playing the acoustic guitar at the age of eight, acquiring his first electric model at 14. Moore learned to play right-handed, despite being naturally left-handed. In 1969, he joined Skid Row, an Irish blues-rock group that featured Phil Lynott on ...
(Vocals, guitar, 1896–1987) Mississippi-born Robert Wilkins’ blues style, as evidenced on records he made for Victor, Brunswick and Vocalion from 1928–35, featured vivid lyric imagery couched in asymmetrical verses, laid over rudimentary strumming. After being ordained in the 1930s, Wilkins quit the blues for religious music. ‘Prodigal Son’ on the Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet ...
The history of post-war jazz tracked the musical development of Miles Dewey Davis III so closely that it is tempting to see the trumpeter as the orchestrator of each of the most significant stylistic shifts of the era. With the notable exception of free jazz, Miles seemed to trigger a new seismic shift in the music with each passing decade. ...
(Vibraphone, b. 1943) Gary Burton is one of the most impressive vibists in jazz, at times using four mallets in order to harmonize with himself. He began his career in country music with guitarist Hank Garland, played jazz with George Shearing and Stan Getz, and then helped to instigate the jazz-rock fusion movement through his group with ...
(Vocals, 1899–2000) Born in rural Louisiana, Davis first made his name singing on radio station KWKH in Shreveport. From 1928 onwards, he was a popular recording artist, initially with sentimental and cowboy songs, then with raunchy blue yodels in the manner of Jimmie Rodgers. These included ‘She’s A Hum Dum Dinger From Dingersville’ and ‘Bear Cat ...
(Vocals, 1931–2004) Davis (real name Mary Frances Penick) began her career in a duo called The Davis Sisters, along with her friend Betty Jack Davis. They had a No. 1 hit for RCA with ‘I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know’ in 1953 before Betty Jack was killed in a car crash later that year. On her own, ...
(Vocals, songwriter, actor, b. 1942) Also a television host, composer and one-time representative for Vee-Jay records, Texas-born Davis is responsible for several bestselling songs, including ‘In The Ghetto’ and ‘Don’t Cry Daddy’, both 1969 US Top 10 hits for Elvis Presley. Davis himself topped the US pop chart in 1972 with the million-selling ‘Baby Don’t ...
(Vocals, piano, guitar, 1945–2003) Kentucky-born Stewart first recorded in 1964, and was a member of rock band The Amps. He co-wrote Stonewall Jackson’s 1965 country hit, ‘Poor Red Georgia Dirt’, and several for Billy Walker and others before signing to RCA in 1973. His first country hit was a cover of The Allman Brothers Band’s ‘Ramblin’ ...
1927–2013 English conductor Davis came to public notice as the conductor of early performances by the Chelsea Opera Group. He made his debut at Sadler’s Wells Opera in 1958, and was music director 1961–65. He was principal conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra 1967–71, music director of the Royal Opera 1971–86 and of the Bavarian State Radio Orchestra 1983–92 ...
(Vocals, b. 1939) This former church chorister from Virginia reached global Top 20s in 1961 with call-and-response ‘New Orleans’. While its ‘Not Me’ follow-up flopped, ‘Quarter To Three’ topped the US chart. Further US-only hits included 1962’s ‘Seven Day Weekend’, his last before the patronage of Bruce Springsteen facilitated a commercial revival in the early 1980s, both home ...
(Various instruments, vocals, b. 1958) Originally recording as Tubeway Army – the name used on his first No. 1 single ‘Are “Friends” Electric ?’ – Numan’s electronic music was influenced by Berlin-era Bowie and set in a dystopian future of his own imagining. The hypnotic synthesizers and emotionless vocals earned him a second 1979 chart topper ‘Cars’, which was ...
‘Mad World’, 2003 Gary Jules had recorded as a solo artist since 1998, but in 2001 he collaborated with Michael Andrews to cover Tears For Fears’ ‘Mad World’. The sombre remake was featured in 2003’s hit film Donnie Darko, and the appeal of the film, coupled with the song’s popularity and Jules’ strange choice of cover, made ...
Few would deny that the blues has played a more important role in the history of popular culture than any other musical genre. As well as being a complete art form in itself, it is a direct ancestor to the different types of current popular music we know and love today. Without the blues there would have been no Beatles ...
(Guitar, vocals, 1905–74) Arthur William Crudup was born in Forest, Mississippi and did not learn to play the guitar until his 30s. He worked functions in the Clarksdale area before moving to Chicago in 1940, signing with Bluebird in 1941 and finding considerable popularity on record. He returned to Mississippi after the Second World War and worked ...
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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.