As lead guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Cheap Trick, Rick Nielsen fired the band’s melting pot of pop melodies and punk energy. Nielsen also became a highly coveted session player in the 1970s. With his legendary guitar collection (numbering over 250) and a unique stage wardrobe featuring bow ties and baseball caps, Nielsen’s style made him ...
The twin-guitar partnership of Francis Rossi (b. 1949) and Rick Parfitt (b. 1948) has been at the heart of Status Quo since 1967. Francis Rossi (originally known as Mike) was born in Forest Hill, London. He formed the band that evolved into Status Quo with bassist Alan Lancaster while at school in 1962. Rick Parfitt, born Richard Harrison in ...
(Vocals, b. 1947) Indiana-born Janie Fricke (as her surname was spelt until the mid-1980s) moved to Nashville after spending time in Dallas, Memphis and Los Angeles. In country’s capital, however, she quickly became a much sought-after session and jingle singer, providing backup vocals on hits by Conway Twitty, Elvis Presley, Moe Bandy, Mel ...
Ricky Skaggs was born on 18 July 1954, in Cordell, Kentucky, and from the age of five Skaggs and his trusty mandolin have been almost inseparable. A child prodigy, he was invited on stage to play a tune at a Bill Monroe concert at the age of six, and a year later, he appeared on ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1992–98) The Mavericks released their debut album independently, and their major-label debut, From Hell To Paradise (1992), gave little hint of the success ahead, as CMA Vocal Group Of The Year in both 1995 and 1996. All have moved on to further ventures, but will be forever linked with the audience-pleasing band whose albums ...
(Vocals, b. 1952) Virginia-born Shelton earned a dozen chart-topping hits from 1987 via his blending of country, rock’n’roll and gospel strains, often covering well-chosen older material, like his second No. 1, ‘Life Turned Her That Way’. He won CMA Male Vocalist Of The Year in 1989. During the early 1990s he combined writing children’s books, ...
1862–1934 English composer Bradford-born but of German descent, Delius escaped the family wool business to devote himself entirely to music. He studied in Leipzig, where he met Edvard Grieg (1843–1907), and moved to Paris, where his friends included Ravel, but also such painters as Paul Gauguin and Edvard Munch. Affected by all these figures, and by ...
(Kärl Nel’-sen) 1865–1931 Danish composer Nielsen was born of working-class parents on the island of Funen; his father was well known locally as a folk fiddle-player. After a period in a military band, he studied the violin and for some years made his living as an orchestral violinist, then as a conductor. At the centre of his output are ...
(Vocals, 1940–85) Born into a showbiz family – his father was bandleader Ozzie Nelson – Eric Hilliard Nelson starred in the the radio show and TV sitcom, The Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet, with his family. In 1956, a girlfriend told him she preferred Elvis Presley, so he made a record. 1957’s million-selling ‘I’m Walking’/‘A Teenager’s ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1974–present) Power-pop quartet from Rockford, Illinois, featuring wacky guitarist Rick Nielsen who were weaned on British Invasion bands. Live album Cheap Trick At Budokan translated their Japanese success (they were regarded as the American Beatles) to home sales in 1979 and spawned hit ‘I Want You To Want Me’. Follow-up album Dream Police (1979) also made ...
(Vocals, b. 1971) Born in Puerto Rico, Enrique Martin Morales, was a member of the Latin boy-band Menudo in the 1980s. As an actor he also enjoyed TV work in Mexico and America, notably as a singing bartender in General Hospital. Martin made his Spanish-language solo debut in 1991 and a string of albums like A Medio ...
‘What I Am’, 1989 Late 1980s folk rockers, Edie Brickell And The Bohemians were really riding on the talent of chief songwriter Edie Brickell. ‘What I Am’ was a Top 10 hit from their debut LP, Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars, though the group disbanded after its 1990 follow-up, Ghost Of A Dog, failed to perform ...
Alternative-rock guitarist Dave Navarro (b. 1967) was born in Santa Monica, California. After hearing Jimi Hendrix, Navarro began playing guitar at the age of seven and was in various bands in school. In 1986, he joined Jane’s Addiction on the recommendation of drummer Stephen Perkins, a childhood friend. Inspired by The Velvet Underground, Joy Division, ...
The Mellotron and its predecessor the Chamberlain were in effect the earliest examples of a sample playback instrument. Chamberlain In 1949, Californian inventor Harry Chamberlain, patented the Chamberlain MusicMaster. It was the first commercially available instrument to use pre-recorded lengths of tape mounted within a keyboard in such a way that, whenever a key was depressed, a ...
The snare drum and tenor drum both originated in the Middle East. Today, cylindrical drums like these are played in western classical music, and in pop, rock and jazz. They appear in marching and military bands, in the orchestra and as part of the drum kit. Cylindrical Drums The body of a cylindrical drum is usually made ...
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David Bowie
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