His contemporaries Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck might receive more time in the spotlight, but guitarist Ritchie Blackmore (b. 1945) has been similarly influential and innovative during his 40-plus-year career. Born in Weston-Super-Mare, England, in April 1945, Blackmore was given his first guitar at the age of 11 and began taking classical lessons, ...
(Guitar, vocals, 1941–59) In 1958, California-born Richard Valenzuela had already released the million-selling ‘Donna’ as well as two other US hits, ‘Come On Let’s Go’ and ‘La Bamba’, and was close to becoming a major star when he died in the air crash that also killed Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper. In the 1980s, Hispanic-American ...
With the exception of Judas Priest, no metal band has been more influential than Iron Maiden. And it is no coincidence that Maiden first took flight when guitarist Adrian Smith joined the band one month into recording their second album, Killers, in 1981. Adrian Frederik ‘H’ Smith was born in Hackney, East London, in February 1957. ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1968–76, 1984–present) Deep Purple have sold over 100 million records in a 38-year career – continuous apart from a hiatus between 1976 and 1984 – so are one of the more commercially successful rock bands in history. Though classed as contemporaries of fellow early 1970s trailblazers Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, Purple were distinctly different, ...
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, ...
American guitarist Joe Satriani is widely credited with pioneering the rock-instrumental style in the 1980s, opening up the genre for guitarists like Steve Vai, Eric Johnson and Yngwie Malmsteen. His talent for creating highly evolved music, using a pop-song structure with tuneful melodies before applying his own virtuoso skills, has made him one of the most successful ...
Indie guitar legend Johnny Marr (b. 1963) was born John Maher in Manchester, England to Irish Catholic parents. He grew up in a household where music was a constant fixture, and he recalled, ‘I always had guitars, for as long as I could remember.’ Guitar technique came easily to young Johnny, and he quickly mastered ...
Lita Rossana Ford (b. 1958) was born in London. After her family settled in Los Angeles in the 1960s, she took up guitar at the age of 11, inspired by Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore. When she was 16, she met novelty-music producer Kim Fowley, who helped recruit her, along with Joan Jett, Sandy West, ...
A consummate guitarist in an extraordinary variety of styles, including jazz, classical, country, rock and heavy metal, Steve Morse also has the compositional skills and the improvising genius to match. He has played with, among others, Dixie Dregs, Kansas and Deep Purple, while also maintaining his own band. Morse was born in ...
A leading figure of 1980s ‘neo-classical’ rock guitarists, Yngwie Malmsteen (b. 1963) learned his breakneck arpeggios and baroque composing style from classical composers and performers as well as rock artists. His own sweep-picking technique, his use of harmonic scales and pedal tones and his aggressive playing have helped create his distinctive style. Born in Stockholm, Sweden, Malmsteen’s ...
Buddy Holly was born Charles Hardin Holley in Lubbock, Texas, on 7 September 1936. Buddy got a guitar in his mid-teens and started practising with friend, Bob Montgomery. They liked country and western but also had predilection for the blues. An Elvis gig in Lubbock in early 1955 alerted them to new possibilities. Buddy and Bob, as ...
Buddy Holly helped define and popularize rock’n’roll in its earliest days, when its future was in doubt and its existence was under attack. Strumming a Fender Stratocaster, he brought an extra dose of country to a sound that was still closely related to pure blues and rhythm and blues. He blazed a trail for white artists who, unlike ...
(Vocals, 1933–93) Mississippi-born Harold Jenkins, who changed his name in 1957 to reflect the place names of Conway, Arkansas, and Twitty, Texas, started his career as a rock’n’roll singer in the late 1950s, scoring his biggest hit in 1958 with ‘It’s Only Make Believe’, continuing in 1959 with ‘Mona Lisa’ and a second US ...
(Harmonica, vocals, 1934–98) Amos Blackmore grew up in west Memphis, Arkansas under the sway of Sonny Boy Williamson II and began recording as a teenager in Chicago, playing with the innovative Four Aces before joining Muddy Waters’ band. Wells created a personal style influenced by James Brown. In the mid-1960s he began a long association with guitarist ...
The most successful female recording artist of all time, Madonna also reigns supreme as top female producer and songwriter. Madonna Louise Ciccone (b. 16 August 1958) spent her formative years in Detroit. After graduating from high school in 1976, she won a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan but dropped out after two years to seek a career ...
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.