(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 ...
One of the UK’s finest rock vocalists, Roderick David Stewart was born on 10 January 1945 to Scottish parents. He went to the same school as Ray and Dave Davies of The Kinks and briefly trained as an apprentice footballer before busking around Europe. Many Faces Back in London he started singing with The Hoochie Coochie Men in 1964 alongside ...
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 ...
Like the snare drum and tenor drum, the bass drum originated in the Middle East. It is a large instrument with a cylindrical body and two heads, and is the drum used to keep the rhythm in marching bands. The modern orchestral bass drum (100 cm/70 in diameter and 50 cm/20 in long) is double headed and rod tensioned. ...
During the 1830s, Mexican cattle-herders introduced the guitar to Hawaiians, who quickly incorporated it into their own music-making, typically tuning all the strings to the notes of a major triad. Joseph Kekuku is credited with developing a technique of using a comb to slide up and down the neck to create glissandi. Clearly this was difficult to achieve ...
A range of metal percussion instruments are found in the western orchestra, many of which have ancient and global origins. Triangle The triangle comprises a slim steel bar, circular in cross-section, bent into an equilateral triangle (18 cm/7 in each side) with one corner open. It is played with a metal rod, and is suspended from a ...
Bass Drum The dominant feature of every military band is its big bass drum. Throughout the history of percussion instruments, this drum has been the mainstay of time-keeping, whether it is used for a marching army or in a late-twentieth century heavy metal band. Early versions of the bass drum (it was certainly known in Asia around 3500 BC) ...
Timpani are bowl drums or kettledrums, constructed by stretching a skin across a round metal, wooden or pottery bowl. They are beaten with sticks or leather thongs. Timpani originated in Islamic countries in Africa and the Middle East, where they were used to accompany hunting and for ceremonial and military music. Tuning Tuning a large kettledrum or timpani ...
The vibraphone is a kind of electronic steel marimba, initially produced in the US in 1916. The player uses rubber-topped beaters to strike two rows of metal bars. The sound is not amplified electronically: it is amplified by the action of the resonators (like the marimba) which enhance the sound. Each resonator has a fan, and all are joined ...
Across the centuries and around the globe, many different forms of music have enjoyed mass appeal for a limited period of time. None, however, have been able to match the widespread influence of the popular music that erupted in America during the mid-1950s and, by the second half of the decade, was exerting its grip over ...
‘Rise and Fall of the city of Mahagonny’ Composed: 1927–29 Premiered: 1930, Leipzig Libretto by Bertolt Brecht Act I Leokadja Begbick, Trinity Moses and Fatty, all wanted by the police, found Mahagonny. They recruit men in search of whisky, gambling and women to join them in the ‘city of gold’. Jenny’s price, thirty bucks, ...
Davey Johnstone (b. 1951) rocketed to fame with the Rocket Man himself, Elton John, as the former Reg Dwight exploded on to the music scene in the early 1970s, rising from thoughtful love balladeer to raucous glam rocker/showman to international pop-music institution and legend. Except for a short period from the late 1970s to the early 1980s, ...
Rock’n’roll guitarist Duane Eddy was born in Corning, New York in 1938. His interest in the guitar began when he was five, inspired by singing film-cowboy Gene Autry. In 1951, the family moved to Arizona. While playing guitar in a country duo, Duane met songwriter, producer and disc jockey Lee Hazelwood. The pair embarked on a ...
In March 2011 the New Musical Express published a list of the Top 100 gigs that music fans ‘should have been at’. Green Day were at No. 68 and the gig in question was their famed performance at The Den in Wigan on 21 December 1991 where they not only performed tracks from their debut LP 39/Smooth and upcoming album Kerplunk ...
(Guitar, vocals, b. 1944) Regarded as one of Britain’s finest rock guitarists, Beck left The Yardbirds in 1968 to form The Jeff Beck Group, initially featuring Rod Stewart on vocals. The band’s second incarnation made two ground-breaking albums that mixed rock and pop with jazz and R&B. In 1972, the guitarist became part of the short-lived ...
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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.