(Vocals, songwriter, b. 1950) A member of The Hot Band from 1975–77 as Emmylou Harris’s duet partner, Crowell wrote contemporary classics for her, including ‘’Til I Gain Control Again’ and ‘I Ain’t Living Long Like This’. After a modest start in chart terms with Warner Bros. in the late 1970s, his second Columbia album, Diamonds ...
The most influential country act of 2001 was a band that didn’t even exist. The Soggy Bottom Boys were the prime attraction on O Brother, Where Art Thou ? the soundtrack album that topped the country and pop charts and sold more than four million copies. The group revived the late 1930s and early 1940s sound when old-time string-band music ...
The guitar is a plucked stringed instrument played resting on the lap. Although it has a long history – thought by many to reach as far back as the ancient Greek lyre known as the kithara – it is best-known today in the design of the Spanish guitar-maker Antonio de Torres Jurado (1817–92). The modern or classical guitar developed from the ...
A type of xylophone, the marimba is a percussion instrument. The percussionist strikes a row (or two rows) of wooden blocks – laid out like a keyboard – beneath which are attached a series of echo chambers that resonate the sound. The compass of the instrument varies, but generally covers three or four chromatic octaves from the C below ...
After the 1960s heyday of the cultured Nashville sound, country music was all but swept aside. It had survived the lasting effect of 1950s rock – rock’n’roll and traditional old-timey music and bluegrass, especially – but it was now the turn of a musical hybrid, country rock, to lead the way for almost a decade. Country rock ...
‘That’s Women for You’ While Don Giovanni was the nineteenth century’s favourite Mozart opera, Così fan tutte, premiered on 26 January 1790, was widely considered frivolous, immoral and (not least by Beethoven) an insult to women. Today we can see it as perhaps the most ambivalent and disturbing of Mozart’s three Da Ponte comedies. In the composer’s ...
b. 1942 English composer and singer Most famous for his contribution to The Beatles, McCartney broke away from the group in 1970 with the album McCartney. He then formed his own group, Wings, with whom he created a number of successful albums, notably Band on the Run (1973). McCartney pays much attention to detail in his songwriting. ...
(Various saxophones, b. 1971) A Chicago native, Chris Potter emerged professionally in bebop trumpeter Red Rodney’s combo, before moving on to featured roles in the Mingus Big Band and bassist Dave Holland’s quintet and big band. Potter became the youngest musician to win Denmark’s prestigious and financially valuable Jazzpar Prize in 2000. Personally self-effacing, Potter is a ...
(Vocals, songwriter, b. 1941) Conley’s first big break came in 1975, when Mel Street recorded his song ‘Smokey Mountain Memories’. Conway Twitty took his song ‘This Time I Have Hurt Her More Than She Loves Me’ to the top of the US country chart in 1976. On moving to Nashville, his first No. 1 hit, ‘Fire ...
The undisputed queen of country rock, Emmylou Harris has long been both a student of traditional country music and a peerless innovator. Even now, some 30 years after she debuted with the tormented genius Gram Parsons, she is still the one others turn to for acceptance and support. Gram Parsons’ Influence Born in Birmingham, Alabama, on ...
(Vocals, songwriter, b. 1941) The archetypal Texas troubadour, Clark cannot be called prolific, having released about 10 original albums since his 1975 debut, Old No. 1. Born in Monahans, West Texas, Clark worked in television, as a photographer and building boats and guitars. Influenced by bluesman Mance Lipscomb, he worked the Texas ...
(Rap group, 1985–91) Founders of gangsta rap, N.W.A. stands for Niggaz With Attitude; their visceral debut Straight Outta Compton (1989) featured controversial tracks such as ‘Fuck Tha Police’, a reaction to the unprovoked beating the LA cops gave Rodney King. However, many tracks – despite their exciting delivery – were mindlessly violent and sexist, as ...
The acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter Nick Drake (1948–74) was a tragic figure in the English folk-rock community. His beautiful if bleak songs became fully appreciated only after decades had passed since he succumbed to an overdose of anti-depressant medication. Born Nicholas Rodney Drake, he spent his childhood in Burma and on his parents’ estate in Warwickshire. A bright youth and ...
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 ...
(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 ...
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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
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sweep of incredible photographs.