(Singer-songwriter, b. 1966) A woman apt to speak her mind and sing her heart out, O’Connor’s strong sense of personal feminism has informed all of her work. Her cover version of Prince’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ propelled her second album I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got (1990) into the international waters of multi-platinum success. More hit singles ...
(Fiddle, guitar, b. 1961) O’Connor was a child prodigy who won the junior division of the National Old-Time Fiddlers Contest in 1974. Before he graduated from high school in 1979, he had won the all-ages Grand Masters Fiddling Championship and had released three albums for Rounder Records. Right after graduation, he joined The David Grisman Quintet for ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1991–2009) Mancunian brothers Liam (vocals) and Noel (guitar) Gallagher, Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs (guitar), Paul ‘Guigsy’ McGuigan (bass) and Tony McCarroll (drums) signed to Creation Records in 1993. Debut single ‘Supersonic’ (1994) was a melodic, guitar-driven tune over which Liam snarled out lyrics. By the end of the year another four singles – all instant classics – ...
One of the defining albums of the 1970s, Dark Side Of The Moon (1973) established Pink Floyd as the biggest progressive rock band of the decade. They have remained massively popular and their influence continues to be felt in rock and ambient music. The band were formed in London in 1965 by singer/guitarist Syd Barrett (born Roger Keith Barrett, ...
The most innovative, mercurial and controversial black rock star since Jimi Hendrix, Prince is also one of the most mysterious. He was born Prince Rogers Nelson, 7 June 1958. His father was the leader of a local jazz band, his mother was a singer. He formed his first band at 14 and signed a self-production deal with ...
By 200 BC, the Celts occupied Europe from the Balkans to France, with outposts in Turkey, Spain and the British Isles. However, the rise of Rome, followed by a Germanic drift south, pushed the Celts to the edge of the continent: Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany and the Basque country. One theory suggests ...
Folk pop is often looked down on by connoisseurs of the music who believe that in its purest form it should have nothing in common with the charts and the commercial world. Yet folk has punctured the mainstream more often than most would imagine, and in many ways its popularity has been reliant on those who’ve broadened the market by ...
If there is a strand of folk music that seems universally popular, it’s Irish. This is not surprising considering Ireland’s sad history of emigration and the transportation of their music to all corners of the globe. Through those claiming ancestry or simply connecting with a music that conveys extremes of emotion, it has the proven ability to connect with ...
After a decade that saw the art of the singer-songwriter being somewhat submerged by the demands of electronic over-production, disco crossover and relentless fashion horrors, the 1990s saw a rebirth of the solo artist with a genuinely individual style. This proved to be of particular benefit to female artists who, while still having to conform to demands for ...
While more and more of the mainstream is occupied by heavily manufactured and stylized rock, pop and R&B acts, the emergence of less-demonstrative artists – often from a self-financing small-scale independent background – represents a quiet form of rebellion from the pop norm. The success of mavericks such as Björk and Sinéad O’Connor in the 1990s continues to foster ...
January Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Although Pink Floyd were not defending their heavyweight title in the ring anymore, they were no longer anonymous figures and enjoyed all the personal trappings of being one of the world’s most successful and influential bands. On 17 January 1996 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York Gilmour, Wright and Mason were ...
This was a decade when the impact of dance culture on rock and vice versa sometimes led to exciting results: it opened with ‘Thriller’ and closed with the Madchester scene of Happy Mondays. Punk had subsided to become the less threatening new wave movement, which, along with the new romantics, dominated the early days of the decade. As ...
June Knebworth Festival Pink Floyd had been the first major band to commit to playing the 1990 Knebworth Festival and in doing so secured top-billing over Paul McCartney. Their entrance was delayed by McCartney playing numerous encores and, due to high winds, the Floyd road crew had to take down the band’s large circular screen for safety reasons. Despite ...
When Vassar Clements formed a band called Hillbilly Jazz in 1975, Bill Monroe’s former fiddler pulled the cover off the hidden connection between country music and jazz. The two genres had more in common than most people thought. After all, Jimmie Rodgers recorded with Louis Armstrong early in their careers; jazz legend Charlie Christian debuted on Bob Wills’ radio ...
In 1995, Alison Krauss (vocals, fiddle, b. 1971) achieved a level of success no other bluegrass act had ever matched. Her 1995 retrospective album, Now That I’ve Found You: A Collection, went double platinum, and she won the CMA Awards for Single, Female Vocalist, Vocal Event and Emerging Artist as well as the ...
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.