(Vocals, 1927–2003) David Gordon Kirkpatrick, born near Kempsey, New South Wales, was one of Australia’s most popular country artists from the 1950s until his death. He sold in excess of five million records in his home country with hits such as ‘A Pub With No Beer’ (also a Top 3 success in the UK) and ‘Lights On ...
In his brief, meteoric career, Guitar Slim (1926–59) electrified the blues in more ways than one. While most bluesmen didn’t alter their style as they moved from acoustic to electric guitar in the Forties and Fifties, Slim developed a uniquely electric style, utilizing a 150-ft (46-m) (some say 350-ft/107-m) cable between his guitar and amplifier and creating ...
(Piano, vocals, 1915–88) John Len Chatman was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Influenced by barrelhouse pianists such as Roosevelt Sykes, Slim forged an early career in Memphis playing in cafes, juke joints and other music venues around the Beale Street area. He moved to Chicago in 1937, where he worked with Big Bill Broonzy. He began ...
(Guitar, vocals, 1925–59) Eddie Lee Jones was born in Greenwood, Mississippi. He sang in church as a child but had relocated to New Orleans by the age of 17, where he worked with Huey ‘Piano’ Smith in a small group until 1953. His recording debut was on Imperial in 1951, but his most important recordings were ...
(Piano, vocals, 1906–95) Albert Luandrew was born in Vance, Mississippi. He was self-taught as a pianist and spent the period 1925–39 in Memphis, playing functions and small clubs. He went to Chicago to find work outside music, but instead fell in with the local blues crowd and worked with Tampa Red, Jump Jackson and Muddy ...
(Harmonica, guitar, vocals, 1924–70) Born James Moore in Lobdell, Louisiana, Harpo developed an upbeat style playing juke joints and parties before signing to Excello Records in 1955, where he was instrumental in defining the label’s ‘swamp-blues’ sound. He had a profound influence on 1960s rockers including Van Morrison, the Kinks and the Rolling Stones ...
(Guitar, b. 1937) Born Morris Holt in Grenada, Mississippi, Slim began playing on Chicago’s West Side in the mid-1960s. In 1976, when Hound Dog Taylor passed away, Slim took over his Sunday afternoon gig at Theresa’s on the South Side. Slim’s band the Teardrops was featured on the 1970 Alligator anthology series Living Chicago Blues. Throughout ...
(Vocals, 1904–96) Carter, the son of a Baptist minister, was born in Nova Scotia, Canada, and in his youth worked as a rodeo performer in Canada’s western provinces, as well as singing on radio shows. Recording for RCA Records for 50 years, Carter was central to the popularity of cowboy music in the 1930s ...
(Vocals, b. 1924) Tampa, Florida-born Otis Dewey Whitman Jr. is best known for his warbling, high-falsetto vocal flourishes on sentimental hits like ‘Indian Love Call’ (1952) and ‘Secret Love’ (1954). Although Whitman enjoyed only limited success in the United States, he achieved considerable fame in Europe, especially the British Isles. During the 1980s, he experienced ...
(Vocals, 1939–99) British-born Springfield (born Mary O’Brien), formerly of The Springfields, showed her affiliation with American girl-group pop on her first outing, 1963’s ‘I Only Want To Be With You’. Hits by the Brill Building’s best songwriting teams (including Bacharach-David and Goffin-King) earned her respect as the finest white soul singer of her era. Her 1969 album Dusty ...
(Producer, b. 1963) Norman Cook, former bassist with The Housemartins, has since operated under a number of guises with huge success. As Fatboy Slim he managed to combine the engine room of dance with great rock sounds – including The Who – to create some of the greatest anthems of the 1990s. You’ve Come A Long Way, ...
It makes sense that Australia would be the one country outside North America to develop an important country-music scene of its own. Like the USA and Canada, Australia had a large, under-populated frontier that was settled by English, Irish and Scotch immigrants who brought their folk songs with them. Roughened and toughened by frontier life, those songs ...
(Vocals, guitar, songwriter, b. 1964) With 14 gold albums to his name, Kernaghan is the biggest-selling country artist in Australia. He first visited Nashville in 1986, played at Fan Fair, and met producer Garth Porter, resulting in his 1992 double-platinum debut album, The Outback Club. He has recorded with the late Australian legend ...
(Banjo, comedian, 1901–86) DeSoto, Missouri-born Benjamin Francis ‘Whitey’ Johnson was, for decades, one of country music’s most popular comedians. He appeared on the Renfro Valley Barn Dance, in Kentucky in the late 1930s and starred on an NBC network radio show called Plantation Party in the early 1940s. He also appeared frequently on the Grand ...
Fiddles, generically, are bowed lutes. The term ‘fiddle’ denotes a stringed instrument with a neck, bearing strings that are sounded by the use of friction rather than plucking or striking. Playing the Fiddle In almost all fiddles the world over, friction is provided by a bow strung with rosined horsehair. The hair is tensioned by the springiness ...
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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.