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The premiere torch-bearer for the blues-rock boom of the 1980s, Texan guitar wizard Stevie Ray Vaughan galvanized a generation of players and fans alike with his pyrotechnic licks and flamboyant stage presence. Connecting deeply with both the psychedelic, ‘voodoo chile’ mystique of Jimi Hendrix and the down-home roadhouse grittiness of his biggest guitar influence, Albert King, Vaughan ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues, founding editor Howard Mandel

(Guitar, vocals, 1954–90) Born in Dallas, Vaughan distilled Albert King, Jimi Hendrix and Lonnie Mack’s blues and rock stylings on his superb US Top 40 album Texas Flood (1983). Tommy Shannon (bass) and Chris Layton (drums) formed his trusted Double Trouble back-up team. His ferocious but lyrical playing on Couldn’t Stand The Weather (1984) and live showmanship ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley

Exploding on to a generally lethargic blues scene in 1983 with his Texas Flood album, Stevie Ray Vaughan (1954–90) administered a high-voltage charge that revitalized the blues with his stunning, ecstatic playing and imagination. He took inspiration from the most stylish of his idols – Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Guy, Howlin’ Wolf, Albert King – but it ...

Source: Rock Guitar Heroes, consultant editor Rusty Cutchin

Born Steveland Judkins on 13 May 1950 and blind virtually from birth, the future Little Stevie Wonder was already singing in his local choir at the age of four. By the time he was seven he had mastered the piano, harmonica and drums. In 1961, Ronnie White of The Miracles introduced the child prodigy to the label’s founder ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley

The clavinet is essentially an electric version of the clavichord. Designed in the 1960s by Ernst Zacharias of the German company, Hohner, the clavinet evolved from the Cembalet, an instrument Zacharias had developed some years earlier as an electronic counterpart to the harpsichord. Construction Hohner produced several models of clavinet over the years, including the legendary D6. ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

The piano has occupied a special place in music and, since the advent of amplification, musicians have sought ways in which its expressive, versatile sound could be made louder in order to carry above the sound of other amplified instruments and also how it could be packaged into an instrument more easily transportable than the traditional acoustic piano. ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

Zither The zither is part of a group of instruments which are linked by the fact that sets of strings run parallel to their main body, and that – unlike the lute, lyre or harp – they can still be played even without a resonating device. In the concept’s least advanced state, native instruments exist which are little ...

Source: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music, general editor Paul Du Noyer

Few would deny that the blues has played a more important role in the history of popular culture than any other musical genre. As well as being a complete art form in itself, it is a direct ancestor to the different types of current popular music we know and love today. Without the blues there would have been no Beatles ...

Source: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music, general editor Paul Du Noyer

Albert King’s late 1960s and early 1970s recordings for the Stax label remain cornerstones of modern blues. Tunes like ‘Born Under A Bad Sign’, ‘Crosscut Saw’ and ‘I’ll Play the Blues For You’ are also an antidote to the over-the-top playing indulged in by so many contemporary blues guitarists. For King, a six-foot-four, 250-pound man possessed of a big ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues, founding editor Howard Mandel

(Vocals, b. 1945) This raw-edged songstress emerged from the same Austin, Texas scene that yielded Stevie Ray Vaughan, with her 1986 debut Stranger Blues. Strehli, who was born in Lubbock, perfected her slow phrasing and dynamic attack at the famed Antone’s nightclub, learning from visiting artists Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, Albert Collins and ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues, founding editor Howard Mandel

(Ber-nar’ d∂ Van’-ta-dôrn) c. 1135–95 French Troubadour Bernart is regarded as perhaps the finest and most musically important of the troubadours. More of his melodies have survived than any other troubadour’s; one, ‘Quan vei la lauzeta mover’ (‘When I See the Lark Open His Wings’), was extremely popular and inspired poems to be sung to its melody in four different ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

‘When I first heard of the electric guitar, I thought somebody was bullshittin’ me,’ says George ‘Buddy’ Guy. ‘We lived so far in the country I didn’t even know what an acoustic guitar was until my mother started getting mail-order catalogs’. In 2005, Guy, who was born in Lettsworth, Louisiana on 30 July 1936, stands ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues, founding editor Howard Mandel

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, ...

Source: Rock Guitar Heroes, consultant editor Rusty Cutchin

‘King of the Surf Guitar’ Dick Dale was born Richard Monsour in Boston, Massachusetts in 1937. Dale learned to play drums, ukulele and trumpet before taking up the guitar, inspired by country music. His first break in music was winning an Elvis Presley soundalike contest. Dale began playing guitar in clubs, solo at first, but later ...

Source: Rock Guitar Heroes, consultant editor Rusty Cutchin

Eddie Van Halen redefined the sound of heavy metal at the end of the 1970s. His high-velocity solos, distinguished by his finger-tapping technique and tremolo-bar effects, on Van Halen’s 1978 debut album heralded a new era in hard-rock guitar that rejected the clichés of a jaded genre. His solo on Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’ in 1982, which effectively ...

Source: Rock Guitar Heroes, consultant editor Rusty Cutchin
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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.

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