(Vocal/instrumental group, 1983–96, 2011–present) This Manchester band – Ian Brown (vocals), John Squire (guitar), Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield (bass) and Alan ‘Reni’ Wren (drums) – announced their jangling guitar pop with second single ‘Sally Cinnamon’. An eponymous debut album (1989) fused the vibe of acid house on to hook-laden melodic hypnotic pop songs. The funk groove of ‘Fool’s Gold’ and ...
Blues-rock guitarist Mick Taylor was born in Hatfield, Hertfordshire in 1949. A guitarist from the age of nine, he was in his teens when he formed a group with some school friends that subsequently evolved into the Gods. Taylor made two singles with the band. When Eric Clapton failed to turn up for a Bluesbreakers gig in Welwyn Garden ...
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, ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1962–present) One of the most successful bands of all time, the Rolling Stones’ original line-up comprised Mick Jagger (vocals, harmonica), Brian Jones and Keith Richards (guitars), Bill Wyman (bass) and Charlie Watts (drums). Named after a Muddy Waters song, the band were heavily influenced by blues and R&B and on their early albums recorded many ...
(Vocals, harmonica, guitar, autoharp, 1893–1968) Stoneman might be considered the first fully professional country artist. He saw the music’s potential and was involved in it from the 1920s to the 1960s, spanning music technology from the cylinder recording to the stereo LP. In the 1920s and 1930s, singing and playing harmonica, guitar and autoharp ...
(Vocal/instrumental duo, 1940s–77) This West Virginia-born husband and wife team was a popular duo from the late 1940s until Stoney’s death. Favouring the acoustic backing of dobro, fiddle and mandolin, Stoney (1918–77) and Wilma Lee (b. 1921) were stalwart champions of old-time country music who performed on The Wheeling Jamboree and the Grand Ole Opry. Their biggest hits ...
(Vocals, comedian, record producer, bandleader, 1917–98) Native Californian Cliffie Stone – the son of country comedian Herman the Hermit (a.k.a. Herman Snyder) – was a West Coast, one-man industry during the 1940s. Hard to pinpoint any particular activity, he began to get his name known on Stuart Hamblin’s Covered Wagon Jamboree before establishing ...
(Vocals, b. 1932) Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson (named after the revered Civil War general) was born in Emerson, North Carolina. He grew up in poverty and suffered physical abuse at the hands of a cruel stepfather. After running away from home at 15 and serving a four-year stint in the US Navy, Jackson worked as a sharecropper in Georgia ...
(Vocals, b. 1956) Stone (born Doug Brooks) found little commercial success until 1990, but made up for lost time with a dozen Top 10 hits, including several No. 1s, with his new-traditionalist approach. ‘I’d Be Better Off (In A Pine Box)’ (1990) and 1991’s ‘A Jukebox With A Country Song’ are among many tunes through which Stone ...
Composed: 1866–69, completed by Cui and Rimsky-Korsakov 1870 Premiered: 1872, St Petersburg Libretto set directly to Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin’s verse tragedy Act I Don Juan has been exiled from Madrid for murdering Don Alvaro, the commander. He has now returned in secret, accompanied by his servant Leporello, to see an old flame, the actress Laura. ...
In its classic line-up, featuring singer-songwriter Mick Jagger (born 26 July 1943), guitarist/songwriter Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones (1942–69), bass player Bill Wyman (born William Perks, 24 October 1936) and drummer Charlie Watts (born 2 July 1941), what came to be acclaimed and self-proclaimed as ‘The World’s Greatest Rock’n’Roll Band’ first achieved success and notoriety ...
The story of Sly Stone (born Sylvester Stewart in Dallas on 15 March 1944) is a classic rock’n’roll tale of ground-breaking success followed by a drug-fuelled downward spiral into unreliability and dissipation. In the 1960s and early 1970s he pioneered a fusion of funk, rock and soul that changed the course of R&B, pop and even jazz. Yet on ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1985–present) Axl Rose (b. William Bailey, vocals) and Izzy Stradlin (b. Jeffrey Isbell, guitar) were joined by Slash (b. Saul Hudson, guitar), Duff McKagan (bass) and Steve Adler (drums) to form a band that gave the heavy rock scene a mighty shaking. Signed to Geffen – after the 1986 EP Live ?1*@ Like A Suicide ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1985–2003) This Boston band was instrumental in mixing together ska and punk with metal stylings for a wider American audience. Tim Bridewell (vocals), Dicky Barrett (vocals), Nate Albert (guitar), Joe Gittleman (bass), Josh Dalsimer (drums), Tom ‘Johnny Vegas’ Burton (saxophone) was a classic line-up that enjoyed cult success with albums like Don’t Know How To Party (1993) and ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1992–2001, 2008–present) Scott Weiland (vocals) met Robert DeLeo (bass) at a Black Flag gig, then recruited Dean DeLeo (guitar) and Eric Kretz (drums). Core (1992) and Purple (1994) made an impact as well as spawning accusations that their thunderous style was purloined from Pearl Jam. With Weiland in and out of rehab, the band stalled ...
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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.