(Vocals, songwriter, 1911–67) The first crooner in country music, Tommy Duncan’s name remains synonymous with Bob Wills and, for many years, he was the featured singer in The Texas Playboys. Regular quarrels between the two finally resulted in a split in 1948, though – better together than apart – Duncan returned to the fold in ...
(Vocals, guitar, c. 1896–1956) Johnson was a highly influential early blues artist due to the impact of his three 1928 records for Victor, which earned him a niche as Mississippi’s first black recording star. Johnson recorded only three more 78s after that, for Paramount, plus a few unissued sides, but the songs he recorded for ...
(Cornet, trumpet, 1900–39) A stylistic descendant of King Oliver, Ladnier learned under Bunk Johnson and played in various bands around New Orleans. Around 1917 he moved to Chicago, where he became part of the hot jazz scene and worked with Jimmie Noone and King Oliver. In 1925 he toured Europe with Sam Wooding’s band and the following ...
(Bandleader, trombone, trumpet, 1905–56) With the break-up of the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, Tommy Dorsey quickly hired the Joe Haymes Orchestra en masse and built a new band to his specifications. For all the talent it would attract, however, it would always be built around the leader’s warm trombone sound and flawless perfection on ballads. The ...
(Vocals, guitar, songwriter, 1930–2000) One of the earliest pioneers of the Bakersfield Sound, Oklahoma City-born Tommy Collins (Leonard Raymond Sipes) began activities on the West Coast thanks to the encouragement of dj Ferlin Husky. Securing deals with Cliffie Stone’s Central Songs and Capitol Records, he began putting Bakersfield on the map with nationwide humorous hits like ...
(Vocals, b. 1936) Born Thomas Hicks, Steele began playing ersatz British rock’n’roll at the London 2I’s coffee bar. Spotted by Fleet Street photographer John Kennedy, who became his manager, Steele co-wrote ‘Rock With The Caveman’ with Lionel Bart, and the single made the UK Top 20. In 1957, Steele covered ‘Singing The Blues’, which topped ...
(Musician, bandleader, 1924–2000) Merle Haggard called him the ‘Grandpappy of Bakersfield’ and, during his 14 years leading The Orange Blossom Playboys at the town’s hottest honky-tonk, the Blackboard, he employed both Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, who were to define the Bakersfield Sound. A Texan by birth, he perfected his musical skills by entertaining ...
Observers who saw him in his prime have likened the charisma of the ‘king of western swing’ Bob Wills to that of latter-day superstars such as Elvis and The Beatles. The Texas fiddler, with his trademark high-pitched folk hollers and jivey, medicine-show asides, was an irresistible force of nature. Although he was, in the earliest days of ...
(Vocals, guitar, songwriter, actor, 1907–99) Not as famous as his singing-cowboy compatriots, Eddie Dean nevertheless had starring roles in over 20 westerns during the 1940s, as well as his own television series The Marshall Of Gunshot Pass (1950). Beginning his career on radio, and one-time member of the WLS (Chicago) National Barn Dance, ...
Western swing is an innovative, free-wheeling yet complex instrumental amalgam drawn from blues, jazz and Dixieland syncopations and harmonies. Central to the style is an emphasis on instrumental solos, often involving the transposition of jazz-style horn parts to fiddle, guitar and steel guitar. It is indicative of western swing’s sophistication that Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys, the ...
Verdi was an enthusiastic admirer of Shakespeare and Macbeth was the first opera based on his work. It premiered at the Teatro della Pergola in Florence on 14 March 1847, with Verdi himself conducting. Performances followed throughout Europe, including Madrid (1848), Vienna (1849), and New York (1858). For the premiere in Paris, at the Théâtre Lyrique on 21 ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1972–82, 1989–present) The blue-eyed soul of Scots Alan Gorrie (vocals, bass), Malcolm Duncan (saxophone), Owen McIntyre (vocals, guitar), Hamish Stuart (vocals, guitar), Roger Ball (keyboards) and Robbie McIntosh (drums) topped the US charts in 1975 with the album AWB and single ‘Pick Up The Pieces’. After dabbling in disco with ‘Let’s Go Round Again’, ...
(Alto saxophone, arranger, trumpet, vocals, 1907–2003) One of the great arrangers and soloists in jazz history, Bennett Lester Carter wrote some of the first big-band music to fully realize the flowing, legato ensemble of the coming swing movement. His saxophone ensembles were smooth projections of his solo style. ‘Lonesome Nights’ and ‘Symphony In Riffs’ were ...
Bessie Smith was one of the greatest vocalists of the twentieth century; her emotional delivery and exquisite phrasing has been an influence on instrumentalists as well as innumerable singers, both male and female. Many of her records, including ‘Gimmie a Pigfoot’, ‘Woman’s Trouble Blues’, ‘St. Louis Blues’ and the song that became an anthem of the Great Depression, ...
Few genres are as closely identified with one person as bluegrass is with Bill Monroe (vocals, mandolin, 1911–96). Monroe not only defined the style’s instrumentation, style and repertoire, he also hired most of its major figures and gave the music its name – taken from his group, The Blue Grass Boys. Kentucky Roots Raised on his ...
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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.