Bonnie Raitt
CHRIS REA
In 1976 Rea signed as a solo artist with Magnet Records. He got off to a flying start with the single "Fool If You Think It's Over," which charted in both the United Kingdom and the United States and earned him a Grammy nomination for best new artist. Unfortunately for Rea, he was making the right music at the wrong time. Soon after his initial burst of popularity, punk swept over England, overshadowing every other style of music. Rea slipped into a period of relative obscurity. He wrote some fine albums, such as Shamrock Diaries and Do You Like Tennis, but sales of these were far too small to satisfy record company executives.
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During this period, Rea became quite disillusioned with the machinations of the recording industry. "I was very close to completely stopping music and opening an Italian restaurant," he told Kent Zimmerman of the Gavin Report. "I was sick to death of it. I didn't want to be a rock star. I just wanted to enjoy the music, which is what I started out doing.... Everyone wanted me to be the next Elton John or George Michael-type superstar. That's not where I come from. I come from the school of Joe Walsh, Bonnie Raitt, Ry Cooder, Lowell George."
Rea's label was as disenchanted with him as he was with them. When he delivered the demo tapes for the album Watersign, the company skipped over the usual remixing process and released the tapes untouched, apparently aiming to fulfill his contract and release him. The unexpected happened, however: Watersign became a respectable hit, selling half a million copies and producing a top single, "I Can Hear Your Heart Beat." Rea began touring heavily to bolster the album's success, and built up a loyal following in Germany and France as well as the United Kingdom.
Rea's greatest recognition in the United States came with his 1990 recording, The Road to Hell. Zimmerman stated that "Out of ... ten-plus years of recording music, Road to Hell stands out as his masterwork.... There's a feel of environmental politics threading its way, conceptually, through most of the songs.... Mixed in with the doomy lyrics and instrumentation are a few choice love songs."
Rea conceived of the album while trapped in an all-too-typical traffic jam in the south of England. The isolation of the thousands of commuters in their cars struck him forcefully, and within days he had written several songs concerning the ills of modern life. The music behind the lyrics has an ominous, eerie quality. "That's deliberate," Rea explained. "I'm trying to bring a bit of Alfred Hitchcock into the music... A lot of folks do think that we're on the edge of some terrible, impending disaster.
Rea had another success in America in 1994 with Espresso Logic, which showcased "a number of genres, from crunching blues, to Beatlesque pop, to fluent jazz," according to Steve White in the Lowell, Massachusetts Sun. The album consists of tracks previously included on European releases, one of which was also called Espresso Logic; the other was titled God's Great Banana Skin.
The U.S. album, however, included a duet by Rea with Elton John titled "If You Were Me." Reviewers commented on Rea's fluid slide guitar and praised his throaty yet polished vocals. In addition, Lee Barrish, writing for Cleveland's Scene, observed, "The elements of woe (thoughts of mortality and death) that coursed their way through the last three albums have finally been laid to rest." A Network Forty reviewer remarked that the release "is a bold milestone" in Rea's career and also noted that Rea's relative obscurity in the United States despite his immense popularity in Europe does not affect him: "He has always stood for quality music with intelligence, not just commercial appeal."
For the Record ...
Born in Middlesbrough, England, 1951; married.
Played with band Magdalene, later called the Beautiful Losers, 1970s; signed as solo artist with Magnet Records, 1976; released debut album, Whatever Happened to Benny Santini, 1978.
Albums:
Deltics, Magnet Records, 1979.
Tennis, Magnet Records, 1980.
Chris Rea, Magnet Records, 1982.
Water Sign, Magnet Records, 1983.
Wired to the Moon, Magnet Records, 1984.
Shamrock Diaries, Magnet Records, 1985.
On the Beach, Magnet Records, 1986.
Dancing with Strangers, Magnet Records, 1987.
The Road to Hell, Atco Records, 1989.
Auberge, EastWest Records, 1990.
God's Great Banana Skin, EastWest Records, 1992.
Espresso Logic, EastWest Records, 1993.
La Passione, EastWest Records, 1996.
The Blue Cafe, EastWest Records, 1998.
The Road to Hell: Part 2, EastWest Records, 1999.
King of the Beach, EastWest Records, 2000.
Dancing Down the Stony Road / Stony Road, Jazzee Blue / Edel, 2002.
Blue Street (Five Guitars), Jazzee Blue, 2003.
Hofner Blue Notes, Jazzee Blue, 2003.
The Blue Jukebox, Jazzee Blue, 2004.
Blue Guitars, Ear Books / Edel, 2005.
The Return of the Fabulous Hofner Blue Notes, Ear Books / Edel, 2008.
Source: Joan Goldsworthy
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JOHN LEE HOOKER
"First comes the class in the small, crinkled, slightly seedy person of John Lee Hooker, a.k.a. The Hook, Doctor Feelgood, and, by way of formal onstage introduction, 'The Godfather of the Blues'. . . . The first great recorded practitioner of the electric blues-rock-funk and stream-of-consciousness boogie, he introduced a style to which every white blues band since 1962 must trace at least half its roots." John Lee Hooker was 72 when his 1979 appearence at New York's Lone Star Cafe brought on that tribute from Patrick Carr in the Village Voice. Hooker's influence on blues, blues-folk and blues-rock musicians remains vital ten years later.
Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, he learned his "Delta licks" style of guitar playing from his stepfather, William Moore, and his colleagues James Smith and Coot Harris. He ascribed his style—with, in writer Fred Stuckey's words, "tonal 'bendings' of the third, fifth and seventh degrees of the scale and abrasive two-finger picking"—to them in an interview with Stuckey in Guitar Player, stating that "Down in Clarksdale, my stepfather taught me all I know about playing the guitar. . . . After this uprising of fancy music, I never did drop what I learned back then. I'm doin'what the blues singers was doin' back then, and it sounded good. It still sounds good, and I'm always goin' to keep it just the way it is."
Hooker travelled to Memphis, Cincinnati and Detroit where, in the mid-1940s, he made a demo for distributor Bernie Besman. Hooker recorded his first single, "Boogie Chillen" and "Sally Mae," for the Sensation label. As distributed by Modern Records, it became a hit on the blues charts of 1949. He followed this record with "In the Mood for Love" and "Crawling King Snake" for Modern. From 1955 to 1964, he recorded for Vee Jay, making singles and albums for that Chicago-based firm, such as Travelin' (1961) and Big Soul: Best of John Lee Hooker (1963). He also recorded under a confounding variety of pseudonyms—among them, Delta John, Johnny Lee, and Birmingham Sam and his Magic Guitar—for a large number of companies. Many of these one-time contracted recordings have been collected and re-mastered in recent years.
During the revived interest in traditional guitar music and performance styles prompted by the popularity of folk music in the 1960s, Hooker was "rediscovered" for the first of many times. He performed at the Newport Folk Festival in 1960 and appeared at coffee houses and college campuses. Hooker was also being rediscovered in Great Britain, where he was an important influence on groups that equated blues with rock and roll, such as the Rolling Stones and the Animals, who recorded his "Boom Boom." Hooker performances became as famous for the rock superstars who appeared in the audience as for his own music. In an engagement at Ungano's in 1969, for example, the Village Voice reported that "three nights after opening, Eric Clapton, Delaney and Bonnie, Ginger Baker and Chris Wood came down to jam with the Doctor and returned the next night for more. And on Saturday, Richie Havens with his whole band in tow showed up to sing and jam."
In the 1970s, as musical forms fused, he concertized with performers from the rock group Canned Heat (with whom he recorded Hooker 'n' Heat) to folk vocalist Bonnie Raitt. He was frequently honored as one of the creators of his genre in joint and group concerts by the long-time greats of blues music. In the Blues Variations concert at Lincoln Center in 1973 he was paired with Muddy Waters and Mose Allison, while in A Night of the Blues at the Brooklyn Academy of Music two years later, he shared the program with Albert King and folk harmonicist Peg Leg Sam.
Hooker plays flexible blues of 10-13 bar phrases punctuated with foot tapping and an electric guitar sound that has been described as "percussive. . . just shy of dissonance and distortion." Each song is a monologue that retells a story of emotional pain that requires a unique verbal pattern. Reviews of Hooker performances, generally by music historian/journalists who are long-term admirers, provide vivid pictures of his unique song structures and performance style. Carmen Moore wrote in 1970 in the Village Voice that "in his entire set, John Lee sang only one rhymed song. As usual, he paid little heed to the famed three blues chords: all, it seemed, were present at once. What his guitar did was talk, in snaky lines, in sitar quivers, in sudden shocks, in hilly phrases. . . . Gifted with one of the richest voices in contemporary music, this serious of serene of bassos sat down, the mike at his lips, and shared a few instances from his personal black life." Ian Dove, reviewing the Blues Variations concert, also noted the personal delivery style: "He is a complete, closed-in performer, who accents the rhythmic drive of his performances by chopping off phrases and choking off the ends of his rhythmic lines. He keeps things simple, rarely straying from a couple of chords, and delivers his autobiographical blues with growing menace and much vibrato." Almost a decade later, Patrick Carr wrote that Hooker "continues to perform and record with the same slow mastery of blue-life imagery, the same spare, quirky, throttled-violence guitar technique, and the same beautifully resonant leather-and-raw-silk vocal genius that were his from the start."
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The optimal way to hear Hooker is in live performance, but there are scores of albums featuring his work. He has made over forty albums under various names. Chess Records has recently begun to re-issue tapes and studio cuts in series of albums simply called The Blues, Volumes 1-3. Amiga Records also distributes a Hooker anthology, Blues, Collection 2.
"Godfather of the blues" or simply one of its greatest practitioners, Hooker has maintained one of the great native art forms of the United States. He described its universal importance and appeal to Guitar Player: "Everybody understands the blues now—the young, all races, all over the world. Back then people pretended they didn't know, but now they know. The young people have really brought it out. . . . It's a tremendous thing because it's true. It's the truest music that ever been written. . . . Everything comes right from the blues—spirituals, jazz, rock. The blues is the root of all this."
Born August 22, 1917, in Clarksdale, Miss. ; son of a Baptist minister, stepson of William Moore (a guitarist).
Learned to play guitar from his stepfather, played in Mississippi, then in Memphis, Tenn., Cincinnati, Ohio, and Detroit, Mich.; began recording in the mid-1940s; has performed and recorded under a variety of pseudonyms.
Albums:
"Boogie Chillun" (single), Sensation/Modern, 1948.
Travelin', Vee Jay, 1961.
Big Soul: Best of John Lee Hooker, Vee Jay, 1963.
Hooker 'n' Heat, (with Canned Heat), Liberty, 1971.
Boogie Chillun (includes a new version of the title song), Fantasy, 1972.
The Cream, Tomato, 1979.
Blues, Collection 2, Amiga, 1986.
Jealous, Pausa, 1986.
Source: Barbara Stratyner
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Etta James
Etta James is a truly legendary American singer. Her career spans over five decades, dozens of albums, four Grammy Awards and her very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Her vocal styles have changed over the years. Originally, she was positioned as a doo-wop singer. This evolved in to jazz and then finally her gravelly voice was best suited to blues and soul.
In recent years, she has been seen as crossing the divide between R&B and Rock-n-Roll. Her voice and talent have been documented as an inspiration for Bonnie Raitt, Rod Stewart, Janis Joplin and the Motown diva, Diana Ross.
Even with a prolific catalogue of acclaimed records, it’s only been in the last decade that she has received mainstream industry recognition. James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and she was awarded four Grammies in 1995, 2003, 2004 and 2005.
James had her first #1 single in 1955 with “The Wallflower” but she is more known for her crossover breakthrough in the 60s when she released “At Last”, “Trust In Me” “Pushover” and “Something’s Got a Hold On Me”, all top ten hits.
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In the mid-60s, James began an epic battle with heroin that, according to her autobiography, would eventually last well into her 50s. But she continued to belt out big hits and remained a concert attraction.
Her career went into a standstill until the late 80s and 90s. She collaborated with Def Jam rapper, Delicious Vinyl. James was now exposed to a younger generation through the popular fusion of hip hop and jazz as well as the song “I Just Wanna Make Love To You” featured on a Coca-Cola TV commercial.
The 2000s were a big decade for James. In 2001, she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and also was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. She shed over 200 pounds. Rolling Stone named her #64 of the Top 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2006, she added her distinctive vocals to an album of covers featuring songs from Prince, John Lennon, Simply Red and Marvin Gaye. She participated in a tribute album to another jazz great, Ella Fitzgerald. And pop sensation, Beyoncè Knowles, played a younger version of James in the 2008 movie called Cadillac Records.
Juanita Appleby
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