1950
Buddy Guy
He's Chicago's blues king today, ruling his domain just as his idol and mentor Muddy Waters did before him. Yet there was a time, and not all that long ago either, when Buddy Guy couldn't even negotiate a decent record deal. Times sure have changed for the better -- Guy's first three albums for Silvertone in the '90s all earned Grammys. Eric Clapton unabashedly calls Buddy Guy his favorite blues axeman, and so do a great many adoring fans worldwide.
High-energy guitar histrionics and boundless on-stage energy have always been Guy trademarks, along with a tortured vocal style that's nearly as distinctive as his incendiary rapid-fire fretwork. He's come a long way from his beginnings on the 1950s Baton Rouge blues scene -- at his first gigs with bandleader "Big Poppa" John Tilley, the young guitarist had to chug a stomach-jolting concoction of Dr. Tichenor's antiseptic and wine to ward off an advanced case of stage fright. But by the time he joined harpist Raful Neal's band, Guy had conquered his nervousness.
Guy journeyed to Chicago in 1957, ready to take the town by storm. But times were tough initially, until he turned up the juice as a showman (much as another of his early idols, Guitar Slim, had back home). It didn't take long after that for the new kid in town to establish himself. He hung with the city's blues elite: Freddy King, Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, and Magic Sam, who introduced Buddy Guy to Cobra Records boss Eli Toscano. Two searing 1958 singles for Cobra's Artistic subsidiary were the result: "This Is the End" and "Try to Quit You Baby" exhibited more than a trace of B.B. King influence, while "You Sure Can't Do" was an unabashed homage to Guitar Slim. Willie Dixon produced the sides.
When Cobra folded, Guy wisely followed Rush over to Chess. With the issue of his first Chess single in 1960, Guy was no longer aurally indebted to anybody. "First Time I Met the Blues" and its follow-up, "Broken Hearted Blues," were fiery, tortured slow blues brilliantly showcasing Guy's whammy-bar-enriched guitar and shrieking, hellhound-on-his-trail vocals.
Although he's often complained that Leonard Chess wouldn't allow him to turn up his guitar loud enough, the claim doesn't wash: Guy's 1960-1967 Chess catalog remains his most satisfying body of work. A shuffling "Let Me Love You Baby," the impassioned downbeat items "Ten Years Ago," "Stone Crazy," "My Time After Awhile," and "Leave My Girl Alone," and a bouncy "No Lie" rate with the hottest blues waxings of the '60s. While at Chess, Guy worked long and hard as a session guitarist, getting his licks in on sides by Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Koko Taylor (on her hit "Wang Dang Doodle").
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Upon leaving Chess in 1967, Guy went to Vanguard. His first LP for the firm, A Man and the Blues, followed in the same immaculate vein as his Chess work and contained the rocking "Mary Had a Little Lamb," but This Is Buddy Guy and Hold That Plane! proved somewhat less consistent. Guy and harpist Junior Wells had long been friends and played around Chicago together (Guy supplied the guitar work on Wells' seminal 1965 Delmark set Hoodoo Man Blues, initially billed as "Friendly Chap" because of his Chess contract); they recorded together for Blue Thumb in 1969 as Buddy and the Juniors (pianist Junior Mance being the other Junior) and Atlantic in 1970 (sessions co-produced by Eric Clapton and Tom Dowd), and 1972 for the solid album Buddy Guy & Junior Wells Play the Blues. Buddy and Junior toured together throughout the '70s, their playful repartee immortalized on Drinkin' TNT 'n' Smokin' Dynamite, a live set cut at the 1974 Montreux Jazz Festival.
Guy's reputation among rock guitar gods such as Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and Stevie Ray Vaughan was unsurpassed, but prior to his Grammy-winning 1991 Silvertone disc Damn Right, I've Got the Blues, he amazingly hadn't issued a domestic album in a decade. That's when the Buddy Guy bandwagon really picked up steam -- he began selling out auditoriums and turning up on network television (David Letterman, Jay Leno, etc.). Feels Like Rain, his 1993 encore, was a huge letdown artistically, unless one enjoys the twisted concept of having one of the world's top bluesmen duet with country hat act Travis Tritt and hopelessly overwrought rock singer Paul Rodgers. By comparison, 1994's Slippin' In, produced by Eddie Kramer, was a major step back in the right direction, with no hideous duets and a preponderance of genuine blues excursions. Last Time Around: Live at Legends, an acoustic outing with longtime partner Junior Wells followed in 1998. In 2001, Guy switched gears and went to Mississippi for a recording of the type of modal juke-joint blues favored by Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside, and the Fat Possum crew. The result was Sweet Tea: arguably one of his finest albums and yet a complete anomaly in his catalog. Oddly enough, he chose to follow that up with Blues Singer in 2003, another completely acoustic effort that won a Grammy. For 2005's Bring 'Em In, it was back to the same template as his first albums for Silvertone, with polished production and a handful of guest stars. Skin Deep appeared in 2008 and featured guest spots by Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, Eric Clapton, and Robert Randolph.
A Buddy Guy concert can sometimes be a frustrating experience. He'll be in the middle of something downright hair-raising, only to break it off abruptly in midsong, or he'll ignore his own massive songbook in order to offer imitations of Clapton, Vaughan, and Hendrix. But Guy, whose club remains the most successful blues joint in Chicago (you'll likely find him sitting at the bar whenever he's in town), is without a doubt the Windy City's reigning blues artist -- and he rules benevolently.
- All Music Guide
Sources: Bill Dahl
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THE BIG BOPPER
Legendary as one of the three rock greats to die in the tragic 1959 Clear Lake, IA, plane crash that also claimed the lives of Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (born Jiles Perry Richardson) had just established himself as a rock hit-maker with the rollicking "Chantilly Lace."
Born in the heart of Texas, Richardson grew up in Beaumont and changed his first name to Jape. He broke into show biz as a DJ over at KTRM radio, where he coined the nickname the Big Bopper.
In March 1955, he was drafted into the United States Army and did his basic training at Fort Ord, California. He spent the rest of his two years service as a radar instructor at Fort Bliss, near El Paso, Texas. Following his discharge as a corporal in March 1957, Richardson returned to KTRM radio, where he held down the "Dishwashers' Serenade" shift from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
One of the station's sponsors wanted Richardson for a new time slot and suggested an idea for a show. Richardson had seen the college students doing a dance called The Bop, and he decided to call himself "The Big Bopper". His new radio show ran from 3 to 6 p.m. Richardson soon became the station's program director.
In May 1957, he broke the record for continuous on-the-air broadcasting by eight minutes. From a remote set-up in the lobby of the Jefferson Theatre in downtown Beaumont, Richardson performed for a total of five days, two hours and eight minutes, playing 1,821 records and taking showers during five-minute newscasts. Richardson is credited with coining the term music video in 1959, and recorded an early example himself.
Richardson - who played guitar - began his musical career as a songwriter. George Jones later recorded Richardson's "White Lightning", which became Jones' first #1 country hit in 1959 (#73 on the pop charts). Richardson also wrote "Running Bear" for Johnny Preston, his friend from Port Arthur, Texas. The inspiration for the song came from Richardson's childhood memory of the Sabine River, where he heard stories about Indian tribes.
Richardson sang background on "Running Bear", but the recording wasn't released until September 1959, after his death. Within several months it became #1.
The man who launched Richardson as a recording artist was Harold “Pappy” Daily from Houston, Texas. Daily was promotion director for Mercury and Starday Records and signed Richardson to Mercury. Richardson's first single, "Beggar To A King", had a country flavour, but failed to gain any chart action. He soon cut "Chantilly Lace" as "The Big Bopper" for Pappy Daily's D label. Mercury bought the recording and released it in the summer of 1958. It reached #6 on the pop charts and spent 22 weeks in the national Top 40.
It also inspired an answer record by Jayne Mansfield titled "That Makes It". In "Chantilly Lace", Richardson pretends to have a flirting phone conversation with his girlfriend; the Mansfield record suggests what his girlfriend might have been saying at the other end of the line.
Later that year, he scored a second hit, a raucous novelty tune entitled "The Big Bopper's Wedding", in which Richardson pretends to be getting cold feet at the altar. He was known for his "Hello Baby!"
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With the success of "Chantilly Lace", Richardson took time off from KTRM radio and joined Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and Dion and the Belmonts for a "Winter Dance Party" tour. On the eleventh night of the tour, Holly chartered an airplane to fly them to the next show in Moorhead, Minnesota.
The musicians had been travelling by bus for over a week, and it had already broken down once. They were tired, they had not been paid yet and all of their clothes were dirty. With the airplane, Holly could arrive early, do everyone's laundry and catch up on some rest.
A 21-year old pilot named Roger Peterson had agreed to take the singers to Fargo, North Dakota, where the airport serves the twin cities of Moorhead and Fargo. A snowstorm was on its way and the young pilot was fatigued from a 17-hour workday, but he agreed to fly the trip.
The musicians packed up their instruments and finalized the flight arrangements. Buddy Holly's bass player, Waylon Jennings, was scheduled to fly on the plane, but gave his seat up to the Big Bopper, who was suffering from influenza. Holly's guitarist, Tommy Allsup, agreed to flip a coin with Ritchie Valens for the remaining seat; Valens won.
The three musicians boarded the red and white single-engine Beech Bonanza around 12:30 am on February 3. The musicians waved and then climbed onto the plane. Snow blew across the runway, but the sky was clear. Peterson received clearance from the control tower, taxied down the runway and took off.
He was never told of two different weather advisories that warned of an oncoming blizzard ahead. The plane stayed in the sky for only a few minutes; no one is quite sure what went wrong. The best guess is Peterson flew directly into the blizzard, lost visual reference and accidentally flew down instead of up.
The four-passenger plane ploughed into a nearby cornfield at over 170 mph, flipping over on itself and tossing the passengers into the air. Their bodies landed yards away from the wreckage and stayed there for ten hours as snowdrifts formed around them. Because of the weather, nobody could reach the crash site until later in the morning.
Albums:
Sources: http://www.artistdirect.com/ http://www.wikipedia.org/
This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com
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THE SHADOWS
The Shadows started out under the name The Drifters before changing it to avoid confusion with the similarly labelled American group. Original members were Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch on guitars with Jet Harris (bass) and Tony Meehan (drums).
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Initially, The Shadows were the backing band for the Cliff Richard Show but achieved fame on their own with the instrumental hit, Apache. More UK #1 hits followed with Kontiki, Atlantis, Wonderful Land, Foot Tapper and Dance On. Harris and Meehan left the band and were replaced by John Rostill and Brian Bennett respectively. The band continued on the coattails of Cliff Richard’s success providing music and vocals to his tracks.
The Shadows’ famous sound is attributed to guitarist Marvin’s novel and often imitated use of echo, muting and reverb techniques. They also are well-known for developing what is termed “The Shadows’ Walk” which is a series of movements the band would incorporate during live performances using their guitars in synchronised poses that would accentuate the tempo of the music. This type of movement has been copied by many bands including Showaddywaddy.
Outside of the 60s decade, The Shadows have reunited for special occasions like 1975’s Eurovision Song Contest, compilation albums and most recently a Cliff Richard anniversary tour.
Albums:
Sources: Juanita Appleby; Carol Brennan
This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com
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THE PLATTERS
The Platters started out as a Los Angeles-based doo wop group with little identity of their own to make them stand out from the pack. They made their first records for Federal, a subsidiary of Cincinnati's King Records. These early sides don't sound anything like the better-known sides that would eventually emerge from this group, instead merely aping the current R&B trends and styles of the day. What changed their fortunes can be reduced down to one very important name: their mentor, manager, producer, songwriter, and vocal coach, Buck Ram. Ram took what many would say were a run-of-the-mill R&B doo wop vocal group and turned them into stars and one of the most enduring and lucrative groups of all time. By 1954, Ram was already running a talent agency in Los Angeles, writing and arranging for publisher Mills Music, managing the Three Suns -- a pop group with some success -- and working with his protégés, the Penguins. The Platters seemed like a good addition to his stable.
After getting them out of their Federal contract, Ram placed them with the burgeoning national independent label Mercury Records (at the same time he brought over the Penguins following their success with "Earth Angel"), automatically getting them into pop markets through the label's distribution contacts alone. Then Ram started honing in on the group's strengths and weaknesses. The first thing he did was put the lead vocal status squarely on the shoulders of lead tenor Tony Williams. Williams' emoting power was turned up full blast with the group (now augmented with Zola Taylor from Shirley Gunter & the Queens) working as very well-structured vocal support framing his every note. With Ram's pop songwriting classics as their musical palette, the group quickly became a pop and R&B success, eventually earning the distinction of being the first black act of the era to top the pop charts. Considered the most romantic of all the doo wop groups (that is, the ultimate in "make out music"), hit after hit came tumbling forth in a seemingly effortless manner: "Only You," "The Great Pretender," "My Prayer," "Twilight Time," "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," "Harbor Lights," all of them establishing The Platters as the classiest of all.
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Wiliams struck out on his own in 1961 and, by the decade's end, the group had disbanded with various members starting up their own version of The Platters. This bit of franchising now extends into the present day, with an estimated 125 sanctioned versions of "the original Platters" out on the oldies show circuit.
Sources: artistdirect.com; Karen Gordon
This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com
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TOMMY STEELE
Tommy Steele OBE has been labelled Britain’s first Rock ‘n’ Roll star. Tommy was one of the first artist’s, alongside Cliff Richard, Hank Marvin amongst others, to emerge from the now legendary 2i’s Coffee Bar on Old Compton Street London, quoted as being “The birthplace of British Rock ‘n’ Roll and the popular music industry”.
These humble beginnings would propel Tommy Steele to superstardom and ultimately, he would be recognised as one of the pioneers of the British Rock ‘n’ Roll sound of the 50’s and 60’s. Tommy is also famous for claiming to have met Elvis Presley and reportedly gave him a guided tour of London, although there is no firm evidence to prove that Steeles claim is true. The general consensus is that Elvis never visited the UK.
Tommy Steele, was born Tommy W. Hicks on December 1936 in the working class area of Bermondsey, South East London. Steele was extremely proud of his working class background; he talks in detail in his autobiography (Bermondsey Boy: memoirs of a lost world) about his love for the working class culture he grew up in during the Second World War. Aged 15, Steele joined the merchant navy and it was here, that he first indulged in the art of singing, the reaction to Steele’s singing voice was always positive even at the elementary stage. While on voyages across the Atlantic in America, Tommy would for the first time hear the sounds of Rock ‘n’ Roll; he would never forget those rebellious sounds.
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After a brief stint in the compulsory national service, Tommy, at the age of eighteen joined a Skiffle band (Skiffle: a type of music originating from the American south, using homemade instrument). After becoming bored with Skiffle, Steele began playing Rock ‘n’ Roll at the 2i’s coffee bar, after a short while he was discovered by photographer John Kennedy who believed that Tommy could be the UK’s answer to Elvis Presley.
Steele, as the front man for the Steelmen shot to fame in 1956 with the single, ‘Rock With The Cavemen’ and later in the same year with the chart topping single ‘Singing the Blues’. Tommy Steele would continue to have hits throughout the rest of the 50’s and into the early sixties. Like many of his contemporaries at the time such as Cliff Richard and Adam Smith, Tommy ventured into film on both the silver screen and on stage in London’s West end.
In 1980 he was awarded an OBE for his services to entertainment, Tommy Steele continues to perform at the ripe old age of 72 and continues to display his true love and enthusiasm for entertaining the public.
Albums:
Source: Segun Murray Ogunsheye
This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com
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TINA TURNER
Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock on November 26, 1939) is a multi-platinum American rock/soul singer, songwriter, actress, and author. She is the most successful female rock artist of all time. She started her storied career by marrying Ike Turner to form The Ike & Tina Turner Revue in 1960. They had a string of hits like ‘Fool in Love’, ‘I Think It’s Gonna Work Out Fine', a cover of and the autobiographical “Nutbush City Limits”.
After her divorce from Ike Turner, who had been abusing her for years, she took on a solo career in the late 70’s. It wasn’t until 1983, with the release of a cover of Al Green’s ‘Let’s Stay Together’, that she began to make one of the greatest comebacks in history of music.
Her fifth solo album ‘Private Dancer’ produced numerous hits and earned her four Grammy Awards. In 1985, she starred in “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” beside Mel Gibson and received a Grammy nomination for ‘We Don’t Need Another Hero’, a song from the film’s soundtrack. Next, Tina brought her story to the public through her best-selling biography “I, Tina”, written with Kurt Loder. She followed with the songs ‘Break Every Rule’ and ‘Foreign Affair’. Each album was followed by successful world tours. Tina Turner announced that she would be retiring after the ‘Foreign Affair’ Tour.
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Ike and Tina Turner were inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. That same year, she released her first greatest hits CD, ‘Simply The Best’, which went platinum. In 1993, her life story was made into a motion picture, “What’s Love Got To Do with It".
Tina Turner came out of retirement to make her first original album in 1995 after the success of her song ‘Goldeneye’ from the James Bond film of the same name. She released ‘Wildest Dreams’ in 1996.
In 1999, Tina Turner turned 60 and released the album ‘Twenty Four Seven’, with a world tour following. In 2004, she released ‘All the Best’, her second greatest hits CD, in Europe.
In December of 2005 Tina Turner was honored with the prestigious Kennedy Award for her achievements in her musical career. In 2006, Tina Turner and singer Elisa released the song ‘Teach Me Again’, which was for the movie “All the Invisible Children”.
Tina currently resides in Switzerland and France with her longtime companion, Erwin Bach. More information can be found at her official site, http://www.officialtina.com/
Albums: Solo albums
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THE SUPREMES
The Supremes are arguably the most iconic girl group of all time, paving the way for African American artists both male and female to find mainstream chart success in the United States. The Supremes have become symbolic of the diva, strong black female mentality typified by more modern groups such as Destiny’s Child, En vogue and TLC. With the help of one of Americas most infamous recorded music labels, Tamla Motown, The Supreme seemed destined and armed for success, although for a while success seemed like a distant dream.
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The Supremes began as the Primettes, in 1958, Detroit, Michigan, by Florence Ballard, a Junior High school student at the time. The band were originally a four piece who embraced the local talent shows, before long they auditioned for Motown owner Berry Gordy who insisted the girls come back after graduating from high school. Un-phased the girls continued to hang around the Motown studio; Hitsville USA, in the hope of recording, the group provided handclaps and backing vocals on many songs. In 1962 the group signed to Motown Records, with group members; Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson. Initially the band took some time to get going; it wasn’t until they teamed up with the song writing dream team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland, also known as, Holland-Dozier-Holland that the hits started to pour in.
By 1964 the band had 4 consecutive No.1’s with ‘Baby Love’ ‘Come see about me’ and ‘back in my arms again’. The Supremes would continue to have hits through out the 60’s. By 1967, the group began to fall apart after tensions grew between Diana Ross and Florence Ballard, Ballard began to go off the rails, drinking and turning up late for auditions on a regular basis, Ballard left the group in 1968. The group had been re-named Diana Ross and the Supremes due to Ross’s increasing popularity. By 1969 Diana Ross left the group, to pursue a solo career. The Supremes continued to record with a new line–up, with moderate success.
The strength of The Supremes impact can be seen in the movie 'Sparkle And Dream Girls', the tony award winning musical, which was later adapted into a film (both based on The Supremes story), there image has been imitated many times by artists such as Solange Knowles, Amy Winehouse and Duffy to name a few. The Supremes legacy will be as one of the premier girl groups of all time, that were the female faces of Tamla Motown and pop music worldwide.
Group formed c. 1960 in Detroit as vocal quartet the Primettes; original members included Florence Ballard (born June 30, 1943, in Detroit; died February 22, 1976, in Detroit), Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944, in Detroit), Mary Wilson (born March 4, one source says March 6,1944, in Detroit), and Barbara Martin, who appeared as fourth member on the Primettes' first three singles.
Albums; as the Supremes:
Sources: Segun Murray Ogunsheye; David Bianco
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THE DRIFTERS
Rhythm and Blues greats The Drifters were formed in 1953 in New York, USA by Clyde McPhatter (of Billy Ward & The Dominoes) after he was approached by Atlantic Records. McPhatter recruited several members of his former group, the Mount Lebanon Singers, but this only lasted a single session. Although the band originally consisted of his former band members, this only lasted for one session, and the group soon changed to; Gerhart Thrasher and Andrew Thrasher on baritone and second tenor, Bill Pinkney on high tenor, Willie Ferbee as bass, and Walter Adams on guitar. This is the group on the second session, who produced the smash-hit ‘Money Honey’.
After this release, Ferbee was involved in an accident and Adams sadly passed, to be replaced by Jimmy Oliver. Ferbee was not replaced, although voice parts were switched about. The group released several hits, including; ‘White Christmas’ and ‘Bip Bam’, before McPhatter left in 1954 to persue a solo career. He was later replaced by Johnny Moore. This line-up had a major hit with ‘Adorable’ in 1955, and many more hits followed.
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Low salaries soon lead to a burnout between band members, seeing Pinkney and C Thrasher leaving, who were replaced by Tommy Evans and Charlie Hughes. This was the last quality line-up, who had a Top Ten hit with ‘Fools Fall in Love’ in 1957.
By early 1958, the line-up had, again changed, and was now; Bobby Hendricks (lead tenor), Gerhart Thrasher (first tenor), Jimmy Millender (baritone), Tommy Evans (bass), and Jimmy Oliver (guitar). This line-up had one moderate hit, the original version of "Drip Drop". With declining popularity, the last of the original Drifters were reduced to working the club scene and doing double duty with gigs under different band names. Oh dear.
Members include Willie Ferbee (left group, 1958), vocals; Bobby Hendricks (born on February 22, 1938, in Columbus, OH; group member, 1957-58), lead vocals; Ben E. King (born on September 23, 1938, in Henderson, NC; group member, 1959-60), lead vocals; Rudy Lewis (born on August 23, 1936, in Philadelphia, PA; died on May 20, 1964, in New York, NY; joined group, 1961), lead vocals; Clyde McPhatter (born on November 15, 1932, in Durham, NC; died on June 13, 1972, in Teaneck, NJ; left group, 1954), lead vocals; Johnny Moore (born in 1934 in Selma, AL; died on December 30, 1998, in Los Angeles, CA; group member, 1955-57, 1963), lead vocals; Andrew Thrasher (left group, 1956), vocals; Gerhart Thrasher (left group, 1958), vocals.
Group formed, 1953; "Money Honey" became number one R&B single, 1953; released "Such a Night" and "Honey Love," 1954; released Clyde McPhatter & the Drifters, 1956; single "There Goes My Baby" reached number two on the pop charts, 1959; recorded "Some Kind of Wonderful," "Up on the Roof," "Please Stay," and "On Broadway," 1960-64; recorded "Under the Boardwalk" with lead singer Johnny Moore, 1964; disbanded, late 1960s; various members have continued to regroup as the Original Drifters and under other names.
Awards: Induction, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1988.
Addresses:Record company—Rhino Records, 10635 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 200, Los Angeles, CA 90025, website: http://www.rhino.com.
Albums:
Clyde McPhatter & the Drifters, Atlantic, 1956.
The Drifters' Greatest Hits, Atlantic, 1960.
Save the Last Dance for Me, Atlantic, 1962.
Under the Boardwalk, Atlantic, 1964.
The Very Best of the Drifters, Rhino, 1993.
Rockin' & Driftin': the Drifters' Box, Rhino, 1996.
Sources: Carly Page, Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.
This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com
