old music

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Road...

With cassettes, choosing music for the car was an enormous challenge: we didn't want to have to fast forward through an unloved song or turn the volume down for three minutes and sixteen seconds.I'm still influenced by the tape days. I try to find CDs which I can enjoy in their entirety at relatively high volume. Currently, in my five-disc changer are the two Girlyman CDs, Herb Pedersen's , a Tim and Mollie O'Brien album, and a Peter, Paul and Mary compilation (Japanese import). Lots of vocals these days.

Monday, August 29, 2005

Road trip

It's been almost 20 years since my buddy Jonathan told me that we should move from Colorado, where we'd been living, to Europe. His idea was that we'd take country and American folk music to the culturally-starved Europeans. We'd reach iconic status, develop our language skills, eat and drink well, meet interesting people and return to a warm welcome in the USA after a year or so. And it all happened (except for the iconic status and the return to our homeland). Jonathan lives in Paris; I live in Switzerland (I got first choice). He visits now and then and when we cruise along the Alpine highways and back roads, our always-nostalgic conversations are supported by a carefully-selected, folk-driven soundtrack on the car's CD player.

Saturday, August 27, 2005

...beatlas

Mass hysteria resulted wherever the Beatles appeared, and Beatlemania was created. Two days later, on February 11, 1964, the Beatles sang their first concert in the United States, at the Washington Coliseum. Being from Baltimore, I waited with great interest for their arrival. The Beatles only came to Maryland once, when on September 13, 1964, they performed two shows at the Baltimore Civic Center (now the Baltimore Arena).

Friday, August 26, 2005

old tim music

What am I calling old-time music? When I use the term, I mean the traditional folk music of the Southern Appalachians. This music wa based on fiddle music of the British Isles mixed with the influences of black musicians, both slave and free. The fiddle came over from Europe with the emmigrants, the banjo came from Africa in primitive form and was refined and developed in the US cities starting before the Civil War. The Civil War spread the banjo and the minstrel tunes popular in that time into the remote Appalachian mountains, where they were adopted. The guitar came somewhat later, around the turn of the century.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Beatles 2

During their appearance, the Beatles sang five songs in the following order: All My Loving, Till There Was You, She Loves You, I Saw Her Standing There, and I Want To Hold Your Hand. On this night, seventy-three million people watched the Beatles. Their appearance had such an impact that most normal activities in America came to a standstill watching their performance. Criminal activity in most of the major cities and towns in America was put on hold, and getting a taxi or bus in New York was almost impossible, until their performance was over.

Monday, August 22, 2005

Beatles 1

Those of us in our forties and fifties today remember with fondness and excitement the atmosphere created by four young guys from Liverpool, England. As all of us remember where we were during the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, we likewise remember being transfixed in front of our small black & white television sets on February 9, 1964, when the Beatles made their first American debut on TheEd ullivanShow. In preparation for their appearance, the CBS Television office on West-Fifty-Third Street in New York was overwhelmed by more than 50,000 requests for tickets to a studio that held 700.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

The Beatles

The Beatles: John Lennon (1940- ), Paul McCartney (1942- ), George Harrison (1943- ), Ringo Starr (1940- ). A washboard and banjo band thumped British skiffle tunes at Woolton Parish Church in Liverpool on June 15, 1956. Sixteen-year-old John Lennon, leader of John and the Quarrymen (and an occasional shoplifter as well as a prankish egotist), ended a set and met Paul McCartney, 14, from the nearby Liverpool Institute. Paul, who impressed John with new guitar chords, joined the band and later invited his classmate, George Harrison, 13, to meet John. All shared the American influences of Bill Haley, Elvis, the Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, and Britain's Lonnie Donnigan--whose upbeat version of "The Rock Island Line" motivated Liverpudlian youth to form numerous skiffle bands.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Johny Ace continue

He rose to fame on Duke Records, coming thru with his first hit, "My Song," in 1952. Since then he has had eight hits in a row, including "Cross My Heart," "Please Forgive Me," "The Clock," "Yes, Baby" and the current "Never Let Me Go." The news of the singer's death caused a big demand for his past record hits. Peacock Records, which owns the Duke label, is rushing out an LP of Ace's sides to meet this demand. In addition, the label is releasing another new single, "Pledging My Love." The label will also release other sides made by Ace recently. Ace was 25 years old.

Monday, August 15, 2005

Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix was one of the greatest icons of the 1960s. His death in 1970 still stands as one of the crucial events in the history of rock music. His work may be less important, as too many of his albums were below average. Hendrix was, after all, one of the most exploited artists of all times (many more albums were released after his death than during his lifetime). Hendrix made only two amazing albums: the first and the third, Are You Experienced (1967) and Electric Ladyland (1968). His greatest achievement was to coin a new guitar style, a style that amounted to a declaration of war against western harmony. Born at the crossroad between Chicago's blues, Memphis soul and Charlie Christian's jazz improvisation, Hendrix's style was an excruciating torture of tonal music. A black man, Hendrix always used the blues as the basis for his improvisation, but then used the whole human body to play and distort the sound of the guitar.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Bee gees

Barry, Robin in 1958 they emigrated to Australia with their parents and began their career.
They took the name The Bee Gees and were seen on TV performing one of their first singles, "The Battle of The Blue & Grey".After being scored various minor hits in Australia and seeing some of their song being played by other artists, the Gibbs returned to Britain in 1967, while they finally scored a big hit in Australia with "Spicks and Specks.

Saturday, August 06, 2005

steppenwolf...cont

Danny Johnson has tored with Rod Stewart, Rick Derringer and recorded with artist Alice Cooper, drummer Carmine Appice and Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks among others. He has also written songs and played guitar on soundtracks, among them Gremlins and Wayne’s World. His combination of blues, rock and roots has garnered praise from such established publications as Rolling Stone and Guitar World. His previous solo effort Grih-Grih Thing showcased Danny’s vocal talents as well as his instrumental prowess. Following the precedence set by Grih-Grih Thing, Danny’s newest album.

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

JOHNNY ACE

Tragedy Strikes R&B Field; Johnny Ace Dies in Russian Roulette Game HOUSTON, Jan. 1, 1955 - Rhythm and blues recording star Johnny Ace accidentally killed himself while playing Russian roulette at a holiday dance here on Saturday (25). The shooting occurred at a show featuring the popular singer and his band. Ace had gone backstage for a five-minute break and had been fooling around with a revolver with one bullet in the chamber. Ace, whose real name was John Alexander, was one of the brightest stars in the r&b field.