(Vocals, 1914–99) Hank Snow ran away from his Canadian home at 12 to join the Merchant Marine. Wanderlust would inform his great ‘travelling’ songs, ‘I’m Movin’ On’ and ‘I’ve Been Everywhere’. A disciple of Jimmie Rodgers, Snow would bill himself as the Yodelling Ranger, until his developing baritone made him better suited for ballads like ‘Hello Love’, a hit when Snow was 60. Snow’s songs about the road would influence Johnny ...
(Singer-songwriter, 1923–53) Insofar as rock has been shaped by country music, it has been shaped by Hank Williams. Williams, a superstar at 25 and dead at 29, set standards for popular as well as country music, and was a virtual hit songwriting machine. Yet, like several young rock stars who followed him, he was unable to manage stardom and drifted into alcoholism and addiction. Williams started out performing around his native Alabama. ...
(Piano, vocals, b. 1935) After signing to Sun Records in 1957, Louisiana-born rock’n’roller Lewis, noted for his percussive piano style, opened his account with two million-selling US Top 3 hits, ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On’ and ‘Great Balls Of Fire’ (both 1957), but caused major media controversy during a 1958 UK tour when it was discovered that his wife, who was also his cousin, was 13 years old (legal in parts ...
(Vocals, 1932–63) The late Cline, who died in a plane crash, was Nashville’s queen of the heartbreak ballad who, it was said, could ‘cry on both sides of the microphone’. She was catapulted from obscurity through a performance of her maiden single (and, soon, first hit), ‘Walking After Midnight’, on a TV talent contest in 1957. While the former Virginia Hemsley scored heaviest in Billboard’s C&W charts, she crossed over into ...
At least until the 1930s and 1940s the dominant themes in country music were a celebration of bedrock rural values like family, faith, fidelity and the redeeming powers of true love and honest labour. The music served as much as anything to offer listeners comfort, reassurance and a soothing sense of place and identity. But as America’s national zeitgeist began to reflect dramatic social shifts like the industrial-age migration from country ...
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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.