(Vocals, mandolin, b. 1944) Doyle Lawson established a reputation as a terrific mandolinist in the style of his hero Bill Monroe during stints with J. D. Crowe And The New South (1966–71) and The Country Gentlemen (1972–79). But when the eastern Tennesseean started his own band, Doyle Lawson And Quicksilver, in 1979, he took bluegrass in ...
(Banjo, pedal steel guitar, b. 1939) Keith grew up in Boston, but he fell in love with bluegrass and mastered the Scruggs roll so well that he could play fast, fluid fiddle tunes on the banjo. He founded a duo with college roommate Jim Rooney (vocals, guitar, b. 1938) and in 1963 joined Bill Monroe. ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1959–1990s) After a few tentative starts, The Country Gentlemen settled on their classic line-up in 1959: Charlie Waller (vocals, guitar, 1935–2004), John Duffey (mandolin, vocals, 1934–96), Eddie Adcock (banjo, vocals, b. 1938) and Tom Gray (bass, b. 1941). They were all great bluegrass pickers, but Duffey’s urban brand of ...
(Vocals, songwriter, b. 1972) Moorer moved to Nashville after college and started songwriting after she met Oklahoma musician Doyle ‘Butch’ Primm, whom she later married. Moorer’s debut album, Alabama Song (1998) included ‘A Soft Place To Fall’, as featured in the soundtrack to the movie The Horse Whisperer. After four major-label albums, she was released from ...
Country music has spawned numerous superstars, but few can match the impact made by the woman who became known as the Coal Miner’s Daughter. Born Loretta Webb on 14 April 1935 in Butcher’s Hollow, Kentucky, she married Oliver ‘Moonshine’ Lynn in 1949. She has been an inspiration and guide to countless aspiring female acts who followed her into ...
July Waters’ In The Flesh Tours Begin In July 1999 Roger Waters commenced his first major tour since promoting Radio K.A.O.S. in 1987. Playing to enthusiastic crowds Waters delivered a set that carefully balanced the Floyd legacy with his own solo work. The band were drilled to perfection and included famed Sixties singer P.P. Arnold on vocals ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1978–2002, 2011–present) This Sheffield band secured their first John Peel session when still at school (1981). Pulp then enjoyed/endured over a decade of cult success. Albums and singles pulsed out occasional sounds of potency, with Jarvis Cocker’s droll observational lyrics fitting snugly over indie guitars that brushed occasional electronica on tracks like ‘My Legendary Girlfriend’. By ...
(Vocals, songwriters, publishers, 1950s–60s) Brothers Virgil Doyle (1930–82) and Thurman Theodore (1931–2003) from Hardy, Arkansas, first began performing as children along with three older siblings. In the early 1950s, Doyle and Teddy recorded and toured with Webb Pierce. In 1954, striking out on their own, they signed with the Grand Ole Opry and ...
(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 ...
By definition, a contemporary era defies summary. No one living in it has the conclusive perspective to discern the prevailing character of our times, even though we all know what we’re going through, and can hear what we hear. The reductive view is: Americans, after a burst stock-market bubble and terrorist attacks, live in uncertainty, ...
By the end of the 1930s, the Swing era was in full force, ushered in by big bands led by Benny Goodman, Chick Webb, the Dorsey brothers (Jimmy and Tommy) and Glenn Miller. New Orleans jazz and its stylistic off-shoot, Dixieland, had both largely faded from popularity. New Orleans pioneers King Oliver and Jelly Roll ...
Slick, ‘radio-friendly’ smooth jazz emerged in the 1970s, and it has continued to evolve ever since. The most artful examples can make for rewarding listening, while blander compositions can be recognized by any combination of musical clichés: light funk grooves, jazz chords, slapped bass lines, corny horn accompaniments and pedicitable solos. The style has drawn ...
Although Texas has a rich legacy of acoustic country blues artists, its primary contribution to the blues was electric. An inordinate number of dazzling electric guitarists hailed from the Lone Star state, including T-Bone Walker, Clarence ‘Gatemouth’ Brown, Albert Collins, Freddie King and scores of hotshot six-stringers still on the scene. Often accompanied by flamboyant showmanship ...
AUTHORITATIVE
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.