Blues and hard-rock guitarist Gary Moore was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1952. He began playing the acoustic guitar at the age of eight, acquiring his first electric model at 14. Moore learned to play right-handed, despite being naturally left-handed. In 1969, he joined Skid Row, an Irish blues-rock group that featured Phil Lynott on ...
The original rock’n’roll lead guitarist, Scotty Moore (b. 1931) was born near Gadsden, Tennessee. Moore began playing guitar at the age of eight, largely self-taught. Although he aspired to playing jazz like Barney Kessel and Tal Farlow, he was also influenced by country guitarists like Merle Travis and, in particular, Chet Atkins. After Navy service ...
Alternative experimental guitarist Thurston Moore (b. 1958) was born in Coral Gables, Florida. Inspired by New York’s punk and new-wave scene, Moore moved to the city in 1977. While playing in a band called The Coachmen, he met Lee Ranaldo, an art student and member of Glenn Branca’s avant-garde guitar orchestra. Moore assembled a band with bassist ...
(Guitar, harmonica, banjo, vocals, 1896–1972) Gary D. Davis was born in Laurens, South Carolina and was completely blind by the age of 30. He taught himself harmonica, banjo and guitar and played in string bands throughout the teens, going on to work the Carolinas as a street singer in the 1920s. Ordained as a ...
(Vibraphone, b. 1943) Gary Burton is one of the most impressive vibists in jazz, at times using four mallets in order to harmonize with himself. He began his career in country music with guitarist Hank Garland, played jazz with George Shearing and Stan Getz, and then helped to instigate the jazz-rock fusion movement through his group with ...
(Vocals, piano, guitar, 1945–2003) Kentucky-born Stewart first recorded in 1964, and was a member of rock band The Amps. He co-wrote Stonewall Jackson’s 1965 country hit, ‘Poor Red Georgia Dirt’, and several for Billy Walker and others before signing to RCA in 1973. His first country hit was a cover of The Allman Brothers Band’s ‘Ramblin’ ...
(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 ...
(Vocals, b. 1939) This former church chorister from Virginia reached global Top 20s in 1961 with call-and-response ‘New Orleans’. While its ‘Not Me’ follow-up flopped, ‘Quarter To Three’ topped the US chart. Further US-only hits included 1962’s ‘Seven Day Weekend’, his last before the patronage of Bruce Springsteen facilitated a commercial revival in the early 1980s, both home ...
(Various instruments, vocals, b. 1958) Originally recording as Tubeway Army – the name used on his first No. 1 single ‘Are “Friends” Electric ?’ – Numan’s electronic music was influenced by Berlin-era Bowie and set in a dystopian future of his own imagining. The hypnotic synthesizers and emotionless vocals earned him a second 1979 chart topper ‘Cars’, which was ...
‘Mad World’, 2003 Gary Jules had recorded as a solo artist since 1998, but in 2001 he collaborated with Michael Andrews to cover Tears For Fears’ ‘Mad World’. The sombre remake was featured in 2003’s hit film Donnie Darko, and the appeal of the film, coupled with the song’s popularity and Jules’ strange choice of cover, made ...
Few would deny that the blues has played a more important role in the history of popular culture than any other musical genre. As well as being a complete art form in itself, it is a direct ancestor to the different types of current popular music we know and love today. Without the blues there would have been no Beatles ...
As the guitarist in Pink Floyd, David Gilmour’s place in the pantheon of guitar heroes is guaranteed. But it’s not simply his playing on albums like The Dark Side Of The Moon that has assured his status. His meticulous attention to the sound and tone of his guitar in the studio and in concert has earned the universal admiration of ...
Joni Mitchell (b. 1943) evolved from a traditional folk singer in the 1960s to a world-class singer, composer and innovator whose unique guitar tunings and jazz explorations in the 1970s and 1980s are still widely influential. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in Canada. In 1965, she moved to the United States and began touring. Some of her original ...
As the end of the twentieth century approached, the United States – its culture included – entered a rare period of recapitulation, retrieval and, ultimately, renewal. The election as President of ageing Ronald Reagan, ex-movie star and California governor, introduced unexpected neo-conservatism, an ideology that looked back to a rosy, though mythical, ...
Contemporary music whose ancestry lies in the Western classical tradition finds itself in a curious position. Nothing illustrates this better than the fact that we are not entirely sure what to call it. The label ‘classical’ seems anachronistic, especially when applied to composers who have challenged some of the fundamental assumptions of the classical tradition. ‘Concert music’ is similarly problematic ...
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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.