Grunge guitarist Kim Thayil (b. 1960) was born in Seattle, Washington. He was inspired to play guitar by Kiss, subsequently backtracking to the music which inspired them – The New York Dolls, MC5, The Stooges and The Velvet Underground. He bought his first guitar, a Guild S-100, which he would use throughout his career, ...
(Guitar, vocals, 1931–98) Along with Fat Possum labelmate R.L. Burnside, David ‘Junior’ Kimbrough, from Holly Springs, Mississippi was a leader of the 1990s juke-blues revival and had also played a part in creating the ‘Sun sound’ by influencing early rockers in the 1950s, including Charlie Feathers. Kimbrough’s approach was rooted in traditional African drum ...
(Guitar, harmonica, piano, vocals, b. 1947) Simmonds emerged as the leader of early British blues-rock band Savoy Brown in 1965. Although the Welsh-born guitarist’s group grew louder and heavier into the 1970s, he never lost his interest in the acoustic country blues that had sparked his playing. Savoy Brown soldiers on, but in 1997 Simmonds ...
(Vocals, b. 1939) Best known for her duets with Marvin Gaye, Weston was also a successful Motown solo artist. She reached R&B No. 2 with 1965’s ‘Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While)’, later covered by The Doobie Brothers, and notoriously turned down ‘Dancing In The Streets’, only to see Martha Reeves take it to ...
Blues-rock guitarist Mick Taylor was born in Hatfield, Hertfordshire in 1949. A guitarist from the age of nine, he was in his teens when he formed a group with some school friends that subsequently evolved into the Gods. Taylor made two singles with the band. When Eric Clapton failed to turn up for a Bluesbreakers gig in Welwyn Garden ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1984–97, 2010–present) Like Mudhoney, Soundgarden were another early signing to the Seattle-based Sub Pop label. Chris Cornell (vocals, guitar), Kim Thayil (guitar), Hiro Yamamoto (bass) and Matt Cameron (drums) came on like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath chewing metal on early releases like Badmotorfinger (1991) and gained success. When Nirvana broke into the big league ...
The word ‘lute’ is the collective term for a category of instruments defined as ‘any chordophone having a neck that serves as string bearer, with the plane of the strings running parallel to that of the soundboard’. In other words, the lute is a soundbox with a neck sticking out. The strings of some are plucked, some are ...
Like the synthesizer, the sampler has had a huge influence on the course of electronic music. A sampler is an instrument that can record, store and replay brief sections of audio – ‘samples’. In many ways, the Mellotron might be regarded as the earliest example of a sampling instrument. However, the sampler really came into its own ...
Janáček referred to this opera’s protagonist, Emilia Marty, as ‘the icy one’. Perhaps he was thinking of Kamila Stösslová, the opera singer in Capek’s comedy who so fascinated Janáček that he immediately requested the rights for a libretto. Capek was sceptical that the elderly composer could understand his play, yet the final result was superlative and Capek had ...
‘Resurrection Shuffle’, 1971 Keyboardist/vocalist Tony Ashton and drummer Roy Dyke were seasoned 1960s beat group musicians who had played behind George Harrison on his Wonderwall Music LP. In 1969, they met bassist Kim Gardner to form AG&D, and had a No. 3 hit with ‘Resurrection Shuffle’. Having recorded three LPs by 1972, nothing else matched ‘Shuffle’’s hit appeal ...
Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born on 17 October 1972 in Detroit, Michigan. The exact details of his upbringing there and in nearby Warren are unknown, suffice to say he was raised solely by his mother Debbie, and the upbringing, reputedly poverty-stricken, provided ample subject matter for much of the rapper’s lyrical material. 8 Mile And ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1974–present) Fusing straight blues, early rock’n’roll and classic R&B, the Texas roadhouse band – formed by guitarist Jimmie Vaughan and harpist/vocalist Kim Wilson – built a cult following throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, before breaking through commercially in 1986 with Tuff Enuff. While the band’s early Chrysalis recordings appealed mainly to blues and rock’n’roll ...
Alternative-rock guitarist Joey Santiago (b. 1965) was born in Manila, Philippines, to a wealthy family, who emigrated to the United States when President Marcos declared martial law. The family eventually settled in Massachusetts. Joey first played guitar at the age of nine, becoming a fan of Seventies punk and David Bowie. At the University of Massachusetts, ...
(K’zhesh’-tôf Pen-de-ret’-ske) b. 1933 Polish composer Following the early influence of Stravinsky and Webern, Penderecki joined the forefront of the avant-garde with Tern ofiarom Hiroszimy (‘Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima’, 1960), which uses tone-clusters, quarter-tones and graphic notation. His music of this time is searingly intense and passionate. His music softened during the late 1970s, becoming more ...
Lita Rossana Ford (b. 1958) was born in London. After her family settled in Los Angeles in the 1960s, she took up guitar at the age of 11, inspired by Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore. When she was 16, she met novelty-music producer Kim Fowley, who helped recruit her, along with Joan Jett, Sandy West, ...
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David Bowie
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