Nels Cline (b. 1956) was born in Los Angeles. He first came to prominence in the 1980s playing jazz, often with his identical twin brother, drummer Alex Cline. Cline has worked with many notable musicians in alternative rock, including Mike Watt, Thurston Moore and Wilco, of which he became a full-time member in 2004. Cline appears ...
(Record producer, b. 1911) A major force in country music’s development during the post-war years, Minnesota-born Kenneth F. Nelson began his days at Capitol Records on the behest of old friend Lee Gillette, handling transcriptions. When Gillette took over the label’s pop division in 1951, Nelson took over the A&R country responsibilities, having first become involved ...
One of country music’s most influential and enduringly popular figures, Patsy Cline managed to transcend with seeming effortlessness the uneasy rift between traditional country music and the more urbane Nashville sound that emerged full-blown in the late 1950s. Crossover Diva Cline was one of the few female artists at the forefront of the emerging Nashville sound. With her smooth yet ...
A few days after Christmas, 1969, Willie Nelson (b. 1933) watched his house outside Nashville burn to the ground. Going up in flames were not only his furniture, guitars and only copies of unpublished songs – but also some of his ties to Music Row. A New Beginning Nelson had begun the decade as one of the hottest ...
(Vocals, 1940–85) Born into a showbiz family – his father was bandleader Ozzie Nelson – Eric Hilliard Nelson starred in the the radio show and TV sitcom, The Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet, with his family. In 1956, a girlfriend told him she preferred Elvis Presley, so he made a record. 1957’s million-selling ‘I’m Walking’/‘A Teenager’s ...
(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 ...
Although Insomniac had failed to repeat the commercial success of Dookie, it had maintained Green Day’s international momentum. Their constant touring had worn out their mental joints, leading to the cancellation of European dates in 1996; a period of reflection and musical re-evaluation followed. The gap between Nimrod (1997) and Warning (2000) removed Green Day from public eye and ...
January ‘Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)’ Billie Joe had actually written the acoustic ‘Good Riddance’ back in 1993 after his relationship with his first serious girlfriend Amanda ended. This bittersweet song was released as a single and, as well as becoming a hit, crossed over into a wider cultural arena, where it was used to highlight clips ...
February Producer Upheaval As producer and friend, Rob Cavallo had been pivotal in Dookie, Insomnia and Nimrod but the band thought change might stimulate their next album and turned to Scott Litt who had been crucial in delivering R.E.M.’s finest work. Litt saw the band perform their first acoustic-only set at Neil Young’s Bridge Street fundraiser ...
April California Music Awards Whilst their critical stock may have been low in other territories, it remained high in the Bay Area. This was confirmed when Green Day won eight statuettes at the annual California Music Awards (formerly the Bammies) held in Oakland on 24 April, hosted by Huey Lewis. Warning won Outstanding Album, and Outstanding Punk Rock/Ska ...
Spring Pop Disaster Tour Dookie spawned a number of Green Day imitators such as Blink-182, who scored hit singles including ‘What’s My Age Again ?’. Green Day shocked everyone by co-headlining with Blink-182 on the 42-date Pop Disaster Tour in America in April and May 2002. ‘I think we’ve had a broader experience,’ Billie Joe told Alternative Press, ...
The most famous living guitarist in the world, Eric Clapton’s career has passed through an extraordinary series of highs and lows during his long reign as a guitar hero. He has also experimented with numerous stylistic changes, but has always returned to his first love, the blues. A love child born in 1945, Clapton was brought up ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1994–present) Frontman and principal songwriter Jeff Tweedy formed Wilco – John Stirratt (bass), Nels Cline (guitar), Glenn Kotche (drums), Pat Sansone (various instruments) and Mikael Jorgensen (keyboards) – after disbanding country heroes Uncle Tupelo. Throughout countless personnel ‘changes’ and label squabbles they made a series of five albums (culminating in 2005’s A Ghost Is Born) that moved further ...
The singing cowboys did not have the monopoly on country music on the silver screen, although it was their breed that first caught Hollywood’s attention. By the time the 1940s rolled around, several of Nashville’s top stars found that they could expand their careers by bringing their talents to the vast new audiences. Singing Stars In the earlier decade ...
The 1950s and 1960s were milestone decades for country music. It was during these years that the stylistic tensions between traditional and contemporary, rural and urbane, became sharply delineated and the first ideological and aesthetic battle lines between the traditionalists and modernists were drawn in the sand. Out of this tension arose bold innovation and refreshing diversity. The 1950s ...
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