Happy Birthday today to Garth Hudson, born Eric Garth Hudson on August 2, 1937, in Windsor, Ontario, Canada!
As the organist, keyboardist and saxophonist for Canadian-American rock group The Band, he was a principal architect of the group's unique sound. Hudson has been called "the most brilliant organist in the rock world" by Keyboard magazine.
A master of the Lowrey organ, Hudson's orchestral tone sense and style anticipated many of the sonic advances of the polyphonic synthesizer. His other primary instruments are piano, electronic keyboards, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone and accordion. He has been a much-in-demand and respected session musician, performing with dozens of artists and earning the accolades of many including Elton John, who has cited him as an early influence. He also plays in a duo with his wife, Maud, and in 2002 joined his friend Sneaky Pete Kleinow in Burrito Deluxe, an offshoot of The Flying Burrito Brothers.
Recorded by Garth Hudson in 1967, Sony Music/Legacy Recordings released The Basement Tapes Complete on November 4, 2014. The collaboration between Bob Dylan and The Band is Volume 11 of Dylan's Bootleg Series and includes 138 tracks on six CDs. In addition, a 38-track version entitled The Basement Tapes Raw was released on two CDs or three LPs.
#garthudson #theband
Remembering Jerry Garcia, born Jerome John Garcia on August 1, 1942, in San Francisco, California -- he died on August 9, 1995.
He is best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead, which came to prominence during the counterculture era. Though he disavowed the role, Garcia was viewed by many as the leader or "spokesman" of the group.
One of its founders, Garcia performed with the Grateful Dead for their entire thirty-year career (1965–1995). Garcia also founded and participated in a variety of side projects, including the Saunders–Garcia Band (with longtime friend Merl Saunders), the Jerry Garcia Band, Old and in the Way, the Garcia/Grisman acoustic duo, Legion of Mary, and the New Riders of the Purple Sage (which Garcia co-founded with John Dawson and David Nelson).
He also released several solo albums, and contributed to a number of albums by other artists over the years as a session musician. He was well known by many for his distinctive guitar playing and was ranked 13th in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" cover story.
Later in life, Garcia was sometimes ill because of his diabetes, and in 1986 went into a diabetic coma that nearly cost him his life. Although his overall health improved somewhat after that, he also struggled with heroin and cocaine addictions, and was staying in a California drug rehabilitation facility when he died of a heart attack in August 1995. #jerrygarcia #gratefuldead
Loudon Wainwright III, "Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms" in 1974.
#loudonwainwrightiii #alybain #folkmusic #fiddle
Townes Van Zandt performing "You Are Not Needed Now"
#townesvanzandt
Happy Birthday to Mick Jagger, born Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger on July 26, 1943, in Dartford, Kent! Jagger's career has spanned over 50 years, and he has been described as "one of the most popular and influential frontmen in the history of rock & roll". His distinctive voice and performance, along with Keith Richards' guitar style, have been the trademark of the Rolling Stones throughout the career of the band. Jagger gained press notoriety for his admitted drug use and romantic involvements, and was often portrayed as a countercultural figure. In the late 1960s Jagger began acting in films (starting with Performance and Ned Kelly), to mixed reception. In 1985 Jagger released his first solo album, She's the Boss. In early 2009 he joined the electric supergroup SuperHeavy. In 1989 Jagger was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2004 into the UK Music Hall of Fame with the Rolling Stones. In 2003 he was knighted for his services to popular music. #mickjagger #rollingstones - #rollingstones #mickjagger #brianjones #keithrichards #charliewatts #therollingstones #70s #80s #rockstar #classicrock #rocknroll #music #punk #70srock #70smusic #60s #70sfashion #70sstyle #80smusic #rockmusic #70svibes #70sicon #60smusic #retro #nostalgia #nostalgic #vintage #rockandroll #rockstars #musician
Levon Helm
Remembering the great Levon Helm, born Mark Lavon Helm on May 26, 1940, in Elaine, Arkansas -- he died on April 19, 2012.
Helm grew up in Turkey Scratch, Arkansas, a hamlet west of Helena, Arkansas.
Helm was an American rock and Americana musician and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and regular lead vocalist for the Band. Helm was known for his deeply soulful, country-accented voice, multi-instrumental ability, and creative drumming style highlighted on many of the Band's recordings, such as "The Weight", "Up on Cripple Creek", and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down". Helm also had a successful career as a film actor: appearing as Loretta Lynn's father in the Coal Miner's Daughter, as Chuck Yeager's friend and colleague Captain Jack Ridley in The Right Stuff, and as an iconic, Tennessee firearms expert in Shooter.
In 1998, Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer, which caused him to lose his singing voice. After treatment, his cancer eventually went into remission, and he gradually regained the use of his voice. His 2007 comeback album Dirt Farmer earned the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album in February 2008, and in November of that year, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him No. 91 in the list of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.
In 2010, Electric Dirt, his 2009 follow-up to Dirt Farmer, won the first Grammy Award for Best Americana Album, a category inaugurated in 2010 In 2011, his live album Ramble at the Ryman won the Grammy in the same category.
#levonhelm #theband
Prince Buster
Remembering Cecil Bustamente Campbell (May 24, 1938 – September 8, 2016). Known professionally as Prince Buster, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer. The records he released in the 1960s influenced and shaped the course of Jamaican contemporary music and created a legacy of work that would be drawn upon later by reggae and ska artists.
#princebuster #reggae #ska #jamaica #kingston
Sandy Denny
Remembering one of my favorite musicians, Sandy Denny, born Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny on January 6, 1947, in Merton Park, London -- she died on April 21, 1978.
The singer and songwriter is perhaps best known as the lead singer for the folk rock band Fairport Convention. She has been described as "the pre-eminent British folk rock singer".
After briefly working with British folk band the Strawbs, Denny joined Fairport Convention in 1968, remaining with that band until the end of 1969. She formed the short-lived band Fotheringay in 1970, releasing one album with them (another unreleased album surfaced over thirty years later), before focusing on a solo career.
Between 1971 and 1977, Denny released four solo albums: The North Star Grassman and the Ravens, Sandy, Like an Old Fashioned Waltz, and Rendezvous. She is also noted as the only guest vocalist on a Led Zeppelin studio album, when she shared a duet with Robert Plant for "The Battle of Evermore" on Led Zeppelin's untitled fourth album (1971).
#sandydenny #fairportconvention
Phil Ochs
Remembering Philip David "Phil" Ochs, born on December 19, 1940, in El Paso, Texas – he died on April 9, 1976.
Ochs was an American protest singer (or, as he preferred, a topical singer) and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and distinctive voice. He wrote hundreds of songs in the 1960s and '70s and released eight albums.
Ochs performed at many political events during the 1960s counterculture era, including anti-Vietnam War and civil rights rallies, student events, and organized labor events over the course of his career, in addition to many concert appearances at such venues as New York City's Town Hall and Carnegie Hall. Politically, Ochs described himself as a "left social democrat" who became an "early revolutionary" after the protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago led to a police riot, which had a profound effect on his state of mind.
After years of prolific writing in the 1960s, Ochs's mental stability declined in the 1970s. He eventually succumbed to a number of problems including bipolar disorder and alcoholism, and took his own life in 1976.
Some of Ochs's major musical influences were Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Bob Gibson, Faron Young, and Merle Haggard. His best-known songs include "I Ain't Marching Anymore", "Changes", "Crucifixion", "Draft Dodger Rag", "Love Me, I'm a Liberal", "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends", "Power and the Glory", "There but for Fortune", and "The War Is Over".
#philochs #singersongwriter #folk
Keith Richards
Happy Birthday today to Keith Richards, born on December 18, 1943, in Dartford, Kent, England! #keithrichards
Eddie Kendricks
Remembering Eddie James Kendricks (December 17, 1939 – October 5, 1992) He was an American singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group The Temptations, and was one of their lead singers from 1960 until 1971. He was the lead voice on such famous songs as "The Way You Do the Things You Do", "Get Ready", and "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)". As a solo artist, Kendricks recorded several hits of his own during the 1970s, including the number-one single "Keep on Truckin'".
#eddiekendricks #thetemptations #dianaross
Jane Birkin
Happy Birthday today to Jane Birkin, born on December 14, 1946,
in Marylebone, London, England!
She is perhaps best known for her relationship with Serge Gainsbourg in the 1970s and being the namesake of the popular Hermès Birkin bag. In recent years she has written her own album, directed a film and become an outspoken proponent of democracy in Myanmar.
Birkin emerged in the Swinging London scene of the 1960s, appearing briefly in the counterculture era film Blowup (1966) and as the fantasy-like model in the psychedelic film Wonderwall (1968). That same year, she auditioned in France for the lead female role in the film Slogan (1969). Though she did not speak French,[citation needed] she won the role, co-starring alongside Serge Gainsbourg, and she performed with him on the film's theme song, "La Chanson de Slogan" — the first of many collaborations between the two. In 1969, she and Gainsbourg released the duet "Je t'aime... moi non plus" ("I love you... me neither"). Gainsbourg originally wrote the song for Brigitte Bardot. The song caused a scandal for its sexual explicitness, and was banned by radio stations in Italy,[6] Spain, and the UK. "Je t'aime" made UK chart history in that on 4 October 1969 and the following week on 11 October, the song was at two different chart positions even though it is the same song, the same artists, and the same recorded version. The only difference was that they were on different record labels. It was originally released on the Fontana label, but due to its controversy, Fontana withdrew the record which was then released on the Major Minor label. Because there were Fontana singles still in the shops along with the Major Minor release, on 4 October 1969 the Major Minor release was at number 3 and the Fontana single at number 16. Also at that time it was the biggest ever selling single for a completely foreign language record. She appeared on Gainsbourg's 1971 album Histoire de Melody Nelson, portraying the Lolita-like protago
Garnet Mimms
Happy Birthday to one of the soul greats, Garnet Mimms born November 26, 1933. He is an American singer, influential in soul music and rhythm and blues. He first achieved success as the lead singer of Garnet Mimms & The Enchanters, and is best known for the 1963 hit "Cry Baby", later recorded by Janis Joplin. According to Steve Huey at AllMusic, his "pleading, gospel-derived intensity made him one of the earliest true soul singers [and] his legacy remains criminally underappreciated."
#garnetmimms #soulmusic @djmrfinewine
Nina
"I think that the artists who don't get involved in preaching messages probably are happier – but you see, I have to live with Nina, and that is very difficult."
• • •
Nina Simone performing "Work Song" live on the Merv Griffin Show in 1966.
#ninasimone
Gordon Lightfoot
Happy Birthday today to singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, born Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. on November 17, 1938, in Orillia, Ontario, Canada!
Lightfoot achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s. He has been referred to as Canada's greatest songwriter and internationally as a folk-rock legend.
Lightfoot's songs, including "For Lovin' Me", "Early Morning Rain", "Steel Rail Blues", "Ribbon of Darkness"—a number one hit on the U.S. country chart with Marty Robbins's cover in 1965— and the 1967 Detroit riot-generated "Black Day In July" brought him international recognition in the 1960s.
He experienced chart success in Canada with his own recordings, beginning in 1962 with the #3 hit "(Remember Me) I'm the One". Lightfoot's recordings then made an impact on the international music charts as well in the 1970s, with songs such as "If You Could Read My Mind" (1970) (#5 on the US chart), "Sundown" (1974), "Carefree Highway" (1974), "Rainy Day People" (1975), all reaching #1, and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (1976) (#2).
Lightfoot was a featured musical performer at the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta. He received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree (arts) in 1979 and the Companion of the Order of Canada—Canada's highest civilian honor—in 2003. On February 6, 2012, Lightfoot was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. In June of that same year he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
#gordonlightfoot
Lee Hazlewood performing "The Performer."
Lee Hazlewood performing "The Performer."
#leehazlewood
Booker T Jones
Happy Birthday today to Booker T. Jones, born on November 12, 1944, in Memphis, Tennessee!
He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, earning him a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement.
Booker T. Jones was named in honor of his father, Booker T. Jones, Sr., who was named in honor of Booker T. Washington, the educator. Booker T. Jones, Sr. was a science teacher at the school, providing the family with a relatively stable, lower-middle-class milieu.
Jones was a prodigy, playing the oboe, saxophone, trombone, bass, and piano at school and organ at church. He attended Booker T. Washington High School, the alma mater of Rufus Thomas and shared the hallowed halls with future stars like Isaac Hayes's writing partner David Porter; saxophonist Andrew Love of The Memphis Horns; soul singer/songwriter William Bell and Earth, Wind, & Fire's Maurice White.
Jones's first entry into professional music came at age sixteen, when he played baritone saxophone on Satellite (soon to be Stax) Records' first hit, "Cause I Love You", by Rufus Thomas and Carla Thomas. Willie Mitchell had also hired him for his band where he started on sax and moved to bass later. It was here that he met Al Jackson, Jr., who he brought to Stax.[2] Simultaneously, he formed a combo with Maurice White, and David Porter, where Jones played guitar.
While hanging around the Satellite Record Shop run by Estelle Axton, co-owner of Satellite Records with her brother Jim Stewart, Jones met record clerk Steve Cropper, who would become one of the MGs when the group formed in 1962. Besides Jones on organ and Cropper on guitar, Booker T. and the MGs featured Lewie Steinberg on bass guitar and Al Jackson, Jr. on drums (Donald "Duck" Dunn eventually replacing Steinberg). While still in high school, Jones co-wrote the group's classic instrumental "Green Onions", which became a hit in 1962.
#bookertjones #bookertandthemgs #staxrecords
Linda Thompson performing "I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight"
Linda Thompson performing "I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight" ::: From a program called Celebration (Granada TV, UK) in August 1981. This clip features the then-disbanded Fairport Convention reformed for the occasion - the Full House line-up plus Linda Thompson, and brass band in this case. ::: #richardthompson #lindathompson #fairportconvention
Joni Mitchell
Happy Birthday today to musician, singer songwriter, and painter Joni Mitchell, born Roberta Joan Anderson, on November 7, 1943, in Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada!
Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto. In 1965, she moved to the United States and began touring. Some of her original songs ("Urge for Going", "Chelsea Morning", "Both Sides, Now", "The Circle Game") were covered by notable folk singers, allowing her to sign with Reprise Records and record her own debut album in 1968.
Settling in Southern California, Mitchell, with popular songs like "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Woodstock", helped define an era and a generation. Her 1971 recording Blue was rated the 30th best album ever made in Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Mitchell switched labels and began moving toward jazz rhythms by way of lush pop textures on 1974's Court and Spark, her best-selling LP, featuring the radio hits "Help Me" and "Free Man in Paris". Her wide-ranging vocals and distinctive open-tuned guitar and piano compositions grew more harmonically and rhythmically complex as she explored jazz, melding it with influences of rock and roll, R&B, classical music, and non-western beats.
In the late 1970s, she began working closely with noted jazz musicians, among them Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, and Charles Mingus; the latter asked her to collaborate on his final recordings. She turned again toward pop, embraced electronic music, and engaged in political protest.
She is the sole record producer credited on most of her albums, including all her work in the 1970s. With roots in visual art, she has designed her own album artwork throughout her career. A blunt critic of the music industry, she quit touring and released her 17th, and reportedly last, album of original songs in 2007. She describes herself as a "painter derailed by circumstance".
#jonimitche
