YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

Crossroads

Layla

Everyday People

People Get Ready

Imagine

Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door

Keep A Knockin’

Maybellene

My Girl

MORE

@The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum : The Staple Singers enjoyed their greatest commercial success at the Memphis-based Stax label, where their message-oriented material was emplaced in a funkier setting. Their run of Top Forty hits began in 1971 with “Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom Boom)” and gained steam with the crossover success of “Respect Yourself.”

@Amazon : My friends, if my mother’s prayers are somehow heard by the Main Man Upstairs and by some unbelievable chance I make it to Heaven, I do not expect to hear the sounds of orchestras playing Mozart or choirs singing Bach. I know in my heart that the Staple Singers’ music will infiltrate every micrometer of Heaven.

@The Rita Marley Foundation : : Enduring the hardships of the initial years of the Jamaican music industry together, Bob and Rita never turned back. By the early seventies, they developed the I-Three, Jamaica’s three leading female singers (Rita Marley, Judy Mowatt, Marcia Griffiths), to provide support harmonies for Bob Marley & the Wailers, who had become the first reggae act to garnish an international record contract

@SoulTracks : Another of the great non-Motown Detroit groups formed in the late 60s, the Dramatics went through significant personnel changes over their early years as the group struggled to find a hit. They ultimately found it on Stax/Volt Records with “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get,” a latin-tinged cut lyrically based on a comic phrase popularized by Flip Wilson.

@Super Seventies RockSite : Before recording these tunes, Joe Tex used to make himself hoarse. He felt that he sounded better that way, and also more authentic, as he really did start to rasp while on long concert tours. The concept worked well for four years, but began to run out of steam in 1969.

@Little Milton : Chess carried Little Milton from southern blues circuit fame to the national spotlight and to white audiences. Milton’s recordings realized only moderate chart success, until he cut We’re Gonna Make It, which hit No. 1 on Billboard magazines R&B singles chart in 1965.

@Destination Doo-Wop : : It was not until 1953 that the group The Spaniels was actually discovered. They visited a couple - James Bracken and Vivian Carter Bracken - who were working for the local Chicago radio station WWCA. The Bracken’s liked what they heard from the group and decided to make them the first group on a new label they were starting. They named their label Vee Jay (after the initials of their first names).

@The Official Joe South Page on MySpace : In 1958, Joe South became a session guitarist in both Nashville and Muscle Shoals. South backed Eddy Arnold, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Marty Robbins and, in particular, Bob Dylan (Blonde On Blonde) and Simon And Garfunkel (most of The Sounds Of Silence).

to be continued… probably

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

Layla

Everyday People

People Get Ready

Imagine

Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door

Keep A Knockin’

Maybellene

My Girl

The Tracks of My Tears

MORE

@Songfacts : Crossroads was originally recorded by Blues musician Robert Johnson in the 1930s. According to legend, Johnson went to the crossroads and made a deal with the devil, giving up his soul for the ability to play the blues. The story originates from an interview with Blues singer Son House, who explained how Johnson went from being a terrible guitar player to a very good one in a very short period of time.

@Guitarworld : “It’s so funny, this,” Clapton says. “I’ve always had that held up as like, ‘This is one of the great landmarks of guitar playing.’ But most of that solo is on the wrong beat. Instead of playing on the two and the four, I’m playing on the one and the three and thinking, ‘That’s the off beat.’ No wonder people think it’s so good—because it’s fucking wrong.” [laughs]

@f.y.e. : : A rare trio outing with Bradley, McKinley, and Slack on the fun, loose “Down the Road a Piece” is a particular delight. Bradley was never much of a publicity hound, so he isn’t probably as well known as he should be, but the music speaks for itself.

@Amazon : The covers on this 1965 gem (Now!) are a bit more obscure than on the Stones’ first two long-players, not a bad thing for a band still getting its writing chops together. If there were still doubts that these London kids had any business playing this music, a casually scorching “Down the Road Apiece” should have allayed them.

@The Nashville Teens : Formed in 1962, The Nashville Teens were the product of the merger of two local bands in the Weybridge, Surrey, area. The band were unusual in that hey retained two lead singers - Ray Phillips and Arthur Sharp. The name was derived from the Everly Brothers song “Nashville Blues”.

@Svein Martin : Robbie Robertson said : “I practiced twelve hours a day, every day, until my fingers were bleeding, trying to get the same sound as Elmore James. This went on for weeks and weeks, and finally someone told me, ‘He plays with a slide.’”

@The Bluesmen and Women : : While still a teenager, Earl left Chicago and became a road-rambler. He returned to the south to play in Ike Turner’s band which might account for Hooker making some of his early recordings for Sam Phillip’s Sun Records company, since Turner was a talent scout for several of the independent labels

@American Studies at the University of Virginia : This is the objective of Victor Cabas’ ENTC 385 class, Mississippi in Story and Songs, at the University of Virginia. Mr. Cabas created the class “as an excuse to teach Robert Johnson,” and the class’ papers, which come out of a period of listening to and recording observations in a literary notebook on Johnson’s songs, are often the best that he gets for the entire session.

to be continued… probably

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

Everyday People

People Get Ready

Imagine

Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door

Keep A Knockin’

Maybellene

My Girl

The Tracks of My Tears

God Save the Queen

MORE

@Lyrics007 : “I tried to give you consolation. When your old man had let you down. Like a fool, I fell in love with you,Turned my whole world upside down.” (I always wondered if that song was about a “lost” dog. No, really!)

@Amazon : The short-lived ensemble that was the Dominos provided an outlet for Eric Clapton to vent his then unrequited (and secret) passion for the wife of his best friend, George Harrison. Romantic anguish inspired Clapton to write and collect an embroiling and interconnected song cycle.

@filigreeshadow : : The song “Nobody knows you when you’re down and out” has discretely traversed the Blues musical landscape. This melody, like a beacon to the poor, the washed-up, the musician and the poet, is a metaphor for the blues as a whole and an enigma as to who was its author: Jimmy Cox.

@Mahalia Jackson’s page : A lot can be said about the cooperation of Apollo and Mahalia. When Mahalia continued to make records, she found a fine partner with Apollo. They spread her records between the black comunity. She gained fame and soon becam a star. She recorded almost 100 songs for Apollo, making her the greatest and best-selling gospel singer ever.

@About.com : It’s hard to believe by listening to the sort of watered-down pap that Eric Clapton has cranked out the past few years, but at one time the big King of all Guitar Gods played with great style, passion and ingenuity. Look no further than Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton to find documentation of the artist’s early six-string prowess.

@qblog.nov.ru : “Buddy Guy & Junior Wells Play The Blues” is one of the duo’s very best albums. Two tracks are Junior Wells-less, recorded by Buddy Guy with the J. Geils Band; the remaining eight songs feature a star-studded backing band which includes pianist Dr. John on several tracks, and some guy named Eric someting. Capton, something like that.

@Merseybeat Nostalgia : : Originally called The Nomads, they recorded a track for the ‘This Is Mersey Beat’ LP then discovered a London group had registered the name so changed it to The Mojos. While appearing at the Star Club, Hamburg, they recorded what is now considered one of the classics of the ‘Mersey Sound’ , ‘Everythings Alright’ which entered the UK Top 10 charts. T

@Wikipedia : With “For Your Love”, The Yardbirds’ move into pop outraged Clapton, who at the time was a blues purist and doubted the ability of “nice college kids” like bassist Samwell-Smith to play the “real blues”. Clapton left the group in protest.[1] He then joined John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and went on to play with Cream and Blind Faith, among other acts, before pursuing a solo career.

to be continued… probably

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

People Get Ready

Imagine

Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door

Keep A Knockin’

Maybellene

My Girl

The Tracks of My Tears

God Save the Queen

Sympathy For The Devil

MORE

@Rolling Stone : “Everyday People” was released as a single shortly before it appeared on Sly and the Family Stone’s fourth LP, Stand!, which explored everything from hot funk to cool pop.

@Sly and the Family Stone : Back in 1967, when the interracial, mixed-gender combo burst onto the scene with their debut album, the burgeoning rock & roll subculture was, as always, hungry for fresh kicks and different sounds. But no one was quite prepared for the magical, multi-faceted musical mix Sly and company served up.

@Soul Seduction : : After her time exploring the music traditions of Brazil and her success with the album ”Meu Brasil” Miriam Aïda has been spotted in several national TV shows. Miriam´s extensive talent travels through a number of musical landscapes and since her debut 2002 with Jan Lundgren Trio and Fredrik Kronkvist she has released 5 albums.

@The History of Rock : The next Chiffons single. “Lucky Me” was as much a flop as “He’s So Fine” was a hit. In order to not lose momentum, the Tokens immediately produced a third single “One Fine Day.” “One Fine Day” proved to have the same simple appeal as “He’s So Fine,” and the Carole King-Gerry Goffin composition rocketed up the charts to #5 Pop in June and #6 R&B.

@Answers.com : The Radiants eventually signed with Chess and recorded under the tutelage of Billy Davis, Berry Gordy’s ex-songwriting partner. Their first release, “Father Knows Best” backed by “One Day I’ll Show You,” in 1962, stiffed in some cities but was a hit in Cleveland.

@Wikipedia : William “Beau Dollar” Bowman was a soul vocalist and drummer for King Records (USA). He performed on many studio albums for various artists under contract with King, including James Brown. His most prominent work was performed as Beau Dollar & The Dapps and Beau Dollar & The Coins.

@Ready steady girls! : : Caterina Caselli found fame in the 1966 San Remo song contest with Nessuno mi può giudicare and went on to become one of Italy’s most successful singers of the 1960s and starred in several screen musicals.

@A small selection of whatever fills my head! : David Ruffin’s unreleased third solo album, finally unleashed from deep in the Motown vault. Included on this exclusive limited edition are the original 12 tracks with Motown’s Funk Brothers band in full flower scheduled for release as Motown 733, plus seven bonus tracks from the album sessions, and the mono single mixes of the four songs issued as singles in 1971.

to be continued… probably

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

Imagine

Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door

Keep A Knockin’

Maybellene

My Girl

The Tracks of My Tears

God Save the Queen

Sympathy For The Devil

Redemption Song

MORE

@Wikipedia : Bob Dylan has recorded three different known versions of ‘People Get Ready ‘ in three different decades. Dylan recorded the song with The Band in 1967 during the famed Basement Tapes Sessions. This version has never been officially released, but is widely available on the various bootlegs of The Basement Tapes.

@Rolling Stone : Shortly after “People Get Ready” was released, Chicago churches began including their own version of it in songbooks.

@GospelFlava : : If you know Howard Hunt (aka Slim) and his Gospel sound and if you re a quartet enthusiast, you know them well then you ve been waiting a while for this live project.

@Joe South : “Games People Play” reached number twelve in the United States, but South’s wider appeal was reflected in the single’s top-ten rating in the United Kingdom. At the 1969 Grammy Awards it won both Song of the Year and Best Contemporary Song.

@Answers.com : Chuck Willis had long suffered from ulcers prior to his 1958 death from peritonitis. Much has been made of the ironic title of his last hit, the touching “What Am I Living For,” but it was no more a clue to his impending demise than its flip, the joyous “Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes.”

@allmusic : After German record producer Frank Farian recorded the single “Baby Do You Wanna Bump?” he created Boney M to support the song, bringing in four West Indian vocalists who had been working as session singers in Germany -

@The History of Rock’n Roll : : The Four Tops only recorded one single with Chess “Kiss Me Baby’ which flopped. They then went to Red Top and Riverside before they were signed by John Hammond to Columbia in 1960 where they recorded “Ain’t That Love.” This was the first of a string of supper club style flops that lasted for seven years on a number of labels. All the while, they were performing in top clubs. The Four Tops toured with the Billy Eckstine revue in the early ’60s.

@soulwwalking : Curtis wrote tender love songs and those protesting social and political equality. Decades later Bob Marley lifted lines from ‘People Get Ready’ to populate his own recording, ‘One Love’.

to be continued… probably

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door

Keep A Knockin’

Maybellene

My Girl

The Tracks of My Tears

God Save the Queen

Sympathy For The Devil

Redemption Song

God Only Knows

MORE

@IMDB : Imagine: John Lennon (1988) (the movie) This a documentary taken from the various home movies arranged by John Lennon as a personal record and edited into this film to be a rebuttal to the character assassination in the biography, “The Lives of John Lennon

@Wikipedia : Recorded and released in 1971, Imagine (the album) tended toward songs that were gentler, more commercial and less avant-garde than the ones he released on his more critically acclaimed previous album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.[1] The difference, he said, was that Imagine was “chocolate-coated for public consumption”, in reference to the strings so prevalent throughout.

@Imagine Peace : : IMAGINE PEACE TOWER is an outdoor work of art conceived by Yoko Ono in memory of John Lennon.It is situated on Viðey Island in Reykjavík, Iceland [map], powered entirely by Geothermal Energy.

@Marcia Griffiths : She says “I started singing professionally as a vocalist in 1964, for Byron Lee and the Dragonaires band.” Her recording years started soon after, at Coxsone Dodd - Studio One where she recorded her first hit “Feel Like Jumping.”

@Ligia Piro : Dedicated to jazz and bossa nova, since 1995, she made presentations in all the Buenos Aires circuit and jazz festivals.

@Connie Evingson : CONNIE EVINGSON is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has appeared in clubs and concert halls across the U.S., in Europe and Japan, and has been a guest soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony conducted by Doc Severinsen, and the Vocalessence Music Series with Bobby McFerrin.

@Petra Magoni : : Eclectic by nature, she has collaborated with the rapper Stiv and with jazz musicians like Stefano Bollani, Antonello Salis, Ares TavolazziǍ

@AllBrazilianMusic : Soon enough, Rita Lee abandoned classical music and started playing the drums at school parties during her teens. Later on, Lee learnt to play the bass and founded a vocal female group.

to be continued… probably

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

Keep A Knockin’

Maybellene

My Girl

The Tracks of My Tears

God Save the Queen

Sympathy For The Devil

Redemption Song

God Only Knows

I Walk The Line

MORE

@Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door : What it is: is 191 versions of Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (originally written in 1973 by Bob Dylan for the film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid) performed by some170 different recording

@Routledge : Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door offers a critically sophisticated and truly interdisciplinary analysis of the relationship between biblical studies and contemporary culture. Specific biblical texts are examined in the light of cultural criticism and areas of popular culture including pornography, heavy metal music and McDonald’s hamburgers in the light of biblical criticism. (oups! that KOHD, the book, not the song)

@IMDB : : Two young men, Martin and Rudi, both suffering from terminal cancer, get to know each other in a hospital room. They drown their desperation in Tequila and decide to take one last trip to the sea. Drunk and still in pajamas they steal the first fancy car they find, a 60’s Mercedes convertible ((hmmm! that KOHD, the movie, not the song)

@Pat Boone : In1959 Pat Boone wrote the lyric to the theme from the movie “Exodus,” about thecreation of the State of Israel. Itprovided him a special connection with the country, one that he has maintained. Today Boone is Christian Ambassador toIsrael, leading many tours of the country for the Christian BroadcastingNetwork. He also possesses an IsraelCultural Award, the country’s highest award for a non native.

@Amazon : A persuasive band singer, Kitty Kallen never got the sustained record label support she needed to maintain a longterm solo career. She also was a wife and mother and put her family first, so that figured in too.

@Vinilemania : Trombonist, composer and arranger Juan Pablo Torres debuted with Armando Romeu’s Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna in 1967, working alongside future Irakere greats Chucho Valdés, Paquito D’Rivera and Arturo Sandoval before founding his own jazz ensemble, Algo Nuevo. As a producer he guided such legendary sessions as Estrellas de Areito (1979).

@The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum : : King Curtis was working as Aretha Franklin’s musical director and had also recently done sessions for John Lennon’s Imagine album when he was stabbed to death by a drug addict with whom he argued outside his New York City apartment on August 13, 1971.

@Doctor Mooney : For a few years now I’ve been trying to find recordings of Dylan’s performance at the 1965 Newport Folk festival. You know the one when he had the Paul Butterfield Blues Band sans Paul Butterfield (Blues Band) backing him and made Pete Seeger want to find an axe to cut the cable. The performance that he was nailed to the wall for.

to be continued… probably

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

Maybellene

My Girl

The Tracks of My Tears

God Save the Queen

Sympathy For The Devil

Redemption Song

God Only Knows

I Walk The Line

Walk On The Wild Side

MORE

@Little Richard - eeeeOOOOO! : Richard announced that he’ll retire from show business next year, and dedicate his life to God. “I’ll be 70 years old this year, and in fact I should be thankful that I still have health because all my friends are dead and gone and God has let me still be here.”

@Wikipedia : The drum introduction played by Earl Palmer in the Little Richard recording inspired the drum introduction John Bonham played for the song “Rock and Roll” by Led Zeppelin, recorded in their album Led Zeppelin IV.

@Elvispelvis.com : : Along with Bob Wills — who he performed with at the beginning of this career — Milton Brown developed the sound and style of Western Swing in the early ’30s and for a while he and his band, the Musical Brownies, were just as popular as Wills and his Texas Playboys.

@S p a c e A g e P o p M u s i c : The list of artists Caiola worked with is so long and so star-studded that it becomes a bit mind-numbing. It’s safe to say that he worked with just about every other New York musician in these pages, as well as pop artists from Tony Bennett to Andy Williams, and most of the mainstream singers in between.

@Vinilemania : Now 86, Candido is a musical giant hailed as one of the greatest Cuban percussionists to come to the United States. His musical gift is a powerful, driving force as he plays percussion with fingers that demonstrate technical ability with a love for music. Even when Candido performs alone on stage, the stage seems full.

@Poncho Sanchez : “It’s always worked for me and Concord,” Poncho Sanchez says, describing his unique, long-lasting relationship with the label that stands in contrast to the experience of virtually all of his peers. Picante, in fact, celebrates its 25-year anniversary in 2005, and the conguero has been part of the family for much of that time.

@Solid! : : Considered one of the greatest arrangers of all-time, Van Alexander worked with a variety of orchestras during the big band era. One of his most successful arrangements was the 1938 Chick Webb hit ”A-Tisket, A-Tasket,” a song he co-wrote with vocalist Ella Fitzgerald.

@Pinetop Perkins : Pinetop is best known for holding down the piano chair in the great Muddy Waters Band for twelve years during the highest point of Muddy’s career. Replacing the late, great Otis Spann in 1969, Pinetop helped shape the Waters sound and anchored Muddy’s memorable combo throughout the seventies with his brilliant piano solos.

to be continued… probably

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

My Girl

The Tracks of My Tears

God Save the Queen

Sympathy For The Devil

Redemption Song

God Only Knows

I Walk The Line

Walk On The Wild Side

Then He Kissed Me

MORE

@Wedding by Colour : One of the first thing I figured out after we got engaged is what kind of ride we were going to have. I had a black 64 cadillac named Maybellene awhile back. She purred like a kitten. Its also where I got my name. Maybellene is a Chuck Berry song about a girl with a Cadi who drives too fast and won’t be true.

@Dailypress.com : Car songs are practically a genre unto themselves within rock and roll music. To narrow the field a bit, we’re leaving out car songs that aren’t really about cars but about, ahem, something else (such as “Little Red Corvette” and “Baby You Can Drive My Car”), and we’re limiting it to one song per artist, since certain performers (such as the Beach Boys and Bruce Springsteen) are rather known for their car songs.

@Kristy’s Marty Robbins Page : : In 1955, Marty earned his third top ten with That’s All Right Mama, originally recorded by Elvis Presley. His fourth came in the same year when Marty recorded the Chuck Berry hit Maybelline.

@FrankIfield.com : The third #1 single ‘Wayward Wind’ did battle with a new band that I had just given a break to as support act on my one-night-stand touring show - The band was the Beatles, who up to then had only worked in Liverpool.

@pop.nu : This was the Standells last album. It is arguably their best album ever, despite it’s schizoid nature. The tracks were taken from various recording sessions, and there isn’t a consistant sound throughout the album

@The History of Rock’n Roll : Rather than being set back by the cover (of “The Twist”) Ballard and the Midnighters benefited. By the middle of 1960, they had three simultaneous hits in the pop top 40: “Finger Poppin’ Time”, “Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go”, and their original version of “The Twist.” And Ballard came up with other dance-oriented hits for the group, including “The Hoochie Coochie Coo”, “The Continental Walk”, “The Float”, and “The Switch-A-Roo”, but chart action dried up after 1961 and group members began to defect.

@Blues Music Now! : : Rogers and his wife, Dorothy, bought a clothing store on Chicago’s west side and made a decent living until the business burned in the riots precipitated by the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968. The disaster sent Rogers back on the road as a musician, including an extended stay in Europe, where his music was well received.

@Danny & The Juniors : At that time, record companies were engaged in a frenzied search for young people who could perform the new music. It wasn’t very long before they discovered the youths, re-named them Danny & The Juniors and recorded them singing one of their own original songs called At The Hop.

to be continued… probably

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

The Tracks of My Tears

God Save the Queen

Sympathy For The Devil

Redemption Song

God Only Knows

I Walk The Line

Walk On The Wild Side

Then He Kissed Me

Try a Little Tenderness

MORE

@Wikipedia : The recorded version of “My Girl” was the first Temptations single to feature David Ruffin on lead vocals. Previously, Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams had performed most of the group’s lead vocals, and Ruffin had joined the group as a replacement for former Temptation Elbridge “Al” Bryant.

@Time : Written by the uber-talented Smokey Robinson, “My Girl” is one of Motown’s most familiar songs. Often clad in glittering, matching ensembles, The Temptations appeared on Shindig!, a mid-60s ABC variety show, in more subdued attire.

@History of Rock : : Floyd wrote many hits for many artists, in particular for Wilson Pickett and for Otis Reddin. He had several hits in the Seventies, with songs like …. ” I’ve Never Found has Girl ” into 72 (Co-written with Booker T Jones), always at Stax, where he remain until Stax folded in 1975.

@Answers.com : Continuity is maintained between the Spector tracks and later hits such as “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and “See That Girl” thanks to Righteous Brother Bill Medley’s Spector-like production work while at Verve.

@soulwalking : When she (Mary Wells) was 17 years of age, she wrote the song ‘Bye Bye Baby’, which was originally intended to be given to Jackie Wilson. Mary ended up recording the song herself and it became her first Motown single in 1961. Berry Gordy had, by then, taken her under his Motown umbrella and the song hit the top 50.

@Norton Records : I traded Johnny Thunders’ white boots for a copy of a Shangri-Las album. Long story short, he proposed a trade. What’s a girl supposed to do? He got the boots, I got Right Now And Not Later, Out In The Streets — a dozen superb songs packaged in spooky cover with mysterious forensic police sketch style artwork — the Shangri-Las second album.

@Bobby Rydell : : He was also featured in the now classic Columbia Pictures “Bye Bye Birdie” as Ann Margaret’s boyfriend, Hugo Peabody. When producers saw the magic on the screen they expanded the original role of Hugo and wrote new songs for him.

@allmusic : That’s when Dionne Warwick hooked up with Burt Bacharach and Hal David, songwriters and producers who wrote their unusually complicated songs for her aching yet detached alto voice. Warwick is inescapably associated with those songs, even though she managed to build a career after leaving Bacharach and David that drew upon their style for other memorable recordings, such that she remains a unique figure in popular music.

to be continued… probably