British rock and roll, or Brit rock, was born out of the influence of rock and roll and rhythm and blues from the United States, but added a new drive and urgency, exporting the music back and widening the audience for black R & B in the U.S. as well as spreading the gospel world wide. Much of what has made rock music unique, in its ability to unite audiences and adapt new influences, came from British bands in the late 50s and rock groups in the early 60s.
The genre gathers several other rock wings, as Great Britain was and still is one of the countries with indefinite resource for music, especially rock music. Therefore rock&roll, canterbury sound, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, heavy metal, folk rock found their success in the UK in the '60, but with a different beat and sound, adapted to the local prefferences and styles. The glm rock in the '70s and punk rock in the '80s represents brit rock in the post-hippie era.
Many of the more recent successful forms, subgenres, and artists of rock and pop music have originated or found their greatest success in the UK. Major stars of the 1960s and '70s ranging from Eric Clapton to Peter Gabriel moved on from rock bands to great success as solo performers. In the early 1980s, the sound of synth pop typified much British rock music ranging from chart hits to off the radar works. Alternative rock played an important role in the UK in the development of the british music apart from the influences from USA.
In Britain today, the terms of "pop" and "rock" are still more closely associated with each other than in the United States, where due to prejudice and musical history "pop" usually denotes only a solo artist, often female, seen to represent a tradition outside the province of guitar based music or with a very wide popularity. Thus, in the UK a band such as Radiohead might be characterized as pop, to denote their synth based sound and often populist appeal, while in the United States they might be categorized as rock, most likely as "alternative rock", for their "authentic," sometimes dark lyrics, perhaps for being white and male, and certainly for appealing to the type of people seen to listen to critic-sanctioned indie rock bands, rather than "superficial pop" music.
This is Radiohead with the hit "You"
Soft rock, also referred to as light rock or easy rock, is a style of music which uses the techniques of rock and roll to compose a softer, supposedly more ear-pleasing sound for listening, often at work or when driving. Soft rock is usually sung with higher-pitched vocals, and the lyrics tend to be non-confrontational, focusing in very general language on themes like love, everyday life and relationships. The genre tends to make heavy use of pianos, synthesizers and sometimes saxophones.
Soft rock as a genre distinction has come to refer specifically to a style of rock that emerged in the early 1970s, both as a reaction against the increasingly heavy music that dominated rock at the time, and also as a reflection of the changing priorities of the Baby Boom in the early 1970s. What set '70s soft rock apart from its '60s counterpart, which for lack of a better word is usually just called "pop", is that in the '60s pop existed for those who simply didn't like rock; the 1960s' pop artists usually were vocalists who were stylistic throwbacks to the pre-rock era. Soft rock developed organically to suit the needs of those who did have rock listening experience; as such, it can be considered a bona fide rock genre.
Soft rock became hugely popular later in that decade. By 1977, some radio stations, like New York's WTFM and WYNY, had switched to an all-soft-rock format. Around that same time, Chicago, which had previously been a jazz-rock band, switched to soft rock and reached their biggest commercial successes. British blues band Fleetwood Mac achieved its greatest success after adopting this genre. Their success was further solidified after they had the highest selling soft rock album ever, Rumours. Even Led Zeppelin, considered by some to be standard bearers of hard rock, flirted with the genre at the time in songs like 1979's "All My Love". By the 1980s, tastes had changed and radio formats reflected this change; the genre evolved into what came to be known as "adult contemporary", a pop categorization that bore less overt rock influence than its forebear. (Wiki)
This song is called "The Chain", sang by Fleetwood Mac on their 1977' album "Rumours".
In the late 1970s and 1980s, one of the most popular forms of rock and roll was heartland rock. It was characterized by a straightforward musical style, a concern with the average, blue collar American life, and a conviction that rock music has a social or communal purpose beyond just entertainment.
The origins of "Heartland Rock", like that of so many genres, are as nebulous and difficult to describe as the genre's definition itself. The genre began as a confluence of white soul, garage rock, rhythm and blues and rock and roll.
While the genre emerged recognizably into the mainstream in the late 1970s with the commercial success of Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger, and Tom Petty, the genre's antecedents appeared throughout pop chart history, via popular artists like Bob Dylan, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels and Van Morrison, and lesser-known examples (The Flaming Ember, whose 1971 hit "Westbound Number Nine" was an example of the mixing of garage rock, rhythm and blues and rock influences that would later exemplify the genre) and earlier ones like Eddie Cochran and Del Shannon.
The genre reached its commercial, artistic and influential peak in the mid-1980s, with John Mellencamp joining Springsteen, Seger, and Petty as its most prominent artists.
In concert, heartland rock often took the form of crowd-rousing anthems, leading to comparisons with Midwestern arena rock groups such as REO Speedwagon and Head East, whose style however owed more to seventies pop rock.
Most heartland rock shared some common characteristics:
- Traditional instrumentation - Guitars (electric, acoustic, and bass), drums, and non-synthesizer keyboards (pianos and the Hammond B3 and Farfisa organs) predominate. The harmonica and mandolin also appear frequently
- Influences - Heartland rock owed much to pre-1964 rock and rhythm and blues, and to a lesser extent country and western, rockabilly, the British Invasion, and the "White Soul" of the 1960s and 1970s. Artists like Van Morrison and Bob Dylan had wide influence, as did the rhythm and blues of the Stax/Volt record label.
- Subject matter - Heartland rock was no less diverse than any other genre - but, as discussed by writers Dave Marsh and Robert Christgau among others – at its core its most constant theme was isolation in many forms: Social Isolation, Physical Isolation , Economic Isolation, Personal Isolation
This is an 1969 well known hit of Creedence - "Proud Mary"
Post-rock is a music genre characterized by the use of musical instruments commonly associated with rock music, but utilizing rhythms, harmonies, melodies, timbre, and chord progressions that are not found in rock tradition. Simply put, it is the use of 'rock instrumentation' for non-rock purposes. Practitioners of the genre's style typically produce instrumental music.
As with many musical genres, the term is arguably inadequate as a concise descriptor: for example, Don Caballero and Mogwai were among the more prominent bands of the 1990s described as post rock, but the two bands' music has very little in common besides the fact that they are both largely instrumental. As such, the term has been the subject of backlash from listeners and artists alike.
The post-rock sound incorporates characteristics from a variety of musical genres, including ambient, jazz, electronica, and experimental.[3] Early post-rock groups also often exhibited strong influence from the krautrock of the '70s, particularly borrowing elements of "motorik", the characteristic krautrock rhythm.
Post-rock compositions often make use of repetition of musical motifs and subtle changes with an extremely wide range of dynamics. In some respects, this is similar to the music of Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and Brian Eno, pioneers of minimalism.[24] Typically, post-rock pieces are lengthy and instrumental, containing repetitive build-ups of timbre, dynamics and texture.
Some bands, such as Rachel's and Clogs, combine post-rock with classical music, while others such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor are so far removed from popular music in their sparseness of arrangement and use of repetition, that they are frequently compared to minimalism.
Wider experimentation and blending of other genres have recently taken hold in the post-rock scene. Isis and Pelican, among others, have fused metal with post-rock styles. The resulting sound has been termed post-metal.
Today, despite criticism of the term, post-rock has maintained its prominence and the genre has been subject to no shortage of groups claiming the title. Post-rock outfits Explosions in the Sky, Pelican and Mono have risen in popularity, showing the longevity of the disputed genre.
This is Explosion in the Sky with their performance in Seattle, in 2007 - "The birth and death of the day"
Pearl Jam rose from the ashes of Mother Love Bone to become the most popular American rock & roll band of the '90s. After vocalist Andrew Wood overdosed on heroin in 1990, guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament assembled a new band, bringing in Mike McCready on lead guitar and recording a demo with Soundgarden's Matt Cameron on drums.
Thanks to future Pearl Jam drummer Jack Irons, the demo found its way to a 25-year-old San Diego surfer named Eddie Vedder, who overdubbed vocals and original lyrics and was subsequently invited to join the band (then christened Mookie Blaylock after the NBA player). Dave Krusen was hired as the full-time drummer shortly thereafter, completing the original lineup. Renaming themselves Pearl Jam, the band recorded their debut album, Ten, in the beginning of 1991, although it wasn't released until August; in the meantime, the majority of the band appeared on the Andrew Wood tribute project Temple of the Dog. Krusen left the band shortly after the release of Ten; he was replaced by Dave Abbruzzese.
Compared with the other grunge bands of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam’s style is noticeably less heavy and harkens back to the classic rock music of the 1970s. Pearl Jam has cited many punk rock and classic rock bands as influences, including The Who, Neil Young, and the Ramones. Pearl Jam’s success has been attributed to its sound, which fuses "the riff-heavy stadium rock of the '70s with the grit and anger of '80s post-punk, without ever neglecting hooks and choruses."
Pearl Jam has broadened its musical range with subsequent releases. By 1994’s Vitalogy, the band began to incorporate more punk influences into their music. The band’s 1996 album, No Code, was a deliberate break from the musical style of Ten. The songs on the album featured elements of garage rock, worldbeat, and experimentalism. After 1998’s Yield, which was somewhat of a return to the straight-ahead rock approach of the band's early work, the band dabbled with experimental art rock on 2000’s Binaural and folk rock elements on 2002’s Riot Act. The band’s latest album, 2006’s Pearl Jam, was cited as a return to the band’s early sound.
Critic Jim DeRogatis describes Vedder's vocals as a "Jim Morrison-like vocal growl."[68] Vedder's lyrical topics range from personal ("Alive", "Better Man") to social and political concerns ("Even Flow", "World Wide Suicide"). When the band started, Gossard and McCready were clearly designated as rhythm and lead guitarists, respectively. The dynamic began to change when Vedder started to play more rhythm guitar during the Vitalogy era. McCready said in 2006, "Even though there are three guitars, I think there's maybe more room now. Stone will pull back and play a two-note line and Ed will do a power chord thing, and I fit into all that."The band released a total of 8 studio albums between 1991 and 2006, 7 live albums and gathered several awards, including 4 MTV Music Video Awards, in 1993 (for "Jeremy" video) and one Grammy in 1996 (Best Hard Rock Performance - "Spin the Black Circle").
This is "Even Flow" from "Ten" album:
As promised, here it is the short history of a huge rock band:
Deep Purple survived a seemingly endless series of lineup changes and a dramatic mid-career shift from grandiose progressive rock to ear-shattering heavy metal to emerge as a true institution of the British hard rock community; once credited in the Guinness Book of World Records as the globe's loudest band, their revolving-door roster launched the careers of performers including Ritchie Blackmore, David Coverdale, and Ian Gillan.
Deep Purple was formed in Hertford, England, in 1968, with an inaugural lineup that featured guitarist Blackmore, vocalist Rod Evans, bassist Nick Simper, keyboardist Jon Lord, and drummer Ian Paice.
Initially dubbed Roundabout, the group was first assembled as a session band for ex-Searchers drummer Chris Curtis but quickly went their own way, touring Scandinavia before beginning work on their debut LP, Shades of Deep Purple. The most pop-oriented release of their career, the album generated a Top Five American hit with its reading of Joe South's "Hush" but otherwise went unnoticed at home. The Book of Taliesyn followed (in the U.S. only) in 1969, again cracking the U.S. Top 40 with a cover of Neil Diamond's "Kentucky Woman."
With their self-titled third LP, Deep Purple's ambitions grew, however; the songs reflecting a new complexity and density as Lord's classically influenced keyboards assumed a much greater focus. Soon after the album's release, their American label Tetragrammaton folded, and with the dismissals of Evans and Simper, the band started fresh, recruiting singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover from the ranks of the pop group Episode Six.
The revamped Deep Purple's first album, 1970's Concerto for Group and Orchestra, further sought to fuse rock and classical music. When the project, which was recorded with the
1971's Fireball was also a smash, scoring a hit with "Strange Kind of Woman." Plans to record the follow-up at the Casino in Montreux, Switzerland, were derailed after the venue burned down during a live appearance by Frank Zappa, but the experience inspired Deep Purple's most enduring hit, the AOR staple "Smoke on the Water." The song, featured on the multi-platinum classic Machine Head, reached the U.S. Top Five in mid-1972 and positioned Deep Purple among rock's elite; the band consolidated its status with the 1973 studio follow-up Who Do We Think We Are and the hit "Woman From Tokyo." However, long-simmering creative differences between Blackmore and Gillan pushed the latter out of the group that same year, with Glover soon exiting as well; singer David Coverdale and bassist/singer Glenn Hughes were recruited for 1974's Burn, and Gillan meanwhile formed a band bearing his own name.
All the changes clearly took their toll, however, and following a farewell tour, the group dissolved in 1976 with Coverdale going on to form Whitesnake; Bolin died of a drug overdose later in the year. The classic lineup of Blackmore, Gillan, Lord, Glover, and Paice reunited Deep Purple in 1984 for a new album, the platinum smash Perfect Strangers; The House of Blue Light followed three years later, but as past tensions resurfaced, Gillan again exited in mid-1989. Onetime Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner was recruited for 1990's Slaves and Masters before Gillan again rejoined to record The Battle Rages On..., an apt title as Blackmore quit the group midway through the supporting tour, to be temporarily replaced by Joe Satriani.
In 1994, Steve Morse took over the guitar slot, fresh from a stint in Kansas; the revitalized group returned to the studio for 1996's Purpendicular, which proved a success among the Purple faithful. 1998's Abandon followed, as well as a 1999 orchestral performance released the following year as Live at the Royal Albert Hall. Deep Purple was given the box set treatment the same year with the four-disc set Shades: 1968-1998, which collected hits, demos, live takes, and unreleased tracks from throughout the years (touching upon all of Purple's different lineups). The late '90s/early 2000s saw the release of several other archival releases and collections (Machine Head 25th Anniversary, Friends & Relatives, Rhino's The Very Best Of, and Days May Come and Days May Go: The 1975 California Rehearsals), as well as a slew of DVDs (Total Abandon: Live Australia 1999, In Concert with the London Symphony Orchestra, Bombay Calling, and New Live & Rare). Former member Blackmore also kept himself busy after leaving the band by issuing a single album with his briefly resuscitated outfit Rainbow (1998's Stranger in Us All), before forming the Renaissance-inspired Blackmore's Night with fiancée/vocalist Candice Night.
Despite numerous lineup upheavals during their career, Deep Purple remains alive and well in the 21st century. (All Music Guide)
This is "Highway Star" in a live performance from 2007. For the meanings of this hit read this article.
Read also:
- Songmeanings - Deep Purple , "Highway Star"
- Deep Purple - Son Of Alerik
- Whitesnake
- Biographies - Joe Satriani, "Always With You, Always With Me"
This is the newest category of Music Blessing JukeBlog. As the title clearly states here you will find career info on several artists mostly of corse from rock music (and genres...) but also from music linked domains.
Joe Satriani
Along with teaching some of the top rock guitar players of the '80s and '90s, Joe Satriani is one of the most technically accomplished and widely respected guitarists to emerge in recent times. Born on July 15, 1956, in Westbury, NY, and raised in the nearby town of Carle Place, Satriani -- inspired by guitar legend Jimi Hendrix -- picked up the guitar at the age of 14 (although he was initially more interested in the drums). Quickly learning the instrument, Satriani began teaching guitar to others and found a kindred spirit in one of his students, Steve Vai. By the late '70s, however, Satriani had relocated to Berkeley, CA. With his sights set on his own musical career, "Satch" kept teaching others, including such future rock notables as Kirk Hammett (Metallica), Larry LaLonde (Primus), David Bryson (Counting Crows), and jazz fusion player Charlie Hunter.
In the early '80s, Satriani got a gig playing guitar with power popster Greg Kihn, doing some session work and touring with the group (an archival release recorded around this time, King Biscuit Flower Hour, was later issued in 1996), and issuing his own solo self-titled EP in 1984, financing and releasing the project entirely on his own. But when Vai hit the big time as the guitarist of David Lee Roth's solo band in 1986, he offered praise for his good friend and former teacher in several major guitar publications, leading to widespread interest in Satriani's playing. The timing couldn't have been more perfect for Satch, as he'd just issued his first full-length solo album, Not of This Earth, which automatically made ripples in the rock guitar community.
But the best was still to come, in the form of his sophomore release, 1987's Surfing with the Alien. Almost overnight, Satriani was widely regarded as one of rock's top guitarists, as the album earned gold certification and the guitarist would finish at the top of guitar magazine polls for years afterward. He was even handpicked by Mick Jagger to accompany the famous singer on a tour of Australia and Japan around this time. A stopgap EP, Dreaming #11, combed both studio and live tracks and was issued a year later, and in 1989, Satriani issued his third solo full-length, Flying in a Blue Dream. Another sizeable hit, the album also marked Satch's debut as a vocalist on several tracks. His career received another big push the same year when his song "One Big Rush" was included on the soundtrack to Cameron Crowe's hit movie Say Anything.
The '90s began with Satriani creating his own line of guitars for the Ibanez company (the JS Joe Satriani model), but it wasn't until 1992 that he would issue his next solo release, The Extremist. The double-disc set Time Machine followed a year later (a combination of new tracks, live material, and the long out-of-print Joe Satriani EP from 1984), and in 1994, Satch filled in on tour for the departed Ritchie Blackmore for heavy metal pioneers Deep Purple. Although he was asked to become a full-time member, Satriani turned down the offer to return to his solo career.
Satriani issued two more solo albums during the '90s -- 1995's self-titled release and 1998's Crystal Planet -- and also started the G3 guitar showcase tour with Vai in 1996, becoming an annual event and issuing a live document of the tour's initial run, G3: Live in Concert, a year later. 2000 saw Satriani issue his most musically daring release yet, the electronic-based Engines of Creation, and a year later, Live in San Francisco. Engines was nominated for a Grammy the next year, and after a successful tour he stepped back into the studio. The result, Strange Beautiful Music, was released in 2002. Electric Joe Satriani: An Anthology arrived in 2003, followed by Is There Love in Space? in 2004, Super Colossal in 2005, and Satriani Live! in 2006. In addition to his own albums, Satriani has guested on several other artists' albums over the years, including Blue Öyster Cult's Imaginos, Alice Cooper's Hey Stoopid, Stuart Hamm's Radio Free Albemuth, Pat Martino's All Sides Now, and Spinal Tap's Break Like the Wind.
"Always With Me, Always With You" is part of the 1987 album "Surfing With The Alien", (re-realesed in 2007).
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This song is about life and the evolution of it. It may sound pathetic, but sometimes i miss simplicity. And this song is simple though meaningful.
Of all the major alternative rock bands of the early '90s, the Smashing Pumpkins were the group least influenced by traditional underground rock. Lead guitarist/songwriter Billy Corgan fashioned an amalgam of progressive rock, heavy metal, goth rock, psychedelia, and dream pop, creating a layered, powerful sound driven by swirling, distorted guitars.
The video showed the band floating on clouds in the night sky. It is based on the 1902 film "Trip to the Moon", by George Meiles. His name is the name of the ship at the end of the music video.
This won 6 MTV Music Video Awards: Video of the Year, Breakthrough Video, Best Direction Best Special Effects, Best Art Direction, and Best Cinematography. It was also nominated for Viewer's Choice Award and Best Editing.
Pumpkins bass player D'arcy liked the sets from the video a lot, so she put them in a barn on her farm.
This was written in the key of C instead of G, but Corgan couldn't sing it in C. It was recorded with a 30-piece string-section.
The line, "And the embers never fade in your city by the lake, The place where you were born" in a reference to Corgan's home city of Chicago, where Billy was born, raised, and still spends significant time. It is about a moment when he realized that he had become successful and his life was going to change dramatically. His dreams and ambitions were being realized and he knew he would have to be away from home. He knows he's changed in some ways, but he remains the same person in many more ways. The song has an acoustic reprise on the single where Billy sings the line.
Aerosmith was one of the most popular hard rock bands of the '70s, setting the style and sound of hard rock and heavy metal for the next two decades with their raunchy, bluesy swagger. The Boston-based quintet found the middle ground between the menace of the Rolling Stones and the campy, sleazy flamboyance of the New York Dolls, developing a lean, dirty riff-oriented boogie that was loose and swinging and as hard as a diamond.
In the meantime, they developed a prototype for power ballads with "Dream On," a piano ballad that was orchestrated with strings and distorted guitars. Aerosmith's ability to pull off both ballads and rock & roll made them extremely popular during the mid-'70s, when they had a string of gold and platinum albums. By the early '80s, the group's audience had declined as the band fell prey to drug and alcohol abuse. However, their career was far from over -- in the late '80s, Aerosmith pulled off one of the most remarkable comebacks in rock history, returning to the top of the charts with a group of albums that equalled, if not surpassed, the popularity of their '70s albums.
The lineup: Steven Tallarico (born March 26, 1948) on vocals, Joe Perry (born September 10, 1950) on lead guitar, Ray Tabano on rhythm guitar, Tom Hamilton (born December 31, 1951) on bass, and Joey Kramer (born June 21, 1950) on drums.
The band released 14 studio albums and 4 live, between 1973 and 2008. They won numerous awards and achievements, being one of the most rewarded band in the music history.
They remained famous for many singles, from which "Walk This Way", "Sweet Emotion", "Dream On", "Crazy" , "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing", "Pink" and some others.
"Crying" was released in the summer of 1993 as the third single from the hugely successful album "Get a Grip".
This song was released in 1999 (Californication album). For many it is considered to be one of the best songs of RHCP, wining a Gramy award for best rock and remained on the first place on Billboard Modern Rock Chart for 16 weeks.
Some say it reminds a little bit of Guns n' Roses, others that this was one of the last "romantic rock" hits. I say it is simply too short.
Def Leppard, in some ways, was the definitive hard rock band of the '80s. There were many bands that rocked harder, and were more dangerous, than the Sheffield quintet, but few others captured the spirit of the times quite as well.
Emerging in the late '70s as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, the group actually owed more to the glam rock and metal of the early '70s -- their sound was equal parts T. Rex, Mott the Hoople, Queen, and Led Zeppelin. By toning down their heavy riffs and emphasizing melody, Def Leppard was poised for crossover success by 1983's Pyromania, but skillfully used the fledgling MTV network to their advantage.
The group was already blessed with photogenic good looks, but they also crafted a series of innovative, exciting videos that made them into stars. They intended to follow Pyromania quickly but were derailed when their drummer lost an arm in a car accident, the first of many problems that plagued the group's career.
Def Leppard managed to pull through such tragedies, and they even expanded their large audience with 1987's blockbuster Hysteria. As the '90s began, mainstream hard rock shifted away from Leppard's signature pop-metal and toward edgier, louder bands, yet the group maintained a sizable audience into the late '90s and were one of only a handful of '80s metal groups to survive the decade more or less intact.
The group was formed in Sheffield, England in 1977; founding members included lead singer Joe Elliot (b. 1 August 1959), bassist Rick Savage (b. 2 December 1960) and guitarist Pete Willis. Drummer Rick Allen (b. 1 November 1963) and guitarist Steve Clark (b. 23 April 1960) joined the band shortly thereafter.
Their discography includes 14 studio albums and several singles and live productions.
"Pour some sugar on me" is part of "Hysteria" album in 1987. It reached number 2 on the U.S. Hot 100. It later became an MTV classic, and is generally regarded as their signature song. The title of the song alludes to the coda of the 1969 bubblegum pop classic "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies.
HIM is a rock band from Finland formed in 1991 by vocalist Ville Valo, guitarist Mikko Lindström, and bassist Mikko Paananen. They have released six full length albums to date. As of 2007, they are the first and only Finnish rock band to sell Gold in the United States.
HIM is the perfect mix between sophisticated finish rock music, love metal as an own- invented sub genre, sexual appearance and mysticism. "One Last Time" is just the song that contains these elements, a song about love, hope, passion, illusions but, in the same time a song that may suggest frustration, disappointment and even hatred. The step between the two feelings - it is just so little and "One Last Time" insinuates almost perfectly this ever debated contrast.
Once upon a time in 1969, a young Dutch millionaire by the name of Stanley August Miesegaes gave his acquaintance, vocalist and keyboardist Rick Davies a "genuine opportunity" to form his own band; he could form the band of his dreams and Miesegaes would pay for it. After placing an ad in Melody Maker, Davies assembled Supertramp.
Supertramp released two long-winded progressive rock albums before Miesegaes withdrew his support. With no money or fan base to speak of, the band was forced to redesign their sound. Coming up with a more pop-oriented form of progressive rock, the band had a hit with their third album, Crime of the Century.
Throughout the decade, Supertramp had a number of best-selling albums, culminating in their 1979 masterpiece, Breakfast in America. Breakfast in America marked their first album that tipped the scale completely in the favor of pop songs; on the strength of the hit singles "Goodbye Stranger," "Logical Song," and "Take the Long Way Home" it sold over 18 million copies worldwide. After that album, Supertramp continued to develop a more R&B-flavored style; the change in direction was successful on 1982's Famous Last Words, but they soon ran out of hits. The band continued to sporadically record and tour into the '90s.
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This is "Breakfast in America", maybe their best known single. The song was a minor hit on the singles charts in the US but is a staple of classic rock radio. The song's lyrics tell about a person who has never been to America.
At a first "view', The Verve's version of "Bittersweet symphony" doesn't seem to be very similar to the 1965 Rolling Stones' hit.
In fact, "Bittersweet symphony" is the cover of the orchestral version of "The last time", composed by the Andrew Oldham Orchestra. This band is a side project fronted by Andrew Loog Oldham, the original manager of the Rolling Stones. Their fourth and last album - "Rolling Stones Songbook" features the orchestrated version of the Mick Jagger and Keith Richards song "The Last Time", which was sampled by The Verve for their track "Bitter Sweet Symphony".
This song did have some clear antecedents in black American music, in particular the 1964 James Brown single "Maybe the Last Time," which was itself based on ideas found in a traditional gospel song that had been recorded, but not written, by the Staple Singers. Some have accused the Stones of literally stealing from their black heroes, but "The Last Time" is clearly different from and more rock-oriented than the tracks recorded by James Brown and the Staple Singers, although there are some similarities in approach and the use of the title lyric.
The Stones recorded this in Los Angeles on a one day tour stopover on their way to Australia. The Stones were on a grueling American tour, but in order to capitalize on their success they wanted to keep cranking out singles, especially in England because they were not there. As a result, they frequently recorded in between American shows.
The opening guitar riff repeats throughout the song. This was an innovative device for a pop song at the time.
This was the first song Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote that was an A-side single. The Stones played a lot of covers before they learned to write songs.
The Who recorded this in 1967 as a show of support when The Stones were being held in England on drug charges.
Keith Richards: "When you start writing, the first batch of songs is almost always puerile ballads, for some reason - I think they're easier to write. To write a good rock and roll song is one of the hardest things because it has to be stripped down so simple, to that same basic format shared by rock and roll and rhythm and blues and Irish folk songs from thousands of years ago. It's a very simple form, and yet you have to find a certain element in there that still lives, that isn't just a rehash. It can REMIND you - and probably will - of something else, but it should still add something new, have a freshness and individuality about it. The rules on it are very strict, you see (laughs). I think The Last Time was the first one we actually managed to write with a BEAT, the first non-puerile song. It had a strong Staple Singers influence in that it came out of an old gospel song that we revamped and reworked. And I didn't actually realize until after we'd written it because we'd been listening to this Staple Singers album for 10 months or so. You don't go out of your way to LIFT songs, but what you play is eventually the product of what you've heard before."
Rolling Stones version:
Andrew Oldham Orchestra version:
April is a very complex music composition bringing toghether elements from symphonic, acoustic, rock in one piece of what is going to be called progresive rock.
This is part from 1969 album "Deep Purple". This is a record that even those who aren't Deep Purple fans can listen to two or three times in one sitting -- but then, this wasn't much like any other album that the group ever issued. Actually, Deep Purple was highly prized for many years by fans of progressive rock, and for good reason.
"April," a three-part suite with orchestral accompaniment, is overall a match for such similar efforts by the Nice as the "Five Bridges Suite," and gets extra points for crediting its audience with the patience for a relatively long, moody developmental section and for including a serious orchestral interlude that does more than feature a pretty tune, exploiting the timbre of various instruments as well as the characteristics of the full ensemble. (All Music Guide)
A Ritchie Blackmore/Jon Lord composition, the first section is played solely by Lord and Blackmore; Lord plays piano and organ; Blackmore plays electric and acoustic guitars. The second section, orchestrated by Lord, uses flutes, clarinets, a string section and other instruments; the third section adds vocals. As the band wrote in the liner notes, "As a whole we hope April hangs together as a personal evocation of a beautiful, but sad (to us) month." (Songfacts)
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The 13th studio album by Prince and the New Power Generation, colloquially referred to as the Love Symbol or as O(+>. It was released as a double vinyl or single CD, on October 13, 1992.
Few artists have created a body of work as rich and varied as Prince. During the '80s, he emerged as one of the most singular talents of the rock & roll era, capable of seamlessly tying together pop, funk, folk, and rock. Not only did he release a series of groundbreaking albums; he toured frequently, produced albums and wrote songs for many other artists, and recorded hundreds of songs that still lie unreleased in his vaults. With each album he released, Prince has shown remarkable stylistic growth and musical diversity, constantly experimenting with different sounds, textures, and genres. Occasionally, his music can be maddeningly inconsistent because of this eclecticism, but his experiments frequently succeed; no other contemporary artist can blend so many diverse styles into a cohesive whole.
In a dispute with Warner Bros. in 1993, Prince decided to change his stage name to the album's eponymous symbol. He kept that name for several years until re-adopting the Prince moniker in 2000.
Prince's albums include among others 1999 (1983), Purple Rain (1984), Lovesexy (1988), Newpower Soul (1998) and 3121 (2006). He also starred in the 1984 feature film Purple Rain. Prince was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. (All Music Guide, Wiki, Who2 Biographies).
As Prince doesen't like his videos being on line this post will be without any music sample.
"Abraxas" is the second album by Santana, the Latin rock n' roll group led by guitarist Carlos Santana. Consolidating their live success at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, and the interest generated by their first album the band took some time to issue a follow-up. Released in September 1970, the album's mix of rock and roll, blues, jazz, salsa and other influences made it a classic that defined Santana's early sound, and showed a musical maturation from their first album.
The meaning of this cover album would be absolutely blank without knowing the significance of the word "Abraxas".
The word Abraxas (or Abrasax or Abracax) was engraved on certain antique stones, called on that account Abraxas stones, which were used as amulets or charms. The name is found in the Greek Magical Papyri, and the word may be related to the word abracadabra, although other explanations exist. The name is also found in Gnostic texts such as the Gospel of the Egyptians. Abraxas has also been variously claimed throughout the centuries to be an Egyptian god, a demon, and to represent God and Satan in one entity and the dual nature of its essence.
The title of the album comes from a line from Herman Hesse's book Demian:"We stood before it and began to freeze inside from the exertion. We questioned the painting, berated it, made love to it, prayed to it: We called it mother, called it whore and slut, called it our beloved, called it Abraxas..."
When Carlos Santana was taken over to Mati Klarwein's studio to check out his artwork for a possible album cover, Klarwein happened to be out of the country, hanging out in Tangier with Timothy Leary. Guitarist and bandleader Santana loved one particular painting so much that he chose it to adorn Abraxas, his group's second album, and the arrangements were made without the two ever meeting face to face. To this day, Santana and Klarwein have not met or even spoken.
What attracted Santana to the work? "It was the congas between the angel's legs and the colors," he says. "I'd just discovered that music and color are food for the soul. When we looked at the painting, we said, 'Man, this is a great feast! Who did this?'"
Klarwein had painted the piece in 1963. He titled it The Annunciation, deriving its symbolism from the biblical story in which the archangel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will be giving birth to Jesus. The nude black Virgin Mary was a girlfriend of Klarwein's from Guadeloupe. Klarwein painted himself, wearing a straw hat, in the role of Joseph. A trio of Nigerian nomads are the Magi. Finally, a winged, crimson Gabriel is shown descending from heaven astride a conga drum. "Drums were always used to announce something," says Klarwein. "They were a medium of communication in Africa, and I put the angel announcing the birth by beating the drum." As Santana notes, "It fit like a hand and glove to the music."
The album also demonstrates Santana's stylistic versatility, including tracks such as "Samba pa Ti" (a classic slow-burning, seductive piece) and "Incident at Neshabur", both being instrumentals. The latter has several rhythm and time signature changes consistent with its jazz feel. Latin percussion — congas, bongos and timbales, as well as a conventional rock drum setup, make this Santana's first foray into true Latin rhythm. In 2003, the album was ranked number 205 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The album achieved number 7 in the UK album charts.
This is "Samba pa ti"
July Morning was the first post on musicblessing. Eventhough it was posted on 3rd of July, the post was created one day before.
The celebrations continues with one of the most famous and disputed songs of all times. Stairway to Heaven rose both controversy and joy, and today is still listened all around the globe. Offcourse there are a lot of meanings and facts regarding Stairway to Heaven, which brings a lot of controversy to this piece of art.
The most famous Rock song of all time, this didn't chart because it was never released as a single to the general public. Radio stations received promotional singles which quickly became collector's items.
On Tuesday November 13, 2007, Led Zeppelin's entire back catalogue was made available as legal digital downloads, making all of their tracks eligible for the UK singles chart. As a result, at the end of that week the original version of "Stairway To Heaven" arrived in the UK singles charts for the first time.
Many novice guitarists try to learn this song, and most end up messing it up. In the movie Wayne's World, it is banned in the guitar shop where Wayne starts playing it. In the movie, Wayne clearly plays the first few notes before being scolded, but due to legal issues, the video version was changed so Wayne plays something incomprehensible. On an episode of South Park, the character Towelie tries to play this in a talent show and screws it up.
This is rumored to contain backward satanic messages, as if Led Zeppelin sold their souls to the devil in exchange for "Stairway To Heaven." Supporting this theory is the fact that Jimmy Page bought Aleister Crowley's house in Scotland, which had become a well known Satanic church and was known as "The Toolhouse." In his books, Crowley advocated that his followers learn to read and speak backwards.
Robert Plant addressed the issue in an interview with Musician magazine: "'Stairway To Heaven' was written with every best intention, and as far as reversing tapes and putting messages on the end, that's not my idea of making music. It's really sad. the first time I heard it was early in the morning when I was living at home, and I heard it on a news program. I was absolutely drained all day. I walked around, and I couldn't actually believe, I couldn't take people seriously who could come up with sketches like that. There are a lot of people who are making money there, and if that's the way they need to do it, then do it without my lyrics. I cherish them far too much."
The most simple theory about the subject of Stairway to Heaven is that this song is about a woman who accumulates money, but finds out the hard way her life had no meaning and will not get her into heaven.
This runs 8:03, but still became one of the most-played songs on American radio. It proved that people wouldn't tune out just because a song was long. In solo work or with other groups, Jimmy Page would not let anyone but Robert Plant sing this, but he does play it as an instrumental on occasion.
Jimmy Page has a strong affinity for this song, and felt Robert Plant's lyrics were his best yet. He had him write all of Zeppelin's lyrics from then on. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine (March 13, 1975) the interviewer, Cameron Crowe, asked Jimmy Page how important "Stairway To Heaven" was to him: Page replied: "To me, I thought 'Stairway' crystallized the essence of the band. It had everything there and showed the band at its best... as a band, as a unit. Not talking about solos or anything, it had everything there. We were careful never to release it as a single. It was a milestone for us. Every musician wants to do something of lasting quality, something which will hold up for a long time and I guess we did it with 'Stairway.' Townshend probably thought that he got it with Tommy. I don't know whether I have the ability to come up with more. I have to do a lot of hard work before I can get anywhere near those stages of consistent, total brilliance."
Robert and Jimmy wrote this in an old mansion called Headley Grange in Liphook Road, Headley, Hampshire, where Led Zeppelin recorded most of their 4th album. It was a huge, old, dusty mansion with no electricity but great acoustics. Bands would go there to get some privacy and focus on songwriting. One night, in front of a roaring fire, Page strummed the chords to this for Robert. Plant wrote 90% of the lyrics right there in front of the fire. He has said in many interviews that he didn't seem to be writing, that something else was moving his pencil for him. Plant is a great admirer of all things mystic, the old English legends and lore and the writings of the Celts. He was immersed in The Lord Of The Rings around this time and many of his lyrics reflect that.
Zeppelin bass player John Paul Jones decided not to use a bass on this because it sounded like a folk song. Instead, he added a string section, keyboards and flutes. He also played wooden recorders that were used on the intro. Bonham's drums do not come in until 4:18.
An impressive list of artists covered this song: U2, Jimmy Castor, Frank Zappa, The Foo Fighters, The Dave Matthews Band, Sisters of Mercy, Nancy Wilson, Zakk Wylde, Elkie Brooks, Pardon Me Boys, White Flag, Jana, Great White, Stanley Jordan, Far Corporation, Dixie Power Trio, Justin Hayward, Leningrad Cowboys, Dread Zeppelin, Tiny Tim, piano virtuoso Richard Abel, and Monte Montgomery. Neil Sedaka had an unrelated Top-10 hit with the same title in 1960.
The band performed this at the Atlantic Records 40th anniversary concert in 1988 with Jason Bonham sitting in on drums for his late father. Plant did not want to play it, but was convinced at the last minute. It was sloppy and Plant forgot some of the words. This was not the case when Jason joined them again in 2007 for a benefit show to raise money for the Ahmet Ertegun education fund. They performed this song and 15 others, earning rave reviews from fans and critics.
Led Zeppelin played this for the first time in Belfast on March 5, 1971 - Northern Ireland was a war zone at the time. John Paul Jones said in an audio documentary that when they played it, the audience was not that impressed. They wanted to hear something they knew - like "Whole Lotta Love."
Jimmy Page considers this a masterpiece, but Robert Plant does not share his fondness for the song. Plant has referred to it as a "wedding song" and insists that his favorite Led Zeppelin song is "Kashmir." After the band broke up, Plant refused to sing it except on rare occasions, including Live Aid.
This was the last song the remaining members of Led Zeppelin performed when they reunited for Live Aid in 1985. Bob Geldof organized the event, and did his best to get many famous bands to play even if they had broken up. Unlike The Who, Geldof had an easy time convincing Plant, Page, and Jones to play the show. They played the Philadelphia stage with Tony Thompson and Phil Collins sitting in on drums.
The acoustic intro was borrowed from the song "Taurus" from the band Spirit, who toured with Led Zeppelin when they first played the US. The band Spirit has acknowledged this, and is okay with it.
Zeppelin's longest ever performance of this song was their last gig in Berlin in 1980. It clocked in around 15 minutes long.
According to the radio trade magazine Monday Morning Replay, this is still played 4,203 times a year by the 67 largest AOR (album-oriented rock) radio stations in the US. ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, refuses to release exact figures on how many times it has been played since its release, but figure that on each AOR station in America, the song was played 5 times a day during its first 3 months of existence; twice a day for the next 9 months; once a day for the next 4 years; and 2 to 3 times a week for the next 15 years. There are roughly 600 AOR and Classic Rock stations in the US, which means that "Stairway" has been broadcast a minimum of 2,874 times. At 8 minutes per spin, roughly 23 million minutes - almost 44 years - have been devoted to the song. So far.
On January 23, 1991, John Sebastian, owner and general manager of KLSK FM in Albuquerque, New Mexico, played the song for 24 solid hours to inaugurate a format change to Classic Rock. It played more than 200 times, eliciting hundreds of angry calls and letters. Police showed up with guns drawn after a listener reported that the DJ had apparently suffered a heart attack, later because of suspicion that - this being 8 days into the Gulf War - the radio station had been taken hostage by terrorists dispatched by Zeppelin freak Saddam Hussein. Weirdest of all, lots of listeners didn't move the dial: "Turns out a lot of people listened to see when we would finally stop playing it."
Whitesnake is in fact David Coverdale, a former group member of the famous Deep Purple ('73-'77). As the band changed several members within its existence (since '77), David Coverdale remained the leader of the group.
In its 30 years the band went from pure Deep Purple rock style, through blues and rock-blues up to pop metal. All these genres are included in 12 studio albums and 4 live albums.
The band was temporary dissolved and Coverdale developed a project with Led Zeppelin's lead guitarist Jimmy Page, resulting an anticipated Whitensake/Led Zeppelin combination.
PS: Yesterday, 3.07.2008, Mel Galley (Whitesnake guitarist since '83) died of cancer at the age of 60.
The Doors, one of the most influential and controversial rock bands of the 1960s, were formed in Los Angeles in 1965 by UCLA film students Ray Manzarek, keyboards, and Jim Morrison, vocals; with drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger. The group never added a bass player, and their sound was dominated by Manzarek's electric organ work and Morrison's deep, sonorous voice, with which he sang and intoned his highly poetic lyrics. The group signed to Elektra Records in 1966 and released its first album, The Doors, featuring the hit "Light My Fire," in 1967 (All Music Guide).
Break On Through (To The Other Side) was the first song on The Doors first album, and also their first single. It got some airplay on Los Angeles radio stations after their friends and fans kept requesting it. The original line in the chorus was "She gets high." Elektra records censored "high," making it sound like, "she get uuggh," but the "high" line can be heard in live versions.
Jim Morrison got some of the lyrics from John Rechy's 1963 book "City of Night." The guitar melody was inspired by Paul Butterfield's "Shake Your Money Maker." John Densmore added the knocking drum sound by hitting his drumstick sideways across the snare. This was one of 6 songs The Doors recorded for a demo on Aura Records while they were trying to get signed in 1965. Robbie Krieger was not yet with the group. The vocals are a mix of 2 of Morrison's takes.
In year 2000, the surviving members of The Doors taped a VH1 Storytellers episode with guest vocalists filling in for Morrison. Scott Weiland from The Stone Temple Pilots sang on this.
This was included on the Doors tribute album Stoned Immaculate, with Scott Weiland on vocals. As John Densmore states in The Doors Box Set, the beat of this song was inspired by Brazilian Bossa Nova like Joao Gilberto and Tom Jobim.
In The Doors Box Set, Ray Manzarek said Break On Through (To The Other Side) was the last song they played live. It was during the Isle of the Wight Festival in the summer of 1970. The festival occurred while Morrison was on trial in Miami, and the band got a special 5 days of recess to be in England and get back to US. "This was to be the first gig of an European tour just as Miami was to be the first gig of a 20-city US tour. We never got beyond the first date of either one," said Ray.
The Doors managed to turn out a series of successful albums and singles through 1971, when, upon the completion of L.A. Woman, Morrison decamped for Paris. He died there, apparently of a drug overdose. The three surviving Doors tried to carry on without him, but ultimately disbanded. Yet the Doors' music and Morrison's legend continued to fascinate succeeding generations of rock fans: In the mid-'80s, Morrison was as big a star as he'd been in the mid-'60s, and Elektra has sold numerous quantities of the Doors' original albums plus reissues and releases of live material over the years, while publishers have flooded bookstores with Doors and Morrison biographies. In 1991, director Oliver Stone made The Doors, a feature film about the group starring Val Kilmer as Morrison (All Music Guide).
On 12 of November 1970, The Doors made their last appearance with Jim Morrison, in New Orleans.
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