The All New Music Tag Reboot!

Michael Jackson - The WIZ - Ease on down the road

 

Vanilla Fudge - You Keep Me Hangin' On



The roots of Vanilla Fudge began to form 1965 in Long Island, when three young musicians left Rick Martin & the Showmen to form their own band called the Electric Pigeons. Organist Mark Stein, bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Joey Brennan put out a call to the musicians union local for a guitarist, and were introduced to Vince Martell, who had just returned from Florida and a hitch in the U.S. Navy.

With Stein's father as the band's booking agent, the group eventually shortened their name to "The Pigeons" and soon built a strong regional following on the East coast club circuit. One night at a club called The Action House, the bar's owner, Phil Basille, was so impressed with the group's performance, he offered to manage the them. With his experience and connections in the music business, the boys quickly agreed.

By 1966, the band had moved into complex cover versions of Top 40 material that proved to be too difficult for Joey Brennan to handle. The others felt that they needed a new drummer and Tim Bogert recommended Carmine Appice, whom he had heard play at another local club. When the others heard Appice, they knew they had their man.

Basille used his contacts to have producer & songwriter George "Shadow" Morton come and listen to the band one night at the Action House. Morton sat and listened for a while and was headed for the door, when the band began to play their version of the Supremes' hit, "You Keep Me Hangin' On". Morton sat down again, impressed by a musical style he had never heard before. Later in the same week, he arranged for the band to record the song without a recording contract. The version that we all know, was recorded in just one take.

Morton started shopping the tape around and several recording studios showed some interest. Atlantic's Ahmet Ertegun made the best offer and signed the band in the spring of 1967 to ATCO Records, under their new name, "Vanilla Fudge". Ertegun insisted that the original one take recording of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" be pressed to disc, and released it on June 2nd 1967, along with their self-titled debut album.

The song caught on quickly and climbed the national charts to number 10, while the album, which contained similar rearranged cover tunes, went gold and reached number 6. With a monster hit to their credit, the band's touring schedule accelerated and on the 2nd of September, they were back in New York's Village Theater opening for Mitch Ryder. Returning to San Francisco, the band opened for Blue Cheer in September at the Fillmore West. A week later, the Fudge headlined for three shows at the Avalon Ballroom where the Charles Lloyd Quintet opened for them. In New York City on the 3rd of November, Vanilla Fudge opened for The Yardbirds at the Village Theater. The Fudge had rapidly achieved headliner status and now began to perform on a global level with the biggest West Coast and European bands of the day.

The dawn of 1968 saw Vanilla Fudge headlining a bill at the Fillmore East with the Steve Miller Band. A week later they performed "You Keep Me Hangin' On" on the Ed Sullivan television show. Trying to repeat their first success, the band attempted to take the concept of long, drawn out songs to a higher level on their second album, "The Beat Goes On". The effort failed, as it lacked the originality of the first and was received poorly, by fans and critics alike. The single from the album, an original called "Where Is My Mind?" never caught on.

http://www.classicbands.com/vanilla.html

 

George Benson "White Rabbit"



From his 1972 album "White Rabbit".

George Benson (born March 22, 1943, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a Grammy Award-winning American musician, whose recording career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist. He is also known as a pop, R&B, and scat singer. Benson uses a rest-stroke picking technique very similar to that of gypsy jazz players such as Django Reinhardt.

George Benson - Guitar
Jay Berliner - acoustic guitar
Ron Carter - bass
Herbie Hancock - electric piano
Billy Cobham - drums
Airto Moreira - percussion, vocals
Gloria Agostini - vibes, percussion

 

Ginger Baker Trio~'Ginger's Blues'

 

The Velvet Bulldozer, Mr. Albert King!

 

Gary Moore - Still Got The Blues (Live)



Born in Belfast, Ireland, Moore began as a bluesy guitarist influenced chiefly by Fleetwood Mac's Peter Green (going as far as purchasing Green's actual Les Paul guitar, which served as Moore's main axe throughout the years). Moore first recorded with Dublin rockers Skid Row, before beginning an on-again/off-again relationship with Thin Lizzy throughout the Seventies. Moore's first Lizzy stint was short-lived, but yielded a memorable solo on the group's classic ballad, "Still in Love with You," from their 1974 album, Night Life. When Thin Lizzy opened for Queen during a 1977 U.S. arena tour, Moore (who was also playing with prog rockers Colosseum II) briefly filled in for Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson.

By 1978, Moore was a full member of Thin Lizzy once more, performing on what's considered one of the group's finest studio albums, 1979's Black Rose: A Rock Legend, which debuted at #2 on the U.K. album charts. The album's epic closing track, "Róisín Dubh (Black Rose): A Rock Legend," contains one of Moore's greatest solos, in which he incorporated several traditional Irish song themes within a hard rock format. The same year, Moore scored his first solo U.K. top ten hit, "Parisienne Walkways," co-written by Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott. But Moore would exit Lizzy for the third and final time in the midst of a U.S. tour that summer.

In the Eighties Moore scored other hits, including the U.K. top 5 single/Lynott collaboration, "Out in the Fields" (one of Lynott's last recorded works before his 1986 death), and was name-checked by guitarists like Dio/Whitesnake/Def Leppard shredder Vivian Campbell. By the Nineties, Moore had returned to his blues roots, winning his biggest U.S. hit with the gold-certified album Still Got the Blues (which featured contributions from Albert King, Albert Collins, and George Harrison). Moore continued collaborating with others (including Cream's Jack Bruce; Ginger Baker, in the short-lived BBM in 1994; and B.B. King, on tour in 2006) and issuing solo albums, the last being 2008's Bad for You Baby. "Playing with Gary during the Black Rose era was a great experience," said Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham. "He was a great player and a great guy. I will miss him."

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/thin-lizzy-guitarist-gary-moore-dead-at-58-20110207

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9muzyOd4Lh8

 

Chet Atkins White Silver Sands



Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), better known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.

Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle Travis, Django Reinhardt, George Barnes and Les Paul, brought him admirers within and outside the country scene, both in the United States and internationally. Atkins produced records for Perry Como, Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, Eddy Arnold, Don Gibson, Jim Reeves, Jerry Reed, Skeeter Davis, Connie Smith, Waylon Jennings and others.

Among many honors, Atkins received 14 Grammy Awards as well as the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, nine Country Music Association Instrumentalist of the Year awards, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chet_Atkins

 

Mendelssohn : Spring Song




Mendelssohn Biography

by All Music Guide

Far from the troubled, coarse libertine that has become an archetype of the Romantic composer, Felix Mendelssohn was something of an anomaly among his contemporaries. His own situation -- one largely of domestic tranquility and unhindered career fulfillment -- stands in stark contrast to the personal Sturm und Drang familiar to his peers. Mendelssohn was the only musical prodigy of the nineteenth century whose stature could rival that of Mozart. Still, his parents resisted any entrepreneurial impulses and spared young Felix the strange, grueling lifestyle that was the lot of many child prodigies. He and his sister Fanny were given piano lessons, and he also studied violin, and both joined the Berlin Singakademie. Carl Friedrich Zelter, director of the Singakademie, became Mendelssohn's first composition instructor. Even in his youth, Mendelssohn moved with natural grace among the circles of influence in society, politics, literature, and art. Although he did spend some time at the University of Berlin, most of his education was received through friendships and travel. Mendelssohn's advocacy was the single most important factor in the revival of Bach's vocal music in the nineteenth century, most famously realized in the 1829 performance of the St. Matthew Passion at the Berlin Singakadamie. He did some touring as a pianist with Ignaz Moscheles, then took the position as music director in Düsseldorf from 1833 to 1835, which involved conducting both the choral and orchestral societies, preparing music for church services and later, becoming intendant for the new theatre. Tension with the theater owner caused him to resign some of his duties, and he began looking for a new post. In 1835, Mendelssohn became municipal music director in Leipzig, where he also would conduct the Gewandhaus Orchestra. He would raise the level of the still-thriving ensemble to a new standard of excellence. In 1838, he married Cécile Jeanrenaud, enjoying an idyllic marriage and family life that was quite unlike the stormy romantic entanglements which profoundly affected such composers as Berlioz, Chopin, and Liszt. He was in demand as a conductor, spent some time as royal composer and music director in Berlin, but remained committed to musical life in Leipzig. He was even able to establish a new conservatory in the city, which is still a well-respected institution.

Mendelssohn was a true Renaissance man. A talented visual artist, he was a refined connoisseur of literature and philosophy. While Mendelssohn's name rarely arises in discussions of the nineteenth century vanguard, the intrinsic importance of his music is undeniable. A distinct personality emerges at once in its exceptional formal sophistication, its singular melodic sense, and its colorful, masterful deployment of the instrumental forces at hand. A true apotheosis of life, Mendelssohn's music absolutely overflows with energy, ebullience, drama, and invention, as evidenced in his most enduring works: the incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream (1826-1842); the Hebrides Overture (1830); the Songs Without Words (1830-1845); the Symphonies No. 3 (1841-1842) and No. 4 (1833); and the Violin Concerto in E minor (1844). While the sunny disposition of so many of Mendelssohn's works has led some to view the composer as possessing great talent but little depth, his religious compositions -- particularly the great oratorios Paulus (1836) and Elijah (1846) -- reflect the complexity and deeply spiritual basis of his personality.

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/felix-mendelssohn-q7711/biography

 

Blind Lemon Jefferson ~ Bed Spring Blues

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c9PV7-S3pI

 

Son House...Death Letter Blues

 

Dr Ralph Stanley : O Death




Although he needs no introduction, we'll go ahead and give him one anyway. Ralph was born in Dickenson County, Virginia, where he still resides when he's not on the road. After 55 years in the business, he's still the best banjo picker and tenor singer in bluegrass music. As a recording artist, he has performed on more than 170 albums, tapes, and CDs. He's also written many songs himself and with his brother, the late Carter Stanley. Ralph's played throughout the United States and in many foreign lands, too, including several tours of Japan. In addition to the many honors Ralph has received as a bluegrass musician, including membership on the Grand Ole Opry, he is also a Shriner, a member of the Primitive Baptist Universalist Church, and active in his local community, having served on the Dickenson County School Board. Ralph is married to Jimmi Stanley, and they have two daughters, Lisa and Tonya, and, of course, one son, Ralph II.

http://drralphstanley.com/biography/ralphstanley.shtml

 

Death Don't Have No Mercy..Rev Gary Davis

 

Ha ha, a radio show pair from Central Florida

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTsoxuKmrD4

 

Fontella Bass - Leave It In The Hands Of Love