Scuttle Buttin'
08.04.2006., subota
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07.04.2006., petak
Jimi Hendrix
 James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and cultural icon. Widely lauded by music fans and critics alike, Hendrix is arguably the greatest and most influential electric guitarist in rock music history.Mostly self-taught on the instrument, the left-handed Hendrix played a right-handed guitar turned upside down and re-strung to suit him. As a guitarist, he built upon the innovations of blues stylists such as B.B. King, Albert King, Buddy Guy, T-Bone Walker, and Muddy Waters, as well as those of rhythm and blues and soul guitarists like Curtis Mayfield. Hendrix's music was also influenced by jazz; he often cited Rahsaan Roland Kirk as his favorite musician. Most importantly, Hendrix extended the tradition of rock guitar: although previous guitarists—such as The Kinks' Dave Davies, The Yardbirds' Jeff Beck and The Who's Pete Townshend—had employed techniques such as feedback, distortion and other effects as sonic tools, Hendrix was able to exploit them to an extent that was previously undreamed of, and made them an integral part of many of his compositions. As a record producer, Hendrix was an innovator in using the recording studio as an extension of his musical ideas. Hendrix was notably one of the first to experiment with stereo and phasing effects during the recording process. Hendrix was also an accomplished songwriter whose compositions have been performed by countless artists.  |
Stevie Ray Vaughan
 After playing in a series of bands, Dallas-native Vaughan formed the blues rock combo Double Trouble with drummer Chris Layton and bassist Jackie Newhouse in the late 1970s. Tommy Shannon replaced Newhouse in 1981. A popular local draw, Vaughan soon attracted attention from David Bowie and Jackson Browne, and he played on albums with both. Bowie first caught Vaughan at the Montreux Jazz Festival where initially a few members of the audience, who disliked his hard blues sound, booed Vaughan, though most of the crowd cheered him, as can be witnessed in the "Live at Montreux" DVD. Bowie featured Vaughan on his Let's Dance album in the songs "Let's Dance" and "China Girl". Stevie Ray Vaughan's blues playing style was strongly influenced by Albert King who dubbed himself Stevie's "Godfather". Stevie had a distinct sound of his own which was partly based on using heavy thirteen-gauge strings. Vaughan's sound and playing style, which often features simultaneous lead and rhythm parts, also draws frequent comparisons to that of Jimi Hendrix; Vaughan covered several Hendrix tunes on his studio albums and in performance.Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble's debut album released in 1983. The critically acclaimed Texas Flood (produced by John Hammond) featured the top-20 hit "Pride and Joy" and sold well in both blues and rock circles. Follow up albums, Couldn't Stand the Weather (1984) and Soul to Soul (1985), also sold well, though they did not become as respected as the debut album. Drug addiction and alcoholism took a toll on Vaughan in the mid-1980s, and he started throwing up blood in the middle of the street while in Germany. He managed to struggle through 3 more shows. He checked into rehab in Atlanta, Georgia later that year. He managed to recover from his addictions and became a teetotaler. Following his return, Vaughan recorded In Step (1989), which is often considered as his best work since the debut, and it also won a Grammy award for Best Contemporary Blues Record. Vaughan memorial at Town Lake, in Austin, TexasVaughan's comeback was cut short when, in the early morning of August 27, 1990, he died in a helicopter crash near East Troy, Wisconsin following a concert at the Alpine Valley Music Theater where earlier in the evening he appeared with Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton and his older brother Jimmie Vaughan. After the concert, Stevie was informed that three seats were open on one of the helicopters for Clapton and his crew. However there was only one seat left; Stevie asked his brother if he could take the seat, his brother obliged. The helicopter crashed into the side of a hill not far from Alpine Valley. Stevie, and members of Claptons crew, died on impact. Stevie Ray Vaughan is interred in the Laurel Land Memorial Park, Dallas, Texas |
Definition of Blues
 The blues is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on a pentatonic scale and a characteristic twelve-bar chord progression. The form evolved in the United States in the communities of former African slaves from spirituals, praise songs, field hollers, shouts, and chants. The use of blue notes and the prominence of call-and-response patterns in the music and lyrics are indicative of the blues' West African pedigree. The blues has been a major influence on later American and Western popular music, finding expression in ragtime, jazz, bluegrass, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, hip-hop, and country music, as well as conventional pop songs.The phrase the blues is a synonym for having a fit of the blue devils, meaning low spirits, depression and sadness. An early reference to this can be found in George Colman's farce Blue devils, a farce in one act (1798). Later during the 19th century, the phrase was used as a euphemism for delirium tremens and the police. Though usage of the phrase in African American music may be older, it has been attested to since 1912 in Memphis, Tennessee with W. C. Handy's "Memphis Blues".In lyrics the phrase is often used to describe a depressed mood. |
