His voice was so powerful — like a foghorn on the Queen Mary… It jumped out of the speakers and ravished my soul..
~Rod StewartOne of the greatest lead singers the Motown stable ever had
~John Lowe (allmusic.com)
One of the greatest “Motown voices”.. and thus one of the greatest voices in recorded american music history.
Continue reading “Jan 18: The late David Ruffin was born in 1941”
“Folsom Prison looms large in Johnny Cash’s legacy, providing the setting for perhaps his definitive song and the location for his definitive album, At Folsom Prison. The ideal blend of mythmaking and gritty reality, At Folsom Prison is the moment when Cash turned into the towering Man in Black, a haunted troubadour singing songs of crime, conflicted conscience, and jail.”
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine (allmusic.com)
One of the best live albums in recording history was taped on this date in 1968, hell, it’s one of the best albums period. Today it is it’s 48-year anniversary.
Continue reading “Jan 13: Johnny Cash recorded At Folsom Prison in 1968”
Ray Price has covered — and kicked up — as much musical turf as any country singer of the postwar era. He’s been lionized as the man who saved hard country when Nashville went pop, and vilified as the man who went pop when hard country was starting to call its own name with pride.
~Dan Cooper (allmusic.com)
He had a wonderful voice of the finest in country music!
Ray Price, the legendary country singer, sadly died 16. Dec in 2013 following his battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 87.
For The Good Times:
Continue reading “Jan 12: The late great Ray Price was born in 1926”
Blackstar (stylised as ★) is the twenty-sixth studio album by David Bowie. It was released on 8 January 2016, today, the date of Bowie’s 69th birthday, and features seven songs. This is the first truly great album of 2016. I don’t know what I expected, but my expectations were exceeded.
★/Blackstar is a mix of jazz/rock/cabaret/krautrock and electronica. It is beautiful, the songs are smooth and intimate, but musically complex and intriguing. It is not “difficult” music, it’s rhythmic and very recognizably David Bowie. The jazz elements are not overwhelming, they are just …fitting.
A classic Bowie album, no less.
…and Happy Birthday, David Bowie!
And I don’t expect anyone can bring about a revolution in the way that Bob Dylan did – and really didn’t – in the 1960s.
~MichaelStipeSuper casual music listeners. That’s most of the people in the world. And you have to understand, that’s why Top 40 radio exists. It’s not there for people who seek out music and who love music.
~Michael Stipe
Irish Heartbeat is the eighteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and is a collaboration with the traditional Irish musical group The Chieftains, released in 1988. The album was recorded at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, Ireland and reached number 18 in the UK album charts.
The album was recorded on dates from September to December 1987 and in January 1988. The Chieftains and Van Morrison had met years before at the Edinburgh rock festival. They joined up in Belfast during Morrison’s No Guru tour and afterwards, Morrison and Paddy Moloney discussed recording an album together during a walk. They each had a list of songs and reached a consensus to cover two of Morrison’s previously released tracks (the title track was one) and the rest from traditional Irish songs.
Continue reading “Jan 4: Van Morrison and Chieftains released Irish Heartbeat in 1988”