Biography
One of the most consistent songwriters
Posten on: 2007-10-22 14:54:12
Tom Petty was born October 20, 1950 in Gainesville, north of Florida. His parents learned early on that their son was a rebel. At 4 years old, he insisted on going to town alone and he did. By age 11, after visiting Elvis Presley on the set of Follow That Dream, Petty knew his dream was to become a rock and roll rebel. Petty's father Earl recalled on VH-1's Behind the Music that he bought Petty a Sears and Roebuck guitar for twenty-eight dollars and, "he lived with that guitar, day and night." Petty formed his first band, the Sun Downers, in ninth grade. The band played at teen dances and parties for two years. After the Sun Downers broke up Petty joined the Epics, and then Mudcrutch. Two other members of Mudcrutch, guitarist Mike Campbell and keyboardist Benmont Tench, would help Petty start the Heartbreakers in 1974.In the autumn of 1976, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released their self-titled debut album on Shelter Records which was then sold to ABC records. The singer-songwriter described the album to Rolling Stone reporter Fred Schruers as, "a floodgate of influence of everything we'd ever admired and against what we thought was wrong with the music of the time." The album was not an instant hit in the United States, but the song "Anything that's Rock 'n Roll" generated a huge fan reaction in England. Petty and the Heartbreakers opened for guitarist Nils Lofgren for several dates throughout England.Later the next year the band opened for the new wave band Blondie at the infamous Whiskey A Go-Go in Los Angeles. That was the break Petty and the Heartbreakers needed to catch the attention of American audiences. By the spring of 1978, the single "Breakdown" from their debut album jumped into the top 40. That summer, Petty and the Heartbreakers released their second album, You're Gonna Get It. The album was certified gold, but after ABC records sold Shelter to MCA, Petty was infuriated. Long time manager Tony Dimitkides told Behind the Music that Petty was "not gonna be sold like a piece of meat."Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers thought that they should have control over their copyrights and royalty rates. MCA thought that the band should uphold their original contract with Shelter Records which Mudcrutch, not Petty and the Heartbreakers, signed and sued Petty. Petty held his ground, telling Behind the Music, "the power we have is that we don't play." MCA countered by issuing subpoenas for all of Petty's notes and lyrics that he and the band were working on. Continuing to stand firm, Petty devised a novel defense; he would declare bankruptcy, thus voiding the band's contract with MCA. Petty told Behind the Music, "I was pretty full of myself. I'd just fought the record industry and won."In 1979, after signing with Backstreet Records, ironically a label affiliated with MCA, Petty and the Heartbreakers released their breakthrough album, Damn the Torpedoes. This album included the hit singles, "Refuge," "Don't Do Me Like That," and "Here Comes My Girl." Minneapolis Star Tribune writer Neal Justin called Damn the Torpedoes, "an awesome collection of one pop classic after another." With the success of that album Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers became hugely popular.However, another battle with MCA loomed. MCA decided that it would raise the price of the band's next album, Hard Promises, from $8.98 to $9.98. Petty was livid because, as he told Schruers, "I never did this to make money." Petty publicly announced his outrage of the price hike, and MCA backed down. Hard Promises, as Justin noticed was "one of the first times Petty takes the part of narrator, singing in third person about lovable losers." Hard Promises sold 1.5 million copies on the strength of the hit single, "The Waiting."In 1982, Petty and the Heartbreakers followed up Hard Promises with Long After Dark, which included the smash hit, "You Got Lucky." However, bassist Ron Blair tired of touring had quit the band and was replaced by Howie Epstein. For the next year and a half, Petty and the Heartbreakers toured non-stop to support Long After Dark. Finally off the road by late 1983, Petty decided to record the next album Southern Accents at his new home studio with no producer. Having no producer is like having no captain to steer a ship. The recording sessions became, as Petty recalled on Behind the Music, "an ongoing party and drugs had entered the picture.... [it was like] opening the devil's door a bit." Thus, Petty and the Heartbreakers disappeared behind this devil's door for a year until a punch was heard around the world.In 1984, as the Southern Accents recording sessions dragged on, Petty lost his cool. He punched a wall with his left hand, and as he told Behind the Music, "pulverized it to powder." Doctors believed Petty would never play guitar again and the Heartbreakers began calling Petty, "L.V." or Lead Vocalist. However, after surgery and nine months of physical therapy, Petty regained his ability to play. In the spring of 1985, Petty and the Heartbreakers began touring to support Southern Accents. Justin called the album, "a rich autobiographical project that marks Petty's most mature moments as a songwriter and singer."Southern Accentsincluded the singles "Rebels" and "Don't Come Around Here No More." The latter inspired an Alice in Wonderland themed music video that won Petty and the Heartbreakers an MTV Music Video Award. In 1985 Petty and the Heartbreakers performed at the first Farm Aid concert to support American farmers, backing up Bob Dylan. This performance led to a two year tour with the rock legend and a live album, Pack Up the Plantation as well as another smash single, "Jammin' Me" for the band's 1987 album Let Me Up (I've Had Enough).In the summer of 1987, Petty met producer and ex-Electric Light Orchestra leader Jeff Lynne. Together without the Heartbreakers they began writing "Free Fallin'," and in 1989 Petty released his first solo album, Full Moon Fever. The band was not happy. Guitarist Mike Campbell told Rolling Stone reporter Schruers that, "groups are a very complicated thing. It's like a family, it's like a business relationship, it's a very emotional thing. You care about each other, and you tug just like brothers; you're jealous, and then you love each other."Things became even more complicated when Petty joined Lynne, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and George Harrison as a member of the Traveling Wilburys. In 1988 the Traveling Wilburys released their debut album, The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. One, and in 1990 won a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by Duo/Group for the hit single, "Handle With Care." Questions regarding the band's fate remained unanswered when, in 1990, the Traveling Wilburys recorded their second album, The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 3and Petty began to record another solo album, Into the Great Wide Open.That album became a group album, however, as Petty and the Heartbreakers regrouped and began touring. Into the Great Wide Open, with its hit single "Learning to Fly," went platinum in 1991. In 1993, Petty and the Heartbreakers released Greatest Hits, which included two new songs one of which, "Mary Jane's Last Dance," earned the band another MTV Video Award. In 1994 drummer Stan Lynch, amidst rising tensions, left the band.In 1994 Petty signed with Warner Brothers and released his second solo album, Wildflowers, which included the hit "Free Fallin'." Commenting on Wildflowers, Newsweek's Schoemer wrote, "[Petty] captures people at their most confused, frightened or revealing moments. Sleazy guys pick on innocent girls; solid marriages go awry; friends let friends down, and still despair gives way to renewal." That same year a tribute album to Petty and the Heartbreakers, You Got Lucky, was released. Petty told Rolling Stone's Schruers that he was "very flattered, very moved" by this cover album of the band's songs. Petty rejoined the Heartbreakers in 1995 to compile Playback, a boxed set of the band's hits. However, it would be the next album, Songs and Music From the Motion Picture She's the One that would pull together Petty and the Heartbreakers for good.In 1996, Petty began writing a single song for the film, She's the One. Fifteen songs later, Petty and the Heartbreakers had recorded their eleventh album, Songs and Music From the Motion Picture She's the One. Petty had found a new love for his band, as he told Denver Post reporter G. Brown, "They really make my work enjoyable and effortless. It was a healing experience for us, to be in there all involved together and feeling good about what we were doing." Petty continued, "I don't know if I'll make many more solo albums. I'm content to be in the group and do that for awhile. I've had my flings. I've come back to my old sweetheart."In 1999, the band followed up the soundtrack with Echo. Petty told the Boston Globe's Steve Morse that, "we set out to make a rock 'n roll record this time we have such a good little rock 'n roll band, and I wanted to get them on record doing what they do best." Petty also continued his rebel ways when he refused to increase the cost of concert tickets, and by offering Echo's first single, "Free Girl Now," on the MP3 format which internet users could download for free. Warner Brothers, however, did not pick a fight with Petty.Producer Jimmy Iovine told Behind the Music that Petty is "one of the most consistent songwriters I've ever laid eyes on" while Producer Rick Rubin stated, "you don't really see great rock bands anymore, and they [Petty and the Heartbreakers] are a great rock band." Petty himself believed, " I know I'm better at what I do than I was when I was younger as a band we're better." To the question of how long Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers would continue making albums, Petty told Behind the Music, "I used to say that we'd quit when we got to be 40 [now] lookin' down the barrel at 50. I don't have any intention of quitting."Tom Petty Discography1976 Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers 1978 You're Gonna Get It! 1979 Damn the Torpedoes 1981 Hard Promises 1982 Long After Dark 1985 Southern Accents 1987 Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) 1989 Full Moon Fever 1991 Into the Great Wide Open 1994 Wildflowers 1996 Songs and Music From "She's the One" 1999 Echo 2002 The Last DJ2006 Highway Companion
Posted in: Biography | Tom Petty | 0 Comments
Simply The Boss
Posten on: 2007-10-11 15:52:46
Bruce Springsteen was born on September 23 1949 in Freehold, New Jersey, USA. As the world's greatest living rock 'n' roll star, he has unconsciously proved former Rolling Stone critic Jon Landau totally correct. Landau appeared smug and brave when he made the arrogant statement in 1974, "I saw rock 'n' roll future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen". Prior to that, Springsteen had paid his dues, playing in local bands around New Jersey, notably with the Castiles, Earth, Steel Mill and Dr Zoom And The Sonic Boom, before he settled as the Bruce Springsteen Band with David Sancious (keyboards), Gary Tallent (bass), Clarence Clemons (saxophone), Steven Van Zandt (guitar), Danny Federici (keyboards), and Vini Lopez (drums). Following an introduction to CBS Records A&R legend John Hammond, Springsteen was signed as a solo artist; the company sensed a future Bob Dylan. Springsteen ignored their plans and set about recording his debut with the band Greetings From Asbury Park N.J.. The album sold poorly, although critics in the USA and UK saw its potential. The follow-up only 10 months later was a much stronger collection, The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle. Future classics were on this similarly low-selling album, including "Rosalita" and "Incident On 57th Street". It also contains the beautiful "Asbury Park Fourth Of July (Sandy)", later recorded by the Hollies. His musicians were re-named the E Street Band after its release and during the following May, Landau saw the band and made his now famous statement. He eventually became Springsteen's record producer and manager.During this time, the first two albums began to sell steadily, following a heavy schedule of concerts, as word got out to the public that here was something special. Springsteen wrote directly to his fans in a language which they understood. Here was a working class American, writing about his job, his car/bike, his girlfriend and his hometown. Born To Run came in 1975 and immediately put him into rock's first division. This superb album contained a wealth of lyrical frustration, anger and hope. The playing was faultless and the quality of the songs was among his best. Critics and fans loved it, and the album was a significant hit on both sides of the Atlantic. During the accompanying tour Springsteen collected rave reviews and appeared as cover feature in both Newsweek and Time. Throughout his European tour the UK press was similar in their praise and exhaustive coverage, which led to a backlash of Bruce Springsteen jokes. Springsteen's recording career was then held up for three years as he and Landau entered into litigation with Mike Appel, with whom Springsteen had struck a management deal in 1972. Other artists kept the torch burning brightly, with Manfred Mann's Earth Band releasing a sparkling version of his song "Blinded By The Light" and Patti Smith recording a definitive cover of his "Because The Night". Other artists like ex-Hollie Allan Clarke, Robert Gordon, and the Pointers Sisters recorded his material. With the lawsuits successfully completed the anti-climactic Darkness On The Edge Of Town arrived in 1978. The album reflected the problems of the past years and is a moody album, yet 15 years later it still stands as a great work. The show-stopping "Badlands" and "The Promised Land" were two of the album's masterpieces. From the moment the record was released in June, Springsteen and the band embarked on a gruelling tour which took them into 1979.On Springsteen's 30th birthday he played at the historic MUSE concert; the subsequent No Nukes album and video captured a vintage Springsteen performance of high-energy and humour. After feigning collapse onstage, he cheekily got the audience to beg for an encore having previously pointed out to them that he could not carry on like this as he is 30 years old! The audience loved the banter and together with the great Clarence Clemons, he roared into an encore of "Rosalita". The next months were spent recording the double-set The River, which received almost as much praise as Born To Run. All shades of Springsteen were shown; the album was brooding, depressing, pensive, uplifting, exciting and celebratory. In 20 songs, Springsteen covered every aspect of both his and the listener's life. It was hard to pick out any single standout tracks, but "Hungry Heart", "The River" and "Fade Away" were all released and became hit singles. The following year he toured Europe again, and helped to resurrect Gary "U.S." Bonds' career by producing and writing some of his comeback Dedication. "This Little Girl' is one of Springsteen's finest songs and Bonds found himself back in the charts after almost 20 years" absence.Nebraska, a stark acoustic set which was recorded solo directly onto a cassette recorder, was released in September 1982. It is raw Springsteen, uncompromising and sometimes painful; Bruce without his clothes on. At one point on the album he imitates a wolf cry, but to many it was a genuine howl, that struck terror when turned up loudly. After a further lengthy wait for a new album, Born In The USA arrived in 1984. As is often the case, the album that is the most commercially accessible, best selling and longest resident in the charts, is not always the artist's best work. Born In The USA was a prime example. Selling over 12 million copies, it stayed in the UK charts for two-and-a-half years, in the country of origin it stayed even longer. Numerous hit singles were released including the title anthem, "Cover Me" and "I'm On Fire". During one bout of Springsteen-mania on his 1985 European tour, all seven albums to date were in the UK charts. That year also saw him marry actress Julianne Phillips, and support political and social issues. He participated in the USA For Africa's "We Are The World" and joined former E. Street Band member Steven Van Zandt (who had been replaced by Nils Lofgren the previous year) on the Artists United Against Apartheid song "Sun City". In festive style his perennial "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" made the UK Top 10 in December. Along with Bob Dylan, Springsteen is the most bootlegged artist in history. In order to stem the flow he released a five-album boxed set at the end of 1986. The superbly recorded Live 1975-1985 entered the US charts at number 1.The following year Tunnel Of Love was released; the advance orders took it to number 1 on the day of release in the UK and USA. It was another exceptionally strong work, an intensely personal examination of the fallout from a failed love affair. Springsteen followed it with another major tour and visited the UK that summer. After months of speculation and paparazzi lens' intrusions, Springsteen's affair with his back-up singer Patti Scialfa was confirmed, with his wife filing for divorce. Springsteen continued to be political by supporting the Human Rights Now tour for Amnesty International in 1988, although from that time on he has maintained a lower profile. During the late 80s he performed numerous low-key gigs in bars and clubs and occasional worthy causes as well as his own Tunnel Of Love tour. Springsteen's successful European tour was clouded by the press' continuing obsession with his divorce. In 1989, he recorded "Viva Las Vegas" as part of a benefit album, and reached the age of 40. In the same year, the E. Street Band disintegrated following the singer's suggestion.During the early 90s the press followed Springsteen's every move, anxiously awaiting signs of action as he continued to enjoy life, occasionally appearing with other famous musicians. It is a testament to Springsteen's standing that he maintained his position, having released only eight albums of new material in almost 20 years. In 1992, he issued two albums simultaneously: Human Touch and Lucky Town. Both scaled the charts in predictable fashion as fans and critics welcomed him back, although not with quite the fervour of the past. He composed "Streets Of Philadelphia' the emotionally charged title track for the movie Philadelphia in 1994; the song later won an Academy Award and four Grammy Awards. In 1995, it was reported that he was working with the E Street Band (including Clemons) again. His Greatest Hits collection also included two new tracks and two previously unreleased oldies. As a complete about turn, 1995's The Ghost Of Tom Joad was a solo acoustic album. The album was warm, mellow and sad, in direct contrast to the stark and hollow power of Nebraska. Sounding a lot like Woody Guthrie, Springsteen had become ol" grandpappy, telling stories of Vietnam, prison life and lost love. He no longer sounded angry or energetic; merely philosophical. It was one of his strongest albums in years, yet one of his least commercially successful.In 1998, Springsteen successfully fought a lawsuit to stop a UK company issuing some early material. This media item coincided with the release of a surprisingly good box set, containing 66 unreleased tracks. Normally, the original reluctance to release such material is well-founded on the basis of, if it was not good enough then, why bother now. This set bucked the trend and was highly praised. It has already become one of the most important releases of his career (much in the way The Bootleg Series became for Bob Dylan). The following year Springsteen embarked on a rapturously well-received world tour with the rejuvenated E Street Band. In June 2000, Springsteen unveiled a new song, "American Skin", at a performance at Madison Square Garden. A scathing comment on the police shooting of the unarmed Bronx resident Amadou Diallo, the song prompted calls by the NYPD for a boycott of the singer's concerts and was later included on the tour souvenir, Live In New York City.Springsteen and the E Street Band then reunited to record their first new studio set since 1984. The Rising, released in July 2002, was inspired by the terrorist attacks of September 11 the previous year, with many of the songs written from the perspective of working people whose lives were irrevocably changed by the day's events. It was a formidable album with Springsteen really sounding as if he had something to important say once again, coupled with powerful anthemic arrangements.Bruce Springsteen discography1973: Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.1973: The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle1975: Born to Run1978: Darkness on the Edge of Town1980: The River1982: Nebraska1984: Born in the U.S.A.1987: Tunnel of Love1992: Human Touch1992: Lucky Town1995: The Ghost of Tom Joad2002: The Rising2005: Devils & Dust2006: We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions2007: Magic
Posted in: Biography | Bruce Springsteen | 0 Comments
Brilliant US Psychedelia
Posten on: 2007-10-01 14:46:43
Jefferson Airplane is an american psychedelic band formed on the West Coast of the USA during the summer of 1965 in what was called the San Francisco Bay folk boom. Singer Marty Balin recruited another folk musician, Paul Kantner, blues guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, jazz and folk vocalist Signe Toly Anderson, drummer Jerry Peloquin, and acoustic bassist Bob Harvey. They drew inspiration from groups such as the Beatles, the Byrds, and The Lovin' Spoonful, and built a local following at the Matrix Club.The group made its first public appearance August 13, 1965 at The Matrix club in San Francisco. Peloquin was a seasoned musician whose disdain for the others' drug use was a factor in his departure just a few weeks after the group began its career. Skip Spence then took the drum chair. The band gradually developed a more electric sound that led to Harvey's replacement by Kaukonen's childhood friend, Jack Casady in October 1965. Later in 1965, they signed to RCA and recorded an album for release the following year called ''Jefferson Airplane Takes Off''. In 1966, Spence was replaced by jazz drummer Spencer Dryden and Anderson by singer Grace Slick, formerly of another San Francisco group, The Great Society. Amongst their fans, the group's name was further shortened to "the Airplane". Slick brought with her a powerful and supple contralto voice, well suited to the group's amplified psychedelic music, as well as a number of important compositions, including "White Rabbit" (which Grace wrote) and "Somebody to Love" (written by Grace's brother-in-law, Great Society guitarist Darby Slick).Their transition from local to national notoriety was made possible by their appearance at the epochal Monterey International Pop Festival in June 1967. Monterey showcased leading bands from several major music 'scenes' including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and England and the resulting TV and film coverage gave national (and international) exposure to groups that had previously only had regional fame. All these bands were also greatly assisted by appearances on nationally syndicated TV shows such The Ed Sullivan Show, which were videotaped in color and augmented by recent developments in video techniques. The Airplane's famous appearance on the Sullivan show, performing "White Rabbit", has been frequently re-screened and is notable for its pioneering use of the Chroma key process to simulate the Airplane's customary psychedelic light show.Membership remained stable until 1970, by then they had recorded five more albums. The first of these, ''Surrealistic Pillow'' (1967), included two classic tracks, "White Rabbit" (inspired by the psychedelic drug LSD, then extremely popular in San Francisco, Maurice Ravel's ''Bolero'', and Lewis Carroll's ''Alice in Wonderland''), and the rousing anthem "Somebody to Love", as well as a reminder of their earlier folk incarnation, Kaukonen's solo acoustic guitar ''tour de force'', "Embryonic Journey", which referenced contemporary acoustic guitar masters such as John Fahey and helped to establish the popular genre exemplified by acoustic guitarist Leo Kottke. The album was extremely successful, reaching #3 in the US album charts, and alongside ''Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' and The Doors' debut album, it is widely regarded as one of the seminal albums of the so-called "Summer Of Love".''After Bathing at Baxter's'' (1967) further showed their proficiency in psychedelic rock. Its famous cover features a whimsical re-imagining of the group's Haight-Ashbury house as a Heath Robinson-inspired flying machine, drawn by artist and cartoonist Ron Cobb. ''Crown Of Creation'' (1968) was a transitionary record, more structured than ''...Baxters'', whereas ''Bless Its Pointed Little Head'' (1969) captured their live sound, recorded at concerts at the Fillmore and the Fillmore East. In the aftermath of the demise of the San Francisco scene, the band released ''Volunteers'' (1969), their most political venture. The title track, "We Can Be Together", "Good Shepherd", and the post-apocalyptic "Wooden Ships" (also recorded by Crosby, Stills & Nash) were all highlights. The band performed in an early "morning maniac music" slot at the Woodstock festival in August 1969. In December that year, they played at the infamous free concert held at the Altamont speedway in California. The concert, which was headlined by The Rolling Stones and also featured The Grateful Dead, was marred by crowd violence—Marty Balin was knocked out during a scuffle with Hells Angels members who had been hired to act as "security". The event became notorious for the now-famous "Gimme Shelter Incident" due to the death of black teenager Meredith Hunter, who was fatally stabbed in front of the stage by Hells Angels "guards" after allegedly pulling out a revolver during the Stones' performance (this incident was the centerpiece of the documentary film ''Gimme Shelter'').Balin and Dryden left shortly thereafter. ''Bark'' and ''Long John Silver'' were released on the band's own label, Grunt, with Joey Covington on drums and "Papa" John Creach on fiddle, after which the group effectively disbanded as Casady and Kaukonen converted their side-project Hot Tuna to a full time band. The live album ''30 Seconds Over Winterland'' (1973) is now best remembered for its cover art, featuring a squadron of flying toasters, which in turn spawned the famous "After Dark" computer screensaver design.Jefferson Airplane Discography1966 - Jefferson Airplane Takes Off1967 - Surrealistic Pillow1967 - After Bathing at Baxter's1968 - Crown of Creation1969 - Bless Its Pointed Little Head1969 - Volunteers1971 - Bark1972 - Long John Silver1973 - Thirty Seconds Over Winterland [live]1982 - Radio Special, Vol. 191989 - Jefferson Airplane1998 - Live at the Fillmore East2006 - At Golden Gate Park [live]2007 - Last Flight [live]
Posted in: Biography | Jefferson Airplane | 0 Comments
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