Biography
Odyssey as a blues journeyman
Posten on: 2006-09-27 06:24:14
Eric Patrick Clapton was born on March 30th, 1945 in Ripley, Surrey. He was the illegitimate son of Patricia Molly Clapton and Edward Fryer, a Canadian soldier stationed in England. He was raised believing that his grandparents were his parents and his mother was his sister, to shield him from the stigma that illegitimacy carried with it.Clapton grew up loving the blues of Robert Johnson, BB King and Buddy Guy. When he was 14, Clapton was given a guitar as a birthday present by his grandparents and proceeded to teach himself to play. He was expelled from art college when he was 17 for playing the guitar in class. Clapton joined a number of burgeoning British blues bands in his early years, including The Roosters and Casey Jones but his big break came in October 1963 when he was asked to replace Top Topham in British blues outfit The Yardbirds - a group that would eventually include guitar heroes Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. Clapton, who was nicknamed 'Slowhand' for his forceful string-bending guitar style, soon became the focal point of the group but he recorded only one album with them, Five Live Yardbirds. Clapton then joined John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, again recording only one album, Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton, but it would come to be the spark for the blues boom of the 60s. Clapton left the Bluesbreakers in 1966 and immediately formed Cream with Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce. The two years of Cream's existence marked the high point of Clapton's career in terms of popularity and commercial success. Billed as the first rock supergroup, Cream laid down the blueprint for the kind of heavy rock that bands like Led Zeppelin would popularise the 70s. On stage Clapton was allowed to indulge his extended guitar workouts and improvisational brilliance. In the studio the band created poignant blues riffing on hits such as Sunshine Of Your Love and Strange Brew.Cream's debut album, Fresh Cream introduced their breezy, psychedelic blueprint to the world, mixing original tunes such as Top 20 hit I Feel Free, with blues standards. Over the next six months the group became influenced by the psychedelic blues of Jimi Hendrix, evident on their next single, Strange Brew, a slow-burning piece of sinister psych-blues. The track was one of the highlights of the band's second album, Disraeli Gears, where the band truly found their voice. The album featured the euphoric Sunshine Of Your Love and the windingly psych-blues of Clapton's Tales Of Brave Ulysses. The album helped the band break the US, reaching the Top 5.Cream's follow up double album, Wheels Of Fire was another massive commercial success, helping to establish Cream alongside The Beatles and Hendrix as one of the biggest rock acts in the world. The album consisted of one live and one studio album but despite its commercial success, it failed to garner much critical praise after the 15 min version of Howlin' Woolf's Spoonful and the 17 min drum solo on Toad led critics to level accusations of 'self-indulgence'. The band played their farewell tour in November 1968 culminating in a legendary sell-out show at the Royal Albert Hall.Early in 1969, Clapton united with Baker, bassist Rick Grech, and Traffic's Steve Winwood to record one album as Blind Faith, another rock supergroup. Their self titled debut album topped the charts in the UK and the US but the pressure expected of a rock supergroup and a gruelling US tour, caused the band to break up a year later. Clapton was still only 24 but fame was taking its toll and he was developing a major drug addiction. He formed his own musical collective, Derek And The Dominoes and recorded the landmark double album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. Layla was an anguished lament of unrequited love, inspired by a difficult love triangle between Clapton, his close friend George Harrison and Harrison's wife Pattie. (Clapton eventually married Pattie in 1979 and divorced in 1988). Clapton also released his debut solo album in 1970. But a planned Derek And The Dominoes second album crumbled during a US tour and because of Clapton's worsening addiction to heroin. Clapton went into seclusion undergoing a series of treatments including electro-acupuncture treatment recommended by his friend Pete Townshend of The Who. A clean and healthy Clapton re-emerged in 1974 with the album 461 Ocean Boulevard and the hit single, I Shot The Sherriff.Some fans were disappointed by Clapton's post-rehab efforts, feeling that he had abandoned his former guitar-heavy approach in favour of a more laid-back approach. Just One Night, a galvanzing 1980 live album reminded fans of Clapton's electric blues brilliance but soon the guitarist was sliding into the depths of a serious drinking problem that hospitalized him in 1981. After beating the booze, Clapton experienced a creative resurgence, releasing a string of consistently successful solo albums including Another Ticket (1981), Money and Cigarettes (1983), Behind the Sun (1985), August (1986) and Journeyman (1989).But fate dealt Clapton another blow when, in 1990 his three-year-old son Conor fell forty-nine floors to his death from Clapton's Manhattan high-rise apartment. Clapton channelled his grief into writing the 1992 Grammy winning ballad, Tears In Heaven, taken from his Unplugged album which would become his biggest selling solo record ever.Two years later Clapton returned to his traditional blues roots with From The Cradle. 1998's Pilgrim album was greeted with mixed reviews but spawned a hit single with My Father's Eyes. In 2000 Clapton teamed up with his old friend BB King on the album Riding With The King, a set of blues standards. Clapton continued to look to the past with his next album, Reptile in 2001, his first solo studio set of the decade. The sleeve featured Clapton as a grinning youngster while many of the songs were interpetations of R&B hits from his youth including Ray Charles' Come Back Baby. Three years later Clapton delved further into his blues roots with the album Me and Mr. Johnson, a collection of tunes honouring the Mississippi born bluesman Robert Johnson. The album was recorded at the same time as studio sessions for his 2005 album, Back Home, a collection of blues and soul covers and original material. The album title, represented a completion of Clapton's musical odyssey as a blues journeyman. "This album closes the book on my whole journey as an itinerant musician and where I find myself now," said Clapton. "It's about coming home and staying home." At least until it's time to tour again.
Posted in: Biography | Eric Clapton | 0 Comments
Pioneering guitar playing
Posten on: 2006-09-22 07:14:01
Joe "Satch" Satriani is one of the most melodic guitarists ever, certainly putting melody before speed when it comes to composition, but also proveing what a technically established and widely respective player he is throughout his career.. His success is notable in a genre typically unfriendly to instrumental musicians. Satriani has received 13 Grammy nominations, and he has sold more than 7 million albums worldwide. It is notable that while his non-musician fans tend to call him "Satch", other guitarists more typically call him "Saint Joe"; there are numerous t-shirts to this effect.Satriani is recognized as one of the most technically proficient guitarists in rock. He has mastered nearly every performance technique on his instrument, including two-handed tapping, sweep picking, volume swells, tap harmonics, etc. He is also a renowned guitar teacher, whose students have included Steve Vai, David Bryson (Counting Crows), Kirk Hammett (Metallica), Larry LaLonde (Primus_(band)|Primus), and Charlie Hunter, Kevin Cadogen (Third Eye Blind) among others.Joe Satriani was born on July 15, 1956, in Carle Place, New York. He was inspired to play guitar at age 14, after hearing Jimi Hendrix. During the 1970s, Satriani moved to Berkeley, California to pursue a music career. When his friend and former student Steve Vai gained fame playing with David Lee Roth in 1986, Vai raved about Satriani in several interviews with guitar magazines. Word spread quickly, and Satriani was soon counted among rock's most talented guitarists.In 1989, Satriani's song "One Big Rush" (originally released on ''Flying in a Blue Dream'') was featured on the soundtrack to ''Say Anything''. In 1994, Satriani joined the band Deep Purple to replace guitarist Ritchie Blackmore during the band's tour. In 1996, Satriani formed G3, a concert tour featuring three instrumental rock guitarists -- originally Satriani, Steve Vai, and Eric Johnson.Satriani has often been criticized for the "sterility" of his music. The virtually flawless precision of his techniques as a guitarist have sometimes been described as "robotic" -- however this must be considered alongside the fact that few others in the world can match his technique, and that he has delved into many of the simpler styles with considerable success, such as blues and rock and roll. In relation to contemporary virtuoso guitarists however, such as Yngwie Malmsteen and John Petrucci, Satriani is often praised as a more lyrical, soulful guitarist. Satriani has maintained a large fan base throughout the world during his career.Satriani has endorsed Ibanez's JS Series guitars, and Peavey's JSX amplifier. Both lines were designed specifically as signature products for Satriani.
Posted in: Biography | Joe Satriani | 0 Comments
Creative tension and musical inventiveness
Posten on: 2006-09-17 02:36:12
"Roxy Music" were a British Art-rock group founded in the early 1970s as a collaborative project between art school graduate Bryan Ferry (vocals, musical keyboard|keyboards) and electronic music wizard Brian Eno. The group's name was partly a homage to the titles of old cinemas and dance halls, and partly a pun on the word 'rock'. This juxtaposition of nostalgic and contemporary, even futuristic-sounding themes, was a distinctive feature of the band's style of music and general appearance.Their first single "Virginia Plain", which reached the top three in the British charts, was typical of the band's blend of highly literate lyrics and musical inventiveness, combined with a powerhouse glam rock backbone. During that decade, they emerged as one of the foremost bands of the time. Their influence was significant upon the early British punk movement, as well as the New Romantic and experimental electronic groups of the early 1980s, and is still felt today to some degree.Eno left after the group's second album - "For Your Pleasure" - amidst some differences of opinion with Ferry. He was replaced on keyboards by Eddie Jobson, late of Progressive rockers Curved Air. The main element in the dispute concerned the amount of control that Ferry exercised over the band. Eno's concerns were shared by other key members such as the classically trained Andy Mackay (saxophone, oboe), the experienced progressive rock guitarist Phil Manzanera and talented and skillful drummer Paul Thompson. Manzanera, Thomspon and Mackay were permanent members. The bassist position was vacant. Instead, they hired new bassists for each record and tour. The other three members elected to remain, however, and gradually their songwriting was allowed by Ferry to become more integral to the band's direction.In spite of this, though, right up until their final split in 1982 all of Roxy's singles were written either wholly or jointly by Ferry, with the exception of their only number one hit, "Jealous Guy", which they recorded as a tribute to John Lennon shortly after his death. Bryan Ferry is also noted as a solo performer, usually of lounge-lizard style ballads, an art form which he seems to have made his own in recent times. However, his solo career began in 1973, when still very much a member of the band, and solo albums alternated with Roxy's releases. Often, Manzanera, Mackay and Thomspon took part in the recordings of some of his work. Notably when the band was together as a four-piece.Following their fifth album, "Siren", Roxy Music disbanded temporarily, to come back together with the "Manifesto" album (minus Jobson) which marked a return to their roots whilst ringing the changes with musical arrangements that predicted their future direction. During sessions of "Flesh and Blood", Thompson briefly left the band because he broke his thumb during a motorcycle incident. Instead the album was recorded as a trio and a host with touring musicians.Generally, their later music is slicker and musically less adventurous than that of the earlier albums; however, Ferry's apparently effortless elegance and the musical abilities of Mackay, Manzanera and Thompson, are always much in evidence. This culminated in the sombre perfectionism and beautifully sculpted soundscapes of their final album "Avalon" (for which Paul Thompson|Paul returned). After that all of the band members pursued simultaneously extensive solo careers.The original line-up - Ferry, Manzanera, Mackay, and Thompson - reformed in the early 2000s and toured extensively for a couple of years. Notably, the only significant one-time member missing was Brian Eno. Manzanera and Thompson also recorded and toured with Ferry on his 2002 album "Frantic".Discography"Roxy Music" (1972)"For Your Pleasure" (1973)"Stranded" (1973)"Country Life" (1974)"Siren" (1975)"Manifesto" (1978)"Flesh and Blood" (1980)"Avalon" (1982)
Posted in: Biography | Roxy Music | 0 Comments
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