1.
Single (music)
–
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record, an album or an EP record. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats, in most cases, a single is a song that is released separately from an album, although it usually also appears on an album. Typically, these are the songs from albums that are released separately for promotional uses such as digital download or commercial radio airplay and are expected to be the most popular, in other cases a recording released as a single may not appear on an album. As digital downloading and audio streaming have become prevalent, it is often possible for every track on an album to also be available separately. Nevertheless, the concept of a single for an album has been retained as an identification of a heavily promoted or more popular song within an album collection. Despite being referred to as a single, singles can include up to as many as three tracks on them. The biggest digital music distributor, iTunes, accepts as many as three tracks less than ten minutes each as a single, as well as popular music player Spotify also following in this trend. Any more than three tracks on a release or longer than thirty minutes in total running time is either an Extended Play or if over six tracks long. The basic specifications of the single were made in the late 19th century. Gramophone discs were manufactured with a range of speeds and in several sizes. By about 1910, however, the 10-inch,78 rpm shellac disc had become the most commonly used format, the inherent technical limitations of the gramophone disc defined the standard format for commercial recordings in the early 20th century.26 rpm. With these factors applied to the 10-inch format, songwriters and performers increasingly tailored their output to fit the new medium, the breakthrough came with Bob Dylans Like a Rolling Stone. Singles have been issued in various formats, including 7-inch, 10-inch, other, less common, formats include singles on digital compact cassette, DVD, and LD, as well as many non-standard sizes of vinyl disc. Some artist release singles on records, a more common in musical subcultures. The most common form of the single is the 45 or 7-inch. The names are derived from its speed,45 rpm. The 7-inch 45 rpm record was released 31 March 1949 by RCA Victor as a smaller, more durable, the first 45 rpm records were monaural, with recordings on both sides of the disc. As stereo recordings became popular in the 1960s, almost all 45 rpm records were produced in stereo by the early 1970s
Single (music)
–
45
rpm single record
2.
Elvis Presley
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Elvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is referred to as the King of Rock and Roll. Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and relocated to Memphis and his music career began there in 1954, when he recorded a song with producer Sam Phillips at Sun Records. Accompanied by guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, Presley was a popularizer of rockabilly. RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, Presleys first RCA single, Heartbreak Hotel, was released in January 1956 and became a number-one hit in the United States. He was regarded as the figure of rock and roll after a series of successful network television appearances. In November 1956, Presley made his debut in Love Me Tender. In 1958, he was drafted into military service, in 1973, Presley featured in the first globally broadcast concert via satellite, Aloha from Hawaii. Several years of drug abuse severely damaged his health. Presley is one of the most celebrated and influential musicians of the 20th century and he won three Grammys, also receiving the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame. Presley was born on January 8,1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, to Gladys Love and Vernon Elvis Presley, Jesse Garon Presley, his identical twin brother, was delivered stillborn 35 minutes before his own birth. Thus, as a child, Presley became close to both parents and formed an especially close bond with his mother. The family attended an Assembly of God, where he found his musical inspiration. Although he was in conflict with the Pentecostal church in his later years, rev. Rex Humbard officiated at his funeral, as Presley had been an admirer of Humbards ministry. Presleys ancestry was primarily a Western European mix, including Scots-Irish, Scottish, German, gladyss great-great-grandmother, Morning Dove White, was possibly a Cherokee Native American. Gladys was regarded by relatives and friends as the dominant member of the small family, Vernon moved from one odd job to the next, evincing little ambition. The family often relied on help from neighbors and government food assistance, the Presleys survived the F5 tornado in the 1936 Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak. In 1938, they lost their home after Vernon was found guilty of kiting a check written by the landowner, Orville S. Bean and he was jailed for eight months, and Gladys and Elvis moved in with relatives
Elvis Presley
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Presley in a publicity photograph for the 1957 film
Jailhouse Rock
Elvis Presley
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Presley's birthplace in
Tupelo, Mississippi
Elvis Presley
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Presley in a
Sun Records promotional photograph, 1954
Elvis Presley
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The "iconic cover" of
Presley's 1956 debut album featuring a photo taken July 31, 1955, in Tampa, Florida
3.
A-side and B-side
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The terms A-side and B-side refer to the two sides of 78,45, and 33 1/3 rpm phonograph records, whether singles, extended plays, or long-playing records. Creedence Clearwater Revival had hits with both A-side and B-side releases, others took the opposite approach, producer Phil Spector was in the habit of filling B-sides with on-the-spot instrumentals that no one would confuse with the A-side. With this practice, Spector was assured that airplay was focused on the side he wanted to be the hit side, the earliest 10-inch,78 rpm, shellac records were single sided. Double-sided recordings, with one song on side, were introduced in Europe by Columbia Records. There were no record charts until the 1930s, and radio stations did not play recorded music until the 1950s, in this time, A-sides and B-sides existed, but neither side was considered more important, the side did not convey anything about the content of the record. The term single came into use with the advent of vinyl records in the early 1950s. At first, most record labels would randomly assign which song would be an A-side, under this random system, many artists had so-called double-sided hits, where both songs on a record made one of the national sales charts, or would be featured on jukeboxes in public places. As time wore on, however, the convention for assigning songs to sides of the record changed. By the early sixties, the song on the A-side was the song that the company wanted radio stations to play. It was not until 1968, for instance, that the production of albums on a unit basis finally surpassed that of singles in the United Kingdom. In the late 1960s stereo versions of pop and rock songs began to appear on 45s. The majority of the 45s were played on AM radio stations, by the early 1970s, double-sided hits had become rare. Album sales had increased, and B-sides had become the side of the record where non-album, non-radio-friendly, with the advent of cassette and compact disc singles in the late 1980s, the A-side/B-side differentiation became much less meaningful. With the decline of cassette singles in the 1990s, the A-side/B-side dichotomy became virtually extinct, as the dominant medium. However, the term B-side is still used to refer to the tracks or coupling tracks on a CD single. With the advent of downloading music via the Internet, sales of CD singles and other media have declined. B-side songs may be released on the record as a single to provide extra value for money. There are several types of material released in this way, including a different version, or, in a concept record
A-side and B-side
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Victor 17929A and 17929B.
A-side and B-side
4.
Gramophone record
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The groove usually starts near the periphery and ends near the center of the disc. The phonograph disc record was the medium used for music reproduction until late in the 20th century. It had co-existed with the cylinder from the late 1880s. Records retained the largest market share even when new formats such as compact cassette were mass-marketed, by the late 1980s, digital media, in the form of the compact disc, had gained a larger market share, and the vinyl record left the mainstream in 1991. The phonograph record has made a resurgence in the early 21st century –9.2 million records were sold in the U. S. in 2014. Likewise, in the UK sales have increased five-fold from 2009 to 2014, as of 2017,48 record pressing facilities remain worldwide,18 in the United States and 30 in other countries. The increased popularity of vinyl has led to the investment in new, only two producers of lacquers remains, Apollo Masters in California, USA, and MDC in Japan. Vinyl records may be scratched or warped if stored incorrectly but if they are not exposed to heat or broken. The large cover are valued by collectors and artists for the space given for visual expression, in the 2000s, these tracings were first scanned by audio engineers and digitally converted into audible sound. Phonautograms of singing and speech made by Scott in 1860 were played back as sound for the first time in 2008, along with a tuning fork tone and unintelligible snippets recorded as early as 1857, these are the earliest known recordings of sound. In 1877, Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, unlike the phonautograph, it was capable of both recording and reproducing sound. Despite the similarity of name, there is no evidence that Edisons phonograph was based on Scotts phonautograph. Edison first tried recording sound on a paper tape, with the idea of creating a telephone repeater analogous to the telegraph repeater he had been working on. The tinfoil was wrapped around a metal cylinder and a sound-vibrated stylus indented the tinfoil while the cylinder was rotated. The recording could be played back immediately, Edison also invented variations of the phonograph that used tape and disc formats. A decade later, Edison developed a greatly improved phonograph that used a wax cylinder instead of a foil sheet. This proved to be both a better-sounding and far more useful and durable device, the wax phonograph cylinder created the recorded sound market at the end of the 1880s and dominated it through the early years of the 20th century. Berliners earliest discs, first marketed in 1889, but only in Europe, were 12.5 cm in diameter, both the records and the machine were adequate only for use as a toy or curiosity, due to the limited sound quality
Gramophone record
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Edison wax cylinder phonograph c. 1899
Gramophone record
Gramophone record
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Emil Berliner with disc record gramophone
Gramophone record
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Hungarian Pathé record, 90 to 100 rpm
5.
Nashville, Tennessee
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Nashville is the capital of the U. S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in the central part of the state. The city is a center for the music, healthcare, publishing, banking and transportation industries and it is known as a center of the country music industry, earning it the nickname Music City, U. S. A. Since 1963, Nashville has had a consolidated city-county government which includes six municipalities in a two-tier system. Nashville is governed by a mayor, vice-mayor, and 40-member Metropolitan Council, thirty-five of the members are elected from single-member districts, five are elected at-large. Reflecting the citys position in government, Nashville is home to the Tennessee Supreme Courts courthouse for Middle Tennessee. According to 2015 estimates from the U. S. Census Bureau, the balance population, which excludes semi-independent municipalities within Nashville, was 654,610. The 2015 population of the entire 13-county Nashville metropolitan area was 1,830,345, the 2015 population of the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Columbia combined statistical area, a larger trade area, was 1,951,644. The town of Nashville was founded by James Robertson, John Donelson, and it was named for Francis Nash, the American Revolutionary War hero. Nashville quickly grew because of its location, accessibility as a port on the Cumberland River, a tributary of the Ohio River. By 1800, the city had 345 residents, including 136 African American slaves and 14 free blacks, in 1806, Nashville was incorporated as a city and became the county seat of Davidson County, Tennessee. In 1843, the city was named the permanent capital of the state of Tennessee, by 1860, when the first rumblings of secession began to be heard across the South, antebellum Nashville was a prosperous city. The citys significance as a port made it a desirable prize as a means of controlling important river. In February 1862, Nashville became the first state capital to fall to Union troops, the state was occupied by Union troops for the duration of the war. Within a few years after the Civil War, the Nashville chapter of the Ku Klux Klan was founded by Confederate veteran John W. Morton, meanwhile, the city had reclaimed its important shipping and trading position and developed a solid manufacturing base. The post–Civil War years of the late 19th century brought new prosperity to Nashville and these healthy economic times left the city with a legacy of grand classical-style buildings, which can still be seen around the downtown area. Circa 1950 the state approved a new city charter that provided for the election of city council members from single-member districts. This change was supported because at-large voting diluted the minority populations political power in the city and they could seldom gain a majority of the population to support a candidate of their choice
Nashville, Tennessee
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From top left: 2nd Avenue, Kirkland Hall at
Vanderbilt University, the
Parthenon, the Nashville skyline,
Nissan Stadium,
Dolly Parton performing at the
Grand Ole Opry, and
Ryman Auditorium
Nashville, Tennessee
–
Nashville riverfront shortly after the
Civil War
Nashville, Tennessee
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A satellite image of Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
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Downtown Nashville
6.
Blues
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Blues is a genre and musical form originated by African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the end of the 19th century. The genre developed from roots in African musical traditions, African-American work songs, spirituals, Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads. Blue notes, usually thirds or fifths flattened in pitch, are also a part of the sound. Blues shuffles or walking bass reinforce the trance-like rhythm and form a repetitive effect known as the groove, Blues as a genre is also characterized by its lyrics, bass lines, and instrumentation. Early traditional blues verses consisted of a single line repeated four times, Early blues frequently took the form of a loose narrative, often relating the troubles experienced in African-American society. Many elements, such as the format and the use of blue notes. The origins of the blues are closely related to the religious music of the Afro-American community. The first appearance of the blues is often dated to after the ending of slavery and, later and it is associated with the newly acquired freedom of the former slaves. Chroniclers began to report about blues music at the dawn of the 20th century, the first publication of blues sheet music was in 1908. Blues has since evolved from unaccompanied vocal music and oral traditions of slaves into a variety of styles and subgenres. Blues subgenres include country blues, such as Delta blues and Piedmont blues, as well as urban blues styles such as Chicago blues, World War II marked the transition from acoustic to electric blues and the progressive opening of blues music to a wider audience, especially white listeners. In the 1960s and 1970s, a form called blues rock evolved. The term blues may have come from blue devils, meaning melancholy and sadness, the phrase blue devils may also have been derived from Britain in the 1600s, when the term referred to the intense visual hallucinations that can accompany severe alcohol withdrawal. As time went on, the phrase lost the reference to devils, by the 1800s in the United States, the term blues was associated with drinking alcohol, a meaning which survives in the phrase blue law, which prohibits the sale of alcohol on Sunday. Though the use of the phrase in African-American music may be older, it has been attested to in print since 1912, in lyrics the phrase is often used to describe a depressed mood. The lyrics of traditional blues verses probably often consisted of a single line repeated four times. Two of the first published songs, Dallas Blues and Saint Louis Blues, were 12-bar blues with the AAB lyric structure. Handy wrote that he adopted this convention to avoid the monotony of lines repeated three times, the lines are often sung following a pattern closer to rhythmic talk than to a melody
Blues
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John Lomax (left) shaking hands with musician "Uncle" Rich Brown in Sumterville,
Alabama
Blues
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Charley Patton, one of the originators of the Delta blues style, playing with a
pick or a
bottleneck slide.
Blues
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Sheet music from "
Saint Louis Blues " (1914)
Blues
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Bessie Smith, an early blues singer, was known for her powerful voice.
7.
Rockabilly
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Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blues, leading to what is considered classic rock, some have also described it as a blend of bluegrass with rock and roll. The term rockabilly itself is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, other important influences on rockabilly include western swing, boogie woogie, jump blues, and electric blues. An interest in the genre endures even in the 21st century, Rockabilly has left a legacy, spawning a variety of sub-styles and influencing other genres such as punk rock. There was a relationship between blues and country music from the very earliest country recordings in the 1920s. The first nationwide country hit was Wreck of the Old 97, backed with Lonesome Road Blues, during the 1930s and 1940s, two new sounds emerged. Recordings of Willss from the mid 1940s to the early 1950s include two beat jazz rhythms, jazz choruses, and guitar work that preceded early rockabilly recordings, wills is quoted as saying Rock and Roll. Why, man, thats the kind of music weve been playin since 1928. But its just basic rhythm and has gone by a lot of different names in my time and its the same, whether you just follow a drum beat like in Africa or surround it with a lot of instruments. The Maddox Brothers and Rose were at the edge of rockabilly with the slapped bass that Fred Maddox had developed. Maddox said, Youve got to have somethin they can tap their foot, or dance to, after World War II the band shifted into higher gear leaning more toward a whimsical honky-tonk feel, with a heavy, manic bottom end - the slap bass of Fred Maddox. They played hillbilly music but it sounded real hot and they played real loud for that time, too. The Maddoxes were also known for their antics and stuff. I mean it just wasnt us up there pickin and singing, there was something going on all the time. The demonstrative Maddoxes, helped release white bodies from traditional motions of decorum, more and more younger white artists began to behave on stage like the lively Maddoxes. Others believe that they were not only at the leading edge, Bill Monroe is known as the Father of Bluegrass, a specific style of country music. Many of his songs were in form, while others took the form of folk ballads, parlor songs. Bluegrass was a staple of music in the early 1950s
Rockabilly
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Carl Perkins pictured around 1955
Rockabilly
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Bill Haley and His Comets during a TV appearance.
Rockabilly
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Gazzguzzlers use the classic instruments associated with rockabilly: a hollow-body guitar, and upright bass, and a pared-down drum kit.
8.
Rock and roll
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While elements of rock and roll can be heard in blues records from the 1920s and in country records of the 1930s, the genre did not acquire its name until the 1950s. For the purpose of differentiation, this deals with the first definition. The beat is essentially a blues rhythm with an accentuated backbeat, classic rock and roll is usually played with one or two electric guitars, a double bass or string bass or an electric bass guitar, and a drum kit. Beyond simply a style, rock and roll, as seen in movies and on television, influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes. In addition, rock and roll may have contributed to the civil rights movement because both African-American and white American teens enjoyed the music and it went on to spawn various genres, often without the initially characteristic backbeat, that are now more commonly called simply rock music or rock. The term rock and roll now has at least two different meanings, both in common usage, the American Heritage Dictionary and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary both define rock and roll as synonymous with rock music. Encyclopædia Britannica, on the hand, regards it as the music that originated in the mid-1950s. In 1934, the song Rock and Roll by the Boswell Sisters appeared in the film Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round, in 1942, Billboard magazine columnist Maurie Orodenker started to use the term rock-and-roll to describe upbeat recordings such as Rock Me by Sister Rosetta Tharpe. By 1943, the Rock and Roll Inn in South Merchantville, in 1951, Cleveland, Ohio disc jockey Alan Freed began playing this music style while popularizing the phrase to describe it. The origins of rock and roll have been debated by commentators. The migration of former slaves and their descendants to major urban centers such as St. The immediate roots of rock and roll lay in the rhythm and blues, then called race music, particularly significant influences were jazz, blues, gospel, country, and folk. The 1940s saw the use of blaring horns, shouted lyrics. In the same period, particularly on the West Coast and in the Midwest, similarly, country boogie and Chicago electric blues supplied many of the elements that would be seen as characteristic of rock and roll. Rock and roll arrived at a time of technological change, soon after the development of the electric guitar, amplifier and microphone. It was the realization that relatively affluent white teenagers were listening to music that led to the development of what was to be defined as rock. Because the development of rock and roll was a process, no single record can be identified as unambiguously the first rock. Other artists with rock and roll hits included Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis
Rock and roll
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Sign commemorating the role of
Alan Freed and
Cleveland, Ohio in the origins of rock and roll
Rock and roll
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Chuck Berry in 1957
Rock and roll
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Bill Haley and his Comets performing in the 1954 Universal International film Round Up of Rhythm
Rock and roll
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Elvis Presley in a promotion shot for
Jailhouse Rock in 1957
9.
RCA Victor
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RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, Inc. It is one of SMEs three flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records and Epic Records. The label has released multiple genres of music, including pop, rock, hip hop, R&B, blues, jazz, the companys name is derived from the initials of the labels former parent company, the Radio Corporation of America. It is the second oldest recording company in US history, after sister label Columbia Records, RCAs Canadian unit is Sonys oldest label in Canada. It was one of only two Canadian record companies to survive the Great Depression, kelly, Enrique Iglesias, Foo Fighters, Kings of Leon, Kesha, Miley Cyrus, Giorgio Moroder, Jennifer Hudson, DAngelo, Pink, Tinashe, G-Eazy, Pitbull, Zayn and Wizkid. In 1929, the Radio Corporation of America purchased the Victor Talking Machine Company, then the worlds largest manufacturer of phonographs and phonograph records. The company then became RCA Victor but retained use of the Victor Records name on their labels until the beginning of 1946 when the labels were finally switched over to RCA Victor. With Victor, RCA acquired New World rights to the famous Nipper His Masters Voice trademark, in Shanghai, China, in 1931, RCA Victors British affiliate the Gramophone Company merged with the Columbia Graphophone Company to form EMI. This gave RCA head David Sarnoff a seat on the EMI board, in September 1931, RCA Victor introduced the first 33⅓ rpm records sold to the public, calling them Program Transcriptions. In the depths of the Great Depression, the format was a commercial failure, during the early part of the depression, RCA made a number of attempts to produce a successful cheap label to compete with the dime store labels. The first was the short-lived Timely Tunes label in 1931 sold at Montgomery Ward, in 1932, Bluebird Records was created as a sub-label of RCA Victor. It was originally an 8-inch record with a blue label. In 1933, RCA reintroduced Bluebird and Electradisk as a standard 10-inch label, another cheap label, Sunrise, was produced. The same musical couplings were issued on all three labels and Bluebird Records still survives eight decades after Electradisk and Sunrise were discontinued, RCA also produced records for Montgomery Ward label during the 1930s. Besides manufacturing records for themselves, RCA Victor operated RCA Custom which was the leading record manufacturer for independent record labels, RCA Custom also pressed record compilations for The Readers Digest Association. RCA sold its interest in EMI in 1935, but EMI continued to distribute RCA recordings in the UK, RCA also manufactured and distributed HMV classical recordings on the RCA and HMV labels in North America. During World War II, ties between RCA and its Japanese affiliate JVC were severed, the Japanese record company is today called Victor Entertainment and is still a JVC subsidiary. From 1942 to 1944, RCA Victor was seriously impacted by the American Federation of Musicians recording ban, virtually all union musicians could not make recordings during that period
RCA Victor
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Label of an RCA Victor 78 RPM record from the 1950s; RCA manufactured 78s alongside the 45 until 1958.
RCA Victor
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RCA Records logo 1968–87; revived as of 2015
RCA Victor
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Label of an RCA Victor 45 RPM record from the 1950s; RCA used this label for its 45 RPM records from 1954 to at least 1964.
RCA Victor
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RCA used this label for its American 45 RPM records during the Dynagroove era.
10.
Songwriter
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A songwriter is an individual who writes the lyrics, melodies and chord progressions for songs, typically for a popular music genre such as rock or country music. A songwriter can also be called a composer, although the term tends to be used mainly for individuals from the classical music genre. The pressure from the industry to produce popular hits means that songwriting is often an activity for which the tasks are distributed between a number of people. For example, a songwriter who excels at writing lyrics might be paired with a songwriter with a gift for creating original melodies, pop songs may be written by group members from the band or by staff writers – songwriters directly employed by music publishers. Some songwriters serve as their own publishers, while others have outside publishers. The old-style apprenticeship approach to learning how to write songs is being supplemented by university degrees and college diplomas, a knowledge of modern music technology, songwriting elements and business skills are necessary requirements to make a songwriting career in the 2010s. Several music colleges offer songwriting diplomas and degrees with music business modules, the legal power to grant these permissions may be bought, sold or transferred. This is governed by international copyright law, song pitching can be done on a songwriters behalf by their publisher or independently using tip sheets like RowFax, the MusicRow publication and SongQuarters. Skills associated with song-writing include entrepreneurism and creativity, songwriters who sign an exclusive songwriting agreement with a publisher are called staff writers. In the Nashville country music scene, there is a staff writer culture where contracted writers work normal 9-to-5 hours at the publishing office and are paid a regular salary. This salary is in effect the writers draw, an advance on future earnings, the publisher owns the copyright of songs written during the term of the agreement for a designated period, after which the songwriter can reclaim the copyright. In an interview with HitQuarters, songwriter Dave Berg extolled the benefits of the set-up, unlike contracted writers, some staff writers operate as employees for their respective publishers. Under the terms of work for hire agreements, the compositions created are fully owned by the publisher. In Nashville, young writers are often encouraged to avoid these types of contracts. Staff writers are common across the industry, but without the more office-like working arrangements favored in Nashville. All the major publishers employ writers under contract, songwriter Allan Eshuijs described his staff writer contract at Universal Music Publishing as a starter deal. His success under the arrangement eventually allowed him to found his own publishing company, so that he could. keep as much as possible, songwriters are also often skilled musicians. In addition to selling their songs and musical concepts for other artists to sing, songwriters need to create a number of elements for a song
Songwriter
–
Songwriter and singer
Chris de Burgh.
11.
Mae Boren Axton
–
Mae Boren Axton was known in the music industry as the Queen Mother of Nashville. She co-wrote the Elvis Presley hit single Heartbreak Hotel with Tommy Durden and she worked with Mel Tillis, Reba McEntire, Willie Nelson, Eddy Arnold, Tanya Tucker, Johnny Tillotson, and Blake Shelton. Mae Boren was born in Texas to Mark L. and Nannie Boren, the only daughter out of nine children, she was the sister of United States Congressman Lyle Boren. When Boren was two years old the family moved to Oklahoma and she attended East Central State College and the University of Oklahoma, where she earned a bachelors degree in journalism. She obtained a teaching certificate and taught English and journalism at schools throughout Oklahoma. Boren married John T. Axton, an officer in the US Navy, the family lived in Comanche, Oklahoma during the childrens pre-teen years. In 1949, Axton was stationed in Jacksonville, Florida and the family moved there, Boren taught English at Dupont High School. Boren is credited with writing approximately 200 songs, skid Row a song recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis is perhaps her most famous song after Heartbreak Hotel. Boren was the link between Elvis Presley and RCA Victor and she introduced a 19-year-old Presley to Colonel Tom Parker after a performance in Jacksonville, FL. She worked on behalf of Bob Neal to promote Presley and pressured RCA Victors Nashville division head Stephen H. Sholes to sign Presley, in 1955 Boren co-wrote the Elvis Presley hit-song Heartbreak Hotel with Tommy Durden. Durden presented the idea to Mae Axton, from an article he had read about a man who had killed himself. It was Boren who suggested there be a Heartbreak Hotel at the end of the mans lonely street thus creating Elvis first #1 record and one of rock n rolls greatest hits. In 1997 at the age of 82, Mae drowned in her hot tub at her home in Hendersonville, Tennessee, country Singers as I Know Em. Mae Boren Axton from Black Cat Rockabilly Europe Obituary from The Independent Oklahoma Womens Hall of Fame Oral History Project -- OSU Library
Mae Boren Axton
–
Mae Boren Axton
12.
Tommy Durden
–
Thomas Russell Tommy Durden was an American steel guitarist and songwriter, who is most notable for co-writing Elvis Presleys breakthrough hit, Heartbreak Hotel. He was born in Morgan County, Georgia, the son of a sharecropper, the family later moved to Jacksonville, Florida, where he learned slide guitar and later steel guitar. He performed with the Westernaires as steel guitarist, and in the early 1950s, after moving to Gainesville, joined country band Smilin Jack Herring, the bands other members were Herring, Pee Wee Jenkins, and Bob Chisolm. Another account from an owner has it that Durden had written the song in its entirety months previous and had already been performing it onstage. In any case, the song was recorded as a demo by Reeves who had a singing voice. Axton had promised to write a song for Elvis Presley and presented Presley with the demo at a 1955 disc jockey convention in Nashville. Presley liked the song, and he and Parker, his manager, agreed that he should record it so long as he was given a co-writing credit, Heartbreak Hotel eventually became Presleys first record on RCA Records and his first number one hit. Although Durden continued to write songs with Axton and Reeves, including Honey Bop which was recorded by Wanda Jackson in 1960 and he later performed as steel guitarist for Tex Ritter, Johnny Cash and Johnny Tillotson. He moved to live in Houghton Lake, Michigan, and worked as a commercial dishwasher repairman until retiring in the early 1980s, in later years he recorded two albums, Moods, which included a version of Heartbreak Hotel, and I Believe. He was inducted into the Michigan Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994 and he died in Houghton Lake, Michigan in 1999 at the age of 79
Tommy Durden
–
Tommy Durden
13.
Record producer
–
A record producer or music producer oversees and manages the sound recording and production of a band or performers music, which may range from recording one song to recording a lengthy concept album. A producer has many roles during the recording process, the roles of a producer vary. The producer may perform these roles himself, or help select the engineer, the producer may also pay session musicians and engineers and ensure that the entire project is completed within the record companies budget. A record producer or music producer has a broad role in overseeing and managing the recording. Producers also often take on an entrepreneurial role, with responsibility for the budget, schedules, contracts. In the 2010s, the industry has two kinds of producers with different roles, executive producer and music producer. Executive producers oversee project finances while music producers oversee the process of recording songs or albums. In most cases the producer is also a competent arranger, composer. The producer will also liaise with the engineer who concentrates on the technical aspects of recording. Noted producer Phil Ek described his role as the person who creatively guides or directs the process of making a record, indeed, in Bollywood music, the designation actually is music director. The music producers job is to create, shape, and mold a piece of music, at the beginning of record industry, producer role was technically limited to record, in one shot, artists performing live. The role of producers changed progressively over the 1950s and 1960s due to technological developments, the development of multitrack recording caused a major change in the recording process. Before multitracking, all the elements of a song had to be performed simultaneously, all of these singers and musicians had to be assembled in a large studio and the performance had to be recorded. As well, for a song that used 20 instruments, it was no longer necessary to get all the players in the studio at the same time. Examples include the rock sound effects of the 1960s, e. g. playing back the sound of recorded instruments backwards or clanging the tape to produce unique sound effects. These new instruments were electric or electronic, and thus they used instrument amplifiers, new technologies like multitracking changed the goal of recording, A producer could blend together multiple takes and edit together different sections to create the desired sound. For example, in jazz fusion Bandleader-composer Miles Davis album Bitches Brew, producers like Phil Spector and George Martin were soon creating recordings that were, in practical terms, almost impossible to realise in live performance. Producers became creative figures in the studio, other examples of such engineers includes Joe Meek, Teo Macero, Brian Wilson, and Biddu
Record producer
–
Alan Parsons in an
ESO 50th anniversary video.
Record producer
–
A
Danish recording session
Record producer
–
Mixing Console
14.
I Want You, I Need You, I Love You
–
I Want You, I Need You, I Love You is a popular song written by Maurice Mysels and Ira Kosloff. It is known best for being Elvis Presleys seventh RCA Victor single release, before the creation of the Billboard Hot 100 chart during 1958, there were a number of charts including Jukebox plays, Store charts, and Airplay charts. The song scored No.1 on the Billboard Top Sellers in Stores chart, during April 1956, Variety Magazine reported that Presleys sixth RCA Victor single, Heartbreak Hotel, had sold one million copies. RCA Victor producer Steve Sholes wanted a single to be the next release. Due to Presleys busy touring schedule, Sholes needed to get him into the studio as soon as possible, Presley and his band chartered a small propeller airplane to Nashville for one day of recording between shows. En route from Amarillo, the developed engine trouble and fell through the sky several times. Upon arrival in Nashville on the morning of April 14, all four were disconcerted. Presley arrived at the RCA Victor Studios without ideas for the session and therefore had no choice but to use Sholes suggestions, one of which was I Want You, I Need You. Being used to working hours, coupled with his traumatic experience during his overnight flight. Take after take was ruined for one reason or another and the band was not relaxed, Presley, usually a very quick study with a song, couldnt get the lyrics right. After 17 takes during three hours, Sholes decided Presley and the band werent able to properly and sent them home. After the session, Sholes listened to the takes again and he wasnt happy with the results of what he considered to be an unprofessional and wasted session. He knew that with Presleys busy touring schedule it could be months before RCA Victor got him back into a studio. Performing what was a rare and generally unsuccessful procedure for the 1950s. His cuts were so seamless, nobody at RCA Victor could tell it wasnt from a single take, I Want You, I Need You, I Love You was backed with My Baby Left Me and was released on May 4,1956. Pre-orders of over 300,000 were the biggest ever in the history of the company. At the time of its release, Presley had three songs in the Top 20, Heartbreak Hotel/I Was the One, My Baby Left Me, and I Want You, I Need You, I Love You. On June 5,1956, Presley performed the song on The Milton Berle Show, as well as an early version of Hound Dog that resulted in both overwhelmingly favorable audience reaction and outrage
I Want You, I Need You, I Love You
–
"I Want You, I Need You, I Love You"
15.
Country music
–
Country music is a genre of United States popular music that originated in the southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from the genre of United States, such as folk music. Blues modes have been used throughout its recorded history. The term country music is used today to many styles and subgenres. In 2009 country music was the most listened to rush hour radio genre during the evening commute, immigrants to the Southern Appalachian Mountains of North America brought the music and instruments of Europe and Africa along with them for nearly 300 years. Country music was introduced to the world as a Southern phenomenon, Bristol, Tennessee, has been formally recognized by the U. S. Congress as the Birthplace of Country Music, based on the historic Bristol recording sessions of 1927. Since 2014, the city has been home to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, historians have also noted the influence of the less-known Johnson City sessions of 1928 and 1929, and the Knoxville sessions of 1929 and 1930. Prior to these, pioneer settlers, in the Great Smoky Mountains region, had developed a musical heritage. The first generation emerged in the early 1920s, with Atlantas music scene playing a role in launching countrys earliest recording artists. Okeh Records began issuing hillbilly music records by Fiddlin John Carson as early as 1923, followed by Columbia Records in 1924, many hillbilly musicians, such as Cliff Carlisle, recorded blues songs throughout the 1920s. The most important was the Grand Ole Opry, aired starting in 1925 by WSM in Nashville, during the 1930s and 1940s, cowboy songs, or Western music, which had been recorded since the 1920s, were popularized by films made in Hollywood. Bob Wills was another musician from the Lower Great Plains who had become very popular as the leader of a hot string band. His mix of country and jazz, which started out as dance hall music, Wills was one of the first country musicians known to have added an electric guitar to his band, in 1938. Country musicians began recording boogie in 1939, shortly after it had played at Carnegie Hall. Gospel music remained a component of country music. It became known as honky tonk, and had its roots in Western swing and the music of Mexico. By the early 1950s a blend of Western swing, country boogie, rockabilly was most popular with country fans in the 1950s, and 1956 could be called the year of rockabilly in country music. Beginning in the mid-1950s, and reaching its peak during the early 1960s, the late 1960s in American music produced a unique blend as a result of traditionalist backlash within separate genres
Country music
–
Jimmie Rodgers
Country music
–
Vernon Dalhart
Country music
–
Roy Acuff
Country music
–
Publicity photo of Roy Rogers and Gail Davis, 1948
16.
The Blue Moon Boys
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The Blue Moon Boys were a band formed by Elvis Presley, guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black. The group members were introduced by Sun Studio owner Sam Phillips in 1954, fontana, who joined the group during a Louisiana Hayride tour in 1955. On July 18,1953, Elvis Presley recorded a single in the studio as a gift for his mothers birthday, Presleys recording was managed by Phillips secretary, Marion Keisker, who also kept a demo recording for the absent owner of the studio. On July 5,1954, the trio headed to the Sun Studios for a recording test together, Phillips played the recording for WHBQs DJ Dewey Phillips, who played the song on his regular show next night, on July 8. On July 9, the trio recorded what became the flipside to Thats All Right, the single was released on July 19,1954, and was a local hit in Arkansas, Mississippi and New Orleans. Scotty Moore became the manager of the band, and they toured several cities in the south, the Blue Moon Boys appeared on a regular basis at Eagles Nest club in Memphis, Tennessee. Sam Phillips booked the band an appearance at the Grand Ole Opry, after the failure, Phillips contacted Oprys main competition, the Louisiana Hayride. They made their first appearance on October 16,1954, Presley sang Thats All Right followed by the flipside of the record, Blue Moon of Kentucky. The performance was received and they signed a one-year contract to be official members of the Hayride. Fontana joined the band as the drummer on a regular basis after having played occasionally with them, in January 1956 Presley signed a $40,000 contract with RCA Records, recording for the first time on January 10,1956, Mae Axtons Heartbreak Hotel. The Blue Moon Boys continued appearing on Presleys recordings as well as in movies like Loving You, the first live appearance of the band since Presleys army return was in 1960, during The Frank Sinatra Shows special Welcome Home Elvis. The bands last appearance was during the Elvis 1968 Comeback Special—minus Bill Black, in 2007, the Blue Moon Boys were inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville
The Blue Moon Boys
–
(from left to right)
Scotty Moore,
Elvis Presley,
Bill Black
The Blue Moon Boys
–
Left to right: Scotty Moore (guitar), Bill Black (bass),
D.J. Fontana (drums)
17.
Chet Atkins
–
Chester Burton Chet Atkins known as Mr. He was primarily known as a guitarist and he also played the mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and ukulele. Atkins signature picking style was inspired by Merle Travis, other major guitar influences were Django Reinhardt, George Barnes, Les Paul, and, later, Jerry Reed. His distinctive picking style and musicianship brought him admirers inside and outside the country scene, among many honors, Atkins received 14 Grammy Awards and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He also received nine Country Music Association awards for Instrumentalist of the Year and he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum. Atkins was born on June 20,1924, in Luttrell, Tennessee and his parents divorced when he was six, after which he was raised by his mother. He was the youngest of three boys and a girl and he started out on the ukulele, later moving on to the fiddle, but traded his brother Lowell an old pistol and some chores for a guitar when he was nine. He stated in his 1974 autobiography, We were so poor, forced to relocate to Fortson, Georgia, outside of Columbus, to live with his father because of a critical asthma condition, Atkins was a sensitive youth who made music his obsession. Because of his illness, he was forced to sleep in a chair to breathe comfortably. On those nights, he played his guitar until he fell asleep holding it, while living in Fortson, he attended the historic Mountain Hill School. He returned in the 1990s to play a series of charity concerts to save the school from demolition, Atkins became an accomplished guitarist while he was in high school. He used the restroom in the school to practice, because it gave better acoustics and his first guitar had a nail for a nut and was so bowed that only the first few frets could be used. He later purchased an electric guitar and amp, but he had to travel many miles to find an electrical outlet. Later in life, he gave himself the honorary degree CGP. In 2011, his daughter Merle Atkins Russell bestowed the CGP degree on his longtime sideman Paul Yandell and she then declared no more CGPs would be allowed by the Atkins estate. His half-brother Jim was a successful guitarist who worked with the Les Paul Trio in New York, Atkins did not have a strong style of his own until 1939, when he heard Merle Travis picking over WLW radio. This early influence dramatically shaped his unique playing style, whereas Traviss right hand used his index finger for the melody and thumb for bass notes, Atkins expanded his right-hand style to include picking with his first three fingers, with the thumb on bass. Chet Atkins was a ham radio general class licensee, formerly using the call sign WA4CZD, he obtained the vanity call sign W4CGP in 1998 to include the CGP designation
Chet Atkins
–
Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
–
Atkins's
Gretsch Country Gentleman, model G6122-1962
Chet Atkins
–
Atkins listening as
Bill Porter adjusts a mix in RCA's Nashville studio
18.
Floyd Cramer
–
Floyd Cramer was an American Hall of Fame pianist who was one of the architects of the Nashville sound. He was known for his slip note style, in which an out-of-key note slides into the correct note. Cramer was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and grew up in the town of Huttig. He taught himself to play the piano, after finishing high school, he returned to Shreveport, where he worked as a pianist for the radio show Louisiana Hayride. In 1953, he cut his first single, Dancin Diane, backed with Little Brown Jug, in 1955 he played dates with an emerging talent who would later figure significantly in his career, Elvis Presley. In 1955 Cramer moved to Nashville, where piano accompaniment in music was growing in popularity. By the next year he was, in his words, in day and it was Cramers piano playing, for instance, on Presleys first RCA Victor single, Heartbreak Hotel. However, Cramer remained strictly a player, a virtual unknown to anyone outside the music industry. Cramer had released records under his own name since the early 1950s and became known following the release of Last Date. The instrumental piece exhibited a new concept in piano playing known as the slip note style. The record went to two on the Billboard Hot 100 pop music chart, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The song was out of the number 1 position by Elvis Presleys Are You Lonesome Tonight. Interestingly and perhaps ironically, the session pianist for Elviss recording of that #1 song, of the characteristic slip note style, Cramer commented, The style I use mainly is a whole-tone slur which gives more of a lonesome cowboy sound. You hit a note and slide almost simultaneously to another, the origin of the style is uncertain. Cramer also acknowledged the influence of Mother Maybelle Carters autoharp playing, in 1961, Cramer had a hit with On the Rebound, which went to number 4, and number 1 on the UK Singles Chart. Also in 1961, Cramer had a hit with San Antonio Rose, Cramer also performed with them as a member of the Million Dollar Band. Over the years, he continued to balance work with his own albums. Many of these featured standards or popular hits of the era, from 1965 to 1974 he annually recorded a disc of the years biggest hits, entitled Class of
Floyd Cramer
–
Floyd Cramer (1965)
19.
Eight-bar blues
–
In music, an eight-bar blues is a typical blues chord progression, the second most common blues form, common to folk, rock, and jazz forms of the blues, taking eight 4/4 or 12/8 bars to the verse. Examples include Sitting on Top of the World and Key to the Highway, Trouble in Mind, Heartbreak Hotel, How Long Blues, Aint Nobodys Business, Cherry Red, and Get a Haircut are all eight-bar blues standards. One variant using this progression is to couple one eight-bar blues melody with a different eight-bar blues bridge to create a variant of the standard 32-bar song. Walking By Myself, I Want a Little Girl and In The Dark are examples of this form, eight bar blues progressions have more variations than the more rigidly defined twelve bar format. The move to the IV chord usually happens at bar 3, however, the I chord moving to the V chord right away, in the second measure, is a characteristic of the eight-bar blues. In the following examples each box represents a bar of music, the chord in the box is played for the full bar. If two chords are in the box they are played for half a bar, etc. The chords are represented as scale degrees in Roman numeral analysis, Roman numerals are used so the musician may understand the progression of the chords regardless of the key it is played in. Play eight bar blues in C Worried Life Blues, Play eight bar blues progression in C Heartbreak Hotel, for example, the song Aint Nobodys business as performed by Freddie King at least, uses a I III IV iv progression in each of the first four bars. The same four bar progression is used by the band Radiohead to make up the bulk of the song Creep, the same chord progression can also be called a sixteen-bar blues, if each symbol above is taken to be a half note in 2/2 or 4/4 time. Examples are Nine Pound Hammer and Ray Charless original instrumental Sweet Sixteen Bars
Eight-bar blues
–
Typical
boogie woogie bassline on 8 bar blues progression in C, chord
roots in red. Play (
help ·
info)
20.
Reverb
–
Reverberation, in psychoacoustics and acoustics, is the persistence of sound after a sound is produced. This is most noticeable when the sound source stops but the reflections continue, decreasing in amplitude, until they reach zero amplitude. In comparison to an echo that is a minimum of 50 to 100 ms after the initial sound. As time passes, the amplitude of the reflections is reduced until it is reduced to zero, Reverberation is not limited to indoor spaces as it exists in forests and other outdoor environments where reflection exists. Reverberation occurs naturally when a person sings, talks or plays an instrument acoustically in a hall or performance space with sound-reflective surfaces. The sound of reverberation is often added to the vocals of singers in live sound systems. The time it takes for a signal to drop by 60 dB is the reverberation time, RT60 is the time required for reflections of a direct sound to decay 60 dB. Reverberation time is stated as a single value, if measured as a wide band signal, however, being frequency dependent. Being frequency dependent, the time measured in narrow bands will differ depending on the frequency band being measured. For precision, it is important to know what ranges of frequencies are being described by a time measurement. In the late 19th century, Wallace Clement Sabine started experiments at Harvard University to investigate the impact of absorption on the reverberation time. Using a portable wind chest and organ pipes as a sound source and he found that the reverberation time is proportional to room dimensions and inversely proportional to the amount of absorption present. The optimum reverberation time for a space in which music is played depends on the type of music that is to be played in the space, rooms used for speech typically need a shorter reverberation time so that speech can be understood more clearly. If the reflected sound from one syllable is still heard when the syllable is spoken. Cat, Cab, and Cap may all sound very similar, if on the other hand the reverberation time is too short, tonal balance and loudness may suffer. Reverberation effects are used in studios to add depth to sounds. Reverberation changes the perceived spectral structure of a sound, but does not alter the pitch, basic factors that affect a rooms reverberation time include the size and shape of the enclosure as well as the materials used in the construction of the room. Every object placed within the enclosure can also affect this time, including people
Reverb
–
Folded line reverberation device.
Reverb
–
Sound level in a reverberant cavity excited by a pulse, as a function of time (very simplified diagram).
21.
Billboard (magazine)
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Billboard is an American entertainment media brand owned by the Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group, a division of Eldridge Industries. It publishes pieces involving news, video, opinion, reviews, events and it is also known for its music charts, including the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200, tracking the most popular singles and albums in different genres. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows, Billboard was founded in 1894 by William Donaldson and James Hennegan as a trade publication for bill posters. Donaldson later acquired Hennegens interest in 1900 for $500, in the 1900s, it covered the entertainment industry, such as circuses, fairs and burlesque shows. It also created a service for travelling entertainers. Billboard began focusing more on the industry as the jukebox, phonograph. Many topics it covered were spun-off into different magazines, including Amusement Business in 1961 to cover outdoor entertainment so that it could focus on music. After Donaldson died in 1925, Billboard was passed down to his children and Hennegans children, until it was sold to investors in 1985. The first issue of Billboard was published in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 1,1894 by William Donaldson, initially, it covered the advertising and bill posting industry and was called Billboard Advertising. At the time, billboards, posters and paper advertisements placed in public spaces were the means of advertising. Donaldson handled editorial and advertising, while Hennegan, who owned Hennegan Printing Co. managed magazine production, the first issues were just eight pages long. The paper had columns like The Bill Room Gossip and The Indefatigable, a department for agricultural fairs was established in 1896. The title was changed to The Billboard in 1897, after a brief departure over editorial differences, Donaldson purchased Hennegans interest in the business in 1900 for $500, to save it from bankruptcy. That May, Donaldson changed it from a monthly to a paper with a greater emphasis on breaking news. He improved editorial quality and opened new offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, London and he also re-focused the magazine on outdoor entertainment like fairs, carnivals, circuses, vaudeville and burlesque shows. A section devoted to circuses was introduced in 1900, followed by more prominent coverage of events in 1901. Billboard also covered topics including regulation, a lack of professionalism, economics and it had a stage gossip column covering the private lives of entertainers, a tent show section covering traveling shows and a sub-section called Freaks to order. According to The Seattle Times, Donaldson also published articles attacking censorship, praising productions exhibiting good taste
Billboard (magazine)
–
An 1896 issue of Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
–
Cover of Billboard (January 26, 2013).
22.
Recording Industry Association of America
–
The Recording Industry Association of America is a continental North and South American trade organization that represents the recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors, which the RIAA says create, the RIAA headquarters is in Washington, D. C. The RIAA was formed in 1952 and its original mission was to administer recording copyright fees and problems, work with trade unions, and do research relating to the record industry and government regulations. Early RIAA standards included the RIAA equalization curve, the format of the record groove and the dimensions of 33 1/3 rpm,45 rpm. Since 2001, the RIAA has spent $2 to $6 million each year on lobbying in the United States, the RIAA also participates in the collective rights management of sound recordings, and it is responsible for certifying Gold and Platinum albums and singles in the United States. Cary Sherman has been the RIAAs chairman and CEO since 2011, Sherman joined the RIAA as its general counsel in 1997 and became president of the board of directors in 2001, serving in that position until being made chairman and CEO. Mitch Glazier has been the RIAAs senior executive vice president since 2011 and he served as executive vice president for public policy and industry relations from 2000 to 2011. The past RIAA chairman and CEO is Mitch Bainwol, who served from 2003 to 2011 and he left in 2011 to become president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. The board of directors consists of 26 members of the board, the RIAA operates an award program for albums that sell a large number of copies. The program originally began in 1958, with a Gold Award for singles, the criterion was changed in 1975 to the number of copies sold, with albums selling 500,000 copies awarded the Gold Award. In 1976, a Platinum Award was added for one million sales, the awards are open to both RIAA members and non-members. Since 2000, the RIAA also operates a program for Latin music sales. Currently, a Disco De Oro is awarded for 30,000 units, the RIAA defines Latin music as a type of release with 51% or more of its content recorded in Spanish. In 2006, digital ringtones were added to branch of certification. In the same year, the RIAA introduced the Latin Digital Award for digital recordings in Spanish and this release format includes DVD and VHS releases, and certain live albums and compilation albums. The certification criteria is different from other styles. Gold,50,000 Platinum,100,000 Multi-Platinum,200,000 copies The RIAA opposes unauthorized sharing of its music, studies conducted since the association began its campaign against peer-to-peer file-sharing have concluded that losses incurred per download range from negligible to moderate. The association has commenced high-profile lawsuits against file sharing service providers and it has also commenced a series of lawsuits against individuals suspected of file sharing, notably college students and parents of file sharing children
Recording Industry Association of America
–
Recording Industry Association of America
23.
Louisiana Hayride
–
Elvis Presley performed on the radio version of the program in 1954 and made his first television appearance on the television version of Louisiana Hayride on March 3,1955. First broadcast on April 3,1948 from the Municipal Auditorium in downtown Shreveport, Horace Hoss Logan was the original producer, the show was soon made into a Broadway attraction called Louisiana Hayride. Within a year of its debut, the program was so popular that a regional 25-station network was set up to broadcast portions of the show, the flagship station of the program was KWKH/1130 in Shreveport. Horace Logan continued to produce Louisiana Hayride until 1957, in 1999, Logan published a book about the Hayride that received acclaim from reviewers such as Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews. Beginning with the successful first show on April 3,1948, while the Opry, the Jubilee and the Hayride all showcased established stars, the Hayride was where talented, but virtual unknowns, were also given exposure to a large audience. By mid-1954, a special 30-minute portion of Louisiana Hayride was being broadcast every Saturday on the AFN Pacific channel of the United Kingdom Scottish Forces Radio Network, on October 16 of that year, Elvis Presley appeared on the radio program. On March 3,1955, Presley made his first television appearance on the version of The Louisiana Hayride, carried by KSLA-TV. Within a few years, rock and roll had come to dominate the music scene, however, KWKH continued to use the Louisiana Hayride name for packaged music tours throughout the 1960s on a bi-weekly, monthly or quarterly basis, finally ending operations entirely in 1969. In August 1974, Shreveport businessman David Kent mounted a country music show originally called Hayride U. S. A. which was retitled Louisiana Hayride in 1975 after KWKH agreed to let Kent use the name. Barney Cannon, a KWKH deejay, became a specialist on the history of music, KWKH. In August 2009, the Louisiana Hayride was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame, in 2009, after several years of litigation over the Louisiana Hayride name and trademark, a federal court ruled that Margaret Lewis Warwick owned the rights to the name. As of May 31,2012, KWKH had changed to a sports format and ceased producing the classic country music format reminiscent of the Hayride era
Louisiana Hayride
–
The Louisiana Hayride
Louisiana Hayride
–
Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium
Louisiana Hayride
–
KWKH microphone
Louisiana Hayride
–
Elvis Presley in Louisiana Hayride.
24.
Stage Show (TV series)
–
Stage Show was a popular music variety series on American television originally hosted on alternate weeks by big band leaders and brothers Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. Produced by Jackie Gleason, the CBS-TV show included the first national television appearances by Elvis Presley, the series began as a one-hour show on July 3,1954 as a summer replacement for The Jackie Gleason Show. Gleason brought it back in the fall of 1955 as a show and scheduled it from 8–8,30 p. m. ET in the time slot prior to his own series, The Honeymooners. In 1956, Jack Carter, a frequent guest, became the permanent host, the June Taylor Dancers made regular appearances. Bobby Darin made his national TV debut on the program in early 1956, the shows final telecast was September 18,1956, only two months before the death of Tommy Dorsey. Brother Jimmy lost his life in June of the following year, introduced by Cleveland, Ohio disc jockey Bill Randle, Presley first appeared on January 28,1956, performing Shake, Rattle and Roll, Flip, Flop and Fly and I Got a Woman. Brooks, Tim, Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows, Ballantine Books, mcNeil, Alex, Total Television, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-024916-8. The following public domain episodes can be viewed on the Internet Archive, June 271956, March 311956, April 211956
Stage Show (TV series)
–
Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey as hosts, 1955.
25.
Baltimore, Maryland
–
Baltimore is the largest city in the U. S. state of Maryland, and the 29th-most populous city in the country. It was established by the Constitution of Maryland and is not part of any county, thus, it is the largest independent city in the United States, with a population of 621,849 as of 2015. As of 2010, the population of the Baltimore Metropolitan Area was 2.7 million, founded in 1729, Baltimore is the second largest seaport in the Mid-Atlantic. Baltimores Inner Harbor was once the leading port of entry for immigrants to the United States. With hundreds of identified districts, Baltimore has been dubbed a city of neighborhoods, in the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key wrote The Star-Spangled Banner, later the American national anthem, in Baltimore. More than 65,000 properties, or roughly one in three buildings in the city, are listed on the National Register, more than any city in the nation. The city has 289 properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the historical records of the government of Baltimore are located at the Baltimore City Archives. The city is named after Cecil Calvert, second Lord Baltimore, of the Irish House of Lords, Baltimore Manor was the name of the estate in County Longford on which the Calvert family lived in Ireland. Baltimore is an anglicization of the Irish name Baile an Tí Mhóir, in 1608, Captain John Smith traveled 210 miles from Jamestown to the uppermost Chesapeake Bay, leading the first European expedition to the Patapsco River. The name Patapsco is derived from pota-psk-ut, which translates to backwater or tide covered with froth in Algonquian dialect, a quarter century after John Smiths voyage, English colonists began to settle in Maryland. The area constituting the modern City of Baltimore and its area was first settled by David Jones in 1661. He claimed the area today as Harbor East on the east bank of the Jones Falls stream. In the early 1600s, the immediate Baltimore vicinity was populated, if at all. The Baltimore area had been inhabited by Native Americans since at least the 10th millennium BC, one Paleo-Indian site and several Archaic period and Woodland period archaeological sites have been identified in Baltimore, including four from the Late Woodland period. During the Late Woodland period, the culture that is called the Potomac Creek complex resided in the area from Baltimore to the Rappahannock River in Virginia. It was located on the Bush River on land that in 1773 became part of Harford County, in 1674, the General Assembly passed An Act for erecting a Court-house and Prison in each County within this Province. The site of the house and jail for Baltimore County was evidently Old Baltimore near the Bush River. In 1683, the General Assembly passed An Act for Advancement of Trade to establish towns, ports, one of the towns established by the act in Baltimore County was on Bush River, on Town Land, near the Court-House
Baltimore, Maryland
–
Sixth Regiment fighting railroad strikers, July 20, 1877
Baltimore, Maryland
–
Downtown Baltimore,
Emerson Bromo-Seltzer Tower,
Pennsylvania Station,
M&T Bank Stadium, (
Baltimore Ravens Stadium),
Inner Harbor and the
National Aquarium in Baltimore,
Baltimore City Hall,
Washington Monument
Baltimore, Maryland
–
The
Battle Monument commemorates the
Battle of Baltimore.
Baltimore, Maryland
–
The
Great Baltimore Fire of 1904, looking west from
Pratt and
Gay streets
26.
Rolling Stone
–
Rolling Stone is an American biweekly magazine that focuses on popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner, who is still the publisher. It was first known for its coverage and for political reporting by Hunter S. Thompson. In the 1990s, the magazine shifted focus to a readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, film actors. In recent years, it has resumed its traditional mix of content, Rolling Stone magazine was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and Ralph Gleason. To get it off the ground, Wenner borrowed $7,500 from his own family and from the parents of his soon-to-be wife, Jane Schindelheim. The first issue carried a date of November 9,1967. Some authors have attributed the name solely to Dylans hit single, At Gleasons suggestion, Rolling Stone initially identified with and reported the hippie counterculture of the era. In the very first edition, Wenner wrote that Rolling Stone is not just about the music, in the 1970s, Rolling Stone began to make a mark with its political coverage, with the likes of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson writing for the magazines political section. Thompson first published his most famous work Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas within the pages of Rolling Stone, where he remained a contributing editor until his death in 2005. In the 1970s, the magazine also helped launch the careers of prominent authors, including Cameron Crowe, Lester Bangs, Joe Klein, Joe Eszterhas, Patti Smith. It was at point that the magazine ran some of its most famous stories. One interviewer, speaking for a number of his peers, said that he bought his first copy of the magazine upon initial arrival on his college campus. In 1977, the magazine moved its headquarters from San Francisco to New York City, editor Jann Wenner said San Francisco had become a cultural backwater. During the 1980s, the magazine began to shift towards being an entertainment magazine. Music was still a dominant topic, but there was increasing coverage of celebrities in television, films, the magazine also initiated its annual Hot Issue during this time. Rolling Stone was initially known for its coverage and for Thompsons political reporting. In the 1990s, the changed its format to appeal to a younger readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, film actors
Rolling Stone
–
Cee Lo Green,
Adam Levine,
Christina Aguilera, and
Blake Shelton, on the cover of the February 1, 2012, issue of Rolling Stone
27.
500 Greatest Songs of All Time
–
Like a Rolling Stone, by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan was chosen as number 1. The single was released on 20 July 1965, the list includes only songs written in English, with the sole exception of La Bamba, sung in Spanish by the American singer-songwriter Ritchie Valens. Few songs written prior to the 1950s are included, some that are listed are Robert Johnsons Crossroads, in the version recorded by Cream, and Hank Williamss Im So Lonesome I Could Cry. The House of the Rising Sun, listed in the version by English rock band the Animals, was recorded at least as early as 1934, muddy Waterss Rollin Stone is based on an earlier song, dating to the 1920s. There is one instrumental on the list, Green Onions by the American band Booker T. and the M. G. s. The number of songs from each of the decades represented in the 2004 version is as follows, The Beatles are the most heavily represented musical act, john Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison are also represented as solo artists. However, Lennon is the only artist to appear twice in the top 10, as a member of the Beatles and as a solo artist. The artists not included on the list of the top 100 artists but having the most songs featured in the list are the Animals, Blondie, and the Isley Brothers, each with three songs. The shortest tracks are Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis and Rave On. by Buddy Holly, eddie Cochrans Summertime Blues is 1,53. Love is the most frequent word used in the lyrics, with 1057 occurrences, followed by Im, oh, know, baby, got. In May 2010, Rolling Stone compiled an update, published in an issue and in digital form for the iPod. The list differs from the 2004 version, with 26 songs added, the top 25 remained unchanged, but many songs further down the list were given different rankings as a result of the inclusion of new songs, causing consecutive shifts among the songs listed in 2004. The highest-ranked new entry was Gnarls Barkleys Crazy, the number of songs from each decade in the updated version is as follows, Two songs by U2 and two by Jay-Z were added to the list. Jay-Z is also featured in two new songs on the list, Crazy in Love, by Beyoncé, and Umbrella. The only artist to have two songs dropped from the list is the Crystals, their Da Doo Ron Ron was the song to have been dropped. With the development of the Rolling Stone website as a source of information. Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Songs of All Time with lists of additions, archived from the original on July 6,2013
500 Greatest Songs of All Time
–
Contents
28.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
–
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a hall of fame and museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In 1986, Cleveland was chosen as the hall of fames permanent home.8 billion, the Foundation began inducting artists in 1986, but the Hall of Fame still had no home. The search committee considered several cities, including Philadelphia, Memphis, Detroit, Cincinnati, New York City, Cleveland was also one of the premier tour stops for most rock bands. Civic leaders in Cleveland pledged $65 million in money to fund the construction. A petition drive was signed by 600,000 fans favoring Cleveland over Memphis, on May 5,1986, the Hall of Fame Foundation chose Cleveland as the permanent home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Sam Phillips of Sun Studios fame and many others were stunned and disappointed that it ended up in Cleveland, the hall of fame shouldve been in Memphis, certainly, wrote Peter Guralnick, author of an acclaimed two-volume Elvis Presley biography. Cleveland may also have chosen as the organizations site because the city offered the best financial package. As The Plain Dealer music critic Michael Norman noted, It was $65 million, Cleveland wanted it here and put up the money. During early discussions on where to build the Hall of Fame and Museum, ultimately, the chosen location was along East Ninth Street in downtown Cleveland by Lake Erie, east of Cleveland Stadium. Initial CEO Dr. Larry R. Thompson facilitated I. M. Pei in designs for the site, Pei came up with the idea of a tower with a glass pyramid protruding from it. The museum tower was planned to stand 200 ft high. The buildings base is approximately 150,000 square feet, the groundbreaking ceremony took place on June 7,1993. Pete Townshend, Chuck Berry, Billy Joel, Sam Phillips, Ruth Brown, Sam Moore of Sam and Dave, Carl Gardner of the Coasters and Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum all appeared at the groundbreaking. The museum was dedicated on September 1,1995, with the ribbon being cut by an ensemble that included Yoko Ono and Little Richard, among others, the following night an all-star concert was held at the stadium. It featured Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan, Al Green, Jerry Lee Lewis, Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, Iggy Pop, John Fogerty, John Mellencamp, and many others. In addition to the Hall of Fame inductees, the documents the entire history of rock and roll. Hall of Fame inductees are honored in an exhibit located in a wing that juts out over Lake Erie. Since 1986, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has selected new inductees, the formal induction ceremony has been held in New York City 25 times, twice in Los Angeles, and four times in the Hall of Fames home in Cleveland
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
–
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
–
The former Annex in Soho in New York City (now closed)
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
–
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (left) sits on the
Lake Erie shore next to the
Great Lakes Science Center (right) in Cleveland's
North Coast Harbor.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
–
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, showing
Lake Erie in the foreground
29.
Willie Nelson
–
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American musician, singer, songwriter, author, poet, actor, and activist. He was one of the figures of outlaw country, a subgenre of country music that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound. Nelson has acted in over 30 films, co-authored several books, and has involved in activism for the use of biofuels. Born during the Great Depression, and raised by his grandparents, Nelson wrote his first song at age seven, during high school, he toured locally with the Bohemian Polka as their lead singer and guitar player. After graduating from school in 1950, he joined the Air Force but was later discharged due to back problems. After his return, Nelson attended Baylor University for two years but dropped out because he was succeeding in music, during this time, he worked as a disc jockey in Texas radio stations and a singer in Honky-tonks. Nelson moved to Vancouver, Washington, where he wrote Family Bible, in 1958, he moved to Houston, Texas after signing a contract with D Records. He sang at the Esquire Ballroom weekly and he worked as a disk jockey, during that time, he wrote songs that would become country standards, including Funny How Time Slips Away, Hello Walls, Pretty Paper, and Crazy. In 1960 he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and later signed a contract with Pamper Music which allowed him to join Ray Prices band as a bassist. In 1962, he recorded his first album. And Then I Wrote, due to this success, Nelson signed in 1964 with RCA Victor and joined the Grand Ole Opry the following year. After mid-chart hits in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, Nelson retired in 1972 and moved to Austin, the ongoing music scene of Austin motivated Nelson to return from retirement, performing frequently at the Armadillo World Headquarters. In 1973, after signing with Atlantic Records, Nelson turned to country, including albums such as Shotgun Willie. In 1975, he switched to Columbia Records, where he recorded the acclaimed album. The same year, he recorded another outlaw country album, Wanted, the Outlaws, along with Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser. In 1990, Nelsons assets were seized by the Internal Revenue Service, the difficulty of paying his outstanding debt was aggravated by weak investments he had made during the 1980s. In 1992, Nelson released The IRS Tapes, Wholl Buy My Memories, the profits of the double album—destined to the IRS—and the auction of Nelsons assets cleared his debt. During the 1990s and 2000s, Nelson continued touring extensively, reviews ranged from positive to mixed. He explored genres such as reggae, blues, jazz, Nelson made his first movie appearance in the 1979 film The Electric Horseman, followed by other appearances in movies and on television
Willie Nelson
–
Nelson performing at
Farm Aid in 2009
Willie Nelson
–
A young Nelson poses for a photograph
Willie Nelson
–
Nelson's high school football portrait, c. 1950
Willie Nelson
–
Nelson performing on a
Grand Ole Opry package show in 1965
30.
Leon Russell
–
Leon Russell was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling pop music records over the course of his 60-year career. His genres included pop, rock, blues, country, bluegrass, standards, gospel and he was awarded six gold records. His collaborations rank as some of the most successful in music history and he recorded 33 albums and at least 430 songs. He wrote Delta Lady, recorded by Joe Cocker, and organized and performed with Cockers Mad Dogs and his A Song for You has been recorded by more than 200 artists, and his This Masquerade by more than 75. As a pianist, he played in his years on albums by the Beach Boys. On his first album, Leon Russell, in 1970, the musicians included Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, One of his biggest early fans, Elton John said Russell was a mentor and inspiration. They recorded their album The Union in 2010, which earned them a Grammy nomination, Russell produced and played in recording sessions for Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Ike & Tina Turner, the Rolling Stones, and others. He wrote and recorded the hits Tight Rope and Lady Blue and he performed at the Concert for Bangladesh in 1971 along with Dylan and Eric Clapton. In 2011, he was inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Russell was born in Lawton, Oklahoma. He began playing the piano at the age of four and he attended Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Also at Will Rogers High School were Anita Bryant, who was two years older, and in the same 1959 class, David Gates, Russell and Gates played and recorded together as the Fencemen. Another student at Will Rogers at the time was Elvin Bishop, during this time Russell was already performing at Tulsa nightclubs. He took the name Leon from a friend who lent him a fake ID to get into clubs he was too young to perform in. After moving to Los Angeles in 1958, Russell became a session musician, by the late 1960s, he had diversified, becoming successful as an arranger and songwriter. By 1970, he had become a recording artist. After performing country music under the name Hank Wilson in the 1970s and 1980s, Russell re-emerged in 2010 when Elton John called on him to record the album that became The Union. The album, which included contributions from Brian Wilson and Neil Young, brought renewed popularity to Russell, Russell was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 14,2011. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in June 2011, according to his wife, Jan Bridges, Russell died quietly in his sleep at his suburban Nashville home on the morning of November 13,2016, at the age of 74
Leon Russell
–
Russell c. 1980
Leon Russell
–
Russell in 2009
Leon Russell
–
The Union album by Elton John and Leon Russell
31.
The Miami Herald
–
The Miami Herald is a daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County several miles west of Miami. Founded in 1903, it is the second largest newspaper in South Florida, serving Miami-Dade, Broward County and it also circulates throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. The newspaper employs over 800 people in Miami and across several bureaus, including Bogotá, Managua, Tallahassee, Vero Beach, Key West, the newspaper has been awarded 20 Pulitzer Prizes since beginning publication in 1903. Well-known columnists include Pulitzer-winning political commentator Leonard Pitts, Jr. Pulitzer-winning reporter Mirta Ojito, humorist Dave Barry, other columnists include Fred Grimm and longtime sportswriter Edwin Pope. Alexandra Villoch is the publisher, and Aminda Marqués Gonzalez is the executive editor, the newspaper averages 88 pages daily and 212 pages on Sundays. The Miami Heralds coverage of Latin American and Hispanic affairs is widely considered among the best of U. S. newspapers. The Miami Herald also participates in Politifact Florida, a website that focuses on the truth about Florida issues, along with the Tampa Bay Times, the Herald and the Times share resources on news stories related to Florida. The first edition was published September 15,1903, as The Miami Evening Record, after the recession of 1907, the newspaper had severe financial difficulties. Its largest creditor was Henry Flagler, through a loan from Henry Flagler, Frank B. Shutts, who was also the founder of the law firm Shutts & Bowen, acquired the paper, although it is the longest continuously published newspaper in Miami, the earliest newspaper in the region was The Tropical Sun, established in 1891. The Miami Metropolis, which later became The Miami News, was founded in 1896, and was the Heralds oldest competitor until 1988, during the Florida land boom of the 1920s, the Miami Herald was the largest newspaper in the world, as measured by lines of advertising. During The Great Depression in the 1930s, the Herald came close to receivership, on October 25,1939, John S. Knight, son of a noted Ohio newspaperman, bought the Herald from Frank B. Knight became editor and publisher, and made his brother, James L. Knight, lee Hills arrived as city editor in September 1942. He later became the Heralds publisher and eventually the chairman of Knight-Ridder Inc. a position he held until 1981, the Miami Herald International Edition, printed by partner newspapers throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, began in 1946. It was extended to Mexico in 2002, the Herald won its first Pulitzer Prize in 1950, for its reporting on Miamis organized crime. Its circulation was 176,000 daily and 204,000 on Sundays, on August 19,1960, construction began on the Herald building on Biscayne Bay. Also on that day, Alvah H. Chapman, started work as James Knights assistant, Chapman was later promoted to Knight-Ridder chairman and chief executive officer. The Herald moved into its new building at One Herald Plaza without missing an edition on March 23–24,1963, publication of a Spanish-language supplemental insert named El Herald began in 1976
The Miami Herald
–
The March 5, 2007 front page of the Miami Herald
The Miami Herald
–
A Miami Herald headline dated August 7, 1945 featuring the
atomic bombing of
Hiroshima, Japan.
The Miami Herald
–
The Miami Herald former headquarters on
Biscayne Bay in the
Omni neighborhood of
Downtown Miami. The Herald moved from its waterfront headquarters in 2013 to a location in suburban Doral. [
dated info]
32.
Suicide note
–
A suicide note or death note is a message left behind before a person has committed suicide, or who intends to commit suicide. It is estimated that 25–30% of suicides are accompanied by a note, according to Gelder, Mayou and Geddes one in six leaves a suicide note. The content can be a plea for absolution or blaming family, however, incidence rates may depend on ethnicity, method of suicide, and cultural differences, and may reach rates as high as 50% in certain demographics. A suicide message can be a note, an audio message. Some fields of study, such as sociology, psychiatry and graphology, have investigated the reasons why people who commit suicide leave a note, to increase the pain of survivors by attempting to create guilt. To set out the reason for suicide, to express thoughts and feelings that the person felt unable to express in life. To give instructions for disposal of the remains, occasionally, to confess acts of murder or some other offence. He left a note denouncing them and his own nephew and heir to the leadership of his party, korechika Anami—I-with my death-humbly apologize to the Emperor for the great crime. Historians are divided as to what crime he was referring to and it is possibly a reference to his part in the aborted coup against the Emperor Hirohito in the hours following Japans decision to surrender at the end of World War II. Roger Angleton—murderer and brother of famous bookmaker Robert Angleton, clara Blandick—American film actress, most famous for playing Aunt Em in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Her note began, I am now about to make the great adventure, eustace Budgell—English writer, What Cato did, and Addison approved, cannot be wrong. Leslie Cheung—Hong Kong actor and musician who suffered from clinical depression, christine Chubbuck—American anchor of WXLT TV who committed suicide during a newscast. The note is addressed to his imaginary friend, and gives his reasons for leaving Nirvana, followed by a message to his wife, Courtney Love. The note made reference to Freddie Mercury and famously quoted Hey Hey, ida Craddock—Facing prison in 1902 for sending through the U. S. Ian Curtis—Lead singer of Joy Division. In the early hours of 18 May 1980, Curtis hanged himself in the kitchen of his house at 77 Barton Street and he had just viewed Werner Herzogs film Stroszek and listened to Iggy Pops The Idiot. Adam Czerniaków—head of the Judenrat in the Warsaw Ghetto and he refused to help round up Jews and committed suicide on July 23,1942 by swallowing a cyanide pill, a day after the commencement of mass extermination of Jews known as the Grossaktion Warsaw. He left his wife a note read, They are demanding that I kill the children of my people with my own hands. There is nothing for me to do but to die and his other note to one to his fellow members of the Judenrat, explained, I can no longer bear all this
Suicide note
–
The German poet
Heinrich von Kleist 's suicide note from 1811 is a farewell letter to his sister Ulrike.
Suicide note
–
Suicide letter of Hungarian prime minister
Pál Teleki from 1941, addressed to Regent
Miklós Horthy
Suicide note
–
Suicide crisis
33.
El Paso, Texas
–
El Paso is the seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The city is situated in the far corner of the U. S. state of Texas. El Paso stands on the Rio Grande river across the Mexico–United States border from Ciudad Juárez, the region of over 2.7 million people constitutes the largest bilingual and binational work force in the Western Hemisphere. The city hosts the annual Sun Bowl college football post-season game, El Paso has a strong federal and military presence. William Beaumont Army Medical Center, Biggs Army Airfield, and Fort Bliss call the city home, Fort Bliss is one of the largest military complexes of the United States Army and the largest training area in the United States. Also headquartered in El Paso are the DEA domestic field division 7, El Paso Intelligence Center, Joint Task Force North, Border Patrol El Paso Sector, and U. S. In 2010, El Paso received an All-America City Award, El Paso has been ranked the safest large city in the U. S. for four consecutive years and has ranked in the top three since 1997. As of July 1,2015, the estimate for the city from the U. S. Census was 681,124. Its U. S. metropolitan area covers all of El Paso and Hudspeth counties in Texas, the El Paso MSA forms part of the larger El Paso–Las Cruces CSA, with a population of 1,053,267. The El Paso region has had human settlement for thousands of years, the evidence suggests 10,000 to 12,000 years of human habitation. The earliest known cultures in the region were maize farmers, when the Spanish arrived, the Manso, Suma, and Jumano tribes populated the area. These were subsequently incorporated into the Mestizo culture, along with immigrants from central Mexico, captives from Comanchería, the Mescalero Apache were also present. El Paso del Norte was founded on the bank of the Río Bravo del Norte. El Paso remained the largest settlement in New Mexico until its cession to the U. S. in 1848, the Texas Revolution was generally not felt in the region, as the American population was small, not being more than 10% of the population. However, the region was claimed by Texas as part of the treaty signed with Mexico, during this interregnum, 1836–1848, Americans nonetheless continued to settle the region. The present Texas–New Mexico boundary placing El Paso on the Texas side was drawn in the Compromise of 1850, El Paso County was established in March 1850, with San Elizario as the first county seat. The United States Senate fixed a boundary between Texas and New Mexico at the 32nd parallel, thus largely ignoring history and topography, a military post called The Post opposite El Paso was established in 1854. Further west, a settlement on Coons Rancho called Franklin became the nucleus of the future El Paso, a year later, pioneer Anson Mills completed his plan of the town, calling it El Paso
El Paso, Texas
–
From upper left:
downtown El Paso skyline, star on the
Franklin Mountains, The
Cathedral of Saint Patrick,
Wyler Aerial Tramway,
North Franklin Peak,
downtown El Paso at night
El Paso, Texas
–
Ysleta Mission constructed in 1680 by the Spanish
El Paso, Texas
–
Map of the city in 1886
El Paso, Texas
–
El Paso circa 1880
34.
El Paso Times
–
The El Paso Times is the newspaper for the U. S. city of El Paso, Texas. The paper was founded in 1881 by Marcellus Washington Carrico and it originally started out as a weekly but within a years time, it became the daily newspaper for the frontier town. The newspaper has a daily circulation of 65,000 and 125,000 on Sundays. Because of declining newspaper circulations nationwide, the El Paso Times has recently expanded its online capabilities, Gannett bought the Times in 1972. In 2003, Gannett and MediaNews Group formed a partnership between the Times and MediaNews New Mexico papers, with Gannett as the managing partner. In December 2005, Gannett became a minority partner in the El Paso Times, handing the majority of the partnership, in 2015, Gannett acquired full ownership of the Texas-New Mexico Newspapers Partnership from MediaNews successor Digital First Media. Barbara Funkhouser served as editor of the El Paso Times from 1980 to 1986 and she remains the only female editor in the newspapers history. The El Paso Times prints news in several sections, A-section, all-local news cover page, with national, Mexico, borderland, the metro news page has an all-local cover page as well as neighborhood, New Mexico and Texas news. Sports, local and national sports, with an emphasis in high-school, business, local and national business news. Living, local and national feature stories including rotating sections covering seniors, religion, pop culture, tiempo, weekly entertainment guide published on Fridays. It includes concerts, movies, galleries, restaurant reviews and other entertainment related stories, the El Paso Times publishes several other weekly, biweekly and monthly publications. El Paso y Más, bi-weekly Spanish news coverage, TV y Más, weekly television guide and Spanish entertainment magazine. Cars & Trucks, weekly auto trader guide, E. Pete Snelson, sports editor, later member of both houses of the Texas State Legislature from Midland Steve Almond, American short story writer and essayist. Paul Salopek, American journalist and writer, Times prices are $1 daily & $2 Sunday/Thanksgiving Day. Official Newspaper Website Official Newspaper Mobile Website El Paso Times hosted by the Portal to Texas History
El Paso Times
–
Type
35.
The Wilburn Brothers
–
The Wilburn Brothers were a popular American country music duo from the 1950s to the 1970s consisting of brothers Virgil Doyle Wilburn and Thurman Theodore Teddy Wilburn. The brothers were born in Hardy, Arkansas and they first attracted attention as child performers, beginning in 1937, in an act called The Wilburn Children, Roy Acuff discovered them and brought them to the Grand Ole Opry in 1940. Due to federal labor laws, the Wilburns were forced to leave the Opry after six months. After growing up, they continued to travel and were regulars on the similar Louisiana Hayride program in Shreveport from 1948 until 1951. After the family act disbanded, and the brothers served stints in the US Army during the Korean War, they continued in 1953 as The Wilburn Brothers touring with Faron Young and Webb Pierce. They signed with Decca Records in May 1954 and had their first hit record the year titled Sparkling Brown Eyes. Other notable hits include Go Away With Me, Which One Is To Blame, Troubles Back In Town, Its Another World, in 1956, the Wilburns were offered the chance to record Heartbreak Hotel before Elvis Presley. After hearing the song they decided against recording it, describing it as strange, in addition to being successful artists, the Wilburns formed the Sure-Fire Music Publishing Company in 1957, as well as the Wil-Helm Talent Agency in the early 1960s. They were instrumental in launching the careers of many country music legends, most notably Loretta Lynn, Lynn was the girl singer of the Wilburns touring show between 1960 and 1968 and she made weekly appearances on their syndicated television show from 1963 to 1971. They also helped develop the career of Patty Loveless between 1973 and 1975 by having her tour with them on weekends and during school breaks. The Wilburn Brothers had a television program, The Wilburn Brothers Show. Reruns can still be seen on the cable network RFD-TV and in the UK on Rural TV and they were Opry members from 1953 until the time of Doyles death from cancer in 1982. Teddy continued with the Opry as a solo artist until his death in 2003 and they are both buried in the Nashville National Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee. Country Music Culture, From Hard Times To Heaven, University Press of Mississippi Hefley, country Music Comin Home, Hannibal Books Hoffman, Frank W. - Ferstler, Howard, Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound, Volume 1, CRC Press Allmusic entry
The Wilburn Brothers
–
Teddy (l) and Doyle Wilburn – 1954
36.
Colonel Tom Parker
–
Thomas Andrew Colonel Tom Parker was a Dutch-born American talent manager, best known as the manager of Elvis Presley. His management of Presley defined the role of masterminding talent management, Parkers healthy compensation has led some to question whether it came at the detriment of his client. While other managers took compensation in the range of 10–15 percent of earnings, Presley said of Parker, I dont think Id have ever been very big if it wasnt for him. For many years, Parker falsely claimed to have born in the United States. Parker was born in Breda, Netherlands, the seventh of 11 children in a Catholic family, as a boy, he worked as a barker at carnivals in his hometown, learning many of the skills that he would require in later life while working in the entertainment industry. At age 15, Parker moved to Rotterdam, gaining employment on the boats in the port town, at age 17, he first displayed signs of wanting to run away to America to make his fortune. A year later, with money to sustain him for a short period. During his first visit there, he traveled with a Chautauqua educative tent show, before returning briefly to the Netherlands. Alanna Nash would later write in The Colonel, her biography of him, Parker returned to America at age 20, finding work with carnivals due to his previous experience in the Netherlands. He enlisted in the United States Army, taking the name Tom Parker from the officer who interviewed him and he served two years in the 64th Coast Artillery, at Fort Shafter in Hawaii, and shortly afterwards re-enlisted at Fort Barrancas, Florida. Although Parker had served honorably before, he went AWOL this time and was charged with desertion. He was punished with solitary confinement, from which he emerged with a psychosis that led to two months in a hospital, and he was discharged from the Army due to his mental condition. Following his discharge, Parker worked at a number of jobs, including food concessions and he began to build up a list of contacts that would prove valuable in later years. In 1935, Parker married 27-year-old Marie Francis Mott and they struggled to survive through the Great Depression, working short cons and traveling the country seeking work. Parker would later claim that at times they had had to live on as little as $1 a week, Parker first became involved in the music industry as a music promoter in 1938, working with popular singer Gene Austin. Despite having sold over 86 million records since 1924 and earning over $17 million and he had wasted much of his fortune on partying, cars, mansions, and women, and his popularity had been eclipsed by new singers such as Bing Crosby. Parker, charged with the task of promoting the star, found the transition to be a smooth one, using much of his carny experience to sell tickets. He was a good promoter, but he had his sights set on management
Colonel Tom Parker
–
Parker in 1993.
37.
Hank Snow
–
Clarence Eugene Hank Snow was a celebrated Canadian country music artist. In a career spanned more than 50 years, he recorded 140 albums. His number-one hits include the self-penned songs Im Moving On, The Golden Rocket and famous versions of I Dont Hurt Anymore, Let Me Go, Ive Been Everywhere, Hello Love, as well as other top 10 hits. Snow was a songwriter whose clear, baritone voice expressed a wide range of emotions including the joys of freedom. Through it all, his musically talented mother provided the support he needed to pursue his dream of becoming a famous entertainer like his idol. As a performer of traditional music, Snow won numerous awards and is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame. Hank Snow was born in the community of Brooklyn in Queens County, Nova Scotia. He was the fifth of six children, the two eldest died in infancy born to George Snow and Maude Marie Hatt and his parents were married on November 10,1909 in Liverpool, Nova Scotia. After the death of his father Hanks mother married Charles Tanner in 1930, in his autobiography, Snow tells how his parents struggled to feed their four remaining children during hard financial times. George Snow worked for low pay as a foreman in sawmills, often far from home, while Marie helped support the family by washing clothes and she also enjoyed playing her own pump organ, but refused several offers to join travelling shows because of her dedication to the family. One sister moved in with an aunt, while the two were sent to separate foster homes. Snow himself went to live with his grandmother who ordered him never to mention his mothers name. Snows childhood misfortunes continued, however, after his mothers remarriage to a local fisherman and he endured his stepfathers jealous tantrums, beatings and verbal abuse. Why in the hell dont you get out and find a job somewhere and his stepfather would rage even though Jack, as he was then known, was a frail 12-year-old who weighed only 80 pounds. It was at time that his mother ordered a Hawaiian steel guitar advertised in a magazine along with free lessons. At first, she ordered him not to touch the guitar because it was one of her prized possessions, but later, when she finally allowed him to play, she marvelled at the various sounds that I could get from the instrument. Snow adds that after he had mastered some chords and a few songs, his mother would ask him to sing, when he performed for the neighbours, word got around and I was being invited out somewhere just about every night. So it was through mothers mail-order guitar that I became interested in music, in 1926, as the tension continued at home, Snow decided to escape by joining a fishing schooner where he served as a flunky or cabin boy
Hank Snow
–
Hank Snow
Hank Snow
–
Photo of the
Bluenose. Snow painted the schooner on cardboard winning 1st prize at the Lunenburg Fisheries Exhibition
38.
Gator Bowl Stadium
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The Gator Bowl was an American football stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. The old stadium and its replacement have hosted the Gator Bowl, Jacksonvilles first football venue was built in 1927 and 1928 with a seating capacity of 7,600. Known as Fairfield Stadium, its purpose was to serve as home field for Jacksonvilles three new high schools—Lee, Jackson and Landon. At the opening of the stadium, Florida Governor John W. Martin called the stadium the best place in Florida to watch a football game, on January 1,1946, the stadium received national attention when it hosted the first Gator Bowl game. The stadium was expanded to 16,000 seats in 1948, prior to the 1949 game, the seating capacity was expanded to 36,058, at which it remained until 1957. It was home to the World Football Leagues Jacksonville Sharks in 1974 and it was the home of a North American Soccer League team, the Jacksonville Tea Men from 1981 to 1982 and then a United States Football League team, the Jacksonville Bulls from 1984 to 1985. The stadium was the site of the Gator Bowl from 1949 to 1993 and it also hosted the annual Florida–Georgia game between the University of Georgia and the University of Florida college football teams from 1933 to 1993. The Gator Bowl hosted the 1968 and 1969 AFL All-Star Games, the Beatles played a concert at the Gator Bowl on their first American Tour on September 11,1964. When the Beatles found out that the concert was going to be segregated, they refused to play there unless they allowed the audience to be desegregated. Paul McCartney went on record about their disapproval of the situation, John Lennon said, We never play to segregated audiences and we arent going to start now. Id sooner lose our appearance money, city officials relented, allowing the stadium to be integrated, and the band played to a desegregated audience. The concert was held the day after Hurricane Dora struck St. Augustine, most of Jacksonville was without electricity and power was not restored for several days. Despite the hurricane,23,000 fans attended, paying $4, during the concert, Ringo Starrs drums were nailed to the stage because of 45 mph winds. The historic structure was almost entirely razed in 1994, as part of a remodeling effort which essentially built a new stadium. The new stadium was renamed Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, almost none of the original infrastructure remains, except for the west upper deck and the ramping system. The game resumed the following year in Jacksonville
Gator Bowl Stadium
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The Gator Bowl in 1961
39.
Jacksonville, Florida
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Jacksonville is a seaport city and the seat of Duval County, Florida, United States. With an estimated 868,031 residents as of 2015, Jacksonville is the most populous city in both the state of Florida and the southeastern United States. It is estimated to be the 12th most populous city in the United States and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. The Jacksonville metropolitan area has a population of 1,603,497 and is the 34th largest in the United States and fourth largest in the state of Florida. The city is situated on the banks of the St. Johns River, in the First Coast region of North Florida, prior to European settlement, the Jacksonville area was inhabited by Native American people known as the Timucua. In 1564, the French established the colony of Fort Caroline at the mouth of the St. Johns River. In 1822, a year after the United States gained Florida from Spain, Jacksonville is the cultural, commercial and financial center of North Florida. A major military and civilian deep-water port, the citys riverine location supports two United States Navy bases and the Port of Jacksonville, Floridas third largest seaport. The two US Navy bases, Blount Island Command and the nearby Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Jacksonville is also home to several colleges and universities, including University of North Florida, Jacksonville University and Florida State College at Jacksonville. The area of the city of Jacksonville has been inhabited for thousands of years. In the 16th century, the beginning of the era, the region was inhabited by the Mocama. At the time of contact with Europeans, all Mocama villages in present-day Jacksonville were part of the powerful chiefdom known as the Saturiwa, centered around the mouth of the St. Johns River. One early map shows a village called Ossachite at the site of what is now downtown Jacksonville, French Huguenot explorer Jean Ribault charted the St. Johns River in 1562 calling it the River of May because he discovered it in May. Ribault erected a column near present-day Jacksonville claiming the newly discovered land for France. In 1564, René Goulaine de Laudonnière established the first European settlement, Fort Caroline, philip II of Spain ordered Pedro Menéndez de Avilés to protect the interest of Spain by attacking the French presence at Fort Caroline. On September 20,1565, a Spanish force from the nearby Spanish settlement of St. Augustine attacked Fort Caroline, the Spanish renamed the fort San Mateo, and following the ejection of the French, St. Augustines position as the most important settlement in Florida was solidified. The location of Fort Caroline is subject to debate but a reconstruction of the fort was established on the St. Johns River in 1964. Spain ceded Florida to the British in 1763 after the French and Indian War, the British introduced the cultivation of sugar cane, indigo and fruits as well the export of lumber
Jacksonville, Florida
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Jacksonville was named after President
Andrew Jackson in 1832.
Jacksonville, Florida
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Top, left to right:
Downtown Jacksonville, statue of
Andrew Jackson,
Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center,
EverBank Field,
Veterans Memorial Arena,
Florida Theatre
Jacksonville, Florida
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Aftermath of the
Great Fire of 1901
Jacksonville, Florida
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Downtown Jacksonville in 1914
40.
Sun Records
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Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in 1952. Sun was the first company to record Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Sun Records discovered and first recorded such influential musicians as Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash. Presleys recording contract was sold to RCA Victor Records for $35,000 in 1955 to relieve Suns financial difficulties. Before those records, Sun had concentrated mainly on African-American musicians because Phillips loved rhythm and blues, Sun record producer and engineer Jack Clement discovered and recorded Jerry Lee Lewis while Phillips was away on a trip to Florida. The original Sun Records logo was designed by John Gale Parker, Jr. a resident of Memphis, Sun was founded with the financial aid of Jim Bulliet, one of many record executives for whom Phillips had scouted artists before 1952. Some of the artists at Sun were Roscoe Gordon, Rufus Thomas, Little Milton, Tex Weiss, Charlie Rich, Howlin Wolf, Bill Justis. In the Lovin Spoonful song Nashville Cats, John Sebastian used poetic license when he referred to Sun as the Yellow Sun Records from Nashville, there were also sixteen female recording artists whose records were released on the Sun and Phillips international label. These include Barbara Pittman and the Miller Sisters, in 1969, Mercury Records label producer Shelby Singleton purchased the Sun label from Phillips. Singleton merged his operations into Sun International Corporation, which re-released and re-packaged compilations of Suns early artists in the early 1970s and it later introduced rockabilly tribute singer Jimmy Orion Ellis in 1980, with Orion taking on the persona of Elvis Presley. The company remains in business as Sun Entertainment Corporation, and currently licenses its brand, Sun Entertainment also includes SSS International Records, Plantation Records, Amazon Records, Red Bird Records, Blue Cat Records among other labels the company acquired over the years. Its website sells collectible items and compact discs bearing the original 1950s Sun logo, Sun Records is located in Nashville, Tennessee. It has been mainly a reissue label since the 1970s but signed country musician Julie Roberts to a contract in 2013. The music of many Sun Records musicians helped lay part of the foundation of late 20th-century rock and roll and influenced younger musicians. In 2001, Paul McCartney appeared on a compilation album titled Good Rockin Tonight. List of record labels Elvis Presleys Sun recordings Johnny Cashs Sun recordings Roy Orbisons Sun Recordings Official website Sun Studio official site Chronology, session files, discography
Sun Records
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Sun Records
Sun Records
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Sun label
41.
Swifton, Arkansas
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Swifton is a city in Jackson County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 798 at the 2010 census, Swifton was the hometown of Baseball Hall of Famer George Kell. Swifton is located at 35°49′27″N 91°7′44″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.54 square miles, all land. As of the census of 2000, there were 871 people,335 households, the population density was 1,752.3 people per square mile. There were 365 housing units at a density of 734. 3/sq mi. The racial makeup of the city was 97. 93% White,0. 46% Black or African American,0. 11% Native American,1. 03% from other races,2. 30% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 25. 1% of all households were made up of individuals and 11. 6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.09. In the city, the population was out with 28. 0% under the age of 18,7. 7% from 18 to 24,28. 1% from 25 to 44,22. 5% from 45 to 64. The median age was 35 years, for every 100 females there were 90.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.7 males, the median income for a household in the city was $24,375, and the median income for a family was $31,375. Males had an income of $22,500, versus $15,682 for females. The per capita income for the city was $11,922, about 17. 5% of families and 22. 9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 34. 3% of those under age 18 and 24. 0% of those age 65 or over. George Kell, born in Swifton, member of Baseball Hall of Fame Skeeter Kell, former Major League baseball player Bobby Winkles, Major League and college baseball manager, raised in Swifton
Swifton, Arkansas
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This Phillips 66 station in Swifton is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
Swifton, Arkansas
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Location in
Jackson County and the state of
Arkansas
42.
Sun Studio
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Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock-and-roll pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3,1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the building with the Sun Records label business. Blues and R&B artists like Howlin Wolf, Junior Parker, Little Milton, B. B. King, James Cotton, Rufus Thomas, Sam Phillips opened the larger Sam C. Phillips Recording Studio, better known as Phillips Recording, in 1959 to replace the older facility. Since Phillips had invested in the Holiday Inn Hotel chain earlier, in 1957, Bill Justis recorded his Grammy Hall of Fame song Raunchy for Sam Phillips and worked as a musical director at Sun Records. In 2005, Brian Setzer released his Rockabilly Riot Vol.1, A Tribute To Sun Records album, although not recorded at Sun it did feature various Sun Records recordings including some hits and other more obscure songs. In 2007, Canadian rockabilly band the Kingmakers recorded a selection of originals and classics such as Elvis Presleys Thats All Right at Sun Studio, released as their first CD Live at SUN Studio. In May 2009, Canadian blues artist JW-Jones recorded with blues legend Hubert Sumlin, Larry Taylor, in July 2009, John Mellencamp recorded nine songs for his album No Better Than This at the studio. In 2011, Chris Isaak released Beyond the Sun, a collection of songs recorded at Sun Studio, in January 1950, WREC radio engineer Sam Phillips opened the Memphis Recording Service at 706 Union Avenue with his assistant and long-time friend, Marion Keisker. Phillips had dreamed of opening his own recording studio since he was a young man, however, getting the company off the ground was not an easy task. To create revenue at the beginning, Phillips would record conventions, weddings, choirs and he also held an open door policy, allowing anybody to walk in and, for a small fee, record their own record. Phillips slogan for his studio was We Record Anything, Anywhere, in June, Phillips and a friend, local DJ Dewey Phillips who was no relation, set up their own record label called Phillips Records. The purpose of the label was to record artists of the South who wanted to make a recording but had no place to do so. The label failed to make an impact and folded after just one release, Boogie in the Park by Joe Hill Louis and it was during this time that Phillips recorded what many consider to be the first rock and roll song, Jackie Brenstons Rocket 88. The Sun Studio tour lends credence to the latter, with the tour guide saying the amplifier was stuffed with wads of newspaper, in early 1952, Phillips once again launched his own record label, this time calling it Sun Records. During his first year he recorded several artists who would go on to have successful careers, among them were B. B. King, Joe Hill Louis, Rufus Thomas, and Howlin Wolf. Despite the amount of singers who recorded there, Phillips found it difficult to keep profits up. He reportedly drove over 60,000 miles in one year to promote his artists with radio stations, to keep costs down, he would pay his artists 3% royalties instead of the usual 5% that was more common at the time. Phillips turned to alcohol when it looked like his label would once again fail, Rufus Thomas Bearcat, a recording that was similar to Hound Dog, was the first real hit for Sun in 1953
Sun Studio
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Sun Record Company, Memphis Recording Service
Sun Studio
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The front office of the Sun Studio, where office manager
Marion Keisker worked and greeted many artists on their first visit to the studio, including a young
Elvis Presley.
Sun Studio
Sun Studio
43.
Bill Black
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William Patton Bill Black, Jr. was an American musician and bandleader who is noted as one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. Black was the bassist in Elvis Presleys early trio after which he formed Bill Blacks Combo, Black was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to a motorman for the Memphis Street Railway. He was the oldest of nine children and his father played popular songs on the banjo and fiddle to entertain the family. Black learned to play music at the age of 14 on an instrument made by his cigar box with a board nailed to it. At the age of sixteen, Black was performing music on acoustic guitar in local bars. During World War II, Black was stationed with the U. S. Army at Fort Lee in Virginia, while in the Army, he met Evelyn, who played guitar as the member of a musical family. They married in 1946 and returned to Memphis, Black worked at the Firestone plant. He began playing the bass fiddle, modeling his slap bass technique after one of his idols, Fred Maddox of Maddox Brothers. Black also developed a stage clown persona in the way that Maddox entertained audiences. Black performed as a hillbilly with blacked-out teeth, straw hat. According to his son, Black said his goal was always to give his audience a few moments of entertainment, in 1952, Black began playing club and radio shows with guitarist Scotty Moore. Along with two guitarists and a fiddler, they performed country music tunes by Hank Williams and Red Foley in Doug Poindexters band. Black and Moore also played in a band with Paul Burlison, Johnny Burnette, Dorsey Burnette on steel guitar, in July 1954, Sam Phillips of Sun Records asked Black and Moore to play back-up for the as-yet-unknown Elvis Presley. Black played slap bass with guitarist Scotty Moore, while Elvis Presley played rhythm guitar, neither musician was overly impressed with Presley, but they agreed a studio session would be useful to explore his potential. On July 5,1954, the trio met at Sun studios to rehearse, according to Moore, the first song they recorded was I Love You Because, but after a few country music songs that werent impressive they decided to take a break. During the break, Presley began acting the fool with Arthur Crudups Thats All Right, when the other two musicians joined in, Phillips taped the song. Get that on the radio and theyll run us out of town, the next day, the group recorded four more songs, including bluegrass musician Bill Monroes Blue Moon of Kentucky, which he had written and recorded as a slow waltz. Sources credit Bill Black with initiating the song, with Presley, Moore said, Bill is the one who came up with Blue Moon of Kentucky
Bill Black
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Bill Black hams it up on the deck of the
USS Hancock during the first appearance on
Milton Berle 's
Texaco Star Theater
