Music genre
A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are sometimes used interchangeably. Academics have argued that categorizing music by genre is inaccurate and outdated. Music can be divided into different genres in many different ways; the artistic nature of music means that these classifications are subjective and controversial, some genres may overlap. There are varying academic definitions of the term genre itself. In his book Form in Tonal Music, Douglass M. Green distinguishes between form, he lists madrigal, canzona and dance as examples of genres from the Renaissance period. To further clarify the meaning of genre, Green writes, "Beethoven's Op. 61 and Mendelssohn's Op. 64 are identical in genre – both are violin concertos – but different in form. However, Mozart's Rondo for Piano, K. 511, the Agnus Dei from his Mass, K. 317 are quite different in genre but happen to be similar in form."
Some, like Peter van der Merwe, treat the terms genre and style as the same, saying that genre should be defined as pieces of music that share a certain style or "basic musical language." Others, such as Allan F. Moore, state that genre and style are two separate terms, that secondary characteristics such as subject matter can differentiate between genres. A music genre or subgenre may be defined by the musical techniques, the style, the cultural context, the content and spirit of the themes. Geographical origin is sometimes used to identify a music genre, though a single geographical category will include a wide variety of subgenres. Timothy Laurie argues that since the early 1980s, "genre has graduated from being a subset of popular music studies to being an ubiquitous framework for constituting and evaluating musical research objects". Among the criteria used to classify musical genres are the trichotomy of art and traditional musics. Alternatively, music can be divided on three variables: arousal and depth.
Arousal reflects the energy level of the music. These three variables help explain why many people like similar songs from different traditionally segregated genres. Musicologists have sometimes classified music according to a trichotomic distinction such as Philip Tagg's "axiomatic triangle consisting of'folk','art' and'popular' musics", he explains that each of these three is distinguishable from the others according to certain criteria. The term art music refers to classical traditions, including both contemporary and historical classical music forms. Art music exists in many parts of the world, it emphasizes formal styles that invite technical and detailed deconstruction and criticism, demand focused attention from the listener. In Western practice, art music is considered a written musical tradition, preserved in some form of music notation rather than being transmitted orally, by rote, or in recordings, as popular and traditional music are. Most western art music has been written down using the standard forms of music notation that evolved in Europe, beginning well before the Renaissance and reaching its maturity in the Romantic period.
The identity of a "work" or "piece" of art music is defined by the notated version rather than by a particular performance, is associated with the composer rather than the performer. This is so in the case of western classical music. Art music may include certain forms of jazz, though some feel that jazz is a form of popular music. Sacred Christian music forms an important part of the classical music tradition and repertoire, but can be considered to have an identity of its own; the term popular music refers to any musical style accessible to the general public and disseminated by the mass media. Musicologist and popular music specialist Philip Tagg defined the notion in the light of sociocultural and economical aspects: Popular music, unlike art music, is conceived for mass distribution to large and socioculturally heterogeneous groups of listeners and distributed in non-written form, only possible in an industrial monetary economy where it becomes a commodity and in capitalist societies, subject to the laws of'free' enterprise... it should ideally sell as much as possible.
Popular music is found on most commercial and public service radio stations, in most commercial music retailers and department stores, in movie and television soundtracks. It is noted on the Billboard charts and, in addition to singer-songwriters and composers, it involves music producers more than other genres do; the distinction between classical and popular music has sometimes been blurred in marginal areas such as minimalist music and light classics. Background music for films/movies draws on both traditions. In this respect, music is like fiction, which draws a distinction between literary fiction and popular fiction, not always precise. Country music known as country and western, hillbilly music, is a genre of popular music that originated in the southern United States in the early 1920s; the polka is a Czech dance and genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the early 1950s, developed into a range of different styles in the 1960s and particular
With His Hot and Blue Guitar
Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar is the debut album by American rockabilly countrystar Johnny Cash, released on October 11, 1957. The album contained four of his hit singles: "I Walk the Line," "Cry! Cry! Cry!," "So Doggone Lonesome," and "Folsom Prison Blues." It was re-issued on July 23, 2002 as an expanded edition, under the label Varese Vintage, containing five bonus tracks, three being alternate versions of tracks present on the original LP. In 2012, Columbia Records reissued the album with 16 additional non-album Sun tracks as part of its 63-disc Johnny Cash: The Complete Columbia Album Collection box set; this was one of the first albums issued on Sam Phillips' Sun Records label. Cash auditioned for a place on the music label Sun Records in 1955, but failed to impress its founder Sam Philips after presenting himself as a gospel singer. Cash was told to come back with a more commercial sound, he returned with the songs "Hey Porter!" and "Cry! Cry! Cry!" and subsequently released them as his debut single on Sun Records in July 1955.
On the recording, he was backed by Luther Perkins on guitar and Marshall Grant on bass, dubbed "The Tennessee Two" by Philips. "Cry! Cry! Cry!" became a commercial success, entering the country charts at number fourteen. His second single, "Folsom Prison Blues", was released in December 1955 and reached the country Top Five in early 1956, his final single on With His Hot and Blue Guitar, "I Walk the Line", continued his success, reaching number one on the country charts and staying there for six weeks crossing over into the pop Top 20. All tracks written except where noted. Note that on the Varese CD reissue, "Country Boy" is not the original "full band" version from the LP, but rather an acoustic version with just Cash and his guitar, the demo version, but the "full band" version is available on iTunes. See Johnny Cash: The Complete Columbia Album Collection for the track listing of the extended edition included in the 2012 box set. Johnny Cash - Main Performer and acoustic guitarTHE TENNESSEE TWOLuther Perkins - Electric Guitar Marshall Grant - Bass TECHNICAL CREWSam Phillips - Producer Cary E. Mansfield - Reissue Producer Bill Dahl - Liner Notes, Reissue Producer Dan Hersch - Digital Remastering Bill Pitzonka - Art Direction Singles - Billboard
The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers were an American country-influenced rock and roll duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Isaac Donald "Don" Everly and Phillip Jason "Phil" Everly were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. Don was born in Brownie, Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, on February 1, 1937, Phil in Chicago, Illinois, on January 19, 1939, their parents were Isaac Milford "Ike" Everly, Jr. a guitar player, Margaret Embry Everly. Actor James Best from Muhlenberg County, was the son of Ike's sister. Margaret was 15 when she married Ike, 26. Ike worked in coal mines from age 14, but his father encouraged him to pursue his love of music and Ike and Margaret began singing together; the Everly brothers spent most of their childhood in Iowa. They attended Longfellow Elementary School in Waterloo, for a year, but moved to Shenandoah in 1944, where they remained through early high school. Ike Everly had a show on KMA and KFNF in Shenandoah in the mid-1940s, first with his wife and with their sons.
The brothers sang on the radio as "Little Donnie and Baby Boy Phil." The family sang as the Everly Family. Ike, with guitarists Merle Travis, Mose Rager, Kennedy Jones, was honored in 1992 by the construction of the Four Legends Fountain in Drakesboro, Kentucky; the family moved to Tennessee, in 1953, where the brothers attended West High School. In 1955, the family moved to Madison, while the brothers moved to Nashville, Tennessee. Don had graduated from high school in 1955, Phil attended Peabody Demonstration School in Nashville, from which he graduated in 1957. Both could now focus on recording. While in Knoxville, the brothers caught the attention of family friend Chet Atkins, manager of RCA Victor's studio in Nashville; the brothers moved to Nashville. Despite affiliation with RCA, Atkins arranged for the Everly Brothers to record for Columbia Records in early 1956, their "Keep a-Lovin' Me," which Don wrote and composed and they were dropped from the Columbia label. Atkins introduced the Everly Brothers to Wesley Rose, of Acuff-Rose music publishers.
Rose told them. They signed in late 1956, in 1957 Rose introduced them to Archie Bleyer, looking for artists for his Cadence Records; the Everlys signed and made a recording in February 1957. "Bye Bye Love" had been rejected by 30 other acts. Their record reached No. 2 on the pop charts, behind Elvis Presley's " Teddy Bear," and No. 1 on the country and No. 5 on the R&B charts. The song, by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, became the Everly Brothers's first million-seller. Working with the Bryants, they had hits in the United States and the United Kingdom, the biggest being "Wake Up Little Susie," "All I Have to Do Is Dream," "Bird Dog," and "Problems." The Everlys, though they were interpretive artists succeeded as songwriters with Don's " I Kissed You," which hit No. 4 on the US pop charts. The brothers toured with Buddy Holly in 1957 and 1958. According to Holly's biographer Philip Norman, they were responsible for persuading Holly and the Crickets to change their outfits from Levi's and T-shirts to the Everlys' Ivy League suits.
Don said Holly composed "Wishing" for them. "We were all from the South," Phil observed of their commonalities. "We'd started in country music." Although some sources say Phil Everly was one of Holly's pallbearers in February 1959, Phil said in 1986 that he attended the funeral and sat with Holly's family, but was not a pallbearer. Don did not attend. I couldn't go anywhere. I just took to my bed." After three years on Cadence, the Everlys signed with Warner Bros. Records in 1960, where they recorded for 10 years, their first Warner Bros. hit, 1960's "Cathy's Clown," which they wrote and composed themselves, sold eight million copies and became the duo's biggest-selling record. "Cathy's Clown" was number WB1, the first selection Warner Bros. Records released in the United Kingdom. We're not Grand Ole Opry... we're not Perry Como... we're just pop music. But, you could call us an American skiffle group! Other successful Warner Bros. singles followed in the United States, such as "So Sad", "Walk Right Back", "Crying in the Rain", "That's Old Fashioned".
From 1960 to 1962, Cadence Records released Everly Brothers singles from the vaults, including "When Will I Be Loved", written and composed by Phil, "Like Strangers." In the UK, they had top 10 hits until 1965, including "Lucille"/"So Sad", "Walk Right Back"/"Ebony Eyes", "Temptation", "Cryin' in the Rain" and "The Price of Love". They had 18 singles into the UK top 40 with Warner Bros. in the 1960s. By 1962, the Everlys had earned $35 million from record sales. In 1961, the brothers fell out with Wesley Rose during the recording of "Temptation." Rose was upset that the Everlys were recording a song which he had not published and, for which he would not receive any publishing royalties, he made strenuous efforts to block the single's release. The Everlys held firm to their position, as a result, in the early 1960s, they were shut off from Acuff-Rose songwriters; these included Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, who had written and composed most of their hits, as well as Don and Phil Everly themselves, who were still contracted to Acuff-Rose as songwriters and had writ
I Walk the Line (film)
I Walk the Line is a 1970 American Drama film directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Gregory Peck and Tuesday Weld. It tells the story of Sheriff Henry Tawes who develops a relationship with a girl in town Alma McCain; the screenplay, written by Alvin Sargent, is an adaptation of Madison Jones' novel An Exile. The I Walk. Henry Tawes is an aging sheriff in small-town of Gainesboro, becoming bored with his wife Ellen, his life, he meets young Alma McCain, oldest daughter and de-facto housewife of a poor family led by her single parent father.. Her age is ambiguous, but she is far younger than Henry. Henry and Alma become romantically and physically involved, meeting at various points around their town an abandoned house, secretly, her family learn and are accepting of the relationship, appearing to take his forceful advice to destroy their still and all evidence it had existed before a visiting excise official named Bascomb returns and is to find it. Henry Tawes doesn't see harm in the manufacture of moonshine, but needs to balance his personal views, his role as town sheriff.
The couple start to discuss running away together. A deputy, Hunnicutt starts taking an active interest in the McCains, ignoring warnings from Tawes to leave them alone. Henry's wife starts to suspect that he is having an affair and confronts him about it - although is more concerned about pleasing him and protecting her family than the fact of his obvious infidelities. Against this background, Bascomb returns to the town, organises a systematic search of the county - with the McCains being a family of particular interest, because of prior history of the father, she is reluctant, fearing the response of her family but they arrange to meet and leave for California early the next day. In the meantime however, deputy Hunicutt visits the McCain family looking for an illegal still, where he meets Alma - after an argument, the deputy draws his weapon and shoots dead the family dog in fronts of her, witnessed from a distance by her father and brothers; the film cuts forward to scenes of Sheriff Henry Tawes being informed that his deputy is missing, the McCain family frantically packing up their still.
Tawes visits the McCain family to find them disposing of Hunicutt's body. He tells them to "clear out", with them gone, disposes of the deputy's body himself by weighting it and dropping it into a nearby reservoir - returning from that, he is met by Bascomb, full of the developing search, has found the remains of the McCains still. Believing she isn't with her family, as soon as he can, Henry starts searching frantically for Alma. Unable to find her, he pursues the McCain family out of the county. Leaving him in the road and conscious but badly injured the family drive off. Frankenheimer wanted Gene Hackman to play the sheriff, but Columbia Pictures insisted that Peck be cast in the lead since he was under contract to them. Frankenheimer cast J. C. Evans, his wife's grandfather, eighty-two years old, to play the sheriff's father. During the drive-in scene, the film playing is The Big Mouth, but the posters at the theater list it as Hook, Line & Sinker; when Sony released it on DVD in 2006, the final shot was altered to show a freeze-frame of Peck's face.
In the original version, Peck's face is never frozen, his eyes are open. The scene showing Ralph Meeker's character shooting Charles Durning's deputy sheriff character from a distance with a rifle to protect his daughter is deleted in the video release. In a December 1970 review, Time magazine summarized the film's main characters: "Tuesday Weld is an understandably desirable love object, a genuine Lolita, but she can make little sense of her rather muddy character" "Ralph Meeker, as the ruthless moonshiner, is all sinister smiles and repressed violence" "[Gregory) Peck succeeds in conveying the sheriff's vulnerability but never his passion"According to TV Guide, "he one reason to watch is the astonishing, unsung Weld, the modern Louise Brooks, who can suggest amorality, skewed innocence and ageless sensuality—she played nymphets through her thirties with infinite ease—that makes Bardot pale."In an interview published in October 2009, Madison Jones, the author upon whose novel the film's screenplay was based, said Peck "didn’t fit the role....
He didn’t fit any role unless he is playing himself." According to Jones, "Peck himself said there was a good movie lying on the cutting-room floor." Cash re-recorded the title song for the film, ended up with enough material for a soundtrack album. One of the songs, "Flesh and Blood," became a number one country hit in 1971; the soundtrack featured three songs not heard in the film. List of American films of 1970 I Walk the Line on IMDb I Walk the Line at AllMovie I Walk the Line at the TCM Movie Database I Walk the Line at the American Film Institute Catalog
Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous
Johnny Cash Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash. It was released on 13 November 1958, but re-issued in 2003, under the label Varèse Sarabande, with four different versions of tracks present on the original LP as a bonus; the complete contents of the album are incorporated into an extended version of the previous collection With His Hot and Blue Guitar included in the 2012 box set Johnny Cash: The Complete Columbia Album Collection. Johnny Cash — Vocals, acoustic Guitar and main performer Luther Perkins - Guitar Marshall Grant - Bass TECHNICAL CREWSam Phillips - Producer Jack Clement - Producer Cary E. Mansfield — Reissue Producer Bill Dahl — Liner Notes, Reissue Producer Dan Hersch — Digital Remastering Bill Pitzonka — Reissue Art Director Singles - Billboard LP Discography entry on Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous
Craig Wayne Boyd
Craig Wayne Boyd is an American country singer and songwriter. A native of Dallas, Boyd is based out of and resides in Nashville, Tennessee, he is best known for winning Season 7 of NBC's reality TV singing competition The Voice as a part of Blake Shelton's team. Boyd was raised in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite, he grew up influenced by country music. He played many instruments as a youth, he was his church's choir director. Boyd moved to Nashville at the age of 25 in 2004 to pursue a career in country music. Boyd was signed to a publishing deal with EMI, he spent many years songwriting. Boyd began touring, opening for acts such as Jamey Johnson, Randy Houser, Brantley Gilbert. On September 30, 2014, Boyd debuted on seventh season of The Voice. During his Blind Audition, Boyd sang "The Whiskey Ain't Workin"' by Marty Stuart. Two coaches turned around. Boyd chose Blake Shelton as his coach. During the Battle Rounds, Boyd was paired with James David Carter to sing "Wave on Wave"" by Pat Green. Coach Shelton chose Carter over Boyd.
In the Knockout Rounds, Boyd was paired with Anita Antoinette. Boyd sang "Can't You See" by The Marshall Tucker Band. Boyd was stolen back by Coach Shelton and advanced to the Live Playoffs. During the Live Playoffs, Boyd sang "Some Kind of Wonderful" and was saved by the Public's votes to advance to the Top 12. For the week of the Top 12, Boyd performed "You Look So Good in Love" by George Strait. Boyd was saved by the public's votes. For the week of the Top 10, Boyd performed "I Walk the Line" by Johnny Cash. Boyd was saved by the public vote with his performance in the Top 10 of the iTunes Chart. For the week of the Top Eight, Boyd performed "Take It Easy" by the Eagles. Boyd was advanced to the Top Five. For the week of the Semifinals, Coach Shelton picked "Workin' Man Blues" by Merle Haggard for Boyd to sing and Boyd sang "The Old Rugged Cross", in the iTunes Top 10. Boyd advanced to the finals. For the week of the Finals, Boyd performed three songs, he performed "In Pictures" by Alabama as his solo song.
He performed "Boots On" by Randy Houser as a duet with his coach Blake Shelton. He performed an original song called "My Baby's Got a Smile on Her Face"; the song was written for Shelton. The song is Boyd's debut single. Boyd was declared the winner on December 16, 2014, giving Blake Shelton's team its fourth win out of the seven Seasons. Shortly after winning the show and signing with Universal Republic and Dot Records, Boyd played at the Grand Ole Opry and went on a 65 city tour, his debut album is to be released sometime in 2015. In early May 2015, following 6 weeks of rumors, it was reported, he tweeted that "it's called I ASK off of the label....". Boyd released one single under Dot records "My Baby’s Got A Smile On Her Face", which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs before falling off that chart with a 94% drop in sales the next week.. His second single "I'm Still Here" was released to iTunes under his own imprint - Long Haul Records; the song peaked at #35 on the Billboard Digital charts.
Craig Wayne Boyd signed a new record deal with Copperline Music Group in 2017. The singer is collaborating with Reviver Entertainment Group for radio promotion and BDG/RED for distribution. Top Shelf was released on October 27 via the Copperline Music Group. – Studio version of performance reached the top 10 on iTunes
Sun Studio
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 called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label business. Reputedly the first rock and roll single, Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats' "Rocket 88" was recorded there in 1951 with song composer Ike Turner on keyboards, leading the studio to claim status as the birthplace of rock & roll. Blues and R&B artists like Howlin' Wolf, Junior Parker, Little Milton, B. B. King, James Cotton, Rufus Thomas, Rosco Gordon recorded there in the early 1950s. Rock and roll, country music, rockabilly artists, including Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Charlie Feathers, Ray Harris, Warren Smith, Charlie Rich, Jerry Lee Lewis, recorded there throughout the mid-to-late 1950s until the studio outgrew its Union Avenue location. 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, he recorded artists starting in 1963 on the label Holiday Inn Records for Kemmons Wilson. 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 1969, Sam Phillips sold the label to Shelby Singleton, there was no recording-related or label-related activity again in the building until the September 1985 Class of'55 recording sessions with Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, produced by Chips Moman. In 1987, the original building housing the Sun Records label and Memphis Recording Service was reopened by Gary Hardy as "Sun Studio," a recording label and tourist attraction that has attracted many notable artists, such as U2, Def Leppard, Bonnie Raitt, Ringo Starr. 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 Presley's "That's 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 and Richard Innes for his 2010 release at the studio. 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, most of which are cover versions of songs released on Sun Records. 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, now that it was a reality he was overjoyed. However, getting the company off the ground was not an easy task. To create revenue at the beginning, Phillips would record conventions, weddings and funerals.
He 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, Anytime." In June, Phillips and a friend, local DJ Dewey Phillips, no relation, set up their own record label called Phillips Records. The purpose of the label was to record "negro artists of the South" who wanted to make a recording but had no place to do so; the label folded after just one release. After the failure of Phillips Records, Phillips began working with other record labels such as Chess Records and Modern Records, providing demo recordings for them and recording master tapes for their artists, it was during this time that Phillips recorded what many consider to be the first rock and roll song, Jackie Brenston's "Rocket 88". Some biographers have suggested that it was Phillips' inventive creativeness that led to the song's unique sound, but others put it down to the fact that the amplifier used on the record was broken, leading to a "fuzzy" sound.
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. During his first year he recorded several artists. Among them were B. B. King, Joe Hill Louis, Rufus Thomas, Howlin' Wolf. Despite the number of singers who recorded there, Phillips found it difficult to keep profits up, he drove over 60,000 miles in one year to promote his artists with radio stations and distributors. To keep costs down, he would pay his artists three percent royalties instead of the usual five percent, more common at the time. Phillips turned to alcohol when it looked like his label would once again fail, he was put into a mental hospital at one point getting electric shock treatment. Rufus Thomas' "Bearcat", a recording, similar to "Hound Dog", was the first real hit for Sun in 1953. Although the song was the label's first hit, a copyright-infringement suit ensued and nearly bankrupted Phillips' record label.
Despite this, Phillips was able to keep his business afloat by recording several other acts, including the Prisonaires, a black quartet who were given permission to leave prison in June 1953 to record their single, "Just Walkin' in the Rain" a hit for Johnnie Ray in 1956. The song was a big enough hit that the local newspaper took an interest in the story of its recording. A few
