1.
Universal Music Group
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Universal Music Group is an American-French global music corporation that is a subsidiary of the Paris-based French media conglomerate Vivendi. UMGs global corporate headquarters are in Santa Monica, California and it is considered one of the Big Three record labels, along with Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment. Universal Music was once the music attached to film studio Universal Pictures and its origins go back to the formation of the American branch of Decca Records in September 1934. The Decca Record Co. Ltd. of England spun American Decca off in 1939, MCA Inc. merged with American Decca in 1962. The present organization was formed when its parent company Seagram purchased PolyGram in May 1998, however, the name had first appeared in 1996 when MCA Music Entertainment Group was renamed Universal Music Group. The PolyGram acquisition included Deutsche Grammophon which traces its ancestry to Berliner Gramophone making Deutsche Grammophon UMGs oldest unit, UMGs Canadian unit traces its ancestry to a Berliner Gramophone breakaway firm the Compo Company. With the 2004 acquisition of Universal Studios by General Electric and merging with GEs NBC and this is the second time a music company has done so, the first being the separation of Time Warner and Warner Music Group. On June 25,2007, Vivendi completed its €1.63 billion purchase of BMG Music Publishing, after receiving European Union regulatory approval, doug Morris stepped down from his position as CEO on January 1,2011. Former chairman/CEO of Universal Music International Lucian Grainge was promoted to CEO of the company, Grainge later replaced him as chairman on March 9,2011. Morris became the chairman of Sony Music Entertainment on July 1,2011. With Grainges appointment as CEO at UMG, Max Hole was promoted to COO of UMGI, starting in 2011 UMGs Interscope Geffen A&M Records will be signing contestants from American Idol/Idol series. On January 2011, UMG announced it was donating 200,000 master recordings from the 1920s to 1940s to the Library of Congress for preservation, in March 2011, Barry Weiss became chairman & CEO of The Island Def Jam Music Group & Universal Republic Records. Both companies are restructuring under Weiss, in December 2011, David Foster was named Chairman of Verve Music Group. Among the other companies that had competed for the music business was Warner Music Group which was reported to have made a $2 billion bid. However, IMPALA has said it would fight the merger, coincidentally, UMG sister company StudioCanal has owned the EMI Films library for several years. On September 21,2012, the sale of EMI to UMG was approved in Europe, UMG divested Mute Records, Parlophone, Roxy Recordings, MPS Records, Cooperative Music, Now Thats What I Call Music. Jazzland, Universal Greece, Sanctuary Records, Chrysalis Records, EMI Classics, Virgin Classics, the Beatles recorded music library was allowed to remain with UMG despite being considered part of Parlophone and is now managed by UMGs reorganized Capitol Music Group worldwide. Robbie Williams, who had recorded for Chrysalis, had his transferred to Universals Island Records
2.
Island Records
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Island Records is a major record label that operates as a division of UMG Recordings, Inc. It was founded by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall and Leslie Kong in Jamaica in 1959, Blackwell sold the label to PolyGram in 1989. Three Island labels exist in the world, Island UK, Island US, and Island Australia, current key people of Island Records include Island president Darcus Beese, OBE and MD Jon Turner. Partially due to the labels significant legacy, Island remains one of UMGs pre-eminent record labels, Island Records was founded in Jamaica on 4 July 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall and Leslie Kong, and partially financed by Stanley Borden from RKO. Its name was inspired by the Harry Belafonte song Island in the Sun. Blackwell explained in 2009, “I loved music so much, I just wanted to get into it, or be as close to it as I could. ”Tom Hayes, the labels sales manager between 1965 and 1967, referred to the early period of the label in the UK as “organized chaos”. “My Boy Lollipop”, sung by Millie Small, was the labels first success in the UK, Blackwell explained in a 50-year-anniversary documentary that he was only interested in building long-term careers at that stage in time, rather than short-term projects. Suzette Newman has been a colleague of Chris Blackwells since working together in the early days of Island Records. Suzette Newman and Chris Salewicz were the editors for the book “The Story of Island Records, Blackwell relocated to England in May 1962 to garner greater levels of attention after the local Jamaican sound systems proved to be overwhelmingly successful. The vast majority of the artists who had signed to Blackwells fledgling label while he was in Jamaica agreed to allow the entrepreneur to release their music in the UK. While in England, Blackwell travelled throughout the city carrying his stock with him and he did not provide any copies to radio stations, as they would not play any of the Island music, the music was also not reviewed by the press. Meanwhile, Goodall left to start the Doctor Bird record label in 1965, Blackwell signed the Spencer Davis Group to the label. The group became popular and Island started their own independent series to spotlight UK rock talent. They signed artists like John Martyn, Fairport Convention, Free, by the late 1960s and early 1970s, they were a major label in England with artists like Roxy Music, King Crimson, Traffic, The Wailers, and many others. Blackwell had signed Bob Marley, and now Toots and the Maytals, in November 2016, Jackie Jackson described the formation of the group in a radio interview for Kool 97 FM Jamaica. Accompanied by Paul Douglas and Radcliffe Dougie Bryan in studio, Jackson explained, Were all original members of Toots, first it was Toots and the Maytals, three guys, Toots, Raleigh, and Jerry. …And then they were signed to Island Records, Chris Blackwell, and we were their recording band. One day we were summoned to Chris house, and he says, Alright gentleman, I think its time
3.
Virgin EMI Records
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Virgin EMI Records is a British record label owned by the Universal Music Group that was formed in 2013. Virgin EMI Records was founded in March 2013 through the merger of Mercury Records UK and it operates two distinct A&R and marketing streams—Virgin and EMI Records. Virgin EMI became one of Universal Music UKs front-line labels, alongside Polydor Records, Island Records, Decca Records, furthermore, Mike Oldfield, whose Tubular Bells album launched the original Virgin Records, is also a Virgin EMI artist. Official website Virgin 40 official website Discography Virgin EMI at LabelsBase
4.
Motown
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Motown is an American record company. The record company was founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12,1958, the name, a portmanteau of motor and town, has also become a nickname for Detroit. Motown played an important role in the integration of popular music as an African American-owned record label that achieved significant crossover success. In the 1960s, Motown and its subsidiary labels were the most successful proponents of what came to be known as the Motown Sound, a style of soul music with a distinct pop influence. During the 1960s, Motown achieved spectacular success for a record company,79 records in the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100 record chart between 1960 and 1969. The company was sold to MCA Inc. Motown was later sold to PolyGram in 1994, before being sold again to MCA Records successor, Universal Music Group, Motown spent much of the 2000s as a part of the Universal Music subsidiaries Universal Motown and Universal Motown Republic Group, and headquartered in New York City. From 2011 to 2014, Motown was a part of The Island Def Jam Music Group division of Universal Music. On April 1,2014, Universal Music Group announced the dissolution of Island Def Jam and it now operates out of the landmark Capitol Tower. For many decades, Motown was the highest-earning African American business in the United States, Berry Gordy got his start as a songwriter for local Detroit acts such as Jackie Wilson and the Matadors. Wilsons single Lonely Teardrops, written by Gordy, became a huge success and he realized that the more lucrative end of the business was in producing records and owning the publishing. In 1959, Billy Davis and Berry Gordys sisters Gwen and Anna started Anna Records, Davis and Gwen Gordy wanted Berry to be the company president, but Berry wanted to strike out on his own. On January 12,1959, he started Tamla Records, with a loan from his family. Gordy originally wanted to name the label Tammy Records, after the hit song popularized by Debbie Reynolds from the 1957 film Tammy, when he found the name was already in use, Berry decided on Tamla instead. Tamlas first release, in the Detroit area, was Marv Johnsons Come to Me in 1959 and its first hit was Barrett Strongs Money, which made it to number 2 on the Billboard R&B charts. Gordys first signed act was the Matadors, who changed their name to the Miracles. Their first release, Got a Job, was a record to the Silhouettes Get a Job. The Miracles first, minor hit was their single, 1959s Bad Girl, released in Detroit as the debut record on the Motown imprint
5.
Def Jam Recordings
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Def Jam Recordings is an American record label, focused predominantly on hip hop and urban music, owned by Universal Music Group. In the UK, the takes on the name Def Jam UK and is operated through Virgin EMI, while in Japan. The label distributes various record labels, including Kanye Wests GOOD Music, Ludacris Disturbing Tha Peace, Def Jam was founded by Rick Rubin in his dormitory in Weinstein Hall at New York University and its first release was a single by his punk-rock group Hose. Russell Simmons joined Rubin shortly after they were introduced to other, according to one story. Another cites DJ Jazzy Jay as their connector, Rubin has said he met Simmons on the TV show, Graffiti Rock and recognized him then as the face of hip hop, He was five years older than me, and he was already established in the music business. And I had no experience whatsoever, the first single released with the Def Jam Recordings logo was T La Rock & Jazzy Jays Its Yours. The first releases with Def Jam Recordings catalog numbers were LL Cool Js I Need a Beat, the singles sold well, eventually leading to a distribution deal with CBS Records through Columbia Records the following year. A few years later, Russell Simmons and Lyor Cohen started a label called Rush Associated Labels to handle Def Jam. RAL became the home to Nice & Smooth and EPMD after both acts were acquired due to the folding of their former label Sleeping Bag Records, other acts under the RAL umbrella included Redman, Onyx, Flatlinerz, Domino, Warren G and Jayo Felony. As the decade drew to a close, the label signed Public Enemy, Lyor Cohen became president of Def Jam/RAL in 1988, after winning a power struggle with Rubin, who would shortly thereafter leave the company to form Def American Recordings. Rubin would take Slayer with him to Def American in its initial stages, by 1992, despite recent multi-platinum selling releases from Public Enemy, and EPMD, Def Jam ran into severe financial troubles and was faced with folding. However, in 1994, PolyGram purchased Sonys 50% stake in Def Jam Recordings — subsequently bringing the label into its fold, following PolyGrams purchase, Def Jam distributed the Violator Records-signed artist Warren Gs Regulate. G Funk Era album, which went triple platinum and brought much-needed revenue to Def Jam through its distribution deal with Violator, PolyGram acquired an additional 10% in Def Jam Recordings in 1996, further strengthening its ownership of Def Jam. Shortly thereafter, Rush Associated Labels was renamed Def Jam Music Group, the label remained profitable as its veteran star LL Cool J released his successful album Mr. Smith in 1995. The label later signed Foxy Brown, whose debut album Ill Na Na became a seller in 1997. In 1998, PolyGram was purchased by Seagram and merged with the MCA family of labels and it then purchased the remaining interest of Def Jam Recordings from Russell Simmons for a reported $100 million. UMG merged 14+ record labels including, Def Jam, Island Records, despite the formation of IDJMG, the Def Jam, Mercury, and Island labels continued to operate as separate imprints underneath the bigger umbrella. Lyor Cohen was appointed co-president of IDJMG, and Kevin Liles succeeded him as president of Def Jam, Def Soul also issued recordings by Musiq, Montell Jordan, Case,112, Patti LaBelle, and Christina Milian
6.
The Island Def Jam Music Group
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The Island Def Jam Music Group was an American record label group formed in 1998 by combining the operations of 14+ record labels including Island Records, Def Jam Recordings, and Mercury Records. In 2011, Motown Records was split from The Universal/Motown Records Group, on April 1,2014, Universal Music announced that Island Def Jams operations would be split between three entities, Island Records, Motown Records, and Def Jam Recordings. Despite being a new organization, Island Def Jam quickly made a name for itself in the music industry, the label gained notoriety for its untraditional and innovative approach when it came to breaking new artists, creating joint ventures, acquisitions, internet marketing, etc. IDJ had a great A&R team that oversaw chart-topping talent such as Jay-Z, Bon Jovi, DMX, Elton John and these savvy business moves are the reason IDJ prospered. In 2000, IDJMG announced that they would be launching Def Jam Germany and this move expanded urban music into a global phenomenon. In 2001, Island Def Jam created a label, Lost Highway Records. The label operated as an imprint of IDJs Mercury Records division, in Summer 2001, Island Def Jam acquired a controlling interest in the legendary rock label, Roadrunner Records. In December 2004, Island Def Jam acquired the remaining 50% interest in Roc-A-Fella Records, in 2011, Motown Records became an imprint of The Island Def Jam Music Group. In April 2014, UMG announced that Island Def Jam would cease to exist, IDJs operations were split up/separated between its flagship labels, Island Records, Def Jam Recordings, and Motown Records. Today, The Island Def Jam Music Group continues to one of the most impressive music catalogues in history. Chocolate City Records Artium Recordings Desert Storm Records Disturbing Tha Peace GOOD Music Radio Killa Records The Inc
7.
Chicago
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Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the third-most populous city in the United States. With over 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the state of Illinois, and it is the county seat of Cook County. In 2012, Chicago was listed as a global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Chicago has the third-largest gross metropolitan product in the United States—about $640 billion according to 2015 estimates, the city has one of the worlds largest and most diversified economies with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. In 2016, Chicago hosted over 54 million domestic and international visitors, landmarks in the city include Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Campus, the Willis Tower, Museum of Science and Industry, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicagos culture includes the arts, novels, film, theater, especially improvisational comedy. Chicago also has sports teams in each of the major professional leagues. The city has many nicknames, the best-known being the Windy City, the name Chicago is derived from a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, known to botanists as Allium tricoccum, from the Miami-Illinois language. The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as Checagou was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir, henri Joutel, in his journal of 1688, noted that the wild garlic, called chicagoua, grew abundantly in the area. In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by a Native American tribe known as the Potawatomi, the first known non-indigenous permanent settler in Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African and French descent and arrived in the 1780s and he is commonly known as the Founder of Chicago. In 1803, the United States Army built Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed in 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn, the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi tribes had ceded additional land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the Treaty of Chicago in 1833, on August 12,1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 4,000 people, on June 15,1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as U. S. The City of Chicago was incorporated on Saturday, March 4,1837, as the site of the Chicago Portage, the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicagos first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, and the Illinois, the canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad, manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy. The Chicago Board of Trade listed the first ever standardized exchange traded forward contracts and these issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the national stage
8.
Jazz
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Jazz is a music genre that originated amongst African Americans in New Orleans, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in Blues and Ragtime. Since the 1920s jazz age, jazz has become recognized as a form of musical expression. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms, Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African-American music traditions including blues and ragtime, as well as European military band music. Although the foundation of jazz is deeply rooted within the Black experience of the United States, different cultures have contributed their own experience, intellectuals around the world have hailed jazz as one of Americas original art forms. As jazz spread around the world, it drew on different national, regional, and local musical cultures, New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass-band marches, French quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation. In the 1930s, heavily arranged dance-oriented swing big bands, Kansas City jazz, bebop emerged in the 1940s, shifting jazz from danceable popular music toward a more challenging musicians music which was played at faster tempos and used more chord-based improvisation. Cool jazz developed in the end of the 1940s, introducing calmer, smoother sounds and long, modal jazz developed in the late 1950s, using the mode, or musical scale, as the basis of musical structure and improvisation. Jazz-rock fusion appeared in the late 1960s and early 1970s, combining jazz improvisation with rock rhythms, electric instruments. In the early 1980s, a form of jazz fusion called smooth jazz became successful. Other styles and genres abound in the 2000s, such as Latin, the question of the origin of the word jazz has resulted in considerable research, and its history is well documented. It is believed to be related to jasm, a term dating back to 1860 meaning pep. The use of the word in a context was documented as early as 1915 in the Chicago Daily Tribune. Its first documented use in a context in New Orleans was in a November 14,1916 Times-Picayune article about jas bands. In an interview with NPR, musician Eubie Blake offered his recollections of the slang connotations of the term, saying, When Broadway picked it up. That was dirty, and if you knew what it was, the American Dialect Society named it the Word of the Twentieth Century. Jazz has proved to be difficult to define, since it encompasses such a wide range of music spanning a period of over 100 years. Attempts have been made to define jazz from the perspective of other musical traditions, in the opinion of Robert Christgau, most of us would say that inventing meaning while letting loose is the essence and promise of jazz. As Duke Ellington, one of jazzs most famous figures, said, although jazz is considered highly difficult to define, at least in part because it contains so many varied subgenres, improvisation is consistently regarded as being one of its key elements
9.
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
10.
Classical music
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Classical music is art music produced or rooted in the traditions of Western music, including both liturgical and secular music. The central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900, which is known as the common-practice period, Western staff notation is used by composers to indicate to the performer the pitches, tempo, meter and rhythms for a piece of music. This can leave less room for such as improvisation and ad libitum ornamentation. The term classical music did not appear until the early 19th century, the earliest reference to classical music recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is from about 1836. This score typically determines details of rhythm, pitch, and, the written quality of the music has enabled a high level of complexity within them, J. S. The use of written notation also preserves a record of the works, Musical notation enables 2000s-era performers to sing a choral work from the 1300s Renaissance era or a 1700s Baroque concerto with many of the features of the music being reproduced. That said, the score does not provide complete and exact instructions on how to perform a historical work, even if the tempo is written with an Italian instruction, we do not know exactly how fast the piece should be played. Bach was particularly noted for his complex improvisations, during the Classical era, the composer-performer Mozart was noted for his ability to improvise melodies in different styles. During the Classical era, some virtuoso soloists would improvise the cadenza sections of a concerto, during the Romantic era, Beethoven would improvise at the piano. The instruments currently used in most classical music were largely invented before the mid-19th century and they consist of the instruments found in an orchestra or in a concert band, together with several other solo instruments. The symphony orchestra is the most widely known medium for music and includes members of the string, woodwind, brass. The concert band consists of members of the woodwind, brass and it generally has a larger variety and number of woodwind and brass instruments than the orchestra but does not have a string section. However, many bands use a double bass. Many of the used to perform medieval music still exist. Medieval instruments included the flute, the recorder and plucked string instruments like the lute. As well, early versions of the organ, fiddle, Medieval instruments in Europe had most commonly been used singly, often self accompanied with a drone note, or occasionally in parts. From at least as early as the 13th century through the 15th century there was a division of instruments into haut, during the earlier medieval period, the vocal music from the liturgical genre, predominantly Gregorian chant, was monophonic, using a single, unaccompanied vocal melody line. Polyphonic vocal genres, which used multiple independent vocal melodies, began to develop during the medieval era, becoming prevalent by the later 13th
11.
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
12.
Country music
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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
13.
St. Louis
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St. Louis is an independent city and major U. S. port in the state of Missouri, built along the western bank of the Mississippi River, on the border with Illinois. Prior to European settlement, the area was a regional center of Native American Mississippian culture. The city of St. Louis was founded in 1764 by French fur traders Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau, in 1764, following Frances defeat in the Seven Years War, the area was ceded to Spain and retroceded back to France in 1800. In 1803, the United States acquired the territory as part of the Louisiana Purchase, during the 19th century, St. Louis developed as a major port on the Mississippi River. In the 1870 Census, St. Louis was ranked as the 4th-largest city in the United States and it separated from St. Louis County in 1877, becoming an independent city and limiting its own political boundaries. In 1904, it hosted the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and the Summer Olympics, the economy of metro St. Louis relies on service, manufacturing, trade, transportation of goods, and tourism. This city has become known for its growing medical, pharmaceutical. St. Louis has 2 professional sports teams, the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball, the city is commonly identified with the 630-foot tall Gateway Arch in Downtown St. Louis. The area that would become St. Louis was a center of the Native American Mississippian culture and their major regional center was at Cahokia Mounds, active from 900 AD to 1500 AD. Due to numerous major earthworks within St. Louis boundaries, the city was nicknamed as the Mound City and these mounds were mostly demolished during the citys development. Historic Native American tribes in the area included the Siouan-speaking Osage people, whose territory extended west, European exploration of the area was first recorded in 1673, when French explorers Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette traveled through the Mississippi River valley. Five years later, La Salle claimed the region for France as part of La Louisiane. The earliest European settlements in the area were built in Illinois Country on the east side of the Mississippi River during the 1690s and early 1700s at Cahokia, Kaskaskia, migrants from the French villages on the opposite side of the Mississippi River founded Ste. In early 1764, after France lost the 7 Years War, Pierre Laclède, the early French families built the citys economy on the fur trade with the Osage, as well as with more distant tribes along the Missouri River. The Chouteau brothers gained a monopoly from Spain on the fur trade with Santa Fe, French colonists used African slaves as domestic servants and workers in the city. In 1780 during the American Revolutionary War, St. Louis was attacked by British forces, mostly Native American allies, the founding of St. Louis began in 1763. Pierre Laclede led an expedition to set up a fur-trading post farther up the Mississippi River, before then, Laclede had been a very successful merchant. For this reason, he and his trading partner Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent were offered monopolies for six years of the fur trading in that area
14.
Columbia Records
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Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, Inc. the United States division of Sony Corporation. It was founded in 1887, evolving from an enterprise named the American Graphophone Company. Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in the sound business. Columbia Records went on to release records by an array of singers, instrumentalists. It is one of Sony Musics three flagship record labels alongside RCA Records and Epic Records, rather, as above, it was connected to CBS, a broadcasting media company which had purchased the company in 1938, and had been co-founded in 1927 by Columbia Records itself. Though Arista Records was sold to Bertelsmann Music Group, it would become a sister label of Columbia Records through its mutual connection to Sony Music. The Columbia Phonograph Company was founded in 1887 by stenographer, lawyer and New Jersey native Edward Easton and it derived its name from the District of Columbia, where it was headquartered. At first it had a monopoly on sales and service of Edison phonographs and phonograph cylinders in Washington. As was the custom of some of the regional companies, Columbia produced many commercial cylinder recordings of its own. Columbias ties to Edison and the North American Phonograph Company were severed in 1894 with the North American Phonograph Companys breakup, thereafter it sold only records and phonographs of its own manufacture. In 1902, Columbia introduced the XP record, a brown wax record. According to Gracyk, the molded brown waxes may have sold to Sears for distribution. Columbia began selling records and phonographs in addition to the cylinder system in 1901, preceded only by their Toy Graphophone of 1899. For a decade, Columbia competed with both the Edison Phonograph Company cylinders and the Victor Talking Machine Company disc records as one of the top three names in American recorded sound. In order to add prestige to its catalog of artists. The firm also introduced the internal-horn Grafonola to compete with the extremely popular Victrola sold by the rival Victor Talking Machine Company, during this era, Columbia used the famous Magic Notes logo—a pair of sixteenth notes in a circle—both in the United States and overseas. Columbia was split into two companies, one to make records and one to make players, Columbia Phonograph was moved to Connecticut, and Ed Easton went with it. Eventually it was renamed the Dictaphone Corporation, in late 1923, Columbia went into receivership
15.
Decca Records
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Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U. S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis along with American Deccas first president Jack Kapp and later American Decca president Milton Rackmil. In 1937, as a result of anticipating Nazi aggression leading to World War II, Lewis sold American Decca, the British label was renowned for its development of recording methods, while the American company developed the concept of cast albums in the musical genre. Both wings are now part of the Universal Music Group, which is owned by Vivendi, the US Decca label was the foundation company that evolved into UMG. The name Decca was coined by Wilfred S. Samuel by merging the word Mecca with the initial D of their logo Dulcet or their trademark Dulcephone, Samuel, a linguist, chose Decca as a brand name as it was easy to pronounce in most languages. The name dates back to a gramophone called the Decca Dulcephone patented in 1914 by musical instrument makers Barnett Samuel. That company was renamed the Decca Gramophone Co. Ltd. Within years, Decca Records Ltd. was the second largest record label in the world, Decca bought the UK branch of Brunswick Records and continued to run it under that name. In the 1950s the American Decca studios were located in the Pythian Temple in New York City, in classical music, Decca had a long way to go from its modest beginnings to catch up with the established HMV and Columbia labels. The pre-war classical repertoire on Decca was not extensive, but was select, heinrich Schlusnus made important pre-war lieder recordings for Decca. John Culshaw, who joined Decca in 1946 in a junior post and he revolutionised recording – of opera, in particular. Hitherto, the practice had been to put microphones in front of the performers, Culshaw was determined to make recordings that would be a theatre of the mind, making the listeners experience at home not second best to being in the opera house, but a wholly different experience. To that end he got the singers to move about in the studio as they would onstage, used sound effects and different acoustics. His skill, coupled with Decca engineering, took Decca into the first flight of recording companies and his pioneering recording of Wagners Der Ring des Nibelungen conducted by Georg Solti was a huge artistic and commercial success. In the wake of Deccas lead, artists such as Herbert von Karajan, Joan Sutherland, however, Culshaw was, strictly speaking, not the first to do this. Far from being a mere rendering of the score, the 3-LP album set used sound effects to recreate the production as if the listener were watching a stage performance of the work. Until 1947, American Decca issued British Decca classical music recordings, afterwards, British Decca took over distribution through its new American subsidiary London Records. American Decca actively re-entered the classical music field in 1950 with distribution deals from Deutsche Grammophon, American Decca began issuing its own classical music recordings in 1956 when Israel Horowitz joined Decca to head its classical music operations
16.
Capitol Records
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Capitol Records, LLC is an American record label which operates as a division of the Capitol Music Group. The label was founded as the first West Coast-based record label in the United States in 1942 by three industry insiders named Johnny Mercer, Buddy DeSylva and Glenn Wallichs, in 1955, the label was acquired by the British music conglomerate EMI as its North American subsidiary. EMI was later acquired by Universal Music Group in 2012 and was merged with the company in 2013, making Capitol Records, Capitol Records circular headquarter building located in Los Angeles is a recognized landmark of California. Mercer first raised the idea of starting a company while golfing with Harold Arlen. By 1941, Mercer was a songwriter and a singer with multiple successful releases. Mercer next suggested the idea to Wallichs while visiting his record store, Wallichs expressed interest in the idea and the pair negotiated an agreement whereby Mercer would run the company and identify their artists, while Wallichs managed the business side. On February 2,1942, Mercer and Wallichs met with DeSylva at a Hollywood restaurant to inquire about the possibility of investment of the company from Paramount Pictures, while DeSylva declined the proposal, he handed the pair a check worth $15,000. On March 27,1942, the three men incorporated as Liberty Records, in May 1942, the application was amended to change the companys name to Capitol Records. On April 6,1942, Mercer supervised Capitols first recording session where Martha Tilton recorded the song Moon Dreams, on May 5, Bobby Sherwood and his orchestra recorded two tracks in the studio. On May 21, Freddie Slack and his orchestra recorded three tracks in the studio, one with the orchestra, one with Ella Mae Morse called Cow-Cow Boogie, on June 4,1942, Capitol opened its first office in a second-floor room south of Sunset Boulevard. On that same day, Wallichs presented the companys first free record to Los Angeles disc jockey Peter Potter, on June 5,1942, Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra recorded four songs at the studio. On June 12, the recorded five more songs in the studio. On June 11, Tex Ritter recorded Jingle Jangle Jingle and Goodbye My Little Cherokee for his first Capitol recording session, and the songs formed Capitols 110th produced record. 133 - Get On Board Little Chillun - July 31,1942 - is a Freddie Slack/Ella Mae Morse/Mellowaires recording that might be the first rock n roll record and she has sometimes been called the first rock n roll singer. A good example is her 1942 recording of song which, with strong gospel, blues, boogie. Bone Walker recorded Mean Old World a pioneering example of the use of electric guitar. The earliest recording artists included co-owner Mercer, Whiteman, Tilton, Morse, Margaret Whiting, Jo Stafford, the Pied Pipers, Johnnie Johnston, Tex Ritter, Capitols first gold single was Morses Cow Cow Boogie in 1942. Capitols first album was Capitol Presents Songs By Johnny Mercer, a three 78-rpm disc set with recordings by Mercer, Stafford and the Pied Pipers, all with Westons Orchestra
17.
RCA Records
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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
18.
Tiny Hill
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Harry Lawrence Tiny Hill was a band leader of the Big Band era. During the height of his career Hill was billed as “America’s Biggest Bandleader” because of his weight of over 365 lb and his signature song was Angry, which he first recorded in 1939 on Columbia records Vocalion label. He used sandpaper blocks and a güiro to generate a double shuffle beat that makes the listener itch to dance, Hill was born in Sullivan Township, Illinois. His parents were William Fred Hill and Osa Crowdson Ault and his parents separated when he was seven years old and he went to live with an aunt. He was active in school sports and was president of his senior class. He graduated from school in 1924 and then attended Illinois State Normal School for two years. Financial difficulties forced him to college to go to work. He went to Detroit where he worked in a produce warehouse, after a series of short term jobs he ended up driving a team of mules for the Midwest Canning Company in Rochelle, Illinois. In 1931 Hill formed his first big band which were known as the “Fat Man’s Band”, Hill played the drums with the trio which played for several years in and around Decatur, Illinois. In 1934 Tiny joined the Byron Dunbar band in Decatur as a drummer, after a year with Dunbar, Hill left to form his own band, taking many of Dunbar’s band members with him. Members of Hill’s new band were Dick Coffeen and Harold King on trumpets, John Noreuil on trombone, Jim Shielf on piano, the reed section included Bobby Walters, Bob Kramar and Nook Schreier, who also did arranging. The group’s style was Dixieland jazz and hillbilly music and their theme song was “Dream Girl”. By 1937 the band was playing its warm and easy-to-dance-to music three nights a week to packed audiences at the Ingleterra Ballroom in Peoria, Illinois. In September 1939, the band was heard over Remote WGN Radio broadcasts from the Melody Mill Ballroom in the Chicago suburb of North Riverside, the band played for several years at the Melody Mill and acquired a large following throughout the Midwest. Soon the band was playing in ballrooms coast to coast, Tiny toured the country for a while and landed on the Coast to play four months at the Casino Gardens, Ocean Park, Calif. He returned to Chicago in 1942, further appearances included Aragon and Trianon in Chicago and The Rainbow Ballroom in Denver. In 1943 Hill and his became the summer replacement band on the Lucky Strike “Your Hit Parade” radio show. Hill was featured on the cover of the September 23,1944 edition of Billboard Magazine, in 1945 He was hired as Folk Music Director at Mercury Records
19.
Frankie Laine
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Often billed as Americas Number One Song Stylist, his other nicknames include Mr. Rhythm, Old Leather Lungs, and Mr. Steel Tonsils. His hits included Thats My Desire, That Lucky Old Sun, Mule Train, Cry of the Wild Goose, A Woman In Love, Jezebel, High Noon, I Believe, Hey Joe. The Kids Last Fight, Cool Water, Moonlight Gambler, Love Is a Golden Ring, Rawhide, and Lord, You Gave Me a Mountain. He sang well-known theme songs for many movie Western soundtracks, including 3,10 To Yuma, Gunfight at the O. K. Corral, and Blazing Saddles, although he was not a country & western singer. Laine sang a variety of song styles and genres, stretching from big band crooning to pop, western-themed songs, gospel, rock, folk, jazz. Laines enduring popularity was illustrated in June 2011, when a TV-advertised compilation called Hits reached No.16 on the British chart. The accomplishment was achieved nearly 60 years after his debut on the UK chart,64 years after his first major U. S. hit and he was also known as Mr. Rhythm for his driving jazzy style. Laine was the first and biggest of a new breed of singers who rose to prominence in the post–World War II era. This new, raw, emotionally charged style seemed at the time to signal the end of the previous eras singing styles and was, indeed, a harbinger of the rock n roll music that was to come. In the words of Jazz critic Richard Grudens, Franks style was very innovative and his 1946 recording of Thats My Desire remains a landmark record signaling the end of both the dominance of the big bands and the crooning styles favored by contemporary Dick Haymes and others. Often called the first of the soul singers, Laines style cleared the way for many artists who arose in the late 1940s and early 1950s, including Kay Starr, Tony Bennett. I think that Frank probably was one of the forerunner of…blues, a lot of singers who sing with a passionate demeanor—Frank was and is definitely that. I always used to love to him with Thats…my…desire. And then later Johnnie Ray came along that made all of those kind of movements, hes one of those singers thats not in one track. And yet and still I think that his records had more excitement, and I think that was his big selling point, that he was so full of energy. You know when you hear his records it was dynamite energy, — Herb Jeffries Frankie Laine was born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio on March 30,1913, to Giovanni and Cresenzia LoVecchio. His parents had emigrated from Monreale, Sicily, to Chicagos Near West Side, in Little Italy, Laines family appears to have had several organized crime connections, and young Francesco was living with his grandfather when the latter was killed by rival gangsters. He later attended Lane Technical High School, where he helped to develop his power and breath control by joining the track and field
20.
Vic Damone
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Damone was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Rocco and Mamie Farinola, Italian immigrants from Bari, Italy. His father was an electrician and his mother taught piano and his cousin was the actress and singer Doretta Morrow. Inspired by his favorite singer, Frank Sinatra, Damone began taking voice lessons and he sang in the choir at St. Finbars Church in Bath Beach, Brooklyn, for Sunday Mass under organist Anthony Amorello. When his father was injured at work, Damone had to drop out of high school and he worked as an usher and elevator operator in the Paramount Theater in Manhattan. He met Perry Como, while at the Paramount Theater, Damone stopped the elevator between floors, sang for him, and asked his advice if he should continue voice lessons. And referred him to a local bandleader, vito Farinola decided to call himself Vic Damone, using his mothers maiden name. Damone entered the talent search on Arthur Godfreys Talent Scouts and won in April 1947 and this led to his becoming a regular on Godfreys show. He met Milton Berle at the studio and Berle got him work at two night clubs, by mid-1947, Damone had signed a contract with Mercury Records. His first release, I Have But One Heart, reached seven on the Billboard chart. You Do reached the same peak and these were followed by a number of other hits. In 1948, he got his own radio show, Saturday Night Serenade. He was booked into the Mocambo nightclub on the Sunset Strip in 1949, in 1951, Damone appeared in two movies, The Strip and Rich, Young and Pretty. From 1951 to 1953, he served in the United States Army and he served with future Northwest Indiana radio personality Al Evans, and country music star Johnny Cash. After leaving the service, he married the Italian actress Pier Angeli and he also made some guest appearances on Milton Berles television show in 1954. In 1955, Damone had one song on the charts, Por Favor, however, he did have major roles in two movie musicals, Hit the Deck and Kismet. In early 1956, he moved from Mercury to Columbia Records and his six original, long-playing albums on Columbia between 1957 and 1961 were That Towering Feeling, Angela Mia, Closer Than a Kiss, This Game of Love, On the Swingin Side, and Young and Lively. In 1961, he was released by Columbia, moving over to Capitol Records, he filled the gap left by Frank Sinatras leaving to help found Reprise Records. Other original Capitol albums included My Baby Loves to Swing, The Liveliest, Damone did limited acting on television in the early 1960s
21.
Patti Page
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Clara Ann Fowler, known by her professional name Patti Page, was an American singer of traditional pop music. She was the female vocalist and best-selling female artist of the 1950s. She was often introduced as the Singin Rage, Miss Patti Page, New York WNEW disc-jockey William B. Williams introduced her as A Page in my life called Patti. Page signed with Mercury Records in 1947, and became their first successful female artist, in 1950, she had her first million-selling single With My Eyes Wide Open, Im Dreaming, and would eventually have 14 additional million-selling singles between 1950 and 1965. Pages signature song, Tennessee Waltz, was one of the singles of the 20th century. It spent 13 weeks atop the Billboard magazines Best-Sellers List in 1950, Page had three additional No.1 hit singles between 1950 and 1953, All My Love, I Went to Your Wedding, and Doggie in the Window. Unlike most pop singers, Page blended country music styles into many of her most popular songs. As a result of this appeal, many of Pages singles appeared on the Billboard Country Chart. Towards the 1970s, she shifted her career towards music and began having greater success on its charts. The rise of Rock and Roll in the half of the 1950s. In 1997, Patti Page was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame and she was posthumously honored with the Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 2013. Clara Ann Fowler was born on November 8,1927, in Claremore, Oklahoma into a large and her father, B. A. Fowler, worked on the MKT railroad, while her mother, Margaret, and older sisters picked cotton. As she related on television years later, the family went without electricity. She was raised in Foraker, Hardy, Muskogee and Avant, Oklahoma, before attending Daniel Webster High School in Tulsa, Fowler started off her career as a songstress with Al Clauser and his Oklahoma Outlaws at KTUL. Fowler became a singer on a 15-minute radio program on radio station KTUL, Tulsa, Oklahoma. The program was sponsored by the Page Milk Company, on the air, Fowler was dubbed Patti Page, after the Page Milk Company. In 1946, Jack Rael, a player and band manager. Rael heard Page on the radio and liked her voice, Rael asked her to join the band he managed, the Jimmy Joy Band
22.
Eddie Gaedel
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Edward Carl Gaedel was an American with dwarfism who became famous for participating in a Major League Baseball game. Gaedel gained recognition in the game of a St. Louis Browns doubleheader on August 19,1951. Weighing 65 pounds and standing 3 feet 7 inches tall, Gaedel became the shortest player in the history of the Major Leagues and he made a single plate appearance and was walked with four consecutive balls before being replaced by a pinch-runner at first base. His jersey, bearing the uniform number 1⁄8, is displayed in the St. Louis Cardinals Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. St. Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck, in his 1962 autobiography Veeck – As in Wreck, said of Gaedel, He was, by golly and he was also the only one. Gaedel was a performer, belonging to the American Guild of Variety Artists. Before his appearance as baseballs most-famous pinch-hitter, Gaedels most notable gig arguably was when he was hired in 1946 by Mercury Records to portray the Mercury Man and he sported a winged hat similar to the record labels logo, to promote Mercury recordings. Some early Mercury recordings featured a caricature of him as its logo, Browns owner Bill Veeck was a showman who enjoyed staging publicity stunts. He found Eddie Gaedel through a booking agency, due to his size, Gaedel had worked as a riveter during World War II. Gaedel was able to crawl inside the wings of airplanes, after the war, Gaedel was the promotional mascot for Mercury Records. Gaedel was secretly signed by the St. Louis Browns and put in uniform, the uniform was that of current St. Louis Cardinals managing partner and chairman William DeWitt, Jr. who was a 9 year old batboy for the Browns at the time. Gaedel came out of a papier-mache cake between games of a doubleheader at Sportsmans Park in St. Louis to celebrate the American Leagues 50th anniversary, the stunt was also used as a Falstaff Brewery promotion. Falstaff, and the fans, had promised a festival of surprises by Veeck. Before the second game got underway, the press agreed that the appearance had not been up to Veecks usual promotional standard. Falstaff personnel, who had promised national publicity for their participation, were particularly dissatisfied. Keeping the surprise he had in store for the game to himself. Although Veeck denied the stunt was inspired by it, the appearance of Gaedel was unmistakably similar to the plot of You Could Look It Up. Veeck insisted he got the idea from listening to the conversations of Giants manager John McGraw decades earlier when Veeck was a child
23.
Enrico Caruso
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Enrico Caruso was an Italian operatic tenor. He sang to acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe. Caruso also made approximately 260 commercially released recordings from 1902 to 1920, all of these recordings, which span most of his stage career, remain available today on CDs and as downloads and digital streams. Enrico Caruso came from a poor but not destitute background, born in Naples in the Via San Giovannello agli Ottocalli 7 on 25 February 1873, he was baptised the next day in the adjacent Church of San Giovanni e Paolo. His parents originally came from Piedimonte dAlife in the Province of Benevento, in the Province of Caserta in Campania, called Errico in accordance with the Neapolitan language, he would later adopt the formal Italian version of his given name, Enrico. This change came at the suggestion of a singing teacher, Caruso was the third of seven children and one of only three to survive infancy. There is a story of Carusos parents having had 21 children,18 of whom died in infancy. However, on the basis of research, biographers Pierre Key, Francis Robinson. Caruso himself and his brother Giovanni may have been the source of the exaggerated number, Carusos widow Dorothy also included the story in a memoir that she wrote about her husband. She quotes the tenor, speaking of his mother, Anna Caruso, twenty boys and one girl – too many. Carusos father, Marcellino, was a mechanic and foundry worker, initially, Marcellino thought his son should adopt the same trade, and at the age of 11, the boy was apprenticed to a mechanical engineer who constructed public water fountains. Caruso later worked alongside his father at the Meuricoffre factory in Naples, at his mothers insistence, he also attended school for a time, receiving a basic education under the tutelage of a local priest. He learned to write in a script and studied technical draftsmanship. During this period he sang in his church choir, and his voice showed enough promise for him to contemplate a career in music. Caruso was encouraged in his musical ambitions by his mother. To raise cash for his family, he work as a street singer in Naples. Aged 18, he used the fees he had earned by singing at an Italian resort to buy his first pair of new shoes and his progress as a paid entertainer was interrupted, however, by 45 days of compulsory military service. He completed this in 1894, resuming his voice lessons upon discharge from the army
24.
Elisabeth Schumann
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Elisabeth Schumann was a German soprano who sang in opera, operetta, oratorio, and lieder. She left a legacy of recordings. Born in Merseburg, Schumann trained for a career in Berlin. She made her debut in Hamburg in 1909. Her initial career started in the lighter soubrette roles that expanded into mostly lyrical roles, some coloratura roles and she remained at the Hamburg Opera until 1919, also singing during the 1914/15 season at the Metropolitan Opera, New York. From 1919 to 1938, she was a star of the Vienna State Opera, the conductor Karl Alwin was her second husband from 1920 until 1938. In 1938 she emigrated to New York City where she lived until her death on 23 April 1952, during World War II she gave recitals but mainly taught singing, privately and at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. After the war she gave recitals in Europe, making a particularly successful comeback in England. She was a much-loved artist, admired for her vivacity, elegance and she was closely connected with Richard Strauss, Otto Klemperer, Lotte Lehmann, Bruno Walter, Wilhelm Furtwängler, and other leading musicians of the first half of the 20th century. Honorary Member of the Vienna State Opera and the first female Honorary Member of the Vienna Philharmonic, in a career spanning 28 years, Schumann sang 91 roles. Her debut role was the Shepherd Boy in Tannhäuser on 2 September 1909 in Hamburg, in America with Richard Strauss, Elisabeth Schumanns 1921 diary, in English, German and facsimile, accessed 5 August 2010
25.
Les Paul
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Lester William Polsfuss, known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the electric guitar. Paul taught himself how to play guitar and while he is known for jazz and popular music. He is credited with many recording innovations and he recorded with his wife Mary Ford in the 1950s, and they sold millions of records. Among his many honors, Paul is one of a handful of artists with a permanent, stand-alone exhibit in the Rock and he is prominently named by the music museum on its website as an architect and a key inductee with Sam Phillips and Alan Freed. Les Paul is the person to be included in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Les Paul was born Lester William Polsfuss in Waukesha, Wisconsin, to George and his family was of German ancestry. Pauls mother was related to the founders of Milwaukees Valentin Blatz Brewing Company and his parents divorced when he was a child. His mother simplified their Prussian family name first to Polfuss, then to Polfus, before taking the stage name Les Paul, he also performed as Red Hot Red and Rhubarb Red. At the age of eight, Paul began playing the harmonica, after trying to learn the piano, he switched to the guitar. It was during this time that he invented a neck-worn harmonica holder and it is still manufactured using his basic design. By age thirteen, Paul was performing semi-professionally as a singer, guitarist. While playing at the Waukesha area drive-ins and roadhouses, Paul began his first experiment with sound. Wanting to make himself heard by people at the local venues, he wired a phonograph needle to his guitar and connected it to a radio speaker. As a teen Paul created his first solid body electric guitar using a 2-foot piece of rail from a train line. At age seventeen, Paul played with Rube Tronsons Texas Cowboys, Paul moved to Chicago in 1934, where he continued to perform on radio stations WBBM and WLS. He met pianist Art Tatum, whose playing influenced him to stick with the rather than original plans of taking on the piano. His first two records were released in 1936, credited to Rhubarb Red, Pauls hillbilly alter ego and he also served as an accompanist for a few other bands signed to Decca
26.
Mary Ford
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Mary Ford was an American vocalist and guitarist, comprising half of the husband-and-wife musical team Les Paul and Mary Ford. Between 1950 and 1954, the couple had 16 top-ten hits, including How High the Moon and Vaya con Dios, in 1951 alone they sold six million records. With Paul, Ford became one of the practitioners of multi-tracking. Williams, Carol Jean Corona, Bruce Summers, Eva Wootten, Ford came from a musical family. Her parents left Missouri, travelling cross-country while singing gospel music and they eventually settled in southern California, where they were heard over KPPC-AM, Pasadenas first Christian radio station. Her sisters and brothers were all musicians, Esther, Carol, Fletcher, jazz organist Bruce, in 1939 Summers and Milly won a Pasadena talent contest judged by several Hollywood notables, including a very young Judy Garland. Hoping to have a career, Summers and Milly Watson lost interest in school, played truant frequently and eventually quit school. They were regulars on The Hollywood Barn Dance, a successful weekly CBS Radio program broadcast on Saturday nights, and hosted by Foy Willing and emceed by Cliffie Stone. In 1944, the Sunshine Girls trio appeared with Wakely in the PRC film Im from Arkansas, in 1945, when Eddie Dean introduced her to guitarist Les Paul, she was a popular western vocalist on KXLAs Dinner Bell Round-Up Time. The two began performing together in 1946, after Summers left the Sunshine Girls to work with Paul and his trio, she was replaced initially by Marilyn Myers Tuttle. After Tuttle left, Summers older sister, Eva, sang with Earler and Widener as the Three Rays on the Jimmy Wakely Show on CBS, Colleen Summers appeared on Gene Autrys Melody Ranch CBS radio program as a cast member and featured vocalist from July through early November 1946. In 1946-48, Summers was an actor in the drama portion of The All-Star Western Theatre. By 1947, Summers became romantically involved with Paul, whose first marriage to Virginia M. Webb was failing, as it could no longer endure the stresses and strains of his show-business career. In January 1948, while traveling on Route 66 through Oklahoma, after the accident, Summers identified herself to authorities as Iris Watson. Among Paul’s many injuries, his elbow was shattered. After Pauls wife Virginia took their two sons to Chicago, Summers moved in with Paul in his house on Carson Avenue, by the summer of 1949, Summers was performing under the stage name of Mary Ford. That same year, Les Paul divorced his wife and wed Mary Ford on December 29 in a private ceremony without much fanfare in Milwaukee. The couple had had three children, a baby born on November 26,1954, who died four days later, Mary Colleen Paul, whom they fostered from 1958 and these songs featured Ford harmonizing with herself, giving the vocals a novel sound
27.
EmArcy Records
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EmArcy Records is a jazz record label founded in 1954 by Mercury Records, and today a European jazz label owned by Universal Music Group. The name is a spelling of MRC, the initials for Mercury Record Company. During the 1950s and 1960s, musicians such as Max Roach, Clifford Brown, Cannonball Adderley, Dinah Washington, the EmArcy catalogue is currently managed by The Island Def Jam Music Group. Mono 12 LP series Official site Michael Fitzgerald Jazz Discography, Emarcy 36000 series Modern Jazz Discography, Emarcy Records discographies
28.
Fontana Records
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Fontana Records is a record label which was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records. The independent label distributor Fontana Distribution takes its name from the label, Fontana started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records, when Philips restructured its music operations, it dropped Fontana in favor of Vertigo Records. Fontanas U. S. counterpart label was started in 1964, the initial single release was a wild teen beat instrumental by famed British session drummer Bobby Graham, both sides featuring Jimmy Page on guitar. Among the hitmakers were Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders, the Troggs, the New Vaudeville Band and Steam, all of whom had No.1 hits on the label. Other successful Fontana artists included Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, the Silkie, Nana Mouskouri, the Pretty Things, the Herd, Gloria Lynne and the duo of Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg. The label also served as an outlet for other British acts such as the Merseybeats, the Others, Eden Kane, the Escorts and Sight & Sound. In some cases, Fontana was early on artists who achieved fame and fortune with subsequent releases for other labels like the Spencer Davis Group. It was also an outlet for some of the productions James Brown recorded under his deal with sister label Smash Records including Vicki Anderson, Mercury discontinued the label in 1970. Fontanas British division was the UK licensee for Motown Records, Columbia Records and Epic Records, Vanguard Records, Mainstream Records, as with Philips, labels were blue for singles, black for EPs and LPs. In 1972, PolyGram acquired the dormant label, in the UK and Europe, the Fontana label was largely dormant after 1974, although in 1980-81 it was used for releases by Sector 27 and Dennis Bovell. It is currently a division of Fontana Distribution, using the same logo. The labels only artists as of March 2013 are Brooke Hogan and Papoose
29.
Philips Records
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Not to be confused with Phillips International Records. Philips Records is a label that was founded by the Dutch electronics company Philips. In 1946 Philips acquired the company which pressed records for British Deccas Dutch outlet in Amsterdam, the record label was started by Philips Phonographische Industrie in June 1950 when it began issuing classical recordings. Recordings were also made with artists of various nationalities and with classical artists from Germany, France. Launched under the slogan Records of the Century, the first releases in Britain appeared at the beginning of January 1953 on 1078 rpm discs, Philips also distributed recordings made by the Columbia Records in the UK and on the European continent. After the separation of the English Columbia label and American Columbia, the first single on the label to chart was Frankie Laines I Believe, which reached the No.1 chart position in the UK that April. Many of the first British recordings on the label were produced by Norman Newell until John Franz was appointed artists, in 1958 Philips created a subsidiary label, Fontana Records, which meant that American-Columbia recordings were being issued on both the Philips and Fontana labels. This arrangement lasted until April 1962 when, under pressure from Columbia in America, Philips then created a label for them. In late 1964, under the stewardship of U. S. President of Columbia Records Goddard Lieberson, CBS Records formed its own international operations, CBS Records set up their UK operation in Theobalds Road in Holborn. Singles and albums on the Philips and Fontana labels by Columbia-owned product were subsequently withdrawn, in 1962, Philips Records and Deutsche Grammophon formed the Grammophon-Philips Group joint venture, which later became PolyGram in 1972. UK pressings were manufactured at the large factory based at Walthamstow in N. E. In 1961, after Philips lost its North American distribution deal with Columbia Records, a year later, Philips US affiliate Consolidated Electronics Industries Corp. bought Mercury and its subsidiary labels, such as Smash. Philips classical, jazz and pop records were marketed by Mercury in the US under the Philips label, the Mercury Living Presence team also made classical recordings for Philips, in July 1961. 69 for cello and piano by Richter and Rostropovich, classical groups that Philips heavily recorded included the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Beaux Arts Trio, and the Quartetto Italiano. Violinist Arthur Grumiaux and the pianist Claudio Arrau were under contract to Philips, symphony orchestras under contract, including the LSO, were under the command of prestigious young conductors such as Colin Davis and Bernard Haitink. From 1961 until the late 1980s, Philips Records issued many classical titles in US-specific packaging, the records were pressed at Mercurys plant in Richmond, Indiana, and mastered in New York by George Piros at Fine Recording, using 2-track and mono master tapes provided by Philips. These releases were the PHS900 xxx series for stereo and the 500 xxx series for mono, clair Van Ausdal in Mercurys New York office oversaw the Philips classical US releases through the mid-1960s. These records were made through Mercurys existing jazz operations and produced by Jack Tracy, in addition to jazz and classical music, Philips also became a major player in the world of rock and pop music in the late 1950s till late 1970s
30.
Smash Records
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Smash Records was an American record label founded in 1961 as a subsidiary of Mercury Records by Mercury executive Shelby Singleton and run by Singleton with Charlie Fach. Fach took over after Singleton left Mercury in 1966 and its recording artists included Frankie Valli, James Brown, Bruce Channel, Roger Miller, The Left Banke, Bill Justis and Jerry Lee Lewis. A dispute with King Records led Brown to release all of his bands instrumental recordings between 1964 and 1967 on Smash, Smash also released three of Browns vocal recordings, including his 1964 proto-funk single Out of Sight. Smash shared the numbering system for their singles with other labels that they distributed, the most important of these was Fontana Records. Mercury discontinued the Smash label in 1970, Mercury label owner PolyGram used the Smash imprint for reissues in the 1980s. PolyGram revived Smash in 1991 as an R&B/dance label with its offices located in Chicago and it was first under the PolyGram Label Group umbrella, then under the Independent Label Sales umbrella, then under Island Records until the imprint was retired in 1996. One of the hits Smash saw during this period was People Are Still Having Sex by house music producer LaTour, another successful artist on the dance charts was Jamie Principle
31.
Clifford Brown
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Brownie, was an American jazz trumpeter. He died at the age of 25 in a car accident, nonetheless, he had a considerable influence on later jazz trumpet players, including Donald Byrd, Lee Morgan, Booker Little, Arturo Sandoval and Freddie Hubbard. He was also a composer of note, two of his compositions, Joy Spring and Daahoud, have become jazz standards. Brown won the Down Beat critics poll for the New Star of the Year in 1954, Brown was born into a musical family in a progressive East-Side neighborhood of Wilmington, Delaware. His father organized his four youngest sons, including Clifford, into a vocal quartet, around age ten, Brown started playing trumpet at school after becoming fascinated with the shiny trumpet his father owned. At age thirteen, upon entering senior high, his father bought him his own trumpet, as a junior in high school, he received lessons from Robert Boysie Lowery and played in a jazz group that Lowery organized. He even began making trips to Philadelphia, Brown took pride in his neighborhood and earned a good education from Howard High. Brown briefly attended Delaware State University as a major, before he switched to Maryland State College. Brown played in the fourteen-piece, jazz-oriented, Maryland State Band, in June 1950, he was seriously injured in a car accident after a successful gig. During his year-long hospitalization, Dizzy Gillespie visited the younger trumpeter, Browns injuries limited him to the piano for months, he never fully recovered and would routinely dislocate his shoulder for the rest of his life. Brown moved into playing music professionally, where he became one of the most highly regarded trumpeters in jazz. Brown was influenced and encouraged by Fats Navarro, sharing Navarros virtuosic technique and his sound was warm and round, and notably consistent across the full range of the instrument. He could articulate every note, even at very fast tempos which seemed to present no difficulty to him and his sense of harmony was highly developed, enabling him to deliver bold statements through complex harmonic progressions, and embodying the linear, algebraic terms of bebop harmony. In addition to his prowess, he could express himself deeply in a ballad performance. His first recordings were with R&B bandleader Chris Powell, following which he performed with Tadd Dameron, J. J. Johnson, Lionel Hampton, and Art Blakey before forming his own group with Max Roach. The Clifford Brown & Max Roach Quintet was a mark of the hard bop style. Browns trumpet was originally partnered with Harold Lands tenor saxophone, after Land left in 1955 in order to spend more time with his wife, Sonny Rollins joined and remained a member of the group for the rest of its existence. In their hands the bebop vernacular reached a peak of inventiveness, the clean-living Brown escaped the influence of heroin on the jazz world
32.
Max Roach
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Maxwell Lemuel Max Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer. A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in other styles of music. He was inducted into the Down Beat Hall of Fame in 1980, Roach was born in the Township of Newland, Pasquotank County, North Carolina, which borders the southern edge of the Great Dismal Swamp, to Alphonse and Cressie Roach. Many confuse this with Newland Town in Avery County, although Roachs birth certificate lists his date of birth as January 10,1924, Roach has been quoted by Phil Schaap as having stated that his family believed he was born on January 8,1925. Roachs family moved to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York when he was 4 years old and he grew up in a musical home, his mother being a gospel singer. He started to play bugle in parade orchestras at a young age, at the age of 10, he was already playing drums in some gospel bands. In 1942, as an 18-year-old fresh out of Boys High School, in 1942, Roach started to go out in the jazz clubs of the 52nd Street and at 78th Street & Broadway for Georgie Jays Taproom. His first professional recording took place in December 1943, supporting Coleman Hawkins. He was one of the first drummers to play in the style, and performed in bands led by Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Coleman Hawkins, Bud Powell. Roach played on many of Parkers most important records, including the Savoy November 1945 session, the drummers early brush work with Powells trio, especially at fast tempos, has been highly praised. Roach studied classical percussion at the Manhattan School of Music from 1950 to 1953, in 1952, Roach co-founded Debut Records with bassist Charles Mingus. This label released a record of a May 15,1953 concert, billed as the greatest concert ever, also released on this label was the groundbreaking bass-and-drum free improvisation, Percussion Discussion. The group was a example of the hard bop style also played by Art Blakey. This group was to be short-lived, Brown and Powell were killed in a car accident on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in June 1956, the first album Roach recorded after their deaths was Max Roach +4. After Brown and Powells deaths, Roach continued leading a similarly configured group, with Kenny Dorham on trumpet, George Coleman on tenor, Roach expanded the standard form of hard-bop using 3/4 waltz rhythms and modality in 1957 with his album Jazz in 3/4 time. During this period, Roach recorded a series of albums for the EmArcy label featuring the brothers Stanley. In 1955, he was the drummer for vocalist Dinah Washington at several live appearances, in 1960 he composed and recorded the album We Insist. In 1962, he recorded the album Money Jungle, a collaboration with Mingus and this is generally regarded as one of the very finest trio albums ever made
33.
Clark Terry
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Clark Virgil Terry Jr. was an American swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, composer, educator, and NEA Jazz Masters inductee. He played with Charlie Barnet, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones and he was also with The Tonight Show Band from 1962 to 1972. Terrys career in jazz spanned more than 70 years, during which he one of the most recorded jazz musicians ever. Terry also mentored many musicians including Quincy Jones, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, Pat Metheny, Dianne Reeves, Terry was born to Clark Virgil Terry Sr. and Mary Terry in St. Louis, Missouri, on December 14,1920. He attended Vashon High School and began his career in the early 1940s. He served as a bandsman in the United States Navy during World War II and his first instrument was valve trombone. Blending the St. Louis tone with contemporary styles, Terrys years with Basie, during his period with Ellington, he took part in many of the composers suites and acquired a reputation for his wide range of styles, technical proficiency, and good humor. Terry influenced musicians including Miles Davis and Quincy Jones, both of whom acknowledged Terrys influence during the stages of their careers. Terry had informally taught Davis while they were still in St Louis, after leaving Ellington in 1959, Clarks international recognition soared when he accepted an offer from the National Broadcasting Company to become a staff musician. Terry was the first African American to become a regular in a band on a major US television network and he said later, We had to be models, because I knew we were in a test. We couldnt have a speck on our trousers and we couldnt have a wrinkle in the clothes. We couldnt have a dirty shirt, Terry continued to play with musicians such as trombonist J. J. Johnson and pianist Oscar Peterson, and led a group with valve-trombonist Bob Brookmeyer that achieved some success in the early 1960s. In February 1965, Brookmeyer and Terry appeared on BBC2s Jazz 625, in the 1970s, Terry concentrated increasingly on the flugelhorn, which he played with a full, ringing tone. In addition to his work and teaching at jazz workshops, Terry toured regularly in the 1980s with small groups. After financial difficulties forced him to break up the Big B-A-D Band and his humor and command of jazz trumpet styles are apparent in his dialogues with himself, on different instruments or on the same instrument, muted and unmuted. He occasionally performed solos on a trumpet or flugelhorn mouthpiece, in 2001, he again recorded for the Red Hot Organization with artist Amel Larrieux for the compilation album Red Hot + Indigo, a tribute to Ellington. In the 1980s he was a featured soloist performing in front of the band and he was introduced to great acclaim by Chicago jazz disc-jockey Dick Buckley. Prompted early in his career by Billy Taylor, Clark and Milt Hinton bought instruments for and gave instruction to young hopefuls and this venture tugged at Terrys greatest love, involving youth in the perpetuation of jazz
34.
Dinah Washington
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Dinah Washington was an American singer and pianist, who has been cited as the most popular black female recording artist of the 50s. Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performed and recorded in a variety of styles including blues, R&B, and traditional pop music. She was a 1986 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, Ruth Lee Jones was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to Alice Jones, and moved to Chicago as a child. She became deeply involved in gospel and played piano for the choir in St. Lukes Baptist Church while still in elementary school and she sang gospel music in church and played piano, directing her church choir in her teens and being a member of the Sallie Martin Gospel Singers. She sang lead with the first female gospel singers formed by Ms. Martin and her involvement with the gospel choir occurred after she won an amateur contest at Chicagos Regal Theater where she sang I Cant Face the Music. After winning a talent contest at the age of 15, she began performing in clubs, by 1941–42 she was performing in such Chicago clubs as Daves Rhumboogie and the Downbeat Room of the Sherman Hotel. She was playing at the Three Deuces, a jazz club, club owner Joe Sherman was so impressed with her singing of I Understand, backed by the Cats and the Fiddle, who were appearing in the Garricks upstairs room, that he hired her. During her year at the Garrick – she sang upstairs while Holiday performed in the downstairs room – she acquired the name by which she became known and she credited Joe Sherman with suggesting the change from Ruth Jones, made before Lionel Hampton came to hear Dinah at the Garrick. Hamptons visit brought an offer, and Washington worked as his female band vocalist after she had sung with the band for its opening at the Chicago Regal Theatre, both that record and its follow-up, Salty Papa Blues, made Billboards Harlem Hit Parade in 1944. She stayed with Hamptons band until 1946, after the Keynote label folded, signed for Mercury Records as a solo singer and her first record for Mercury, a version of Fats Wallers Aint Misbehavin, was another hit, starting a long string of success. Between 1948 and 1955, she had 27 R&B top ten hits, making her one of the most popular and successful singers of the period. Both Am I Asking Too Much and Baby Get Lost reached Number 1 on the R&B chart and her hit recordings included blues, standards, novelties, pop covers, and even a version of Hank Williams Cold, Cold Heart. In 1959, she had her first top ten pop hit, with a version of What a Diffrence a Day Made and her band at that time included arranger Belford Hendricks, with Kenny Burrell, Joe Zawinul, and Panama Francis. She followed it up with a version of Irving Gordons Unforgettable and her last big hit was September in the Rain in 1961. She also notably performed two numbers in the dirty blues genre, the songs were Long John Blues about her dentist, with lyrics like He took out his trusty drill. He said he wouldnt hurt me, but he filled my whole inside and she also recorded a song called Big Long Sliding Thing, supposedly about a trombonist. In the 1950s and early 1960s before her death, Washington occasionally performed on the Las Vegas Strip, tony Bennett said of Washington during a recording session with Amy Winehouse, She was a good friend of mine, you know. She used to just come in two suitcases in Vegas without being booked
35.
Cannonball Adderley
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Julian Edwin Cannonball Adderley was a jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is remembered for his 1966 single Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, a hit on the pop charts. He was the brother of jazz cornetist Nat Adderley, a member of his band. Originally from Tampa, Florida, Adderley moved to New York in 1955 and his nickname derived from cannibal, a title imposed on him by high school colleagues as a tribute to his voracious appetite. Cannonball moved to Tallahassee, when his parents obtained teaching positions at Florida A&M University, both Cannonball and brother Nat played with Ray Charles when Charles lived in Tallahassee during the early 1940s. Cannonball was a legend in Southeast Florida until he moved to New York City in 1955. One of his known addresses in New York was in the neighborhood of Corona and he left Florida originally to seek graduate studies at New York conservatories, but one night in 1955 he brought his saxophone with him to the Café Bohemia. Adderley formed his own group with his brother Nat after signing onto the Savoy jazz label in 1957 and he was noticed by Miles Davis, and it was because of his blues-rooted alto saxophone that Davis asked him to play with his group. He joined the Davis band in October 1957, three months prior to the return of John Coltrane to the group, some of Daviss finest trumpet work can be found on Adderleys first solo album Somethin Else, which was recorded shortly after the two giants met. Adderley then played on the seminal Davis records Milestones and Kind of Blue and this period also overlapped with pianist Bill Evans time with the sextet, an association that led to recording Portrait of Cannonball and Know What I Mean. His interest as an educator carried over to his recordings, in 1961, Cannonball narrated The Childs Introduction to Jazz, released on Riverside Records. The Cannonball Adderley Quintet featured Cannonball on alto sax and his brother Nat Adderley on cornet, Cannonballs first quintet was not very successful, however, after leaving Davis group, he formed another, again with his brother, which enjoyed more success. By the end of the 1960s, Adderleys playing began to reflect the influence of the jazz, avant-garde. On his albums from this period, such as Accent on Africa and The Price You Got to Pay to Be Free, he began doubling on soprano saxophone, showing the influence of Coltrane and Wayne Shorter. In 1975 he also appeared in a role alongside José Feliciano. Songs made famous by Adderley and his bands include This Here, The Jive Samba, Work Song, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, a cover version of Pops Staples Why. also entered the charts. His instrumental Sack o Woe was covered by Manfred Mann on their debut album and he had a cerebral hemorrhage and four weeks later, on August 8,1975, he died at St. Mary Methodist Hospital in Gary, Indiana. He was buried in the Southside Cemetery, Tallahassee, later that year he was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame
36.
Ernestine Anderson
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Ernestine Anderson was an American jazz and blues singer. In a career spanning more than six decades, she recorded over 30 albums and she was nominated four times for a Grammy Award. She sang at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Monterey Jazz Festival, in the early 1990s she joined Qwest Records, the label of fellow Garfield High School grad Quincy Jones. Ernestine Anderson were born, in Houston, Texas, on November 11,1928, by the age of 3, Anderson showed a talent for singing along with her parent’s old blues 78 rpm records by the likes of Bessie The Empress of the Blues Smith. Anderson started singing at a church, singing solos in its gospel choir. Anderson tells of her life in the 1998 book The Jazz Scene), My parents used to play blues records all the time. John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, all the blues greats, in Houston, where I grew up, you turned on the radio and what you got was country and western and gospel. I dont even remember what my first experience with music was and my father sang in a gospel quartet and I used to follow him around, and both my grandparents sang in the Baptist church choir. And they had big bands coming through Houston like Jimmie Lunceford, Billy Eckstine, Erskine Hawkins, ernestines godmother entered her in a local talent contest when she was twelve years old. I only knew two songs, she admitted, On the Sunny Side of the Street and So Long, the piano player asked me what key did I do these songs in and I just said C for some reason and it was the wrong key. In order to save face I sang around the melody, improvised among the melody, and her family moved to Seattle, Washington in 1944, when she was sixteen. Anderson attended Garfield High School, graduating in 1946, while a teenager, she was discovered by bandleader Bumps Blackwell, who hired her as a singer for his Junior Band. Andersons first show was at the Washington Social Club on East Madison Street, the band performed regularly in jazz clubs on Seattles Jackson Street. When she was eighteen, Anderson left Seattle, to tour for a year with the Johnny Otis band, in 1952, she went on tour with Lionel Hamptons orchestra. After a year with the band, she settled in New York City. Her appearance on Gigi Gryces 1955 album Nicas Tempo led to a partnership with trumpeter Rolf Ericson for a three-month Scandinavian tour, gleason, began airing it on his hit-making radio show. In addition his nationally distributed San Francisco Chronicle jazz column, saying, she is the best new jazz singer in a decade. She has good diction, time, an ability to phrase well, great warmth in her voice, a true tone and, on top of all that, she swings like mad
37.
Sarah Vaughan
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Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by music critic Scott Yanow as having one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century. Nicknamed Sassy and The Divine One, Sarah Vaughan was a four-time Grammy Award winner, the National Endowment for the Arts bestowed upon her its highest honor in jazz, the NEA Jazz Masters Award, in 1989. Sarah Vaughans father, Asbury Jake Vaughan, was a carpenter by trade and played guitar and her mother, Ada Vaughan, was a laundress and sang in the church choir. Jake and Ada Vaughan had migrated to Newark, New Jersey from Virginia during the First World War, Sarah was their only biological child, although in the 1960s they adopted Donna, the child of a woman who traveled on the road with Sarah Vaughan. The Vaughans lived in a house on Brunswick Street in Newark for Sarahs entire childhood, Jake Vaughan was deeply religious and the family was very active in the New Mount Zion Baptist Church at 186 Thomas Street. Sarah began piano lessons at the age of seven, sang in the choir and occasionally played piano for rehearsals. Vaughan developed a love for popular music on records and the radio. In the 1930s, Newark had an active live music scene and Vaughan frequently saw local. However, her adventures as a performer began to overwhelm her academic pursuits. Around this time, Vaughan and her friends began venturing across the Hudson River into New York City to hear big bands at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, biographies of Vaughan frequently stated that she was immediately thrust into stardom after a winning amateur night performance at Harlems Zeus Theater. In fact, the story that biographer Renee relates seems to be a bit more complex, Vaughan was frequently accompanied by a friend, Doris Robinson, on her trips into New York City. Some time in the fall of 1942, Vaughan suggested that Robinson enter the Apollo Theater Amateur Night contest, Vaughan played piano accompaniment for Robinson, who won second prize. Vaughan later decided to go back and compete herself as a singer, Vaughan sang Body and Soul and won, although the exact date of her victorious Apollo performance is uncertain. The prize, as Vaughan recalled later to Marian McPartland, was $10, after a considerable delay, Vaughan was contacted by the Apollo in the spring of 1943 to open for Ella Fitzgerald. Some time during her week of performances at the Apollo, Vaughan was introduced to bandleader and pianist Earl Fatha Hines, Billy Eckstine, Hines singer at the time, has been credited by Vaughan and others with hearing her at the Apollo and recommending her to Hines. Hines claimed later to have discovered her himself and offered her a job on the spot, regardless, after a brief tryout at the Apollo, Hines officially replaced his current male singer with Vaughan on April 4,1943. Vaughan spent the remainder of 1943 and part of 1944 touring the country with the Earl Hines big band that featured baritone Billy Eckstine. The Earl Hines band in this period is remembered as an incubator of bebop, as it included trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, saxophonist Charlie Parker and trombonist Bennie Green
38.
Maynard Ferguson
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Walter Maynard Ferguson C. M. was a Canadian jazz musician and bandleader. He came to playing in Stan Kentons orchestra before forming his own band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which served as stepping stones for up-and-coming talent. Ferguson was born in Verdun, Quebec, encouraged by his mother and father, Maynard was playing piano and violin by the age of four. Newsreel footage exists of Ferguson as a prodigy violinist. At nine years old, he heard a cornet for the first time in his local church, at age thirteen, Ferguson first soloed with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Orchestra. He was heard frequently on the CBC, notably featured on a Serenade for Trumpet in Jazz written for him by Morris Davis, Ferguson won a scholarship to the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal where he studied from 1943 through 1948 with Bernard Baker. Ferguson dropped out of Montreal High School at age 15 to more actively pursue a career, performing in dance bands led by Stan Wood, Roland David. While trumpet was his instrument, Ferguson also performed on other brass. Ferguson later took over the band formed by his saxophonist brother Percy, playing dates in the Montreal area and serving as an opening act for touring bands from Canada. During this period, Ferguson came to the attention of numerous American bandleaders, Ferguson finally moved to the United States in 1948, intending to join Stan Kentons organization. However, Kenton had just disbanded his orchestra, so Ferguson initially played with the bands of Boyd Raeburn, Jimmy Dorsey, the Barnet band was notable for a trumpet section that also included Doc Severinsen, Ray Wetzel, Johnny Howell, and Rolf Ericson. Ferguson was featured on a notoriously flamboyant Barnet recording of Jerome Kerns All The Things You Are that showcased Fergusons upper register playing, the recording reportedly enraged Kerns widow and was subsequently withdrawn from sale. When Barnet temporarily retired in 1949 and disbanded his orchestra, Ferguson accepted an offer to join Stan Kentons newly formed Innovations Orchestra, Stan Kentons bands were notable for their strong brass sections and Ferguson was a natural fit. While the Innovations Orchestra was not commercially successful, it made a number of recordings, including Maynard Ferguson. When Kenton returned to a more practical 19-piece jazz band, Ferguson continued with him, notable recordings from this period that feature Ferguson include Invention for Guitar and Trumpet, Whats New. and The Hot Canary. So popular was Ferguson with Kenton that for three years running –1950,1951, and 1952 – he won the Down Beat Readers Poll as best trumpeter, in 1953, Ferguson left Kenton to become a session player for Paramount Pictures, soon becoming the first-call player. Ferguson appeared on 46 soundtracks including The Ten Commandments, Ferguson still recorded jazz during this period, but his Paramount contract prevented him from playing jazz clubs
39.
Jimmy Cleveland
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Jimmy Cleveland was an American jazz trombonist born in Wartrace, Tennessee. He also recorded a sequence of albums for EmArcy/Mercury Records in the 1950s and 1960s and he continued to make records with Zion Records later in his career. Cleveland died August 23,2008 in Lynwood, California at age 82, with Hank Crawford Mr. J. Johnson J. J. With Quincy Jones Jazz Abroad This Is How I Feel About Jazz The Birth of a Band, phineas Newborn, Jr.2 with Stanley Turrentine, Always Something There with Sarah Vaughan, ¡Viva
40.
Herb Geller
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Herbert Arnold Geller was an American jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger. He was born in Los Angeles, California and his mother, Frances, worked at the Hollywood neighborhood cinemas playing piano, accompanying silent movies. At the age of 8, Geller was presented with a saxophone, purchased from a local music store owner. Two years later he started clarinet, Geller attended Dorsey High School in the southwestern part of Los Angeles and joined the school band which among others included the musicians Eric Dolphy and Vi Redd. At the age of 14, he heard Benny Carter perform at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles and was so impressed that he decided to pursue a career in music, two years later, he had his first professional engagement in the band of jazz violinist Joe Venuti. A short time later he discovered the music of Charlie Parker, in 1949 Geller went to New York City for the first time, where he performed in the bands of Jack Fina, Claude Thornhill, Jerry Wald and Lucky Millinder. During this time he met pianist Lorraine Walsh in Los Angeles, Walsh later became his wife in New York and an important musical partner. She pursued a career under her name, after three years in New York, Geller joined the Billy May orchestra in 1952 and, following an engagement in Los Angeles, the Gellers returned there to live. Geller recorded three LPs as a leader for Emarcy plus some with Dinah Washington, Max Roach, Clifford Brown, Clark Terry, Maynard Ferguson, in 1955 he won the New Star Award from Down Beat Magazine and achieved worldwide recognition through his recordings with Clifford Brown. Later Geller worked in the bands of Louie Bellson and Benny Goodman, Lorraine Geller died of an acute asthma attack in 1958. In 1962 he was offered a job with the big band of the Radio in the American Sector station in Berlin, in Berlin he met his second wife, Christine Rabsch. Geller stayed there for three years and then accepted a contract to play lead alto and also arrange for the big band of NDR in Hamburg, Here he was engaged for 28 years and made Hamburg his home. During this time the NDR big band developed from a dance orchestra into a leading modern jazz ensemble. During his work at NDR, Geller was also busy with other things, including his own productions, during this time he also participated in recordings and worked with such famous artists as Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Peter Herbolzheimer, and George Gruntz among others. During his tenure at NDR, he learned and performed on other woodwind instruments, including clarinet, flute, alto flute, bass flute, piccolo flute, oboe. On flute he played and recorded with Bill Evans and Brazilian guitarist Baden Powell and he also composed the music and lyrics to two musicals, Playing Jazz and Jazzy Josie B. In 1996 the Senate of the Government of Hamburg gave him the title of Professor and he taught at the Hochschule für Musik in Hamburg until his retirement. He continued teaching jazz improvisation and composition, occasionally doing seminars at national and international institutes
41.
Quincy Jones
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His career spans six decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, and 28 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend Award in 1991. He is best known for the role of himself in Yakety Yak, Take it Back, Trash Talk, Jones came to prominence in the 1950s as a jazz arranger and conductor, before moving on to work prolifically in pop music and film scores. In 1971, Jones was the first African American to be named as the director and conductor of the Academy Awards ceremony. In 1995, he was the first African American to receive the Academys Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and he is tied with sound designer Willie D. Burton as the African American who has been nominated for the most Oscars, each has received seven nominations. In 2013, Jones was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as the winner, alongside Lou Adler, among his awards, Jones was named by Time Magazine as one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century. Jones was born in 1933, on the South Side of Chicago, to Sarah Frances and Quincy Delight Jones and his father was a semi-professional baseball player and carpenter from Kentucky, his paternal grandmother was an ex-slave in Louisville. They had gone to Chicago as part of the Great Migration out of the South, Sarah was a bank officer and apartment complex manager. Jones later discovered that his paternal grandfather Caesar Jones was the son of a white American man of Welsh descent, Quincy had a younger brother, Lloyd, later an engineer for the Seattle station, KOMO-TV, Lloyd died in 1998. Quincy was introduced to music by his mother, who sang religious songs. When Jones was five or six, Jackson played stride piano next door, Lucy Jackson recalled that after he heard her that one day, she could not get him off her piano if she tried. When the boys were young, their mother suffered from a breakdown and was committed to a mental institution. His father obtained a divorce and remarried, Joness stepmother, Elvera, had three children of her own, Waymond, who became a friend of the young Quincy, Theresa, and Katherine. In 1943, when Jones was ten, his family moved to Bremerton, Washington, after the war, the Jones family moved to Seattle, the major regional city, where Jones attended Garfield High School near his home. He had discovered music when he was 12 and became deeply involved in high school. Classmates included Charles Taylor, who played saxophone and whose mother, the youths began playing with a band. At the age of 14, they were playing with a National Reserve band, Jones has said he got much more experience with music growing up in a smaller city, otherwise, he would have faced too much competition. At the age of 14, Jones introduced himself to a 16-year-old musician from Florida, Ray Charles, Jones cites Ray Charles as an early inspiration for his own music career. He noted that Charles overcame a disability to achieve his musical goals and he has credited his fathers sturdy work ethic with giving him the means to proceed, and his loving strength with holding the family together
