Name	Buddy Miles
Landscape	yes
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	George Allen Miles, Jr.
Born	September 05, 1947Omaha, Nebraska United States
Died	February 27, 2008Austin, Texas, United States
Origin	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Instrument	Drums, guitar, vocals
Genre	Rock, R&B;
Occupation	Musician, songwriter, arranger
Years active	1967–2008
Label	Mercury, CBS, Columbia, Epic, Casablanca, Atlantic, Rykodisc, Hip-O, Ruf
Associated acts	Ruby & the Romantics, Ink Spots, Delfonics, Wilson Pickett, Electric Flag, Mike Bloomfield, Jimi Hendrix, Band of Gypsys, John McLaughlin, Carlos Santana, Bootsy Collins, The California Raisins
Url	www.buddymiles.com

George Allen Miles, Jr. (September 5, 1947 – February 26, 2008), known as Buddy Miles, was an American rock and funk drummer, most known as a founding member of The Electric Flag in 1967, then as a member of Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys from 1969 through to January 1970.

Biography

Early life

George "Buddy" Miles was born in Omaha, Nebraska on September 5, 1947. He was known as a child prodigy, originally playing drums in his father, George Miles, Sr.'s, jazz band, The Bebops, beginning at age 12. Miles Sr. had played upright bass with Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Charlie Parker and Dexter Gordon.

In his teens Miles Jr. was often seen hanging out as well as recording at the Universal Promotions Corporation (U.P.C.) recording studios, which later became Rainbow Recording Studios

Miles was given the nickname "Buddy" by his aunt after the drummer Buddy Rich.

Early career

Miles played in a variety of rhythm and blues and soul acts as a teenager, including Ruby & the Romantics, the Ink Spots, the Delfonics and Wilson Pickett. By 1967 he moved to Chicago where he formed the Electric Flag with guitarist Mike Bloomfield. Nick Gravenitis was the vocalist on this (and also some other Bloomfield LP's). The blues-soul-rock band made their live debut at the Monterey Pop Festival in mid 1967 and released their debut Columbia album, A Long Time Comin', early the next year (1968). Miles sometimes sang lead vocals for the group in addition to playing drums. The group broke up after their second album An American Music Band (late 1968) and Miles formed The Buddy Miles Express, with Jim McCarty, later the guitarist for Cactus. A Greatest Hits album by The Electric Flag was issued in 1971 by Columbia. In 1974 The Electric Flag reformed briefly and released the Atlantic album The Band Kept Playing.

Jimi Hendrix

After Electric Flag, Miles would begin involvement with the rock legend Jimi Hendrix. Miles had met Jimi Hendrix in an earlier time when both were acting as sidemen for other artists in the early '60s. The meeting had occurred in Canada in 1964, at a show both were participating in.

Miles said of his first meeting with Hendrix: "He was playing in the Isley Brothers band and I was in Ruby and the Romantics ... [Jimi] had his hair in a pony-tail with long sideburns. Even though he was shy I could tell this guy was different. He looked rather strange, because everyone else was wearing uniforms and he was eating his guitar, doing flip-flops and wearing chains."

This prefaced a later friendship that would result in varied collaborations between the two artists. In 1967, Hendrix and Miles jammed at the Malibu home of Stephen Stills, and went on to play together again at various times, in both Los Angeles and New York in 1968. Hendrix occasionally joined Electric Flag on stage. Soon after, Jimi Hendrix started opening his recording style to include guest artists. And in this mode Hendrix was working in, Buddy Miles quite naturally was invited to participate. Miles took part in the session recordings for Electric Ladyland, playing on the songs "Rainy Day, Dream Away" and "Still Raining, Still Dreaming".

In 1969 an extremely busy Hendrix would somehow find time to produce the first two albums released by Buddy Miles' own band, Buddy Miles Express - Expressway To Your Skull and Electric Church. There was obvious public curiosity as to whether the name of the band "Buddy Miles Express" was influenced by Hendrix's act, "The Jimi Hendrix Experience".

Soon after the release of the groundbreaking Electric Ladyland album, Noel Redding (original Experience bass player) and Mitch Mitchell (the Experience drummer) had both parted company with Hendrix, not least because of constant wrangling between Hendrix's manager (Michael Jeffery) and his producer (Alan Douglas), both vying for control of his career. Everyone wanted a piece of Hendrix's success.

As Buddy Miles explained: "Jimi was not happy. He felt powerless. He couldn't do what he wanted to do.". Hendrix's solution to the problem was to found a short-lived band called Band of Gypsys, and Miles was brought in to join him. One of the notable features for his audience at the time was the fact that all of the players were black. This was a first for Hendrix as an international recording star – although he had, of course, played with the Isley Brothers in his early days – and this choice reflected a move toward reconnecting with his soul roots. It also had the effect of re-associating rock with its African American roots. Originally it was a solo LP , but in the last ten years or so additional cuts from the concerts were released on a three piece cassette box. The band was based in New York City where Hendrix was spending the majority of his time. Hendrix, who was tangled in legal litigation concerning contracts he had signed prior to his becoming internationally recognized, was required to release a record to the Capitol Records label as part of the agreement in court. This fact led to the live recording of his collaboration with Buddy Miles and Billy Cox.

However during a follow up performance a month later, Hendrix had a minor, drug-related meltdown on stage which has also been speculated to have been an act of sabotage on the part of a very frustrated manager Michael Jeffery, who was not a fan of the Band of Gypsys all-black line-up and strong R&B; roots. Miles had this to say about the incident years later:

"Jeffery slipped [Jimi] two half-tabs of acid on stage as he went on ... [Jimi] just freaked out. I told Jeffery he was an out-and-out complete idiot and a fucking asshole to boot. One of the biggest reasons why Jimi is dead is because of that guy." There was no funeral; Miles was cremated.

The day before Buddy died, he heard Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton playing 'Them Changes' at Madison Square Garden through his cell phone. 'Them Changes' is now part of Clapton's set on tour as a tribute to Buddy. The UK-based newspaper The Independent ran an almost full-page obituary for Buddy Miles in its Friday February 29, 2008 edition. The title for the piece was "Buddy Miles: Flamboyant Hendrix drummer", and can be found on page 47.

Asked how he would like to be remembered by the American music magazine Seconds in 1995, Miles simply said: "The baddest of the bad. People say I'm the baddest drummer. If that's true, thank you world." A memorial concert took place on March 30, 2008 at Threadgill’s on Riverside Drive, South Austin.

Discography

Solo

Expressway to Your Skull - Mercury (1968)

Electric Church - Mercury (1969)

Them Changes - Mercury (1970)

We Got to Live Together - Mercury (1970)

A Message to the People - Mercury (1971)

Buddy Miles Live - Mercury (1971)

Booger Bear - Columbia (1973)

Chapter VII - Columbia (1973)

All the Faces of Buddy Miles - Epic (1974)

More Miles Per Gallon - Casablanca (1975)

Bicentennial Gathering of the Tribes - Casablanca (1976)

Sneak Attack - Atlantic (1981)

Hell and Back - Rykodisc (1994)

Tribute to Jimi Hendrix - CAS (1997)

Miles Away from Home - Hip-O (1997)

Blues Berries - Ruf (2002)

Changes - SPV (2005)

Collaborative

Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsys - Capitol (1970)

Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles! Live! - Columbia (1972)

Hardware - Third Eye Open (1994)

References

Pareles, Jon (February 29, 2008). "Buddy Miles, 60, Hendrix Drummer, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved on February 29, 2008.

Perrone, Pierre (February 29, 2008). "Buddy Miles: Flamboyant Hendrix drummer". ''The Independent newspaper.

Cheech and Chong Dot Com (February 27, 2008) "REST IN PEACE BUDDY MILES". '

External links

Official website

Michael Bloomfield Chronology (with information on Buddy Miles' time with the Electric Flag)

Category:1947 births Category:2008 deaths Category:Deaths from congestive heart failure Category:American drummers Category:American session musicians Category:African American rock musicians Category:American funk drummers Category:African American drummers Category:Mercury Records artists Category:Musicians from Omaha, Nebraska Category:People from North Omaha, Nebraska

Name	Carlos Santana
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Carlos Augusto Alves Santana
Born	July 20, 1947Autlán de Navarro, JaliscoMexico
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, percussion
Genre	Rock, latin rock, blues rock, funk, jazz fusion
Occupation	Musician, songwriter
Years active	1966–present
Label	Arista, Polydor, Columbia, Polygram
Associated acts	Santana, Los Lonely Boys
Notable instruments	PRS Santana II Yamaha SG175 Gibson SG
Url	Santana.com

Carlos Augusto Alves Santana (born July 20, 1947) is a Mexican American rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion. The band's sound featured his melodic, blues-based guitar lines set against Latin and African rhythms featuring percussion instruments such as timbales and congas not generally heard in rock music. Santana continued to work in these forms over the following decades. He experienced a resurgence of popularity and critical acclaim in the late 1990s. Rolling Stone named Santana number 15 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time in 2003. He has won 10 Grammy Awards and 3 Latin Grammy Awards.

Biography

Early life

Santana was born in Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, Mexico. His father was a mariachi violinist, and Carlos learned to play the violin at age five and the guitar at age eight. His younger brother, Jorge Santana, would also become a professional guitarist. Young Carlos was heavily influenced by Ritchie Valens at a time when there were very few Latinos in American rock and pop music. The family moved from Autlán de Navarro to Tijuana, the city on Mexico's border with California, and then San Francisco. Carlos stayed in Tijuana but joined his family in San Francisco later and graduated from James Lick Middle School and Mission High School there. He graduated from Mission High in 1965. Javier Bátiz, a famous guitarist from Tijuana, said to have been Carlos's guitar teacher who taught him to play a different style of guitar soloing. After learning Batiz's techniques, Santana would make them his own as well.

In San Francisco, he got the chance to see his idols, most notably B.B. King, perform live. He was also introduced to a variety of new musical influences, including jazz and folk music, and witnessed the growing hippie movement centered in San Francisco in the 1960s. After several years spent working as a dishwasher in a diner and busking for spare change, Santana decided to become a full-time musician. In 1966, he gained prominence by a series of accidental events all happening on the same day. Santana was a frequent spectator at Bill Graham's Fillmore West. During a Sunday matinee show, Paul Butterfield was slated to perform there but was unable to do so as a result of being intoxicated. Bill Graham assembled an impromptu band of musicians he knew primarily through his connections with the Grateful Dead, Butterfield's own band and Jefferson Airplane, but he had not yet picked all of the guitarists at the time. Santana's manager, Stan Marcum, immediately suggested to Graham that Santana join the impromptu band and Graham assented. During the jam session, Santana's guitar playing and solo gained the notice of both the audience and Graham. During the same year, Santana formed the Santana Blues Band, with fellow street musicians, David Brown and Gregg Rolie (bassist and keyboard player, respectively).

In 2005, Herbie Hancock approached Santana to collaborate on an album again using the Supernatural formula. Possibilities was released on August 30, 2005, featuring Carlos Santana and Angélique Kidjo on "Safiatou". Also, in 2005, fellow Latin star Shakira invited Santana to play the soft rock guitar ballad "Illegal" on her second English-language studio album Oral Fixation Vol. 2.

Santana's 2005 album All That I Am consists primarily of collaborations with other artists; the first single, the peppy "I'm Feeling You", was again with Michelle Branch and The Wreckers. Other musicians joining the mix this time included Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Kirk Hammett from Metallica, hip-hop/reggae star Sean Paul and R&B; singer Joss Stone. In April and May 2006, Santana toured Europe, where he promoted his son Salvador Santana's band as his opening act.

In 2007, Santana appeared, along with Sheila E. and José Feliciano, on Gloria Estefan's album 90 Millas, on the single "No Llores". He also teamed again with Chad Kroeger for the hit single "Into the Night".

In 2008, Santana started working with his long-time friend, Marcelo Vieira, on his solo album Marcelo Vieira's Acoustic Sounds, which is due to be released at the end of the year. It features tracks such as "For Flavia" and "Across the Grave", the latter featuring heavy melodic riffs by Santana.

Carlos Santana performed at the 2009 American Idol Finale with the top 13 finalists, which starred many acts such as KISS, Queen and Rod Stewart. On July 8, 2009, Carlos Santana appeared at the Athens Olympic Stadium in Athens with his 10-member all-star band as part of his "Supernatural Santana – A Trip through the Hits" European tour. On July 10, 2009, he also appeared at Philip II Stadium in Skopje. With 2.5 hours concert and 20 000 people, Santana appeared for the first time in that region. "Supernatural Santana – A Trip through the Hits" is currently playing at The Hard Rock hotel in Las Vegas, where it will play through 2011.

Santana is featured as a playable character in the music video game Guitar Hero 5. A live recording of his song "No One To Depend On" is included in game, which was released on September 1, 2009.

Carlos recently opened a chain of upscale Mexican restaurants called "Maria Maria". It is a combined effort with Chef Roberto Santibañez. They are located in Tempe, Arizona, Mill Valley (now closed), Walnut Creek and Danville, California, Austin, Texas, and Boca Raton, Florida.

Influences

Around the age of 8, Santana "fell under the influence" of blues performers like B.B. King and John Lee Hooker. He also credits Jimi Hendrix, Mike Bloomfield and Peter Green as important influences; he considered Bloomfield a direct mentor, writing of a key meeting with Bloomfield in San Francisco in the foreword he wrote to a biography of Bloomfield, Michael Bloomfield: If You Love These Blues-An Oral History in 2000.

Equipment

Guitars and effects

Santana played a red Gibson SG Special with P-90 pickups at the Woodstock festival. From 1976 until 1982, his main guitar was a Yamaha SG 175B and sometimes a white Gibson SG Custom with 3 open coil pick-ups. In 1982 he started to use a custom made PRS guitar, which became his main instrument around 1988. Santana currently uses a Santana II model guitar using PRS Santana III pickups with nickel covers and a tremolo, with .009-.042 gauge D'Addario strings. Santana's guitar necks and fretboards are constructed out of a single solid piece of Brazilian Rosewood; this helps create the smooth, singing, glass-like tone that he is famous for.

Carlos Santana also uses a classical guitar, the Alvarez Yairi CY127CE with Alvarez tension nylon strings.

Santana does not use many effects pedals. His PRS guitar is connected to a Mu-Tron wah wah pedal (or, more recently, a Dunlop 535Q wah) and a T-Rex Replica delay pedal, then through a customized Jim Dunlop amp switcher which in turn is connected to the different amps or cabinets.

Previous setups include an Ibanez Tube Screamer right after the guitar.

In the song "Stand Up" from the album Marathon, Santana uses a Heil talk box in the guitar solo.

Amplifiers

The Santana lead guitar tone is produced by a humbucker equipped guitar (Gibson/Yamaha/PRS) into a small but effective preamp (consisting of Gain & Master Volume controls) for the Mesa Boogie [ref. as above]. He also literally put the Boogie in Mesa Boogie: 'Santana exclaimed to Smith, "Shit, man. That little thing really Boogies!" It was this statement that brought the Boogie name to fruition.'

Specifically, Santana combines a Mesa/Boogie Mark I head running through a Boogie cabinet with Altec 417-8H (or recently JBL E120s) speakers, and a Dumble Overdrive Reverb and/or a Dumble Overdrive Special running through a Brown or Marshall 4x12 cabinet with Celestion G12M "Greenback" speakers, depending on the desired sound. Shure KSM-32 microphones are used to pick up the sound, going to the PA. Additionally, a Fender Cyber-Twin Amp is mostly used at home.

Personal life

Carlos Santana became a naturalized American citizen in 1965.

Discography

Awards and nominations

References

Sources

Soul Sacrifice; The Carlos Santana Story Simon Leng 2000

Space Between The Stars Deborah Santana 2004

Rolling Stone "The Resurrection of Carlos Santana" Ben Fong Torres 1972

New Musical Express "Spirit of Santana" Chris Charlesworth November 1973

Guitar Player Magazine 1978

Rolling Stone "The Epic Life of Carlos Santana" 2000

Santana I – Sony Legacy Edition: liner notes

Abraxas – Sony Legacy Edition: liner notes

Santana III – Sony Legacy edition: liner notes

Viva Santana – CBS CD release 1988; liner notes

Power, Passion and Beauty – The Story of the Legendary Mahavishnu Orchestra Walter Kolosky 2006

Best of Carlos Santana – Wolf Marshall 1996; introduction and interview

Further reading

Chipley Slavicek, Louise. Carlos Santana, Chelsea House Publications or Facts on File, 2006, 119 p., ISBN 0-7910-8844-8

Leng, Simon. Soul Sacrifice: The Santana Story, Firefly-S.A.F. Publishing, 2000, 224 p., ISBN 0-946719-29-2. Republ. as Santana, Catedra, 2002, ISBN 84-376-1947-5

McCarthy, Jim; Ron Sansoe, Ron, foreword by Carlos Santana. Voices of Latin Rock: The People and Events That Created This Sound, Omnibus Press, 2004 and Hal Leonard Publishing, 2005, 316 p., ISBN 0-634-08061-X

Miller, Hal; Santana Debbie; Faulkner, John (ed.), w/ a foreword by Bill Graham. Santana: A Retrospective of the Santana Band's Twenty Years in Music, San Francisco Mission Cultural Center, 1987 or 1988, 50p., no ISBN. Includes a 4-p genealogical tree w/ the members's name for every Santana band from 1966.

Molenda, Michael (ed.). Guitar Player Presents Carlos Santana, Backbeat Books, 2010, 124 p., ISBN 978-0-87930-976-3

Remstein, Henna. Carlos Santana (Latinos in the Limelight), Chelsea House Publications, 2001, 64 p., ISBN 0-7910-6473-5

Shapiro, Marc. Carlos Santana: Back on Top, St-Martin's Press, 2000 and 2002, 288 p., ISBN 0-312-28852-2

Sumsion, Michael. Maximum Santana: The Unauthorized Biography of Santana, Chrome Dreams, 2003, ISBN 1-84240-107-6. A CD-audio biog

Weinstein, Norman. Carlos Santana: A Biography, Greenwood Press, 2009, 152 p., ISBN 978-0313354205

Woog, Adam. Carlos Santana: Legendary Guitarist, Lucent Books, 2006, 104 p., ISBN 1-59018-972-8

External links

Official website

Milagro Foundation

2006 Carlos Santana Interview

Concerts online at Wolfgang's Vault

Santana's Gear

Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:American Christians Category:American musicians of Mexican descent Category:American rock guitarists Category:Arista Records artists Category:Blues-rock musicians Category:Columbia Records artists

Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Latin Grammy Award winners Category:Lead guitarists Category:Mexican Christians Category:Mexican immigrants to the United States Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Category:People from Autlán, Jalisco Category:People from Tijuana Category:San Francisco Bay Area musicians Category:Santana (band) members Category:World music musicians Category:World Music Awards winners *

Name	Randy Hansen
Born	December 08, 1954Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.
Genre	Jimi Hendrix tribute,Psychedelic Rock,Blues, Rock, R&B;
Label	Grooveyard, Capitol
Notable instruments	Fender Stratocaster
Years active	1972 – present
Url	www.randyhansen.com

Randy Hansen (born December 8, 1954 in Seattle, Washington) is a U.S. guitarist, best known for his "Rock Tribute Act" honoring Jimi Hendrix. Hansen performs such signatures of Hendrix's style as playing a guitar with his teeth or behind his back. He composed 17 minutes of the soundtrack for the 1979 movie Apocalypse Now, whose session personnel also included British guitarist Martin Pugh and veteran American rock guitarist Geoff Thorpe). All three had previously been in a band called Kid Chrysler and the Cruisers. Hansen's Machine Gun performed on bills with Heart, The Kinks, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and others, and were written up by Rolling Stone and Guitar Player. There are now videos on a major website with Buddy Miles covering Hendrix tunes such as "All Along the Watchtower", with incredible playing by Hansen from 1997.

After his debut album, his emphasis continued to be on original releases of the Jimi Hendrix style of composition, in addition to including large numbers of Hendrix compositions in his live shows. One of the high points of Hansen's career was when he played a short series of concerts with a band that included the original Jimi Hendrix Experience drummer, Mitch Mitchell. In the 1990s and into the 2000s, Since 1991 to the present year of 2010 Hansen tours the European market two times a year in the Autumn and Spring in addition to performing in the summertime at outdoor concert festivals. He headlined a July 26, 2008 bill in Mannheim, Germany, with Love Street (Doors tribute) and Buried Alive Band (Janis Joplin tribute) as openers . He continues also to play locally in the Pacific Northwest and around the U.S.

Hansen has three self-released CDs of original music in print, all available online - Old Dogs New Tricks, Good Intentions and Tower of Love . He continues to live in Seattle. There are some excellent on-line videos of Hansen and Uli Roth doing some Hendrix tunes showing great talent by both artists. As of 2008, Hansen is on the roster of Gen-X Entertainment Intl. Inc., who also represent bands ranging from the Amazing Rhythm Aces to the current incarnation of Jefferson Starship.

On August 19, 2009, Randy Hansen headlined the Irvine Lakes Woodstock tribute concert. Where he played songs of Jimi Hendrix, including "Voodoo Child", "Castles Made of Sand, "Hey Joe", "Purple Haze", "The Wind Cries Mary", and "All Along the Watchtower".

Discography

Randy Hansen , Now hear this c. 1971

Randy Hansen (Capitol Records, 1980)

Monster (Herbie Hancock album) (Columbia Records, 1980)

Astral Projektion (Shrapnel Records, 1983)

Classics Live- "A tribute to Jimi Hendrix" (Ananaz Records, 1992)

Metal Classics no.2 Want to Take You Higher 1990

Hendrix by Hansen (Grooveyard / Affengeil Records, 1993)

Old Dogs New Tricks (Grooveyard / Green Tree Records, 1997)

Tower Of Love (Grooveyard / Manni v. Bohr, 2000)

Good Intentions (Grooveyard / Manni v. Bohr, 2003)

Alter Ego (Randy Hansen, 2004)

Live in Berlin DVD (Grooveyard, 2005)

Notes

External links

Randy Hansen, official site

Randy Hansen at IACMusic.com

Category:Living people Category:1954 births Category:People from Seattle, Washington Category:American rock guitarists

Name	Joe Tex
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Joseph Arrington, Jr.
Alias	Yusuf Hazziez
Born	August 08, 1933Baytown, Texas, U.S.
Died	August 13, 1982Navasota, Texas, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals
Genre	Southern soul, R&B;, funk, rap
Occupation	Singer-songwriter
Label	Ace Records, Atlantic Records, Epic Records

Joseph Arrington, Jr. (August 8, 1933 – August 13, 1982), better known as "Joe Tex", was an American Southern soul singer-songwriter, most popular during the 1960s and 1970s. His style of speaking over music, which he called 'rap', made him a predecessor of the modern style of music.

Career

Born in Baytown, Texas, Tex was subsequently raised in the Central Texas town of Rogers. His professional career as a singer began onstage at the Apollo. He won first place in a 1954 talent contest and duly secured a record deal. Although his early releases on King Records, Ace and Anna Records were considered by some to be derivative and generally disappointing in sales, Tex meanwhile honed his songwriting talent. James Brown's cover version of "Baby You're Right" (1962) became a U.S. number 2 hit, after which Tex was signed to Dial Records.

Although early releases showed promise, it was not until 1965 that Tex prospered, guided by Nashville, Tennessee-based record producer, Buddy Killen. Recorded at the FAME studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and distributed by Atlantic on Killen's Dial record label, "Hold What You've Got" was a U.S. #5 pop hit. "Hold What You've Got" spent 11 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold a million copies by 1966. His last major hit of that time was "I Gotcha". "I Gotcha" also penned by Tex and released in January 1972, went to #2 for two weeks, and stayed for 20 weeks in the listings. The RIAA gold disc award was made on March 22, 1972. It went on to sell over two million copies by August that year. Follow its release, Tex decided to retire.

He returned to music in 1975, and two years later enjoyed a comeback hit with "Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)", which reached U.S. #12. By the 1980s he had withdrawn again from full-time performing. He devoted himself to Islam, his Texas ranch and the Houston Oilers American Football team.

Rivalry with James Brown

A feud between Tex and fellow labelmate James Brown began after Brown, who Tex felt copied his stage moves, began dating Tex's wife, Bea Ford. In response, Tex wrote a song called "You Keep Her." They played a few more shows together until Tex mocked James Brown's act of throwing a cape over his shoulder and screamed "please - get me out of this cape". Brown later fired a gun at Tex in a nightclub.

Personal life and death

A convert to the Muslim faith since 1966, he changed his name to Yusuf Hazziez, and toured as a spiritual lecturer. He has one daughter, Eartha Doucet, and four sons, Joseph Arrington III, Ramadan Hazziez, Jwaade Hazziez and Joseph Hazziez.

On August 13, 1982, Joe Tex died at his home in Navasota, Texas, following a heart attack, just five days after his 49th birthday.

Covers by other artists

Several other artists have covered Tex's work, including the rock band Nazareth's I Want To (Do Everything for You) and Phish who performed "You Better Believe It Baby" on July 26, 1998 at the Starplex Amphitheater in Dallas, Texas and again on August 2, 1998 at Deer Creek Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana. The rock band The Trews covered "The Love You Save (May Be Your Own)" in 2009 on their acoustic album, Acoustic - Friends & Total Strangers.

Selected discography

Albums

1965 Hold On To What You've Got (Dial Records, distributed by Atlantic Records) - US Pop #124, US R&B; #2

1965 The New Boss (Dial/Atlantic) - US #142, US R&B; #3

1966 Show Me (Dial/Atlantic)

1966 The Love You Save (Dial/Atlantic) - US #108

1966 I've Got to Do a Little Better (Dial/Atlantic)

1967 The Best of Joe Tex (Dial/Atlantic)

1968 Live And Lively (Dial/Atlantic) - US #84

1968 Soul Country (Dial/Atlantic) - US #154

1969 Buying a Book (Dial/Atlantic) - US #190

1969 Happy Soul (Dial/Atlantic)

1969 You Better Get It (Dial/Atlantic)

1970 With Strings And Things (Dial/Atlantic)

1972 I Gotcha (Dial) - US # 17

1972 Spill the Beans (Dial)

1976 Have You ever (Mercury Netherlands) - NL #6338693

1977 Bumps & Bruises (Epic) - US #108

1978 Rub Down (Epic)

Singles

1965 "I Want To (Do Everything For You)" R&B; #1

1965 "Hold What You've Got" U.S. #5

1966 "A Sweet Woman Like You" R&B; #1

1966 "The Love You Save (May Be Your Own)"

1966 "S.Y.S.L.J.F.M.(The Letter Song)"

1966 "I Believe I'm Gonna Make It"

1966 "I've Got To Do a Little Bit Better"

1966 "Papa Was, Too"

1967 "Show Me"

1967 "Skinny Legs and All"

1968 "Chicken Crazy / Buying A Book"

1968 "I'll Never Do You Wrong / Wooden Spoon"

1968 "Keep The One You Got / Go Home And Do It"

1968 "Men Are Gettin' Scarce / You're Gonna Thank Me, Woman"

1972 "I Gotcha" R&B; #1, U.S. #2

1972 "Cat's Got Her Tongue / Woman Stealer"

1976 "Have You Ever" NL #33

1976 "Love Shortage"

1977 "Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)" U.S. #12, UK #2

1979 "Loose Caboose"

Soundtracks

"I Gotcha" is used in both the film and soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992). Tarantino also uses "The Love You Save (May Be Your Own)" in Death Proof (2007).

Notes

References

The New Musical Express Book of Rock, 1975, Star Books, ISBN 0 352 300744

External links

Joe Tex - I Gotcha at superseventies.com

Joe Tex - The New Boss: Dial Sessions And Dates

Category:Ace Records artists Category:African American Muslims Category:African American musicians Category:African American singer-songwriters Category:African American singers Category:American male singers Category:American rhythm and blues musicians Category:American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Category:American funk musicians Category:American funk singers Category:American soul singers Category:American soul musicians Category:American dancers Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Epic Records artists Category:Musicians from Texas Category:1933 births Category:1982 deaths Category:people from Baytown, Texas Category:Converts to Islam from Christianity Category:African American converts to Islam

Name	Jack Bruce
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	John Symon Asher Bruce
Landscape	Yes
Birth date	May 14, 1943
Birth place	Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, United Kingdom
Occupation	Musician, songwriter
Years active	1962–present
Instrument	Vocals, bass, double bass, cello, piano, harmonica, guitar, keyboards
Genre	Blues-rock, psychedelic rock, jazz fusion, hard rock, acid rock
Label	EMI, RSO
Associated acts	Cream, Blues Incorporated, The Graham Bond Organization, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Manfred Mann, West, Bruce and Laing, Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, Bruce, Lordan and Trower, Kip Hanrahan, BBM
Url
Notable instruments	Fender Bass VI, Gibson EB-3, Gibson EB-1, Warwick Thumb Signature, Warwick Jack Bruce CRB

John Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce (born 14 May 1943, Bishopbriggs, Scotland) is a Scottish musician and songwriter, respected as a founding member of the British psychedelic rock power trio, Cream, for a solo career that spans several decades, and for his participation in several well-known musical ensembles. Best recognized as a memorable vocalist and electric fretless bassist, Bruce has been referred to as a "World-class pioneer in his main instrument; a composer of some of the most endurable and recognisable rock songs of our time; an accomplished classical, jazz and Latin musician and one of popular music's most distinctive and evocative voices." He is also trained as a classical cellist. The Sunday Times stated "... many consider him to be one of the greatest bass players of all time."

He lives in Suffolk, England.

Biography

Bruce was born to musical parents who moved frequently, resulting in the young Bruce attending 14 different schools, ending up at Bellahouston Academy. Bruce began playing the jazz bass in his teens, and won a scholarship studying cello and musical composition at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, while playing in Jim McHarg's Scotsville Jazzband to support himself. The Academy disapproved of its students playing jazz, however. "They found out," Bruce told Musician correspondent Jim Macnie, "and said 'you either stop, or leave college.' So I left college."

1960s before Cream

After leaving, he toured Italy, playing double bass with the Murray Campbell Big Band. In 1962, Jack Bruce became a member of the London-based band Blues Incorporated, led by Alexis Korner, in which he played the double bass. The band also included organist Graham Bond, saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith and drummer Ginger Baker. In 1963, the group broke up and Bruce went on to form the Graham Bond Quartet with Bond, Baker, and guitarist John McLaughlin.

After he left, Bruce recorded a solo single, "I'm Gettin Tired", for Polydor Records. The complete Manfred Mann recordings with Jack Bruce are available on the 4-CD EMI box set Down the Road Apiece.

Whilst with Manfred Mann, Bruce again collaborated with Eric Clapton as a member of Powerhouse, which also featured Manfred Mann's vocalist Paul Jones. The 3 tracks were featured on the Elektra sampler album What's Shakin'. Two of the songs, "Crossroads" and "Steppin' Out", were to become staples in the live set of his next band.

Cream

In July 1966 Bruce moved on to his role as bass player, main songwriter and lead vocalist with Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton in the power trio Cream.

While with Cream, Bruce played a Gibson EB-3 electric bass and became one of the most famous bassists in rock, winning musicians' polls and influencing the next generation of bassists such as Sting, Geddy Lee and Jeff Berlin. Jack co-wrote most of Cream's single releases with lyricist Pete Brown, including the hits, "Sunshine of Your Love", "White Room", and "I Feel Free".

By 1968, Cream were hugely successful; they grossed more than the next top six live acts of the day added together (including Jimi Hendrix and The Doors). They topped album charts all over the world, and received the first platinum discs for record sales, but the old enmity of Bruce and Baker resurfaced in 1968, and after a final tour, Cream broke up.

The solo years 1970s

Collaborative efforts with musicians, in many genres - heavy rock, jazz, blues, fusion, avant-garde, world music, and R&B; - has been a continuing theme of Bruce's career. Alongside these he has produced a long line of solo albums. In contrast to his collaborative works the solo albums usually maintain a common theme: melodic songs with a complex musical structure and lyrics by Pete Brown, based around a core band. This structure is loosened on his live solo albums and DVDs, where extended improvisations similar to those employed by Cream in live performance are sometimes still used.

In August 1968, before Cream split, Bruce recorded an acoustic free jazz album with John McLaughlin, Dick Heckstall-Smith and Jon Hiseman. but it ended with Taylor's departure, and no studio album was completed.

In 1977, Bruce formed a new band with drummer Simon Phillips and keyboardist Tony Hymas. The group recorded an album, called How's Tricks. A world tour followed, but the album was a commercial failure. He has since recovered, and in 2004 reappeared to perform "Sunshine of Your Love" at a Rock Legends concert in Germany organised by the singer Mandoki.

In May, 2005, he reunited with former Cream bandmates Clapton and Baker for a series of well-received concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall, released as the album Royal Albert Hall London May 2–3–5–6 2005, and New York's Madison Square Garden.

In between the UK and US Cream dates he also played live with Gary Moore and drummer Gary Husband at the Dick Heckstall-Smith tribute concert in London.

Subsequent concert appearances were sparse due to recovery after the transplant, but in 2006 Bruce returned to the live arena with a show of Cream and solo classics performed with the German HR (Hessischer Rundfunk) Big Band. This was released on CD in Germany in 2007 to critical acclaim. In 2007, he made a brief concert appearance, opening a new rehearsal hall named in his honour at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow with Clem Clempson, keyboard player Ronnie Leahy and Husband.

In 2008, Bruce collaborated again with guitarist Robin Trower on the album Seven Moons. It also featured Husband.

In May 2008 Bruce was 65 years old and to commemorate this milestone two box sets of recordings were released. Spirit is a three-CD collection of Bruce's BBC recordings from the 1970s. Can You Follow? is a six-CD retrospective anthology released by the Esoteric label in the UK. This anthology is a wide ranging collection covering his music from 1963 to 2003 and, aside from his work with Kip Hanrahan, is a comprehensive overview of his career.

Improved health led to Bruce playing a series of live outdoor concerts across the US starting in July 2008 as part of the Hippiefest Tour. He was supported by members of the late Who bassist's The John Entwistle Band, and headlined at a tribute concert to the bassist.

In November 2008 he recorded a concert in Birmingham, England for Radio Broadcast with the BBC Big Band, where he again played the Big Band arrangements of his classic songs. In December he was reunited with Ginger Baker at the drummer's Lifetime Achievement Award concert in London. They played jazz classics with saxophonist Courtney Pine and for the first time in 40 years played the Graham Bond–Cream classic "Traintime".

The same month, Bruce, with guitarist Vernon Reid, drummer Cindy Blackman and organist John Medeski played a series of Blue Note Club tribute concerts to The Tony Williams Lifetime in Japan. These shows were broadcast High Definition on television in Japan.

In spring 2009 a series of concerts was performed with Trower and Husband in Europe. Proposed dates in the US in April were cancelled due to a further bout of ill health. Bruce recovered and the band played summer concerts in Italy, Norway and the UK during 2009. This promoted the release of the Seven Moons live CD and DVD, recorded in February during the European leg of the tour in Nijmegen, Netherlands.

During the Scottish dates of the 2009 tour Bruce was presented with an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Glasgow Caledonian University for services to the culture of Glasgow and music in general.

In August 2009, the 1983 Jack Bruce solo album Automatic was released on CD. With this release, all his solo albums from his 1969 debut Songs for a Tailor onwards have become available on CD as well. In addition, all the discs up to and including How's Tricks contain added, previously unreleased material.

The solo years 2010s

In October 2009, Bruce performed at the 50th anniversary of Ronnie Scott's Club with The Ronnie Scott's Blues Band. After garnering good reviews, three further dates at the club were added in March 2010.

Composing Himself: Jack Bruce The Authorised Biography by Harry Shapiro was released by Jawbone Press in February 2010. Shapiro has previously written biographies of Bruce collaborators Alexis Korner, Graham Bond and Eric Clapton. The book followed biographies from his Cream bandmates Clapton (Clapton 2007) and Baker (Hellraiser 2009.) His Songwriting partner, Pete Brown's, biography "White Rooms & Imaginary Westerns" was published in September 2010. They each have differing recollections of forming Cream; playing and writing together are not totally consistent, or complimentary, but considering their admitted drug use during the period in the biographies, that is hardly surprising.

In the Summer of 2010, Bruce again joined the Hippiefest tour of America with ex-members of the John Entwhistle Band. Whilst on tour, his children organised the internet release of previously unissued Bruce performances "The Lost Tapes" via CD and download from his own website.

The first release from his own website, Live at the Milkyway, Amsterdam 2001, features his Latin-based band of the time and was issued in October 2010. The album is to receive an official UK release by EMI in February 2011, and to support this release Bruce is again playing 4 dates at The London Ronnie Scott's Club with the Ronnie Scott's Blues Experience, followed by a further ten dates across the UK with the band. This is Bruce's 3rd successive year playing a series of gigs at Ronnie Scotts, and is reminiscent of Eric Clapton's annual series of Albert Hall blues concerts.

Prior to the UK dates the Lifetime Tribute Band featuring Jack Bruce which toured Japan in 2008, guitarist Vernon Reid, drummer Cindy Blackman and organist John Medeski, is reforming to play a further ten shows in high profile jazz clubs in North America. Unusually the dates have early & evening shows, something most Rock musicians stopped doing at the beginning of the 1970's.

Discography

The discographies of the individual bands and collaborations can be found in within their own profiles. Jack Bruce's solo albums are listed below

Solo album discography

{|class="wikitable" !Date !Album |- |September 1969 |Songs for a Tailor |- |December 1970 |Things We Like (recorded Aug 1968) |- |September 1971 |Harmony Row |- |November 1974 |Out of the Storm |- |(1975) |Live at Manchester Free Trade Hall '75 (2-CD released 2003) |- |March 1977 |How's Tricks |- |(1978) |Spirit- Live at the BBC 1971-1978 (3-CD released 2008) |- |(1978) |Jet Set Jewel (released 2003) |- |December 1980 |I've Always Wanted To Do This |- |January 1983 |Automatic |- |(1987) |Somethin Els (released March 1993) |- |January 1990 |A Question of Time |- |March 1994 |Cities of the Heart (live double album) |- |September 1995 |Monkjack |- |July 2001 |Shadows in the Air |- |September 2003 |More Jack Than God |- |December 2007 |Live with the HR Big Band |- |May 2008 |The Anthology - Can You Follow? (6-CD) |- |October 2010 |Live at the Milky Way |}

References

Bibliography

Brigitte Tast, Hans-Jürgen Tast „be bop - Die Wilhelmshöhe rockt. Disco und Konzerte in der Hölle" Verlag Gebrüder Gerstenberg GmbH & Co. KG, Hildesheim, ISBN 978-3-8067-8589-0.

External links

Official website

Original Smiles & Grins Jack Bruce Club

Jack Bruce at the Internet Movie Database

Category:1943 births Category:1960s singers Category:1970s singers Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Living people Category:Jazz bass guitarists Category:British blues musicians Category:British blues singers Category:Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama alumni Category:Scottish male singers Category:Scottish double-bassists Category:Scottish bass guitarists Category:Scottish heavy metal bass guitarists Category:Scottish multi-instrumentalists Category:Scottish diarists Category:People from Bishopbriggs Category:Manfred Mann members Category:John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers members Category:Cream (band) members Category:The Golden Palominos members

Name	Frank Gambale
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Born	December 22, 1958
Origin	Canberra, Australia
Genre	Jazz fusion, smooth jazz, jazz, instrumental rock
Years active	1984–present
Associated acts	Chick Corea Elektric Band, Vital Information, GHS
Url	frankgambale.com
Notable instruments	Ibanez FGM

Frank Gambale (born 22 December 1958) is an Australian jazz fusion guitarist. He has released eleven studio albums over a period of more than two decades, and is renowned for his use of the sweep picking and economy picking techniques.

Recording career

Gambale graduated from GIT in Hollywood, with Student of the Year honors. He also taught there from 1984 to 1986. After graduation, he played the jazz club circuit with his own band and in 1985 released his first studio album, Brave New Guitar, through Legato Records (which was owned by Mark Varney, brother of Shrapnel Records founder Mike Varney) in what was to be a three-album contract. In that same year, he toured with Jean-Luc Ponty and shortly afterwards began a six-year stint with the Chick Corea Elektric Band in 1987. During his time with the latter, he participated in five albums and shared a Grammy Award (with two nominations).

Throughout the 1980s, he would release two studio albums and a live album, along with Monster Licks & Speed Picking in 1988; the latter being his first of many instructional videos. An endorsement deal with Ibanez guitars resulted in the 1987 debut of the Frank Gambale Model (FGM) signature series, which was modeled after the Ibanez Saber. Yamaha also manufactured a signature guitar after he left Ibanez later in the 1990s. He then signed with Victor Entertainment in 1989 as part of a five-album agreement, and released Thunder from Down Under the following year.

The 1990s began for Gambale with a pair of albums—Truth in Shredding (1990) and Centrifugal Funk (1991)—as part of The Mark Varney Project. These were collaborations with fellow guitarists Allan Holdsworth, Brett Garsed and Shawn Lane, in a jazz fusion supergroup concept put together by Mark Varney. Around this time, he served as head of the guitar department of the Los Angeles Music Academy. In the 2000s, having parted ways with Victor, Gambale started his own record label named Wombat Records, having purchased his entire Legato discography with the intention of reissuing it himself. A live double album, Resident Alien – Live Bootlegs, was released in 2001, along with Imagery Suite; a duet featuring classical guitarist Maurizio Colonna. He also released a studio album, Coming to Your Senses, on guitarist Steve Vai's Favored Nations label in 2000.

Gambale has also been a member of the jazz fusion band Vital Information since 1988, with the group consisting of keyboardist Tom Coster, drummer Steve Smith and bassist Baron Browne. Furthermore, in a group known as GHS, he has released three collaborative albums with Steve Smith and bassist Stu Hamm through Mike Varney's jazz-orientated label, Tone Center Records. In addition to concert recordings, he released an instructional DVD called Concert with Class in 2003. A reunion with Chick Corea came about in 2004, and Gambale subsequently toured with the Chick Corea Elektric Band. In 2006 and 2010, he released two all-jazz studio albums in the form of Natural High and Natural Selection, respectively.

Discography

Studio albums

1985: Brave New Guitar

1987: A Present for the Future

1990: Thunder from Down Under

1991: Note Worker

1993: The Great Explorers

1994: Passages

1995: Thinking Out Loud

2000: Coming to Your Senses

2004: Raison D'être

2006: Natural High

2010: Natural Selection

Live albums

1989: Live!

2001: Resident Alien – Live Bootlegs

2002: Absolutely Live - In Poland

2007: Made in Australia (with Virgil Donati and Ric Fierabracci)

Compilation albums

2006: Best of Jazz & Rock Fusion

2006: Best of the Smooth Jazz Side

2006: Best of the Acoustic Side

Collaborations with the Mark Varney Project

1990: Truth in Shredding (with Allan Holdsworth)

1991: Centrifugal Funk (with Brett Garsed and Shawn Lane)

Collaborations with Stuart Hamm and Steve Smith

1998: Show Me What You Can Do

2000: The Light Beyond

2002: GHS 3

Collaborations with Maurizio Colonna

2000: Imagery Suite (Also known as Playgame)

2005: Live (with Maurizio Colonna)

2007: Bon Voyage

With Chick Corea's Elektric band

1987: Light Years

1988: Eye Of The Beholder

1990: Inside Out

1991: Beneath The Mask

2004: To The Stars

2004: Chick Corea Elektric Band Live at Montreux DVD

With GRP

1990: GRP Super Live in Concert

With Vital Information

1988: Fiafiaga

1991: Vital Live

1992: Easier Done Than Said

1996: Ray Of Hope

1998: Where We Come From

2000: Live Around the World

2000: Live From Mars

2002: Show 'em Where You Live

2004: Come On In

Concert & Instructional DVD Releases

1988: Monster Licks & Speed Picking

1991: Modes: No More Mystery

2000: Chopbuilder: The Ultimate Guitar Workout

2003: Concert with Class

2007: Acoustic Improvisation

Instructional CD/Books

Frank Gambale Technique Book Part I (BOOK/CD)

Frank Gambale Technique Book Part II (BOOK/CD)

Improvisation Made Easier (BOOK/2 CDs)

The Best of Frank Gambale (BOOK)

References

External links

Official website

Official MySpace profile

Vital Information official website

Category:1958 births Category:Australian jazz guitarists Category:Australian people of Italian descent Category:Jazz fusion guitarists Category:Jazz-rock guitarists Category:Living people Category:Lead guitarists

Name	Buddy Guy
Landscape	no
Alias	Friendly Chap
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	George Guy
Born	July 30, 1936Lettsworth, LouisianaUnited States
Instrument	Guitar, vocals
Genre	Chicago blues, electric blues
Occupation	Musician, songwriter
Years active	1953–present
Label	Cobra, Chess, Delmark, Silvertone, MCA, Atlantic, MPS, Charly, Zomba Music Group, Jive, Vanguard, JSP Records, Rhino Records, Purple Pyramid, Flyright, AIM Recording Co., Alligator Records, Blues Ball Records
Associated acts	Junior Wells
Url	Official Website
Notable instruments	Fender Buddy Guy Signature Stratocaster

George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is a critically acclaimed artist who has established himself as a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound, and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of his generation. Guy is known, too, for his showmanship on stage, playing his guitar with drumsticks, or strolling into the audience while playing solos. He was ranked thirtieth in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

Biography

Born and raised in Lettsworth, Louisiana, Guy began learning guitar on a two string diddley bow he made. Later he was given a Harmony acoustic guitar, that, decades later in Guy's lengthy career was donated to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In the early '50s he began performing with bands in Baton Rouge. Soon after moving to Chicago in 1957, Guy fell under the influence of Muddy Waters. In 1958, a competition with West Side guitarists Magic Sam and Otis Rush gave Guy a record contract. Soon afterwards he recorded for Cobra Records. He recorded sessions with Junior Wells for Delmark Records under the pseudonym Friendly Chap in 1965 and 1966.

Guy’s early career was supposedly held back by both conservative business choices made by his record company (Chess Records) and "the scorn, diminishments and petty subterfuge from a few jealous rivals". Chess, Guy’s record label from 1959 to 1968, refused to record Buddy Guy’s novel style that was similar to his live shows. Leonard Chess (Chess founder and 1987 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee) denounced Guy’s playing as "noise". In the early 1960s, Chess tried recording Guy as a solo artist with R&B; ballads, jazz instrumentals, soul and novelty dance tunes, but none were released as singles. Guy’s only Chess album, "Left My Blues in San Francisco", was finally issued in 1967. Most of the songs belong stylistically to the era's soul boom, with orchestrations by Gene Barge and Charlie Stepney. Chess used Guy mainly as a session guitarist to back Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Koko Taylor and others.

Buddy Guy appeared onstage at the April 1969 Supershow at Staines, England that also included Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Jack Bruce, Stephen Stills, Buddy Miles, Glen Campbell, Roland Kirk, and Jon HisemanThe Misunderstood Roland Kirk. Image: 1969 Supershow.

By the late 1960s, Guy's career was in decline. The heavy blues-rock scene he had helped inspire was flourishing without him. For the next two decades, Buddy Guy had to endure the neglect many blues and rock artists faced in their careers.There are now online videos of Buddy playing with Hendrix in the late 60s. As visionaries and pathfinders they are overlooked while their followers received the fame, recognition and fortune.

Guy's career finally took off during the blues revival period of the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was sparked by Clapton's request that Guy be part of the '24 Nights' all-star blues guitar lineup at London's Royal Albert Hall and Guy's subsequent signing with Silvertone Records.

Music

While Buddy Guy's music is often labeled Chicago blues, his style is unique and separate. His music can vary from the most traditional, deepest blues to a creative, unpredictable and radical gumbo of the blues, avant rock, soul and free jazz that morphs at each night’s performance.

As New York Times pop music critic Jon Pareles noted in 2004:

Mr. Guy, 68, mingles anarchy, virtuosity, deep blues and hammy shtick in ways that keep all eyes on him... [Guy] loves extremes: sudden drops from loud to soft, or a sweet, sustained guitar solo followed by a jolt of speed, or a high, imploring vocal cut off with a rasp...Whether he's singing with gentle menace or bending new curves into a blue note, he is a master of tension and release, and his every wayward impulse was riveting.

In a revealing interview taped on April 14, 2000 for WRUW-FM Cleveland (a college station), Guy said "The purpose of me trying to play the kind of rocky stuff is to get airplay...I find myself kind of searching, hoping I'll hit the right notes, say the right things, maybe they'll put me on one of these big stations, what they call 'classic'...if you get Eric Clapton to play a Muddy Waters song, they call it classic, and they will put it on that station, but you'll never hear Muddy Waters."

in 2006.]]

Influence

For almost 50 years, Guy performed flamboyant live concerts of energetic blues and blues rock, predating the 1960s blues rockers. As a musician’s musician, he had a fundamental impact on the blues and on rock and roll, influencing a new generation of artists.

Buddy Guy has been called the bridge between the blues and rock and roll. He is one of the historic links between Chicago electric blues pioneers Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf and popular musicians like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page as well as later revivalists like Stevie Ray Vaughan. Vaughan stated that, "Without Buddy Guy, there would be no Stevie Ray Vaughan." Guitarist magazine observed: :Without Buddy Guy, the blues, not to mention rock as we know it, might be a heckuva lot less interesting today. Take the blues out of contemporary rock music—or pop, jazz and funk for that matter—and what you have left is a wholly spineless affair. A tasteless stew. Makes you shudder to think about it...

In addition, Guy's pathfinding guitar techniques also contributed greatly to rock and roll music. Guy’s guitar playing was loud and aggressive; used pioneering distortion and feedback techniques; employed longer solos; had shifts of volume and texture; and was driven by emotion and impulse. These lessons were eagerly learned and applied by the new wave of 1960s British artists and later became basic attributes of blues-rock music and its offspring, hard rock and heavy metal music. Jeff Beck realized in the early 1960s: “I didn't know a Strat could sound like that — until I heard Buddy's tracks on the Blues From Big Bill's Copa Cabana album” (reissue of 1963 Folk Festival Of The Blues album) and “It was the total manic abandon in Buddy's solos. They broke all boundaries. I just thought, this is more like it! Also, his solos weren't restricted to a three-minute pop format; they were long and really developed.

Clapton has stated that he got the idea for a blues-rock power trio while watching Buddy Guy's trio perform in England in 1965. Clapton later formed the rock band Cream, which was “the first rock supergroup to become superstars” and was also “the first top group to truly exploit the power-trio format, in the process laying the foundation for much blues-rock and hard rock of the 1960s and 1970s.

Eric Clapton said "Buddy Guy was to me what Elvis was for others." Clapton said in a 1985 Musician magazine article that "Buddy Guy is by far and without a doubt the best guitar player alive...if you see him in person, the way he plays is beyond anyone. Total freedom of spirit, I guess… He really changed the course of rock and roll blues."

Recalls Guy: "Eric Clapton and I are the best of friends and I like the tune "Strange Brew" and we were sitting and having a drink one day and I said ‘Man, that "Strange Brew"...you just cracked me up with that note.’ And he said ‘You should...cause it's your licks...’ " As soon as Clapton completed his famous Derek & the Dominos sessions (spawning "Layla") in October 1970, he co-produced (with Ahmet Ertegün and Tom Dowd) the Buddy Guy & Junior Wells Play The Blues album with Guy's longtime harp and vocal compatriot, Junior Wells. The record, released in 1972, is regarded by some critics as among the finest electric blues recordings of the modern era.

In recognition of Guy's influence on Hendrix's career, the Hendrix family invited Buddy Guy to headline all-star casts at several Jimi Hendrix tribute concerts they organized in recent years, "calling on a legend to celebrate a legend." Jimi Hendrix himself once said that “Heaven is lying at Buddy Guy’s feet while listening to him play guitar.”

Songs such as "Red House", "Voodoo Chile" and "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" partly came from the sonic world that Buddy Guy helped to create. According to the Fender Players’ Club: “Almost ten years before Jimi Hendrix would electrify the rock world with his high-voltage voodoo blues, Buddy Guy was shocking juke joint patrons in Baton Rouge with his own brand of high-octane blues. Ironically, when Buddy’s playing technique and flamboyant showmanship were later revealed to crossover audiences in the late Sixties, it was erroneously assumed that he was imitating Hendrix."

Stevie Ray Vaughan once declared that Buddy Guy "plays from a place that I've never heard anyone play." Vaughan continued: :Buddy can go from one end of the spectrum to another. He can play quieter than anybody I've ever heard, or wilder and louder than anybody I've ever heard. I play pretty loud a lot of times, but Buddy's tones are incredible…he pulls such emotion out of so little volume. Buddy just has this cool feel to everything he does. And when he sings, it's just compounded. Girls fall over and sweat and die! Every once in a while I get the chance to play with Buddy, and he gets me every time, because we could try to go to Mars on guitars but then he'll start singing, sing a couple of lines, and then stick the mike in front of me! What are you gonna do? What is a person gonna do?!

Jeff Beck affirmed: :Geez, you can’t forget Buddy Guy. He transcended blues and started becoming theater. It was high art, kind of like drama theater when he played, you know. He was playing behind his head long before Hendrix. I once saw him throw the guitar up in the air and catch it in the same chord. Beck recalled the night he and Stevie Ray Vaughan jammed with Guy at Buddy Guy’s Legends club in Chicago: “That was just the most incredible stuff I ever heard in my life. The three of us all jammed and it was so thrilling. That is as close you can come to the heart of the blues.” According to Jimmy Page: “Buddy Guy is an absolute monster” and “There were a number of albums that everybody got tuned into in the early days. There was one in particular called, I think, American Folk Festival Of The Blues, which featured Buddy Guy—he just astounded everybody.” Former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman: “Guitar Legends do not come any better than Buddy Guy. He is feted by his peers and loved by his fans for his ability to make the guitar both talk and cry the blues… Such is Buddy’s mastery of the guitar that there is virtually no guitarist that he cannot imitate.” Guy has opened for the Rolling Stones on numerous tours since the early 1970s. Slash: "Buddy Guy is the perfect combination of R&B; and hardcore rock and roll." ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons: "He (Buddy Guy) ain't no trickster. He may appear surprised by his own instant ability but, clearly, he knows what's up." Lonnie Brooks: “Buddy Guy is a master. He’s the bravest guitar player I’ve ever seen on a bandstand. He’ll pull you into his trap and kill you. He owns that bandstand and everyone knows it when Buddy’s up there."

Guy was a judge for the 6th and 8th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists.

Guy appeared and performed in an episode of the popular children's show, Jack's Big Music Show, as the "King of Swing".

Awards

Guy previously served on the Hall of Fame’s nominating committee. Guy has won five Grammy Awards both for his work on his electric and acoustic guitars, and for contemporary and traditional forms of blues music. In 2003, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. This medal is awarded by the President to those who have made extraordinary contributions to the creation, growth and support in the arts in the United States. By 2004, Guy had also earned 23 W.C. Handy Awards (more than any other artist has received), Billboard magazine's The Century Award (Guy was its second recipient) for distinguished artistic achievement, and the title of Greatest Living Electric Blues Guitarist.

In 2008, Buddy Guy was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame while performing at Texas Club in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Guy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 14, 2005 by Eric Clapton and B.B. King. Clapton recalled seeing Guy perform in London’s Marquee Club in 1965, impressing him with his technique, his looks, and his charismatic showmanship. He remembered seeing Guy pick the guitar with his teeth and play it over his head—two tricks that later influenced Jimi Hendrix. Guy’s acceptance speech was concise: "If you don’t think you have the blues, just keep living."

Discography

{|class="wikitable" !Album !! Year !! Label !! Notes |- |Hoodoo Man Blues || 1965 || Delmark || w/ Junior Wells band |- | Chicago/The Blues/Today! vol. 1 || 1966 || Vanguard || w/ Junior Wells band |- | It’s my Life, Baby! || 1966 || Vanguard || w/ Junior Wells band |- | I Left My Blues in San Francisco || 1967 || Chess || |- | Berlin festival - Guitar Workshop || 1967 || MPS|| Long Play released in Argentina by Microphone Argentina S.A. (1974) |- | A Man and the Blues || 1968 || Vanguard || |- | Coming At You || 1968 || Vanguard || |- | Blues Today || 1968 || Vanguard || |- | This Is Buddy Guy (live) || 1968 || Vanguard || |- | Hot And Cool || 1969 || Vanguard || |- | First Time I Met the Blues-Python || 1969 || || |- | Buddy and the Juniors || 1970 || MCA || w/ Junior Mance & Junior Wells |- | Buddy & Junior Mance & Junior Wells || 1971 || Harvest (UK)|| UK release of Buddy and the Juniors |- | South Side Blues Jam || 1970 || Delmark || w/ Junior Wells and Otis Spann |- | In The Beginning || 1971 || Red Lightnin’ || |- | Play The Blues || 1972 || Rhino || w/ Junior Wells |- | Hold That Plane! || 1972 || Vanguard || |- | I Was Walking Through the Woods || 1974 || Chess || rec. 1960–64 |- | Got to Use Your Head || 1979 || Blues Ball || |- | The Dollar Done Fell || 1980 || JSP || |- | Stone Crazy! || 1981 || Alligator || |- | Alone & Acoustic || 1981 || Alligator || w/ Junior Wells, released only in France |- | Drinkin' TNT 'n' Smokin' Dynamite (live) || 1982 || Blind Pig || rec. 1974 Montreux Jazz Festival |- | DJ Play My Blues || 1982 || JSP || |- | Buddy Guy || 1983 || Chess || |- | The Original Blues Brothers (live) || 1983 || Blue Moon || |- | Ten Blue Fingers || 1985 || JSP Records || |- | Atlantic Blues: Chicago || 1986 || Atlantic || |- | Chess Masters || 1987 || Charly || |- | Live at the Checkerboard Lounge, Chicago-1979 || 1988 || JSP Records || |- | Breaking Out || 1988 || JSP Records || |- | I Ain’t Got No Money || 1989 || Flyright || |- | Alone & Acoustic || 1991 || Alligator || reissue, rec. 1981 w/ Junior Wells |- | Damn Right, I've Got the Blues || 1991 || Silvertone/BMG || |- | Buddy's Baddest: The Best of Buddy Guy || 1991 || Silvertone || |- | My Time After Awhile || 1992 || Vanguard || |- | The Very Best of Buddy Guy || 1992 || Rhino/WEA || |- | The Complete Chess Studio Recordings || 1992 || Chess || 2 CD, 1960–67 |- | Live at Montreaux || 1992 || Evidence || w/ Junior Wells |- | Feels Like Rain || 1993 || Silvertone || |- | Slippin' In || 1994 || Silvertone || |- | Live: The Real Deal || 1996 || Silvertone || |- | Buddy's Blues || 1997 || Chess "Chess Masters" || |- | Buddy’s Blues 1978-1982: The Best of the JSP Recordings || 1998 || JSP Records || |- | As Good As It Gets || 1998 || Vanguard || |- | Heavy Love || 1998 || Silvertone || |- | Last Time Around - Live at Legends || 1998 || Jive || w/Junior Wells |- | This Is Buddy Guy || 1998 || VMD || |- | Blues Master || 1998 || Vanguard || |- | || 1999 || Silvertone || |- | The Complete Vanguard Recordings || 2000 || Vanguard || |- | Every Day I Have the Blues || 2000 || Purple Pyramid || w/ Junior Wells |- | 20th Century Masters: The Millennium: The Best of Buddy Guy || 2001 || MCA || |- | Sweet Tea || 2001 || Jive || |- | Double Dynamite || 2001 || AIM Recording Co. || Import |- | Blues Singer '' || 2003 || Silvertone || |- | Chicago Blues Festival 1964 (live) || 2003 || Stardust || |- | Jammin’ Blues Electric & Acoustic || 2003 || Sony || a compilation of tracks from and Last Time Around - Live At Legends |- | Live At the Mystery Club || 2003 || Quicksilver || the same recording as Every Day I Have The Blues |- | A Night of the Blues || 2005 || || w/ Junior Wells - Master Classics - the same recording as Every Day I Have The Blues |- | Bring 'Em In || 2005 || Jive || |- | Can't Quit The Blues:Box Set || 2006 || Silvertone/Legacy Recordings || |- | Live: The Real Deal || 2006 || Sony || with G. E. Smith & the Saturday Night Live Band |- | || 2007 || Vanguard || with Joss Stone and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, performing "Every Night About This Time". |- | Skin Deep || 2008 || Jive || |- | The Definitive Buddy Guy || 2009 || Shout! Factory || his first single-disc career-spanning CD |- | Living Proof || 2010 || Jive || |}

See also

Chicago Blues Festival

References

“Damn Right I've Got the Blues: Buddy Guy and the Blues Roots of Rock-And-Roll (1993) by Donald Wilcox and Buddy Guy, Duane Press 1999 paperback: ISBN 0-942627-13-X

External links

Buddy Guy: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee

Buddy Guy: Official Website by Jive Records

Buddy Guy: Billboard Magazine’s Century Award

[ Buddy Guy: Allmusic biography]

Buddy Guy: Tribute Site

Buddy Guy: Buddy's Chicago Club Website

Buddy Guy Interview & Music Video

Buddy Guy at Legacy Recordings - A focus on Buddy's catalog

Magazine articles

"Roll Hall of Fame 2005: Buddy Guy" Rolling Stone, March 8, 2005

April 2005 interview from Modern Guitars magazine

"Damn Right He's Buddy Guy" Rolling Stone, May 22, 1998

1998 interview from Guitar World magazine

June 1996 interview from GuitarTechniques magazine

July 1996 interview from Total Guitar magazine

"The Blues Are the Truth" Rolling Stone, September 28, 1968

"Down Home With Buddy Guy" Cover story, "Seventh Hour Blues Magazine" 2006

News articles

Seattle Times article: Hendrix 2004 tribute concerts

Articles: Historic Legends of Blues Concert at Lincoln Center Jan. 28, 2005

Article: Hendrix 60th birthday tribute concert

Category:1936 births Category:Living people Category:African American musicians Category:American blues singers Category:American blues musicians Category:American blues guitarists Category:Blues Hall of Fame inductees Category:Contemporary blues musicians Category:Musicians from Louisiana Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:People from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Chicago blues musicians Category:Electric blues musicians Category:Lead guitarists Category:Chess Records artists Category:Vanguard Records artists Category:Delmark Records artists Category:MCA Records artists Category:MPS Records artists Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Charly Records artists Category:Jive Records artists Category:Zomba Group artists

Name	Billy Cobham
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth name	William E. Cobham
Born	May 16, 1944Panama
Instrument	Drums, percussion
Genre	Jazz, jazz fusion, bebop, funk, progressive rock, rock and roll, soul
Occupation	Musician, songwriter, bandleader, instructor
Years active	1968–present
Label	Atlantic, Columbia, CTI, Elektra, GRP
Associated acts	Miles Davis, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jack Bruce, New York Jazz Quartet, Jazz Is Dead, Bobby and the Midnites
Url	Official website

William C. Cobham (born May 16, 1944 in Panama), is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s.

Coming to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with Mahavishnu Orchestra, Cobham is, in the words of Steve Huey, "generally acclaimed as fusion's greatest drummer with an influential style that combines explosive power and exacting precision.

Billy was announced as a patron and visiting artist of top London drum college Drumtech in June 2008. in October 2006]]

In 2009, Cobham released Drum n voice 3. Guests included Chaka Khan, Gino Vannelli, George Duke, Alex Acuna, Bob Mintzer, Brian Auger, John Scofield and Novecento. The CD was produced and arranged by Pino and Lino Nicolosi for Nicolosi productions.

Billy Cobham performed with John McLaughlin at the 44th Montreux Jazz Festival, in Montreux, Switzerland, on Friday, July 2, 2010, for the first time since the band split up.

As of March 2010, Cobham had begun working on a new project with acclaimed Jordanian guitarist Kamal Musallam.

Sampling

He has been sampled by Massive Attack in their tune "Safe from Harm", centered on the beat and bassline of Cobham's "Stratus", from his debut album Spectrum; by Souls of Mischief's "93 'til Infinity", based on the bassline and keyboards of "Heather", from 1974's Crosswinds, and by DJ Shadow on "Napalm Brain/Scatter Brain", which uses elements of "A Funky Kind of Thing" from 1975's A Funky Thide of Sings. Cobham is also covered extensively by "hyperfunk" jam-band RAQ.

Discography

Filmography

2002: Glass Menagerie

2004: Live Palais des Festivals Hall Cannes 1989

2005:

2005: Billy Cobham - Drums for the Soul - Solo Concert - Drums and Percussion Paderborn

2005:

2007: Billy Cobham Live At 60

2007: Cobham Meets Bellson

2007:

2009: Live in Cannes

References

External links

Billy Cobham Homepage

Billy Cobham management

Interview with Billy Cobham

Billy Cobham Drummerworld.com Page

Category:1944 births Category:Living people Category:American jazz drummers Category:American rock drummers Category:American people of Panamanian descent Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Fania Records artists Category:Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts alumni Category:New York Jazz Quartet members Category:The Mahavishnu Orchestra members