Name	Danny Whitten
Landscape	yes
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Daniel Ray Whitten
Born	May 08, 1943Columbus, Georgia, U.S.
Died	November 18, 1972Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Instrument	Guitar, Vocals
Genre	Hard rock, Country rock, Blues-rock
Occupation	Musician, Songwriter
Years active	1962–1972
Label	Liberty Records, Valiant Records, Lorna Records, a division of Autumn Records, White Whale, Reprise
Associated acts	Danny & The Memories, The Psyrcle, The Rockets, Crazy Horse, Neil Young
Url	www.dannyraywhitten.com

Danny Ray Whitten (May 8, 1943 – November 18, 1972) was an American musician and songwriter best known for his work with Neil Young and Crazy Horse, and for the song "I Don't Want To Talk About It", a hit for Rita Coolidge, Rod Stewart and Everything but the Girl.

Biography

Whitten was born on May 8, 1943, in Columbus, Georgia. His parents split up when he was young. He and his sister, Brenda, lived with their mother, who worked long hours as a waitress. His mother remarried when he was 9 and the family moved to Canton, Ohio.

The final shame of Danny Whitten’s death was that all of his worldly goods, which consisted of just his clothes and a gold record, were contained inside one single cardboard box.

Years later, Young told biographer Jimmy McDonough that for a long time after Whitten died, he felt responsible for Whitten's death. It took him years to stop blaming himself. "Danny just wasn't happy", Young said. "It just all came down on him. He was engulfed by this drug. That was too bad. Because Danny had a lot to give, boy. He was really good."

Whitten's death was apparent in Young's music, and it could be said that Young's entire Ditch Trilogy is Young dealing with the death of Whitten. Tonight's the Night contained a live version of Young and Crazy Horse from 1970 of "(Come On Baby Let's Go) Downtown," ironically a lament about scoring drugs, which Whitten wrote and sang lead vocals.

Discography

Surfin' Granny, 'A' Side. Mirror Mirror, 'B' Side. Danny and the Memories, Single, Liberty label 1963 (Not Released)

Can't Help Loving That Girl of Mine, 'A' Side. Don't Go, 'B' Side. Danny and the Memories, Single, Valiant label 1964

Baby Don't Do That, 'A' Side. 'B' Side, Unknown. The Psyrcle, Single, Lorna label 1966 (Not Released)

The Rockets, The Rockets, Album, White Whale label, 1968

Hole In My Pocket, The Rockets, Single, White Whale label, 1968 (Promotional release only)

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Album, Reprise label 1969

After the Gold Rush, Neil Young, Album, Reprise label 1970

Crazy Horse, Crazy Horse, Album, Reprise label 1971

Dirty Dirty 'A' Side, Beggar's Day 'B' Side, Crazy Horse, Single, Reprise label 1971

Downtown 'A' Side, Dance Dance Dance 'B' Side, Crazy Horse, Single, Reprise label 1971

Hole In My Pocket on Blast From My Past, Barry Goldberg, Album, Buddah label 1971

Tonight's the Night, Neil Young, album, Reprise 1975 (posthumous)

Gone Dead Train The Best Of 1971 - 1989 Crazy Horse, Album Reprise label 2005

''Crazy Horse. The Complete Reprise Recordings 1971 - 1973, Crazy Horse, Album Reprise label 2005

Live at the Fillmore East Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Album, Reprise 2006 (recorded 1970)

Songs written by Danny Whitten

"Dance To The Music On The Radio" (D Whitten/B Talbot)

"Dirty, Dirty" (D Whitten)

"(Come On Baby Let's Go) Downtown" (D Whitten/N Young)

"Hole in My Pocket" (D Whitten

"I Don't Need Nobody (Hangin' Round My Door)" (D Whitten)

"I Don’t Want To Talk About It" (D Whitten)

"I'll Get By" (D Whitten)

"Let Me Go" (D Whitten)

"Look at All the Things"" (D Whitten)

"Love Can Be So Bad" (D Whitten/L Vegas)

"May" (D Whitten/B Talbot)

"Mr Chips" (D Whitten)

"Oh Boy" (D Whitten)

"Wasted" (D Whitten/L Vegas/P Vegas)

"Whatever" (D Whitten/B Talbot)

"Won't You Say You'll Stay" (D Whitten)

See also

Crazy Horse

Notes

External links

Daniel Ray Whitten Website

Category:1943 births Category:1972 deaths Category:American blues guitarists Category:American rock guitarists Category:People from Columbus, Georgia Category:Musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Neil Young and Crazy Horse members Category:Deaths by heroin overdose in California

Name	Rod Stewart
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Roderick David Stewart
Born	January 10, 1945North London, England
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, banjo, harmonica
Genre	Rock, Pop rock, Folk rock, Blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, Blues rock
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician
Years active	1964–present
Label	Mercury, Warner Bros., J
Associated acts	Shotgun Express, The Steampacket, The Jeff Beck Group, Faces
Url	RodStewart.com

Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English lineage.

With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with The Jeff Beck Group and then Faces. He launched his solo career in 1969 with his debut album An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down (US: The Rod Stewart Album). His work with The Jeff Beck Group and Faces proved to be influential on the formation of the heavy metal and punk rock genres, respectively.

With his career in its fifth decade, Stewart has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best selling artists of all time. In the UK, he has garnered six consecutive number one albums, and his tally of 62 hit singles include 31 that reached the top 10, six of which gained the number one position. He has had 16 top ten singles in the U.S, with four of these reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked him the 17th most successful artist on the "The Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists". He was voted at #33 in Q Magazine's list of the top 100 Greatest Singers of all time.

Early life

Roderick David Stewart was born and raised in London, England, the youngest of Robert and Elsie Stewart's five children. His father was Scottish and had been a master builder in Leith outside of Edinburgh, while Elsie was English and had grown up in Upper Holloway in North London. Married in 1928, He then attended the William Grimshaw Secondary Modern School in Hornsey. His father retired from the building trade at age 65, then opened a newsagent's shop on the Archway Road when Stewart was in his early teens; the family lived over the shop.

The Stewart family was mostly focused on football; Combining natural athleticism with near-reckless aggression, he became captain of the school football team and played for Middlesex Schoolboys as centre-half. His introduction to rock and roll was hearing Little Richard's 1956 hit "The Girl Can't Help It" and seeing Bill Haley & His Comets in concert. His father bought him a guitar in January 1959; the first song he learned was the folk tune "It Takes a Worried Man to Sing a Worried Song" and the first record he bought was Eddie Cochran's "C'mon Everybody".

Music career

1960–64: Early recordings

Stewart left school at age 15 and worked briefly as a silk screen printer. Spurred on by his father, his ambition was to become a professional footballer. a Third Division club at the time. However, he disliked the early morning travel to West London and the daily assignment to clean the first team's boots. Stewart left the team, to the great disappointment of his father. then as a grave digger at Highgate Cemetery, partly to face a childhood fear of death. Stewart began listening to British and American topical folk artists such as Ewan MacColl, Alex Campbell, Woody Guthrie, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and especially Derroll Adams and the debut album of Bob Dylan. He became attracted to beatnik attitudes and left-wing politics, living for a while in a beatnik houseboat at Shoreham-by-Sea. In 1962 he had his first serious relationship, with London art student Suzannah Boffey (and a friend of future model and actress Chrissie Shrimpton); he moved to a bed-sit in Muswell Hill to be near her. She became pregnant, but neither Rod nor his family wanted him to enter marriage; the baby girl was given for adoption and Rod's and Suzannah's relationship ended. Stewart took up playing the then-fashionable harmonica.

In the spring of 1962, Stewart joined The Ray Davies Quartet, later known as the successful British band The Kinks, as their lead singer. He had known three of their members at William Grimshaw School He performed with the group on at least one occasion, but was soon dropped due to complaints about his voice from then-drummer John Start's mother as well as musical and personality differences with the rest of the band.) Disillusioned by rock and roll, he saw Otis Redding perform in concert and began listening to Sam Cooke records; he became fascinated by rhythm and blues and soul music.

After returning to London, Stewart joined a Birmingham-based rhythm and blues group, the Dimensions, in October 1963 as a harmonica player and part-time vocalist. A somewhat more established singer from Birmingham, Jimmy Powell, then hired the group a few weeks later, and it became known as Jimmy Powell & the Five Dimensions, with Stewart being relegated to harmonica player. The group performed weekly at the famed Studio 51 club on Great Newport Street in London, where The Rolling Stones often headlined; Relations soon broke down between Powell and Stewart over roles within the group

On or around 5 January 1964, Stewart was drunk and waiting on the Twickenham railway station platform, playing "Smokestack Lightnin'" on his harmonica after having seen a Cyril Davies All Stars rhythm and blues show at Eel Pie Island. All Stars singer Long John Baldry discovered him and invited him to sit in with the group (which passed into his hands and was renamed the Hoochie Coochie Men when Davies died of leukaemia on 7 January); when Baldry discovered Stewart was a singer as well, he offered him a job for £35 a week, after securing the approval of Stewart's mother. the nickname coming from his dandyish style of grooming and dress.

While still with Baldry, Stewart embarked on a simultaneous solo career. He made some demo recordings, was scouted by Decca Records at the Marquee Club and signed to a solo contract in August 1964. He appeared on several regional television shows around the country and recorded his first single in September 1964. The resulting single, "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl", was recorded released in October 1964; despite Stewart performing it on the popular television show Ready Steady Go!, it failed to enter the charts. The Hoochie Coochie Men broke up, Baldry and Stewart patched up their differences (and indeed became lifelong friends), and impresario Giorgio Gomelsky put together Steampacket, which featured Baldry, Stewart, Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll, Micky Waller, Vic Briggs, and Rick Brown; their first appearance was in support of The Rolling Stones in July 1965. The group was conceived as a white soul revue, analogous to The Ike & Tina Turner Revue, with multiple vocalists and styles ranging from jazz to R & B to blues. Steampacket toured with the Stones and The Walker Brothers that summer, ending in the London Palladium; Stewart, who had been included in the group upon Baldry's insistence, ended up with most of the male vocal parts. although Gomelsky did record one of their Marquee Club rehearsals.

Stewart's "Rod the Mod" image gained wider visibility in November 1965, when he was the subject of a 30-minute Rediffusion, London television documentary titled "An Easter with Rod" that portrayed the Mod scene. His parallel solo career attempts continued on EMI's Columbia label with the November 1965 release of "The Day Will Come", a more heavily arranged pop attempt, and the April 1966 release of his take on Sam Cooke's "Shake", with the Brian Auger Trinity. Stewart had spent the better part of two years listening mostly to Cooke; he later said, "I didn't sound like anybody at all ... but I knew I sounded a bit like Sam Cooke, so I listened to Sam Cooke." and in February 1967, Stewart joined the Jeff Beck Group as vocalist and sometime songwriter. This would become the big break of his early career. Stewart's sputtering solo career also continued, with the March 1968 release of non-hit "Little Miss Understood" on Immediate Records. The first-time-in-America Stewart suffered terrible stage fright during the opening show and hid behind the amplifier banks while singing; only a quick shot of brandy brought him out front. and New Musical Express reporting that the group was receiving standing ovations and pulling receipts equal to those of Jimi Hendrix and The Doors. Stewart also co-wrote three of the songs, (something that has continued throughout Beck's career). In July 1969, Stewart left, following his friend Wood's departure. Stewart later recalled: "It was a great band to sing with but I couldn't take all the aggravation and unfriendliness that developed.... In the two and a half years I was with Beck I never once looked him in the eye – I always looked at his shirt or something like that." During his time with the group, Stewart initially felt overmatched by Beck's presence, and his style was still developing; but later Stewart felt the two developed a strong musical, if not personal, rapport. Much of Stewart's sense of phrasing was developed during his time with the Jeff Beck Group.

1969–71: Solo Career establishment

, Norway, 5 November 1976.]] Mercury Records A&R; man Lou Reizner had seen Stewart perform with Beck, and in October 1968 signed him to a solo contract; Meanwhile, in May 1969, guitarist and singer Steve Marriott left English band The Small Faces.

The Faces toured extensively in 1972 with growing tension in the band over Stewart's solo career enjoying more success than the band's. Stewart released Never a Dull Moment in the same year. Repeating the Every Picture formula for the most part, it reached number two on the US album charts and number one in the UK, and enjoyed further good notices from reviewers. "You Wear It Well" was a hit single that reached number 13 in the US and went to number one in the UK, while "Twisting the Night Away" made explicit Stewart's debt to Sam Cooke. For the body of his early solo work Stewart earned tremendous critical praise. Rolling Stone's 1980 Illustrated History of Rock & Roll includes this in its Stewart entry:

Rarely has a singer had as full and unique a talent as Rod Stewart [...] a writer who offered profound lyricism and fabulous self-deprecating humour, teller of tall tales and honest heartbreaker, he had an unmatched eye for the tiny details around which lives turn, shatter, and reform [...] and a voice to make those details indelible. [... His solo albums] were defined by two special qualities: warmth, which was redemptive, and modesty, which was liberating. If ever any rocker chose the role of everyman and lived up to it, it was Rod Stewart.

The Faces released their final album Ooh La La, which reached number one in the UK and number 21 in the US in 1973. The band toured Australasia, Japan, Europe and the UK in 1974 to support the album and the single "Pool Hall Richard".

1974-75: Smiler and Faces tour

In late 1974 Stewart released his Smiler album. In Britain, it reached number one, and the single "Farewell" number seven, but only number 13 on the Billboard pop album charts and the single "Mine for Me" only number 91 on the Billboard pop singles charts. It was his last original album for Mercury Records. After the release of the double album compilation The Best of Rod Stewart he switched to Warner Bros. Records and remained with them throughout the vast majority of his career.

In 1975 the Faces toured the US twice (with Ronnie Wood joining The Rolling Stones' US tour in between)

1975–81: Atlantic Crossing and further releases

In 1975, Rod Stewart moved to the US, applying for citizenship due to his love affair with Britt Ekland and a fight with the UK tax authorities. He released the Atlantic Crossing album for his new record company, using producer Tom Dowd and a different sound based on the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. Atlantic Crossing marked both a return to form and a return to the Top 10 of the Billboard album charts. The first single, a cover of the Sutherland Brothers song "Sailing", was a number one hit in the UK, but it only reached the Top 60 of the US charts. The single returned to the UK Top 10 a year later when used as the theme music for a BBC documentary series about HMS Ark Royal, and having been a hit twice over became, and remains, Stewart's biggest-selling single in the UK. His Holland-Dozier-Holland cover "This Old Heart Of Mine" was also a Top 100 hit in 1976. Additionally in 1976 Stewart covered The Beatles' song "Get Back" for the ephemeral musical documentary All This and World War II.

Later in 1976, Stewart topped the Billboard singles charts for eight weeks and the Australian singles charts with the ballad "Tonight's the Night", with an accompanying music video featuring Ekland. It came from the A Night on the Town album, which went to number two on the Billboard album charts and was Stewart's first album to go platinum. By explicitly marking the album as having a "fast side" and a "slow side", Stewart continued the trend started by Atlantic Crossing. "The First Cut Is the Deepest", a cover of a Cat Stevens song, went Top 30 in the US in 1977 and number one in the UK. "The Killing of Georgie (Part 1 and 2)", about the murder of a gay man, was also a Top 40 hit for Stewart during 1977.

1977-81: Blondes Have More Fun

Foot Loose & Fancy Free featured Rod's own band, the original Rod Stewart Group that featured Carmine Appice, Phil Chen, Jim Cregan, Billy Peek, Gary Grainger and John Jarvis, from 1977 continued Stewart's run of chart success, again reaching number two. "You're In My Heart" was the hit single, reaching number four in the US. The rocker "Hot Legs" achieved a lot of radio airplay as did the confessional "I Was Only Joking". In appearance, Stewart's look had evolved to include a glam element, including make-up and spandex clothes. Stewart scored another UK number one and US number one single with "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", which was a crossover hit reaching number five on the Billboard black charts due to its disco sound. This was the lead single from 1978's Blondes Have More Fun...or do they?, which went to number one on the Billboard album charts and sold 4 million albums. It was to be Stewart's last number one album for 25 years.

A focal point of criticisms about this period was his biggest-selling 1978 disco hit "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", which was atypical of his earlier output, and disparaged by critics. In interviews, Stewart, while admitting his accompanying look had become "tarty", has defended the lyrics by pointing out that the song is a third-person narrative slice-of-life portrayal, not unlike those in his earlier work, and that it is not about him. However, the song's refrain was identical to Brazilian Jorge Ben Jor's earlier "Taj Mahal" and a lawsuit ensued. Stewart donated his royalties from the song to UNICEF, and he performed it with his band at the Music for UNICEF Concert at the United Nations General Assembly in 1979.

Rod moved a bit to a more New Wave direction in 1980 by releasing the album Foolish Behaviour. The album produced one hit single "Passion"; that proved particularly popular in South Africa (reaching no. 1 on the Springbok Top 20 Charts and Radio 5 Charts in early 1981). It also reached No. 5 on the US Billboard Charts. Later in 1981, Stewart added further elements of New Wave and synth pop to his sound for the Tonight I'm Yours album. The title song reached #20 in the U.S., while "Young Turks" reached the Top 5 with the album going platinum. In August 1981, MTV was launched in the US with several of Stewart's videos in heavy rotation. On 18 December 1981, Stewart played the Los Angeles Forum, along with Kim Carnes and Tina Turner. This show was broadcast around the world to a television audience of 35 million.

1982–2001: Body Wishes, and continued success

Stewart's career then went into a relative slump, and his albums between Tonight I'm Yours (1981) and Out of Order (1988) received harsh criticism from many critics. He was also criticised for breaking the widely observed cultural boycott of South Africa by performing at the Sun City resort complex in the bantustan of Bophuthatswana as part of his Body Wishes (1983) and Camouflage (1984) tours. He only had four Top 10 singles between 1982 and 1988, "Young Turks" (#5,1982), "Some Guys Have All the Luck" (#10, 1984), "Infatuation" (#6, 1984) and "Love Touch" (#6, 1986), although "Baby Jane" became his sixth and final UK number one in 1983. It reached #14 in the US. The corresponding Camouflage album went gold in the UK, and the single "Infatuation" (which featured his old friend Jeff Beck on the guitar) received considerable play on MTV. The second single "Some Guys Have All The Luck" reached #15 in the UK and #10 in the US. A reunion with Jeff Beck produced a successful take on Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready", but an attempt to tour together fell apart after a few dates. He reached UK number two in 1986 with "Every Beat Of My Heart".

In January 1985, he performed at the Rock in Rio festival in Rio de Janeiro before an estimated audience of over 100,000. His performance during a stormy night was described by Stewart himself as "winning the world soccer championship". In 1988, he returned with Out Of Order, produced by Duran Duran's Andy Taylor and by Bernard Edwards of Chic. "Lost in You", "Forever Young", "Crazy About Her", and "My Heart Can't Tell You No" from that album were all top 15 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and mainstream rock charts, with the latter even reaching the Top Five. "Forever Young" was an unconscious revision of Bob Dylan's song of the same name; the artists reached an agreement about sharing royalties. The song reached #12 in the U.S. The name of the child in the video is Alex Zuckerman.

In January 1989, Stewart set out on the South American leg of the Out of Order Tour playing to sell-out audiences throughout Americas. There were 80,000 people at his show at Corregidora Stadium, Querétaro, México (9 April), and 50,000 at Jalisco Stadium, Guadalajara, Jalisco (12 April). In Buenos Aires, the audience at the River Plate Stadium, which seats 70,000+, was at over 90,000, with several thousand outside the stadium. Firehoses were sprayed on the crowd to avoid heat prostration.

Stewart's version of the Tom Waits song "Downtown Train" went to number three on the US singles charts in 1990. This song was taken from a four-CD compilation set called . The Vagabond Heart album continued his comeback with "Rhythm of My Heart" reaching the Top Five and "The Motown Song" reaching the Top 10. Also in 1990 he recorded "It Takes Two" with Tina Turner, which reached number five on the UK charts.

In 1991 Stewart contributed guest lead vocals to the song "My Town" by the Canadian band Glass Tiger.

In 1993, he recorded "All For Love" with Sting and Bryan Adams for the soundtrack to the movie The Three Musketeers; the single reached number one on the US charts. Also in 1993, Stewart reunited with Ronnie Wood to record an MTV Unplugged special that included "Handbags and Gladrags", "Cut Across Shorty", and four selections from Every Picture Tells A Story. The show also featured an acoustic version of Van Morrison's "Have I Told You Lately", which topped the Billboard adult contemporary chart and went Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. A rendition of "Reason to Believe" also garnered considerable airplay. The resulting Unplugged...and Seated album reached number two on the Billboard 200 album charts.

Stewart was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. On 31 December on the same year he played in front on 3.5 million people on Copacabana beach in Rio.

By the early 1990s, Stewart had mostly abandoned creating his own material, saying that he was not a natural songwriter and that the tepid response to his recent efforts was not rewarding. In 1995, Stewart released A Spanner in the Works containing a single written by Tom Petty "Leave Virginia Alone," which reached the Top 10 of the adult contemporary charts. The latter half of the 1990s was not so commercially successful, though the 1996 album If We Fall in Love Tonight managed to ship gold and hit #19 on the Billboard album chart, thanks in large part to an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show.

When We Were the New Boys, his final album on the Warner Bros. label released in 1998, contained versions of songs by Britpop acts such as Oasis and Primal Scream, and reached number two on the UK album charts. In 2000, Stewart decided to leave Warner Bros. and moved to Atlantic Records, another division of Warner Music Group. In 2001, he released Human, his only album for Atlantic. Human only just reached the Top 50 in 2001 with the single "I Can't Deny It" going Top 40 in the UK and Top 20 in the adult contemporary.

Stewart then signed to Clive Davis' new J Records label. The Story So Far: The Very Best Of Rod Stewart, a greatest hits album compiled from his time at Warner Bros., went to the Top 10 in the UK and reached number one in places like Belgium and France in 2001.

2002–09: The Great American Songbook releases

By 2002, Stewart had sold over 100 million records during his career.

On 11 June 2008, Stewart announced that the Faces are discussing a reunion for at least one or two concerts.

2009-present: Songbook

On 20 May 2009, Stewart performed "Maggie May" on the grand finale of American Idol season 8. On 2 July 2009 Stewart performed his only UK date this year at Home Park, Plymouth. On 29 September 2009 a 4-CD, 65-track compilation entitled Rod Stewart Sessions 1971-1998 was released; it is composed of previously-unreleased tracks and outtakes from the bulk of his career. Stewart has also mentioned plans for a compilation of covers of soul classics, the possible release of another edition of the Great American Songbook album and a country covers album.

On 14 November 2009, Stewart recorded a TV program in the UK for ITV that was screened on 5 December 2009. The music in the programme featured tracks from his new album and some old favourites. On 14 Jan 2010, Rhino records released Stewart's "Once in a Blue Moon" a "lost album" originally recorded in 1992, featuring ten cover songs including the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday", Dylan's "The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar" and Stevie Nicks' "Stand Back", as well as Tom Waits' "Tom Traubert's Blues." On 19 October 2010, Stewart released another edition of his Great American Songbook series titled "Fly Me to the Moon...The Great American Songbook Volume V" on J Records.

Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks have joined forces for one of the most anticipated musical events of the year, The Heart & Soul Tour. Launching March 20, 2011 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the tour will unite two of music’s most legendary forces for a series of arena concerts throughout North America – with performances already confirmed in New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Tampa, Montreal and more.

Personal life

In May 2000, Stewart was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, for which he underwent surgery in the same month. Besides being a major health scare, the resulting surgery also threatened his famous voice, and he had to re-learn how to sing. Since then he has been active in raising funds for The City of Hope Foundation charity to find cures for all forms of cancer, especially those affecting children. He still kicks footballs into the audience during concerts. He is a well-known supporter of Celtic F.C., which he mentions in his hit "You're in My Heart", and the Scotland national team. Stewart also follows Manchester United as his English side, and he explains his love affair with both Celtic and Man United in Frank Worall's book Celtic United.

Stewart is a keen model railway enthusiast. His 23 x 124-foot HO scale layout in his California home is modelled after the New York Central and the Pennsylvania Railroads during the 1940s. Called the Three Rivers City, the layout was featured in the cover story of the December 2007 and December 2010 issues of Model Railroader Magazine. In the 2007 article Stewart said that he would rather be in a model railroad magazine than a music magazine. His passion for the hobby has been cited as contributing to the end of his second marriage. He has a second layout at his UK home. That layout is based on Britain's East Coast Main Line. Stewart's home is located in Epping, Essex on part of the Copped Hall estate

A keen car enthusiast, Stewart owns one of the 400 Ferrari Enzos. In 1982, Stewart was car-jacked on Los Angeles' Sunset Boulevard, while he was standing next to his $50,000 Porsche. The car was subsequently recovered.

On 11 October 2005, Stewart received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. (Star number 2093) On 18 April and 19 April 2006 Stewart was the guest artist and celebrity vocal coach on American Idol, leading the remaining seven finalists in singing entries from the Great American Songbook.

Relationships

Stewart is known for his liaisons with women (fathering eight children with five of them; the oldest being born in 1964 and his latest child being expected to be born in early 2011):

In reference to his divorces, Rod Stewart was once quoted as saying, "Instead of getting married again, I'm going to find a woman I don't like and just give her a house."

Stewart's eighth child, his second son with Lancaster, is due in February 2011.

Awards and recognition

, February 2006]]

Awarded CBE in 2007 New Year's Honours.

Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, 2005, Stardust ... The Great American Songbook Volume III

Diamond Award of World Music Awards show for over 100 million records sold worldwide, 2001.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1994

Inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, 2006

"Bar none, he's the best singer I've heard in rock 'n' roll. He's also the greatest white soul singer." —Elton John on Rod Stewart

"Is this a white guy? You are kidding me!!" Chuck Berry commented when asked what he thought about Stewart's cover of Sweet Little Rock & Roller in an interview by the Belgian Rock magazine Humo in 1975.

Rod Stewart played to the largest concert crowd ever, with 3.5 million fans in attendance. This was at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the 1994 New Year's Eve celebrations.

According to Stewart, soul singer James Brown called him music's "best white soul singer" in September 2006.

List of bands

During his career, Rod Stewart has been a member of a number of groups including:

Jimmy Powell and the Five Dimensions (1963)

The Hoochie Coochie Men (1964–1965)

Soul Agents (1965–1966)

Shotgun Express (1966)

The Jeff Beck Group (1966–1969)

Faces (1969–1975)

Discography

Stewart's album and single sales total have been variously estimated as more than 100 million, or at 200 million, in either case earning him a place on the list of best-selling music artists.

UK/US number one albums

1971 Every Picture Tells a Story (UK / US)

1972 Never a Dull Moment (UK )

1973 Sing It Again Rod (UK )

1974 Smiler (UK )

1975 Atlantic Crossing (UK )

1976 A Night on the Town (UK )

1978 Blondes Have More Fun (US )

1979 Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (UK )

2004 (US )

2006 Still the Same... Great Rock Classics of Our Time (US )

UK/US number one singles

1971 "Maggie May" / "Reason to Believe" (UK/US)

1972 "You Wear It Well" (UK)

1975 "Sailing" (UK)

1976 "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)" (US)

1977 "I Don't Want to Talk About It" / "The First Cut Is the Deepest" (UK)

1978 "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" (UK, US)

1983 "Baby Jane" (UK)

1993 "All for Love" (US) (featuring Bryan Adams and Sting, first appearing on the official soundtrack from the movie "The Three Musketeers")

See also

Best selling music artists

List of number-one hits (United States)

List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (US)

List of number-one dance hits (United States)

List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

Coronet Apartments

Crooner

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

Rod Stewart official website

BBC Derby profile

Five audio interview clips from 1981

Q magazine's "100 Greatest Singers" list

Category:1945 births Category:Living people Category:Rod Stewart Category:British blues singers Category:British buskers Category:Cancer survivors Category:English male singers Category:English pop singers Category:English rock singers Category:English songwriters Category:English tenors Category:English people of Scottish descent Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees‎ Category:Anglo-Scots Category:Scottish tenors Category:People from Highgate Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Mercury Records artists Category:British expatriates in the United States Category:World Music Awards winners

Crazy Horse (Lakota: (in Standard Lakota Orthography), literally "His-Horse-Is-Crazy" or "His-Horse-Is-Spirited" ; ca. 1840 – September 5, 1877) was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U.S. Federal government to fight against encroachments on the territories and way of life of the Lakota people, including leading a war party at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876. After surrendering to U.S. troops under General Crook in 1877, Crazy Horse was fatally wounded by a military guard while allegedly resisting imprisonment at Camp Robinson in present-day Nebraska. He ranks among the most notable and iconic of Native American tribal members and has been honored by the U.S. Postal Service with a 13¢ Great Americans series postage stamp.

Early life

at Red Cloud Agency, Sunday, May 6, 1877 / Berghavy ; from sketches by Mr. Hottes.]] Sources differ on the precise year of Crazy Horse's birth, but they agree he was born between 1840 and 1845. According to a close friend, he and Crazy Horse "were both born in the same year at the same season of the year", which census records and other interviews place at about 1845. Encouraging Bear, an Oglala medicine man and spiritual adviser to the Oglala war leader, reported that Crazy Horse was born "in the year in which the band to which he belonged, the Oglala, stole One Hundred Horses, and in the fall of the year", a reference to the annual Lakota calendar or winter count. Among the Oglala winter counts, the stealing of 100 horses is noted by Cloud Shield, and possibly by American Horse and Red Horse owner, equivalent to the year 1840-41. Oral history accounts from relatives on the Cheyenne River Reservation place his birth in the spring of 1840. Probably the most credible source, however, is Crazy Horse's own father. On the evening of his son's death, the elderly man told Lieutenant H. R. Lemly that his son "would soon have been thirty-seven, having been born on the South Cheyenne river in the fall of 1840."

Crazy Horse was named at birth Cha-O-Ha (In the Wilderness or Among the Trees, meaning he was one with nature.) His mother's nickname for him was "Curly" or "Light Hair"; his light curly hair resembled that of his mother.

In the summer of 1844, Waglula (Worm) went on a buffalo hunt. He came across a Minneconjou Lakota village under attack by Crow warriors. He led his small party of warriors to the village and rescued it. Corn, the head man of the village, had lost his wife in the raid. In gratitude he gave Waglula his two eldest daughters as wives: Iron Between Horns (age 18) and Kills Enemy (age 17). Corn's youngest daughter, Red Leggins, who was 15 at the time, requested to go with her sisters; all became Waglula's wives. (Painter George Catlin made a portrait of Corn while visiting the tribe in 1832.)

After witnessing the death of Lakota leader Conquering Bear, Crazy Horse began to get trance visions. His father Waglula took him to what today is Sylvan Lake, South Dakota, where they both sat to do a hemblecha (vision quest). It was the Army's worst defeat on the Great Plains up to that time. Many Lakota were buried in the hills surrounding Fort Phil Kearny in Wyoming.

While married to Black Shawl Woman, Crazy Horse took Helena "Nellie" Laravie as his third wife. Nellie, also referred to as Chi-Chi and Brown Eyes Woman, was the daughter of a French trader and a Cheyenne woman. William Garnett's first-hand account of Crazy Horse's surrender alludes to Nellie as the "half blood woman" who caused Crazy Horse to fall into a "domestic trap which insensibly led him by gradual steps to his destruction."

Great Sioux War of 1876–77

On June 17, 1876, Crazy Horse led a combined group of approximately 1,500 Lakota and Cheyenne in a surprise attack against brevetted Brigadier General George Crook's force of 1,000 cavalry and infantry, and allied 300 Crow and Shoshone warriors in the Battle of the Rosebud. The battle, although not substantial in terms of human losses, delayed Crook's joining with the 7th Cavalry under George A. Custer. It contributed to Custer’s subsequent defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

A week later at 3:00 p.m. on June 25, 1876, Custer's 7th Cavalry attacked a large encampment of Cheyenne and Lakota bands along the Little Bighorn River, marking the beginning of his last battle. Crazy Horse's actions during the battle are unknown.

Hunkpapa warriors led by Chief Gall led the main body of the attack. Crazy Horse's tactical and leadership role in the battle remains ambiguous. While some historians think that Crazy Horse led a flanking assault, ensuring the death of Custer and his men, the only proven fact is that Crazy Horse was a major participant in the battle. His personal courage was attested to by several eye-witness Indian accounts. Water Man, one of only five Arapaho warriors who fought, said that Crazy Horse "was the bravest man I ever saw. He rode closest to the soldiers, yelling to his warriors. All the soldiers were shooting at him, but he was never hit." Sioux battle participant, Little Soldier, said, "The greatest fighter in the whole battle was Crazy Horse."

On September 10, 1876, Captain Anson Mills and two battalions of the Third Cavalry captured a Miniconjou village of 36 lodges in the Battle of Slim Buttes, South Dakota. Crazy Horse and his followers attempted to rescue the camp and its headman, (Old Man) American Horse. They were unsuccessful. The soldiers killed American Horse and much of his family after they holed up in a cave for several hours.

On January 8, 1877, Crazy Horse's warriors fought their last major battle at Wolf Mountain, against the US Cavalry in the Montana Territory. His people struggled through the winter, weakened by hunger and the long cold. Crazy Horse decided to surrender with his band to protect them, and went to Camp Robinson in Nebraska.

Surrender and death

Crazy Horse and other northern Oglala leaders arrived at the Red Cloud Agency, located near Camp Robinson, Nebraska, on May 5, 1877. Together with He Dog, Little Big Man, Iron Crow and others, they met in a solemn ceremony with First Lieutenant William P. Clark as the first step in their formal surrender.

For the next four months, Crazy Horse resided in his village near the Red Cloud Agency. The attention that Crazy Horse received from the Army drew the jealousy of Red Cloud and Spotted Tail, two Lakota who had long before come to the agencies and adopted the white ways. Rumors of Crazy Horse's desire to slip away and return to the old ways of life started to spread at the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail agencies. In August 1877, officers at Camp Robinson received word that the Nez Perce of Chief Joseph had broken out of their reservations in Idaho and were fleeing north through Montana toward Canada. When asked by Lieutenant Clark to join the Army against the Nez Perce, Crazy Horse and the Miniconjou leader Touch the Clouds objected, saying that they had promised to remain at peace when they surrendered. According to one version of events, Crazy Horse finally agreed, saying that he would fight "till all the Nez Perce were killed". But his words were apparently misinterpreted by half-Tahitian scout, Frank Grouard (not be confused with Fred Gerard, another U.S. Cavalry scout during the summer of 1876), who reported that Crazy Horse had said that he would "go north and fight until not a white man is left". When he was challenged over his interpretation, Grouard left the council. Another interpreter, William Garnett, was brought in but quickly noted the growing tension.

With the growing trouble at the Red Cloud Agency, General George Crook was ordered to stop at Camp Robinson. A council of the Oglala leadership was called, then canceled, when Crook was incorrectly informed that Crazy Horse had said the previous evening that he intended to kill the general during the proceedings. Crook ordered Crazy Horse's arrest and then departed, leaving the military action to the post commander at Camp Robinson, Lieutenant Colonel Luther P. Bradley. Additional troops were brought in from Fort Laramie and on the morning of September 4, 1877, two columns moved against Crazy Horse's village, only to find that it had scattered during the night. Crazy Horse fled to the nearby Spotted Tail Agency with his sick wife (who had become ill with tuberculosis). After meeting with military officials at the adjacent military post of Camp Sheridan, Crazy Horse agreed to return to Camp Robinson with Lieutenant Jesse M. Lee, the Indian agent at Spotted Tail.

On the morning of September 5, 1877, Crazy Horse and Lieutenant Lee, accompanied by Touch the Clouds as well as a number of Indian scouts, departed for Camp Robinson. Arriving that evening outside the adjutant's office, Lieutenant Lee was informed that he was to turn Crazy Horse over to the Officer of the Day. Lee protested and hurried to Bradley's quarters to debate the issue, but without success. Bradley had received orders that Crazy Horse was to be arrested and forwarded under the cover of darkness to Division Headquarters. Lee turned the Oglala war chief over to Captain James Kennington, in charge of the post guard, who accompanied Crazy Horse to the post guardhouse. Once inside, no doubt realizing the fate that was about to befall him, Crazy Horse struggled with the guard and Little Big Man and attempted to escape. Just outside the door of the guardhouse, Crazy Horse was stabbed with a bayonet of one of the members of the guard. He was taken to the adjutant's office where he was tended by the assistant post surgeon at the post, Dr. Valentine McGillycuddy, and died late that night.

The following morning, Crazy Horse's body was turned over to his elderly parents who took it to Camp Sheridan, placing it on a scaffold there. The following month when the Spotted Tail Agency was moved to the Missouri River, Crazy Horse's parents moved the body to an undisclosed location. There are at least four possible locations as noted on a state highway memorial near Wounded Knee, South Dakota. His final resting place remains unknown.

Controversy over his death

Dr. McGillycuddy, who treated Crazy Horse after he was stabbed, wrote that Crazy Horse "died about midnight." According to military records, he died before midnight, making it September 5, 1877.

John Gregory Bourke's memoir of his service in the Indian wars, On the Border with Crook, describes a different account of Crazy Horse's death. He based his account on an interview with Crazy Horse's relative and rival, Little Big Man, who was present at Crazy Horse's arrest and wounding. The interview took place over a year after Crazy Horse's death. Little Big Man said that, as Crazy Horse was being escorted to the guardhouse, he suddenly pulled two knives from under his blanket and held them in each hand. One knife was reportedly fashioned from an army bayonet. Little Big Man, standing behind him, seized Crazy Horse by both elbows, pulling his arms up behind him. As Crazy Horse struggled, Little Big Man lost his grip on one elbow, and Crazy Horse drove his own knife deep into his own lower back. The guard stabbed Crazy Horse with his bayonet in his back. The chief fell and surrendered to the guards.

When Bourke asked about the popular account of the guard bayoneting Crazy Horse first, Little Big Man said that the guard had thrust with his bayonet, but that Crazy Horse's struggles resulted in the guard's thrust missing entirely and lodging his bayonet into the frame of the guardhouse door.

Little Big Man said that, in the hours immediately following Crazy Horse's wounding, the camp Commander had suggested the story of the guard being responsible as a means of hiding Little Big Man's involvement in Crazy Horse's death, and thereby avoiding any inter-clan reprisals.

Little Big Man's account is questionable, as it is the only one of as many as 17 eyewitness sources from Lakota, US Army, and "mixed-blood" individuals, that fails to attribute Crazy Horse's death to a soldier at the guardhouse. Author Thomas Powers cites various witnesses who said Crazy Horse was fatally wounded when his back was pierced by a guard's bayonet.

The "last words" often attributed to Crazy Horse contain a terse implication of the guard. This widely published account directly contradicts the prior, witnessed statement made to the Post Commander.:

The identity of the soldier responsible for the bayoneting of Crazy Horse is also debatable. Only one eyewitness account actually identifies the soldier as Private William Gentles. Historian Walter M. Camp circulated copies of this account to individuals who had been present who questioned the identity of the soldier and provided two additional names. To this day, the identification remains questionable.

Photograph controversy

Most sources question whether Crazy Horse was ever photographed. Dr. McGillycuddy doubted any photograph of the war leader had been taken. In 1908, Walter Camp wrote to the agent for the Pine Ridge Reservation inquiring about a portrait. "I have never seen a photo of Crazy Horse," Agent Brennan replied, "nor am I able to find any one among our Sioux here who remembers having seen a picture of him. Crazy Horse had left the hostiles but a short time before he was killed and its more than likely he never had a picture taken of himself."

In 1956, a small tintype portrait purportedly of Crazy Horse was published by J. W. Vaughn in his book With Crook at the Rosebud. The photograph had belonged to the family of the scout, Baptiste "Little Bat" Garnier. Two decades later, the portrait was again published with further details about how the photograph was produced at Camp Robinson, though the editor of the book "remained unconvinced of the authenticity of the photograph."

Recently, the original tintype was on exhibit at the Custer Battlefield Museum in Garryowen, Montana, who have promoted the image as the only authentic portrait of Crazy Horse. Historians however continue to refute the identification.

Experts argue that the tintype was taken a decade or two after 1877. The evidence includes the individual's attire (such as the length of the hair pipe breastplate and the ascot tie). In addition, no other photograph with the same painted backdrop has been found. Several photographers passed through Camp Robinson and the Red Cloud Agency in 1877 — including James H. Hamilton, Charles Howard, David Rodocker and possibly Daniel S. Mitchell — but none of them used the backdrop that appears in the tintype. After the death of Crazy Horse, Private Charles Howard produced at least two images of the famed war leader's alleged scaffold grave, located near Camp Sheridan, Nebraska.

The image of Crazy Horse at the top of this page was made in 1934 by a forensic artist from a description given by Crazy Horse's sister. This drawing belongs to Crazy Horse's family, and has been publicly shown only once, on the PBS program History Detectives.

Crazy Horse Memorial and Memorial Highways

Crazy Horse is commemorated by the incomplete Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota near the town of Berne — a monument carved into a mountain, in the tradition of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial (on which Korczak Ziółkowski had worked with Gutzon Borglum). The sculpture was begun by Ziółkowski in 1948. When completed, it will be 641 ft (195 m) wide and 563 ft (172 m) high. It is still incomplete because of funding constraints; learning from Borglum's difficulties, Ziółkowski and his family have refused to accept Federal funding in any form. Although the sculpture was originally requested by Henry Standing Bear and other Sioux elders, it has been criticized by some American Indian activists (most notably Russell Means) as exploitative of Sioux culture and Crazy Horse's memory as well as desecrating sacred ground. However, it is a popular tourist attraction, and visitor fees are a major source of funding for the family to continue the carving. Crazy Horse's memorial statue depicts him pointing out toward his land in the Black Hills. His famous quote is "my lands are where my dead lie buried."

Crazy Horse has also been honored by having two highways named the Crazy Horse Memorial Highway. In South Dakota, the SDDOT designated US-16/US-385 between Custer and Hill City, which passes by the Crazy Horse Memorial. And in November, 2010, Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman approved designating US-20 from Hay Springs to Fort Robinson in honor of Crazy Horse, capping a year-long effort by citizens of Chadron. The designation may extend east another 100 miles through Cherry County to Valentine.

Notes

Further reading

Ambrose, Stephen E. Crazy Horse and Custer: The epic clash of two great warriors at the Little Bighorn. 1975.

Bray, Kingsley M. Crazy Horse: A Lakota Life. 2006. ISBN 0-8061-3785-1

Clark, Robert. The Killing of Chief Crazy Horse: Three Eyewitness Views by the Indian, Chief He Dog the Indian White, William Garnett the White Doctor, Valentine McGillycuddy. 1988. ISBN 0-8032-6330-9

Marshall, Joseph M. III. The Journey of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History. 2004.

Guttmacher, Peter and David W. Baird. Ed. Crazy Horse: Sioux War Chief. New York Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 1994. 0-120. ISBN 0-7910-1712-5

McMurtry, Larry. Crazy Horse (Penguin Lives). Puffin Books. 1999. ISBN 0-670-88234-8

Pinn, Lionel Little Eagle. Greengrass Pipe Dancers. 2000. ISBN 0-87961-250-9

Sandoz, Mari. Crazy Horse, the Strange Man of the Oglalas, a biography. 1942. ISBN 0-8032-9211-2

"Debating Crazy Horse: Is this the Famous Oglala". Whispering Wind magazine, Vol 34 #3, 2004. A discussion on the improbability of the Garryowen photo being that of Crazy Horse (the same photo shown here). The clothing, the studio setting all date the photo 1890–1910.

The Authorized Biography of Crazy Horse and His Family Part One: Creation, Spirituality, and the Family Tree. DVD. William Matson and Mark Frethem, producers. Documentary based on over 100 hours of footage shot of family oral history detailed interviews and all Crazy Horse sites. Family had final approval on end product. Reelcontact.com, 2006.

The Authorized Biography of Crazy Horse and His Family Part Two: Defending the Homeland Prior to the 1868 Treaty'. DVD William Matson and Mark Frethem, Producers. Reel Contact Productions, 2007.

External links

Final Days and Death of Crazy Horse

PBS Biography of Crazy Horse

Newly Discovered Alleged Photo of Crazy Horse

A timeline of Crazy Horse's life

Trimble: What did Crazy Horse look like?, Indian Country Today

William Bordeaux's Crazy Horse sketch at Yale University's Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscript Library

Complete Crazy Horse Surrender Ledger

Category:1840s births Category:1877 deaths Category:Lakota leaders Category:Murdered Native American people Category:Native American people of the Indian Wars Category:People of the Black Hills War Category:People from South Dakota Category:Red Cloud's War

Name	Red Rhodes
Born	December 30, 1930 in Alton, Illinois
Died	August 20, 1995 in Los Angeles, California
Birth name	Orville J. Rhodes
Instrument	Pedal steel guitar
Genre	Country, country rock
Associated acts	Michael Nesmith and many others
Label	Crown, Countryside, Exact, Happy Tiger, Alshire
Years active	1960s - 1990s

Orville J. Rhodes, better known as Red Rhodes or O. J. Rhodes (December 30, 1930 - August 20, 1995), was an American pedal steel guitarist. His mother taught him to play the Dobro at the age of five, but at the age of fifteen he switched to the steel guitar. He moved to Los Angeles in 1960 and became a session musician.

Rhodes played pedal steel on many country rock, pop and rock albums with The Monkees, James Taylor, Seals and Crofts, The Byrds, The Carpenters and many other groups. He is most often remembered for his work with former Monkee Michael Nesmith on Nesmith's first solo albums in the early 1970s. Rhodes is also credited for the "other-worldly" effects he created with pedal steel on The Ventures futuristic album The Ventures in Space in 1964.

In the late 1970s Rhodes shifted his focus from performing to guitar electronics at his Royal Amplifier Service shop in Hollywood, California. There Rhodes modified amplifiers and created his custom Velvet Hammer guitar pickups for James Burton, Clarence White and other influential guitarists. His shop staff included future instrument makers David Schecter, Michael Tobias and Bill Chapin.

Rheumatoid arthritis restricted Rhodes' public performances and recordings in the 1980s and 1990s, with the notable exception of his appearance on Michael Nesmith's Tropical Campfires album and tour in 1992. Rhodes fell ill soon after this tour, and died on August 20, 1995.

Discography

Solo projects

Once a Day, 1961, Crown

Blue Blue Day, 1962, Crown

Steel Guitar Rag, 1963, Crown

Red Rhodes Live at The Palomino, 1969, Happy Tiger

Velvet Hammer in a Cowboy Band, 1973, Countryside

Red Rhodes' Steel Guitar, 1979, Alshire

Fantastic Steel Guitar, 1980, Exact

Steel Guitar Favorites, 1990, Alshire

Session work

The Ventures in Space, 1964, The Ventures

Begin, 1968, The Millennium

Notorious Byrd Brothers, 1968, The Byrds

The Wichita Train Whistle Sings, 1968, Michael Nesmith

Bubble Gum, Lemonade & Something for Mama, 1969, Cass Elliot

Instant Replay, 1969, The Monkees

It's Not Killing Me, 1969, Mike Bloomfield

John Phillips, 1969, John Phillips

Hand Sown ... Home Grown, 1969, Linda Ronstadt

Nancy, 1969 Nancy Sinatra

Weeds, 1969, Brewer & Shipley

''The Blue Marble, 1969, Sagittarius

Magnetic South, 1970, Michael Nesmith

Loose Salute, 1970, Michael Nesmith

Sweet Baby James, 1970, James Taylor

Tom Rush, 1970, Tom Rush

Nevada Fighter, 1971, Michael Nesmith

Possum, 1971, Possum

Lead Free, 1972, B. W. Stevenson

One Man Dog, 1972, James Taylor

Rhymes and Reasons, 1972, Carole King

Son of Schmilsson, 1972, Harry Nilsson

A Song for You, 1972, The Carpenters

Summer Breeze, 1972, Seals & Crofts

Tantamount to Treason, 1972, Michael Nesmith

And the Hits Just Keep on Comin', 1972, Michael Nesmith

Willis Alan Ramsey, 1972, Willis Alan Ramsey

Five & Dime, 1973, David Ackles

Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch Stash 1973, Michael Nesmith

Valley Hi, 1973, Ian Matthews

Calabasas, 1974, B. W. Stevenson

L.A. Turnaround, 1974, Bert Jansch

The Prison, 1974, Michael Nesmith

Diamonds & Rust, 1975, Joan Baez

Horizon, 1975, The Carpenters

Marriott, 1975, Steve Marriott

Midnight on the Water, 1975, David Bromberg

Sweet America, 1976, Buffy Sainte-Marie

Frolicking in the Myth, 1977, Steven Fromholz

Road Songs, 1977, Hoyt Axton

The Way I Am, 1981, Billy Preston

Tropical Campfires, 1992, Michael Nesmith

References

Category:1930 births Category:1995 deaths Category:Pedal steel guitarists Category:Guitar pickup manufacturers Category:People from Alton, Illinois Category:Musicians from Illinois

Name	Nils Lofgren
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Nils Hilmer Lofgren
Alias	Lefty, Crazy Horse
Born	June 21, 1951Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Instrument	Guitar, Keyboards, Accordion
Genre	Rock, blues rock, classical
Occupation	Musician, songwriter, athlete
Years active	1965–present
Label	A&M;, Columbia, MCA, Rykodisc, Capitol, Vision Music, Pure Records
Associated acts	Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Crazy Horse, Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, Patti Scialfa, Grin
Url	Official Website

Nils Lofgren (born Nils Hilmer Lofgren, June 21, 1951, Chicago, Illinois, United States) is an American rock music singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Famous as a solo artist, he has marked 25 years as a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band as well as a former member of Crazy Horse and Grin.

Biography

Early life and career

Lofgren was born in Chicago in 1951 to Swedish/Italian parents. He moved to the suburban town of Bethesda, Maryland, near the northern border of Washington, D.C. as a very young child. Lofgren's first instrument was classical accordion, beginning at age 5, which he studied seriously for ten years. a skill that popped up later in his career.

Lofgren joined Neil Young's band at age 17, playing piano and guitar on the album After the Gold Rush. and "Cry Tough" was voted number 10 in the 1976 NME Album round up. He achieved progressive rock radio hits in the mid-1970s with "Back It Up", "Keith Don't Go" and "I Came to Dance". His song "Bullets Fever", about the 1978 NBA champion Washington Bullets, would become a favorite in the Washington area. Lofgren has stated on his website that he feels he'll be in good condition.

Other work

Novelist Clive Cussler lives close to Lofgren's Arizona home, and collaborated on a song with him, which they co-wrote, and recorded, titled, "What Ever Happened to Muscatel?"

In 2010, Lofgren – a self-described "huge sports fan" – wrote a long open letter to ESPN and the rest of the sports reporting community, condemning their treatment of Michael Vick's return to football stardom.

Musical equipment

Lofgren primarily uses a variety of Fender guitars and amplifers.

Guitars

Fender Stratocaster - Including two 1961 which he often uses.

Fender Jazzmasters

Gibson Les Paul - 1952 Goldtop.

Gibson SG - Cherry red. Used on Johnny Bye, Bye during the E Street Band's Magic Tour.

Gibson Flying V - Used during Grin's reunion tour in 2001.

BC. Rich Mockingbird

Epiphone Les Paul - Used on tours with Ringo Starr.

Martin D-18 - Given to Lofgren by Neil Young.

Gretsch Black Penguin

Fender Telecaster

Fender Telecaster Black. Used on Born To Run during the "Magic" Tour.

Gibson L-10 acoustic

Spector ARC6

Takamine acoustic guitars

Owens/Zeta Resonator Guitars

Carter Pedal steel guitars

Effects

Vocoder

Electro-Harmonix POG

Barber Burn Unit Overdrives

FullTone Fulldrive2

Line 6 DL4 Delay

Digital Music GCX audio switcher

Furman Power Conditioner

Line 6 Pod Pro

BOSS OC-3

BOSS DD-3

Korg DTR tuner

Peterson AutoStrobe 490

Voodoo Lab Ground Control

Amplifers

Fender Twin Reverbs - Used most recently.

Fender blackface Super Reverbs - With four 10" speakers.

Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

Fender Vibro Kings - With three 10" speakers'

Fender Vibro King Custom

Fender Hot Rod DeVilles

Discography

Grin discography

1971: Grin (Epic)

1972: 1+1 (Spindizzy)

1973: All Out (Epic)

1973: Gone Crazy (A&M;)

With Neil Young

After the Gold Rush (1970)

Tonight's the Night (1975)

Trans (1982)

Unplugged (February 1993)

With Bruce Springsteen

Live/1975-85 (1986)

Tunnel of Love (1987)

Chimes of Freedom (1988)

(2001)

The Rising (2002)

Magic (2007)

Working on a Dream (2009)

Solo discography

1975: Nils Lofgren (A&M;)

1975: Back It Up!! (Live) (A&M;)

1976: Cry Tough (A&M;)

1977: I Came to Dance (A&M;)

1978: Night After Night (A&M;)

1979: Nils (A&M;)

1981: Night Fades Away (Backstreet/MCA)

1981: Best of Nils Lofgren (A&M;)

1982: A Rhythm Romance vinyl/cassette only, UK (A&M;)

1983: Wonderland (Backstreet/MCA)

1985: Flip (CBS)

1986: Code Of The Road, Live '85, Europe/Japan only (A&M;)

1987: Classics Vol. 13/Best Of Nils Lofgren (A&M;)

1991: Nils Lofgren Live, video aka Nils Lofgren Band Live at Town and Country Club, UK (Castle Music Pictures)

1991: Silver Lining (Rykodisc)

1992: Don't Walk. Rock, Best Of, UK only (Connoisseur)

1992: Crooked Line (Rykodisc)

1993: Every Breath, Soundtrack (Stampede)

1993: Every Breath, with 4 track EP, diff. cover, with Lou Gramm, Dutch (SPV)

1993: Every Breath, RE, diff cover, (Vision)

1993: Live On The Test, UK only (Windsong)

1994: Code Of The Road, Live (Stampede)

1994: Soft Fun, Tough Tears – Best Of with Grin, Australia only (Raven)

1995: Damaged Goods(Pure)

1995: Shine Silently, Best Of, Germany only (Spectrum)

1996: Steal Your Heart, Best of, Dutch only (A&M;)

1997: Acoustic Live (Vision)

1997: Archive Live, Live N.J. Stone Pony 1985 (A.A.)

1997: Code Of The Road, RE, diff cover, Live 1985 (Right Stuff)

1998: Acoustic Live, RE, diff. cover (Right Stuff)

1998: Into the Night, Best Of, Germany Live (BMG)

1998: Best Of A&M; Years, Nils+Grin Dutch only (Spectrum)

1998: New Lives BBC, UK only (HUX)

1999: Ultimate Collection, Best of (Hip-O)

2001: Bootleg, 1975, Live (Vision)

2001: Nils Lofgren, re-issue with 2 bonus tracks (A&M;)

2001: Nils, with 1 bonus track (A&M;)

2001: Flip, with 1 bonus track (CBS)

2001: Breakaway Angel, (Vision)

2002: Tuff Stuff-The Best of the All-Madden Team Band (Vision)

2003: Nils Lofgren Band Live (Vision)

2006: Sacred Weapon (Vision)

2008: The Loner – Nils Sings Neil (Vision)

References

External links

nilslofgren.com (official website)

History at nilslofgren.com

shinesilently.com/nilsalbums Discography on UK fan site

Alan McGee on Lofgren and Vetiver

Category:1951 births Category:Living people Category:American rock guitarists Category:American rock keyboardists Category:American accordionists Category:Steel guitarists Category:American male singers Category:Songwriters from Illinois Category:Slide guitarists Category:Neil Young and Crazy Horse members Category:The E Street Band members Category:American people of Swedish descent Category:Musicians from Chicago, Illinois Category:Epic Records artists Category:A&M; Records artists Category:Rykodisc artists Category:American session musicians Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Pedal steel guitarists

Name	Neil Young
Landscape	yes
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Neil Percival Young
Alias	Bernard Shakey, Joe Canuck OC, OM (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation. Young began performing as a solo artist in Canada in 1960, before moving to California in 1966, where he co-founded the band Buffalo Springfield along with Stephen Stills, and later joined Crosby, Stills & Nash as a fourth member in 1969. He then forged a successful and acclaimed solo career, releasing his first album in 1968; his career has since spanned over 40 years and 34 studio albums, with a continual and uncompromising exploration of musical styles. He has been inducted into the Hall of Fame twice: first as a solo artist in 1995, and secondly as a member of Buffalo Springfield in 1997.

The 1982 album Trans, which incorporated vocoders, synthesizers, and electronic beats, was Young's first for new label Geffen Records (distributed at the time by Warner Bros. Records, whose parent Warner Music Group owns most of Young's solo and band catalog) and represented a distinct stylistic departure. Young later revealed that an inspiration for the album was the theme of technology and communication with his son Ben, who has severe cerebral palsy and cannot speak. An extensive tour preceded the release of the album, and was documented by the video Neil Young in Berlin, which saw release in 1986.

Young's next album, 1983's Everybody's Rockin', included several rockabilly covers and clocked in at less than twenty-five minutes in length. Young was backed by the Shocking Pinks for the supporting U.S. tour. Trans had already drawn the ire of label head David Geffen for its lack of commercial appeal, and with Everybody's Rockin' following only seven months later, Geffen Records sued Young for making music "unrepresentative" of himself. The album was also notable as the first for which Young made commercial music videos – Tim Pope directed the videos for "Wonderin'" and "Cry, Cry, Cry". Also premiered in 1983, though little seen, was the eclectic full-length comedy film Human Highway, co-directed and co-written by Young, and starring Young and members of Devo.

1984 was the first year without a Neil Young album since the start of Young's musical career with Buffalo Springfield in 1966. Young's lack of productivity was largely due to the ongoing legal battle with Geffen, although he was also frustrated that the label had rejected his 1982 country album Old Ways. It was also the year when Young's third child, his second with wife Pegi was born; his daughter Amber Jean, a child who was later diagnosed with inherited epilepsy. Young spent most of 1984 and all of 1985 touring for Old Ways with his country band, the International Harvesters. The album was finally released in an altered form midway through 1985. Young also appeared at that year's Live Aid concert in Philadelphia, collaborating with Crosby, Stills and Nash for the quartet's first performance for a paying audience in over ten years.

Young's last two albums for Geffen were more conventional in genre, although they incorporated production techniques like synthesizers and echoing drums that were previously uncommon in Young's music. Young recorded 1986's Landing on Water without Crazy Horse, but reunited with the band for the subsequent year-long tour and final Geffen album, Life, which emerged in 1987. Young's album sales dwindled steadily throughout the eighties; today Life remains his all-time-least successful studio album, with an estimated four hundred thousand sales worldwide.

Switching back to his old label Reprise Records, Young continued to tour relentlessly, assembling a new blues band called The Bluenotes in mid-1987 (a legal dispute with musician Harold Melvin forced the eventual rechristening of the band as Ten Men Working midway through the tour). The addition of a brass section provided a new jazzier sound, and the title track of 1988's This Note's For You became Young's first hit single of the decade. Accompanied by a video that parodied corporate rock, the pretensions of advertising, and Michael Jackson, the song was initially unofficially banned by MTV for mentioning the brand names of some of their sponsors. Young wrote an open letter, "What does the M in MTV stand for: music or money?" Despite this, the video was eventually named best video of the year by the network in 1989. By comparison, the major music cable network of Young's home nation, Muchmusic, ran the video immediately.

Young reunited with Crosby, Stills and Nash to record the 1988 album American Dream and play two benefit concerts late in the year, but the group did not embark upon a full tour. The album was only the second-ever studio record for the quartet.

Re-return to prominence (1990s)

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Young's 1989 single "Rockin' in the Free World", which hit #2 on the U.S. charts, and accompanying album, Freedom, rocketed him back into the popular consciousness after a decade of sometimes-difficult genre experiments. The album's lyrics were often overtly political; "Rockin' in the Free World" deals with homelessness, terrorism, and environmental degradation, implicitly criticizing the government policies of President George H.W. Bush.

The use of heavy feedback and distortion on several Freedom tracks was reminiscent of the Rust Never Sleeps album, and foreshadowed the imminent rise of grunge. The rising stars of the genre, including Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, frequently cited Young as a major influence, contributing to his popular revival. A tribute album called was released in 1989, featuring covers by alternative and grunge acts including Sonic Youth, Nick Cave, Soul Asylum, Dinosaur Jr, and the Pixies.

Young's 1990 album Ragged Glory, recorded with Crazy Horse in a barn on his Northern California ranch, continued this distortion-heavy aesthetic. Young toured for the album with Orange County, California country-punk band Social Distortion and alternative rock pioneers Sonic Youth as support, much to the consternation of many of his old fans. Weld, a two-disc live album documenting the tour, was released in 1991. Still enamored with the grunge scene, Young reconnected with Pearl Jam in 1995 for the live-in-the-studio album Mirror Ball and a tour of Europe with the band and producer Brendan O'Brien backing Young. 1995 also marked Young's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where he was inducted by Eddie Vedder.

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Young's next collaborative partner was filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, who asked Young to compose a soundtrack to his 1995 black and white western film Dead Man. Young's instrumental soundtrack was improvised while he watched the film alone in a studio. The death of longtime mentor, friend, and producer David Briggs in late 1995 prompted Young to reconnect with Crazy Horse the following year for the album and tour Broken Arrow. A Jarmusch-directed concert film and live album of the tour, Year of the Horse, emerged in 1997. From 1996–97 Young and Crazy Horse toured extensively throughout Europe and North America, including a stint as part of the H.O.R.D.E. Festival's sixth annual tour.

In 1998, Young renewed his collaboration with rock band Phish, sharing the stage at the annual Farm Aid concert and then at Young's Bridge School Benefit, where he joined headliners Phish for renditions of "Helpless" and "I Shall Be Released." Phish declined Young's later invitation to be his backing band on his 1999 North American tour.

The decade ended with the release in late 1999 of Looking Forward, another reunion with Crosby, Stills and Nash. The subsequent tour of the United States and Canada with the reformed super quartet earned $42.1 million, making it the eighth largest grossing tour of 2000.

Renewed activism and brush with death (2000s)

Neil Young continued to release new material at a rapid pace through the first decade of the new millennium. The studio album Silver & Gold and live album Road Rock Vol. 1 were released in 2000 and were both accompanied by live concert films. His 2001 single "Let's Roll" was a tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks, and the effective action taken by the passengers and crew on Flight 93 in particular. At the "" benefit concert for the victims of the attacks, Young performed John Lennon's "Imagine" and accompanied Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready on the song "Long Road", a Pearl Jam song that was written with Young during the Mirrorball sessions. "Let's Roll" was included on 2002's Are You Passionate?, an album mostly composed of mellow love songs dedicated to Young's wife, Pegi.

In 2003, Young released Greendale, a concept album recorded with Crazy Horse members Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina. The songs loosely revolved around the murder of a police officer in a small town in California and its effects on the town's inhabitants. Young, under the pseudonym "Bernard Shakey", directed an accompanying film of the same name, featuring actors lip-synching to the music from the album. Young toured extensively with the Greendale material throughout 2003 and 2004, first with a solo, acoustic version in Europe, then with a full-cast stage show in North America, Japan, and Australia. Young began using biodiesel on the 2004 Greendale tour, powering his trucks and tour buses with the fuel. "Our Greendale tour is now ozone friendly,” Young said. “I plan to continue to use this government approved and regulated fuel exclusively from now on to prove that it is possible to deliver the goods anywhere in North America without using foreign oil, while being environmentally responsible.” Young spent the latter portion of 2004 giving a series of intimate acoustic concerts in various cities with his wife, who is a trained vocalist and guitar player.

In March 2005, while working on the Prairie Wind album in Nashville, Young was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. He was treated successfully with a minimally invasive neuroradiological procedure, performed in a New York hospital on March 29. Two days afterwards, Young passed out on a New York street from bleeding from the femoral artery, which surgeons had used to access the aneurysm. The complication forced Young to cancel his scheduled appearance at the Juno Awards telecast in Winnipeg, but within months he was back on stage, appearing at the close of the Live 8 concert in Barrie, Ontario on July 2. During the performance, he debuted a new song, a soft hymn called "When God Made Me". Young's brush with death influenced Prairie Wind's themes of retrospection and mortality. The album's live premiere in Nashville was immortalized by filmmaker Jonathan Demme in the 2006 film .

Young's renewed activism manifested itself in the 2006 album Living With War, which was hastily recorded and released in less than a month. The album's overtly political songs rebuked U.S. President George W. Bush and the War in Iraq and included the provocatively titled "Let's Impeach the President". Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young reunited for the supporting "Freedom Of Speech Tour '06". CSNY Déjà Vu, a concert film of the tour directed by Young was released in 2008, along with an accompanying live album.

While Young had never been a stranger to eco-friendly lyrics, themes of environmentalist spirituality and activism became increasingly prominent in his work throughout the 1990s and 2000s, especially on Greendale and Living With War. The trend continued on 2007's Chrome Dreams II, with lyrics exploring Young's personal eco-spirituality. Also in 2007, Young accepted an invitation to participate in , contributing his version of "Walking to New Orleans".

In 2008, Young revealed his latest project, the production of a hybrid-engine 1959 Lincoln called Lincvolt. A new album loosely based on the Lincvolt project, Fork in the Road, was released on April 7, 2009. Unfortunately, the car caught fire in November, 2010, in a California warehouse, and along the way it burned an estimated $850,000 worth of Young's rock and roll memorabilia collection. Initial reports suggest the fire might have been triggered by an error in the vehicle's plug-in charging system. Young blamed the fire on human error and said he and his team were committed to rebuilding the car. "The wall charging system was not completely tested and had never been left unattended. A mistake was made. It was not the fault of the car," he said.

, England, on June 23 2009.]] A Jonathan Demme concert film from a 2007 concert at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, called the Neil Young Trunk Show premiered on March 21, 2009, at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas. It was featured at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 2009 and was released in the US on March 19, 2010 to critical acclaim.

Young's most recent album appearance was on the album Potato Hole, released on April 21, 2009 by Memphis organ player Booker T. Jones, of Booker T. & the MG's fame. Young plays guitar on nine of the album's ten instrumental tracks, alongside Drive-By Truckers, who already had three guitar players, giving some songs on the album a total of five guitar tracks. Jones contributed guitars on a couple of tracks.

Young continues to tour extensively. In 2009, he headlined the Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, England, at Hard Rock Calling in London (where he was joined onstage by Paul McCartney for a rendition of "A Day in the Life") and, after years of unsuccessful booking attempts, the Isle of Wight Festival in addition to performances at the Big Day Out festival in New Zealand and Australia and the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona.

New performances (2010s)

On January 22, 2010, Young performed "Long May You Run" on the final episode of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. On the same night, he and Dave Matthews performed the Hank Williams song "Alone and Forsaken", for the charity telethon, in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Young performed "Long May You Run" at the closing ceremony of the 2010 Olympic winter games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In May 2010, it was revealed Young has begun working on a new studio album that will be produced by Daniel Lanois. This was announced by David Crosby, who said that the album "will be a very heartfelt record. I expect it will be a very special record." On May 18th 2010, Young embarked upon a North American solo tour to promote his upcoming album, Le Noise, playing a mix of older songs and new material. Although billed as a solo acoustic tour, Young has also played some songs on electric guitars, including Old Black.

Young currently lives in La Honda, California on the 1500-acre (6 km²) Broken Arrow Ranch, purchased in 1970 for $350,000 and named after one of his early Buffalo Springfield songs.

Archives project

As far back as 1988, Young spoke in interviews of his efforts to compile his unreleased material and to remaster his existing catalog. The first installment, entitled The Archives Vol. 1 1963-1972, was originally planned for a 2007 release but was delayed, and released on June 2, 2009.

Three performances from the Performance Series of the archives were released individually before The Archives Vol. 1. Live at the Fillmore East, a selection of songs from a 1970 gig with Crazy Horse, was released in 2006. Live at Massey Hall 1971, a solo acoustic set from Toronto's Massey Hall, saw release in 2007. Sugar Mountain - Live At Canterbury House 1968, an early solo performance and, chronologically, the first disc in the performance series, emerged late in 2008.

In an interview in 2008, Neil Young discussed Toast, an album originally recorded with Crazy Horse in San Francisco in 2000 but never released. The album will be part of the Special Edition Series of the Archives. No release date currently exists for Toast. Another album Young has mentioned as a possible release is Treasure, from 1985 sessions with the Harvesters.

On July 14, 2009, Young's first four solo albums were reissued as remastered HDCD discs and digital downloads as discs 1–4 of the Original Release Series of the Archives.

Awards and recognitions

Canadian Music Hall of Fame, 1982

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. First in 1995 for his solo work, with an induction speech given by Eddie Vedder, and again in 1997 as a member of Buffalo Springfield.

As one of the original founders of Farm Aid, he remains an active member of the board of directors. For one weekend each October, in Mountain View, California, he and his wife host the Bridge School Concerts, which have been drawing international talent and sell-out crowds for nearly two decades with some of the biggest names in rock having performed at the event including Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, The Who, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, Tom Waits, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Sir Paul McCartney and Dave Matthews. The concerts are a benefit for the Bridge School, which develops and uses advanced technologies to aid in the instruction of children with disabilities. Young's involvement stems at least partially from the fact that both of his sons have cerebral palsy and his daughter, like Young himself, has epilepsy.

Young was nominated for an Oscar in 1994 for his song "Philadelphia" from the film Philadelphia. Bruce Springsteen won the award for his song "Streets of Philadelphia" from the same film. In his acceptance speech, Springsteen said that "the award really deserved to be shared by the other nominee's song." That same night, Tom Hanks accepted the Oscar for Best Actor and gave credit for his inspiration to the song "Philadelphia".

He was part owner of Lionel, LLC, a company that makes toy trains and model railroad accessories. In 2008 Lionel emerged from bankruptcy and his shares of the company were wiped out. At this time his status with Lionel is unknown, according to Lionel CEO Jerry Calabrese he is still a consultant for Lionel. He was instrumental in the design of the Lionel Legacy control system for model trains

Young has twice received honorary doctorates. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario in 1992, and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from San Francisco State University in 2006. The latter honour was shared with his wife Pegi for their creation of the Bridge School. In 2006, Young was given Manitoba's highest civilian honour, when he was appointed to the Order of Manitoba. In 2009, he was then given Canada's highest civilian honour, when he was appointed to the Order of Canada.

Rolling Stone magazine in 2000, ranked Young thirty-fourth in its list of the 500 greatest artists of all time, and in 2003, included five of his albums in its list of 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2000, Young was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. In 2006, Paste magazine compiled a "Greatest Living Songwriters" list; Young was ranked second behind Bob Dylan. (While Young and Dylan have occasionally played together in concert, they have never collaborated on a song together, or played on each others' records). He ranked thirty-ninth on VH1's 100 Greatest Artist of Hard Rock that same year. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame explained that while Young has "avoided sticking to one style for very long, the unifying factors throughout Young’s peripatetic musical journey have been his unmistakable voice, his raw and expressive guitar playing, and his consummate songwriting skill." Dave Matthews lists Neil Young as one of his favorite and most inspirational songwriters and covers his songs on occasion. The British Indie band The Bluetones named their number one debut album after the song "Expecting to Fly" (written by Young when still with Buffalo Springfield and have covered the song while touring. Young also inspired Oasis singer-songwriter Noel Gallagher, with Gallagher covering "My My, Hey Hey (Into the Black)" on the live album Familiar to Millions.

The Australian rock group Powderfinger named themselves after Young's song "Powderfinger" from Young's Rust Never Sleeps. The members of the Constantines have occasionally played Neil Young tribute shows under the name Horsey Craze. While in Winnipeg on November 2, 2008 during the Canadian leg of his tour, Bob Dylan visited Young's former home in River Heights, where Young spent his teenage years. Dylan was interested in seeing the room where some of Young's first songs were composed.

Jason Bond, an East Carolina University biologist, discovered a new species of trapdoor spider in 2007 and named it Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi after Young, his favorite singer (a previous similar case was the dinousaur Masiakasaurus knopfleri named after the musician Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits).

In 2001, Young was awarded the Spirit of Liberty award from the civil liberties group People for the American Way. Young was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year on January 29, 2010, two nights prior to the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. In addition was also nominated for two Grammy Awards; Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance ("Fork In The Road") and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package ["Neil Young Archives Vol. I (1963–1972)"]. Young won the latter Grammy Award. In 2010, Young was ranked #26 in Gibson.com’s Top 50 Guitarists of All Time.

Juno Awards

{|class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Category ! Nominated work ! Result |- | 2008 || Adult Alternative Album of the Year || Chrome Dreams II || |- | 2007 || Adult Alternative Album of the Year || Living With War || |- | rowspan=3 | 2006 || Adult Alternative Album of the Year || Prairie Wind || |- | Jack Richardson Producer of the Year || "The Painter" || |- | Songwriter of the Year || "The Painter", "When God Made Me", "Prairie Wind" || |- | rowspan=2 | 2001 || Best Male Artist || Neil Young || |- | Best Roots & Traditional Album - Solo || Silver & Gold || |- | 1997 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | rowspan=2 | 1996 || Best Rock Album || Mirror Ball || |- | Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | rowspan=3 | 1995 || Songwriter of the Year || Neil Young || |- | Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | Entertainer of the Year || Neil Young || |- | rowspan=2 | 1994 || Single of the Year || "Harvest Moon" || |- | Album of the Year || Harvest Moon || |- | rowspan=2 | 1993 || Songwriter of the Year || Neil Young || |- | Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | 1991 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | 1990 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | 1989 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | 1986 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | 1982 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | 1981 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | 1980 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | 1979 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | 1975 || Composer of the Year || Neil Young || |}

Instruments

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Guitars

In 2003, Rolling Stone listed Young as eighty-third in its ranking of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time", describing him as a "restless experimenter...who transform[s] the most obvious music into something revelatory." Young is a collector of second-hand guitars, but in recording and performing, he frequently uses just a few instruments, as is explained by his longtime guitar technician Larry Cragg in the film . They include:

1953 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop. Nicknamed "Old Black", this is Young's primary electric guitar and is featured on Rust Never Sleeps and other albums. Old Black got its name from an amateur paintjob applied to the originally gold body of the instrument, sometime before Neil acquired the guitar in the late 1960s. In 1972, a mini humbucker pickup from a Gibson Firebird was installed in the lead/treble position. This pickup, severely microphonic, is considered a crucial component of Neil's sound. A Bigsby vibrato tailpiece was installed as early as 1969, and can be heard during the opening of "Cowgirl in the Sand" from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere.

Martin D-45. His primary steel-string acoustic guitar, used to write "Old Man" and many other songs. It was one of four instruments bought by Stephen Stills for himself and his band-mates in CSNY in order to celebrate their first full concert at the Greek Theater in 1969.

Martin D-28. Nicknamed "Hank" after its previous owner, Hank Williams. Hank Williams, Jr., had traded it for some shotguns; it went through a succession of other owners until it was located by Young's longtime friend Grant Boatwright. The guitar was purchased by Young from Tut Taylor. Young has toured with it for over 30 years. A story about the guitar and the song it inspired, "This Old Guitar," can be seen about 50 minutes into the film . It is Young's primary guitar for Prairie Wind.

Vintage Martin D-18: Young used an old D-18 throughout his early days performing in coffee houses in Canada and on some early Buffalo Springfield work, before he received the D-45 from Stills. The guitar has often been used to carry "dropped standard tuning" (DGCFAD) which Young often uses in concert. This allowed him to perform songs such as "Ambulance Blues" and "Don't let it Bring You Down" live without having to tune all 6 strings onstage.

Other notable (or odd) instruments played by Young include:

On CMT live he is shown playing with Phish in which he plays a Languedoc G2

Vagabond Travel Guitar, used for "Let's Impeach the President" on The Colbert Report.

Taylor 855 12-string, used in the first half of Rust Never Sleeps.

1927 Gibson Mastertone, a six-string banjo tuned like a guitar, used on many recordings and played by James Taylor on "Old Man."

Gretsch 6120 (Chet Atkins model). Before Young bought Old Black, this was his primary electric guitar during his Buffalo Springfield days.

Gretsch White Falcon. Young purchased a late 1950s model near the end of the Buffalo Springfield era; in 1969 he bought a stereo version of the same vintage guitar from Stephen Stills, and this instrument is featured prominently during Young's early '70s period, and can be heard on tracks like "Ohio," "Southern Man," "Alabama," "Words (Between the Lines of Age)," and "L.A.". It was Young's primary electric guitar during the Harvest era, since Young's deteriorating back condition (eventually fixed with surgery) made playing the much heavier Les Paul difficult. This particular White Falcon is the stereo 6137, in which the signal from the three bass strings is separated from the signal from the three treble strings. Young typically plays this guitar in this stereo mode, sending the separate signals to two different amps, a Fender Deluxe and either a Fender Tremolux or a low-powered Tweed Fender Twin. The separation of the signals is most prominently heard on the Harvest song "Words."

Gibson Flying V, on the Time Fades Away tour.

Fender Broadcaster, on the Tonight's the Night album and tour.

Amplification

Young uses various vintage Fender Tweed Deluxe amplifiers. His preferred amplifier for electric guitar is the Fender Deluxe, specifically a Tweed-era model from 1959. He purchased his first vintage Deluxe in 1967 for $50 from the drummer of Crazy Horse, Ralph Molina, and has since acquired nearly 450 different examples, all from the same era, but he maintains that it's the original model that sounds superior and is crucial to his trademark sound. The Tweed Deluxe is almost always used in conjunction with a late-1950's Magnatone 280 (similar to the amp used by Lonnie Mack and Buddy Holly). The Magnatone and the Deluxe are paired together in a most unusual manner: the external speaker jack from the Deluxe sends the amped signal through a volume potentiometer and directly into the input of the Magnatone. The Magnatone is notable for its true pitch-bending vibrato capabilities, which can be heard as an electric piano amplifier on "See the Sky About to Rain". A notable and unique accessory to Young's Deluxe is the Whizzer, a device created specifically for Young, which physically changes the amplifier's settings to pre-set combinations. This device is connected to footswitches operable by Young onstage in the manner of an effects pedal.

Discography

:See also the discographies for Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

See also

Music of Canada

Canadian rock

Notes

References

External links

Neil's Garage – Official website

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young official website

Youngtown Rock and Roll Museum – Omemee, Ontario

Review of Crazy Horse at the Fillmore 1970

Sugar Mountain – a compilation of set lists from Neil Young's concert performances

"Neil Young: Don't be Denied", PBS, American Masters, TV documentary, 2009

Category:1945 births Category:Living people

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Arthur Lee Conley (January 4, 1946 – November 17, 2003) was an American soul singer, best known for the 1967 hit, "Sweet Soul Music".

Career

Conley was born in McIntosh County, Georgia and grew up in Atlanta. He first recorded in 1959 as the lead singer of Arthur & the Corvets. With this group, he released three singles in 1963 and 1964 ("Poor Girl", "I Believe", and "Flossie Mae") on the Atlanta based record label, National Recording Company.

In 1964, he moved to a new label (Baltimore's Ru-Jac Records) and released "I'm a Lonely Stranger". When Otis Redding heard this, he asked Conley to record a new version, which was released on Redding's own fledgling label Jotis Records, as only its second release. Conley met Redding in 1967, but after this meeting Redding took Conley under his care, and taught him the finer points of the music industry. Together they re-wrote the Sam Cooke song "Yeah Man" into "Sweet Soul Music", which, at Redding's insistence, was released on the Atco-distributed label Fame Records, and was recorded at FAME studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. It proved to be a massive hit, going to the number two position on the U.S. charts and the Top Ten across much of Europe. "Sweet Soul Music" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.

After several years of singles in the early 1970s, he relocated to England in 1975, and spent several years in Belgium, then settled in Amsterdam, Netherlands in spring 1977. In the beginning of 1980 he had some major performances as Lee Roberts and the Sweaters in the Ganzenhoef, Paradiso, De Melkweg and the Concertgebouw, and was highly successful. At the end of 1980 he moved to the Dutch village of Ruurlo and legally changed his name to Lee Roberts (his middle name and his mother's maiden name). There he occupied himself with promoting new music by means of his Art-Con Productions company. Amongst the bands he promoted was the heavy metal band Shockwave from the Hague. Arthur was also active as a designer of specialized tapestries and furniture.

A live performance on January 8, 1980, featuring Lee Roberts & the Sweaters, was released as an album entitled Soulin' in 1988.

Arthur Conley died after a long battle with intestinal cancer in Ruurlo, Netherlands at the age of 57 in November 2003.

Recordings

"Aunt Dora's Soul Love Shack", 1968

"Burning Fire"

"Baby, What You Want Me To Do"

"Day-O", 1969, Jamaican folk song recorded by Harry Belafonte

"Flossie Mae", 1963, as Arthur & the Corvets

"Funky Street", 1968, #5 R&B;, #14 pop

"God Bless", 1970, Top 40 R&B;

"Ha Ha Ha"

"I Believe", 1963, as Arthur & the Corvets

"I Can't Stop (No, No, No)", 1966, written by Dan Penn

"I Got A Feeling"

"I'm a Lonely Stranger", 1964, solo, re-recorded in 1965

"I'm Living Good", 1971–1974

"It's So Nice [When It's Someone Else's Wife]", 1971–1974

"Is That You Love"

"Let's Go Steady", B-side of "Sweet Soul Music"

"Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", 1968, #51 pop, #41 R&B;, Beatles cover featured guitar of Duane Allman

"One Night Is All I Need"

"Otis Sleep On", 1968

"People Sure Act Funny", 1968, Top 20 R&B;

"Poor Girl", 1963, as Arthur & the Corvets

"Rita", 1971–1974

"Run On", 1968

"Shake, Rattle and Roll", 1967, Top 40 pop, Top 20 R&B;

"Shing-A-Ling"

"Something You Got"

"Speak Her Name", featured guitar of Duane Allman.

"Star Review", 1969, with Tom Dowd, written by Allen Toussaint

"Stuff You Gotta Watch", featured guitar of Duane Allman.

"Sweet Soul Music", 1967, co-written with Otis Redding, #2 R&B;, #2 pop

"Take A Step"

"Take Me (Just as I Am)", 1966-1967(?)

"That Can't Be My Baby"

"Walking on Eggs", 1971–1974

"Who's Foolin' Who", 1966

"Whole Lotta Woman", 1967, #73 pop

"Wholesale Love"

References

Otis Redding's biography contains history of Jotis Records

Answers.com article on Arthur Conley

Arthur Conley Dies

External links

Memorial website (in Dutch) Photos from Arthur's last live performance, 9 June 2002 in Netherlands.

Arthur Conley Sweet Soul Music Home Page w/ CD Liner Notes, Discography and Latest Releases

Yoni's Home of Soul Music page on Conley, w/ info about unreleased tracks

Find-A-Grave profile for Arthur Conley

Category:1946 births Category:2003 deaths Category:1960s singers Category:1970s singers Category:1980s singers Category:American soul musicians Category:American male singers Category:African American singers Category:American expatriates in Belgium Category:American expatriates in the Netherlands Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:Deaths from colorectal cancer Category:Cancer deaths in the Netherlands Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:People from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia