Greatest is a title, similar to Greatest Hits, used by several musical artists:

• Greatest!, a 1959 album by Johnny Cash
• Bee Gees Greatest, a 1979 album
• Greatest (The Go-Go's album), a 1990 album
• Greatest (Duran Duran album), a 1998 album

See also[link]

• Greatness, a concept of superiority

• Greatest, a technique in ultimate frisbee.

• The Greatest - disambiguation page.

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Charlyn Marie Marshall (born January 21, 1972), also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands. Over a twenty year career she has produced eight studio albums, one live album and two EPs.

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Marshall loved soul, rock 'n' roll and country music from childhood and began to play guitar in experimental bands with friends in her early adult years. After a move to New York at age 20, Marshall recorded two lo-fi, improvised solo albums, Dear Sir (1995) and Myra Lee (1996), collaborating with Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley. Cat Power then signed to Matador Records to release her third, more focused album, What Would the Community Think? (1996), which united her with notable indie musicians. She followed with Moon Pix (1998) and The Covers Record (2000), receiving notice for her spare, intense originals and radically stripped down takes on folk songs and familiar songs. You Are Free (2003) was more structured indie rock and brought Cat Power wider attention. Marshall followed it up with the one-take performance film, Speaking for Trees (2004), filmed in a forest. The Greatest (2006), in which she worked with classic R&B and gospel musicians, was her most recent collection of original songs, and her best-selling. A second covers collection, Jukebox (2008), with a horn-led backing band, is her most recent album.

Marshall has been praised for her soulful vocals and raw, minimalist guitar playing. Cat Power's concert appearances were unconventional and unpredictable for many years, and critics often called her an erratic live act. Marshall faced substance abuse problems which she said affected her performances, and recently her act has been notably more polished, although her musical style has also changed significantly. Marshall has also done modelling work. She has been photographed by notable fashion photographers and in 2006 became a spokesperson for Chanel. She has appeared in three films, including Wong Kar-Wai's My Blueberry Nights (2007).

Early life[link]

Chan Marshall was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Marshall's father, Charlie, is a blues musician and pianist. Her parents divorced when she was a child and were reconciled at a later date. Her mother remarried to another man, the family travelling around a lot because of her stepfather's job. Marshall attended 10 different schools throughout the Southern United States in places such as Greensboro; Barlett and Memphis and throughout Georgia and South Carolina. At times she was left with her grandmother. In interviews she stated that the constant traveling prepared her for the touring life of a professional musician. She was not allowed to buy records when she was growing up, but she listened to her stepfather's record collection which included such artists as Otis Redding, Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Rolling Stones.^[1]

Marshall became estranged from her mother at 16 at the same time she dropped out of high school, having no contact with her until she was 24 and says they are still not close. She went back to live with her father in Atlanta but only stayed with him until she was 18, when she moved out. Marshall claims he never taught her any music, forbidding her to play his piano. Her first instrument was a 1950s Silvertone guitar, which she did not touch for a year after buying it, because “It was art in the corner.”^[2]

After leaving home, she started playing in Atlanta with a collective of musicians made up of Glen Thrasher, Marc Moore, Damon Moore and Fletcher Liegerot, who would get together for jam sessions in a basement. The group were booked for a show and had to come up with a name quickly, when a man walked through the door of the pizzeria where Marshall worked, wearing a Caterpillar trucker cap that read: "Cat Diesel Power". Marshall immediately decided on Cat Power as the name of the band.^[3] While in Atlanta, Marshall played her first live shows as support to her friends' bands, including Magic Bone and Opal Foxx Quartet. Due to her close relationships with the various people involved, she has stated that her involvement in music at this time was primarily a social interest rather than an artistic one. She also stated in a 2007 interview for Soft Focus^[4] that the music itself was more experimental and that playing shows was often an opportunity for her and her friends to get drunk and take drugs.

Career[link]

Early work (1992–1996)[link]

In 1992 she moved to New York City with Glen Thrasher. It was Thrasher who introduced her to New York's free-jazz and experimental music scene. In particular she cites a concert by Anthony Braxton with giving her the confidence to perform in public. Her first New York show was at a warehouse in Brooklyn and she has described her early New York shows as "more improvisational."^[5] One of her shows during this period was as the support act to Man or Astro-man? and consisted of her playing a two-string guitar and singing the word "no" for fifteen minutes.^[6] Around this time she made the acquaintance of God Is My Co-Pilot, a relationship that resulted in them releasing her first single "Headlights" in a limited run of 500 copies on their Making of Americans label.

In 1994 she opened for Liz Phair in New York. In attendance were Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth and Tim Foljahn of Two Dollar Guitar, who encouraged her to record, and played on her first two albums, 1995's Dear Sir and 1996's Myra Lee, the latter taking its name from Marshall's mother. Both albums were recorded in New York on the same day in December 1994 and display a lack of conventional song structures.

Matador records and hiatus (1996–2002)[link]

Cat Power performing in Toronto in September 2006

In 1996 she was signed to Matador Records and, along with Foljahn and Shelley, recorded her third album, What Would the Community Think, which spawned a single and music video, "Nude as the News". In 1998 Marshall released Moon Pix, composed of new songs that resulted from a sleepless night resulting from a nightmare whilst she was living at a farmhouse in Prosperity, South Carolina. The record was recorded at Sing Sing Studios in Melbourne in eleven days with backing musicians Mick Turner and Jim White of the Dirty Three.^[7] The album was well received by critics, and gained her recognition in the indie rock scene. In late 1996, Cat Power completed a three-month tour co-headlining with the band Guv'ner in support of the release of What Would the Community Think.

By 2000 Marshall stated that she had grown tired of touring her own material. This resulted in a series of shows during 1999 where Marshall provided musical accompaniment to the silent movie The Passion of Joan of Arc. The shows combined original material and many covers, many of which would later see release on The Covers Record. The Covers Record was a collection of cover songs by Marshall recorded at various sessions in 1998 and 1999. A selection of covers that didn't make it on to the album were recorded at Peel Acres, home of the British DJ John Peel. The session was broadcast on his BBC Radio 1 show and featured Marshall's own interpretations of Bob Dylan's "Hard Times in New York Town" and Oasis's "Wonderwall", amongst others. Her contract with Matador for 2000's The Covers Album reportedly consisted of a Post-it note signed by herself and the company's founder.^[8]

Reemergence (2003–2006)[link]

In 2003 after a long gap Marshall resumed releasing original material with You Are Free, which featured guest musicians such as Eddie Vedder, Dave Grohl, and the Dirty Three's Warren Ellis. A music video directed by Brett Vapnek was released for the song "He War." Marshall toured extensively through 2003 and 2004 on a tour that covered Europe, Brazil, the US and Australia.^[9]

Marshall toured through 2005, including an Australian tour supporting Nick Cave and an appearance at the Patti Smith-curated Meltdown festival. The shows largely consisted of material that would appear on her next album.

The Greatest was released in January 2006. This was not a greatest hits record but rather the Matador Records-arranged collaboration with Al Green's guitarist Teenie Hodges and other musicians. She returned to live performance in April 2006, playing with the Memphis Rhythm Band and as a solo performer, including a performance at a Bob Dylan tribute concert in New York, a fund raiser for the charity Music for Youth.

[edit] New band, Jukebox and recent activity (2007–present)

Marshall put together a new band in late 2006 with whom she toured and recorded throughout 2007. The Dirty Delta Blues Band features Judah Bauer (from Blues Explosion), Gregg Foreman (The Delta 72), Erik Paparazzi (Lizard Music), and Jim White (from Dirty Three). The Dirty Delta Blues band recorded an album of covers called Jukebox which was released on January 22, 2008, on Matador Records. On December 9, 2008, an EP entitled Dark End of the Street was released by Matador. The release consists of left-over cover songs from the Jukebox sessions.^[10]

In a January 2011 interview, Marshall hinted that new material may not see release until as late as summer 2012, stating "I would like to continue what I'm doing [professionally], but I'd also like to not divert from what I've been creating in my personal life. I don't wanna jeopardize being a mom by working. Because in my work, I have to 'go', y'know?"^[11]

Marshall released a new version of What Would the Community Think? album track "King Rides By" for download from her official website on December 25, 2011, with all proceeds from sales of the track being donated to The Festival of Children Foundation and The Ali Forney Center.^[12] A music video directed by Giovanni Ribisi and featuring Filipino boxer and politician Manny Pacquiao was released to promote the song.^[13] In February 2012, Marshall cancelled a scheduled appearance in Tel Aviv, Israel, citing "much confusion" and "[feeling] sick in [her] spirit." She had faced calls to boycott the Jewish state over its conflict with Palestine.^[14] Two months later, she cancelled her appearance at the Coachella Music Festival, claiming that she "didn't think it was fair to play Coachella while my new album is not yet finished," also hinting that her forthcoming record is "almost done" and will see release later in 2012.^[15]

In April 2012, it was announced that Marshall's new LP, entitled Sun will be released on September 10, 2012 in the UK.^[16]

Collaborations and contributions[link]

Around this time, Marshall collaborated with Mick Collins (of The Dirtbombs) on a recording of Ludwig Rellstab's poem "Auf Dem Strom" for the film Wayne County Ramblin'.^[17] Marshall sang the poem in German, though she does not speak the language. Since returning to the stage Marshall has contributed guest vocals to several albums. She performed a duet with model Karen Elson on an English cover of Serge Gainsbourg's "Je t'aime... moi non plus" for the tribute album Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited. She also sang lead vocal on the Ensemble track "Disown, Delete" and reworked "Revelations" with Yoko Ono for Ono's 2007 album Yes, I'm a Witch. She also performed guest vocals for Faithless and El-P. She also duets on the Dexter Romweber Duo song "Love Letters". In 2007, Marshall contributed songs to the soundtrack of Ethan Hawke's movie The Hottest State, recording with Jesse Harris and Terry Manning, and the Academy Award-winning film Juno. In early 2008, she collaborated with Beck and producer Danger Mouse on the album Modern Guilt. She contributed backing vocals to two tracks, "Orphans" and "Walls". The album was released in July of that year.^[18] Chan Marshall provides backup vocals on Marianne Faithfull's cover of "Hold On, Hold On" by Neko Case on the 2009 album Easy Come Easy Go. In 2011 she also featured as guest on "Tonight You Belong To Me" on Eddie Vedder's Ukulele Songs.^[19]

Other work[link]

Fashion[link]

Cat Power sporting her signature "neo grunge" look at a concert in 2009.

In the early 2000s Marshall was embraced by the fashion industry for her "neo grunge" look, and seen as a muse by designers such as Marc Jacobs and Nicolas Ghesquière. She was invited to many high profile fashion shows. In 2001 she modelled in New York Magazine's Fall fashion issue and was photographed by her friends Mark Borthwick and Terry Richardson, who featured her in Purple Magazine alongside Catherine Deneuve.^[20]

In October 2006 she became the celebrity spokesperson for a line of jewelry from Chanel, after being seen by Karl Lagerfeld smoking a cigarette outside the Mercer Hotel in New York. Lagerfeld chose Cat Power for the soundtrack to his Spring 2007 fashion show. He also photographed Marshall for a purple magazine feature.^[21]

Advertising[link]

In 2007 Marshall's voice could be heard in commercials for Cingular^[22] and De Beers^[23] in the United States and Garnier in the United Kingdom. Previously Marshall had done advertisements for GAP. In September 2008, Marshall and members of the Dirty Delta Blues (Erik Paparazzi & Gregg Foreman) recorded their version of David Bowie's Space Oddity for a Lincoln car commercial.^[24]

Film work[link]

2004 saw the release of the DVD Speaking for Trees, which featured a continuous, nearly 2-hour static shot of Marshall performing in a woodland. The set was accompanied by an audio CD containing the eighteen-minute song "Willie Deadwilder," featuring M. Ward on guitar. She had a small role in the 2007 film My Blueberry Nights opposite Jude Law.^[25] She also appeared in Doug Aitken's MOMA installation Sleepwalkers,^[26] which followed the nocturnal lives of five city dwellers. Marshall can be seen as a postal worker living in New York, performing with other notable participants such as Tilda Swinton.

Charity work[link]

A live version of the gospel song "Amazing Grace"—culled from a performance with the Dirty Delta Blues band—was released on the charity compilation Dark Was the Night. Released by independent British label 4AD on February 17, 2009, the set benefited the Red Hot Organization, an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS.

Performance style[link]

Cat Power performing in May 2008

Marshall’s live shows have been known for their unpolished nature, with songs beginning and ending abruptly or blending into one another without clear transitions. She has also cut short performances without explanation.^[27] On some occasions this has been attributed to stage fright^[28] and the influence of alcohol.

Recently, Marshall's performance style has been said to be much more enthusiastic and professional. An article in Salon^[29] called The Greatest "polished and sweetly upbeat", stating that Marshall was "delivering onstage". In the article, Marshall states that her newfound musical collaborators and sobriety are largely responsible for her increased confidence onstage.

Awards[link]

Also in 2006, she became the first female solo act to win the Shortlist Music Prize when The Greatest was voted album of the year in June.^[30] Earlier in the year she was nominated in the Best International Female Solo Artist category at the annual BRIT Awards.^[31]

Marshall was featured in Maxim's Hot 100 women of 2009, she was placed at number 19.^[32]

Personal life[link]

In 1992, Marshall moved into a New York apartment which she maintains to this day, only paying $160 a month in rent. Around 2003 she bought a house in South Beach, Miami from a high school friend.^[33] In 2009 Marshall moved to Los Angeles to share a house in Silver Lake, California with her boyfriend. They also have a rental house in Malibu where she has a studio.^[34]

Relationships[link]

When Marshall was working as a waitress in Atlanta her boyfriend died, causing her to have a breakdown. She says this coupled with the prevalence of heroin use amongst her friends and the loss of her best friend to AIDS was the impetus for her moving to New York. Her boyfriend in New York helped her get a job in a restaurant, but she realised he was having an affair with the owner, a married woman with two children.^[9]

In late 1996, following a three-month tour co-headlining with the band Guv'ner, Marshall disappeared from the music scene, initially working as a baby sitter in Portland, Oregon and then moving to a farmhouse in Prosperity, South Carolina with then boyfriend Bill Callahan. The plan was to permanently retire from public performance but during a sleepless night resulting from a nightmare, Marshall wrote several new songs and returned to recording.

In 2001 Marshall was romantically involved with a runway model named Daniel, who was seven years younger than her. He left her in 2003 at a time when her drink and drug use was out of control. Marshall referred to him as “the ex-love of my life”.^[35] Following the release of "The Greatest", Marshall cancelled previously arranged live shows in North America and Europe. She was struggling with a relationship with a young Miami investment banker.^[36]

According to an interview in January 2011, Marshall has been in a relationship with actor Giovanni Ribisi since 2009 and lives with Ribisi and his 14 year old daughter in L.A..^[34]

Alcohol and mental health difficulties[link]

By the turn of the century, Marshall's live performances had become erratic and unpredictable, with The New Yorker suggesting, "It is foolhardy to describe a Cat Power event as a concert," citing "rambling confessions" and "[talking] to a friend's baby from the stage."^[37] Marshall later attributed this period to a drinking problem, telling HARP magazine in 2006 "I didn't know I was messed up."^[36] Marshall has admitted abusing alcohol in the past; in a 2006 interview with The New York Times, she declared herself to be sober, which she defined as having had "seven drinks in seven months."^[38]

Following the cancellation of the arranged tour of "The Greatest" album in 2006, Marshall used the hiatus to recover from what she described as a "psychotic break," brought on by mental exhaustion and alcohol abuse, which had left her feeling suicidal. As part of her recovery, she was admitted to the psychiatric ward at Miami's Mount Sinai Medical Center but left after a week, stating "being in there wasn't me." She later likened the experience to "a pit of hell."^[36] Marshall gave a first person account of her breakdown in an interview for the November 2006 issue of Spin.^[39]

Discography[link]

• Dear Sir (1995)
• Myra Lee (1996)
• What Would the Community Think (1996)
• Moon Pix (1998)
• The Covers Record (2000)
• You Are Free (2003)
• The Greatest (2006)
• Jukebox (2008)
• Sun (2012)^[16]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

This article uses bare URLs for citations. Please consider adding full citations so that the article remains verifiable. Several templates and the Reflinks tool are available to assist in formatting. (Reflinks documentation) (March 2012)

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Cat Power

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cat Power

• Official website
• Cat Power at the Internet Movie Database
• A Cat Power fan community

The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History is a 1978 book by Michael H. Hart, reprinted in 1992 with revisions. It is a ranking of the 100 people who, according to Hart, most influenced human history.^[1]

The first person on Hart's list is the Prophet of Islam Muhammad.^[2] Hart asserted that Muhammad was "supremely successful" in both the religious and secular realms. He also believed that Muhammad's role in the development of Islam was far more influential than Jesus' collaboration in the development of Christianity. He attributes the development of Christianity to St. Paul, who played a pivotal role in its dissemination."^[3]

The 1992 revisions included the demotion of figures associated with Communism, such as Vladimir Lenin and Mao Zedong, and the introduction of Mikhail Gorbachev. Hart took sides in the Shakespearean authorship issue and substituted Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford for William Shakespeare. Hart also substituted Niels Bohr and Henri Becquerel with Ernest Rutherford, thus correcting an error in the first edition. Henry Ford was also promoted from the "Honorary Mentions" list, replacing Pablo Picasso. Finally, some of the rankings were re-ordered, although no one listed in the top ten changed position.

Hart wrote another book in 1999, entitled A View from the Year 3000,^[4] voiced in the perspective of a person from that future year and ranking the most influential people in history. Roughly half of those entries are fictional people from 2000–3000, but the remainder are actual people. These were taken mostly from the 1992 edition, with some re-ranking of order.

Hart's Top 10 (from the 1992 edition)[link]

Rank	Name	Time Frame	Image	Occupation	Influence
1	Muhammad	c. 570–632		Secular and religious leader	The central human figure of Islam, regarded by Muslims as a prophet of God and the last messenger. Active as a social reformer, diplomat, merchant, philosopher, orator, legislator, military leader, humanitarian, philanthropist.
2	Isaac Newton	1643–1727		Scientist	English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian. His law of universal gravitation and three laws of motion laid the groundwork for classical mechanics.
3	Jesus Christ	7–2 BC – 26–36 AD		Spiritual leader	The central figure of Christianity, revered by Christians as the Son of God and the incarnation of God.
4	Buddha	563–483 BC		Spiritual leader	Spiritual teacher and philosopher from ancient India. Founder of Buddhism and is also considered an Gautama Buddha in Hinduism.
5	Confucius	551–479 BC		Philosopher	Chinese thinker and social philosopher, whose teachings and philosophy have deeply influenced Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese and Indonesian thought and life. Founded Confucianism, and influenced Neo-Confucianism and New Confucianism.
6	St. Paul	5–67 AD		Christian apostle	One of the most notable of early Christian missionaries, credited with proselytizing and spreading Christianity outside of Palestine (mainly to the Romans) and author of numerous letters of the New Testament of the Bible.
7	Cài Lún	50–121 AD		Political official in imperial China	Widely regarded as the inventor of paper and the papermaking process.
8	Johannes Gutenberg	1398–1468		Inventor	German printer who invented the mechanical printing press.
9	Christopher Columbus	1451–1506	70px	Explorer	Italian navigator, colonizer and explorer whose voyages led to general European awareness of the American continents.
10	Albert Einstein	1879–1955		Scientist	German theoretical physicist, best known for his theory of relativity and specifically mass–energy equivalence, expressed by the equation E = mc2.

See also[link]

• Time 100

References[link]

1. ^ Michael H. Hart The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History. first published in 1978, reprinted with minor revisions 1992. ISBN 978-0-8065-1068-2
2. ^ The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History^{[dead link]}
3. ^ Michael H. Hart, "The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History", Citadel Publishing, 2000, ISBN 978-0-8065-1350-8
4. ^ Michael H. Hart. A view from the year 3000: a ranking of the 100 most influential persons of all time; first published in 1999

External links[link]

• Religious Affiliation of History's 100 Most Influential People

Jools Holland
Holland at the British Academy Television Awards 2009
Background information
Birth name	Julian Miles Holland
Born	(1958-01-24) 24 January 1958 (age 54) Blackheath, London, England
Genres	Boogie-woogie, jazz, blues, R&B
Occupations	Musician, composer, television presenter, bandleader
Instruments	Piano, keyboard, guitar
Years active	1974–present
Associated acts	Squeeze Rhythm & Blues Orchestra
Website	Official site

Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze (1974-1980 & 1985-1990) and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, David Gilmour, Magazine and Bono.

Holland is a published author and appears on television shows besides his own and contributes to radio shows. In 2004, he collaborated with Tom Jones on an album of traditional R&B music. He currently hosts Later... with Jools Holland, a music-based show aired on BBC2, on which his annual show Hootenanny, is based.^[1]

Life and career[link]

His great grandfather came from Ireland.^[2]

Holland played as a session musician before finding fame, and his first studio session was with Wayne County & the Electric Chairs in 1976 on their track "F*ck Off."^[3]

Holland was a founding member of the British pop band Squeeze, formed in March 1974, in which he played keyboards until 1981 and helped the band to achieve millions of record sales, before pursuing his solo career.^[3]

Holland began issuing solo records in 1978, his first EP being Boogie Woogie '78. He continued his solo career through the early 1980s, releasing an album and several singles between 1981 and 1984. He branched out into TV, co-presenting the Newcastle-based TV music show The Tube with Paula Yates. Holland achieved notoriety by inadvertently using the phrase "groovy fuckers" in a live, early evening TV trailer for the show, causing it to be suspended for six weeks.^[4] He referred to this in his sitcom "The Groovy Fellers" with Rowland Rivron.

Holland at the Tsunami Relief concert in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, 22 January 2005

In 1983 Holland played an extended piano solo on The The's re-recording of "Uncertain Smile" for the album Soul Mining. In 1985, Squeeze (which had continued in Holland's absence through to 1982) unexpectedly regrouped including Jools Holland as their keyboard player. Holland remained in the band until 1990, at which point, he again departed Squeeze on amicable terms to resume his solo career as a musician and a TV host.

In 1987, Holland formed The Jools Holland Big Band which consisted of himself and Gilson Lavis from Squeeze. This gradually became his 18-piece Rhythm & Blues Orchestra.^[3]

Between 1988 and 1990 he performed and co-hosted along with David Sanborn during the two seasons of the music performance program Sunday Night on NBC late-night television.^[5] Since 1992 he has presented the music program Later... with Jools Holland, plus an annual New Year's Eve Hootenanny.

In 1996, Holland signed a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records,^[3] and his records are now marketed through Rhino Records.

Holland has a touring band, The Rhythm And Blues Orchestra, which often includes singers Sam Brown and Ruby Turner. In January 2005 Holland and his band performed with Eric Clapton as the headline act of the Tsunami Relief Cardiff.

Personal[link]

Holland lives in the Westcombe Park area of Blackheath in South East London, where he had his studio, Helicon Mountain, built to his design, inspired by Portmeirion, the setting for the 1960s TV series The Prisoner.^[6] Holland owns costumes and props from the series and occasionally appears wearing the trademark brown-with-white-pipe blazer featured in the series. In 1987, Holland demonstrated his love of the series and starred in a spoof documentary, The Laughing Prisoner, with Stephen Fry, Terence Alexander and Hugh Laurie.^[6] Much of it was shot on location in Portmeirion, with archive footage of Patrick McGoohan, and featuring musical numbers from Siouxsie and the Banshees, Magnum and XTC. Holland performed a number towards the end of the program. His younger brother, Christopher, also plays organ in the Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, as well as being a singer-songwriter.

Holland was an interviewer for The Beatles Anthology TV project, and appeared in the 1997 film Spiceworld as a musical director.

He received an OBE in 2003 in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, for services to the British music industry as a television presenter and musician. In September 2006 Holland was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Kent.^[7] He is also known for his charity work: in June 2006 he performed in Southend for HIV/AIDS charity Mildmay,^[8] and in early 2007 he performed at Wells and Rochester Cathedrals to raise money for maintaining cathedral buildings.^[9] He is also patron of the Drake Music Project^[10] and has raised many thousands of pounds for the charity.

Holland was appointed an Honorary Fellow of Canterbury Christ Church University at a ceremony held at Canterbury Cathedral on 30 January 2009.^[11]

On 29 August 2005 Holland married Christabel McEwen, his girlfriend of 15 years (between 1983 and 1995 she had been married to Edward Lambton, 7th Earl of Durham, before they divorced). The wedding, at St James's Church, Cooling near Rochester, was attended by many celebrities, including Ringo Starr, Robbie Coltrane, Stephen Fry, Lenny Henry, Noel Gallagher, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.^[12]

Holland is also a patron for The Milton Rooms, an Arts centre in Malton, North Yorkshire, along with Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Kathy Burke.^[13]

Writing[link]

His 2007 biography, Barefaced Lies and Boogie Woogie Boasts was BBC Radio 4 "Book of the Week" in the week beginning 8 October 2007 and was read by Holland. He is the author or joint author of four other books.

Discography[link]

Albums that have charted and gained Certifications[link]

Releases[link]

• 1978 "Boogie Woogie '78" (EP)
• 1981 Jools Holland and His Millionaires
• 1984 Jools Holland Meets Rock 'A' Boogie Billy (U.S. release only)
• 1990 World Of His Own
• 1991 The Full Complement
• 1992 "Together Again" (single with Sam Brown)
• 1992 The A-Z Geographer's Guide To The Piano
• 1994 Solo Piano
• 1994 Live Performance
• 1996 " Jazz & Rock & Roll
• 1997 Lift The Lid
• 1998 Best Of
• 1999 Sunset Over London
• 2000 Hop The Wag
• 2001 Small World Big Band
• 2002 SWBB Volume Two: More Friends
• 2003 Jack O The Green (SWBB Friends 3)
• 2004 Tom Jones & Jools Holland
• 2005 Beatroute
• 2005 Swinging the Blues, Dancing the Ska
• 2006 Moving Out To The Country
• 2007 Best of Friends
• 2008 The Collection
• 2008 The Informer (With Ruby Turner)
• 2008 "The Informer" (single with Ruby Turner)
• 2009 "I Went By" (single with Louise Marshall)
• 2010 Rockinghorse

Film and television[link]

• 1981 Urgh! A Music War
• 1982 Police: Around the World
• 1982 - 1987 The Tube (Host for 121 editions)
• 1983 Rebellious Jukebox: Compere
• 1984 The Young Ones: Punk (Episode entitled "Summer Holiday")
• 1985 Walking To New Orleans (Jools Holland in New Orleans)
• 1987 Eat the Rich: Sun Reporter
• 1987 Filthy Rich & Catflap: Strip Show Pianist (Episode #1.3)
• 1987 The Laughing Prisoner: No. 7
• 1987 French and Saunders (Episode 1.5)
• 1988 Sunday Night: Host (unknown episodes)
• 1989 Juke Box Jury: Host (unknown episodes)
• 1989 The Groovy Fellers Himself, 6 episodes
• 1991 Mr Roadrunner (Jools Holland in Memphis)
• 1994 There's No Business: Pianist
• 1994 - 1995 Don't Forget Your Toothbrush
• 1995 The Beatles Anthology
• 1997 Spice World: Musical Director
• 1997 Name That Tune: Host and Pianist
• 2003 Jool's History of the Piano : Presenter
• 2006 Top Gear: Star in a reasonably priced car.
• 2007 Fairport@Forty: Interview
• 2009 Chop Shop Rover Concept: The Jet 1 Car : Customer

Current television programmes[link]

• 1992–present Later... with Jools Holland
• 1993–present Hootenanny

Books[link]

• "Rolling Stones": A Life on the Road, (with Dora Loewenstein), Viking/Allen Lane (1998), (ISBN 0-670-88051-5)
• Beat Route: Journeys Through Six Counties, Weidenfeld & Nicholson (1998), (ISBN 0-575-06700-4)
• Ray Charles: Man and Music, (with Michael Lydon), Payback Press (1999), (ISBN 0-86241-929-8)
• Hand That Changed Its Mind , International Music Publications (2007), (ISBN 1-84328-645-9)
• Barefaced Lies and Boogie-woogie Boasts , Michael Joseph Ltd (2007), (ISBN 0-7181-4915-7)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Jools Holland at the Internet Movie Database
• Jools Holland's Radio 2 show at BBC Programmes
• Later...with Jools Holland at BBC Online

"The Greatest Generation" is a term coined by journalist Tom Brokaw to describe the generation^[1] who grew up in the United States during the deprivation of the Great Depression, and then went on to fight in World War II, as well as those whose productivity within the war's home front made a decisive material contribution to the war effort. The generation is sometimes referred to as the G.I. Generation (a term coined by authors William Strauss and Neil Howe who are known for their generational theory).^[2] It follows the Lost Generation who fought in World War I and precedes the Silent Generation who did not come of age until near the end of the war. Baby boomers are mostly the children of the Greatest Generation, although some are also silent generation. Their grandchildren are mostly of Generation X and Generation Y. The youngest members of the Greatest Generation may have Generation Z grandchildren.

The Greatest Generation is generally agreed to have begun in 1901, as those people would have turned 18 after World War I ended. However, people born from 1901-1909 came of age during the 1920s and identified more with the culture of that decade than the 1930s and 1940s. The core of the Greatest Generation consists of those born in 1914-1924, with 1925-1927 forming a bridge to the Silent Generation.

Most Greatest Generation members were the children of the Lost Generation (which spanned 1883-1900). Their children are generally Baby Boomers or Silent Generation.

Tom Brokaw's book[link]

Broadcast journalist Tom Brokaw wrote in his 1998 book The Greatest Generation, "it is, I believe, the greatest generation any society has ever produced."^[3] He argued that these men and women fought not for fame and recognition, but because it was the right thing to do. When they came back they rebuilt America into a superpower." The book was a great popular success.^[4] Some critics and historians found the phenomenon overblown, or simplistic.^[5][6] Others felt an implied criticism of the Baby Boom Generation, and defended that generation's social values against those of the Greatest Generation.^[7]

In their 1992 book Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069, the historians William Strauss and Neil Howe define the "G.I. Generation" as the cohorts born in the United States from 1901 through 1924. This generation came of age during the Great Depression and World War II. ^[2]

Recently, criticism is being directed at the Greatest Generation for United States war crimes during World War II, such as American mutilation of Japanese war dead, as well as raising the Baby Boom generation poorly. The Baby Boom Generation is now, in some circles, being characterized as the most selfish generation in United States history. They are also being blamed for the financial and political turmoil taking place globally.^[8][9][10]

Famous Members[link]

• Creighton Abrams: (1914–1974), veteran of World War II, Korean War and general in the United States Army commanding military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968–72.
• Joseph Barbera: (1911-2006) American animator, co-founder of Hanna-Barbera Productions
• Saul Bellow: (1915–2005) Canadian/American author, winner of 1976 Nobel Prize in Literature
• Leonard Bernstein: (1918–1990) American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist
• Don Bradman: (1908-2001) "The Don", an Australian cricketer and widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time.
• David Brinkley: (1920-2003), NBC News reporter and anchor
• Lenny Bruce: (1925–1966) American humorist and social critic
• William S. Burroughs: (1914–1997) American author
• George H.W. Bush: (b. 1924), 41st President of the United States
• Joseph Campbell: (1904–1987) American mythologist, writer and lecturer
• Jimmy Carter (b. 1924) 39th President of the United States, winner of 2002 Nobel Peace Prize
• Julia Child: (1912–2004) American chef, author and television personality.
• Lynn "Buck" Compton: (1921-2012), World War II Veteran of the 101st Airborne, famous for his portrayal in the Band of Brothers and for his prosecution of Sirhan Sirhan.
• Walter Cronkite: (1916–2009), reporter for CBS News from 1951 to 1997, one of eight journalists selected by the United States Army Air Forces to fly bombing raids over Germany in a B-17 Flying Fortress
• Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.: (1912–2002), United States Air Force General and commander of the World War II Tuskegee Airmen
• Joe DiMaggio: (1914–1999), famous player for the New York Yankees
• Eugene B. Fluckey: (1913–2007), United States Navy submarine commander who received the Medal of Honor during World War II
• Margot Fonteyn: (1919-1991) British prima ballerina assoluta
• Gerald Ford: (1913–2006) 38th President of the United States
• Joe Foss: (1915–2003), World War II USMC fighter ace, Governor of South Dakota, featured prominently in Brokaw's book
• Friz Freleng: (1905-1995), American animator
• Betty Friedan: (1921–2006) American writer, activist, and feminist
• John Glenn: (b. 1921) Marine Corps fighter pilot, Mercury astronaut, U.S. Senator from Ohio
• Billy Graham: (b. 1918), televangelist
• Woody Guthrie: (1912–1967), American musician and author
• William Hanna: (1910-2001), American animator
• Daniel Inouye: (b. 1924), third longest-serving US Senator in history, officer in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team
• Lyndon B. Johnson: (1908–1973) 36th President Of the United States
• Chuck Jones: (1912-2002), American Animator
• Howard Keel: (1919–2004), American actor
• John F. Kennedy: (1917–1963), 35th President of the United States
• Jack Kerouac: (1922–1969), American author
• Henry Kissinger: (b. 1923) American political scientist and diplomat. 1973 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
• Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya: (1923-1941) Soviet partisan and revered person.
• Timothy Leary: (1921–1996) American psychologist and writer. Advocated advanced research into the therapeutic benefits of psychedelic drugs.
• Norman Mailer: (1923–2007) American author
• Thurgood Marshall:(1908–1991) American civil rights attorney and Associate Justice Of the United State Supreme Court
• Lee Marvin:(1924-1987) American Academy Award Winning Actor and World War II Veteran; Purple Heart recipient
• Bill Mauldin: (1921–2003) American cartoonist and author
• Joseph McCarthy: (1908–1957) United States Senator, anti-Communist crusader
• George McGovern: (b. 1922 ), U.S.Senator, Presidential candidate
• Arthur Miller: (1915–2005) American playwright
• Thelonious Monk: (1917–1982) American musician
• Edward R. Murrow: (1908–1965) American broadcast journalist
• Richard Nixon: (1913–1994) 37th President of the United States
• Robin Olds: (1922–2007), American fighter pilot, ace, general officer in the U.S. Air Force and veteran of World War II and Vietnam War.
• J. Robert Oppenheimer: (1904–1967) American theoretical physicist, head of Los Alamos laboratory during the Manhattan project
• Charlie Parker: (1920–1955) American musician
• Maya Plisetskaya: (b 1925) Soviet prima ballerina assoluta
• Jackson Pollock: (1912–1956) American painter, a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement
• Ronald Reagan: (1911–2004), 40th President of the United States
• Jackie Robinson: (1919–1972), American Major League Baseball player, Civil Rights pioneer
• J. D. Salinger: (1919–2010), an author best known for the controversial 1951 novel, The Catcher in the Rye
• Jonas Salk: (1914–1995) American medical researcher and virologist. Developed first safe and effective polio vaccine.
• Sophie Scholl: (1921-1943), Member of the White Rose resistance organisation. Executed by the nazis.
• Charles M. Schulz: (1922–2000), American cartoonist, served with U.S. 20th Armored Division in World War II
• Pete Seeger: (b. 1919) American musician and folklorist
• Eugene Sledge: (1923–2001), United States Marine who served in the Pacific Theater during World War II, specifically Peleliu and Okinawa. He documented his experience in his memoir, With the Old Breed. Certain material from the memoir was used by Ken Burns in his seven-part documentary The War. It was also used by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg in their miniseries The Pacific.
• Jimmy Stewart: (1908-1997), Academy Award-winning actor, enlisted in U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II.
• I.F. Stone: (1907–1989) American independent journalist
• Charles Upham: (1908-1994) New Zealand WW2 war veteran, only combat soldier to have been awarded two VCs.
• Paul Volcker: (b 1927) Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board from August 1979 to August 1987.
• Kurt Vonnegut: (1922–2007) American author
• Muddy Waters (1913–1983), American musician
• Hank Williams (1923–1953) American musician
• Ted Williams: (1915–2002), famous baseball player for Boston Red Sox, fought in World War II and Korean War
• Orson Welles: (1915–1985) American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer
• Jonathan Winters: (b. 1925) American comedian and actor.
• Richard Winters: (b. 1918–2011), World War II veteran of the 101st Airborne Division, famous for his portrayal in Band of Brothers
• Andrew Wyeth: (1917–2009) American realist painter
• Galina Ulanova: (1910-1998) Soviet prima ballerina assoluta
• Chuck Yeager: (b 1923) American pilot, WW2 ace, and first to break the sound barrier
• Howard Zinn: (1922–2010), author and historian famous for his A People's History of the United States
• Jacque Fresco: (1916- present) self educated structural designer, philosopher of science, concept artist, educator, and futurist.
• Carrol Shelby: (1923 - 2012) Hot-Rodder who went on to build innovative sports cars

See also[link]

• Military history of the United States during World War II
• United States home front during World War II
• Great Depression in the United States
• List of generations

Notes[link]

References[link]

• The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw (1998) ISBN 0-375-50202-5 (hardback) ISBN 0-385-33462-1 (paperback), depicts the Americans who came of age during the Great Depression and fought World War II.
• The Greatest Generation Speaks by Tom Brokaw (1999) ISBN 0-375-50394-3 (hardback) ISBN 0-385-33538-5 (paperback)
• The Great Boom 1950–2000: How a Generation of Americans Created the World's Most Prosperous Society by Robert Sobel (2000) ISBN 0-312-20890-1
• Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069 by Strauss and Howe (1991) ISBN 0-688-11912-3

External links[link]

• Booknotes interview with Tom Brokaw on The Greatest Generation, March 7, 1999.
• LifeCourse Associates Generations in Anglo-American History