ALL ABOUT MUSICIAN

Helloween Forever In One

2012-01-02T14:08:00.001-08:00

Violent Soho Love Is A Heavy word

2012-01-02T13:56:00.005-08:00

Muse Hysrteria

2012-01-02T13:56:00.003-08:00

Foo Fighters All My Life

2012-01-02T13:53:00.001-08:00

The Vines Get Free

2012-01-02T13:50:00.003-08:00

Hole Celebrity Skin

2012-01-02T13:48:00.003-08:00

Sonic Youth Kool Thing

2012-01-02T13:47:00.003-08:00

Gruntruck Crazy Love

2012-01-02T13:43:00.001-08:00

Mudhoney Touch Me Im Sick

2012-01-02T13:42:00.003-08:00

Silverchair Freak

2012-01-02T13:41:00.003-08:00

Nirvana Smell Like Teen Spirit

2012-01-02T13:40:00.001-08:00

Andi Deris

2012-01-02T13:22:00.000-08:00

Andi Deris
Andi Deris, lead vocalist of Helloween

Andreas "Andi" Deris (born 18 August 1964 in Karlsruhe, Germany) is the vocalist and the main songwriter for power metal band Helloween,[1] and co-founder and former lead singer of German melodic metal band Pink Cream 69. He has an active solo career, as well as his own recording studio in Tenerife.
Biography

First bands (1979 - 1987)
Andi started to sing in his first band called Paranoid when he was 15. Two years later they changed the band's name to Nameless. In Nameless Deris stayed along with his school friend, drummer Ralf Maurer, who also played on both Andi's solo albums. In late 1984 Andi Deris joined a band called Dragon with the two brothers Bruno and Oscar Di Blasio (Di Blasio BrOs) on guitar and Bernd and Stefan Lüddemann (bass & drums). After playing live concerts in the Karlsruhe area, they went to Edo Zanki’s Studio in Karlsdorf and to Arco Studio, München to record their first demo with producer Tony Monn. Following songs were recorded: “I was made to be with you”, “Call me up”, “Woman”, “I hear the angels singing", "Ballade of glory” and “Rock your body down”. During the production of the demo, drummer Bodo Schopf (ex-Michael Schenker Group) recorded some drum-parts. In 1986, when Bruno & Oscar Di Blasio together with Andi Deris (who had just finished military service), met the Italian bass player Daniel De Niro KYMERA was born! Ralf Maurer alias “Ralph Mason” was "again" recruited as the new drummer of the band.
Soon after, KYMERA went to the Katapult-Tonstudio in Karlsruhe to record new songs for Francis, Day & Hunter GmbH Publishing- Hamburg. Following songs were recorded: “Hello U.S.A.”, “Hot Looking Romeo”, “Send Me a Letter” and rearranged versions of “I Was Made To Be With You”, “Call Me Up” and “Woman”. After a few concerts, the drummer Ralf Maurer quit KYMERA to go to University and was promptly replaced by the talented young drummer Kosta Zafiriou, and the line-up of KYMERA was complete again. Soon, the band went to a Studio in Mainz to record “Shadows Are Falling”, “Lonely Would Be Loving You” and a new version of “Ballade Of Glory” and played many live dates in Germany till the end of 1986. In the beginning of 1987 Andi Deris and Kosta Zafiriou left KYMERA to form the band Pink Cream 69.
Andi was hired for the recording sessions for "No Mercy", a band-project based in Appenweier/Offenburg - South Germany, founded by three locals: Bobby Benz (Bass), Rüdiger Föll (Drums), Uwe Ulm (Lead Guitar). He also played two gigs with No Mercy. On the second and last gig Pink Cream 69 played as a support band for No Mercy; on that evening Andi was the lead singer for both bands and hit the stage twice, opening with the very first line up of Pink Cream 69.

Pink Cream 69 (1987-1993)
In 1987, when Andi was 22, Pink Cream 69 was officially formed, with the original lineup of Dennis Ward, Kosta Zaphiriou, Alfred Koffler and Deris. They became popular enough to gain interest from numerous record companies, choosing to ultimately sign with CBS (now known as Sony Music). Pink Cream toured in Europe, America and Japan and recorded 3 albums with Andi Deris on vocal duties.

Helloween and solo career (1993-present)
In 1993 Helloween was undergoing lineup changes. Gone were Ingo Schwichtenberg, replaced by ex-Gamma Ray drummer Uli Kusch, and Michael Kiske, replaced by Deris. The new lineup recorded Master of the Rings, a departure from the progressive pop-rock sound of Chameleon and a return to their classic power metal sound. Deris immediately became primary songwriter for the band, resulting in some classic tunes like Why?, Perfect Gentleman and In The Middle Of A Heartbeat. The Time of the Oath in 1996 further lifted up the band's album sales, culminating in a world tour and a concert DVD along with double-CD live album, High Live, set from 3 concerts in Spain and Italy. While Helloween would go on a much needed break, Deris would record his first solo album Come in from the Rain. While the album contained some power metal material (The King of 7 Eyes), for the most part it experimented with more mellow, mid-tempo material. Deris sang and played guitar, accompanied by Peter Idera (guitar), Ralph Maison (drums and back-vocals) and Gisbert Royder (bass).
In 1998, Helloween recorded arguably their heaviest album to that point, Better Than Raw, in which Andi used some new vocal techniques, from fast paced high-pitched screaming in Push and Revelation (that was later used in The Dark Ride's "Deliver Us From Temptation", "Escalation 666" and "Mr. Torture") to deep, low vocals on A Handful of Pain and Time. Andi commented in an interview that the best thing in making album was resting after the sessions at the beach, as he always, from the start of "Pink Cream 69" wanted to record the album on "Bahamas, somewhere". The album was recorded in the Canary Islands (Spain), where he currently lives (in Tenerife, where also Helloween guitarist Michael Weikath resides).
In 1999, Helloween released a cover album Metal Jukebox, and Andi's second solo album, Done by Mirrors, released in Japan (released 2000 in other parts of the world due to record company conflicts), featuring Deris once again on vocals and guitars, Don Pupillo on lead guitar, Maison and Royder. 2000's The Dark Ride showed Andi using even more different vocal styles, in some cases lower-pitched and raspy.
After the supporting tour for The Dark Ride, Helloween fired Roland Grapow & Uli Kusch via e-mail. Rabbit Don't Come Easy would be released in 2003, featuring the band's first tour in the U.S. since 1989. The album contained a stylistic departure from the downtuned guitars and dark themes of the previous album, favoring a more "happy", melodic style. As Deris stated in an interview, the vocals however would remain somewhat complicated. In "Liar" he is almost growling, in "Don't Stop Being Crazy"'s low-pitched parts he is slow and heavy. In still other songs the operatic "happy Helloween" style is preferred, while in songs like "Listen to the Flies" and "Back against the wall", his vocal style is much more "dark".
In 2005, Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy was released, with Andi on the peak of his vocal abilities. First single and video was Deris's song "Mrs. God". For the first time in the band's history there was a duet, with Candice Night of Blackmore's Night, in "Light the Universe". It was the second single and the second video for the album. A live double DVD video with documentary and live double CD was released in February 2007.
Helloween completed their twelfth studio album Gambling with the Devil, released on 23 October 2007. It received many positive reviews, with most fans praising the album as being one of the best Deris era albums. Despite being one of Helloween's heaviest albums, it is noted for featuring more keyboards. "As Long As I Fall", the first single, was released in early September and available only via download (save for Japan, where it was released on CD). The video for the song is available on their official site.

Singing style

Compared to Helloween's previous vocalist Michael Kiske, Deris has a more restrained style of singing, with less of a focus on power and hitting high notes. His replacement of Kiske has attracted some criticism, but generally fans have had a positive reception to Deris' differing style. Numerous metal fans have noticed the uncanny similarity of Deris' vocal sound and style to that of hard rock vocalist John Schlitt of Head East and Petra. In some areas his vocal sound recalls that of Kai Hansen and Biff Byford as well.

Guest appearances

He provided lead vocals for the song "To The Quasar", from Ayreon's 2000 album Universal Migrator Part 2: Flight of the Migrator.
He also appears in the Rage album, Soundchaser, in the song "Wake The Nightmares".
The German Rock Star project has Andi singing on the song "Wings Of Freedom".
He sang with an ensemble of singers in the "20th anniversary song" from the band Axxis, a medley of Axxis songs.
He appeared on the "Tribute to Rainbow" cd with the song "Catch the rainbow".
He sung on the album "Jail" from the band Get into...
Together with Michael Weikath he appears on the track "Eagle fly free" on the DVD and livealum "Ritualive" from the band Shaman, the song is a Helloween cover. He performed the song "Breaking the law" from band Judas Priest as well but this did not make the DVD or the album.
For the Nuclear Blast record label he sung "A perfect day" on their "Into the light" album.
Together with Angry Anderson and Lemmy Kilmister he sings on the Saxon anthem "I've got to rock to stay alive".
In 2010 he recorded guest vocals for a duet in the band Wicked Sensation for the song "My turn to fly".
In 2011 he appeared in a duet with the vocalist of Eden's Curse on their album called "Trinity", the song is named "Black widow"
He also produced Tenerife based band Meridian Zero´s first album "Doors of creation" and Esclavitud's album "Condenados Al Paraíso"

Bruce Dickinson

2012-01-02T13:17:00.000-08:00

Bruce Dickinson

Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, airline pilot, fencer, broadcaster, author, screenwriter, actor and former marketing director, best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden.
Dickinson began his career in music fronting small pub bands at school and University, including Styx (not the American band of the same name) in 1976, Speed, (1977–1978), and Shots in early 1979. He then joined the band Samson later in 1979, where he gained some popularity under the stage name, "Bruce Bruce." He left Samson in 1981 to join Iron Maiden as their new vocalist, replacing Paul Di'Anno, and debuting on their 1982 album The Number of the Beast.[1] During his first tenure in the band, they issued a series of high impact releases,[2] resulting in Dickinson gaining worldwide fame, and becoming one of the most acclaimed heavy metal vocalists of all time.
Dickinson quit Iron Maiden in 1993 in order to pursue his solo career, being replaced by Blaze Bayley, which saw him experiment with a wide variety of heavy metal and rock styles. Dickinson rejoined Iron Maiden in 1999 along with guitarist Adrian Smith, and with whom they have gone on to release four further studio albums. Since then, Dickinson has only released one more solo record, Tyranny of Souls. He is the older cousin of Rob Dickinson, former lead singer of British alternative rock band Catherine Wheel.[3] His son, Austin, is the lead singer in metalcore band Rise to Remain.[4] On 19 July 2011, Dickinson was presented with an honorary music doctorate from Queen Mary College, in honour of his contribution to the music industry.

Childhood

Paul Bruce Dickinson was born in the small mining town of Worksop, Nottinghamshire.[6] His mother Sonia worked part-time in a shoe shop and his father Bruce was a mechanic in the army.[6] Dickinson's birth hurried the young couple, then just teenagers, into marriage.[6] Initially, he was brought up by his grandparents; his grandfather was a coal-face worker at the local colliery and his grandmother was a housewife.[6] This is referred to in his song "Born In '58" from the album Tattooed Millionaire.[7]
Dickinson started school at Manton Primary in Worksop while his parents moved away to Sheffield.[6] Soon afterwards, when he was six, he was also despatched to Sheffield,[8] where he attended "a notoriously tough local primary school" called Manor Top.[9] After six months, his parents decided to move him to a small private school called Sharrow Vale Junior.[9] Of this period he recalls, "I'm sort of quite grateful for the fact that I didn't have what you would think of as a conventionally sort of happy, uncomplicated childhood. It made me very self-reliant. I grew up in an environment where it struck me that the world was never gonna do you any favours ... And I had very few close friends, because ... I never really met anybody for that long. I was always moving."[10] Dickinson has a younger sister named Helen who was born in 1963.[11] He tried to isolate himself from her as much as he could when he was young, supposedly out of spite because she, unlike him, was a planned pregnancy and birth.[12]
Dickinson's first musical experience was dancing in his grandparents' front room to Chubby Checker's "The Twist," back when he still lived with them in Worksop.[13] The first record Dickinson recalls owning was The Beatles single "She Loves You," which he managed to persuade his grandfather to buy him.[13] From then on, he became more interested in music, saying "I remember thinking I liked the B-side better than the A-side, and that's when I started listening to music and deciding what I liked and what I didn't like."[13] He tried to play an acoustic guitar belonging to his father, but it blistered his fingers.[9]
By the time he moved to Sheffield, Dickinson's parents were earning a good living from buying property, refurbishing it and then selling it for a profit.[11] As a result, a lot of Dickinson's childhood was spent living on a building site, until his parents bought a boarding house and a bankrupt garage where his father began selling second-hand cars.[9] The income from their business success gave them the opportunity to give Dickinson—then 13 years old—a boarding school education and they chose Oundle, a public school in Northamptonshire.[9] Dickinson wasn't opposed to moving away from home, as "I didn't particularly enjoy being with my parents, so I saw it as an escape ... I think it was because I hadn't built any real attachment to them when I was very, very young."[9]
At Oundle, however, Dickinson was picked on and routinely bullied by the older boys of Sidney House, the boarding house that he belonged to,[14] which he described as "like systematic torture" and meant that he became "aware that I was this outsider."[12] His interests at Oundle were often military; he co-founded the school wargames society with Mike Jordan, and he rose to a position of some power in the school's cadet force,[14] with which he was allowed to handle live ammunition, which he used to create explosions as booby-traps.[15]
Oundle was where Dickinson became attracted to heavy rock, after hearing Deep Purple's "Child In Time" being played in another student's room.[15] As a result, the first album he ever bought was Deep Purple's In Rock, "all scratched to fuck but I thought it was great, and that's what started me off on buying albums and getting into rock music."[16] After In Rock, he went on to buy Black Sabbath's debut, Jethro Tull's Aqualung and Tarkus by Emerson, Lake & Palmer.[16] Every term, a band would play at the school, the first of whom Dickinson would see was called Wild Turkey, featuring former Jethro Tull bassist Glenn Cornick.[16] After that, he saw Van der Graaf Generator and Arthur Brown.[16]
Dickinson initially wanted to play the drums,[16] later obtaining a pair of bongo drums from the music room and practised.[17] He remembers playing "Let It Be" with his friend Mike Jordan, during which Dickinson discovered his singing voice while encouraging Jordan to sing the high-notes.[17] Shortly afterwards, however, Dickinson was expelled from Oundle for urinating in the headmaster's dinner.[17]
Returning home to Sheffield in 1976, Dickinson enrolled at a local comprehensive school, at which he joined his first band.[18] He had overheard two other pupils talking about their band and that they needed a singer and so volunteered immediately.[18] They rehearsed in the drummer's father's garage and the band were impressed by Dickinson's singing, encouraging him to buy his first microphone.[18] Their first gig took place at the Broadfield Tavern in Sheffield.[18] Originally called "Paradox," the band changed their name upon Dickinson's suggestion to "Styx", unaware of the American act with the same name.[19] They made local newspaper headlines when a steel worker was awoken by their performance and tried to smash the band's drumkit.[20] Soon after, the band split up

University

After leaving school with A-levels in English, History and Economics, Dickinson confesses "I didn't really know what I wanted to do."[19] The first thing he did was join the Territorial Army for six months.[19] Although he enjoyed his time in the TA, Dickinson realised that "this is not really a career choice" and so he applied for a place to read history at Queen Mary College, in London's East End.[19] His parents wanted him in the army, but he told them that he wanted to get a degree first; "that was what they wanted to hear, so that was my cover story. Then, when I got down there, I started immediately finding and playing in bands."[19]
In college, Dickinson got involved in the Entertainments Committee; "one day you'd be a roadie for The Jam, the next you'd be putting up the Stonehenge backdrop for Hawkwind or whatever."[21] In 1977, Dickinson met Paul "Noddy" White, a multi-instrumentalist who owned a PA and other equipment, with whom Dickinson, along with drummer Steve Jones, would form a band together called "Speed."[21] Dickinson explains, "It had nothing to do with taking speed, we were a completely drug-free band. We just used to play everything ridiculously fast!"[21] In Speed, Dickinson began writing his own material; "I got Noddy to give me a few guitar lessons and I just started writing stuff straight away. He showed me three chords and I'd write stuff just from those three chords."[21]
Although Speed would play several gigs at the Green Man pub in Plumstead, the band did not last long, but it encouraged Dickinson to continue to work to be a musician.[21] Dickinson spotted an advertisement in Melody Maker with the caption "Singer wanted for recording project" and replied immediately.[21] He "wailed and wolfed and hollered and just made noises" onto a tape and sent it with a note which read; "By the way, if you think the singing's crap, there's some John Cleese stuff recorded on the other side you might find amusing."[21] They liked what they heard and invited Dickinson down to the studio to make "Dracula," the first song he would ever record, with a band called "Shots,"[21] formed by two brothers, Phil and Doug Siviter.[22] The song would later appear on the second disc of The Best of Bruce Dickinson compilation. The brothers were impressed with Dickinson's vocal abilities and asked him what music he liked; "I started saying 'Ian Gillan, Ian Anderson, Arthur Brown,' and Doug goes, 'That's it! Fucking Arthur Brown, man! Sometimes your voice is a dead ringer for Arthur!' He said, 'We've got to form a band.' I was, like, 'Bloody hell,' you know? 'This guy's got a studio and he wants to form a band with me.' I was like 'Yes!'"[23]
Dickinson played pubs with Shots on a regular basis "to about five people."[23] One particular night, Dickinson suddenly stopped in the middle of a song and started interviewing a man in the audience, heckling for not paying enough attention.[23] He got such a good response he started doing it every night until it became a regular routine; "suddenly everybody was paying attention, 'cause they might be next! The first time I did it, afterwards the landlord of the pub was, like, 'Fucking great show, lads! See you next week!' So we started sort of building this bit into the show. And that was when I first started to get the hang of not just being a singer but being a frontman, too."[23]
The next step in Dickinson's career was taken in a pub called the Prince of Wales in Gravesend, Kent, where Shots were playing regularly, when Barry Graham ("Thunderstick") and Paul Samson paid a visit.[24] Impressed with his stage-act, they talked with Dickinson afterwards, about which he recalls, "Paul Samson gave me his number and basically said, 'Listen, we've got an album out, we've got a record deal, but we need a new singer and we'd like you to be it.'"[25] Dickinson agreed to join their band, Samson, but only once he'd finished taking his History finals two weeks later.[25] Until that point, he had been neglecting his University education, having "done absolutely fuck all work, got pissed, got laid and just generally had a pretty good time."[25] At that point, the University had tried to kick him out for failing his Second Year exams and not paying his accommodation fees, but was saved because of his role as Entertainments Officer.[25] After writing 6 months worth of essays in the space of two weeks and some last minute cramming for his exams, Dickinson achieved a 2:2, "which is what everybody else got anyway."

Samson: 1979—1981
After meeting Paul Samson and Barry Purkis at the Prince of Wales, and while still undertaking his final university exams, Dickinson joined Samson onstage at Bishop's Stortford to perform one of their songs, "Rock Me Baby", cementing his role as their new lead vocalist.[27][28]
The band had already released their debut album, Survivors, in 1979 on an independent label, two months before Dickinson joined.[25] Immediately following the completion of his University work, he met up with the band at Greenwich's Wood Wharf studios to learn the Survivors album.[29] Although the tracks did not suit Bruce's vocal style,[30] the band soon wrote the majority of the following Head On album in their earliest rehearsal sessions,[31] some of which were immediately incorporated into their live set.[30]
It was during these early rehearsals that the nickname "Bruce Bruce" came about, derived from Monty Python's Bruces sketch.[31] The name became very tiresome as the band's management continually wrote dud cheques, made payable to "Bruce Bruce", as a joke.[32] Dickinson later commented "it just stuck. I mean, I wasn't entirely happy with it, but it was, like, 'Oh well, OK. It's a sort of stage name, isn't it?'"[32]
Dickinson was shocked after finding out that not all rock performers were "great artists," as some, such as Samson, only wanted "to have a good drink, a good shag, and take some drugs," which he found "really, really difficult to relate to."[26] Although he had smoked joints before,[26] Dickinson discovered that it was impossible to communicate with other band members if he was sober.[32] He deemed it, "the price that had to be paid", believing it to be "just another step towards my goal of just wanting to be a singer in a rock n' roll band."[32]
While fronting the band, Dickinson also came across Iron Maiden for the first time, who were supporting Samson at the Music Machine in 1980.[33] As Dickinson recalls; "I was watching them, and they were good, really fucking good, and at that moment, I remember thinking, 'I wanna fucking sing for that band. In fact, I'm going to sing for that band! I know I'm going to sing for that band!' ... I just thought, 'This is really me. Not Samson.'"[33]
Dickinson remained in the band for another year, recording two studio albums with them - Head On and Shock Tactics.[32] However, Samson soon ran into difficulties with their record label, Gem, who went out of business and failed to finance their European tour in support of Iron Maiden.[34] The band was turned over to RCA, "who did not give a shit about this unknown band from England," Dickinson explains, and so the band promptly fired their management team and the resulting injunction meant that their equipment was reclaimed and they couldn't be paid for their concert performances.[34] The band's last gig was at Reading Festival, after which Bruce was approached by Iron Maiden's manager, Rod Smallwood, who asked him to audition to be their new lead vocalist, about which Dickinson recounts; "It wasn't like, 'We want you to do the job.' It was more like, 'We'd like to offer you the chance of an audition.' ... I remember being very self-confident at the time, though, and saying, 'But when I do it, I'll get the job, so let's talk about what's gonna happen when I get the job.'"

Iron Maiden
Beginnings and success: 1981—1985
Dickinson went to audition for Iron Maiden at a rehearsal room in Hackney in September 1981, about which he describes, "As soon as I walked in, I knew this was something entirely different from anything I'd known up till then ... They had proper, professional roadies; they had a proper monitor system; they had cars laid on. They had everything! I thought, 'Right, there'll be no smoking dope in the back of the tour bus any more, then.'"[37] In the practice rooms, the band played through "Prowler", "Sanctuary", "Running Free" and "Remember Tomorrow", before asking Dickinson to sing the same songs again in a recording studio, and "that was it. We all went out and got roaring pissed and I was in Iron Maiden."[37]
Iron Maiden had a strict and organized routine that suited the band's writing style, which Dickinson described as a "time table".[36] After a few gigs, they began writing new material for their third album, The Number of the Beast, released in 1982. In the wake of Samson's contractual problems, Dickinson couldn't legally be credited on any of the record's songs,[38] having to make, what he called, a "moral contribution", later revealing that he had contributed limited creative input to "The Prisoner", "Children of the Damned" and "Run to the Hills."[39] The album was a major success, topping the UK charts,[40] and the band embarked on a supporting tour around the globe.
On the following albums, 1983's Piece of Mind and 1984's Powerslave, Steve Harris's song-writing monopoly was pushed aside in favour of other members' ideas, with Dickinson contributing to a number of tracks, including the singles "Flight of Icarus" and "2 Minutes to Midnight".[41] Throughout the World Slavery Tour, as part of the new theatrical elements incorporated into the band's stage-show, Dickinson wore a feathered mask during "Powerslave".[42] This was the band's longest tour to date, during which Harris and Dickinson considered going home mid-tour, due to the high number of shows.[43] Iron Maiden's management were continually adding dates, until Dickinson demanded that they stop "or I was gonna jack it in. I guess it was the first time I really thought about leaving. I don't just mean Iron Maiden, I mean quitting music altogether. I really felt like I was pretty much basket-case material by the end of that tour, and I did not want to feel that way. I just thought, 'Nothing is worth feeling like this for.' I began to feel like I was a piece of machinery, like I was part of the lighting rig."

Growing tensions and departure: 1986—1993
After a six-month break, which Dickinson mostly spent practising fencing,[45] Iron Maiden began writing their next album, Somewhere in Time, but Dickinson was unhappy with its synthesised bass and guitars and the progressive rock-influenced style.[46] He has no writing credits on the release, as his material, based on his own suggestion that they should "make a more acoustic based album," was rejected by the rest of the band.[47] As Dickinson explains; "If I'd had my way, the album would have sounded very different. Powerslave, for me, felt like the sort of natural rounding off of Piece of Mind and Number of the Beast ... I felt we had to come up with our Physical Graffiti or our Led Zeppelin IV ... It wasn't so much that it had to be acoustic; I just felt that we should be leading and not following ... the time was right for us to do something audacious, something vast and daring, and I didn't feel that we did that with Somewhere in Time. We just made another Iron Maiden album."[47] Steve Harris, on the other hand, stated, "I just thought he'd lost the plot completely. Bruce just wasn't himself at the time. We didn't realise it at first, but he was probably more burnt out than anyone at the end of the last tour ... he just couldn't seem to get himself together with any of the writing or anything ... It wasn't 'cause it was acoustic, necessarily, or even that it was very different sort of stuff; it was just that we didn't think it was good enough, really. And I could see he would feel bad that his songs were rejected, but he seemed to accept it quite readily at the time."[48]
After a subsequent tour, Iron Maiden started working on their next studio effort, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, which became their second release to top the UK charts.[40] Unlike Somewhere in Time, Dickinson was much more enthusiastic about this album and has several song-writing credits; "I remember Steve rang me to tell me about this idea he'd had for the next album, all about this seventh son of a seventh son stuff, and I thought, 'What a great idea! Brilliant!' And of course I was really chuffed, too, because he'd actually rung me to talk about it and ask me if I had any songs that might fit that sort of theme. I was like, 'Well, no, but give me a minute and I'll see what I can do.'"[49] After the following tour in 1988, the band decided to take a year off.[50]
During the next album's writing stage, Adrian Smith left Iron Maiden, and was replaced by Janick Gers. Iron Maiden's eighth studio release, 1990's No Prayer for the Dying, had a raw sound that did not "hold up well" compared to past efforts,[51] as it was recorded in a barn which Steve Harris owned, with a mobile studio once used by the Rolling Stones.[52] The record featured Dickinson's "Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter", originally composed for a film soundtrack, which despite receiving a Golden Raspberry Award for worst "original" song in 1989, became the band's first and only single to top the UK singles chart.[40] By 1992, Harris had converted his barn into a proper studio, and the new album, Fear of the Dark, was recorded there,[53] resulting in a better overall sound than No Prayer for the Dying,[54] although Dickinson still claims it had "big limitations" due to its size.[52]
After the Fear of the Dark Tour, Dickinson decided to leave Iron Maiden to concentrate on his solo career; "I think I realised that I had reached a creative fork in the road, you know? I thought, 'If you want to, you can stay with Maiden, but things are sure not gonna change.' Or I could take a chance and go somewhere else."[55] At that point the band had already booked a following tour in 1993, which Dickinson did not enjoy; "I thought it wouldn't be a problem to go out and do the shows at all ... but it wasn't a good vibe ... we walked out onstage and it was like a morgue. The Maiden fans knew I'd quit, they knew these were the last gigs, and I suddenly realised that, as the frontman, you're in an almost impossible situation. If you're like, 'Wow, this is really fucking cool tonight, man,' they're all gonna sit there going, 'What a wanker. He's leaving. How can it be cool?' Or do you go on and say, 'Look, I'm really sorry I'm leaving - not to put a damper on the evening, but I am quitting'? I mean, what do you do?"[56]
Throughout the tour, Dickinson drew a lot of criticism from his band mates, with Steve Harris in particular saying, "I really wanted to kill him."[56] Harris explains that "When all the press was there, ... he had no problem turning on a professional performance ... but I swear, some nights all he did was mumble through the songs."[57] "It was so calculated, you know? ... we played in Paris, for example, where there's loads of press ... Then he'd perform, you know, pretty well. But if he played somewhere like Nice or Montpelier or somewhere like that, where it doesn't really matter, he was terrible ... One night, I went to the monitor man and said, 'What the fuck's going on? I can't hear him!' And he pushed the fader up to full and said, 'Look, there's nothing there. He's just mumbling into the mic.'"[56] Dickinson responded to the accusations by saying, "That's crap. That's absolute crap. The singing was always really, really good. What I did do at the shows was decide that I was not going to make like Mr Happy Face if the vibe wasn't right. ... I was trying as hard as I could, every single night, but as hard as I could some nights it was impossible. A rock concert is supposed to be a celebration. It's not supposed to be a wake."[57]
His last performance with the band was filmed by the BBC at Pinewood Studios and released as a live video, entitled Raising Hell.[58] "I don't recall saying goodbye," states Dickinson, "It was a very strange way of parting. After the show, I had a couple of beers and went home to bed."

Return: 1999—present
Along with Adrian Smith, Dickinson rejoined Iron Maiden in 1999 with Janick Gers remaining in the band, about which Dickinson recalls, "It was Rod who took me aside and said, 'How do you feel about putting it back together?' I said, 'Well, you know, there's a couple of things that concern me, but 90 per cent of things that I think are massive opportunities."[59] Initially Steve Harris had reservations about Bruce's return, but soon came round to the idea; "When Rod first mentioned it, I wasn't really into it," Harris stated, "I thought, 'Well why would he wanna come back? ... But then I thought, 'Well if the change happens, who would we get?' The thing is, we know Bruce and we know what he's capable of, and you think, 'Well, better the devil you know.'"
Harris and Dickinson met up at Rod Smallwood's home in Brighton in January 1999 for the first conversation they would have with each other since 1993.[61] "It was strange," Dickinson remembers, "I think we were both a bit nervous. But as soon as we walked in the room, we gave each other a big hug and it evaporated. Literally, like, boof! Gone. And we both just chatted away ... And then, of course, we all ended up going down the pub. One thing led to another and we all woke up with thick heads the next day."[61] Steve Harris confesses, "I thought we'd have the meeting and that it wouldn't work ... then we actually had the meeting and it really changed everything. His enthusiasm was 100 per cent, so I thought, 'Well, maybe it is the right thing to do.'"[61]
After embarking on a small tour, the band set about recording Brave New World, their first studio album with Dickinson since 1992. Dickinson insisted that they find a replacement for the now retired Martin Birch, the band's regular producer, and record in a different studio than the one in which they made No Prayer for the Dying and Fear of the Dark; "When we had our first get-together, my main concern was how did I know we were gonna make this great record ... And Steve immediately said, 'Well I think we need a producer. And I don't think we can do it in the same studio. We've got to get the best studio we can possibly get.' By which point, you could have picked me up off the floor!"[62] The album was recorded at Guillaume Tell Studios, Paris with producer Kevin Shirley,[63] after which Iron Maiden undertook a supporting tour culminating with a performance at the Rock in Rio festival before a crowd of 250,000.[64]
In 2003 they recorded and released Dance of Death at London's SARM Studios with Kevin Shirley, now the band's new regular producer.[65] After two further stints on the road (Dance of Death World Tour and Eddie Rips Up the World Tour) Iron Maiden returned to SARM in 2006 to record their next studio album, A Matter of Life and Death,[66] and embarked on a supporting tour. In 2008 and 2009, the band set out on the Somewhere Back in Time World Tour,[67] which has since been described as "groundbreaking"[68] for its use of Ed Force One, the band's customised Boeing 757, flown by Dickinson himself,[67] and led to the documentary film Iron Maiden: Flight 666, which had a limited cinema release in April 2009.[69] Iron Maiden held another world tour in 2010 and 2011 in support of The Final Frontier,[70] their first album recorded at Compass Point Studios, Nassau, Bahamas since 1986's Somewhere in Time,[71] and which peaked at No. 1 in 28 countries.

Solo career

In early 1989, Zomba asked Dickinson to produce a track for the movie A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child,[73] providing a budget, a studio, and a producer, Chris Tsangarides. Dickinson took up the opportunity and called an old friend of his, former Gillan guitarist, Janick Gers, and, shortly after meeting up, they had "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter" ready for the studio,[74] then recorded with the assistance of bassist Andy Carr, and drummer Fabio del Rio.[75] "I wrote it in about three minutes", states Dickinson, "I don't know where the title 'Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter' came from, but it just popped into my head. I thought, 'Bloody hell, straight out of AC/DC!' And I thought, 'Nightmare on Elm Street. Yeah, that'll do.'[76] Impressed with the results, Zomba asked Dickinson if he was willing to record a whole album as well.[76] With the same line-up and producer, Dickinson's solo debut, Tattooed Millionaire, was written and recorded within two weeks, and released in May 1990,[76] followed by a supporting tour.[77]
Later that year, Dickinson participated on a re-recording of Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water", as part of the humanitarian effort Rock Aid Armenia.[78] Backed by the band Skin, he produced a cover version of Alice Cooper's "Elected", along with Rowan Atkinson (in character as Mr. Bean), which was used in 1992 for Comic Relief,[79] and five years later, on Bean Soundtrack.[80]
For his second solo effort, Dickinson received the collaboration of American producer, Keith Olsen, and, while working on the record in LA, decided to leave Iron Maiden.[55] Unhappy with the direction he was taking with Olsen, Dickinson began working with Tribe of Gypsies guitarist Roy Z and started the album again from scratch.[36] Balls to Picasso was recorded with Tribe of Gypsies as the backing band,[36] and was released in 1994. That same year, Dickinson recorded a cover version of "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" with the band Godspeed for Black Sabbath's tribute album Nativity in Black.[81] Tribe of Gypsies departed to work on their own material and Dickinson tracked down another band, including his new writing partner and guitarist, Alex Dickson.[36] After the Balls to Picasso supporting tour finished, he started working on a new studio record, Skunkworks. Dickinson decided that Skunkworks would be the title of the band as well, but the record company refused to release the album without his name on the cover.

Due to musical differences, the "Skunkworks" entity ceased to be when the tour ended. "I was devastated by the Skunkworks thing", stated Dickinson, "Skunkworks was a record which I tore myself apart to make and nobody seemed to give a shit."[83] After a short period of inactivity, Dickinson once again teamed up with Roy Z and Tribe of Gypsies to record his next album, Accident of Birth; "It was actually Roy that dragged me back into some assemblance, because he called up and he said, 'Listen, I've got some stuff and it's like a metal record.' And I wasn't thrilled, I wasn't really sure that I had anything to offer... Then he played me some backing-tracks he'd done for what was to become Accident of Birth down the phone and I thought 'There is something there.'"[83] Former Iron Maiden guitarist, Adrian Smith, was asked to guest on the record, but remained as a full-time member of Dickinson's solo outfit.[84] The album marked a return to heavy metal for Dickinson, with Sputnikmusic remarking, "The album's heavy feel is very satisfying, and definitely fills that void left by Maiden during the 90's."[84] The follow-up, The Chemical Wedding, was a semi-concept album on alchemy, which drew inspiration from William Blake's writings; with some songs, such as "Book of Thel", having the same title as some of his poems, and the cover artwork featuring one of his paintings.[83] The record was even more successful than its predecessor, with Sputnikmusic commenting, "Bruce had shattered all expectations to create an album that might even be better than the previous one."[85] During The Chemical Wedding's supporting tour, the live album, Scream for Me Brazil was recorded in São Paulo, after which Dickinson and Smith returned to Iron Maiden in February 1999.
In 2000, Dickinson performed vocals on the song, "Into the Black Hole", for Ayreon's Universal Migrator Part 2: Flight of the Migrator.[86] Later that year, he collaborated with Judas Priest's front-man, Rob Halford, recording, "The One You Love to Hate", for Halford's debut, Resurrection.[87] A compilation, entitled The Best of Bruce Dickinson, was released in late 2001, including two new songs and a bonus disc of rarities.[88] His latest solo album, Tyranny of Souls was released in May 2005. This time the song-writing was all split between Roy Z and Dickinson and many songs were composed by Z sending recordings of riffs to Dickinson while he was on tour with Iron Maiden.[89] On 21 June 2005, Dickinson's complete solo discography was re-released, featuring bonus discs with rare and remastered tracks. That same year, Dickinson contributed to the song, "Beast in the Light", from Tribuzy's album, Execution, and their subsequent live album.[90] A three-DVD box set, entitled Anthology, was released on 19 June 2006, containing concerts and promo videos from throughout his solo career, as well as an old Samson video, entitled "Biceps of Steel."

Other work
Dickinson's interests include literature, writing, fencing (at which he has competed internationally, placing 7th in Great Britain,[92] and has founded a fencing equipment company under the brand name "Duellist"[93]), railway technology and aviation. Due to the wide variety of Dickinson's pursuits, the Winter 2009 edition of Intelligent Life named him as a living example of a polymath.

Aviation
Dickinson learned to fly recreationally in Florida in the 1990s[95] and now holds an airline transport pilot's licence. He regularly flew Boeing 757s in his role as captain for the now-defunct UK charter airline Astraeus,[96][97] which, as of 16 September 2010, employed him as Marketing Director.[98][99] One of his key roles in said position was to promote Astraeus' services by increasing their number of videos,[99] leading to the UK CAA releasing a video featuring Dickinson on aircraft loading safety in June 2011.[100]
In mid-2006, Dickinson flew about 200 UK citizens home from Lebanon during the Israel/Hezbollah conflict.[101] On 12 February 2007, Dickinson was given permission to fly Rangers F.C. to Israel for their UEFA Cup game against Hapoel Tel Aviv.[102] After the collapse of XL Airways UK in September 2008, he piloted an Iceland Express aeroplane and flew home 180 stranded holiday makers from Egypt,[103] as well as a Boeing 757 with a group of British RAF pilots from Afghanistan.[104] "A lot of them recognised him because they are Maiden fans, but he was there in his professional capacity as a pilot," says an RAF spokesman.[104] Dickinson flew Liverpool F.C. from Liverpool John Lennon Airport to an away European tie with S.S.C. Napoli in Italy on the 19th of October 2010.[105] Following Hurricane Irene in August 2011, Dickinson was one of the first pilots to be ready to fly out of New York.[106]
For the 2008-2009 "Somewhere Back in Time World Tour," he piloted Iron Maiden's chartered Boeing 757, dubbed "Ed Force One", specially converted to carry the band's equipment between continents.[67] Dickinson flew "Ed Force One" again for "The Final Frontier World Tour" in 2011.

Radio and TV
Dickinson presented Bruce Dickinson's Friday Rock Show on BBC radio station 6 Music from 2002-2010. Jean-Jacques Burnel, bassist with The Stranglers, took over the presenting duties while Dickinson toured the US with Iron Maiden. In March 2010, the BBC announced that, after over eight years, Dickinson's show was to be axed.[108] His final broadcast was on 28 May 2010, with the regular format abandoned in favour of a personal and musical tribute to the recently deceased Ronnie James Dio. Dickinson scorned the BBC executives for the cancellation, playing the Johnny Paycheck version of Take This Job and Shove It.[109]
He has recently taken the helm of BBC Radio 2 serial Masters of Rock and presented the 5-part historical TV series about aviation, Flying Heavy Metal, which was shown on the Discovery Channel, and later on Discovery Turbo in the UK.[110] He was a guest on an episode of the Military Channel's The Greatest Ever, where he drove a Russian T-34 tank. In 2006, Dickinson presented a documentary for Sky One entitled Inside Spontaneous Human Combustion with Bruce Dickinson, in which he investigated the phenomenon by enlisting the help of several experts and performing various experiments to determine its possible cause.[111] Other television appearances include guesting on quiz shows such as Never Mind the Buzzcocks and the short lived Space Cadets, as well as the chat show Clarkson, hosted by Jeremy Clarkson.[112] Dickinson has also appeared in a BBC series called The Paradise Club, undertaking the role of a musician named Jake Skinner.

Writing
During a 1986-1987 Iron Maiden tour, and in the wake of a divorce, Dickinson started writing his first book. He spent sleepless nights trying to give birth to the main character, Lord Iffy Boatrace, an English landlord, whose problems were always related to a lack of money, questing a wealthy life.[113]
The novel, entitled The Adventures of Lord Iffy Boatrace (ISBN 0-283-06043-3), was released in 1990 and sold more than 30,000 copies almost immediately. Due to the high demand, the publisher, Sidgwick & Jackson, asked Dickinson to produce a sequel, which became 1992's The Missionary Position (ISBN 0-283-06092-1).[113]
Dickinson has turned his hand to scriptwriting, co-authoring Chemical Wedding with director Julian Doyle. The film, in which Dickinson played a few small cameo roles and composed the soundtrack, was released in 2008 and starred Simon Callow.

Ozzfest incident
At the 2005 Ozzfest, Ozzy Osbourne's wife, Sharon, encouraged family friends and members of other bands to sabotage Iron Maiden's last performance at Hyundai Pavilion in San Bernardino on 20 August.[115][116] The attack was in response to Dickinson's comments on reality television, to which Osbourne took offence,[117] ordering interference with the band's PA and delaying the entrance of Eddie,[115] as well as encouraging members of the Osbourne camp to throw eggs, lighters and bottle tops from the front of the audience.

On top of Dickinson's attack on reality TV, it was also claimed that he made several anti-American comments, of which Classic Rock magazine claimed that "nobody can present any cast-iron evidence."[118] Classic Rock also argued that there had been "bad blood" between the band and the Osbournes since the start of the tour, with the allegations that Iron Maiden refused to pay "a substantial fee" to appear on the tour T-shirt and had complained about Ozzfest's seating arrangements, with Steve Harris commenting that "it's awkward because we feed off the front audience. A lot of 'em look like they want to get out a remote and change the channel."[118] Sharon Osbourne would later claim that the flag-waving during "The Trooper" was disrespectful to American troops,[119] at the time fighting alongside the British in Iraq, even though Dickinson had always held a Union Flag during the song, being based on the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War.[118] Classic Rock pointed out the hypocrisy in Osbourne's statement as her husband had, in the past, been incarcerated for urinating on the Alamo, causing upset in the U.S.[118] Sharon Osbourne also accused Dickinson of "making other comments about the other artists," believing "he was at a battle of the bands," while other performers "don't even look at Ozzfest as touring, but as its heavy metal summer camp."[119] Dickinson went on to criticise this comment, stating that "the whole way it's being portrayed as being some kind of altruistic holiday for all the bands is absolute nonsense, it's complete bullshit. Most of the bands are there because they paid to be there."[120] It was also reported that Steve Harris had spoken to Ozzy Osbourne in San Bernardino, apologising for Dickinson's comments,[119][118] which Harris denies, stating, "No I didn't [apologise]. What I actually said was that, if there was anything to apologise for, then I'd do it. But that was twisted around to seem like I'd said sorry — that never happened!"[121]
In response to the incident, Iron Maiden's manager, Rod Smallwood, published a statement criticising the attack as "vile, dangerous, criminal and cowardly" as well as disrespectful to fans who had paid to see the band perform "a full unhindered performance."[122] Speaking some years later to the Daily Mail, Dickinson commented that "Our revenge was to simply carry on regardless and play the best show of the day," and that "I haven't changed my views about reality TV either. I think it's a complete disgrace – freak-show television, the lowest of the low."[117] Speaking to Metal Hammer in 2006, Dickinson stated, "so much has been written about what I did, or didn't say onstage. Did I have a go at Ozzy and Black Sabbath? No. Why would I? But I do find The Osbournes TV series loathsome, and the whole cult of reality TV celebrities disgusting."[121] An eyewitness report, published on Blabbermouth.net, praised Iron Maiden for being "the consummate professionals," continuing to play in spite of "the amount of terrorizing and intimidation that [they] had to deal with."[116]
Iron Maiden's 2006 album, A Matter of Life and Death, contained a song entitled "These Colours Don't Run," a phrase which Dickinson also used onstage on 20 August 2005.[121] When asked if the song was inspired by the Ozzfest incident, Dickinson replied, "I suppose it's inevitable that people will think the song's about Sharon Osbourne, she thinks everything is about her anyway! But it isn't. It's about men going off to war, and the fears and hopes they leave behind ... The phrase 'These Colours Don't Run' fitted the mood of the song perfectly. That's all."

Singing style
Although Dickinson never received formal training, he still possessed a wide vocal range which was trademarked by his quasi-operatic tenor. Along with Ronnie James Dio and Rob Halford, Dickinson is one of the pioneers of the operatic vocal style later to be adopted by power metal vocalists and regularly appears near the top in lists of the greatest rock vocalists/front-men of all time.[123][124][125][126] Dickinson says that his style was influenced primarily by Arthur Brown, Peter Hammill (Van der Graaf Generator), Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) and Ian Gillan (Deep Purple).[88]
Dickinson's singing varied notably in the 1990s in the recording of albums such as No Prayer for the Dying, Fear of the Dark and his first solo work Tattooed Millionaire, making use of a much more raspy and unpolished sound,[127] befitting their stripped down style.[128] Since returning to Iron Maiden in 1999, his singing style has returned to much like it was in the 1980s,[129] though soft and reflective passages have been incorporated with the familiar operatic wail to suit the more progressive direction of Iron Maiden since the reunion. His voice has lowered with age, making him a dramatic tenor in opera terms.

Keith Richards

2012-01-02T10:58:00.000-08:00

Keith Richards

Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting partner and band vocalist, Mick Jagger, are listed among Rolling Stone Magazine's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[1][2][3] Richards' notoriety for illicit drug use stems in part from several drug busts during the late 1960s and 1970s.
Early life
Keith Richards is the only child of Bert Richards and Doris Dupree Richards. He was born at Livingston Hospital in Dartford, Kent. His father was a factory worker injured during World War II during the Normandy invasion.[4]
Richards' paternal grandparents were socialists and civic leaders whose family originated from Wales.[5][6][7] His maternal grandfather, Augustus Theodore Dupree, who toured Britain with a jazz big band, "Gus Dupree and his Boys", fostered Richards' interest in guitar.[8]
Richards' mother bought Richards his first guitar, and he played at home recording Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and others.[9] His father on the other hand disparaged his son's musical enthusiasm.[10] One of Richards' first guitar heroes was Scotty Moore.[11]
Richards attended Wentworth Primary School with Mick Jagger and was his neighbor until 1954, when the family moved.[12] From 1955 to 1959 he attended Dartford Technical School.[12][13] Recruited by Dartford Tech's choirmaster Jake Clair, Richards sang in a trio of boy sopranos at, among other occasions, Westminster Abbey for Queen Elizabeth II.[14]
In 1959 Richards was expelled from Dartford Technical School for truancy, and transferred to Sidcup Art College.[15] At Sidcup he was diverted from his studies proper and devoted more time to playing guitar with other students in the boys' room. At this point Richards had learned most of Chuck Berry's solos.

Richards met Jagger on a train as Jagger was headed to classes at the London School of Economics.[17] The mail order rhythm & blues albums from Chess Records by Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters Jagger was carrying, revealed a mutual interest and led to a renewal of their friendship. Along with mutual friend, Dick Taylor, Jagger was singing in an amateur band: "Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys", which Richards soon joined. The Blues Boys folded when Brian Jones and Ian Stewart joined Richards, Jagger and Taylor into the just-forming Rolling Stones.[citation needed]
In mid-1962 Richards had left Sidcup Art College to devote himself to music and moved into a London flat with Jagger and Jones. His parents divorced about the same time, resulting in his staying close to his mother and remaining estranged from his father until 1982 [Richards, Keith (2010). Life].[citation needed]
After the Rolling Stones signed to Decca Records in 1963 their band manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, dropped the "s" from his surname believing "Keith Richard" in his words "looked more pop".[18] In the late 1970s Richards re-established the "s" to his surname.

Musicianship

Bandleader
Richards views his role in the Rolling Stones as "oiling the machinery", while Stewart has called him the musical leader of the band. Both Bill Wyman and Ronnie Wood have said that, unlike most other bands which usually follow the drummer, the Rolling Stones, in Wyman's words, "have no way of not following him".

Guitar playing
Richards' guitar playing shows a fascination with chords and rhythm while avoiding flamboyant virtuosity in favour of riffs described by Chris Spedding as "direct, incisive and unpretentious."[19][22] Richards prefers to play in tandem with another guitarist and has always toured with one.[23] Chuck Berry has been an inspiration for Richards,[24] and it was Richards and Jagger who introduced Berry's songs to the Rolling Stones' early repertoire. Chicago artists such as Jimmy Reed and Muddy Waters provided the basis of a style of interwoven lead and rhythm guitar that Richards developed with Brian Jones that continues with the Rolling Stones' current guitarist, Ronnie Wood.[25] In the late 1960s, Jones' declining contributions led Richards to record all guitar parts on many tracks, including slide guitar, which had been Jones' specialty in the band's early years. Jones' replacement guitarist Mick Taylor worked with the Rolling Stones from 1969 to 1974, and Taylor's virtuosity at lead guitar led to a much more pronounced separation between lead and rhythm guitar roles, notably onstage.[19] In 1975 Taylor was replaced by Wood, marking a return to the style of guitar interplay that he and Richards described as "the ancient art of weaving".[26]
The 1967-68 break in touring allowed Richards to focus on open tunings, which are commonly used for slide guitar. Instead, Richards primarily used open tunings for fingered chording, developing a distinctive style of syncopated and ringing I-IV chording heard on "Street Fighting Man" and "Start Me Up".[27] Richards has used various open tunings (while continuing to use standard tuning) but has often favoured a five-string variant of open G tuning using GDGBD unencumbered by a low sixth string. Several of his Telecasters are tuned this way (see the "Guitars" section below), and this tuning is prominent on Rolling Stones tracks and concert renditions including "Honky Tonk Women", "Brown Sugar" and "Start Me Up".[28]
Richards regards acoustic guitar as the basis for his playing,[29] believing that the limitations of electric guitar would cause him to "lose that touch" if he didn't play acoustic.[28] Richards plays acoustic guitar on many Rolling Stones' tracks including like "Not Fade Away", "Satisfaction", "Brown Sugar", and "Angie". All guitars on the studio versions of "Street Fighting Man" and "Jumping Jack Flash" feature acoustic guitars overloaded to a cassette recorder which were then reamped through a loudspeaker in the studio.

Vocals
Richards sang in a school choir - most notably for Queen Elizabeth - until adolescence's effect on his voice forced him out of the choir.[31] He has sung backing vocals on every Rolling Stones album. Since Between the Buttons (1967), he has sung lead or co-lead on at least one track (see list below).
During the Rolling Stones' 1972 tour Richards began singing lead vocals on "Happy", and has since then typically sung one lead vocal, progressing to two since 1989.[32] During the 2006 and 2007 Rolling Stones' tours Richards sang "You Got the Silver" (1969) without self-accompaniment.

Other instruments
Recordings of Richards playing other instruments besides guitar are not unusual. He has played bass on several Rolling Stones studio recordings, including "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?" (1966) and "Infamy" (2005).[34] Richards regards keyboards as a songwriting tool though he has has played keyboards on several Rolling Stones recordings, and live he played keyboards for two Ronnie Wood concerts, and during The New Barbarians' 1979 tour.[35][36] Richards has also played percussion on select Rolling Stones tracks, including the floor tom on "Jumpin' Jack Flash"[37] and bicycle spokes on "Continental Drift" (1989).

Songwriting
Richards and Jagger collaborated on songs in 1963, following the nearby example of The Beatles' Lennon–McCartney and the encouragement of Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, who saw little future for a cover band.[39] The earliest Jagger/Richards collaborations were recorded by other artists, including Gene Pitney, whose rendition of "That Girl Belongs to Yesterday" was their first top-ten single in the UK.[40] Richards recalls: "We were writing these terrible pop songs that were becoming Top 10 hits... They had nothing to do with us, except we wrote 'em."[41]
The Rolling Stones' first top-ten hit with a Jagger/Richards original was "The Last Time" (1965);[42] "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (also 1965) was their first international #1 recording. (Richards has stated that the "Satisfaction" riff came to him in his sleep; he woke up just long enough to record it on a cassette player by his bed.)[43] Since Aftermath (1966) most Rolling Stones albums have consisted mainly of Jagger/Richards originals. Their songs reflect the influence of blues, R&B, rock & roll, pop, soul, gospel and country, as well as forays into psychedelia and Dylanesque social commentary. Their work in the 1970s and beyond has incorporated elements of funk, disco, reggae and punk.[41] Richards has also written and recorded slow torchy ballads, such as "All About You" (1980).
In his solo career, Richards has often shared co-writing credits with drummer and co-producer Steve Jordan. Richards has said: "I've always thought songs written by two people are better than those written by one. You get another angle on it."[41]
Richards has frequently stated that he feels less like a creator than a conduit when writing songs: "I don't have that God aspect about it. I prefer to think of myself as an antenna. There's only one song, and Adam and Eve wrote it; the rest is a variation on a theme."[41]
Richards was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1993.

Record production
Richards has been active as a record producer since the 1960s. He was credited as producer and musical director on the 1966 album Today's Pop Symphony, one of manager Andrew Loog Oldham's side projects, although there are doubts about how much Richards was actually involved with it.[45] On the Rolling Stones' 1967 album Their Satanic Majesties Request the entire band was credited as producer, but since 1974, Richards and Mick Jagger have frequently co-produced Rolling Stones and other artists' records under the joint name "the Glimmer Twins", often in collaboration with other producers.
Since the 1980s Richards has chalked up numerous production and co-production credits on projects with other artists including Aretha Franklin, Johnnie Johnson and Ronnie Spector, as well as on his own albums with the X-Pensive Winos (see below). In the 1990s Richards co-produced and added guitar and vocals to a recording of nyabinghi Rastafarian chanting and drumming entitled Wingless Angels, released on Richards's own record label, Mindless Records, in 1997.

Solo recordings
Richards has released few solo recordings. His first solo single released in 1978 was versions of Chuck Berry's "Run Rudolph Run" and Jimmy Cliff's "The Harder They Come". In 1987, after Jagger pursued a solo recording and touring career, Richards formed the "X-pensive Winos" with co-songwriter, and co-producer Steve Jordan whom Richards assembled for his Chuck Berry documentary, Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll.
Additional members of the X-pensive Winos included guitarist Waddy Wachtel, saxist Bobby Keys, keyboardist Ivan Neville and Charley Drayton on bass. The first Winos' record,Talk Is Cheap also featured Bernie Worrell, Bootsy Collins and Maceo Parker). Since its release, Talk Is Cheap has gone gold and has sold consistently. Its release was followed by the first of the two U.S. tours Richards has done as a solo artist. Live at the Hollywood Palladium, December 15, 1988 documents the first of these tours. In 1992 the Winos' second studio record Main Offender was released, and was also following by a tour.

Recordings with other artists
During the 1960s most of Richards's recordings with artists other than the Rolling Stones were sessions for Andrew Oldham's Immediate Records label. Notable exceptions were when Richards, along with Mick Jagger and numerous other guests, sang on The Beatles' 1967 TV broadcast of "All You Need Is Love";[46] and when he played bass with John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Mitch Mitchell, Ivry Gitlis and Yoko Ono as the Dirty Mac for The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus TV special, filmed in 1968.[47]
In the 1970s Richards worked outside the Rolling Stones with Ronnie Wood on several occasions, contributing guitar, piano and vocals to Wood's first two solo albums and joining him on stage for two July 1974 concerts to promote I've Got My Own Album to Do.[35] In December 1974 Richards also made a guest appearance at a Faces concert. In 1976–77 Richards played on and co-produced John Phillips' solo recording Pay, Pack & Follow (released in 2001). In 1979 he toured the U.S. with the New Barbarians, the band that Wood put together to promote his album Gimme Some Neck; he and Wood also contributed guitar and backing vocals to "Truly" on Ian McLagan's 1979 album Troublemaker (re-released in 2005 as Here Comes Trouble).[46]
Since the 1980s Richards has made more frequent guest appearances. In 1981 he played on reggae singer Max Romeo's album Holding Out My Love to You. He has worked with Tom Waits on three occasions, adding guitar and backing vocals to Waits's 1985 album Rain Dogs (1992); co-writing, playing and sharing the lead vocal on "That Feel" on Bone Machine ; and adding guitar and vocals to Bad As Me (2011). In 1986 Richards produced and played on Aretha Franklin's rendition of "Jumping Jack Flash" and served as musical producer and band leader (or as he phrased it "S&M director")[48] for the Chuck Berry film Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll.[46]
In the 1990s and 2000s Richards has continued to contribute to a wide range of musical projects as a guest artist. A few of the notable sessions he has done include guitar and vocals on Johnnie Johnson's 1991 release Johnnie B. Bad, which he also co-produced; and lead vocals and guitar on "Oh Lord, Don’t Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me" on the 1992 Charles Mingus tribute album Weird Nightmare. He duetted with country legend George Jones on "Say It's Not You" on the Bradley Barn Sessions (1994); a second duet from the same sessions – "Burn Your Playhouse Down" – appeared on Jones' 2008 release Burn Your Playhouse Down – The Unreleased Duets. He partnered with Levon Helm on "Deuce and a Quarter" for Scotty Moore's album All the King's Men (1997). His guitar and lead vocals are featured on the Hank Williams tribute album Timeless (2001) and on veteran blues guitarist Hubert Sumlin's album About Them Shoes (2005). Richards also added guitar and vocals to Toots & the Maytals' recording of "Careless Ethiopians" for their 2004 album True Love and to their re-recording of "Pressure Drop", which came out in 2007 as the b-side to Richards's iTunes re-release of "Run Rudolph Run"

Rare and unreleased recordings
In 2005 the Rolling Stones released Rarities 1971-2003, which includes some rare and limited-issue recordings, but Richards has described the band's released output as the "tip of the iceberg".[49] Many of the band's unreleased songs and studio jam sessions are widely bootlegged, as are numerous Richards solo recordings, including his 1977 Toronto studio sessions, some 1981 studio sessions and tapes made during his 1983 wedding trip to Mexico.[

Public image and private life

Music journalist Nick Kent attached to Richards Lord Byron's epithet of "mad, bad, and dangerous to know." Jagger thought that Richards' image had "contributed to him becoming a junkie." [50] In 1994 Richards said his image was "like a long shadow ... Even though that was nearly twenty years ago, you cannot convince some people that I'm not a mad drug addict."[51] In 2010, Peter Hitchens wrote of Richards that he is "a capering streak of living gristle who ought to be exhibited as a warning to the young of what drugs can do to you even if you're lucky enough not to choke on your own vomit".[52]
Richards has been tried on drug-related charges five times: in 1967, twice in 1973, in 1977 and in 1978.[53][54] The first trial – the only one involving a prison sentence[54] – resulted from a February 1967 police raid on Redlands, Richards's Sussex estate, where he and some friends, including Jagger, were spending the weekend.[55] The subsequent arrest of Richards and Jagger put them on trial before the British courts while also exposing them to public opinion. On 29 June 1967, Jagger was sentenced to three months' imprisonment for possession of four amphetamine tablets; Richards was found guilty of allowing cannabis to be smoked on his property and sentenced to one year in prison.[56] Both Jagger and Richards were imprisoned at that point: Jagger was taken to Brixton Prison in south London,[57] and Richards to Wormwood Scrubs Prison in west London.[58] Both were released on bail the next day pending appeal.[59] On 1 July The Times ran an editorial entitled "Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel?", portraying Jagger's sentence as persecution, and public sentiment against the convictions increased.[60] A month later the appeals court overturned Richards's conviction for lack of evidence, while Jagger was given a conditional discharge.

On 27 February 1977 Richards was charged with "possession of heroin for the purpose of trafficking" – an offence that under the Criminal Code of Canada can result in prison sentences of seven years to life.[62] His passport was confiscated and Richards and his family remained in Toronto until 1 April, when Richards was allowed to enter the United States on a medical visa for treatment for heroin addiction.[63] The charge against him was later reduced to "simple possession of heroin".[64]
For the next two years, Richards lived under threat of criminal sanction. Throughout this period he remained active with the Rolling Stones, recording their biggest-selling studio album, Some Girls, and touring North America. Richards was tried in October 1978, pleading guilty to possession of heroin.[65][66] He was given a suspended sentence and put on probation for one year, with orders to continue treatment for heroin addiction and to perform a benefit concert on behalf of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.[67] Although the prosecution had filed an appeal of the sentence, Richards performed two CNIB benefit concerts at Oshawa Civic Auditorium on 22 April 1979; both shows featured the Rolling Stones and the New Barbarians.[68] In September 1979 the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the original sentence.[69]
Later in 1979, Richards met future wife, model Patti Hansen. They married on 18 December 1983, Richards's 40th birthday, and have two daughters, Theodora and Alexandra, born in 1985 and 1986 respectively.
Richards maintains cordial relations with Italian-born actress Anita Pallenberg, the mother of his first three children; although they were never married, Richards and Pallenberg were a couple from 1967 to 1979. Together they have a son, Marlon (named after the actor Marlon Brando), born in 1969,[70] and a daughter, Angela (originally named Dandelion), born in 1972.[71] Their third child, a boy named Tara (after Richards's and Pallenberg's friend Guinness heir Tara Browne), died on 6 June 1976, less than three months after his birth.[72]
Richards still owns Redlands, the Sussex estate he purchased in 1966, as well as a home in Weston, Connecticut and another in Turks & Caicos.[73] His primary home is in Weston.[74] He is an avid reader with a strong interest in history and owns an extensive library.[75][76] An April 2010 article revealed that Richards yearns to be a librarian.

21st century

On 27 April 2006, Richards, while in Fiji, suffered a head injury after falling out of a tree; he subsequently underwent cranial surgery at a New Zealand hospital.[78] The incident caused a six-week delay in launching the Rolling Stones' 2006 European tour and the rescheduling of several shows; the revised tour schedule included a brief statement from Richards apologising for "falling off his perch".[79] The band made up most of the postponed dates in 2006, and toured Europe in the summer of 2007 to make up the remainder.
In August 2006 Richards was granted a pardon by Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee for a 1975 reckless driving citation.[80][81]
On 12 March 2007 Richards attended the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony to induct the Ronettes; he also played guitar during the ceremony's all-star jam session.
In an April 2007 interview for NME magazine, music journalist Mark Beaumont asked Richards what the strangest thing he ever snorted was,[82] and quoted him as replying: "My father. I snorted my father. He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow. My dad wouldn't have cared ... It went down pretty well, and I'm still alive."[83][84] In the media uproar that followed, Richards' manager said that the anecdote had been meant as a joke;[85] Beaumont told Uncut magazine that the interview had been conducted by international telephone and that he had misquoted Richards at one point (reporting that Richards had said he listens to Motörhead, when what he had said was Mozart), but that he believed the ash-snorting anecdote was true.[82][86] Musician Jay Farrar from the band Son Volt wrote a song titled 'Cocaine And Ashes', which was inspired by Richards' drug habits.[87]
Doris Richards, Richards' 91-year-old mother, died of cancer in England on 21 April 2007. An official statement released by a family representative stated that Keith kept a vigil by her bedside during her last days.[88][89]
Richards made a cameo appearance as Captain Teague, the father of Captain Jack Sparrow (played by Johnny Depp), in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, released in May 2007,[90] and won the Best Celebrity Cameo award at the 2007 Spike Horror Awards for the role.[91] Depp has stated that he based many of Sparrow's mannerisms on Richards.[90] Richards reprised his role in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, released in May 2011.
In March 2008 fashion house Louis Vuitton unveiled an advertising campaign featuring a photo of Richards with his ebony Gibson ES-355, taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz. Richards donated the fee for his involvement to the Climate Project, an organisation for raising environmental awareness.[92]
On 28 October 2008 Richards appeared at the Musicians' Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee, joining the newly inducted Crickets on stage for performances of "Peggy Sue", "Not Fade Away" and "That'll Be the Day".[93][94]
In August 2009, Richards was ranked #4 in Time magazine's list of the 10 best electric guitar players of all time.[95] In September 2009 Richards revealed to Rolling Stone magazine that in addition to anticipating a new Rolling Stones album, he has done some recording with Jack White: "I enjoy working with Jack," he said. "We’ve done a couple of tracks."[96] On 17 October 2009, Richards received the Rock Immortal Award at Spike TV’s Scream 2009 awards ceremony at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles; the award was presented by Johnny Depp.[97] "I liked the living legend, that was all right," Richards said, referring to an award he received in 1989,[98] "but immortal is even better."[99]
In 2009, a book of Richards' quotations was published, titled What Would Keith Richards Do?: Daily Affirmations from a Rock 'n' Roll Survivor.[100]
In August 2007 Richards signed a publishing deal for his autobiography,[101] Life, which was released October 26, 2010.[102] On October 15, 2010, the Associated Press published an article stating that Richards refers to Mick Jagger as "unbearable" in the book and notes that their relationship has been strained "for decades."

Musical equipment
Guitars
Richards has a collection of approximately 3,000 guitars.[104] Even though Richards has used many different guitar models, in a 1986 Guitar World interview he joked that no matter what model he plays, "give me five minutes and I'll make 'em all sound the same."[19] However, Richards has often thanked Leo Fender, and other guitar manufacturers for making the instruments, as he did during the induction ceremony of the Rolling Stones into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Some of his notable instruments are:
1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard: Richards acquired this instrument, fitted with a Bigsby tailpiece, in 1964.[105] The guitar was the first "star-owned" Les Paul in Britain and served as one of Richards's main instruments through 1966.[106] He later sold the guitar to future Rolling Stones bandmate Mick Taylor.[107]
1961 Epiphone Casino: Richards first used this instrument in May 1964, shortly before the Stones' first tour of America. The guitar (along with the 1959 Les Paul Standard) became a frequently used guitar by Richards until 1966.[108]
1957 Gibson Les Paul Custom: In 1966 Richards acquired a 1957 Les Paul Custom,[109] and hand-painted it with psychedelic patterns in 1968. It served as his main stage and studio guitar from 1966 through the end of the Rolling Stones' 1970 European tour,[110] for which he acquired a second late-'50s Les Paul Custom which he used in open-G tuning.
1969 Gibson SG: In the 1969 film "Gimme Shelter", Richards is seen playing the iconic Gibson SG, with its signature "Heritage Cherry" finish. It is this Gibson flat-body which produced the raw, driving chord progression heard in the live version of "Jumping Jack Flash" on the Stones' 1969 live album "GET YER YA-YAS OUT!".
Gibson ES-355s: Richards used this semi-hollow model on stage during the Rolling Stones' 1969 tour;[111] it was a favourite for both Richards and Taylor during recording sessions for Sticky Fingers[citation needed] and Exile on Main St.[citation needed] Richards has also used ES-355s on every tour since 1997. In 2006 he also unveiled a white Gibson ES-345.[112][113]
Gibson Les Paul Juniors: Richards has regularly used both single-cutaway and double-cutaway Juniors since 1973. The one he is most frequently seen with is a TV-yellow double-cutaway instrument nicknamed "Dice", which he has used since 1979. On recent tours he has used this guitar for "Midnight Rambler" and "Out of Control"
1953 Fender Telecaster: Richards acquired this butterscotch Telecaster in 1971. Nicknamed "Micawber", after a character in Charles Dickens's novel David Copperfield, it is set up for five-string open-G tuning (-GDGBD), and has only five bridge saddles. The neck pick-up has been replaced by a Gibson PAF humbucking pick-up, and the bridge pick-up has been replaced by a Fender lap steel pick-up (similar to a Fender Broadcaster pick-up). "Micawber" is one of Richards' main stage guitars, and is often used to play "Brown Sugar", "Before They Make Me Run", and "Honky Tonk Women".[114]
1954 Fender Telecaster: A second Telecaster, nicknamed both "Malcolm" and "Number 2", is also set up for 5-string open-G tuning and has a Gibson PAF pick-up in the neck position. It has a natural finish and the wood grain is visible.[114]
1967 Fender Telecaster: A third Telecaster used for five-string open-G playing is a dark sunburst model which is also fitted with a Gibson PAF pick-up; the PAF on this guitar has had its cover removed, exposing the bobbins.[114] Richards has used this guitar on stage for many songs, including "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "Tumbling Dice".
1958 Fender Stratocaster: Fellow Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood gave Richards his 1958 Mary Kaye Signature Stratocaster after the band's 1982 tour. The guitar is finished in see-through blond and fitted with gold hardware.[114] Richards has used this guitar onstage for "You Don't Have to Mean It" and "Miss You".
1975 Fender Telecaster Custom: Richards first used this guitar on the Rolling Stones' 1975 Tour of the Americas, and it was his main stage and recording guitar until 1986. It was later adapted for five-string open-G tuning, and reappeared on stage in 2005.[citation needed]
Ampeg Dan Armstrong plexiglas guitar: The Dan Armstrong guitar was given to Richards during rehearsals for the 1969 tour,[citation needed] and became one of his main stage guitars from 1969 through the first shows of the 1972 tour. Fitted with a custom-made "sustained treble" humbucker pick-up, the guitar was used mainly in standard tuning and can be heard on "Carol", "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Midnight Rambler" on Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out. On the 1970 tour Richards added a second Dan Armstrong guitar fitted with a "rock treble" pick-up.[citation needed]
Gibson L6-S Custom: Played around the time of "Black And Blue". Appears in a video performance of "Crazy Mama".
Zemaitis Five-String: Custom-made in 1974 by British luthier Tony Zemaitis, the guitar nicknamed both "Macabre" and "the Pirate Zemaitis" was decorated with skulls, a pistol and a dagger. Richards used it as his main open-G guitar from 1975 to 1978, when it was destroyed in a fire at his rented Los Angeles home. Richards used a Japanese-made replica on the 2005-06 tour.[citation needed]
Newman-Jones custom guitars: Texas luthier Ted Newman-Jones made several custom five-string instruments that Richards used on the 1973 tours of Australasia and Europe. Richards used another Newman-Jones custom model on the 1979 New Barbarians tour.

Amplifiers
Richards's amplifier preferences have changed repeatedly, but some of his notable amplifiers are:
Mesa Boogie Mark 1 A804 – Used between 1977 and 1993, this 100-watt 1x12" combo is finished in hardwood with a wicker grille. It can be heard on the Rolling Stones albums Love You Live, Some Girls, Emotional Rescue and Tattoo You, as well as on Richards's two solo albums Talk is Cheap and Main Offender. This amplifier was handcrafted by Randall Smith and delivered to Richards in March 1977.[115]
Fender Twin – Since the 1990s, Richards has tended to use a variety of Fender "tweed" Twins on stage. Containing a pair of 12" speakers, the Fender Twin was, by 1958, an 80-watt all-tube guitar amplifier. Richards has utilised a pair of Fender Twins to "to achieve his signature clean/dirty rhythm and lead sound."[116]
Fender Dual Showman – first acquired in 1964, Richards made frequent use of his blackface Dual Showman amp through mid-1966. Used to record The Rolling Stones, Now!, Out of Our Heads, December's Children and Aftermath before switching over to various prototype amplifiers from Vox in 1967 and the fairly new Hiwatt in 1968

Effects
In 1965 Richards used a Gibson Maestro fuzzbox to achieve the distinctive tone of his riff on "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction";[117] the success of the resulting single boosted the sales of the device to the extent that all available stock had sold out by the end of 1965.[118] In the 1970s and early 1980s Richards frequently used guitar effects such as a wah-wah pedal, a phaser and a Leslie speaker,[119] but he mainly relies on combining "the right amp with the right guitar" to achieve the sound he wants

Jimmy Page

2012-01-02T10:49:00.000-08:00

Jimmy Page

James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE (born 9 January 1944) is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.
Jimmy Page is viewed by critics, fans and fellow musicians alike as one of the most influential and important guitarists and songwriters in rock music.[1][2][3] Rolling Stone magazine has described him as "the pontiff of power riffing & probably the most digitally sampled artist in pop today after James Brown."[4] In 2010, Jimmy Page was ranked No.2 in Gibson's list of "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time"[5] and, in 2007, No.4 on Classic Rock Magazine's "100 Wildest Guitar Heroes".[6] Page was ranked third in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2011.[7] He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice; once as a member of The Yardbirds (1992),[8] and once as a member of Led Zeppelin (1995).

Early years
Jimmy Page was born to parents James and Patricia Page in the West London suburb of Heston, which today forms part of the London Borough of Hounslow. His father was an industrial personnel manager and his mother was a doctor's secretary. In 1952 they moved to Feltham, and later again to Miles Road, Epsom in Surrey, which is where Page came across his first guitar. "I don't know whether [the guitar] was left behind by the people [in the house] before [us], or whether it was a friend of the family's — nobody seemed to know why it was there."[10] First playing the instrument at the age of twelve years,[11] he took a few lessons in nearby Kingston, but was largely self-taught:
When I grew up there weren't many other guitarists ... There was one other guitarist in my school who actually showed me the first chords that I learned, and I went on from there. I was bored so I taught myself the guitar from listening to records. So obviously it was a very personal thing.[12]
Among Page's early influences were rockabilly guitarists Scotty Moore and James Burton, who both played on recordings made by Elvis Presley. Hearing the Elvis Presley song "Baby Let's Play House" is cited by Page as being his inspiration to take up playing the guitar.[13] Although he appears on BBC1 in 1957 with another guitar, Page states that his first guitar was a second-hand 1959 Futurama Grazioso, which was later replaced by a Telecaster.[13][14]
Page's musical tastes included skiffle (a popular English music genre of the time) and acoustic folk playing, particularly that of Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, and the blues sounds of Elmore James, B.B. King, Willie Dixon, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, Freddie King and Hubert Sumlin.[15] "Basically, that was the start: a mixture between rock and blues."[13]
At the age of 13, Page appeared on Huw Wheldon's All Your Own talent quest programme in a skiffle quartet, one performance of which aired on BBC TV in 1957. The group played "Mama Don't Want To Skiffle Anymore" and another very American-flavoured song, "In Them Ol' Cottonfields Back Home". When asked by Wheldon what he wanted to do after schooling, Page said, "I want to do biological research" to find a cure for "cancer, if it isn't discovered by then".
In an interview with Guitar Player magazine, Page stated that "there was a lot of busking in the early days, but as they say, I had to come to grips with it, and it was a good schooling."[13] Page would take a guitar to school each day and have it confiscated and handed back to him at 4:00 pm[16] Although he had an interview for a job as a laboratory assistant, he ultimately chose to leave Danetree Secondary School, West Ewell, to pursue music instead.[16]
Initially, Page had difficulty finding other musicians with whom he could play on a regular basis. "It wasn't as though there was an abundance. I used to play in many groups... anyone who could get a gig together, really."[14] Following stints backing recitals by Beat poet Royston Ellis at the Mermaid Theatre between 1960–61,[17] and singer Red E. Lewis, he was asked by singer Neil Christian to join his band, The Crusaders, after Christian had seen a fifteen-year-old Page playing in a local hall.[14] Page toured with Christian for approximately two years and later played on several of his records, including the November 1962 single, "The Road to Love".
During his stint with Christian, Page fell seriously ill with glandular fever (infectious mononucleosis) and couldn't continue touring.[14] While recovering, he decided to put his musical career on hold and concentrate on his other love, painting, and enrolled at Sutton Art College in Surrey.[3] As he explained in 1975:
[I was] travelling around all the time in a bus. I did that for two years after I left school, to the point where I was starting to get really good bread. But I was getting ill. So I went back to art college. And that was a total change in direction. That's why I say it's possible to do. As dedicated as I was to playing the guitar, I knew doing it that way was doing me in forever. Every two months I had glandular fever. So for the next 18 months I was living on ten dollars a week and getting my strength up. But I was still playing.

Session musician

While still a student, Page would often perform on stage at The Marquee with bands such as Cyril Davies' All Stars, Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated and with guitarists Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton. He was spotted one night by John Gibb of Brian Howard & The Silhouettes, who asked him to help record a number of singles for Columbia Graphophone Company, including "The Worrying Kind". Mike Leander of Decca Records first offered Page regular studio work. His first session for the label was the recording "Diamonds" by Jet Harris and Tony Meehan, which went to Number 1 on the singles chart in early 1963.[14]
After brief stints with Carter-Lewis and the Southerners, Mike Hurst and the Method, and Mickey Finn and the Blue Men, Page committed himself to full-time session work. As a session guitarist he was known as 'Little Jim' so there was no confusion with other noted British session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan. Page was mainly called in to sessions as "insurance" in instances when a replacement or second guitarist was required by the recording artist. "It was usually myself and a drummer", he explained, "though they never mention the drummer these days, just me ... Anyone needing a guitarist either went to Big Jim [Sullivan] or myself."[14] He has also stated that "In the initial stages they just said, play what you want, cos at that time I couldn't read music or anything."[18]
Page was the favoured session guitarist of producer Shel Talmy. As a result, he secured session work on songs for The Who and The Kinks.[19] Page is credited with playing acoustic twelve string guitar on two tracks on The Kinks' debut album "I'm a Lover Not a Fighter" and "I've Been Driving On Bald Mountain"[20] and possibly on the b-side "I Gotta Move".[21] He played six-string rhythm guitar on the sessions for The Who's first single "I Can't Explain"[18] (although Pete Townshend was reluctant to allow Page's contribution on the final recording, Page also played lead guitar on the B-side "Bald Headed Woman").[22] Page's studio output in 1964 included Marianne Faithfull's "As Tears Go By", The Nashville Teens' "Tobacco Road", The Rolling Stones' "Heart of Stone" (released on Metamorphosis), Van Morrison & Them's "Baby Please Don't Go" and "Here Comes the Night", Dave Berry's "The Crying Game" and "My Baby Left Me", Brenda Lee's "Is It True," and Petula Clark's "Downtown".
In 1965 Page was hired by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham to act as house producer and A&R man for the newly formed Immediate Records label, which also allowed him to play on and/or produce tracks by John Mayall, Nico, Chris Farlowe, Twice as Much and Eric Clapton. Page also formed a brief songwriting partnership with then romantic interest, Jackie DeShannon. He also composed and recorded songs for the John Williams[23] album The Maureeny Wishful Album with Big Jim Sullivan. Page worked as session musician on Donovan Leitch's Sunshine Superman (1966) and the Johnny Hallyday albums Jeune Homme (1968) and Je Suis Né Dans La Rue (1969), the Al Stewart album Love Chronicles (1969), and played guitar on five tracks of Joe Cocker's debut album, With a Little Help from My Friends. Over the years since 1970 Page has played lead guitar on 10 Roy Harper tracks, comprising 81 minutes of music.
When questioned about which songs he played on, especially ones where there exists some controversy as to what his exact role was, Page often points out that it is hard to remember exactly what he did given the enormous number of sessions he was playing at the time.[18][19] In a radio interview he explained that "I was doing three sessions a day, fifteen sessions a week. Sometimes I would be playing with a group, sometimes I could be doing film music, it could be a folk session ... I was able to fit all these different roles."[12]
Although Page recorded with many notable musicians, many of these early tracks are only available as bootleg recordings, several of which were released by the Led Zeppelin fan club in the late 1970s. One of the rarest of these is the early jam session featuring Jimmy Page playing with Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, featuring a cover of "Little Queen of Spades" by Robert Johnson. Several songs which featured Page's involvement were compiled on the twin album release, Jimmy Page: Session Man.
Page decided to leave studio work when the increasing influence of Stax Records on popular music led to the greater incorporation of brass and orchestral arrangements into recordings at the expense of guitars.[13] However, he has stated that his time as a session player served as extremely good schooling for his development as a musician:
My session work was invaluable. At one point I was playing at least three sessions a day, six days a week! And I rarely ever knew in advance what I was going to be playing. But I learned things even on my worst sessions – and believe me, I played on some horrendous things. I finally called it quits after I started getting calls to do Muzak. I decided I couldn't live that life any more; it was getting too silly. I guess it was destiny that a week after I quit doing sessions Paul Samwell-Smith left The Yardbirds, and I was able to take his place. But being a session musician was good fun in the beginning – the studio discipline was great. They'd just count the song off, and you couldn't make any mistakes.

The Yardbirds
In late 1964, Page was approached about the possibility of replacing Eric Clapton in The Yardbirds, but he declined the offer out of loyalty to his friend.[14] In February 1965 Clapton quit the Yardbirds, and Page was formally offered Clapton's spot, but because he was unwilling to give up his lucrative career as a session musician, and because he was still worried about his health under touring conditions, he suggested his friend, Jeff Beck.[24] On 16 May 1966, drummer Keith Moon, bass player John Paul Jones, keyboardist Nicky Hopkins, Jeff Beck and Page recorded "Beck's Bolero" in London's IBC Studios. The experience gave Page an idea to form a new supergroup featuring Beck, along with The Who's John Entwistle on bass and Keith Moon on drums.[14] However, the lack of a quality vocalist and contractual problems prevented the project from getting off the ground. During this time, Moon suggested the name "Lead Zeppelin" for the first time, after Entwistle commented that the proceedings would take to the air like a lead balloon.
Within weeks, Page attended a Yardbirds concert at Oxford. After the show he went backstage where Paul Samwell-Smith announced that he was leaving the group.[13] Page offered to replace Samwell-Smith and this was accepted by the group. He initially played electric bass with the Yardbirds before finally switching to twin lead guitar with Beck when Chris Dreja moved to bass. The musical potential of the line-up was scuttled, however, by interpersonal conflicts caused by constant touring and a lack of commercial success, although they released one single, "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago". (While Page and Jeff Beck played together in The Yardbirds, the trio of Page, Beck and Clapton never played in the original group at the same time. The three guitarists did appear on stage together at the ARMS charity concerts in 1983.)
After Beck's departure, the Yardbirds remained a quartet. They recorded one album with Page on lead guitar, Little Games. The album received indifferent reviews and was not a commercial success, peaking at only number 80 on the Billboard Music Charts. Though their studio sound was fairly commercial at the time, the band's live performances were just the opposite, becoming heavier and more experimental. These concerts featured musical aspects that Page would later perfect with Led Zeppelin, most notably performances of "Dazed and Confused".
After the departure of Keith Relf and Jim McCarty in 1968, Page reconfigured the group with a new line-up to fulfil unfinished tour dates in Scandinavia. As he said:
Once [the other Yardbirds] decided not to continue, then I was going to continue. And shift the whole thing up a notch ... The whole thing was putting a group together and actually being able to play together. There were a lot of virtuoso musicians around at the time who didn't gel as a band. That was the key: to find a band that was going to fire on all cylinders.[25]
To this end, Page recruited vocalist Robert Plant and drummer John Bonham, and he was also contacted by John Paul Jones who asked to join.[26] During the Scandinavian tour the new group appeared as "The New Yardbirds", but soon recalled the old joke by Keith Moon and John Entwistle. Page stuck with that name to use for his new band. Peter Grant changed it to "Led Zeppelin", to avoid a mispronunciation of "Leed Zeppelin."

Led Zeppelin

Main article: Led Zeppelin
Page has explained that he had a very specific idea in mind as to what he wanted Led Zeppelin to be, from the very beginning:
I had a lot of ideas from my days with The Yardbirds. The Yardbirds allowed me to improvise a lot in live performance and I started building a textbook of ideas that I eventually used in Zeppelin. In addition to those ideas, I wanted to add acoustic textures. Ultimately, I wanted Zeppelin to be a marriage of blues, hard rock and acoustic music topped with heavy choruses – a combination that had never been done before. Lots of light and shade in the music.

Post-Led Zeppelin career
Led Zeppelin broke up in 1980 following the death of drummer John Bonham at Page's home, The Old Mill House at Clewer in Berkshire. Page refused to touch a guitar out of sadness for the loss of his friend Bonham,[18][28] but he eventually made a return to the stage at a Jeff Beck show in March 1981 at the Hammersmith Odeon.[29] Also in 1981 Page joined with Yes bassist Chris Squire and drummer Alan White to form a supergroup called XYZ (for ex-Yes-Zeppelin). They rehearsed several times, but the project was shelved. Demos of these sessions have turned up on bootleg and they reveal that some of the material emerged on later projects, notably The Firm's "Fortune Hunter" and Yes songs "Mind Drive" and "Can You Imagine?". Page would later join Yes on stage in 1984 at Westfalenhalle in Dortmund, Germany, playing "I'm Down".
In 1982 Page collaborated with director Michael Winner to record the Death Wish II soundtrack. This, and several subsequent Page recordings including Death Wish III soundtrack (1985), were recorded and produced at his own recording studio, The Sol in Cookham, which he had purchased from Gus Dudgeon in the early 1980s.
In 1983 Page appeared with the A.R.M.S. (Action Research for Multiple Sclerosis) charity series of concerts which honoured Small Faces bass player Ronnie Lane, who suffered from the disease. For the first shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Page's set consisted of songs from the Death Wish II soundtrack (with Steve Winwood on vocals) and an instrumental version of "Stairway to Heaven". A four-city tour of the United States followed, with Paul Rodgers of Bad Company replacing Winwood as vocalist. During the US tour, Page and Rodgers also performed "Midnight Moonlight" which would later be recorded for The Firm's first album. All of the shows featured an on stage jam of "Layla" that reunited Page with Yardbirds guitarists Beck and Eric Clapton. According to the book Hammer of the Gods, it was reportedly around this time that Page told friends that he'd just given up heroin after seven years of use. On 13 December 1983, Page joined Robert Plant on-stage for one encore at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.
Page next linked up with Roy Harper for the 1984 album (Whatever Happened to Jugula?) and occasional concerts, performing a predominantly acoustic set at folk festivals under various guises such as the MacGregors, and Themselves. Also in 1984 Page recorded with former Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant as The Honeydrippers on the albumThe Honeydrippers: Volume 1, and with John Paul Jones on the film soundtrack Scream for Help.
Page subsequently collaborated with Paul Rodgers to record two albums under the name The Firm. The first album, released in 1985, was the self-titled The Firm. Popular songs included "Radioactive" and "Satisfaction Guaranteed". The album peaked at number 17 on the Billboard pop albums chart and went gold in the US. It was followed by Mean Business in 1986. The band toured in support of both albums, but soon split up.
Various other projects followed, such as session work for Graham Nash, Stephen Stills and The Rolling Stones (on their 1986 single "One Hit (to the Body)"). In 1986, Page reunited temporarily with his ex-Yardbirds band members to play on several tracks of the Box of Frogs album Strange Land.[30] Page released a solo album entitled Outrider in 1988 which featured contributions from Robert Plant, with Page contributing in turn to Plant's solo album Now and Zen, which was released the same year. Page also embarked on a collaboration with David Coverdale in 1993 entitled Coverdale Page.
Throughout these years Page also reunited with the other former members of Led Zeppelin to perform live on a few occasions, most notably in 1985 for the Live Aid concert with both Phil Collins and Tony Thompson filling drum duties. However, the band members considered this performance to be sub-standard, with Page having been let down by a poorly tuned Les Paul.[31] Page, Plant and Jones, as well as John Bonham's son Jason, performed at the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary show on 14 May 1988, closing the 12-hour show.[31] In 1990, a Knebworth concert to aid the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Centre and the British School for Performing Arts and Technology saw Plant unexpectedly joined by Page to perform "Misty Mountain Hop", "Wearing and Tearing" and "Rock and Roll". Page also performed with the band's former members at various private family functions.
In 1994, Page reunited with Plant for the penultimate performance in MTV's "Unplugged" series. The 90-minute special, dubbed Unledded, premiered to the highest ratings in MTV's history. In October of the same year, the session was released as the CD No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded, and in 2004 as the DVD No Quarter Unledded. Following a highly successful mid-90s tour to support No Quarter, Page and Plant recorded 1998's Walking into Clarksdale.
Since 1990, Page has been heavily involved in remastering the entire Led Zeppelin back catalogue and is currently participating in various charity concerts and charity work, particularly the Action for Brazil's Children Trust (ABC Trust), founded by his wife Jimena Gomez-Paratcha in 1998. In the same year, Page played guitar for rap singer/producer Puff Daddy's song "Come with Me", which heavily samples Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" and was included in the soundtrack of Godzilla. The two later performed the song on Saturday Night Live.
In October 1999, Page teamed up with The Black Crowes for a two-night performance of material from the Led Zeppelin catalogue and old blues and rock standards. The concert was recorded and released as a double live album, Live at the Greek in 2000. In 2001 he made an appearance on stage with Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst and Wes Scantlin of Puddle of Mudd at the MTV Europe Video Music Awards in Frankfurt, where they performed a version of Led Zeppelin's "Thank You"

In 2005, Page was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in recognition of his Brazilian charity work for Task Brazil and Action For Brazil's Children's Trust,[33] made an honorary citizen of Rio de Janeiro later that year, and was awarded a Grammy award.[34]
In November 2006, Led Zeppelin was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame. The television broadcasting of the event consisted of an introduction to the band by various famous admirers (including Roger Taylor, Slash, Joe Perry, Steven Tyler, Jack White and Tony Iommi), a presentation of an award to Jimmy Page, and then a short speech by the guitarist. After this, rock group Wolfmother played a tribute to Led Zeppelin, playing the song "Communication Breakdown".[35][36]
In 2006, Page attended the induction of Led Zeppelin to the UK Music Hall of Fame. During an interview for the BBC for said event, he expressed plans to record new material in 2007, saying "It's an album that I really need to get out of my system... there's a good album in there and it's ready to come out" and "Also there will be some Zeppelin things on the horizon".[37]
On 10 December 2007, the surviving members of Led Zeppelin, as well as John Bonham's son, Jason Bonham played a charity concert at the O2 Arena London.
For the 2008 Olympics, Jimmy Page, David Beckham and Leona Lewis represented Britain during the closing ceremonies on 24 August 2008. Beckham rode a double-decker bus into the stadium, and Page and Lewis performed "Whole Lotta Love".[38]
In 2008 Page co-produced a documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim entitled It Might Get Loud. The film examines the history of the electric guitar, focusing on the careers and styles of Page, The Edge, and Jack White. The film premiered on 5 September 2008 at the Toronto Film Festival.[39] Page also participated in the 3 part BBC documentary London Calling: The making of the Olympic handover ceremony on 4 March 2009.[40] On 4 April 2009, Page inducted Jeff Beck into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[41] Page has announced his 2010 solo tour while talking to the Sky News on 16 December 2009.[42][43]
On 7 June 2008, Page and John Paul Jones appeared with the Foo Fighters to close out the band's concert at Wembley Stadium, performing "Rock and Roll" and "Ramble On."
In January 2010, Jimmy Page announced he is publishing an autobiography through Genesis Publications, in a hand-crafted, limited edition of 2,500 copies.[44] Page has also been honoured with a first-ever Global Peace Award by the United Nations' Pathways to Peace organisation after confirming reports that he would be among the headliners at a planned Show of Peace Concert in Beijing, China on 10 October 2010.[45][46]
On 3 June 2011, Jimmy Page played with Donovan "Mellow Yellow" and "Sunshine Superman" twice, live at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The concert was filmed. Page made an unannounced appearance with The Black Crowes at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London on 13 July 2011. He also played alongside Roy Harper at Harper's 70th birthday celebratory concert, in London's Royal Festival Hall on 13 July 2011.
In November 2011, Conservative MP Louise Mensch launched a campaign to have Page knighted for his contributions to the music industry.[47]

Legacy and influence
Page's past experiences both in the studio and with the Yardbirds were very influential in contributing to the success of Led Zeppelin in the 1970s. As a producer, composer, and guitarist he helped make Led Zeppelin a prototype for countless future rock bands, and was one of the major driving forces behind the rock sound of that era, influencing a host of other guitarists.[49] Allmusic states that "just about every rock guitarist from the late '60s/early '70s to the present day has been influenced by Page's work with Led Zeppelin".[3] For example, Dictators bassist Andy Shernoff states that Jimmy Page's sped up, downstroke guitar riff in "Communication Breakdown", an influential song that contained elements of protopunk,[50][51] was an inspiration for The Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone's downstroke guitar style.[52] Ramone, who has described Page as "probably the greatest guitarist who ever lived",[53] stated in the documentary "Ramones:The True Story" that he improved at his down-stroke picking style by playing the song over and over again for the bulk of his early career.[54] Brian May of Queen, who was also influenced by Page,[55] has said "I don't think anyone has epitomised riff writing better than Jimmy Page – he's one of the great brains of rock music".[56] Tom Scholz of Boston was heavily influenced by Jimmy Page and credits the dual guitar harmonies in Led Zeppelin's "How Many More Times" as the inspiration for Boston's distinctive sound.[57] Page's guitar solo from the song "Heartbreaker" has been credited by Eddie Van Halen as being the inspiration for his two-hand tapping technique after he had seen Led Zeppelin perform in 1971.[58] Similarly, Steve Vai has also commented about the song in a September 1998 Guitar World interview: "This one [Heartbreaker] had the biggest impact on me as a youth. It was defiant, bold, and edgier than hell. It really is the definitive rock guitar solo."

Many other rock guitarists were also influenced by Jimmy Page, such as Ace Frehley,[60] Joe Satriani,[61] John Frusciante,[62] James Hetfield,[63] Kirk Hammett,[64] Zakk Wylde,[65] Yngwie Malmsteen,[66] Tony Iommi,[67] Joe Perry,[68] Richie Sambora,[69] Angus Young,[70] Slash,[71] Dave Mustaine,[72] Mike McCready,[73] Jerry Cantrell,[74] Stone Gossard,[75] Mick Mars,[76] Paul Stanley,[77] Alex Lifeson,[78] and Dan Hawkins.[79]
Page has been described by Uncut as the "rock's greatest and most mysterious guitar hero".[80] According to msnbc.com Jimmy Page "played some of the most fundamental and memorable guitar in rock history—from the heaviest crunch to the most delicate acoustic finger picking."[81] Page's solo in the famous epic "Stairway to Heaven" has been voted by readers of Guitar World[82] and Total Guitar as the greatest guitar solo of all time, and he was named 'Guitarist of the Year' five times during the 1970s in Creem magazine's annual reader poll. Guitar World wrote: "Truly a guitar god, Jimmy Page is one of the most captivating soloists the rock world has ever known."[83] In 1996 Mojo Magazine ranked him number 7 on their list of "100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time".[84] In 2002 he was voted the second greatest guitarist of all time in a Total Guitar magazine reader poll.[85] In 2007, Classic Rock Magazine ranked him No. 4 on their list of the "100 Wildest Guitar Heroes".[86] Gigwise.com, an online music magazine, ranked Page No. 2 on their list of the "50 greatest guitarists ever" in 2008.[87] In August 2009, Time Magazine ranked him the 6th greatest electric-guitar player of all time.[88] In 2010, Jimmy Page was ranked No. 2 on Gibson's "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time".[5] In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine named him number three on their list of the "100 greatest guitarists of all time".[7]
David Fricke, a senior editor at Rolling Stone magazine, described Jimmy Page in 1988 as "probably the most digitally sampled artist in pop today after James Brown."[4] Roger Daltrey of The Who has been a longtime fan of Page[89] and expressed his desire to form a supergroup with Page in 2010 saying: "I’d love to do something, I’d love to do an album with Jimmy Page."[90] Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones has described Jimmy Page as "one of the best guitar players I've ever known."[91][92] Jimmy Page was the first inductee onto the British Walk of Fame in August 2004.[93] Page was awarded "Living Legend Award" at Classic Rock Magazine Roll of Honour 2007.[94] In June 2008, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Surrey for his services to the music industry.[95][96] Page was inducted into Mojo Hall Of Fame at the magazine's award ceremony on 11 June 2010.[97]
In August 2010, Auburn University graduate student Justin Havird named a new species of fish "Lepidocephalichthys zeppelini" after Led Zeppelin, because the fish's pectoral fin reminded him of the double-neck guitar used by Jimmy Page.

Equipment and recording techniques

Guitars
For the recording of most of Led Zeppelin material from Led Zeppelin's second album onwards, Page used a Gibson Les Paul guitar (sold to him by Joe Walsh) with Marshall amplification. A Harmony Sovereign H-1260 was used in-studio on Led Zeppelin III and Led Zeppelin IV and on-stage from 5 March 1971 to 28 June 1972. During the studio sessions for Led Zeppelin, and later for recording the guitar solo in "Stairway to Heaven", he used a Fender Telecaster (a gift from Jeff Beck).[100] He also used a Danelectro 3021, tuned to DADGAD, most notably on live performances of "Kashmir".
Page also plays his guitar with a cello bow,as on the live versions of the songs "Dazed and Confused" and "How Many More Times". This was a technique he developed during his session days.[19] On MTV's Led Zeppelin Rockumentary, Page said that he obtained the idea of playing the guitar with a bow from David McCallum, Sr. who was also a session musician. Page used his Fender Telecaster and later his Gibson Les Paul for his bow solos.Notable guitars
1959 Fender Telecaster (given to Page by Jeff Beck and repainted with a psychedelic dragon design by Page) played with the Yardbirds. Used to record the first Led Zeppelin album and used on the early tours during 1968–1969. In 1971, it was used for recording the "Stairway to Heaven" solo.
1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard (No. 1) (Given as a gift to Page by Joe Walsh) modified with a shaved neck and the addition of a push/pull pot to put the humbuckers out of phase while the toggle is in the middle position.[105] This guitar was also used by Gibson as the model for the company's second run of Page signature models in 2004. Produced by Gibson and aged by luthier Tom Murphy, this second generation of Page tribute models was limited to 25 guitars signed by Page himself; and only 150 guitars in total for the aged model issue.[106][107]
1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard (No. 2) with a shaved down neck to match the profile on his No.1; He added four push/pull pots to coil split the humbuckers as well as phase and series switches which were added under the pick guard after the break-up of Led Zeppelin.
1991 English luthier Roger Giffin built a guitar for Page based loosely on Page's #2. Giffin's work was later copied for Gibson's original run of Jimmy Page Signature model Les Pauls in the mid-1990s.[106][108][109]
1971 Gibson EDS-1275 (used for playing "Stairway to Heaven", "The Song Remains the Same", "The Rain Song", "Celebration Day" during live concerts and the Knebworth, "Tangerine" at the 1975 Earls Court shows, and "Sick Again" throughout the 1977 North American tour)
1959 Danelectro 59-DC (tuned to DADGAD and used live for "White Summer", "Black Mountain Side", "Kashmir" and "Midnight Moonlight" with The Firm).
Danelectro 3021 (tuned to open G and used on the Outrider tour for "In My Time Of Dying". This one has a smaller pickguard, as opposed to the large "seal" pickguard on his first Danelectro.
1967 Vox 12-String used during the recording for the Yardbirds Little Games album and for on-stage appearances.
1960 Black Gibson Les Paul Custom (with Bigsby Tremolo) – stolen in 1970. An ad was placed by Page for the recovery of this highly modified instrument but the guitar was never recovered. In 2008 the Gibson Custom Shop produced a limited run of 25 re-creations of the guitar, each with a Bigsby Tremolo and a new custom 6-way toggle switch.[110]
Because the guitar was too heavy, one of Jimmy Page's Les Paul Custom Black Beauty guitars is now owned by Dan Hawkins of The Darkness.[111]
1969 Gibson Les Paul Standard (seen in "The Song Remains The Same" during the theremin/solo section of "Whole Lotta Love" and for "Kashmir" at the O2 reunion concert. This guitar was later fitted with a Parsons-White B-string bender and used extensively by Page from the mid-to-late 1980s onward, including the Outrider tour, and the Page/Plant "Unledded" special on MTV.
1964 Lake Placid Blue Fender Stratocaster (Used during recording sessions for In Through the Out Door at Earls Court 1975 and in 1979 at Knebworth for In the Evening).
1966 Cream Fender Telecaster (Used on Physical Graffiti and on All My Love during the Tour Over Europe 1980).
1953 Brown Fender Telecaster featuring a Parsons and White B-string bender, and neck salvaged from the "Dragon Telecaster". Seen primarily during the 1980s The Firm and Outrider era. Also used at Knebworth in 1979, notably on "Ten Years Gone" and "Hot Dog".
1965 Fender Electric XII (12-String) used to record Thank You and Stairway to Heaven.
1972 Martin D28 used to record acoustic songs after Led Zeppelin IV, used live at Earls Court 1975

Vernon Reid

2012-01-02T10:41:00.000-08:00

Vernon Reid

Vernon Reid (born August 22, 1958) is an English-born American guitarist, songwriter, composer, and bandleader. Best known as the founder and primary songwriter of the rock band Living Colour, Reid was named #66 on Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
Critic Steve Huey writes, "[Reid's] rampant eclecticism encompasses everything from heavy metal and punk to funk, R&B and avant-garde jazz, and his anarchic, lightning-fast solos have become something of a hallmark as well."
Biography

Early life and career
Reid was born in London, England to Caribbean parents, but grew up in New York City. He attended the prestigious math-science-engineering Brooklyn Technical High School then New York University. He first came to prominence in the 1980s in the band of drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson. 1984's Smash & Scatteration was a duo record with guitarist Bill Frisell. In 1985, Reid co-founded the Black Rock Coalition with journalist Greg Tate and producer Konda Mason.

Living Colour
Reid is best known for leading Living Colour. Early versions of the group formed in New York City in 1983, but the personnel solidified in 1985-86, and Reid led the group for about another decade.
Among the highlights: a double platinum-selling debut album Vivid, released in 1988; its gold-certified successor, Time's Up, released 1990; two consecutive Grammy Awards in the category of Best Hard Rock Performance; opening for the Rolling Stones' 1989 "Steel Wheels" tour; and appearing on the first Lollapalooza tour in the summer of 1991. Living Colour broke up in 1995 but eventually reformed in 2000. Since then, they have released two more albums; Collideøscope in October 2003 on Sanctuary Records and The Chair in the Doorway in September 2009 on Megaforce Records.

Equipment
During the early years of Living Colour, Vernon used a multi-colored ESP Mirage with EMG pickups. In recent years, Vernon has used custom Hamer guitars, but he also has a relationship with Parker Guitars and has a signature guitar called the DF824VR, which is based on Parker's new Dragonfly model. it has HSS EMG-X pickups, a Floyd Rose vibrato (It is the first Parker guitar to have one) a 5-way mag pickup switching system and a Roland MIDI pickup. For amplification, he uses Crate BV300H Blue Voodoo heads with Crate BV412ST 4x12 and Crate VFX5212 2x12 Cabinets and Fender Twin Combo amps.

Effects
His effects include a Roland VG-88 V Guitar System, Roland GR-20 Guitar Synth, DigiTech XP-300 Space Station, Line 6 FM4 Filter Modeler, and Ernie Ball Volume Pedal. He uses Audix i-5 dynamic microphones to mike his guitar cabinets.[citation needed] He has recently switched to Bugera amplifiers, using 2 333XL heads.

Solo career
In addition to his work with Living Colour, Reid has been engaged in a number of other projects. He released "Mistaken Identity", his first solo album in 1996 and has collaborated with the choreographers Bill T. Jones on "Still/Here" and Donald Byrd on "Jazztrain". He performed "Party 'Til The End of Time" at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) with The Roots, an end of the millennium tribute featuring the music of Prince's album "1999". He also composed and performed "Bring Your Beats" a children's program for BAM.
Reid has also undertaken significant work as a record producer, including two Grammy-nominated albums: Papa (1999) by the African vocalist Salif Keita and Memphis Blood: The Sun Sessions (2001) by guitarist James Blood Ulmer. Ulmer's subsequent albums, No Escape from the Blues: The Electric Lady Sessions (2003), Birthright (2005), and Bad Blood in the City: The Piety Street Sessions (2007), were also produced by Reid.
Reid also appears on "Guitar Oblique" (Knitting Factory Records) with guitarists David Torn and Elliott Sharp. Reid was also featured in the program presented by BAM and the Experience Music Project in Seattle entitled "Magic Science", which includes Medeski Martin & Wood and the Gil Evans Orchestra performing Gil Evans' arrangements of songs by Jimi Hendrix.
Reid composed the score for the film Paid In Full, directed by Charles Stone III (well known for creating the "Wasssup!" series of commercials for Budweiser as well as directing three videos for Living Colour) and released by Miramax in the fall of 2002. Reid also composed the score for the celebrated documentary "Ghosts of Attica" (directed by Brad Lichtenstein) which aired on Court TV in the fall of 2001 and has been featured at several film festivals. He composed the score for another documentary directed by Lichtenstein, "Almost Home," which aired in 2006 on the PBS series, Independent Lens.
Reid and DJ Logic, calling themselves "Yohimbe Brothers", released an album in September 2002 called "Front End Lifter". The Yohimbe Brothers have been touring on and off since the release of the album. Reid is also the music supervisor for the film "Mr. 3000" starring Bernie Mac and directed by Charles Stone III; the film was released in September 2004. Vernon's album with Masque (Leon Gruenbaum - keyboards & samchillian tip tip tip cheeepeeeee, Hank Schroy - bass and Marlon Browden - drums), an instrumental album entitled "Known Unknown", was released in April 2004, and On April 18, 2006 Vernon Reid and Masque released "Other True Self", both on Favored Nations records, owned by another guitarist, Steve Vai.
Reid has a prolific session output in a variety of contexts. He has played live or on record with the Roots, Eye & I, Mick Jagger, Ambitious Lovers, Rollins Band, Spearhead, Public Enemy, Mariah Carey, Tracy Chapman, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Don Byron, Defunkt, Santana, Bernie Worrell, MC 900 Ft. Jesus, B.B. King, Madeleine Peyroux, Meridiem, Jack Bruce, Terry Bozzio, Black Sugar Transmission (Vernon solos on the title track of 2009's USE IT e.p.) and DJ Spooky among many others.
Reid played at America’s Millennium Gala, New Year's Eve December 31, 1999, and January 1, 2000, at the Lincoln Memorial, performing "Fortunate Son" with John Fogerty. Among those in the audience were President and First Lady Clinton.
In March 2007, Reid played with Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and G. Calvin Weston at Tonic in NYC, and Tritone in Philadelphia, which led them to record as Free Form Funky Freqs with the title of the recording called Urban Mythology Volume 1. European Tour in November and a soon to be released CD.
In July 2008 Vernon Reid assembled a one-off solo band for his appearance at the G-TARanaki Guitar Festival in Taranaki, New Zealand, with keyboard player Jonathan Crayford, bassist Crete Haami and drummer Magesh Magesh. At the Puke Ariki "Midnight Session" concert, Vernon performed an all star jam with Uli Jon Roth, Gilby Clarke and Alex Skolnick.

Bola Sete

2012-01-02T10:36:00.000-08:00

Bola Sete (born Djalma de Andrade) (July 16, 1923 – February 14, 1987) was a Brazilian guitarist. Sete played jazz with Vince Guaraldi as well as with Dizzy Gillespie. His song "Bettina" was featured on the "Tribe Vibes" breakbeat compilation, as it had been sampled by the musical group A Tribe Called Quest.
Born in Rio de Janeiro, Bola Sete's name means "Seven Ball". In Brazilian billiards, the seven ball is the only black ball on the table, and Bola got this nickname when he was the only black member of a small jazz group.
He studied guitar at the Conservatory of Rio and he started performing with his own sextet and local samba groups while he was still a student. His early influences were guitarists Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian, Barney Kessel, and Oscar Moore (of the Nat King Cole Trio), while he was also captured by the sound of the big bands that were touring South America at that time (Dizzy Gillespie, Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman). His career started in Italy, where he played in various clubs and hotels for four years (1952–1956). Then, he returned to Brazil and started touring all of South America, during which time the manager of the Sheraton hotels noticed him and decided to bring him in the US to play in the hotels (1962). He played for a while in New York's Park Sheraton, later moving to San Francisco to play in the Sheraton Palace. Dizzy Gillespie was staying there at the time and listening to Bola Sete playing every day. When Gillespie decided to bring his pianist Lalo Schifrin to the hotel, he discovered that Lalo and Bola had already met and played together in Argentina. This meeting was the beginning of Bola's success in the US. In the fall of 1962, Gillespie took the guitarist to the Ninth Annual Monterey Jazz Festival, where he enjoyed a huge success.[1] After that, he toured for a while with Gillespie and finally returned to San Francisco, where he joined the Vince Guaraldi trio. Bola was already well-known in the US, and his partnership with Guaraldi was another huge success for both of them. After staying for a couple of years with Guaraldi, Bola formed his own trio with his fellow Brazilians Sebastian Neto (bass) and Paulinho (drums). With his own trio, he appeared once more in Monterey (1966) with equal success.
In the 1970s, he became friends with guitarist John Fahey, who released an album of Sete's solo guitar compositions on his Takoma label.
He died in Greenbrae, California, from lung cancer, on February 14, 1987.

Partial discography
Bola Sete e 4 trombones (1958)
Bossa Nova (1962)
Vince Guaraldi, Bola Sete and Friends (1963)
Tour de Force (1964)
From All Sides (with Vince Guaraldi) (1964)
The Solo Guitar of Bola Sete (1965)
The Incomparable Bola Sete (1965)
Live at El Matador (with Vince Guaraldi) (1966)
Autentico (1966)
At the Monterey Jazz Festival (1966)
Shebaba (1969)
Goin' to Rio (1973)
Working on a Groovy Thing (1976)
Ocean (1981)
Jungle Suite (Dancing Cat) (1985)
Ocean Memories (Samba Moon) (1999)
Shambhala Moon (Samba Moon) (2001)
Live at Grace Cathedral (Samba Moon) (2003)
"Windspell" (Samba Moon) (2008)

Jeff Beck

2012-01-02T10:33:00.000-08:00

Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds; (Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page are the other two). Beck also formed The Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice.
Much of Beck's recorded output has been instrumental, with a focus on innovative sound and his releases have spanned genres ranging from blues-rock, heavy metal, jazz fusion and an additional blend of guitar-rock and electronica. Although he recorded two hit albums (in 1975 and 1976) as a solo act, Beck has not established or maintained the sustained commercial success of many of his contemporaries and bandmates.[1][2] Beck appears on albums by Mick Jagger, Kate Bush, Roger Waters, Donovan, Stevie Wonder, Les Paul, Zucchero, Cyndi Lauper, Brian May and ZZ Top. In 1988, he made a cameo appearance in the movie Twins.
He was ranked 5th in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time"[3] and the magazine has described him as "one of the most influential lead guitarists in rock".[4] He was also ranked second greatest rock guitarist of all time in Digital Dream Door, a site that ranks movies and music.[5] MSNBC has called him a "guitarist's guitarist".[1] Beck has earned wide critical praise and received the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance six times and Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance once. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: as a member of The Yardbirds (1992) and as a solo artist (2009).

Biography
Early life
Beck was born in 1944 to Arnold and Ethel Beck at 206 Demesne Road, Wallington, England. As a ten year old Beck sang in a church choir. As a teenager he learned to play a borrowed guitar and made several attempts to build his own instrument, first by gluing and bolting together cigar boxes for the body and an unsanded fence-post for the neck with model aircraft control-lines and frets simply painted on. When fabricating a neck for his next try he attempted to use measurements for a bass guitar.
Beck has cited Les Paul as the first electric guitar player who impressed him.[7] Cliff Gallup, lead guitarist with Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps was an early musical influence, followed by B.B. King and Steve Cropper.[8]
Upon leaving school he attended Wimbledon College of Art, after which he was briefly employed as a painter and decorator, a groundsman on a golf course and a car paint-sprayer. Beck's sister introduced him to Jimmy Page when both were teenagers

Early career
Beck began his career in the 1960s. He joined The Rumbles, a Croydon band, in 1963 for a short period as lead guitarist, playing Gene Vincent and Buddy Holly songs, displaying a talent for mimicking guitar styles. His first appearance on vinyl was as a session guitarist on a 1964 Parlophone single by The Fitz and Startz entitled "I'm Not Running Away", with B-side "So Sweet".
In March 1965, Beck was recruited by The Yardbirds to replace Eric Clapton on the recommendation of fellow session man Jimmy Page, who had been their initial choice.[9] The Yardbirds recorded most of their Top 40 hit songs during Beck's short but significant 20-month tenure with the band allowing him only one full album which became known as Roger the Engineer (titled Over Under Sideways Down in the U.S.), released in 1966. Beck was actually pictured on the cover of For Your Love which was released by the Yardbirds' American label in June 1965, however Clapton played guitar on most of the songs. From September to November 1966, Beck and Page shared lead guitar duties with the Yardbirds, who initially joined as bass player[9] in June of that year. A clip of this iteration of the band can be seen in the 1966 British film Blow Up.

After leaving the Yardbirds, Beck recorded the one-off "Beck's Bolero" (with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Nicky Hopkins and Keith Moon) and two solo hit singles in the UK, "Hi Ho Silver Lining" and "Tallyman". He then formed The Jeff Beck Group, which featured Rod Stewart on vocals, Ronnie Wood on bass, Nicky Hopkins on piano and, after a series of drummers, eventually Micky Waller in early 1967.
The group produced two albums for Columbia Records (Epic in the US): Truth (August 1968) and Beck-Ola (July 1969). Truth, released five months before the first Led Zeppelin album, features "You Shook Me", a song written and first recorded by Willie Dixon that was also covered on the Led Zeppelin debut. It sold well (reaching number 15 on the Billboard charts). Beck-Ola saw drummer Micky Waller replaced by Tony Newman, and, while well-received, was less successful both commercially and critically. Resentment, coupled with touring incidents, led the group to dissolve in July 1969.
Nick Mason recalls in his autobiography that during 1967 Pink Floyd had wanted to recruit Beck to be their guitarist after the departure of Syd Barrett[10] but "None of us had the nerve to ask him".[11]
After the break-up of his group, Beck took part in the Music from Free Creek "super session" project, billed as "A.N. Other" and contributed lead guitar on four songs, including one co-written by him. Next he teamed with bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice, the rhythm section of Vanilla Fudge, in September 1969, when Bogert and Appice came to England to resolve contractual issues, but when Beck fractured his skull in a car accident near Maidstone in December the plan was postponed for two-and-a-half years, during which time Bogert and Appice formed Cactus. Beck later remarked on the 1960s period of his life: "Everyone thinks of the 1960s as something they really weren't. It was the frustration period of my life. The electronic equipment just wasn't up to the sounds I had in my head."[12]
In 1970, when Beck had regained his health, he set about forming a band with drummer Cozy Powell. Beck, Powell and producer Mickie Most flew to the US and recorded several tracks at Motown Studios with Motown session men, but the results remained unreleased. By April 1971 Beck had completed the line-up of this new group with guitarist/vocalist Bobby Tench, keyboard player Max Middleton and bassist Clive Chaman. The new band performed as the "Jeff Beck Group" but had a substantially different sound from the first line-up. Rough and Ready (October 1971), the first album they recorded, on which Beck wrote or co-wrote six of the album's seven tracks (the exception being written by Middleton), included elements of soul, rhythm-and-blues and jazz, foreshadowing the direction Beck's music would take later in the decade.

A second album Jeff Beck Group (July 1972) was recorded at TMI studios in Memphis, Tennessee with the same personnel.[13] Beck employed Steve Cropper as producer[14] and the album displayed a strong soul influence, five of the nine tracks being covers of songs by American artists. One, "I Got To Have A Song", was the first of four Stevie Wonder compositions covered by Beck. Shortly after the release of the Jeff Beck Group album the band was dissolved and Beck's management put out the statement that: "The fusion of the musical styles of the various members has been successful within the terms of individual musicians, but they didn't feel it had led to the creation of a new musical style with the strength they had originally sought."[15]
Beck then started collaborating with bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice, who became available following the demise of Cactus but continued touring as Jeff Beck Group in August 1972, to fulfil contractual obligations with his promoter, with a line-up including Bogert, Appice, Max Middleton and vocalist Kim Milford. After six appearances Milford was replaced by Bobby Tench, who was flown in from the UK[16] for the Arie Crown Theatre Chicago performance and the rest of the tour,[17] which concluded at the Paramount North West Theatre, Seattle.[18] After the tour Tench and Middleton left the band and the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice appeared: Appice took on the role of vocalist with Bogert and Beck contributing occasionally.[18] They were included on the bill for Rock at The Oval in September 1972, still as the "Jeff Beck Group", which marked the start of a tour schedule of UK, the Netherlands and Germany. Another US tour began in October 1972, starting at the Hollywood Sportatorium Florida and concluding on 11 November 1972 at The Warehouse, New Orleans.[19] In April 1973 the album Beck, Bogert & Appice was released (on Epic Records). While critics acknowledged the band's instrumental prowess the album was not commercially well received except for its cover of Stevie Wonder's hit "Superstition".
On 3 July 1973 Beck joined David Bowie on-stage to perform "The Jean Genie"/"Love Me Do" and "Around and Around". The show was recorded and filmed but none of the released editions included Beck. During October 1973 Beck recorded tracks for Michael Fennelly's[20] album Lane Changer and attended sessions with Hummingbird, a band derived from The Jeff Beck Group, but did not to contribute to their eponymous first album[21]
Early in January 1974 the band played at the Rainbow Theatre, as part of a European tour. The concert was broadcast in full on the US show Rock Around the World in September of the same year. This last recorded work by the band previewed material intended for a second studio album, included on the bootleg At Last Rainbow. The tracks Blues Deluxe and BBA Boogie from this concert were later included on the Jeff Beck compilation Beckology (1991).[22] Beck, Bogert & Appice dissolved in April 1974 before their second studio album (produced by Jimmy Miller) was finished. Their live album Beck, Bogert & Appice Live in Japan, recorded during their 1973 tour of Japan, was not released until February 1975 by Epic/Sony.
After a few months Beck entered Underhill Studio and met with the group Upp, whom he recruited as backing band for his appearance on the BBC TV programme Guitar Workshop in August 1974. Beck produced and played on their self-titled debut album and their second album This Way Upp, though his contributions to the second album went uncredited. In October Beck began to record instrumentals at AIR Studios with Max Middleton, bassist Phil Chen and drummer Richard Bailey, using George Martin as producer and arranger. Blow by Blow (March 1975) evolved from these sessions and showcased Beck's technical prowess in jazz-rock. The album reached number four in the charts and is Beck's most commercially-successful release. Beck, fastidious about overdubs and often dissatisfied with his solos, often returned to AIR Studios until he was satisfied. A couple of months after the sessions had finished Martin received a telephone call from Beck, who wanted to record a solo section again. Bemused, Martin replied: "I'm sorry, Jeff, but the record is in the shops!"

Beck put together a live band for a US tour, preceded by a small and unannounced gig at The Newlands Tavern in Peckham, London. He toured through April and May 1975, mostly supporting the Mahavishnu Orchestra, retaining Max Middleton on keyboards but with a new rhythm section of bassist Wilbur Bascomb and noted session drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie. In a May 1975 show in Cleveland, Ohio (Music Hall), he became frustrated with an early version of a talk box he used on his arrangement of The Beatles' "She's a Woman," and after breaking a string, tossed his legendary Yardbirds-era Stratocaster off the stage. He did the same with the talk box and finished the show playing a Les Paul and without the box. During this tour he performed at Yuya Uchida's "World Rock Festival," playing a total of eight songs with Purdie. In addition he performed a guitar and drum instrumental with Johnny Yoshinaga and, at the end of the festival, joined in a live jam with bassist Felix Pappalardi of Mountain and vocalist Akira "Joe" Yamanaka from the Flower Travellin' Band. Only his set with Purdie was recorded and released.
He returned to the studio and recorded Wired (1976), which paired drummer and composer Narada Michael Walden and keyboardist Jan Hammer. The album used a jazz-rock fusion style which sounded similar to the work of his two collaborators. To promote the album, Beck joined forces with the Jan Hammer Group, playing a show supporting Alvin Lee at The Roundhouse in May 1976, before embarking on a seven-month long world tour. This resulted in the live album Jeff Beck with the Jan Hammer Group Live (1977).
At this point, Beck was a tax exile and took up residency in the US, remaining there until his return to the UK in the autumn of 1977. In the spring of 1978, he began rehearsing with bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Gerry Brown towards a projected appearance at the Knebworth Festival, but this was cancelled after Brown dropped out. Beck toured Japan for three weeks in November 1978 with an ad-hoc group consisting of Clarke and newcomers Tony Hymas (keyboards) and Simon Phillips (drums) from Jack Bruce's band. Work then began on a new studio album at The Who's Ramport Studios in London and continued sporadically throughout 1979, resulting in There and Back in June 1980. It featured three tracks composed and recorded with Jan Hammer, while five were written with Hymas. Stanley Clarke was replaced by Mo Foster on bass, both on the album and the subsequent tours. Its release was followed by extensive touring in the USA, Japan and the UK.

1980s
In 1981 Beck made a series of historic live appearances with his Yardbirds predecessor Eric Clapton at the Amnesty International-sponsored benefit concerts dubbed The Secret Policeman's Other Ball shows. He appeared with Clapton on "Crossroads", "Further On Up The Road", and his own arrangement of Stevie Wonder's "Cause We've Ended As Lovers". Beck also featured prominently in an all-star band finale performance of "I Shall Be Released" with Clapton, Sting, Phil Collins, Donovan and Bob Geldof. Beck's contributions were seen and heard in the resulting album and film, both of which achieved worldwide success in 1982. Another benefit show, the ARMS Concert for Multiple Sclerosis featured a jam with Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. They performed "Tulsa Time" and "Layla". This is the only time all of the Yardbirds lead guitarists appeared on stage together.[citation needed]
In 1985 Beck released Flash, featurng a variety of vocalists, but most notably former bandmate Rod Stewart on a rendition of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready".
After a four year break, Jeff made a return to instrumental music with the album Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop (1989), the first album to feature Beck as a fingerstyle guitarist, leaving the plectrum playing style. It was only his 3rd album to be released in the 1980s. Much of Beck's sparse and sporadic recording schedule was due in part to a long battle with noise-induced tinnitus.

1990s
In the 1990s, Beck had a higher musical output. He is featured on lead guitar on Roger Waters' 1992 concept album Amused to Death, and on Kate Bush's 1993 album The Red Shoes.
He recorded the instrumental soundtrack album Frankie's House (1992), as well as Crazy Legs (1993), a tribute album to 50's rockabilly group Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps and their influential guitarist Cliff Gallup.
Beck rehearsed with Guns N' Roses for their concert in Paris in 1992, but did not play in the actual concert due to ear damage caused by a Matt Sorum cymbal crash, causing Beck to become temporarily deaf.[23] The Yardbirds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. In Beck's acceptance speech he humorously noted that:
“ Someone told me I should be proud tonight... But I'm not, because they kicked me out. ...They did... Fuck them![24] ”

He accompanied Paul Rodgers of Bad Company on the album Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters in 1993. Jeff's next release would not be until 1999, his first foray into guitar based electronica, Who Else! The album also marked Beck's first collaboration with a female musician, Jennifer Batten, in touring, writing, and recording as well as the first time he had worked with another guitarist on his own material since playing in The Yardbirds. Beck continued to work with Batten through the post-release tour of You Had It Coming in 2001.

2000s
Jeff Beck won his third Grammy Award, this one for 'Best Rock Instrumental Performance' for the track "Dirty Mind" from You Had It Coming (2001).
The song "Plan B," from the 2003 release Jeff, earned Beck his fourth Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, and was proof that the new electro-guitar style he used for the two earlier albums would continue to dominate. Jeff Beck was the opening act for B.B. King in the summer of 2003 and appeared at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2004.

In 2007, he accompanied Kelly Clarkson for her cover of Patty Griffin's "Up to the Mountain (MLK Song)", during the Idol Gives Back episode of American Idol. The performance was recorded live and afterwards was immediately released for sale. In the same year, he appeared once again at Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival, performing with Vinnie Colaiuta, Jason Rebello, and the then 21-year-old bassist Tal Wilkenfeld.
Beck announced a world tour in early 2009 and remained faithful to the same lineup of musicians as in his tour two years before, playing and recording at Ronnie Scott's in London to a sold out audience. Beck played on the song "Black Cloud" on the 2009 Morrissey album Years of Refusal and later that year, Harvey Goldsmith became Beck's Manager.[26]
Beck was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 4 April 2009, as a solo artist.[27] The award was presented by Jimmy Page.[28] On 4 July 2009, David Gilmour joined Beck onstage at the Albert Hall. Beck and Gilmour traded solos on "Jerusalem" and closed the show with "Hi Ho Silver Lining".

2010s
Beck's latest album, Emotion & Commotion, was released in April 2010. It features a mixture of original songs and covers such as "Over the Rainbow" and "Nessun Dorma". Joss Stone provides some of the guest vocals.[29] Two tracks from Emotion & Commotion won Grammys in 2011: "Nessun Dorma" won the Best Pop Instrumental Performance and "Hammerhead" won the Best Rock Instrumental Performance".[30] Beck collaborated on "Imagine" for the 2010 Herbie Hancock album, The Imagine Project along with Seal, P!nk, India.Arie, Konono N°1, Oumou Sangare and others and received a third Grammy in 2011 for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for this track.[31][32]
Beck's 2010 World Tour band features Grammy winning musician Narada Michael Walden on drums, Rhonda Smith on bass and Jason Rebello on keyboards. He has also released a live album titled Live and Exclusive from the Grammy Museum on October 25, 2010.
In 2011, Beck received two honorary degrees from British universities. On 18 July 2011, he was honoured with a fellowship from University of the Arts London in recognition of his "outstanding contribution to the field of Music".[33] He was also presented with an honorary doctorate from University of Sussex by Sanjeev Bhaskar, the university's chancellor for “an outstanding musical career and celebrated the relationship between the university and the Brighton Institute of Modern Music (BIMM)" on 21 July 2011.

Influences

One of the most influential guitarists in the history of rock music,[4][36][37] Jeff Beck has cited his major influences as Les Paul,[7] The Shadows, Cliff Gallup, Ravi Shankar, Roy Buchanan,[38] Chet Atkins, Django Reinhardt, Steve Cropper and Lonnie Mack.[39] Of John McLaughlin, he said: "he has given us so many different facets of the guitar and introduced thousands of us to world music, by blending Indian music with jazz and classical. I'd say he was the best guitarist alive."[40]
While Beck was not the first rock guitarist to experiment with electronic distortion, he nonetheless helped to redefine the sound and role of the electric guitar in rock music. Beck's work with The Yardbirds and The Jeff Beck Group's 1968 album Truth were seminal influences on heavy metal music, which emerged in full force in the early 1970s.

Technique and equipment
Beck stopped regular use of a pick (plectrum) in the 1980s. He produces a wide variety of sounds by using his fingers and the vibrato bar on his signature Fender Stratocaster, although he frequently uses a wah-wah pedal both live and in the studio. As Eric Clapton once said, "With Jeff, it’s all in his hands".[42] Along with Fender Stratocasters, Beck occasionally plays Fender Telecaster and Gibson Les Paul models as well. His amplifiers are primarily Fender and Marshall. In his earlier days with the Yardbirds, Beck also used a 1954 Fender Esquire guitar (now owned by Seymour W. Duncan, and housed in the Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame[43]) through Vox AC30s. He has also played through a variety of fuzz pedals and echo-units along with this set-up and has used the Pro Co RAT distortion pedal. The Seymour Duncan JB model's name is an acronym for both Jazz & Blues and Jeff Beck, as it was designed in conjunction with the guitarist.
During the ARMS Charity Concerts in 1983 Beck used his battered Fender Esquire along with a 1954 Fender Stratocaster and a Jackson Soloist. On the Crazy Legs (1993) he played a Gretsch Duo Jet, his signature Fender Stratocaster and various other guitars. Recently[when?] Fender created a Custom Shop Tribute series version of his beat-up Fender Esquire as well as his Artist Signature series Stratocaster.

Personal life
Beck has been married to Sandra Cash since 2005.[44] Beck describes himself as a vegetarian. He has an interest in classic Ford hot rods, performing much of the work on the exteriors and engines of the cars by himself.

Joe Baiza

2012-01-02T10:26:00.000-08:00

Joe Baiza (born January 11, 1952) is a punk rock and jazz guitarist whom Eugene Chadbourne cites as one of the most noteworthy guitarists to emerge from the Southern California punk rock milieu.
Baiza is a founding member of the bands Saccharine Trust,Universal Congress Of,and The Mecolodiacs. He also performed guest guitar spots on several Minutemen tracks and played alongside Black Flag's Greg Ginn and Chuck Dukowski in the SST all-star jam band October Faction, recording two albums with them. Baiza was also part of the musical side project Nastassya Filippovna which featured Bob Lee (drums), Devin Sarno (bass) and Mike Watt (bass). He substituted for Nels Cline during Mike Watt's European and American tours behind his second solo album, Contemplating the Engine Room, in 1997 and 1998. Also in 1997, he and Cline played (sometimes together) in the band Solo Career with Lee (drums), Richard Derrick (bass), Walter Zooi (trumpet) and Gustavo Aguilar (percussion); other guitarists in that rotating ensemble included Mario Lalli, Woody Aplanalp and Ken Rosser. Currently, he is in the reunited Saccharine Trust as well as the improvisational unit Unknown Instructors with former Minutemen Mike Watt and George Hurley.

Caspar Brotzmann

2012-01-02T10:22:00.000-08:00

Caspar Brötzmann (born 13 December 1962) is an electric guitar player. He was born in Wuppertal, Germany.
While Brötzmann typically performs with the power trio lineup of Caspar Brötzmann Massaker (his early band), with guitar, bass guitar and drum set, he only uses rock and roll and heavy metal music as a basis for his music.
Brötzmann's technique has been praised: "...his attack on the instrument — explosive, obstreperous, large scale, textural, timbral — asserts the material facts of string-pickup-amplifier more bluntly than anyone else currently involved in rock".
Brötzmann's father, Peter Brötzmann, is a free jazz saxophone player. They have recorded a duo album, Last Home.

Discography
Caspar Brötzmann Massaker
The Tribe (1987)
Black Axis (May 1989)
Der Abend der schwarzen Folklore (July 1992)
Koksofen (June 1993)
Home (January 1995)
Caspar Brötzmann & FM Einheit
Merry Christmas (April 1994) - with FM Einheit of Einstürzende Neubauten.
Caspar Brötzmann & Page Hamilton
Zulutime (November 1996) - with Page Hamilton, of the band Helmet.
Caspar Brötzmann
Mute Massaker (June 1999)
Other activity
Die Alliierten - Ruhm und Ehre (1982) - Skinhead band from Wuppertal, Germany; Caspar Brötzmann plays guitar
The März Combo - Live in Wuppertal (April 1993) - Live recording of the Peter Brötzmann Tentet
Guitar on Thomas D's (of Die Fantastischen Vier) album Reflektor Falke (2001). Also guitarist on the accompanying tour.
Ende Gut - Ein Klangwerk (July 2005) - Sibylle Berg reads, Caspar Brötzmann plays guitar
Live music (guitar) for dance performance Execution Ground, Premiere March 24, 2007 at the Rhenania, Cologne.

Keiji Haino

2012-01-02T10:19:00.000-08:00

Keiji Haino

Keiji Haino (灰野敬二 Haino Keiji) born May 3, 1952 in Chiba, Japan, and currently residing in Tokyo, is a Japanese musician whose work has included rock, free improvisation, noise, singer-songwriter, solo percussion, psychedelic, minimalism and drone styles. He has been active since the 1970s and continues to record regularly and in new styles.
History
Haino's initial artistic outlet was theatre, inspired by the radical writings of Antonin Artaud. An epiphanic moment came when he heard The Doors' "When The Music's Over" and changed course towards music. After brief stints in a number of blues and experimental outfits, he formed improvised rock band Lost Aaraaf in 1970. In the mid 1970s, having left Lost Aaraaf, he collaborated with psychedelic multi-instrumentalist Magical Power Mako and film soundtrack composer Toru Takemitsu.
His musical output throughout the late 1970s is scarcely documented, until the formation of his rock duo Fushitsusha in 1978 (although their first LP did not surface until 1989). This outfit initially consisted of Haino on guitar and vocals, and Tamio Shiraishi on synthesizer. With the departure of Shiraishi and the addition of Jun Hamano (bass) and Shuhei Takashima (drums), Fushitsusha operated as a trio. The lineup soon changed, with Yasushi Ozawa (bass) and Jun Kosugi (drums) performing throughout the 1990s, but returned to a duo with Haino supplementing percussion with tape-loops.
Haino formed Aihiyo in 1998, principally playing a diverse range of covers (including The Rolling Stones, The Ronettes, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience), transforming the original material into Haino's unique form of garage psychedelia.
Other groups Haino has formed include Vajra (with underground folk singer Kan Mikami and drummer Toshiaki Ishizuka), Knead (with the avant-prog outfit Ruins), Sanhedolin (with Yoshida Tatsuya of Ruins and Mitsuru Nasuno of Altered States and Ground Zero) and a solo project called Nijiumu. He has also collaborated with a diverse range of artists, including Faust, Boris, Derek Bailey, Joey Baron, Peter Brötzmann, Lee Konitz, Loren Mazzacane Connors, Charles Gayle, Earl Kuck, Bill Laswell, Musica Transonic, Stephen O'Malley, Mikigami Koichi, Ayuo, Merzbow, Oren Ambarchi, Jim O'Rourke, John Zorn, Yamantaka Eye, John Duncan and Fred Frith.

Style
His main instruments of choice have been guitar and vocals, with many other instruments and approaches incorporated into his career's work. Haino is known for intensely cathartic sound explorations, and despite the fact that much of his work contains varied instrumentation and accompaniment, he retains a distinctive style.
Haino cites a broad range of influences, including troubadour music, Marlene Dietrich, Iannis Xenakis, Blue Cheer, Syd Barrett, and Charlie Parker. His recent foray into DJing at Tokyo nightclubs has reportedly reflected his eclectic taste. He has had a long love affair with early blues music, particularly the works of Blind Lemon Jefferson, and is heavily inspired by the Japanese musical concept of 'Ma', the silent spaces in music (see Taiko for more information). He also has a keen interest in Butoh dancing and collecting ethnic instruments.

Solo & Collaborative Discography
Watashi Dake (1981)
Kaii Abe (Collaboration with unknown musicians) (1982)
Nijiumu (1990)
Live in the first year of the Heisei, Volume One (With Kan Mikami and Motoharu Yoshizawa (1990)
Live in the first year of the Heisei, Volume Two (With Kan Mikami and Motoharu Yoshizawa (1990)
Live at Lazyways, Koenji, Tokyo (with Toshi Ishizuka) (1992)
Itsukushimi (Affection)(1992)
30 - June - 1992 (1992)
Execration that accept to acknowledge (1993)
Ama No Gawa (Milky Way) (1993)
Guitar Works (7")(1994)
Beginning and end, interwoven (1994)
Hikari=Shi" (light=death) (Maki Miura, Keiji Haino, and Ogreish Organism) (1994)
Two strings will do it (Barre Phillips, Keiji Haino, and Sabu Toyozumi) (1994)
Live at Downtown Music Gallery (Keiji Haino and Loren Mazza Cane Connors) (1995)
A Challenge to Fate (1995, reissued 2004)
Tenshi No Gijinka (1995)
I said, This is the son of nihilism (1995)
Twenty-first Century Hard-y Guide-y Man (1995)
Etchings in the air (Barre Phillips and Keiji Haino) (1996)
Evolving Blush or Driving Original Sin (With Peter Brotzmann) (1996)
Gerry Miles (With Alan Licht) (1996)
The Book of "Eternity Set Aflame" (1996)
Saying I love you, I continue to curse myself (1996)
Drawing Close, Attuning—The Respective Signs of Order and Chaos (With Derek Bailey (1997)
Vol. 2 (Keiji Haino and Loren Mazza Cane Connors) (1997)
Keeping on breathing (April 21, 1997)
Sruthi Box (Promotional Release) (April 21, 1997)
So, black is myself (May 1, 1997)
The 21st Century Hard-y Guide-y Man (1998)
Incubation (with Musica Transonic) (1998)
Black: Implication Flooding (With Boris) (1998)
Even Now, Still I Think (June 24, 1998)
An Unclear Trial: More Than This (With Greg Cohen and Joey Baron) (November 1998/January 1999)
Y (With Jean-Francois Pauvros) (January 2000)
The Strange Face (With Shoji Hano) (September 2000)
Shadow - Live in Wels, Austria (With Shoji Hano & Peter Brotzmann) (September 2000)
Ichioku to ichibanme no inori o michibiki daseba ii (With Coa) (October 2000) A translation: You should draw out the billion and first prayer
Songs (With Derek Bailey) (December 2000)
Abandon all words at a stroke, so that prayer can come spilling out (May 2001)
Until Water Grasps Flame (With Yoshida Tatsuya) (January 2002)
Mazu wa iro o nakusouka!! (Nov 5, 2002)
Free Rock (Doo-Dooettes + Keiji Haino + Rick Potts) (Nov 25, 2002)
"C'est parfait" endoctriné tu tombes la tête la première (January 2003)
Hikari yami uchitokeaishi kono hibiki (December 24, 2003)
Koko (December 24, 2003)
Live at Cafe Independants Friday 23. January. 2004 (Keiji Haino, Tatsuya Yoshida & Mitsuru Natsuno + Bus Ratch) (June 2004)
Tayu tayu to tadayoitamae kono furue (With Michihiro Sato) (July 2004)
Next Let's Try Changing the Shape (April 2004, January 2005)
Black Blues (soft version) (May 2004)
Black Blues (violent version)(May 2004)
Uchu Ni Karami Tsuite Iru Waga Itami (March 10, 2005)
kono kehai fujirareteru hajimarini (August 25, 2005)
Reveal'd to none as yet - an expedience to utterly vanish consciousness while still alive (December 2005)
New Rap (With Yoshida Tatsuya) (March 2006)
Homeogryllus japonicus Orchestra 2004 (With Mamoru Fujieda) (April 2006)
Animamima (With Sitaar Tah!) (May 2006)
Yaranai ga dekinai ni natte yuku (August 15, 2006)
Mamono (With KK Null) (November 2006)
Cosmic Debris, Vol.III (With My Cat Is An Alien) (August 2007)
Uhrfasudhasdd (With Yoshida Tatsuya) (May 2008)
Pulverized Purple (With Masami Akita) (July 2008)

Sandi Bull

2012-01-02T10:15:00.000-08:00

Alexander "Sandy" Bull (February 25, 1941 – April 11, 2001) was an American folk musician who was active from the late 1950s until his death.
Born in New York City, he was the only child of Harry A. Bull, an editor in chief of Town & Country magazine, and Daphne van Beuren Bayne (1916–2002), a New Jersey banking heiress who became known as a jazz harpist under the name Daphne Hellman. His parents were divorced in 1941, shortly after his birth.
Sandy Bull was a composer and accomplished player of many stringed instruments, including guitar, pedal steel guitar, banjo and oud. His music blends non-western instruments with the 1960s folk revival. His albums often presented an eclectic repertoire including extended modal improvisations on oud. An arrangement of Carl Orff's composition Carmina Burana for 5-string banjo appears on his first album and other musical fusions include his adaptation of Luiz Bonfá's "Manhã de Carnaval", a lengthy variation on "Memphis Tennessee" by Chuck Berry, and compositions derived from works of J. S. Bach and Roebuck Staples.
Bull used overdubbing as a way to accompany himself. As documented in the Still Valentine's Day, 1969: Live At the Matrix, San Francisco recording, Sandy Bull's use of tape accompaniment was part of his solo performances in concert as well.
Bull primarily played a finger-picking style of guitar and banjo and his style has been compared to that of John Fahey and Robbie Basho of the early Takoma label in the 1960s. Bull also played the oud on Sam Phillips' 1991 album, Cruel Inventions.

Personal life
Sandy Bull struggled with a drug problem for many years which seriously affected his performing. After completing a rehabilitation program in 1974, he began performing again. By this time he had relocated to San Francisco, where he shared living and rehearsal space with folksinger Billy Roberts [the composer of the Jimi Hendrix song, "Hey, Joe"] and on May 2, 1976 he opened a concert by Santana at the Berkeley Community Theater, where he performed using his 4-track recorder for backup instruments.
Bull later moved to Florida and then Nashville, where he built a recording studio and raised a family. He became close to many prominent Nashville musicians and in the 1990s recorded several records on the Timeless Recording Society label. Bull died of lung cancer on April 11, 2001, at his home near Nashville, Tennessee.
By his mother's second marriage to The New Yorker writer Geoffrey Hellman, Bull had a half-sister, the sitar player Daisy Paradis, and a half-brother, Digger St. John.

Jhon Fahey

2012-01-02T10:09:00.000-08:00

John Fahey
Fahey in studio with Recording King guitar

John Fahey (February 28, 1939 – February 22, 2001) was an American fingerstyle guitarist and composer who pioneered the steel-string acoustic guitar as a solo instrument. His style has been greatly influential and has been described as the foundation of American Primitivism, a term borrowed from painting and referring mainly to the self-taught nature of the music and its minimalist style. Fahey borrowed from the folk and blues traditions in American roots music, having compiled many forgotten early recordings in these genres. He would later incorporate classical, Portuguese, Brazilian, and Indian music into his œuvre.
Fahey wrote a largely apocryphal autobiography and was known for his coarseness, aloof demeanor, and dry humour. He spent many of his latter years in poverty and poor health, but also enjoyed a minor career resurgence with a turn towards the more explicitly avant-garde. He died in 2001 due to complications from heart surgery. In 2003, he was ranked 35th in the Rolling Stone "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" list.

Career
John Aloysius Fahey was born in Washington, DC, into a musical household—both his parents played the piano. In 1945, the family moved to the Washington suburb of Takoma Park, Maryland to a house on New York Avenue that Fahey's father Al lived in until his death in 1994. On weekends, the family often attended performances of top country and bluegrass groups of the day, but it was hearing Bill Monroe's version of Jimmie Rodgers' "Blue Yodel No. 7" on the radio that ignited the young Fahey's passion for music.[3]
In 1952, after being impressed by guitarist Frank Hovington, whom he met while on a fishing trip, he purchased his first guitar for $17 from the Sears-Roebuck catalogue. Along with his budding interest in guitar, Fahey was attracted to record collecting. While his tastes ran mainly in the bluegrass and country vein, Fahey discovered his love of early blues upon hearing Blind Willie Johnson's "Praise God I'm Satisfied" on a record-collecting trip to Baltimore with his friend and mentor, the musicologist Richard K. Spottswood. Much later, Fahey compared the experience to a religious conversion and remained a devout blues disciple until his death.[3]
As his guitar playing and composing progressed, Fahey developed a style that blended the picking patterns he discovered on old blues 78s with the dissonance of contemporary classical composers he loved, such as Charles Ives and Béla Bartók. In 1958, Fahey made his first recordings. These were for his friend Joe Bussard's amateur Fonotone label. He recorded under the pseudonym Blind Thomas as well as under his own name.[4]
In 1959, Fahey recorded at St. Michaels and All Angels Church in Adelphi, MD and that material would become the very first Takoma record. Having no idea how to approach professional record companies and being convinced they would be uninterested, Fahey decided to issue his first album himself, using some cash saved from his gas station attendant job at Martin's Esso and some borrowed from an Episcopal priest. So Takoma Records was born, named in honor of his hometown.[5] One hundred copies of this first album were pressed.[6] On one side of the album sleeve was the name "John Fahey" and on the other, "Blind Joe Death"—this latter was a humorous nickname given to him by his fellow blues fans. He attempted to sell these albums himself. Some he gave away, some he sneaked into thrift stores and blues sections of local record shops, and some he sent to folk music scholars, a few of whom were fooled into thinking that there really was a living old blues singer called Blind Joe Death. It took three years for Fahey to sell the remainder.

After graduating from American University with a degree in philosophy and religion, Fahey moved to California in 1963 to study philosophy at the University of California at Berkeley. Arriving on campus, Fahey—ever the outsider—began to feel dissatisfied with the program's curriculum (he later suggested that studying philosophy had been a mistake and that what he had wanted to understand was really psychology) and was equally unimpressed with Berkeley's (hippie) music scene. Fahey loathed the polite Pete Seeger-inspired revivalists he found himself classed with. The following year, Fahey moved south to Los Angeles to join the folklore master's program at UCLA at the invitation of department head D.K. Wilgus. Fahey's UCLA master's thesis on the music of Charley Patton was later published.[1][4] He completed it with the musicological assistance of his friend Alan Wilson, who shortly after became a member of Canned Heat.[7]
During this period, Takoma Records was reborn. Fahey decided to track down Blues legend Bukka White by sending a postcard to Aberdeen, Mississippi (White had sung that Aberdeen was his hometown, and Mississippi John Hurt had been rediscovered using a similar method). When White responded, Fahey and ED Denson, a Washington, DC area friend who had also moved west, decided to travel to Memphis and record White. The recordings by White became the first non-Fahey Takoma release. Fahey also, finally, released a second album in late 1963, called Death Chants, Breakdowns and Military Waltzes. To their surprise the Fahey release sold better than White's and Fahey had a career going.
His releases during the mid-1960s employed odd guitar tunings and sudden style shifts rooted firmly in the old time and blues stylings of the 1920s. But he was not simply a copyist, as compositions such as "When the Catfish is in Bloom" or "Stomping Tonight on the Pennsylvania/Alabama Border" demonstrate. Fahey described the latter piece as follows : "The opening chords are from the last movement of Vaughan Williams' Sixth Symphony. It goes from there to a Skip James motif. Following that it moves to a Gregorian chant, Dies Irae. It's the most scary one in the Episcopal hymn books, it's all about the day of judgment. Then it returns to the Vaughan Williams chords, followed by a blues run of undetermined origin, then back to Skip James and so forth." A hallmark of his classic releases was the inclusion of lengthy liner notes, parodying those found on blues releases. Typically, these were epic acts of self-mythologization, mixing personal biography, reverie, folklore, and myriad obscure blues and bluegrass references.
Later albums from the sixties, such as Requia and The Yellow Princess found Fahey making sound collages from such elements as Gamelan music, Tibetan chanting, animal and bird cries and singing bridges. In 1967, Fahey recorded with Texas psych-rock trio The Red Crayola at the 1967 Berkeley Folk Festival, music that resurfaced on the 1998 Drag City reissue, The Red Krayola: Live 1967. The Red Crayola subsequently recorded an entire studio album with Fahey, but the Red Crayola's label demanded possession of the tapes and recorded documentation of those sessions has been missing ever since.[citation needed]
In addition to his own creative output, Fahey expanded the Takoma label, discovering fellow guitarists Leo Kottke, Robbie Basho and Peter Lang, as well as emerging pianist George Winston. Kottke's debut release on the label, 6- and 12-String Guitar, ultimately proved to be the most successful of the crop, selling more than 500,000 copies. Other artists with albums on the label included Mike Bloomfield, Rick Ruskin, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Maria Muldaur, Michael Gulezian and Canned Heat. In 1979, Fahey sold Takoma to Chrysalis Records.[1] Jon Monday, who had been the General Manager of the label since 1970 was the only employee to go with the new company. Chrysalis eventually sold the rights to the albums, and Takoma was in limbo until bought by Fantasy Records in 1995.

Later years
By the mid-1970s, Fahey's output abated and he began to suffer from a drinking problem. He lost his home in the dissolution of his first marriage, remarried, divorced again, and moved to Salem, Oregon in 1981 to live with his third wife. In 1986, Fahey contracted Epstein-Barr syndrome, a long-lasting viral infection similar to chronic fatigue syndrome, which exacerbated his diabetes and other health issues.[8][9] He continued to perform in and around the Salem area, as he was managed by friends David Finke and his wife Pam. The trio attempted to keep Fahey's career afloat by radio appearances and small venue performances. He broke up with his third wife and his life began to spiral downward. He made what appeared to be his last album in 1990.
Although he won his five-year battle with Epstein-Barr, Fahey spent much of the early 1990s living in poverty, mostly in cheap motels. Gigs had dried up, due to his health problems. He paid his rent by pawning his guitars and reselling rare records he found in thrift stores.[8][9]
Following a 1994 entry on Fahey in Spin magazine's spin-off Alternative Record Guide publication, Fahey learned that he now had a whole new audience, which included alternative US bands Sonic Youth and Cul de Sac, and the avant-garde musician Jim O'Rourke. Byron Coley published a large article called "The Persecutions and Resurrections of Blind Joe Death"[10] (also in Spin magazine) and at the same time a two-cd retrospective called The Return of the Repressed all combined to kick-start Fahey's career. Suddenly new releases started to appear in rapid succession, in parallel to the reissue of all the early Takoma releases by Fantasy Records.[4][9]
Jim O'Rourke went on to produce a Fahey album, 1997's Womblife, while in the same year Fahey recorded an album with Cul de Sac, The Epiphany of Glenn Jones (Glenn Jones is the lead guitarist of Cul de Sac). This late flowering showed Fahey had changed. Gone were the melodic dreaminess and folk-based meditations of the 60s and 70s, which Fahey himself characteristically denounced as "cosmic sentimentalism". In characteristically witty fashion, he once said of his style: "How can I be a folk? I'm from the suburbs you know."[11] Now his music was harsh, grating, and confrontational.
At the same time as he was delving into more experimental electric music, Fahey's passion for traditional roots music did not subside. After coming into some money upon the death of his father in 1995, Fahey used the inheritance to form another label, Revenant Records, to focus on reissuing obscure recordings of early blues, old-time music, and anything else Fahey took a fancy to.[3] In 1997, the label issued its first crop of releases, including albums by artists such as British guitarist Derek Bailey, American pianist Cecil Taylor, guitarist Jim O'Rourke, bluegrass pioneers the Stanley Brothers, old-time banjo legend Dock Boggs, Rick Bishop of Sun City Girls, and slide guitarist Jenks "Tex" Carman. Revenant's most famous release would become Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues: The Worlds of Charley Patton, a seven-disc retrospective of Charley Patton and his contemporaries, which won three Grammy awards in 2003. Fahey himself won only one Grammy in 1997 for his contributions to the liner notes for Revenant's Anthology of American Folk Music, Vol. 4[12]
On May 23, 1998, Fahey (guitar) performed an improvised experimental piece on the WNUR-FM Airplay show in Evanston, Illinois in collaboration with Jim O'Rourke (electronics, live-mixing). Later that evening, he gave a solo guitar performance at Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple in Oak Park. In the summer of 1999, Fahey returned to WNUR to read from the manuscript for what would become How Bluegrass Music Destroyed My Life—the working title at that time was Spank. An interview with Fahey by WNUR's Joe Cannon followed the reading. Fahey appeared to have found new vitality through his writing as well as his now more experimental and improvised compositions.
Fahey performed in Europe in Autumn 1999, including a show at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London in September. He came on stage, played a set, and then with the words, "It feels like it is time to go home", left.[citation needed]
In 2000, the American record label Drag City published a volume of Fahey's esoteric autobiogaphical short stories, How Bluegrass Music Destroyed My Life, edited by Damian Rogers with an introduction by Jim O'Rourke.
In February 2001, just a few days before what would have been his 62nd birthday, John Fahey died at Salem Hospital after undergoing a sextuple bypass operation.[13]
In 2006, five years after his death, no fewer than four John Fahey tribute albums were released as a testament to his reputation as a "giant of 20th century American music" (Byron Coley).

Documentaries
Starting work in 2007, Washington D.C. filmmaker Marc Minsker produced a 30-minute documentary on the life of John Fahey entitled "John Fahey: The Legacy of Blind Joe Death." It chronicles his humble beginnings in Takoma Park, Maryland, through his success as a guitarist and record producer in California, follows him through his dark days in Salem, Oregon, and ends with commentary on his contributions to American music. The film was accepted into the Takoma Park Film Festival and on Friday, May 7, 2010, premiered at the Takoma Park, Maryland Community Center, accompanied by a live performance and discussion with Fahey's friend, guitarist Peter Lang.[14]
A full length, feature documentary is currently underway by James Cullingham and his Canadian film house, Tamarack Productions entitled In Search of Blind Joe Death—The Saga of John Fahey.

Robert Wolfe

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Robert Wolfe Quine (December 30, 1942 – May 31, 2004) was an American guitarist, known for his innovative guitar solos.
A native of Akron, Ohio, Quine worked with a wide range of musicians, though he himself remained relatively unknown in comparison. Critic Mark Demming writes "Quine's eclectic style embraced influences from jazz, rock, and blues players of all stripes, and his thoughtful technique and uncompromising approach led to rewarding collaborations with a number of visionary musicians.
His collaborators included Richard Hell & the Voidoids, Lou Reed (notably on The Blue Mask), Brian Eno (on Nerve Net), John Zorn, Ikue Mori, Marc Ribot, Marianne Faithfull (Strange Weather), Lloyd Cole, Tom Waits (Rain Dogs), Matthew Sweet, Odds, Jody Harris (Escape), and many more, including a rare 7" by Lester Bangs.
Rock critic and friend Lester Bangs once said of him:
Someday Quine will be recognized for the pivotal figure that he is on his instrument — he is the first guitarist to take the breakthroughs of early Lou Reed and James Williamson and work through them to a new, individual vocabulary, driven into odd places by obsessive attention to On the Corner-era Miles Davis.
Quine was a nephew of the philosopher W. V. Quine and second cousin once removed of The Black Keys' guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach.

Early life
After graduating from Earlham College in 1965, Quine earned a law degree from Washington University in St. Louis but never practiced law. Quine was enrolled in the Berklee School of Music for the 1967-68 semester.

Career
In 1969, Quine made a series of cassette recordings of The Velvet Underground performing live. These saw official release in 2001 by Polydor Records, titled Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes. Though lo fi in sound quality, the album is an important document of the group. In the liner notes, Quine writes: "I got a lot of pleasure and inspiration from these performances. As a guitar player, they were an important element in shaping what musical direction I wanted to take."
Quine then worked in a movie memorabilia store in New York City with Richard Hell and Tom Verlaine. Later, Hell invited him to join his new band The Voidoids. Hell's two Voidoid albums feature Quine's distinctive guitar work; guitarist Marc Ribot once said about Quine that "in terms of punk rock guitar soloing, [Quine] could definitely be called the inventor,"[2] while critic Ira Robbins describes his work as "stunning and underrated".[3]
After The Voidoids broke up, Quine recorded with Lydia Lunch, Jody Harris and Material. From September 1979 to July 1980, Quine and Harris recorded various guitar improvisations with a drum machine. In 1981, some of those experiments were released as the Harris/Quine album, Escape. With Material bandmate Fred Maher, Quine recorded his only other solo album, Basic, released in 1984.
In the early 1980s, former Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed drafted Quine to join his group. He appeared on Reed's The Blue Mask (1982), acclaimed as one of Reed's best albums. The Reed-Quine guitar work crafted interlocking duels that blur the lines between rhythm and leads. Reed's 1983 album Legendary Hearts featured most of the same group, but Quine eventually quit the group due to tensions with Reed. Reed persuaded Quine to rejoin for a world tour, which is documented on the video A Night with Lou Reed (1983) and the album Live in Italy (1984); Quine disliked touring, but agreed to the tour for financial reasons. He ended his partnership with Reed for good in 1985.
Throughout the remainder of the 1980s, Quine made scattered appearances as a session player on records by Tom Waits, John Zorn, Marianne Faithfull and Scritti Politti.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Quine began collaborations with a few musicians who would introduce him to new audiences, and who would raise his profile a bit. Saxophonist/composer John Zorn hired Quine for several experimental projects. He appeared on absurdist post-punk band They Might be Giants' 1994 album John Henry, and he also worked with pop songwriters/singers Lloyd Cole and Matthew Sweet during this period. Sweet's biggest hit song, "Girlfriend," is anchored by Quine's frenetic, squealing guitar work.

Death
Depressed after the death of his wife Alice in August 2003, Quine committed suicide by heroin overdose in his New York home on May 31, 2004.

Mark Ribot

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Marc Ribot ( born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer.
His own work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and composer John Zorn.
Biography
Ribot was born in Newark, New Jersey. He has worked extensively as a session guitarist. He has performed and recorded with Tom Waits, John Zorn, David Sylvian, Jack McDuff, Wilson Pickett, The Lounge Lizards, Arto Lindsay, T-Bone Burnett, Medeski, Martin and Wood, Cibo Matto, Elysian Fields, Sam Phillips, Elvis Costello, David Poe, Allen Ginsberg, Foetus, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Susana Baca, The Black Keys, Stan Ridgway, Vinicio Capossela, Alain Bashung, Lyenn, Hector Zazou, McCoy Tyner, Elton John, Madeline Peyroux, Marianne Faithfull, Leonid Fedorov, Tonio K, Andres Calamaro, Anarchist Republic of Bzzz and others.
Ribot's earliest session work was featured on Tom Waits' Rain Dogs (1985) and helped define Waits' new musical direction.[2] Ribot worked with Waits on many of his following albums including Franks Wild Years (1987), Mule Variations (1999), Real Gone (2004) and Bad as Me (2011). He has appeared on Elvis Costello's Spike, Mighty Like a Rose (1991), and Kojak Variety (1995). Ribot has appeared on numerous recordings by John Zorn, including many of Zorn's Filmworks recordings, solo performances on Zorn's Masada Guitars (also featuring Bill Frisell and Tim Sparks), and is a member of Zorn's Bar Kokhba Sextet and Electric Masada . Ribot's first two albums featured The Rootless Cosmopolitans, followed by an album of works by Frantz Casseus for solo guitar. Further releases found him working in a variety of band and solo contexts including two albums with his self-described "dance band", Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos[3] (The Prosthetic Cubans), featuring compositions by Arsenio Rodríguez.
Ribot admitted to Guitar Player a relatively limited technical facility due to learning to play right-handed despite being left-handed: "That's a real limit, one that caused me a lot of grief when I was working with Jack McDuff and realizing I wasn't following in George Benson's footsteps. I couldn't be a straight-ahead jazz contender if you held a gun to my head, but that begs the question of whether I would want to be one."[4]
He currently performs and records with his group Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog with bassist Shahzad Ismaily and drummer Ches Smith of the avant-garde band Secret Chiefs 3.[5] Ribot's most current studio work involves several tracks accompanying the legendary pianist from John Coltrane's group, McCoy Tyner on his late 2008 album and DVD Guitars; which also features work with John Scofield, Bill Frisell, Béla Fleck, and Derek Trucks.
In late 2010, he toured Europe with his band SunShip (Mary Halvorson, Chad Taylor, Jason Ajemian).[6]
A biographical documentary film about Marc Ribot was made, called The Lost String.
Ribot was also a judge for the 6th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

Discography
Rootless Cosmopolitans (1990)
Requiem for What's His Name (1992)
Marc Ribot Plays Solo Guitar Works of Frantz Casseus (1993)
Shrek (1994)
The Book of Heads (1995)
Don't Blame Me (1995)
Shoe String Symphonettes (1997)
The Prosthetic Cubans (1998)
Yo! I Killed Your God (1999)
Muy Divertido! (2000)
Saints (2001)
Inasmuch as Life Is Borrowed (2001)
Scelsi Morning (2003)
Soundtracks Volume 2 (2003)
Spiritual Unity (2005)
Asmodeus: Book of Angels Volume 7 (2007)
Exercises in Futility (2008)
Party Intellectuals (2008)
Silent Movies (2010)