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Today: John Mellencamp is 61

What is there to be afraid of? The worst thing that can happen is you fail. So what? I failed at a lot of things. My first record was horrible.
~John Mellencamp

I’m your average Joe guy. I don’t really care for politicians.
~John Mellencamp

Induction of John Mellencamp @ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

From Wikipedia:

Also known as Johnny Cougar
John Cougar
John Cougar Mellencamp
Born October 7, 1951 (age 61)
Seymour, Indiana, United States
Genres Rock, heartland rock, roots rock, folk rock,hard rock, folk
Occupations Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments Vocals, guitar, harmonica

John Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951) is an American rock singer-songwriter, musician, painter and occasional actor known for his catchy, populist brand of heartland rock which emphasizes traditional instrumentation. He has sold over 40 million albums worldwide and has amassed 22 Top 40 hits in the United States. In addition, he holds the record for the most tracks by a solo artist to hit number-one on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, with seven, and has been nominated for 13 Grammy Awards, winning one. His latest album, No Better Than This, was released on August 17, 2010 to widespread critical acclaim.

Mellencamp is also one of the founding members of Farm Aid, an organization that began in 1985 with a concert in Champaign, Illinois to raise awareness about the loss of family farms and to raise funds to keep farm families on their land. The Farm Aid concerts have remained an annual event over the past 27 years, and as of 2012 the organization has raised over $40 million to promote a strong and resilient family farm system of agriculture.

Mellencamp was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10, 2008 by Billy Joel. His biggest musical influences are Bob DylanWoody GuthrieJames Brown and The Rolling Stones. Said longtime Rolling Stone contributor Anthony DeCurtis: “Mellencamp has created an important body of work that has earned him both critical regard and an enormous audience. His songs document the joys and struggles of ordinary people seeking to make their way, and he has consistently brought the fresh air of common experience to the typically glamour-addled world of popular music.”

My fav Mellencamp song – Rain On The Scarecrow (Live 2008):

Jack & Diana:

Album of the day – Scarecrow (1985):

Other October 07:

Continue reading Today: John Mellencamp is 61

Today: Brian Johnson is 65

“We’re never going to win any Grammy awards. We’re never gonna win any respect from the squeaky-clean mob and Rolling Stone or everybody like that, because we don’t give any messages out that they think are important.”
~Brian Johnson

” I like AC/DC.”
~Keith Richards

From Wikipedia:

Born 5 October 1947 (age 65)
Dunston, Gateshead, England
Genres Heavy metal, hard rock, rock and roll, blues rock, glam rock
Occupations Singer-songwriter
Instruments Vocals
Years active 1971–present
Labels EMI, Epic, Atlantic
Associated acts AC/DCGeordie

Brian Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and lyricist who has been the lead singer for the rock band AC/DC since 1980. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003, along with the other members of the band.

AC/DC lead guitarist and co-founder Angus Young later recalled, “I remember Bon playing me Little Richard, and then telling me the story of when he saw Brian singing.” He says about that night, “There’s this guy up there screaming at the top of his lungs and then the next thing you know he hits the deck. He’s on the floor, rolling around and screaming. I thought it was great, and then to top it off—you couldn’t get a better encore—they came in and wheeled the guy off!'” Johnson was diagnosed with appendicitis later that night, which was the cause of his writhing around on stage. The band agreed immediately that Johnson’s performing style fit AC/DC’s music. Johnson’s first album with AC/DC, Back in Black, became the second best-selling album of all time.

Back in Black – Live:

You Shook Me All Night Long (Original 1980 Music Video)

Since AC/DC is not available on spotify… we need an extra youtube video

Hells Bells:

Led Zeppelin is not on spotify either… “Fly Like an Eagle” it will have to be…..

Album of the day: Steve Miller Band – Fly Like an Eagle (1976):

Other October 05:

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Today: Janis Joplin passed away in 1970 – 42 years ago

On stage I make love to twenty five thousand people; and then I go home alone.

You know why we’re stuck with the myth that only black people have soul? Because white people don’t let themselves feel things.

From Wikipedia:

Birth name Janis Lyn Joplin
Also known as Pearl, Mary Jane
Born January 19, 1943
Port Arthur, Texas,
United States
Died October 4, 1970 (aged 27)
Hollywood, California,
United States
Genres Blues rock, soul, psychedelic rock, acid rock, country, folk,hard rock, jazz blues
Occupations Singer, songwriter
Instruments Vocals, guitar, auto-harp, harmonica, piano, percussion
Years active 1962–1970
Labels Columbia
Associated acts Big Brother and the Holding Company
Kozmic Blues Band
Full Tilt Boogie Band
Grateful Dead

Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter. Joplin first rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of the psychedelic-acid rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company, and later as a solo artist with her more soulful and bluesy backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band. She was one of the more popular acts at the Monterey Pop Festival and later became one of the major attractions to the Woodstock festival and the Festival Express train tour.

Janis Joplin charted five singles, and other popular songs from her four-year career include “Down On Me“, “Bye, Bye Baby”, “Coo Coo”, “Summertime“, “Piece of My Heart“, “Turtle Blues“, “Ball ‘n’ Chain“, “Try (Just A Little Bit Harder)”, “Maybe“, “To Love Somebody“, “Kozmic Blues“, “Work Me, Lord“, “Move Over”, “Cry Baby”, “A Woman Left Lonely”, “Get It While You Can”, “My Baby”, “Trust Me”, “Mercedes Benz“, “One Night Stand”, “Raise Your Hand” and her only number one hit, “Me and Bobby McGee“.

Joplin was well-known for her performing abilities, and her fans referred to her stage presence as “electric”. At the height of her career, she was known as “The Queen of Rock and Roll” as well as “The Queen of Psychedelic Soul”, and became known as Pearl amongst her friends. She was also a painter, dancer and music arranger.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked Joplin number 46 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2004, and number 28 on its 2008 list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

The party’s all over
Drink up and go home.
It’s too late to love her
And leave her alone.
~Kris Kristofferson (Epitaph (Black and Blue))

Joplin’s death in October 1970 at the age of 27 stunned her fans and shocked the music world, especially when coupled with the death just sixteen days earlier of another rock icon, Jimi Hendrix. Music historian Tom Moon wrote that Joplin had “a devastatingly original voice”. Music columnist Jon Pareles of the New York Times wrote that Joplin as an artist was “overpowering and deeply vulnerable”. Author Megan Terry claimed that Joplin was the female version of Elvis Presley in her ability to captivate an audience.

Cry Baby – Live 1970:

Summertime (Live Gröna Lund 1969):

Album of the day – Pearl (1970):

From allmusic – Steve Huey:

Janis Joplin‘s second masterpiece (after Cheap Thrills), Pearl was designed as a showcase for her powerhouse vocals, stripping down the arrangements that had often previously cluttered her music or threatened to drown her out. Thanks also to a more consistent set of songs, the results are magnificent — given room to breathe, Joplin‘s trademark rasp conveys an aching, desperate passion on funked-up, bluesy rockers, ballads both dramatic and tender, and her signature song, the posthumous number one hit “Me and Bobby McGee.” The unfinished “Buried Alive in the Blues” features no Joplin vocals — she was scheduled to record them on the day after she was found dead.
.. read more @ allmusic 

 

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Today: Gillian Welch is 45

OLD post … You’re being redirected to a newer version……

“Each person comes to have this musical experience, this moment with us, where they get to sink into our world for a little while. It’s this very unhurried world. It’s fairly quiet, it’s contemplative, but it can be quite panoramic. I think people think interesting thoughts at our shows, and they go rather deeply into some personal experience of their own. I’m really proud that our music seems to connect, because it’s not for everybody. But for the people that our music works for, it really gets down pretty deep in there.” ~Gillian Welch on her live shows (via Acoustic Guitar)

From Wikipedia:

Born October 2, 1967 (age 45) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Origin Nashville, Tennessee
Genres Bluegrass, Americana,Country
Occupations Singer-songwriter
Instruments singing, acoustic guitar, banjo,drums
Associated acts Dave Rawlings Machine
Website gillianwelch.com

Gillian Welch (born October 2, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, Bluegrass, and Americana, is described by The New Yorker as “at once innovative and obliquely reminiscent of past rural forms”. Welch and Rawlings have released five critically acclaimed albums. Their 1996 debut, Revival, and the 2001 release Time (The Revelator), received nominations for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Their 2003 album, Soul Journey, introduced electric guitar, drums and a more upbeat sound to their body of work. After a gap of eight years, they released their fifth studio album, The Harrow & The Harvest, in 2011. Welch was an associate producer and performed on two songs of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, a platinum album that won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2002. Welch has collaborated and recorded with distinguished musicians such as Alison KraussRyan AdamsJay FarrarEmmylou HarrisThe Decemberists, and Ani DiFranco.

“Stingy critics give Ms. Welch a hard time because she’s a California city girl, not an Appalachian coal miner’s daughter. But as Lucinda or Emmylou might attest, love of the music is not a birthright, but an earned right. Listen to Ms. Welch yodel, in a tune about that no-good “gal” Morphine, and you know she’s as mountain as they come.” ~Taylor Holliday (The Wall Street Journal)

Musical Style: Welch and Rawlings incorporate elements of early twentieth century music such as old time, classic country, gospel and traditional bluegrass with modern elements of rhythm and blues, rock ‘n’ roll, jazz, and punk rock. The New Yorker‘s Alec Wilkinson maintained their musical style is “not easily classified—it is at once innovative and obliquely reminiscent of past rural forms”.   Reception:

  • Geoffrey Himes of The Washington Post described Welch as “one of the most interesting singer-songwriters of her generation”
  • In 2003, Tom Kielty of The Boston Globe observed that she was “quietly establishing one of the most impressive catalogs in contemporary roots music”
  • in a 2007 piece in The Guardian by John Harris called Welch “one of the decade’s greatest talents”
  • Critic Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times wrote, “At every turn, she demonstrates a spark and commitment that should endear her to anyone from country and folk to pop and rock fans who appreciate imagination and heart.”

Tennessee: Elvis Presley Blues: Album of the day: The Harrow & The Harvest (2011):   Other October 2: Continue reading Today: Gillian Welch is 45

Today: The late Albert Collins was born in 1932 – 80 years ago

From Wikipedia:

Born October 1, 1932
Leona, Texas, United States
Died November 24, 1993 (aged 61)
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Genres Blues, blues rock
Occupations Musician, songwriter
Instruments Guitar, vocals, harmonica
Years active 1952–1993
Labels Alligator

Albert Collins (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993) was an American electric blues guitarist and singer (and occasional harmonica player) whose recording career began in the 1960s in Houston and whose fame eventually took him to stages across North America, Europe, Japan and Australia. He had many nicknames, such as “The Ice Man”, “The Master of the Telecaster” and “The Razor Blade”.

From allmusic.com – Richard Skelly:

Albert Collins, “The Master of the Telecaster,” “The Iceman,” and “The Razor Blade” was robbed of his best years as a blues performer by a bout with liver cancer that ended with his premature death on November 24, 1993. He was just 61 years old. The highly influential, totally original Collins, like the late John Campbell, was on the cusp of a much wider worldwide following via his deal with Virgin Records’ Pointblank subsidiary. However, unlike CampbellCollins had performed for many more years, in obscurity, before finally finding a following in the mid-’80s.
…read more @ allmusic.com 

Iceman:

 

Album of the day – Ice Pickin’ (1978):

From allmusic – Thom Owens:
Ice Pickin’ is the album that brought Albert Collins directly back into the limelight, and for good reason, too. The record captures the wild, unrestrained side of his playing that had never quite been documented before. Though his singing doesn’t quite have the fire or power of his playing, the album doesn’t suffer at all because of that — he simply burns throughout the album.
….read more over @ allmusic.com

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