Tag Archives: Howie Epstein

July 21 in music history

The late Sara Carter was born 116 years ago today (read more)

Sara Carter (July 21, 1898 – January 8, 1979) was an American Country music musician. Known for her deep and distinctive singing voice, she was the lead singer on most of the recordings of the historic Carter Family act in the 1920s and 1930s.

The Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. They were the first vocal group to become country music stars. Their recordings of such songs as “Wabash Cannonball”, “Can the Circle Be Unbroken”, “Wildwood Flower” and “Keep On the Sunny Side” made them country standards.

sara_carter

Come Together

 song by The Beatles written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is the opening track on the album Abbey Road, and was released as a double A-sided single with “Something”, their twenty-first single in the United Kingdom and twenty-sixth in the United States. The song reached the top of the charts in the US, and peaked at number four in the UK.

Read more about Come Together

The Beatles - Come_Together-Something_(single_cover)
Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou, 21 July 1948), commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam.

Stevens’ albums Tea for the Tillerman (1970) and Teaser and the Firecat (1971) were both certified triple platinum in the US by the RIAA. His 1972 album Catch Bull at Four sold half a million copies in the first two weeks of release alone and was Billboard’s number-one LP for three consecutive weeks. He also earned two ASCAP songwriting awards in consecutive years for “The First Cut Is the Deepest”; the song has been a hit single for four different artists. Some of his other hit songs are “Father and Son”, “Wild World”, “Peace Train”, “Moonshadow”, and “Morning Has Broken”.

In December 1977, Stevens converted to Islam and adopted the name Yusuf Islam the following year.

cat stevens
Howard Norman “Howie” Epstein (July 21, 1955 – February 23, 2003) was a musician best known for his work with Tom Petty and theHeartbreakers as bassist.While playing on a Shannon album that Tom Petty was producing (Drop Down And Get Me), Epstein impressed Tom with his ability. So when Ron Blair, who had been bassist with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers since their inception in 1976, announced that he had enough of touring, Epstein was recruited into the line-up. “We all kind of thought Howie would get the job,” says Heartbreakers’ drummer Stan Lynch. “He seemed to have a real good feeling for what we were doing. He’s a good bass player, a real good singer, and he fit in real well.” Epstein

Spotify Playlist – July 21

Today: The late Sara Carter was born in 1898 – 115 years ago

sara_carterSara Carter (with banjo)

Sara Carter (July 21, 1898 – January 8, 1979) was an American Country music musician. Known for her deep and distinctive singing voice, she was the lead singer on most of the recordings of the historic Carter Family act in the 1920s and 1930s.

The Carter Family:

The Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. They were the first vocal group to become country music stars. Their recordings of such songs as “Wabash Cannonball”, “Can the Circle Be Unbroken”, “Wildwood Flower” and “Keep On the Sunny Side” made them country standards.

BBC Documentary on Country Music – here is 15 glorious minutes about The Carter Family:

The original group consisted of Alvin Pleasant “A.P.” Delaney Carter (1891–1960), his wife Sara Dougherty Carter (1898–1979), and his sister-in-law Maybelle Addington Carter (1909–1978). Maybelle was married to A.P.’s brother Ezra (Eck) Carter and was also Sara’s first cousin. All three were born and raised in southwestern Virginia, where they were immersed in the tight harmonies of mountain gospel music and shape note singing.

This is an excerpt from the upcoming music documentary The Winding Stream – The Carters, the Cashes and the Course of Country Music (we were participating in the funding of this kickstarter project). It tells the story of how A.P. Carter met his future wife Sara while selling fruit trees in the hills of southwest Virginia:

Throughout the group’s career, Sara Carter sang lead vocals; Maybelle sang harmony and accompanied the group instrumentally; on some songs A.P. did not perform at all but at times sang harmony and background vocals and once in a while, lead vocal. Maybelle’s distinctive guitar playing style became a hallmark of the group.

Legacy:

  • The Carter Family was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970 and were given the nickname “The First Family of Country Music”.
  •  In 1988, the Carter Family was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and received its Award for the song “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”.
  • In 1993, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative postage stamp honoring A.P., Sara, and Maybelle.
  • In 2001, the group was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor.
  • In 2005, the group received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mother Maybelle & Sara Carter – While The Band Plays Dixie:

Album of the day:

 

Other July-21:

Continue reading Today: The late Sara Carter was born in 1898 – 115 years ago

Today: The late Sara Carter was born in 1898 – 114 years ago

From Wikipedia:

Sara Carter (July 21, 1898 – January 8, 1979) was an American Country music musician. Known for her deep and distinctive singing voice, she was the lead singer on most of the recordings of the historic Carter Family act in the 1920s and 1930s.

The Carter Family:

The Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. They were the first vocal group to become country music stars. Their recordings of such songs as “Wabash Cannonball“, “Can the Circle Be Unbroken“, “Wildwood Flower” and “Keep On the Sunny Side” made them country standards.

The original group consisted of Alvin Pleasant “A.P.” Delaney Carter (1891–1960), his wife Sara Dougherty Carter (1898–1979), and his sister-in-law Maybelle Addington Carter (1909–1978). Maybelle was married to A.P.’s brother Ezra (Eck) Carter and was also Sara’s first cousin. All three were born and raised in southwestern Virginia, where they were immersed in the tight harmonies of mountain gospel music and shape note singing.

Throughout the group’s career, Sara Carter sang lead vocals; Maybelle sang harmony and accompanied the group instrumentally; on some songs A.P. did not perform at all but at times sang harmony and background vocals and once in a while, lead vocal. Maybelle’s distinctive guitar playing style became a hallmark of the group.

Legacy:

  • The Carter Family was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970 and were given the nickname “The First Family of Country Music”.
  •  In 1988, the Carter Family was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and received its Award for the song “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”.
  • In 1993, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative postage stamp honoring A.P., Sara, and Maybelle.
  • In 2001, the group was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor.
  • In 2005, the group received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mother Maybelle & Sara Carter – While The Band Plays Dixie:

Album of the day:

 

Other July-21:

Continue reading Today: The late Sara Carter was born in 1898 – 114 years ago