KL: Do you see any bands of merit on the scene today? What about U2? They’re friends of yours, aren’t they?
Bob Dylan: Yeah, U2 will probably be around years from now. John Cougar Mellencamp, he’ll be around as long as anybody will be.….
-Bob Dylan to Kurt Loder (October 1987)
John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American musician, singer-songwriter, painter, and actor. He is known for his catchy, populist brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumentation.
The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration is a live double-album release in recognition of Bob Dylan’s 30 years as a recording artist. Recorded on October 16, 1992 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, it captures most of the concert, which featured many artists performing classic Dylan songs, before ending with three songs from Dylan himself.
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:
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 Dylan, Woody Guthrie, James 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 (Egil) – Rain On The Scarecrow (Live 2008):
… and my favorite (Hallgeir) – Small Town (live, 1987)
Album of the day: John Mellencamp -Scarecrow (1985):
Jazz is not background music. You must concentrate upon it in order to get the most of it. You must absorb most of it. The harmonies within the music can relax, soothe, relax, and uplift the mind when you concentrate upon and absorb it. Jazz music stimulates the minds and uplifts the souls of those who play it was well as of those who listen to immerse themselves in it. As the mind is stimulated and the soul uplifted, this is eventually reflected in the body.
~Horace Silver
“We all have to open our minds, stretch forth, take chances and venture out musically to try and arrive at something new and different.”
~Horace Silver
Song For My Father – Live – Denmark TV 1968:
From Wikipedia:
Birth name
Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva
Born
September 2, 1928 (age 85)
Origin
Norwalk, Connecticut, U.S.
Genres
Post bop
Modal jazz
Mainstream jazz
Soul jazz
Jazz fusion
Hard bop
Occupations
Pianist
Composer
Bandleader
Instruments
Piano
Associated acts
Horace Silver Quintet
Horace Silver Trio
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers
Horace Silver (born September 2, 1928), born Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva in Norwalk, Connecticut, is an American jazz pianist and composer.
Silver is known for his distinctive humorous and funky playing style and for his pioneering compositional contributions to hard bop. He was influenced by a wide range of musical styles, notably gospel music, African music, and Latin American music and sometimes ventured into the soul jazz genre.
From allmusic (Chris Kelsey):
From the perspective of the early 2000s, it is clear that few jazz musicians have had a greater impact on the contemporary mainstream than Horace Silver. The hard bop style that Silver pioneered in the ’50s is now dominant, played not only by holdovers from an earlier generation, but also by fuzzy-cheeked musicians who had yet to be born when the music fell out of critical favor in the ’60s and ’70s. … read more -> allmusic.com
From allaboutjazz.com:
When Horace Silver once wrote out his rules for musical composition (in the liner notes to the 1968 record, Serenade to a Soul Sister), he expounded on the importance of “meaningful simplicity.” The pianist could have just as easily been describing his own life. For more than fifty years, Silver has simply written some of the most enduring tunes in jazz while performing them in a distinctively personal style. It’s all been straight forward enough, while decades of incredible experiences have provided the meaning. .. read more -> allaboutjazz.com
Legacy:
Silver’s music has been a major force in modern jazz. He was one of the first pioneers of the style known as hard bop, influencing such pianists as Bobby Timmons, Les McCann, and Ramsey Lewis. Second, the instrumentation of his quintet (trumpet, tenor sax, piano, double bass, and drums) served as a model for small jazz groups from the mid-1950s until the late 1960s.Further, Silver’s ensembles provided an important training ground for young players, many of whom (such as Donald Byrd, Art Farmer, Blue Mitchell,Woody Shaw, Junior Cook, and Joe Henderson) later led similar groups of their own.
Silver’s talent did not go unnoticed among rock musicians who bore jazz influences, either; Steely Dan sent Silver into the Top 40 in the early 1970s when they crafted their biggest hit single, “Rikki, Don’t Lose That Number,” off the bass riff that opens “Song for My Father.”
As social and cultural upheavals shook the nation during the late 1960s and early 1970s, Silver responded to these changes through music. He commented directly on the new scene through a trio of records called United States of Mind (1970–1972) that featured the spirited vocals of Andy Bey. The composer got deeper into cosmic philosophy as his group, Silver ‘N Strings, recorded Silver ‘N Strings Play The Music of the Spheres (1979).
Señor Blues (Horace Silver, Blue Mitchell & Junior Cook):
