Category Archives: Music Calendar

Country, Music Calendar

Today: The late Jimmie Rodgers was born in 1897 – 115 years ago

 

The most inspiring type of entertainer for me has always been somebody like Jimmie Rodgers, somebody who could do it alone and was totally original. He was combining elements of blues and hillbilly sounds before anyone else had thought of it. He recorded at the same time as Blind Willie McTell but he wasn’t just another white boy singing black. That was his great genius and he was there first… he sang in a plaintive voice and style and he’s outlasted them all. ~Bob Dylan

“He was a performer of force without precedent with a sound as lonesome and mystical as it was dynamic. He gives hope to the vanquished and humility to the mighty.” ~Bob Dylan

From Wikipedia:

Birth name James Charles Rodgers
Born September 8, 1897
Origin Meridian, Mississippi, USA
Died May 26, 1933 (aged 35)
Genres Country, blues, folk
Occupations Singer-songwriter,musician
Instruments Acoustic guitar
Years active 1927–1933
Labels RCA Victor
Associated acts

James Charles “Jimmie” Rodgers (September 8, 1897 – May 26, 1933) was an American country singer in the early 20th century known most widely for his rhythmic yodeling. Among the first country music superstars and pioneers, Rodgers was also known as “The Singing Brakeman”, “The Blue Yodeler”, and “The Father of Country Music”.

 

 From allmusic.com – David Vinopal:

His brass plaque in the Country Music Hall of Fame reads, “Jimmie Rodgers‘ name stands foremost in the country music field as the man who started it all.” This is a fair assessment. The “Singing Brakeman” and the “Mississippi Blue Yodeler,” whose six-year career was cut short by tuberculosis, became the first nationally known star of country music and the direct influence of many later performers, from Hank Snow, Ernest Tubb, and Hank Williams to Lefty Frizzell and Merle Haggard. Rodgers sang about rounders and gamblers, bounders and ramblers — and he knew what he sang about. … read more @ allmusic.com

 Legacy:

  • When the Country Music Hall of Fame was established in 1961, Rodgers was one of the first three (the others were Fred Rose and Hank Williams) to be inducted. 
  • Rodgers was elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and, as an early influence, to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. 
  • “Blue Yodel No. 9” was selected as one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. 
  • Rodgers was ranked No. 33 on CMT’s 40 Greatest Men of Country Music in 2003.
  • Both Gene Autry and future Louisiana governor Jimmie Davis (author of “You Are My Sunshine”) began their careers as Jimmie Rodgers copyists
  • Merle Haggard, Hank Snow, and Lefty Frizzell later did tribute albums. 
  • In 1997 Bob Dylan put together a tribute compilation of major artists covering Rodgers’ songs, “The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers, A Tribute”. The artists included Bono, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Jerry Garcia, Dickey Betts, Dwight Yoakam, Aaron Neville, John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson and others. Dylan had earlier once remarked, “The songs were different than the norm. They had more of an individual nature and an elevated conscience… I was drawn to their power.”
  • Rodgers was one of the biggest stars of American music between 1927 and 1933, arguably doing more to popularize blues than any other performer of his time. 
  • Rodgers influenced many later blues artists, among them Muddy Waters, Big Bill Broonzy, and Chester Arthur Burnett, better known as Howlin’ Wolf. Jimmie Rodgers was Wolf’s childhood idol. Wolf tried to emulate Rodgers’s yodel, but found that his efforts sounded more like a growl or a howl. “I couldn’t do no yodelin’,” Barry Gifford quoted him as saying in Rolling Stone, “so I turned to howlin’. And it’s done me just fine.”
  • Rodgers’ influence can also be heard in artists including Tommy Johnson, the Mississippi Sheiks, and Mississippi John Hurt, whose “Let the Mermaids Flirt With Me” is based on Rodgers’ hit “Waiting On A Train”.
  • In “Cleaning Windows,” Van Morrison sings about listening to Rodgers.
  • In May 2010, a second marker, on the Mississippi Country Music Trail, was erected near Rodgers’ gravesite, marking his role as The Father of Country Music
 

Check out:   www.jimmierodgers.com

Blue Yodel No 1 (T For Texas):

Waiting for a Train:

Album of the day – Essential Jimmie Rodgers:

Other September 8:

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Music Calendar

Today: The late Buddy Holly was born in 1936

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…Holly became the single most influential creative force in early rock & roll
~Bruce Eder (allmusic.com)

From Wikipedia:

Birth name Charles Hardin Holley
Born September 7, 1936
Lubbock, Texas, U.S.
Died February 3, 1959 (aged 22)
Grant Township, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, U.S.
Genres Rock and roll, rockabilly,Lubbock sound
Occupations Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments Vocals, guitar, piano, violin
Years active 1955–1959
Labels Decca, Brunswick, Coral
Associated acts The Crickets, The Picks

 Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll. Although his success lasted only a year and a half before his death in an airplane crash, Holly is described by critic Bruce Eder as “the single most influential creative force in early rock and roll.” His works and innovations inspired and influenced contemporary and later musicians, notably The Beatles, Elvis Costello, The Rolling Stones, Don McLean, Bob Dylan, and Eric Clapton, and exerted a profound influence on popular music. Holly was among the first group of inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Holly #13 among “The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time”.

Holly saw Elvis Presley sing in Lubbock in 1955, and began to incorporate a rockabilly style, similar to the Sun Records sound, which had a strong rhythm acoustic and slap bass. On October 15, 1955, Holly, along with Bob Montgomery and Larry Welborn, opened the bill for Presley in Lubbock, catching the eye of a Nashville talent scout. Holly’s transition to rock continued when he opened for Bill Haley & His Comets at a local show organized by Eddie Crandall, the manager for Marty Robbins.

Following this performance, Decca Records signed him to a contract in February 1956, misspelling his name as “Holly”.  He thereafter adopted the misspelled name for his professional career. Holly formed his own band, later to be called The Crickets, consisting of Holly (lead guitar and vocals), Niki Sullivan (guitar), Joe B. Mauldin (bass), and Jerry Allison (drums). They went to Nashville for three recording sessions with producer Owen Bradley. However, Holly chafed under a restrictive atmosphere that allowed him little input. Among the tracks he recorded was an early version of “That’ll Be The Day“, which took its title from a line that John Wayne‘s character says repeatedly in the 1956 film The Searchers (GREAT film…~Egil). ………………

From allmusic – Bruce Eder:

Buddy Holly is perhaps the most anomalous legend of ’50s rock & roll — he had his share of hits, and he achieved major rock & roll stardom, but his importance transcends any sales figures or even the particulars of any one song (or group of songs) that he wrote or recorded. Holly was unique, his legendary status and his impact on popular music all the more extraordinary for having been achieved in barely 18 months. Among his rivals, Bill Haley was there first and established rock & roll music; Elvis Presley objectified the sexuality implicit in the music, selling hundreds of millions of records in the process, and defined one aspect of the youth and charisma needed for stardom; and Chuck Berry defined the music’s roots in blues along with some of the finer points of its sexuality, and its youthful orientation (and, in the process, intermixed all of these elements). Holly‘s influence was just as far-reaching as these others, if far more subtle and more distinctly musical in nature. In a career lasting from the spring of 1957 until the winter of 1958-1959 — less time than Elvis had at the top before the army took him (and less time, in fact, than Elvis spent in the army) — Holly became the single most influential creative force in early rock & roll. 
Read more @ allmusic ……..

some Influence:

  • A 17-year-old Bob Dylan attended the January 31, 1959, show, two nights before Holly’s death. Dylan referred to this in his 1998 Grammy acceptance speech for his Time out of Mind being named Album of the Year:
“And I just want to say that when I was sixteen or seventeen years old, I went to see Buddy Holly play at Duluth National Guard Armory and I was three feet away from him…and he LOOKED at me. And I just have some sort of feeling that he was — I don’t know how or why — but I know he was with us all the time we were making this record in some kind of way.”
 
  • Keith Richards attended one of Holly’s performances, where he heard “Not Fade Away” for the first time. The Rolling Stones had an early hit covering the song.
  • Holly influenced many other singers during and after a career that lasted barely two years. Keith Richards once said Holly had “an influence on everybody.” In an August 24, 1978, Rolling Stone interview, Bruce Springsteen told Dave Marsh, “I play Buddy Holly every night before I go on; that keeps me honest.”
  • The Grateful Dead performed “Not Fade Away” 530 times over the course of their career, making it their seventh most-performed song. The song also appears on eight of their official live recording releases.
  • Don McLean‘s popular 1971 ballad “American Pie” is inspired by Holly and the day of the plane crash. The American Pie album is dedicated to Holly.
  • On September 7, 1994 (Holly’s 58th birthday), Weezer released their single, “Buddy Holly“.

Peggy Sue:

Album of the day – The Very Best of Buddy Holly:

Other September 07:

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Country, Music Calendar

Today: Buddy Miller is 60

 

A showman’s life is a smokey bar and
The fevered chase of a tiny star
It’s a hotel room and a lonely wife
From what I’ve seen of a showman’s life

Nobody told me about this part
They told me all about the pretty girls and the wine and
The money and the good times
No mention of all the wear and tear on an old honkey-tonker’s heart
Well, I might have known it
But nobody told me about this part
~”A Showman’s life” (one of his best songs) 

From Wikipedia:

Born September 6, 1952 (age 60)
Fairborn, Ohio
Genres Country, Americana
Occupations Musician, Singer-songwriter,producer
Instruments Vocals, Guitar
Years active 1983–present
Labels HighTone
New West
Associated acts Julie Miller, Sweet Harmony Traveling Revue, Buddy Miller Band, Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, Emmylou Harris, Band of Joy, Steve Earle
Website www.buddyandjulie.com

 

Buddy Miller (born September 6, 1952 in Fairborn, Ohio) is a country singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist and producer, currently living in Nashville, Tennessee. Miller is married to and has recorded with singer-songwriter Julie Miller.

Miller formed the Buddy Miller Band, which included singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin on vocals and guitar.

In addition to releasing several solo albums over the years, Miller has toured as lead guitarist and backing vocalist for Emmylou Harris‘s Spyboy band, Steve Earle on his El Corazon tour, Shawn Colvin, and Linda Ronstadt. He co-produced and performed on Jimmie Dale Gilmore‘s 2000 album Endless Night. He has also appeared on several albums by songwriter and singer Lucinda Williams.

In 2004, Miller toured with Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Gillian Welch, and David Rawlings as the Sweet Harmony Traveling Revue.

Photo by Jonathan Kofahl

Buddy Miller has also produced albums for a number of artists. During 2006 Solomon Burke came over to Miller’s house at Nashville to record his country album ‘Nashville’ on which Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Gillian Welch and Dolly Parton appear as duet partners.

He has a signature acoustic guitar made by the Fender company, and frequently uses vintage Wandre electric guitars.

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From allmusic.com – Johnny Lofthus:

Soulful Americana songwriter, singer, and producer Buddy Miller began his career in the early ’60s as an upright bassist in high-school bluegrass combos. Later, he traveled the back roads of America as an acoustic guitarist, eventually landing in New York City, where his Buddy Miller Band included a young Shawn Colvin on vocals and guitar. He also forged an enduring relationship with country-rock iconoclast Jim Lauderdale. Miller eventually landed in Nashville, where he did session guitar and vocal work on albums by Lauderdale, Victoria Williams, and Heather Myles, among others. He self-produced his criminally overlooked solo debut, Your Love and Other Lies (Hightone, 1995), and followed it with 1997’s equally superb Poison Love.

By this point Miller was the lead guitarist in Emmylou Harris’ band, and Harris returned the favor with backing vocals throughout Poison Love. ….
.. read more @ allmuic.com 

 

A Showman’s Life:

Worry Too Much:

Album of the day – Midnight and Lonesome (2002):

Other September-06:

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Country, Great albums, Music Calendar, Ryan Adams

Today: Ryan Adams released “Heartbreaker” in 2000 – 12 years ago

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“On Heartbreaker, I had to sing those songs. I drank the way I did those songs. I ate the way I did those songs. I communicated the way I did those songs”
~Ryan Adams – Spin Dec 2003 

“I don’t know if Heartbreaker was influential as a record so much as the idea of it. There weren’t a lot of people out there doing that kind of thing. That’s all. But it was a terrible price to pay because I’ve never lived it down. I don’t regard that record as great art. I’m not even sure I put the right songs on the record. There are a lot of tracks that didn’t make it which with hindsight should have been on there.”
~Ryan Adams – Uncut Jan 2004

 From Wikipedia:

Released September 5, 2000
Recorded Woodland Studios, Nashville,Tennessee
Genre Alternative country, country
Length 51:57
Label Bloodshot
Producer Ethan Johns

Heartbreaker is the debut studio album by alternative country musician Ryan Adams, released September 5, 2000 on Bloodshot Records. The album was recorded over fourteen days at Woodland Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. It was nominated for the 2001 Shortlist Music Prize. The album is said to be inspired by Adams’ break-up with music-industry publicist Amy Lombardi.

According to Adams, the album’s title originates from a poster of Mariah Carey: “My manager called and said, ‘You have 15 seconds to name this record,’ “My eyes focused on this poster of Mariah wearing a T-shirt that said HEARTBREAKER. I just shouted, ‘Heartbreaker!'”

 Critical reception:

The album was considered to be a fresh start for Ryan Adams after the demise of his previous band Whiskeytown.

  • Allmusic’s Mark Derning wrote that the album “is loose, open, and heartfelt in a way Whiskeytown’s admittedly fine albums never were, and makes as strong a case for Adams’ gifts as anything his band ever released”, concluding that “the strength of the material and the performances suggest Adams is finally gaining some much-needed maturity, and his music is all the better for it.” 
  • A.V. Club’s Keith Phipps wrote: “Adams has recorded an intimate, largely quiet record that indisputably establishes his identity as an independent singer-songwriter”. 
  • Pitchfork Media’s Steven Byrd called it “an album of astonishing musical proficiency, complete honesty and severe beauty.”
  • Rolling Stone’s Anthony Decurtis was less enthusiastic, stating that “Adams’ songs too often fail to rise above their plain-spoken details to take on the symbolic power he yearns for”.

 

From pitchfork’s review (Steven Byrd):

…. Heartbreaker is the soundtrack to the last ten minutes of any relationship you’ve ever watched crumble before your eyes. It’s music for the ruined romantic in all of us. Usually, that little romantic simply sits quietly, tearfully watching everything disappear without so much as a single complaint. But on Heartbreaker, Ryan Adams has not only convinced that voice to speak, he’s taught it to sing. The result is an album of astonishing musical proficiency, complete honesty and severe beauty.  
Read more over @ pitchfork 

Track listing:

1. “(Argument with David Rawlings Concerning Morrissey)” (An argument regarding the Morrissey track “Suedehead”.)
2. “To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High)” Ryan Adams and David Rawlings
3. “My Winding Wheel”
4. “AMY”
5. “Oh My Sweet Carolina”
6. “Bartering Lines” Ryan Adams and Van Alston
7. “Call Me On Your Way Back Home”
8. “Damn, Sam (I Love a Woman That Rains)”
9. “Come Pick Me Up” Ryan Adams and Van Alston
10. “To Be the One”
11. “Why Do They Leave?”
12. “Shakedown on 9th Street”
13. “Don’t Ask for the Water”
14. “In My Time of Need”
15. “Sweet Lil Gal (23rd/1st)”

Musicians

  • Ryan Adams – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonica, piano, banjo
  • Ethan Johns – drums, bass, glockenspiel, B-3, Chamberlain, vibes
  • David Rawlings – backing vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo, tambourine
  • Gillian Welch – backing vocals, acoustic guitar, electric bass, banjo, “voice of Lucy”
  • Pat Sansone – piano (5, 9, 11), Chamberlain and organ (6), backing vocals (2)
  • Emmylou Harris – backing vocals (5)
  • Kim Richey – backing vocals (9)
  • Allison Pierce – backing vocals (11)

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Uncut Magazine (UK) listed Heartbreaker as no.9 on their “Top 150 Albums of the Decade List”

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Music Calendar, Rolling Stones

Today: The Rolling Stones released – “Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! …” in 1970

 

“I have no doubt that it’s the best rock concert ever put on record.”
~Lester Bangs

From Wikipedia:

Released 4 September 1970
Recorded 26 November 1969, Baltimore,Maryland, United States and 27–28 November 1969, New York City, New York, United States
January–February 1970 (vocal overdubs)
Genre Hard rock, blues-rock
Length 47:36
Language English
Label London (US), Decca (UK)
Producer The Rolling Stones, Glyn Johns

Many, including The Rolling Stones, consider this their first official full-length live release, despite the appearance of the US-only Got Live If You Want It! in 1966 as a contractual obligation product. One reason for releasing a live album was to counter the release of the Live’r Than You’ll Ever Be bootleg recording of an Oakland performance on the same tour, a recording which was even reviewed in Rolling Stone magazine.

Having not toured since April 1967, The Rolling Stones were eager to hit the road by 1969. With their two most recent albums, Beggars Banquet and Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) being highly praised, audiences were anticipating their live return. Their 1969 American Tour‘s trek during November into December, with Terry Reid, B.B. King (replaced on some dates by Chuck Berry) and Ike and Tina Turner as supporting acts, played to packed houses. The tour was the first for Mick Taylor with the Stones, having replaced Brian Jones shortly before Jones’ death in July; the performances prominently showcased the guitar interplay of Taylor with Keith Richards.

The performances captured for this release were recorded on 27–28 November 1969 at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, while “Love in Vain” was recorded in Baltimore, Maryland on 26 November 1969. Overdubbing was undertaken during January and February 1970 in London’s Olympic Studios. No instruments were overdubbed, although on bootlegs, examples are known of Richards trying out different guitar parts (e.g. a guitar solo on “Jumpin’ Jack Flash“). The finished product featured new lead vocals on half the tracks, and added backing vocals by Richards on several others.

The title of the album was adapted from the song “Get Yer Yas Yas Out” by Blind Boy Fuller. The phrase used in Fuller’s song was “get your yas yas out the door”.

Review of the “40th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set” from Sean Murphy – popmatters.com:

Best live album ever? Who cares. What is beyond dispute is that 1970’s Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out is certainly the best live album the Rolling Stones ever recorded. And here we are, 40 years after the concerts took place in NYC at Madison Square Garden. World’s Greatest Band + World’s Greatest Stage = Deluxe Box Set! What are we looking at here? The original, remastered album? Check. Six unreleased tracks? Check. Bonus disc of opening acts B.B. King and Ike & Tina Turner? Check. Bonus DVD mixing live songs and offstage antics? Check. Obligatory booklet with critical essays and never-before seen photos? Check. Caveat emptor: for anyone thinking of shelling out $40-to-$60, be warned that the extra Stones material and the DVD are both less than 30 minutes in length. For Stones enthusiasts, this newly unearthed bounty is essential and price should be no object.     ...read more

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Track listing:

Side one
1. “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” (November 27, 1969: Madison Square Garden, New York City) 4:02
2. “Carol” (Chuck Berry) – (November 28, 1969: MSG (first show)) 3:47
3. “Stray Cat Blues” (November 28, 1969: MSG (first show)) 3:41
4. “Love in Vain” (Robert Johnson†) – (November 26, 1969: Civic Center, Baltimore) 4:57
5. “Midnight Rambler” (November 28, 1969: MSG (second show)) 9:05

Side two
6. “Sympathy for the Devil” (November 28, 1969: MSGarden (first show)) 6:52
7. “Live with Me” (November 28, 1969: MSG (second show)) 3:03
8. “Little Queenie” (Chuck Berry) – (November 28, 1969: MSG (first show)) 4:33
9. “Honky Tonk Women” (November 27, 1969: MSG) 3:35
10. “Street Fighting Man” (November 28, 1969: MSG (first show)) 4:03

Personnel:

The Rolling Stones
Additional personnel

 Jumpin’ Jack Flash @ Madison Square Garden, NYC – 1969:

 O Carol – same show:

Album of the day @ JV – “Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert” (1970):

Other September-04:

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