Tag Archives: birth

Mavis Staples

July 10: Mavis Staples was born in 1939

Mavis Staples

July 10: Mavis Staples was born in 1939

Well, you know I’ve always liked Mavis Staples ever since she was a little girl. She’s always been my favorite… She’s always had my favorite voice.
~Bob Dylan (to Jann Wenner, Nov 1969)

The Staple Singers – Respect Yourself (Live 1972 – Wattstax music festival):

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Wikipedia:

Birth name Mavis Staples
Born July 10, 1939 (age 76)
Origin Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Genres Rhythm and blues, soul, gospel
Occupations Singer
Years active 1950–present
Labels Epic, Stax/Volt, Curtom, Paisley Park, Alligator, Anti-, Warner Bros.,Verve
Associated acts The Staple Singers, Prince
Website www.mavisstaples.com

Mavis Staples  was born July 10, 1939 in Chicago, Illinois she is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress and civil rights activist who recorded with The Staple Singers, her family’s band.

The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group. Roebuck “Pops” Staples (1914–2000), the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha (1934–2013), Pervis (b. 1935), Yvonne (b. 1936), and Mavis (b. 1939). They are best known for their 1970s hits “Respect Yourself”, “I’ll Take You There”, “If You’re Ready (Come Go with Me)”, and “Let’s Do It Again”.

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Jack White, The White Stripes

July 9: Jack White was born in 1975 – Happy 40th birthday!

Jack-White

Happy Birthday, Jack White!

Jack White (né Gillis), often credited as Jack White III, singer, songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and occasional actor. He was best known as the guitarist, pianist and lead vocalist of The White Stripes until they split in February 2011, as well as a member of The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather. He has recorded two albums as a solo artist, Blunderbuss (number 4 on our year-end list 2012) and this year’s wonderful, Lazaretto.

Unknown

“Blues singers and people who are singing on stage have the same feelings and emotions that someone who is called to be a priest might have.” – Jack White

Music is Jack White’s calling, it is his mission in life, and we at JV are regulars when he preaches. Jack White is a musical genius. He’s a rock auteur. You can hear “his voice” on everything he’s involved in. That is a good thing, and his solo albums really shines.

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Beatles, Ringo Starr

July 7: Ringo Starr was born in 1940 Happy 75th Birthday!

Ringo_Starr_and_all_his_band

July 7: Ringo Starr was born in 1940

Ringo was a star in his own right in Liverpool before we even met. Ringo was a professional drummer who sang and performed and was in one of the top groups in Britain, but especially in Liverpool. So Ringo’s talent would have come out one way or the other … whatever that spark is in Ringo, we all know it but can’t put our finger on it. Whether it’s acting, drumming, or singing, I don’t know. There’s something in him that is projectable and he would have surfaced as an individual … Ringo is a damn good drummer.
~John Lennon (Sept 1980)

Beatles accept award Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions 1988:

Nice tribute video from youtube:

From Wikipedia:

Richard Starkey, MBE (born 7 July 1940), better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for the Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He joined the Beatles in August 1962, taking the place of Pete Best. In addition to his drumming, Starr is featured on lead vocals on a number of successful Beatles songs (in particular, “With a Little Help from My Friends”, “Yellow Submarine”, and the Beatles version of “Act Naturally”). He is credited as a co-writer of the songs “What Goes On” and “Flying”, and as the writer of “Don’t Pass Me By” and “Octopus’s Garden”.

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Country, folk, Nanci Griffith, Singer Songwriter

July 6: Nanci Griffith was born in 1953

Nanci Griffith 1

July 6: Nanci Griffith was born in 1953

I got to know Nanci Griffith through the seminal music paper Beat (norwegian music magazine), this music magazine has been extremely important in my musical upbringing. They made it ok to say that you loved country music. This was a big step for us rock/punk youth. Anyway, they praised Nanci Griffith very early and we listened and we agreed, this was very special indeed.

Her voice, her way of singing, especially other people’s’ songs, it was and is beautiful. My first entry into her world was John Prine’s The Speed of The Sound of Loneliness, it is still the best song in her catalogue. Hell, it would be the best song in almost anybody’s catalogue!

Speed of the sound of Loneliness (with John Prine who wrote this masterpiece):

Nanci Griffith, (born Nanci Caroline Griffith, July 6, 1953, Seguin, Texas) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter based in Austin, Texas.

Allmusic:  Straddling the fine line between folk and country music, Nanci Griffith has become as well-known for her brilliant, confessional songwriting as her beautiful voice. A self-styled “folkabilly” singer, Griffith began as a kindergarten teacher and occasional folksinger. The country scene took her to heart in the mid-’80s, giving her a reputation as a quality songwriter through hit covers of Griffith’s songs by Kathy Mattea and Suzy Bogguss. Finding no luck with commercial country radio however, Griffith recorded several pop-oriented albums and then returned to her folk roots by the mid-’90s.

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