Tag Archives: birthday

December 13: Tom Verlaine was born in 1949 Happy Birthday

Tom Verlaine Bergenfest 2014 photo: AllDylan
Tom Verlaine Bergenfest 2014 photo: AllDylan

Tom Verlaine

Tom Verlaine (born Thomas Miller, December 13, 1949):
Singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the frontman for the New York rock band Television.

Tom Verlaine
Birth name Thomas Miller
Born 13 December 1949 (age 65)
Morristown, New Jersey, United States
Genres Punk rock, art punk, post-punk, new wave
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments Guitar, vocals, piano
Associated acts Television, Neon Boys
Notable instruments
Fender Jazzmaster
Fender Jaguar
Fender Stratocaster
Danelectro Shorthorn Deluxe

Television played their seminal album Marquee Moon last summer at Bergenfest, it was a lot of fun. It was great seeing them and they were still a great band. They seemed to enjoy themselves immensely on stage. Verlaine is regarded by many as one of the most talented performers of the early post punk era. His poetic lyrics, coupled with his accomplished and original guitar playing, are highly influential and widely praised in the music media. He and Television bandmate Richard Lloyd are known as one of rock’s most acclaimed and inventive guitar duos. His work with guitarist Jimmy Rip in Television since 2007  is also incredibly good.

Tom Verlaine is a legend!

He is also part of the Million Dollar Bashers, a supergroup also featuring Sonic Youth musicians Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley, Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, Bob Dylan bassist Tony Garnier, guitarist Smokey Hormel and keyboardist John Medeski. Their work appears on the original soundtrack to I’m Not There, a biographical film “freely” reflecting the life of Bob Dylan.

Continue reading December 13: Tom Verlaine was born in 1949 Happy Birthday

November 17: The late Gene Clark was born 70 years ago

gene-clark-2

Harold Eugene “Gene” Clark (November 17, 1944 – May 24, 1991) was an American singer-songwriter, and one of the founding members of the folk-rock group The Byrds. He did write some of The Byrds’ best songs, among them: “Feel A Whole Lot Better”, “Here Without You” and “Set You Free This Time”.

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November 13: Ray Wylie Hubbard is 68 Happy Birthday

Ray Wylie Hubbard 1
Photo Credit: Todd Wolfson

“We’re in the mud and scum of things, moaning, crying and lying
At least we ain’t Lazurus and had to think twice about dying.”
– Lazurus, Ray Wylie Hubbard

“I’m very grateful. I’m an old cat, but I feel very fortunate to have seen Lightnin’ Hopkins and Freddie King. I saw Ernest Tubb play and Gary Stewart, so it’s kind of a combination of not just the different forms of music that’s influenced me, but the great musicians in that form of music. I guess it’s the ‘character’ in their songwriting that’s influenced me.”
– Ray Wylie Hubbard (to The Current)

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November 5: Charles Bradley is 66 Happy Birthday

Charles Bradley (born 5 November, 1948, Gainesville, Florida), commonly referred to as “The Screaming Eagle of Soul,” is a funk/soul/R&B singer signed to the Daptone Records label under the Dunham Records division.

His performances and recording style are consistent with Daptone’s revivalist approach, celebrating the feel of funk and soul music from the 1960s and 1970s. One review stated that Bradley “echoes the evocative delivery of Otis Redding”

 

Read our interview with Mr. Charles Bradley

Continue reading November 5: Charles Bradley is 66 Happy Birthday

October 9: John Lennon was born in 1940 74 years ago

john lennon 2

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
― John Lennon

“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”
― John Lennon

Paul McCartney inducts John Lennon into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a very touching way:

Continue reading October 9: John Lennon was born in 1940 74 years ago