Classic Video JukeBox

"What Is Life" - Harrison

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:37:19 GMT

Your a member of one of the most influential, artistic bands in the world, you've been friends with your band mates for years in the good times and the bad. Sold millions of millions of LP's. Then it all ends. One songwriter, artist followed that road. But the question is "What is Life". That's the path George Harrison had to follow.

Following the Beatle's breakup, Harrison had a successful career as a solo artist and later as part of the Traveling Wilburys super group. He was the first Beatle to have a number one solo album (All Things Must Pass). He also co-founded the production company Handmade Films, and in his work as a film producer, collaborated with people as diverse as Madonna and the members of Monty Python. After Harrison embraced Hinduism in the 1960s, his spiritual convictions were often evident in his music and public activities.

What is Life - George Harrison

After The Beatles split in 1970, Harrison released a number of albums, both as solo projects and as a member of other groups, using his slide guitar. After years of being limited in his contributions to The Beatles, he released a large number of the songs he had stockpiled in the first major solo work released after the breakup, All Things Must Pass, the first triple album by a single artist in rock history.

All Things Must Pass was a triumphant entry into the solo market by Harrison and marked by four full sides of excellent Beatle-worthy material, followed by an additional two sides of extended rock jams by Harrison and other musician friends. In terms of its breadth and virtuosity, it in some ways resembled The White Album, but this work was the achievement of a sole ex-Beatle, rather than that of a four-member supergroup.

The superb quality and success of the album certainly gave pause to many who considered George to be out of the league of Lennon and McCartney as a performer and songwriter. Along with the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album and Paul McCartney's Band on the Run, All Things Must Pass is generally deemed one of the three finest solo efforts by the ex-Beatles, or groups headed by ex-Beatles.

The album, which topped the charts, included the number-one hit singles "My Sweet Lord" and "Isn't It a Pity" as well as the top-10 single "What Is Life." Harrison was later sued for copyright infringement over "My Sweet Lord," because of its surface similarity to the 1963 Chiffons single "He's So Fine", although the musical arrangements are quite different.

Harrison denied deliberately stealing the song, but he lost the resulting court case in 1976. In the ruling, the court accepted the possibility that Harrison had "subconsciously copied" the Chiffons' melody as the basis for his own song. Disputes over damages dragged on into the 1990s, with manager Allen Klein violating legal ethical precepts in changing sides by buying Bright Tunes, which published "He's So Fine", and then continuing the suit after parting with Harrison. Harrison ultimately wound up semi-vindicated as the owner of both songs (Huntley 2004).

All Things Must Pass" revived in early 2001, when a remastered version was released. It peaked at #4 on Billboard's Pop Catalog chart, with Harrison taking part in Internet chats to help promote it. It reappeared on that chart following Harrison's death. Featured on the 30th Anniversary edition were five bonus tracks, including the top-notch outtake "I Live For You" as well as a new, updated version of "My Sweet Lord." ATMP has been certified by the RIAA as having sold six million copies in the U.S. alone. In early 2007, it was determined that "All Things Must Pass" indeed was a #1 album in the United Kingdom when first released in the winterof 1970-71. Because some sales were not properly counted, the album originally peaked at #4 in Britain.

Harrison was deeply shocked by the December 1980 murder of John Lennon. The crime reinforced his decades-long worries about safety from stalkers. It was also a deep personal loss, although unlike former bandmates McCartney and Starr, Harrison had little contact with Lennon in the years before the murder. Harrison modified the lyrics of a song he had written for Starr to make it a tribute song to Lennon. "All Those Years Ago" received substantial radio airplay, reaching #2 on the U.S. charts. All three remaining Beatles performed on it, although it was expressly a Harrison single.

A longtime smoker, Harrison began to experience throat problems in the late 1990s, which were diagnosed in August of 1997 as throat cancer, Growths were removed first from his throat, then his lung, and he told interviewers in early 1998 that he expected to fully recover.

In late 1999 Harrison survived a knife attack by an intruder in his home. On the evening of 30 December 1999, Michael Abram broke into the Harrisons' Friar Park home in Henley-on-Thames and stabbed George multiple times, ultimately puncturing his lung. Harrison and his wife, Olivia, fought the intruder and detained him for the police. 35-year-old Abram, who believed he was possessed by Harrison and was on a "mission from God" to kill him, was later acquitted on grounds of insanity. Traumatized by the invasion and attack, Harrison rarely appeared in public afterwards.

Harrison's cancer recurred in 2001 and was found to have metastasised. Despite very aggressive treatment, it was soon found to be terminal. He set about getting his affairs in order and spent his final months with his family and close friends. He also worked on songs for an album with his son Dhani, which was released posthumously.

Harrison died in a Hollywood Hills mansion that was once leased by McCartney and was previously owned by Courtney Love.

Always

Peace

Tags: The Beatles, George Harrison, All Things Must Pass, Traveling Wilburys, 1970's

Superstition - Stevie Wonder

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:23:55 GMT

When you think of the word Funk...what comes to mind, George Clinton, The Funkadelics, to me Funk is "Little Stevie". Stevie Wonder (born Stevland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950, name later changed to Stevland Hardaway Morris)is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. A prominent figure of 20th century popular music, Wonder has recorded more than thirty top ten hits, won 26 Grammy Awards (a record for a solo artist), plus one for lifetime achievement, won an Academy Award for Best Song and been inducted into both the Rock and Roll and Songwriters halls of fame. He has also been awarded the Polar Music Prize.

Blind from infancy, Wonder signed with Motown Records as a pre-adolescent at age twelve, and continues to perform and record for the label to this day. He has nine U.S. number-one hits to his name and album sales totaling more than 150 million units. Wonder has recorded several critically acclaimed albums and hit singles, and writes and produces songs for many of his label mates and outside artists as well. Wonder plays the piano, synthesizer, harmonica, congas, drums, bongos, organ, melodica, and clavinet. In his early career, he was best known for his harmonica work, but today he is better known for his keyboard skills and vocals.

In 1961, at the age of eleven, Wonder was introduced to Ronnie White of the popular Motown act The Miracles. White brought Morris and his mother to Motown Records. Impressed by the young musician, Motown CEO Berry Gordy signed Morris to Motown's Tamla label with the name Little Stevie Wonder. He then recorded the minor hit "I Call It Pretty Music, But The Old People Call It The Blues".

At the age of thirteen, he had a major hit, "Fingertips (Pt. 2)", a 1963 single taken from a live recording of a Motor Town Revue performance, issued on the album, "Recorded Live-Little Stevie Wonder, The 12 Year-Old Genius". The song, featuring Wonder on vocals, bongos, and harmonica, and a young Marvin Gaye on drums, was a #1 hit on the U.S. pop and R&B charts and launched him into the public consciousness
Dropping the "Little" from his moniker, Wonder went on to have a number of other hits during the mid-1960s, including "Uptight (Everything's Alright)", "With a Child's Heart", and "Blowin' in the Wind", a Bob Dylan cover which was one of the first songs to reflect Wonder's social consciousness, co-sung by his mentor, producer Clarence Paul. He also began to work in the Motown songwriting department, composing songs both for himself and his label mates, including "Tears of a Clown", a number one hit performed by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles.

Wonder independently recorded two albums, which he used as a bargaining tool while negotiating with Motown. Eventually the label agreed to his demands for full creative control and the rights to his own songs, and Wonder returned to Motown in March 1972 with "Music of My Mind", an album which is considered a classic of the era. Unlike most previous artist LPs on Motown, which usually consisted of a collection of singles, B-sides and covers, "Music of My Mind" was an actual LP, a full-length artistic statement, and began a string of five albums – released over a period of less than five years – that make up what is generally considered Stevie Wonder's classic period. This album also marked the beginning of a long collaboration with synthesiser pioneers Tonto's Expanding Head Band (Robert Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil).

Superstition - Stevie Wonder

October 1972's love album "Talking Book" featured the #1 pop and R&B hit "Superstition", which is one of the most distinctive examples of the sound of the clavinet. The song, originally intended for rock guitarist Jeff Beck, features a rocking groove that garnered Wonder an additional audience on rock radio stations. Wonder also performed this song on an episode of the children's television show "Sesame Street" in 1972. Wonder's audience was further broadened when he opened for The Rolling Stones on their much-heralded 1972 American Tour. Wonder's pop following was not neglected, however, as "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" went to #1 on the pop charts and has been a staple love song in the decades since. Between them the songs won three Grammy Awards. Listen to Stevie in the Studio in 1973 recording Superstition, watch his band get down at 3:51 Genius,

On Monday September 8th, 2008, Stevie Wonder starts the European leg of his "Wonder Summer's Night Tour", the first time he has toured Europe in over a decade. His opening show is at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England. So far, Stevie has announced five UK gigs, also including one at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester (9th Septmber) and three at The O2 Arena in London on September 11th, 12th and 30th. Stevie's other stops in his tour also find him playing gigs in Holland, Sweden, Germany, Norway and Italy. Wonder will also tour Australia and New Zealand in October.

As Always

Peace

Tags: Superstition, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles,

Sweet Baby James - BBC Four

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:22:20 GMT

James Vernon Taylor was born March 12, 1948 was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.An American singer-songwriter and guitarist Taylor's career began in the mid-1960's, but he found his audience in the early 1970's, singing sensitive and gentle songs. He was part of a wave of singer-songwriters of the time that also included Joni Mitchell, Tom Rush, Cat Stevens, Carole King, John Denver, Jim Croce, Don McLean, and Jackson Browne, as well as Carly Simon, whom Taylor later married.

Taylor first learned to play the cello as a child in Chapel Hill, and switched to the guitar in 1960. His style on that instrument evolved from listening to hymns, carols, and Woody Guthrie. He attended Milton Academy, a prep school in Massachusetts, and summered with his family in Martha's Vineyard, where he met Danny Kortchmar. The two began playing folk music together. After dropping out of school, he formed a band called The Corsayers with his brother, Alex. Later, he committed himself to McLean Hospital for depression, where he subsequently earned a high school diploma from the associated Arlington School.

After graduating, he formed a band called the Flying Machine with Kortchmar and Joel O'Brien in New York City. The band was signed to Rainy Day Records and released one single, "Brighten Your Night with My Day" (B-side: "Night Owl"). The single was not a success. (A UK band with the same name emerged in 1969 with the hit song "Smile a Little Smile for Me".)

While living in New York City, Taylor became addicted to heroin. One night, after receiving a desperate phone call, his father drove to New York and rescued him. Taylor later wrote a song called "Jump Up Behind Me" that paid tribute to his father's help during a time of desperate need. The song also reflects on Taylor's memories of the long drive from New York City back to his home in Chapel Hill.

In 1968, Taylor moved to London. He was signed to Apple Records after sending a demo tape to Peter Asher (of Peter & Gordon) and released his debut album, James Taylor. Despite the Beatles connection, and the presence of Paul McCartney and George Harrison on one track, the album did not sell very well, and Taylor's addiction worsened. Moving back to the United States, Taylor checked into the Austin Riggs Center to treat his drug problem. Riggs is a hospital in Western Massachusetts in the town of Stock bridge (near where he lives today). By 1969 he was well enough to perform live, and had a six-night stand at the Troubadour Club in Los Angeles. On July 20, 1969 he performed at the Newport Folk Festival. Shortly thereafter he broke both hands in a motorcycle accident on Martha's Vineyard and was forced to stop playing for several months.

Sweet Baby James - James Taylor - (BBC 4)

Sweet Baby James is singer-songwriter James Taylor's second album, and his first release on Warner Bro's. Records. It was released in February 1970 and features one of Taylor's earliest single successes: "Fire and Rain".

Sweet Baby James showcased Taylor's talents and showed the direction he would take in the early 1970's with the expansion of his career.

The song "Suite for 20 G" was so named because Taylor was promised $20,000 once the album was delivered. With one more song needed, he strung together three unfinished songs into a "suite," and completed the album.

Once recovered, Taylor signed to Warner Bro's. Records and moved to California keeping Asher as his manager and record producer. His second album, Sweet Baby James, was a massive success, buoyed by the single "Fire and Rain," a song about his experience in psychiatric institutions and the suicide of his friend, Suzanne Schnerr. The success of this single and the album piqued interest in Taylor's first album, James Taylor, and propelled the album and the single, "Carolina In My Mind," back into the charts.

During the time Sweet Baby James was released, Taylor appeared with Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys in a Monte Hellman film, Two-Lane Blacktop. Also, 1971 saw the release of Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, another hit album. He won a Grammy Award for his version of Carole King's "You've Got a Friend".

In 1972, Taylor returned with One Man Dog and married fellow singer-songwriter Carly Simon on November 3. His next album, 1974's Walking Man, was a disappointment but the following one, Gorilla, was a success partially because of a successful single cover version of Marvin Gaye's "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)." This was followed by In the Pocket in 1976 and then a greatest hits album that included some re-recordings of Apple Records-era material. It became a huge hit and remains Taylor's best selling album. It was certified Diamond, & to date has sold over 11 million copies.

Taylor signed with Columbia Records and released JT in 1977 winning another Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for his cover version of "Handy Man." The song "Traffic Jam" from the album has since become a favorite jingle for rush-hour radio traffic reports.

After collaborating with Art Garfunkel and briefly working on Broadway, Taylor took a two-year break, reappearing in 1979 with the cover-studded album Flag, featuring a Top 40 version of Gerry Goffin and Carole King's "Up on the Roof." Taylor also performed at the No Nukes concert in Madison Square Garden and appeared on the album and the film from the concert.

As Always

Peace

References

BBC Four (video)

Page name: James Taylor Author: Wikipedia contributors Publisher: Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Date of revision: 13 July 2008 12:47 UTC Date retrieved: 18 July 2008 04:07 UTC Permanentlink Version ID: 225390910

Tags: James Taylor, Carly Simon, Songwriters, Music & Video, Apple Records, 1970, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, The Beatles, Sweet Baby James,

Woodstock - Matthews Southern Comfort

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:05:10 GMT

Woodstock - Matthews Southern Comfort

Iain Matthews (known in the 1960s first as Ian McDonald, and from the late 1960s until 1989 as Ian Matthews) is an English musician and songwriter.

He was born Iain Matthew McDonald, 16 June 1946, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England.

Influenced by both rock and roll and folk music, he has performed mainly as a solo act, although he was a member of Fairport Convention during the early period when they were heavily influenced by American West Coast folk rock. He later had a solo career and fronted the bands Plainsong, Hi-Fi, No Grey Faith and Matthews Southern Comfort.

Matthews grew up in a working-class family in Scunthorpe. He sang with several minor bands during the British pop music explosion of the mid-1960s. He moved to London in 1966, taking a job in a Carnaby Street shoe shop. He recorded a couple of singles there in 1967 with a pop band called Pyramid.

With Thompson, Nicol, and Hutchings from Fairport Convention, plus drummer Gerry Conway (of Fotheringay, and later to join Fairport) and pedal steel player Gordon Huntley, he recorded his first solo album, Matthews' Southern Comfort, whose sound was rooted in American country music and rockabilly; this was his first significant experience as a songwriter, although the band also covered the likes of Neil Young and Ian and Sylvia. He then formed a working band using the name of his first album and recorded "Second Spring" and "Later That Same Year". The band went through several different lineups and toured extensively for the next two years, to general critical acclaim. They had one commercial success: a cover version of "Woodstock" (written by Joni Mitchell) was a number one hit single in the UK and saw heavy airplay in Canada, as well as reaching #23 in the US.

The Woodstock Music and Art Fair was an event held at Max Yasgur's 600 acre dairy farm in the rural town of Bethel, New York from August 15 to August 18, 1969. Bethelis 43 miles southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, which is in adjoining Ulster County.

The festival exemplified the counterculture of the late 1960s – early 1970s and the "hippie era". Thirty-two of the best-known musicians of the day appeared during the sometimes rainy weekend. Although attempts have been made over the years to recreate the festival, the original event has proven to be unique and legendary. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest moments in popular music history and was listed on Rolling Stone's 50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock and Roll.

The event was captured in a successful 1970 documentary movie, Woodstock; an accompanying soundtrack album; and Joni Mitchell's song "Woodstock", which commemorated the event and became a major hit for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Cancelled appearances

Joni Mitchell was slated to perform, but her agent informed her that it was more important that she appear on "The Dick Cavett Show" on Monday, with its national audience, rather than "sit around in a field with 500 people" Ironically, David Crosby & Stephen Stills as well as Jefferson Airplane (who all performed at the festival) also made it to the Cavett show. It was believed to have something to do with her breakdown at the Atlantic City Pop Festival two weeks before where she exited the stage in the middle of her third song crying because of the fans not listening to her sing. Though Mitchell was not present, she wrote and recorded the song "Woodstock" that was also a major hit for Matthews Southern Comfort and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

Side Notes From Woodstock

The Jeff Beck Group was scheduled to perform at Woodstock, but failed to make an appearance because the band broke up the week before.

Iron Butterfly was stuck at an airport, and their manager demanded helicopters and special arrangements just for them.

Canadian band Lighthouse was originally scheduled to play at Woodstock, but in the end they decided not to, fearing that it would be a bad scene. Later, several members of the group would say that they regretted the decision.

Refused invitations

The promoters contacted John Lennon, requesting The Beatles to perform. Lennon said that The Beatles would not play unless Yoko Ono's Plastic Ono Band could also play. The promoters turned him down.

Procol Harum were invited to perform but reportedly declined due to the festival happening at the end of a long tour, and because of the impending birth of Robin Trower's child; The band elected to pass on the festival to be back in England for the birth.

The Doors were considered as a potential performing band, butcancelled at the last moment. Contrary to popular belief, this occurrence was not related in some fashion to lead singer Jim Morrison's arrest for indecent exposure while performing earlier that year; the cancellation was most likely due to Morrison's known and vocal distaste for performing in large outdoor venues. There also was a widely spread legend that Morrison, in a fit of paranoia, was fearful that someone would take a shot at him while he was onstage. Drummer John Densmore attended; in the film, he can be seen on the side of the stage during Joe Cocker's set.

Led Zeppelin was asked to perform, their manager Peter Grant stating: "We were asked to do Woodstock and Atlantic were very keen, and so was our US promoter, Frank Barsalona. I said no because at Woodstock we'd have just been another band on the bill". Instead the group went on with their hugely successful summer tour, their only time out being taken to attend Elvis Presley's show, at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, on August 12.

Jethro Tull refused to perform; there are varying accounts of the reasons for this decision. One claim is that they thought it wouldn't be a big deal. Ian Anderson is reported to have said he "didn't want to spend [his] weekend in a field of unwashed hippies". Another theory proposes that the band felt the event would be "too big a deal" and might kill their career before it started.

The Moody Blues declined to perform, because they were booked for another event in Paris at the same time and decided to play there instead of Woodstock, a decision they later regretted. They were promoted as being a performer on the third day on early posters that listed the site as Wallkill.

Tommy James and the Shondells declined an invitation. Lead singer Tommy James stated later: "We could have just kicked ourselves. We were in Hawaii, and my secretary called and said, 'Yeah, listen, there's this pig farmer in upstate New York that wantsyou to play in his field.' That's how it was put to me. So we passed, and we realized what we'd missed a couple of days later.

The Clarence White-era Byrds were given an opportunity to play, but refused to do so but they did perform at the Atlantic City Pop Festival held August 1,2 & 3, 1969, two weeks before Woodstock.

Paul Revere & The Raiders declined to perform.

Bob Dylan was in negotiations to play, but pulled out when his son became ill. He also was unhappy about the number of hippies piling up outside his house near the originally planned site.

He would go on to perform at the Isle of Wight Festival two weeks later. At his June 30, 2007 concert at Bethel Woods, the original site of the Woodstock festival, Dylan joked (just before he performed 'All Along the Watchtower)': "Great to be back here-- I remember being here, playing at six in the morning, and it was pouring rain, too... a big field of mud!"

Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention Quote: "A lot of mud at Woodstock. We were invited to play there, we turned it down." - FZ. Citation: "Class of the 20th Century", U.S. network television special in serial format, circa 1995.

Free were asked to perform and declined.

Spirit were asked to perform but declined and went on a promotional tour.

Mind Garage declined because they thought it wouldn't be a big deal and had a higher paying gig elsewhere.

As Always

Peace

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