Until his health gave out on him, Bobby Blue Bland was the singer's singer. One of the biggest black hitmakers of the '60s, he had little crossover success but influenced countless other vocalists. He personified the sturdiest bridge in the transition from blues to soul music. And nearly everything you need to know about him can be found on three albums of two discs apiece: I Pity the Fool/The Duke Recordings, Volume 1; … more »
The Four Vagabonds are the missing link between the Mills Brothers, the Ink Spots and the bird groups (the Orioles, the Ravens, the Flamingoes), bridging the war years of the 1940s to span black secular harmony emerging from the church and swing bands as it evolves into the underpinnings of rock ‘n’ roll and the whiter, more teen-friendly variety known as doo-wop. They tend to get overlooked in this lineage in the same way WWII vets found when they returned from duty, a world changed, aged by their experience on the front, which in the Vagabonds’ case meant also weathering the Musician’s Union strike of 1942-44, which effectively banned instruments from the studio. They were lucky that, like the Mills,… more »
The Four Vagabonds are the missing link between the Mills Brothers, the Ink Spots and the bird groups (the Orioles, the Ravens, the Flamingoes), bridging the war years of the 1940s to span black secular harmony emerging from the church and swing bands as it evolves into the underpinnings of rock ‘n’ roll and the whiter, more teen-friendly variety known as doo-wop. They tend to get overlooked in this lineage in the same way WWII vets found when they returned from duty, a world changed, aged by their experience on the front, which in the Vagabonds’ case meant also weathering the Musician’s Union strike of 1942-44, which effectively banned instruments from the studio. They were lucky that, like the Mills,… more »
The Four Vagabonds are the missing link between the Mills Brothers, the Ink Spots and the bird groups (the Orioles, the Ravens, the Flamingoes), bridging the war years of the 1940s to span black secular harmony emerging from the church and swing bands as it evolves into the underpinnings of rock ‘n’ roll and the whiter, more teen-friendly variety known as doo-wop. They tend to get overlooked in this lineage in the same way WWII vets found when they returned from duty, a world changed, aged by their experience on the front, which in the Vagabonds’ case meant also weathering the Musician’s Union strike of 1942-44, which effectively banned instruments from the studio. They were lucky that, like the Mills,… more »
The six-string soul of Ireland, Rory Gallagher is revered in his native land: There’s a statue in his birthplace of Ballyshannon, a street named after him in Dublin, and a holy ground music shop in Cork, Crowley’s, where, in 1963, he paid 100 Irish pounds for the 1961 sunburst Stratocaster pictured on the front cover of Against The Grain. He would go on to play it for nigh-on the next 30 years, its patina and rough-hewn finish bearing testament to the no-frills workingman approach Rory brought to his mission of high-energy blues wailing. Despite a too-early death in 1995, he has lived on as a guitarist’s guitarist, a musician whose commitment and drive have hardly diminished since his demise.
Gallagher was… more »
Want to get a snapshot of last year's best music? In our Best of 2011 radio station, you'll hear songs from the artists who provided our 2011 soundtrack. No matter what your taste -- indie rock, jazz, doom metal or avant-folk, you'll find it here in eMusic's Best of 2011 Radio. more »
