1951 Rainer Ptacek*
1957 Karl Snelting*
1964 Meade Lux Lewis+
1993 Milwaukee Slim+
1997 Arthur Prysock+
2012 Bob Welch+
Sören Jordan*
Sören Jordan *07.06.
Seit ca. 1992 ist der Gitarrist Sören Jordan als Profimusiker tätig. Er hat in dieser Zeit viele Sideman Jobs gehabt, z.T. auch mit sehr Bekannten Sängerinnen und Sängern, hat auf vielen Produktionen mitgewirkt, doch schon seit seiner Jugend ist er ein großer Bluesfan.
sören jordan
„In den 80ern haben meine Klassenkameraden alle diesen Plastikpop gehört und ich war mit Cream, Ten Years After und Hendrix LPs ein wenig speziell, wenn nicht gar befremdlich in deren Augen“ erzählt Sören über seine Anfangszeit.
Die Bands die er in seiner Jugend live sah, waren Bluesbands die in den Clubs
spielten, darunter Black Cat Bone, The Real Blues Band, Frankfurt City Blues Band u.v.m. „Das wollte ich auch machen!“ meint Søren.
Es folgten Jahre des Übens, die ersten Bandprojekte, ein E-Gitarrenstudium, die ersten professionellen Jobs,…
„Es hat dann doch ziemlich lange gedauert, bis ich meinen eigentlichen Vorsatz anfing umzusetzen, auch wenn ich immer bluesig gespielt habe“ meint Sören.
Jetzt ist das „Blues Conglomerate“ sein Baby, anfangs als reines Instrumental-Projekt, wie die ersten zwei Studioproduktionen zeigen. Das erste Album „S.J.‘s Conglomerate #1“ erschien 2007 und erhielt einige Aufmerksamkeit in der Fachpresse. Das 2014 erschienene Album „S.J.‘s Blues Conglomerate #2 Cats and Bones“ wurde in allen deutschen Gitarrenzeitschriften besprochen, hier ein paar Zitate aus den Rezensionen:
sören jordan 2
„Cats and Bones hat das Potential, viele, viele Gitarrenmusikliebhaber zu
begeistern. Eigentlich sollte S.J.‘s Blues Conglomerate im kommenden Jahr ein fester Bestandteil der deutschen Bluesrock Festival Szene sein.“- Bluesnews
„Jordan ist ein lebendiges Beispiel dafür, dass man auf der Suche nach Gitarrenhelden nicht über den großen Teich schielen muß, nein, sie sind unter uns und machen ebensoviel Spaß, wie all die altbekannten Protagonisten.“- Grand Guitars
Mitlterweile ist das „Blues Conglomerate“ ein Projekt mit unterschiedlichen Gastsängern, auch Sören übernimmt hin und wieder den Gesangspart. Die Band rekrutiert sich aus einem Pool an professionellen Musikern aus Südwestdeutschland.
Die Stammbesetzung sind:
Marcel Millot Marcel Millot (drums) www.millot.de
Christian Ammann Christian Ammann (bass),
Michael Quast Michael Quast (Keys) michaelquast.com
sören jordan 3 Sören Jordan ( git&voc) www.soerenjordan.de
Das Repertoire umfasst eigenes aus der Feder von S.Jordan und klassisches Bluesmaterial, neu interpretiert von Acts wie Peter Green, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton,…
Die Kompositionen von Sören sind oft stilübergreifend, passen nicht in feste Schubladen, genauso wie die Bands der späten 60er.
„Mein Musikgeschmack ist irgendwie in meinem Geburtsjahr stehengeblieben“ meint Sören scherzhaft.
Mehr zu Sören Jordan hier: www.soerenjordan.de
When I started playing guitar, I just wanted to be able to play folksongs at the campfire. At the age of 10, I got my first guitar, a few years later things changed after listening to Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck,…
After finishing school, I went to MGI Munich, a guitar-institute inspired by the MI/GIT. I graduated there with excellence and started working as a professinell musician, based in Karlsruhe, in 1993.
After finishing school, I went to MGI Munich, a guitar-institute inspired by the MI/GIT. I graduated there with excellence and started working as a professinell musician, based in Karlsruhe, in 1993.
Sören Jordan & Philipp Graf mit Red House in der Rheinschenke Leimersheim
Karl Snelting *07.06.1957
https://www.facebook.com/karl.snelting
https://www.facebook.com/dasbluesgericht/timeline
http://www.dasbluesgericht.de/index.html
Zur Zeit arbeite ich hauptsächlich als Schlagzeuger von Ombre di Luci, der 70erJahre-Rockband Major Healey und gebe Unterricht als Musiklehrer (Klavier und Schlagzeug). Ausserdem trommle ich zu deutschsprachigem Blues im Trio Das Bluesgericht.
mit 8 Jahren erster Klavierunterricht
mit 13 Jahren parallel zur Klavierausbildung erster Schlagzeugunterricht
Mitwirkung in diversen Schülerorchestern und -bands
(u.a. Schlagzeuger der Jugendbigband des Kreises Paderborn, Pauker des Jugendsymphonieorchesters der Stadt Bielefeld)
als Student erste Studiojobs und
als Schlagzeug- und Klavierlehrer Schüler unterrichtet, die inzwischen zum Teil selbst als Musiker arbeiten, Musik studieren oder auch unterrichten
Ende 1986 1. Engagement am Stadttheater Osnabrück als Schauspielmusiker
( "Germania - Tod in Berlin" von Heiner Müller ; Schlagzeug, Klavier)
seitdem selbstständige Tätigkeit als freiberuflicher Musiker
an diversen Bühnen in ganz Deutschland (Staatstheater Saarbrücken, Stadttheater Münster, Stadttheater Magdeburg, Landesbühne Hannover, Landesbühne Wilhelmshaven, u.a.)
neben der musikalischen Tätigkeit in Schauspiel, Musical und Operette
( "Mutter Courage", "A Clockwork Orange", "Die Geisel", "Linie 1", "Der kleine Horrorladen", "The Black Rider", "Die Dreigroschenoper", "Das Feuerwerk", "Cabaret", u.a.)
auch immer Arbeit in verschiedenen Bands incl. Single-, LP- und CD-Produktionen
(s. Discographie)
Fernsehkonzert: "Das Bluesgericht" aus Bielefeld
Live-Musik - präsentiert von Kanal 21, Bielefeld
Rainer Ptacek *07.06.1951
Rainer Ptacek (a.k.a. Rainer) (June 7, 1951 – November 12, 1997) was a Tucson, Arizona-based American guitarist and singer-songwriter. His guitar technique, which incorporated slide, finger-picking, tape loops and electronic manipulation, earned him admiration of some notable musicians such as Robert Plant and Billy Gibbons. A tribute album to Ptacek, The Inner Flame, included contributions by Plant, Jimmy Page, PJ Harvey, Emmylou Harris and others, and was indicative of his reputation as a "musician's musician". He was diagnosed with a brain tumor in early 1996 and died nearly two years later after the illness recurred.
Early life and career
Ptacek was born in East Berlin to a family of Czech and German descent. His family fled East Germany for the United States when he was five years old. They eventually settled in Chicago, where young Ptacek was first exposed to blues music. He moved to Tucson in the early 1970s, where he began his own musical career, most often solo, but sometimes he plugged in and led a trio as Rainer & Das Combo. He co-founded Giant Sandworms with Howe Gelb in the late 1970s. When the band decided to move to New York, he opted to stay in Tucson to make sure that he would not disrupt his then-new family. Although he never became well known in the United States, he became more and more recognized in Europe. Billy Gibbons was so impressed with the singer-guitarist that he arranged to have Kurt Loder review Ptacek's "Mush Mind Blues" single in Rolling Stone. Ptacek later returned to Houston at the invitation from Billy Gibbons to complete the recordings at Gibbons' Gold Star Sound Services studio which saw release as "The Texas Tapes" meeting international attention and approval.[1] Robert Plant, similarly impressed, flew Ptacek to England for the sessions for B-sides to supplement the singles from Fate of Nations.[2]
Illness
He was diagnosed with a brain tumor and lymphoma in February 1996. He did not have medical insurance and his bills were mounting. Howe Gelb and Robert Plant organized sessions for a charity album. The resulting record, The Inner Flame: Rainer Ptacek Tribute, featured Ptacek-penned songs performed by Gelb (with Giant Sand), Plant, Jimmy Page, Emmylou Harris, Evan Dando, Victoria Williams, Vic Chesnutt, PJ Harvey, The Drovers, Madeleine Peyroux, Kris McKay, Jonathan Richman and Bill Janovitz. Ptacek is a participant on most of the tracks.
Intense chemotherapy sessions put his tumor into remission and Ptacek resumed his concert activity vigorously, beginning with a guest performance at Greg Brown's show in November 1996. By this time, media attention was more focused on him than ever before. Just when it seemed as though he had beaten his disease, it recurred in October 1997, and he died three weeks later at age 46.
Rainer - "When You've Got A Good Friend"
R.I.P.
Arthur Prysock +07.06.1997
Arthur Prysock (* 2. Januar 1929 in Spartanburg, South Carolina; † 7. Juni 1997) war ein US-amerikanischer Jazz- und Rhythm-and-Blues-Sänger.
Arthur Prysock wurde bekannt durch seine Liveshows und seinen Bariton, der von Billy Eckstine beeinflusst war.
Prysock arbeitete während des Zweiten Weltkrieges in Hartford, Connecticut in der Flugzeugindustrie. 1944 engagierte ihn der Bandleader Buddy Johnson als Sänger, und Prysock wurde eine Attraktion bei den Live-Auftritten der Band. Prysock sang auf verschiedenen Hits der Johnson-Band, die bei Decca Records erschienen, wie "Jet My Love", 1947 und "I Wonder Where Our Love Has Gone", 1948 und später auf Mercury Records "Because", 1950.
Im Jahr 1952 begann Prysock eine Solokarriere und nahm für Decca den R&B Hit "I Didn’t Sleep a Wink Last Night" auf. Danach erschienen Klassiker des Genres wie Roy Browns "Good Rocking Tonight". In den 1960er Jahren nahm Prysock für das Label Old Town Records auf, wie die R&B-Coverversion von Ray Nobles Ballade „The Very Thought of You“ (1960) sowie des Pop-Hits „It’s Too Late Baby, It’s Too Late“ (1965). 1968 nahm er für Verve Records mit der Count Basie Band das Album A Working Man’s Prayer auf.
In den 1970er Jahren hatte er einen Erfolg mit dem Discohit "When Love Is New" (1977); 1985 entstand nach langer Pause das Album Arthur Prysock auf dem Milestone Label. Aufmerksamkeit erzielte er in den USA auch durch seinen Werbejingle "Tonight, tonight, let it be Löwenbräu."
1995 erhielt Prysock den Pioneer Award der Rhythm and Blues Foundation.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Prysock
Arthur Prysock (January 1, 1924 – June 21, 1997) was an American jazz singer best known for his live shows and his baritone influenced by Billy Eckstine.[1]
Born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Prysock moved to Hartford, Connecticut to work in the aircraft industry during World War II. In 1944 bandleader Buddy Johnson signed him as a vocalist, and Prysock became a mainstay of the live performance circuits.[2] Prysock sang on several of Johnson’s hits on Decca Records ("Jet My Love", 1947 and "I Wonder Where Our Love Has Gone", 1948) and later on Mercury Records ("Because", 1950).
In 1952 Prysock went solo and signed with Decca to record the R&B hit, "I Didn’t Sleep a Wink Last Night". He recorded R&B classics such as Roy Brown's "Good Rocking Tonight". In the 1960s, Prysock joined Old Town Records and did an R&B cover of Ray Noble's ballad "The Very Thought of You" (1960) and a pop hit "It’s Too Late Baby, It’s Too Late" (1965). For Verve Records he recorded Arthur Prysock and Count Basie (12, 13, 14, 20 and 21 December 1965, at Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey), and A Working Man's Prayer (1968). He read verses from Walter Benton's book of poems against a jazz instrumental backdrop on his 1968 album, This is My Beloved.[3]
In the 1970s, Prysock had a surprise disco hit with "When Love Is New" (Old Town, 1977) and in 1985, recorded his first new album in almost a decade, Arthur Prysock (Milestone). He gained further attention for his tender, soulful singing on a beer commercial, "Tonight, tonight, let it be Löwenbräu." The selection whose lyrics were revised for the Löwenbräu Beer jingle was originally titled "Here's To Good Friends."[citation needed]
His brother, Red Prysock, was a noted tenor sax player who appeared on many of Arthur's records.
Prysock received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1995.
Born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Prysock moved to Hartford, Connecticut to work in the aircraft industry during World War II. In 1944 bandleader Buddy Johnson signed him as a vocalist, and Prysock became a mainstay of the live performance circuits.[2] Prysock sang on several of Johnson’s hits on Decca Records ("Jet My Love", 1947 and "I Wonder Where Our Love Has Gone", 1948) and later on Mercury Records ("Because", 1950).
In 1952 Prysock went solo and signed with Decca to record the R&B hit, "I Didn’t Sleep a Wink Last Night". He recorded R&B classics such as Roy Brown's "Good Rocking Tonight". In the 1960s, Prysock joined Old Town Records and did an R&B cover of Ray Noble's ballad "The Very Thought of You" (1960) and a pop hit "It’s Too Late Baby, It’s Too Late" (1965). For Verve Records he recorded Arthur Prysock and Count Basie (12, 13, 14, 20 and 21 December 1965, at Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey), and A Working Man's Prayer (1968). He read verses from Walter Benton's book of poems against a jazz instrumental backdrop on his 1968 album, This is My Beloved.[3]
In the 1970s, Prysock had a surprise disco hit with "When Love Is New" (Old Town, 1977) and in 1985, recorded his first new album in almost a decade, Arthur Prysock (Milestone). He gained further attention for his tender, soulful singing on a beer commercial, "Tonight, tonight, let it be Löwenbräu." The selection whose lyrics were revised for the Löwenbräu Beer jingle was originally titled "Here's To Good Friends."[citation needed]
His brother, Red Prysock, was a noted tenor sax player who appeared on many of Arthur's records.
Prysock received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1995.
Bob Welch +07.06.2012
Bob Welch (links) mit Jimmy Robinson (1973)
Bob Welch (* 31. August 1945 in Los Angeles, Kalifornien; † 7. Juni 2012 in Nashville, Tennessee) war ein US-amerikanischer Musiker.
Welch war von 1971 bis 1974 Gitarrist der Formation Fleetwood Mac und gründete anschließend die Band Paris. Später trat er als Solist auf und hatte mit Titeln wie Sentimental Lady (1977) und Ebony Eyes (1978) Erfolg. Im Juni 2012 schied Bob Welch im Alter von 66 Jahren freiwillig aus dem Leben
Robert Lawrence "Bob" Welch (Aug. 31, 1945 – June 7, 2012) was an American musician. A former member of Fleetwood Mac, Welch had a successful solo career in the late 1970s. His singles included "Hot Love, Cold World," "Ebony Eyes," "Precious Love," and his signature song, "Sentimental Lady."
Early life
Welch was born in Los Angeles, California, into a show business family. Raised in Beverly Hills, his father was movie producer and screenwriter Robert L. Welch, who worked at Paramount Pictures in the 1940s and 1950s, producing films starring Paramount's top box office stars, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby (solo, not as a duo). He also worked as a TV producer, responsible for the 25th Annual Academy Awards TV special in 1953 and The Thin Man TV series in 1958–59. Bob's mother, Templeton Fox, had been a singer and actress who worked with Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre in Chicago, Illinois and appeared on TV and in movies from 1962 to 1979.
As a youngster, Welch learned clarinet, switching to guitar in his early teens. He had received his first guitar at the age of eight. The young Welch developed an interest in jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock music. After graduating from high school, Welch eschewed attending Georgetown University, where he had been accepted, to move to Paris, professedly to attend the Sorbonne. Welch told People Magazine in a 1979 interview that, in Paris, "I mostly smoked hash with bearded guys five years older." He spent time "sitting in the Deux Magots café" rather than attending to his studies, and eventually returned to Southern California, where he studied French at UCLA.[1]
Dropping out of UCLA before graduation, Welch joined the Los Angeles-based interracial vocal group, The Seven Souls, as a guitarist in 1964,[2] replacing band member Ray Tusken, a guitarist who went on to become vice-president in charge of A&R for Capitol Records.[3] The Seven Souls lost a battle of the bands competition whose prize was a recording contract with Epic Records, to Sly and the Family Stone. The original line-up included lead singer Ivory Hudson, saxophonist and singer Henry Moore, drummer Ron Edge and bassist Bill Deiz, who later became a television news anchorman and reporter in Los Angeles. (Later band members Bobby Watson and Tony Maiden subsequently formed the funk group Rufus with Chaka Khan.)[4]
The Seven Souls' 1967 release "I'm No Stranger / I Still Love You" (OKeh 7289) made no impact at the time of its release, despite subsequent issue in France and Italy. However, the B-side "I Still Love You" has become a Northern Soul anthem over the past 30 years with original copies on OKeh (or French CBS / Italian Epic) changing hands for anything up to £400. "I Still Love You" was co-written by Henry Moore and Bill Deiz. The Seven Souls broke up in 1969.
Welch moved back to Paris and started a trio, Head West, which was not a success. Welch told People Magazine, in his 1979 interview, that the two years in Paris between 1969 and 1971 were spent "living on rice and beans and sleeping on the floor." During his time in Paris, Bob became friends with future CBS correspondent Ed Bradley, years later Ed came to Sunset Sound to hang out during the making of French Kiss.
Fleetwood Mac
Bob Welch struggled with a variety of marginal bands until 1971, when he was invited to join Fleetwood Mac, then an erstwhile English blues band that had lost two of its three front-line members, Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer, within a few months. Along with fellow newcomer Christine McVie, a keyboardist/singer-songwriter (formerly of the British blues band Chicken Shack), Welch helped to steer the band in a more melodic direction, particularly after lead guitarist/singer-songwriter Danny Kirwan left the band in 1972.
In the summer of 1971, the remaining members of Fleetwood Mac held auditions at their retreat in England, Kiln House, while seeking a guitarist to replace Spencer. Judy Wong, a friend of the band who served at times as their secretary (the Kirwan-written song "Jewel-Eyed Judy" was dedicated to her), recommended her high school friend Welch to the band. Welch (who has been described as Wong's high school boyfriend) was living in Paris at the time.
The band had a few meetings with Welch and decided to hire him without actually playing with him or listening to any of his recordings. Welch was given the role of rhythm guitar, backing up lead guitarist Danny Kirwan. It was felt that having an American in the band might extend Fleetwood Mac's appeal in the States. Welch eventually went to live in the band's communal home, a mansion called Benifold, which was located in Hampshire. (Using mobile equipment borrowed from The Rolling Stones, the band recorded three albums at Benifold: Bare Trees, Penguin and Mystery to Me.)[5] The band's first album to feature Welch and McVie, Future Games, was recorded, however, at Advision Studios in London (as is cited on the back of the album jacket).
In September 1971, the band released Future Games, with the title song written by Welch. This album was different from anything the band had done up to that point. In 1972, six months after the release of Future Games, the band released Bare Trees, which featured Welch's song "Sentimental Lady". The song went on to become a much bigger hit for him five years later when he re-recorded it for his solo album French Kiss.
Friction
The band did well in the studio, but their tours were more problematic. Kirwan developed an alcohol dependency and became alienated from Welch and the McVies. Welch held contradictory attitudes towards Kirwan in the 18 months they were band mates in Fleetwood Mac: On the one hand, their personal relationship was difficult as Welch felt that Kirwan was playing mind games with the band; and on the other hand, Welch had enormous respect for Kirwan's musicianship. In 1999, Welch stated: "He was a talented, gifted musician, almost equal to Pete Green in his beautiful guitar playing and faultless string bends."[6] In a later interview, Welch said: "Danny wasn't a very lighthearted person, to say the least. He probably shouldn't have been drinking as much as he did, even at his young age. He was always very intense about his work, as I was, but he didn't seem to ever be able to distance himself from it... and laugh about it. Danny was the definition of 'deadly serious'."[7]
The end for Kirwan came in August 1972, during an American tour, when he stormed off stage in a violent rage after arguing with Welch.[8] Before a concert on that year's US tour, Kirwan and Welch fought over tuning and Kirwan flew into a rage, smashing his guitar and refusing to go onstage.[9] He reportedly smashed his head bloody on a wall in back of the stage, then moved into the sound booth to watch the show, where the band struggled without him as Welch tried to cover his guitar parts. After the fiasco of a show, he criticized the band.
Fleetwood subsequently fired Kirwan, partly on the recommendation of Welch. The artistic direction of Fleetwood Mac essentially was left in the hands of Welch and Christine McVie.[10]
Challenges
Over the next three albums Fleetwood Mac released, they constantly changed line-ups around the core of Fleetwood, the McVies and Welch. Kirwan was replaced by Savoy Brown lead singer Dave Walker and Bob Weston on lead guitar. Both Walker and Weston appeared on Penguin, released in January 1973, cracking the Top 50 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart in the U.S., reaching #49. Walker's style did not mesh with Fleetwood Mac and he was dismissed and did not appear on Mac's second album of 1973, Mystery to Me, which was released six months after Penguin.
Mystery to Me contained the Welch song "Hypnotized", which got a lot of airplay on the radio in the United States. However, due to an aborted tour, Mystery to Me only reached #67 in the States, as that market was becoming increasingly important to the band, which was shipping albums in the respectable range of 250,000 units at the time.[11]
Fake Mac and the move to Los Angeles
Internal stresses caused by line-up changes, touring and the failing marriage of Christine and John McVie (exacerbated by John's alcoholism), and an affair between Weston and Fleetwood's wife, Jenny Boyd, proved debilitating to the band. Fleetwood was devastated by his wife's revelation of the affair, and Weston was sacked from the band. Fleetwood's personal problems led to the cancellation of a planned tour in the United States.
The band's manager, Clifford Davis, decided not to cancel the tour and claimed that he owned the name Fleetwood Mac. According to Welch, Davis sent letters to all the remaining Fleetwood Mac band members saying he was putting a new "star-quality, headlining act" together and offering them jobs in this new band. Welch said that he believed that Davis' gambit was ignored by them all. Without telling any of the band members, Davis then set up a tour with a new group of musicians, booking them into venues in the United States under the name "Fleetwood Mac" even though none of the new musicians had ever played with any previous incarnation of the band.[12]
Davis announced that Welch and John McVie had quit Fleetwood Mac, and put the "fake Mac" band out on to tour the United States. None of the "fake Mac" members was ever officially in the real band, but it was announced that Fleetwood and Christine McVie would be joining the band at a later date. The members of Fleetwood Mac obtained an injunction preventing the "fake Mac" from touring under their name, while Davis obtained an injunction preventing the "real Mac" from touring. The lawsuits resulting from the tour, which was aborted, put the real Fleetwood Mac out of commission for almost a year.
During this period, Welch stayed in Los Angeles and connected with entertainment attorneys. Welch believed the band was being neglected by Warner Bros., the parent of their label, Reprise Records and decided that if the band wanted to get better treatment from Warner Bros., they would have to change their base of operation to Los Angeles. The rest of the band agreed. Rock promoter Bill Graham wrote a letter to Warner Bros. to convince them that the "real" Fleetwood Mac were in fact Fleetwood, Welch and the McVies. While this did not end the legal battle, the band was able to record as Fleetwood Mac again.
Instead of getting another manager, Fleetwood Mac decided to manage themselves. After the courts ruled that the "Fleetwood Mac" name belonged to Fleetwood and John McVie, the two band members set up their own band management company, Seedy Management.[13]
Heroes Are Hard to Find
In 1974, for the first time, Fleetwood Mac had only one guitarist, Welch, who took over lead guitarist duties. The quartet of Welch, Fleetwood, and the McVies represented the ninth line-up in the band's seven-year history. Warner Bros. made a new record deal with the band, which recorded and released the album Heroes Are Hard to Find on Reprise in September 1974. The album became the band's first to crack the US Top 40 in the United States, reaching #34 on the USA Billboard 200 chart.
The Heroes Are Hard to Find tour proved to be the last for Welch. The constant touring had taken its toll on him. His marriage was failing and he felt that he had hit the end of his creative road with the band. In a 1999 online question and answer session on the Fleetwood Mac fan site The Penguin, Welch also said he felt estranged from John and Christine McVie while he felt close to Fleetwood, with whom he asserted he was running the band in 1974.[14]
Welch resigned from Fleetwood Mac in December 1974 and was replaced by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.
Of the Fleetwood Mac albums on which Welch appeared, American album sales totaled 500,000 units shipped between 1971 and 2000 for Future Games; 1 million units of Bare Trees between 1972 and 1988; and 500,000 units of Mystery to Me between 1973 and 1976, when it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Legacy and lawsuit
The Buckingham–Nicks version of Fleetwood Mac achieved superstar status with the albums Fleetwood Mac (1975) and Rumours (1977), which shipped 5 million and 19 million units in the US alone, both reaching #1 in the US. (Rumours, which has shipped 40 million units worldwide, is one of the most successful sound recordings ever released.) Welch's French Kiss, released in 1977, was his sole platinum album, and after his gold-certified album Three Hearts (1979), his career faded.
Mick Fleetwood continued to manage Bob Welch's career into the 1980s. In 1994, Welch sued Fleetwood, John and Christine McVie, band attorney and attorney Michael Shapiro and Warner Bros. Records for breach of contract related to underpayment of royalties. In 1978, Welch and the three band members signed a contract with Warner Bros. agreeing to an equal share of all royalties from their Fleetwood Mac albums. Welch alleged that the three subsequently had struck various deals with Warner Bros. that gave them higher royalty rates. Welch alleged that Fleetwood and the McVies had failed to inform him of the new, higher royalty rate, thus depriving him of his fair share of royalties.[15] The breach of contract lawsuit was settled in 1996.[16]
Hall of Fame controversy
When Fleetwood Mac was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, original band members Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer, Danny Kirwan, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie were named to the Hall, as were Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. Welch, who anchored the band for several years and five albums, was not. "My era was the bridge era," Welch told the Cleveland newspaper the Plain Dealer in 1998, after he was snubbed by the Hall of Fame. "It was a transition. But it was an important period in the history of the band. Mick Fleetwood dedicated a whole chapter of his biography to my era of the band and credited me with 'saving Fleetwood Mac.' Now they want to write me out of the history of the group. It hurts."
Welch went on to tell the Plain Dealer, "Mick and I co-managed the group for years. I'm the one who brought the band to Los Angeles from England, which put them in the position of hooking up with Lindsey and Stevie. I saw the band through a whole period where they barely survived, literally." At the time, Welch believed that he had been blackballed by the Hall because of the breach of contract lawsuit against Fleetwood and John and Christine McVie. At the time of his snubbing by the Hall, he believed that the falling out with three band members led them to pressuring the selection committee into excluding him from the Hall.[17]
In a 2003 online question and answer session on the Fleetwood Mac fan site The Penguin, Welch revised his opinion of why he was snubbed by the Hall. He had recently attended a Fleetwood Mac show and visited the band members back stage after the show. The visit reconnected him with Mick Fleetwood, his ex-band mate and ex-manager, after being estranged for many years. (He had never been estranged from Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, who were not parties to the lawsuit.) By 2003, Welch believed that he had been snubbed by the Hall as the directors in New York, music industry insiders, did not like his style of music. However, he did believe that the lawsuit was a factor in his being blackballed, as it prevented him from getting in touch with Mick Fleetwood, whom he was not talking to at the time of the induction, who may have otherwise have used his influence to get Welch included with other members of the band. (Jerry Garcia had used his influence to get 12 members of the Grateful Dead inducted into the Hall, including some band mates whose contributions were considered marginal.) [18] As the Plain Dealer article noted, 16 members of the Parliament-Funkadelic collective were inducted into the Rock Hall—an oddly large number in the author's view, considering Welch's pivotal role in Fleetwood Mac and a board member's contention that only band members who made important creative contributions to a group's sound and impact are nominated for inclusion.[17]
Paris
In 1975, Welch and Jimmy Robinson (recording engineer) formed the short-lived hard rock power trio Paris with ex Jethro Tull bassist Glenn Cornick and ex NAZZ drummer Thom Mooney. Paris released two albums; Paris (produced by Robinson), and after Hunt Sales replaced Mooney, Big Towne 2061, produced by Bob Hughes. Sales' brother Tony subsequently replaced Cornick before the group split. The first album to this day is still selling, as it has been released 4 times; the second album not so well.
In a 1979 interview with People Magazine, Welch said that the two Paris albums were "ill-conceived." Because of the misfire of Paris, his finances had deteriorated until he had only $8,000 left.[1] Mick Fleetwood and members of Fleetwood Mac would soon help him reinvigorate his career as a solo act.
Solo
In September 1977, Welch released his first solo album, French Kiss (originally to have been called Paris 3), a mainstream pop collection featuring contributions from former band mates Mick Fleetwood and Christine McVie. This release brought Welch his greatest success, selling one million copies being certified by the RIAA on 5/1/78. It yielded three hit singles: a revamped version of "Sentimental Lady", which hit Billboard's Top 10, the rocker "Ebony Eyes" (featuring Juice Newton on backing vocals) and "Hot Love, Cold World".
Welch followed up French Kiss with 1979's Three Hearts, an album that replicated the rock/disco fusion of French Kiss. It was certified Gold by the RIAA on 2/23/1979, and spawned the top 20 hit "Precious Love", while the follow-up single "Church" also charted. He also hosted a music video program, Hollywood Heartbeat.[19]
Welch released solo albums into the early 1980s (The Other One, Man Overboard, Bob Welch, and Eye Contact) with decreasing success, during which time he also developed a short lived cocaine and heroin addiction for less than a year and a hospitalization scared him into stopping in the Spring of 1985. The day he got out of detox he met his wife to be Wendy Armistead at the Central (now the Viper Room) where they were introduced by Taryn Power (Tyrone Power's daughter) and Tony Sales (Soupy Sales' son). Wendy had been employed for 7 years by Michael Viner a producer/manager and his wife, actress Deborah Raffin, out of their home office. Welch and Armistead were married in December 1985, and remained together as husband and wife and business partners until his death. Wendy moved Bob to Phoenix Arizona to keep him away from all the drug dealers in LA in 1986 and he never did drugs again, not even marijuana.[20] After cleaning himself up in 1986, Welch turned away from performing and recording and focused his attention on songwriting for others. In Phoenix, Bob and Wendy put together a short-lived group called Avenue M, who went on tour and recorded one song for a greatest hits compilation. He later moved to Nashville, Tennessee.
In 1999, Welch released an experimental jazz/loop based album, Bob Welch Looks at Bop. He followed this up in 2003, with His Fleetwood Mac Years and Beyond, which contained new recordings of songs he originally recorded with Fleetwood Mac, as well as some solo hits. In 2006, he released His Fleetwood Mac Years and Beyond 2, which mixed a half-dozen new compositions, along with a similar number of his Mac/solo remakes. He released more CDs with Fuel Records in 2008, 2010, and 2011.
Welch appeared as an avatar named BobWelch Magic in 2008 performing solo acoustic favorites and hits live for 30 minutes, in a show with Von Johin (musician/publisher Mike Lawson) and Cypress Rosewood (musician Tony Gerber) in the virtual world of Second Life streaming live over the internet into the Gibson Island virtual stage from Lawson's studio.[21]
He had been married since 1985 to Wendy Armistead Welch[22] of Memphis, Tennessee. The couple resided in Nashville.
Death
On June 7, 2012, at the age of 66, Welch committed suicide in his Nashville home at around 12:15 p.m. He was found by his wife, Wendy, with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest; a nine-page suicide note and love letter had been written to his wife. According to her, Welch had had spinal surgery three months earlier, but doctors told him he would not get better. He was in serious pain and he did not want his wife to have to care for an invalid. Also, she believes that the pain medication pregabalin (Lyrica), which he had been on for six weeks, may have contributed to his death.
Meade Lux Lewis +07.06.1964
Meade Anderson „Lux“ Lewis (* 3. September 1905 in Chicago, Illinois; † 7. Juni 1964 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) war ein US-amerikanischer Jazz-Pianist und Komponist, ein Pionier des Boogie Woogie.Das Geburtsdatum von Lewis ist je nach Quelle der 3., 4. oder 13. September 1905. In seiner Jugend war der Pianist Jimmy Yancey, mit dem er befreundet war, sein Vorbild. Wahrscheinlich erhielt er auch Unterricht von seinem Freund Pinetop Smith. Lewis spielte in Kneipen und Clubs in Chicago, zog sich nach seinem Erfolg mit Honky Tonk Train Blues 1929 aber zurück.
Lewis machte seine ersten Aufnahmen 1927, aber erst 1936 setzte der Erfolg ein, als ihn Promoter John Hammond nach New York brachte und ab 1938 in seinen „From Spiritual to Swing“ Konzerten mit Albert Ammons und Pete Johnson präsentierte. Hammond hatte ihn 1935 aufgestöbert, als er in einer Garage in Chicago als Wagenwäscher arbeitete. Seine Auftritte in der Carnegie Hall (und im Club Café Society) lösten einen Boogie-Woogie-Boom aus. Zusammen mit seinen Mitspielern Albert Ammons und Pete Johnson wurde Lewis einer der führenden Boogie-Woogie-Pianisten seiner Zeit. Er machte Ende der 1930er Jahre Aufnahmen mit beiden sowie z. B. mit Sidney Bechet und Edmond Hall. Später arbeitete er vor allem in Los Angeles, war aber in der Musikszene ziemlich vergessen. Meade „Lux“ Lewis starb 1964 bei einem Autounfall in Minneapolis.
Zusammen mit Ammons gebührt ihm das Verdienst, Musiker der ersten, 1939 entstandenen Schallplatten des jungen Jazzlabels Blue Note Records zu sein.
Lewis´ Titel Honky Tonk Train Blues ist zu einem Boogiestandard geworden und wurde von zahlreichen Pianisten aufgenommen und gespielt. Hierzu gehören Jean-Paul Amouroux, Keith Emerson, Jay McShann, Lloyd Glenn, Jörg Hegemann, Gene Phillips, Michael Pewny, Gene Taylor, Tim Wheals und Axel Zwingenberger sowie zahlreiche Jazz-Versionen, u. a. von Benny Goodman und der SWR Big Band.
Leo v. Knobelsdorff (der „Vater des deutschen Boogie Woogie“) bezeichnete diesen Blues als den „Ausgangspunkt für den großen Boogie-Woogie Revival 1938/39 in der Carnegie Hall“; damit ging die Boogie-Woogie-Welle los.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meade_Lux_Lewis
Meade "Lux" Lewis (born Meade Anderson Lewis; September 1905 – June 7, 1964) was an American pianist and composer, noted for his work in the boogie-woogie style. His best-known work, "Honky Tonk Train Blues", has been recorded by many artists.
Biography
Lewis was born in Chicago, Illinois in September 1905 (September 3, 4 and 13 have all been cited as his date of birth in various sources). In his youth he was influenced by the pianist Jimmy Yancey.[1] His father, a guitarist who made two recordings of his own, introduced Meade to music and arranged for violin lessons. He gave up the violin at age 16, shortly after his father's death, and switched to the piano. The nickname "Lux" was given to him by his boyhood friends. He would imitate a couple of characters from a popular comic strip in Chicago, Alphonse and Gaston, and stroke an imaginary beard as part of the routine. His friends started calling him the Duke of Luxembourg because of this, and the name stuck for the rest of his life. He became friends with Albert Ammons during childhood, a friendship that would last throughout their lives. They went to the same school together briefly and they practiced and learned the piano together on the Ammons family piano.[2]:90–91
A 1927 rendition of "Honky Tonk Train Blues" on the Paramount Records label marked his recording debut.[1] He remade it for Parlophone in 1935 and for Victor in 1937 and a recording exists of a Camel Caravan broadcast, including "Honky Tonk Train Blues" from New York City in 1939. His performance at John Hammond's historic From Spirituals to Swing concert at Carnegie Hall in 1938 brought Lewis to public attention.[3] Following the event, Lewis and two other performers from that concert, Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson, often appeared as a trio and became the leading boogie-woogie pianists of the day.[1][3]
They performed an extended engagement at Café Society, toured as a trio, and inspired the formation of Blue Note Records in 1939. Their success led to a decade-long boogie-woogie craze,[4] with big band swing treatments by Tommy Dorsey, Will Bradley, and others; and numerous country boogie and early rock and roll songs.
Lewis appeared in the movies New Orleans (1947) and Nightmare (1956).[1] He also appeared, uncredited, in the movie It's a Wonderful Life, playing piano in the scene where George Bailey gets thrown out of Nick's Bar.[5]
Lewis was quite fond of the Minneapolis area, where a niece lived, and would visit as often as he could. He appeared annually at the White House Restaurant (no longer extant) in Golden Valley. He began a successful three-week engagement there in May of '64. Around two a.m. the morning of Sunday, June 7, leaving the parking lot of the White House and heading east on Olson Memorial Highway, Lewis' Chrysler Imperial was rear-ended by one Ronald Bates, who was traveling an estimated 80 mph. Lewis' car was pushed 400 feet, impacting a tree and killing him instantly. He was 58. Bates survived, but his passenger died the following day.[2]:225
Legacy
Lewis' best-known work, "Honky Tonk Train Blues", has been recorded in various contexts, often in a big band arrangement.[1] Early recordings of the piece by artists other than Lewis include performances by Adrian Rollini, Frankie Trumbauer, classical harpsichordist Sylvia Marlowe, theater organist George Wright (with drummer Cozy Cole, under the title "Organ Boogie"), and Bob Zurke with Bob Crosby's orchestra. Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake & Palmer often included it in his repertoire and had a Top 30 hit with it in 1976.
Lewis was mentioned in Chapter 81 of author Kurt Vonnegut's novel Cat's Cradle. Lewis is also mentioned in Ross Macdonald's novel The Moving Target and in Keith Richards's autobiography Life.
Biography
Lewis was born in Chicago, Illinois in September 1905 (September 3, 4 and 13 have all been cited as his date of birth in various sources). In his youth he was influenced by the pianist Jimmy Yancey.[1] His father, a guitarist who made two recordings of his own, introduced Meade to music and arranged for violin lessons. He gave up the violin at age 16, shortly after his father's death, and switched to the piano. The nickname "Lux" was given to him by his boyhood friends. He would imitate a couple of characters from a popular comic strip in Chicago, Alphonse and Gaston, and stroke an imaginary beard as part of the routine. His friends started calling him the Duke of Luxembourg because of this, and the name stuck for the rest of his life. He became friends with Albert Ammons during childhood, a friendship that would last throughout their lives. They went to the same school together briefly and they practiced and learned the piano together on the Ammons family piano.[2]:90–91
A 1927 rendition of "Honky Tonk Train Blues" on the Paramount Records label marked his recording debut.[1] He remade it for Parlophone in 1935 and for Victor in 1937 and a recording exists of a Camel Caravan broadcast, including "Honky Tonk Train Blues" from New York City in 1939. His performance at John Hammond's historic From Spirituals to Swing concert at Carnegie Hall in 1938 brought Lewis to public attention.[3] Following the event, Lewis and two other performers from that concert, Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson, often appeared as a trio and became the leading boogie-woogie pianists of the day.[1][3]
They performed an extended engagement at Café Society, toured as a trio, and inspired the formation of Blue Note Records in 1939. Their success led to a decade-long boogie-woogie craze,[4] with big band swing treatments by Tommy Dorsey, Will Bradley, and others; and numerous country boogie and early rock and roll songs.
Lewis appeared in the movies New Orleans (1947) and Nightmare (1956).[1] He also appeared, uncredited, in the movie It's a Wonderful Life, playing piano in the scene where George Bailey gets thrown out of Nick's Bar.[5]
Lewis was quite fond of the Minneapolis area, where a niece lived, and would visit as often as he could. He appeared annually at the White House Restaurant (no longer extant) in Golden Valley. He began a successful three-week engagement there in May of '64. Around two a.m. the morning of Sunday, June 7, leaving the parking lot of the White House and heading east on Olson Memorial Highway, Lewis' Chrysler Imperial was rear-ended by one Ronald Bates, who was traveling an estimated 80 mph. Lewis' car was pushed 400 feet, impacting a tree and killing him instantly. He was 58. Bates survived, but his passenger died the following day.[2]:225
Legacy
Lewis' best-known work, "Honky Tonk Train Blues", has been recorded in various contexts, often in a big band arrangement.[1] Early recordings of the piece by artists other than Lewis include performances by Adrian Rollini, Frankie Trumbauer, classical harpsichordist Sylvia Marlowe, theater organist George Wright (with drummer Cozy Cole, under the title "Organ Boogie"), and Bob Zurke with Bob Crosby's orchestra. Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake & Palmer often included it in his repertoire and had a Top 30 hit with it in 1976.
Lewis was mentioned in Chapter 81 of author Kurt Vonnegut's novel Cat's Cradle. Lewis is also mentioned in Ross Macdonald's novel The Moving Target and in Keith Richards's autobiography Life.
Milwaukee Slim +07.06.1993
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