1926 Dave Myers*
1939 Grace Slick*
1960 Rob Tognoni*
2007 Larry Lee+
2009 Norton Buffalo+
2013 Peter John "Pete" Haycock+
1939 Grace Slick*
1960 Rob Tognoni*
2007 Larry Lee+
2009 Norton Buffalo+
2013 Peter John "Pete" Haycock+
Happy Birthday
Rob Tognoni *30.10.1960
http://mattizwoo.blogspot.de/2013/10/rob-tognoni.html
Robert "Rob" John Tognoni (* 30. Oktober 1960 in Ulverstone, Tasmanien) ist ein australischer Bluesgitarrist. Sein Feeling für den Bluesrock kommt besonders durch seine ausgefeilte Spieltechnik zur Geltung. In seinem Spiel kombiniert er klassische Rockelemente wie Powerchords und treibende Riffs im Stile der Rockgruppe AC/DC mit dem Blues. Seine Musik wird insbesondere von Musikern wie B.B. King und Jimi Hendrix sowie der bereits erwähnten Band AC/DC beeinflusst.
Tognoni wird 1960 als Sohn eines italienischen Einwanderers in Ulverstone an der tasmanischen Nordwestküste geboren. Sein Interesse für Musik wird Anfang der 1970er Jahre durch das Hören von Schallplatten seiner älteren Schwestern geweckt. Die Stilrichtungen sind dabei bunt gemischt, die Interpreten reichen von B.B. King, Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs, Jimi Hendrix über Grand Funk Railroad bis zu Slade. Die eigentliche Initialzündung für Rob ist jedoch der tragische Tod seines Vaters Giovanni 1974, der bei einem Unfall von einem Wagen erfasst wird und an den Folgen verstirbt. Als Flucht vor der Depression wird die Gitarre für ihn zu einer Obsession. Zu dieser Zeit lernt er auch die in Tasmanien gegründete Rockband AC/DC kennen und lieben. In den folgenden Jahren übt Rob wahnsinnig viel und nutzt jede Gelegenheit zum Spiel, die sich ihm bietet. Immer stärker wächst in ihm der Wunsch, das Gitarrenspiel als Beruf auszuüben. Nach dem Verlassen der Schule 1976 kann er jedoch von der Musik alleine nicht leben und so hält er sich die nächsten Jahre mit diversen Gelegenheitsjobs über Wasser. 1983, ein Jahr nach der Heirat mit Leonnie, wird seine Tochter Anastasia geboren.
Rob Tognoni, dessen Stil sich mehr und mehr in Richtung Blues entwickelt hat, gründet nun seine erste Band, die Skidrow Boys, und tourt mit ihnen durch Tasmanien. Nach zwei Jahren möchte sich Rob musikalisch weiterentwickeln. Er löst die Band 1985 auf und zieht mit seiner Familie nach Melbourne. Dort schließt er sich zuerst einer Coverband an, was jedoch überhaupt nicht sein "Ding" ist. Nachdem ein Nachfolger für ihn gefunden ist, gründet er nach einem weiteren Umzug in die Nähe von Queensland 1986 wieder eine eigene Band, genannt die Outlaws, wo er nun zum ersten Mal auch als Sänger in Erscheinung tritt. Zu Beginn hat er mit der Band durchschlagenden Erfolg. Bei den 20. Annual Queensland Rock Awards werden sie in den Kategorien "Beste Band", "Bester Gitarrist" und "Bester Schlagzeuger" ausgezeichnet. 1989 zieht es sie mit der Band wieder nach Melbourne. Die Outlaws , welche sich 1990 in The Desert Cats umbenennen, touren mit verschiedenen anderen Bands durch Australien und spielen zusammen mit Musikern wie Lonnie Mack, Joe Walsh oder Roy Buchanan. Auf Grund eines unprofessionellen Managements zerbricht jedoch die Band und auch ein Wiederbelebungsversuch von Rob 1992 in einer anderen Besetzung scheitert. Rob kehrt mit seiner Familie 1993 nach Queensland zurück und tingelt durch Restaurants und Bars, um sich finanziell über Wasser zu halten.
In dieser Zeit erhält er von einem alten Freund in Melbourne das Angebot, ein paar Songs in dessen Tonstudio aufzunehmen, was er dankend annimmt. Aus Frustration über seine stagnierende Lage schickt Rob Tognoni die Demo-Bänder an Dave Hole, einen australischen Bluesmusiker, mit dem er zwei Jahre zuvor in kurzem Briefkontakt stand, als er ihn für dessen Erfolg in den USA beglückwünschte. Dieser antwortet Rob und verspricht ihm, das Tape auf seiner Europatournee seinem Plattenlabel vorzuspielen. Das Label Provogue/Mascot Records in Holland unterbreitet Rob Tognoni daraufhin ein Angebot und dieser schlägt ein. Die ersten vier seiner CDs veröffentlicht er zusammen mit Provogue und seine Tourneen durch Europa machen ihn zu einem international anerkannten Blues-Musiker. 2002 gründet Rob Tognoni sein eigenes Label Electric Renegade und veröffentlicht unter diesem seine zwei letzten Studioalben. Die Live-Aufnahme Shakin' The Devil's Hand - Live ist unter dem französischen Label Dixiefrog erschienen. Seit 2003 spielt Rob mit deutschen Musikern zusammen: ehemals Christian Schöbben, nun Mirko Kirch am Schlagzeug, Albert Zander am Bass. Letzterer wird 2004 durch den Bassisten Uwe Böttcher der Ina Deter Band ersetzt. Heute ist Frank Lennartz am Bass zu sehen.
Seinen bisher größten Auftritt hat Rob Tognoni 2004 vor 45.000 Zuschauern im Stadion und 2,5 Millionen Fernsehzuschauern allein in Dänemark anlässlich der Hochzeit des dänischen Kronprinzen Kronprinz Frederik und der Australierin Mary Donaldson auf dem Rock ’n’ Royal Festival in Kopenhagen. Rob spielt die australische Nationalhymne im "Gitarren-Duell" mit Jacob Binzer von D-A-D, der die dänische Hymne spielt.
From Tasmania, Australia & introduced to Europe by blues master Dave Hole in 1994, Rob Tognoni delivers a 100% powerfully charged experience with every performance. There is simply no compromise, which is strongly evident in his music.
After 40 years his explosive guitar playing and unique songs are now being compared with the greats of his genre and have firmly established him in the European venues & festivals as well as gaining many fans of hard blues rock worldwide.
"Certainly, nothing can stop Rob Tognoni...."
Music In Belgium - BE
"Prolific, energetic and statuary, one of the few true guitar heroes of the 21st century...."
Bluestime - IT
"Only Jimi Hendrix, Rory Gallagher and Stevie Ray Vaughan could shake hands with him if they were alive. Tognoni has something that only few guitarists have: character and his own style...."
Music Machine - NL
"When you listen to his music, you hear a 40 year legacy under his searing lead lines..."
Total Guitar Magazine - GB
"Tognoni's energetic power-blues-rock sound moves between sexy macho and straight-line Rocker, he is quick, fast-paced, creative, virtuosic and expressive. Technically oriented course, with plenty of wah-wah pedal and sophisticated technique, but with such variation that it is not boring to listen..."
Alb Bote, Südwest Press - DE
"You have to admire Rob Tognoni's stamina. He is able to sustain a ferocious pace, few could manage it... Perhaps his stamina is the consequence of 30 years conditioning.
Perhaps it's natural selection..."
Blues In Britian Magazine - GB
"Whilst Rob is a very powerful player, able to bring out power chords and driving riffs, there is also a subtle side to his playing that definitely reflects some of his influences, listed as including BB King, Hendrix, Grand Funk Railroad and Tony Joe White..."
Blues Matters Magazine - GB
"Australian Rob Tognoni is one of the finest guitar players around today. His work is a combination of classic rock, blues & blues rock and is done with utmost passion and precision..."
Bandit Blues Radio - US
"A stunning guitarist with killer licks, and a fine blues rock feel..."
Jazz FM, London - GB
"Things picked up again when Rob Tognoni took to the stage, his dexterity on guitar was truly awe-inspiring. Hailing from Tasmania, he played over an hour of songs backed by his technically mind-blowing guitar, and some funky low beats from his bassist.
Armed with a Stratocaster, Tognoni let loose with countless blue's licks. I particularly liked Dark Angel, as well as Bad Girl which was one of his most rocking tracks. It was all impressive, sometimes guitar-led music can get boring when it gets technical to the extreme, but with Tognoni it was just a case of standing back in appreciation for his skills. A true Tasmanian Devil..."
Speyside Music Festival Review, Music Vice - GB
"The audience were captured by the rhythm and some people started dancing, but the majority just stared upon Tognoni's hands. His fingers were moving with breath taking speed over the strings of his white guitar. Particularily during his solo parts, people were just stunned and left with their mouths wide open due to his high precision guitar playing. Rob meanwhile stayed totally relaxed, just as if guitar playing was the most natural thing in the world..."
Kölnische Rundschau - DE
1960 - 1976
Rob Born Robert John Tognoni in Ulverstone, on Tasmania's North-West Coast in 1960, Rob's childhood was fairly sheltered from music except for his mother's singing around home and her pantomime performances as "Al Jolson" in local community halls. Tasmania in the 1960's was isolated and blues music was not that well known except for white country gospel music until the early 1970's.
Around 1972, Rob began to listen to his older sister's records and started to discover diversities of music from BB King, Billy Thorpe And The Aztecs, Hendrix, Grand Funk Railroad, Tony Joe White to Elton John and Slade. Rob didn't discriminate between blues, blues rock or pop...it was all great to his ears, it all seemed to have it's place.
In early 1974 Rob suffered a blow that deeply affected him. His Italian immigrant father was struck by a car and subsequently killed. Soon after, Rob became obsessed with the guitar as an escape from his depression regarding his father's death.
The defining musical moment in Rob's life was by chance at the age of 14 going to see a relatively new band on the scene touring from mainland Australia - AC/DC. He could not believe what he heard...this was it, this incredible power with high charged guitars.
Rob started churning out those simple, basic power chords made famous by this influential band. But something else was developing...more than just the power chords. An emotive blues feel was becoming more evident in his playing and as quoted a few years later by a local newspaper journalist -
"Rob could become one of the world's best blues players if he gets the right breaks..."
Rob spent the 1970's absorbing and learning as much guitar as he possibly could jamming with school class mates and anybody else that would be willing. When asked by his concerned high-school headmaster what career path he was seeking, Rob simply answered.."Guitar player."
1977 - 1992
Rob After leaving school in 1976, Rob did various jobs from grocery packer, bulldozer operator to geological draftsman. In 1977 he wrote his first song, Jim Beam Blues:
which has proven to be one of the favourite live songs in his set today.
In 1983, a year after his marriage to Leonnie and birth of their only daughter Anastasia, he decided to start a band with the intention of his own style of song writing and guitar playing.
With the influences of Jimi Hendrix, AC/DC and blues masters of the likes of BB King, Rob and some local musicians started Skidrow Boys. The band enjoyed the chance to gig in clubs around Tasmania, but within 2 years Rob felt the need to move on to improve and gain the much needed experience that has been honed into his style and playing today.
In late 1985 Rob moved to Melbourne and managed to secure a job with a touring covers band playing chart material. Not used to playing this style he decided to quit the band as soon as a replacement was found. The replacement was found in Queensland so Rob and his family settled in the cane growing town of Nambour.
At this stage of his career he had never sang and was forced into the position when the new band that he was putting together could not find a suitable singer - The Outlaws formed.
Within 4 months The Outlaws had gone on to collect 3 categories at the 20th Annual Queensland Rock Awards at the Roxy in Brisbane at the end of 1986. (Best guitarist, best drummer and best band) Tognoni and band had earned themselves a reputation of not tolerating bullshit and refusing to bow to trends within the industry...this built up a huge following for the band.
The Angels - Dogs are Talking The Outlaws located to Melbourne in late 1989 and were invited by cult Australian band The Angels (Angel City) to place a then recent demo song of Rob's, I Got You - You Got Me:
on The Angels upcoming EP release, The Dogs Are Talking in May 1990 along with The Hurricanes and the then newly formed Baby Animals. The Outlaws changed their name to The Desert Cats just before the release.
Backed by a 4 week national tour the bands played sell-out gigs and achieved #7 on the Australian Mainstream Charts. The release achieved gold status. Previous to this, Rob was approached by management to form the Baby Animals with Suze DeMarchi. Believing in his own music, he turned the offer down.
The Desert Cats disbanded due to poor third party management. Trying to pick up the pieces, Rob re-assembled the Outlaws with a new line up but the band failed to gain sufficient industry attention so it disbanded for the last time in 1992. During their career the band had played with many greats including Lonnie Mack, Joe Walsh & the late Roy Buchanan.
1993 - 1994
Rob After the disbanding of the Outlaws, Rob decided to head back to Queensland where he played acoustic guitar in restaurants for the following years to scratch out a living.
"I was living in Queensland playing in restaurants to make a living after spending years performing around Australia trying to secure a long term record deal from a label that truly believed in what I was about. I received a phone call from an old buddy of mine, Mark McCormack in Melbourne (approx. 2000km south) who had a recording studio. He asked me to come to Melbourne to record a couple of songs for free. He even paid for the bus ticket.
I needed two new songs, so in a period of a week, I wrote, The Good Die Young:
and a fun, meaningless kind of a song called, Itty Bitty Mama:
I organized by phone a few other buddies from Melbourne to play with me at Marks studio.
We recorded the songs over two days and I headed back to Queensland with a cassette copy. I always had a strong belief in what I was doing but hope was beginning to fade as I was becoming increasingly jaded...
Two years previous to this, I had seen on TV, an Australian guitarist by the name of Dave Hole get a record deal from Alligator Records in the US. I was so thrilled to see someone from Australia get the break they deserve - and he deserved it. I wrote him a letter c/o the TV station to congratulate him. Dave received the letter and wrote back to me. Two years later and out of pure frustration, I sent the cassette of "The Good Die Young" & "Itty Bitty Mama" to Dave along with the letter he had sent back to me two years previous...he remembered...and phoned me. He said he was heading to Europe for a tour and was going to present the two songs to his record company there.
Two months later..I received a phone call from the label, offering me a deal. I have since released 4 albums with them and have toured Europe annually...
I invited Mark (McCormack) to engineer my first album and co-produce my second...and paid him back for the bus fare!"
ROB TOGNONI LIVE IN WEIMAR/GERMANY 2016 - ZWIEBELMARKT
DER Tasmanische Teufel
Der Tasmanische (Australier) Rob Tognoni
wurde 1994 in der europäischen Musikszene von Slide-Guitar-Meister Dave
Hole eingeführt. Mit seinen energiegeladenen Auftritten und
kompromissloser Spielfreude hat sich Rob seither in die Herzen einer
stetig wachsenden, weltweiten Fangemeinde gespielt.
Mehr als 40
Jahre Bühnenerfahrung und die Unverwechselbarkeit seines Stils machen
Rob zu einem viel beachteten, fest etablierten Künstler in der
Bluesrock-Szene - und zu Recht wird er mit den Größten seines Genres in
einem Atemzug genannt.
Power-Bluesrock à la Rob Tognoni: fast
schon ein Markenzeichen für kraftvollen, ehrlichen und sehr
individuellen, kreativen Bluesrock, für mitreißende Shows und eine
unglaubliche Bühnenpräsenz.
„Eines steht fest: Rob Tognoni ist nicht zu stoppen..."
Music In Belgium - BE
„Tognonis
energiegeladener Power- Bluesrock-Sound bewegt sich sexy zwischen Macho
und gradlinigem Rocker, er ist schnell, temporeich, dazu ebenso
kreativ, virtuos und ausdrucksstark..."
Alb Bote, Südwest Presse - DE
„Der
Australier Rob Tognoni gilt als einer der besten und gleichzeitig auch
als einer der kompromisslosesten wie auch virtuosesten
Bluesrock-Gitarristen der Welt..."
Bluesnews - DE
„Jimi
Hendrix, Rory Gallagher und Stevie Ray Vaughan würden ihm sicher die
Hand schütteln, wenn sie noch am Leben wären. Tognoni besitzt etwas, das
nur wenige Gitarristen haben: Charakter und seinen eigenen Stil. Wer
sonst hat schon so großartige Licks zu bieten und kann gleichzeitig auch
noch hervorragend singen..."
Music Machine - NL
„Wenn man
eins bewundern muss, dann Rob Tognonis Stehvermögen. Er hält wirklich
ein Wahnsinnstempo durch - auch dann noch, wenn andere längst nicht mehr
können. Vielleicht ist dieses Durchhaltevermögen die Konsequenz aus 30
Jahren Konditionstraining. Vielleicht ist es aber auch einfach
angeboren..."
Blues In Britian - GB
„Der Australier Rob
Tognoni zählt zu den herausragenden Gitarristen unserer Zeit. In seinen
Stücken kombiniert er klassische Rockelemente, Blues und Blues-Rock -
und das mit äußerster Leidenschaft und Präzision..."
Bandit Blues Radio - US
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE TasMANian Devil
From
Tasmania, Australia & introduced to Europe by blues master Dave
Hole in 1994, Rob Tognoni delivers a 100% powerfully charged experience
with every performance. There is simply no compromise, which is strongly
evident in his music.
After 40 years his explosive guitar playing
and unique songs are now being compared with the greats of his genre and
have firmly established him in the European venues & festivals as
well as gaining many fans of hard blues rock worldwide.
"Certainly, nothing can stop Rob Tognoni...."
Music In Belgium - BE
"Tognoni's
energetic power-blues-rock sound moves between sexy macho and
straight-line Rocker, he is quick, fast-paced, creative, virtuosic and
expressive..."
Alb Bote, Südwest Press - DE
"Prolific, energetic and statuary, one of the few true guitar heroes of the 21st century...."
Bluestime - IT
"You
have to admire Rob Tognoni's stamina. He is able to sustain a ferocious
pace, few could manage it...Perhaps his stamina is the consequence of
30 years conditioning. Perhaps it's natural selection..."
Blues In Britian Magazine - GB
"The
Australian Rob Tognoni is one of the best and also one of the most
uncompromising, as well as virtuoso blues-rock guitarists in the
world..."
Bluesnews - DE
"When you listen to his music, you hear a 40 year legacy under his searing lead lines..."
Total Guitar Magazine - GB
"Australian
Rob Tognoni is one of the finest guitar players around today. His work
is a combination of classic rock, blues & blues rock and is done
with utmost passion and precision..."
Bandit Blues Radio - US
Der Tasmanische (Australier) Rob Tognoni wurde 1994 in der europäischen Musikszene von Slide-Guitar-Meister Dave Hole eingeführt. Mit seinen energiegeladenen Auftritten und kompromissloser Spielfreude hat sich Rob seither in die Herzen einer stetig wachsenden, weltweiten Fangemeinde gespielt.
Mehr als 40 Jahre Bühnenerfahrung und die Unverwechselbarkeit seines Stils machen Rob zu einem viel beachteten, fest etablierten Künstler in der Bluesrock-Szene - und zu Recht wird er mit den Größten seines Genres in einem Atemzug genannt.
Power-Bluesrock à la Rob Tognoni: fast schon ein Markenzeichen für kraftvollen, ehrlichen und sehr individuellen, kreativen Bluesrock, für mitreißende Shows und eine unglaubliche Bühnenpräsenz.
„Eines steht fest: Rob Tognoni ist nicht zu stoppen..."
Music In Belgium - BE
„Tognonis energiegeladener Power- Bluesrock-Sound bewegt sich sexy zwischen Macho und gradlinigem Rocker, er ist schnell, temporeich, dazu ebenso kreativ, virtuos und ausdrucksstark..."
Alb Bote, Südwest Presse - DE
„Der Australier Rob Tognoni gilt als einer der besten und gleichzeitig auch als einer der kompromisslosesten wie auch virtuosesten Bluesrock-Gitarristen der Welt..."
Bluesnews - DE
„Jimi Hendrix, Rory Gallagher und Stevie Ray Vaughan würden ihm sicher die Hand schütteln, wenn sie noch am Leben wären. Tognoni besitzt etwas, das nur wenige Gitarristen haben: Charakter und seinen eigenen Stil. Wer sonst hat schon so großartige Licks zu bieten und kann gleichzeitig auch noch hervorragend singen..."
Music Machine - NL
„Wenn man eins bewundern muss, dann Rob Tognonis Stehvermögen. Er hält wirklich ein Wahnsinnstempo durch - auch dann noch, wenn andere längst nicht mehr können. Vielleicht ist dieses Durchhaltevermögen die Konsequenz aus 30 Jahren Konditionstraining. Vielleicht ist es aber auch einfach angeboren..."
Blues In Britian - GB
„Der Australier Rob Tognoni zählt zu den herausragenden Gitarristen unserer Zeit. In seinen Stücken kombiniert er klassische Rockelemente, Blues und Blues-Rock - und das mit äußerster Leidenschaft und Präzision..."
Bandit Blues Radio - US
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE TasMANian Devil
From Tasmania, Australia & introduced to Europe by blues master Dave Hole in 1994, Rob Tognoni delivers a 100% powerfully charged experience with every performance. There is simply no compromise, which is strongly evident in his music.
After 40 years his explosive guitar playing and unique songs are now being compared with the greats of his genre and have firmly established him in the European venues & festivals as well as gaining many fans of hard blues rock worldwide.
"Certainly, nothing can stop Rob Tognoni...."
Music In Belgium - BE
"Tognoni's energetic power-blues-rock sound moves between sexy macho and straight-line Rocker, he is quick, fast-paced, creative, virtuosic and expressive..."
Alb Bote, Südwest Press - DE
"Prolific, energetic and statuary, one of the few true guitar heroes of the 21st century...."
Bluestime - IT
"You have to admire Rob Tognoni's stamina. He is able to sustain a ferocious pace, few could manage it...Perhaps his stamina is the consequence of 30 years conditioning. Perhaps it's natural selection..."
Blues In Britian Magazine - GB
"The Australian Rob Tognoni is one of the best and also one of the most uncompromising, as well as virtuoso blues-rock guitarists in the world..."
Bluesnews - DE
"When you listen to his music, you hear a 40 year legacy under his searing lead lines..."
Total Guitar Magazine - GB
"Australian Rob Tognoni is one of the finest guitar players around today. His work is a combination of classic rock, blues & blues rock and is done with utmost passion and precision..."
Bandit Blues Radio - US
Dave Myers *30.10.1926
David „Dave“ Myers (* 30. Oktober 1926 in Byhalia, Mississippi; † 3. September 2001 in Chicago, Illinois) war ein US-amerikanischer Bluesmusiker (Gitarre, Bass), der vor allem als Mitglied der Band The Aces bekannt wurde. Er war einer der ersten Bluesmusiker (laut Allmusic der erste[1]), der einen elektrischen Bass spielte.
1941 zog die Familie Myers aus Mississippi nach Chicago. Sie wohnte im selben Haus wie Lonnie Johnson, von dem Dave und seine Brüder den Chicago Blues kennenlernten, nachdem sie zuvor bereits von ihrem Vater Amos Myers gelernt hatten, den Country Blues auf der Gitarre zu spielen.[2] Schon früh traten die Brüder bei lokalen Festen als Musiker auf und trafen dabei auf Bluesgrößen wie Sonny Boy Williamson II., Robert Nighthawk und Memphis Minnie.[1]
Mit seinem Bruder Louis (Gitarre, Mundharmonika) trat Dave unter dem Namen „The Little Boys“ auf, zeitweilig mit dem Sänger Arthur „Big Boy“ Spires. Dave Myers spielte auf seiner E-Gitarre den Rhythmus, während Louis die Leadgitarre spielte. Zusammen mit Junior Wells (Mundharmonika) und Fred Below (Schlagzeug) entstanden daraus schließlich „The Aces“.[3] Als Wells 1952 zur Band von Muddy Waters wechselte, wurden die verbleibenden Aces die Begleitband von Little Walter, der seinerseits Muddy Waters verlassen hatte. Diese Konstellation spielte bis Mitte der 1950er als „Little Walter & His Jukes“ eine ganze Reihe von Hits ein.
Mitte der 1950er verließ Dave die Band. Er arbeitete als Sessionmusiker mit vielen namhaften Bluesmusikern zusammen, darunter Otis Rush, Robert Lockwood Jr., Buddy Guy, Otis Spann, Earl Hooker und etliche mehr. Die Myers-Brüder gingen in den 1970ern wieder als „The Aces“ in Europa auf Tour. Dave gründete später „The New Aces“.[1] Dave Myers ist auf zahlreichen Aufnahmen als Begleitmusiker zu hören, doch erst 1998 brachte er sein erstes – und einziges – Album unter eigenem Namen heraus, You Can’t Do That. 2000 wurde ihm infolge seines Diabetes ein Bein amputiert, dennoch gab er weiter Konzerte, das letzte im Februar 2001. Dave Myers starb am 3. September 2001 in Chicago.
Celebrated among the principal architects of the classic Chicago blues sound, bassist Dave Myers was born October 30, 1926, in Byhalia, MS. He and guitarist brother Louis learned the blues from Lonnie Johnson, who lived in the family's basement. By his teens, Myers was a staple at local rent house parties alongside the likes of Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Nighthawk, and Memphis Minnie. He and Louis relocated to Chicago in 1941, and four years later, the siblings formed the Little Boys, rechristened the Three Deuces with the addition of harpist Junior Wells.
The Windy City's first electric blues band, the group -- which next settled on the moniker the Three Aces -- quickly emerged as one of the most popular attractions on the local music scene, becoming a fixture at clubs, including the famed Checkerboard Lounge and Theresa's; greatly influenced by jazz, they honed an urbane, sophisticated approach well ahead of its time, with Myers' subtle, percussive rhythms earning him the nickname "Thumper." With the 1950 enlistment of drummer Fred Below, the quartet again changed its name, this time to the Four Aces; finally, to simplify matters once and for all, the group performed as simply the Aces. In 1952, Wells exited to join the Muddy Waters band, filling the vacancy created by the recent departure of harpist Little Walter Jacobs; ironically, Jacobs himself quickly signed the remaining Aces as his new backing unit, renaming the trio the Jukes. A series of seminal recordings followed -- "Mean Old World," "Sad Hours," "Off the Wall," and "Tell Me Mama" among them -- before Louis' 1954 exit resulted in the Jukes' gradual dissolution.
The first bluesman to adopt the electric bass, Dave Myers then became Chicago's premiere session bassist throughout the 1950s, appearing on sessions headlined by everyone from Otis Rush to Earl Hooker. In 1970, the Myers brothers and Below reunited under the Aces moniker in 1970 to tour Europe before once again going their separate ways. Dave later formed the New Aces with Fabulous Thunderbirds frontman Kim Wilson, guitarist Robert Jr. Lockwood (Louis' replacement in the Jukes), and drummer Kenny Smith. Though preferring sideman duties throughout his career, in 1998, Dave Myers finally headlined his first solo effort, the Black Top label release You Can't Do That. Despite the 2000 amputation of a leg due to complications from diabetes, Myers still performed regularly in the months to follow, making his final public appearance in February of 2001; he died September 3 of that year at the age of 74.
The Aces - The Aces Shuffle - Louis Myers - Dave Myers
Dave Myers - Tribute Little Walter - Spice Club - Hollywood (1989) Part 15
Grace Slick *30.10.1939
Grace Slick, geboren als Grace Barnett Wing (* 30. Oktober 1939 in Evanston, Illinois), ist eine US-amerikanische Sängerin und Pianistin. Von 1965 bis Anfang der 1990er Jahre sang sie in den Rockgruppen The Great Society, Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship und Starship.Leben
Grace Slick ist die Tochter des Investmentbankers Ivan W. Wing, eines schwedischstämmigen Norwegers, und seiner Frau Virginia, geborene Barnett.
Sie absolvierte das renommierte Finch College in New York City und studierte kurzzeitig an der University of Miami. Anfang der 1960er Jahre arbeitete sie zunächst als Fotomodell. Nach ersten Experimenten im Musikbereich in der Band The Great Society, in der auch ihr erster Ehemann Gerald „Jerry” Slick und dessen Bruder Darby Slick spielten, wurde sie Anfang 1966 Nachfolgerin von Signe Anderson als weibliche Stimme von Jefferson Airplane. Die „Dunkelhaarige mit den kalten blauen Augen” (damaliger Pressetext) festigte durch ihren eindringlichen Kontraalt-Gesang (zumeist im Duett mit Marty Balin) ihre Position als eine der ersten Frontfrauen im Rockbusiness.
Slick ist überdies bekannt für ihre kontroversen Liedtexte, ihre Drogenexperimente und ihre Rolle in der Öffentlichkeit. Einmal plante sie, Richard Nixon LSD in den Tee zu mischen, wurde jedoch von Agenten des Geheimdienstes daran gehindert.
Slick war verheiratet mit Gerald „Jerry” Slick, dem Schlagzeuger der Great Society. 1976 heiratete sie Skip Johnson (* 1952), einen Beleuchtungsdesigner bei Jefferson Starship. Ihre einzige Tochter, China Wing Kantner (* 1971), heute eine Schauspielerin, hatte sie mit Paul Kantner, dem Gitarristen und Jefferson Airplane. Das Kind sollte eigentlich den Namen „God” (Gott) bekommen. Weil es aber ein Mädchen war, nannte sie sie China.[1] Der Säugling ist abgebildet auf dem Cover der LP Sunfighter, die sie 1971 zusammen mit Kantner, einspielte.
Ende der 1970er und Anfang der 1980er Jahre litt Slick unter Alkoholproblemen, weswegen sie auf mehreren LPs nur noch mit jeweils einem Stück vertreten war. Eine Europatournee von Jefferson Airplane musste abgebrochen werden, nachdem sie bei einem Open Air-Konzert auf der Lorelei zu betrunken gewesen war, um aufzutreten.[2] Ihre Soloplatten aus dieser Zeit verkauften sich nicht gut.
Slick verließ Starship im Jahre 1988; nach ihrer Mitwirkung an einem Reunion-Album von Jefferson Airplane 1989 zog sie sich weitgehend aus der Öffentlichkeit zurück. Sie geht seitdem der Malerei nach und engagiert sich für den Tierschutz (u. a. PETA), arbeitet aber auch weiterhin musikalisch.
Bedeutung
Slick zählt neben Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Nico und den Beatles zu den Musik-Ikonen der 1960er Jahre. Ihr Name bzw. ihre Liedtexte sind eng mit der Hippiekultur, dem Drogenkonsum (LSD, halluzinogene Pilze, Marihuana, und anderes) und der Problematik des Vietnamkrieges beziehungsweise mit der Friedensbewegung verbunden (siehe zum Beispiel den Song Volunteers).
Slick zeichnet sich nicht nur in ihren Songtexten durch ihren in Amerika oft kontrovers diskutierten aggressiven, pazifistischen und rebellischen Kampf gegen konservative oder inhumane Einstellungen aus. In der Gegenwart macht sie vermehrt durch teilweise drastische Aktionen auf den Tierschutz aufmerksam. Sie hat beispielsweise ihren eigenen Urin an Pharmakonzerne geschickt, um gegen die qualvolle Haltung von Stuten zur Gewinnung von Östrogenpräparaten zu demonstrieren.
Musik
Slick hat einige Soloalben veröffentlicht, unter anderem Software (1984), Manhole, Dreams und Welcome to the Wrecking Ball. Zu den Songs, die mit ihrem Namen verbunden sind, gehören Somebody to Love und White Rabbit (zuerst mit The Great Society, dann - wesentlich erfolgreicher - mit Jefferson Airplane auf dem Album Surrealistic Pillow) und Bikini Atoll (solo). Singles wie Sara, We Built This City und Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now (aus dem Film Mannequin) bescherten Starship mehrere Charterfolge.
Bekannt ist der Auftritt von Grace Slick mit Jefferson Airplane beim Woodstock-Festival 1969. Unter anderem arbeitete sie auch mit Frank Zappa zusammen.
Grace Slick (née Wing; born October 30, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter, artist, and former model, best known as one of the lead singers of the rock groups The Great Society, Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, and Starship, as well as for her work as a solo artist from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s.
Biography
Early life
Grace Barnett Wing was born October 30, 1939, in Highland Park, Illinois, to Ivan W. Wing (1907–1987), of Norwegian and Swedish descent, and Virginia (née Barnett; 1910-1984), a lineal descendant of passengers of the Mayflower.[1] In 1949 her brother Chris was born.[2] Her father, working in the investment banking sector for Weeden and Company, was transferred several times when she was a child and, in addition to the Chicago area, she lived in Los Angeles and San Francisco, before her family finally settled in Palo Alto, California, south of San Francisco, in the early 1950s.[3]
Wing attended Palo Alto Senior High School before switching to Castilleja High School, a private all-girls school in Palo Alto. Following graduation, she attended Finch College in New York City from 1957 to 1958, and the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, from 1958 to 1959. On August 26, 1961, Wing married Gerald "Jerry" Slick, an aspiring filmmaker, and after the couple briefly moved away from San Francisco, Grace Slick worked as a model at an I. Magnin department store for three years. Slick also started composing music, including a contribution to a short film by Jerry Slick.[3][4]
The Great Society
In August 1965, Slick read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle pertaining to the newly-formed Jefferson Airplane. Despite being situated in the growing musical epicenter of San Francisco, Slick only half-heartedly considered it for a profession until she watched the band live at The Matrix.[5] As a result, Slick (vocals, guitar), accompanied by Jerry Slick (drums), Jerry's brother, Darby Slick (lead guitar), and David Miner (bass guitar) formed a group called The Great Society, a play on the social reform program of the same name. On October 15, 1965, the band made its debut performance at a venue known as the Coffee Gallery, and soon after Slick composed the psychedelic piece, "White Rabbit".[3] The song, a reflection on the hallucinatory effects of psychedelic drugs, when performed live, featured a speedier tempo, and was an instant favorite among the band's followers.[6] Although Slick was an equal contributor to The Great Society's original material, it was Darby Slick who pushed the band toward becoming an raga-influenced psychedelic act. By late 1965, they became a popular attraction in the Bay Area. Between October and December 1965, The Great Society entered Golden Studios, and recorded several tracks under the supervision of Sylvester Steward. One single emerged from the demos, the Darby Slick-penned "Someone to Love" on the locally-based Autumn Records label. Grace Slick supplied vocals, guitar, piano and recorder.[7][8]
Jefferson Airplane
That autumn Jefferson Airplane's singer Signe Toly Anderson left the band to start a family, and Jack Casady asked Slick to join them. Slick stated that she joined the Airplane because it was run in a professional manner, unlike The Great Society. She took two compositions from The Great Society with her: "White Rabbit", which she is purported to have written in an hour,[9] and "Somebody to Love", both of which went on to become hits and to appear on Rolling Stone's top 500 greatest songs of all time. Though both songs were first performed by The Great Society, their versions of the songs were much different: the Great Society's rendering of "White Rabbit" featured an oboe solo by Slick.
With Slick on board, the Airplane began recording new music, and they took on a psychedelic direction from their former folk-rock. By 1967, Surrealistic Pillow and the singles taken from it were great successes, and Jefferson Airplane became one of the most popular bands in the country. Slick earned a position as one of the most prominent female rock musicians of her time. Other songs she recorded with Jefferson Airplane include "Two Heads", "Lather" and "Greasy Heart". In 1968, Slick performed "Crown of Creation" on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in blackface and ended the performance with a Black Panther fist.[10] In an appearance on a 1969 episode of the Dick Cavett Show, she became the first person to say "motherfucker" on live television during a performance of "We Can Be Together" by Jefferson Airplane.[11]
Jefferson Starship
After Jefferson Airplane terminated, Slick—along with other bandmates—formed Jefferson Starship and began a string of solo albums with Manhole, followed by Dreams, Software, and Welcome to the Wrecking Ball. Manhole also featured keyboardist/bassist Pete Sears who later joined the original Jefferson Starship in 1974. Sears and Slick penned several early Jefferson Starship songs together, including "Hyperdrive" and "Play On Love". Dreams, which was produced by Ron Frangipane and incorporated many of the ideas she encountered attending 12-step program meetings, is the most personal of her solo albums and was nominated for a Grammy Award. The song "Do It the Hard Way" from Dreams is one example of Slick's music at the time.[12]
Slick was nicknamed "The Chrome Nun" by David Crosby, who also referred to Paul Kantner as "Baron von Tollbooth". Their nicknames were used as the title of an album she made with bandmates Paul Kantner and David Freiberg entitled Baron Von Tollbooth and the Chrome Nun.
Starship
During the 1980s, while Slick was the only former Jefferson Airplane member in Starship, the band went on to score three chart-topping successes with "We Built This City", "Sara", and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Despite the success, Slick since has spoken negatively about the experience and the music.[13] She left the group again in 1988, shortly after the release of No Protection. In 1989 Slick, and her former Jefferson Airplane band members, reformed the group, released a reunion album, and made a successful tour.[14]
Retirement
Slick left Starship during 1988. After a brief Jefferson Airplane reunion and tour the following year, she retired from the music business. During a 1998 interview with VH1 on a Behind the Music documentary featuring Jefferson Airplane, Slick, who was never shy about the idea of getting old, stated that the main reason she retired from the music business was that "all rock-and-rollers over the age of 50 look stupid and should retire". In a 2007 interview, she repeated her belief that "you can do jazz, classical, blues, opera, country until you're 150, but rap and rock and roll are really a way for young people to get that anger out" and "it's silly to perform a song that has no relevance to the present or expresses feelings you no longer have".
Despite her retirement, Slick has made a couple of appearances over the years with Paul Kantner's revamped version of Jefferson Starship when the band has played in Los Angeles. The most recent appearance was during a post-9/11 gig during which she came on the stage initially covered in black from head to toe in a makeshift burqa. She then removed the burqa to reveal a covering bearing an American flag and the words "No Fear". Her statement to fans on the outfit was: "The outfit is not about Islam, it's about repression; this flag is not about politics, it's about liberty."[15]
After retiring from music, Slick began painting and drawing. She has done many renditions of her fellow 1960s musicians, such as Janis Joplin, Jerry Garcia, and others. In 2000, she began displaying and selling her artwork. She attends many of her art shows across the United States. She has generally refrained from engaging in the music business, although she did perform on "Knock Me Out", a track from In Flight, the 1996 solo debut from former 4 Non Blondes singer, and friend of daughter China, Linda Perry. The song was also on the soundtrack to the film The Crow: City of Angels.
In a 2001 USA Today article, Slick said, "I'm in good health and people want to know what I do to be this way ... I don't eat cheese, I don't eat duck—the point is I'm vegan." However, she admitted she's "not strict vegan, because I'm a hedonist pig. If I see a big chocolate cake that is made with eggs, I'll have it."[16] Slick released her autobiography, Somebody to Love? A Rock and Roll Memoir, in 1998 and narrated an abridged version of the book as an audiobook. A biography, Grace Slick, The Biography, by Barbara Rowes, was released in 1980 and is currently out of print.
In 2006, Slick suffered from diverticulitis. After initial surgery, she had a relapse requiring further surgery and a tracheotomy. She was placed in an induced coma for two months and then had to learn to walk again.[17]
Also in 2006, Slick gave a speech at the inauguration of the new Virgin America airline, which had named their first aircraft "Jefferson Airplane".[18][19] In 2008, Slick contributed vocals to the hidden track (actually a previously unreleased 1970 outtake featuring Slick, Paul Kantner and Jack Traylor) of the latest Jefferson Starship release, Jefferson's Tree of Liberty.[20] In 2010, Slick co-wrote "Edge of Madness" with singer Michelle Mangione to raise money for remediation efforts following the BP Oil Spill.[21]
Personal life
Slick has been married twice—to Gerald "Jerry" Slick, a cinematographer, from 1961 to 1971, then to Skip Johnson, a Jefferson Starship lighting designer, from 1976 to 1994. She has one child—a daughter, China Wing Kantner (born January 25, 1971).[22][23] China's father is former Jefferson Airplane guitarist, Paul Kantner, with whom Slick had a relationship from 1969 to 1975.
During her hospital stay after China's birth, Slick joked to one of the attending nurses that she intended to name the child "god", with a lowercase "g", as she "wished for the child to be humble". The nurse took Slick seriously, and her report of the incident caused a minor stir,[24][25] as well as the creation of a rock-and-roll urban legend.[26]
Slick publicly has acknowledged her alcoholism, discussed her rehabilitation experiences, and commented on her use of LSD, marijuana and other substances in her autobiography, various interviews and several celebrity addiction and recovery books including The Courage to Change by Dennis Wholey, and The Harder They Fall by Gary Stromberg and Jane Merrill. During Jefferson Starship's 1978 European tour, Slick's alcoholism became a problem for the band. The group had to cancel the first night in Germany because she was too intoxicated to perform, causing the audience to riot. Slick performed the next night with the band but was so inebriated she could not sing properly. She also attacked the audience, mocking Germany for losing World War II, and groping both female audience members and band mates.[27] The next day, she left the group. That same year, Slick was dragged off a San Francisco game show for abusing the contestants.[28] She was admitted to a detoxification facility at least twice, once during the 1970s at Duffy's in Napa Valley,[29] and once in the 1990s with daughter, China.[30]
Legal disputes
Slick and Tricia Nixon, former President Richard Nixon's daughter, are alumnae of Finch College. Grace was invited to a tea party for the alumnae at the White House in 1969. She invited the political activist, Abbie Hoffman, to be her escort and planned to spike President Richard Nixon's tea with 600 micrograms of LSD. The plan was thwarted when they were prevented from entering after being recognized by White House security personnel, as Slick had been placed on an FBI blacklist. Slick later speculated that she only received the invitation because it was addressed to "Grace Wing" (the singer's maiden name), and that she never would've been invited if the Nixons had known that "Grace Wing" was the anti-establishment singer Grace Slick.[31]
In 1971, after a long recording session, Slick crashed her car into a wall near the Golden Gate Bridge while racing with Jorma Kaukonen.[32] She suffered a concussion and later used the incident as the basis of her "Never Argue with a German if You're Tired (or 'European Song')", which appears on the Bark album (1971).[33]
While Slick had troubles with the law while performing as a part of Jefferson Airplane, she was arrested at least four times for what she has referred to as "TUI" ("Talking Under the Influence") and "Drunk Mouth".[34] While the charges were DUI, the four arrests mentioned in her autobiography occurred when she was not inside a vehicle.
The first occurred after an argument in the car with then-partner Paul Kantner, who became tired of bickering, pulled the car keys from the ignition, and tossed them through the car window onto someone's front lawn. While Slick crawled around on the lawn looking for the keys, a police officer arrived and asked what was happening.
The second occurred after Slick had neglected to check the oil level in her car engine and flames began leaping out from under the hood. When an officer arrived, and asked what was happening, her response that time was less amusing and more sarcastic. With her car ablaze, it seemed oblivious to her what was happening. As a result of her quip, she was taken to the Marin County jail.
The third was after an officer encountered her sitting against a tree trunk in the backwoods of Marin County drinking wine, eating bread, and reading poetry. When the officer asked what she was doing, her sarcastic response got her another ride to the Marin County jail.[35]
The singer was also reportedly arrested in 1994 for assault with a deadly weapon after pointing an unloaded gun at a police officer. She alleged that the officer had come onto her property without explanation.[36]
Visual art
After retiring, and after a house fire, divorce, and breakup, Slick began drawing and painting animals, mainly to amuse herself and because doing so made her happy during a difficult period in her life.[37] Soon thereafter, she was approached about writing her memoir, which ultimately became Somebody to Love? A Rock-and-Roll Memoir. Her agent saw her artwork and asked her to do some portraits of some of her various contemporaries from the rock-and-roll genre to be included in the autobiography. Hesitant at first (because she thought “it was way too cute. Rock-n-Roll draws Rock-n-Roll”), she eventually agreed because she found she enjoyed it, and color renditions of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia appeared in the completed autobiography.[38][39] An “Alice in Wonderland”-themed painting and various other sketches are scattered throughout the book. Her paintings of Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady were used for the cover art of the album The Best of Hot Tuna. Though Slick has been drawing and painting since she was a child, she admits to not being able to multitask and therefore did not do much of it while she was focusing on her musical career.[39] A notable exception is the cover art of her first solo album, Manhole, which she signed "Child Type Odd Art by Grace".
Slick is not bound by any specific style or medium in her production of visual art and has no interest in developing one.[40] She uses acrylic paints (she says oil takes too long to dry), canvas, pen, ink, scratchboard, pastels, and pencil. Many of her works are mixed media. Her styles range from the children’s bookish “Alice in Wonderland” themes to the realism of the rock and roll portraits and scratchboards of animals to the minimalist ink wash styled nudes to a variety of other subjects and styles.[41]
The best-selling prints and originals are her various renditions of the white rabbit and the portraits of her colleagues in the music industry.[42] In 2006, the popularity of her “Alice in Wonderland” works led to a partnership with Dark Horse Comics, Inc. that resulted in the release of stationery and journals with the “Wonderland” motif.[43]
While critics have variously panned and praised her work, Slick seems indifferent to the criticism.[44] She views her visual artistry as just another extension of the artistic temperament that landed her in the music scene in the first place, as it allows her to continue to produce art in a way that does not require the physical demands of appearing on a stage nightly or traveling with a large group of people.[38][39]
Slick attends many of her art gallery shows across the United States, sometimes attending over 30 shows in a year. While she says she enjoys talking with the people who come to her art shows, she is not a fan of the traveling involved, particularly the flying.[38] At most of her art shows, those who purchase a piece of her art get a photo with Slick, an opportunity to chat, and a personalized autograph on the back of the piece that has been purchased.
Legacy
Slick was one of the first female rock stars, alongside her close contemporary Janis Joplin, and therefore an important figure in the development of rock music in the late 1960s. Her distinctive vocal style and striking stage presence exerted influence on other female performers including Stevie Nicks[45] and Patti Smith.[46]
Slick's longevity in the music business helped her to earn a rather unusual distinction; the oldest female vocalist on a Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping single. "We Built This City" reached no. 1 on November 16, 1985, shortly after her 46th birthday. The previous record was age 44 for Tina Turner, with 1984's no. 1 smash, "What's Love Got To Do With It". Turner (who is one month younger than Slick) turned 45 two months after the song topped the charts. Slick broke her own record in April 1987 at age 47 when "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" topped the U.S. charts. Her record stood for 12 years but was ultimately broken by Cher, who was 53 in 1999 when "Believe" hit no. 1.
Slick did vocals for a piece known as Jazzy Spies, a series of animated shorts about the numbers 2 through 10 (a no. 1 short was never made), which aired on Sesame Street. The segment for the number two appeared in the first episode of the first season of Sesame Street, November 10, 1969. She was nominated for a Grammy award in 1981 as Best Rock Female Vocalist for her solo album Dreams.[47]
She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 (as a member of Jefferson Airplane).[48]
In 1993, she narrated the Stephen King short story "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band" on his Nightmares & Dreamscapes audiobook.
She was ranked no. 20 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock N Roll in 1999.
Jefferson Airplane - Somebody To Love (Live at Woodstock Music & Art Fair, 1969)
Crosby & Nash with Grace Slick - Wooden Ships (better audio)
R.I.P.
Norton Buffalo +30.10.2009
Norton Buffalo (* 28. September 1951 in Oakland, Kalifornien als Phillip Jackson; † 30. Oktober 2009 in Paradise, Kalifornien) war ein amerikanischer Harmonikaspieler, der in den verschiedensten Stilrichtungen (Rock, R&B, Blues , Country und Jazz) zu Hause war. Auch als Produzent, Schauspieler und Sessionmusiker trat er in Erscheinung.
Buffalo wurde 1951 als Sohn eines Harmonikaspielers in Oakland geboren, wuchs aber in Richmond auf. Schon auf der Highschool spielte er bei verschiedenen Bands. Zu Beginn der 1970er-Jahre war er in verschiedenen Gruppen aus der Bay Area tätig, so z. B. Clover, The Moonlighters und Elvin Bishop.
Seine größten Erfolge feierte er als Mitglied der Steve Miller Band, der er 32 Jahre angehörte. Als Sessionmusiker trat er bei beinahe zweihundert Alben in Erscheinung, darunter bei Aufnahmen von The Doobie Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Cash und Elvin Bishop[2]. Eine Coverversion seines Songs „Ain't No Bread in the Breadbox“ wurde von der Jerry Garcia Band oft gespielt und befindet sich auch auf dem Livealbum „Shining Star“. Auch als Produzent trat er in Erscheinung (Wheatfield). Am 30. Oktober 2009 starb Buffalo im Alter von 58 Jahren an einem Bronchialkarzinom.
Phillip Jackson (September 28, 1951[1] – October 30, 2009),[2] best known as Norton Buffalo, was an American singer-songwriter, country and blues harmonica player, record producer, bandleader and recording artist who was a versatile exponent of the harmonica, including chromatic[3] and diatonic.[4]
Career
Buffalo, the son of a harmonica player, was born in Oakland, California and raised in Richmond, California. At John F. Kennedy High School he performed in a series of bands. By the early 1970s he gained renown as a San Francisco Bay Area musician, playing with such Bay Area groups as Clover, The Moonlighters led by Bill Kirchen, and Elvin Bishop.
In early 1976 Buffalo joined the "farewell" European tour of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, and was recorded on the band's final live album We've Got A Live One Here!,[5] which included Buffalo's song Eighteen Wheels. After the tour, Buffalo returned to California, briefly played with a number of local bands, and later in 1976 he joined the Steve Miller Band's Fly Like an Eagle national tour. He also played harmonica on the band's hit follow-up album Book of Dreams, released in May 1977. Buffalo appeared on the tracks Winter Time and The Stake.
By the late 1970s Buffalo had formed his own band, The Stampede, and recorded two Capitol Records albums: Lovin' in the Valley of the Moon and Desert Horizon. In 1977 his harmonica work appeared on Bonnie Raitt's Sweet Forgiveness and The Doobie Brothers' Livin' On The Fault Line albums. Not long after the release of his second album in 1979, Buffalo and his band were featured on the PBS music television program Austin City Limits.[6] In 1981 he produced an album for the popular Northwest band Wheatfield. He was a member of the Mickey Hart band High Noon in the late 70s and early 80s with Merl Saunders, Mike Hinton, Jim McPhearson, Vicki Randle, and Bobby Vega, and played with Saunders on the Rainforest Band album It's in the Air in 1993.
Buffalo is legendary among harpists (harmonicists) for his solo on Bonnie Raitt's treatment of Del Shannon's "Runaway", in which he switches quickly between four different harps (F, E♭, D♭, and C) to play across the chord changes in the song (Cm, B♭, A♭, G).
Buffalo also appeared in and worked on several films. He did a cameo appearance in the rock movie, The Rose starring Bette Midler, where he was a member of the band (on harmonica and trombone) and spoke a line or two. He had another cameo in Michael Cimino's 1979 film Heaven's Gate starring Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, Sam Waterston and Jeff Bridges. He also co-wrote the music for the films Stacy's Knights and Eddie Macon's Run with guitarist Mike Hinton.
Norton performed and recorded as a member of The Steve Miller Band for over 32 years. He often performed and recorded music as a session musician, and appeared on 180 albums. A cover of Buffalo's song Ain't No Bread In The Breadbox was in heavy rotation at Jerry Garcia Band concerts from 1991 until Jerry Garcia's death in 1995, and appeared on the live release Shining Star.
On September 2, 2009 Buffalo was diagnosed with stage 4 adenocarcinoma of the lower right lobe of the lung. The next day, he found out that it had spread to his brain. Norton retired to his home in Paradise, California, where he sought treatment at Feather River Hospital.[7] He died on October 30, 2009 in Feather River Hospital.[2]
As a benefit for the Buffalo family, friends of Buffalo threw "A Celebration of Life: Tribute To Norton Buffalo" at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California. Headlined by the Steve Miller Band, which Buffalo was a member of for 33 years, the event honored his life and career (over 180 album appearances). Other acts and performers included The Doobie Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Huey Lewis, George Thorogood, Elvin Bishop, and Carlos Reyes.
Awards
Buffalo played harmonica on two tracks on The Doobie Brothers' Grammy award winning 1978 album Minute By Minute. He was also nominated for a Grammy in 1992 for "Best Country Instrumental Performance" for the tune Song For Jessica from his 1991 Duet CD R&B with Guitarist Roy Rogers, on Blind Pig Records.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norton_Buffalo
Larry Lee Todestag 30.10.2007
Larry Lee (* 7. März 1943 in Memphis, Tennessee als Lawrence Harold Lee Jr.; † 29. Oktober 2007 ebenda) war ein US-amerikanischer Gitarrist, hauptsächlich bekannt für seine Zusammenarbeit mit Jimi Hendrix und Al Green.
Noch während er die „Hamilton High School“ in Memphis besuchte, schrieb er für das Label Stax Records Songs. Darunter befanden sich auch Hits wie „What Can It Be“ und „A Woman Needs The Love of Man“, die von „The Astors“ interpretiert wurden. Im Alter von zwanzig Jahren studierte Lee an der Tennessee State University in Nashville. Hier lernte er Billy Cox und Jimi Hendrix kennen, mit denen sich eine tiefe Freundschaft entwickelte. Schnell wurde Lee Mitglied bei „The King Kasuals“, der damaligen Band Hendrix' und Cox'. Sie konnten jedoch nur schlecht bezahlte Gigs in Nashville spielen ($11 für vier Abende in der Woche[1]). Das veranlasste Hendrix dazu, im Januar 1964 nach New York zu ziehen, um dort weiter Musik zu machen. Lee hingegen blieb in Nashville und tourte weiterhin als Musiker mit Rhythm and Blues-Bands wie u.a. The Impressions. Er wurde jedoch zur US Army eingezogen und leistete seinen Militärdienst in Vietnam ab, wo er eine Kopfverletzung erlitt. 1969, nach seiner Entlassung aus der Army, wurde Lee von Hendrix, der mittlerweile zum Weltstar geworden war, eingeladen, in seiner Band zu spielen. Lee zog nach New York und wurde so – eine Woche vor dem berühmten Woodstock-Festival im August 1969 – Rhythmusgitarrist von „Gypsy Sun and Rainbows“. Der letzte Auftritt in dieser Formation fand schon kurze Zeit nach dem Woodstock-Auftritt am 10. September 1969 im Salvation nightclub in New York statt. Kurze Zeit später kam es zu einem Konflikt zwischen Hendrix und seinem Management, das seine alte Band The Jimi Hendrix Experience wieder ins Leben rufen und auf Tour schicken wollte. Um den Druck von Hendrix zu nehmen sei Lee daher wieder zurück nach Memphis gegangen[2].
In den siebziger Jahren des 20. Jahrhunderts wurde Lee ein fester Bestandteil der Musikergruppe um Al Green. Die Zusammenarbeit sollte über dreißig Jahre dauern. Sie traten in mehreren Fernsehsendungen auf, u. a. bei The Tonight Show. Sie legten den Song Judy neu auf, den Lee in der Zeit geschrieben hatte, als er noch mit Hendrix zusammen spielte. Das Lied erschien im Jahr 1972 auf dem Album Let's Stay Together.
In jüngerer Vergangenheit arbeitete Lee mit Timothy Lee Matthews zusammen, an dessen Album Songs for the Greats (2000) er mitschrieb. Außerdem wurde noch nicht veröffentlichtes Material, Jimi Hendrix Live at Woodstock (1994), Jimi Hendrix South Saturn Delta (1997) veröffentlicht, auf dem Lee als Rhythmusgitarrist zu hören ist. Darüber hinaus hatte er eine Band namens „Elmo & The Shades“.
Larry Lee starb am 29. Oktober 2007 im „Veterans Medical Center“ in Memphis an den Folgen einer Magenkrebserkrankung. Er hinterlässt seine Mutter, seine Ehefrau, vier Kinder und fünf Enkelkinder.
Lawrence H. "Larry" Lee, Jr. (March 7, 1943 – October 30, 2007) was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter from Memphis, Tennessee, best known for his work with Al Green and Jimi Hendrix.
Gypsy Sun and Rainbows
Lee was an old friend of Jimi Hendrix and Billy Cox, they had all played together in various R&B acts, and in 1969 he joined Hendrix's new band Gypsy Sun and Rainbows as rhythm guitarist, occasionally playing alternating lead. The newly formed band was hired to play the Woodstock Music Festival for which Hendrix had been previously booked to play as the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Lee had only been back from the Vietnam war for two weeks, was unemployed when Hendrix called him and had only joined Gypsy Sun and Rainbows a week before the Woodstock concert.
At the concert Hendrix and Lee both wore white outfits and exotic headgear was much in evidence, Lee wore a distinctive green bandana that had long tassles hanging over his eyes, which at the time he thought was a statement of originality as he explains in the Woodstock DVD, whereas Billy Cox wore a multi coloured turban and Hendrix a bright pink bandana and large shining ear studs. Lee played a 1955 Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar and sang his own composition 'Master Mind' as well as two Impressions numbers sung as a medley - 'Gypsy Woman' and 'Aware of Love', with Hendrix playing Curtis Mayfield style back up, he also took several solos and played some alternating lead ("weaving") with Hendrix.
After Woodstock these "hired guns" briefly continued to help Hendrix develop his new style, which included the first of his classic, new "message" songs, in which Hendrix attempted to communicate his complex philosophy towards the current Vietnam war and human relationships in general: Machine Gun, Message to Love and Izabella. This group then played at the Harlem, 'United Block' benefit and later performed at the small 'Salvation' club in Greenwich Village to a mixed reception. Lee, Velez and Sultan then went off to pursue their briefly interrupted careers, Sultan later played occasional sessions for Hendrix.
Al Green years
During the seventies, Lee acted as the band director and lead guitarist for Al Green's touring band. He appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and television specials around the world with Green. Lee also was a songwriter and wrote for Stax Records early recording artists, the Astors. "Judy", a song he wrote during his days playing with Hendrix in Nashville was covered by Al Green and the Spidells. Lee briefly traveled with blues great Albert King. He said King fired him because his playing overshadowed King's.
In the eighties through the nineties, he teamed with his friend, El Espada, Timothy Lee Matthews, and they collaborated on Matthews' CD Songs for the Greats. Matthews, co-writer of the classic blues song, "Breaking Up Somebody's Home," called Lee the consummate "sideman", Lee's distinctive complementary rhythm and lead style can be heard on nine of the eleven songs on Matthews' CD.
Larry lived in Memphis, TN and played in the regional rock/blues/R&B outfit "Elmo & the Shades".Larry was a member of Elmo and the Shades for eight years and was an integral part of their success during this period.The band enjoyed much popularity during this time playing nightclubs,casinos,parties,and occasional blues festivals throughout Memphis and the Mid-South.Larry Lee is featured on three cuts on the new CD(2009) by Elmo and The Shades, "Blue Memphis".They are "Same Old Dog","I Get the Blues for Free", and the title cut "Blue Memphis". Larry took his leave from the group as his battle with cancer left him too weak to perform in August 2006. Larry was as soulful a blues singer and incredibly moving blues guitarist as Memphis, Beale St. and the world has ever seen.
He also joined in with Mike Strickland and the Usual Unusual Clowns at random intervals.
Death
Larry Lee died in Memphis, Tennessee on October 29, 2007 after a year battling stomach cancer, and was buried at 11 a.m. on November 6 in West Tennessee Veterans Cemetery. He left wife Carrie Lee, daughter April D. Lee and three sons - Lawrence H. Lee III, Robert A. Lee, and Thomas Lee. He was also survived by his mother, Lula Lee, and five grandchildren.
Peter John "Pete" Haycock +30.10.2013
Pete Haycock, Mitbegründer der Climax Blues Band, ist am 30. Oktober im Alter von nur 62 Jahren verstorben. Der Gitarrist und Sänger erlag in seinem Haus in der Nähe von Frankfurt, welches er sich im vergangenen Jahr gekauft hatte, einem Herzschlag. Peter John Haycock, so sein bürgerlicher Name, wurde in den 70er-Jahren mit der Climax Blues Band bekannt, später war er beim Electric Light Orchestra Part II und in der Formation The LovePower Band aktiv. Außerdem konnte er erfolgreich als Komponist und Musiker im Filmgeschäft Fuß fassen, so ist sein (Slide-)Gitarrenspiel unter anderem im Soundtrack von "Thelma & Louise" zu hören. In den vergangenen Jahren war Haycock häufig mit Siggi Schwarz und dessen Band auf Tour, zudem soll er Pläne für eine Reaktivierung der Climax Blues Band gehabt haben.
Peter John "Pete" Haycock (4 March 1951 – 30 October 2013)[1] was an English musician and film score composer. He began his career as lead guitarist, vocalist, and founding member of the Climax Blues Band.
Early life and career
Haycock was born in Stafford, and here he attended St. John's Primary School and King Edward VI Boys Grammar School. As a child, he was impressed by the guitar solos of Hank Marvin of The Shadows.[2] He played his first electric guitar at a miners club when he was 12. He then played guitar at school and college dances. Along with local boys, he formed a blues band, the Mason–Dixon Line.[3] In 1967, Haycock met Colin Cooper and joined his soul band The Gospel Truth.[2] In 1968, they founded a new band, the Climax Chicago Blues Band, and then they eventually changed its name to the Climax Blues Band, in 1970. The band's original line-up consisted of Haycock (lead guitar, vocals), Cooper (harmonica, vocals), Derek Holt (guitar, vocals), Richard Jones (bass), Arthur Wood (keyboards), George Newsome (drums).[2][4]
During the early 1970s, the Climax Blues Band went through a few personnel changes, before arriving at their most stable, creative, and successful line-up, which consisted of Haycock, Cooper, Holt (switched to bass guitar), and John Cuffley (drums). In 1976, the line-up with keyboardist Richard Jones wrote the band's biggest hit "Couldn't Get It Right". The song included the vocal harmonies of Haycock and Holt, behind Cooper’s lead. Haycock, an underrated vocalist, sang lead on several of the band's tracks, particularly on the Sense of Direction (1974), Stamp Album (1975), Gold Plated (1976), Shine On (1978), and Flying The Flag (1980).[2] albums. The band with the core line-up of Haycock, Cooper, Holt, and John Cuffley toured heavily in the 1970s and 1980s. During much of this period, Haycock played concerts with his rare trademark instrument, a gold-plated Veleno guitar, which was also on the cover of the album Gold Plated.[5]
Holt and Cuffley left in 1983. Haycock and Cooper went their separate ways after their final Climax Blues Band album together, 1983's Sample and Hold.
In May 2012, the Major League Productions Ltd record label released an until-then unknown vault recording of a 1976 live performance, featuring the Climax Blues Band at the top of their game: Climax Blues Band / World Tour 1976. Haycock provided some insightful liner notes for the CD's insert, and the recording further demonstrates the tight musicianship that was found in the band's line-up at that time.[6]
In March 2015, a 4-CD retrospective was released entitled Live, Rare, and Raw 1973-1979, featuring the band at the height of their powers, in a variety of Live settings. This release would parallel the ferocity and acclaim of Climax Blues Band's 1973 album, FM/Live. The band produced more than 15 successful albums in their heyday.[7]
Post Climax Blues Band
Though another group of musicians, which at one time was led by late former bandmate Colin Cooper, is currently calling themselves "Climax Blues Band", their lineup does not consist of any founding members, and has not found the commercial success or following that the original, "true" Climax Blues Band enjoyed during Haycock's years with the band.[8] Cooper died in 2008.
In 1984, the bandmembers went their separate ways, and Haycock went on to record several solo projects, the first of which was the album Total Climax (1986) recorded with his new band, Pete Haycock's Climax. Pete Haycock's Climax toured extensively in Europe, including Communist East Germany, as well as a well-received tour in Australia, also releasing The Soft Spot (1987). During this period, Haycock was asked by former Climax Blues Band manager, Miles Copeland, to record an instrumental album for I.R.S. No Speak, Guitar and Son, and Night of the Guitars, a live album from the tour of the same name.[9] After that tour, in 1989, Haycock teamed up with Holt and guitarist Steve Hunter to record an album under the name H Factor. The Pete Haycock Band consisted of the musicians from the Total Climax lineup, and went on to record a live album entitled Livin' It in 1992.
Haycock was approached by Bev Bevan, formerly of Electric Light Orchestra, to join the newly formed Electric Light Orchestra Part II. The group toured and recorded with Haycock in the early 1990s, releasing both a live CD and video of their performance with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra.[10] They recorded and toured together until 1993.[11]
Film scores
In the early 1990s, Haycock was asked by Hans Zimmer to collaborate on film scores for K2 (1991), and Toys (1992). Other film scores they worked on were for Drop Zone (1994), and The Dilemma (2011), among others. Haycock's slide guitar contributed to Thunderbird, the theme music for the 1991 film, Thelma & Louise.[2] Haycock was asked by Zimmer to re-create his performance, with a live symphony orchestra for the recording of Wings of a Film, which was a compilation album of Zimmer's successful film scores.[citation needed]
Haycock began composing music of his own for film and television. Along with Holt, he composed music for the 1992 film One False Move.[2] More scores would follow, and Haycock helped produce recordings for other artists.
Charity projects
In 2005, Haycock supplied all the music for the Hollister Independence Motorcycle Rally DVD charity project, for producer Jeff Byler, with proceeds benefiting Emmaus House, a shelter for battered women and children. When the DVD's producer suggested a follow-up soundtrack to the project, Haycock went back into the studio to complete the album that became Bikers' Dozen, which featured a vocal performance by John Fiddler (Medicine Head).[12]
Haycock signed on as a major contributor to the LovePower and Peace[13] charity CD project in 2009, which was spearheaded by fellow musician Robin George, and was built around George's hit song, "LovePower and Peace". Haycock contributed many trademark slide guitar tracks and donated studio time to the project, a charity effort to benefit children with cancer and other terminal diseases.
This collaboration, which included the donated talents of scores of veteran musicians,[14] also resulted in the forming a "super group" called The LovePower Band, which landed a major record deal and completed its first album, which was released in 2011.[15]
Return to the stage
After an absence from the stage and live performances, Haycock formed a new band, Pete Haycock's True Blues (featuring Glen Turner). In 2008, they toured Europe and released their first recording together: Pete Haycock's True Blues Live (featuring Glen Turner).[16][17] In April 2009, Haycock, in an interview talked about the early days with the Climax Blues Band, the transition to studio work (with and without Hans Zimmer), and his return to the stage with his new band, after an absence from live performances of fourteen years.[18]
Haycock continued to record, and perform live, and had been a featured guest performer with the Siggi Schwarz' band, and was on the same bill with ZZ Top and Johnny Winter in 2012.
2013 found Haycock coming full-circle with the formation of a super-group recording and scheduled for touring as Pete Haycock's Climax Blues Band featuring Robin George, with Haycock being joined by a lineup of musicians including George, with whom he had collaborated on the LovePower Band, and other projects. Haycock envisioned this project as a return to the "true" Climax Blues Band, and he had just completed the new album, Broke Heart Blues, before his death.[1][19][20]
Death
Haycock built a recording studio in Frankfurt, Germany where he lived for several years until his death. He died of a heart attack on 30 October 2013 in Frankfurt. The news was posted on the group’s official website. He was 62.
Pete Haycock's slide guitar
Pete Haycock Live im Okie Dokie in Düsseldorf 05.11.2006 Part I
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