Grandma's Hands
"Grandma's Hands" is a song written by Bill Withers about his grandmother. It was included on his first album '' Just as I Am'' (1971), and was released as a single, reaching number 18 on the Best Selling Soul Singles chart and 42 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In Canada it reached No. 37 in the RPM Magazine charts. The song was produced by Booker T. Jones and also featured drummer Al Jackson Jr. and bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn from Booker T. & the M.G.'s. Lyrics Withers' maternal grandfather, Gracchus Monroe Galloway (1855–1937), had been born into slavery. In his youth, Withers attended church with his maternal grandmother, Lula (1868–1953), where she would sing and clap along with the hymns. He later said: "It was spontaneous singing, there was nothing programmed. People got up and sang and everybody would join in. It was my favorite kind of singing." A central theme of the song is the protective and nurturing force of the hands, as expressed in the last verse: :"Grandm ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bill Withers
William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He had several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including "Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), "Grandma's Hands" (1971), " Use Me" (1972), " Lean on Me" (1972), " Lovely Day" (1977) and "Just the Two of Us" (1981). Withers won three Grammy Awards and was nominated for six more. His life was the subject of the 2009 documentary film ''Still Bill''. Withers was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015. Two of his songs were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Early life Withers, the youngest of six children, was born in the small coal-mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia, on July 4, 1938. He was the son of Mattie (née Galloway), a maid, and William Withers, a miner. He was born with a stutter and later said he had a hard time fitting in. His parents divorced when he was three, and he was raised by his mother's family i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Merry Clayton
Merry Clayton (born December 25, 1948) is an American soul and gospel singer. She provided a number of backing vocal tracks for major performing artists in the 1960s, most notably in her duet with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones song "Gimme Shelter". Clayton is prominently featured in '' 20 Feet from Stardom'', the Oscar-winning documentary about background singers and their contributions to the music industry. Early life Clayton was born in Gert Town, New Orleans, Louisiana. She was born on Christmas Day, and was given the name "Merry" because of the December 25th birthdate. She is the daughter of Eva B. Clayton and Reverend A.G. Williams, Sr. Clayton was raised in New Orleans as a Christian, and spent much of her time in her father’s parish, New Zion Baptist Church. After moving to Los Angeles, she met members of The Blossoms, who convinced her to pursue a music career. Career Throughout her career as a backup singer, Clayton's singing can be heard on songs by Pearl B ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gil Scott-Heron
Gilbert Scott-Heron (April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011) was an American Jazz poetry, jazz poet, singer, musician, and author, known primarily for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s. His collaborative efforts with musician Brian Jackson (musician), Brian Jackson featured a musical fusion of jazz, blues, and soul music, soul, as well as lyrical content concerning social and political issues of the time, delivered in both rapping and melismatic vocal styles by Scott-Heron. His own term for himself was "bluesologist", which he defined as "a scientist who is concerned with the origin of the blues".Onstage at the Black Wax Club in Washington, D.C. in 1982, Scott-Heron cited Harlem Renaissance writers Langston Hughes, Sterling Allen Brown, Sterling Brown, Jean Toomer, Countee Cullen and Claude McKay as among those who had "taken the blues as a poetry form" in the 1920s and "fine-tuned it" into a "remarkable art form".Gil Scott-Heron in a live performance in 1982 wi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Starsailor (band)
Starsailor are an English post-Britpop band, formed in 2000. Since their formation the band has included guitarist and vocalist James Walsh, drummer Ben Byrne, bassist James Stelfox and keyboardist Barry Westhead. They are best known for their 2003 single " Silence Is Easy" which reached number 9 in the UK. The band has released five studio albums, and have scored ten Top 40 hit singles in the UK. Their first album '' Love Is Here'' was released in 2001, followed by '' Silence Is Easy'' (2003) and '' On the Outside'' (2005). After the release of its fourth album ''All the Plans'' (2009), the band entered into extended hiatus until 2014, during which its members were involved in individual projects. Starsailor announced their reunion on 23 May 2014 and began performing worldwide. '' Good Souls: The Greatest Hits'' was released in September 2015, and featured two new songs. A fifth studio album '' All This Life'' was released in 2017. History Formation, signed by EMI (1999 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Simply Red
Simply Red are a British soul and pop band formed in Manchester in 1985. The lead vocalist of the band is singer and songwriter Mick Hucknall, who, by the time the band initially disbanded in 2010, was the only original member left. Since the release of their debut studio album ''Picture Book'' (1985), they have had ten songs reach top 10 in the UK Singles Chart, including "Holding Back the Years" and "If You Don't Know Me by Now", both of which reached number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. They have had five number one albums in the UK, with their 1991 album, ''Stars'', being one of the best-selling albums in UK chart history. At the 1992 and 1993 Brit Awards, they received the award for Best British Group. They received three Grammy Award nominations: for Best New Artist in 1987, and "Holding Back the Years" and "If You Don't Know Me by Now" for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. The band re-formed in 2015. Simply Red have sold over 50 million albums ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Marti Pellow
Marti Pellow (born Mark McLachlan; 23 March 1965) is a Scottish singer. He was the lead singer of the Scottish pop group Wet Wet Wet for 28 years: from their formation in 1982 until their split in 1997, and again from their reformation in 2004 to his departure in 2017. He has also recorded albums as a solo artist, and performed as an actor in musical theatre productions in both the West End and on Broadway. Early life Pellow's first exposure to music occurred around the age of 7. He would listen to his mother's Barras-bought 8-track record collection of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, but it was the soul genre of the selection that drew him in. Early Marvin Gaye and, especially, Sam Cooke captivated him. He then discovered live music. "Hey, wait a minute – check that picture: not only is this music amazing, but these guys deliver it live? That's for me."''From Glasgow to Memphis'' documentary When he told his father about the direction he wanted his life to take, he was less ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Josh Garrels
Joshua Michael Garrels (born September 25, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and composer from South Bend, Indiana. His music combines traditional folk music with other musical elements and the nontraditional exploration of Christian themes. Biography Garrels is originally from South Bend, Indiana. He currently lives in Muncie, Indiana, with his wife and five children. In 2005, he co-founded Small Voice Records and released ''Over Oceans'', ''Jacaranda'', ''Lost Animals'' and ''Home''. Garrels released his sixth album in June 2011 titled ''Love & War & The Sea in Between''. ''Christianity Today'' called the album "prophetic, incisive, achingly human, and longingly spiritual", and rated it as their 2011 Album of The Year. In 2012, Garrels collaborated with the music collective Mason Jar Music to film the music-documentary movie ''The Sea in Between,'' in which Mason Jar and Garrels traveled to the remote Mayne Island to perform music on several of Mayne's most beaut ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Take 6
Take 6 is an American a cappella gospel music, gospel sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood University, Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group integrates jazz with spiritual and inspirational lyrics. Take 6 has received several Grammy award, Grammy Awards as well as Dove Awards, a Soul Train Award and nominations for the NAACP Image Award. The band has worked with Ray Charles, Nnenna Freelon, Gordon Goodwin, Don Henley, Whitney Houston, Al Jarreau, Quincy Jones, k.d. lang, Queen Latifah, The Manhattan Transfer, Johnny Mathis, Brian McKnight, Luis Miguel, Marcus Miller, Joe Sample, Ben Tankard, Randy Travis, CeCe Winans, Stevie Wonder and Jacob Collier. All original members grew up in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Biography Oakwood College years In 1980, Claude McKnight, older brother of R&B musician Brian McKnight, formed an a cappella quartet, The Gentlemen's Estates Quartet, at Oakwood College (now Oakwood University), a Seventh-day Adventist Church, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Will Downing
Wilfred "Will" Downing (born November 29, 1963) is an American singer and songwriter. He is married to singer Audrey Wheeler, who was a member of the R&B group Unlimited Touch. Biography Downing enrolled in Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, New York. Alumni of the school include record label executives Clive Davis (who founded Arista Records), Kedar Massenburg (who later became president of Motown), Stephanie Mills and singer Barbra Streisand. Downing, who eventually recorded for Motown, graduated with Massenburg in the class of 1981. Downing then attended college at Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia. In the mid-1980s, he moved back to New York City, and worked on albums by Mariah Carey, The O'Jays, Billy Joel, Gerald Albright, Billy Ocean, Regina Belle, Rachelle Ferrell and Mica Paris. Later he sang with Arthur Baker's group, Wally 'Jump' Junior. Downing then used Baker as a producer after he signed with Island Records. In 1988, Downing signed a recording con ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gregory Porter
Gregory Porter (born November 4, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He has twice won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album: first in 2014 for ''Liquid Spirit'' and then again in 2017 for ''Take Me to the Alley''. Early life and education Gregory Porter was born in Sacramento, California, and was raised in Bakersfield, California, where his mother Ruth was a minister. Porter has seven siblings. His mother was a large influence on his life, having encouraged him to sing in church at an early age. His father, Rufus, was largely absent from his life. Says Porter, "Everybody had some issues with their father, even if he was in the house. He may have been emotionally absent. My father was just straight-up absent. I hung out with him just a few days in my life. And it wasn't a long time. He just didn’t seem to be completely interested in being there. Maybe he was, I don't know." After graduating from Highland High School in 1989, he received a full athletic ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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ButterFly (Barbra Streisand Album)
''ButterFly'' is the sixteenth studio album by American singer Barbra Streisand. Released on October 1, 1974, by Columbia Records, it marked Streisand's first album of entirely new material in over three years. Primarily a contemporary pop record recorded throughout 1974, it also incorporates music from the reggae and R&B genres. All of the tracks on ''ButterFly'' are cover songs produced by Streisand's then-boyfriend Jon Peters, originating from artists like Bob Marley, David Bowie, Evie Sands, and Graham Nash. The album received mixed reviews from music critics who questioned whether or not Peters' experience in the music industry was enough for him to produce an entire album. However, Tom Scott's involvement with the album was praised, particularly his position as an arranger. Commercially, the album peaked in the lower positions of Australia, Canada, and the United States. It would later be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for physical shipmen ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tony Orlando
Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby league footballer * Tony (footballer, born 1983), full name Tony Heleno da Costa Pinho, Brazilian football defensive midfielder * Tony (footballer, born 1986), full name Antônio de Moura Carvalho, Brazilian football attacking midfielder * Tony (footballer, born 1989), full name Tony Ewerton Ramos da Silva, Brazilian football right-back Film, theater and television * Tony Awards, a Broadway theatre honor * ''Tony'' (1982 film), a Kannada film * ''Tony'' (2009 film), a British horror film directed by Gerard Johnson * ''Tony'' (2013 film), an Indian Kannada thriller film * "Tony" (''Skins'' series 1), an episode of British comedy-drama ''Skins'' * "Tony" (''Skins'' series 2), an episode of ''Skins'' Music * Tony T., stage name of British ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |