Graceland (album)
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Graceland (album)
''Graceland'' is the seventh solo studio album by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was produced by Simon, engineered by Roy Halee and released on August 25, 1986, by Warner Bros. Records. In the early 1980s, Simon's relationship with his former musical partner Art Garfunkel had deteriorated, his marriage to actress Carrie Fisher had collapsed, and his previous record, ''Hearts and Bones'' (1983), had been a commercial failure. In 1984, after a period of depression, Simon became fascinated by a bootleg cassette of ''mbaqanga'', South African street music. He and Halee visited Johannesburg, where they spent two weeks recording with South African musicians. Further recordings were held in the United States, with guest musicians including Linda Ronstadt, the Everly Brothers, Louisiana band Good Rockin' Dopsie and the Twisters, and Los Angeles band Los Lobos. ''Graceland'' features an eclectic mixture of genres, including pop, rock, ''a cappella'', zydeco, ''isicatham ...
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Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel with Art Garfunkel. Simon was born in Newark, New Jersey, and grew up in the Queens, borough of Queens in New York City. He began performing with his schoolfriend Art Garfunkel in 1956 when they were still in their early teens. After limited success, the pair reunited after an electrified version of their song "The Sound of Silence" became a hit in 1966. Simon & Garfunkel recorded five albums together featuring songs mostly written by Simon, including the hits "Mrs. Robinson", "America (Simon & Garfunkel song), America", "Bridge over Troubled Water (song), Bridge over Troubled Water" and "The Boxer". After Simon & Garfunkel split in 1970, Simon recorded three acclaimed albums over the following five years, all of w ...
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Mbaqanga
Mbaqanga () is a style of South African music with rural Zulu music, Zulu roots that continues to influence musicians worldwide today. The style originated in the early 1960s. History Historically, laws such as the Natives' Land Act, Land Act of 1913 to the Group Areas Act (1950) initially prevented black South Africans from integrating from different tribal communities, consequently making it almost impossible for most black native music artists to gain recognition beyond their tribal boundaries. The music genre mbaqanga developed during this time (1960s) and to this day most of the major record labels are white-owned companies with very few black artists that have contributed to their own material. In Zulu, the term ''mbaqanga'' means an everyday cornmeal porridge. ''Mbaqanga'' aficionados were mostly plebeian, metropolitan African jazz enthusiasts. Many of them were not permitted to establish themselves in the city, but they were unable to sustain themselves in the rural cou ...
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Grammy Award For Album Of The Year
The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales, chart position, or critical reception." Album of the Year is the most prestigious award category at the Grammys, and it is one of the general field awards alongside Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year, presented annually since the 1st Annual Grammy Awards in 1959. Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon and Taylor Swift have each won this award three times, more than any other artists. Credit rules Over the years, the rules on who was presented with an award have changed: *1959–1965: Artist only. *1966–1998: Artist and producer. *1999–2002: Artist, producer, and recording engineer or mixer. *2003–2017: Artist, featured artist, producer, mastering engineer, and recording engineer or mixer ...
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1987 Grammy Awards
The 29th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 24, 1987, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Paul Simon won Album of the Year for ''Graceland'', and Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager won Song of the Year for "That's What Friends Are For". Award winners Record of the Year *"Higher Love" – Steve Winwood **Russ Titelman & Steve Winwood, producers *"Sledgehammer" – Peter Gabriel **Peter Gabriel & Daniel Lanois, producers *"Greatest Love of All" – Whitney Houston **Michael Masser, producer *" Addicted to Love" – Robert Palmer **Bernard Edwards, producer *"That's What Friends Are For" – Dionne Warwick & Friends; Elton John, Gladys Knight & Stevie Wonder **Burt Bacharach & Carole Bayer Sager, producers Album of the Year *''Graceland'' – Paul Simon **Paul Simon, producer *'' So'' – Peter Gabriel **Peter Gabriel & Daniel Lanois, producers *''Control'' – Janet Jackson **Janet Jackson, ...
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Apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was characterised by an authoritarian political culture based on ''baasskap'' (boss-hood or boss-ship), which ensured that South Africa was dominated politically, socially, and economically by the nation's minority white population. According to this system of social stratification, white citizens had the highest status, followed by Indians and Coloureds, then black Africans. The economic legacy and social effects of apartheid continue to the present day. Broadly speaking, apartheid was delineated into ''petty apartheid'', which entailed the segregation of public facilities and social events, and ''grand apartheid'', which dictated housing and employment opportunities by race. The first apartheid law was the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages ...
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Apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was characterised by an authoritarian political culture based on ''baasskap'' (boss-hood or boss-ship), which ensured that South Africa was dominated politically, socially, and economically by the nation's minority white population. According to this system of social stratification, white citizens had the highest status, followed by Indians and Coloureds, then black Africans. The economic legacy and social effects of apartheid continue to the present day. Broadly speaking, apartheid was delineated into ''petty apartheid'', which entailed the segregation of public facilities and social events, and ''grand apartheid'', which dictated housing and employment opportunities by race. The first apartheid law was the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages ...
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Isicathamiya
Isicathamiya (with the "c" pronounced as a dental click) is a singing style that originated from the South African Zulus. In European understanding, a cappella is also used to describe this form of singing. The word itself does not have a literal translation; it is derived from the Zulu verb ''-cathama'', which means ''walking softly'', or ''tread carefully''. Isicathamiya contrasts with an earlier name for Zulu a cappella singing, mbube, meaning "lion". The change in name marks a transition in the style of the music: traditionally, music described as mbube is sung loudly and powerfully, while isicathamiya focuses more on achieving a harmonious blend between the voices. The name also refers to the style's tightly choreographed dance moves that keep the singers on their toes. South African singing groups such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo demonstrate this style. Isicathamiya choirs are traditionally all male. Its roots reach back before the turn of the 20th century, when numerous men ...
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Zydeco
Zydeco ( or , french: Zarico) is a music genre that evolved in southwest Louisiana by French Creole speakers which blends blues, rhythm and blues, and music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles and the Native American people of Louisiana. Although it is distinct in origin from the Cajun music of Louisiana, the two forms influenced each other, forming a complex of genres native to the region. Characteristics Zydeco music is typically played in an uptempo, syncopated manner with a strong rhythmic core, and often incorporates elements of blues, rock and roll, soul music, R&B, Afro-Caribbean, Cajun, and early Creole music. Zydeco music is centered on the accordion, which leads the rest of the band, and a specialized washboard, called a vest frottoir, as a prominent percussive instrument. Other common instruments in zydeco are the electric guitar, bass, keyboard, and drum set. If there are accompanying lyrics, they are typically sung in English or French. Many zydeco performers ...
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A Cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato musical styles. In the 19th century, a renewed interest in Renaissance polyphony, coupled with an ignorance of the fact that vocal parts were often doubled by instrumentalists, led to the term coming to mean unaccompanied vocal music. The term is also used, rarely, as a synonym for ''alla breve''. Early history A cappella could be as old as humanity itself. Research suggests that singing and vocables may have been what early humans used to communicate before the invention of language. The earliest piece of sheet music is thought to have originated from times as early as 2000 B.C. while the earliest that has survived in its entirety is from the first century A.D.: a piece from Greece called the ...
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Pop Music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describes all music that is popular and includes many disparate styles. During the 1950s and 1960s, pop music encompassed rock and roll and the youth-oriented styles it influenced. ''Rock'' and ''pop'' music remained roughly synonymous until the late 1960s, after which ''pop'' became associated with music that was more commercial, ephemeral, and accessible. Although much of the music that appears on record charts is considered to be pop music, the genre is distinguished from chart music. Identifying factors usually include repeated choruses and hooks, short to medium-length songs written in a basic format (often the verse-chorus structure), and rhythms or tempos that can be easily danced to. Much pop music also borrows elements from other styles ...
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Los Lobos
Los Lobos (, Spanish for "the Wolves") are an American rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional music such as cumbia, boleros and norteños. The band rose to international stardom in 1987, when their version of Ritchie Valens' " La Bamba" peaked at the top of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and also topped the charts in the United Kingdom, and several other countries. Songs by Los Lobos have been recorded by Elvis Costello, Waylon Jennings, Frankie Yankovic, and Robert Plant. In 2015, they were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2018, they were inducted into the ''Austin City Limits'' Hall of Fame. They are also known for performing the theme song for ''Handy Manny''. History 1973–79: Formation and early releases Vocalist and guitarist David Hidalgo and drummer Louie Pérez met at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles, C ...
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Rockin' Dopsie
Alton Jay Rubin (February 10, 1932 – August 26, 1993), who performed as Rockin' Dopsie (sometimes Rockin' Dupsee), was an American zydeco singer and accordion player who enjoyed popular success first in Europe and later in the United States. Biography He was born in Carencro, Louisiana, United States, the son of Walter Rubin, who played accordion at local dances. Alton Rubin's first language was Louisiana Creole French. He was given his first accordion at the age of 14, and, being left-handed, learned to play it upside down. He began performing at local parties, and soon outstripped his father's abilities. He moved with his parents to Lafayette, Louisiana at the age of 19, and began playing in clubs in the mid-1950s with his cousin Chester Zeno on washboard. He took his stage name from a visiting dancer called Doopsie (and pronouncing his own name the same way). At the same time, he continued with his day job, eventually becoming an electrical contractor. Dopsie played ...
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