Just Another Diamond Day
''Just Another Diamond Day'' is the debut album by the English folk singer-songwriter Vashti Bunyan, and was released on Philips Records in December 1970. Much of the album is a musical reflection on Bunyan and travelling partner Robert Lewis's experiences while travelling by horse and wagon through Scotland in 1968. It highlighted Bunyan's vocals with minimal instrumental accompaniment that was arranged by contemporary musical artists supervised under record producer Joe Boyd. Upon release, ''Just Another Diamond Day'' went relatively unnoticed. Stricken by the demoralizing and disillusioning outcome, Bunyan began a self-imposed exile from the music industry to live a low-profile lifestyle. Over the years, the album has received more attention among record collectors, resulting in reissues that sparked a revival in Bunyan's music career. Although it was largely overlooked by the public at the time of its release, the album's critical standing has improved over the years and today ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vashti Bunyan
Vashti Bunyan (born Jennifer Vashti Bunyan, 1945) is an English singer-songwriter. Beginning her career in the mid-1960s, she released her debut album, ''Just Another Diamond Day'', in 1970. The album sold very few copies and Bunyan, discouraged, abandoned her musical career. By 2000, her album had acquired a cult following; it was re-released and Bunyan recorded more songs, initiating the second phase of her musical career after a gap of thirty years. She subsequently released two more albums: ''Lookaftering'' in 2005, and ''Heartleap'' in 2014. Early life and education Bunyan was born in South Tyneside in 1945 to John Bunyan and Helen Webber, the youngest of three children. She was told that she was named after a boat that belonged to her father, a name that was also a nickname for her mother inspired by queen Vashti. The family moved to London when she was six months old. Although she has been said to be descended from ''The Pilgrim's Progress'' author John Bunyan, this is a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ewan MacColl
James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as one of the instigators of the 1960s folk revival as well as for writing such songs as "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and "Dirty Old Town". MacColl collected hundreds of traditional folk songs, including the version of " Scarborough Fair" later popularised by Simon & Garfunkel, and released dozens of albums with A.L. Lloyd, Peggy Seeger and others, mostly of traditional folk songs. He also wrote many left-wing political songs, remaining a steadfast communist throughout his life and engaging in political activism. Early life and early career MacColl was born as James Henry Miller at 4 Andrew Street, in Broughton, Salford, England, to Scottish parents, William Miller and Betsy (née Henry), both socialists. William Miller was an iron moulde ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Richie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper ''The Daily Pennsylvanian'' and in the early 1980s was a deejay on the Penn radio station, WXPN-FM. Just prior to graduating in late 1982, he started reviewing records for '' Op'' magazine, which marked the start of his career as a freelance writer. From 1985 to 1991, Unterberger was an editor for '' Option''. Since 1993, he has been a prolific contributor to AllMusic, the on-line database of music biographies and album reviews, for which he has written thousands of entries, and many of his on-line contributions have been printed in the AllMusic guide series. Unterberger contributes to various local and national publications, including ''Mojo'', ''Record Collector'', ''Rolling Stone'', ''Oxford American'', and '' No Depression''. He has writ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig.) They started out heavily influenced by American folk rock, with a setlist dominated by Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell songs and a sound that earned them the nickname "the British Jefferson Airplane". Vocalists Judy Dyble and Iain Matthews joined them before the recording of their self-titled debut in 1968; afterwards, Dyble was replaced by Sandy Denny, with Matthews later leaving during the recording of their third album. Denny began steering the group towards traditional British music for their next two albums, ''What We Did on Our Holidays'' and ''Unhalfbricking'' (both 1969); the latter featured fiddler Dave "Swarb" Swarbrick, most notably on the song "A Sailor's Life", which laid the groundwork for British folk rock by being the first time a trad ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Simon Nicol
Simon John Breckenridge Nicol (born 13 October 1950) is an English guitarist, singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He was a founding member of British folk rock group Fairport Convention and is the only founding member still in the band. He has also been involved with the Albion Band and a wide range of musical projects, both as a collaborator, producer and as a solo artist. He has received several awards for his work and career. History Early career Born in Muswell Hill, North London, England, Nicol was the son of a general practitioner, who died in 1964. He began to play guitar at the age of 11 and left school at 15. In 1966 he was asked to join local band the Ethnic Shuffle Orchestra by bass guitarist Ashley Hutchings, and soon left his job at a local cinema to play full-time. They rehearsed above his father's old surgery in Fairport House, which gave its name to the band he and Hutchings formed with Richard Thompson and Shaun Frater as Fairport Convention in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dave Swarbrick
David Cyril Eric Swarbrick (5 April 1941 – 3 June 2016) was an English folk musician and singer-songwriter. His style has been copied or developed by almost every British and many world folk violin players who have followed him. He was one of the most highly regarded musicians produced by the second British folk revival, contributing to some of the most important groups and projects of the 1960s, and he became a much sought-after session musician, which led him throughout his career to work with many of the major figures in folk and folk rock music. A member of Fairport Convention from 1969, he is credited with assisting them to produce their seminal album ''Liege & Lief'' (1969) which initiated the British folk rock movement. This, and his subsequent career, helped create greater interest in British traditional music and was highly influential within mainstream rock. After 1970 he emerged as Fairport Convention's leading figure and guided the band through a series of i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Incredible String Band
The Incredible String Band (sometimes abbreviated as ISB) were a Scottish psychedelic folk band formed by Clive Palmer, Robin Williamson and Mike Heron in Edinburgh in 1966. The band built a considerable following, especially in the British counterculture, notably with their albums ''The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion'', ''The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter'', and ''Wee Tam and the Big Huge''. They became pioneers in psychedelic folk and, through integrating a wide variety of traditional music forms and instruments, in the development of world music. Following Palmer's early departure, Williamson and Heron performed as a duo, later augmented by other musicians. The band split up in 1974. They reformed in 1999 and continued to perform with changing lineups until 2006. History Formation as a trio: 1965–66 In 1963, acoustic musicians Robin Williamson and Clive Palmer began performing together as a traditional folk duo in Edinburgh, particularly at a weekly club run ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Robin Williamson
Robin Duncan Harry Williamson (born 24 November 1943) is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and storyteller who was a founding member of The Incredible String Band. Career Williamson lived in the Fairmilehead area of Edinburgh and attended George Watson's College before leaving at the age of 15 to become a professional musician. He performed in local jazz bands with Gerard Dott (later to be a member of the Incredible String Band) before turning to traditional music as a singer and guitarist. By 1961 he had met and begun sharing a flat with Bert Jansch, and in 1963 they traveled to London to play the metropolitan folk circuit. By 1965 he had returned to Edinburgh and formed a duo with Clive Palmer (musician), Clive Palmer, specializing in fiddle and banjo arrangements of traditional Scottish and Irish songs. Joe Boyd signed them to Elektra Records in 1966, by which time they had hired a third member, Mike Heron. As resident band at Clive's Incredible Folk Club ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Robert Kirby (musician)
Robert Kirby (16 April 1948 – 3 October 2009) was a British-born arranger of string sections for rock and folk music. He was best known for his work on the Nick Drake albums, ''Five Leaves Left'' and ''Bryter Layter'', but also worked with Vashti Bunyan, Elton John, Ralph McTell, Strawbs, Paul Weller and Elvis Costello. Early life He was educated at Bishop's Stortford College an independent school in Hertfordshire, and then Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Cambridge University Patrick Humphries' book ''Way To Blue'' gives some details of Kirby's time at university. He sang in a group called 'The Gentle Power of Song'. His tutor once told him that his compositions sounded like a breakfast cereal commercial. This was intended as an insult, but Kirby took this as his high praise: "As good as that, eh?". Kirby went to Caius College, Cambridge and made friends with Paul Wheeler. They were both members of the Caius Breakfast Club, also called "The Loungers". There were ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John James (guitarist)
John James is known, primarily, as a solo acoustic fingerstyle guitarist, composer and entertainer. Biography Early days Born and raised in the hills of West Wales, the first live music James was in the chapel: congregational hymn singing with an emphasis on harmony. When he bought his first record (Little Richard's ''Tutti Frutti/Long Tall Sally'') at 10 years old, he was already two years into classical piano study. After dabbling with different musical instruments including the drums and chromatic harmonica, by his 12th birthday the piano was forsaken for the guitar. First public performance was in a skiffle cum rock'n'roll group at the local Cymru Groes youth club. The following year the beat group Dave and the Diamonds was formed which later became the Roadrunners. In 1965, JJ moved to Aberystwyth and joined the Xenons, playing a more pop based repertoire. Playing lead guitar, his on-stage gear was first a Futurama guitar into a Watkins Dominator amp and Watkins Copycat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Recording Sessions
The term studio recording means any recording made in a studio, as opposed to a live recording, which is usually made in a concert venue or a theatre, with an audience attending the performance. Studio cast recordings In the case of Broadway musicals, the term studio cast recording applies to a recording of the show which does not feature the cast of either a stage production or film version of the show. The practice has existed since before the advent of Broadway cast albums in 1943. That year the songs from Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''Oklahoma!'', performed by the show's cast, were released on a multi-record 78-RPM album by American Decca. (London original cast albums have existed since the early days of recording, however, and there are recordings in existence of excerpts from such shows as ''The Desert Song'', '' Sunny'', and ''Show Boat'', all performed by their original London stage casts.) History Before 1943, musicals were recorded in the U.S. with what might be termed s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Horse And Carriage
] A horse and buggy (in American English) or horse and carriage (in British English and American English) refers to a light, simple, two-person carriage of the late 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, drawn usually by one or sometimes by two horses. Also called a roadster or a trap, it was made with two wheels in England and the United States (also made with four wheels). It had a folding or falling top. History A Concorde buggy, first made in Concord, New Hampshire, had a body with low sides and side-spring suspension. A buggy having two seats was called a double buggy. A buggy called a stanhope typically had a high seat and closed back. The bodies of buggies were sometimes suspended on a pair of longitudinal elastic wooden bars called ''sidebars''. A buggy whip had a small, usually tasseled tip called a ''snapper''. In countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, it was a primary mode of short-distance personal transportation, especially between 181 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |