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Johnny Dyer
Johnny Dyer (December 7, 1938 – November 11, 2014) was an American electric blues harmonica, harmonicist and singer. He made numerous sound recording and reproduction, recordings, both as a solo performer and with other musicians. He was nominated for a Blues Music Award, Biography Dyer grew up in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, Rolling Fork, Mississippi, and learned to play the harmonica from the age of seven. His initial inspiration came from hearing Little Walter on radio station from Nashville, Tennessee, and by his teenage years he was playing acoustic harmonica and had formed his own band. He started playing amplified harmonica in the early 1950s, when he first performed alongside Smokey Wilson. Dyer relocated to Los Angeles, California, in January 1958, where he met George "Harmonica" Smith. Together they played concerts with a "father and son" billing. Dyer commented on that time stating, "Smith was the hottest thing around and the blues was really swinging! He taught me a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rolling Fork, Mississippi
Rolling Fork is a town in Sharkey County, Mississippi. The population was 1,883 as of the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of Sharkey County. History Thomas Y. Chaney located here in 1828, and was the first settler in the county. Deer Creek flows through the settlement, and Chaney called the place "Rolling Fork" because of the swiftness of the water at a fork in the creek there. A post office was established in 1848. When Sharkey County was established in 1876, Rolling Fork was made the county seat. A newspaper, ''The Deer Creek Pilot'', was established in 1884. The Louisville, New Orleans and Texas Railway was built through Rolling Fork in 1883. It was later acquired by the Illinois Central Railroad. In 1908, the Bank of Rolling Fork was established. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. Demographics 2020 census As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 1,883 people, 857 households, and 498 families re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George "Harmonica" Smith
George "Harmonica" Smith (born Allen George Smith, April 22, 1924 – October 2, 1983) was an American electric blues harmonica player. Apart from his solo recordings, Smith is best known for his work backing both Muddy Waters and Big Mama Thornton. Life and career Born in West Helena, Arkansas, United States, but brought up in Cairo, Illinois, Smith's mother taught him how to play the harmonica from the age of 4. In his teenage years he performed in a country band with Early Woods and Curtis Gould. He also joined Mississippi gospel group, the Jackson Jubilee Singers. From the late 1930s and into the 1940s, Smith travelled throughout the south and played harmonica on the streets. In 1941, Smith moved to Rock Island, Illinois and joined a group with drummer Francis Clay. Around this time he was working at the Dixie theatre and began to use an amplifier he'd salvaged from an old projector to amplify his harmonica playing on the streets. He moved to Chicago and began playing profess ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Driftin' Blues
"Driftin' Blues" or "Drifting Blues" is a blues standard, recorded by Johnny Moore's Three Blazers in 1945. The song is a slow blues and features Charles Brown's smooth, soulful vocals and piano. It was one of the biggest blues hits of the 1940s and "helped define the burgeoning postwar West Coast blues style". "Driftin' Blues" has been interpreted and recorded by numerous artists in various styles. The Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have acknowledged the influence and lasting popularity of the song. Background In an interview, Brown recalled that "Driftin' Blues" was "the first song that I wrote down and tried to sing". Music critic Dave Marsh noted that Brown wrote it while still in high school. Rhythm-and-blues singer Johnny Otis, who was in Bardu Ali's band with Brown in Los Angeles in the early 1940s, recalled that Brown was reluctant to record the song. Brown's inspiration for the tune was a gospel song his grandmother had taught him and he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blues Standard
Blues standards are blues songs that have attained a high level of recognition due to having been widely performed and recorded. They represent the best known and most interpreted blues songs that are seen as standing the test of time. Blues standards come from different eras and styles, such as ragtime-vaudeville, Delta and other early acoustic styles, and urban blues from Chicago and the West Coast. Many blues songs were developed in American folk music traditions and individual songwriters are sometimes unidentified. Blues historian Gerard Herzhaft noted: Compounding the problem is that, in the earlier days, many blues songs were not copyrighted. Later, the rights were claimed by those who recorded a subsequent version or were managers or record company owners. Nearly one half of the blues standards listed were first recorded in the pre-World War II acoustic blues era, before music publications tracked the sales of blues records. However, many popular renditions, as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cover Version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song released around the same time as the original in order to compete with it. Now, it refers to any subsequent version performed after the original. History The term "cover" goes back decades when cover version originally described a rival version of a tune recorded to compete with the recently released (original) version. Examples of records covered include Paul Williams' 1949 hit tune "The Hucklebuck" and Hank Williams' 1952 song " Jambalaya". Both crossed over to the popular hit parade and had numerous hit versions. Before the mid-20th century, the notion of an original version of a popular tune would have seemed slightly odd – the production of musical entertainment was seen as a live event, even if it was reproduced at home via a c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Top Records
Black Top Records was an American, New Orleans, Louisiana-based independent record label, founded in 1981 by brothers Nauman S. Scott, III and Hammond Scott. The label specialized in blues and R&B music. The first release was "Talk To You By Hand" by Anson Funderburgh & the Rockets. The artist roster included Earl King, Snooks Eaglin, Lee Rocker, Guitar Shorty, and Robert Ward, among others. History The label started out primarily as a blues label, and soon stretched out to New Orleans R&B and American roots music. Black Top especially excelled in discovering obscure talents. Many of the label's artists such as Robert Ward, Carol Fran, Clarence Hollimon, and W. C. Clark were either relatively unknown, or had been away from record contracts and/or the music industry for many years. The label used a variety of musicians on its recordings, including many from the New Orleans music community. Examples include George Porter Jr., David Torkanowsky, Herman V. Ernest III, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rick Holmstrom
Rick Holmstrom (born May 30, 1965) is an American electric blues and rhythm and blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. Holmstrom has previously worked with William Clarke, Johnny Dyer, and Rod Piazza. He is currently the bandleader for Mavis Staples. In addition, Holmstrom has played and recorded with Jimmy Rogers, Billy Boy Arnold, Booker T. Jones, Jody Williams, and R. L. Burnside. One critic observed of Holmstrom, "he delivers music with technical savvy and traditional stylings, without sacrificing originality and pure adventure". Early life Rick Holmstrom was born in Fairbanks, Alaska, United States, one of three children and the only son of Larry and Diane Holmstrom. His paternal grandfather, Francis O. Holmstrom, was a native of Everett, Washington who moved to Fairbanks during the early part of the middle 20th century and owned a jewelry store in downtown Fairbanks for many years. Holmstrom grew up in Fairbanks, where his father worked as a broadcaster and broadcas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Compilation Album
A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for release together as a single work, but may be collected together as a greatest hits album or box set. If from several performers, there may be a theme, topic, time period, or genre which links the tracks, or they may have been intended for release as a single work—such as a tribute album. When the tracks are by the same recording artist, the album may be referred to as a retrospective album or an anthology. Content and scope Songs included on a compilation album may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for release together as a single work, but may be collected together as a greatest h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Record Label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos, while also conducting talent scouting and development of new artists, and maintaining contracts with recording artists and their managers. The term "record label", derives from the circular label in the center of a vinyl record which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information. Within the mainstream music industry, recording artists have traditionally been reliant upon record labels to broaden their consumer base, market their albums, and promote their singles on streaming services, radio, and television. Record labels also provide publicists, who assist performers in gaining posi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Single (music)
In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separately from an album, although it usually also appears on an album. In other cases a recording released as a single may not appear on an album. Despite being referred to as a single, in the era of music downloads, singles can include up to as many as three tracks. The biggest digital music distributor, the iTunes Store, accepts as many as three tracks that are less than ten minutes each as a single. Any more than three tracks on a musical release or thirty minutes in total running time is an extended play (EP) or, if over six tracks long, an album. Historically, when mainstream music was purchased via vinyl records, singles would be released double-sided, i.e. there was an A-side and a B-side, on which two songs would appear, one on each s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rod Piazza
Rod Piazza (born December 18, 1947, Riverside, California) is an American blues harmonica player and singer. He has been playing with his band The Mighty Flyers, which he formed with his pianist wife Honey Piazza, since 1980. Their boogie sound combines the styles of jump blues, West Coast blues and Chicago blues. Biography Piazza grew up in Southern California, where he studied blues records and perfected his harmonica work. He originally started on guitar, an instrument he began playing at the age of six or seven. In the mid-1960s, Piazza formed his first band The House of DBS, which later changed its name to the Dirty Blues Band. The band signed with ABC-Bluesway and released two albums in 1967 and 1968. The band broke up in 1968, and Piazza formed Bacon Fat that year. Piazza's idol and mentor, George "Harmonica" Smith joined the band and they had a "dual harp" sound. Bacon Fat released two albums the following two years. Piazza left and worked in other bands before goi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harmonica Fats
Harmonica Fats (born Harvey Blackston, September 8, 1927 – January 3, 2000) was an American blues harmonica player who was active in the 1950s through to the 1990s. Fats first achieved success with his cover version of the Hank Ballard song "Tore Up" in 1962, which established him as an in-demand session musician, session and touring musician. He is also remembered for his collaboration with blues guitarist Bernie Pearl, a partnership that resulted in four albums. Biography Born in McDade, Louisiana, a small community 40 miles from Shreveport, Blackston, the eldest of 13 children, was raised on a cotton farm by his grandparents. Blackston casually played harmonica since he was four years-old, and credited Sonny Terry as the foremost influence on his style of playing. Bored with the farming lifestyle, in 1946 Blackston relocated to Los Angeles where he lived with his father, and worked for a manufacturing company. After an automobile accident in 1954 temporarily left him jobles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
