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Songs From The West Coast
''Songs from the West Coast'' is the twenty-sixth studio album by English musician Elton John, released worldwide on 1 October 2001. Background For this album, John once again collaborated with long-time lyricist Bernie Taupin, marking the first time the pair had written together in person. Patrick Leonard produced the album and played keyboards on several songs, as was the case for ''The Road to El Dorado'' soundtrack, released the year before. Drummer Nigel Olsson returned to the Elton John Band full-time and Tata Vega makes an early appearance as a backup vocalist, joining the band later. Stevie Wonder, who previously worked with John on the songs "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" and "That's What Friends Are For", played harmonica and clavinet on "Dark Diamond". Guy Babylon, Bob Birch and John Mahon, three of John's band members at the time, do not appear on this album. It was the first non-soundtrack studio album from John to be released after PolyGram and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since the 1970s, having released 31 albums since 1969. Collaborating with lyricist Bernie Taupin since 1967, John is acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his work during the 1970s, and his lasting impact on the music industry. John's music and showmanship have had a significant impact on popular music. His songwriting partnership with Taupin is one of the most successful in history. John was raised in the Pinner suburb of London and learned to play piano at an early age, forming the blues band Bluesology in 1962. After leaving Bluesology in 1967 to embark on a solo career, John met Taupin after they both answered an advert for songwriters. For two years, they wrote songs for other artists, and John worked a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Road To El Dorado (soundtrack)
''The Road to El Dorado'' is a 2000 American animated adventure film produced by DreamWorks Animation and released by DreamWorks Pictures. It was the third animated feature produced by DreamWorks. The film was directed by Eric "Bibo" Bergeron and Don Paul (in their feature directorial debuts), with additional sequences directed by Will Finn and David Silverman, while the film's screenplay was written by the writing team of Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. The film stars the voices of Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh, Rosie Perez, Armand Assante, and Edward James Olmos. The soundtrack features an instrumental score composed by Hans Zimmer and John Powell, and songs written by Elton John and Tim Rice. John is also credited periodically narrating the story in song throughout the film. The film follows two con artists who, after winning the map to El Dorado in Spain, wash ashore in the New World, where they use the map to lead them to the city of El Dorado, where its inhabitants mistak ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Davey Johnstone
David William Logan Johnstone (born 6 May 1951) is a British rock guitarist and vocalist, best known for his long-time collaboration with Elton John as a member of the Elton John Band. Career Johnstone's first work was with Noel Murphy in 1968, where he received his first album credit on the album ''Another Round''. By 1969, Johnstone had secured regular work as a session musician, where he began to branch out and explore differing genres of music, and experiment with a variety of instruments. In 1970, when Lyell Tranter (one of the two guitarists in the acoustic British folk group Magna Carta) left the band, Johnstone took his place as a member. He recorded several albums with them beginning in 1970 on ''Seasons'' (1970), and continued to contribute to ''Songs from Wasties Orchard'' (1971) (named after the street where he lived in Long Hanborough, Oxfordshire), and a live album entitled ''In Concert''. During his stint with Magna Carta, Johnstone played a wide variety of in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matthew Shepard
Matthew Wayne Shepard (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998) was a gay American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, and left to die near Laramie on the night of October 6, 1998. He was taken by rescuers to Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he died six days later from severe head injuries received during the attack. Suspects Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson were arrested shortly after the attack and charged with first-degree murder following Shepard's death. Significant media coverage was given to the murder and what role Shepard's sexual orientation played as a motive for the crime. The prosecutor argued that the murder of Shepard was premeditated and driven by greed. McKinney's defense counsel countered by arguing that he had intended only to rob Shepard but killed him in a rage when Shepard made a sexual advance toward him. McKinney's girlfriend told police that he had been motivated by anti-gay sentiment but later ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded 10 studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical operas and set Shakespeare's sonnets to music for a theatre piece by Robert Wilson. Wainwright's self-titled debut album was released through DreamWorks Records in May 1998. His second album, '' Poses'', was released in June 2001. Wainwright's third and fourth studio albums, ''Want One'' (2003) and ''Want Two'' (2004), were repackaged as the double album ''Want'' in 2005. In 2007, Wainwright released his fifth studio album, ''Release the Stars'', and his first live album, ''Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall''. His second live album, ''Milwaukee at Last!!!'', was released in 2009, followed by the studio albums '' All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu'' (2010) and ''Out of the Game'' (2012). The double album ''Prima Donna'' (2015) was a recording of his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its operational headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California. The biggest music company in the world, it is one of the " Big Three" record labels, along with Sony Music and Warner Music Group. Tencent acquired ten percent of Universal Music Group in March 2020 for €3 billion and acquired an additional ten percent stake in January 2021. Pershing Square Holdings later acquired ten percent of UMG prior to its IPO on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange. The company went public on September 21, 2021, at a valuation of €46 billion. In 2019, ''Fast Company'' named Universal Music Group the most innovative music company and listed UMG among the Top 50 most innovative companies in the world and "amid the music industry's digital tran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PolyGram
PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a holding for their record companies, and was renamed "PolyGram" in 1972. The name was chosen to reflect the Siemens interest Polydor Records and the Philips interest Phonogram Records. The company traced its origins through Deutsche Grammophon back to the inventor of the flat disc gramophone, Emil Berliner. Later on, PolyGram expanded into the largest global entertainment company, creating film and television divisions. In May 1998, it was sold to the alcoholic distiller Seagram which owned film, television and music company Universal Studios. PolyGram was thereby folded into Universal Music Group, and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment was folded into Universal Pictures, which had been both Seagram successors of MCA Inc. When the newly forme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Birch
Robert Wayne "Bob" Birch (July 14, 1956 – August 15, 2012) was an American musician. He was primarily a session musician and sideman to a variety of notable artists. Early life At an early age, Birch was inspired to pursue music by his father Chet, an upright bassist. Birch began playing the alto saxophone, mirroring the styles of Paul Desmond and Cannonball Adderley. He learned quickly and was soon recognized by the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association through his 1st-place finishes at music festival competitions. Around 7th grade, Birch tried out the electric bass, from his fascination for the Motown sound, as well as groups like Chicago, Blood, Sweat, and Tears, and the overall mesmerizing sound of the Fender bass coming across the radio waves. One day he picked up his junior high band director Art Dries's Mosrite bass during school lunch and something about it felt totally right. Because he also had a strong passion for the classical side of music, Birch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guy Babylon
Guy Babylon (December 20, 1956 – September 2, 2009) was an American keyboardist/composer, most noted for his work with Elton John. Babylon was born in New Windsor, Maryland. He attended Francis Scott Key High School before moving on to the University of South Florida, on a swimming scholarship, where he earned a BFA in music composition in 1979. Upon graduation, he moved to Los Angeles, California. In 1988, he joined Elton John's studio and touring band, appearing on the album ''Sleeping with the Past''. In 1990, he performed with the group Warpipes, a side project of fellow Elton John member Davey Johnstone. Guy performed and recorded with several artists such as Mike Pinera, Iron Butterfly, Blues Image, Luis Cardenas and Renegade. Guy Babylon also arranged many Elton John introductions, including those used in "Bennie and the Jets" and "Pinball Wizard". In 2001, Babylon won a Grammy Award for his contributions on the Elton John / Tim Rice musical ''Aida ''Aida'' (or '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clavinet
The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds by a rubber pad striking a point on a tensioned string, and was designed to resemble the Renaissance-era clavichord. Although originally intended for home use, the Clavinet became popular on stage, and could be used to create electric guitar sounds on a keyboard. It is strongly associated with Stevie Wonder, who used the instrument extensively, particularly on his 1972 hit "Superstition", and was regularly featured in rock, funk and reggae music throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Modern digital keyboards can emulate the Clavinet sound, but there is also a grass-roots industry of repairers who continue to maintain the instrument. Description The Clavinet is an electromechanical instrument that is usually used in conjunction with a keyboard amplifier. Most models have 60 keys ranging ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
That's What Friends Are For
"That's What Friends Are For" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager. It was first recorded in 1982 by Rod Stewart for the soundtrack of the film '' Night Shift'', but it is better known for the 1985 cover version by Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder. This recording, billed as being by "Dionne Warwick & Friends", was released as a charity single for AIDS research and prevention. It was a massive hit, becoming the number-one single of 1986 in the United States, and winning the Grammy Awards for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Song of the Year. It raised over $3 million for its cause. Rod Stewart version ''That’s What Friends Are For'' was included on the expanded edition of the 2008 remaster of the album '' Body Wishes''. Personnel * Rod Stewart – vocals * Jim Cregan – guitar, background vocals * Jimmy "Z" Zavala – saxophone * Kevin Savigar – keyboards * Jay Davis – bass * Tony Brock – drum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
"I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" is a song by English musician Elton John, with music by John and Davey Johnstone and lyrics by Bernie Taupin. It is the first single from John's 17th studio album ''Too Low for Zero''. In the United States, it became one of John's biggest hits of the 1980s, holding at No. 2 for four weeks on the Adult Contemporary chart, and reaching No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It also reached the top ten in five countries including the UK, peaking at number five. It was the first single since 1975 to feature the classic lineup of the Elton John Band. It features Stevie Wonder on harmonica. The song received largely favourable reviews, with Bill Janovitz of AllMusic declaring the song "likely to stand the test of time as a standard." The song was also featured on the film soundtrack to ''Peter's Friends'' in 1992. Performances John has performed the song, a fan favourite, live numerous times, occasionally playing it as part of a medley with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
