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Sugar Ray Norcia
Sugar Ray Norcia (born Raymond Alan Norcia, June 6, 1954, Stonington, Connecticut, United States) is an American electric and soul blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known for his work with his backing band, The Bluetones, with whom he has released seven albums since 1980. Biography Norcia started to play his harmonica based blues at high school. Once Norcia had relocated to Providence, Rhode Island, he formed the Bluetones which secured a residence as the house band at a local nightclub. They backed touring acts, such as Big Walter Horton, Big Mama Thornton, Big Joe Turner and Roosevelt Sykes in nearby clubs. During the latter part of the 1970s, the band backed Ronnie Earl before he departed to join Roomful of Blues. Norcia's solo recordings included the 7" EPs ''Sugar Ray and the Bluetones'' (1979); ''Ronnie Earl and his Broadcasters featuring the Sensational Sugar Ray'' (1981), plus a couple of releases on Rounder Records, ''Knockout'' (1989) and ''Don't Stand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stonington, Connecticut
Stonington is a town located on Long Island Sound in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The municipal limits of the town include the borough of Stonington (borough), Connecticut, Stonington, the villages of Pawcatuck, Connecticut, Pawcatuck, Lords Point, and Wequetequock Cove, Wequetequock, and the eastern halves of the villages of Mystic, Connecticut, Mystic and Old Mystic. Stonington is part of the Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The population of the town was 18,335 at the 2020 census. The town is home to many restored homes and preserves its long nautical history. History The first European colonists to arrive include William Chesebrough and Walter Palmer (Puritan), Walter Palmer in Wequetequock Cove, Wequetequock, Thomas Minor in Quiambaug, and Thomas Stanton (settler), Thomas Stanton in Pawcatuck. Stanton established a trading house in the Pawcatuck, Connecticut, Pawcatuck section of town in 16 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big Joe Turner
Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner Jr. (May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him". Turner's greatest fame was due to his rock and roll recordings in the 1950s, particularly "Shake, Rattle and Roll", but his career as a performer endured from the 1920s into the 1980s. Turner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, with the Hall lauding him as "the brawny voiced 'Boss of the Blues. AllMusic called Turner "the premier blues shouter of the postwar era". Life and career Early days Turner was born May 18, 1911, in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. His father was killed in a train accident when Turner was four years old. He sang in his church, and on street corners for money. He left school at age fourteen to work in Kansas City's nightclubs, first as a cook and later as a singing bartender. He became known as "The Singing B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Branch
William Earl Branch (born October 3, 1951) is an American blues harmonica player of Chicago blues. He is a three-time Grammy nominee, a retired two-term governor of the Chicago Grammy Chapter, an Emmy Award winner , and a winner of the Addy Award. In addition, he has received numerous humanitarian and music awards. Early life and career Branch was born at the Great Lakes Naval Hospital in North Chicago, Illinois, United States. His family moved from Chicago to Los Angeles when he was five years old. At ten years of age he bought his first harmonica at a Los Angeles Woolworth store. He immediately began playing simple tunes and melodies. After that initial purchase, Billy was never without a harmonica. In 1969 he moved back to Chicago to attend the University of Illinois. eventually he graduated from UIC with a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science University of Illinois at Chicago. In August 1969, Branch attended the first Chicago Blues Festival, which was produced b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Cotton
James Henry Cotton (July 1, 1935 – March 16, 2017) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who performed and recorded with many fellow blues artists and with his own band. He also played drums early in his career. Cotton began his professional career playing the blues harp in Howlin' Wolf's band in the early 1950s. He made his first recordings in Memphis for Sun Records, under the direction of Sam Phillips. In 1955, he was recruited by Muddy Waters to come to Chicago and join his band. Cotton became Muddy's bandleader and stayed with the group until 1965. In 1965, he formed the Jimmy Cotton Blues Quartet, with Otis Spann on piano, to record between gigs with the Muddy Waters band. He eventually left to form his own full-time touring group. His first full album, on Verve Records, was produced by the guitarist Mike Bloomfield and the singer and songwriter Nick Gravenites, who later were members of the band Electric Flag. In the 1970s, Cotton playe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Jordanaires
The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vocalion Records, Stop Records, and many other smaller independent labels. In the mid-1950s, with a lineup of Gordon Stoker (first tenor), Neal Matthews (second tenor and lead vocals), Hoyt Hawkins (baritone and lead vocals), and Hugh Jarrett (bass vocals), they also began lending their vocal talents to other artists as background singers in recording sessions. They are widely known for having provided background vocals for Elvis Presley in live appearances, recordings, and feature films from 1956 to 1970. Jarrett was replaced by then-teacher Ray Walker in 1958. The group worked in the recording studio, on stage, and on television with many country, gospel, and rock and roll artists. They also provided background vocals using the names th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Alexander
Arthur Alexander (May 10, 1940 – June 9, 1993) was an American country-soul songwriter and singer. Jason Ankeny, music critic for AllMusic, said Alexander was a "country-soul pioneer" and that, though largely unknown, "his music is the stuff of genius, a poignant and deeply intimate body of work on par with the best of his contemporaries." Alexander's songs were covered by such stars as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Otis Redding, Tina Turner, Pearl Jam, Rick Nelson and Jerry Lee Lewis. Life Alexander was born in Sheffield, Alabama, United States. Working with Spar Music in Florence, Alabama, Alexander recorded his first single, "Sally Sue Brown", under the name of June Alexander (short for Junior), which was released in 1960 on Jud Phillips' Judd Records. (Phillips is the brother of music pioneer Sam Phillips). A year later, Alexander cut " You Better Move On", at the fledgling FAME Studios, which at that point was located above ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hank Williams
Hiram "Hank" Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. An early pioneer of country music, he is regarded as one of the most significant and influential musicians of the 20th century. Williams recorded 55 singles that reached the top 10 of the Hot Country Songs, ''Billboard'' Country & Western Best Sellers chart, five of which were released posthumously, and 12 of which reached No.1. Born and raised in Alabama, Williams learned guitar from African-American blues musician Rufus Payne. Both Payne and Roy Acuff significantly influenced his musical style. After winning an amateur talent contest, Williams began his professional career in Montgomery in the late 1930s playing on local radio stations and at area venues such as school houses, movie theaters, and bars. He formed the Drifting Cowboys backup band, which was managed by his mother, and dropped out of school to devote his time to his career. Because his alcoholism made ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otis Grand
Fred Bishti (February 14, 1950 – June 2023), known professionally as Otis Grand, was a Lebanese-born American blues musician, best known for his album, ''Perfume & Grime'' (1996) and his exciting live performances. He was honoured with the Presidential Medal for Arts by the Republic of Lebanon in 2009. Biography Grand was born in Beirut, Lebanon. Otis Grand spent much of his life in the United States. He played with local blues musicians at Eli's Mile High Club in Oakland, California, and made contacts that would later prove useful; such as Joe Louis Walker who produced his debut album, ''Always Hot'' (1988). He later cited his early influences as being B.B. King, Otis Rush, Johnny Otis and T-Bone Walker. By the late 1980s, Grand was based in the UK where he and his Dance Kings became a popular nightclub act. He was voted 'Best UK Blues Guitarist' seven years running (1990–1996) by the British ''Blues Connection'' magazine. In 1991, Grand co-starred with his backing band and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records (78s) collected in a bound book resembling a photo album; this format evolved after 1948 into single vinyl LP record, long-playing (LP) records played at rpm. The album was the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption from the mid-1960s to the early 21st century, a period known as the ''album era''. Vinyl LPs are still issued, though album sales in the 21st-century have mostly focused on CD and MP3 formats. The 8-track tape was the first tape format widely used alongside vinyl from 1965 until being phased out by 1983, being gradually supplanted by the cassette tape throughout the 1970s and early 1980s; the popul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rounder Records
Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts, by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by Alison Krauss and Union Station, George Thorogood, Tony Rice, and Béla Fleck, in addition to re-releases of seminal albums by artists such as the Carter Family, Jelly Roll Morton, Lead Belly, and Woody Guthrie. "Championing and preserving the music of artists whose music falls outside of the mainstream," Rounder releases have won 54 Grammy Awards representing diverse genres, from bluegrass, folk, reggae, and gospel to pop, rock, Americana, polka and world music. Acquired by Concord in 2010, Rounder is based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2016, The Rounder Founders (Levy, Irwin and Nowlin) were inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. History Beginnings Rounder was founded by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin, and Marian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extended Play
An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 15 to 30 minutes. An EP is usually less cohesive than an album and more "non-committal". An extended play (EP) originally referred to a specific type of 45 revolutions per minute, rpm phonograph record other than 78 rpm standard play (SP) and 33 rpm LP record, long play (LP), but , also applies to mid-length Compact disc, CDs and Music download, downloads. EPs are considered "less expensive and less time-consuming" for an artist to produce than an album, and have long been popular with punk and indie bands. In K-pop and J-pop, they are usually referred to as Mini-LP, mini-albums. Background History EPs were released in various sizes in different eras. The earliest multi-track records, issued around 1919 by Grey Gull Records, were Vertic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Musical ensemble, bands. Initiated in 1991, the database was first made available on the Internet in 1994. AllMusic is owned by RhythmOne. History AllMusic was launched as ''All-Music Guide'' by Michael Erlewine, a "compulsive archivist, noted astrologer, Buddhist scholar, and musician". He became interested in using computers for his astrological work in the mid-1970s and founded a software company, Matrix, in 1977. In the early 1990s, as compact discs (CDs) replaced LP record, LPs and cassette (format), cassettes as the dominant format for recorded music, Erlewine purchased what he thought was a CD of early recordings by Little Richard. After buying it, he discovered it was a "flaccid latter-day rehash". Frustrated with the labeling, he res ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
