Ten Years After

Ten Years After are an English blues rock band, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The group was form after several years of local success in the Nottingham/Mansfield area as a band known as The Jaybirds (its core was formed in late 1960 as Ivan Jay and the Jaycats), and later as Ivan Jay and the Jaymen, Ten Years After was founded by Alvin Lee and Leo Lyons. Ivan Jay sang lead vocals from late 1960 to 1962 and was joined by Ric Lee in August 1965, replacing original drummer Dave Quickmire, who had joined in 1962. In 1966 The Jaybirds moved to London, where Chick Churchill joined the group.

That November the quartet signed a manager, Chris Wright, and decided to change their name to Blues Trip, Blues Yard and finally in November 1966, to Ten Years After ( in honour of Elvis Presley, an idol of Lee's whose momentous year in rock, 1956, helps to better explain the band's title). They became the first band of the soon-to-be Chrysalis Agency. They received an invitation to play at the renowned Windsor Jazz Festival in 1967. That performance led to a contract with Deram, a subsidiary company of Decca – the first band so signed without a hit single. In October, their 1967 self-titled debut album was released.

In 1968, after touring Scandinavia and the United States, Ten Years After released their second album, live Undead, which brought their first classic, "I'm Going Home." This was followed in February 1969 by studio issue, Stonedhenge, a British hit, that included another classic, "Hear Me Calling" (it was released also as a single, and covered in 1972 by British glam rock rising stars, Slade). In July 1969 they appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival, in the first event to which rock bands were invited. In August, the band performed at Woodstock; their furious-to-soft-to-furious rendition of "I'm Going Home" was featured in both the subsequent film and soundtrack album and catapulted them to star status.

During 1970, they released "Love Like a Man," their only hit in the UK Singles Chart. This song was on their fifth album, Cricklewood Green. It was the first record to be issued with a different playing speed on both sides – one a three-minute edit at 45rpm, the other, a nine-minute live version at 33rpm. In August, Ten Years After played the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 to an audience of 600,000.

In 1971, the band released the album A Space in Time which marked a move toward more commercial material. It featured their biggest hit, "I'd Love To Change The World". But a few albums later, the band broke up after the 1974 album "Positive Vibrations". In 1988, they re-united for a few concerts and recorded the album About Time (1989).

Alvin Lee has since then mostly played and recorded under his own name. In 2004, the other band members substituted him with Joe Gooch and recorded the album Now. Material from the following tour was used for the 2005 double album Roadworks. Ric Lee is currently in a band called The Breakers, along with Ian Ellis (Clouds). Find out more about this British musical contribution to the world at: http://tenyearsafter.com/

Research info gathered at: www.wikipedia.org


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Bettye LaVette

Bettye LaVette (born Betty Haskins in Muskegon, Michigan, 1946) is an American soul singer who cut her first record at 16, but achieved only intermittent fame until her 2005 record, I've Got My Own Hell to Raise. Her style combines elements of country, rock, soul, funk, and gospel, which has prevented her from being easily marketed.

She grew up in Detroit, where she was discovered by a Detroit record producer. In 1962, aged 16, she recorded a single, "My Man - He's A Lovin' Man" which became a national hit after Atlantic Records bought distribution rights. This led to a tour with R&B musicians Clyde McPhatter, Ben E. King, Barbara Lynn and then-newcomer Otis Redding, and then a stint touring with James Brown. Her next single was "Let Me Down Easy", which has become her theme song. She would cut numerous other singles for various labels, without an album contract.

An album to be titled Child of the Seventies was produced in 1972, but it was shelved and was not released until 2000. Despite drawing enthusiastic live crowds across the country, she continued to be rebuffed by labels. She spent six years on Broadway and touring with the musical Bubbling Brown Sugar opposite Cab Calloway. During the disco era, she managed a small hit with the ironically titled "Doin' The Best That I Can".

In 1982 Motown finally offered her a contract to fill the void left by the departing Diana Ross, and LaVette recorded Tell Me A Lie, with the single "Right in the Middle of Falling in Love" which was a modest hit. Still her career languished, though she found steady work on the European festival circuit. In 1991, she completed the album Not Gonna Happen Twice for Ian Levine's Motorcity label.

In 1999, Gilles Petard, a French soul collector, discovered the masters of Child of the Seventies. He licensed the album from Atlantic and released it on his Art and Soul label as Souvenirs (2000). (Child of the Seventies was reissued by Rhino Handmade in 2006 with additional tracks.) This led to a LaVette revival which has so far included a live album and two brand new albums, including 2005's I've Got My Own Hell to Raise, an album whose title is taken from the lyrics of the Fiona Apple hit Sleep to Dream, which is covered on the album. Other notable songwriters on the album were Aimee Mann, Sinead O'Connor, Lucinda Williams, Joan Armatrading, and Dolly Parton. The album was relased by ANTI- Records and produced by Joe Henry.

Her 2007 album, The Scene of the Crime, was recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. She recorded Child of the Seventies not at FAME but at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, which ceased operation in 2005. LaVette talks about her experiences at Muscle Shoals Sound and FAME in a Knoxville Voice interview conducted by Edd Hurt in September 2007. Rock/Alt-Country outfit Drive-By Truckers served as the back-up band for the album. Drive-By Truckers frontman, Patterson Hood, produced the album alongside LaVette. The album also features one song co-written by LaVette and Patterson Hood. Find out more at: http://www.bettyelavette.com/

Research info gathered at: www.wikipedia.org


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Cliff Richards

Sir Cliff Richard, (born Harry Roger Webb on 14 October 1940) is an English singer, actor and businessman. With his band The Shadows, he dominated the British popular music scene in the late 1950s and early 1960s. During six decades, he has charted many singles, and holds the record (with Elvis Presley) as the only act to make the UK singles charts in all of its decades (1950s–2000s) selling some 250 million records.

Cliff Richard was born at the King George Hospital in Lucknow, British India to Roger Oscar Webb, a steward, and Dorothy Marie (born Dazely) Webb. He is known to have mixed Indian and White ancestry. In 1947, following Indian independence, the family moved to Britain.

He became lead singer of the rock and roll group, the Drifters (not to be confused with the U.S. group of the same name). In 1958 they adopted the name "Cliff Richard and the Drifters". In the summer of that year he was signed to a recording contract with EMI's Columbia label for himself only, leaving the band behind. He remained with EMI until signing with Decca in 2004. Richard recorded his first single on 24 July 1958. For his debut session, he was given "Schoolboy Crush", a cover of an American record by Bobby Helms, and was permitted to record one of his own songs for the B-side; "Move It", written by the Drifters' Samwell on a number 715 Green Line bus on the way to Richard's house for a rehearsal. Music critics Roy Carr and Tony Tyler wrote that it was the first genuine British rock classic, followed by Johnny Kidd and the Pirates's "Shakin' All Over".

In the early days, he was marketed as the British equivalent to Elvis Presley, adopting Presley-like dress and hairstyle. His late 1958 and early 1959 follow-up singles, "High Class Baby", and "Living Doll" were followed by "Mean Streak". It was on "Living Doll" that the Drifters began to back Richard on record. The group was obliged to change its name to "The Shadows" after legal complications with the U.S. Drifters. The Shadows would end up having several major hits own their own, including five UK #1s.

Richard's fifth single "Living Doll" triggered a softer, more relaxed, sound. Subsequent hits, the #1s "Travellin' Light" and "I Love You" and also "A Voice in the Wilderness" and "Theme for a Dream" cemented Richard's status as a mainstream pop. Throughout the early sixties his hits were consistently in the top five.

His career took a sudden turn because the sudden advent of The Beatles in 1963 and 1964 and he would never again enjoy the amount of success as before. Nor did doors open to him in the U.S. market; he was not considered part of the British Invasion, despite four Hot 100 hits (including the top 25 "It's All In The Game") between August 1963 and August 1964. Although baptised as an Anglican Christian, he did not appear to practice the faith in his early years. However, in 1964, he became an active Christian and this conversion has become an important aspect of his life. Soon after, he re-emerged, performing with Christian groups and recording some Christian material. He still recorded secular songs with the Shadows, but devoted a lot of his time to Christian work, including appearances with the Billy Graham crusades.

In 1976 the decision was made to repackage him as a "rock" artist. That year he produced the landmark album I'm Nearly Famous, which included the successful but controversial guitar-driven track Devil Woman (his first true hit in the United States) and the ballad Miss You Nights. In 1979, he teamed up with the producer Bruce Welch for the pop hit single We Don't Talk Anymore, which hit #1 in the UK and #7 in the U.S. The record gave him the distinction of becoming the first act to reach the Hot 100 in the 1980s who had also reached the Hot 100 in each of the three previous decades.

In 1986, he teamed up with The Young Ones to re-record his smash hit "Living Doll" for the charity Comic Relief. The release went to no.1. Further top ten albums included Stronger in 1989, which included the UK No.2 hit "Best Of Me", and UK No.3 "Just Don't Have The Heart" and yet another number one with The Album in 1993. Cliff Richard was knighted on 25 October 1995, the first rock star to be so honoured. He finished number 56 in the 2002 100 Greatest Britons list, sponsored by the BBC and voted for by the public. This year, Richard's 50th year in music, will see the release of the 8CD box set, And They Said It Wouldn't Last (My 50 Years In Music). Find out more about this living British legend at his website: http://www.cliffrichard.org/

Research info gathered at: www.wikipedia.org


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Nina Simone

Eunice Kathleen Waymon, was better known by her stage name Nina Simone (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), was a fifteen-time Grammy Award-nominated American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger and prominate civil rights activist. Although she disliked being categorized, she is generally classified as a jazz musician.

Raised in a family of eight children in Tryon, North Carolina, she originally harbored hopes of becoming a classical pianist, studying at New York's prestigious Juilliard School of Music — a rare position for an African-American woman in the 1950s. Needing to support herself while she studied, she generated income by working as an accompanist and giving piano lessons. Auditioning for a job as a pianist in an Atlantic City nightclub, she was told she had the spot if she would sing as well as play. Almost by accident, she began to carve a reputation as a singer of secular material, though her skills at the piano would serve her well throughout her career.

Her work covers an eclectic variety of musical styles besides her classical basis, such as jazz, soul, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop music. Her vocal style is characterized by intense passion, a loose vibrato, and a slightly androgynous timbre, in part due to her unusually low vocal range which veered between the alto and tenor ranges (occasionally even reaching baritone lows). Sometimes known as the High Priestess of Soul, she paid great attention to the musical expression of emotions. Within one album or concert she could fluctuate between exuberant happiness or tragic melancholy. These fluctuations also characterized her own personality and personal life, worsened by a bipolar disorder with which she was diagnosed in the mid-1960s, but was kept secret until 2004.

She recorded over 40 live and studio albums, the biggest body of her work being released between 1958 (when she made her debut with Little Girl Blue) and 1974. Songs she is best known for include "My Baby Just Cares for Me", "I Put a Spell on You", "I Loves You Porgy", "Feeling Good", "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", "Sinnerman", "To Be Young, Gifted and Black", "Strange Fruit", "Ain't Got No/I Got Life" and "I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl". Her music and message made a strong and lasting impact on African-American culture, illustrated by the numerous contemporary artists who cite her as an important influence (among them Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys, Jeff Buckley, and Lauryn Hill), as well as the extensive use of her music on soundtracks and in remixes.

She left the U. S. in September 1970. She flew to Barbados, expecting her husband and manager, Andrew Stroud, to contact her when she had to perform again. However, Stroud interpreted her sudden disappearance (and the fact that she left behind her wedding ring) as a cue for a divorce. As her manager, Stroud was also in charge of Simone's income. This meant that after their separation she had no knowledge about how her business was run, and what she was actually worth. Upon returning to America she also learned that she was wanted for unpaid taxes, causing her to go back to Barbados again to evade the authorities and prosecution. She stayed in Barbados for quite some time, and had a lengthy affair with the Prime Minister, Errol Barrow. A close friend, singer Miriam Makeba, convinced her to come to Liberia. After that she lived in Switzerland and the Netherlands, before settling in France in 1992.

Though her on-stage style could be somewhat haughty and aloof, in later years, she particularly seemed to enjoy engaging her audiences by recounting sometimes humorous anecdotes related to her career and music and soliciting requests. Her autobiography, I Put a Spell on You, was published in 1992 and she recorded her last album, A Single Woman in 1993. That same year she settled near Aix-en-Provence in Southern France. She had been ill with breast cancer for several years before she died in her sleep at her home in Carry-le-Rouet, Bouches-du-Rhône on April 21, 2003, aged 70. Her funeral service was attended by singers Miriam Makeba and Patti Labelle, poet Sonia Sanchez, actor Ossie Davis and hundreds of others. Her ashes were scattered in several African countries. She left behind a daughter, Lisa Celeste, now an actress/singer who took on the stagename Simone who has appeared on Broadway in Aida. Find out more about her music and her life at: http://ninasimone.com/

Research info gathered at: www.wikipedia.org


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Procol Harum

Procol Harum is a British rock band, formed in the 1960s. They are best known for their 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", which is not only a regular item on classic singles polls, but is also regarded as being a seminal track in the development of pop music and particularly progressive rock music. Based in Southend, England, The Paramounts, led by Gary Brooker and Robin Trower and including Chris Copping, scored a moderate British success with a cover of The Coasters song "Poison Ivy" in 1964, reaching number 35 in the UK singles chart.They were unable to recreate this, however, and the band fell apart in 1966.

In April 1967, Brooker began working as a singer/songwriter and formed Procol Harum with non-Paramounts Keith Reid (poet), Hammond organist Matthew Fisher, guitarist Ray Royer and bassist David Knights. The band name was chosen by its original manager Guy Stevens after a friend's Burmese cat.

At Olympic Studios, the group recorded "A Whiter Shade of Pale." The song was officially released on May 12, 1967. With the sudden success of this single and The Moody Blues' "Nights in White Satin", their label Deram Records became known as a premier progressive rock label. With its Bach-like tonality, provided by Fisher's Hammond organ, Brooker's soulful vocals and Reid's mysterious, if not impenetrable, lyrics, the song reached #1 on the British charts and reached #5 in the U.S. In the years since, it has become an enduring classic, placing on several polls of the best songs ever.

With the song's success the band consolidated their studio success by touring; their live debut was opening for Jimi Hendrix in 1967. A Salty Dog (1969) was their first album to sell well in the UK; it is still regarded as one of their finest albums. The title track in particular gained a good deal of US FM radio airplay, with Reid's ominous lyrics in the forefront. However, Fisher, who produced this album, departed the band soon after its release. This would lead to many personnel changes with former Paramount Chris Copping joining on organ and bass in 1970, and from late 1972 till 1977, the group's guitarist was Mick Grabham, who replaced Trower.

Musically, Procol Harum was split during all these years between Trower's guitar-driven blues rock style and Brooker's and Fisher's structured classical rock sound. The group often combined the two into a dynamic fusion, but by 1971 the disparities in style became too great; the end of an era was marked for Procol, with the release of their fifth album Broken Barricades, and subsequent departure of Trower to form his own power trio band; he would be replaced by Dave Ball.

The band reformed in 1991 with Brooker, Fisher, Trower and Reid (Wilson had died in 1990), and released The Prodigal Stranger, but sales were modest. In July 1997, fans arranged the celebration of the 30-year anniversary of the success of "A Whiter Shade of Pale", and invited the then-inactive band to play. The concert, at Redhill, drew fans from all over the world. A direct result of the concert was the creation of the fan website "Beyond the Pale" in October 1997. In late 1999, Gary Brooker promised that "Procol will play in 2000", and in September the band played an open-air gig with the New London Sinfonia in Guildford, UK.

Since 2001 the band [Brooker; Fisher; Geoff Whitehorn (also guitarist with Elkie Brooks), guitar; Matt Pegg, bass, Mark Brzezicki, drums] has made several tours of mostly Europe, but also Japan and the US. A 2001 concert in Copenhagen was released on DVD in 2002. In 2003, the band released the album The Well's on Fire. A December, 2003 London concert with much of the material from that record was released on DVD in 2004: Live at the Union Chapel. Fisher quit Procol Harum in 2004.

The band still tours, with Josh Phillips replacing Fisher on Hammond, leaving Gary Brooker as the only original performing member. In June 2006 they played at the Isle of Wight festival, the only act also to have played the original festival in 1969. In July of 2007, fans arranged the celebration of the 40-year anniversary of the success of "A Whiter Shade of Pale", and invited the band to play in two concerts at St John's, Smith Square in London. Find out more at: www.classicbands.com/procol.harum

Research info gathered at: www.wikipedia.org


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Brook Benton

He was born Benjamin Franklin Peay on Sep. 19, 1931 in Camden, South Carolina. He would become unknown all over the world for his silky smooth and baritone voice, and is perhaps best remembered for his hit recording of the song, 'Rainy Night In Georgia,' which also became a hit for other recording artists.

Also a noted songwriter with writer and producer Clyde Otis he began his recording career in the early 1950s while touring the gospel circuit. In 1953, he began a recording session with the Okeh Record Label, and that lasted until he met Otis. He co-wrote several hundreds of demos for other artists, and was a great success as a songwriter, but his greatest success was as a soul singer throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

In 1959, Benton landed on the R&B charts with the single, 'It's Just A Matter Of Time,' and then followed that release up with several other highly succesful hits including, 'Kiddio,' 'So Many Ways,' ' 'This Time Of The Year,' 'Fools Rush In,' 'Thank You Pretty Baby,' and the 1960 duet, 'A Rockin Good Way,' with singer Dinah Washington.

Benton continued recording throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, with some more successes, and even took a crack at the Disco era. His biggest hit though was the 1970 hit, 'Rainy Night In Georgia,' on the Cotillion Record Label.

His albums include, "Brook Benton At His Best" in 1959, "Endlessy" in 1959, "There Goes That Song Again" in 1963, "Do Your Own Thing" in 1969, "The Gospel Truth" in 1970, "Sings A Love Song" in 1975, "Ebony" in 1978, "Brook Benton Sings The Standards" in 1984, and "Brook Benton R.I.P. in 1988. His other list of studio recordings include, 'Shadrack,' 'Revenge,' 'Frankie And Johnny,' 'So Close,' 'Hotel Happiness,' 'The Boll Weevil Song,' and 'It's Just A House Without You.'

Although he continued to record throughout the 1970s and 1980s his career was pretty much over by the late 1970s. On April 9, 1988, Brook Benton passed away from spinal meningitis complications at the age of 56, in New York City. Find out more about one of my favorite satin soul singers at: www.soulwalking.co.uk/Brook%20Benton.html

Research info gathered at: www.findagrave.com


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