Friday, October 19, 2007

Take it easy



Eagles (commonly referred to as "The Eagles") are an American rock band that was formed in Los Angeles, California in the early 1970s. With five number-one singles and four number-one albums, the Eagles were among the most successful recording artists of the 1970s. At the end of the 20th century, two of their albums, Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971–1975 and Hotel California, ranked among the ten best-selling albums according to the Recording Industry Association of America. The best-selling studio album Hotel California is rated as the 37th album in the Rolling Stone list "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", and the band was ranked number 75 on Rolling Stone's 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[1] They are also the best-selling American group ever, with Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971–1975 being the best-selling album in the U.S. to date.The Eagles also provided the theme tune for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, with a song called Journey of the Sorcerer.

The Eagles broke up in 1980 and were disbanded for 14 years, but reunited in 1994 for Hell Freezes Over ("For the record, we never broke up. We just took a fourteen year vacation."). They have toured intermittently since then, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

On June 8, 2007, Don Henley announced at a concert that a new album, Long Road Out of Eden, would be out on October 30, 2007. This will be the first full studio album by the band in 28 years (1994's Hell Freezes Over was a mix of live and new studio tracks). The Eagles are also planning a tour throughout 2008 after the release of this album.

http://eaglesband.com/

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Black Rebel - Muddy Waters


Waters’ approach to the blues underwent a dramatic metamorphosis after moving to Chicago, where he befriended and played with such estimable figures as Big Bill Broonzy and John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson. Waters switched from acoustic to electric guitar in order to be heard over the din of patrons at the clubs he played on Chicago’s South Side. After a few false starts, Waters’ recording career began in earnest soon after pianist Sunnyland Slim introduced him to Leonard Chess, co-owner of the Aristocrat label (later Chess Records). Working at the famed Chess Studios on South Michigan Avenue, Waters cut many of the greatest recordings in the blues canon. He developed a fruitful team approach to record-making with producer Leonard Chess, bassist/songwriter Willie Dixon, and various musical associates.

Waters was a fierce singer and slashing slide guitarist whose uncut blues bore the stamp of his mentors, Robert Johnson and Son House. For his own part, Waters served to mentor or at least launch many prominent blues musicians, many of whom went on to careers as bandleaders in their own right. The list of notable musicians who passed through Waters’ band includes harmonica players “Little Walter” Jacobs, “Big Walter” Horton, Junior Wells and James Cotton; guitarists Jimmy Rogers, Pat Hare, Luther Tucker and Earl Hooker; pianists Memphis Slim, Otis Spann and Pinetop Perkins; and drummers Elgin Evans, Fred Below and Francis Clay.

In addition to his musical legacy, Waters helped cultivate a great respect for the blues as one of its most commanding and articulate figureheads. Drummer Levon Helm of The Band, who worked with him on The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album and at The Last Waltz, had this to say about him in a Goldmine magazine interview: “Muddy taught us to take things in context, to be respectful, and to be serious about our music, as he was. He showed us music is a sacred thing.”

Waters, who remained active till the end, died of a heart attack in 1983. He was 68 years old. In the years since his death, the one-room cedar shack in which he lived on the Stovall Plantation has been preserved as a memorial to Waters’ humble origins.

Discography
The Best of Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters Sings Big Bill Broonzy
Muddy Waters At Newport, 1960
Folk Singer
The Real Folk Blues
Muddy Waters Brass and the Blues
More Real Folk Blues
Electric Mud
After The Rain
Fathers and Sons
Muddy Waters Sail On
They Call Me Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield aka Muddy Waters Live (at Mr. Kelly's)
The London Muddy Waters Sessions
Can't Get No Grindin'
London Revisited with Howlin' Wolf
Unk In Funk
Woodstock Album
Rolling Stone
Rare and Unissued
Trouble No More Super Blues
Live at Jazz Jamboree '76
His Best, 1947 - 1955
Muddy Mississippi Waters
I'm Ready
Hard Again
King Bee
Muddy and the Wolf
The Plantation Album
One More Mile
Paris, 1972
Goin' Way Back
A Tribute to Muddy Waters
Buddy Guy, John Hiatt, Keb Mo and others sing the music of Muddy Waters.
Hoochie Coochie Man
The Lost Tapes
The Golden Anniversary Collection

http://www.muddywaters.com