Dance Macabre

Dance Macabre

Friday 22 April 2016

It's Time For Death To Take A Holiday

Seriously; April was like a weird horror movie;
Prince ~ 57 ~ Iconic American singer/guitarist/composer/producer. Combining influences from 1970's funk & disco, jazz-fusion and 1960's psyche-rock and pop he had a series of massively successful hits starting in the 1980's ("Purple Rain", "Little Red Corvette", "1999", "Raspberry Beret" "Kiss"). He also composed for movies such as "Purple Rain" and "Under The Cherry Moon" (both of which he starred in as well) and "Batman". Most of these can not be found on Youtube as he would not allow them to be licensed.

PRINCE ~ "LET'S GO CRAZY";


PRINCE ~ "PURPLE RAIN";


Prince also wrote and/or produced for a diverse number of artists including Morris Day & The Time ("Jungle Love"), The Bangles ("Manic Monday"), Sinaed O'Connor ("Nothing Compares To You"), Shelia E ("Glamorous Life"), Tom Jones ("Kiss")

SINEAD O'CONNOR ~ "NOTHING COMPARES TO YOU";


MORRIS DAY & THE TIME ~ "JUNGLE LOVE";


THE BANGLES ~ "MANIC MONDAY";


JIMMY SCOTT ~ "NOTHING COMPARES TO YOU";


Lonnie Mack ~ 74 ~ Memphis based Blues, Rock and R&B guitarist and singer, known for his flying-V guitar, fat sound and use of the wammy bar.

LONNIE MACK ~ "WHY";


LONNIE MACK ~ "STOP";


Richard Lyons ~ 57 ~ Sound collage artist with influential American avant garde group Negativeland. Known for their use of complex sound colleges made up of densely edited found sounds from various media sources along with intentionally cheesy music and vocals. They were also known for their frequent legal problems including bans for the song "Christianity Is Stupid", lawsuits from U2's record label and DJ Casey Kasem over "U2" and a crippling lawsuit from their own record label SST.

NEGATIVELAND ~ "CHRISTIANITY IS STUPID";


NEGATIVELAND ~ "U2";


Billy Paul ~ 81 ~ 1970's R&B singer ("Me and Mrs. Jones"), part of The Philadelphia Sound

BILLY PAUL ~ "ME & MRS JONES";


Lord Tanamo ~ Pioneering Jamaican/Canadian Ska singer w/The Skatalites and solo from the 1960's on

LORD TANAMO ~ "I'M IN THE MOOD FOR SKA";


Papa Wemba ~ 66 ~ Congolese Rumba singer

PAPA WEMBA ~ "YOLELE";


Pete Zorn ~ 65 ~ American multi-insturmentalist musician (Steeleye Span, Richard Thompson, Driver, The Albion Band)

RICHARD THOMPSON ~ "I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE";


Doug Raney ~ 59 ~ American jazz guitarist from the 1970's on

DOUG RANEY;


Maxine Willan ~ Australia born Toronto Jazz pianist w/The Toronto Speakeasies and solo


Thursday 7 April 2016

Merle Haggard, Ralph Stanley And Other Country Singers

Merle Haggard ~ 79 ~ was one of the stars of the 1960's California based American Outlaw Country movement which included Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, David Allen Coe and Jessi Colter.

MERLE HAGGARD ~ "SING ME BACK HOME";


His family had migrated from Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl and Haggard had mant brushed with the law including a spell in San Quentin Prison where he saw Johnny Cash perform and was inspired to become a musician himself. Released in 1960 he began recording in 1962 and would go on to score 37 number one hits from 1966 to 1987 including classics like "Okie from Muskogee", "The Fightin' Side of Me", "Carolyn", "Momma Tried", "If We Make It Through December", "Sing Me Back Home" and "Pancho & Lefty" (with Willie Nelson) which chronicled the white working class. He also produced an aclaimed tribute album to Bob Wills and was supposed to produce Gram Parson's first solo album but backed out. Parsons would record a version of "Sing Me Back Home". Haggard won Grammy Awards in 1984, 1998, and 1999. MERLE HAGGARD ~ "MAMMA TRIED";


MERLE HAGGARD ~ "OKIE FROM MUSKOGEE";


Ralph Stanley ~ 89 ~ Virginia born banjo player and singer with The Stanley Brothers and The Clinch Mountain Boys from the 1940's onward "Man Of Constant Sorrow", "Pretty Polly" (covered by The Byrds & The Sadies), "Little Glass Of Wine" (also covered by The Sadies) and "O'Death". The Stanley Bros were a major influence on The Everly Bros. Was still working up to a couple years ago and was part of the "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" soundtrack

THE STANLEY BROS ~ "WORRIED MAN BLUES";


THE STANLEY BROS ~ "HOW MOUNTAIN GIRLS CAN LOVE";


THE STANLEY BROS ~ "RANK STRANGER";


Guy Clark ~ 74 ~ Grammy winning Country singer/songwriter, songs covered by Jerry Jeff Walker, Jimmy Buffett, Lyle Lovett, Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner, and Rodney Crowell, Johnny Cash, David Allan Coe, Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs, Brad Paisley, John Denver, Alan Jackson, Rodney Crowell, The Highwaymen, and Kenny Chesney, recoded with Emmylou Harris

GUY CLARK ~ "COUNTRY MORNING MUSIC";


GUY CLARK ~ "BLUEBIRD WINE";


SONNY JAMES ~ 87 ~ American country singer-songwriter with numerous hits from the 1950's to the 1980's with ballads like "Young Love" and covers of songs like "Running Bear", "Only The Lonely", "Lovesick Blues" and "Abilene", later a producer for Marie Osmond.

SONNY JAMES ~ "YOUNG LOVE";


SONNY JAMES ~ "RUNNING BEAR"


Bonnie Brown ~ 77 ~ American country singer w/1950's band The Browns ("The Bells")

THE BROWNS ~ "THREE BELLS";


THE BROWNS ~ "I HEARD THE BLUEBIRDS SING";


Dave Swarbrick ~ 75 ~ British fiddler singer-songwriter w/Fairport Convention

FAIRPORT CONVENTION ~


James King ~ 58 ~ Virginia Bluegrass singer/songwriter known as The Bluegrass Storyteller

JAMES KING ~ "LEAVING";