One of the most important institutions in country music – and, therefore, American music – is the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. On October 18, 1925, the...
Tag - bluegrass music
Doc Watson is one of the most important people in the history of American music. Clearly, his technical mastery is deep. I am not capable of commenting on it...
The Daily Music Break will offer a page of links on various forms of music during 2013. To kick it off, here is a basic overview of bluegrass music —...
Bill Monroe (1911-1996) is known as the Father of Bluegrass Music. His very nice site offers a tremendous amount of information. Here is the beginning of a...
The Shelby Bottom String Band was nice enough to send me information on the band and some links. Here is some of what they say about themselves: The band has...
Alison Krauss’ version of this traditional was recorded for the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which was released in 2000. The great photos were added...
Doc Watson: 1923-2012 Shady Grove with David Holt Deep River Blues Sally Goodin with Bill Monroe Sitting on Top of the World Little Sadie with Merle Watson...
Reading Music
The stories of the great bands and musicians are fascinating. Musicians as a group are brilliant, but often troubled. The combination of creativity and drama makes for great reading.
Here are some books to check out.
Duke Ellington brought class, sophistication and style to jazz which, until that point, was proudly unpolished and raucous. His story is profound. The author, Terry Teachout, also wrote "Pops," the acclaimed bio of Louis Armstrong. Click here or on the image.
What else is there to say? Here is the story behind every song written by The Beatles. Click here or on the image.
The Grateful Dead don't get enough credit for the profound nature of its lyrics. Many of the band's songs are driven by a deep and literate Americana ("I'm Uncle Sam/That's who I am/Been hidin' out/In a rock and roll band" and "Majordomo Billy Bojangles/Sit down and have a drink with me/What's this about Alabama/Keeps comin' back to me?").
David Dodd's exhaustive study tells the story, song by song. Click here or on the image.
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