Kheesha Abreu
Rock & Roll in American Society
MUH 3023 001
Spring 2014
I chose to write my paper on Darius Rucker because when I was younger my uncle used to play songs by Hootie & the Blowfish to me all the time. My favorite song of theirs is “I Only Want To Be With You” released in 1994 from the Cracked Rear View album. I still listen to their old albums although I prefer the songs of Darius Rucker now, as a solo country music artist, more than Hootie & the Blowfish. He went from an American rock band to a solo country singer and has been on the charts ever since. Darius has accomplished many wonderful things, one of which is being “the first country music singer to have his first three singles reach No. 1 since Wynona Judd in 1992”. I will talk about Darius’ career as a member of Hootie & the Blowfish, his career as a solo artist, and why I like him.
Here is a little background information about Darius Rucker and the band he formed in college. Darius was born May 13th, 1966; he was raised by a single mother and was one of six children. As a child, Darius sang in his Church choir and was part of his high school choir. After graduating high school he attended the University of South Carolina, which is where the band Hootie & the Blowfish was formed in 1986. It is said that Mark Bryan, a fellow band member, heard Darius singing in the shower and the two became a duo, named Wolf Brothers, before adding in the other two members. Dean Felber joined and then in 1989 Jim “Soni” Sonefeld joined, officially forming Hootie & the Blowfish. The band was signed by Atlantic Records and recorded six albums; all the albums featured songs written by Darius, Mark, and Felber. “The group's blusey harmonica solos—working in tandem with Rucker's de...
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... Wagon Wheel, Radio, Lost in you, and Lie to me) on repeat and never get bored of them. My uncle introduced me to Hootie & the Blowfish when I was younger but I didn’t continue to listen to Darius, that much, until after I heard “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It”. Once I heard that song, I was hooked; I began to look up other songs by him and that is when I realized he was the lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish. Like I mentioned earlier, I prefer his country albums over his rock band albums. It may have to do with the fact that I am a country music lover but I just find myself singing along more and getting into his country music more.
Works Cited
"About," Darius Rucker Official Web site, http://www.dariusrucker.com (April 29, 2009).
"Darius Rucker," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/darius-rucker-224910 (accessed Mar 11, 2014).
Elijah McCoy was born in Colchester, Ontario Canada on May 2, 1844, the son of former slaves who had fled from Kentucky before the U.S. Civil War. Educated in Scotland as a mechanical engineer, Elijah McCoy returned to the United States and settled in Detroit, Michigan.
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Ryan, John. “The Seventh Stream: The emergency of rock n roll in American popular music,” (Book reviews) Social Forces (1994): March, p. 927. Star, Alexander. “Hole in Our Soul: The Loss of Beauty and Meaning in American Popular Music” (book reviews)
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