A ramblin’ man, a maverick, an Outlaw. Undeniably, Waylon Jennings was an artist who broke boundaries and refused to be confined by the restrictions that others imposed upon him. He created a style of music that was uniquely his, during a time when many artists bent under the weight of the Nashville Sound. From his humble beginnings on regional Texas radio to his acquisition of the award of the Country Music Association’s Male Vocalist of the Year, Jennings stayed true to himself and his musical style. He was the ultimate maverick of country music. Thanks to an influential mentor and his involvement in the Outlaw Movement of the 1970s, he became a superstar who left a lasting legacy on the genre of country music. Waylon Jennings was born on …show more content…
Holly knew Jennings from his work at Lubbock's KDAV radio station, and arranged for his first recording session at the Petty studio in Clovis on September 10, 1958. Here, Jennings recorded "Jole Blon" and "When Sin Stops (Love Begins)." These recordings were released in the spring of 1959, but did not see spectacular commercial success (Carr and Munde 155). Despite this, Holly took a liking to Jennings and invited him to play in his backup band for his winter tour. Jennings' boss at KDAV was reluctant to let him go, as he was one of the best disc jockeys at the station, but he eventually agreed to allow Jennings to depart on what would become a fateful tour (Denisoff 663). It was on this tour though, that Holly truly became Jennings' mentor; they even discussed Jennings moving into Holly's New York City apartment (Denisoff 664). Their relationship was, unfortunately, cut short by Holly's death in a plane crash in 1959. Jennings was supposed to have been on this flight as well, but managed to avoid a tragic fate by giving his plane ticket to another band member, JP "The Big Bopper" Richardson, at the last minute (Ratiner 92). In spite of Holly's sudden death, the booking agency insisted that the tour must continue and convinced the band members to agree by promising them additional pay that they would never actually receive (Denisoff 667). By the end of the tour, Jennings was at a low point. Firstly, he had lost a mentor, a dear friend, and their ideas for the future; the plans they had made together surely could never be realized (Denisoff 671). Secondly, he was disillusioned with the music industry. He felt that he had been swindled out of money by the booking agency, describing them as mere "flesh peddlers" (Denisoff 671). Holly's death was very traumatic for Jennings and left him demoralized for some time. A few years later,
The “king of Western swing,” Bob Wills, was a prominent figure from the 1930s through 1950s. At at a young age he learned to play the fiddle and he and his father performed at dances and other social gatherings. He was exposed to other genres of music as a young boy such a blues, conjunto and mariachi, but it was the new sounds of jazz that inspired him to experiment with traditional country music. In 1929 Wills moved to Fort Worth, Texas, were he formed a band, the Wills Fiddle Band, which would soon change to Light Crust Doughboys. Their music was played was played on the Fort Worth radio station, KFJZ radio, and their unique sound quickly spread which is what the radio advertisers needed during the economic downfall. However, in 1933 Wills left the band and formed a new one called Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys and they toured together over the next forty years. In 1945 Wills appeared at the Grand Ole Opry and insisted that there be a horn and drum section on stage. The audience was surprisingly pleased with this unwanted change by the directors. Despite his somewhat strained relationship with Nashville, the local country music establishment formally recognized Wills and his important overall impact on country music when the Country Music Association Hall of Fame inducted him in 1968 (Hartman, 146). Bob Wills died in 1975, but was still a major influence in up and coming young country artists like Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, George Strait and Lee Ann Womack.
Eleanora Fagan (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959), professionally known as Billie Holiday, was an American jazz artist and artist musician with a vocation traversing almost thirty years. Nicknamed "Woman Day" by her companion and music accomplice Lester Young, Holiday affected jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style, firmly propelled by jazz instrumentalists, spearheaded another method for controlling stating and rhythm. She was known for her vocal conveyance and improvisational aptitudes, which compensated for her restricted range and absence of formal music instruction. There were other jazz vocalists with equivalent ability, however Holiday had a voice that caught the consideration of her crowd.
Ella was born in Newport News, Virginia on April 25, 1917. When alled “The First Lady of Song” by some fans. She was known for having beautiful tone, extended range, and great intonation, and famous for her improvisational scat singing. Ella sang during the her most famous song was “A-tiscket A-tasket”. Fitzgerald sang in the period of swing, ballads, and bebop; she made some great albums with other great jazz artists such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Louis Armstrong. She influenced countless American popular singers of the post-swing period and also international performers such as the singer Miriam Makeba. She didn’t really write any of her own songs. Instead she sang songs by other people in a new and great way. The main exception
Some of her better-known sides from the Twenties include “Backwater Blues,” “Taint Nobody’s Bizness If I Do,” “St. Louis Blues” (recorded with Louis Armstrong), and “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out.” The Depression dealt her career a blow, but Smith changed with the times by adapting a more up-to-date look and revised repertoire that incorporated Tin Pan Alley tunes like “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.” On the verge of the Swing Era, Smith died from injuries sustained in an automobile accident outside Clarksdale, Mississippi, in September 1937. She left behind a rich, influential legacy of 160 recordings cut between 1923 and 1933. Some of the great vocal divas who owe a debt to Smith include Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin. In Joplin’s own words of tribute, “She showed me the air and taught me how to fill it.
The music industry during the 1940s was filled with many talented artists who impacted the music industry and the history of rock n’ roll forever. But one of the very well known and talented artists was Buddy Holly. Buddy Holly was the first to pioneer new music genres and progressive music. Charles Hardin Holley (1936-1959) was an American musician and artist whose creative career began in 1956. The family name is correctly spelled “Holley” but his first recording contract from Decca Records in 1956 spelled his last name “Holly” and he kept it that way for the rest of his career (Griggs 1). Holly took a very influential position in the music industry and built an audience for his Rock and Roll music very quickly due to his unique voice and advanced knowledge of music. Buddy Holly is a prime example of a musical pioneer who blended resources from various music genres including a variety of popular genres such as rhythm and blues (RNB), oriental, and African (Schinder and Schwartz 85).
With Chas as his partner in crime, or manager, Hendrix became known world wide. He began his very first tour with his band Jimmy James And The Blue Flames. Chas and Hendrix worked very hard that year and finally released their first Album in the late 1966 early 1967 titled Are You Experienced? This album included the famous tracks Hey Jude and Purple Haze. During mid 1967, Hendrix did something that took the world by surprise. While performing at the Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967 he set his favorite guitar on fire. When later asked about why he did so, Hendrix simply
Widely considered country music’s first superstar, Hiram/Hank Williams was born September 17, 1923, in mount olive, Alabama. Williams, the third child of Lon and Lillie Williams, grew up in a household that never had much money. His father worked as a logger before entering the Veterans’ Administration hospital when young hank was just six. Father and son rarely saw each other over the next decade, with William’s mother, who ran rooming houses, moving the family to Greenville, and later, Montgomery, Alabama. (Hank Williams) Everyone knew Hank was a good guy, but like any man had his ups and his downs throughout the short life he lived. Hank grew up rough and he knew it; however nothing was going to stop this young man from doing what he set out to pursue. What he did was astonishing changing art or “so called” music. Hank redefined country music with his personal opinion on what music really was.
Most americans have probably heard the phrase, “Mamas don’t let your babies to grow up to be cowboys.” That phrase is one from one of Waylon Jennings most prominent songs. Jennings was one of the many country music stars that started the outlaw country music movement. Outlaw country was not recognized by most country music enthusiasts but it soon took over and swept them off their feet. Jennings also incorporated rock into his music, which opened the door to a wide variety of genres and listeners. Waylon Jennings left an everlasting impression on country music which earned him a name as one of the greatest country music stars.
Baldwin executed a well written short story by making the point of view through the eyes of Sonny’s brother. The setting made the story realistic, and the themes were powerful and influential. Though Sonny had struggles in life along with the rest of the family, he is able to redeem himself through his music. “Sonny’s fingers filled the air with life, his life. But that life contained so many others. And Sonny went all the way back, he really began to make it his.”
At the club in the final scene, his veins are described as boring “royal blood” (Baldwin 45). He’s back on his throne (the stage), with his people (Creole and others in the club who respect him as a musician), and rules his kingdom (performs his music). Baldwin describes him playing the piano as, “Sonny's fingers filled the air with life, his life” (Baldwin 48). Even if it was just for a song or two, Sonny found his passion and reason to live through music. He forgot his dead parents, disapproving older brother, and the future he would have had in Harlem. Though it didn’t seem as cathartic in Langston Hughes’ “WB”, the Negro man was still able to tell his story. With the simple phrase in line 30 “I wish that I had died,” the audience understands what his life has been like. Music serves as a messenger for the man. He’s able to express his loneliness and catches his audience’s attention about his wish of suicide through song. Unlike in “SB” where music is described as “personal, private, vanishing evocations,” there’s no sense of privacy when it comes to singing the blues in “WB” (Baldwin 46). It’s almost like
Davy Crockett, the celebrated hero, warrior and backwoods statesman, was born August 17, 1786 in a small cabin on the banks of Nolichucky River, near the mouth of Limestone Creek, which today lies about three and a half miles off 11-E Highway near Limestone, Tennessee.
...n his brother’s life the theme in Sonny’s Blues would’ve have been altered. Overall, what was vital to the narrator, in this time of turmoil and frustration, was to nurture the relationship with his brother Sonny, not only because of the love he had for him but also for the obligation he had as a brother and the commitment he had toward his mother.
The narrator hesitates to start but goes to support his brother; while at the club Sonny introduces his brother to a few his band members like, Creole, the band leader. Once they began to perform, Sonny was a little shaky, but eventually adjusted just fine. At this moment the narrator finally saw Sonny doing what he loves, it made him look at his brother and his passion differently; the way Sonny and his band played almost brought his brother to tears. “Yet, there was no battle in his face now, I heard what he had gone through, and would continue to go through until he came to rest in earth… I saw my mother’s face again… I say the moonlit road where my father’s brother died… I saw my little girl again and felt Isabel’s tears again, and I felt my own tears begin to rise”
He had exposure to several different genres growing up in his St. Louis, MO hometown. He heard country from the whites, rhythm & blues (R&B) from mostly blacks, even Latin music. His family environment set him up well for future success while growing up in a middle class home in the middle of the Great Depression of the 1930s. His parents sun...
Robert Johnson is more than just another Blues man with a sad story. To sing the blues with as much soul as Robert Johnson did, you know his life was rough. The life of Robert Johnson was memorable but short. Robert Johnson was born on May 8, 1911. Robert was a product of an extramarital affair.