Born on this day ...

[Ruby]

Neville O’Riley Livingston, aka Bunny Wailer, was born on this day in 1947, in Kingston, Jamaica.

One of the original Wailers, along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. By the time it got to Natty Dread, he’d left the band and gone solo over differences related to his Rastafari beliefs, and, I suspect, having to share the limelight with Marley who was on the receiving end of a lot of attention at that point while both Bunny and Peter Tosh had been having to take a back seat. 

Chris Blackwell (Island Records), who pretty much singlehandedly introduced Reggae to the Western world, wanted them to tour ‘freak’ clubs in the USA and Bunny wasn’t too happy about that either - I expect they were tame in comparison to what’s out there now, but then again – who knows!! (Incidentally, and completely off on a tangent, Chris Blackwell owns a resort in Jamaica called Golden Eye which previously belonged to Ian Fleming – go figure - who was, until his death, Blackwell’s mother Blanche’s lover.)

A respected Reggae musician in his own right, as well as having dabbled in disco, dancehall and rock,  Bunny Livingston, or Jah B as he is sometimes known, is a vocalist and percussionist, and one of the now two Wailers still living. He has earned three Grammy Awards during his career, (ironically, several Marley tributes) from which he is now retired, having suffered a stroke a little while ago.

From the last album he made with The Wailers – Burnin’ - he wrote this song and takes the lead vocal … “Pass It On” …

[Ruby]

Benoît David was born on this day in 1966, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is probably best known for briefly assuming the role of lead vocalist with Yes, having stepped in to relieve Jon Anderson who was suffering respiratory problems at the time. Ironically, it seems that the very same health issue resulted in David’s somewhat summary departure too. Prior to, and during his tenure with Yes, he continued to be involved with a band named Mystery – he had also been the frontman for the Yes tribute band, Close to the Edge, which was what had attracted the notice of Chris Squire to begin with. He sang a track on Oliver Wakeman and Gordon Giltrap’s 2013 album, Raven and Lullabies, which I have, but I can’t find anything he’s worked on since 2014 so sadly, it would appear that his illness has cut short his career, as a lead vocalist at any rate. Pity – a clear, true voice.

(The live clips are and not synced to the recording in this video ...)

[Ruby]

Happy Birthday to Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno who was born on this day in 1948 in Suffolk, England. Apparently the St John etc., came later. 

As far as I can deduce, he is more or less solely responsible for coining the ‘ambient’ label - he also refers to himself as a non-musician (despite which he seems to be able to find his way around various instruments and not always by batting tennis balls at them which he is known to have done to several pianos in various stages of dismantlement, in college days).

He’s an innovator and an experimenter, all of which has led to revolutionary recording techniques and most unusual ideas, not to mention a few odd offerings along the way. We must have visionaries – the alternative does not bear thinking about, even if what they produce is sometimes beyond comprehension! Anyway – he’s been associated with many many muso’s – Bowie, Robert Fripp, Talking Heads, Roxy Music, Ultravox, and a host more.

He is responsible for the 1995 Microsoft sound - quoting from Wiki ...
 
"The thing from the agency said, "We want a piece of music that is inspiring, universal, blah-blah, da-da-da, optimistic, futuristic, sentimental, emotional," this whole list of adjectives, and then at the bottom it said "and it must be 3 1⁄4 seconds long."

I thought this was so funny and an amazing thought to actually try to make a little piece of music. It's like making a tiny little jewel.
In fact, I made eighty-four pieces. I got completely into this world of tiny, tiny little pieces of music. I was so sensitive to microseconds at the end of this that it really broke a logjam in my own work. Then when I'd finished that and I went back to working with pieces that were like three minutes long, it seemed like oceans of time". - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3Ak5VgyEoc 

I like his most recent album with brother Roger, the one he released before that was too strange for my taste. Today I chose to listen to Listen Now, the one and only studio album by a group named 801 which was comprised as follows:
Phil Manzanera (guitars, ex-Roxy Music, Quiet Sun), Brian Eno (keyboards, synthesizers, guitar, vocals and tapes, ex-Roxy Music), Bill MacCormick (bass and vocals, ex-Quiet Sun, Matching Mole), Francis Monkman (Fender Rhodes piano and clavinet, ex-Curved Air), Simon Phillips (drums and rhythm generator) and Lloyd Watson (slide-guitar and vocals).

[CRAZY-HORSE]

Bob Dylan 

aged 79:

one of only a dozen musicians who literally needs no introduction.

could pick almost any one of a hundred tracks here but i'll go for this Grammy Award winning one on this occasion:






A worried man with a worried mind
No one in front of me and nothing behind
There's a woman on my lap and she's drinking champagne
Got white skin, got assassin's eyes
I'm looking up into the sapphire tinted skies
I'm well dressed, waiting on the last train
Standing on the gallows with my head in a noose
Any minute now I'm expecting all hell to break loose.

People are crazy and times are strange

I'm locked in tight, I'm out of range
I used to care, but things have changed.

This place ain't doing me any good

I'm in the wrong town, I should be in Hollywood
Just for a second there I thought I saw something move
Gonna take dancing lessons do the jitterbug rag
Ain't no shortcuts, gonna dress in drag
Only a fool in here would think he's got anything to prove
Lotta water under the bridge, lotta other stuff too
Don't get up gentlemen, I'm only passing through.

People are crazy and times are strange
I'm locked in tight, I'm out of range
I used to care, but things have changed.

I've been walking forty miles of bad road
If the bible is right, the world will explode
I've been trying to get as far away from myself as I can
Some things are too hot to touch
The human mind can only stand so much
You can't win with a losing hand
Feel like falling in love with the first woman I meet
Putting her in a wheel barrow and wheeling her down the street.

People are crazy and times are strange
I'm locked in tight, I'm out of range
I used to care, but things have changed.

I hurt easy, I just don't show it
You can hurt someone and not even know it
The next sixty seconds could be like an eternity
Gonna get lowdown, gonna fly high
All the truth in the world adds up to one big lie
I'm love with a woman who don't even appeal to me
Mr. Jinx and Miss Lucy, they jumped in the lake
I'm not that eager to make a mistake.

People are crazy and times are strange
I'm locked in tight, I'm out of range
I used to care, but things have changed

[Ruby]

Doane Perry was born on this day in 1954, in Mount Kisco, New York. A session drummer who’s been co-opted by several notables over the years, and who has appeared on more than 100 successful albums. His primary claim to fame is his 27 year tenure with Jethro Tull (his first recording with them being that heavy metal album) - a not unremarkable feat given Mr Anderson’s exacting standards and notoriously crusty demeanour.  

Perry was classically trained on piano from an early age, and kept up a formal musical training programme after leaving college, however, after hearing the Beatles in his pre-teen years he had decided then that being a drummer must be the way to go, especially in terms of any possible chances he might have in the mating dance, so he ditched the ivories and picked up the sticks instead. Suffice to say that strategy was effective. 

He has worked with innumerable artists across a range of genres - a link here in case anyone wants to go there - http://www.doaneperry.com/artists/. He also holds drum clinics around the world (or used to) and according to Wiki “… has released a critically acclaimed instructional video entitled Creative Listening, still widely used in the curriculum of music schools in the USA and abroad.” In between his musical activities, he likes to read books – a lot – and eat swelteringly hot curry - sometimes both at the same time.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

Sir James Paul McCartney:

aged 78:

we all know who he is and his achievements as a soloist and part of Beatles and Wings.

so lets just enjoy a piece of McCartney magic:

[James Otto Sweet Heart]

Happy 44th birthday to Blake Shelton!

God bless you and him always!!!

Holly

[CRAZY-HORSE]

Richard Starkey 

aged 80 today.

OBE/MBE

musician, songwriter, actor, philanthropist, Thomas The Tank Engine.

probably the most famous rock drummer on the planet.

20 solo albums under his belt.

favourite of his was an album track from around 1977.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

TONY BENNETT 

aged: 94

crooner.

recording career dates back to 1945.
has released his most successful albums since 2000 starting with the 2002 album with KD Lang.
followed that up with a series of duets albums and the crowning glory (IMO) the "cheek to cheek" album with Lady Gaga.
his latest release was an album with Diana Krall in 2018.
great artist, like him almost as much as i like Deano, but own very little by him.

love this one with Gaga:

[Ruby]

It's Ian Anderson's birthday today - he's 73. He's been mentioned in this thread before but anyway - I'm putting this here for an interview I recently read that was quite interesting - https://www.loudersound.com/features/ian...ethro-tull.

There's also just been a strange version of Badfinger's "Day After Day" released with himself, Terry Reid and the Manchester String Quartet. Sounds as though it was recorded in a submarine or something. I dunno.