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The History of Conscious Music
Part II
by Alex Cosper
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THE MIX OF COUNTRY AND ROCK
Most of Elvis Presley's hits also passed as country including "In The Ghetto," a somber and articulate self-explanatory song written by future country storyteller Mac Davis. Small-mindedness was countered in the uplifting Glen Campbell song "Try A Little Kindness." Even The Beatles covered a country song in 1965 with "Act Naturally," which made light of a sad and lonely person's natural qualifications for playing such movie roles.
But the first rock band to actually completely switch to country was the same band who ushered in psychedelic pop and that was The Byrds. They weren't as successful doing country but "Ballad Of Easy Rider" was one of their most introspective recordings that focused on environmental imagery and a back to nature attitude about following where the river flows. Read More
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Van Morrison
an article from Wikipedia
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Early History
Growing up in Belfast , Morrison was exposed to music from an early age, as his father collected American jazz and blues albums, and his mother was a singer. His father's taste in music was passed on to him, he grew up listening to artists such as Ray Charles, Leadbelly and Solomon Burke. In a 2005 Rolling Stone article he said that “Those guys were the inspiration that got me going. If it wasn't for that kind of music, I couldn't do what I'm doing now.”
60s
Morrison left home at age 15 to pursue a music career. He played in several local skiffle and rock n roll bands before joining the group The Monarchs and touring across Europe . He then formed the group Them, in 1964 and came to prominence fronting the band. The band had a number of chart hits, most notably the rock standard, “Gloria,” subsequently covered by many artists, including Shadows of Knight.
a.
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Band On Tour
by Al Delaney |
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You’ve got a band thing going. All your friends say you’re sounding pretty good. Now you’ve got the idea of spreading that musical gospel—you want to go on tour. Yesserry, spend the summer traveling the open roads, stopin’ to sing a song or two, drink a beer or two, make some change and romance the local ladies. What a life. Well, dream on. More than likely after the first stop you’ll be calling friends begging for gas money to make it home.
To be successful as a band you have to embrace the fact that you’re in the music business. Here “music” identifies your art but the operative word is “business”. If you’re running a band, you are in fact a small business owner. Now, what about that tour?
First Things First
Before even planning a tour you need to think some things over and get some stuff taken care of. Read More
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World of Music
What do you get when you play New Age Music backwards? New Age Music.
A scientific expedition disembarks from its plane at the final outpost of civilization in the deepest Amazon rain forest. They immediately notice the ceaseless thrumming of native drums. As they venture further into the bush, the drums never stop, day or night, for weeks. The lead scientist asks one of the natives about this, and the native's only reply is "Drums good. Drums never stop. Very BAD if drums stop." The drumming continues, night and day, until one night, six weeks into the trip, when the jungle is suddenly silent. Immediately the natives run screaming from their huts, covering their ears. The scientists grab one boy and demand "What is it? The drums have stopped!" The terror-stricken youth replies "Yes! Drums stop! VERY BAD!" The scientists ask "Why? Why? What will happen?" Wild-eyed, the boy responds, " . . . BASS SOLO!!!"
How do you put a twinkle in a soprano's eye? Shine a flashlight in her ear.
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Grand Theft Auto, the popular computer game developed and distributed by Rockstar Games has been catching a lot of flack lately. The uproar began when an 85-year-old New York grandmother, Florence Cohen, sued the company for consumer deception and unfair business practices. She had purchased a copy of the game for her grandson. At the heart of the matter was not the game's over-the-top violence or cop killing depictions but rather some hidden sex scenes. The results—some large chain stores have pulled the game and some countries won't allow its distribution.
Sony BMG has admitted paying cash and gifts to increase radio airplay for some of their artists—Payola. New York 's Attorney General Eliot Spitzer headed up the investigation that resulted in a $10 million fine against Sony BMG. Indications are that he is also going after the other big recording companies.
China has long been known as a major manufacturer and distributor of pirated music and movies. You'd think with their years of experience they'd get if right—think again. A pirated version of the new Star Wars movie translates in subtitles the Jedi Council as the Presbyterian Church Council. Maybe all those Christian missionaries have had an affect.
The consumer research group The Leading Question has found that those who illegally download music from the Internet spend on average 4 ½ times more on legal downloads than do others. Combining this statistic with the recent news that the RIAA is suing another 765 people for illegally downloading music and I wonder if the record company's strategy is to continually shoot themselves in the pocketbook.
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Music Industry Mixer
Every Tuesday night at Under the Volcano (Morningside and Bissonnet in Houston) there's an open-to-the-public gathering of local musicians, recording sudio owners, indie record lable owners, sound engineers and assortied other music industry professionals.
OutboundMusic hosts open Mic
Monday nights we can be found at the Wired Java Internet Cafe on Barker Cypress near West Rd in far northwest Harris County (just outside Houston) where we host their open mic. If you're in the area drop in, it's real layed back and we have lots of fun. Another great open mic is held at JP Hops House on Hwy 6 near Westhiemer on Sunday nights. For a full listing of Houston area open mics visit www.SoundChick.net.
The U.S. Indie Band & Film Expo 2005
This event will be held in Beaumont, TX from Sept. 2-4 and will feature over 500 bands and 200 entertainment industry companies--OutboundMusic.com among them. Call 409 429-9268 or visit www.UNINDIE.COM for details.
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