Blackhawk

Blackhawk

Blackhawk is an American country music group founded in 1992 by Henry Paul (lead vocals, mandolin, acoustic guitar), Van Stephenson (background vocals, electric guitar), and Dave Robbins (background vocals, keyboards).[1] Several backing musicians also performed with the trio; however, these backing musicians were not officially part of Blackhawk until 2008.

Prior to the group's formation, Robbins and Stephenson had co-written several Number One singles for the country pop band Restless Heart, and Stephenson had also charted two pop hits in the early 1980s.[2] Paul was previously a member of the Southern rock band Outlaws as well.

In 1993, Blackhawk was signed to a record deal with Arista Nashville. Their debut single, "Goodbye Says It All", was released that year, peaking at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts, and their first album (1994's BlackHawk) was certified 2× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA. Throughout the rest of the 1990s, the band continued to chart several singles, in addition to releasing three more albums and a Greatest Hits package.

Van Stephenson departed the group in 2000 due to complications from skin cancer. He was replaced with Randy Threet (also a former member of the Outlaws), who made his first appearance on Spirit Dancer, the band's fifth studio album. After Threet's departure in 2003, Anthony Crawford took over as tenor vocalist and lead guitarist; Crawford was, in turn, succeeded by Michael Randall four years later. From early 2008 until he re-joined in 2010, Robbins left the group to resume his songwriting career, and Threet re-joined. Since then, BlackHawk's backing band has been subsumed into the main group, which comprises Paul (lead vocals, guitar, mandolin), Randall (acoustic guitar, background vocals), Threet (bass guitar, background vocals), Chris Anderson (lead guitar, background vocals), Dave Robbins (keyboards, background vocals), and Monte Yoho (drums, percussion).

The group's name was derived from the Stutz Blackhawk, a model of car. All three members had experience with other musicians prior to the formation; Stephenson, a former solo artist who charted two hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in the mid-1980s, had written several songs for the country pop band Restless Heart, frequently collaborating with Robbins. In addition, Henry Paul was formerly a member of Outlaws, a Southern rock band.

Bob Weir

Bob Weir

Robert Hall "Bob" Weir (born October 16, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead. Weir also founded and played in several other bands during and after his career with the Grateful Dead, including Kingfish, the Bob Weir Band, Bobby and the Midnites, Scaring the Children, RatDog, and his newest band Furthur, co-led by former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh.[1]

During his career with the Grateful Dead, Weir played mostly rhythm guitar and sang most of the band's rock-n-roll tunes (Jerry Garcia sang The Dead's more melodic tunes). He is known for his unique style of complex voiceleading, bringing unusual depth and a new approach to the role of rhythm guitar expression.

On New Year's Eve, 1963, 16-year-old Weir and another underage friend were wandering the back alleys of Palo Alto, looking for a club that would admit them, when they heard banjo music. They followed the music to its source, Dana Morgan's Music Store. Here, a young Jerry Garcia, oblivious to the date, was waiting for his students to arrive. Weir and Garcia spent the night playing music together and then decided to form a band. The Beatles significantly influenced their musical direction. "The Beatles were why we turned from a jug band into a rock 'n' roll band," said Bob Weir. "What we saw them doing was impossibly attractive. I couldn't think of anything else more worth doing." Originally called Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions, the band was later renamed The Warlocks and eventually the Grateful Dead.

Weir played rhythm guitar and sang a large portion of the lead vocals through all of the Dead's 30-year career. In the fall of 1968, the Dead played some concerts without Weir and Ron "Pigpen" McKernan. These shows, with the band billed as "Mickey and the Hartbeats", were intermixed with full-lineup Grateful Dead concerts. In his biography of Jerry Garcia, Blair Jackson notes, "Garcia and Lesh determined that Weir and Pigpen were not pulling their weight musically in the band . . . Most of the band fights at this time were about Bobby's guitar playing."  Late in the year, the band relented and took Weir and Pigpen back in full time.)

Website:
http://www.rat-dog.com

ZZ top

ZZ Top

ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in June 1969 in Houston, Texas. The band consists of guitarist and lead vocalist Billy Gibbons, bassist and co-lead vocalist Dusty Hill, and drummer Frank Beard. The band and its members went through a several reconfigurations throughout 1969, achieving their current form when Hill replaced bassist Billy Etheridge in February 1970, shortly before the band was signed to London Records. Etheridge's departure emanated primarily from his unwillingness to be bound by a recording contract.

Since the release of the band's debut album in January 1971, ZZ Top has become known for its strong blues roots and humorous lyrical motifs, relying heavily on double entendres and innuendo. ZZ Top's musical style has changed over the years, beginning with blues-inspired rock on their early albums, then incorporating New Wave, punk rock and dance-rock, with heavy use of synthesizers.

ZZ Top were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. As a group, ZZ Top possesses 11 gold records and 7 platinum (13 multi-platinum) records; their 1983 album, Eliminator, remains the group's most commercially successful record, selling over 10 million units. ZZ Top also ranks 80th in U.S. album sales, with 25 million units. The band released their latest studio album, La Futura, in September 2012 and began a supporting tour in October.

The original lineup formed in Houston, Texas by Gibbons, organist Lanier Greig and drummer Dan Mitchell. ZZ Top was managed by Waxahachie-native Bill Ham, who befriended Gibbons a year earlier. They released their first single, "Salt Lick", in 1969, and side B contained the song "Miller's Farm"; both songs were credited to Gibbons. Immediately after the recording of "Salt Lick", Greig was replaced by bassist Billy Etheridge, a band mate of Jimmie Vaughan, and Mitchell was replaced by Frank Beard of the American Blues. Due to lack of interest from record companies, ZZ Top was presented with a record deal from London Records. Unwilling to sign a recording contract, Etheridge quit the band and Dusty Hill was selected as his replacement. After Hill moved from Dallas to Houston, ZZ Top signed with London in 1970. They performed their first concert together at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Beaumont on February 10.

In addition to assuming the role as the band's leader, Gibbons became the main lyricist and musical arranger. With the assistance of Ham and engineer Robin Hood Brians, ZZ Top's First Album (1971) was released and saw the inclusion of the band's humor, with "barrelhouse" rhythms, distorted guitars, double entendres and innuendo. The music and songs closely reflected on ZZ Top's blues influences. Following their debut album, the band released Rio Grande Mud (1972), which failed commercially and the promotional tour consisted of mostly auditoriums.

Website:
http://www.zztop.com

Highwayman- Highwayman II

Highwayman 2

When this cd came out, all the critics wrote it off saying, "It seems very rushed." Well I can kind of agree with that assumption. A few songs here sound like they were basically chosen out of pure desparation.

But on the other hand, this cd features some of the best, if not the best vocals Waylon Jennings has ever put on record. Johnny Cash does one of the best performances of his post Columbia Records days on "Anthem '84 and Living Legend." There is the towering Peformance on "Born And Raised in Black and White" that should have gotten them the "Vocal Event" award at the 1991 CMA awards (and was played as their nomination was announced).

This is a very solid release, although a bit rushed. But only these men could rush and make something so good. These men at their worst are 100 times better than most "artists" at their best.

It's amazing how each song highlights each one of the foursome's strong points. This CD really made me stand up and listen. The CD opens with "Silver Stallion" and one cannot help but think of bygone cowboy days. Waylon Jennings transforms "Angels Love Bad Men" into one of his trademark wicked songs. Reminds you of the "Waylon and Willie days" when everybody wanted to be an outlaw. This album would get five stars if it had included their version of "Help Me Make it Through the Night" (a danceable form of the famous Kristoferson tune). And, it's nice to know that Johnny Cash sounds as good as ever.

Ringo Starr-Beucoup of Blues

Ringo's second album was a country album. Unlike every other country album recorded by a rock star, this album doesn't feature any cover versions of classic country songs. Instead, a batch of original songs were written for Ringo by some top country songwriters. Ringo traveled to Nashville and recorded the album with top Nashville session musicians. The album ended up sounding pretty much like a typical country album from 1970. Except sung by Ringo Starr. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's a decent enough album, if you are into this sort of thing. The CD features two bonus tracks. "Coochy Coochy" was the b-side of "Beaucoups of Blues". I guess it was left off the album because it's not really a country song. "Nashville Jam" is a jam session, obviously. This album isn't for everybody, but if you are a Beatles fan that also enjoys country music, you will probably like it.

ingo always loved country music. Liberated to try a variety of musical styles with the break up of The Beatles, Ringo was, surprisingly, the most eclectic of the Fabs tackling an album of standards (way before it became fashionable) with Sentimental Journeyand an authentic country album recorded in the heart of Nashville. Ringo's best album is still Ringo along with Goodnight Vienna, Time Takes Timebut this is a strong contender.

"Beacoups of Blues" took awhile for me to get used to because I expected, well, Beatlesque music. It's a strong album covering a variety of songs solicited for the album ("Without Her" isn't the Nilsson song by the way--I mention that because Nilsson did write material for Ringo later)and the titles could easily confuse one. The CD reissue features Ringo's b-side to the single "Beacoups of Blues" entitled "Coohy Coohy" and "Nashville Jam" which is exactly that running a little over six minutes.

Ringo receives stellar support from pedal steel player Pete Drake, D. J. Fontana on drums, Jerry Reed on guitar and The Jordanaires among others. The 1995 CD reissue sounds pretty good and, although it wasn't all that successful when released (it only reached # 65 on the Billboard charts), the stature of the album has grown with time due to Ringo's natural affinity for country music, the strong originals and stellar playing.

As long as you realize this isn't a Rock 'n' Roll album and are prepared for a journey down a country road, you'll enjoy the album.

Ozark Mountain Daredevils

Ozark Mountain Daredevils

The Ozark Mountain Daredevils are a Southern rock/country rock band formed in 1972 in Springfield, Missouri, USA. They are most widely known for their singles "If You Wanna Get To Heaven" in 1974 and "Jackie Blue" in 1975.

The Daredevils are also mentioned in the "Don's Story" chapter of American humorist David Sedaris' book Barrel Fever. Bassist Michael "Supe" Granda has also written a book about the band, It Shined.

The "Daredevils" name has much to do with the long hair and beards sported by the band in the 1970s, a rejection of the more conservative style of their native Ozarks during that decade. It is mentioned in the book about the band "It Shined", by Michael Granda, that the band name was derived from "Cosmic Corn Cob & His Amazing Ozark Mountain Daredevils", a name that John Dillon came up with at a Kansas City "naming party" after the band was told that the name they had previously been using, "Family Tree", was already taken. The band shortened the name because none of the band members at the time wanted to be called "Cosmic Corn Cob", and they did not want the name to sound similar to The Amazing Rhythm Aces.

The first record, Ozark Mountain Daredevils (also referred to as "The Quilt Album"), was released in December 1973 and spawned the Top 30 hit "If You Wanna Get to Heaven" in the summer of 1974. The album introduced the band's unique mixture of rock, country, bluegrass and pop to the world and is still the favorite of many of the group's fans

For the second album, It'll Shine When It Shines (October 1974), Johns and Anderle came to Missouri to record, utilizing a mobile recording truck set up outside of the band's rehearsal home. During the sessions, Johns overheard Larry Lee sitting at a piano playing and singing a song about a mysterious friend of his who sometimes dealt drugs on the side. Johns loved the melody and thought it could be a smash hit if the lyrics were altered to be about a girl and the drug references downplayed. Lee and Cash did as Johns asked and the song, "Jackie Blue", became the Daredevils' signature song and a huge hit (No. 3) in early 1975.

The Ozark's third release, The Car Over the Lake Album (Fall 1975), produced by Anderle alone, featured their old compatriot, Bill Jones, joining them to play and arrange their songs. He also toured with them in 1975-1976. Another face from the past, Steve Canaday, also came back into the group's life at this same time as road manager and opening act before joining the band in 1976. The album sold fairly well but produced no hits. One reason why the band's fortunes began to falter might have been their reluctance to relocate to Southern California after being asked to do so by A&M co-head Jerry Moss. As a result, A&M might also have begun to lose a bit of their enthusiasm for the act at this point.

Personnel shifts within the group also began to change the chemistry. Randle Chowning left in May 1976 (following a European tour), due to the bad work ethic of other band members and their unwillingness to do a major tour, to form his own Randle Chowning Band. Norwegian musician Rune Walle, whom the band had met while on tour in Europe with his band The Flying Norwegians, then joined to replace him.

That same year the Daredevils headed west to the Rockies, to Caribou Ranch near Nederland, Colorado, to record their fourth album, which they had originally titled Nuclear Fishin ' but then changed to Men From Earth after A&M objected. The Nuclear Fishin' title was later used up in Canada for a greatest hits pack. Anderle was once again in the producer's chair and Evergreen, Colorado native Jerry Mills joined the band on mandolin and also served as the group's advance publicist.

In the fall of 1976, Buddy Brayfield departed to study medicine and Ruell Chappell (vocals, keyboards) from the popular Springfield group Spillwater Junction came in. But the band's next several releases -- Men From Earth (fall 1976), Don't Look Down (fall 1977, produced by David Kershenbaum) and It's Alive (September 1978) -- sold in lesser quantities than their previous records had. Jerry Mills and his mandolin were dropped from the group after It's Alive since the band was performing fewer acoustic numbers in their show by this time.

Website:
http://www.ozarkdaredevils.com

Buddy Cage

Buddy Cage (born February 18, 1946 in Toronto, Canada) is an American pedal steel guitarist, best known as a longtime member of the New Riders of the Purple Sage.

Popular both as a performer and session musician, he has played with many bands and recording artists, including Anne Murray, Bob Dylan, Brewer & Shipley, David Bromberg, and the Zen Tricksters.

Buddy Cage learned to play pedal steel guitar at a young age. By the mid-1960s he was working as a professional musician. When the folk music duo of Ian and Sylvia decided to go electric in 1969, he joined their band, known as the Great Speckled Bird. Great Speckled Bird was part of the Festival Express concert tour in 1970. From 1969 to 1972, Cage also recorded four albums with Anne Murray, and one album with Brewer & Shipley.

It was on the Festival Express tour that the New Riders of the Purple Sage became acquainted with Cage. The New Riders were a psychedelic influenced country rock band that had been founded by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, along with John Dawson and David Nelson. The New Riders and the Dead would perform concerts together, with Garcia playing pedal steel for the New Riders, then playing electric guitar and singing with the Dead. Near the end of 1971, Garcia left the New Riders, enabling them to headline their own concert tours. Buddy Cage was invited to join the band as Garcia's replacement.

Cage was the New Riders' pedal steel guitar player from 1971 to 1982, except for a period of about a year in the late 1970s. The New Riders were quite popular. They toured extensively, and released a number of albums. During this same period Cage continued working as a session musician, recording with various musical artists, including David Bromberg and Robert Hunter. In 1974, Bob Dylan asked him to play on recording sessions for the album Blood on the Tracks.

In the years after Cage's departure from the New Riders, he continued working with many different bands and musicians, including Solar Circus, Stir Fried, the Brooklyn Cowboys, the Zen Tricksters, and Mike Gordon.

The New Riders of the Purple Sage, led by John Dawson, but without Buddy Cage or David Nelson, had continued touring and recording albums from 1982 until Dawson's retirement from the music business in 1997. In 2005, Cage and Nelson re-formed the New Riders of the Purple Sage. The band continues to perform concerts throughout the United States. They have released three albums — Wanted: Live at Turkey Trot, Where I Come From, and 17 Pine Avenue. Cage is also still working as a session musician with other artists, including collaborations with Boris Garcia, George Hamilton IV, and Richard Buckner.