Showing posts with label B. Show all posts
Showing posts with label B. Show all posts

09 July 2012

Buffalo Springfield





Buffalo Springfield, l-r: Stephen Stills, Dewey Martin,
Bruce Palmer, Richie Furay, Neil Young

Buffalo Springfield was a North American folk-rock band known not only for their music, but for the bands and careers that emerged after they disbanded. 

They were one of the first bands to emerge after the "British invasion." The band's music combined rock, folk, and country music into a sound all its own.

Their best-selling song was "For What It's Worth" which became a political anthem in the late 1960s and is still used today for political statements.


The band formed in 1966 and lasted only two years before infighting, drug-related arrests, and line-up changes led to disbanding.

Neil Young and Stephen Stills first met briefly in Ontario, Canada while Young was playing with The Squires, and Stills was on tour with The Company, a spin-off from the Au Go Go Singers. When The Company broke up at the end of that tour, Stills moved to the West Coast, where he worked as a studio musician and auditioned unsuccessfully for, among other things, The Monkees.

He decided to assemble his own band and Richie Furay and former Squires bass player Ken Koblun to come join him in California. (Koblun left after a short time.)

Back in Canada, Young met Bruce Palmer of The Mynah Birds and joined as the lead guitarist. Oddly enough, their singer was Ricky James Matthews (later known as Rick James) who was arrested for being AWOL from the U.S. Navy, thereby killing their Motown record deal.

Young and Palmer decided to head for Los Angeles where, after some searching, they joined Stills, Furay and Friedman, and drummer Dewey Martin.

According to the liner notes on the 4 CD box set, the band got its name from the side of a steamroller, made by the Buffalo-Springfield Roller Company. It was parked on the street outside record producer Barry Friedman's house where Stills and Furay were staying. The newly-named group debuted on April 11, 1966, at The Troubadour in Hollywood and then started a short tour of California as the opening act on a bill featuring The Dillards and The Byrds. Jim Messina replaced Palmer early in 1968.

The band produced three original albums Buffalo Springfield (1966), Buffalo Springfield Again (1967), and Last Time Around (1968), and several compilations in the years since the breakup.

After the breakup, the members went on to form Crosby, Stills, Nash & YoungPocoLoggins & Messina and Crazy Horse, as well as all producing solo albums.

Despite the band's short tenure and limited output, it was one of the most influential of its era and they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

28 January 2012

Bad English



Bad English was an American/British rock "supergroup" formed in 1988, reuniting keyboardist Jonathan Cain with singer John Waite and bassist Ricky Phillips, his former bandmates in The Babys. Jonathan Cain and guitarist Neal Schon, who had enjoyed enormous success in Journey, joined with Waite after Journey disbanded.

The members decided on a name for the band while playing pool. John Waite missed a shot and Jonathan Cain made a comment on how bad his "english" was - referencing the spin a player puts on the cue ball - not poor English grammar.

The first album, simply titled Bad English, had three hit singles, including the number one hit "When I See You Smile", "Price of Love," and "Possession."

They released 6 albums including greatest hits compilations. Waite commented in interviews that he was uncomfortanle with their stadium-sized venues and "corporate rock" image. After the band split, he went solo and has remained a solo act ever since. Drummer Deen Castronovo went on to join the reformed Journey with singer Steve Augeri, Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain, and Ross Valory.





23 January 2012

Backstreet Boys


The Backstreet Boys (sometimes referred to as BSB) are an American vocal group, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993.

The band originally consisted of A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter and Kevin Richardson. Their original manager, Lou Pearlman, wanted to create a group similar to the popular New Kids on the Block. (The two groups eventually recorded an album together titled NKOTBSB.

He decided to call the group Backstreet Boys, naming it after Orlando's Backstreet Market where the guys used to hang out. The group had its very first performance at SeaWorld Orlando in May 1993.

They rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys (1996). In the following year, they released their second international album, Backstreet's Back (1997) and their debut album in the United States which continued the group's success worldwide.


They rose to superstardom with their album Millennium (1999) and its follow-up album, Black & Blue (2000).

After a three-year hiatus, the band regrouped and released their comeback album: Never Gone (2005). They continue to tour and record.

The Backstreet Boys have sold over 130 million records worldwide, making them the best-selling boy band of all time.

According to Billboard, they are the first group since Sade to have their first seven albums reach the top 10 on the Billboard 200.


http://www.backstreetboys.com

20 April 2011

Barenaked Ladies

         

Barenaked Ladies (often abbreviated BNL or occasionally BnL) is a Canadian alternative rock band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart.

Barenaked Ladies formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario, then a suburban municipality outside the City of Toronto. The band began as the duo of Ed Robertson and Steven Page who were schoolmates from an early age. Their musical friendship supposedly started after they ran into each other after attending a Peter Gabriel concert.

They found they had similar musical interests and while both of them were counselors at Scarborough Music Camp in Ontario, they would play music and harmonize. They also made up various fictional band names, one of which was "Barenaked Ladies".

There are a number of origin stories on music sites like AmIRight.com, but the most common story seems to be the following.

In 1988, Robertson had agreed to perform with his cover band in a battle of the bands, but the band broke up before the gig.  He had forgotten about the gig when he got a phone call a week before the show asking him to confirm the gig. He said that the name of the band had changed and pulled up "Barenaked Ladies" from the past.

He called Page and asked if he wanted to do the gig. Without rehearsals, the two played while the other bands set up, using every song they could think of that they both knew.

Surprisingly, the gig went well. They got another gig, failed to rehearse again, played and established a pattern for future improvisation.

Page and Robertson continued performing and began writing songs together. The band's first recordings, Buck Naked, were recorded on a four-track recorder in basements and bedrooms in 1989.

They are best known for their hit singles (click to hear samples): "One Week", "The Old Apartment", "Pinch Me", "If I Had $1,000,000", and "Brian Wilson" and for their light-hearted, comedic performance style with humorous banter between songs and improvised raps and songs.

          


Official website www.barenakedladies.com

Snack Time
All In Good Time
Stunt
Gordon
Maroon
Maybe You Should Drive
Rock Spectacle
Barenaked Ladies Are Men
Barenaked Ladies - Talk to the Hand - Live in Michigan [Blu-ray]