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Muddy Waters and the Rolling Stones
In the history of rock and roll, Muddy Waters represented the tide that brought the Southern blues traditions to the north and amplified them. Along the way, he inspired the name of among the biggest rock and roll bands of all time – the Rolling Stones – and countless other artists who emerged in his wake.
Muddy Waters was born McKinley Morganfield on April 4, 1913, in Issaquena County, Mississippi. Following his mother’s death in 1918, McKinley, the son of a farmer, was raised by his grandmother who lovingly gave him the nickname “Muddy” after his fondness for fishing and playing in a muddy creek. Being a pioneer of the Delta blues, Waters eventually took his talents on the road and landed at Chess Records in Chicago, Illinois. Many of the songs that Waters recorded have become blues landmarks, including “Honey Bee,” “(I’m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man,” “I Just Wanna Make Love to You” and “Got My Mojo Working.”
In the Sixties, Waters played a large role in the blues revival that took American blues “across the pond.” A youthful group of Brits who formed a band in 1962 – Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Charlie Watts, Ian Stewart and ...
The Rolling Stones on Tour – and Exhibit
Today the Rolling Stones announced their 2013 tour schedule (see below). Between that Rolling Stones news and the work the Curatorial, Exhibitions and Collections staff have been doing to get ready for Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction, a feature exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum opening May 24, I've been immersed in the "world's greatest rock and roll band" for several months. Among other things, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame exhibit will highlight the Rolling Stones touring during the last half century, years of concerts that have made them one of the best – if not the best – live rock and roll acts in history.
I was lucky to grow up in Detroit, Michigan, at a time when music was everywhere and radio was vibrant and meaningful. That city produced so many extraordinary musicians – Hank Ballard, Jackie Wilson, the MC5, the Stooges, Bob Seger, the entire Motown roster – it’s nearly impossible to comprehend. Detroit gave rise to some of the genre's best. It was there I became captivated by the Rolling Stones.
I first heard the group listening to CKLW, the legendary Canadian AM radio station. Detroit was also ...
Rare Performances: The Stooges Perform "Search and Destroy" Live
The original Stooges seemed to push rock and roll as far as it could go before they flamed out in 1970. However, in 1973, with encouragement from David Bowie, Iggy Stooge returned, though he now called himself Iggy Pop. His reconstituted Stooges rocked with even more abandon. On the aptly named 1973 Raw Power album, the Stooges achieved an incendiary sound that was thrilling and dangerous. "The Stooges define a moment in rock and roll history. They symbolize the destruction of flower power and they introduce us to raw power," said Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, when he inducted the group into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. "When I think of the sound of war, chaos and demolition; sex, sensuality, poetry and brutal truth, I think of the Stooges. It's the sound of blood and guts, sex and drugs, heart and soul, love and hate, poetry and peanut butter."
"Search and Destroy" was among the album's standout tracks. On the brash recording, Iggy's distorted vocals carried lyrics that spoke for Vietnam vets, disenfranchised youth and anyone else who felt left out in 1973. The music bubbled with urgency, with James Williamson's ...
Gallery Talk: The Early Days of U2
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will offer a free showing of U2 3D with the purchase of an adult admission on Sunday, March 17 or Monday, March 18 to enjoy Ireland's most popular rock band. Print or show this post to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame box office for your free U2 3D ticket. Click here for U2 3D showtimes.
Hall of Fame Inductees U2 – vocalist Bono (born Paul Hewson), guitarist the Edge (Dave Evans), bass player Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. – formed at Mount Temple School in Dublin in 1976. The four originally dubbed themselves Feedback, then later the Hype. On St. Patrick's Day in 1978, the Hype – now calling themselves U2 – traveled from Dublin to the city of Limerick in the midwest of Ireland to perform at a talent contest sponsored in part by CBS Records and Guinness. U2’s three-song performance won first prize, including a trophy that's part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's U2 Featured Collection, £500 and a demo recording session. That session led to the group's EP called U2-3.
Watch the video below as Rock and Roll Hall ...
Interview with 2009 Hall of Fame Inductee Bobby Womack
Born on March 4, 1944, Cleveland-native Bobby Womack grew into a soul and gospel legend whose contributions as a songwriter, singer and guitarist have kept him and his music relevant for decades.
The son of a steelworker, Womack and his siblings got their start as a gospel group. On tour with the Soul Stirrers, the Womack brothers – Bobby, Cecil, Curtis, Harris and Friendly Jr. – were introduced to the Stirrer's lead singer, Sam Cooke. With a move from gospel to secular soul, Cooke asked the Womack brothers to join him in California, and 16-year-old Bobby Womack made the trip.
Billed as the Valentinos, Bobby and his brothers cut two R&B classics: “Looking for a Love” (later covered by the J. Geils Band) and “It’s All Over Now.” The Rolling Stones’ cover of the latter song beat the Valentinos’ own version onto the charts, giving the Stones their second Top 40 hit in the States and first Number One hit ...
Celebrating George Harrison on his Birthday
Born in Liverpool on February 25, 1943, George Harrison was the more subdued, pensive – "quiet" – Beatle, and he carried this persona with him into his solo career. With 11 studio albums, including his sprawling masterwork 1970's All Things Must Pass and a late-career gem, 1987's Cloud Nine, Harrison's rock and roll legacy is enduring. Deft at seamlessly bridging his immersion in Hindu religion, Krishna consciousness and Vedic philosophy, with pure pop sensibility, Harrison's solo oeuvre resulted in such hits as “My Sweet Lord” (from All Things Must Pass), ”Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)" (from 1973's Living in the Material World), "All Those Years Ago" (from 1981's Somewhere in England) and the infectious soul remake "Got My Mind Set On You" (from Cloud Nine).
"He often said he wasn't pursuing a solo career at all – he never hired a manager or had an agent," recalled Tom Petty at the 2004 Rock and ...
On Exhibit: Nirvana
Born on February 20, 1967, today would've been Kurt Cobain's 46th birthday. Emerging from the burgeoning grunge movement of the early 80s – an alternative sub genre that incorporated elements of indie, punk, hardcore and heavy metal – the Cobain-fronted Nirvana came together in 1987, releasing their debut Bleach in 1989, with bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Chad Channing.
In April 1990, Nirvana began work on its second album. With drummer Chad Channing leaving the band, Cobain and Novoselic recorded tracks with Mudhoney drummer Dan Peters and later Dale Crover of the Melvins, both friends from the Seattle music scene. Eight songs were recorded for the group's demo: "Immodium" (later renamed "Breed"), "Dive" (later released as the B-side to "Sliver"), "In Bloom," "Pay to Play" (eventually renamed "Stay Away" and given a new set of lyrics), "Sappy," "Lithium," "Here She Comes Now" (released on Velvet Underground Tribute Album: Heaven and Hell Volume 1) and "Polly." The band added two tracks ...
Rare Performances: Jimi Hendrix Experience All-Star Tribute Jam
“You can play or you can transcend. You can go as far, there’s no boundaries how far you can go in your own body and how far your mind can expand while you are playing and Jimi showed me that... I learned that from Jimi.” - Neil Young, inducting the Jimi Hendrix Experience into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1992
James Marshall “Jimi” Hendrix, was born Johnny Allen Hendrix on November 27, 1942 in Seattle Washington. Hendrix’s first studio recording was in March 1964, on the Isley Brothers' track “Testify.” From 1964 to 1966, Hendrix recorded and toured with a number of artists from Arthur Lee of Love to Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turner and King Curtis. In September of 1966, Hendrix went to London with Chas Chandler of the Animals, who was instrumental in forming the Experience.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience formed in London in October 1966, and was composed of singer, songwriter and guitarist, Jimi Hendrix ...
