Johnny Cash was always more than just a country singer. He was an icon. In the ’50s and ’60s, he changed country music forever, writing songs with more honesty and humanity than anything else around at the time. Over the coming decades, his fortunes, both personal and professional, would experience peaks and troughs, but he…
Harold Lloyd Jenkins was destined for stardom. Born in 1933, the Arkansas teenager was a standout baseball prospect. As a high school senior, he hit .450 and was offered a contract by the Philadelphia Phillies. But like many of his generation, military obligations derailed Jenkins’ original plan. After returning to the United States in 1956,…
The group Fleetwood Mac started in London, England, in 1967. Over their career, they have sold over 100 million records, making them one of the world’s best-selling rock bands. VH1 lists them as one of the 100 Greatest Artists of Rock and Roll, and their 1977 album Rumors stands at #16 on the 100 Greatest…
In 1962, Jerry Landis reached No.97 on the Billboard Hot 100 with a song called The Long Teen Ranger. It was a forgettable song and Jerry Landis was a forgettable artist. It was only when he reverted back to his birth name of Paul Simon and teamed up with his childhood buddy Art Garfunkel that…
Rod Stewart kicked off his career in the Jeff Beck Group, got famous in the Faces, and became a megastar as a solo artist. He might not have become the critic’s darling in the same way some of his peers have (any hope of that died the moment he released Da Ya Think I’m Sexy)…
Bob Seger was born on May 6, 1945, in Detroit, Michigan. His first music gig was with the Decibels alongside future manager Eddie Punch Andrews. After several years he moved to Ann Arbor and started playing with the Town Criers. Afterward, he played the keyboard and sang vocals for Doug Brown & the Omens. While…
There are several eternal influencers in the lifeblood of Country music. None more important than Hank Williams. He lived only a short time, but the impact of his songs will never die. As Paul Simon says, “Hank Williams is just a freak of nature…Those songs, they last for lifetimes, if not forever.” Williams must…
Since the MTV days when Nelson, Motley Crue, and Cinderella ruled the airwaves, hair metal has grown a lot in popularity. However, the music genre was still prevalent in the early 1980s when L.A. Guns, a California-based band, started to gain mainstream attention. L.A. Guns was formed in 1983 and was initially composed of Tracii…
The band known as Black Label Society hails from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1998, by Zakk Wylde (vocals), Nick Catanese (guitar), John DeServio (bass), and Phil Ondich (drums) released their debut album (Sonic Brew). It saw considerable more commercial success than Wylde’s acoustic solo album (Book of Shadows) from 1996. However, their debut album…