#Musical History

[nemoverne]

Judas Iscariot, Superstar || Through the Years

[scotianostra]

Happy birthday Lena Martell, born May 15th 1940 in Possilpark, Glasgow.

Born Helena Thomson, she began singing at the age of 11 with her eldest brother’s band. After his untimely death, Martell decided to pursue a career in music as a tribute.

Her rising popularity among the easy listening elite allowed for the release of Lena’s Music Album in 1979. The record spawned a number one hit, One Day at a Time, written by Kris Kristofferson and Marijohn Wilkin, it helped launch Lena’s career. Producer and bandleader George Elrick and Martell continued to release records throughout the 1980s, she recorded more than 30 albums, some of which went silver, gold and platinum, including By Request, Beautiful Sunday , Love Songs, and Feelings, before her retirement in the early ‘90s, for a decade Lena also had her own Saturday night BBC TV show with over 12 million viewers. Lena worked with Liza Minnelli and understudied for Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl on Broadway.

She has been through a lot in the years since her hey day, She almost lost her voice with cancerous nodes, has had a double mastectomy, had two nervous breakdowns and the death of her mum after caring for her through the ravages of Alzheimer’s, she has also had surgery to replace a valve in her heart, and in March 2008 underwent a triple heart bypass operation- Lena is really one of life’s survivors.

In 2004, her comeback CD My Homeland outsold Kylie Minogue and Britney Spears in Scottish record shops and went gold.

In 2012 she celebrated 50 years in show business with a tour that kicked off in Glasgow. Sean Connery quoted at the Edinburgh Festival in 2004; “The best singer not to record a Bond soundtrack was Lena Martell”

I’ve chosen a great tune from Lena's album My Homeland.

I’ve seen the snow that falls across Alaska I’ve watched the sun go down on Galway Bay The Pyramids and all the “Seven Wonders” I’ve danced the night away in Monterrey But my Homeland, your beauty shines forever It burns like some eternal flame So hard to put in words how much I love you I’m so proud at the mention of your name

Scotland the lion roars inside of me My Country, my Home, my only one The City of Glasgow I was Born Scotland I love you and I’m proud to be your son

The world is full of magic and of wonder The sights I’ve seen just take my breath away But when I return home to Caledonia My heart is here, and here I’ll always stay

Scotland the lion roars inside of me My Country, my Home, my only one The City of Glasgow I Was Born Scotland I love you and I’m proud to be your son

Every Scotsman and Woman hold your head up high Thank your Father’s for the land they held so dear Sing these words with pride when you think of home Sing them loud,so all the world can hear.

Scotland the lion roars inside of me My Country, my Home, my only one The City of Glasgow I was Born Scotland I love you and I’m proud to be your son

Scotland I Love You,And I’m Proud To Be Your Son.

[all-made-of-stardust]

An encounter during choir practice today that made me cackle:

Me, muttering to a soprano next to me: "god, Mozart, that cheeky bastard, he really made this piece complicated."

Soprano (whom i know and love), turning towards me in confusion: "Did you just say "Mozart that kinky bastard?""

Me, trying to smother my laughter while the tenors are learning their parts: "HE PROBABLY WAS THAT TOO"

He also was, indeed, a cheeky bastard - we're singing his "Te Deum" piece (that he wrote when he was a CHILD) and we have to learn an insanely crazy overlapping part by singing the same lyrics in Latin over and over. Wanna know what those lyrics translate to?

"O Lord, in thee have I trusted : let me never be confounded."

Mozart LITERALLY WROTE a VERY COMPLICATED CHOIR PART and had the audacity and nerve to have the singers - WHILE DOING THE CRAZY COMPLICATED PART - to literally pray to God so that they don't get confused and fuck up.

I wish I had a time machine so that I could go back and smack this cheeky bastard upside the head.

And then ask him when his next orgy is happening because you KNOW that dude was definitely a kinky bastard.

[going-to-superhell]

history of guitars

⋘ 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡… ⋙

Note: I have cross checked my information and researched to the best of my ability though I am human and not immune to error if there are any mistakes please let me know and I will correct it

⋘ 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎… ⋙

The origins of the guitar are unknown and can possibly bee traced back to over 4000 years with carvings of stringed images have appeared in the Mesopotamian and Babylonian Empires.

It is often claimed that the guitar was developed from the lute or the kithara from ancient Greece, but research by Dr. Michael Kasha in the 1960's showed that the lute is a result of a separate line of development sharing common ancestors with the guitar but not having influence on its evolution. And the only evidence for the kithara theory is the similarity between the Greek word "kithara" and the Spanish word "quitarra".

The kithara was a actually a different type of instrument being more like a lap harp or lyre as shown bellow.

There is a plucked stringed instrument that closely resembles a guitar can be seen in a picture painted in Egypt around 3000 B.C as shown below.

However there is no material available on how this instrument developed after the picture was painted to support this theory. But a 3500 year old guitar was found in Egypt belonging to a singer named Har-Mose and was found in his grave right next to him, so he could play it in the other life.

The instrument resembles more of a tanbur than a guitar but is the closest thing to a modern guitar to that point in history.

Har-Moses guitar had three strings and a plectrum suspended from the neck by a cord. The soundbox was made of polished cedarwood and had a rawhide "soundboard". You can see it at the Archaeological Museum in Cairo. A picture of Har-Moses guitar below.

The earliest stringed instruments known to archaeologists are bowl harps (or bowl lyre) and tanburs. Both are shown below in order of mention.

Bowl harps were made from tortoise shells and calabashes as resonators, with a bent stick for a neck and one or more gut or silk strings. They first appeared around 3000 B.C in Iran and Mesopotamia and then in Egypt. They were widespread in the ancient Middle East.

The tanbur is defined as "a long-necked stringed instrument with a small egg- or pear-shaped body, with an arched or round back, usually with a soundboard of wood or hide, and a long, straight neck". It has been present in Mesopotamia since the Akkadian era, or the third millennium B.C.

Other "guitars" in history are the oud and lute. Shown below.

The Lute was bought to Spain by the Moors in the 13th century. The tanbur had taken another line of development in the Arabian countries, changing in its proportions.

The Europeans added frets to the oud and called it a "lute" derived from the Arabic "Al'ud" (literally "the wood") via the Spanish name "laud". A lute or oud is defined as a "short-necked instrument with many strings, a large pear-shaped body with highly vaulted back, and an elaborate, sharply angled peg head".

The word "guitar" comes from chartar" Old Persian meaing "four strings" and "tar" the ancient Sanskrit word for "string".

Many stringed folk instruments exist in Central Asia to this day which have been used in almost unchanged form for several thousand years, shown by archeological finds in the area. Many have names that end in "tar", with a prefix indicating the number of strings.

The early ancestors to the modern guitar most often had four strings with variations with from three to five strings and can be seen in medieval illustrated manuscripts and carved in stone in churches and cathedrals, from Roman times through till the Middle Ages.

By the beginning of the Renaissance, the four-course (4 unison-tuned pairs of strings) guitar had become dominant in most of Europe.

The earliest known music for the four-course "chitarra" was written in 16th century Spain. The five-course guitarra battente first appeared in Italy at around the same time, and gradually replaced the four-course guitar. The standard tuning had already settled at A, D, G, B, E, like the top five strings of the modern guitar. Guitarra battente shown bellow.

In common with lutes, early guitars seldom had necks with more than 8 frets free of the body, but as the guitar evolved, this increased first to 10 and then to 12 frets to the body.

A sixth course of strings was added to the Italian "guitarra battente" in the 17th century, and guitar makers around Europe followed the trend. The six-course arrangement gradually gave way to six single strings.

In the transition from five courses to six single strings, it seems that at least some existing five-course instruments were modified to the new stringing pattern. This was a fairly simple task, as it only entailed replacing (or re-working) the nut and bridge, and plugging four of the tuning peg holes.

An incredibly ornate guitar by Joakim Thielke a master from Hamburg, Germany (1641 - 1719), was altered in this way. Note that this instrument has only 8 frets free of the body.

At the beginning of the 19th century the modern guitar eas beginning to take shape, the bodies were still fairly small and narrow-waisted.

The modern "classical" guitar took its present form when the Spanish maker Antonio Torres increased the size of the body, altered its proportions, and introduced the revolutionary "fan" top bracing pattern, in around 1850. His design radically improved the volume, tone and projection of the instrument and soon became the accepted construction standard. It has remained essentially unchanged, and unchallenged, to this day.

In 1833 German immigrant Christian Frederick Martin living in New York City, invented the first steel string guitar. His guitars were smaller and had a thinner body than the guitars that were popular at the time, which made them more comfortable to play. By the end of the 19th century, steel string guitars were the standard for most guitarists.

References:

guyguitars

seemit

yamaha

fuelrocks

[jbirdwriting]

A GREAT EXAMPLE OF WHAT THE 90S LET HAPPEN IN MUSIC: 2001

EXCUSE ME, HERE CONVENES MY TEDTALK TITLED "A GREAT EXAMPLE OF WHAT THE 90S LET HAPPEN IN MUSIC: 2001"

Note: I'm not an expert on anything. One night I heard a song that I hadn't heard in a while and I fell down a rabbit hole and I wrote my journey down and shared it with a small group of friends. …now, you can have it. I wrote this in August 2022.

~~~

In 2001, Enya's Only Time broke onto the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, debuting on that chart at #88. In July. It lingered on the charts for thirty-two weeks in total. If you don't know this song--Yes you do. I mean, if you didn't, you will. (Apparently it's in the new Thor film.) But here, experience it and its official music video: Enya - Only Time

Celtic Pop New Age World Music--these are the major headings Enya existed under. Only 4 other Enya songs ever broke onto the US Billboard Hot 100 - 1989 Orinoco Flow (Sail Away), 1992 Caribbean Blue, 1998 Only If…, and 2004 I Don't Wanna Know (w Mario Winans ft P.Diddy).) In November 2001, Only Time peaked at the #10 position. That's right! Top 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100. I keep giving the name of the list because it is a non-niche'd/non-genre'd list. Unlike other lists such as… Adult Contemporary, Adult Alternative, etc.

Now, let's see what else was going on in the US Billboard Hot 100. And you should absolutely think about Only Time laid out (metaphorically) next to each of these songs.

We'll move down the chart a little for a couple movers/shakers coming up the charts under Enya for context. We'll start at number 12.

Number 12: Michelle Branch - Everywhere

This was the big breakout on a major label for Michelle Branch. Not much to say here. It was solid song and yes, I know it. But who was at number 11?

One of my favorite examples of cognitive dissonance in American music: Nickelback - How You Remind Me - and oh yes I linked it.

For a song/band that no one liked/everyone hated, they sure did really well! Nielsen Soundscan declared this song to be the number one most played song on US radio in the entire 2000s decade. Played over 1.2 million times on the radio from 2001 - 2009. I'd like to point out that the above linked music video has been played 131,205,632 times since March 2010.

Fun Bonus fact: Avril Lavigne recorded a cover of the song that was used for One Piece Film: Z (2012).

So then there's Enya doing her chill thing here at number 10. And the top of the alt-rock sandwich she's in at number 9? Staind - It's Been Awhile

Then we take a sharp turn and at number 8 is Ja Rule (ft Case) - Livin' It Up

This song peaked at some point on the list at #6 (but for this week it was #8 and moving up). Incidentally, this is around the era in time where I was not listening to as much rap, so I'm not familiar with this song. But! The album this song is from went triple platinum! Which… dang.

Then, the number 7 position, which was slipping, brought us Ginuwine - Differences

Another third-album release (by that, I mean that Differences was from Ginuwine's third album and Livin' It Up was from Ja Rule's third album) and a solid success. Differences peaked at number 4. Interesting fact--it was the first track on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart to reach the #1 spot without a physical single being available for retail. (That was a thing.)

A pause here! Let me remind you!

These are the top 10 colleagues of Enya's Only Time. A song for all your fantasy wistfulness needs.

…but now my hyperfixation is wearing off, so I'm not going to keep showing off as much.

Number 6 is Usher - U Got It Bad U Got It Bad was #1 on the Hot 100 chart for one week before getting bumped out for 4 weeks… Who bumped Usher out of the spot? The band everyone swore they hated for so long -- Nickelback. They battled it out with Usher topping Nickelback again for a few weeks longer. Usher was notably the only solo male act to have a #1 in the US Hot 100 in 2001. (Hey, I hate copying these statements from Wikipedia, but they are pretty succinct and factual.)

This song also performed very well in Australia, New Zealand, and Belgium.

Though this number 6 position was in November 2001, it went on to chart in 2002 as well.

Then came number 5, Nelly Furtado - Turn Off the Light

This song is a very vague memory in the haze of my mind. The only two songs I can think of and associate immediately with Nelly Furtado are… I'm Like A Bird and Big Girls Don't Cry. But Turn Off The Light is from her debut studio album and did quite well for her all over the world. At a glance, it performed better on mainstream charts than on R&B lists in the US.

The video is extremely 90s. Please watch it for your neon outfit desires.

Following up this perky number -- and remember, sharing the top 10 with Enya -- came number 4: Enrique Iglesias - Hero

Before we have to get serious - Look at baby Enrique and Jennifer Love Hewitt.

This is one of the best selling singles of all time, apparently, selling - as a single - over 8 million copies worldwide. I would not have guessed that. Except … it released on Sept 3rd, 2001. 8 days later, the World Trade Center buildings were attacked and collapsed. The song gained a life of its own because of that -- overtaking all of Enrique's previous successes. Eventually the song fell off the charge completely but re-entered later - not something songs typically do.

At number 3: Alicia Keys - Fallin'

R&B was a real sweet spot (for me personally) during chunks of the 90s, and I credit all those works for leading to the place where we find Alicia Keys. This song won three Grammy Awards. It was nominated for the Hot 100 Single of the Year but lost to Lifehouse's Hanging By A Moment. Don't think about that too long. I'll do that later. (Narrator: This was a lie. She never did - and cannot remember now where she meant to go with this side trail. I can only guess that she - she being I - meant to talk about how this song was the most successful song of 2001. It spent 54 consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart...)

Number two? Jennifer Lopez (ft Ja Rule) - I'm Real

This song feels bit like an 80s jam if we're honest with ourselves. It evokes not a little bit of early Whitney Houston and Paula Abdul. One of the songwriters on this song ALSO worked on Ginuwine's Differences. Maybe Troy Oliver should be credited for being on the charts.

And topping off this whole week at number one? Remember - in context with Enya's Only Time at number 10? Mary J. Blige - Family Affair

Personal anecdote; I was listening to Mary J. Blige back with What's the 411? (released in 1992… 30 years before I'm writing this) and it seemed to me like she didn't really land on the more mainstream lists until this song.

In fact, the song which I know Mary J. Blige for best is Reminisce, which peaked at 57 on the Billboard Hot 100, and 6 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. I'm going to link it and I encourage you to have a listen if you don't know the song - but be warned! Flashing images! - there's fake lightning for the music video and it is rough - Are you forewarned? Okay... here you go. Mary J. Blige - Reminisce

Anyway, back on track!

This list of music all happened in late 2001, but I just wanted to share my journey through 'wait, remember when Enya got on the top 100 charts?' moment. And the memory of how completely and wildly diverse the range of music was that I listened to and was exposed to through general radio play. It wasn't the wildest music experience I had and I know that the 1990s had some weirder things going on (anyone remember when a compilation album of Benedictine monk chants hit number three on the Billboard music charts and was certified double platinum?), but… Thanks for coming to my TEDTalk (not really a TEDTalk). Or not. I had fun doing it anyway.

[nickysfacts]

To bad Jhon Blanke spent all his time tooting his own horn instead of tooting his own horn, or else we might have known more about him!

🎺🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[checkbaldone]

Perhaps a dumb question from my part

But was Elvis a good singer? I'm seeing a lot of people mad that he's low on the rolling stone best singers list (a list we I have dumped on before). But did he have the vocal chops for people to be this mad?

Elvis stans feel free to attack

[bruh-please]

Ok but do you ever think that someone looked at a brussel sprout stalk and thought yeah that can be an instrument?? I mean look at the similarities HELLO?

[winterserpent]

Hey tumblr, could you help me find an old weird animated film?

It's a really old hand drawn animation with no spoken dialogue.

It tells a story of an anthropomorphized dog composer who tries to come up with a new composition. His boss is a large pig in a black suit and he is angry that the dog hasn't done his job. The dog is left alone with a piano and he looks at the clock and falls asleep.

The rest of the film is the dog going through the history of music. Many of the scenes include a black-haired woman who the dog tries to win over and sometimes the pig boss is the bad guy. I don't remember anything else about these scenes except that there was a scene with dancing skeletons and a scene in a monastery with demons. Also there might have been a scene where the pig chased the dog on horseback.

At the end of the film the dog wakes up and realizes that it's too late but he also has magically come up with new composition so he writes it down and brings it to his boss. The boss reads it / or the dog plays it and the pig becomes super happy and rips off his suit and is depicted wearing some uderpants that change color ???

And I guess there's also the blackhaired lady who falls in love with the dog.

I've tried to google everything I can think of to find this film with no results. I have only ever seen it during music lessons in elementary school. It was something we watched over and over again during the school years.

If anyone has any idea how to find this please let me know.

[rjzimmerman]

I’m told that this is available on Netflix, but I kind of doubt it. So far, only on Paramount +, which costs $$$$. I really want to watch it because the song is part of my life. I will explore streaming tonight. Here’s the trailer:

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday Ian Anderson, born 10th August 1947 in Dunfermline.

After attending primary school in Edinburgh, his family relocated to Blackpool in 1959. Following a traditional Grammar school education, he moved on to Art college to study fine art before deciding on an attempt at a musical career. He was influenced by his father’s big band and jazz records and the emergence of rock music, but was disenchanted with the “show biz” style of early American rock and roll stars like Elvis Presley.

In 1963 with some school friends he formed his first band The Blades, a soul and blues outfit. In 1965 they regrouped into The John Evan Band with major lineup changes. They disband two years later when Anderson moved to Luton. In his new surroundings, Ian meets the drummer Clive Bunker and the guitarist Mick Abrahams and with Glenn Cornick, a bassist - of The John Evan Band-, Anderson creates the seed of the group that would become the legendary Jethro Tull.

Still enjoying a lengthy if intermittent ongoing career, Jethro Tull has released 30 studio and live albums, selling more than 60 million copies since the band first performed at London’s famous Marquee club.

After undertaking more than 3000 concerts in forty-something countries throughout four decades, Tull has played typically 100 concerts each year to longstanding, as well as new fans worldwide.

Widely recognized as the man who introduced the flute to rock music, Ian Anderson remains the crowned exponent of the popular and rock genres of flute playing. So far, no pretender to the throne has stepped forward. Ian also plays ethnic flutes and whistles together with acoustic guitar and the mandolin bouzouki, balalaika, saxophone, harmonica, and a variety of whistles.

I briefly met Ian on Skye in 1987 on my way back from Benbecula where he had an estate and ran a Fish farm, well 11 fish farms as my research has unearthed, he also employed over 400 people before selling it in the 90’s.

Anderson recalled in an interview how he started as a flautist…

“ once owned a 1960s Fender Stratocaster, which had previously belonged to Lemmy Kilminster before he found fame with Motorhead. But when it dawned on me I was never going to catch up with the growing band of hotshot British guitarists at that time – Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton – I traded it in for a Selma Goldfield student flute worth £30.

I knew Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton didn’t play the flute, so I thought I would be in with a chance. A lot of people told me it was a ridiculous trade because the Strat was worth at least £150. But in fact it was a great buy because learning to play it was the start of Jethro Tull.”

Anderson lives on a farm in the southwest of England where he has a recording studio and office. He has been married for 37 years to Shona who is also an active director of their music and other companies. They have two children.

In 2006 and 2010, he was awarded Doctorates in Literature from Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh and the Abertay University of Dundee. He received the Ivor Award for International Achievement in Music.

Ian admits he owns no fast car, never yet having taken a driving test, and has a wardrobe of singularly uninspiring and drab leisurewear varying from light grey to black in colour. He still keeps a couple of off-road competition motorcycles, and a saxophone which he promises never to play again.

Jethro Tull are about to start a US tour on Friday, Aug. 18th, at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois. They will however be hopping over the Atlantic to perform in Europe during the tour.

[i-was-today-years-old-when]

TIL a family in Georgia claimed to have passed down a song in an unknown language from the time of their enslavement; scientists identified the song as a genuine West African funeral song in the Mende language that had survived multiple transmissions from mother to daughter over multiple centuries (x)

[beggars-opera]

The fact that the Boston transit system has been a garbage fire for so long that our mascot is a sad little man who is literally stranded on the train until the end of time due to a fare increase. Charlie's desiccated corpse has been riding this train since the 1940s and everyone just sort of rolls with it it this point

[batwynn]

I know a lot is going on in the world right now but this kind of loss of art is breaking my heart in two.

The Valentino’s Costume Group in Hollywood has lost everything after the death of their co-founder, the pandemic, strikes, etc. and is now being forced to do a very quick liquidation sale before having to send all of their years of hard work to be turned into rags. (Yes this is a real thing)

These people have crafted thousands of costumes over 20 years to rent to everyone and anyone who needed one. They’re sex worker and queer friendly. They’re also being accused of being “fast fashion” while being one of the few places in this world actively working against fast fashion with their work. They don’t want to have to turn their hard work into rags. It’s the only option for them with the enormous amount of costumes/fabrics they have to remove from the building very quickly.

So, Californians and anyone willing to travel to Hollywood: YOU can save a costume! (or two?) YOU can save someone’s art from being destroyed! YOU can own pieces of Hollywood! YOU can save so much sewing supplies and fabrics!

Where: 5535 CAHUENGA BLVD, N. HOLLYWOOD

Phone: 818-427-5248

Special hours for Influencers: May 20-30th 9:30am-4:30pm MON-SUN

What: Vintage, designer, menswear, historical, specialty, children’s, shoes, jewelry, vintage hats, show packages, racks, fabric, etc!

Important note: Please be kind and patient with the folks managing this sale. There’s maybe 2-3 people working at the most, and they all just suffered the death of someone close to them and the loss of their dream.

Please, please signal boost this. Their hard work should not go to waste and this terrible loss is already hard enough on them.