Steve Winwood

Steve Winwood

After building a stellar reputation with the Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, Blind Faith and back to Traffic, expectations were high for Steve Winwood’s solo career. But it got off to a slow start with his self-titled debut, a good, solid, if unremarkable record. On the ’81 set “Arc Of A Diver” Winwood played all the…

Traffic

Traffic

For a time, the mightiest Blues shouter in the U.K. was a teenage Steve Winwood, the singer for the Spencer Davis Group (“Gimme Some Lovin’“). He also played organ, piano and guitar. When the Spencer Davis Group’s limited scope became too confining Winwood served notice. Eric Clapton and Winwood talked about forming a group but…

INXS

INXS

INXS started with the Farris Brothers (guitarist Tim, keyboardist Andrew and drummer Jon) in ’79. School friends, bassist Gary Beers, guitarist/sax player Kirk Pengilly and vocalist Michael Hutchence soon came on board. Interestingly, this line-up remained intact through the band’s lengthy history (’79 to ’97). Honing their act, INXS (in excess) set out on a…

Today In Rock: January 12th, 1998 – The Eagles Enter The Hall
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Today In Rock: January 12th, 1998 – The Eagles Enter The Hall

On this day… The Eagles entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band’s Don Henley and Glenn Frey had a few “priceless” comments. “I want to thank (manager) Irving Azoff, without whom we wouldn’t be here today,” said Henley. “Well, we might still be here,” blurted out Frey. “But we wouldn’t have made…

The Beatles - Beatles for Sale
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Today In Rock: December 24th, 2015 – The Beatles Are Finally Streaming

On this day… The Beatles catalog was now available on streaming services (Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play, Tidal, Amazon Prime Music, and so on). After holding out for years and following prolonged negotiations between Apple (The Beatles label) and the surviving Beatles’ members and their estates an agreement regarding terms and trademark issues resulted in 224 songs across…

Allman Brothers Band

Allman Brothers Band

Phil Walden, head of Capricorn Records, suggested Duane Allman, a renowned session guitarist, start his own group. First, Duane installed his brother as the lead singer. Nobody liked that idea even though Gregg also handled keyboards. Dickey Betts was the second guitarist – you can never have too many guitars. Berry Oakley played bass. Also,…

Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac

This is a story of the convoluted and sometimes torturous road taken by drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie. These two Brit Blues vets had been in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers before deciding to strike out on their own. Over the next few years Fleetwood Mac plodded along as guitarists Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer, Danny…