Of course a lot of those hippies may get busted once in a while. But you don’t hear of banks beings robbed by hippies. It’s your own private thing if you use drugs. Everyone should be able to think or do what they want as long as it don’t hurt anybody. ibid.
Music is a safe kind of high. It’s more the way it’s supposed to be. ibid.
When I die I’m going to have a jam session. And knowing me, I’ll probably get busted at my own funeral. And I’ll try to get Miles Davis along if he feels like making it. The music will be played loud. And it will be our music. ibid.
When I die just keep on playing the records. ibid.
A musician, if he’s a messenger, is like a child who hasn’t been handled too many times by man, hasn’t had too many fingerprints across his brain. Jimi Hendrix, Life Magazine 1969
‘This guy is just unbelievable.’ Jimi Hendrix: Guitar Hero, Sky Arts 2012
Jimi arrives in London Saturday 24th September 1966. ibid.
‘The most incredible blues guitar I’d ever heard.’ ibid.
‘And played it with his teeth.’ ibid.
‘He used colours: colours corresponding with notes.’ ibid.
Jimi’s problems seemed to get worse. ibid.
‘Hendrix was like a one-off. You’ll never see anything like him again. You’ll never see anyone have that much control of his instrument.’ ibid. Lemmy of Motorhead
In recent years this uniquely British tradition has been monopolized by TV talent shows. But the backlash is well under way. And the great race for the Christmas No.1 is back. The Christmas No.1 Story, BBC 2012
1952: Al Martino: Here in my heart. ibid.
1955: Dickie Valentine: Christmas Alphabet. ibid.
1957: Harry Belafonte: Mary’s Boy Child. ibid.
1963: The Beatles: I Want to Hold Your Hand. ibid.
1969: Rolf Harris: Two Little Boys. ibid.
The Christmas Top of the Pops was the perfect arena for this gladiatorial glitter-off. ibid.
1973: Wizard: I Wish It Could Be Christmas v Slade: Merry Christmas, Everybody. ibid.
1976: Johnny Mathis: When a Child is Born. ibid.
1978: Bony M: Mary’s Boy Child. ibid.
1981: The Human League: Don’t You Want Me. ibid.
Wham: Last Christmas: the highest selling single ever not to make it to Number One. ibid.
1984: Band Aid: Do They Know It’s Christmas? ibid.
1985: Shakin’ Stevens: Merry Christmas, Everyone. ibid.
1988: Cliff Richard v Jason & Kylie. ibid.
1990: Cliff Richard: Saviour’s Day. ibid.
The big ballads took over. ibid.
1994: E17: Stay Another Day. ibid.
2000: Bob the Builder: Can We Fix It? ibid.
2009: Rage Against the Machine. ibid.
All art constantly aspires towards the condition of music. Walter Pater
A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
‘Mathematics is even the basis for music.’ Inside the Mind of Leonardo starring Peter Capaldi, Sky Arts 2013
Painting excels because it does not fade as music does as soon as it is born; it endures. Leonardo da Vinci
Sun Studios ... Some of the greatest artists in the history of music have recorded in this five-hundred-and-forty-square-foot room. Rich Hall’s ‘The Dirty South’ *****
Elvis played rockabilly, and rockabilly caused its listeners to go manic. ibid.
They had no idea what Jerry Lee was about to stir up ... Jerry Lee Lewis was a shit-kicker. ibid.
This is the story about country music that constantly has to reinvent itself. Rich Hall’s Countrier that You, BBC 2017
It’s influenced by the Scots, the English, Irish, Scandinavians and the European immigrants who settled in the Appalachians parts of Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky. ibid.
No-one called it Bluegrass; that term didn’t even come in till the 1950s. ibid.
Leave me or I’ll find someone who will – that’s the motto of country music. ibid.
After recording for Ralph Peer at the Bristol sessions in 1927, the Carter Family were an instant sensation. ibid.
Hiram King Williams [Hank] pushing the inherent limits of country music as far as they would go … a true singer-songwriter. ibid.
The man who called himself Chuck Berry junior who wasn’t Chuck Berry taught Waylon how to play lovesick blues. ibid.
The current creative deficit in Nashville is nothing new. ibid.
Roger Miller had been hanging round Nashville as a songwriter for years … sending up the banality of country music at the time. ibid.
The distinction of original bad boy of course belongs to Johnny Cash. ibid.
June 1969, Up-state New York, Woodstock: A weekend concert for over 100,000 ticket holders is overrun by nearly half a million baby-boomers. Over a million more try to get in. It’s the world’s biggest ever music festival. America: The Story of the US: Millennium, History 2010
Britain today is alive with music ... all these were first forged in the energy and inventiveness of 18th century Britain. Suzy Klein, Rule, Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century I, BBC 2014
In the years after Purcell’s death, London was beginning to reawaken. ibid.
George set about ingratiating himself with the aristocracy becoming an enthusiastic supporter of Italian Opera. In 1719 the King stumped up £1,000 to help launch a new Royal Academy of Music. ibid.
The British for the first time became consumers ... Music became a kind of conspicuous consumption, a driving force in a cultural boom. Suzy Klein, Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century II, BBC 2014
The pursuit of enjoyment was becoming more fashionable and more commercial than it had ever been. ibid.
Singing clubs like this were formed for the love of male companionship. ibid.
Music was a galvanizing force, creating a powerful sense of identity in the new nation state of Great Britain. Suzy Klein, Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century III, BBC 2014
Working people across Britain who started using music as an escape from the toil of daily life. ibid.
Handel was in a unique position to harness the forces of Protestantism, nationhood and communal singing. ibid.
I can’t listen to that much Wagner. I start getting the urge to conquer Poland. Woody Allen
There are two golden rules for an orchestra; start together and finish together. The public doesn’t give a damn what goes on in between. Thomas Beecham, 1879-1961, English conductor
Of music Dr [Samuel] Johnson used to say that it was the only sensual pleasure without vice. European Magazine 1795
I have been told that Wagner’s music is better than it sounds. Bill Nye
You think that’s noise – you ain’t heard nuttin’ yet! Al Jolson