Johnny Nash – I Can See Clearly Now

Johnny Nash – I Can See Clearly Now

Johnny Nash - I Can See Clearly Now

9 August 1940, Houston, Texas, USA. The story of Nash’s association with Bob Marley has been well documented. His background is similar to that of many Jamaican performers in that he first started singing in a church choir. By his early teens he performed cover versions of popular R&B hits of the 50s on a television show called Matinee. He enjoyed his first US chart entry in 1957 with a cover version of Doris Day’s ‘A Very Special Love’. ABC Records decided to market the young singer as another Johnny Mathis, which did little to enhance his career. Disillusioned with the label, he concentrated on a career in films. In 1958 he starred in Take A Giant Step, and in 1960 he appeared alongside Dennis Hopper in Key Witness, which was critically acclaimed in Europe. Returning to the recording studio he persevered with middle-of-the-road material but was unable to generate a hit. A number of label and style changes did not improve his chart potential. By 1965 he finally achieved a Top 5 hit in the R&B chart with the ballad ‘Lets Move And Groove Together’.

Nash was unable to maintain the winning formula, but in 1967 his R&B hit was enjoying chart success in Jamaica. The good fortunes in Jamaica led Nash to the island to promote his hit. It was here that he was exposed to ska and arranged a return visit to the island to record at Federal Studios. Accompanied by Byron Lee And The Dragonaires, the sessions resulted in ‘Cupid’, ‘Hold Me Tight’ and ‘You Got Soul’. When he released ‘Hold Me Tight’, the song became an international hit, achieving Top 5 success in the UK as well as a return to the Jamaican chart. He formed a partnership with Danny Simms, and a label, JAD (Johnny and Danny), releasing recordings by Bob Marley, Byron Lee, Lloyd Price and Kim Weston as well as his own material until the label folded in the early 70s. He returned to recording in Jamaica at Harry J.’s studio where he met Marley, who wrote ‘Stir It Up’, which revived Nash’s career by peaking at number 13 on the UK chart in June 1972.

Nash continued to enjoy popularity with ‘I Can See Clearly Now’, a UK Top 5 hit that was later successfully covered by Jimmy Cliff in 1994 for the film Cool Runnings. Other hits followed, including ‘Ooh What A Feeling’ and ‘There Are More Questions Than Answers’, but the further he drifted from reggae, the less successful the single. He covered other Bob Marley compositions, including ‘Nice Time’ and ‘Guava Jelly’, but they were not picked up for single release, although the latter was on the b-side to ‘There Are More Questions Than Answers’. His career subsequently took another downward turn but was revived yet again when he returned to Jamaica to record an Ernie Smith composition, ‘Tears On My Pillow’, which reached number 1 in the UK Top 10 in June 1975. He also reached the UK chart with ‘Let’s Be Friends’ and ‘(What) A Wonderful World’ before choosing to devote more energy to films and his West Indian recording complex.

Bio source…..www.oldies.com

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Jace Everett – Between A Father And A Son

Jace Everett – Between A Father And A Son

Bad Things - Jace Everett

Terra Rosa is Jace Everett’s most ambitious album to date, a raucous, revelatory song cycle exploring tales and themes from the Old and New Testaments. “The truth is, all of these songs are about me,” he says, “trying to figure out what I believe and don’t believe. It’s me going back to my closet and pulling all the skeletons out, looking at the bones and seeing what’s there.” The Nashville-based singer/songwriter’s deconstructs and re-imagines the Book through his own unique perspective, examining matters of love, death, faith, and contemporary America via these most primal of metaphors. There are allusions to such Biblical greatest hits as Sodom & Gomorrah, Jonah and the Whale, and Peter the Rock, alongside deep cuts like “Sapphira,” a righteous romp through trials, tithing, and divine judgment. Everett’s musical approach is as daring and wide-ranging as his subject demands, a hallucinatory hybrid of blues, country, boogie, gospel, and rock – in short, the span and spectrum of American music in all its glory. Yet despite its epic scope, Terra Rosa is at heart an intensely intimate album, its invention and irreverence all reflecting Everett’s own struggles with sin and spirit.

The old time religion is forever embedded in the very fiber of Everett’s being, as much a part of him as his distinctive baritone and gift for deeply personal song-craft. Born in Evansville, Indiana and raised in Grapevine, Texas, he began life as an Episcopalian but his folks eventually “decided they wanted some peppier music” and found their way to an Evangelical church. “Riddled with sin at 12 years old,” Everett was compelled to come forward for the alter call and was, oh yes, saved. Pious to a fault through most of his teens, he avoided secular culture as best he could until his guard began to fall.

“By the time I was 18, I was trying really hard to not be an atheist,” he says. “By the time I was 19, I was trying even harder to be an atheist. That didn’t pan out either – apparently, I lacked the faith.”

Everett soon made his way to Music City USA and scored his first #1 co-writing Josh Turner’s RIAA platinum certified 2006 country smash, “Your Man.” He officially became an overnight sensation two years later when “Bad Things” – the spooky, sultry highlight of his self-titled 2006 debut album – was featured as theme song to HBO’s blockbuster series, True Blood. “Bad Things” proved a worldwide hit single, as well as a multiple BMI Cable Television Music Award winner, and helped propel the show to its extraordinary long-running success. A series of albums followed, each more adventurous and acclaimed than its predeccessor, including 2010’s Red Revelations and 2011’s Mr. Good Times. Everett further tightened his gritty, groovy sound with frequent international tours, raising up a fervent fan following at every turn.

“I’m a lucky dude, that’s for sure,” he says. “Every time I start to complain about my life i just remember that I was literally a ditch digger at one point and this is better than that. No offense to the ditch diggers out there – I salute their work, ditches need to be dug.”

Widely celebrated in songwriting circles as a master craftsman, Everett was teamed with Stephany Delray in winter 2011 and together they penned the haunting “No Place To Hide.” Co-writing the saga of Cain and Abel lit a spark inside Everett, stirring him to try his hand at another Genesis story, “In The Garden.” Then, just like in the Book itself, the flood came…

“Within a few weeks I had written eight or nine songs,” he says. “I got really into it. It was the first time, in a long time, that I’d been really excited to write songs, because I knew what I was writing them for. To have a real purpose and a goal for what I was doing, that was inspiring for me.”

The Bible indeed proved a “fecund swamp of material” for Everett, who began recording the new songs at his own home studio before joining up with longtime producer Brad Jones (Josh Rouse, Hayes Carll, Chuck Prophet) at Nashville’s Alex the Great Recording in June 2012. Everett led his crack band – multi-instrumentalists Dan Cohen and Chris Raspante, bassist James Cook, and drummer Derek Mixon – through a 7-day session in which they tackled and traversed a span of sonic stylings, from Appalachian folk (“Pennsylvania”) to Zappa-esque psychedelia (“Lloyd’s Summer Vacation”).

“I don’t really feel like I have a responsibility to a genre,” he says. “What is really important to me is my responsibility to my writing and my performing, not dependent on some pre-ordained genre that I have to sit in for market reasons or whatever. Country is part of who I am, just like rock ‘n’ roll is, just like pop is, it’s all just part of who I am.”

Read more…..www.jaceeverett.com

Picture source…..userserve-ak.last.fm

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Your Flying Camera

Your Flying Camera

Your Flying Camera

Agile performance and easy to fly

The Phantom 2 Vision Quadcopter with Integrated FPV Camera is the second generation of quad-rotor RC helicopter from DJI and features their own 14 megapixel wireless HD FPV camera, giving you first-person view (FPV) experience right out of the box.
With a larger battery and improved prop design, flying time lasts to up to 25 minutes, compared to around 14 minutes on the original DJI Phantom Quadcopter.
During flight, the camera is stabilized on the tilt axis.
Tilt control can be remotely controlled through the App making it simple and easy to use.
A lens profile relaesed by Adobe for DJI Phantom 2 Vision’s camera can be used to remove lens distortion.
Adobe Lens Profile is available in the latest versions of Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop and Creative Cloud.
Camera settings including Picture Quality, ISO, Exposure Compensation, White Balance, and RAW or JPEG capture can be adjusted through the Vision app.
Monitor real-time flight data along with live camera view up to a distance of 300m with a Wi-Fi wireless connection to your mobile device.

Beam photos and videos from the Vision straight to your phone using Wi-Fi. No PC required.

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So you win again – Hot Chocolate

So you win again – Hot Chocolate

So you win again - Hot Chocolate

Hot Chocolate formed in Brixton, London, England in 1968. Members of the group included Errol Brown, Tony Connor, Larry Ferguson, Harvey Hinsley, Patrick Olive and Tony Wilson.
In 1969 the band started working on a reggae version of the John Lennon song “Give Peace A Chance”. Errol Brown had changed the lyrics for their version but was informed that he could not do this without John Lennon’s permission, so a copy of the demo was sent to the Beatles Apple record label to see what they thought of it. Fortunately, John loved the version and it was released on the Apple label.
The group was given the named ‘The Hot Chocolate Band’ by a secretary at the company, Mavis Smith, the band later changed it to just ‘Hot Chocolate’.
Towards the end of 1969 Mickie Most signed Errol and the cofounder of the group Tony Wilson as writers and recorded their songs with Mary Hopkins, Julie Felix and Herman’s Hermits before encouraging them to come up with a song for themselves. In 1970 Hot Chocolate, with Errol Brown as lead singer, released their first record entitled “Love Is Life” which reached number 6 in the charts. This was the start of a fifteen year career for the group who amassed a total of over 30 hits and also became the only group in the UK to have a hit for fifteen consecutive years.
In 1981 Hot Chocolate had the honour of being invited by Prince Charles and Lady Diana at their pre-wedding reception at Buckingham Palace which was attended by heads of Government and many members of European Royalty.
In 1986 Errol left the band and took time out to spend more time with his wife and then young children. The rest of the members of Hot Chocolate also took some time off to consider their future and in 1992 Patrick Olive, Harvey Hinsley and Tony Connor joined up with agent Richard Martin and decided to start touring again.
The band found a new singer Greg Bannis and keyboard players Andy Smith & Steve Ansell. Since 1992, the band has enjoyed years of continued success touring all around the world performing to many thousands of fans who love the music of Hot Chocolate. In 1997 the classic single “You Sexy Thing” reached number one in the charts after it was featured in the movie ‘The Full Monty’ and a new Hot Chocolate ‘Greatest Hits’ compilation released in October 1997 reached number 10 in the album charts.
In 2010 singer Kennie Simon replaced Greg Bannis on vocals creating what many are saying is the best sound ever.

Bio source…..www.hot-chocolate.co.uk

Picture source…..i.ytimg.com

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Dragon – Are You Old Enough

Dragon – Are You Old Enough

Dragon - Are You Old Enough

Dragon formed in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1972, with a line-up that featured Todd Hunter, guitarist Ray Goodwin, drummer Neil Reynolds and singer Graeme Collins; by 1974 several personnel changes had occurred including the introduction of Todd’s brother Marc Hunter on vocals and Neil Storey on drums.

The band recorded two progressive rock albums in New Zealand, Universal Radio and Scented Gardens for the Blind, the second with an added guitar element from Robert Taylor. Paul Hewson also joined the band on keyboards and from this point Dragon’s music took on a pop-flavoured AOR feel.

Dragon eventually landed a contract in Australia with CBS Records and relocated to Sydney in 1975.

Always a lightning rod for controversy, the band was rocked by the heroin overdose death of drummer Neil Storey only weeks after arriving in Australia and their original manager was also deported back to New Zealand on drugs charges. By then, founding member Ray Goodwin had left the group.

Storey was replaced by Kerry Jacobson and, between 1975 and 1979, Dragon scored a string of major hits on the Australasian pop charts with songs including “April Sun in Cuba,” “Are You Old Enough” and “Still in Love With You” and with the albums Sunshine and O Zambezi, making them one of the region’s most popular rock acts.

Marc Hunter left Dragon in 1979 due to health problems which were, by then, seriously affecting his performances. New singer Richard Lee was recruited and the group recorded the Powerplay LP before breaking up in 1979.

Dragon was forced to reform in 1982 to pay off outstanding debts, but they stayed together and decided to have another shot at success. The band’s second comeback single “Rain” proved to be a massive hit, but Kerry Jacobson left the band for health reasons and was replaced by British drummer Terry Chambers, formerly from the band XTC. American keyboard player and producer Alan Mansfield also joined the band at this point.

The group’s 1984 album Body and the Beat became one of the biggest-selling albums in Australia and New Zealand and the band was restored to something close to its late 70s glory. Their public profile was further raised at this time by the Marc Hunter solo album Communication. Its title track became a moderate hit in Australia.

Paul Hewson left Dragon and tragically died of a drug overdose in New Zealand in January 1985, with Terry Chambers and Robert Taylor leaving Dragon some time after. American drummer Doanne Perry replaced Chambers, and Taylor was eventually succeeded by local Sydney guitar ace Tommy Emmanuel.

This line-up recorded the Todd Rundgren-produced Dreams of Ordinary Men album and toured Europe under the name Hunter in 1987, where they were somewhat misrepresented as a heavy metal band in some markets.

Dragon again split up in 1988 although a year later Todd and Marc Hunter and Alan Mansfield reconvened once again with guitarist Randall Waller and drummer Barton Price (ex-Models and The Choirboys) for the 1989 Bondi Road album, which actually featured Tommy Emmanuel’s guitar playing.

Dragon continued to record and tour with varying line-ups centered around the Hunter brothers and Mansfield until 1997, although Todd Hunter had largely retired from the band to do soundtrack work.

In 1998, Marc Hunter was diagnosed with severe throat cancer and died later that year. The compilation CD Forever Young, released on Raven Records, captures many of the highlight tracks of his tumultuous career.

Bio source…..www.last.fm

Picture source…..www.thestarfish.com.au

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UB40 – Kingston Town

UB40 – Kingston Town

UB40 - Kingston Town

UB40 are a British reggae/pop band formed in 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has placed more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. The band has been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album four times, and in 1984, they were nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Group. One of the world’s best-selling music artists, UB40 have sold over 70 million records. Their hit singles include their debut “Food for Thought” and two U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number ones with “Red Red Wine” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love”. Both of these also topped the UK Singles Chart, as did the band’s version of “I Got You Babe”.

The story of UB40, and how this group of young friends from Birmingham transcended their working-class origins to become the world’s most successful reggae band is not the stuff of fairytales as might be imagined. The group’s led a charmed life in many respects it’s true, but it’s been a long haul since the days they’d meet up in the bars and clubs around Moseley, and some of them had to scrape by on less than £8 a week unemployment benefit. The choice was simple if you’d left school early. You could either work in one of the local factories, like Robin Campbell did, or scuffle along aimlessly whilst waiting for something else to happen.

By the summer of 1978, something else did happen, and the nucleus of UB40 began rehearsing in a local basement. Robin’s younger brother Ali, Earl Falconer, Brian Travers and James Brown all knew each other from Moseley School of Art, whilst Norman Hassan had been a friend of Ali’s since school. Initially, they thought of themselves as a “jazz-dub-reggae” band, but by the time Robin was persuaded to join and they’d recruited Michael Virtue and Astro – who’d learnt his craft with Birmingham sound-system Duke Alloy – the group had already aligned themselves to left-wing political ideals and forged their own identity, separate from the many punk and Two Tone outfits around at that time. The group had nailed their colours to the mast by naming themselves after an unemployment benefit form. Their political convictions hadn’t been gleaned secondhand either, but cemented in place whilst attending marches protesting against the National Front, or rallies organised by Rock Against Racism.

Read More…..www.ub40.co.uk

Picture Source…..samcoley.com

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Zuppa Toscana soup

Zuppa Toscana soup

Zuppa Toscana soup

Ingredients

  • 3 cans (14oz) Chicken Broth
  • 2 cups whipping cream
  • salt and pepper (to taste)
  • 1 medium onion, diced,
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 pkg. bacon (cooked and crumbled)
  • 2 cups chopped spinach
  • 1 lb mild Italian ground sausage
  • 3 potatoes scrubbed and cut into slices or small chunks

Instructions

  1. Cook and crumble the bacon, set aside.
  2. Cook and crumble the italian sausage in a large pot.
  3. Once sausage is cooked through, add chicken broth, and spinach to the pot.
  4. Place a lid on the pot and let it come to a slight boil.
  5. While chicken broth is coming to a boil, slice potatoes in half and then cut 1/4 inch thick slices.
  6. In a skillet over medium heat, sautee the potatoes, diced onion, and garlic.
  7. Sautee until potatoes are cooked through.
  8. Once potatoes are cooked, add cooked/crumbled bacon and the potato mixture to the pot of chicken broth and sausage.
  9. Stir together, and add in whipping cream. (don’t boil it once the whipping cream is in it because it could curdle)
  10. Add salt and pepper to taste

Recipe source…..

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