From Classics to Covers (If I Really Stink at Anything it is Writing Short Posts)

Welcome back, my history and music lovers! I set out writing this blog post hoping that I could cut down on some of the bulk…but it really just didn’t go that well. Because there are so many amazing musicians this week, I have chosen not to feature anyone. I KNOW, I know. This is a big decision in our blogging relationship, but I think it had to be done. I mean, just look at this thing! It’s long enough as is. I hope you can at least skim through some of the events and gain some new music knowledge (or maybe a new favorite writer/composer/song), if nothing else.

I hope you enjoy this week in music! (I’m not really sure if this song is a great opener, but I like it and the title has the word “week” in it, so I figured I’d link it in and let yall decide whether it fits or not!

 

  • March 22, 1930 – Birth of lyricist Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim is probably best known as the writer of many successful musicals, from 1957’s West Side Story, (about which Sondheim once admitted he wasn’t pleased because he felt the song lyrics lacked artistic merit. Seriously. Sondheim is embarrassed about West Side Story. Just. What?) to 1979’s Sweeney Todd. Some of Sondheim’s success might stem from the fact that he was friends with Oscar Hammerstein II’s son, which would later lead to Sondheim becoming Hammerstein’s personal assistant, gaining true experience in the world of professional theater. (You read that correctly. Sondheim worked for the Oscar Hammerstein. Of Rogers and Hammerstein? The guys who created The King and I, Oklahoma, and the Sound of Music? Yeah, those guys.) Sondheim has won an Academy Award, eight Tony Awards, eight Grammy Awards, and countless other honors for so many of his incredible works, including A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum from 1962, Company from 1970, a film score for Sunday in the Park with George in 1984, and a final Broadway musical – Into the Woods – in 1987. Sondheim’s amazing contribution to the music world has continued to marvel audiences and remain completely relevant and engaging (see: 2007’s film version of Sweeney Todd, starring Johnny Depp). Sondheim is now 83 years old.
  1.  Guess what? We’re not done with this day yet! March 22, 1948 – Birthday of songwriter Andrew Lloyd Weber. Because, ya know, Sondheim wasn’t enough. Webber was unsure of what he wanted to do for most of his life, but he found direction and a great partner in Tim Rice, with whom he would create Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat (originally written in 1968, but expanded into a full musical form in 1972), and Jesus Christ Superstar in 1971. Webber’s real breakthrough, however, came with his individual effort in the creation of 1981’s musical Cats (the plot was actually based on the poetry of T.S. Eliot…kinda weird, huh?) Cats ran for 18 years on Broadway, and is the longest running production in London, having run for 21 years (That’s longer than my entire life to date. Wow). Webber’s biggest smash would come in 1986 with The Phantom of the Opera which had it’s 10,000th Broadway performance in February of last year. Just in case you weren’t sure, that is a massive success. I think it’s pretty clear that Webber has composed and written some of the most influential and lasting works of his generation (and ours….).
  • March 23, 2006 – Death of Cindy Walker. You may not have heard of Walker, but she was a hugely important songwriter from essentially the 1940s onward. From “Bubbles in My Beer” (performed by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys) to Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)” (as performed by Roy Orbison), Walker wrote hits for too many artists to count. She was inducted into the Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 1970 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1997. She would die in 2006 at the age of 87.

 

  • March 24, 1928 – Birth of Byron Janis, American pianist. I’m not going to lie to you guys; I really chose this guy because he’s essentially from my hometown and because no one else super exciting had anything to do with March 24. That aside, I learned that Janis was truly a sensational piano player. He made his orchestral debut with the NBC Symphony Orchestra in New York at the age of fifteen. FIFTEEN. I’m not even sure if I could paint my own finger nails by age fifteen. Janis would play in Carnegie Hall in New York City by age 20, and embarked on a world tour that would earn him critical acclaim. In 1960, Janis was chosen as the first American to be sent to the Soviet Union in the midst of the Cold War (thus opening foreign relations a little bit). In Paris in 1967, Janis discovered two previously unknown waltzes by Chopin; this would later be called the most important musical discovery of the age. Sadly, Janis developed arthritis in the 1970s and had to accept his weakened playing skills by 1984. Janis is now 85 years old.

Here you can check out Janis playing some good ole’ Rachmaninoff.

 

After dealing with some sales setbacks (honestly, I think it was due to the disco takeover of the 70’s), Franklin found success again in 1985 with Who’s Zoomin’ Who? Which became her best selling album. Not to stop there, her next album, titled Aretha, went gold and included a song with George Michael called “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me).” In 1987, Franklin would be the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2008, Franklin received her 18th Grammy Award for ” Never Gonna Break My Faith” (a song sung with Mary J. Blige) and thus earned the spot of female with the second-most Grammy Awards ever.

PHEW. Wow. That’s a lot to take in. The point of this story is that Aretha Franklin has one of the most amazing voices of our generation, and she has been rightly rewarded for her talent!

 

  • March 26, 1948 – Birth of Steven Tyler. Tyler, as frontman for the band Aerosmith, is considered one of rock’s great performers. Aerosmith’s debut album featured the hit “Dream On” which might be bigger today then it was when it first premiered (You can also check out a cover of it by punk-ish band Blessthefall here).  From that point on, however, Aerosmith would continue to gain fans and massive success with releases like “Walk this Way.” (Run-D.M.C. would cover this song in 1986). Despite a sort-of hiatus in the early 1980s, the band returned around 1987 and would hit the charts with “Crazy” even into 1993 (Note: Liv Tyler, the actress daughter of Steven, stars in the music video for “Crazy” so you should definitely check it out!)  Recently, Tyler was a judge on American Idol (the most entertaining one, at that!) and continues to be a presence in the musical world.

 

  • March 27, 1971 – Birth of singer Mariah Carey. Carey released her first album in 1990, which would feature No. 1 singles including “Vision of Love” and “I Don’t Wanna Cry.” By 1997, Carey would release her twelfth No. 1 single (the P. Diddy produced “Honey”) and earned an Academy Award nomination for her duet with Whitney Houston that was featured in the Prince of Egypt. Carey is currently the third best-selling female artist of all time – and she’s only 43 years old.

 

  • March 28, 1955 – Birth of Reba McEntire. Though McEntire loved music even as a child, her music career really took off in 1980 with her single “You Life Me Up (To Heaven).” McEntire grew up with her music, and 1986’s song (and ensuing music video) of “Whoever’s in New England” meshed McEntire’s powerful vocals with real and artful storytelling. This album was the first of McEntire’s to go gold and would win the singer a Grammy Award and an award from the Country Music Association for Entertainer of the Year. McEntire’s 1990 release Rumor Has It would go triple platinum by 1999. (That’s over three million copies sold. Holy. Heck.) In 2001, McEntire would get her own show on the WB Network, and eventually won a Golden Globe for her performance (because, ya know, why not?). In 2009, McEntire surpassed Dolly Parton as the most ever nominated female in the history of the CMA Awards. I think that pretty well sums up McEntire’s career. And she’s only 57 years old. Reba really is the Queen of Country Music.

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

“Andrew Lloyd Webber Biography.” Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

“Andrew Lloyd Webber Biography.” Encyclopedia of World Biography. Advameg, Inc., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

“Aretha Franklin Biography.” Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

“Biography for Cindy Walker.” IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

“Byron Janis (Piano) – Short Biography.” Byron Janis (Piano) – Short Biography. N.p., 28 Nov. 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

“Byron Janis.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Mar. 2013. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

“Cindy Walker.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Mar. 2013. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

“Mariah Carey Biography.” Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

“Reba McEntire Biography.” Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

“Stephen Sondheim Biography.” Encyclopedia of World Biography. Advameg, Inc., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

“Stephen Sondheim: Honors and Awards.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Mar. 2013. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

“Steven Tyler Biography.” Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

“Steven Tyler Biography.” Starpulse. Starpulse.com, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

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One Response to From Classics to Covers (If I Really Stink at Anything it is Writing Short Posts)

  1. Robin Kramer says:

    Another big week with some “big” vocals prominently mentioned — Aretha, Stephen Tyler, etc.

    Thanks for bumping this post to the top, Emily!

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