Fluent Essays

Artist Profile: Write an Artist Profile on one of the following artists or songwriting teams: Carol Kaye- [bass, guitar] James Jamerson [bass] Lieber & Stoller [songwriters] Smokey Robinson [songwriter/producer/performer] What are the formative influences for this artist? How did they learn their trade and in which kinds of music? If there was a breakthrough moment in their career, when did it occur? Describe this moment. What were the factors in play? Was this artist involved in any major recordings? i.e. songs that are considered “classic” or notable contributions in the history of popular music. Did this artist influence future musicians in the field? If so, who, and briefly describe. Your assignment should be roughly 1000 words [2 pages singles spaced]. You must provide three online sources for this assignment. Wikipedia is an acceptable place to begin given current conditions, but there are numerous sources of information. I’ve provided some tips for online research. You cannot use quotes of any kind in this assignment. It is to be written in your own words. However, avoid writing in first person unless you wish to express personal opinion at the end of the report. This is acceptable once you have completed the criteria for the assignment. You cannot submit this assignment in point form. One strategy is to create a point form draft in which you answer all of the pertinent questions. Then write the assignment using your draft as a skeleton [I have included a sample version of a point form rough draft and a final draft]. Remember what I said off the top of the class about the difference between a fan and a student. You are a student. Almost all requirements have been stated above, you may use APA style as the citation style. Here is a sample assignment, I hope it can help you with your writing! If you have any questions, just let me know Attachments area Joey Ambers B00TooOld MUSC 2019: Rock ‘n’ Roll Era & Beyond: Assignment 1 – [email protected] Profile: Grady [email protected] Grady Mar4n (1929-2001) was a prolific session guitarist based in Nashville from the 1950s un4l the 1990s. Mar4n has appeared on countless recordings as a guitarist, both electric and acous4c. He also recorded playing fiddle and the electric six-string ‘4c tac’ bass, illustra4ng his versa4lity as a musician. Mar4n was familiar playing various musical styles including country, rockabilly, and pop. Along with his fellow session musician team, Mar4n worked with many popular music legends including Roy Orbison, Willie Nelson, Brenda Lee and Patsy Cline. While these ar4sts are household names, the musicians on their records, like Grady Mar4n, have not received much recogni4on. Like many children growing up in Tennessee in the 1930s, and like so many of his musical peers growing up in the American South, Grady Mar4n tuned into radio broadcasts of the iconic Grand Ole Opry show. The Grand Ole Opry aired live from Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, considered the Mother Church or epicenter of country music. The Opry featured performances from the top country music stars including Hillbilly singer Roy Acuff and harmonica player DeFord Bailey, two ar4sts the young Mar4n was especially fond of. Mar4n moved to Nashville at just fi[een to play fiddle professionally with a radio singer named Big Jim Bess. Mar4n’s early career featured many stepping stones. He worked in Nashville for a few years, making friends, industry connec4ons, and a name for himself as a fiddler and guitarist. In 1949 Mar4n got hired to play with Grand Ole Opry star Li^le Jimmy Dickens. Ge_ng close to the Opry’s inner circle would be considered a major breakthrough in those days, opening many music industry doors. In 1949 Mar4n recorded electric guitar on Red Foley’s “Cha^anooga Shoe Shine Boy.” The single featured Mar4n’s raw, bluesy guitar solo and enjoyed thirteen weeks at number one on the country charts, as well as claiming the top spot on the pop charts for eight weeks. “Cha^anooga Shoe Shine Boy” was a major stepping stone in Mar4n’s career as a session guitarist in Nashville. In the 1950s, the opening of new recording studios on Nashville’s Music Row led to steady session work for Mar4n as Nashville became a major player in the recording industry. Under the supervision of studio owners Owen and Harold Bradley, a core group of musicians working in these studios evolved and were later dubbed the “A-Team.” Along with Grady Mar4n, the “A- Team” included bassist Bob Moore, pianist Floyd Cramer, and drummer Buddy Harman, who would appear on Nashville’s top recordings from the 1950s and ‘60s. Similar to later session crews like the Funk Brothers (Motown in Detroit), the Wrecking Crew (Phil Spector in LA), and Booker T & the MGS (Stax in Memphis), the A-Team played on seemingly countless recordings with minimal recogni4on. These studio musicians are rarely singled out for their musical efforts or talents. They worked as a team to create a cohesive sound and arrangement that suited the song being recorded. The studio process on Music Row in Nashville during the 1950s and ‘60s was like a produc4on line of pop and country hits, much like Motown’s efficient process in Detroit. Hits from Nashville during the ‘50s and ‘60s were recorded so quickly and efficient largely due to the playing, arranging and improvising of the session musicians, including guitarist Grady Mar4n. The A-Team, with guitarist Grady Mar4n, recorded on many notable pop and country hits during the 1950s and ‘60s. Mar4n’s infec4ous electric guitar riff can be heard on Roy Orbison’s “Pre^y Woman,” recorded on Music Row in 1964. Mar4n worked with country legend Ray Price on his 1970 song “For the Good Times.” The song was wri^en by Kris Kristofferson, who was at the 4me just another starving songwriter in Nashville. Ray Price’s recording of “For the Good Times” jumpstarted Kristofferson’s lengthy and decorated career as a singer-songwriter. Arguably, Grady Mar4n’s most historically significant recordings are the Decca Records sessions with Patsy Cline that took place just before she died. These sessions at Owen Bradley’s studio on Music Row produced hits like “Crazy” (1961), “Walking A[er Midnight” (1961) “She’s Got You” (1961), and “Sweet Dreams” (1963). Patsy Cline died tragically in a helicopter crash on March 5th, 1963. She was just thirty years old, a mother of two, and at the peak of her career. Her version of “Sweet Dreams” was released just weeks a[er her death and rose to the top of the country charts. This recording captured an important piece of country music history and provided a haun4ng posthumous keepsake for fans. Grady Mar4n’s guitar playing was influen4al in the sense that he was heard on just about every record coming out of Nashville from the 1950s un4l the 1970s. His versa4lity as a guitarist allowed him to master many styles like the acous4c guitar Tex-Mex flourishes on Marty Robbins’s “El Paso” (1959), raucous hollow-body electric guitar riffs on 1950s rockabilly recordings, or clean-sounding electric and acous4c guitar for the pop stylings of Roy Orbison and Patsy Cline in the early 1960s. Mar4n’s claim to guitar fame was apparently accidental. Mar4n is credited with discovering the iconic fuzz tone on electric guitars, also known as distor4on. Mar4n accidentally achieved this fuzz tone when the mixing board wiring shorted during the recording session for Marty Robbins’s “Don't “Worry” in 1961. The faulty wiring caused Grady Mar4n’s electric six-string (‘4c tac’) bass to sound fuzzy, dirty, and distorted. Mar4n’s tone accident inspired an electric guitar effect pedal called the Maestro Fuzz Tone. This popular electric guitar pedal can be heard on Keith Richards’s signature guitar riff from The Rolling Stones’ hit single “Sa4sfac4on,” released in 1965. A signature guitar tone is sought-a[er asset and key component to a guitarist’s sound, a no4on that would con4nue to inspire and taunt guitarists in popular music for decades to come. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Fanelli, Damien. “Essen4al Listening: 10 Great Fuzz Guitar Songs.” Guitar World. May 29, 2018. h^ps://www.guitarworld.com/ar4sts/10-great-fuzz-guitar-songs “Grady Mar4n.” Wikipedia. Accessed May 13, 2020. h^ps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Grady_Mar4n Gray, Michael. “Guitar Great Grady Mar4n Dies At 72.” CMT News. December 4, 2001. h^p:// www.cmt.com/news/1451304/guitar-great-grady-mar4n-dies-at-72/ https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/10-great-fuzz-guitar-songs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grady_Martin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grady_Martin http://www.cmt.com/news/1451304/guitar-great-grady-martin-dies-at-72/ http://www.cmt.com/news/1451304/guitar-great-grady-martin-dies-at-72/ Kienzle, Rich. “Grady Mar4n.” Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Accessed May 13, 2020. h^ps://countrymusichalloffame.org/ar4st/grady-mar4n/ “Obituaries; Grady Mar4n, 72; Veteran Nashville Studio Musician.” Los Angeles Times. December 5, 2001. h^ps://searchproquest.com.ezproxy.library.dal.ca/news/docview/ 421668026/5BD341DC0F0E4124PQ/1?accoun4d=10406 Sullivan, Steve. Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, Volume 1. Toronto: The Scarecrow Press, 2013. Wolfe, Charles K. “Mar4n, (Thomas) Grady.” Grove Music Online. January 13, 2015. h^ps:// www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.library.dal.ca/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/ 9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002276031?rskey=2fokwL&result=1 https://countrymusichalloffame.org/artist/grady-martin/ https://searchproquest.com.ezproxy.library.dal.ca/news/docview/421668026/5BD341DC0F0E4124PQ/1?accountid=10406 https://searchproquest.com.ezproxy.library.dal.ca/news/docview/421668026/5BD341DC0F0E4124PQ/1?accountid=10406 https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.library.dal.ca/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002276031?rskey=2fokwL&result=1 https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.library.dal.ca/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002276031?rskey=2fokwL&result=1 https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.library.dal.ca/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002276031?rskey=2fokwL&result=1