Freegal Music – Page 3 – Tech & Book Talk at SSCL

Weekly Recommended Listens: March 2017, Week 1: Sixties Rock: Blues Rock

March 12, 2017 Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here’s our recommended music posting of the week!

In March, we’re continuing our 2017 look at Sixties Rock and our new monthly theme is Blues Rock.

As usual we’ll be offering suggestions of music you can listen to both by streaming, through the library’s digital Freegal Music Service,* and by checking out albums available in the library’s compact disc collection.

And our three artists/groups for this week are three of the most influential blues rock artist and groups of the Sixties: John Mayall, Fleetwood Mac and Cream. And indeed, you heard me right (or you read me right!) I did type Fleetwood Mac! The original Fleetwood Mac really did play blues rock and there is a connection between Fleetwood Mac, Cream and the great British Blues player & band leader John Mayall – namely, the fact that members of both Fleetwood Mac and Cream played with John Mayall’s sixties era band – The Bluesbreakers!

As a reminder our weekly music postings have the following sections:

I. Brief Artist Bios

II. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week (streaming music)

III. CD Music Recommendations Of The Week

IV. Videos Of The Artists Of The Week

V. Wild Card Print Book Recommendation Of The Week (a print book that focuses on a musician, musicians, songwriters or other musical genres, styles etc. from any musical era)

VI. References (for those who’d like to know a bit more about the artists of the week).

And on to our BLUES ROCK posting for this week!

I. Brief Artist Bios:

1) John Mayall: John Mayall is, indeed, as the biography on his website states “a pioneer of blues music” and “The Godfather of British Blues.” He was born on November 29, 1933 in a village near Manchester, England, became a huge blues fan in his teens, began playing professionally in the 1950s fronting his own bands and playing keyboards and harmonica. And he first gained the attention of blues fans around the world with the second, third and fourth albums he cut in the 1960s with his band The Bluesbreakers: 1. John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton, 2. A Hard Road which features Eric Clapton’s replacement on guitar – future Fleetwood Mac co-founder Peter Green, and 3. Crusade which featured guitarist Mick Taylor – the same Mick Taylor who replaced Brian Jones in the Rolling Stones in 1969!

It is also worthy of note, that the bassist on four of Mayall’s first five albums, sans the aptly titled The Blues Alone album which was a solo album, was future Fleetwood Mac bassist and co-founder John McVie!

Mayall moved to the United States in late 1960s and continues to perform and record today. He released a new album in January of this year titled Talk About That which features former Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh. Kudos to Mayall for continuing to play the blues well into his eighties!

2) Fleetwood Mac: The original Fleetwood Mac played some really great blues! The original quartet included guitarists and vocalists Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer and the “name” members of the band – Mick Fleetwood on drums and John McVie on bass. The quartet became a quintet with the edition of guitarist Danny Kirwan in 1968. Peter Green, who was the driving force behind the original group, left the band in 1970 and Christine Perfect-McVie officially joined the group in 1971 by which time the band was transitioning from a blues rock group to a pop rock group.

Fleetwood Mac’s first four albums, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, Mr. Wonderful, English Rose and Then Play On, are certainly well grounded in the blues. And of course, Fleetwood Mac continue to play and record to this day.

3) Cream: You can hear both the blues and jazz in Cream’s music, although, it is definitely rock music too! And as Cream is very well known, I’m only going to offer a super cliff notes version of a brief bio for them! The group consisted of former Graham Bond Organization members Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker on bass and drums, respectively, and guitarist Eric Clapton. The group released four albums before disbanding, Fresh Cream, Disraeli Gears, Wheels Of Fire & Goodbye.

Sadly, Jack Bruce died in 2014. Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker continue to perform and record.

Freegal Notes:

To access Freegal Music from a desktop or laptop simply click on the following link:
http://stlsny.freegalmusic.com/

The Freegal Music Catalog homepage will display — it looks like this:

The Freegal Music app can be found in your app store and it looks like this:

II. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week:

1. John Mayall’s Wake Up Call

The Freegal Catalog doesn’t have all of John Mayall’s albums or even any of his 1960s era albums, but never fear – the man plays great blues even when he is not accompanied by famous guitarists. So I’m going to recommend you listen to one of his more “recent” albums found in the Freegal catalog – 1993’s Wake Up Call. This album is great and I especially love the songs Mail Order Mystics, Nature’s Disappearing and Walk Up Call. Guest artists on the album include Mavis Staples on thetitle track, legendary blues guitarist Buddy Guy on the tune I Could Cry and former Bluesbreaker and Rolling Stone Mick Taylor on the song Not At Home.

Here’s a link to stream the Wake Up Call album:
https://goo.gl/0rfI6O

While researching which John Mayall albums are available in the Freegal Music Catalog, I came across a cool album of blues piano pioneers selected by John Mayall!

If you haven’t heard his music before, John Mayall’s primary instruments are piano, organ/electric keyboard and harmonica and this album contains some of his favorite blues piano players. The album is titled: Picking the Blues – Compiled By John Mayall – Boogie Woogie Pioneers
Here’s a link to stream it: https://goo.gl/NZi7Lq

2. Fleetwood Mac’s Live In Boston Vol. 1 & 2 & Peter Green’s Supernatural Anthology:

The Freegal Music Catalog doesn’t feature any of Fleetwood Mac’s studio albums. However, it does feature two live albums, titled Live In Boston, volumes 1 & 2, featuring the 1960s version of the band and a cool collection of Peter Green’s music titled Supernatural Anthology, which features some of Green’s work with Fleetwood Mac and work he did later as a solo artists with a much later back-up band called “Splinter Group.”

And if you’re a blues guitar fan and only going to listen to one of these albums – I’d recommend the Supernatural Anthology; because, although Green’s voice shows his age a bit – you get a better idea of the depth of his guitar playing than on the live Fleetwood Mac tracks available in the Freegal catalog, and, you thus get a better idea of why he was good enough to replace Eric Clapton in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers.

Here’s a link to stream Peter Green’s Supernatural Anthology:
https://goo.gl/t22Rjh

Fleetwood Mac’s Live In Boston Remastered Vol. 1 and Live In Boston Remastered Vol. 2.

Live In Boston Remastered Vol. 1 includes the songs Black Magic Woman (written by Green but a much, much bigger hit for Santana), Jumping At Shadows, Like It This Way, Got To Move and two long jamming songs: The Green Manalishi and Rattesnake Shake and more – here’s a link to stream the album:https://goo.gl/ut1956

Live In Boston Remastered Vol. 2 features a number of lesser known Fleetwood Mac songs, with the exception of the title track from their 1969 album Then Play On. Here’s a link to stream the album: https://goo.gl/LFkZxg

2. Cream: Clapton’s Live & Rare, Ginger Baker’s Horses & Trees & Jack Bruce’s A Question of Time and The Jack Bruce Collection:

Unfortunately, The Freegal Music catalog doesn’t feature any albums by Cream. However, we do have all four of the 1960s era Cream albums available on CD at the library – to request them click on the following link to StarCat: enterprise.stls.org

And since Freegal doesn’t have any of Cream’s music I’ll recommend some music by the individual band members instead.

Live & Rare by Eric Clapton: Yhis collection features some of the songs Clapton did with the Yardbirds prior to his work with John Mayall and Cream.The Yardbirds songs on this collection are more of the rave-up basic-classic-rock variety than blues but they do offer insight into the evolution of Clapton’s music. The songs include: The hit For Your Love, Got To Hurry, Boom Boom, Good Morning Little Schoolgirl and more.

Here’s the link to stream the Live & Rare album:
https://goo.gl/GPMv6J

Horses & Trees by Ginger Baker: Horses & Trees is an excellent Ginger Baker album from 2009. This LP was produced by Bill Laswell and showcases Baker’s excellent drum playing – he really is what is known as a musician’s musician – the man is a brilliant drummer!

AllMusic gave this album an outstanding review, which for the sake of brevity I won’t post here – however, here’s the link to the review should you wish to peruse it: https://goo.gl/veNI1u

And here’s a link to stream the Horses & Trees album itself:
https://goo.gl/X1I4gz

A Question of Time (1989) by Jack Bruce: This is a great album full of intense songs including: No Surrender, Hey Now Princess, Let Me Be and Grease The Wheels. Bruce was at the top of his recording form with this album!

Here’s the link to the stream the A Question ff Time album: https://goo.gl/V27ojj

The Jack Bruce Collector’s Edition (1995) by Jack Bruce: This album offers songs from throughout Bruce’s solo career including Waiting on a Word, Theme of an Imaginary Western, Sitting on Top of the World, The Wind Cries Mary and more — the man really was an outstanding musical talent both in his bass playing and his vocals.

Here’s a link to stream the Jack Bruce Collector’s Edition: https://goo.gl/uXmm7w

Freegal Wild Card Pick Of The Week:

The First Recordings Years 50 by Patsy Cline:

Patsy Cline had a great voice and was one of the most popular country singers in the late fifties and early sixties. And no doubt she would be even better known today if not for her tragic death in a plane crash at age thirty. Her music is classified as country but I’ve never liked musical classifications as they tend to turn people off! So I’d just say Patsy Cline was an exceptionally expressive singer and her music is worthy of a listen!

The Freegal Music Catalog features a terrific intro collection of Cline’s songs including the favorites: A Church, A Courtroom and Then Goodbye, Walking After Midnight, Three Cigarettes in The Ashtray and more – check it out!

Here’s a link to stream the Patsy Cline album: https://goo.gl/AF3T0Q

III. Compact Discs Recommendations:

1. John Mayall: Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton, A Hard Road & Crusade:

I’m going to recommend John Mayall’s second, third and fourth albums recording with his Bluesbreakers and which feature, in addition to the keyboard Playing and vocals provided by the band-leader himself, Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor on guitars. All three of these albums are fantastic – and you can click on links for AllMusic reviews for each album under the References – John Mayall section.

Here’s a link to request the CD of Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton: https://goo.gl/u2lvcT

Here’s a link to request the CD album of A Hard Road with guitarist Peter Green: https://goo.gl/VzrEcy

And here’s a link to request the album Crusade featuring Mick Taylor on guitar: https://goo.gl/AmLBpb

Fleetwood Mac: Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac:

The library also owns the early Fleetwood Mac albums English Rose & Then Play On; however, if you want to get a feel for the Blues Rock band Fleetwood Mac was in the 1960s this, their first album, is the best place to start. This album features the songs: Looking For Somebody, No Place To Go, My Heart Beat Like a Hammer, Shake Your Moneymaker, The Wold Keep on Turning and more.

Here’s a link to request the CD version of the album:https://goo.gl/x5wnkQ

Cream: Disraeli Gears:

The library owns all four of Cream’s original sixties releases: Fresh Cream, Disraeli Gears, Wheels of Fire and Goodbye. The CD I’m recommending is their second album — all four albums are great but Disraeli Gears is what I would call short and straight to the point music — by which I mean you hear great songs by the band which run less than five minutes. In contrast, the second album of the two-disc Wheels of Fire set contains songs recorded live including the 15 minute songs Toad and Spoonful and most of those songs really are long jam sessions. So if you’re not familiar with Cream’s music start with this album and then branch out to listen to the others.

Disraeli Gears features the songs: Strange Brew, Sunshine of Your Love, Dance The Night Away, Tales of Brave Ulysses, Take It Back, Outside Woman Blues and more. This album is currently processed and should be listed in StarCat to request shortly. I will update this posting to include the request link as soon as it is ready to circulate. Or, you can email your request to me at: reimerl@stls.org And in the meantime — you might check out Wheels of Fire which is available to circulate — the set features two discs a live album and a studio album and the popular Cream song White Room as well as a fund version of Born Under A Bad Sign.

Wild Card CD Pick Of The Week:

Black Star by David Bowie:

This is Bowie’s last album and it won all five Grammys it was nominated for this year! It includes the songs: Blackstar, ‘Tis a Pity She Was a Whore, Lazarus, Sue (Or In a Season of Crime), Girl Loves Me, Dollar Days and I Can’t Give Everything Away.

Here’s a link to the request page in StarCat:
https://goo.gl/yhnLAk

IV. Videos Of The Artists Of The Week:

John Mayall:

John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers: Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton: This is the whole album available to stream via YouTube so it is more audio than video; but then the music really is the point! And we do get to see a photo of the album cover that features John McVie with what can only be described as a “get-away-from-me-with-that-camera” expression on his face!

Here’s a link to stream the album:
https://goo.gl/RGkf1g

So May Roads: This 2008 clip features guitarist Gary Moore:

Here’s the link:

https://goo.gl/0tzXT3

Fleetwood Mac:

Need Your Love So Bad

https://goo.gl/h8a1aA

Oh Well

https://goo.gl/9LdX4g

Cream:

Sunshine Of Your Love – From the 1968 Farewell Concert at the Royal Albert Hall:

https://goo.gl/bw9kY0

Cream “White Room/Crossroads/Badge” From the 2005 Reunion Concert at the Royal Albert Hall:

https://goo.gl/rHcWW

V. Wild Card Print Book Recommendation Of The Week:

Lin-Manuel Mirandaby Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter:

Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Eleven Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s groundbreaking musical Hamilton is as revolutionary as its subject, the poor kid from the Caribbean who fought the British, defended the Constitution, and helped to found the United States. Fusing hip-hop, pop, R&B, and the best traditions of theater, this once-in-a-generation show broadens the sound of Broadway, reveals the storytelling power of rap, and claims our country’s origins for a diverse new generation.

HAMILTON: THE REVOLUTION gives readers an unprecedented view of both revolutions, from the only two writers able to provide it. Miranda, along with Jeremy McCarter, a cultural critic and theater artist who was involved in the project from its earliest stages–“since before this was even a show,” according to Miranda–traces its development from an improbable performance at the White House to its landmark opening night on Broadway six years later. In addition, Miranda has written more than 200 funny, revealing footnotes for his award-winning libretto, the full text of which is published here. Description – from the publisher.

VI. General References & Artist Specific References:

General References:
David Bowie posthumously sweeps with 5 Grammy wins
https://goo.gl/VDyhno

Patsy Cline Bio:
https://goo.gl/DAQCnw

Santelli, Robert. Sixties Rock: A Listener’s Guide. Contemporary Books. Chicago. 1985.
Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. Billboard Books. New York. 2009.

Artist/Group References:

Cream:
Eric Clapton – Bio
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/eric-clapton-mn0000187478/biography

Eric Clapton – Official Website
http://www.ericclapton.com

Ginger Baker Bio
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ginger-baker-mn0000655273

Ginger Baker – Official Website: http://www.gingerbaker.com/

Jack Bruce – Bio:
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jack-bruce-mn0000152312

Jack Bruce, Cream’s Adventurous Bassist, Dies at 71
https://goo.gl/Dbk54y

The Official Jack Bruce Website:
http://www.jackbruce.com/

John Mayall:
John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton review from AllMusic
https://goo.gl/4uxGOW

John Mayall’s Crusade album review from AllMusic
https://goo.gl/INpkdC

John Mayall’s A Hard Road album review from AllMusic
https://goo.gl/Bdb1ic

John Mayall’s Bio from his official site:

https://goo.gl/GI7Koo

John Mayall Bio from AllMusic:

https://goo.gl/hIeUGd

Fleetwood Mac:

Fleetwood Mac – official site:
https://www.fleetwoodmac.com/#!

Fleetwood Mac Discography
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/fleetwood-mac-mn0000182900/discography

Fleetwood Mac Bio:
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/fleetwood-mac-mn0000182900/biography

Mick Fleetwood Bio:
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/mick-fleetwood-mn0000404915

Jeremy Spencer – Official Website
http://jeremyspencer.com/

John McVie Bio:
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-mcvie-mn0000108120/biography

Peter Green Bio:
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/peter-green-mn0000842611

Peter Green Splinter Group
https://goo.gl/7uhGsv

And those are the blues rock recommendations for this bitterly cold weekend (at least for those of us who live in the Northeast!)

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

P.S. If you have any questions about how to download or stream free music through the Freegal Music service to a desktop or laptop computer or how to download and use the Freegal Music app let us know! Drop by the library or give us a call at: 607-936-3713

*You must have a library card at a Southern Tier Library System member library to enjoy the Freegal Music Service. Your card can be from any library in the system, and the system includes all public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Allegheny Counties and including our own Southeast Steuben Count Library in Corning, New York. Library cards are free and at our library you can obtain one by visiting the Circulation Desk and presenting staff with a form of ID that features both your name and your current address.

Weekly Recommended Listens: February 2017: Week 2: Sixties Rock: Twangy Guitars Continued

February 22, 2017February 22, 2017 Linda Reimer

Here’s our delayed weekly recommended music posting for the week of February 13, 2017.

As you may know, STLS has been upgrading equipment over the last week and StarCat has been up and down – but this morning it is up for good so here are the music recommendations for last week and the recommendations for this week will be up by Saturday.

In succeeding weeks my plan is to have the Weekly Suggested Listening Recommendations posted on Thursdays — and I’ll start doing that next week – starting Thursday, March 2.

These weekly postings will offering suggestions of music you can listen to both through the library’s digital Freegal Music Service* and via the library’s compact disc collection. Our music theme for this year is Sixties Rock and our monthly theme Twangy Guitars. This weeks’ posting has five sections:

I. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week

II. CD Music Recommendations Of The Week

III. Videos

IV. Wild Card Print Book Recommendation: This recommendation will be a print book that focuses on a musician, musicians, songwriters or other musical genres, styles etc. from any musical era.

V. References & Brief Artist Bios (for those who’d like to know a bit more about the artists of the week).

This week our recommended trios of twangy guitar players, and their bands, are:

Johnny & The Hurricanes, The Shadows & The Ventures!

I. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week:

1. Johnny & The Hurricanes: Greatest Hits by Johnny and the Hurricanes:

This collection features the hits and more! J&TH best known songs are here including – Red River Rock, Beatnik Fly and Reveille Rock as are a number of other fun, bouncy favorites.

Here’s the link to the album:
https://goo.gl/qm4tjI

2. The Shadows – Various Artists Collection Guitar Greats:

There is a complete album by The Shadows found in the Freegal Music Catalog; that album is titled The Albums and EP’s Collection 1961-1962 (https://goo.gl/OyqLGw); however, since the album covers a super short period of time and doesn’t feature their best known hits I’m going to recommend you stream a different album and then if you really love the sound of The Shadows you can go back and stream the Albums and EP’s Collection LP!

The album I’m recommending is a various artists collection titled Guitar Greats and it features music by many popular instrumentalists of the early sixties including Santo & Johnny (Sleep Walk), The Champs (Tequila), Bill Justis (Raunchy), Bo Diddley, Les Paul, Dick Dale, The Scotty Moore Trio and many more! And the album features three of The Shadows best -known hits: Apache, Kon-Tiki and Wonderful Land.

Here’s a link to the album:
https://goo.gl/SlFldZ

3. The Ventures – No Trespassing – The First Four Albums:

The Ventures are, undoubtedly, the best known instrumental rock group of the sixties. And this collection includes the first four Ventures albums: Walk Don’t Run, The Ventures, Another Smash! and The Colorful Ventures. Included in this collection are some of the ventures most popular songs including: Perfidia, Ram Bunk Shush, Walk Don’t Run, Raunchy, Rawhide and more!

And a neat item of note as described by the publishers “Also included on this superb set is a rare July 1961 radio interview with Ventures main men Bob Bogle and Don Wilson.”

Here’s a link to the album:
https://goo.gl/Vr3Xrz

Freegal Notes:

To access Freegal Music from a desktop or laptop simply click on the following link:
http://stlsny.freegalmusic.com/

The Freegal Music Catalog homepage will display — it looks like this:

The Freegal Music app can be found in your app store and it looks like this:

Freegal Wild Card Pick Of The Week:

The Wild Card Pick Of The Week may feature a recommended musician, band, composer or musical style of any time in the history of recorded music and is not tied to our yearly theme – thus the title “Wild Card Freegal Pick Of The Week.”

So without further ado here’s the Wild Card Freegal Music Pick for this week:

Traditional Music from Cape Breton Island by various artists:

This various artists collection includes music by Natalie MacMaster! Corning Civic Music fans may recall that Natalie MacMaster, and her husband Donnell Leahy, kicked off the 2016-2017 Civic Music concert series. I was fortunate enough to attend their September 24, 2016 concert and boy, can they both play the fiddle! Natalie MacMaster plays on two songs on this compilation: The Bonnie Lass of Headlake & Irish Lasses. Other artists featured in this collection include: Jerry Holland, John Morris Rankin, Brenda Stubbert, Howie MacDonald, Dougie MacDonald and more. If you like traditional fiddle music – you’ll like this album!

Here’s the Freegal link to the album:
https://goo.gl/Q5LYgo

About Requesting CDs This Week: Due to the upgrade of catalog equipment, not all of our recently added items, books, DVDs, CDs etc., are currently listed in StarCat even though they are available on our shelves – this includes three of our four CD recommendations the CDs by Johnny & The Hurricanes, The Ventures and our Wild Card CD pick of the week — Charley Pride’s four album collection Charley Pride – Country Charley Pride/The Country Way/Pride Of Country Music/Make Mine Country; those three CDs are available on our shelves so you can pick them up today. And of course, you can always call us and ask us to place requests for items and/or pull available items from our shelves and leave them at the Circulation Desk so you can pick them up later.

The library’s phone number is: 607-936-3713 and entering extension 501 will get you a live person to assist you!

And now, on to the recommended CDs!

II. Compact Discs Recommendations:

1. Johnny & The Hurricanes:

The Very Best Of Johnny & The Hurricanes

by Johnny & The Hurricanes:

This CD set contains 50 of the bands original recordings on two CDs. The hits are all here as are a solid number of other fun rocking tunes including: Red River Rock, Crossfire, Joy Ride, Milk Shake, Corn Bread, The Kid, Beatnik Fly, Traffic Jam and more!

2. The Shadows: Two Classic Albums Plus by The Shadows:

This set includes the classic Shadows albums The Shadows and Out of The Shadows as well as their classic era singles and EPs. The set includes over 100 hundred great classic instrumental songs! The songs include: Guitar Tango, FBI, Kon Tiki, Wonderful Land, Bongo Blues, Shadoogie, That’s My Desire and more!

Here’s a link to the request page for the CD:
https://goo.gl/gfIWDb

3. The Ventures – No Trespassing – The First Four Albums:

The Ventures are, undoubtedly, the best known instrumental rock group of the sixties. And if you’ve read this entire posting to this point – then this will sound familiar!

And if think you’ve read it before – you have!

This is the exact same album I recommend you stream from the Freegal Music Catalog – this is simply the CD version instead!

As a reminder the collection includes the first four Ventures albums: Walk Don’t Run, The Ventures, Another which collectively contain more than 50 songs.

Wild Card CD Pick Of The Week:

Charley Pride – Country Charley Pride/The Country Way/Pride Of Country Music/Make Mine Country by Charley Pride

Our Wild Card CD Pick Of The Week is a four album CD set by the great country artists Charley Pride. The set, which includes four of Pride’s first five albums.

Charley Pride, began his recording career in the 1960s. Pride, who is black, broke the stereotypical mold by singing and recording country music. During his recording career he’s earned 36 number one country songs, 4 platinum and 30 gold albums! If you’re unfamiliar with his music he has an easy going voice and style which is somehow reassuring to listen to no matter what subject his is singing about. The songs in this collection include his first hit The Snake Crawls At Night, Yonder Comes A Sucker, The Last Thing On My Mind, Spell Of The Freight Train, Just Between You & Me and many more!

III. Videos:

Johnny & The Hurricanes:

Red River Rock live version recorded in 1981.

(A slightly fuzzy video – but you can see the actual band playing)

Red Rover Rock (original version) – the sounds is good for this video but you don’t get to see the band playing, instead you’re treated to 2 minutes of looking at a vintage photo of the group gathered around their touring van.

The Shadows:

Here’s a cool video of the Shadows playing their biggest hit – Apache.

The Ventures:

Introduced by Dick Clark here’s a link to a clip of the Ventures playing their biggest hit Walk—Don’t Run:

V. Wild Card Print Book Recommendation:

The Rolling Stones by Reuel Golden:

This is a great 522 page book, published by Taschen (they’re known for their photos) that features top notch photos of the Rolling Stones over the years. This book is what we use to call a “coffee table book” because of its size and the beautiful photos it contains. The book is about the size of three large pizza boxes and is a bit weighty so you’ll get a mini work out when you pick it up. Check it out!

Here’s the publisher description of the book:
“We were lucky enough to work with some of the greatest photographers in the world who captured many magical moments of our career. This volume brings together some incredible pictures spanning the past fifty years.” Mick Jagger

“This book isn’t just rock ‘n’ roll, it’s a roller coaster through fifty years of memory lane! “Keith Richards Ladies and gentlemen…The Rolling Stones!

The definitive, authorized illustrated history of the world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll band
The kind of fame and success The Rolling Stones have achieved in their 50-years and counting career is without parallel; their most famous riffs and catchiest lyrics are indelibly engraved in our collective memory. With their bluesy rock ‘n’ roll and mesmerizing off and onstage presence, the Stones redefined the music of the 1960s and 1970s and paved the way for rock as we know it today. They also set the standard for how a rock band should look and behave. Produced in close collaboration with the band, this book charts the Stones’ remarkable history and outrageously cool lifestyle in over 500 pages of photographs and illustrations, many previously unseen, and gathered from archives all over the world. Unprecedented access to the Rolling Stones’ own archives in New York and London adds an equally extraordinary, more private side to their story. For Mick, Keith, Charlie and Ronnie this is their official photographic record.

Features:
Over 500 pages of incredible images from some of the world’s greatest photographers, including David Bailey, Peter Beard, Cecil Beaton, Anton Corbijn, Annie Leibovitz, Gered Mankowitz, Helmut Newton, Bent Rej, and Norman Parkinson

V. Brief Artists Bios, General References & Artist Specific References:

Brief Artists Bios:

Johnny & The Hurricanes:
Johnny & The Hurricanes formed in Toledo, Ohio in 1958. And they can be thought of as a roll over band in the sense that they were popular in the late 1950s and the early 1960s. The classic line up of the band included Paul Tesluk on organ, Dave Yorko on guitar, Lionel “Butch” Mattice on bass, Tony Kaye on drums and saxophonist and band leader Johnny Paris on saxophone. The group differed from The Ventures and The Shadows, who were guitar-centric, in prominently featuring the saxophone and organ playing of, respectively, Paris and Tesluk. Their most popular songs include: Crossfire, Reveille Rock, Beatnik Fly and their biggest hit Red River Rock. The group was exceptionally popular in Europe and when they played the Cavern Club in Hamburg, Germany in the early 60’s their opening act was a then little known band called The Beatles! Paris continued to tour with various versions of the band until he died in 2006.

The Shadows:
The Shadows: The Shadows formed in Hertfordshire, U.K. in the late 1950s. Their classic line up consisted of guitarists Hank B. Marvin & Bruce Welsh, drummer Jet Harris and drummer Tony Meehan.

The Shadows were Britain’s answer to the Ventures and the first British rock group to hold sway over the British charts – they were the most popular British rock group in the pre-Beatles era. The Shadows were originally named The Drifters and first stepped into the international lime light as British pop star as singer Cliff Richard’s back-up band. They changed their name to The Shadows in the early 1960s when the great American R&B group The Drifters emerged. Some of the Shadows most prominent songs include: Apache, F.B.I. Guitar Tanto, Don’t Make My Baby Blue & Kon-Tiki

The Shadow never had a hit in America; however, Shadows lead guitarist Hank Marvin cast a strong influence on succeeding generations of British guitarists and became the U. K.’s first guitar super star so he really does rate mention right up there the other great American instrumental guitarists of the early Sixites era: Steve Cropper (Booker T. & The MG’s), Duane Eddy, Link Wray and Nokie Edwards (The Ventures).

The Ventures:
The Ventures were formed in Tacoma, Washington in 1959 and originally consisted of Bob Bugle on bass, Don Wilson on rhythm guitar, Nokie Edwards on lead guitar and Howie Johnson on drums. The classic line up of this guitar centered band included the previously mentioned Bugle, Wilson, Edwards and Mel Taylor on drums.

The Ventures are quite probably the best known instrumental rock group of all time and continue to play concerts to this day. Some of their most well-known hits include: Walk—Don’t Run, Ram-Bunk-Shush and Perfida.

Also notable is the fact that the Ventures jumped on the LP bandwagon by putting out long-playing records with themes. For example, one of their albums is titled The Colorful Ventures which features songs with colors in their title; another is titled The Ventures Perform the Great TV Themes. Ironically, one of their most popular albums, The Ventures Play Telstar & The Lonely Bull, departed from that format and featured a number of well-known songs that have nothing to do with each other, from a thematic standpoint, including: Green Onions, Red River Rock, Percolator, Last Night, Let There Be Drums, Tequila, Apache and of course — Telstar.

General References:
Santelli, Robert. Sixties Rock: A Listener’s Guide. Contemporary Books. Chicago. 1985.

Corning Civic Music. http://www.corningcivicmusic.org/

Corning Civic Music: Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy. https://goo.gl/ne43G9

Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. Billboard Books. New York. 2009.

Artist Specific References:

Johnny & The Hurricanes References:

Johnny & The Hurricanes Artist Biography by Heather Phares. AllMusic.com.
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/johnny-the-hurricanes-mn0000242577/biography

Johnny Paris. American Pop Musician Who Led From Saxophone. The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/may/09/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries

The Shadows:

The Shadows. Artists Biography by Bruce Eder. AllMusic.
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-shadows-mn0000496405/biography

The Ventures:

The Ventures: Artist Biography by John Bush. AllMusic.
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-ventures-mn0000921965/biography

That is it for our music recommendations for the week of February 13 – the newest recommended Sixties listening suggestions will be posted by Saturday.

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

New Weekly Series Of Recommended Listens!

February 8, 2017 Linda Reimer

Today, we’re kicking off a new weekly posting series that will focus on recommended music you can listen to both through the library’s digital Freegal Music Service*, which allows you to listen to and download songs to a PC, Mac or mobile device, and via the library’s compact disc collection.

You can think of these postings as an audio version of the traditional reader’s advisory services public libraries provide – instead of suggesting that next great book for you to read – we’re going to recommend that next great song, album or artist you can listen to!

For 2017 our music theme will be sixties rock. Each month we’ll focus on a genre of sixties rock and each week we’ll focus on three artists or groups that fall under the umbrella of our monthly genre of sixties rock.

Each weeks posting will have four sections:

1. Freegal Music Recommendations: These suggestions will feature music available to stream or download from the Freegal Music Catalog (which is free – library card required!). You can stream three hours of commercial free music per day from Freegal so it is a good way to check out artists and groups and expand your musical horizons!

To access Freegal Music from a desktop or laptop simply click on the following link:

http://stlsny.freegalmusic.com/

The STLS Freegal Music Catalog homepage will display — it looks like this:

The Freegal Music app can be found in your app store and it looks like this:

2. Compact Discs Recommendations: These recommendations will feature songs and albums found in the library’s compact disc collection and available for check out at the library.

3. Videos: This section fill feature short videos found online, mostly on YouTube, of each spotlighted artist.

4. References: This section will include links to the references used to create each weeks posting – so if you want to know more about an artist or song – just click a link!

With that in mind, our February category of Sixties Rock Suggested Listens is Twangy Guitars. And with our guitars in hand, or at least in mind, we’ll enjoy listening to some of the most popular and influential guitarists of the early 1960s (think pre-Beatles guitarists).

And for this first full week of February our three recommended twangy guitar players are Duane Eddy, Lonnie Mack and Link Wray.

FREEGAL MUSIC RECOMMENDATIONS:

Recommended Guitarist 1) Duane Eddy

Album: The Complete US & UK Singles and EP’s A’s & B’s 1955-62:

This album includes a number of Duane Eddy’s best known songs including: Rebel RouserAKA Rebel-‘rouser, Along Came Linda, Caravan, Pt 2, Cannonball, Peter Gunn, Night Train To Memphis and more!

Here’s the link to the album:
https://goo.gl/ebXHd9

Recommended Guitarist 2) Lonnie Mack

Album: Roadhouses and Dance Halls:

This one was Mack’s last solo album, released in 2001 and it is the only full album of Mack’s material found in the Freegal catalog. Having said that, this is a solid album and you can hear that Rockabilly player that he was Mack never ventured too far from his country music roots.

The album includes the songs: Plain Jane (In A Mustang0, Honkey Tonk Man, Riding the Blinds, Hard Life and more. And my favorite song on this album is Lucille which despite the title is not the tune of Little Richard fame but instead a neat song that those of us of a certain age will certainly appreciate – one of the main lines in the song goes “My get up and go, got up and went with Lucille!”

Here’s the link to the album:
https://goo.gl/2fZnxp

Recommended Guitarist 3) Link Wray & The Wraymen:

Album: Link Wray & The Wraymen: The Definitive Edition

(Bonus Track Version):

This album features most of Link’s classic era songs including Rumble & Raw-Hide. In addition to those songs I’m also very fond of the tune Golden Strings which is based on a Chopin Etude and has a nice, and unexpected, piano player alternating his playing with Link’s guitar playing.

Here’s a the link to the album:
https://goo.gl/qJsB20

Week 1 Freegal Wild Card Pick:

Album: Moochin’ Abouts Stateside Hitlist 1962, Vol. 1 by Various Artists

I know I said not all Wild Card picks of the weeks for this year would focus on sixites rock, and indeed the CD Wild Card pick doesn’t; however, this is a really nice collection of popular hits form 1962 including The Night Has A Thousand Eyes by Bobby Vee, I Can’t Stop Loving You by Ray Charles, The Stripper by David Rose & His Orchestra, Snap Your Fingers by Joe Henderson, Ramblin’ Rose by Nat King Cole and many, many more – I just couldn’t resists as it is a really fun collection of songs!

Here’s a link to the album:
https://goo.gl/OtZLEw

COMPACT DISC RECOMMENDATIONS:

1) The Very Best of Duane Eddy by Duane Eddy:

This three disc set features all of Eddy’s most popular hits including Rebel Rouser, Because They’re Young, Moon River, Shazam!, Ring of Fire, John Henry, Forty Miles of Bad Road, Cannonball & more!

Here’s a link to the request page in StarCat:
https://goo.gl/7mSSA0

2) The Wham of that Memphis Man by Lonnie Mack:

Lonnie Mack’s seminal debut LP featuring the songs: Wham!, Suzie Q, Farther on Down The Road, Chicken Pickin’, Memphis, Why and more!

Here’s a link to the request page in StarCat:
https://goo.gl/CSJxef

3) Rumble! The Best of Link Wray by Link Wray:

This album features 20 of Wray’s best songs including: Rumble, The Swag, Raw-Hide, Dixie-Doodle, Ramble, Deuces Wild, Batman Theme, Ace of Spades and more!

Here’s a link to the request page in StarCat:
https://goo.gl/tzIbjx

Week 1 CD Wild Card Pick:

Sidewinder by Lee Morgan:

Carried by its almost impossibly infectious eponymous opening track, The Sidewinder helped foreshadow the sounds of boogaloo and soul-jazz with its healthy R&B influence and Latin tinge. While the rest of the album retreats to a more conventional hard bop sound, Morgan’s compositions are forward-thinking and universally solid. Only 25 at the time of its release, Morgan was accomplished (and perhaps cocky) enough to speak of mentoring the great Joe Henderson, who at 26 was just beginning to play dates with Blue Note after getting out of the military. Henderson makes a major contribution to the album, especially on “Totem Pole,” where his solos showed off his singular style, threatening to upstage Morgan, who is also fairly impressive here. Barry Harris, Bob Cranshaw, and Billy Higgins are all in good form throughout the album as well, and the group works together seamlessly to create an album that crackles with energy while maintaining a stylish flow. – AllMusic Review by Stacia Proefrock

Here’s a link to the request page in StarCat:
https://goo.gl/OdyGL5

And if you have ten minutes to spare – here’s a link to YouTube where you can listen to one of the most engaging songs on the album Totem Pole:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12srcPirMeM

Video Clips:

Duane Eddy:

Rebel Rouser – From the Night Beech-Nut Show. July 19, 1958.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8uZutr1avs

Duane Eddy – The Theme from Peter Gunn – live in Glastonbury 2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhVFK9tYu84

Lonnie Mack:

Memphis – the original version from the album The Wham of that Memphis Man – this video features photos of the early sixties but does not show Lonnie Mack himself; however, the sound quality of the song is good!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExRdQtqHyac

Memphis – this version is from the 1980s and shows Lonnie playing a slightly mellower version of Memphis than the original:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOlEYLEvkXk

Wham – with another great guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn – from 1986:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbfgBlkSoqc

Link Wray:

Rumble!

Rawhide (Wray and his band are introduced by Dick Clark!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn5hl2IA7_s

References & Brief Artists Description:

Brief Artists Bios:
Duane Eddy (4/26/1938): As many of you will know Duane Eddy has a local connection. He was born in Corning Hospital, the one on Denison Parkway that they are tearing down now, on April 26, 1938 and lived in the Corning area until he was seven. Eddy began his career in the 1950s, picked up steam in the 1960s and continues to play today.
His twangy guitar riffs were heard on 15 top 40 hits released between 1958 and 1963. And his music has been featured in a number of films over the years including Forrest Gump.

Some of Eddy’s best known songs include: Rebel Rouser, Peter Gunn, Movin’ and Groovin’ and one of my favorites John Henry with its cool hammer sounds interspersed with Eddy’s guitar riffs.

Lonnie Mack (7/18/1941-4/21/2016): The great Rockabilly guitarist Lonnie Mack was born Lonnie McIntosh in Harrison, Indiana on July 18, 1941. Mack is best known for his debut album The Wham Of That Memphis Man released in 1964. Also of cool note, Mack played rocking blues solo on the Door’s song Roadhouse Blues. Two of Mack’s best known songs are Wham and his version of Chuck Berry’s Memphis – both found on his debut album.

Link Wray (5/2/1929-11/5/2005): Power Chord pioneer Link Wray was born on May 2, 1929 in Dunn, North Carolina and came to guitar prominence in the late fifties and early sixties. His known for a number of instrumental classics including Rumble and Raw-Hide. Wray’s music came back into pop culture awareness in the nineties when film makers including Roland Emmerich (Independence Day), Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction) and Robert Rodriquez (Desperado) used his music in their films.

References:

General References:

Santelli, Robert. Sixties Rock: A Listener’s Guide. Contemporary Books. Chicago. 1985.

Sidewinder by Lee Morgan, review by Stacia Proefrock, AllMusic.
http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-sidewinder-mw0000241127

Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. Billboard Books. New York. 2009.

Duane Eddy References:

100 Greatest Guitarists #64: Duane Eddy. Rolling Stone.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-guitarists-20111123/duane-eddy-20111122

Duane Eddy Biography. LastFM. http://www.last.fm/music/Duane+Eddy/+wiki
Duane Eddy. AllMusic.

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/duane-eddy-mn0000171637

Play Like Duane Eddy by Jesse Gress, Guitar Player. http://www.guitarplayer.com/artists/1026/10-things-you-gotta-do-to-play-like-duane-eddy/22245

Lonnie Mack References:
Lonnie Mack. AllMusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/lonnie-mack-mn0000274822/biography

Lonnie Mack, Singer and Guitarist Who Pioneered Blues-Rock, Dies at 74 by William Grimes, New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/23/arts/music/lonnie-mack-singer-and-guitarist-who-pioneered-blues-rockdies-at-74.html?_r=0

Link Wray References:
Link Wray (Artist Overview). AllMusic.
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/link-wray-mn0000240311

Link Wray, 76, a Guitarist With Raw Rockabilly Sound, Dies by Ben Sisario. New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/22/arts/link-wray-76-a-guitarist-with-raw-rockabilly-sound-dies.html

Have a great week!

Linda, SSCL

Digital Literacy Programs & Creation Station Hours Week of March 28, 2016

March 28, 2016March 28, 2016 Linda Reimer

Creation Station (Makerspace) Hours
Monday, March 28 & Wednesday, March 30: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Tuesday, March 29 & Thursday, March 31: 5:00 PM – 7:30 PM

Creation Station is our makerspace in the library. Come in and make something incredible. Makerspace projects that will be available to be created at the Southeast Steuben County Library include:

• 3 D Printer created projects*
• Computer created projects
• Sewing projects*
• Scanning projects (slides, photos & documents)
• Art projects*
• Scrapbooking projects*
• Drawing

All Patrons interested in using the Creation Station will be required to receive training before using the space. Projects that require training are only accessible upon staff availability.

*Some projects will require a small fee for materials.

Note: Creation Station hours will be changing as of April 1! The new hours will be posted to our blogs later this week.

Digital Photo Slideshow: Back in the 20th century families used to gather to watch images of birthdays and family vacations projected onto living room walls. Nowadays almost all of us use digital cameras, but family slideshows don’t have to be a thing of the past. Using Microsoft PowerPoint we can create exciting slideshows with added music, and even video, and they can be viewed on our TVs and shared in a variety of ways, including online. Please bring a flash drive or CD with your photographs. We encourage you to bring your own laptop if you have Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 or newer, otherwise we are happy to provide laptops for everyone. To register for this program call the library at: 607-936-3713 x 502. You can also register by sending an email to: DIGLIT@STLS.ORG

Date/Time: Thursday, March 31, 2016, Time: 2:00 – 4:00 pm

Programs On Deck for Next Week:

The Online Library: In the 21st Century a public library offers more than onsite access to books, DVDs and the Internet. Today public libraries offer patrons access to digital books, audiobooks, videos, magazines, interactive learning materials and special research resources 24/7 via computers, tablets and smartphones. This program will offer an overview of the digital library materials SSCL patrons can checkout and access from wherever they are at any time of the day or night. To register for this program call the library at: 607-936-3713 x 502. You can also register by sending an email to: DIGLIT@STLS.ORG

Date/Time: Tuesday, April 5, 2016, Time: 1:00 – 3:00 p. m.

Also Available:

Free Digital Literacy Appointments: If you need help in learning how to use a computer, tablet, e-reader or smartphone, or, if you want to learn how to use the equipment in our makerspace, Creation Station, you can make an appointment with a member of our Digital Literacy Services staff at a time that is convenient for you and we’ll show you the basic operating ropes!

To make a free technology appointment, call the library at 607-936-3713 x 502 or send an email to us at the following address: DIGLIT@STLS.ORG

All library programs are made possible by the Friends of the Library.

Adult Services, Digital Literacy & Creation Station Events Week of July 20, 2015

July 20, 2015July 20, 2015 Linda Reimer

Tuesday, July 21, 2015:

Creation Station, The Southeast Steuben County Library’s Makerspace, will be open from 1- 4 p.m.

Pop Artist Michael Albert: Adult & Young Adult Program: Join author and artist Michael Albert for a presentation about his modern pop art and then create your family’s own ‘cerealism’ piece of artwork. Space is limited, so please sign up by calling or stopping by the Children’s Dept. 936-3713 ext. 503.

Time: 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Pop Artist Michael Albert: Family Program: Join author and artist Michael Albert for a presentation about his modern pop art and then create your family’s own ‘cerealism’ piece of artwork. Space is limited, so please sign up by calling or stopping by the Children’s Dept. 936-3713 ext. 503.

Time: 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Freegal Music, OverDrive & Zinio: This program walks you through the steps of how to access digital library content. We’ll focus on how you checkout and enjoy E-Books, Digital Audiobooks, Streaming Video, Digital Music & Digital Magazines – all for free!

A library card is required to access digital library materials and if you don’t have one – we’ll sign you up for one during the program.

Time: 10:00 am – 11:30 am

Creation Station, The Southeast Steuben County Library’s Makerspace, will be open from 5-8 p.m.

Corning Area Writer’s Group: Inject some socialization into your solo writing time by join the library’s Adult Creative Writers Group for conversation, inspiration and feedback on writing projects. No sign up is required. This group meets every Thursday from 6-8 pm. On the third Thursday of the month the group meets in the library. On the other Thursdays the group meets at Soul Full Cup CoffeeHouse.

For more information, please call Adult Services Director Michelle Wells at (607) 936-3713 ext. 209 or email wellsm@stls.org.

Time: 6:00 – 8:00 pm

Saturday, July 25, 2015:

Firefly Screening and Cosplay: Firefly was a great example of the antiheroes we still love. Join us for a screening of the TWO different pilot episodes that were made and talk about what you loved best about the show.

Come in costume as one of the characters and win a prize!

Start Time: 4:00 p.m.

Available During Each Week:

One-On-One Personal Technology Sessions are available by appointment during the week! You can make an appointment with a member of our Digital Literacy Services staff to learn how to use a new computer, Mac, e-reader, tablet, smartphone or a variety of software including the Microsoft Office Suite and more; at a variety of times throughout each week.

This is a free service the library offers!

To make an appointment call the library at: 607-936-3713

Or send an email to us at: DIGLIT@STLS.ORG

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