Tony Banks

Tony Banks

Anthony George Banks (born March 27, 1950, in East Hoathly, Sussex, England) is an English songwriter, pianist/keyboard player, and guitarist. He is one of the founding members of progressive rock/pop group Genesis, and he is one of only two members ・the other being guitarist/bassist Mike Rutherford ・to belong to Genesis throughout its entire history.
Banks had classical training in piano, and taught himself to play guitar. He attended Charterhouse School in the mid-1960s, where he met fellow student Peter Gabriel in 1965. Together with drummer Chris Stewart they formed a band called The Garden Wall. This band merged with another called Anon, which included Rutherford and Anthony Phillips. They recorded a set of demos which ultimately led to the formation of the band that became Genesis.
Banks's elaborate keyboard solos ・such as the piano intro to "Firth of Fifth" and the instrumental section of "The Cinema Show" ・helped to establish Genesis's sound. In addition to playing keyboards, Banks contributed to Genesis's 12-string acoustic passages ・in songs such as "The Musical Box" and the intro to "Supper's Ready" ・together with Steve Hackett and Mike Rutherford. Banks was also an occasional back-up vocalist and sang lead on 1970's unreleased "The Shepherd" (a duet with Peter Gabriel) which finally surfaced on the Genesis Archive 1967-75 boxed set.
Notable Banks-penned songs from the band's repertoire include "Mad Man Moon," "One for the Vine," and the anthemic ballad "Afterglow," which remained a popular exeunt to the Banks-driven "medleys" (conglomerations of Genesis's most popular keyboard solos)that the group played during live shows for years.
Equipment used by Tony Banks over the years:
From Genesis to Revelation - 1969Acoustic Piano
Trespass - 1970
Acoustic Piano Hammond L-122 tonewheel organ Hohner Pianet N Mellotron Mk II - hired from King Crimson
Nursery Cryme - 1971
Acoustic Piano [used on album only] Hammond L-122 tonewheel organ Hohner Pianet N Mellotron Mk II - hired from King Crimson
Foxtrot - 1972
Acoustic Piano [used on album only] Hammond L-122 tonewheel organ Hohner Pianet N Mellotron Mk II - hired from King Crimson
Selling England By The Pound - 1973
Acoustic Piano [used on album only] - notably Firth of Fifth Hammond T-102 tonewheel organ Hohner Pianet N Mellotron M400 - with the 3 violins, 8 voice choir and Brass tape sets. The flute set is used on The Battle of Epping Forrest ARP Pro-Soloist analogue synthesiszer
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway - 1974
Acoustic Piano [used on album only] - Steinway - used on intro to The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway and elsewhere Hammond T-102 tonewheel organ RMI Electra 368 Electric piano Mellotron M400 - with the 3 violins, 8 voice choir and Brass tape sets ARP Pro-Soloist analogue synthesiszer ELKA RHAPSODY analogue synthesizer
A Trick of the Tail - 1976
Acoustic Piano [used on album only] Hammond T-102 tonewheel organ -> Leslie Rotating Speaker RMI Electra 368 Electric piano -> Fender Blender fuzz effect and MXR Phase 100 phaser Mellotron M400 - with the 3 violins, 8 voice choir and Brass tape sets-> Echoplex tape echo and MXR 10band EQ ARP Pro-Soloist analogue synthesiszer -> Echoplex tape echo andLeslie Rotating Speaker ARP 2600 analogue synthesiszer -> Echoplex tape echo - [studio only} Roland RS202 string synth
Wind and Wuthering - 1976
Acoustic Piano [used on album only] Hammond T-102 tonewheel organ -> MXR Phase 100 phaser and BOSS CE-1 stereo chorus RMI Electra 368 Electric piano -> Fender Blender fuzz effect and MXR Phase 100 phaser Mellotron M400 - with the 3 violins, 8 voice choir and Brass tape sets-> Roland RE-201 space echo and MXR 10 band graphic EQ ARP Pro-Soloist analogue synthesiszer -> Roland Space echo ARP 2600 analogue synthesiszer -> Roland RE-201 Space echo - [used on album only} Roland RS-202 string synthesizer - [used on album only] Fender Rhodes electric piano - [used on album only]
And Then There Were Three - 1978
Acoustic Piano [studio only] Hammond T-102 tonewheel organ -> MXR Phase 100 phaser and BOSS CE-1 stereo chorus Yamaha CP70 Electric Grand piano -> BOSS CE-10 stereo chorus Mellotron M400 - with the 3 violins, 8 voice choir and Brass tape sets-> Roland RE-201 space echo and MXR 10 band graphic EQ ARP Pro-Soloist analogue synthesiszer -> Roland Space echo ARP 2600 analogue synthesiszer -> Roland RE-201 Space echo - Roland RS-202 string synthesizer - [used on album only] Moog Polymoog polyphonic analogue synthesizer -> MXR Distortion+ and Phase 100
Duke - 1980
Acoustic grand piano (studio only) Yamaha CP70 (through boss ce1 chorus) Yamaha CS80 (through boss chorus)(studio only) Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 (through boss ce1 chorus and mxr phase 100) Arp Quadra (trough MXR Distortion) Moog Polymoog (studio only) Roland VP330 (trough MXR 10 band EQ and Boss chorus) Hammond T102 organ trough MXR phase 100 phaser and Boss CE1 chorus)
The CS80 was used a lot on the album aswell as t he CP70 piano. Tony used the Prophet 5 and Quadra on just a few occasions on the album. But the Quadra especially was used a lot as a polysynth and lead synth on the duke tour. The Prophet 5 was used more for string like sounds aswell as the flutes on dukes travles (last bars before dukes end kicks in) and cul-de-sac.
Abacab - 1981
Acoustic piano (studio only) Yamaha CP70 (through Boss CE1 chorus) Moog Polymoog (studio only) Yamaha CS80 (studio only) (through Boss CE1 chorus and mxr distortion) Arp Quadra (through mxr distortion and lexicon digital delays) Sequential Circuits Prophet 10 (through mxr distortion, mxr phase 100 and boss ce1 chorus) Roland VP330+ vocoder (through MXR 10band EQ) NED Synclavier 2 (studio only on just a couple of things. Banks had a lot of problems with the Synclavier at that time and he even regretted buying it) Rumours go that the EDP Wasp was used. Though I never could spot it on the album and there is no evidence that it was used at all... Tony didn't talk about it in interviews, nor did he mention it in tourbooks or liner notes. I wonder if he really had it...
Genesis - 1983
Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano -> BOSS CE-1 Stereo Chorus ARP Quadra polyphonic analogue synthesizer Sequential Circuits Prophet-10 polyphonic analogue synthesizer - MXR Phase 100 and BOSS CE-10 stereo chorus NED Synclavier II digital synthesizer -(FM and Additive, no sampling option) E-mu Emulator early digital sampler Roland VP-330 Vocoderand string/choir [studio only] Some equipment put through MXR and Lexicon digital delays
Invisible Touch - 1986
Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano (with Kenton MIDI retrofit) ARP Quadra synthesizer/string machine Sequential Circuits Prophet-10 synthesizer (with Kenton MIDI retrofit) NED Synclavier II digital synthesizer -( FM and Additive, no sampling option) E-mu Emulator II digital sampler (with analog SSM filter and VCAs) Yamaha DX7 digital FM synthesizer AKAI S900 12-bit Digital Rack sampler Roland MKS-80 analogue rack synthesizer Yamaha TX816 digital FM rack synthesizer - 8 DX7s in a rack Korg DVP voice processor - vocoder Equipment put through Yamaha REV7 digital reverb and Lexicon digital delays
We Can't Dance - 1991
Korg Wavestation digital vector synthesizer Roland JD-800 digital synthesizer Roland Rhodes MK-80 digital piano / mother keyboard Roland Rhodes VK-1000 digital organ / electric piano Ensoniq VFX digital synthesizer Yamaha CP-80 electric grand piano- (88 key version of CP-70 E-mu Emulator III digital 16 bit sampler Equipment put through Yamaha SPX1000 and SPX90 effects plus Roland reverb unit
The Way We Walk (We Can't Dance Tour) - 1991 - 1992
Korg Wavestation digital vector synthesizer Roland JD-800 digital synthesizer Roland Rhodes MK-80 mother keyboard Ensoniq SD1 digital synthesiser - More reliable sibling of VFX Sequenced by Alesis MMT-8 Tony used these synths to also control his 2x 20HE rack units with the following stuff in it:
E-mu Emulator III digital 16 bit sampler in rack form Kurzweil 1000PX digital piano module E-mu Proteus/2 XR sample playback modules (four units with Tony's own samples, one with Proteus presets) Voce DMI-64 MkII digital organ module (two units) Yamaha TX7 synth module - DX7 in a rack All of the above are mixed into 2 Roland M480 mixers and put through Yamaha SPX90 effects and a Roland SDE3000 reverb unit. All midi routings done by 2 MidiTemp MMP88 patchbays. Audio routings from the mixer through the effect units done with the Yamaha PLS1 line switcher which is also used to extract the JD800 audio and send it to the main PA desk.
Also used was a Midi Gate unit (brand unknown) which is used for the song Mama which they performed 5 times in the USA leg of the WCD tour.
Calling All Stations - 1997
Korg Trinity digital workstation synthesizer Korg Wavestation digital vector synthesizer Roland JD-800 digital synthesizer Roland JV-1080 digital rack synthesizer Yamaha CP-80 electric grand piano
Calling All Stations Tour - 1997 - 1998
Korg Trinity Plus digital workstation synthesizer Roland A-90 MIDI mother keyboard Roland JD-800 digital synthesizer These are then linked into 2 Opcode Studio 5 LX MIDI processor and 2 Custom-made MIDI mixers and used to control these rack units:
Two E-mu Emulator 4 digital 16bit rack samplers Two Korg Wavestation SR digital rack vector synthesizer Korg Wavestation A/D digital rack vector synthesizer and vocoder Korg 01R/W digital rack synthesizer Roland JV-1080 digital synthesizer 3 E-mu Proteus/2 XR digital sample playback modules E-mu Proteus/2 XR Orchestral digital sample playback module E-mu Proteus/1 digital sample playback module2 E-mu Vintage Keys digital sample playback module Yamaha TX7 synth module - DX7 in rack All of the above are mixed into a Mackie LM3204 line mixer then put through Yamaha SPX1000 effects processor (four units)and Roland SRV-2000 effects processor. A Yamaha PLS1 line selector sends this to a Chiddingford Mixer for his Shure SM600 transmitter to his ear monitor.

Tony Banks

Tony Banks

Anthony George Banks (born March 27, 1950, in East Hoathly, Sussex, England) is an English songwriter, pianist/keyboard player, and guitarist. He is one of the founding members of progressive rock/pop group Genesis, and he is one of only two members ・the other being guitarist/bassist Mike Rutherford ・to belong to Genesis throughout its entire history.
Banks had classical training in piano, and taught himself to play guitar. He attended Charterhouse School in the mid-1960s, where he met fellow student Peter Gabriel in 1965. Together with drummer Chris Stewart they formed a band called The Garden Wall. This band merged with another called Anon, which included Rutherford and Anthony Phillips. They recorded a set of demos which ultimately led to the formation of the band that became Genesis.
Banks's elaborate keyboard solos ・such as the piano intro to "Firth of Fifth" and the instrumental section of "The Cinema Show" ・helped to establish Genesis's sound. In addition to playing keyboards, Banks contributed to Genesis's 12-string acoustic passages ・in songs such as "The Musical Box" and the intro to "Supper's Ready" ・together with Steve Hackett and Mike Rutherford. Banks was also an occasional back-up vocalist and sang lead on 1970's unreleased "The Shepherd" (a duet with Peter Gabriel) which finally surfaced on the Genesis Archive 1967-75 boxed set.
Notable Banks-penned songs from the band's repertoire include "Mad Man Moon," "One for the Vine," and the anthemic ballad "Afterglow," which remained a popular exeunt to the Banks-driven "medleys" (conglomerations of Genesis's most popular keyboard solos)that the group played during live shows for years.
Equipment used by Tony Banks over the years:
From Genesis to Revelation - 1969Acoustic Piano
Trespass - 1970
Acoustic Piano Hammond L-122 tonewheel organ Hohner Pianet N Mellotron Mk II - hired from King Crimson
Nursery Cryme - 1971
Acoustic Piano [used on album only] Hammond L-122 tonewheel organ Hohner Pianet N Mellotron Mk II - hired from King Crimson
Foxtrot - 1972
Acoustic Piano [used on album only] Hammond L-122 tonewheel organ Hohner Pianet N Mellotron Mk II - hired from King Crimson
Selling England By The Pound - 1973
Acoustic Piano [used on album only] - notably Firth of Fifth Hammond T-102 tonewheel organ Hohner Pianet N Mellotron M400 - with the 3 violins, 8 voice choir and Brass tape sets. The flute set is used on The Battle of Epping Forrest ARP Pro-Soloist analogue synthesiszer
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway - 1974
Acoustic Piano [used on album only] - Steinway - used on intro to The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway and elsewhere Hammond T-102 tonewheel organ RMI Electra 368 Electric piano Mellotron M400 - with the 3 violins, 8 voice choir and Brass tape sets ARP Pro-Soloist analogue synthesiszer ELKA RHAPSODY analogue synthesizer
A Trick of the Tail - 1976
Acoustic Piano [used on album only] Hammond T-102 tonewheel organ -> Leslie Rotating Speaker RMI Electra 368 Electric piano -> Fender Blender fuzz effect and MXR Phase 100 phaser Mellotron M400 - with the 3 violins, 8 voice choir and Brass tape sets-> Echoplex tape echo and MXR 10band EQ ARP Pro-Soloist analogue synthesiszer -> Echoplex tape echo andLeslie Rotating Speaker ARP 2600 analogue synthesiszer -> Echoplex tape echo - [studio only} Roland RS202 string synth
Wind and Wuthering - 1976
Acoustic Piano [used on album only] Hammond T-102 tonewheel organ -> MXR Phase 100 phaser and BOSS CE-1 stereo chorus RMI Electra 368 Electric piano -> Fender Blender fuzz effect and MXR Phase 100 phaser Mellotron M400 - with the 3 violins, 8 voice choir and Brass tape sets-> Roland RE-201 space echo and MXR 10 band graphic EQ ARP Pro-Soloist analogue synthesiszer -> Roland Space echo ARP 2600 analogue synthesiszer -> Roland RE-201 Space echo - [used on album only} Roland RS-202 string synthesizer - [used on album only] Fender Rhodes electric piano - [used on album only]
And Then There Were Three - 1978
Acoustic Piano [studio only] Hammond T-102 tonewheel organ -> MXR Phase 100 phaser and BOSS CE-1 stereo chorus Yamaha CP70 Electric Grand piano -> BOSS CE-10 stereo chorus Mellotron M400 - with the 3 violins, 8 voice choir and Brass tape sets-> Roland RE-201 space echo and MXR 10 band graphic EQ ARP Pro-Soloist analogue synthesiszer -> Roland Space echo ARP 2600 analogue synthesiszer -> Roland RE-201 Space echo - Roland RS-202 string synthesizer - [used on album only] Moog Polymoog polyphonic analogue synthesizer -> MXR Distortion+ and Phase 100
Duke - 1980
Acoustic grand piano (studio only) Yamaha CP70 (through boss ce1 chorus) Yamaha CS80 (through boss chorus)(studio only) Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 (through boss ce1 chorus and mxr phase 100) Arp Quadra (trough MXR Distortion) Moog Polymoog (studio only) Roland VP330 (trough MXR 10 band EQ and Boss chorus) Hammond T102 organ trough MXR phase 100 phaser and Boss CE1 chorus)
The CS80 was used a lot on the album aswell as t he CP70 piano. Tony used the Prophet 5 and Quadra on just a few occasions on the album. But the Quadra especially was used a lot as a polysynth and lead synth on the duke tour. The Prophet 5 was used more for string like sounds aswell as the flutes on dukes travles (last bars before dukes end kicks in) and cul-de-sac.
Abacab - 1981
Acoustic piano (studio only) Yamaha CP70 (through Boss CE1 chorus) Moog Polymoog (studio only) Yamaha CS80 (studio only) (through Boss CE1 chorus and mxr distortion) Arp Quadra (through mxr distortion and lexicon digital delays) Sequential Circuits Prophet 10 (through mxr distortion, mxr phase 100 and boss ce1 chorus) Roland VP330+ vocoder (through MXR 10band EQ) NED Synclavier 2 (studio only on just a couple of things. Banks had a lot of problems with the Synclavier at that time and he even regretted buying it) Rumours go that the EDP Wasp was used. Though I never could spot it on the album and there is no evidence that it was used at all... Tony didn't talk about it in interviews, nor did he mention it in tourbooks or liner notes. I wonder if he really had it...
Genesis - 1983
Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano -> BOSS CE-1 Stereo Chorus ARP Quadra polyphonic analogue synthesizer Sequential Circuits Prophet-10 polyphonic analogue synthesizer - MXR Phase 100 and BOSS CE-10 stereo chorus NED Synclavier II digital synthesizer -(FM and Additive, no sampling option) E-mu Emulator early digital sampler Roland VP-330 Vocoderand string/choir [studio only] Some equipment put through MXR and Lexicon digital delays
Invisible Touch - 1986
Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano (with Kenton MIDI retrofit) ARP Quadra synthesizer/string machine Sequential Circuits Prophet-10 synthesizer (with Kenton MIDI retrofit) NED Synclavier II digital synthesizer -( FM and Additive, no sampling option) E-mu Emulator II digital sampler (with analog SSM filter and VCAs) Yamaha DX7 digital FM synthesizer AKAI S900 12-bit Digital Rack sampler Roland MKS-80 analogue rack synthesizer Yamaha TX816 digital FM rack synthesizer - 8 DX7s in a rack Korg DVP voice processor - vocoder Equipment put through Yamaha REV7 digital reverb and Lexicon digital delays
We Can't Dance - 1991
Korg Wavestation digital vector synthesizer Roland JD-800 digital synthesizer Roland Rhodes MK-80 digital piano / mother keyboard Roland Rhodes VK-1000 digital organ / electric piano Ensoniq VFX digital synthesizer Yamaha CP-80 electric grand piano- (88 key version of CP-70 E-mu Emulator III digital 16 bit sampler Equipment put through Yamaha SPX1000 and SPX90 effects plus Roland reverb unit
The Way We Walk (We Can't Dance Tour) - 1991 - 1992
Korg Wavestation digital vector synthesizer Roland JD-800 digital synthesizer Roland Rhodes MK-80 mother keyboard Ensoniq SD1 digital synthesiser - More reliable sibling of VFX Sequenced by Alesis MMT-8 Tony used these synths to also control his 2x 20HE rack units with the following stuff in it:
E-mu Emulator III digital 16 bit sampler in rack form Kurzweil 1000PX digital piano module E-mu Proteus/2 XR sample playback modules (four units with Tony's own samples, one with Proteus presets) Voce DMI-64 MkII digital organ module (two units) Yamaha TX7 synth module - DX7 in a rack All of the above are mixed into 2 Roland M480 mixers and put through Yamaha SPX90 effects and a Roland SDE3000 reverb unit. All midi routings done by 2 MidiTemp MMP88 patchbays. Audio routings from the mixer through the effect units done with the Yamaha PLS1 line switcher which is also used to extract the JD800 audio and send it to the main PA desk.
Also used was a Midi Gate unit (brand unknown) which is used for the song Mama which they performed 5 times in the USA leg of the WCD tour.
Calling All Stations - 1997
Korg Trinity digital workstation synthesizer Korg Wavestation digital vector synthesizer Roland JD-800 digital synthesizer Roland JV-1080 digital rack synthesizer Yamaha CP-80 electric grand piano
Calling All Stations Tour - 1997 - 1998
Korg Trinity Plus digital workstation synthesizer Roland A-90 MIDI mother keyboard Roland JD-800 digital synthesizer These are then linked into 2 Opcode Studio 5 LX MIDI processor and 2 Custom-made MIDI mixers and used to control these rack units:
Two E-mu Emulator 4 digital 16bit rack samplers Two Korg Wavestation SR digital rack vector synthesizer Korg Wavestation A/D digital rack vector synthesizer and vocoder Korg 01R/W digital rack synthesizer Roland JV-1080 digital synthesizer 3 E-mu Proteus/2 XR digital sample playback modules E-mu Proteus/2 XR Orchestral digital sample playback module E-mu Proteus/1 digital sample playback module2 E-mu Vintage Keys digital sample playback module Yamaha TX7 synth module - DX7 in rack All of the above are mixed into a Mackie LM3204 line mixer then put through Yamaha SPX1000 effects processor (four units)and Roland SRV-2000 effects processor. A Yamaha PLS1 line selector sends this to a Chiddingford Mixer for his Shure SM600 transmitter to his ear monitor.

Phil Collins

Phil Collins

Philip David Charles Collins (born January 30, 1951 in Chiswick, London) is an English rock and pop musician. He is best known as the lead singer and drummer of progressive rock group Genesis and as a Grammy and Academy Award-winning solo artist.
In total, Collins sang the lead vocals on eight American chart-toppers between 1984 and 1989; seven as a solo artist and one with Genesis. His singles, often dealing with lost love, ranged from the drum-heavy "In the Air Tonight", to the dance pop of "Sussudio", to the political statements of his most successful song, "Another Day in Paradise". His international popularity transformed Genesis from a progressive rock group to a regular on the pop charts and an early MTV mainstay.
Collins received a toy drum kit for Christmas when he was five. Later, his uncle made him a makeshift one that he used regularly, and his drumming skills improved. As Collins grew they were followed by more complete sets bought by his parents.He practiced by playing alongside the television and radio, and never learned to read and write conventional musical notation; instead, he uses a system he devised himself.
In 1970, Collins answered a Melody Maker classified ad for "...a drummer sensitive to acoustic music, and acoustic twelve-string guitarist".[8] Genesis placed the ad after having already lost three drummers over two albums.The audition occurred at the home of Peter Gabriel's parents. Prospective candidates performed tracks from the group's second album, Trespass (1970). Collins arrived early, listened to the other auditions and memorised the pieces before his turn.
Collins won the audition, and a year later, Nursery Cryme (1971) was released. Although his role would remain drummer and occasional backing vocalist for the next five years, he twice sang lead vocals on "For Absent Friends" (from Nursery Cryme) and "More Fool Me" (from Selling England by the Pound) (1973).
In 1974, while recording the album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Brian Eno who did the Enossification on Peter's voice was in need of a drummer for his album Another Green World and Phil was sent to play drums as payment for his doings with the band.
In 1975, following the final tour supporting the concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Gabriel left the group to pursue solo projects. Collins became lead vocalist after an unfruitful search for Gabriel's replacement. The group recruited former Yes and King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford and later Chester Thompson to play drums during live shows, although Collins continued to play during longer instrumental sections. The first album with Collins as lead vocalist, 1976's A Trick of the Tail, reached the American Top 40, and climbed as high as #3 on the UK charts. Said Rolling Stone, "Genesis has managed to turn the possible catastrophe of Gabriel's departure into their first broad-based American success.
An early theme in Collins' music, although never specifically mentioned in his albums, involved his then recent divorce. Two songs he wrote on the Genesis album Duke (1980), "Please Don't Ask" and "Misunderstanding", dealt with failed relationships. With the recording of his first solo album, Face Value (1981), Collins attributed his divorce as his main influence.

Neil Young

Neil Young
Neil Percival Young OM (born November 12, 1945, Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His work is characterized by deeply personal lyrics, distinctive guitar work, and an almost instantly recognizable nasal tenor (and frequently alto) singing voice. Although he accompanies himself on several different instruments 擁ncluding piano and harmonica揺is style of hammer-on acoustic guitar and often idiosyncratic soloing on electric guitar are the lynchpins of a sometimes ragged, sometimes polished, yet consistently evocative sound.
Young has experimented widely with differing music styles, including swing, jazz, rockabilly, blues and electronica throughout a varied career, his most accessible and best known work generally falls into either of two distinct styles: acoustic, country-tinged folk rock, as heard in songs such as "Heart of Gold", "Harvest Moon" and "Old Man," and crunchy, electric hard rock, in songs like "Cinnamon Girl", "Rockin' in the Free World" and "Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)."
Young first came to prominence as a member of the folk-rock band Buffalo Springfield in the mid-1960s and then as a solo performer backed by the band Crazy Horse. He reached his commercial peak during the singer-songwriter boom of the early 1970s with the albums After the Gold Rush and Harvest as well as with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
Young was born in Toronto to sportswriter and novelist Scott Young and Rassy Ragland Young. He spent his early years in Omemee, a small country town which he later memorialized in his song "Helpless". A bout of polio at the age of six left him with a weakened left side, and he still walks with a slight limp. He moved to New Smyrna Beach, Florida to recover for a year; his mother later moved there permanently. His parents divorced when Young was twelve, and he moved with his mother back to the family home of Winnipeg, Manitoba, where his music career began. While attending Kelvin High School in Winnipeg, he played in instrumental rock bands, one of which, the Squires, had a local hit called "The Sultan." He later worked folk clubs in Winnipeg, where he befriended guitarist Stephen Stills and Joni Mitchell, and spent summers in Thunder Bay, Ontario, playing at local clubs. In the 2006 film Heart of Gold Young relates how he used to spend time as a teenager at Falcon Lake, Manitoba where he would endlessly plug coins into the jukebox to hear Ian Tyson's "Four Strong Winds."
After the breakup of Buffalo Springfield, Young signed a solo deal with Reprise Records, home of his compatriot, Joni Mitchell, with whom he shared a manager, Elliot Roberts. Young and Nitzsche immediately began work on Young's first solo record, Neil Young (November 1968), which received mixed reviews. In a 1970 interview [1], Young deprecated the album as being "overdubbed rather than played," and the quest for music that expresses the spontaneity of the moment has long been a feature of his career. Nevertheless, the album contains some tunes that remain a staple of his live shows, most notably "The Loner."
For his next album, Young recruited three musicians from a band called Danny and The Rockets: Danny Whitten on guitar, Billy Talbot on bass guitar, and Ralph Molina on drums. These three took the name Crazy Horse (after the historical figure of the same name), and Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (May 1969), is credited to "Neil Young with Crazy Horse." Recorded in just two weeks, the album opens with one of Young's most familiar songs, "Cinnamon Girl," and is dominated by two more, "Cowgirl in the Sand" and "Down by the River," that feature lengthy jams showcasing Young's idiosyncratic guitar soloing accompanied sympathetically by Crazy Horse .
Although a new tour had been planned to follow up on the success of Harvest, it became apparent during rehearsals that Danny Whitten could not function due to drug abuse. On November 18, 1972, shortly after he was fired from the tour preparations, Whitten was found dead of an overdose. Young described the incident to Rolling Stone痴 Cameron Crowe in 1975,[3] "[We] were rehearsing with him and he just couldn't cut it. He couldn't remember anything. He was too out of it. Too far gone. I had to tell him to go back to L.A. 'It's not happening, man. You're not together enough.' He just said, 'I've got nowhere else to go, man. How am I gonna tell my friends?' And he split. That night the coroner called me from L.A. and told me he'd ODed. That blew my mind. Fucking blew my mind. I loved Danny. I felt responsible. And from there,

Deep Purple

Deep Purple

Deep Purple are an English hard rock band formed in London, England in 1968 (see 1968 in music). Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be one of the pioneer contributors to the Heavy metal and the hard rock genre, although they have never seen themselves as a heavy metal band. To date, the band has sold over 100 million albums
The band Episode Six released several singles in the UK during the mid-sixties. It featured Ian Gillan on vocals, Graham Dimmock on guitar, Roger Glover on bass, Tony Lander on guitar, Sheila Carter on keyboards, and Harvey Shields on the drums. Despite extensive touring, they never had their big break..
Shortly after the orchestral release, the band began a hectic touring and recording schedule that was to see little respite for the next three years. Their first studio album of this period, released in mid-1970, was In Rock and contained concert staples Speed King, Into The Fire and Child in Time. The band also issued the UK Top Ten single Black Night. Blackmore's and Lord's guitar-keyboard interplay coupled with Ian Gillan's howling vocals and the solid rhythm section of Glover and Paice, now started to become instantly recognizable. A second album, the slightly more mellow and progressive Fireball (a favourite of Gillan's but not of Blackmore's), was issued in the summer of 1971, creating a number of favourites (Fireball, Demon's Eye, Fools and No One Came). The band also scored another chart hit with Strange Kind Of Woman. Together with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, Purple were laying the groundwork for what is now called heavy metal music, although at the time, the phrase was still wholly unknown.
In 1980, Rod Evans, along with a group of unknown musicians, toured under the banner of Deep Purple. As the only original member, and one little known to most fans, this band was instantly derided by press and fans as a fraud. The lineup performed concerts in Mexico and the USA before legal action was taken to deny them the use of the name. In retrospect, however tenuous the connection this band had to the name "Deep Purple", it at least kept the name alive and in the media, albeit briefly. More information on this "fake" Deep Purple is available here and here.
However, in April 1984, eight years after the demise of Deep Purple, a full-scale (and legal) reunion happened. It was announced on BBC radio's The Friday Rock Show that the "classic" early 70s line-up of Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord, and Paice was reforming and recording new material. The band signed a deal with Polydor in Europe and Mercury in North America. The album Perfect Strangers was released in October 1984, creating a number of favourites (Knockin' At Your Back Door, Under The Gun, Gypsy's Kiss and of course Perfect Strangers). The reunion tour followed, starting in Australia and winding its way across the world into Europe by the following summer. It was a tremendous success. The UK homecoming proved limited, as they elected to play just a single festival show at Knebworth (with main support from the Scorpions). The weather was famously bad but 80,000 turned up anyway.

Linkin Park

Linkin Park

In 1996, MC Mike Shinoda and guitarist Brad Delson graduated from Agoura High School in the Los Angeles suburb of Agoura Hills, California. Upon graduation, the two men formed a side band with their friend, drummer Rob Bourdon, under the moniker "SuperXero". Previously, Delson and Bourdon were in a band together for about a year called Relative Degree. Delson had also been part of a band called The Pricks.
The three members of SuperXero played archaic forms of their music together while at college. Delson attended the University of California, Los Angeles. Shinoda went to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. While at UCLA, Delson met bassist Dave Farrell. Delson and Farrell were roommates and often practiced and played together. Previously, Farrell used to play in a band called Tasty Snax with Mark Fiore, who later changed their name to "The Snax". Fiore later became Linkin Park's cinematographer. While at the Art Center College of Design, Shinoda met Joe Hahn. Farrell and Hahn later joined SuperXero, and the name was shortened to "Xero". The five men were later joined by lead vocalist Mark Wakefield and, together, they recorded their first, self-titled demo tape. The tape was sent out to various record labels but it was never considered and the band was never signed. Shortly thereafter, Wakefield left the band.
After Wakefield left, Shinoda began auditioning for a new vocalist and at the same time Delson began interning for a Warner Brothers Records A&R representative named Jeff Blue as part of his communications degree. Blue alerted Delson and Shinoda to Chester Bennington, a young vocalist from Phoenix, Arizona who was looking to join another band, after being the vocalist for Grey Daze (formerly known as Sean Dowdell and His Friends) from 1993 to 1997.
Shinoda and Delson sent Bennington a tape containing an instrumental song and he recorded vocals for it. He then called Shinoda and played the song over the phone. This was the start of things to come as the band was instantly impressed by the vocal abilities of Bennington and it did not take long to realize the advantages of his voice and his ability to mould it to be both soft and thought-provoking as well as hard and attention-grabbing.
Once Bennington had joined the group, they attempted to have the band signed. Unfortunately, the name was already taken by a 70s and 80s band from Australia so they changed their moniker to Hybrid Theory and the band's line-up solidified ・almost. Farrell temporarily left the band due to previous commitments with The Snax/Tasty Snax and, as such, wasn't able to record bass for their first, self-titled EP. Instead, Delson and a bassist named Kyle Christner played bass. Released in mid-1999, only one thousand copies of the EP were pressed. Several copies were sent to various record labels, including Warner Brothers Records. The rest of the copies were given to early members of the band's newly formed street team. Farrell was temporarily replaced by Scott Koziol. Scott appears in the video for "One Step Closer" from the Hybrid Theory album.
The band was subsequently signed to Warner Brothers in 1999 thanks to Blue. However, they were forced to change their name again due to another copyright issue with a British electronic group called Hybrid.[citation needed] There were several suggestions for the band's new name, including Clear, Probing Lagers, Ten P.M. Stocker (an inside joke for the band since they were always recording and practicing material late at night) and Platinum Lotus Foundation.

Ian Gillan

Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan (born on 19 August 1945; Hounslow, London), is an English rock music vocalist known as the lead singer for legendary rock band Deep Purple, and for his year-long stint in Black Sabbath. He also sang the role of Jesus Christ in the original recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. Gillan is considered to be one of the foremost rock vocalists, who introduced into rock music the vocal belting technique. In his prime he possessed a very wide vocal range, extending from the E2 to the soprano high C, or C6, with seemingly effortless and fluid movement throughout and with remarkable force and precision in the upper register. His work with Deep Purple is particularly recognisable for its occasional high-pitched screams and wails.
Gillan was a member of Deep Purple from 1969 through 1973, appearing on such now-classic Deep Purple albums as Fireball and Machine Head. During these years, he also portrayed Jesus Christ in the original version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's and Tim Rice's Jesus Christ Superstar.
After leaving Deep Purple, Gillan retired from performing to pursue business ventures. These were all failures, and encouraged by his reception at the Butterfly Ball in 1975 he decided to resume his singing career. He formed the Ian Gillan Band. The early band sound had a distinct jazz-rock aspect which proved unpopular and was replaced by a more high powered hard rock sound as Gillan reformed the lineup and shortened the group's name to Gillan. With the release of Mr. Universe Ian Gillan was back in the UK charts and through several more lineup changes released a string of hit singles and successful albums including Glory Road, Future Shock, Double Trouble, and finally Magic.
Then he announced the band would fold as he needed to rest his damaged vocal cords. In 1983 he joined Black Sabbath to record the Born Again album before rejoining a reunited Deep Purple shortly after completing the Born Again tour in early 1984. He left Purple again in 1989, rejoining in 1992. He remains in the band up to present day.