A M E R I C A N A – a collective name for a music style that includes a wide variety of artists. In general, this typifies music that is derived from authentic country, folk and blues.
1- Willie Nelson.
Nelson was born in 1933 in Abbott, Texas. After a period in the Air Force, for example, he sold Bibles and encyclopedias door to door. With the money he earned from his first song Family Bible, he traveled to Nashville, the heart of country music. In the 1970s he moved back to Texas. During this period his style changed to a more modern country style. Pop and rock elements were also included. In 1975, Willie Nelson collaborated with Waylon Jennings, among others, under the name ‘Outlaws’. From 1980, Nelson was an established star in America. He wrote less and less new songs and instead used classics from country, pop and rock and played more and more with other well-known artists. Today Willie Nelson is 90 years old and still performs a lot. CD. Spirit – Willie Nelson. LABEL: Universal Records 00731452424228 / Island Records 5242422 (1996). VIDEO
2- Steve Earl & The Dukes.
In 2016, Texan singer-songwriter Guy Clark passed away. He was a founder of the Nashville scene of outlaw artists from which Rodney Crowell and Steve Earle, among others, flourished. Young Steve Earle also owed his first writing job in Nashville to Guy Clark. On the album Guy he now honors his missed mentor. Earle adapted Clark’s well-known songs such as Desperados Waiting For A Train and Heartbroke into a whole that can only be a Steve Earle & The Dukes album. Bare, loose and like rudimentary folk songs, they perform the repertoire with acoustic instruments and here and there a plaintive lap steel guitar. CD. Guy – Steve Earl, The Dukes. New West Records (2019), code: NW6455. VIDEO
3- Linda Ronstadt.
She started her solo career in 1968. Her backing band consisted of a group of musicians who would later form the Eagles. In 1974 she broke through with the album Heart Like a Wheel. The single You’re No Good also became a hit in Europe. Her greatest success came with the 1977 album Simple Dreams. The album included the hits It’s So Easy (originally by Buddy Holly) and Blue Bayou (originally by Roy Orbison). The album also contained some songs written by Warren Zevon and a version of Tumbling Dice by The Rolling Stones. CD. The very best of Linda Ronstadt. LABEL: Elektra (2002), code: 8122-736052. VIDEO
4- Tony Joe White.
Nicknamed the Swamp Fox, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his 1969 hit Polk Salad Annie and Rainy Night in Georgia, which he wrote but was first popularized by Brook Benton in 1970. He wrote also two hits for Tina Turner in 1989; those two songs came out through Tina’s producer at the time, Mark Knopfler, who was a friend of Tony Joe White. Polk Salad Annie was also recorded by the French Joe Dassin and by Elvis Presley and Tom Jones. Tony Joe White died of a heart attack in 2018 at the age of 75. CD. Tony Joe White – One Hot July. LABEL: Universal Records 00731455889420 / Mercury Records 5588942 (1999). VIDEO
5- John Martyn.
Solid Air is one of the defining moments of – in this case – British folk. John Martyn (in 1972) stepped out of his comfort zone to record and produce the album Solid Air, which included not only jazz and blues, but also rock and numerous sound effects, and featured Rhodes piano on some of its tracks. Solid Air was considered by many to be John Martyn’s best album. The album has many beautiful songs, but striking are Go Down Easy and May You Never. Twenty-six years later, in 1999, Solid Air was named one of the greatest chill-out albums of all time in Q Magazine. In 1998, five of Solid Air’s songs were used for the soundtrack of a new BBC film Titanic Town. John Martyn passed away in 2009. CD. Solid Air – John Martyn. LABEL: Universal 00731454814720 / Island Records 731454814720 (2013). VIDEO
6- Robert Johnson.
He is one of the legendary figures in the history of the blues whose life story slowly but surely grew into the folklore of the southern United States. Little is known of Robert Johnson’s life and there are only two photographs of the singer/guitarist. In 1936 Robert Johnson recorded a number of songs. A recurring theme in his lyrics was his fear of the devil. That gave all the more reason for speculation surrounding his mysterious death at the age of 27. CD. The Centennial Collection : The complete recordings – Robert Johnson. LABEL: Sony (2011), code: 886978590725. VIDEO
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