THE EVERLY BROTHERS : History And Music DOWNLOAD

Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (born February 1, 1937) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (born January 19, 1939), together known as the Everly Brothers, are country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing. The duo was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. 

Don and Phil Everly are both guitarists and use vocal harmony mostly based on parallel thirds. With this, each line can often stand on its own as a melody line. This is in contrast to classic harmony lines which, while working well alongside the melody, are not as melodic by themselves. 

For most of their recordings, Don sings the baritone part and Phil the tenor part. One exception is on "Devoted To You." Although Don is still low and Phil is high, they switch lead and harmony back and forth. Don almost always sings any lines that are sung solo (for example, the verses of "Bye Bye Love"). Among the exceptions to this rule is the Everlys' 1965 single "It's All Over," where Phil sings the song's solo lines. 

In the late 1950s, the Everly Brothers were the rock 'n' roll youth movement's addition to close harmony vocal groups of which many were family bands. Among the Everly's famous counterparts in country music were The Delmore Brothers, The Louvin Brothers, Jim & Jesse (McReynolds) and The Osborne Brothers. 

The duo's harmony singing had a strong influence on rock groups of the 1960s. The Beatles, The Beach Boys and Simon & Garfunkel developed their early singing styles by performing Everly covers. 

Don was born in Brownie, Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, and Phil two years later in Chicago, Illinois. Their father, Ike Everly, was a musician. Ike, with Merle Travis, Mose Rager, and Kennedy Jones, was honored by the construction of The Four Legends Fountain in Drakesboro, Kentucky. Ike Everly had a show on KMA and KFNF in Shenandoah, Iowa, in the 1940s, with his wife Margaret and two young sons. Singing on the show gave the brothers their first exposure to the music industry. The family sang together and lived and traveled in the area singing as the Everly Family. The Everly Brothers grew up from ages 5 and 7 through early high school in Shenandoah. (Their boyhood home is being restored and will be donated to the Shenandoah Historical Society in the spring of 2009). They are the cousins of actor James Best. The Everly family moved to Knoxville, Tennessee and the brothers attended Knox West High School, continuing their musical development and first catching the attention of Chet Atkins. 

As the brothers transitioned out of the family act and into a duo, family friend Chet Atkins became an early champion of The Everly Brothers. Despite his affiliation with RCA Records, it was Atkins who engineered a chance for The Everly Brothers to record for Columbia Records in early 1956. However, their first and only single for the label, "Keep A' Lovin' Me," was a flop, and they were quickly dropped from Columbia. 

Atkins still encouraged the Everly Brothers to continue, and introduced them to Wesley Rose of Acuff-Rose music publishers. Impressed with the duo's songwriting talents, Rose told them that if they signed to Acuff-Rose as songwriters, he would also get them a recording deal. The duo signed to Acuff-Rose in late 1956, and by early 1957 Rose had introduced them to Archie Bleyer, who was looking for artists for his Cadence Records label. The Everlys signed to Cadence, and entered the recording studio for their first Cadence session in February 1957. 

Their first Cadence single, "Bye Bye Love," had been rejected by 30 other acts (including Elvis Presley)[citation needed], but the Everlys saw potential in the song. Their recording of "Bye Bye Love" reached No. 2 on the pop charts behind Presley's "Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear", hitting No. 1 on the Country and No. 5 on the R&B charts. The song, written by the husband and wife Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, became the Everly Brothers' first million-seller. 

They became stalwarts of the Cadence label. Working with the Bryants, the duo had hits in the United States and the United Kingdom, the biggest being "Wake Up Little Susie," "All I Have to Do Is Dream," "Bird Dog" and "Problems," all penned by the Bryants. The Everlys also found success as songwriters, especially with Don's "(Till) I Kissed You," which hit No. 4 on the US pop charts. 

The brothers toured extensively with Buddy Holly during 1957 and 1958. According to Holly biographer Philip Norman, they were responsible for the change in style for Holly and The Crickets from Levi's and T-shirts to the Everlys' sharp Ivy League suits. Don claimed Holly to be a generous songwriter who wrote the song "Wishing" for them, while Phil later stated: "We were all from the South. We'd started in country music." 

Phil Everly was one of Buddy Holly's pallbearers at his funeral in February 1959, although Don did not attend. He later said, "I couldn't go to the funeral. I couldn't go anywhere. I just took to my bed." 

The Everly Brothers's Songs :

1. Let It Be Me                                          DOWNLOAD
2. All I Have To Do Is Dream                   DOWNLOAD

TOM JONES : HISTORY AND MUSIC DOWNLOAD

Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE (born 7 June 1940), known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer. He became one of the most popular vocalists to emerge from the British Invasion. Since the mid-1960s, Jones has sung nearly every form of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records. 

Jones has had thirty-six Top 40 hits in the United Kingdom and nineteen in the United States; some of his notable songs include "It's Not Unusual", "What's New Pussycat", "Delilah", "Green, Green Grass of Home", "She's a Lady", "Kiss" and "Sex Bomb". 

Having been awarded an OBE in 1999, Jones received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for "services to music" in 2006. Jones has received numerous other awards throughout his career, including the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1966, an MTV Video Music Award in 1989 and two Brit Awards – winning Best British Male, in 2000, and Outstanding Contribution to Music, in 2003. 

Jones, whose voice has been described as a "full-throated, robust baritone", became the frontman for Tommy Scott and the Senators, a Welsh beat group, in 1963. They soon gained a local following and reputation in South Wales. In 1964 the group recorded several solo tracks with producer Joe Meek, who took them to various labels, but they had little success. Later that year Decca producer Peter Sullivan saw Tommy Scott and The Senators performing in a club and directed them to manager Phil Solomon, but the partnership was short-lived. 

The group continued to play gigs at dance halls and working men's clubs in South Wales. One night, at the Top Hat in Cwmtillery, Wales, Jones was spotted by Gordon Mills, a London-based manager originally from South Wales. Mills became Jones' manager and took the young singer to London, and also renamed him Tom Jones, to exploit the popularity of the Academy Award winning 1963 film.

Eventually Mills got Jones a recording contract with Decca. His first single, "Chills and Fever", was released in late 1964. It did not chart, but the follow-up, "It's Not Unusual" became an international hit after offshore pirate radio station Radio Caroline promoted it. The following year would be the most prominent of Jones's career, making him one of the most popular vocalists of the British Invasion. In early 1965 "It's Not Unusual" reached number one in the United Kingdom and the top ten in the United States. During 1965 Mills secured a number of movie themes for Jones to record including the themes for the film What's New Pussycat? (written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David) and for the James Bond film Thunderball. Jones was also awarded the Grammy Award for Best New Artist for 1966. In Hollywood, Jones met Elvis Presley for the first time who he recalls singing his song as he walked towards him on set. 

 

In 1966 Jones' popularity began to slip somewhat, causing Mills to redesign the singer's image into that of a crooner. Jones also began to sing material that appealed to a wider audience such as the big country hit "Green, Green Grass of Home". The strategy worked and Jones returned to the top of the charts in the United Kingdom and began hitting the Top 40 again in the United States. For the remainder of the decade he scored a string of hits on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Tom Jones's Songs :

1. Let It Be Me                               DOWNLOAD

THE BEE GEES : History And Music DOWNLOAD

The Bee Gees were a musical group founded in 1958. The group's line-up consisted of brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were successful for most of their decades of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s/early 1970s, and as prominent performers of the disco music era in the late 1970s. 

The group sang three-part tight harmonies that were instantly recognisable; Robin's clear vibrato lead was a hallmark of their earlier hits, while Barry's R&B falsetto became their signature sound during the late 1970s and 1980s. The brothers wrote all of their own hits, as well as writing and producing several major hits for other artists. 

Born in the Isle of Man to English parents, the Gibb brothers lived their first few years in Chorlton, Manchester, England, then moved in the late 1950s to Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia, where they began their music careers. After achieving their first chart success in Australia with "Spicks and Specks" (their 12th single), they returned to the United Kingdom in January 1967 where producer Robert Stigwood began promoting them to a worldwide audience. 

The Bee Gees' career record sales total more than 220 million ranking them among the best-selling music artists of all time. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997; the presenter of the award to "Britain's first family of harmony" was Brian Wilson, historical leader of the Beach Boys, a "family act" also featuring three harmonising brothers. The Bee Gees' Hall of Fame citation says "Only Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks and Paul McCartney have outsold the Bee Gees." 

Following Maurice's unexpected death in January 2003, Barry and Robin retired the group's name after 45 years of activity. In 2009 Robin announced that he and Barry had agreed that the Bee Gees would re-form and perform again. Robin died in May 2012 after a prolonged struggle with cancer. 

Bee Gees' 1st is the third studio album by the English rock band Bee Gees, released in July 1967. Despite the album's title, it was not their first full-length recording; it was, however, their first album to be released internationally, as their first two LPs were only available in Australia and New Zealand. Bee Gees' 1st was the group's debut album for the UK Polydor label, and for the US Atco label. 

Reflecting the group's early style, Bee Gees' 1st was a psychedelic rock album. The album cover was designed by Klaus Voormann who had previously done the cover for Revolver by the Beatles. (and also a member of Plastic Ono Band, and also played bass on John Lennon's 1971 song "Imagine") Bee Gees 1st peaked at #7 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart and at #8 on the UK Albums Chart. In 2006, Reprise Records (sister label to Atco under Warner Music Group) reissued Bee Gees 1st with both stereo and mono mixes on one disc and a bonus disc of unreleased songs and alternate takes. 

The Bee Gees's Songs :

1. How Deep Is Your Love                       DOWNLOAD

2. Smile For Me                                        DOWNLOAD
3. To Love Somebody                               DOWNLOAD

THE CARS : DRIVE DOWNLOAD

The Cars are an American rock band that emerged from the New Wave music scene in the late 1970s. The band originated in Boston, Massachusetts, with lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek, lead singer and bassist Benjamin Orr, guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson. They were signed to Elektra Records by George Daly, then A&R head, in 1977. 

The Cars 

• Ric Ocasek – rhythm guitar, lead vocals 

• Elliot Easton – lead guitar, backing vocals 

• Greg Hawkes – keyboards, percussion, saxophone, backing vocals 

• Benjamin Orr – bass guitar, lead vocals 

• David Robinson – drums, percussion, electronic percussion, backing vocals 

The Cars were at the forefront in merging 1970s guitar-oriented rock with the new synth-oriented pop that was then becoming popular and which would flower in the early 1980s. The Cars started fresh with their debut album The Cars which went on to go platinum in late 1978. The Cars' debut album was called a "genuine rock masterpiece" by Allmusic. The most successful and well known song from the album, "Just What I Needed", started as a demo in 1977. The song was sent as a mix tape to a local DJ in the Boston area, who played the song in heavy rotation. This soon caught the attention of other DJs, which led to the signing of the band by Elektra Records in 1977. The Cars have mentioned this numerous times including in their "last" interview in June 2000. 

The band broke up in 1988, and Ocasek had always discouraged talk of a reunion since then, telling one interviewer in 1997 "I'm saying never and you can count on that." Bassist Benjamin Orr died in 2000 from pancreatic cancer. In 2005, Easton and Hawkes joined with Todd Rundgren to form a spin-off band, The New Cars, which performed classic Cars and Rundgren songs alongside new material. The surviving original members reunited in 2010 to record a new album, titled Move Like This, which was released May 10, 2011, and a tour to start on the same day. 

The Cars is the eponymous debut studio album by American rock band The Cars. It was released on June 6, 1978 on Elektra Records. With the popular tracks "Just What I Needed" and "My Best Friend's Girl" getting heavy airplay on AOR radio stations, the album sold one million copies by the end of the year and steadily climbed the charts, peaking at number 18 on the Billboard 200 chart in March 1979. The album was ranked number 4 on Billboard's "Top Albums of the Year" chart for 1979. The Cars remained on the album chart for 139 weeks with four more tracks: "Good Times Roll", "You're All I've Got Tonight", "Bye Bye Love", and "Moving in Stereo", which all became radio favorites. 

The album was critically well received. Allmusic reviewer Greg Prato described the album as "a genuine rock masterpiece", and that "all nine tracks are new wave/rock classics" in their retrospective review. Rolling Stone magazine ranked the album No. 279 in its "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list. 

The Cars's Songs:

1. Drive                                                               DOWNLOAD

TOBY KEITH : Bullets In The Gun DOWNLOAD

Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961), best known as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer-songwriter, record producer and actor. Keith released his first four studio albums—1993's Toby Keith, 1994's Boomtown, 1996's Blue Moon and 1997's Dream Walkin', plus a Greatest Hits package for various divisions of Mercury Records before leaving Mercury in 1998. These albums all earned gold or higher certification, and produced several chart singles, including his debut "Should've Been a Cowboy", which topped the country charts and was the most played country song of the 1990s. The song has received three million spins since its release, according to Broadcast Music Incorporated. 

Signed to Nashville DreamWorks in 1998, Keith released his breakthrough single "How Do You Like Me Now?!" that year. This song, the title track to his 1999 album of the same name, was the Number One country song of 2000, and one of several chart-toppers during his tenure on DreamWorks Nashville. His next three albums, Pull My Chain, Unleashed, and Shock'n Y'all, produced three more Number Ones each, and all of the albums were certified multi-platinum. A second Greatest Hits package followed in 2004, and after that, he released Honkytonk University. 

When Dreamworks closed in 2005, Keith founded his own label, Show Dog Nashville, which became part of Show Dog-Universal Music in December 2009. He has released six studio albums on this label: 2006's White Trash with Money, 2007's Big Dog Daddy, 2008's That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, 2009's American Ride, 2010's Bullets in the Gun and 2011's Clancy's Tavern as well as the compilation 35 Biggest Hits. He has also signed several other acts to the label, including Trailer Choir, Carter's Chord, Flynnville Train, Trace Adkins, Mac McAnally and Mica Roberts. Keith also made his acting debut in 2005, starring in the film Broken Bridges and co-starred with comedian Rodney Carrington in the 2008 film Beer for My Horses. 

Keith has released sixteen studio albums, two Christmas albums, and three compilation albums. He has also charted more than forty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including nineteen Number One hits and sixteen additional Top Ten hits. His longest-lasting Number One hits are "Beer for My Horses" (a 2003 duet with Willie Nelson) and "As Good as I Once Was" (2005), at six weeks each. 

Toby Keith is the self-titled debut album from American country music artist Toby Keith. Released in 1993 on Polygram Records, it features the singles "Should've Been a Cowboy", "He Ain't Worth Missing", "A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action", and "Wish I Didn't Know Now". Respectively, these songs peaked at #1, #5, #2, and #2 on the Hot Country Songs charts. The album sold more than one million copies in the United States, earning RIAA platinum certification.

"A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action" was previously recorded by Hank Williams, Jr. on his album Maverick (1992). 

Toby Keith's Songs :

1. Bullets In The Gun                                 DOWNLOAD

TRACY CHAPMAN'S ALBUM DOWNLOAD

Tracy Chapman (born March 30, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her singles "Fast Car", "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", "Crossroads", "Give Me One Reason" and "Telling Stories". She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist. Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland, Ohio. She was raised by her mother, who recognized Tracy's love of music and, despite not having much money, bought her a ukulele when she was just three. 

Chapman began playing guitar and writing songs at the age of eight. She says that she may have been first inspired to play the guitar by the television show Hee Haw. Chapman was raised Baptist and went to an Episcopal high school. She was accepted into the program "A Better Chance", which helps minority students attend private schools. She graduated from Wooster School in Connecticut, then attended Tufts University. She graduated with a B.A. degree in anthropology and African studies. In the mid-1990s, Chapman dated author Alice Walker. 

Chapman maintains a strong separation between her personal and professional lives. “I have a public life that’s my work life and I have my personal life,” she said. “In some ways, the decision to keep the two things separate relates to the work I do." Chapman often performs at and attends charity events such as Make Poverty History, amfAR and AIDS/LifeCycle, to support social causes. She lives in San Francisco. Tracy Chapman is the self-titled debut album by singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman, released on April 5, 1988 by Elektra Records. 

The album was recorded all in Hollywood, California. In 1987, Chapman was discovered by fellow Tufts University student Brian Koppelman. He offered to show her talent to his father, who owned a successful publishing company, however she did not consider. However, after multiple performances, Koppelman found a demo tape of her singing her single "Talkin' Bout a Revolution", where he took it to radio stations, and was eventually signed to Elektra Records. 

Through the production of the album, many producers turned down Chapman as they did not favor her musical direction. However, David Kershenbaum wanted to produce the studio album and songs, as he has always wanted to record acoustic music. The album was recorded all in Hollywood, California within only eight weeks of recording. Most of the writing is based on political and social causes. Tracy Chapman was critically acclaimed from basically all music critics, praising the simplicity, Chapman's vocal ability and the lyrical content. Critic's also noted that because of Chapman's recording and writing back in the 80's era, critic's said it has benefited off other mainstream artists. They also noticed the political and social lyrical content. 

Tracy Chapman received commercial success in most countries it charted in. The album peaked in the top spot in countries inlcuding Austria, New Zealand, Switzerland, Denmark and the United Kingdom. The album also peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200, and was certified 6x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (ARIA), with sales exceeding over six million copies in the United States alone. Three singles were released from the album, with the most commercial successful single being "Fast Car". The song was performed at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute, which made it rise inside the top ten on the US Billboard Hot 100 and also charted in countries including Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom and other European countries. 

Tracy Chapman's Songs :

1. Give Me A Reason                                   DOWNLOAD

U2 ALBUM DOWNLOAD

U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono (vocals and guitar), The Edge (guitar, keyboards, and vocals), Adam Clayton (bass guitar), and Larry Mullen, Jr. (drums and percussion). U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music. Throughout the group's musical pursuits, they have maintained a sound built on melodic instrumentals, highlighted by The Edge's timbrally varied guitar sounds and Bono's expressive vocals. Their lyrics, often embellished with spiritual imagery, focus on personal themes and sociopolitical concerns. 

U2 formed at Mount Temple Comprehensive School when the members were teenagers with limited musical proficiency. Within four years, they signed with Island Records and released their debut album Boy. By the mid-1980s, they became a top international act. They were more successful as live performers than they were at selling records, until their breakthrough 1987 album The Joshua Tree, which, according to Rolling Stone, elevated the band's stature "from heroes to superstars". Reacting to musical stagnation and late-1980s criticism of their earnest image and musical direction, the group reinvented themselves with their 1991 hit album Achtung Baby and the accompanying Zoo TV Tour. U2 integrated dance, industrial, and alternative rock influences into their sound and performances, and embraced a more ironic and self-deprecating image. Similar experimentation continued for the remainder of the 1990s with mixed levels of success. U2 regained critical and commercial favour after their 2000 record All That You Can't Leave Behind. On it and the group's subsequent releases, they adopted a more conventional sound while maintaining influences from their earlier musical explorations. 

U2 have released 12 studio albums and are among the all-time best-selling music artists, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide. They have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band, and in 2005, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone ranked U2 at number 22 in its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Throughout their career, as a band and as individuals, they have campaigned for human rights and philanthropic causes, including Amnesty International, the ONE/DATA campaigns, Product Red, and The Edge's Music Rising. 

U2's songs :

1. With Or Without You               DOWNLOAD