MY FAVORITE KINDS OF MUSIC

My favorite kinds of music are Soul, and Rhythm and Blues, and these genres of music have had a great influence in my life for several reasons. I love these because I grew up with this music. Another reason is that some of my better memories are connected to songs of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson and Michael McDonald. First, I grew up listening to the music of Motown Records, because many years ago, several radio stations often played songs of this recording company. Motown’s songs were a great discovery to me; it was fantastic to listen to the well-composed and beautiful songs of Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, The Temptations and Marvin Gaye. I began to listen Soul music when I was child; I still have records of Marvin Gaye. Second, I relate my best-loved memories with these kinds of music. Indeed, every time that I miss the woman I love, suddenly, I imagine her listening to “One Hundred Ways” by James Ingram. When my wife and I visited Paris, I enjoyed listening to this song in the hotel. My wife, Paris, and music--what great memories! Third, when I come home after a hard day, I want peace and need to relax. How do I find it? It’s very easy for me; I only need to listen to Soul, and Rhythm and Blues, and the world looks better. I only need to start my computer and play "What a Fool Believes," and everything changes. Indeed, I feel like I’m in paradise. In conclusion, there is no greater pleasure for me than listening to my favorite genres of music, Soul and Rhythm and Blues, because when I do, all good feelings come to my heart. These types of music bring peace to my soul, and help me to relax.

JOHN LENNON, 30 YEARS AFTER

December 8, 1980, thirty-two years ago, I was returning to my home after a trip with my parents. When I came to house, I could see television images that were about a famous musician called John Lennon, who was killed by Mark Chapman in front of his house in "Dakota Building" New York. In this time, I didn’t understand who was Lennon, but several years after this event, I fully knew who this musician was. John Lennon died in The Roosevelt Hospital. The doctors officially certified his death at 11:15 pm the same day. The news of the death of John Lennon traveled the world in a few hours. The tears of all those fans that had grown up listening the songs of John Lennon were mixed with thousands of people gathered outside the artist's house. Lennon's body was cremated days later and the ashes were given to his widow Yoko Ono, who invited his followers to pray for him and share ten minutes of silence in Central Park on December 14. Over two hundred thousand people attended the event in New York. His ashes were scattered in the park although hundreds of tribute acts took place in other cities worldwide. Shortly before his death, after a voluntary retirement, and after several years without having released anything, Lennon returned to the music with the album "Double Fantasy", which was enthusiastically received by the public who had not forgotten him. A copy of this album was autographed by Lennon and was given to Chapman, at 5 pm on the December 8, 1980. 32 years may seem a short time or a lot, but all this time has not only increased the fame and legend of Lennon as one of the greatest musicians in history, leader of the most famous group of the twentieth century, "The Beatles" and composer of memorable songs. The people usually catalog John Lennon in many ways: icon, genius, myth, etc., but above all things he was a musician.

PERCY FAITH

Many years ago, when I was living in Lima City, I enjoyed listening to a musical genre called Easy Listening. In those times there was a very popular radio called “Radio Omega” that played this genre of music. It was a great and sensorial experience. A lot of beautiful melodies were played through Radio Omega and others. Musicians such as Ray Coniff, Paul Mauriat, Henry Mancini and Percy Faith were some of the most important icons of Easy Listening. Among all these musicians, Percy Faith was my favorite composer. Percy Faith was a legendary composer and musician from Canada. He began his musical career very young. In the beginning of his career, Percy Faith studied to play piano, but there was an even that affected his life forever. In 1926,he was injured in a house fire, and for this reason he was in the hospital for several months. This accident affected both of his hands, so he decided to write and compose music. He recorded his records in RCA, Decca Records and CBS Columbia He became very successful and famous in the first halt of the 50’s. His most popular songs of this period were “Delicado,” and “Song from Mouline Rouge.” In spite of the eruption of other genres like Rock and Roll, Faith maintained his popularity and fame. His most famous composition was "Theme from a Summer Place." For this work Faith won a Grammy Award for Best Recording in 1961. Because of the change of musical taste in the American Society, also the appearance of Psychodelic and Folk Music, his popularity decreased in the second half of the 60's. However, Percy Faith won his second Grammy in 1969 for “Love Theme From Romeo and Juliet.”

THREE BROTHERS: THE "BEE GEES"

Once upon a time there were three famous and successful musicians. What were their names? Their first names were Barry, Robin and Maurice, and their last names were Gibb. They were three British brothers that moved to Australia during the 60’s. In this country they developed their musical careers and formed one of the most successful bands ever. This group is known worldwide as the “Bee Gees.” They started to write and compose their songs in the first half of the 60’s, so they created their first hits while they were living in Australia. I clearly remember the first time I heard them 30 years ago. (How time flies!) I had an aunt with several daughters, who had the album "Saturday Night Fever." In 1978, it was impossible to not have heard a song from this soundtrack. But before “disco” became so popular, this wonderful group already had the backing of a solid career, founded several years prior in Australia in Redcliffe, Queensland. In fact, many people today still believe that they are Australian. A good question is what the origin of the name is. The band was originally called "The Rattlesnakes" and after “Wee Johnny Hayes & the Bluecats'. They were presented to a radio station DJ named “Bill Gates”-the racing promoter Bill Goode, who watched their performance at the Brisbane racetrack. Bill Gates met them at the Gibbs’ house, where Mrs. Barbara Gibb and the Gibb Brothers were. Given this situation, Gates said he saw a lot of 'BG' insignia in the room, and that that is what they should be called. The history of this group is usually related to the time before and after its success into “disco” and the huge impact that it had on the world. The Bee Gees composed many songs, 6 of which reached # 1 in the United States during 25 of 32 consecutive weeks. However, many people still maintain their preference for the period between 1967 and 1975, but we already know that this is a matter of taste.

MARVIN GAYE, "THE PRINCE OF SOUL"

I will write about one of the artists who has made history, an icon named Marvin Gaye, who was the most important artist of the "Motown Sound", born on April 2, 1939, as Marvin Pentz Gaye, Jr. This songwriter and musician is the greatest artist to come out of Motown Records. He died twenty five years ago, bringing an end to an eventful existence, yet his legacy is simply incomparable. He recorded the anthological album called "What's Going On" which has been considered for years as one of the best albums of all time. Concerning this disc, Gaye, well known as “The Prince of Soul," wrote on one side of the disc: "I don't need to tell you how great it is.” This majestic album was recorded in 10 days in March 1971, and came out in May of that year, after overcoming the initial opposition of Barry Gordy, the "boss" of Motown Records, who considered this album too political and out of Marvin Gaye’s style. This disc was a conceptual album about the situation of American society at that time, which was the subject of many of the musical compositions that were created at that time. This album is a delicious blend of soul with jazz and classical music, and addresses the environment, political corruption, abuse of drugs and the Vietnam War. Marvin Gaye threatened to not record any more for Motown Records until the album was published. With three decades of commercial success, artistic addition, and three singles in the top of the charts, this album is considered one of the best ever according to different studies around the world. Marvin Gaye was greatly affected by the death of his recording partner, Tammi Terrell. They recorded big hits like "Ain’t No Mountain High Enough" and "Your Precious Love." In the summer of 1967, Terrell collapsed onstage in Gaye's arms because of an undiagnosed brain tumor that would kill her. "I feel that, somehow, I died with her," Gaye said later. The death of Tammi Terrell, and drug abuse, tragically influenced his life. On April 1, 1984, Gaye was killed by his father, a preacher, and a minister of God's House (House of God), who was trying to exorcise the demons from his son, ending a life that in recent times had fallen into a tragic spiral of self-destruction.

JAMES JAMERSON, THE MASTER OF BASS

James Jamerson was one of the most remarkable session musicians of Motown Records. He is often considered as the greatest bass player ever. For many years Jamerson played recording huge success with true legends of the music as Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Jackson Five. Is fact, Marvin Gaye asked him to play in his most famous album "What's Going On". The documentary "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" explain about how Gaye insisted to have Jamerson playing the bass in his historic album. Also James Jamerson played "Darling Dear" with Michael Jackson and his brothers. The bass lines in this song are amazing because it instrument works like a chorus, doing a duet with the lead singer. As a member of The Funk Brothers, which was the Motown Records session band, he played in the vast majority of records of Motown during the sixties. He played and performed on nearly 30 No. 1 pop hits. Some the most successful songs were "My Girl" and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" James Jamerson was the main bassist of Motown Record since 1962-1968, having played in almost 95% of Motown recording. Even though this extraordinary musician suffered a lack of recognition during his life, he hugely influenced many bassist of the world. Prominent bassists as Pino Palladino, Alan Gorrie, Rick Danko, Anthony Jackson, Jack Bruce, John Entwistle, Bernard Edwards, and Jaco Pastorius have claimed Jamerson as a primary influence. So, his real recognition and appreciation came years later. James Jamerson died of cirrhosis on August 2, 1983, in Los Angeles.

AC/DC AT RIVER

AC/DC is an Australian rock band, considered as one the most famous groups ever. In 2009 they did an enormous tour called the “Ice Black Tour” that delivered them to twenty-eight countries around the world, playing their hits for millions of fans. The most amazing concerts of the entire tour were at River Plate stadium, Argentina, on 2, 4 and 6 December of 2009, in front of 200.000 people. These concerts were filmed by 34 super HD video cameras around the stadium. In my opinion, and based on the videos views on Internet, these were outstanding performances; also the Argentinian crowd was really amazing in these concerts. Perhaps the Argentinian crowd is the most exciting in the world. In an interview the main members of the band, Brian Johnson and Angus Young, expressed their admiration toward the Argentina people. A very special moment occurred when AC DC played the song "Thunderstruck" from the Set List number 7. It literally caused an earthquake in the stadium. The main character was, obviously, the legendary Angus Young, who is the lead guitar since 1974. He played astonishing and furious guitar solos while the vocal leader Brian Johnson was singing truly rock and roll hymns. This concert was filmed as the official video of the Ice Black Tour. It was released on DVD and Blue Ray in May of 2012.

THE CARPENTERS

The Carpenters were perhaps one of the best duets of all time, and their vocal lead, Karen Carpenter, had one of the most beautiful voices ever. She formed this duet with her older brother Richard. They lived in Connecticut when they were younger, but soon moved to California in order to develop their musical talents and become renowned. During the 70's, The Carpenters recorded several number one hits on the Billboard charts. They also recorded thirteen albums and performed many concerts in many countries of the world for millions of fans. In the beginning of their musical career, they had the very important support of Herb Alpert, who gave them a contract in 1969 to be part of A&M Records. Their most famous song, and first number one hit was "Close To You". Burt Bacharach composed this song, which was enormously successful in 1970. In the peak of their careers, they came to have five number one songs in the U.S., and accordingly, The Carpenters are considered one the most successful melodic bands of all time. Also, in 1976 they got a contract with ABC, and in this way, they were able to present the famous show “The Carpenters First Television Special” in a primetime slot over five years. This show helped to increase their popularity again, after a brief time when their fame declined. Karen was a gorgeous singer, but she also had a great talent with drums, which was an underrated skill. She possessed a beautiful and crystalline voice, but her talent distracted others from focusing on her health problems with anorexia. She died in 1982 of a heart attack, which was a consequence of her serious problems with this disorder.

“THE BIRD”, CHARLIE PARKER

Charlie Parker, best known as "The Bird," was one of the most famous saxophonists ever. He developed his career over almost 2 decades and during this time, he couldn't overcome his addiction to drugs and alcohol. Especially hard was his fight against heroin. A great jazz musician, Parker made records and had legendary collaborations with Dizzy Gillespie. In fact, both musicians traveled throughout the U.S., and performed in Carnegie Hall in 1947. Around this time, they made a band with five members, among them a young Miles Davis. After that, Charlie Parker went to Europe, and did recordings with saxophone and strings. His best years were from 1947 to 1951, but in 1951,he couldn't play in cabarets anymore because of his addiction to heroin. Moreover, his daughter died of pneumonia because Parker didn't have enough money to give her adequate medical treatment. These two events caused in him a deep depression. After two suicide attempts, Parker died of a heart attack in 1954.

ONE HIT WONDER

One Hit Wonder What is a One Hit Wonder? They are musicians and singers that had just only one successful song and were very famous after a short time. Most of these songs were good, but sometimes a "One Hit Wonder" was a disposable product, only created for a season, especially in Summer. One Hit Wonder's Musicians sold millions of discs of this unique successful hit. Some of them had other great songs, but they were underrated because people didn't appreciate their other records. A famous occurrence was the Norwegian band A-Ha. They were only known for their most famous hit "Take On Me", although they performed around the entire world and recorded many songs, including the main theme in a film, James Bond 007. Most of these songs were recorded in the 80's Because people forgot easily, many of these artists fell down in the forgetfulness and chose other different careers. But in other cases, some of them fell in depression and chose to take drugs, perhaps thinking of past and glorious times.