Leon Russell – American musician

Leon Russell was an American singer, pianist, guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and producer.
Claude Russell Bridges was born on April 2, 1942 in Lawton, Oklahoma, USA.
As a child, Russell learned to play the piano and trumpet, and in 1955 he made his debut on the music scene. In the same period, he regularly participated as a session pianist in popular American television program Shindig.
Since 1962, Russell began working in Los Angeles as a studio musician (sometimes arranger). He worked with The Ronettes, Crystals and The Righteous Brothers. At the same time James Burton taught him playing the guitar.
In the studio Leon played with different artists including George Harrison, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, The Byrds, Herb Alpert and Paul River.
More »

Leonard Cohen – great poet and musician

Leonard Cohen was a Canadian poet, writer, singer and songwriter. The first collection of poetry was published in 1956, the first novel – in 1963. In the early years Cohen’s songs were based on folk music, in the 1970s they were closer to pop music and cabaret. His songs often have heavy emotions and complex texts. Cohen sang on various topics: religion, solitude, sexuality, complex relationship between people. Cohen’s songs poetry had a great influence on many songwriters and musicians. Leonard Cohen was inducted into The Canadian Music Hall of Fame. On April 19, 1991 he became an Officer of the Order of Canada and on October 10, 2002 – the Companion of the Order of Canada, which is the highest honor for a citizen of Canada.
Leonard Norman Cohen was born on September 21, 1934 in Montreal, Canada. His father, Nathan Cohen (1891-1943), who had Polish roots, was the owner of the well-known clothing store, and died when Leonard was nine years old. His mother, Mary Klonitskaya (1905-1978), was an immigrant from Lithuania and daughter of the rabbi of Kovno Solomon (Shloyme Zalman) Klonitsky, Talmudist, and author of books on Hebrew grammar.
More »

Dean Reed – singer and actor

Dean Reed was an American singer, film actor, film director and public figure, who enjoyed great popularity in Latin America and Eastern countries Europe.
Dean Cyril Reed was born on September 22, 1938 in Denver, Colorado, USA. His father, Cyril Reed was a village teacher, and his mother, Ruth Anna was a housewife. Dean had two brothers – Vern and Dale. The boy started playing the guitar at the age of 12.
At the age of 18 he entered the University of Colorado to study meteorology. He wanted to become a weather reporter. During his studies, Reed performed in bars and clubs. However, two years later, he left the University and went to Hollywood.
In 1958, Dean Reed went hitchhiking in Los Angeles, California, and signed a contract with a minor musical studio Capitol Records. Studio recorded several records and he performed on national television.
In 1961, his disc with the title Our Summer Romance was a hit in Latin America. In South America his fame surpassed Elvis Presley himself.
More »

Carl Wilson – American musician

Carl Wilson known primarily as a guitarist, singer and composer of the rock band The Beach Boys, younger brother of Brian and Dennis Wilson, also members of the ensemble was an American musician,.
Carl Dean Wilson was born on December 21, 1946 in Hawthorne. Brian and Dennis Wilson were his brothers and Mike Love was their cousin. They all became members of The Beach Boys, a group organized by their father in 1961. The first records were made when Wilson was 14 years old (song Surfin). The musician played the guitar and also sang. While in high school, Carl also studied saxophone.
In 1962 the Beach Boys signed with Capitol.
By the end of 1963 The Beach Boys were pretty much the biggest thing in US music, but by the time they’d scored their first number one with I Get Around (1964) the cracks were already beginning to show.
More »

Brian Harvey – English musician

Brian Harvey is an English musician and he was the lead singer of pop band East 17.
Brian Lee Harvey was born on August 8, 1974 in Walthamstow, London.
His singing style is a unique cocktail of R&B and American new jack swing, but with a unique shade it is closest to Craig David. His vocal abilities earned him the position of the main member of the band; creator of East 17, songwriter, instrumentalist, rapper and singer Tony Mortimer shared this position with him. In the process of work Tony and Brian often argued on various occasions. Finally the group had to choose between spiritual pop / hip-hop (the most common style in the works of Mortimer) and R&B (much closer to the rest of the musicians). As a result Tony left the group and Harvey became the only leading soloist. Subsequently Harvey was expelled from the group. This happened after he had given a number of delusional comments during one of the radio interview. It turned out that he was extremely intoxicated.
More »

Andy Gibb – British singer

Andy Gibb was a British disco pop singer. He is the younger brother of Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, known for creating the famous group Bee Gees.
Andrew Roy Gibb was born on March 5, 1958 in Manchester, England. Andy was born in England, but six months after the birth his parents, Barbara and Hugh Gibb emigrated to Australia.
The boy was the youngest child in the family; in addition to the three mentioned brothers he also had an older sister, Leslie. Soon the popularity of Bee Gees went up sharply, the band received worldwide recognition, and in January 1967 the family moved back to the United Kingdom. In his youth Andy earned singing in clubs in the Spanish tourist resort, and later did the same on the Isle of Man, the Gibb family historic homeland, where his parents lived for a long time. At the same time the singer founded his first band – Melody Fayre. Andy’s mother Barbara was the manager of the band. They regularly performed at a local hotel, the first record was produced in early 1974 – the composition My Father Was A Reb, written and arranged by Maurice. The song, however, was never officially published.
More »

Alex Chilton – American rock musician

Alex Chilton was an American rock musician, singer, guitarist, songwriter and music producer, he received fame as the frontman of The Box Tops. Later he was a leader of Big Star. Chilton released 11 solo albums.
William Alexander Chilton was born on December 28, 1950. He was raised in Memphis and the surrounding area, but he was not a typical “southerner”. He was the son of jazz musician Sidney Chilton. Alex began playing (bass and rhythm guitar alternately) and singing in school groups; then he turned professional, joining the band, called The DeVilles.
With the support of a professional manager, the band which was named The Box Tops at that time, recorded and released the single The Letter headed the Billboard Hot 100. By the end of the year, The Letter was on its way to four-million worldwide sales, there having been Top Ten placings in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and, of course, the UK. (The song also topped the charts of Chile, Israel, Norway and Poland.)
More »