2015-11-24
SEATTLE MUSIC HISTORY: Rock's Tragic '27 Club' - You Think You Know Classic Rock?
This Just In From Seattle Music History!!!
2015-11-23
History Lesson: The Seattle Music Scene – Ray Charles and Quincy Jones | FROM BOYZ 2 MEN
History Lesson: The Seattle Music Scene – Ray Charles and Quincy Jones | FROM BOYZ 2 MEN
This Just In From Seattle Music History!!!
Later Charles described Jones saying “He was just an energetic young kid and he really loved music. He wanted to learn how to write, and of course, I knew how to write, and that drew us together–because I could help him out and show him some things about how to compose.” Jones would call Charles early in the morning to get help with writing and even after working all night Charles would get up to help him. Charles stated that he “could tell that [Jones] wanted to learn…and because I was able to show him some things, that made me happy.”
This Just In From Seattle Music History!!!
HISTORY LESSON: THE SEATTLE MUSIC SCENE – RAY CHARLES AND QUINCY JONES
When I think
about Seattle, Washington, I think about three things. First, Seattle Grace Hospital, the setting for Grey’s Anatomy, second the Seattle Seahawks home of Marshawn Lynch and third never ending rain. I had no idea that even before Grey’s and Marshawn Seattle, in the 1940s, was home to a vibrant culture of Jazz and a new genre now known as R&B (then called “race records”). It was a Northwest Renaissance of sorts much like the one in Harlem in the 1920s.
about Seattle, Washington, I think about three things. First, Seattle Grace Hospital, the setting for Grey’s Anatomy, second the Seattle Seahawks home of Marshawn Lynch and third never ending rain. I had no idea that even before Grey’s and Marshawn Seattle, in the 1940s, was home to a vibrant culture of Jazz and a new genre now known as R&B (then called “race records”). It was a Northwest Renaissance of sorts much like the one in Harlem in the 1920s.
One day in 1948, in the midst of the bubbling Seattle music scene two young men crossed paths – Ray Charles and Quincy Jones. Ray Charles, a blind pianist from Florida, moved to Seattle because he wanted to move as far away from where he was as possible. Quincy Jones was from the Southside of Chicago. He went west as a child when his father had to flee Chicago after getting involved with a black organized crime family. 
Upon his arrival in Seattle, Charles found work playing in white clubs in the day time and black clubs at night. His talent was undeniable and word about his performances soon spread around town. One evening Charles was playing at the Elks Club and 14-year-old Quincy Jones came in determined to see for himself the “blind dude” who was “tearing the place up with his singing and playing.” Jones certainly found what he was looking for and the two quickly formed a friendship.
Jones was immediately struck by how independent Charles was despite his blindness. Charles lost his sight at the age of seven, but his mother still made him learn things on his own and she let him explore the world freely. From that he learned to navigate the world with little to no help. When he met Jones years latter he had his own apartment, he could cook for himself and cross the street without being hit. Jones was also in awe of Charles’ talent for writing and composing music, and he wanted to learn everything he could from him.
Later Charles described Jones saying “He was just an energetic young kid and he really loved music. He wanted to learn how to write, and of course, I knew how to write, and that drew us together–because I could help him out and show him some things about how to compose.” Jones would call Charles early in the morning to get help with writing and even after working all night Charles would get up to help him. Charles stated that he “could tell that [Jones] wanted to learn…and because I was able to show him some things, that made me happy.”
Unfortunately, these two musicians would have little time together in Seattle. Ray Charles left the city in 1950 to go on tour with the blues singer Lowell Fulson and his band. In 1951, Quincy Jones left for college in Boston, but shortly after, he left school and went on tour with Lionel Hampton‘s band. Even though their time in Seattle was 
short, both Charles and Jones credit the city with giving them their big breaks. Charles stated that “Seattle is the town where I made my first record. And if you ever want to say where I got my start, you have to say that.” That record was “Rockin’ Chair Blues” named after another Seattle night club, the Rocking Chair, which was a hit “race record” in 1949. For Jones, it was in Seattle where he had his first opportunity, while still in high school, to go on tour with Lionel Hampton, but he was kicked off the tour bus by Hampton’s wife because he was so young.
short, both Charles and Jones credit the city with giving them their big breaks. Charles stated that “Seattle is the town where I made my first record. And if you ever want to say where I got my start, you have to say that.” That record was “Rockin’ Chair Blues” named after another Seattle night club, the Rocking Chair, which was a hit “race record” in 1949. For Jones, it was in Seattle where he had his first opportunity, while still in high school, to go on tour with Lionel Hampton, but he was kicked off the tour bus by Hampton’s wife because he was so young.
Both Ray Charles and Quincy Jones came a long way from smoky night clubs in Seattle, Washington. Charles became an international superstar and a musical pioneer who helped create the genre of R&B. Some of his greatest hits include “Hit the Road Jack” and “Georgia on my Mind.” Quincy Jones became the super producer behind “Thriller,” Michael Jackson’s record breaking sophomore album which put Pop music on the map. These two men changed the course of music, so it leads one to wonder what would music be if they had never met that night in Seattle.
References
Cassandra Tate. (2004). Charles, Ray (1930-2004). Retrieved from http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=5707
Peter Blecha. (2013). Jones, Quincy (b. 1933). Retrieved from http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=10354
President and Fellows of Harvard College. (2007). “Who Mentored Ray Charles?” Retrieved from http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/chc/wmy/Celebrities/ray_charles.html
Terry Gross. (2013). “Quincy Jones: The Man Behind the Music.” Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2013/05/27/186052477/quincy-jones-the-man-behind-the-music
2015-11-20
This Just In From Seattle Music History!!!
- SEATTLE MUSIC HISTORY re-imagined in 8-bit!! Wana Check out your favorite ’90s music videos from Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden? Well look no further, grunge fan, because the ever-nostalgic Internet is here to rock your socks off NES-style. Fortunately for the flannel-wearing, Discman-listening, shaggy-haired set, YouTube channel Filthy Frackers has emerged with a gleeful grunge medley that’s as nostalgic in its form as it is in its content. Therein, classics like Nirvana’s “In Bloom” and Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy” are re-imagined as if they were part of a pastel-tinted NES soundtrack — all 8-bit synth sounds and lo-fi drum hits. The resulting medley is pretty hilarious, especially when Scott Weiland’s vocals on Stone Temple Pilot’s “Sex Type Thing,” are replaced with the grating squeal of a high-pitched synthesizer line.
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2015-11-07
Ever Heard Of Ira Hendrix? To Celebrate Mr. Jimi Hendrix's Birthday This Month I Believe That Mr. Jimi May Wish For His Unknown Siblings To Get The Spotlight! Here Is What I Know About Jimi's Elder Hendrix Siblings & His REAL Little Sister!
This Just In From Seattle Music History!!! HERE IS EXCERPT OUT OF HISTORYLINK.org Website Which Is Known As A Free Online Encyclopedia Of Washington State History! A Family of Entertainers! The Hendrix family first arrived in the Pacific Northwest during the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition of 1909. Nora (nee Moore) Rose Hendrix (1883-1984) was a dancer with Lacy’s Band and their traveling vaudeville troupe whose “The Great Dixieland Spectacle” show was featured at the expo’s Dixieland pavilion. Her husband, Bertran Philander Ross Hendrix (1866-1934), was a stagehand/roadie for the organization. Family legend tells that after the exposition concluded in October 1909, the troupe was stranded without future bookings and disbanded.By 1912 the couple had settled into Vancouver, B.C., and the following year brought them their first child, Leon Marshall Hendrix. Subsequent years brought additional offspring including James Allen Hendrix (1919-2002), who developed a love of competitive dancing by the 1930s. It was while attending a Fats Waller dance one night that Al, as he was called, met the pretty 16-year-old from the mining town of Roslyn, Washington -- Lucille Jeter (1925-1958) -- who would become his wife in 1942. Months later, on November 27, 1942, she bore their first child, Johnny Allen Hendrix, at Seattle’s King County Hospital -- today’s Harborview Medical Center (325 9th Avenue).
2015-10-31
TRACK BREAKDOWN: 'Dorellia du Fontaine" Performed By The Last Poets, Jimi Hendrix, & Buddy Miles. The L.P.'s Are Early Pioneers of Thee Art of Rap & Hip Hop Music
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So, You Say You Are A Songwriter Huh? How Do You Get Paid? How Do You Regulate Your Publishing Demands? How's The Elevation Of Your Demandability Plan Working?
This Just In From Seattle Music History!!! So, You Say Are A Songwriter? How Do You Get Paid? How Do You Regulate Your Publishing Demands? How do songwriters make money? It depends on who they are.
If the songwriters are pop writers like Max Martin or Ryan Tedder, they carefully craft a hit single, find a boy band or celebrity diva to sing it, and rake in the millions. The music publishing company takes a cut, and the performer responsible for the recording, and the record label. But if the hit is a hit, album sales, and streaming, and radio plays, and use of the song in movies and television and ads are usually significant enough that the songwriter makes bank.
If the songwriters are indie musicians like Rennie and Brett Sparks of the Handsome Family are, things work a little bit differently: they write their own music, tour and record albums themselves to promote it. On top of that, they take what they can get in royalties on their compositions.
Because many people find The Handsome Family’s songs strange and captivating, those royalties have become pretty significant in recent years. In 2014 one of their old songs got picked up as the theme for the HBO show, “True Detective”. In 2014, the famed “singer-songwriter-whistler-violinist-etc.” Andrew Bird released an album entirely of covers of their songs. Those covers do more than just raise the band’s profile -- Rennie and Brett make money off of them.
“Everything is percentages of percentages,” Rennie writes in an email. “[But] we get paid when our song is covered by other artists and we get paid when their cover is licensed.”
It all has to do with the business end of songwriting -- the way songs get sold and divied up, and the way copyrights and royalties get managed.
Early Music Publishing
16th century music printing, by Ottaviano Petrucci
Before a concept of copyright or intellectual property emerged, music publishing was literally just the printing and distribution of sheet music. In late medieval Europe, a printer could pay the monarch in exchange for monopoly rights over the printing and the sale of a work. This protection was called a “crown privilege”, and could be applied to both text and music.
As Martin Kretschmer and Friedemann Kawohl write in Music and Copyright,in 1498, the printer Ottaviano Petrucci petitioned the Doge (duke) of Venice for the exclusive rights to print any music for 20 years. Because there are no known examples of printed music from other Venetian printers until 1520, historians think his petition was successful.
These protections were printing rights, given to printers, not artists. Up until the end of the 18th century, the author of a printed work -- its writer or composer -- typically handed it over to a publisher in exchange for a single, one-time payment. In the early 19th century, things began to change, in a wave of laws, passed in revolutionary France, Prussia, and the UK. Under these new laws, the creator of the work became the central copyright holder. Statutes of protection were pinned to the author or composer’s life span, and a work needed to be original to the author in order to be protected.
Protections also started to extend beyond printed material. As German jurist Eduard Ganswrote in 1836, “In performances the author exposes himself to the risk of disapproval and thus the dramatic author should be able to decide every time anew to which public he presents his work.” Most of the great classical composers and dramatists of the time made their money, and their names, off of performances. These new laws granted artistsperforming rights: authority over when and how their works were performed.
"Behold the Pirate Publisher stand,/Stealing our brains for Yankee-land”; From Puck, 1886, restored by Adam Cuerden
The United States was a little behind in these reforms: printed music wasn’t protected in the United States until the Copyright Act of 1831, and even then, performing rights weren’t covered. More importantly, copyright laws in any country only applied to works created within the country’s borders, and not to any foreign works. Thus, British works could be copied and sold by anyone in the US, Germany, France or Holland, legally, and works from those countries could be reproduced in the UK. As the global economy grew, overseas piracy of printed documents did also.
In 1878 Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables, founded the Association Littéraire et Artistique Internationale with the object of creating an international convention “for the protection of writers’ and artists’ rights.” Eight years later, this resulted in the Berne Convention -- an international agreement on copyright.
The original signatories of the Berne Convention were Belgium, France, Germany, Haiti, Italy, Liberia, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, and the United Kingdom. One of the biggest features about the Berne Convention is that it assigned copyright to creators by default, as soon as a work was “fixed” -- written or recorded -- without needing to be submitted or declared. The United States, wanting to still require people to register for copyright, entered other international agreements without this clause before finally coming around and joining the Berne Convention in 1989. There are 168 states participating in the Berne Convention, today.
Other Rights and the Hit Factory
A theater organ for silent film accompaniment
A copyrighted song consists of the music, “as written”, and any accompanying lyrics. If the composer and the lyricist are two different people, together they are considered the author of the work. Both the lyrics and the music are protected.
Once a copyright is granted, its holder has the option of licensing the work out to others for distribution, often in exchange for compensation. One common option is to work out aroyalty agreement, by which the copyright holder gets a cut of the profits from each derivative work -- in this case each performance or article of sheet music. Printing rights and performing rights were the first of several different ways to license out music, as music was soon to find even more forms.
At around the same time Victor Hugo was campaigning for the Berne Convention, Thomas Edison invented the phonograph. Suddenly, sound could be reproduced and distributed in recorded form. This (and, oddly enough, the player piano) gave rise to mechanical rights, first codified in the U.S. Copyright Act of 1909. Mechanical rights license the distribution, reproduction, and modification of sound recordings and other ‘mechanical’ copies of music.
A few decades later, “talking pictures” made their ascent. Movies used to be “silent”, dialogue would appear between scenes on title cards, and musical accompaniment was usually provided by a live, in-cinema piano player. But “talkies” were synched with recorded dialogueand synchronized scores. Thus came synchronization rights -- authority over when a song appears synched other media (as in movie scores, television, and commercials.) Sampling rights entitle copyright holders to compensation when their work is included in a collage, as in a DJ mashup.
...Baby One More Time, performed by 16-year-old Britney Spears, written by Max Martin
The present system rapidly took shape. Music publishing companies provide capital to promising songwriters in exchange for a cut of their future royalties on particular songs. Eager to see their investment return, the publishers then promote these songs to popular artists who might want to cover them, either in a recording or on stage, and track down owed royalties on the songs and manage their licenses -- whether mechanical, synchronized, sampling, print or performing. When somebody covering, or synching, or sampling a song, does not pay for a license, they can be sued. Record labels basically do the same thing, but for a sound recording. They pay publishers for the license to make the sound recording, and then issue their own license for whenever someone wants to use that particular recording. Synchronization and sampling royalties get paid to both the label and the publisher. Some companies do both -- purchasing the copyrights of both a song’s composition and sound recordings of it.
If you want to post a YouTube video of yourself playing a cover song, you’ll need a mechanical license -- to make an audio recording copy of the song, and a synchronization license -- because your recording will be synched with video. That means figuring out who holds the copyrights and obtaining those licenses. There are agencies that specialize in this.
This system has resulted in other pretty particular specializations, which is the secret to the present day pop industry. You end up with songwriters who might have production or performance careers of their own, but are also the ultimate creative source of most pop music: Ryan Tedder (who co-wrote Beyonce’s “Halo”, Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love”), Max Martin (The Backstreet Boys’ “I Want it That Way”, Britney Spears’ “...Baby One More Time”). On the other side of the coin are the celebrity performers who are essentially sparkly media vehicles for songs written, arranged, and produced by other people.
You also end up putting artists like Paul McCartney in some pretty awkward situations. The publishing rights to the Beatles’ Northern Songs catalog -- which contained practically every Beatles song -- became valuable enough in the 1960s that the Beatles and their publisher decided to trade it as a public company to save on capital gains tax. The publisher then sold his shares to a company, ATV, which wrested control of the catalog away from the Beatles. The ATV catalog, including the Beatles songs, was bought at auction by Michael Jackson in the 1980s (for £24,400,000). Then in the 1990s, Jackson merged his catalog with Sony/ATV. Paul McCartney, a former Beatle, now has to pay royalties to Sony/ATV every time he plays a Beatles song, even though he wrote and popularized it himself.
This juggernaut of a system has made many people rich. But not every musician wants to fit into that system. Some musicians want to make pop hits. Others, it seems, just want to make music. For those in the latter category, things work a little differently.
Such Handsome Folk
Brett and Rennie Sparks of the Handsome Family; photo Jason Creps, 2012
“We really have no plan and never have had one,” Rennie Sparks of the Handsome Family says. “We just sit around and write songs because it gives us great pleasure to finish a good one. Then we release records and we tour and play live in order to support that habit of loving to write songs.”
Rennie and her husband Brett are indie musicians. They’ve been writing songs and playing together since 1993. Rennie usually writes the lyrics, Brett the music. Their band, The Handsome Family, has been signed to small record labels. And even though Andrew Bird has said in concerts that the two of them are some of the greatest living American songwriters, they’ve never been approached by a music publisher, so they manage all of their own licensing and royalties. This means more work for them, but it also means they don’t have to share their royalties with a publishing company.
This freedom also means they can write some very weird music. As a reviewer wrote of themin NME, “Each song is like an abridged Flannery O'Connor story read aloud by Johnny Cash, hovering somewhere between the metaphysical and the mundane.”
"They do what the best songs can do: Condense all this meaning into the fewest possible words," Andrew Bird has said in an interview. “[Their writing] is so subtle and strange, it gives the listener credit for having imagination.” From their song, “Drunk by Noon”:
There once was a poodle who thought he was a cowboyHe lived in a cage the size of his thumbThough his white horse was a box of toothpicksHe galloped around until hit by a carSometimes I flap my arms like a hummingbirdJust to remind myself I'll never flySometimes I burn my arms with cigarettesJust to pretend I won't scream when I die
“[Our songs are] not, ultimately, about anything,” Rennie says. “They are a thing unto themselves. A lot of my thoughts, dreams and experiences go into them, but the end result is not a direct sum of parts. Art is mystical not mechanical.”
This mystique has not made them pop sensations. Their songs don’t get a lot of radio play, outside of niche college stations. They perform smallish venues, and their shows don’t always sell out. But their idiosyncratic style has won the hearts of other artists, and those artists have evangelized them to new listeners. The Handsome Family gets paid whenever someone covers their music, and whenever a cover is licensed (for synchronization, download, streaming, or performance). Andrew Bird’s Handsome Family cover album, Things are Really Great Here, Sort Of (which Rennie describes as a “great honor, and a breathtaking thing to hear”), did well. Two of his five most popular tracks on Spotify are Handsome Family songs -- one has over one million plays, the other over 2.5. That’s more than four times more plays than almost any song in the Handsome Family’s catalog, as they performed them themselves.
Still from the Season 1 True Detective title sequence
One track of theirs has exceeded the popularity of Andrew Bird’s album on Spotify, however.“Far From Any Road” has over 12 million plays. Released in 2003, the song was relatively unnoticed until T. Bone Burnett, music director for True Detective, selected it as the show’s theme song last year. It came as a surprise to the Sparks, who had never met Burnett nor heard of the show. Rennie has said in interviews that this exposure seems to have translated into a bump in record and ticket sales, and also to more activity across their catalog.
Now they’ve got money trickling in from many different directions. Performing royalties, whenever Andrew Bird covers a song, or anybody covers Andrew Bird covering them (Andrew Bird does have a publishing contract, so these royalties are professionally managed). Royalties on the sales and synchronization of the recorded covers. Synchronization fees from the TV show and youtube. Sales of their own albums, streamed tracks, and shows.
While it’s not been an easy path, nor a particularly lucrative one, it seems that there’s still a place for the strange and personal songwriter in today’s music industry.
“I do think there are a lot of really goal-oriented musicians out there who want to have ‘hit’ songs and definitely write for that,” Rennie Sparks, of the Handsome Family says. “[It’s a] different kind of pursuit. We’d probably be a lot more successful if we thought that way, but in the end it wouldn’t give us much pleasure. So we just do what we do.”
2015-10-26
Comedian Richard Lewis Touches Mr. Jimi, EY3 Mean Touches On Mr. Jimi! I Meant Talks About Mr. Jimi Hendrix & How It Was That He Discovered The Man & His Music!
This Just In From Seattle Music History!!! Comedian Richard Lewis plays a psychiatrist in the new sitcom “Blunt Talk” on the Starz network. He spoke with Marc Myers.
In 1967, I was a sophomore at The Ohio State University in Columbus. After classes, I hung out at the Char-Bar and Charbert’s, the hip restaurant next door that attracted intellectuals and nut cases by day and local bikers at night. That’s where I met Kenny Weiss.
Kenny was a lead vocalist in many campus rock bands and later was in the James Gang. He tutored me in the best rock albums. In college in the ’60s, it seemed as if a classic album came out every day. Without iTunes, YouTube and all the stuff around today, you couldn’t keep up without the help of hip rocker friends.
One day in the late spring of ’67, Kenny said I had to hear an album by a guy named Jimi Hendrix. The guy’s name alone was cool. Then Kenny told me the album’s name—“Are You Experienced?” which was a great question, since I really wasn’t. I figured after I’d heard the album a few times, that problem would be solved.
Soon after Kenny told me about Hendrix, I borrowed the album from a friend. Another friend with a great stereo system said I could let myself into his place to listen to it. The first track was “Purple Haze” and opened with that sawing electric guitar riff and the electric bass underneath. Then the drums kicked in, and Jimi started singing: “Purple haze all in my brain / lately things don’t seem the same / actin’ funny but I don’t know why / ‘scuse me while I kiss the sky.”
2015-09-12
Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. September 13, 2015 Burien, Washington, U.S.A. Town Hall SUBJECT MATTER: Crosby, Hendrix, Cobain!
This Just In From Seattle Music History!!!
2015-09-02
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Church | Official Trailer | Showtime Documentary
The 1970 Atlanta Pop Festival held in Byron, Ga. marked the end of the large-scale festival era. This historic event produced three live albums, a Jimi Hendrix movie and one of the most sought after concert posters ever produced. The artwork used for this lithograph is from Version 3 which had the finalized band lineup. In addition to the bands listed on the poster, the festival featured Poco, Rare Earth, Bob Segar, Mott the Hoople and Grand Funk Railroad which had made their debut only one year earlier at the 1969 Atlanta Festival.
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2015-07-26
10 Songs That Defines Seattle's Music History!
This Just In From Seattle Music History!!!
Washington state is on the edge – the geographical edge of the continental United States and the cutting edge of music.
ARTS
Washington state is on the edge – the geographical edge of the continental United States and the cutting edge of music.
Throughout its history, Washington’s remote location and raw materials have inspired innovation and experimentation in both industry and music, with Northwest bands driven by DIY sensibilities and a healthy rebellion against convention. Grassroots forces formed whole styles and whole scenes here, and homegrown sounds continue to echo throughout our state.
Here’s a chronological list of 10 songs that are musical touchstones for Washington state. These songs also represent music styles that incubated in Washington and ultimately resounded worldwide.
1. Bing Crosby, “Black Ball Ferry Line” (1951)
It was in the unique acoustics of Spokane’s Clemmer Theater that Bing Crosby developed his trademark singing style. His phenomenal success as a vocalist led to his ultimate rise as the world’s first multimedia star. He recorded “Black Ball Ferry Line” in 1951, namechecking his home state’s famous ferries.
2. Bonnie Guitar, “Dark Moon” (1957)
Out of Washington’s thriving 1950s country music scene arose guitarist and vocalist Bonnie Guitar — the Northwest’s first country music star. Her crossover 1957 single “Dark Moon” was her first national hit. Bonnie currently lives in Soap Lake, Washington, is in her 90s, and reportedly still plays out occasionally.
3. The Wailers, “Louie Louie” (1961)
Northwest anthem “Louie Louie” started as a calypso-doo wop song by Louisiana native Richard Berry, who first recorded it in 1957. When Berry toured the Northwest, The Wailers picked up the song, and their version became a local favorite. The rough garage rock sounds of The Wailers, The Frantics and The Sonics had a great impact on the development of grunge.
4. The Ventures, “Walk, Don’t Run” (1964)
Instrumental band The Ventures popularized the surf sound. The Tacoma group still performs today, over a half-century after recording the classic “Walk, Don’t Run,” one of those songs you know even if you don’t think you do.
5. Jimi Hendrix, “Spanish Castle Magic” (1967)
Seattle’s Jimi Hendrix is known today as the greatest rock guitarist not only of his generation, but … ever. His rock-and-roll classroom was The Spanish Castle, a club on Highway 99 between Tacoma and Seattle. The club’s roster included some of the great acts in the early days of rock and roll, including the guitar and organ-driven sounds of Northwest bands The Sonics, The Wailers and the Dave Lewis Trio. After Hendrix saw so many amazing shows there, what a thrill it must have been when he eventually entered the Spanish Castle as a performer. Hendrix recorded “Spanish Castle Magic” in 1967, just a few months before the club was demolished.
6. The Overton Berry Trio, “Hey Jude” (1970)
Say what? There was a time in the early ‘70s when, in the unlikely location of Tukwila, a thriving scene flourished in the lounge of The DoubleTree Inn, with the Overton Berry Trio at its nexus. The electricity of their jazz-infused blend of traditional, swing and pop music was a magnet for an audience living outside the city limits. Overton wowed audiences with his keyboard improvisations on “Hey Jude.” The trio’s cover became a signature song of the Northwest’s funk and soul scene and an underground favorite of DJs worldwide.
7. Sir Mix-a-Lot, “Posse On Broadway” (1988)
Washington’s hip-hop scene began to emerge in the 1980s with Sir Mix-a-Lot. His first hit was the 1988 single “Posse on Broadway,” which takes a lyrical cruise through south Seattle on the way to Capitol Hill’s main drag.
8. Nirvana, “Love Buzz” (1988)
By the time Nirvana catapulted to national stardom in 1991, the local music scene was heady with the underground sound of what became known as grunge. Nirvana’s local breakthrough was their 1988 cover of “Love Buzz,” a song that incorporated just enough pop sensibility to make the band’s hard-core dynamics accessible.
9. Fleet Foxes, “White Winter Hymnal” (2008)
Capturing the bleakness of the long Northwest winters, mountain-echo flannel quintet Fleet Foxes play self-described “baroque harmonic pop jams.” Their beardy folk pop aesthetic and minimalist style stood out in contrast to the glossy production values of mainstream music, and they rose to prominence both in spite of — and because of — that style.
10. Macklemore, “Thrift Shop” (2012) (Warning: language)
Washington native Macklemore broke records with his 2012 single “Thrift Shop,” a tribute to Seattle’s secondhand stores and a social commentary on bling. As the only independent artist in the 21st century to score a hit on the Billboard Top 100, Macklemore points the way to new directions and distribution models for music.
So What's On Your List?
There are a zillion artists who might make this list.
Like Helen Louise Greenus, a Capitol Hill native and an extremely accomplished Hawaiian guitarist, famously performing alongside Palakiko "Frank Ferera" Ferreira, the first Hawaiian music star in the 19-teens.
Vic Meyers was a Seattle jazz bandleader as well as lieutenant governor and secretary of state of Washington. “Shake It And Break It” by Vic Meyers' Hotel Butler Orchestra has been identified as the first commercial recording ever made in Washington, in 1923.
Experimental pioneer John Cage created some of his most resounding work while in residence at Seattle's Cornish School during the pivotal years 1938 through 1940. Seattle entertainer Ruby Bishop is still playing piano bar for Seattle audiences in her 90s. These artists and so many more are integral to the tapestry of Washington music.
So, how to confine the list to 10? I imposed these editorial guidelines:
- The list spans a wide swath of the history of recorded music.
- All the artists on the list are Washington natives.
- All of the songs on the list speak directly to a distinct aesthetic of Washington state.
- All of the songs have a very far lasting reach. There’s a reason they were hits and still resonate today.
- Remember, its songs, not bands!
When it comes to music, everyone has an opinion. So let’s hear from you! What are your top 10 songs that show the history of Washington state? Go to our post on the KUOW Facebook page, then name your tunes, and please include a sentence about why they made your list.
A version of this story first appeared on Spark, the online magazine of Humanities Washington. Amanda Wilde is a Seattle-area DJ and host of The Swing Years and Beyond on KUOW.
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