Music Icons
USA led the ‘popular’ way with Country & Western, Gospel Rhythm & Blues and jazz. The 1950’s spawned the explosion of Rock & Roll with Elvis Presley and its early disciples Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis & Chuck Berry. Americana in all its forms was exported worldwide when shiploads of vinyl magnetically docked at a still austere Liverpool. All UK sheet music sellers became ubiquitous record shops overnight and every street seemed to possess a skiffle group or rock band. The early 60’s saw the bouncy ‘Liverpool Sound’ revolution hitting America (and everywhere else) with Gerry & The Pacemakers plus the infectious and phenomenal Beatles et al.
Lucky to be the right age at the right time, this ‘never to be repeated’ era totally influenced my feeling for popular music genres, seriously including wordsmith Bob Dylan to The Beatles & The Stones through to Elgar and John Rutter. Memorably seeing love-poet Leonard Cohen in one of his last live concerts was a precious and unforgettable experience.
So I continue to paint a range of icons that have meant something to me, in an open-ended, eclectic list.
