Aug 15
Music is something people have wanted to have around since the earliest times. This store could set you up with phonographs that played discs or cylinders. And if you got tired of the aerobic exercise turning the crank on the music box they sold violins, guitars, accordions and mandolins. My kind of store. Guitars started …
Feb 08
Find the path to international recording fame using this one weird trick. Record in the bathroom. Among the porcelain urinals and sinks, across the hall from radio station, KCPR is the sound environment that launched a recording star. Alfred M. Yankovic is arguably the second most famous Cal Poly graduate after John Madden. If you …
Feb 03
William Basie did not have an easy path to success. His mother and father saved pennies to pay for music lessons. He began as a drummer in the school band and switched to piano in his teens. A good choice. His professional career began before he was 20 as a $3 a night piano player …
Nov 01
Any worthwhile college town in the 1970s had more than one stereo store. A listening room with lights set low so the components could glow on the shelves. Bring in your favorite virgin vinyl albums to play on the turntable. One of the happiest places on earth. To be honest I never was one of …
Jul 20
Britney Spears performs at the Mid-State Fair in 1999. ©David Middlecamp/The Tribune I always thought the cartoon mule featured on the television show "Hee Haw" was a contrivance to connect to a rural audience. Guess I was wrong. According to Buck Owen's official website his connection he grew up on a farm outside Sherman, Texas. …
Jul 02
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE PASO ROBLES COLLECTION, POLISH MUSIC CENTER, USC; ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, USED BY PERMISSION – Above, Ignace Jan Paderewski sits at a piano in a signed photo from the early 1900s. Pneumonia was the official cause of death but it was more likely a broken heart. Ignace Jan Paderwski, musical genius, patriot …
Oct 21
Wachtang “Botso” Korisheli has been an artist regularly featured on the pages of the Tribune. Sculptor, musician, teacher the clippings in our file range from the 1960s to the present. His rock sculpture graces the entry to the city of Morro Bay. Korisheli is the featured guest and speaker at the quarterly meeting of the …
Aug 02
Over a quarter century before Lady Gaga, the Tubes brought spectacle on a grand scale to the rock and roll stage. In 1975 the band released a self-titled debut album including the hit single White Punks on Dope. They won’t be appearing in a DARE commercial any time soon. At their peak the band had …
Jul 22
In 1966 the Mid-State Fair was still called the San Luis Obispo County Fair and the entertainment was, well, not very entertaining. The event lasted 5 days, admission was cheap, and you got what you paid for. Admission to the fair was $1, according to the US Inflation Calculator $6.73 in 2010 dollars. I’m sure …
Jul 07
Born Leslie Towns Hope in Eltham, England May 29, 1903, his stonemason father moved the family to Cleveland, Ohio when the boy was four. When he became a naturalized citizen of the United States he became known as Bob. Perhaps his mother, an aspiring concert singer, was an inspiration. Perhaps a child had to perform …
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