Search Results for: Georgia South

Late in the afternoon of Jan. 16, a SWAT team from the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, backed up by officers from the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office and the local police department, along with a few drug-sniffing dogs, burst into a unmarked recording studio on a short, quiet street in an industrial neighborhood near the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The officers entered with their guns drawn; the local police chief said later that they were “prepared for the worst.” They had come to serve a warrant for the arrest of the studio’s owners on the grounds that they had violated the… Read more »

In the world of hip-hop few music executives have more influence than DJ Drama. His “Gangsta Grillz” compilations have helped define this decade’s Southern rap explosion. He has been instrumental in the careers of rappers like Young Jeezy and Lil Wayne. He appears on the cover of the March issue of the hip-hop magazine XXL, alongside his friend and business partner T.I., the top-selling rapper of 2006. And later this year DJ Drama is scheduled to make his Atlantic Records debut with “Gangsta Grillz: The Album.” Now DJ Drama is yet another symbol of the music industry’s turmoil and confusion.… Read more »

Ray Charles, the Grammy-winning crooner who blended gospel and blues in such crowd-pleasers as “What’d I Say” and ballads like “Georgia on My Mind,” died Thursday, a spokesman said. He was 73. Charles died at his Beverly Hills home surrounded by family and friends, said spokesman Jerry Digney. Charles’ last public appearance was alongside Clint Eastwood on April 30, when the city of Los Angeles designated the singer’s studios, built 40 years ago in central Los Angeles, as a historic landmark. Blind by age 7 and an orphan at 15, Charles spent his life shattering any notion of musical boundaries… Read more »

Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer knows a thing or two about bringing down the house. The 52-year-old rocker has taken the bulldozer to his 15-room mansion south of Boston to build cozier quarters in its place. Kramer had put the 1910 Georgian colonial on the market in 2001 for $3.75 million but opted to downsize the residence instead after it failed to sell, The Patriot Ledger of Quincy reported. Kramer’s new seven-room home is half the size of the old one, but he and his wife, April, will be able to host friends at a new pool house and offer plenty… Read more »

The king of rock ‘n’ roll was no businessman. When Elvis Presley died, his finances were in such sad shape that the managers of his estate considered selling Graceland. His white-columned, Georgian-style home was just too expensive to maintain. But instead the house was opened to tourists, and 25 years after his death on Aug. 16, 1977, Graceland attracts 600,000 visitors a year and has made his sole heir, daughter Lisa Marie, a very wealthy woman. Sell Graceland? Don’t be silly. “Every few months, a tabloid somewhere in the world will come out with a screaming headline that Lisa Marie… Read more »

The Godfather of Soul performed his hit “I Got You (I Feel Good)” on the steps of the state Capitol as part of a Beach Music Day celebration. A proclamation was issued by Gov. Jim Hodges declaring James Brown as South Carolina’s Godfather of Soul and recognizing the 68-year-old singer for his commitment to music. It wasn’t clear whether Brown would sing, but when the band struck up the chords to “I Got You” during Wednesday’s celebration, he took the microphone. Brown thanked Hodges for the recognition. “I don’t talk that good. I don’t sing that good. But I can… Read more »

The 16th annual South by Southwest music conference drew to a close Sunday, and the only thing that lasts longer than the seemingly perpetual hangover that results from four debauched days of a music industry on spring break is the buzz emanating from the bands and key moments that defined this year’s festival. Of the more than 1,000 bands showcasing their chops before press, radio programmers, managers, lawyers, label execs and promoters in 48 venues strewn throughout Austin, Texas, a handful traditionally rise above the chaff to become the targets of hype hucksters and topics of critical discussion for weeks… Read more »

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame welcomed its first members from the new wave and punk eras on Monday night, inducting The Ramones and Talking Heads along with classic rockers Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, soul and R&B icon Isaac Hayes, versatile vocalist Brenda Lee and singer/songwriter Gene Pitney. Legendary guitar sideman Chet Atkins was also inducted, as was Jim Stewart, founder of and driving force behind revolutionary soul music label Stax Records. The hall’s 17th annual induction ceremony got off to a rousing start with Hayes performing his Oscar-winning “Theme from ‘Shaft.”‘ Hayes, who saw eight of his… Read more »

R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck has been ordered to stand trial Nov. 12 accused in an alleged air rage incident. Buck, 44, is charged with being drunk on an aircraft, criminal damage, using threatening words and assaulting two crew members on a British Airways flight. “The incidents were alleged to have taken place on a BA flight from Seattle to Heathrow on April 21, 2001,” the Lord Chancellor’s Department said in a statement on Friday. Buck has denied the charges. His trial will be heard by judge John Crocker at Isleworth Crown Court in west London and is expected to last… Read more »

Ass-smacking enthusiast Wes Scantlin and his Puddle of Mudd bandmates will launch a monthlong headlining tour October 18 in Atlanta, but they’ll also take time to pay back some of the radio stations spinning their hit “Control.” Prior to the tour’s launch, Puddle of Mudd will play WAVF-FM’s Wavefest in Charleston, South Carolina, on Sunday with 311, the Long Beach Dub Allstars and others. WFXH-FM’s Fustercluck, with Sevendust, Pete Yorn and others in Savannah, Georgia, and WCHZ-FM’s Rockfest, featuring Sevendust, Days of the New and others in Augusta, Georgia, have also been worked into their itinerary. St. Louis band Mesh… Read more »