History of Music

Description

The History of Music letterpress poster by Beautiful Angle was designed, written and printed in August of 2014. The primary record image was created by gluing an old LP to plywood. The actual album used was a copy of the London Symphony playing Saint Matthew’s Passion, James Johnstone conducting. The type and line art was created using a magnesium plate, created from a digital file.

The facts, which list a partial history of popular music in Tacoma,  were painstakingly researched and read as follows:

1903 – Bing Crosby born at 1112 North J Street.

1910 – Carolyn Shaw Rice publishes sheet music for Tacoma, Rose of the West.

1918 – Sarah Bernhardt performs Camille at the Tacoma Theatre.

1920 – Steinway begins building pianos from Northwest spruce from Tacoma lumber company Fred Tebb & Sons.

1927 – Bob’s Java Jive opens on South Tacoma Way.

1939 – Metropolitan Opera tenor Jussi Bjoerling performs at First Baptist Church.

1951 – Jazz greats Art Mineo, Joe “Flip” Phillips, Oscar Peterson and Bill Harris play legendary all-night jam at The New Yorker Café at 1501 6^th Avenue.

1957 – Don Rich opens for Elvis Presley at Lincoln Bowl. Buck Owens sees Don perform at Steve’s Gay ‘90s Restaurant. Don eventually becomes bandleader for The Buckaroos.

1958 – Don Wilson and Bob Bogle form The Ventures, the top-selling instrumental band of all times.

1959, The Fabulous Wailers release Tall Cool One and begin establishing Tacoma as the birthplace of garage rock.

1959 – Little Bill and the Blue Notes record I Love an Angel

1959 – Tacoma resident Buck Owens’ song Under Your Spell Again hits #4 on the country charts. Owens eventually pegs twenty-one #1 hits.

1959 – Loretta Lynn wins local televised talent contest, hosted by Buck Owens on Channel 11 KTNT (later KSTW).

1960 – The Ventures woo drummer Skip Moore away from Buck Owens. Moore plays on the hit, Walk, Don’t Run.

1960 – Rockin Robin Roberts records Louie Louie for Etiquette Records.

1964 – The Regents start playing their rhythm guitar through a Leslie organ speaker.

1964 – The Sonics perform at St. Mary’s Parish Hall. They are later cited by Kurt Cobain as the originators of punk and grunge.

1966 – Jerry Miller joins Moby Grape.

1968 – 15-year-old Tacoma native Diane Schuur performs at Steve’s Gay ‘90s Restaurant. Schurr first performed live at age nine at the Tacoma Holiday Inn.

1969 – Grammy-winning bluesman Robert Cray plays lead guitar for local band, Steakface.

1972 – Heart works as house band at Judge Roy Bean’s, under the name White Heart.

1976 – Rush plays at National Guard Armory on Tacoma Avenue.

1979 – Van Halen performs at the UPS Fieldhouse, promoting their second album.

1983 – Girl Trouble forms in 1983, helping to reestablish garage rock in the Pacific Northwest.

1983 – David Bowie plays Tacoma Dome’s first major concert on his Serious Moonlight tour.

1983 – Tacoma native Art Chantry named Art Director of music magazine The Rocket and establishes the iconic look of the northwest music scene.

1984 – Bruce Springsteen plays Tacoma Dome. Gets sick. Blames Tacoma Aroma. Still considered among his classic performances.

1986 – Tacoma native Diane Schuur wins her first Grammy.

1987 – Crescent Ballroom features concerts by The Melvins, The Accused, Soundgarden, Green River, Redd Kross, U-Men, Butthole Surfers and Saint Vitus.

1987 – Lead guitarist Jerry Cantrell forms Alice in Chains.

1988 – Neko Case works at legendary Tacoma punk club, the Community World Theatre, at 5441 South M Street.

1988- U-Men paint the words Tacoma Hillbillies on their tour bus.

1988 – Kurt Cobain and Chris Novaselic first perform as Nirvana at Community World Theater. Dave Foster featured on drums.

1990 – Dave Grohl meets Chris Novaselic and Kurt Cobain at a backyard barbecue at Novaselic’s Tacoma home.

1991 – Dave Krusen plays drums on Pearl Jam’s first album, Ten.

1992 – Leonard Cohen records Tacoma Trailer

1995 – Seaweed releases Spanaway.

2000 – Neko Case records South Tacoma Way and Thrice All American, as odes to her hometown.

2002 – Jam band, The String Cheese Incident, records On the Road: Tacoma.

2004 – Death of Red Kelly, bassist for Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Count Bassie, and Charlie Parker, and owner of Kelly’s Night Club on Tacoma Avenue.

2004 – Goodness releases their recording, Live Tacoma, WA 6/19/04

2010 Tacoma School of the Arts grad Samuel Anderson joins Hey Marseilles.

2011 – Vicci Martinez records Live from Jazzbones.

2012 – Tacoma School of the Arts band Oberhofer performs on David Letterman and Austin City Limits and at Lollapalooza and Coachella.

2013 – Justin Bieber reports his bag stolen in Tacoma. Later reveals this as a publicity stunt.