This program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!
Download p3textractor.zip from above. Extract the files to a folder with a program such as WinZip or WinRAR. Now there are multiple ways to extract the theme.
The first way is to simply open the p3t file with p3textractor.exe. If you don’t know how to do this, right click the p3t file and select Open With. Alternatively, open the p3t file and it will ask you to select a program to open with. Click Browse and find p3textractor.exe from where you previously extracted it to. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename]. After that, all you need to do for any future p3t files is open them and it will extract.
The second way is very simple. Just drag the p3t file to p3textractor.exe. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename].
For the third way, first put the p3t file you want to extract into the same folder as p3textractor.exe. Open CMD and browse to the folder with p3extractor.exe. Enter the following: p3textractor filename.p3t [destination path]Replace filename with the name of the p3t file, and replace [destination path] with the name of the folder you want the files to be extracted to. A destination path is not required. By default it will extract to extracted.filename.
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of Cash's music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career.[3][4] He was known for his deep, calm, bass-baritone voice,[a][5] the distinctive sound of his backing band, The Tennessee Three, that was characterized by its train-like chugging guitar rhythms, a rebelliousness[6][7] coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor,[3] and his free prison concerts.[8] Cash wore a trademark all-black stage wardrobe, which earned him the nickname as the "Man in Black".[b]
Cash's boyhood home in Dyess, Arkansas, where he lived from the age of three in 1935 until he finished high school in 1950. The property, pictured here in 2021, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The home was renovated in 2011 to look as it did when Cash lived there as a child.
Cash was born J. R. Cash in Kingsland, Arkansas, on February 26, 1932,[14][15] to Carrie Cloveree (née Rivers) and Ray Cash. He had three older siblings, Roy, Margaret Louise, and Jack, and three younger siblings, Reba, Joanne, and Tommy (who also became a successful country artist).[16][17] He was primarily of English and Scottish descent.[18][19][20]
His paternal grandmother claimed Cherokee ancestry. But a DNA test of Cash's daughter Rosanne in 2021 on Finding Your Roots, hosted by historian Henry Louis Gates Jr, found she has no known Native American markers.[21] The researchers did find DNA for African ancestry on both sides of her family. They were able to document her maternal ancestry by historic records, dating to her great-great-great-great-grandmother Sarah Shields, a mixed-race woman born into slavery and freed by her white father in 1848, along with her eight siblings. Her paternal DNA suggested African ancestry in a similar time frame among Johnny Cash's family.[21]
After meeting with the then-laird of Falkland in Fife, Major Michael Crichton-Stuart, Cash became interested in his Scots ancestry. He traced his Scottish surname to 11th-century Fife. [22][23][24] Cash Loch and other locations in Fife bear the surname of his father.[22] He is a distant cousin of British Conservative politician Sir William Cash.[25] He also had English ancestry.
Because his mother wanted to name him John and his father preferred to name him Ray when he was born, they compromised on the initials "J. R."[26] But when Cash enlisted in the Air Force after high school, he was not permitted to use initials as a first name. He adopted the name "John R. Cash". In 1955, when signing with Sun Records, he started using the name "Johnny Cash".[7]
In March 1935, when Cash was three years old, the family settled in Dyess, Arkansas, a New Deal colony established during the Great Depression under the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was intended to give poor families the opportunity to work land that they might later own.[27]
From the age of five, Cash worked in cotton fields with his family, singing with them as they worked. Dyess and the Cash farm suffered a flood during his childhood. Later he wrote the song "Five Feet High and Rising".[28] His family's economic and personal struggles during the Great Depression gave him a lifelong sympathy for the poor and working class, and inspired many of his songs.
In 1944,[29] Cash's older brother Jack, with whom he was close, was cut almost in two by an unguarded table saw at work. He died of his wounds a week later.[30] According to Cash's autobiography, he, his mother, and Jack all had a sense of foreboding about that day; his mother urged Jack to skip work and go fishing with Cash, but Jack insisted on working as the family needed the money. Cash often spoke of the guilt he felt over the incident. He would say that he looked forward to "meeting [his] brother in Heaven".[7]
Cash's early memories were dominated by gospel music and radio. Taught guitar by his mother and a childhood friend, Cash began playing and writing songs at the age of 12. When young, Cash had a high-tenor voice, before becoming a bass-baritone after his voice changed.[31]
In high school, he sang on a local Arkansas radio station. Decades later, he released an album of traditional gospel songs called My Mother's Hymn Book. He was also strongly influenced by traditional Irish music, which he heard performed weekly by Dennis Day on the Jack Benny radio program.[32]
He worked in West Germany as a Morse code operator, intercepting Soviet Army transmissions. While working this job, Cash was said to be the first American to be given the news of Joseph Stalin's death (supplied via Morse code). His daughter, Rosanne, said that Cash had recounted the story many times over the years.[34][35][36] While at Landsberg, he created his first band, "The Landsberg Barbarians".[37] On July 3, 1954, he was honorably discharged as a staff sergeant, and he returned to Texas.[38] During his military service, he acquired a distinctive scar on the right side of his jaw as a result of surgery to remove a cyst.[39][40]
Soon after his return, Cash married Vivian Liberto in San Antonio. She had grown up Catholic and was married in the church by her paternal uncle, Father Franco Liberto.[citation needed]
In 1954, Cash and his first wife Vivian moved to Memphis, Tennessee. He sold appliances while studying to be a radio announcer. At night, he played with guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant. Perkins and Grant were known as the Tennessee Two. Cash worked up the courage to visit the Sun Records studio, hoping to get a recording contract.[41] He auditioned for Sam Phillips by singing mostly gospel songs, only to learn from the producer that he no longer recorded gospel music. Phillips was rumored to have told Cash to "go home and sin, then come back with a song I can sell". In a 2002 interview, Cash denied that Phillips made any such comment.[42] Cash eventually won over the producer with new songs delivered in his early rockabilly style. In 1955, Cash made his first recordings at Sun, "Hey Porter" and "Cry! Cry! Cry!", which were released in late June and met with success on the country hit parade.
On December 4, 1956, Elvis Presley dropped in on Phillips while Carl Perkins was in the studio cutting new tracks, with Jerry Lee Lewis backing him on piano. Cash was also in the studio, and the four started an impromptujam session. Phillips left the tapes running and the recordings, almost half of which were gospel songs, survived. They have since been released under the title Million Dollar Quartet. In Cash: the Autobiography, Cash wrote that he was the farthest from the microphone and sang in a higher pitch to blend in with Elvis.
Cash's next record, "Folsom Prison Blues", made the country top five. His "I Walk the Line" became number one on the country charts and entered the pop charts top 20. "Home of the Blues" followed, recorded in July 1957. That same year, Cash became the first Sun artist to release a long-playing album. Although he was Sun's most consistently selling and prolific artist at that time, Cash felt constrained by his contract with the small label. Phillips did not want Cash to record gospel and was paying him a 3% royalty rather than the standard rate of 5%. Presley had already left Sun, and Cash felt that Phillips was focusing most of his attention and promotion on Lewis.
In 1958, Cash left Phillips to sign a lucrative offer with Columbia Records. His single "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" became one of his biggest hits. He recorded a collection of gospel songs for his second album for Columbia. However, Cash left behind such a backlog of recordings with Sun that Phillips continued to release new singles and albums featuring previously unreleased material until as late as 1964. Cash was in the unusual position of having new releases out on two labels concurrently. Sun's 1960 release, a cover of "Oh Lonesome Me", made it to number 13 on the C&W charts.[d]
Cash on the cover of Cash Box magazine, September 7, 1957
Early in his career, Cash was given the teasing nickname "the Undertaker" by fellow artists because of his habit of wearing black clothes. He said he chose them because they were easier to keep looking clean on long tours.[43]
In the early 1960s, Cash toured with the Carter Family, which by this time regularly included Mother Maybelle's daughters, Anita, June, and Helen. June later recalled admiring him from afar during these tours. In the 1960s, he appeared on Pete Seeger's short-lived television series Rainbow Quest.[44] He also acted in, and wrote and sang the opening theme for, a 1961 film entitled Five Minutes to Live. It was later re-released as Door-to-door Maniac.
As his career was taking off in the late 1950s, Cash started drinking heavily and became addicted to amphetamines and barbiturates. For a brief time, he shared an apartment in Nashville with Waylon Jennings, who was deeply addicted to amphetamines. Cash would use the stimulants to stay awake during tours. Friends joked about his "nervousness" and erratic behavior, many ignoring the warning signs of his worsening drug addiction.
Although he was in many ways spiraling out of control, Cash could still deliver hits due to his frenetic creativity. His rendition of "Ring of Fire" was a crossover hit, reaching number one on the country charts and entering the top 20 on the pop charts. It was originally performed by June Carter's sister, but the signature mariachi-style horn arrangement was provided by Cash.[46] He said that it had come to him in a dream.
His first wife Vivian (Liberto) Cash claimed a different version of the origins of "Ring of Fire". In her book, I Walked the Line: My Life with Johnny (2007), Liberto says that Cash gave Carter half the songwriting credit for monetary reasons.[47]
In June 1965, Cash's camper caught fire during a fishing trip with his nephew Damon Fielder in Los Padres National Forest in California. It set off a forest fire that burned several hundred acres and nearly caused his death.[48][49] Cash claimed that the fire was caused by sparks from a defective exhaust system on his camper, but Fielder thought that Cash started a fire to stay warm and, under the influence of drugs, failed to notice the fire getting out of control.[50] When the judge asked Cash why he did it, Cash said, "I didn't do it, my truck did, and it's dead, so you can't question it."[51]
The fire destroyed 508 acres (206 ha), burned the foliage off three mountains and drove off 49 of the refuge's 53 endangered California condors.[52] Cash was unrepentant and said, "I don't care about your damn yellow buzzards."[53] The federal government sued him and was awarded $125,172. Cash eventually settled the case and paid $82,001.[54]
Although Cash cultivated a romantic outlaw image, he never served a prison sentence. Despite landing in jail seven times for misdemeanors, he was held only one night each time. On May 11, 1965, he was arrested in Starkville, Mississippi, for trespassing late at night onto private property to pick flowers. (He used this incident as the basis for the song "Starkville City Jail". He discussed this on his live At San Quentin album.)[55]
While on tour later that year, he was arrested October 4 in El Paso, Texas, by a narcotics squad. The officers suspected he was smugglingheroin from Mexico, but found instead 688 Dexedrine capsules (amphetamines) and 475 Equanil (sedatives or tranquilizers) tablets hidden inside his guitar case. Because the pills were prescription drugs rather than illegal narcotics, Cash received a suspended sentence. He posted a $1,500 bond and was released until his arraignment.[56]
In this period of the mid-1960s, Cash released a number of concept albums. His Bitter Tears (1964) was devoted to spoken word and songs addressing the plight of Native Americans and mistreatment by the government. While initially reaching charts, this album met with resistance from some fans and radio stations, which rejected its controversial take on social issues.
In 2011, a book was published about it, leading to a re-recording of the songs by contemporary artists and the making of a documentary film about Cash's efforts with the album. This film was aired on PBS in February and November 2016. His Sings the Ballads of the True West (1965) was an experimental double record, mixing authentic frontier songs with Cash's spoken narration.
Reaching a low with his severe drug addiction and destructive behavior, Cash and his first wife divorced after having separated in 1962. Some venues cancelled his performances, but he continued to find success. In 1967, Cash's duet with June Carter, "Jackson", won a Grammy Award.[57]
Cash was last arrested in 1967 in Walker County, Georgia, after police found he was carrying a bag of prescription pills when in a car accident. Cash attempted to bribe a local deputy, who turned the money down. He was jailed for the night in LaFayette, Georgia. Sheriff Ralph Jones released him after giving him a long talk, warning him about the danger of his behavior and wasted potential. Cash credited that experience with helping him turn around and save his life. He later returned to LaFayette to play a benefit concert; it attracted 12,000 people (the city population was less than 9,000 at the time) and raised $75,000 for the high school.[58]
Reflecting on his past in a 1997 interview, Cash noted: "I was taking the pills for awhile, and then the pills started taking me."[59] June, Maybelle, and Ezra Carter moved into Cash's mansion for a month to help him get off drugs. Cash proposed onstage to June on February 22, 1968, at a concert at the London Gardens in London, Ontario, Canada. The couple married a week later (on March 1) in Franklin, Kentucky. She had agreed to marry Cash after he had "cleaned up."[60]
Cash's journey included rediscovery of his Christian faith. He took an "altar call" in Evangel Temple, a small church in the Nashville area, pastored by Reverend Jimmie Rodgers Snow, son of country music legend Hank Snow. According to Marshall Grant, though, Cash did not completely stop using amphetamines in 1968; and did not fully end drug use for another two years. He was drug-free for a period of seven years. In his memoir about time with Cash, Grant said that the birth of Cash's son, John Carter Cash, inspired the singer to end his dependence.[61]
Cash began using amphetamines again in 1977. By 1983, he was deeply addicted again. He entered rehab at the Betty Ford Clinic in Rancho Mirage for treatment. He stayed off drugs for several years, but relapsed.
In 1989, he entered Nashville's Cumberland Heights Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center. In 1992, he started care at the Loma Linda Behavioral Medicine Center in Loma Linda, California, for his final rehabilitation treatment. (Several months later, his son followed him into this facility for treatment.)[62][63]
In the late 1950s Cash began performing concerts at prisons. He played his first notable prison concert on January 1, 1958, at San Quentin State Prison in California.[64] These performances were recorded live, and released on highly successful albums: Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (1968) and Johnny Cash at San Quentin (1969). Both live albums reached number one on Billboard country album music and the latter crossed over to reach the top of the Billboard pop album chart. In 1969, Cash became an international hit when he eclipsed even The Beatles by selling 6.5 million albums.[65] In comparison, the prison concerts were much more successful than his later live albums such as Strawberry Cake recorded in London and Live at Madison Square Garden, which peaked at numbers 33 and 39 on the album charts, respectively.
The Folsom Prison record was introduced by a rendition of his "Folsom Prison Blues", while the San Quentin record included the crossover hit single "A Boy Named Sue", a Shel Silverstein novelty song that reached number one on the country charts and number two on the U.S. top-10 pop charts.
In 1972 Cash performed at the Österåker Prison in Sweden. The live album På Österåker (At Österåker) was released in 1973. "San Quentin" was recorded with Cash replacing "San Quentin" with "Österåker". In 1976, a concert at Tennessee State Prison was videotaped for TV broadcast. It was posthumously released after Cash's death as a CD entitled A Concert Behind Prison Walls.
Frank Vincent Zappa[nb 1] (/ˈzæpə/ZAP-ə; December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed rock, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral and musique concrète works; he also produced almost all of the 60-plus albums that he released with his band the Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist.[2] His work is characterized by nonconformity, improvisation[3] sound experimentation, musical virtuosity and satire of American culture.[4] Zappa also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. He is considered one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse musicians of his generation.[5][6]
As a mostly self-taught composer and performer, Zappa had diverse musical influences that led him to create music that was sometimes difficult to categorize. While in his teens, he acquired a taste for 20th-century classical modernism, African-American rhythm and blues, and doo-wop music.[7] He began writing classical music in high school, while simultaneously playing drums in rhythm and blues bands, later switching to electric guitar. His debut studio album with the Mothers of Invention, Freak Out! (1966), combined satirical but seemingly conventional rock and roll songs with extended sound collages. He continued this eclectic and experimental approach throughout his career.
Zappa's output is unified by a conceptual continuity he termed "Project/Object", with numerous musical phrases, ideas, and characters reappearing across his albums.[4] His lyrics reflected his iconoclastic views of established social and political processes, structures and movements, often humorously so, and he has been described as the "godfather" of comedy rock.[8] He was a strident critic of mainstream education and organized religion, and a forthright and passionate advocate for freedom of speech, self-education, political participation and the abolition of censorship. Unlike many other rock musicians of his generation, he disapproved of recreational drug use, but supported decriminalization and regulation.
Zappa was a highly productive and prolific artist with a controversial critical standing; supporters of his music admired its compositional complexity, while detractors found it lacking emotional depth.[9] He had greater commercial success outside the US, particularly in Europe. Though he worked as an independent artist, Zappa mostly relied on distribution agreements he had negotiated with the major record labels. He remains a major influence on musicians and composers. His many honors include his posthumous 1995 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the 1997 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Zappa was born on December 21, 1940, in Baltimore, Maryland, to Rose Marie (née Colimore) and Francis Vincent Zappa. He was of Sicilian, Greek, Arab and French descent.[nb 2]
Frank, the eldest of four children, was raised in an Italian-American household where Italian was often spoken by his grandparents.[1]: 6 [10] The family moved often because his father, a chemist and mathematician, worked in the defense industry. After a time in Florida in the 1940s, the family returned to Maryland, where Zappa's father worked at the Edgewood Arsenalchemical warfare facility of the Aberdeen Proving Ground run by the U.S. Army. Due to their home's proximity to the arsenal, which stored mustard gas, gas masks were kept in the home in case of an accident.[1]: 20–23 This living arrangement had a profound effect on Zappa, and references to germs, germ warfare, ailments and the defense industry occur frequently throughout his work.[11]: 8–9
Zappa's father often brought mercury-filled lab equipment home from his workplace and gave it to Zappa to play with.[1]: 19 Zappa said that as a child he "used to play with it all the time", often by putting liquid mercury on the floor and using a hammer to spray out mercury droplets in a circular pattern, eventually covering the entire floor of his bedroom with them.[12]
Zappa was often sick as a child, suffering from asthma, earaches and sinus problems. A doctor treated his sinusitis by inserting a pellet of radium into each of Zappa's nostrils. At the time, little was known about the potential dangers of even small amounts of therapeutic radiation and mercury exposure.[11]: 10
Nasal imagery and references appear in his music and lyrics, as well as in the collage album covers created by his long-time collaborator Cal Schenkel. Zappa believed his childhood diseases might have been due to exposure to mustard gas, released by the nearby chemical warfare facility, and his health worsened when he lived in Baltimore.[1]: 20–23 [11]: 10 In 1952, his family relocated for reasons of health to Monterey, California, where his father taught metallurgy at the Naval Postgraduate School.[1]: 22 They soon moved to the San Diego neighborhood of Clairemont,[13]: 46 and then to the nearby city of El Cajon, before finally returning to San Diego.[14]
Since I didn't have any kind of formal training, it didn't make any difference to me if I was listening to Lightnin' Slim, or a vocal group called the Jewels ..., or Webern, or Varèse, or Stravinsky. To me it was all good music.
Zappa started at the age of 12, learning drum rudiments at a summer-school group course in Monterey, California with a teacher named Keith McKillop. Frank said "Instead of drums, he had us practicing on wooden planks."[1]: 13 Zappa joined his first band at Mission Bay High School in San Diego as a drummer.[1]: 29 At about the same time, his parents bought a phonograph, which allowed him to develop his interest in music, and to begin building his record collection.[11]: 22 According to The Rough Guide to Rock (2003), "as a teenager Zappa was simultaneously enthralled by black R&B (Johnny 'Guitar' Watson, Guitar Slim), doo-wop (The Channels, The Velvets), and modern composers, such as Igor Stravinsky, Anton Webern and Edgard Varèse."[7]
R&B singles were early purchases for Zappa, starting a large collection he kept for the rest of his life.[11]: 36 He was interested in sounds for their own sake, particularly the sounds of drums and other percussion instruments. By age twelve, he had obtained a snare drum and began learning the basics of orchestral percussion.[1]: 29 Zappa's deep interest in modern classical music began[15] when he read a LOOK magazine article about the Sam Goody record store chain that lauded its ability to sell an LP as obscure as The Complete Works of Edgard Varèse, Volume One.[1]: 30–33 The article described Varèse's percussion composition Ionisation, produced by EMS Recordings, as "a weird jumble of drums and other unpleasant sounds". Zappa decided to seek out Varèse's music. After searching for over a year, Zappa found a copy (he noticed the LP because of the "mad scientist" looking photo of Varèse on the cover). Not having enough money with him, he persuaded the salesman to sell him the record at a discount.[1]: 30–33 Thus began his lifelong passion for Varèse's music and that of other modern classical composers. He also liked the Italian classical music listened to by his grandparents, especially Puccini's opera arias.
Zappa's senior yearbook photo, 1958
By 1956, the Zappa family had moved to Lancaster, a small aerospace and farming town in the Antelope Valley of the Mojave Desert close to Edwards Air Force Base; he would later refer to Sun Village (a town close to Lancaster) in the 1973 track "Village of the Sun".[16] Zappa's mother encouraged him in his musical interests. Although she disliked Varèse's music, she was indulgent enough to give her son a long-distance call to the New York composer as a fifteenth birthday present.[1]: 30–33 Unfortunately, Varèse was in Europe at the time, so Zappa spoke to the composer's wife and she suggested he call back later. In a letter, Varèse thanked him for his interest, and told him about a composition he was working on called "Déserts". Living in the desert town of Lancaster, Zappa found this very exciting. Varèse invited him to visit if he ever came to New York. The meeting never took place (Varèse died in 1965), but Zappa framed the letter and kept it on display for the rest of his life.[15][nb 3]
At Antelope Valley High School, Zappa met Don Glen Vliet (who later changed his name to Don Van Vliet and adopted the stage name Captain Beefheart). Zappa and Vliet became close friends, sharing an interest in R&B records and influencing each other musically throughout their careers.[13]: 29–30 Around the same time, Zappa started playing drums in a local band, the Blackouts.[18]: 13 The band was racially diverse and included Euclid James "Motorhead" Sherwood who later became a member of the Mothers of Invention. Zappa's interest in the guitar grew, and in 1957 he was given his first instrument. Among his early influences were Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Howlin' Wolf and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. In the 1970s/1980s, he invited Watson to perform on several albums. Zappa considered soloing the equivalent of forming "air sculptures",[19] and developed an eclectic, innovative and highly personal style.[20] He was also influenced by Egyptian composer Halim El-Dabh.[21]
Zappa's interest in composing and arranging flourished in his last high-school years. By his final year, he was writing, arranging and conducting avant-garde performance pieces for the school orchestra.[11]: 40 He graduated from Antelope Valley High School in 1958, and later acknowledged two of his music teachers on the sleeve of the 1966 album Freak Out![22]: 23 Due to his family's frequent moves, Zappa attended at least six different high schools, and as a student he was often bored and given to distracting the rest of the class with juvenile antics.[11]: 48 In 1959, he attended Chaffey College but left after one semester, and maintained thereafter a disdain for formal education, taking his children out of school at age 15 and refusing to pay for their college.[11]: 345 While in college, Zappa met Terry Kirkman and played gigs at local coffee houses with him.[23]
Zappa left home in 1959, and moved into a small apartment in Echo Park, Los Angeles. After he met Kathryn J. "Kay" Sherman during his short period of private composition study with Prof. Karl Kohn of Pomona College, they moved in together in Ontario, and were married December 28, 1960.[11]: 58 Zappa worked for a short period in advertising as a copywriter. His sojourn in the commercial world was brief, but gave him valuable insights into its workings.[1]: 40 [24] Throughout his career, he took a keen interest in the visual presentation of his work, designing some of his album covers and directing his own films and videos.
Zappa attempted to earn a living as a musician and composer, and played different nightclub gigs, some with a new version of the Blackouts.[11]: 59 Zappa's earliest professional recordings, two soundtracks for the low-budget films The World's Greatest Sinner (1962) and Run Home Slow (1965) were more financially rewarding. The former score was commissioned by actor-producer Timothy Carey and recorded in 1961. It contains many themes that appeared on later Zappa records.[11]: 63 The latter soundtrack was recorded in 1963 after the film was completed, but it was commissioned by one of Zappa's former high school teachers in 1959 and Zappa may have worked on it before the film was shot.[11]: 55 Excerpts from the soundtrack can be heard on the posthumous album The Lost Episodes (1996).
During the early 1960s, Zappa wrote and produced songs for other local artists, often working with singer-songwriter Ray Collins and producer Paul Buff. Their "Memories of El Monte" was recorded by the Penguins, although only Cleve Duncan of the original group was featured.[25] Buff owned the small Pal Recording Studio in Cucamonga, which included a unique five-track tape recorder he had built. At that time, only a handful of the most sophisticated commercial studios had multi-track facilities; the industry standard for smaller studios was still mono or two-track.[1]: 42 Although none of the recordings from the period achieved major commercial success, Zappa earned enough money to allow him in 1963 to stage a concert of his orchestral music and to broadcast and record it.[11]: 74 In March of that same year Zappa appeared on Steve Allen's syndicated late night show playing a bicycle as a musical instrument[26][27]: 35–36 — using drum sticks and a bow borrowed from the band's bass player he proceeded to pluck, bang, and bow the spokes of the bike, producing strange, comical sounds from his newfound instrument. With Captain Beefheart, Zappa recorded some songs under the name of the Soots. They were rejected by Dot Records. Later, the Mothers were also rejected by Columbia Records for having "no commercial potential", a verdict Zappa subsequently quoted on the sleeve of Freak Out![18]: 27
In 1964, after his marriage started to break up, he moved into the Pal studio and began routinely working 12 hours or more per day recording and experimenting with overdubbing and audio tape manipulation. This established a work pattern that endured for most of his life.[1]: 43 Aided by his income from film composing, Zappa took over the studio from Paul Buff, who was now working with Art Laboe at Original Sound. It was renamed Studio Z.[11]: 80–81 Studio Z was rarely booked for recordings by other musicians. Instead, friends moved in, notably James "Motorhead" Sherwood.[11]: 82–83 Zappa started performing in local bars as a guitarist with a power trio, the Muthers, to support himself.[18]: 26
An article in the local press describing Zappa as "the Movie King of Cucamonga" prompted the local police to suspect that he was making pornographic films.[11]: 85 In March 1965, Zappa was approached by a vice squad undercover officer, and accepted an offer of $100 (equivalent to $970 in 2023) to produce a suggestive audio tape for an alleged stag party. Zappa and a female friend recorded a faked erotic episode. When Zappa was about to hand over the tape, he was arrested, and the police stripped the studio of all recorded material.[11]: 85 The press was tipped off beforehand, and next day's The Daily Report wrote that "Vice Squad investigators stilled the tape recorders of a free-swinging, a-go-go film and recording studio here Friday and arrested a self-styled movie producer".[28] Zappa was charged with "conspiracy to commit pornography".[1]: 57 This felony charge was reduced and he was sentenced to six months in jail on a misdemeanor, with all but ten days suspended.[11]: 86–87 His brief imprisonment left a permanent mark, and was central to the formation of his anti-authoritarian stance.[11]: xv Zappa lost several recordings made at Studio Z in the process, as the police returned only 30 of 80 hours of tape seized.[11]: 87 Eventually, he could no longer afford to pay the rent on the studio and was evicted.[27]: 40 Zappa managed to recover some of his possessions before the studio was torn down in 1966.[11]: 90–91
By April 1965, Ray Collins, one of Zappa's friends during the early Studio Z days, was the singer of an R&B band called the Soul Giants, based in Pomona, California. That month, he asked Zappa to take over as guitarist in the Soul Giants, following a fight between Collins and the group's original guitarist.[10] Zappa accepted, and soon assumed leadership and the role as co-lead singer (even though he never considered himself a singer, then or later[29]). He convinced the other members that they should play his music to increase the chances of getting a record contract.[1]: 65–66 The band - comprising Zappa, Collins, Roy Estrada, and Jimmy Carl Black - debuted at the Broadside Club and was renamed the Mothers since this gig took place on May 10, 1965 – Mother's Day.[13]: 42 They increased their bookings after beginning an association with manager Herb Cohen, and gradually gained attention on the burgeoning Los Angeles underground music scene.[22]: 58 In early 1966, they were spotted by leading record producer Tom Wilson when playing "Trouble Every Day", a song about the Watts riots.[11]: 103 Wilson had earned acclaim as the producer for Bob Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel, and was one of the few African-Americans working as a major label pop music producer at this time. Wilson signed the Mothers to the Verve division of MGM, which had built up a strong reputation for its releases of modern jazz recordings in the 1940s and 1950s, but was attempting to diversify into pop and rock audiences. Verve insisted that the band officially rename themselves the Mothers of Invention as Mother was short for motherfucker—a term that, apart from its profane meanings, can denote a skilled musician.[30] Under Zappa's leadership, the Mothers' lineup would be ever-changing during their time together, with members including Collins, Estrada, Black, Elliot Ingber, brothers Bunk and Buzz Gardner, Don Preston, Billy Mundi, Jim Fielder, Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood, Ian Underwood, Art Tripp, and Lowell George.
With Wilson credited as producer, the Mothers of Invention, augmented by a studio orchestra, recorded the groundbreaking Freak Out! (1966), which, after Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde, was the second rock double album ever released. It mixed R&B, doo-wop, musique concrète,[31]: 25 and experimental sound collages that captured the "freak" subculture of Los Angeles at that time.[22]
Evanescence is an American rock band founded in 1994 by singer and keyboardist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody in Little Rock, Arkansas. After releasing independent EPs as a duo in the late '90s and a demo CD, Evanescence released their debut studio album, Fallen, on Wind-up Records in 2003. Propelled by the success of hit singles like "Bring Me to Life" and "My Immortal", Fallen sold more than four million copies in the US by January 2004, garnering Evanescence two Grammy Awards out of six nominations. The band released their first live album and concert DVD, Anywhere but Home, in 2004, which sold over one million copies worldwide.
Evanescence released their second studio album, The Open Door, in 2006, co-composed by Lee and guitarist Terry Balsamo. It received a Grammy nomination and has sold more than six million copies worldwide. With guitarist Troy McLawhorn, bassist Tim McCord and drummer Will Hunt, the band reconvened in 2009 to work on music for their next album, Evanescence. Released in 2011, it marked the first album co-written as a band. It debuted at the top of the Billboard 200, Rock Albums, Digital Albums, Alternative Albums, and Hard Rock Albums charts. Following the end of the album's tour cycle, the band entered a hiatus.
In 2014, Lee and Evanescence left their record label and became an independent band. The band emerged from hiatus in 2015 and resumed touring, while a new album was not yet created as Lee was also focusing on a solo project. In 2016, Lee stated that Evanescence was working on a fourth album, Synthesis (2017), composed of orchestral and electronica arrangements of their previous material alongside two new songs. Its release was followed by the Synthesis Live tour, in which the band performed with live orchestras for the first time. After pandemic delays, Evanescence released their fifth studio album, The Bitter Truth, in 2021, which reached the top five of the BillboardIndependent, Alternative, and Hard Rock charts.
Generally classified as a gothicalternative metal and hard rock band, Evanescence have a diverse sound incorporating various musical styles including classical music, alternative music, heavy metal, industrial music, and electronic music, driven by Lee's contrasting musical pursuits and introspective songwriting. Beginning as a duo partnership, Evanescence had several lineup changes, and became a band collaboration in 2009. The band comprises Lee, guitarist Tim McCord since 2006, guitarist Troy McLawhorn and drummer Will Hunt since 2007, and bassist Emma Anzai since 2022. Among other accolades, Evanescence has received two Grammy Awards, three Loudwire Music Awards, a Kerrang! Award, a Revolver Golden Gods Music Award, a Rock Sound award, a Brit Award nomination, three American Music Award nominations, and five MTV Video Music Award nominations. Evanescence have sold a total of 31.9 million albums, making the band one of the best selling hard rock and metal artists of all time.[1]
Singer and pianist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody met in 1994 in Little Rock, Arkansas at age 13 and 14, when the two were at a Christian youth camp where Lee played piano during sport activities and Moody played acoustic guitar and she thought they could play music together.[7] Lee thinks what drew them together at the time was that they "didn't fit in that well" and were "out of [their] element in this silly camp environment".[8][9] Within a month of meeting, Lee brought Moody a cassette tape of her playing guitar and singing a song she wrote. They became musical collaborators, playing and working on music at Lee's home,[10][5] and were soon performing acoustic sets at book stores and coffee houses in the Little Rock area.[8][2][11] Lee said their music at the time "sounded different because we didn't have the means to make it sound like we wanted". Strings, choirs, and "dramatic, cinematic" sounds were musical desires they couldn't materialize as they were "just two kids in a basement".[12] Lee had a 16-track recorder and she and Moody would use it and Pro Tools, "fake strings and choirs" on her keyboard, and layer sounds and beats for their early material, which they mixed and produced. "We were basically just putting it down to remember what we wanted", Lee said.[15]
Lee had the musical vision for Evanescence.[16][17][18] What made her want to start a band was "the idea of combinations that were unlikely".[6]Danny Elfman's film scores were a significant influence for her when she began creating Evanescence's music.[19] Lee aimed to combine her various musical tastes, "bringing something from the cinematic and classical symphonic world and marrying it to metal, hard rock and alternative music."[20][13] Perceiving "similarities between the drama of classical music and the heavier stuff I was listening to" inspired her to "bring those things together for myself",[21] and she infused in Evanescence her love of contrasting sounds.[22] "There was all this music that was inspiring me. And Evanescence was the product of these two extremes combining".[23][24] After experimenting with band names, such as Childish Intentions and Stricken, Lee and Moody decided on Evanescence, which means disappearance or fading away.[11][25] They wanted a name that was "out of nowhere", and when they came across the word they found it "beautiful" and "elusive".[12][26]
Lee and Moody recorded two EPs as Evanescence: Evanescence (1998), of which 100 copies were made and sold at their early live performances; and Sound Asleep (1999), also known as the Whisper EP.[28] Their demos got them airplay on the local modern rock station in Little Rock, which helped them develop a local fanbase, allowing them to play a couple of bigger shows a year and hire other musicians to perform other instruments live.[12][2][29] Although they played with guest musicians, Evanescence remained a duo.[8][2] "It was more because that's what we did and how we worked rather than not wanting any other input", Lee recalled;[8] "the idea of a full band playing these songs was something that only came along later."[13] Since Evanescence's start, the two had brought in several people to record or play live, but their vision was never shared by others "so it always ended reverting back to the two of us".[30] Lee and Moody were focused on writing music over playing live shows, and they did not want to have a band join their writing process, Moody noted; "we just wanted it to be the two of us and so we'd play once or twice a year."[26] He said that they would be "off writing and recording in our closest for six months", and as they couldn't have live shows with just a duo, they would book a gig and ask friends to perform with them.[25] Moody stated that he did not remember how many EPs they released, and he viewed them as "really just a means"; CDs "we could sell ourselves at our shows so we could go out and buy pizza. They really weren't official releases".[26]
In 2000, they self-released a demo CD called Origin,[31] which they sold at local shows,[2][8] and packaged to shop it to record labels.[26][32] Lee and Moody stated that the CD was not an official release, but a compilation of their demos.[32][26]Origin and their earlier EPs contain demo versions of some of the songs that would later appear on their debut album.[25][4] Moody expressed dissatisfaction with their pre-Fallen material, stating in an interview, "What we had in our head was Fallen, although it was a long time ago and we didn't have the technology, so a lot of our early recordings were just shit."[26] In a February 2003 radio interview, Lee and Moody encouraged fans to download their demos from the Internet, rather than purchase them from online sources such as eBay where it had been selling for US$400.[33][4][26]
Evanescence were having their demos mastered at Ardent Studios in Memphis, where a producer heard it and played the demos to his friend at Wind-up Records, head of A&R Diana Meltzer.[25][34][12] Meltzer said what made her want to sign them was Lee's voice, lyrics and their gothic sound. When she heard "My Immortal" she said she "knew it was a hit".[34] Evanescence was signed by Wind-up in 2001.[10] The label flew them to New York, and told them that they loved their different sound and thought they had potential, but "we don't really totally know what to do with you", Lee recalled. They were then told, "if you were this good while distracted by school and all this other stuff, how good will you be if we put you in an environment where you have nothing to do but write and be influenced by your surroundings, like in Los Angeles."[12][25] They were relocated to Los Angeles, given an apartment and rehearsal space and enrolled in a gym, according to Meltzer,[34] and Lee, who was very introverted, received help from an acting teacher to overcome her stage fright.[11][12][2] Meltzer told HitQuarters in 2003 that, while she loved Lee's voice, their gothic sound, and Lee and Moody had already exhibited "huge talent" with their prior demo material, they were still young and she felt they could benefit from more time to work on their debut album so they "could deliver a breakthrough sound".[34]
Lee said that at the time of signing, they did not realize the label would move them out to Los Angeles for two years, thinking it would be about six months. The length of time in Los Angeles "really frustrated" them.[12] The label was apprehensive about the marketability of a female-led band, and advised them to just keep writing songs.[25] It ended up being a fruitful writing experience in Los Angeles, Lee said, as they wrote half of the album there and were able to make use of other equipment to get sounds they wanted.[12] After almost two years of Evanescence working on the album, Dave Fortman was brought in to produce it.[34] Then, label executives refused to release the album unless Lee and Moody agreed to hire a full-time male co-vocalist. When they did not agree, the label said they were withdrawing their funding and releasing them from their contract. They left Los Angeles and drove back to Little Rock.[37]
A few weeks later, the label relented, informing them that they would release their album if they agreed to have a male rapper on its lead single, "Bring Me to Life", in order to give something familiar to listeners. Lee was not happy about this, but reluctantly agreed to the compromise and wrote the part for the male vocal.[39] She originally wanted the lead single to be "Going Under" as she was concerned that the public would hear "Bring Me to Life" with its male vocal and decide that was the sound of the band. She was relieved that people were still receptive to Evanescence when "Going Under" was released as their second single.[40] Lee prefers "Bring Me To Life" without the label-forced rap, and expressed dissatisfaction that it "stamps a time period" on the song; however, she made peace with it because they were able to "survive past it" and "people were able to, for the most part, understand who we are without us getting stuck in that place."[36][35][41]
"Bring Me to Life", featuring guest vocals from Paul McCoy of 12 Stones, and "My Immortal" were originally featured on the soundtrack of the 2003 action film Daredevil, released in February 2003. Evanescence's debut album Fallen was released by Wind-up on March 4, 2003.[42] As with their pre-Fallen work, Lee and Moody were the main writers of the album, Lee the core writer.[47] Most of Lee's writing on Fallen was inspired by an abusive relationship she was in.[2][4] Lee and Moody said they did not consider their music to be "goth", with Moody adding that he thinks the "goth" label came because the songs sound sad and people think that "sad equals dark equals Goth. It's real easy for them to throw us in that box". Moody also disliked the nu metal label, stating: "I think the only nu-metal thing about us is the fact that on one song we have rap and singing".[26][48][49] Lee also disagreed with the nu metal tag, attributing it to the rap rock of "Bring Me to Life".[50] After the album's completion, the touring lineup was hired: guitarist John LeCompt, drummer Rocky Gray, and bassist Will Boyd,[51][27] the first two old friends of Moody.[26]
Evanescence's music was initially promoted by their label in the Christian market, and Lee and Moody publicly made it clear in an April 2003 interview that they were not a Christian band or Christian rock.[52] Moody's comments against being in the Christian market immediately prompted the label's chairman Alan Meltzer to send a letter to Christian radio and retail outlets explaining that despite the "spiritual underpinning that ignited interest and excitement in the Christian religious community", Evanescence were "a secular band, and as such view their music as entertainment" and the label then "strongly feels that they no longer belong in Christian retail outlets".[53][54] Wind-up formally requested the recall of Fallen from Christian retailers and radio stations. After receiving the letter, many Christian radio stations pulled Fallen songs from their playlists.[53][55][54]
Rolling Stone stated in April 2003 that while Wind-up had no official Christian affiliation, they had been marketing their bands "to both the Christian and mainstream music market". Wind-Up "began courting the Christian music market more than a year ago, making its first foray with 12 Stones' self-titled 2002 debut. Hooking up with powerhouse Christian music distributor Provident ... Wind-Up attempted to tap into a segment that generated sales of more than 50 million albums in 2002".[54] The CEO of Provident, Terry Hemmings, said that the decision to recall Evanescence's album likely would not hurt Wind-up's image in the Christian market, and that he was puzzled by the band's about-face, saying: "They clearly understood the album would be sold in these [Christian music] channels."[54] Meltzer claimed their decision to promote Evanescence in the Christian market was made with the band's consent.[53][54] Lee said that she had always opposed the promotion in the Christian market and the "Christian band" identification from the beginning, while Moody had supported it. Moody had misrepresented Evanescence in the past, talking about his religious beliefs as Evanescence's.[57] The label wanted to use the Christian market promotion as a marketing tool for the band, which she had opposed, stating that "it was an important fight to me because it felt false. That wasn't really what our music was. And I felt like they were selling somebody something that wasn't true."[58] She noted that Evanescence "has never been a Christian band" and lyrically never had a religious affiliation.[60]
Evanescence performing in 2003
On April 7, 2003, Wind-Up released "Bring Me to Life" as the album's lead single.[41] Wind-up president Ed Vetri revealed that when the label had introduced the song to radio, radio programmers rejected it, saying, "A chick and a piano? Are you kidding? On rock radio?"[61] Some program directors would hear the female voice and piano at the start of the song and turn it off without listening to the rest of the song.[25] A female voice on rock radio was a rarity, and the song was considered for airplay only after there was a male vocal on it.[62][12][63] After the song was released on the Daredevil soundtrack, a grassroots fanbase grew and listeners began requesting air play for it, compelling radio stations to reconsider the band.[64] The song became a global hit for Evanescence and reached number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 on June 6, 2003.[65] It topped the UK singles chart, where it peaked for four weeks from June–July 2003.[66] On the worldwide success of the song, Lee said:
"Since we released [the song] on Daredevil it went all over the world, whether they wanted it to or not, so we had fans in countries we had never been to because they had the soundtrack and they heard it on the radio. So, it started blowing up all over the world and then we had a reason to tour all over the world. And that's how the whole international thing happened this early."[67]
Evanescence performed on radio shows and on the festival circuit for weeks in early 2003.[33][68] They embarked on their first headlining tour from April to May in the US.[69] In June 2003, they had to cancel shows in Germany due to Moody reportedly falling ill.[68] That month, Evanescence accepted an offer from the video game company Nintendo to perform on the Nintendo Fusion Tour, which they headlined beginning on August 4, 2003.[70][71][20] The album's second single "Going Under" was released on August 18, 2003. It peaked at number five on the US Modern Rock Tracks, 24 on the Active Rock chart,[65] and number eight on the UK singles chart.[72] Lee recalled the rapid success after the album was released, with concerts going from club shows to arenas in two months.[29][73] In an August 2003 interview, Moody said that Evanescence is "just Amy and I, and I want to keep it that way", adding that their process together is what works.[26] In another interview with Rock Sound, he said that he would like tour drummer Rocky Gray to play on the next album but did not need the other tour players, LeCompt and Boyd.[30]
On October 22, 2003, Moody left the band during the European tour for Fallen, reportedly because of creative differences.[2][27][4] Moody had called their management and informed them he was quitting.[2] Lee got a call from their manager asking her to "beg [Moody] to stay", to which she said "that's exactly what he wants me to do" and expressed that if Moody was going to leave, the band "would appreciate it if he'd wait until the end of the tour. But if he can't, then go ahead and go."[4][2] With his impromptu exit in the middle of tour, Lee improvised and had them play as a foursome to not cancel a show.[2] In an interview, Lee said, "we'd gotten to a point that if something didn't change, we wouldn't have been able to make a second record."[8] She said that by that point Moody "hated the band, he hated being on tour and his negativity made everyone around him miserable. He was trying to pull the whole ship down with him" and she would not let that happen.[74][75] His exit was a relief because of tensions created within the band, which was at a "breaking point". "It was a really uncomfortable situation for everybody ... completely unstable and unhappy", she explained. "It was a scary time before he left because I knew something was going to happen and I didn't know what and I was afraid everything we worked for had the potential of going down the toilet."[8][76][43]
In Lee's termination letter to their manager, she stated that Moody was physically and verbally abusive to her.[4] With Moody gone, "we felt like a weight had been lifted", she said.[4] Touring guitarist John LeCompt said in a 2006 interview that Lee "gained authority as soon as Ben Moody walked out the door. They had an equal partnership, but he was the man, he had to strangle the band, all the life out of it".[77] Lee said that she and Moody had not been friends since their teenage years, and they had pretended to be friends after Fallen's release when they were really only business partners.[2] In 2004, Lee confirmed that there were complications for months following Moody's departure "with the legalities of everything – whether we would be legally allowed to continue under the same name". "A lot of things were held up internally that I wasn't allowed to talk about, and I was worried, because it was very important to me to be able to stand up and say, 'No. One person leaving in the middle of a tour and trying to hurt us isn't going to make us lose the entire band.'"[78][2] In a 2006 interview, she stated that when Moody was in the band, "a lot of decisions had been made over my head, or around me, or for me, that I wouldn't have made for myself".[79]
Lee said that she and Moody had never sat down and wrote together, and instead would combine their respective parts in songs. From the start, Lee would only write music by herself, considering it a vulnerable process and feeling disrespected by Moody and unsafe around him. The creation of Fallen largely consisted of her and Moody writing music separately and then adding to each other's work, due to tension and significant creative differences between them. Lee's creative disagreements with Moody included his strict approach to songwriting and focus on commerciality; he would "always be corralling" her ideas, and wanting to push them in a more commercial, pop direction.[89] She said his influences were "a lot different" from hers.[88] "It was always a push and pull between us, for me", she explained. "It's cool because Fallen really is a lot of compromise. It definitely leaned toward what he wanted a lot of the time."[88] Creative restrictions included instrumentation decisions such as her wanting to play organ on the record and Moody not wanting that.[90][79] She stated that at one point, all her "pianoplaying rights were stripped away" from her because Moody felt she "was getting too much attention", so a keyboard player was hired.[74] During the making of the album, "there was so much back-and-forth and so much turmoil between us and the label and each other. I always had to fight to get my music made and I remember focussing more than anything on the work and on the fights and on, 'I'm gonna make this right'", she recalled. "I'm very proud of the way that it went, but it wasn't easy."[23] "A lot of the reason it's been so much fun writing [post-Moody] is that we're not thinking about that. It's like, 'What do we like? What's fun?'", and there is "no pressure of wanting to rule the world".[86][43]
Moody said in a 2003 interview that he focused on making the album "as accessible as possible, to as many people as possible".[25] In 2005, he conceded that he and Lee had different approaches for the music, stating, "[Amy] is much more creative than I am ... I am a bit more commercial minded ... she is more educated musically, and she wanted to explore that. ... it was like my way or the highway. We just couldn't meet in the middle, so I was like, "The hell with it."[91] He also said that he struggled with substance abuse during his time in Evanescence.[94] In August 2010, he released a statement on his history with Lee and Evanescence, where he said that he was a different person at the time, his friendship with Lee had deteriorated, and they had conflicting opinions, personalities, and desires with the band. Moody apologized to Lee for comments he made to her in anger. He said he realized the band would end if he stayed and believes he made the right choice. He added, "Evanescence has progressed a great distance from the original sound, and made it clear that they intended to expand much further. Amy is very artistic and never has had a problem thinking outside of the box and defying expectations."[95]
Evanescence performing at the concert in Le Zénith, Paris, featured on Anywhere but Home
Lee called former Cold guitarist Terry Balsamo, with whom Evanescence had toured, to replace Moody on the Fallen tour. Balsamo soon joined Evanescence as the permanent lead guitarist.[75][96] She and Balsamo "clicked" and "connected on a lot of musical interests".[75][88] The band played several shows with Korn in Europe, with Evanescence originally set to headline however Lee wanted Korn to headline instead.[97]Fallen's third single "My Immortal" was released on December 8, 2003, and peaked at number seven on the US Hot 100 and the UK singles chart.[65]
During the Fallen tour, Lee wrote a song titled "The Last Song I'm Wasting on You", recording it in a bathroom on an analog recording device.[103] It became a B-side on the single "Lithium" from Evanescence's second album.[93] When asked if the track was about former bandmate Moody, Lee said, "If I answer that, then I'm not hiding anything anymore. But I just sort of answered it, didn't I?".[4] She later deemed it "one of those personal, hard moments, when beauty is born out of pain".[103] On November 24, 2004, Evanescence released their first live album and concert DVD titled Anywhere but Home, which includes a concert in Paris, a live cover of Korn's "Thoughtless", behind-the-scenes footage, three previously-unreleased songs, and Fallen's four music videos. The album sold more than a million copies worldwide.
This program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!
Download p3textractor.zip from above. Extract the files to a folder with a program such as WinZip or WinRAR. Now there are multiple ways to extract the theme.
The first way is to simply open the p3t file with p3textractor.exe. If you don’t know how to do this, right click the p3t file and select Open With. Alternatively, open the p3t file and it will ask you to select a program to open with. Click Browse and find p3textractor.exe from where you previously extracted it to. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename]. After that, all you need to do for any future p3t files is open them and it will extract.
The second way is very simple. Just drag the p3t file to p3textractor.exe. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename].
For the third way, first put the p3t file you want to extract into the same folder as p3textractor.exe. Open CMD and browse to the folder with p3extractor.exe. Enter the following: p3textractor filename.p3t [destination path]Replace filename with the name of the p3t file, and replace [destination path] with the name of the folder you want the files to be extracted to. A destination path is not required. By default it will extract to extracted.filename.
Grohl created Foo Fighters after the breakup of Nirvana in 1994 to release solo material. Prior to the release of Foo Fighters' 1995 eponymous debut album, he recruited Mendel and Goldsmith, both formerly of Sunny Day Real Estate, and Smear, who had played with Nirvana on tour. The band made their first public performance in February 1995. Goldsmith quit during the recording of their second album, The Colour and the Shape (1997). Most of the drum parts were re-recorded by Grohl. Smear departed soon afterward.
Smear and Goldsmith were replaced by Stahl and Hawkins. Stahl was fired before the recording of the group's third album, There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1999). The band briefly continued as a trio until Shiflett joined after the completion of There Is Nothing Left to Lose, solidifying the core of their lineup. Foo Fighters released their fourth album, One by One, in 2002. It was followed with the two-disc In Your Honor (2005), which was split between acoustic songs and heavier material. Foo Fighters released their sixth album, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, in 2007.
For Foo Fighters' seventh studio album, Wasting Light (2011), produced by Butch Vig, Smear returned as a full member, after having appeared frequently with the band since 2005. Sonic Highways (2014) was released as the soundtrack to the television miniseries directed by Grohl. Concrete and Gold (2017) was the second Foo Fighters album to reach number one in the United States and the first to feature Jaffee, their longtime session and touring keyboardist, as a full member. Their tenth album, Medicine at Midnight (2021), was the last before Hawkins' death in March 2022. Freese was announced as the band's new drummer the following year. Their eleventh album, But Here We Are, was released in June 2023.
Foo Fighters have won 15 Grammy Awards, including Best Rock Album five times, making them among the most successful rock acts in Grammy history.[3] In 2021, the band was announced as recipients of the first "Global Icon" award at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021, their first year of eligibility.
Dave Grohl (pictured in 2019) founded Foo Fighters after his band Nirvana disbanded in 1994.
In 1990, Dave Grohl joined the grunge band Nirvana as the drummer. During tours, he took a guitar with him and wrote songs, but was too intimidated to share them with the band. He was "in awe" of the songs written by Nirvana's frontman, Kurt Cobain.[4] Grohl occasionally booked studio time to record demos and covers, and released an album of demos, Pocketwatch, under the pseudonym Late! in 1992.[5]
Nirvana disbanded after the death of Cobain in 1994. Grohl received offers to work with various artists. Press rumors indicated he might join Pearl Jam,[6] and he almost accepted a position as drummer in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Grohl later said: "I was supposed to just join another band and be a drummer the rest of my life. I thought that I would rather do what no one expected me to do." He instead entered Robert Lang Studios in October 1994 to record 15 of his own songs.[5] With the exception of a guitar part on "X-Static", played by Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs, Grohl played every instrument and sang every vocal.[7] He completed an album's worth of material in five days and handed out cassette copies of the sessions to his friends for feedback.[5]
Grohl hoped to stay anonymous and release the recordings in a limited run under the name Foo Fighters, taken from foo fighter, a World War II term for unidentified flying objects.[5] He hoped the name would lead listeners to assume the music was made by several people. He said later: "Had I actually considered this to be a career, I probably would have called it something else, because it's the stupidest fucking band name in the world."[8] The demo tape circulated in the industry, creating interest among record labels.[9][10]
Grohl formed a band to support the album. He spoke to Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, about joining the group, but he decided against it. Grohl said it would have felt "really natural" for them to work together, but would have been "weird" for the others and place more pressure on Grohl.[11] Instead, Grohl recruited bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith, both of the recently disbanded Seattle group Sunny Day Real Estate. Nirvana touring guitarist Pat Smear joined as the second guitarist.[12] Grohl licensed the album to Capitol Records, releasing it on his new label, Roswell Records.[5]
Foo Fighters made their live public debut on February 23, 1995, at the Jambalaya Club in Arcata, California, followed by performances at Satyricon in Portland on March 3 and the Velvet Elvis in Seattle on March 4. The show on March 3 had been part of a benefit gig for the investigation of the rape and murder of Gits singer Mia Zapata. Grohl refused to do interviews or tour large venues to promote the album.[12] Foo Fighters undertook their first major tour in the spring of 1995, opening for Mike Watt. The band's first single, "This Is a Call", was released in June 1995,[7] and its debut album Foo Fighters was released the next month. "I'll Stick Around", "For All the Cows", and "Big Me" were released as subsequent singles. The band spent the following months on tour, including their first appearance at the Reading Festival in England in August.[12]
After touring through the spring of 1996, Foo Fighters entered Bear Creek Studio in Woodinville, Washington, with producer Gil Norton to record its second album. While Grohl once again wrote all the songs, the rest of the band collaborated on the arrangements. With the sessions nearly complete, Grohl took the rough mixes to Los Angeles, intending to finish his vocal and guitar parts. While there, Grohl realized that he was not happy with the drumming and replaced most of Goldsmith's drum tracks with his own.[13] Though Grohl hoped that Goldsmith would still play on the tour, Goldsmith felt betrayed and left the band.[14]
Long-time drummer Taylor Hawkins(pictured in 2017) joined the band in 1997.
In need of a replacement for Goldsmith, Grohl contacted Alanis Morissette's touring drummer Taylor Hawkins for a recommendation. Grohl was surprised when Hawkins volunteered himself.[4] Hawkins made his debut with the group in time for the release of its second album, The Colour and the Shape, in May 1997. The album included the singles "Monkey Wrench", "Everlong" and "My Hero".
Smear left Foo Fighters in 1997, citing exhaustion and burnout, and was replaced by Grohl's former Scream bandmate Franz Stahl.[15] Stahl toured with Foo Fighters for the next few months and appeared on two tracks recorded for movie soundtracks, a re-recording of "Walking After You", also released as a single, for The X-Files and "A320" for Godzilla. A B-side from the "My Hero" single, "Dear Lover", appeared in the horror film Scream 2. The tour for The Colour and the Shape album in 1998 included performances at Glastonbury Festival (on the main stage) and the Reading Festival.[16]
In 1998, Foo Fighters traveled to Grohl's home state of Virginia, to write their third album. However, Grohl and Stahl were unable to co-operate as songwriters; Grohl told Kerrang! in 1999, "in those few weeks it just seemed like the three of us were moving in one direction and Franz wasn't." Grohl was distraught over the decision to fire Stahl as the two had been friends since childhood. Shortly after that, Mendel called Grohl to say he was quitting to reunite with Sunny Day Real Estate, only to reverse his decision the next day.[17] The remaining trio of Grohl, Mendel, and Hawkins spent several months recording the band's third album, There Is Nothing Left to Lose, in Grohl's home studio. The album spawned several singles, including "Learn to Fly", the band's first to reach the US Billboard Hot 100. Other singles included "Stacked Actors", "Generator", "Next Year", and "Breakout".[citation needed]
Before the release of the album, Capitol Records president Gary Gersh was forced out of the label. Given Grohl's history with Gersh, Foo Fighters' contract had included a "key man clause" that allowed them to leave the label upon Gersh's departure. They left Capitol and signed with RCA, who later acquired the rights to the band's Capitol albums.[17]
Chris Shiflett(pictured in 2017) joined as guitarist in 1999.
After recording There Is Nothing Left to Lose was completed, the band auditioned a number of potential guitarists and settled on Chris Shiflett, who performed with Me First and the Gimme Gimmes and California punk band No Use for a Name. Shiflett initially joined as a touring guitarist but achieved full-time status prior to the recording of the group's fourth album.[18]
In January 2000, Mendel led a benefit concert in Hollywood for the AIDS denialist group Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives, with a speech by the founder, Christine Maggiore, and distribution of free copies of her self-published book, What If Everything You Thought You Knew About AIDS Was Wrong?.[19][20] The Foo Fighters website featured a section devoted to Alive & Well.[21]Sandra Thurman, the director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, stated this was "extraordinarily irresponsible behavior... There is no doubt about the link between HIV and AIDS in the respected scientific community."[22] All links and references to Alive & Well were finally removed from the Foo Fighters website by March 2003.[23]
Around 2001, Foo Fighters established a relationship with the English rock band Queen, as the band (particularly Grohl[24] and Hawkins[25]) were fans. That March, Grohl and Hawkins inducted them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame[26] and joined them to perform the 1976 classic, "Tie Your Mother Down", with Hawkins playing drums alongside Roger Taylor.[27] The guitarist Brian May added a guitar track to Foo Fighters' second cover of Pink Floyd's "Have a Cigar", which appeared on the soundtrack to the movie Mission: Impossible 2. In 2002, May contributed guitar to "Tired of You" and the outtake "Knucklehead". Foo Fighters and Queen have performed together on several occasions since, including VH1 Rock Honors and Foo Fighters' headlining concert in Hyde Park.[28]
Near the end of 2001, Foo Fighters reconvened to record their fourth album. After spending four months in a Los Angeles studio, the album "just didn't sound right" and the band had no confidence it would sell well. With the album not reaching their expectations amid much infighting, Grohl spent some time helping Queens of the Stone Age complete their 2002 album Songs for the Deaf. Once that album was finished and touring had started for both Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age, the band was on the verge of breaking up entirely. Grohl reunited with Hawkins, Shiflett, and Mendel to play the Coachella Festival, alternating days with Queens of the Stone Age. Hawkins and Grohl talked about resuming work on One by One and after a very satisfying performance the following day, they agreed to stay together. The group re-recorded nearly all of the album in a ten-day stretch at Grohl's home studio in Alexandria, Virginia, the following month.[18] The original version of One by One, referred to by the band as Million Dollar Demos, has never been released in its entirety although seven tracks were leaked online in 2012 and 2015.[29]
For most of its history, the band chose to stay away from the political realm. However, in 2004, upon learning that George W. Bush's presidential campaign was using "Times Like These" at rallies, Grohl decided to lend his public support to John Kerry's campaign, saying, "There's no way of stopping the president playing your songs, so I went out and played it for John Kerry's people instead, where I thought the message would kinda make more sense."[30] Grohl attended several Kerry rallies and occasionally performed solo acoustic sets. The entire band joined Grohl for a performance in Arizona coinciding with one of the presidential debates.[31]
Having spent a year and a half touring behind One by One, Grohl did not want to rush into recording another Foo Fighters record. Initially Grohl intended to write acoustic material by himself but eventually the project involved the entire band.[32] To record its fifth album, the band shifted to Los Angeles and built a recording studio, dubbed Studio 606 West. Grohl insisted that the album be divided into two discs – one full of rock songs, and the other featuring all acoustic tracks.[33]In Your Honor was released in June 2005. The album's singles included "Best of You", "DOA", "Resolve", and "No Way Back/Cold Day in the Sun".
During September and October 2005, the band toured with Weezer on what was billed as the Foozer Tour.[34] Foo Fighters played a headline performance at the 2005 Reading and Leeds Festivals. On June 17, 2006, Foo Fighters performed their largest non-festival headlining concert to date at London's Hyde Park. Motörhead's Lemmy joined the band on stage to sing Shake Your Blood from Dave Grohl's Probot album. As a surprise performance, Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen appeared to play part of We Will Rock You as a lead in to Tie Your Mother Down.
In further support of In Your Honor, the band organized a short acoustic tour for the summer of 2006. Members who had performed with them in late 2005 appeared, such as Pat Smear, Petra Haden on violin and backing vocals, Drew Hester on percussion, and Rami Jaffee of The Wallflowers on keyboard and piano. While much of the setlist focused on In Your Honor's acoustic half, the band also used the opportunity to play lesser-known songs, such as Ain't It The Life, Floaty, and See You. The band also performed Marigold, a Pocketwatch-era song that was best known as a Nirvana B side.
In November 2006, the band released their first ever live CD, Skin and Bones, featuring fifteen performances captured over a three-night stint in Los Angeles.
For the follow-up to In Your Honor, the band recruited The Colour and the Shape producer Gil Norton. Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace was released on September 25, 2007. The album's first single, "The Pretender", was issued to radio in early August. In mid-to-late 2007 "The Pretender" topped Billboard's Modern Rock chart for a record 19 weeks. The second single, "Long Road to Ruin", was released in December 2007, supported by a music video directed by longtime collaborator Jesse Peretz (formerly of the Lemonheads).[35] Other singles included "Let It Die" and "Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)".
In October 2007, Foo Fighters started their world tour in support of the album. The band performed shows throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia, including headlining the Virgin Mobile Festival in Baltimore on August 9. At the European MTV Music Awards in 2007, Pat Smear confirmed his return to the band in a touring capacity.
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace was nominated for five Grammy Awards in 2008. Foo Fighters went home with Best Rock Album and Best Hard Rock Performance (for "The Pretender"). The album was also nominated for Album of the Year, while "The Pretender" was also nominated for Record of the Year and Best Rock Song.
On June 7, 2008, the band played Wembley Stadium, London, and was joined by Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin to play "Rock and Roll" (with Grohl on drums and Hawkins on vocals) and "Ramble On" (sung by Grohl, drums by Hawkins). As Page and Jones left the stage before a final encore of "Best of You", an ecstatic Grohl shouted "Welcome to the greatest fucking day of my whole entire life!".[36] Throughout the tour for Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, Foo Fighters had been writing and practicing new songs at sound checks. After Foo Fighters had completed this tour in September 2008, they recorded 13 new songs in Studio 606, shortly after announcing a hiatus from touring (which would last until January 2011). These sessions likely lasted from late 2008 – early 2009. While the members of Foo Fighters had initially planned for their new album (composed of songs from this recording session) to have come out in 2009 with almost no touring support, they ultimately decided to shelve most of the songs from these sessions. Three of these songs were later released — "Wheels" and "Word Forward" (on their 2009 compilation album, Greatest Hits); and a newly recorded version of "Rope" (which ended up making the final cut of Wasting Light).[37]
Foo Fighters in 2009. From left to right: Hawkins, Shiflett, Grohl, Mendel.
In August 2010, the band began recording their seventh studio album with producer Butch Vig, who had previously produced the two new tracks for the band's Greatest Hits album.[38] The album was recorded in Dave Grohl's garage using only analog equipment. The album won five Grammys and was nominated for six. The recording was analog to tape and used no computers, not even to mix or master.
Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi; his family relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, when he was 13. His music career began there in 1954, at Sun Records with producer Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring the sound of African-American music to a wider audience. Presley, on guitar and accompanied by lead guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, was a pioneer of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country music and rhythm and blues. In 1955, drummer D. J. Fontana joined to complete the lineup of Presley's classic quartet and RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, who would manage him for the rest of his life. Presley's first RCA Victor single, "Heartbreak Hotel", was released in January 1956 and became a number-one hit in the United States. Within a year, RCA Victor would sell ten million Presley singles. With a series of successful television appearances and chart-topping records, Presley became the leading figure of the newly popular rock and roll; though his performative style and promotion of the then-marginalized sound of African Americans[6] led to him being widely considered a threat to the moral well-being of white American youth.[7]
In November 1956, Presley made his film debut in Love Me Tender. Drafted into military service in 1958, he relaunched his recording career two years later with some of his most commercially successful work. Presley held few concerts, however, and guided by Parker, proceeded to devote much of the 1960s to making Hollywood films and soundtrack albums, most of them critically derided. Some of Presley's most famous films included Jailhouse Rock (1957), Blue Hawaii (1961), and Viva Las Vegas (1964). In 1968, following a seven-year break from live performances, he returned to the stage in the acclaimed NBC television comeback special Elvis, which led to an extended Las Vegas concert residency and a string of highly profitable tours. In 1973, Presley gave the first concert by a solo artist to be broadcast around the world, Aloha from Hawaii. However, years of prescription drug abuse and unhealthy eating habits severely compromised his health, and Presley died unexpectedly in August 1977 at his Graceland estate at the age of 42.
Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, to Vernon (1916–1979) and Gladys Love (née Smith; 1912–1958) Presley.[8][9] Elvis' twin Jesse Garon was delivered 35 minutes before, stillborn.[10] Presley became close to both parents, especially his mother. The family attended an Assembly of God church, where he found his initial musical inspiration.[11] Vernon moved from one odd job to the next,[12][13] and the family often relied on neighbors and government food assistance. In 1938, they lost their home after Vernon was found guilty of altering a check and jailed for eight months.[11]
In September 1941, Presley entered first grade at East Tupelo Consolidated, where his teachers regarded him as "average".[14] His first public performance was a singing contest at the Mississippi–Alabama Fair and Dairy Show on October 3, 1945, when he was 10; he sang "Old Shep" and recalled placing fifth.[15] A few months later, Presley received his first guitar for his birthday;[16][17] he received guitar lessons from two uncles and a pastor at the family's church. Presley recalled, "I took the guitar, and I watched people, and I learned to play a little bit. But I would never sing in public. I was very shy about it."[18]
In September 1946, Presley entered a new school, Milam, for sixth grade. The following year, he began singing and playing his guitar at school. He was often teased as a "trashy" kid who played hillbilly music.[19] Presley was a devotee of Mississippi Slim's radio show. He was described as "crazy about music" by Slim's younger brother, one of Presley's classmates. Slim showed Presley chord techniques.[20] When his protégé was 12, Slim scheduled him for two on-air performances. Presley was overcome by stage fright the first time but performed the following week.[21]
In November 1948, the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee.[22] Enrolled at L. C. Humes High School, Presley received a C in music in eighth grade. When his music teacher said he had no aptitude for singing, he brought in his guitar and sang a recent hit, "Keep Them Cold Icy Fingers Off Me".[23] He was usually too shy to perform openly and was occasionally bullied by classmates for being a "mama's boy".[24] In 1950, Presley began practicing guitar under the tutelage of Lee Denson, a neighbor. They and three other boys, including two future rockabilly pioneers, brothers Dorsey and Johnny Burnette—formed a loose musical collective.[25]
During his junior year, Presley began to stand out among his classmates, largely because of his appearance: he grew his sideburns and styled his hair. He would head down to Beale Street, the heart of Memphis' thriving blues scene, and admire the wild, flashy clothes at Lansky Brothers. By his senior year, he was wearing those clothes.[26] He competed in Humes' Annual "Minstrel" Show in 1953, singing and playing "Till I Waltz Again with You", a recent hit for Teresa Brewer. Presley recalled that the performance did much for his reputation:
I wasn't popular in school ... I failed music—only thing I ever failed. And then they entered me in this talent show ... when I came onstage, I heard people kind of rumbling and whispering and so forth, 'cause nobody knew I even sang. It was amazing how popular I became in school after that.[27]
Presley, who could not read music, played by ear and frequented record stores that provided jukeboxes and listening booths. He knew all of Hank Snow's songs,[28] and he loved records by other country singers such as Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, Ted Daffan, Jimmie Rodgers, Jimmie Davis, and Bob Wills.[29] The Southern gospel singer Jake Hess, one of his favorite performers, was a significant influence on his ballad-singing style.[30][31] Presley was a regular audience member at the monthly All-Night Singings downtown, where many of the white gospel groups that performed reflected the influence of African American spirituals.[32] Presley listened to regional radio stations, such as WDIA, that played what were then called "race records": spirituals, blues, and the modern, backbeat-heavy rhythm and blues.[33] Like some of his peers, he may have attended blues venues only on nights designated for exclusively white audiences.[34] Many of his future recordings were inspired by local African-American musicians such as Arthur Crudup and Rufus Thomas.[35][36]B.B. King recalled that he had known Presley before he was popular when they both used to frequent Beale Street.[37] By the time he graduated high school in June 1953, Presley had singled out music as his future.[38][39]
Presley in a Sun Records promotional photograph, 1954
In August 1953, Presley checked into Memphis Recording Service, the company run by Sam Phillips before he started Sun Records. He aimed to pay for studio time to record a two-sided acetate disc: "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin". He later claimed that he intended the record as a birthday gift for his mother, or that he was merely interested in what he "sounded like". Biographer Peter Guralnick argued that Presley chose Sun in the hope of being discovered.[40] In January 1954, Presley cut a second acetate at Sun—"I'll Never Stand in Your Way" and "It Wouldn't Be the Same Without You"—but again nothing came of it.[41] Not long after, he failed an audition for a local vocal quartet, the Songfellows,[42] and another for the band of Eddie Bond.[43]
Presley transformed not only the sound but the emotion of the song, turning what had been written as a "lament for a lost love into a satisfied declaration of independence."[44]
Phillips, meanwhile, was always on the lookout for someone who could bring to a broader audience the sound of the black musicians on whom Sun focused.[45] In June, he acquired a demo recording by Jimmy Sweeney of a ballad, "Without You", that he thought might suit Presley. The teenaged singer came by the studio but was unable to do it justice. Despite this, Phillips asked Presley to sing other numbers and was sufficiently affected by what he heard to invite two local musicians, guitarist Winfield "Scotty" Moore and upright bass player Bill Black, to work with Presley for a recording session.[46] The session, held the evening of July 5, proved entirely unfruitful until late in the night. As they were about to abort and go home, Presley launched into a 1946 blues number, Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right". Moore recalled, "All of a sudden, Elvis just started singing this song, jumping around and acting the fool, and then Bill picked up his bass, and he started acting the fool, too, and I started playing with them." Phillips quickly began taping; this was the sound he had been looking for.[47] Three days later, popular Memphis disc jockey Dewey Phillips (no relation to Sam Phillips) played "That's All Right" on his Red, Hot, and Blue show.[48] Listener interest was such that Phillips played the record repeatedly during the remaining two hours of his show. Interviewing Presley on-air, Phillips asked him what high school he attended to clarify his color for the many callers who had assumed that he was black.[49] During the next few days, the trio recorded a bluegrass song, Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky", again in a distinctive style and employing a jury-riggedecho effect that Sam Phillips dubbed "slapback". A single was pressed with "That's All Right" on the A-side and "Blue Moon of Kentucky" on the reverse.[50]
Early live performances and RCA Victor contract[edit]
The trio played publicly for the first time at the Bon Air club on July 17, 1954.[51] Later that month, they appeared at the Overton Park Shell, with Slim Whitman headlining. Here Elvis pioneered "Rubber Legs", his signature dance movement.[52][53] A combination of his strong response to rhythm and nervousness led Presley to shake his legs as he performed: His wide-cut pants emphasized his movements, causing young women in the audience to start screaming.[54] Moore recalled, "During the instrumental parts, he would back off from the mike and be playing and shaking, and the crowd would just go wild."[55]
Soon after, Moore and Black left their old band to play with Presley regularly, and disc jockey/promoter Bob Neal became the trio's manager. From August through October, they played frequently at the Eagle's Nest club, a dance venue in Memphis. When Presley played, teenagers rushed from the pool to fill the club, then left again as the house western swing band resumed.[56] Presley quickly grew more confident on stage. According to Moore, "His movement was a natural thing, but he was also very conscious of what got a reaction. He'd do something one time and then he would expand on it real quick."[57] Amid these live performances, Presley returned to Sun studio for more recording sessions.[58] Presley made what would be his only appearance on Nashville's Grand Ole Opry on October 2; Opry manager Jim Denny told Phillips that his singer was "not bad" but did not suit the program.[59][60]
Louisiana Hayride, radio commercial, and first television performances[edit]
In November 1954, Presley performed on Louisiana Hayride—the Opry's chief, and more adventurous, rival. The show was broadcast to 198 radio stations in 28 states. His nervous first set drew a muted reaction. A more composed and energetic second set inspired an enthusiastic response.[61] Soon after the show, the Hayride engaged Presley for a year's worth of Saturday-night appearances. Trading in his old guitar for $8, he purchased a Martin instrument for $175 (equivalent to $2,000 in 2023) and his trio began playing in new locales, including Houston, Texas, and Texarkana, Arkansas.[62] Presley made his first television appearance on the KSLA-TV broadcast of Louisiana Hayride. Soon after, he failed an audition for Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts on the CBS television network. By early 1955, Presley's regular Hayride appearances, constant touring, and well-received record releases had made him a regional star.[63][64]
In January, Neal signed a formal management contract with Presley and brought him to the attention of Colonel Tom Parker, whom he considered the best promoter in the music business. Having successfully managed the top country star Eddy Arnold, Parker was working with the new number-one country singer, Hank Snow. Parker booked Presley on Snow's February tour.[63][64]
By August, Sun had released ten sides credited to "Elvis Presley, Scotty and Bill"; the latest recordings included a drummer. Some of the songs, like "That's All Right", were in what one Memphis journalist described as the "R&B idiom of negro field jazz"; others, like "Blue Moon of Kentucky", were "more in the country field", "but there was a curious blending of the two different musics in both".[65] This blend of styles made it difficult for Presley's music to find radio airplay. According to Neal, many country-music disc jockeys would not play it because Presley sounded too much like a black artist and none of the R&B stations would touch him because "he sounded too much like a hillbilly<
The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, conmprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts of the 1960s, primarily due to Morrison's lyrics and voice, along with his erratic stage persona and legal issues. The group is widely regarded as an important figure of the era's counterculture.[4]
The band took its name from the title of English writer Aldous Huxley's book The Doors of Perception, itself a reference to a quote by English poet William Blake. After signing with Elektra Records in 1966, the Doors with Morrison recorded and released six studio albums in five years, some of which are generally considered among the greatest of all time,[5][6] including their debut The Doors (1967), Strange Days (1967), and L.A. Woman (1971). Dubbed the "Kings of Acid Rock",[7] they were one of the most successful bands of their time and by 1972, the Doors had sold over 4 million albums domestically and nearly 8 million singles.[8]
Morrison died in uncertain circumstances in 1971. The band continued as a trio, releasing three more albums in the 1970s, one of which featured earlier recordings by Morrison, until disbanding in 1973.[9][10] They reunited briefly in 1993 when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and for several one-off projects in the 21st century. In 2002, Manzarek, Krieger, and Ian Astbury of the Cult on vocals started performing as "The Doors of the 21st Century". Densmore and the Morrison estate successfully sued them over the use of the band's name. After a short time as Riders on the Storm, they settled on the name Manzarek–Krieger and toured until Manzarek's death in 2013.
The Doors logo, designed by an Elektra Records assistant, first appeared on their 1967 debut album.
The Doors began with a chance meeting between acquaintances Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek on Venice Beach in July 1965. They recognized each other as they had both attended the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. Morrison confided in Manzarek that he had been writing songs.[16] As Morrison would later relate to Jerry Hopkins in Rolling Stone, "Those first five or six songs I wrote, I was just taking notes at a fantastic rock concert that was going on inside my head. And once I'd written the songs, I had to sing them."[17] With Manzarek's encouragement, Morrison sang the opening words of "Moonlight Drive": "Let's swim to the moon, let's climb through the tide, penetrate the evening that the city sleeps to hide." Manzarek was inspired, thinking of the music he could play to accompany these "cool and spooky" lyrics.[18]
Manzarek was then in an unsuccessful band called Rick & the Ravens with his brothers Rick and Jim, while drummer John Densmore was playing with the Psychedelic Rangers and knew Manzarek from meditation classes.[19] Densmore joined the group later in August 1965. Together, they combined varied musical backgrounds, from jazz, rock, blues, and folk music idioms.[20] The five, along with bass player Patty Sullivan,[nb 2] and now christened the Doors, recorded a six-song demo on September 2, 1965, at World Pacific Studios in Los Angeles.[nb 3] The band took their name from the title of Aldous Huxley's book The Doors of Perception, itself derived from a line in William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: "If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is: infinite".[23][24] In late 1965, after Manzarek's two brothers left, guitarist Robby Krieger joined.[25]
From February to May 1966, the group had a residency at the "rundown" and "sleazy" Los Angeles club London Fog, appearing on the bill with "Rhonda Lane Exotic Dancer".[26] The experience gave Morrison confidence to perform in front of a live audience, and the band as a whole to develop and, in some cases, lengthen their songs and work "The End" and "Light My Fire" into the pieces that would appear on their debut album.[26] Manzarek later said that at the London Fog the band "became this collective entity, this unit of oneness ... that is where the magic began to happen."[26] The group soon graduated to the more esteemed Whisky a Go Go after being booked by Ronnie Haran,[27] where they were the house band (starting from May 1966), supporting acts, including Van Morrison's group Them.[28] On their last night together the two bands joined up for "In the Midnight Hour" and a twenty-minute jam session of "Gloria".[29][30]
On August 10, 1966, they were spotted by Elektra Records president Jac Holzman, who was present at the recommendation of Love singer Arthur Lee, whose group was with Elektra Records. After Holzman and producer Paul A. Rothchild saw two sets of the band playing at the Whisky a Go Go, they signed them to the Elektra Records label on August 18 — the start of a long and successful partnership with Rothchild and sound engineer Bruce Botnick. The Doors were fired from the Whisky on August 21, 1966, when Morrison added an explicit retelling and profanity-laden version of the Greek myth of Oedipus during "The End".[31]
The Doors and Strange Days (August 1966 – December 1967)[edit]
The Doors recorded their self-titled debut album around August 1966, at Sunset Sound Studios.[32] The record was officially released in the first week of January 1967. It included many popular songs from their repertory, among those, the nearly 12-minute musical drama "The End".[33] In November 1966, Mark Abramson directed a promotional film for the lead single "Break On Through (To the Other Side)". The group also made several television appearances, such as on Shebang, a Los Angeles television show, miming to a playback of "Break On Through".[nb 4] In early 1967, the group appeared on The Clay Cole Show (which aired on Saturday evenings at 6 p.m. on WPIX Channel 11 out of New York City) where they performed their single "Break On Through". Since the single acquired only minor recognition, the band turned to "Light My Fire"; it became the first single from Elektra Records to reach number one on the BillboardHot 100 singles chart, selling over one million copies.[36]
From March 7 to 11, 1967, the Doors performed at the Matrix Club in San Francisco. The March 7 and 10 shows were recorded by Peter Abram, co-owner of the Matrix. These recordings are notable as they are among the earliest live recordings of the band to circulate. On November 18, 2008, the Doors published a compilation of these recordings, Live at the Matrix 1967, on the band's boutique Bright Midnight Archives label.[37][38]
On August 25, 1967, they appeared on American television, guest-starring on the variety TV series Malibu U, performing "Light My Fire", though they did not appear live. The band is seen on a beach and Morrison is lip-synching the song in playback.[39] The music video did not gain any commercial success and the performance fell into relative obscurity.[40] It was not until they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show that they gained attention on television.[41]
The Doors made their international television debut on October 16, 1967, performing a live version of "The End" for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) at their Parliament Street Colour Studio in Toronto.[42] It was recorded in September when they were in Toronto and transmitted on the show O'Keefe Centre Presents. The misconception that it was at the O'Keefe Centre stems mostly from the title, as the venue shown in the video has a dance floor, which the Centre didn't have.[42] But after its initial broadcasts, the performance remained unreleased except in bootleg form until the release of The Doors Soundstage Performances DVD in 2002.[43]
On September 17, 1967, the Doors gave a memorable performance of "Light My Fire" on The Ed Sullivan Show.[41] According to Manzarek, network executives asked that the word "higher" be removed, due to a possible reference to drug use.[44] The group appeared to acquiesce, but performed the song in its original form, because either they had never intended to comply with the request or Jim Morrison was nervous and forgot to make the change (the group has given conflicting accounts).[45][46] Either way, "higher" was sung out on national television, and the show's host, Ed Sullivan, canceled another six shows that had been planned. After the program's producer told the band they would never perform on the show again,[44] Morrison reportedly replied: "Hey man. We just did the Sullivan Show."[41][47][48]
On December 24, the Doors performed "Light My Fire" and "Moonlight Drive" live for The Jonathan Winters Show. Their performance was taped for later broadcast. From December 26 to 28, the group played at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco; during one set, in the middle of "Back Door Man", the band stopped performing to watch themselves on The Jonathan Winters Show on a television set wheeled onto the stage.[49][50]
The Doors spent several weeks in Sunset Studios in Los Angeles recording their second album, Strange Days, experimenting with the new technology, notably the Moog synthesizer they now had available.[51] The commercial success of Strange Days was middling, peaking at number three on the Billboard album chart but quickly dropping, along with a series of underperforming singles.[36] The chorus from the album's single "People Are Strange" inspired the name of the 2009 documentary of the Doors, When You're Strange.[23]
Although session musician Larry Knechtel had occasionally contributed bass on the band's debut album,[52]Strange Days was the first Doors album recorded with a studio musician, playing bass on the majority of the record, and this continued on all subsequent studio albums.[53] Manzarek explained that his keyboard bass was well-suited for live situations but that it lacked the "articulation" needed for studio recording.[53]Douglass Lubahn played on Strange Days and the next two albums; but the band used several other musicians for this role, often using more than one bassist on the same album. Kerry Magness, Leroy Vinnegar, Harvey Brooks, Ray Neopolitan, Lonnie Mack, Jerry Scheff,[54] Jack Conrad (who played a major role in the post Morrison years touring with the group in 1971 and 1972), Chris Ethridge, Charles Larkey and Leland Sklar are credited as bassists who worked with the band.[55][56]
On December 9, 1967, the Doors performed a now-infamous concert at New Haven Arena in New Haven, Connecticut, which ended abruptly when Morrison was arrested by local police.[57] Morrison became the first rock artist to be arrested onstage during a live performance.[58][59] Prior to the start of the concert, Morrison was either having a private conversation with[60] or kissing a female fan backstage in a bathroom shower stall when a police officer happened upon them.[61] Unaware that he was the lead singer of the band, the officer told Morrison and the fan to leave, to which Morrison said, "Eat it." The policeman took out a can of mace and warned Morrison, "Last chance", to which Morrison replied, "Last chance to eat it."[62][63] There is some discrepancy as to what happened next: according to No One Here Gets Out Alive, the fan ran away and Morrison was maced; but Manzarek recounts in his book that both Morrison and the fan were sprayed.[62][64][65]
The Doors' main act was delayed for an hour while Morrison recovered, after which the band took the stage very late. According to music journalist Gillian G. Gaar, the police still did not consider the issue resolved and wanted to charge him. Halfway through the first set, Morrison proceeded to create an improvised song about his experience with the "little man in blue".[60] It was an obscenity-laced account to the audience, describing what had happened backstage and taunting the police, who were surrounding the stage.[66][67] Later, the police lieutenant approached Morrison, during which Morrison thrust the microphone against his mouth and remarked, "Say your thing, man."[61][66] The concert came to an abrupt end when Morrison was dragged from the stage by the police. The audience, already restless from waiting so long for the band to perform, became unruly. Morrison was taken to a local police station, photographed and booked on charges of inciting a riot, indecency and public obscenity. Charges against Morrison, as well as those against three journalists also arrested in the incident (Mike Zwerin, Yvonne Chabrier and Tim Page), were dropped several weeks later for lack of evidence.[59][64]
Poster for a 1968 concert at the Cobo Arena, Detroit
Recording of the group's third album in April 1968 was marred by tension as a result of Morrison's increasing dependence on alcohol and the rejection of the 17-minute "Celebration of the Lizard" by band producer Paul Rothchild, who considered the work not commercial enough.[68] Approaching the height of their popularity, the Doors played a series of outdoor shows that led to frenzied scenes between fans and police, particularly at Chicago Coliseum on May 10.[69]
The band began to branch out from their initial form for this third LP, and began writing new material. Waiting for the Sun became their first and only album to reach number 1 on the US charts, and the single "Hello, I Love You" (one of the six songs performed by the band on their 1965 Aura Records demo) was their second US No. 1 single. Following the 1968 release of "Hello, I Love You", the publisher of the Kinks' 1964 hit "All Day and All of the Night" announced they were planning legal action against the Doors for copyright infringement; however, songwriter Ray Davies ultimately chose not to sue.[70][nb 5] Kinks guitarist Dave Davies was particularly irritated by the similarity.[72] In concert, Morrison was occasionally dismissive of the song, leaving the vocals to Manzarek, as can be seen in the documentary The Doors Are Open.[73]
A month after a riotous concert at the Singer Bowl in New York City, the group flew to Great Britain for their first performance outside North America. They held a press conference at the ICA Gallery in London and played shows at the Roundhouse. The results of the trip were broadcast on Granada TV's The Doors Are Open, later released on video. They played dates in Europe, along with Jefferson Airplane, including a show in Amsterdam where Morrison collapsed on stage after a drug binge (including marijuana, hashish and unspecified pills).[74]
Robby Krieger at Roundhouse in London (September 1968).
The group flew back to the United States and played nine more dates before returning to work in November on their fourth LP. They ended the year with a successful new single, "Touch Me" (released in December 1968), which reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 in the Cashbox Top 100 in early 1969; this was the group's third and last American number-one single.[75]
Jim Morrison on the day of his conviction in Miami for profanity and indecent exposure
On March 1, 1969, at the Dinner Key Auditorium in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida, the Doors gave the most controversial and consequential performance of their career, one that nearly "derailed the band".[9] The auditorium was a converted seaplane hangar that had no air conditioning on that hot night, and the seats had been removed by the promoter to boost ticket sales.[76][77]
Morrison had been drinking all day and had missed connecting flights to Miami. By the time he arrived, drunk, the concert was over an hour late.[76][78] The restless crowd of 12,000, packed into a facility designed to hold 7,000, was subjected to undue silences in Morrison's singing, which strained the music from the beginning of the performance. Morrison had recently attended a play by an experimental acting company the Living Theatre and was inspired by their "antagonistic" style of performance art.[79][80] Morrison taunted the crowd with messages of both love and hate, saying, "Love me. I can't take it no more without no good love. I want some lovin'. Ain't nobody gonna love my ass?" and alternately, "You're all a bunch of fuckin' idiots!" and "You’re all a bunch of slaves!"[81] while screaming "What are you gonna do about it?" over and over again.[80][82][78]
As the band began their second song, "Touch Me", Morrison started shouting in protest, forcing the band to a halt. At one point, Morrison removed the hat of an onstage police officer and threw it into the crowd; the officer reacted by taking Morrison's hat and throwing it in the same direction.[83][84] Manager Bill Siddons recalled, "The gig was a bizarre, circus-like thing, there was this guy carrying a sheep and the wildest people that I'd ever seen."[85] Equipment chief Vince Treanor said, "Somebody jumped up and poured champagne on Jim so he took his shirt off, he was soaking wet. 'Let's see a little skin, let's get naked,' he said, and the audience started taking their clothes off."[85] Having removed his shirt, Morrison held it in front of his groin area and started to make hand movements behind it.[86] Manzarek described the incident as a mass "religious hallucination".[86]
On March 5, the Dade County Sheriff's office issued a warrant for Morrison's arrest, claiming Morrison had exposed his penis while on stage, shouted obscenities to the crowd, simulated oral sex on Krieger, and was drunk at the time of his performance. Morrison turned down a plea bargain that required the Doors to perform a free Miami concert. He was convicted and sentenced to six months in jail with hard labor, and ordered to pay a $500 fine.[87][88] Morrison remained free, pending an appeal of his conviction, and died before the matter was legally resolved. In 2007 Florida GovernorCharlie Crist suggested the possibility of a posthumous pardon for Morrison, which was announced as successful on December 9, 2010.[89] Densmore, Krieger and Manzarek have denied the allegation that Morrison exposed himself on stage that night.[90][91][92][93]
During Tony Yayo's imprisonment in 2003, the group recruited Tennessee-based rapper Young Buck as a temporary replacement and later an official member. Californian rapper The Game was also made a member in late 2003 after Beg for Mercy, in an effort to promote him after he was signed to Aftermath/Interscope; he was ousted from the group in February 2005 for alleged disloyalty according to 50 Cent.[2] In April 2008, Young Buck was ousted from the group due to his problematic behavior.[3] In July 2008, the group released their second studio and final album, T·O·S (Terminate on Sight), featuring the original trio.
In early 2014, Yayo and 50 Cent both separately stated that G-Unit was no more. However, the group members reconciled and reunited soon thereafter, now becoming a quintet, with the rejoining of Young Buck and the addition of G-Unit Records artist Kidd Kidd. The group performed at Summer Jam 2014 and then released their first collaborative project in six years, the EP The Beauty of Independence, in August of the same year.
In 2018, Kidd Kidd announced that he was leaving both the group and label to become independent; Lloyd Banks and Young Buck followed suit after revolved disputes with 50 Cent.[4][5] In 2022, 50 Cent confirmed that the group had once again disbanded and stated that there would never be a reunion, citing disaffection with the other members.[6]
In 2002, 50 Cent was discovered by Eminem and signed a $1 million contract with Shady Records, under the aegis of Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records.[10] After signing to Interscope, he was granted his own record label, which led to the creation of G-Unit Records.[11] 50 Cent immediately signed both Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo to the label, and they began working on G-Unit's debut album, however, Tony Yayo was incarcerated at the time and was unable to record any new material for the album, which led to 50 Cent signing Tennessee-based rapper Young Buck to G-Unit Records and subsequently adding him to the group.[12] After the signing of Young Buck, G-Unit made their first major label appearance as a group on the remix to 50 Cent's single "P.I.M.P.", which featured Snoop Dogg, Banks and Young Buck.
Later in November 2003, the group released their debut studio album, Beg for Mercy. The album featured guest appearances from R&B singers Joe and Butch Cassidy, and production was handled by high-profile producers such as Hi-Tek, Dr. Dre and Scott Storch, among several others. 50 Cent also served as the album's executive producer.[13] Due to Tony Yayo's incarceration, he only made two appearances on the album, both of which used pre-recorded material. His face is seen on the brick wall of the album cover because he could not be photographed on account of his jail sentence. Beg for Mercy went on to sell over 3.9 million units in the U.S.,[14] 5.8 million copies worldwide,[15][16] and has since been certified quadruple Platinum by the RIAA.[17]
During the production of Beg for Mercy, Los Angeles rapper The Game was discovered and placed into G-Unit by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine of Interscope Records. Their plan was to market The Game as a devotee, or a loyal member of 50 Cent's "camp". The Game made his first appearances as a member of G-Unit on Lloyd Banks' and Young Buck's debut albums, The Hunger for More and Straight Outta Cashville. Throughout 2004, The Game began working on his debut studio album, which was set to be executive produced by 50 Cent and Dr. Dre. In November 2004, the album's second single, "How We Do" featuring 50 Cent became a top 5 hit, as did the album's third single, "Hate It or Love It", which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, being held back from the top spot by 50 Cent's single, "Candy Shop" featuring Olivia.
Beginning in 2005, tensions began to rise between 50 Cent and The Game, and shortly after the release of The Documentary, tensions escalated into a full-scale feud which led to 50 Cent announcing that The Game had been kicked out of G-Unit, with 50 Cent saying he had not received full credit for writing six songs from The Documentary.[18] The two held a press conference on March 9, 2005, calling a truce between the two of them and seeming to publicly squash the feud.[19] However, shortly after, The Game and G-Unit continued to attack one another, releasing numerous diss tracks throughout 2005 and 2006.[20][21][22]
In 2007 while leaving a studio, Tony Yayo (one third of G-Unit), and his friend Lodi Mack saw Jimmy Henchman's (The Game's manager) 14-year-old son. The two proceeded to assault the 14 year old which would lead to Lodi Mack's arrest. He was sentenced to two years in Prison and in 2009 Jimmy Henchman hired a hitman to kill Lodi Mack. In 2017, Jimmy Henchman was found guilty of murder and is now spending 2 life sentences in prison.[23]
On April 7, 2008, in an interview with Shanna Leviste on New York's Hot 97 FM, 50 Cent stated that Young Buck was no longer a member of G-Unit, but was still signed to G-Unit Records.[24] 50 Cent said problems involving excessive spending and Young Buck's public statement to not being paid royalty checks and "inconsistent behavior" from Young Buck, such as appearing on stage with his former Cash Money label-mate Lil Wayne, then seemingly dissing him on records with G-Unit were the main reasons for his removal.[25][26][27][28]
Their second album, T·O·S (Terminate on Sight), was released on July 1, 2008.[29][30] As a result of Young Buck's removal from the group, Young Buck still appeared on songs previously recorded with the group, but was credited as a featured artist. As of August 8, 2008, the album had sold 507,000 copies in the United States.[31][32] Along with Young Buck, reggae singer Mavado appears on the album, while production came from Swizz Beatz, Street Radio, Tha Bizness, Rick Rock and Polow da Don, among several others.
On February 20, 2014, Tony Yayo said that G-Unit had officially broken up, saying he and 50 Cent were no longer friends, and also announced his retirement from music, saying it had caused him too much stress and that he had already accomplished everything he wished to do.[33][34] Then, after what seemed like condescending comments made about Lloyd Banks and Yayo in multiple interviews, on April 25, 2014, 50 Cent said that due to the recent inside-fighting, G-Unit was currently "dismantled."[35] Despite this, on June 1, 2014, G-Unit reunited at the 21st annual Summer Jam with 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, Young Buck, and G-Unit's newest member, Louisiana rapper Kidd Kidd appearing on stage together. The following day, G-Unit released a song titled "Nah I'm Talkin' Bout", a remix of HS87's "Grindin My Whole Life", making their comeback official.[36][37] Throughout June 2014, G-Unit released numerous remixes to popular songs by other artists, including Drake, Trey Songz, and Jeremih, as well as an original song, "They Talked About Jesus".[38][39][40][41][42][43] On June 4, 50 Cent announced they were working on a studio album and revealed plans to release it by late November 2014,[44] and on June 25, 2014, announced they would be releasing a mixtape prior to the album.[45][46][47] On August 25, 2014, G-Unit surprised fans with an extended play (EP) titled The Beauty of Independence, which was released at midnight, via digital retailers.
After the first EP, the group released music videos for "Watch Me" and "Changes". G-Unit planned to release the second EP in November, but after the release of The Beauty of Independence, it was announced that the album would divided into two parts, The Beauty of Independence and The Beast Is G-Unit. The group planned to release The Beast in late October, but the EP was pushed back to a later release in 2015. On November 10, 2014, a deluxe version of The Beauty of Independence was released, containing two new songs, "Ease Up" and "Big Body Benz". On January 20, 2015, the cover art for The Beast Is G-Unit was revealed via social media. The Beast Is G-Unit was released on March 3, 2015.[48]
In August 2016, they released The Lost Flash Drive, composed of numerous unreleased songs.[49]
On April 11, 2018, Kidd Kidd announced his departure from both the group and G-Unit Records to focus on his own label, RLLNR Entertainment.[4]
On February 1, 2018, in his single "Crazy" featuring PnB Rock, 50 Cent said he and Lloyd Banks were no longer on speaking terms, and in June, Banks and 50 Cent announced his departure from both the group and the label via Instagram.[50][51]
On September 2, 2020, 50 Cent stated during an Instagram Live interview with DJ Whoo Kid that he wanted to erase the group and their success from his memories "forever".[52][53][54] He also echoed accusations that Lloyd Banks' hiatus, Tony Yayo and Young Buck's inconsistencies were what caused him to blame himself for their failures as solo artists.[55] With him and Tony Yayo left as the only members of the original lineup by this time, on August 3, 2022, 50 Cent stated on The Breakfast Club that he was done "carrying" the group; this was confirmation that G-Unit had officially broken up for the second time.[6]
The G-Unit Clothing Company was established in 2009, when 50 Cent teamed up with Marc Ecko (the founder of Eckō Unlimited), to create a line of clothing and accessories inspired by 50 Cent and fellow members of G-Unit.
G-Unit has founded G-Unity Foundation Inc. (often called simply G-Unity), a public foundation that provides grants to nonprofit organizations that focus on improving the quality of life for low-income and under served communities.
Before signing with Interscope Records, 50 Cent had been in disputes with rapper Ja Rule and his label Murder Inc. Records. 50 Cent said that the feud began in 1999 after Ja Rule spotted him with a man who took his chain.[8] However, Ja Rule said the conflict stemmed from a video shoot in Queens because 50 Cent did not like Ja Rule "getting so much love" from the neighborhood.[56] A confrontation occurred in a New York studio where rapper Black Child, a Murder Inc. artist, stabbed 50 Cent, which resulted in him having four stitches.[57]
Although it seemed that the feud was over, Ja Rule returned with a track entitled "21 Gunz".[58] In response, Lloyd Banks and 50 Cent released the track "Return of Ja Fool" on Lloyd Banks' mixtape Mo Money in the Bank Pt. 4, Gang Green Season Starts Now.
In an interview with MTV, Ja Rule has stated that his new album, The Mirror, will not be continuing any past feuds that he has engaged in. He said:
There was a lot of things I wanted to say, and I didn't want there to be any bitter records on the album. Because I'm not bitter about anything that happened [in the past few years].[59]
In early 2005, a feud between The Game and G-Unit began. Even before The Game's first album, The Documentary, was released and their feud became public, there was tension between The Game and 50 Cent.[60] Soon after The Documentary's release, 50 Cent felt that the rapper was disloyal for saying he did not want to participate in G-Unit's feud with other rappers, and even wanting to work with artists with whom G-Unit were feuding, such as Nas and Jadakiss.
50 Cent also said that he was not getting his proper credit for the creation of the album. He also said that he wrote five of the songs, but The Game denied that. During that dispute, The Game confronted 50 Cent at the Hot 97 studio in New York City and members of The Game's entourage began shooting at 50 Cent and other members of the G-unit entourage, causing them to flee the building and causing Hot 97 radio security to shoot a member of The Game's entourage.[61] After the situation between them escalated, 50 Cent and The Game held a press conference to announce their reconciliation.[62] Fans had mixed feelings as to whether the rappers created a publicity stunt to boost the sales of the two albums the pair had just released.[61] Nevertheless, even after the situation had apparently deflated,[63] G-Unit continued to feud with The Game who responded during a performance at Summer Jam and launched a boycott of G-Unit called "G-Unot".[64]
After the performance at Summer Jam, The Game responded with "300 Bars and Runnin'", an extended track aimed at G-Unit as well as members of Roc-A-Fella Records on the mixtape You Know What It Is Vol. 3. 50 Cent responded through his "Piggy Bank" music video, which features The Game as a Mr. Potato Head doll and also parodies other rivals.[65] Since then both groups continued to attack each other. The Game released two more mixtapes, Ghost Unit and a mixtape/DVD called Stop Snitchin, Stop Lyin.
50 Cent's rebuttal was "Not Rich, Still Lyin'" where he mocks The Game.[66] In addition, G-Unit started to respond on numerous mixtapes and new G-Unit Records artist Spider Loc began insulting The Game in various songs. The Game responded with "240 Bars (Spider Joke)",[66] a song mainly aimed at Spider Loc, but also addressing Tony Yayo and rap group M.O.P.,[66] and on the song 100 Bars (The Funeral).
The feud seemed to have gained steam after Tony Yayo allegedly slapped the fourteen-year-old son of Czar Entertainment CEO, Jimmy Henchman. The Game responded with "Body Bags" on his mixtape, You Know What It Is Vol. 4.[67] G-Unit have released a song named "We on Some Shit " which is aimed at Czar Entertainment as well as Cam'ron and Fat Joe.[68] In June 2010 Game expressed that he would not object to a G-Unit reunion. After the G-Unit reunion idea circulated around the internet a Facebook group was launched to help encourage the G-Unit comeback. In late 2016, the two ended their long standing feud.[69]
G-Unit on the set of the "Rider Pt. 2" video, a diss track aimed at Fat Joe
50 Cent pointed out that Fat Joe painted a target on himself for partnering up with Ja Rule on the song "New York". 50 Cent recorded the track "Piggy Bank", in which he attacked Fat Joe. Fat Joe responded with a track entitled "My Fofo" and although he said that he would not respond in songs after this, he made one more track, "Victim" which 50 Cent is purportedly the subject of as well as a guest appearance on Rick Ross' Mafia Music remix. 50 Cent and Tony Yayo took more shots at him on "I Run NY".
Even though things died down, at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, Fat Joe mentioned that all of the police presence in the venue was "courtesy of G-Unit" which related to his lyrical accusations that 50 Cent was a "snitch".[70] 50 Cent and Tony Yayo retaliated on set later in the show at the end of their performance by shouting obscenities towards Fat Joe and Terror Squad, which were censored by MTV.[70] Tony Yayo said Fat Joe ran from them at the VMAs.
When asked about the 50 Cent and G-Unit situation in an interview Fat Joe said he will no longer be responding and that he has left it to his close friend Pistol Pete and his crew Kill All Rats (K.A.R) to handle. Pistol Pete appeared on The Game's "Stop Snitchin, Stop Lyin" DVD and disrespected Tony Yayo, Chris Lighty (owner of Violator Records who had ties with 50 Cent[71]), and James Cruz (50 Cent's manager) and said he chased Tony Yayo near a jewelry store. Lloyd Banks, Spider Loc, and Young Buck have also been insulted by Fat Joe.
In 2007, the feud was continued in interviews and by affiliates from both parties.[72][73] In 2008, the beef boiled over when 50 Cent released a mixtape entitled Elephant In the Sand, which is a mock title of Fat Joe's album The Elephant in the Room. The front and back covers contain photos of Fat Joe on a beach.[74] In response Fat Joe and his group K.A.R. released a mixtape titled Gay-Unit hosted by Fat Joe himself.
The feud between 50 Cent and Fat Joe ended in 2012 when 50 Cent approached Fat Joe's trailer at the BET Awards where he was confronted by Fat Joe's entourage he told them he wanted to make peace out of respect for Chris Lighty, however Fat Joe was unsure of his intentions until later that day when they shook hands while appearing on stage together amongst other past and present Violator artists at the BET Awards segment that paid tribute to the label's founder Chris Lighty who died that year.
In 2014 Fat Joe gave a track titled Free to DJ Kay Slay to use as he was working on his final album and told him he can do whatever he wants with it. In light of the 2012 BET Awards Kay Slay decided to get 50 Cent to do a verse for it and put his on his mixtape The Rise Of A City. Although Fat Joe was unaware Kay Slay was putting 50 Cent on his track he approved stating unity is good for hip-hop.
That same year, Tony Yayo shouted out Fat Joe, saying that there was "no beef".
A feud between 50 Cent and Cam'ron began when 50 Cent was on Hot 97 giving an interview and Cam'ron called in.[75] Cam’ron asked 50 Cent whether he had the power to stop records from being released on Koch Records and 50 Cent said that he does in some respects. As the conversation escalated into an argument, 50 Cent called Koch Records the "industry graveyard".[75] Cam'ron pointed out that Jim Jones' newest album sold just as much as Lloyd Banks' album did, despite the fact that Dipset is on an independent label while G-Unit is on a major label. 50 Cent took offense to this and said that Lloyd Banks has more money than Lil Wayne and Jim Jones, which makes record sales irrelevant. Cam'ron became upset and rebutted 50 Cent's statements. Most notably, he brought up the poor record sales of the Mobb Deep album, Blood Money. Eventually the debate became so heated that the radio station was forced to end the call.[75]
In an episode of the MTVclay animated show Celebrity Deathmatch, entitled "Where's Lohan?", depicted a fight to the death between 50 Cent and The Game. The fight ends with 50 Cent shooting The Game with the bullets that were still inside 50 Cent's body.
Carpentry tools recovered from the wreck of a 16th-century sailing ship, the Mary Rose. From the top, a mallet, brace, plane, handle of a T-auger, handle of a gimlet, possible handle of a hammer, and rule.
Early human tools, made of such materials as stone, bone, and wood, were used for the preparation of food, hunting, the manufacture of weapons, and the working of materials to produce clothing and useful artifacts and crafts such as pottery, along with the construction of housing, businesses, infrastructure, and transportation. The development of metalworking made additional types of tools possible. Harnessing energy sources, such as animal power, wind, or steam, allowed increasingly complex tools to produce an even larger range of items, with the Industrial Revolution marking an inflection point in the use of tools. The introduction of widespread automation in the 19th and 20th centuries allowed tools to operate with minimal human supervision, further increasing the productivity of human labor.
By extension, concepts that support systematic or investigative thought are often referred to as "tools" or "toolkits".
While a common-sense understanding of the meaning of tool is widespread, several formal definitions have been proposed.
In 1981, Benjamin Beck published a widely used definition of tool use.[1] This has been modified to:
The external employment of an unattached or manipulable attached environmental object to alter more efficiently the form, position, or condition of another object, another organism, or the user itself, when the user holds and directly manipulates the tool during or prior to use and is responsible for the proper and effective orientation of the tool.[2]
An object that has been modified to fit a purpose ... [or] An inanimate object that one uses or modifies in some way to cause a change in the environment, thereby facilitating one's achievement of a target goal.
Anthropologists believe that the use of tools was an important step in the evolution of mankind.[6] Because tools are used extensively by both humans (Homo sapiens) and wild chimpanzees, it is widely assumed that the first routine use of tools took place prior to the divergence between the two ape species.[7] These early tools, however, were likely made of perishable materials such as sticks, or consisted of unmodified stones that cannot be distinguished from other stones as tools.
Stone artifacts date back to about 2.5 million years ago.[8] However, a 2010 study suggests the hominin species Australopithecus afarensis ate meat by carving animal carcasses with stone implements. This finding pushes back the earliest known use of stone tools among hominins to about 3.4 million years ago.[9] Finds of actual tools date back at least 2.6 million years in Ethiopia.[10] One of the earliest distinguishable stone tool forms is the hand axe.
Up until recently, weapons found in digs were the only tools of "early man" that were studied and given importance. Now, more tools are recognized as culturally and historically relevant. As well as hunting, other activities required tools such as preparing food, "...nutting, leatherworking, grain harvesting and woodworking..."[11] Included in this group are "flake stone tools".
Tools are the most important items that the ancient humans used to climb to the top of the food chain; by inventing tools, they were able to accomplish tasks that human bodies could not, such as using a spear or bow to kill prey, since their teeth were not sharp enough to pierce many animals' skins. "Man the hunter" as the catalyst for Hominin change has been questioned. Based on marks on the bones at archaeological sites, it is now more evident that pre-humans were scavenging off of other predators' carcasses rather than killing their own food.[12]
Many tools were made in prehistory or in the early centuries of recorded history, but archaeological evidence can provide dates of development and use.[13][14][15]
The screw, the last of the simple machines to be invented,[22] first appeared in Mesopotamia during the Neo-Assyrian period (911–609 BC).[21] The Assyrian King Sennacherib (704–681 BC) claims to have invented automatic sluices and to have been the first to use water screw pumps, of up to 30 tons weight, which were cast using two-part clay molds rather than by the 'lost wax' process.[23] The Jerwan Aqueduct (c. 688 BC) is made with stone arches and lined with waterproof concrete.[24] The earliest evidence of water wheels and watermills date back to the ancient Near East in the 4th century BC,[25] specifically in the Persian Empire before 350 BC, in the regions of Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Persia (Iran).[26] This pioneering use of water power constituted perhaps the first use of mechanical energy.[27]
Machine tools occasioned a surge in producing new tools in the Industrial Revolution. Pre-industrial machinery was built by various craftsmen—millwrights built water and windmills, carpenters made wooden framing, and smiths and turners made metal parts. Wooden components had the disadvantage of changing dimensions with temperature and humidity, and the various joints tended to rack (work loose) over time. As the Industrial Revolution progressed, machines with metal parts and frames became more common.[28][29]
Other important uses of metal parts were in firearms and threaded fasteners, such as machine screws, bolts, and nuts. There was also the need for precision in making parts. Precision would allow better working machinery, interchangeability of parts, and standardization of threaded fasteners. The demand for metal parts led to the development of several machine tools. They have their origins in the tools developed in the 18th century by makers of clocks and watches and scientific instrument makers to enable them to batch-produce small mechanisms. Before the advent of machine tools, metal was worked manually using the basic hand tools of hammers, files, scrapers, saws, and chisels. Consequently, the use of metal machine parts was kept to a minimum. Hand methods of production were very laborious and costly and precision was difficult to achieve.[30][31] With their inherent precision, machine tools enabled the economical production of interchangeable parts.[28][29][32]
One can classify tools according to their basic functions:
Cutting and edge tools, such as the knife, sickle, scythe, hatchet, and axe, are wedge-shaped implements that produce a shearing force along a narrow face. Ideally, the edge of the tool needs to be harder than the material being cut or the blade will become dulled with repeated use. But even resilient tools will require periodic sharpening, which is the process of removing deformation wear from the edge. Other examples of cutting tools include gouges[35] and drill bits.[36]
Moving tools move large and tiny items. Many are levers which give the user a mechanical advantage. Examples of force-concentrating tools include the hammer which moves a nail or the maul which moves a stake. These operate by applying physical compression to a surface. In the case of the screwdriver, the force is rotational and called torque. By contrast, an anvil concentrates force on an object being hammered by preventing it from moving away when struck. Writing implements deliver a fluid to a surface via compression to activate the ink cartridge. Grabbing and twisting nuts and bolts with pliers, a glove, a wrench, etc. likewise move items by applying torque (rotational force).[37]
Tools that enact chemical changes, including temperature and ignition, such as lighters and blowtorches.
Some tools may be combinations of other tools. An alarm-clock is for example a combination of a measuring tool (the clock) and a perception tool (the alarm). This enables the alarm-clock to be a tool that falls outside of all the categories mentioned above.
There is some debate on whether to consider protective gear items as tools, because they do not directly help perform work, just protect the worker like ordinary clothing. They do meet the general definition of tools and in many cases are necessary for the completion of the work. Personal protective equipment includes such items as gloves, safety glasses, ear defenders and biohazard suits.[38]
Often, by design or coincidence, a tool may share key functional attributes with one or more other tools. In this case, some tools can substitute for other tools, either as a makeshift solution or as a matter of practical efficiency. "One tool does it all" is a motto of some importance for workers who cannot practically carry every specialized tool to the location of every work task, such as a carpenter who does not necessarily work in a shop all day and needs to do jobs in a customer's house. Tool substitution may be divided broadly into two classes: substitution "by-design", or "multi-purpose", and substitution as makeshift. Substitution "by-design" would be tools that are designed specifically to accomplish multiple tasks using only that one tool.
Substitution is "makeshift" when human ingenuity comes into play and a tool is used for an unintended purpose, such as using a long screwdriver to separate a cars control arm from a ball joint, instead of using a tuning fork. In many cases, the designed secondary functions of tools are not widely known. For example, many wood-cutting hand saws integrate a square by incorporating a specially-shaped handle, that allows 90° and 45° angles to be marked by aligning the appropriate part of the handle with an edge, and scribing along the back edge of the saw. The latter is illustrated by the saying "All tools can be used as hammers". Nearly all tools can be used to function as a hammer,[39] even though few tools are intentionally designed for it and even fewer work as well as the original.
Bicycle multi-tool
Tools are often used to substitute for many mechanical apparatuses, especially in older mechanical devices. In many cases a cheap tool could be used to occupy the place of a missing mechanical part. A window roller in a car could be replaced with pliers. A transmission shifter or ignition switch would be able to be replaced with a screwdriver. Again, these would be considered tools that are being used for their unintended purposes, substitution as makeshift. Tools such as a rotary tool would be considered the substitution "by-design", or "multi-purpose". This class of tools allows the use of one tool that has at least two different capabilities. "Multi-purpose" tools are basically multiple tools in one device/tool. Tools such as this are often power tools that come with many different attachments like a rotary tool does, so one could say that a power drill is a "multi-purpose" tool.[40]
A multi-tool is a hand tool that incorporates several tools into a single, portable device; the Swiss Army knife represents one of the earliest examples.[41] Other tools have a primary purpose but also incorporate other functionality – for example, lineman's pliers incorporate a gripper and cutter and are often used as a hammer;[39] and some hand saws incorporate a square in the right-angle between the blade's dull edge and the saw's handle. This would also be the category of "multi-purpose" tools, since they are also multiple tools in one (multi-use and multi-purpose can be used interchangeably – compare hand axe). These types of tools were specifically made to catch the eye of many different craftsman who traveled to do their work. To these workers these types of tools were revolutionary because they were one tool or one device that could do several different things. With this new revolution of tools, the traveling craftsman would not have to carry so many tools with them to job sites, in that their space would be limited to the vehicle or to the beast of burden they were driving. Multi-use tools solve the problem of having to deal with many different tools.
Tool use by animals is a phenomenon in which an animal uses any kind of tool in order to achieve a goal such as acquiring food and water, grooming, defense, communication, recreation or construction.[42] Originally thought to be a skill possessed only by humans, some tool use requires a sophisticated level of cognition.[43] There is considerable discussion about the definition of what constitutes a tool and therefore which behaviours can be considered true examples of tool use.[42][44] Observation has confirmed that a number of species can use tools including monkeys, apes, elephants, several birds, and sea otters. Now the unique relationship of humans with tools is considered to be that we are the only species that uses tools to make other tools.[42][45]
Primates are well known for using tools for hunting or gathering food and water, cover for rain, and self-defense. Chimpanzees have often been the object of study in regard to their usage of tools, most famously by Jane Goodall; these animals are closely related to humans. Wild tool-use in other primates, especially among apes and monkeys, is considered relatively common, though its full extent remains poorly documented, as many primates in the wild are mainly only observed distantly or briefly when in their natural environments and living without human influence.[42][44] Some novel tool-use by primates may arise in a localized or isolated manner within certain unique primate cultures, being transmitted and practiced among socially connected primates through cultural learning.[43] Many famous researchers, such as Charles Darwin in his book The Descent of Man, mentioned tool-use in monkeys (such as baboons).[42][44][46]
Among other mammals, both wild and captive elephants are known to create tools using their trunks and feet, mainly for swatting flies, scratching, plugging up waterholes that they have dug (to close them up again so the water does not evaporate), and reaching food that is out of reach. Many other social mammals particularly have been observed engaging in tool-use. A group of dolphins in Shark Bay uses sea sponges to protect their beaks while foraging. Sea otters will use rocks or other hard objects to dislodge food (such as abalone) and break open shellfish. Many or most mammals of the order Carnivora have been observed using tools, often to trap or break open the shells of prey, as well as for scratching.[42][44][46]
Corvids (such as crows, ravens and rooks) are well known for their large brains (among birds) and tool use. New Caledonian crows are among the only animals that create their own tools. They mainly manufacture probes out of twigs and wood (and sometimes metal wire) to catch or impale larvae. Tool use in some birds may be best exemplified in nest intricacy. Tailorbirds manufacture 'pouches' to make their nests in. Some birds, such as weaver birds, build complex nests utilizing a diverse array of objects and materials, many of which are specifically chosen by certain birds for their unique qualities. Woodpecker finches insert twigs into trees in order to catch or impale larvae. Parrots may use tools to wedge nuts so that they can crack open the outer shell of nuts without launching away the inner contents. Some birds take advantage of human activity, such as carrion crows in Japan, which drop nuts in front of cars to crack them open.[42][44][46]
Several species of fish use tools to hunt and crack open shellfish, extract food that is out of reach, or clear an area for nesting. Among cephalopods (and perhaps uniquely or to an extent unobserved among invertebrates), octopuses are known to use tools relatively frequently, such as gathering coconut shells to create a shelter or using rocks to create barriers.[42][44][46]
By extension, concepts which support systematic or investigative thought are often referred to as "tools", for example Vanessa Dye refers to "tools of reflection" and "tools to help sharpen your professional practice" for trainee teachers,[47] illustrating the connection between physical and conceptual tools by quoting the French scientist Claude Bernaud:
we must change [our ideas] when they have served their purpose, as we change a blunt lancet that we have used long enough.[47]
Similarly, a decision-making process "developed to help women and their partners make confident and informed decisions when planning where to give birth" is described as a "Birth Choice tool":
The tool encourages women to consider out-of-hospital settin
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