Love for young girls was at the heart of John Clare’s life and poetry. The following well-known poem, where the word ‘timid’ appears 4 times, illustrates his shy and restrained view of romantic relationships: “True love, it is no daring bird, / But like the little timid wren.” CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Federico García Lorca, by his full name Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (1898–1936), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. Between 1924 and 1927, he wrote the poetry collection Romancero gitano (Gypsy Ballads), which he published in 1928. It brought him fame, and it remains his best known book of poetry. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Poets and Lovers has lived four years and a half, longer than its predecessor Agapeta. Hopefully, it should no more be threatened by technical failures or attempts at censorship, but the main obstacle could now become the progressive drying of the poetical sources of its contents. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Can a childhood love be the strongest and most beautiful feeling ever experienced? And is this love the truest when it unites a brother and a sister?
The childhood of Thomas De Quincey was marked by the affliction of death. He had three sisters, who were his playmates, whith whom he lived day and night: Elizabeth (two years older than him), Mary (one year older), and Jane (one year younger). At age 4, he first lost Jane, aged 3, but at that time he could not comprehend death fully. Then, two months before his 7th birthday, Elizabeth died at the age of 8 or 9. Last, his father died one year later. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
The American garage rock band Syndicate of Sound was formed in 1964 in San Jose, California, when Don Baskin (vocals, guitar) and Bob Gonzalez (bass guitar) united with a local group called the Pharaohs. After their unsuccessful single “Prepare For Love” in 1965, in early 1966 they recorded on Hush Records the song “Little Girl,” written by Don Baskin and Bob Gonzalez, which became popular and reached the US national pop charts in June 1966, peaking at number 5 on Cash Box and number 8 on Billboard. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
King Diamond is the stage name of Kim Bendix Petersen, a Danish rock singer and songwriter born on June 14, 1956. In 1985 he formed, with guitarist Michael Denner and bassist Timi Hansen, a heavy metal band also called King Diamond. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Gene Maltais is an American musician, singer and songwriter, born in Concord, New Hampshire, on May 21, 1933. Prior to 1958, he met Tony Hilder who introduced him to Aladdin Records. Maltais wrote songs for recording artists, including John & Jackie. The latter recorded two songs written by him, “The Raging Sea” and “Little Girl,” which were released as a single in July 1958 on the Aladdin label. The two sides of the record are not numbered or labelled A and B, so either one or the other of the two songs is considered as the A-side. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Carl Everett Glasscock McVoy was an American singer and pianist, cousin to Jerry Lee Lewis (their mothers were sisters), born on January 3, 1931 in Epps, Louisiana. Due to financial reason, most of his musical recordings were distributed in small numbers or even not issued. He combined his unsuccessful musical career with a day job in the construction business, and indeed around 1965 he quit the music business and opted for a more secure future in the construction industry, in which he worked until his death on January 3, 1992 in Jackson, Mississippi. Several of his records have been reissued posthumously. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
The lyricist Gerry Goffin and the composer Carole King, husband and wife, formed a prolific songwriting team throughout the 1960s. Their love song “When My Little Girl Is Smiling” was first recorded in October 1961 by The Drifters, an American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group. Released as a single on the Atlantic label in February 1962, it reached number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, while in Britain it reached number 31 on the UK Singles Chart in May 1962. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Jim Morrison, the singer of the rock group The Doors, was foremost a poet. He wrote most lyrics of the group’s songs, and he filled notebooks with poems. In his lifetime he self-published three volumes of his poetry, and more poems were published posthumously. His collected works were edited by Frank Lisciandro and published as a single volume by Harper Design in 2021. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
