Here are two sets of musical astrological twins from different generations, one set from the UK one from the USA.
From the UK:
Roger Daltrey of The Who & Mike d'Abo of Manfred Mann both born on 1 March 1944 - both have a birthday tomorrow!
Daltrey and D'Abo led broadly similar professional lives early on, though Daltrey has maintained a higher profile for longer.
Roger Daltrey CBE, singer/guitarist was one of the founding members of the British hard-rock group The Who. While Peter Townsend was at first the head man of the group, Daltrey quickly emerged as the lead singer, with a particular gift for all-stops-out "soul" interpretations. Daltrey assumed the central role of the deaf/dumb/blind pinball wizard in The Who's rock opera Tommy when the piece was adapted for film by director Ken Russell in 1975. He then portrayed a very revisionist Franz Liszt (bare-bottom scenes and all) in Ken Russell's outrageous biopic Lisztomania (1975). Roger Daltry has continued accepting occasional film roles into the 1990s, and played Judas in the 1996 production of Jesus Christ Superstar.
Mike D'Abo replaced Paul Jones as Manfred Mann's lead vocalist in 1966. The band broke up in 1969 . D'Abo went on to appear in U.S. productions of Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, and later became a session musician, songwriter and BBC radio host. He wrote the song Handbags and Gladrags which was a big hit for the Stereophonics in the UK a few years ago.
Interesting tid-bit emerged there - both D'Abo and Daltrey appeared in Jesus Christ Superstar.
I've pulled up a chart for the date of their birth, 1 March 1944, set for London where Daltrey was born. D'Abo was born in the south of England also, so one chart, set for 12 noon, will suffice for a casual glance. We must ignore Moon position and ascendant as shown as these will be inaccurate. (According to Astrodatabank Daltrey has Gemini Moon and Scorpio rising, but I can find no time of birth for D'Abo).
These guys have a predominance of planets in Air signs, none in Earth. There's a Grand Trine in Air signs linking Uranus/Venus/Neptune. This Airy circuit links generational planets Uranus and Neptune to personal planet Venus, planet of the arts. This indicates that the guys were "wired-up" astrologically to take advantage of the generational pull from Uranus (avant garde) and Neptune (creativity) via their natal Venus in inventive Aquarius. Not surprising, then, that one of the arts became their common chosen career path.
From the USA:
B.B. King legendary blues singer and guitarist and Charlie Byrd famous guitarist specialising in Latin styles
- both born on 16 September 1925. B.B. King is still with us, still playing I think. Charlie Byrd died of lung cancer in December 1999.
B.B. King is "King of the Blues" -a legend in his own lifetime, said to be the single most important electric guitarist of the last half century. "His bent notes and staccato picking style have influenced legions of contemporary bluesmen, while his gritty and confident voice -- capable of wringing every nuance from any lyric -- provides a worthy match for his passionate playing." (More here.)
Charlie Byrd is best remembered for the work he did with Stan Getz, and for his work with Herb Ellis and Barney Kessel, as The Great Guitars. He brought to the concert guitar both a high degree of sophistication due to his classical training and a kind of down home quality that came through when he played blues and straight ahead jazz.
It was said he could play a Bach Cantata with the same ease as a Gershwin song, but he delivered each in its own unique way. (More here.)
This pair of astro-twins are of a different generation from the first pair, and are quite different in "make-up". Whereas the first pair were predominantly Airy, these two have no Air planets at all - they have Earth and Water based personalities.
Two oppositions stand out: Virgo Sun opposing Uranus in Pisces, and Jupiter in Capricorn opposing Pluto in Cancer. Two personal planets opposing/balancing two slow-moving, generational planets. How to translate that? You know, I'd like to think that it symbolically indicates a kind of timelessness in what they do, or have done. Their kind of music is timeless for sure, untramelled by gimmick-du-jour or pop charts.
These guys have a Grand Trine in Water signs, a configuration or circuit laying emphasis on emotion: easy to see how that worked out: the highly emotional blues (BB King) and sentimental and/or steamy Latin music (Byrd).
Rather than litter the blog with 4 videos, I've chosen just one: a personal favourite - Antonio Carlos Jobim's Wave played by the Charlie Byrd Trio
From the UK:
Roger Daltrey of The Who & Mike d'Abo of Manfred Mann both born on 1 March 1944 - both have a birthday tomorrow!
Daltrey and D'Abo led broadly similar professional lives early on, though Daltrey has maintained a higher profile for longer.
Roger Daltrey CBE, singer/guitarist was one of the founding members of the British hard-rock group The Who. While Peter Townsend was at first the head man of the group, Daltrey quickly emerged as the lead singer, with a particular gift for all-stops-out "soul" interpretations. Daltrey assumed the central role of the deaf/dumb/blind pinball wizard in The Who's rock opera Tommy when the piece was adapted for film by director Ken Russell in 1975. He then portrayed a very revisionist Franz Liszt (bare-bottom scenes and all) in Ken Russell's outrageous biopic Lisztomania (1975). Roger Daltry has continued accepting occasional film roles into the 1990s, and played Judas in the 1996 production of Jesus Christ Superstar. 
Mike D'Abo replaced Paul Jones as Manfred Mann's lead vocalist in 1966. The band broke up in 1969 . D'Abo went on to appear in U.S. productions of Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, and later became a session musician, songwriter and BBC radio host. He wrote the song Handbags and Gladrags which was a big hit for the Stereophonics in the UK a few years ago.
Interesting tid-bit emerged there - both D'Abo and Daltrey appeared in Jesus Christ Superstar.
I've pulled up a chart for the date of their birth, 1 March 1944, set for London where Daltrey was born. D'Abo was born in the south of England also, so one chart, set for 12 noon, will suffice for a casual glance. We must ignore Moon position and ascendant as shown as these will be inaccurate. (According to Astrodatabank Daltrey has Gemini Moon and Scorpio rising, but I can find no time of birth for D'Abo).
These guys have a predominance of planets in Air signs, none in Earth. There's a Grand Trine in Air signs linking Uranus/Venus/Neptune. This Airy circuit links generational planets Uranus and Neptune to personal planet Venus, planet of the arts. This indicates that the guys were "wired-up" astrologically to take advantage of the generational pull from Uranus (avant garde) and Neptune (creativity) via their natal Venus in inventive Aquarius. Not surprising, then, that one of the arts became their common chosen career path.
From the USA:
B.B. King legendary blues singer and guitarist and Charlie Byrd famous guitarist specialising in Latin styles
- both born on 16 September 1925. B.B. King is still with us, still playing I think. Charlie Byrd died of lung cancer in December 1999.
B.B. King is "King of the Blues" -a legend in his own lifetime, said to be the single most important electric guitarist of the last half century. "His bent notes and staccato picking style have influenced legions of contemporary bluesmen, while his gritty and confident voice -- capable of wringing every nuance from any lyric -- provides a worthy match for his passionate playing." (More here.)
Charlie Byrd is best remembered for the work he did with Stan Getz, and for his work with Herb Ellis and Barney Kessel, as The Great Guitars. He brought to the concert guitar both a high degree of sophistication due to his classical training and a kind of down home quality that came through when he played blues and straight ahead jazz.
It was said he could play a Bach Cantata with the same ease as a Gershwin song, but he delivered each in its own unique way. (More here.)
This pair of astro-twins are of a different generation from the first pair, and are quite different in "make-up". Whereas the first pair were predominantly Airy, these two have no Air planets at all - they have Earth and Water based personalities.
Two oppositions stand out: Virgo Sun opposing Uranus in Pisces, and Jupiter in Capricorn opposing Pluto in Cancer. Two personal planets opposing/balancing two slow-moving, generational planets. How to translate that? You know, I'd like to think that it symbolically indicates a kind of timelessness in what they do, or have done. Their kind of music is timeless for sure, untramelled by gimmick-du-jour or pop charts.
These guys have a Grand Trine in Water signs, a configuration or circuit laying emphasis on emotion: easy to see how that worked out: the highly emotional blues (BB King) and sentimental and/or steamy Latin music (Byrd).
Rather than litter the blog with 4 videos, I've chosen just one: a personal favourite - Antonio Carlos Jobim's Wave played by the Charlie Byrd Trio
10 comments:
Fascinating stuff on the greats, T. More connected than they realize.
XO
WWW
OK, you're hitting me where I live with B.B. King. The greatest of all the blues players, I believe. Not sure how it's happened, but over the years I've see B.B. live more than any other music artist - nearly a dozen times. He's never disappointed and has been a huge influence on guitar players of nearly all genres. Charlie Bird is excellent, but B.B. is ... well, B.B. Those bent notes cut straight through my heart to my soul. Son Chris became a B.B. fan before his mom and I married. We took them to a day-long blues concert in Dallas and Bubs was mesmerized by B.B. To this day, if there are a dozen guitarists playing at once, Chris can pick out B.B.
Something about Manfred Mann - the group didn't really break up, they morphed into Manfred Mann's Earth Band, who have a cult following - to which I belong - and a couple hit songs in the '70s by doing covers of Bruce Springsteen songs.
WWW ~~~ Yes. Just sometimes we find these instances of astro twinning which are obvious to the observer. More often the "twin" factor will be part of private life and unseen by casual onlookers.
TNPOTUS ~~~ Hi!
Ah yes! You're a true blue blues fan! I can appreciate why BB King is so revered, even though I'm not particularly into the blues genre myself, apart from the odd track, or bluesy vocal.
It's a strange thing about the ease of picking out individual guitarists isn't it? They do have a very particular and identifiable style, even more so than other instrument experts.
Willie Nelson's guitar can be identified easily and so can Mark Knopfler's - and Santana. Of course Clever Clogs like Himself can pick out all manner of pianists, sax players, clarinetists etc.etc. But even I can recognise some guitarists after a couple of notes.
Oh yes, I vaguely recall the MM Earth Band, at least the name.
I think that back then, when they were popular, I was probably in a deeply Sinatra phase. ;-)
They had an episode of "CSI" which starred Roger Daltrey in a succession of latex masks, and they couldn't call it "Who Are You?" as they had already used that title!
Just curious. Have you considered comparing Stephen King, who wrote "The Body", which mysteriously became "Stand By Me" when turned into a film, and Ben E King who sang "Stand By Me"?
Vanilla Rose ~~~ Hi!
Daltrey does kind of fancy himself as an actor doesn't he. I don't recall e ver seeing him in a non-musical role though, so don't know how talented he is in that direction.
That's an intriguing thought, about S. King and Ben E. King. :-)
I'll take a look see whether there's nything of interest there.
I picked up a VHS set of King's "The Stand" recently. We watched it on 2 successive evenings.
I enjoyed it, but there did seem to be a few loopholes and odd transitions in the plot. We suspected the recording had been edited to fit into the space of 4 tapes.
I've also bought a used copy of the old novel "The Earth Abides" - upon which The Stand was based. Haven't strted reading it yet.
:-)
I love it whey you find this sort of parallel.
anyjazz ~~~ Yes - so do I !
:-)
Regarding Ken Russell, I am surprised you have not looked at his chart!
Born on July 3, 1927 at five minutes past midnight in Southampton, Russell has eight planets in fire, no earth and no air. Whilst he has several sixth house planets, he not only has no planets in air but has a nearly unaspected Leo Mercury and not one planet in an air house. Russell’s total lack of air is comparable to his more famous contemporary Andy Warhol.
His fire is countered only by Sun and Ascendant in water signs, giving a personality with no capacity to relate to different viewpoints, nor to work in the practical world. This, along with his dramatic Leo planets, may explain the extreme themes of many of Russell’s films.
What do you think? Do you think his chart would be a fascinating study?
jpbenney ~~ I've avoided delving into Ken Russell's because, to be honest, I found his style to be unpleasant, and for some unknown reason he repulsed me. Feelings of that nature haven't stopped me delving into individuals' charts as a rule though. I just had a particularly bad feeling about Russell -silly, I guess!
I'll keep his name on my list of "things to do" though, for a possible future post.
And...thanks for your comment, more views on any astrology are always very welcome. Your take on main points of his chart sounds to me to be spot on!
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