Ghostface Killah

In a 2000 episode of SNL, Ana Gasteyr in character as Martha Stewart proclaimed that she was cutting her ties as spokesperson for K-Mart because the chain had refused to stock the latest album by her "homie" Ghostface Killah. His son Nick, a successful singer/songwriter in his own right, occasionally tours and records with him. Though Ghostface has had little mainstream success musically, he has managed to make something of an impression on mainstream pop culture, similarly to his groupmates ODB and Method Man. A recording of the concert was released as a double CD shortly afterwards. He also appeared on the track "On My Knees" by UK R&B group The 411 which became a hit in the UK and Australia, and released an album titled 718 with a group of his proteges, calling themselves The Theodore Unit. In June 2001, he celebrated his 60th birthday with a concert at London's Royal Festival Hall, featuring many guest artists. In April of 2004, The Pretty Toney Album was released on Def Jam; it featured collaborations with Missy Elliott and Jadakiss and was Ghostface's first album to be credited to "Ghostface" rather than "Ghostface Killah". The 2000 album, The Green Man was an entirely solo effort with Harper on acoustic guitar with no accompaniment.

He had another minor club hit with "Flowers" which featured guest vocals from fellow Wu-Tang members Method Man and Raekwon. Jethro Tull's singer Ian Anderson also sessioned, contributing flute to the song, "These Fifty Years". Ghostface wasted little time in recording his next album, the heavily R&B-influenced Bulletproof Wallets which was released a year after Supreme Clientele. His son, Nick Harper, is also a songwriter- guitarist and contributed tracks to the 1998 album, The Dream Society. "Cherchez La Ghost", a single off the album, became a minor club hit, and the sentimental "Child's Play" brought Ghostface numerous comparisons with Slick Rick. Harper's spoken words can be heard on The Tea Party's 1995 album Edges of Twilight and he sings on the track "Time" from their 1996 album Alhambra. His follow-up to Ironman was Supreme Clientele in 2000 (see 2000 in music), which was critically acclaimed by both mainstream critics and hip hop enthusiasts. After the end of his marriage, Harper composed the melancholy Death or Glory in 1992.

Ghostface became well-known for both his uptempo, seemingly indecipherable stream-of-consciousness raps and, later in his career, for his very emotionally charged delivery (first seen on the Wu-Tang Clan track "Impossible"). Since 1986, Harper has had a relatively low public profile, although 1990's Once was a tour-de-force, again featuring David Gilmour and Kate Bush. His first solo LP was Iron Man in 1996 (see 1996 in music), which was successful in hip hop circles and debuted at #2 on the pop charts. They released an album called Whatever Happened to Jugula? under Harper's name but co-credited to Jimmy Page. Tony Franklin, the bass player in Harper's group would later join Page in The Firm. As a solo artist, he first appeared on Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (with clan-mate Raekwon, 1995, see 1995 in music), then on the soundtracks to Sunset Park and Don't Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood. Throughout 1984, Harper toured the United Kingdom with Jimmy Page, performing a predominantly acoustic set at folk festivals under various guises such as The MacGregors, and Themselves. He also goes by the alias of Tony Starks, the real identity of super hero Iron Man. The Work of Heart album released in 1982 marked the formation of his own record label with Mark Thompson, entitled Public Records.

After the Wu-Tang achieved breakthrough commercial success in the early 1990s, Ghostface Killah, like most of his clan-mates, began a solo career. In 1980, Harper sang backing vocals on the Kate Bush song "Breathing". Ghostface Killah aka (born Dennis Coles) is an American rapper and member of the Wu-Tang Clan. For much of the seventies, Harper was managed, and had records produced, by Peter Jenner. In April 1978, Harper began writing lyrics for the next Led Zeppelin album, with Jimmy Page, but the project was shelved when Robert Plant returned from his self-imposed sabbatical after the death of his son Karac. Bullinamingvase also featured "One of Those Days in England", with backing vocals by Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney, which became a Top 40 hit.

Harper was forced under duress to drop it from future copies of the album, though it reappeared on a later CD reissue. Controversy soon followed with the release of 1977's Bullinamingvase, with a motorway service station objecting to the lyrics in the song "Watford Gap" which criticised their food. The single "When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease", taken from the album, is Harper's biggest selling and best known solo record to date. Pink Floyd's David Gilmour returned the favour by appearing on Harper's next album, HQ, with his occasional backing band called Trigger (Chris Spedding on guitar, Dave Cochran on bass guitar, and Bill Bruford on drums) and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones.

Pink Floyd's 1975 release Wish You Were Here saw Harper as lead vocalist on the song "Have a Cigar". Between 1975 and 1978, Harper spent considerable time in the United States. The live album Flashes from the Archives of Oblivion soon followed. A concert to mark its release was held at London's Rainbow Theatre with Page, Bedford, and Keith Moon on drums.

His next album Valentine, was released on Valentine's Day, February 14, 1974 and featured contributions from guitarist Jimmy Page. The soundtrack for this film appeared in the following year with the title Lifemask. In 1972, Harper made his acting debut playing Mike Preston in the John Mackenzie film Made. Harper's 1971 critically acclaimed album was the four song epic, Stormcock, featuring Jimmy Page on guitar and David Bedford's orchestral arrangements, who would collaborate on future releases.

In a mutual appreciation of their work, Harper would often attend live performances by Led Zeppelin over the subsequent decade as well as contribute sleeve photography to the album Physical Graffiti and appear, uncredited, in the 1976 film, The Song Remains the Same. According to Jimmy Page, the band admired the way Harper stood by his principles and did not sell out to commercial pressures. After the Bath Festival of 1970, Led Zeppelin wrote a song titled "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper", which appeared on the album Led Zeppelin III. Flat Baroque and Beserk also marked Harper's long yet confrontational association with Harvest Records.

Its ethereal sound was achieved by a wah wah pedal attached to an acoustic guitar. Harper's first tour of the United States followed the release of the album Flat Baroque and Beserk in 1970 which featured The Nice on one track called "Hell's Angels". Starting since May, 1968, Harper was making regular appearances at free concerts in London's Hyde Park attracting a cult following of fans from the underground music scene. 1969's Folkjokeopus virtually mirrored the previous album, with a 15 minute version of "McGooghan's Blues".

Its cover was controversial at the time, depicting a new born baby, complete with umbilical cord. CBS Records saw his potential and hired producer Shel Talmy to arrange Come out Fighting Genghis Smith, with the 11 minute blues track "Circles", marking a widening of Harper's audience away from pure folk. It consisted of his sung poetry backed by acoustic guitar with a revox tape machine. His first album, The Sophisticated Beggar, was recorded in 1966 after Harper was spotted at the Les Cousins club and signed to Peter Richard's Strike Records.

Harper then busked around Europe until 1964 when he returned to England and gained residency at London's famous Les Cousins folk club in Soho. Leaving school when he was 15, he joined the Royal Air Force only to reject its rigid discipline, and then managed to feign madness—and receive ECT—in order to get a discharge. At the age of 10, he began playing skiffle music with his older brother, David Harper, as well as being influenced by blues music. Harper's anti-religious views would later become a familiar theme in his music.

After the death of his mother during childbirth, he was raised by his father and his step-mother, whom he did not get along with because of her Jehovah's Witness beliefs. Harper was born in the Manchester suburb of Rusholme, England. Roy Harper, (born June 12, 1941), is a British singer-songwriter who specialises in uncompromising introspective lyrics and folk influenced compositions. The Song Remains the Same (1976).

Made (1972). Today Is Yesterday (archive recordings from 1964/5). Royal Festival Hall Live 2001 (2001). The Green Man (2001).

The Dream Society (1998). East Of The Sun (compilation of love songs). The BBC Tapes (1997) (six volumes, on CD, not tape). Live at Les Cousins (1996) (live).

Unhinged (1995) (compilation). An Introduction to Roy Harper (1994) (compilation). Commercial Breaks (1994) (previously unreleased material from 1977). Born in Captivity II (1992) (live).

Death or Glory (1992). Burn the World (1990). Once (1990). Loony on the Bus (1988).

Descendants of Smith (1988). In Between Every Line (1986) (live). Whatever Happened to Jugula? (1985), with Jimmy Page. Born in Captivity (1984).

Work of Heart (1982). The Unknown Soldier (1980). Roy Harper 1970-75 (1978) (compilation). Bullinamingvase (1977).

HQ (1975) (US title: When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease). Flashes from the Archives of Oblivion (1974) (live). Valentine (1974). Lifemask (1973) (soundtrack).

Stormcock (1971). Flat Baroque and Berserk (1970). Folkjokeopus (1969). Come out Fighting Ghengis Smith (1968).

The Sophisticated Beggar (1966).