Fifties American Rock
Group & Last Name Index to Full History:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Tracks are listed in chronological order by year, then alphabetically.
Listings do not reflect proper order by month or day: later oft precedes earlier.
Find on Page = F3. Not on this page? See history tree below.
Featured on this page loosely in order of first recording if not record release (as possible).
Names are alphabetical, not chronological, per year:
1940 Blueberry Hill
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Caveats in the employment of this page: 1. It descends in chronological
order by the year the artist or band is first found on a commercial record
issue (ideally) by year only, alphabetical thereat. One musician above
another doesn't necessarily translate to earlier issue unless the year
changed. 2. Though release dates are the aim with links to YouTube, some
are recording dates and may not be everywhere clearly distinguished. 3.
Reissues are used to represent originals without much discussion. |
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| This page concerns the explosion
of rock & roll during the fifties, indexing bands and musicians releasing
their first recordings by 1960. There are plenty of rhythm and blues musicians
listed, as rock n roll was developed by R&B musicians. Other R&B musicians
with their hands in the development of rock are documented at
Boogie Woogie, R&B
and Doo-Wop. Early contributions
to rock by musicians of other musical genres at
Rock 9. Some musicians on this page are further documented at
Rockabilly. Rock in the United Kingdom and the British invasion thereof
are at UK Beat and
British Invasion. Musicians
first issuing in the sixties at
Sixties Rock. Early rock and R&B (rhythm and blues)
were
highly interchangeable, the only difference being the audience for which
they were intended, white or black. Not a few musicians packaged as R&B artists are mixed
into this page toward greater focus on rock than audience or Billboard's chart categories.
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Pee Wee Crayton
See
Blues: Pee Wee Crayton. |
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Fontane Sisters Photo: James J. Kreigsmann Source: Wikipedia |
We begin this page with the Fontane Sisters [1, 2, 3] not for early rock n roll (definitely not during their early Perry Como period), but because they issued records before anyone else on this page (except Crayton above), to later indulge in rock n roll upon its explosion as a popular genre. Unlike musicians lower on this page with whom rock n roll originated in an R&B environment, the Fontanes approached rock from out of a conservative pop jazz climate something removed from swing, in which rock has early roots, though in the neighborhood on a block across the street. The Sisters began as a family trio consisting of Bea, Marge and Frank Rosse on guitar [*]. Upon their first successful audition for NBC in New York in 1944 Frank was drafted into the Army and killed in action during World War II. He was replaced by younger sister, Geri, by then graduated from high school. Praguefrank's has the Sisters first recording circa May of 1946 in NYC with the orchestra of Walter Gross [see also *]. Assumed issued that year [rateyourmusic] were 'My Fickle Eye'/'It Couldn't Be True (Or Could It)' (Musicraft 15067) and 'Linger In My Arms A Little Longer, Baby'/'Missouri Waltz' (Musicraft 15082). In 1948 they were featured on Perry Como's 'The Chesterfield Supper Club' radio and television program. Their first recording with Como was December 2 of 1948 in Manhattan for 'N'Yot N'Yow' (RCA Victor 20-3288), thought issued in '48 or '49. In January the Sisters laid out 'Put Your Shoes On, Lucy', that advertised in a February 19, 1949, issue of 'Billboard Magazine' with 'Underneath the Linden Tree'. Come ''A' - You're Adorable' with Como on March 1. 'Billboard' has them issuing 'Candy Kisses'/'Once Around the Park' (RCA Victor 20-3429) in April of 1949. That summer they issued 'The Turtle Song'/'I'm a Little Cuckoo' (RCA Victor 20-3463) and 'The Bumpety Bus'/'24 Hours of Sunshine' (RCA Victor 20-3504). An August 11 session with Como came to 'A Dreamer's Holiday' (RCA Victor 20-3036). 'I Wanna Go Home With You' saw issue with an October 2 recording of 'Hush Little Darlin'' (RCA Victor 20-3586). On November 7 Como and the Fontane Sisters set up 'Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo', that issued flip side to Como's 'A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes' (RCA Victor 20-3607). 'Billboard' Dec 31 of '49 advertises the Sisters' 'Fairy Tales/The Cinderella Work Song' (RCA Victor 20-3036). The partnership between Como and the Sisters was pursued into the early fifties, they yet cruising along a fairly domestic avenue while rock was already on solid rail. Praguefrank's disco shows Como and the Sisters last recording together on September 9 of 1952 for 'To Know You'/'The Lady Loves to Dance' (RCA Victor 47-4959). In the meantime they had issued a nice version (any version) of 'Tennessee Waltz' in December of 1950 ['Billboard Magazine' 'Going Strong...' column]. Musicvf shows that their first title to chart (#20) in January of '51. A few strong titles followed to Dec of 1954 when 'Hearts of Stone' topped the chart at #1 to sell more than a million copies for Dot, the Sisters having moved over from RCA that year. The Fontanes released a few popular titles into the latter fifties, though their only other Top Ten song was 'Seventeen' at #3 in August of 1955. They dissolved in 1961 due to Geri becoming pregnant. Though yet under contract with Dot they held their last session circa March of 1963 to result in 'Tips of My Fingers' and 'Summertime Love' along with tracks toward the album, 'Tips of My Fingers'. By some time in 1964 all three Sisters were married with resolve to live private lives. All three have since died, Geri on September 13 of 1993, Bea on March 25 of 2002 and Marge on December 3 of 2003. Fontane Sisters discos w various credits at 1, 2. The Sisters in visual media. Fontane Sisters 1946 With the Walter Gross Orchestra Music: Lee Edgar Settle 1914 Lyrics: James Royce Shannon Fontane Sisters 1949 With Perry Como Music: Sid Lippman Lyrics: Buddy Kaye/Fred Wise With Perry Como Composition: Al Hoffman/Mack David/Jerry Livingston With Perry Como Music: Mabel Wayne 1946 Lyrics: Kim Gannon Fontane Sisters 1950 Music: Pee Wee King 1946 Lyrics: Redd Stewart Fontane Sisters 1954 Composition: Billy Rose/Fred Fisher First recorded by Ruth Etting in 1928 Composition: Eddie Ray/Rudy Jackson Fontane Sisters 1955 Composition: Buck Ram Composition: Buford Abner/Charlie Gore/Louis Innis Composition: Alan Freed/Harvey Fuqua Composition: Henry Glover Composition: Boyd Bennett/Chuck Gorman/John Young Fontane Sisters 1956 Composition: Fats Domino Composition: Dorian Burton/Howard Plummer Jr. Fontane Sisters 1963 Recorded 1957 Composition: Billy Vaughn
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Not a few on this page have been credited with the elusive first rock n roll song, as it's something arbitrary as to where to begin a "proper" history of rock and roll. It was 1954 that disc jockeys began to commonly use the term "rock and roll" to sell rhythm and blues to white audiences. One could conceivably start with others, such as blues guitarists, Arthur Crudup or T-Bone Walker, say. Indeed, one could go as far back as Tampa Red for deep roots. Some cite Fats Domino's 'The Fat Man', others Jimmy Preston's 'Rock This Joint', yet others 'Rocket 88' by Jackie Brenston and Ike Turner as the first rock tunes. Among several earlier good contenders in the forties we find R&B shouter, Roy Brown [1, 2, 3, 4], as apt as any. After all, among his first recordings in 1947 was 'Good Rockin' Tonight' (covered by Wynonie Harris in 1948). Backed by 'Lolly Pop Mama', that had been preceded by 'Deep Sea Diver'/'Bye Baby Bye' (Gold Star 636). Born in 1920 or 1925 in Linder, Louisiana, Brown left home for Los Angeles in the forties where he held 18 matches as a professional boxer [see Marion 1, 2]. He did some gigs in L.A. before some restless traveling about as a vocalist, first back to Shreveport, Louisiana, then Houston, then Galveston where he sang 'Good Rockin' Tonight' on radio. Come his first session in Houston per above in '47. Brown followed that the same year with 'Rockin' at Midnight'. 'Good Rockin' Tonight' was no doubt a nice surprise to Brown when it flew to #13 on Billboard's R&B. But 'Long About Midnight' rose to #1 four months later in October. Fourteen of Brown's titles penetrated the Top Ten in the next nine years. 'Hard Luck Blues' became another #1 title in 1950. His last Top Ten was 'Let the Four Winds Blow' in 1957 at #5. Brown's titles were largely composed by himself, a few of the numerous in alphabetical being: 'Beautician Blues', 'Boogie at Midnight', 'Lolly Pop Mama', 'Long About Midnight', 'Love Don't Love Nobody', 'Mighty, Mighty Man', 'Miss Fanny Brown' and 'Train Time Blues'. Songwriting credits to other of his recordings at 45Worlds, 45Cat, Allmusic and Discogs. Brown died of heart attack in 1981 in California, only 55 years of age. More concerning Roy Brown in Blues 4. HMR Project. Roy Brown 1947 Composition: Roy BrownComposition: Roy Brown Roy Brown 1951 Composition: Roy Brown Roy Brown 1957 Composition: Dave Bartholomew/Fats Domino Roy Brown 1958 Composition: Dorsey Burnette/Johnny Burnette
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Roy Brown 1979 Source: Blues Tour Database |
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| Born Overton Amos Lemons in 1913
in DeQuincy, Louisiana, Smiley
Lewis [1,
2,
3/Disco *] was another early rocker promoted as rhythm and blues for
the black audience. He hopped a freight train as a teenager, taking him to New
Orleans where he adopted the name "Lewis," being that of those with whom he
found boarding. Missing front teeth, he began using the name "Smiling Lewis"
upon beginning his professional career in the clubs of the French Quarter and
tan bars of the 7th Ward. Among his early professional associations were pianist,
Isidore Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Ernest Mollier. His debut recording
was 'Here Comes Smiley'/'Turn on Your Volume' (DeLuxe 1099) in 1947. Not
until 1950 did his recording career come into swing, assisted by
Dave Bartholomew in
getting him signed up with Imperial Records. He and
Bartholomew coauthored his
only title to chart on Billboard: 'The Bells Are Ringing' at #10 in 1952.
Bartholomew had written
numerous titles for Lewis such as 'Gumbo Blues' ('52) and 'Blue Monday'
('54). Lewis himself had composed such as 'Dirty People ('50). In 1965 Lewis was diagnosed with stomach cancer, of which
he died the following year in New Orleans on October 7, only 53 years of age. Discos of Lewis
w songwriting and production credits at
1,
2,
3. Smiley Lewis 1947 Composition: Leo Frank Composition: Smiley Lewis Smiley Lewis 1950 Composition: Smiley Lewis Smiley Lewis 1952 Composition: Dave Bartholomew/Smiley Lewis Smiley Lewis 1953 Composition: Dave Bartholomew/Antoine Domino Smiley Lewis 1955 Composition: Dave Bartholomew/Ruth Durand/Joseph Robichaux Smiley Lewis 1956 Composition: Ruby Fisher/Ken Hopkins Smiley Lewis 1957 Composition: Dave Bartholomew/Dorothy Ester Smiley Lewis 1958 Composition: Dave Bartholomew/Pearl King/Anita Steiman
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Smiley Lewis Source: James'z Rockin' Blues |
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Earl Palmer Source: Mardis Gras Gumbo |
Among the more celebrated drummers during the rock n roll
explosion of the fifties was Earl Palmer
[1,
2,
3,
4,
5]. Born in 1924 in New Orleans,
Palmer first worked professionally as a tap dancer with his mother and aunt
on the vaudeville circuit. He also toured with
Ida Cox early in his career.
Following World War II, during which time he served in Europe, he joined
trumpeter/vocalist,
Dave Bartholomew's, outfit.
Reconnecting with Bartholomew
after the service, it was with Bartholomew's
ensemble that Palmer made his
first recordings in 1947 in New Orleans for DeLuxe: 'Stardust', ''Gumbo
Blues', et al [Lord's]. He was yet with Palmer in 1949 for such as 'Mr. Fool' and
'Girl Town'. As a session player with thousands of dates, Palmer is said to
have backed more tracks than any other other drummer, with a bride's trail
of major names included, be it jazz, R&B or rock n roll. Wikipedia mentions
Palmer attending 450 sessions in 1967 alone. Thus this tiny space can leave
but a speckled account of his career. While with Bartholomew
in New Orleans Palmer backed Chubby Hip-Shakin' Newsome in January of '49 on
'Close to Train Time' and 'New Orleans Lover Man'. They began backing who
would become the larger name, Fats Domino,
on December 10, 1949, appearing on
Domino's first recordings, 'The Fat Man'
and 'She's My Baby'. On April 8 of 1950 Bartholomew,
Domino and Palmer supported
Big Joe Turner on such as
''Story to Tell' and 'Lucille'. Others Palmer backed during his New
Orleans period with Bartholomew
were
Lloyd Price ('Lawdy Miss Clawdy'
1952) and Smiley Lewis ('I Hear
You Knocking' 1955). Among Palmer's last tracks with Bartholomew
in New Orleans was 'Loving You' in 1956, after which Palmer left New Orleans
for Los Angeles to become a session player. He would see Bartholomew
again in Los Angeles in 1958 for 'Button Holes'. Lord's disco shows Palmer's
first session in Los Angeles in March of 1956 with
Meade Lux Lewis on piano
and Red Callender on bass for the album, 'Barrel House Piano'. Among titles
by
Little Richard to which Palmer
contributed were 'Long Tall Sally', 'Lucille' and 'Tutti Frutti', those
issued in 1957, the same year he issued his two-part 'Johnnie's House Party'
on Aladdin with his Party Rockers and the Jayhawks. Palmer backed Ritchie
Valens on 'La Bamba' for issue in 1958, the same year he released his
two-part 'Drum Village' on Aladdin with his Ten Pieces Rockin' Band. Among numerous others Palmer sided in
the latter fifties were
Don Sugarcane Harris,
T-Bone Walker,
Earl Bostic and
Jimmy Witherspoon.
Palmer is the drummer on the theme song to the television cartoon series,
'The Flintstones', which ran from 1960 to 1966. He released his name albums 'Drumville!'
in 1961 and 'Percolator Twist' in 1962
[*]. 1965 saw Palmer on the
Righteous Brothers' 'You've
Lost That Lovin' Feelin'. 1969 found him on
Tina Turner's 'River Deep
Mountain High'. Among scores of others Palmer backed in the sixties were
Dinah Washington,
Sarah Vaughan, Marion Montgomery,
Neal Hefti and
Nancy Wilson. During the seventies
Palmer appeared on
Bonnie Raitt's 'Takin' My Time'
('73), Tim Buckley's 'Look at the Fool' ('74) and Tom Waits' 'Blue
Valentine' ('78). Among others who employed Palmer during his latter career
were Randy Newman, Little Feat and Elvis
Costello. 1986 found Palmer's trio of Karen Hernandez (piano) and Ernie
McDaniels (bass) recording 'Lullaby of Birdland' for the soundtrack to 'The
Fabulous Baker Boys'. 1996 saw him participating on titles per Betty
Bryant's 'Come Laugh With Me'. Palmer was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He
died in Banning, California, on September 19, 2008
[*].
Palmer in visual media.
Palmer makes a perfect beginning to a history of early rock n roll as the
very brief list below steps through its early years with various artists. Earl Palmer 1947 With Dave Bartholomew Composition: Dave Bartholomew With Dave Bartholomew Composition: Dave Bartholomew Earl Palmer 1950 With Fats Domino Composition: Fats Domino/Dave Bartholomew Earl Palmer 1952 With Lloyd Price Composition: Lloyd Pricee With Lloyd Price Composition: Lloyd Pricee Earl Palmer 1953 With Professor Longhair Composition: Roy Byrd Earl Palmer 1955 With Little Richard Composition: Little Richard/Dorothy LaBostrie Earl Palmer 1956 With Fats Domino Composition: incent Rose With Little Richard Composition: Enotris Johnson/Robert Blackwell/Richard Penniman Earl Palmer 1957 With Fats Domino Composition: Fats Domino/Dave Bartholomew With Little Richard Composition: Joe Turner With Sam Cooke Composition: Sam Cooke Earl Palmer 1958 With Bobby Day Composition: Leon René Earl Palmer 1961 All titles below from the LP 'Drumsville!' Composition: Leonard Lee 'I'm Walkin'' Composition: Fats Domino/Dave Bartholomew 'Blueberry Hill' Composition: Vincent Rose 'Ain't That a Shame' Composition: Fats Domino/Dave Bartholomew Composition: Rudolph Toombs Composition: Bill Justis/Sid Manker Composition: Nelson/Egnoian Composition: Don Everly Composition: Dave Williams Earl Palmer 1964 With Ritchie Valens Composition: Mexican traditional * Earl Palmer 1965 You've Lost That Lovin Feelin' With the Righteous Brothers Composition: Phil Spector/Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil
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Bill Haley
(Comets)
See
Rockabilly: Bill Haley. |
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Little Willie Littlefield
See
Boogie Woogie: Littlefield. |
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Jimmy Preston Source: Be Bop Wino
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Sax player, Jimmy Preston, was born in Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1913. He had among the more intentionally brief careers in music while at once influential [1, 2, 3, 4]. Rocky52 has Preston and His Prestonians releasing 'Let Me Call You Sweetheart'/'Messin' with Preston' in 1948 on Gotham 166. Going by release number (Gotham 175), Preston then issued 'Hucklebuck Daddy'/'Sugar Baby' in April of '49, followed in May by 'Hold Me, Baby'/'Home Cookin''. 'Hucklebuck Daddy' reached #4 on the R&B that year along with 'Rock the Joint' at #6 [*], the latter often cited as among the first rock n roll tunes. 'Oh Babe' scaled to #5 in 1950. Rocky52 has Preston releasing several plates in 1950, to drop out of the music industry in 1952, joining the ministry to eventually found Victory Baptist Church in 1962. He died on December 17 of 1984. Jimmy Preston 1948 Composition: Leo Friedman/Beth Slater Whitson Jimmy Preston 1949 Composition: Waters Composition: Doc Bagby/Don Keane/Fats Crafton Jimmy Preston 1950 Composition: Louis Prima/Milton Kabak
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Red Prysock with Tiny Grimes Source: Be Bop Wino |
Born in 1926 in Greensboro,
North Carolina, tenor saxophonist Red Prysock
(Wilburt Prysock) [1,
2/Disco
*] was the elder brother of
popular singer, Arthur Prysock. Like not a few on this page, Prysock was a
rocker marketed as rhythm and blues. Among the earlier bands with which he
played was Tiny Grimes'. Lord's
disco estimates Prysock with Grimes
in NYC in latter 1947 for 'Jackie's Dance' and 'Blues for Garroway', those
for Caracol. Grimes would be a
major figure in Prysock's career, they to work with one another for several
years. Their next session was on August 1 of 1948 for such as 'Annie Laurie'
and 'Midnight Special'. Among their numerous sessions was with Grimes'
Rockin' Highlanders in Philadelphia in 1950 for 'Frankie and Johnny Boogie'
and 'Flying Saucer Boogie', etc.. Lord's disco has Prysock working for Grimes
to as late as a quintet in NYC on May 24, 1954, for 'Frivolous Sal' and
'Showboat Mambo'. While with Grimes
Prysock doubled up with Tiny Bradshaw,
first joining that band for tracks on January 16, 1951: 'Bradshaw Boogie',
'Two Dry Bones', etc.. Prysock hung with
Bradshaw for a couple years, holding a last session in Cincinnati in
January 13 of 1953 for such as 'Off and On' and 'Heavy Juice'. Others he
supported during that period were JB Summers,
Lonnie Johnson,
Roy Milton.
and Bull Moose Jackson.
Prysock's first name issues were recorded in January of 1952 for Red Robin:
'Wiggles', 'Hard Rock', 'Jackpot', etc.. In 1953 Prysock collaborated with
Leroy Bass and Bradshaw on 'Heavy
Juice', taking Bradshaw to #9 on
the R&B. A Prysock session on March 6 of 1954 for Mercury Records
wrought 'Jump Red Jump'/'Body and Soul'
and 'Happy Feet'/'Blow Your Horn'. During the sixties Prysock oft played with his
brother, Arthur. Albums recorded
with Arthur in the eighties were
'A Rockin' Good Way' ('85), 'This Guy's In Love with You' ('86)and 'Today's
Love Songs, Tomorrow's Blues' ('87). Prysock died of heart attack in 1993 in Chicago.
Prysock catalogues w various credits at
45Cat and
Discogs. Red Prysock 1948 With Tiny Grimes Composition: Lady Scott With Tiny Grimes Composition: Traditional * First recorded by David Cutrel 1926 With Tiny Grimes Composition: Tiny Grimes/Red Prysock Red Prysock 1951 With Tiny Bradshaw Vocal: Lonnie Johnson Composition: Lonnie Johnson With Tiny Bradshaw Vocal: Lonnie Johnson Composition: Henry Glover/Lois Mann With Tiny Bradshaw Vocal: Lonnie Johnson Composition: Abel Baer/Louis Wolfe Gilbert With Tiny Bradshaw Vocal: Lonnie Johnson With Tiny Bradshaw Composition: Tiny Bradshaw/Lois Mann Red Prysock 1953 Composition: Tiny Bradshaw/Red Prysock Composition: Red Prysock Red Prysock 1954 Composition: Tiny Bradshaw/Ralph Bass/Red Prysock Composition: Benny Green Music: Johnny Green Lyrics: Edward Heyman/Robert Sour/Frank Eyton With Tiny Bradshaw Composition: Billy Reid Composition: Herbert Gordy Red Prysock 1955 Composition: Herbert Gordy Composition: Red Prysock Composition: Red Prysock Red Prysock 1956 Composition: Red Prysock Composition: Herbert Gordy With Roy Milton Composition: Herbert Gordy Composition: Red Prysock Red Prysock 1957 Composition: Red Prysock Red Prysock 1961 Composition: Red Prysock Red Prysock 1962 Composition: Don Cappa/Jack Berglund Jerry Merritt/Joe Smith Composition: Freddie King/Sonny Thompson Red Prysock 1964 Composition: Bobby Jones/Red Prysock
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LaVern Baker Source: Deep Southern Soul |
R&B singer
LaVern Baker
[1,
2,
3]
was born Delores Evans in 1949 in Chicago. She was working at clubs in Chicago when she
recorded her first known unissued title for Columbia perhaps in 1948: 'When
I'm in a Crying Mood' [*]. She
made her
first commercial recordings
as Little Miss Sharecropper in February of 1949 for RCA Victor: 'Easy Baby'
and 'I Wonder Baby'.
'I Wonder Baby' saw issue in March on side A of RCA Victor 22-0016
[1,
2,
3].
'Easy Baby' was released in May on side A of RCA Victor 22-0036. Side B of
those were by Eddie Sugarman Penigar. Another session as Little Miss
Sharecropper arrived in NYC in November 1950 for 'I've Tried'/'How Long'
(National 9151) and 'I Want to Rock'/'Take Out Some Time' (National
9153)issued in 1951. She recorded as Bea Baker on March 22 of
1951, singing 'Good Daddy' w the backing of Maurice King and His Wolverines.
That saw release on side A of Columbia 39330. She was also Bea Baker
supported by King and his band for tracks on April 25, 1951, 'I Want a
Lavender Cadillac' issued on side A of Okeh 6800. Side B of those were
instrumentals by King's Wolverines. She first recorded as LaVern Baker on
July 1 of 1952 resulting in 'Trying' (King 4556) and 'Pig Latin Blues' (King
4566). Backed by the Todd Rhodes Orchestra, side B of those were
instrumentals, as were tracks gone down in October 14: 'Must I Cry Again'
(King 4583) and 'Lost Chid' (King 4601). Praguefrank's has her last session
of 1953 on June 19 for 'Soul On Fire'/'How Can You Leave
A Man Like This' to see issue on Atlantic 1004. 'Real Gone Guy' went unissued.
'You'll Be Crying' got included on her
debut LP, 'Lavern', in 1956. Baker
effectively commenced her heydays when 'Tweedle Dee' reached #4 on
Billboard's R&B
in January of 1955. Ten more Top Ten titles followed to her last, 'See See
Rider', in 1962. One of those was 'Jim Dandy' topping the chart in December
of 1956. Six of her titles placed in the Top Twenty to 1961 ('Saved' #17).
Baker's audience fell into decline in the latter sixties. By the
time of her release of the album, 'Let Me Belong to You', in 1970 she'd been
married to Slappy White for ten years (divorced '69) and disappeared to the Philippines. Visiting there on a USO tour, she'd become
ill with pneumonia contracted in Vietnam. While recovering at the Subic Bay
naval station she decided to stay there to manage the Marine NCO Club until
1988. Returning to the States, she began performing on soundtracks and
worked on Broadway. 1990 found her the recipient of the Rhythm and Blues
Foundation Pioneer Award, followed in 1991 by induction into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame. Having issued the album, 'Live In Hollywood', in 1991,
she followed that with 'Woke Up This Morning' in '92. 1994 was a shocking
year for Baker, she having both legs amputated due to diabetes. She yet
continued to perform from a wheelchair, releasing her last recording in
1995: 'Jump Into the Fire' on the CD, 'For the Love of Harry', a tribute to
Harry Nilsson. She died on
March 10, 1997, in Queens. Baker had contributed to the composition of early
titles like 'Soul On Fire' and 'How Can You Leave a Man Like This' in 1953.
Other of her sources were numerous covers.
Various credits for Baker titles at
1,
2.
Baker in visual media. LaVern Baker 1951 As Bea Baker Composition: Sy Lipsen As Little Miss Sharecropper Composition: Dee Snider LaVern Baker 1953 Composition: Ahmet Ertegun/Jerry Wexler/Baker LaVern Baker 1955 Composition: Winfield Scott LaVern Baker 1956 Composition: Dorian Burton/Howard Plummer Jr. Filmed live Composition: Johnny Parker LaVern Baker 1957 Composition: Henry Boye Composition: Samuels/Feiler/Feiler Composition: WC Handy Composition: Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller LaVern Baker 1958 Composition: Andrew Coleman/Chess Avril LaVern Baker 1962 Composition: Ma Rainey/Lena Arant 1924 LaVern Baker 1968 Composition: Lincoln Chase
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Born in 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio, contralto vocalist,
Sister Wynona Carr [1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7], put together a unique
blend of Gospel and Rock, her first group a gospel ensemble of five girls
formed about 1945 called the
Carr Sisters. Doing most of her own composing, she was a touch
peripheral to Black Gospel genre (:
Martha Bass) that was concerned
with evangelism via the traditional gospel music of old time religion. Carr
got "Sister" appended to her name by Art Rupe who had founded Specialty
Records in Los Angeles in 1946. His notion was to shape Carr into a rival to
Sister Rosetta Tharpe, preceding her by about a decade. She issued her
debut recordings on Specialty 324 in 1949: 'Each Day' and 'Lord Jesus' with the
Austin McCoy Combo. The same year she issued 'I Want to Go to Heaven and
Rest' with 'I Know That He Knows'. 1950 saw duets with
Brother Joe May and Donald
Thomas. Starting to shift over to R&B and rock n roll in the fifties, Carr's
only title to place on Billboard was 'Should I Ever Love Again?' at #15 on
the R&B in March of 1957. Tuberculosis in the latter part of that decade put
Carr's career with Specialty
to an end in 1959. Two years later she acquired a contract with Frank Sinatra's
label, Reprise Records. No matter what she'd have done Carr could easily
have made a major name of herself but for poor health. She's thought to have
retired to Cleveland in the sixties, falling into obscurity, depression said
to be a complementary torment until her death in May 11, 1976. Carr discos w
various credits at
45Cat and
Discogs. Wynona Carr 1949 Composition: R. Martin Wynona Carr 1954 Composition: Wynona Carr Wynona Carr 1955 Composition: Wynona Carr Not released until 1985 Composition: Wynona Carr Wynona Carr 1956 Composition: M. Taylor Composition: Wynona Carr Composition: Wynona Carr Composition: Edward Gates/H. M. Cockel (Mark Hurley)
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 Sister Wynona Carr Source: Cross Rhythms |
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Jump blues and R&B guitarist, Goree Carter [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], was born in 1930 in Houston. He put together a band called the Hepcats with which he grooved his first vinyl for Freedom Records in 1949. (His first issue, 'Sweet Ole Woman Blues', was also Freedom's debut product.) Because the forging adage, "Strike while it's hot," is largely true, Carter's career may have been put to en end upon being drafted into the Army in 1950, serving in Korea. It was just the derail that Carter couldn't spike together again. Returning to Houston in 1951, he recorded for a number of labels, meanwhile working at a rice mill, until his last release in 1954. He continued working at said rice mill for decades while performing on occasion in Houston (making an appearance with BB King), his last appearance said to be in 1970. Carter died in Houston on December 29 of 1990. Complete recordings by Carter from '49 to '54 have been issued in two volumes by the Italian label, Blue Moon, in 2001 (BMCD 6027) and 2003 (BMCD 6036), the latter also including the works of blues guitarist, Lester Williams, from '49 to '56 [Williams: 1, 2, 3]. Disco of Carter on shellac. On vinyl. Goree Carter 1949 Composition: Goree Carter Composition: Goree Carter Goree Carter 1954
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Goree Carter Source: Rock Before Elvis
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Floyd Dixon Source: Past Blues |
Rhythm Jay Riggins, Jr. in 1929 in Marshall, Texas (home of boogie woogie), pianist, Floyd Dixon (aka Mr. Magnificent) [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], picked up piano as a child, exposed to all variety of music. He got moved to Los Angeles with family when he was about 13. Dixon might have taken any of a variety of paths upon graduating from high school: golf, hotel management, football [*]. He also recorded 'Dallas Blues' (Hart Wand) around that time ('47) for Supreme Records. That wasn't issued, but the next year he hooked up with pianist and mentor, Charles Brown, resulting in his membership in the Brown Buddies run by Eddie Williams and his first issues with that group in 1949: 'Houston Jump'/'Broken Hearted' (Swing Time 261) and 'You Need Me Now'/'Worried' (Swing Time 287). Striking out on his own in 1949, among titles recorded that year was 'Dallas Blues' (Wand) again, that by accident, not knowing an audition at Modern Records was being taped. Modern liked what he'd already done, payed him for his time, then bought his membership in the musician's union [*]. This time the song got issued to the tune of #10 on Billboard's R&B. Dixon joined the Top Ten again in 1950 at #8 with his composition, 'Sad Journey Blues'. He was with Johnny Moore and his Three Blazers (replacing Charles Brown) for #4 in 1951 per 'Telephone Blues'. He followed that with 'Call Operator 210' in 1952 to alight at #4, that also written by him. Though Dixon was supposed to retire to Paris, Texas, in the early seventies he revived his career in 1975 with a tour to Europe resulting in 'Live in Sweden'. He continued to tour, recording sporadically for a period, until his death of kidney failure in 2006. Songwriting credits to Dixon's early 78s and 45s. See also Discogs. More Dixon in A Birth of the Blues 4. Floyd Dixon 1949 Composition: Jules Taub Composition: Floyd Dixon Composition: Floyd Dixon Floyd Dixon 1952 Composition: Floyd Dixon/Maxwell Davis Composition: Dossie Terry Floyd Dixon 1954 Composition: Floyd Dixon Floyd Dixon 1996 Live performance Composition: Bobby Troup Floyd Dixon 2006 Live performance Composition: Dossie Terry
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Joe Houston Photo: Tom Beetz Source: You Found That Eastside Sound
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Joe Houston [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6], tenor saxophone, was born in Austin in 1926. He began his professional career in 1941 upon a sax player in the band of King Kolax not showing up at a show in (presumably) Austin. He then toured with shouter, Gatemouth Moore, then with Amos Milburn. In 1949 Houston joined Big Joe Turner's outfit in Baton Rouge, making his first recordings with Turner for the Rouge label. Released that year were 'Wish I Had A Dollar'/'Fuzzy Wuzzy Honey'. On Turner's advice Houston went to Houston the same year to record his first name jump blues issues for release in 1950, thought to be 'It's Really Wee Wee Hours'/'Way Cross Mama' and 'Jumpin' the Blues'/'Your Little Girl Is Gone', with vocals by Julius Stewart on 'Jumpin' the Blues'. Houston made Los Angeles home base in 1952 where he formed the Rockets. He issued his only title to chart on Billboard that year, 'Worry, Worry, Worry' at #10 on the R&B. During the nineties into the new millennium Houston performed with his band, the Defrosterz, recording with that band and touring until 2005 when he endured a stroke. He remained retired until his death on December 28, 2015 [1, 2]. Houston on 78 rpm. On 45 rpm. Albums. Joe Houston 1949 With Big Joe Turner Composition: Big Joe Turner With Big Joe Turner Composition: Big Joe Turner Joe Houston 1950 Vocals: Julius Stewart Joe Houston 1951 Composition: Joe Houston Joe Houston 1952 Composition: Robert Shad Joe Houston 1954 Composition: John Gray Composition: John Gray Joe Houston 1956 Composition: Joe Houston/Jake "Vernon" Porter
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Guy Mitchell Source: HWOF |
Born Albert George Cernik in 1927
in Detroit, popular singer Guy
Mitchell had a brief career in rock n' roll, he otherwise
a vocalist of the popular climate. Mitchell began his
life as an entertainer at age eleven, signing on with Warner Brothers for grooming
as a film star. He also sang for KFWB in Los Angeles soon after. Among his first
pro gigs upon graduating from high school was with country musician, Dude Martin,
in San Francisco. Mitchell first recorded under his birth name, Al Cernik,
with the Carmen Camarillo Orchestra on December 17, 1947, to yield 'I Go in
When the Moon Comes Out' and 'Ah, But It Happens' (Decca 24488). His next
session on December 22 wrought such as 'Dream Girl', 'Encore,
Cherie' and 'Evelyn' In 1949 Mitchell recorded several
tracks as Al Grant for the King label, among them: 'I Do I Do I Do', 'Cabaret',
'This Day Is Mine' and 'Lover's Gold'. It was
Mitch Miller who changed Mitchell's
name to Guy Mitchell in 1950. Of several songs Mitchell placed on
Billboard's Top Ten were two reaching the #1 spot: 'Singing the Blues' ('56)
and 'Heartaches by the Number' ('59). Married thrice, Mitchell died on July
1, 1999, from complications
arising from surgery for cancer. Main entry for Mitchell at Popular Music.
See also Modern Jazz Song. Guy Mitchell 1956 Composition: Aaron Schroeder Composition: Melvin Endsley Guy Mitchell 1957 'Ed Sullivan Show' Composition: Melvin Endsley Composition: Woody Harris/Eddie Deane Guy Mitchell 1958 Composition: Aaron Schroeder/Ben Weisman Guy Mitchell 1959 Composition: Harlan Howard
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Fats Domino Source: Dance to the Sixties |
Fats Domino [1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8] was born in 1928 in New Orleans and serves up the first rock n roll superstar profiled on this page. He joined his first band as a piano player in 1947, Billy Diamond's Solid Senders. He made his first rhythm and blues recordings in New Orleans on December 10 of 1949 resulting in 'The Fat Man'/'Detroit City Blues' (Imperial 5058) released in February of '50 and 'She's My Baby'/'Hide Away Blues' (Imperial 5077) issued in May. Backing him in that session were Ernest McLean (guitar), Frank Fields (bass), Earl Palmer [drums], Dave Bartholomew (trumpet) and sax players, Joe Harris, Herb Hardesty, Clarence Hall and Red Tyler. Fields would come to be Domino's main man on bass into 1958, Jimmie Davis to sill his spot from 1959 into the sixties. Bartholomew and Domino would co-author numerous compositions, Bartholomew also backing Domino numerously into the sixties, with reunions in 1977 for the recording of 'Live in Europe' in Munich and 1986 for a recorded Austin City Limits concert. Domino's next session on January 7 of 1950 came to 'Boogie Woogie Baby'/'Little Bee' (Imperial 5065) released in March and 'Hey! La Bas Boogie'/'Brand New Baby' (Imperial 5085). Backing musicians were the same. Come a session in September for 'Every Night About This Time'/'Korea Blues' (Imperial 5099). Also going down were 'Careless Love' (Imperial 5045 w 'Rockin' Chair' recorded Feb '51) and 'Hey! Fat Man' later released in 1957 on Vol 3 of the EP, 'Here Stands Fat Domino' (Imperial 150). Supporting musicians were the same as above. His guitarist, Walter Nelson, held his first session with Domino in Jan of '57 with drummer, Cornelius Coleman. Nelson backed Domino into the latter fifties, Roy Montrell to follow. Coleman kept the beat for Domino into the sixties. Rocky52 has Domino releasing numerous EPs before his initial LP, 'Rock and Rollin' with Fats Domino' in March of 1956, followed by 'Fats Domino Rock and Rollin'' in August. Come 'This Is Fats Domino' in December. The song for which Domino is best known, 'Blueberry Hill', had been composed in 1940 by Al Lewis and Vincent Rose, jazz bandleader, Sammy Kaye, the first to record it that year. Domino laid out his version on June 27, 1956, in Hollywood, that to sell over a million copies in a couple of years. By that time Domino was already a superstar, having issued 22 Top Ten titles prior to that. Counting 'Blueberry Hill', 17 followed to a total of 39 Top Ten songs. His first had been 'The Fat Man', reaching #2 in R&B in Feb of 1950. Nine of Domino's tracks topped the R&B chart at #1:
Goin' Home 4/52 "Fats Domino" become household words in the fifties, he didn't slip away from the Top Ten until after 'Let the Four Winds Blow' in July of 1961. In 1969 he joined Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, We Three and the Clara Ward Singers in the television production of the Monkees' '33⅓ Revolutions per Monkee'. 1986 saw his election into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1998 President Clinton awarded him the National Medal of Arts (chosen by the National Endowment for the Arts). In 2004 'Rolling Stone' named him No. 25 on their list of the '100 Greatest Artists of All Time'. Having lived largely in New Orleans, Domino lost everything during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Unable to evacuate due to his ill wife, Rosemary, they were rescued by the Coast Guard by helicopter. Having toured into the new millennium, Domino is retired in New Orleans as of this writing. Domino had composed numerous of his own titles, also collaborating extensively with his trumpeter, Dave Bartholomew. Domino had authored such as 'I Want to Walk You Home' and 'I've Been Around' '59, 'Don't Come Knockin'' ('60) and 'What a Price' ('61) [*]. He and Bartholomew had come up with such as 'Ain't It a Shame' ('55), 'It's You I Love' ('57) and 'Whole Lotta Loving' ('58). Composing and producing credits for his titles at 1, 2, 3. Domino in visual media Fats Domino 1950 Composition: Dave Bartholomew/Domino Fats Domino 1955 Composition: Dave Bartholomew/Domino Composition: Dave Bartholomew/Domino Fats Domino 1956 Music: Vincent Rose 1940 Composition: Dave Bartholomew/Domino Fats Domino 1959 Composition: Domino/Al Lewis/Sylvester Bradford Fats Domino 1960 Composition: Domino/Dave Bartholomew Fats Domino 1961 Composition: Domino/Dave Bartholomew Fats Domino 1985 Filmed live Music: Vincent Rose 1940 Composition: Dave Bartholomew/Domino
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Piano Red
[1,
2,
3,
4,
5] was born William
Lee Perryman in Hampton, Georgia, in 1911. He actually first recorded 1936 with
Blind Willie McTell as Piano
Red. But those tracks were never released, after which he pursued a trade
as an upholsterer. Red didn't record again until 1950, age 39, but he came out
decidedly rocking. Among his first releases that year were 'Rockin' with
Red' and 'Red's Boogie'. During the fifties Red had his own radio show with
WGST and WAOK in Atlanta: 'The Piano Red Show', broadcasting from a shack in
his backyard. That would become 'The Dr. Feelgood Show'. Red's first release
as Dr. Feelgood was in 1962: 'Doctor
Feel-Good' with 'Mister Moonlight'. Feelgood began touring Europe
extensively, later including jazz festivals and an appearance as Piano Red
in the film, 'The Catcher', in 1972. But the doctor didn't make the
public feel so good as Piano Red had. As his career faded he began
performing locally in Atlanta, notably Muhlenbrink's Saloon until its
closing in 1979, then The Excelsior Mill as of 1981. In 1985 he released 'Yo
Yo' with country musician, Danny Shirley. He died of cancer on July 25 of 1985
in Decatur, Georgia. Discos w various credits at
1,
2,
3.
See also *. Piano Red 1950 Composition: Willie Perryman Piano Red 1951 Composition: Willie Perryman Piano Red 1955 Composition: Chick Thompson Composition: Edward Snead Piano Red 1956 Composition: Edgar Snead
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Piano Red (Doctor Feelgood) Source: Last FM |
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Jackie Brenston [1, 2, 3, 4] was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1930. He began his recording career with Ike Turner and the much discussed 'Rocket 88' [1, 2]. That was released on Chess 1458 by Brenston's Delta Boys which were actually Turner's Rhythm Kings. Inspired by Jimmy Liggins' 'Cadillac Boogie', its composition is credited to Brenston on the label though may have been a collaboration in one way or another with Turner. Nevertheless, Brenston and Turner soon parted ways, after which Brenston worked in the band of Lowell Fulson. He began working with Turner again in 1955, though was barred from singing 'Rocket 88'. Brenston's last recordings took place with Earl Hooker in 1963: 'Want You to Want Me' and 'Down in My Heart'. He thereafter drove a truck while performing locally, dying in Memphis of heart attack on December 15, 1979. Issues by Brenston w songwriting and production credits at 1, 2. Jackie Brenston 1951 Composition: Jackie Brenston Piano: Ike Turner Composition: Jackie Brenston Jackie Brenston 1952 Composition: Jackie Brenston Jackie Brenston 1956 With Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm Composition: Ike Turner Jackie Brenston 1961 With the Ike Turner Orchestra Composition: Ike Turner
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Jackie Brenston Source: Naver |
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Sam Cooke Source: Famous People |
R&B and soul singer, Sam Cooke [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], was born in 1931 as Cook in Clarksdale, Mississippi, about ground zero as a Delta blues hub. He got moved to Chicago at age two, began singing at age six (Singing Children) and started singing lead at age fourteen (Highway Q.C.'s). In 1950 he replaced tenor, Robert Harris, in the gospel group, the Soul Stirrers [formed 1926 by Roy Crain */Soul Stirrers discography at 1, 2], becoming their lead singer in 1951 [1, 2, 3]. Cooke was touring the States with the Soul Stirrers when he made his initial recordings with them in Hollywood on March 1 of 1951. 45worlds has 'Peace in the Valley'/'Jesus Gave Me Water' issued in May of 1951 on Specialty 813. 'Come Let's Go Back to God'/'Joy Joy to My Soul' saw release in October. Soulfulkindamusic has 'I'm Going to Build Right on That Shore'/'Until Jesus Calls Me Home' (Specialty 821) released in 1952. 45cat has 'Christ Is All' issued in 1971 (Specialty 928) w a Feb 1956 recording of 'Just Another Day'. Those and other tracks eventually got issued on either 'The Gospel Soul Of Sam Cooke With The Soul Stirrers Vol 1' (Specialty SPS-2116) in 1969 or 'The Gospel Soul Of Sam Cooke With The Soul Stirrers Vol 2' (Specialty SPS-2128) in 1971. The Stirrers consisted at that time of Silas Roy Crain, Jesse Farley, TL Bruster, Paul Foster and RB Robinson. Praguefrank has Cooke and the Soul Stirrers recording numerously into 1957. Along the way came such as 'The Last Mile of the Way' and 'Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone' eventually released in 1970 (Specialty 921). Their last session on April 10 of 1957 in Chicago brought 'That's Heaven to Me' issued in 1972 w 'Lord, Remember Me' (Specialty 930). The Stirrers consisted at that time of Paul Foster, Silas Roy Crain, Leroy Crume (guitar), and RB Robinson w support by LC Cook (drums), Willie Webb (organ) and Evelyn Gay (piano). Cooke had issued his initial secular recordings, doo wop, in 1957 as Dale Cook 'Forever'/'Lovable' (Specialty 596) [*], those gone down on December 12 of 1956 in New Orleans. His gang supporting those was composed of Edgar Blanchard (guitar), Frank Fields (bass), Earl Palmer (drums), Warren Myles (piano), Lee Allen (tenor sax) and Red Tyler (baritone sax). Also recorded on that date for '57 issue were 'I Don’t Want to Cry'/'That's All I Need to Know' (Specialty 627), Cook's first releases as Sam Cooke. The Soul Stirrers would issue the LP, 'The Soul Stirrers Featuring Sam Cooke' (Specialty 2106) in 1959. Cooke's move from gospel to R&B proved unacceptable to the Soul Stirrers, and troubles with Art Rupe at Specialty Records [1, 2] found Cooke moving to Keen Records to release 'You Send Me/Summertime' in 1957 (3-4002). Fledgling Keen couldn't have been more delighted, 'You Send Me' rising to No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 and R&B charts. 'I'll Come Running Back to You' arrived to #1 on the R&B in Dec of '57. All in all, Cooke' placed 24 titles on Billboard's Top Ten in the United States for the next eight years (posthumously in '65). His next top title was 'Twistin' the Night Away' to find #1 in Feb 1962. Come 'Another Saturday Night' in April 1963 and '(Ain't That) Good News' in Jan of '64 followed by 'Good Times' in June. Cooke's last titles to visit the Top Ten before his death were 'Cousin of Mine' (#6) and 'That's Where It's At' (#8) in September 1964. Ensuing in '65 were 'Shake' (#2) and 'A Change Is Gonna Come' (#9). The posthumous LP, 'Shake', also charted at #1 in '65, that following his live 'Sam Cooke at the Copa' becoming a #1 album in latter '64. Cooke had issued his debut LP, 'Songs by Sam Cooke', in early '58 [1, 2]. Wikipedia has him releasing 13 studio albums before his death, the latest 'Ain't That Good News' in March of 1964. In December of '64 Hell arrived when Cooke took a date, one Elisa Boyer, to the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles. Cooke was at the least drunk when Boyer found an opportunity to either flee or leave the room, with Cooke's clothes, accidentally or otherwise. Cooke came out of the bathroom in his room, discovered Boyer and his clothing gone, then went to the motel's office wearing nothing but a sports jacket and one if not both shoes. An altercation arose with the motel manager, Bertha Franklin, during which Franklin shot Cooke in the torso in self defense. Cooke's last words were reportedly "Lady, you shot me!" after which he attacked her again, Franklin now defending herself with a broomstick until Cooke collapsed and died. Boyer's account of events has been variously disputed. Etta James, who viewed his corpse, later wrote that his injuries were beyond what a broomstick could deliver, his head nigh separated from his body. Howsoever, Franklin was eventually compensated by the Cooke estate to the tune of $30,000. Cooke was only 33 years old, yet one more victim of alcohol. [See also 1, 2, 3, 4 per above.] Cooke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. Cooke had composed numerous titles like 'Until Jesus Calls Me Home' ('51), 'Just Another Day' ('52), 'You Were Made for Me' issued in '58, 'Laughin' and Clownin'' ('63) and 'A Change Is Gonna Come' ('64). Songwriting credits for some titles by the Soul Stirrers both with and without Cooke. Composing credits for titles with Cooke at 1. For titles by Cooke see 1, 2. Cooke in visual media. Sam Cooke 1951 With the Soul Stirrers Composition: Lucie Campbell Sam Cooke 1952 I'm Gonna Build Right On That Shore With the Soul Stirrers Composition: Senior Roy Crain Sam Cooke 1957 Composition: Alvin Red Tyler Composition: Sam Cooke/Rebert Harris Composition: Sam Cooke Sam Cooke 1960 Music: Alex North Lyrics: Hy Zaret Composition: Lou Adler/Herb Alpert/Sam Cooke Sam Cooke 1962 Composition: Sam Cooke Sam Cooke 1963 Composition: Sam Cooke Composition: Charles Calhoun (Jesse Stone) Composition: Sam Cooke Sam Cooke 1964 Composition: Sam Cooke
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R&B pianist, Little Richard [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7], was born Richard Wayne Penniman in 1932 in Macon, Georgia [*]. His father was a church deacon who sold bootleg moonshine at his tavern, the Tip In Inn. His mother was a Baptist who sold Little Richard on gospel music since he was a child. Richard got his start as a performer when he opened for Sister Rosetta Tharpe in 1947 at the Macon City Auditorium. He then began traveling with Dr. Hudson's Medicine Show in 1948. In 1949 he replaced I.A. Harris as vocalist in the Buster Brown Orchestra and changed his name to Little Richard. In 1950 he began performing with various acts on the vaudeville circuit, also working drag. He toured the chitlin' circuit as well. Richard made his first demo recordings in 1951, leading [*] to his first releases in 1951 on both 78 shellac and 45 vinyl. The session for those was recorded by radio WGST in Atlanta on October 16, 1951, to result in 'Taxi Blues'/'Every Hour' (RCA Victor 4392). Also going down were 'Get Rich Quick' (RCA Victor 4582) and 'Why Did You Leave Me' (RCA Victor 4772) released in '52. Richard sang and played guitar in that session, supported by George Holloway (bass), Donald Clark (drums), J. Wimby (piano), Fred Jackson (tenor sax), Albert Dobbins (alto sax), J. Hudson (baritone sax) and Willie Mays (trumpet). on January 12 of '52 it was radio WQXI w Wesley Jackson (guitar), George Holloway (bass), J. Williams (drums), J. Wimby (piano), Fred Jackson (tenor sax), Carlos Bermudaz (alto sax), Willie Wilson (trumpet) and Willie Mays (trumpet) to lay out 'I Brought It All On Myself'/'Please Have Mercy On Me' (RCA Victor 5025) along with 'Ain't Nothing Happenin'' (RCA Victor 4772) and 'Thinkin' 'Bout My Mother' (RCA Victor 4582). Richard's third session fell in Houston on February 25 with a gang of Billy Brooks, Barry Lee Gilmore, Jimmy Swann and the Deuces of Rhythm: Eddie Lee Williams (guitar), Mildred Taylor (drums) and Raymond Taylor (keyboards/horn) for 'Ain't That Good News'/' Fool At the Wheel' (Peacock 1616) and 'Always'/'Rice, Red Beans and Turnip Greens' (Peacock 1628). Another date was held in Houston with the Johnny Otis Orchestra on October 5 of 1953. Praguefrank's shows a gap in 1954, Richard recording nothing that year, performing clubs with his road band, the Upsetters. The Upsetters were a seriously talented operation with which Richard became a master performer, but which isn't well-documented on recordings. Though they would support Richard on several tracks, such as 'I'll Never Let You Go' in Oct 1957 (issued '58), Richard preferred to employ studio musicians on recordings, there better historical account, excepting live performances, for those than the main working band that was Richard's locomotive. It was Richard's first recording date on Feb 9 that he spread along 'Heeby-Jeebies' (Specialty 584), that to rise to #7 on Billboard's R&B. It was his third session of 1955 on September 14 that he put up 'Tutti Frutti' w 'I'm Just a Lonely Guy' (Specialty SP-561-45). The former ascended to No. 2 on Billboard. 'Long Tall Sally' reached No. 1 in April. Twelve more Top Ten titles followed to 'Good Golly, Miss Molly' at #4 in Feb of '58. 'Rip It Up' scaled to #1 in July of '56, Lucille' in March of '57. His heydays in the fifties, Richard's last strong title in the US had been 'Baby Face' at #12 on the R&B in Sep 1958. Being more performance than recording oriented, it was several more years before Richard came back with 'I Don't Know What You've Got but It's Got Me' at #12 in 1965. Richard's career, however, was well into its decline by then. In May of 1970 'Freedom Blues' found #28 on Billboard's R&B, after which he dropped away from the national spotlight until his 1986 role in 'Down and Out in Beverly Hills' with 'Great Gosh A'mighty' included in the soundtrack. Contributing to Richard's heydays back in the fifties was his debut LP in 1957, 'Here's Little Richard', reaching No. 13 on Billboard. He had also begun to study theology that year at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. In 1958 he formed the Little Richard Evangelistic Team as a preacher. He quit Specialty Records in 1959, sacrificing royalties, then pursued gospel music. After a few years of so-so audience reaction he began his career in secular music again in 1962, that upon an October tour to the UK during which Richard witnessed the difference in audience response from a first show of gospel repertoire that was lukewarm in comparison to a second show of rock featuring 'Long Tall Sally', that making a fuss [*]. Organist, Billy Preston, had been freshly hired to Richard's band. (Good example of Richard supported by Preston is 'Little Richard's Greatest Hits Recorded Live' gone down later in 1967.) Despite some backlash for returning to rock from gospel, Richard and his Upsetters were back to original form. Though the days for working up a storm as in the fifties had passed Richard was yet a huge name that added some fuel to the rise of the young Rolling Stones who opened for him during a 1963 visit to the UK. Jimi Hendrix joined Richard's band in latter 1964. Praguefrank's has him backing Richard on 'I Don't Know What You've Got but It's Got Me' in 1965. By 1968 Richard had sold more than 32 million records around globe. The seventies nevertheless saw Richard's popularity begin to wane as not before. He ceased with rock n roll again in 1977 to evangelize, releasing the gospel album, 'God's Beautiful City', in 1979. Wikipedia lists Richard's second to last studio album per 'Shake It All About', an LP for children released by Disney in 1992. He then recorded 'Little Richard Meets Masayoshi Takanaka' for issue the same year ('92). Richard remained active into the new millennium, retiring in 2013 due to health issues. Richard composed numerous of his own tunes such as 'True Fine Mama' ('51), 'I Got It' ('57) and 'Bama Lama Bama Loo' ('64) [*]. He died of bone cancer on 9 May 2020 in Tullahoma, Tennessee. Songwriting credits for Richard's titles at 1, 2, 3. Richard in visual media. Little Richard 1951 Composition: Little Richard Little Richard 1956 Composition: Little Richard/Dorothy LaBostrie Little Richard 1958 Recorded 1956 Composition: John Marascalco/Robert Blackwell
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Little Richard Source: Contact Music
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Tommy Sands Photo: Frank Carroll/NBC Source: Music Master Oldies
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Tommy Sands [1, 2, 3] was among the first of rock and roll's "teen idols." He issued his rockabilly oriented honky tonk, 'Love Pains', in 1951. He was born in Chicago in 1937 some score years before teenage girls began tacking his visage to their bedroom walls. Getting relocated to Shreveport, Louisiana, as a child, he there performed at radio KWKH on multiple occasions at age eight. He also performed on 'Barn Dance' in Chicago (WBKB TV) during that period. Moving to Houston with his mother in 1951, he there performed w a band on radio and at country fairs while attending high school. Praguefrank's commences its disco of Sands in Houston in 1951 w Little Tommie Sands accompanied by Herb Remington (steel), et al, for 'Love Pains'/'Syrup Soppin' Blues' (Freedom 5022) issued that year [*]. A couple years later on August 4 of 1953 he recorded 'Love Pains'/'Transfer' (RCA Victor 5435) as Tommy Sands in Chicago. Sands' next session was in September in Nashville for 'Roses Speak Louder Than Words'/'Spanish Coquita' (RCA Victor 5435), 'Life Is So Lonesome' (RCA Victor 5628)and 'Never Let Me Go' (RCA Victor 5697). Those were followed in December, possibly in NYC, by 'I Know About the Bees' (RCA Victor 5697) 'A Dime and a Dollar' (RCA Victor 5628) and 'Kissin' Ain't No Fun'/'Something's Bound to Go Wrong' (RCA Victor 6007). Sand's only session per Praguefrank's in 1954 was on June 16 in Dallas for 'Don't You Know I Love You'/'Hankerin'' (RCA Victor 5860) w Sunshine Ruby and 'Don't Drop It'/'Place for Girls Like You' (RCA Victor 5800). Sands wasn't selling records as a country artist. Like Bill Haley several years before, reshaping his Saddlemen into the Comets, a radical switch from country to rock n roll would bring major success to Sands as well. Influential to that was Sands' acquaintance w Elvis Presley whom he may have met as early as 1954 in Houston [*]. He broke out the gate in 1957 with his first rockabilly both on television and record in January. On the 14th he recorded 'Teen-Age Crush'/'Hep Dee Hootie', his first for Capitol (3639). On the 30th his role in 'The Singin' Idol' aired on 'Kraft Theater' [*] in which he played the part of a rock star, 'Teen Age Crush' also performed. Like Haley, the shift from country to rock moved Sands from spinning wheels on wet clay to an overnight sensation when 'Teen Age Crush' fit itself into Billboard's #2 spot that February. Sands also issued his first LP in 1957: 'Steady Date'. In 1958 he appeared in the film, 'Sing, Boy, Sing'. He married Nancy Sinatra from 1960 to 1965. Unable to sustain the success of his recording career in the fifties, Sands began filling roles as an actor in the early sixties. He later appeared in the film, 'The Violent Ones', in 1967 and an episode of 'Hawaii Five-O' in 1968. He released his album, 'Seasons in the Sun', in 1969. By the early seventies Sands was living in Honolulu where he would own a nightclub and clothing business. Praguefrank's has him in a session as late as 1977, after a gap of eight years, recording titles like 'Ain't Too Much of Nothin', 'Go Away Dream', 'Toby' and 'You've Got to be the One' issued on 'Tommy Sands' (Brunswick BL 754216) [*]. Eighteen years later Sands recorded the track, 'Grizzly Bear', with Jemes Intveld and Ray Campi at Penguin Studios in Eagle Rock, CA, on March 14, 1995, issued on the album by various, '1975-1995 - 20 Years Bear Family Records' (BCD 17005 PR). Said to yet perform to this day, Sands had done little composing. He wrote 'Love Pains' with Harry Todd issued in 1951 and composed 'Your Daddy Wants to Do Right' recorded in November 1957. See 1, 2, 3 for songwriting credits to titles by Sands. Sands in visual media. Little Tommie Sands 1951 Composition: Tommy Sands/Harry Todd Tommy Sands 1953 Composition: Tommy Sands/Harry Todd Tommy Sands 1957 Composition: Bernie Wayne/Lee Morris 1950 Composition: Audrey Allison/Joe Allison Tommy Sands 1958 Composition: Betty Dozel/Darla Dozel Composition: Diane Lampert/Allison Dewar Tommy Sands 1959 Composition: Sammy Fein/Irving Kahal Recorded 1959 Issue by Bear Family unknown
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Ike Turner Source: Haragei |
Ike Turner [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1931. He was about eight years years old when he began working for WROX radio in Clarksdale as a DJ. He learned to play boogie woogie on piano from Pinetop Perkins and taught himself to play guitar while listening to records. The Riverside Hotel in Clarksdale was host to touring musicians big and small. At some time in the forties Turner lived there and performed with them as they passed through town. Turner's first band was a high school affair called the Tophatters. Out of that band he formed the Kings of Rhythm which began to get live session airtime in 1950 at WROX and KFFA in Helena, Arkansas. As Clarksdale was a major blues hub, Turner's band also backed a number of well-known blues musicians from Robert Nighthawk to Sonny Boy Williamson II to Muddy Waters. Turner's first vinyl issue was 'Rocket 88' in 1951 in collaboration with Jackie Brenston. Though composition is credited to Brenston on the label, Turner may have coauthored it in some or other way. As well, though credited to Brenston's Delta Boys the band was Turner's Rhythm Kings. 'Rocket 88' is often cited as the first rock and roll song, but it was several years too late for that. After the release of 'Rocket 88' Turner was employed by Philips and the Bihari brothers (founders of Modern label in 1945) as a session musician, A&R (artist and repertoire) scout and producer. In 1956 Turner made his band's center of operation St. Louis, Missouri. It was 1958 when he met Anna Mae Bullock (Tina Turner), she first recording with him as a backup singer that year. The pair would form the Ike & Tina Turner Revue out of the Rhythm Kings in 1960, then marry in 1962. It was during his years with Tina that Turner became a huge name nationally. In 1971 Turner founded the Bolic Sound recording studios, there recording the 1971 Ike & Tina Turner album, ''Nuff Said'. (Frank Zappa was among the larger names who would later make a number of recordings at Bolic Sound.) Though Tina separated from Turner in 1974 they continued working together until 1975. Their divorce, filed in July of '76, was finalized in 1978. Turner replaced Tina with Holly Maxwell from 1977 to 1985 (and later in 1992). Regardless of Maxwell's abilities, she only wasn't Tina and Turner saw his career decline. In 1980 Turner was arrested for cocaine possession during a SWAT raid at Bolic Sound. In 1981 Bolic Sound burnt down. Turner was arrested on cocaine charges three more times in 1985, '86 and '87, then went prison for it in February 1990. He was elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 while in prison. It's said that Turner, a library trustee while in jail, saved $13,000 by selling cigarettes, candy and coffee to inmates by the time of his release in September of 1991. His release also affected considerably greater assistance than most ex-convicts have at their disposal, Turner selling twenty unissued Ike & Tina Turner tracks to Esquire Records. Those funds he used to rebuild his career, which saw further major assistance in 1993 when Salt-N-Pepa released 'Shoop', as it was a sample of Turner's composition, 'I'm Blue (The Gong Gong Song)', released by the Ikettes (Tina Turner's backup singers) in 1962. As 'Shoop' reached the No. 4 position on Billboard, Turner was in position to collect half a million in royalties, relevant to which cocaine ain't all that nice, yet relevant to which, when you can buy it with pocket change, makes it all the more tempting. Turner was able to ignore cocaine until 2004. On December 12 of 2007 he died [*] of a combination of cocaine toxicity and emphysema. The word "million" shows up a lot in biographies of Ike Turner: 'Rocket 88' released in 1951 selling half a million copies, Ike & Tina Turner's release of 'A Fool in Love' in 1960 worth a million copies, their release of 'It's Gonna Work Out Fine' in 1961 also worth a million copies, and the eleven million that it's estimated that Turner spent on cocaine during the fifteen years of his pre-prison years of addiction alone [*]. (He must have shared a whole lot because there's no way that much blow can be done by one nose. Estimated by Turner, the snow king himself, at about $36,000 per day [*], that could feed some three dozen serious addicts round the clock.) Howsoever, Turner had been the recipient of four Grammy Awards during his career of sixteen original albums. Composition was essential to Turner's vocation, he writing numerous titles for Ike & Tina Turner like 'A Fool in Love' ('60), 'Mojo Queen' ('63) and 'Such a Fool for You' ('66). He authored such as 'Don't Hold Your Breath' ('78) and 'You've Got to Lose' ('81) for issue by himself. Ike Turner solo discographies w various credits at 1, 2. With Tina Turner at 1, 2. Ike in visual media. More Ike Turner under Ike & Tina Turner and Tina Turner. Ike Turner 1951 Turner's Rhythm Kings as Brenston's Delta Boys Piano: Ike Turner Vocals: Jackie Brenston Composition: Jackie Brenston Ike Turner 1958 Composition: Ike Turner Ike Turner 1972 Composition: Lloyd Price Ike Turner 2002 With Audrey Madison Composition: Sly Stone
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R&B singer Chuck Willis [1, 2, 3, 4] was born in 1928 in Atlanta. It was an Atlanta disc jockey, Zenas Sears, who saw Willis at a talent contest and got him signed up with Columbia and Okeh in NYC to release his first recordings on January 26, 1951: 'Can't You See'/'It Ain't Right to Treat Me Wrong' and 'Be Good Or Be Gone'/Let's Jump Tonight'. With Willis R&B and rock n roll came to the same thing, the only difference a matter of billing according to the checkered audience sought. Willis was a talent with which to contend in the early fifties, placing five titles in the Top Ten of the R&B from '52 to '54: 'My Story' (#2 '52), 'Don't Deceive Me' (#6 '53)', 'Going to the River' (#4 '53), 'Feel So Bad' (#8 '54) and 'You're Still My Baby' (#4 '54). He was also noted for his 1957 cover of Ma Rainey's 'C.C. Rider'. His posthumous issue, 'Just One Kiss'/'My Baby' in 1959 had been recorded during the same session on January 31, 1957. Several more sessions followed into 1958, his last thought to have been with tenor saxophonist, King Curtis, early that year for such as 'I'll Be So Glad When Your Heart Is Mine' and 'Love of Loves'. Willis died of peritonitis on April 10 of 1958 at the height of his career at only thirty years of age. A appreciated composer, he'd written such as 'Be Good or Be Gone' ('61), 'My Story' ('62) and 'You're Still My Baby' ('63). Numerous of his songs fared well on Billboard for other artists. The Five Keys took 'Close Your Eyes' to #5 in 1955. The Cardinals reached #4 the same year with 'The Door Is Still Open'. Dean Martin took the same song to #1 on the AC in 1964. Discos of Willis with production and songwriting credits at 45Worlds and Discogs. Willis authored all titles below except as noted. Chuck Willis 1951 Chuck Willis 1952 Chuck Willis 1953 Chuck Willis 1956 Chuck Willis 1957 Composition: Ma Rainey/Lena Arant Chuck Willis 1958 Composition: Art Harris/Fred Jay
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Chuck Willis Source: Ameblo |
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R&B guitarist, Mickey Baker [1, 2, 3, 4, 5/Disco], was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1925. He had been consigned to an orphanage there at age eleven. Apparently he ran away so many times to various cities that they eventually stopped looking for him. At age 16 he found himself in New York City, working as a laborer, dishwasher and pool hustler. At age nineteen he thought to buy a trumpet. But he only had fourteen dollars so he ended up with a pawnshop guitar. Four years later he was good enough to have his own band and acquire gigs. To make a miserable story short, Baker was young, but his youth was worthless to him in scrambling poverty until he finally gained steady session work in NYC in 1951. Lord's disco begins its list of NYC recordings, however, with what may not have been session work, that with the Billy Valentine Trio on November 4 for Decca, titles like 'Baby Please Don't Go' and 'It's a Sin to Tell a Lie', et al. His first session work with Savoy is thought to have been for vocalist, Varetta Dillard, on May 6 and 24 to bear such as 'Love That Man' and 'I'm Yours'. His first name recordings followed in 1952 at the age 27, releasing 'Riverboat' and 'Love Me Baby' for Savoy. Baker's recording career well exceeded a couple hundred sessions. Wecan't here dunk into that, but we can skip a few stones: Out of the galaxy of musicians Baker supported a few vocalists in the early fifties are apt to mention. Come Ruth Brown on December 19, 1952, for 'Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean' with others that went unissued. Brown and Baker would visit on multiple occasions in '53, '54, '58 and, finally, September 30, 1959, for 'What I Wouldn't Give' and 'Don't Deceive Me', et al. Screaming Jay Hawkins tapped his talents in September, 1953, for 'Not Anymore', 'Please Try to Understand', etc.. Baker joined Hawkins numerously to July of 1957, that date to result in 'At Home With Screamin' Jay Hawkins'. Big Maybelle came knocking on January 20, 1954, for such as 'I've Got a Feeling' and 'You'll Never Know'. Baker would see numerous sessions with Maybelle in '54 and '56. His last session with her may have been on July 20 the latter year for 'Mean to Me', 'Tell Me Who', et al. In 1955 he published his first edition of 'Mickey Baker's Complete Course in Jazz Guitar'. The next year he livened things up with Louis Jordan's Tympany Five on October 22 for 'Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens' and 'Let the Good Times Roll', etc.. Among Baker's more important partners was Sylvia Vanderpool, being the singer, Sylvia Robinson [*]. That duo [1, 2/Discos 1, 2] issued 'Love Is Strange' in Nov 1956 to top the R&B chart in Jan 1957, that written by Mickey and Sylvia with Bo Diddley. Baker migrated to France during the sixties, where he remained in demand into the seventies. Among the various touring American musicians he hosted was piano giant, Memphis Slim. A session in Paris in late '64 resulted in Slim's 'Clap Your Hands'. Another visit in '67 came to 'Bluesingly Yours', followed later by 'Very Much Alive and in Montreux' in 1973. Baker didn't do a lot of recording during his later career. Among his few later issues was 'Back to the Blues' in 1981. He died in France [1, 2] on November 27, 2012, of heart and kidney failure. 'Rolling Stone' had ranked Baker at No. 53 of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time in 2003. Discographies w various credits at 45Worlds and Discogs. Baker in visual media. Mickey Baker 1952 Composition: Mickey Baker Mickey & Sylvia 1957 Composition: Bob Gibson/Ellas McDaniel/Prentice Polk Jr. Composition: Mickey Baker/Sylvia Vanderpool/Bo Diddley Mickey Baker 1959 Composition: Anton Karas Composition: Mickey Baker
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Mickey Baker Photo: Roland Godefroy Source: Rolling Stone
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Country pianist, Floyd Cramer, was a honky tonk keyboardist who spanned other genres including jazz, R&B, rock and popular. Born in 1933 in Shreveport, Louisiana, he released his first single in 1953 ('Dancin' Diane' A side with 'Little Brown Jug' flip side). That was during his first professional employment after high school at the 'Louisiana Hayride' in Shreveport. While there he met and performed with such as Elvis Presley. He soon began touring with various country artists and quickly became a favored studio musician, backing such as Patsy Cline in the fifties and sixties [*]. Main entry for Floyd Cramer in Country Western. Floyd Cramer 1956 Backing Elvis Presley Music: Tommy Durden Lyrics: Mae Boren Axton Floyd Cramer 1958 Composition: Floyd Cramer Also issued on 'Last Date' in 1960 Composition: Mitchell Parish/Will Hudson Floyd Cramer 1960 Composition: Floyd Cramer Album: 'Last Date' Composition: Chet Atkins/Boudleaux Bryant Album: 'Hello Blues'
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Floyd Cramer Source: CMT |
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Big Mama Thornton |
Like others on this page, we've pulled blues singer, Big Mama Thorton, from out of the R&B world in illustration of early rock. Same difference but for marketing to a black or white audience. Thornton began her career at age fourteen, upon her mother's death, by joining the Hot Harlem Revue, with which she traveled the South for seven years. In 1948 she settled in Houston, where she signed on to Peacock Records in 1951. Marion has her first shellac in 1950 per 'All Right Baby'/'Bad Luck Got My Ma' (E&W 100) with the Harlem Stars [see also wandandula]. Three plates as Willie Mae Thornton ensued for Peacock Records in '51 and '52 with the orchestras of Joe Scott and Bill Harvey before her first issue as Big Mama (300 plus pounds) in 1953: 'Hound Dog'/'Night Mare' (Leiber/Stoller Peacock 1612). Peacock's investment payed off with 'Hound Dog' reaching Billboard's #1 tier that year in R&B. (Elvis Presley repeated that in 1956.) Gerri Hirshey ['We Gotta Get Out of This Place'] has Thornton being payed one check for $500, though that recording would eventually sell more than two million copies. With 'Hound Dog' her only title to chart at all during those years, she relocated from Houston to San Francisco in the early sixties, there to play clubs until 1965 when Thornton toured Europe with the American Folk Blues Festival, during which she recorded her first album, 'Big Mama Thornton - In Europe'. Backing her on that were Buddy Guy (guitar), Fred Below (drums), Eddie Boyd (keyboards), Jimmy Lee Robinson (bass), Walter Shakey Horton (harmonica) and Fred McDowell (slide). Thornton's composition, 'Ball & Chain', brought greater fame to Janis Joplin in '68 than her own renditions would. Thornton had first recorded the song in 1961 for Bay-Tone, gone unissued though Bay-Tone retained copyright as part of the deal. Joplin heard Thornton perform the song at a club in San Francisco in 1967, performed it herself at the Monterey Jazz Festival that year, then at Fillmore West to release it on 'Cheap Thrills' in '68. Some sources have Bay-Tone, retaining copyright, receiving royalties rather than Thornton upon that LP reaching Billboard's #1 spot on the LP chart (despite Thornton credited on the album). Thornton would tour with the American Folk Blues Festival again in 1972, the Newport Jazz Festival in '73 and again in 1980. Despite a highly active career and several albums engaging a faithful audience, Thornton never regained the national exposure that 'Hound Dog' had brought in 1960 or that 'Ball & Chain' had transferred to Joplin in '67. Marion wants her final album recorded in England by Ace in 1982: 'Quit Snoopin' Round My Door' ('86). Her last performance was on April 14 of '84 in Los Angeles, she become a frail 120 pounds by then. She died three months later financially gaunt as well, of heart attack on July 25, 1984, in Los Angeles. Others instrumental to her career had been Johnny Otis, Johnny Ace and Muddy Waters. Songwriting credits for recordings in the fifties at Discogs 1, 2. Credits also at 45Worlds. References encyclopedic: 1, 2, 3, 4. Musical: 1, 2, 3, 4. Thornton in visual media. Thornton's rendition of Gershwin's 'Summertime', as well as other blues like 'Ball & Chain', in Blues 4. Big Mama Thornton 1952 With the Harlem Stars Composition: Thornton Big Mama Thornton 1953 Composition: Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller They Call Me Big Mama Thornton Composition: Thornton Big Mama Thornton 1955 Composition: Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller With Johnny Ace Composition: Don Robey Big Mama Thornton 1965 Filmed live Composition: Thornton Filmed live Composition: Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller Big Mama Thornton 1968 Composition: Thornton
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Frankie Valli [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] was born Francesco Stephen Castelluccio in 1934 in Newark, New Jersey [*]. He began his professional singing career in 1951 with a group called the Variety Trio consisting of Nickie DeVito, Tommy DeVito and Nick Macioci. In 1952 he and Tommy moved on to the house band at the Strand in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where Valli played bass as well as sang. His first recordings, 'My Mother's Eyes' w 'The Laugh's On Me', were released under the name, Frankie Valley, in 1953 [*]. Circa April of 1954 he laid out 'Somebody Else Took Her Home'/'Forgive and Forget' (Mercury 70381 X45) with a group called the Travelers in New York City [*], also as Frankie Valley. About that time he formed the Variatones w Hank Majewski, Frank Cattone and Billy Thompson. It was the Four Lovers in 1956 in NYC in which Valli played drums and sang. The Four Lovers were Valli (Valley Italianized), Thomas DeVito (lead guitar), Menry Majewski (rhythm guitar) and Nicolas DeVito (bass), backed by David Francis (drums) and Alfred Williams (piano) when they held their initial session on April 12, 1956, to record such as 'Shake a Hand', 'Honey Love' and ''You're the Apple of My Eye'' among other issues. Praguefrank's has the Four Lovers on three more session dates to August of 1956, a final on October 14 of 1957 for 'Pucker Up'/'My Life For Your Love' (Epic 5-9255) [issue]. Sometime in the spring of 1958 Valli put down tracks as Frankie Tyler: 'I Go Ape'/'If You Care' (OKeh 4-7103) [*]. It was Valli, Thomas DeVitto, Majewski and Charles Callello as the Romans in Jan of 1959 for 'Come Si Bella'/'Real (This Is Real)' (Cindy C-3012) [*]. In September of 1959 Valli recorded as Frankie Vally (no mention of that as a typo found): 'Please Take a Chance'/'It May Be Wrong' (Decca 9-30994) [*], those with Thomas DeVito, Nicholas DeVito and Majewski. Valli was w Bob Gaudio and Thomas DeVito as the Village Voices sometime in early 1960 for 'Too Young to Start'/'Red Lips' (Topix 45-6000-V) [*]. In summer of 1960 and early '61 Valli recorded as Billy Dixon and the Topics w Bob Gaudio and Thomas DeVito, joined by Nick Massi on the '61 date, to lay out 'Trance'/'I Am All Alone' ('61) followed by 'Lost Lullaby' ('63)[*]. Some changes were undergone in 1960, and the group emerged as the Four Seasons, with which Valli became best known, joining Thomas DeVitto, Nick Massi and Bob Gaudio. Their first record was 'Bermuda' with 'Spanish Lace' flipside, gone down on an unidentified date in November 1961 for issue that year (most sources; 45cat prefers Jan of 1962 per a Cashbox revue on the 27th). Valli has remained with the Four Seasons since their inception into the new millennium, which group yet tours as of this writing. Also leading a solo career, his first such LP in 1967 was 'The 4 Seasons Present Frankie Valli Solo' followed by 'Timeless' in '68. His title, 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You', had charted on the Hot 100 at #2 in May of '67. 'My Eyes Adored You' reached #1 in November of 1974. A few more Top Ten titles preceded 'Grease' (soundtrack) at #1 in May of 1978. Valli's 'Where Did We Go Wrong' gained #4 on the AC as late as July of 1980. In 1978 Valli had been one of the guests in the Beatles film, 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'. Having contributed to numerous soundtracks, he began filling occasional acting roles in the eighties, starting with the 'Miami Vice' television series in 1985. He produced the film, 'Jersey Boys', as recently as 2014. Discogs has Valli on above ten solo albums to as recently as ''Tis the Seasons' in 2016 with Bob Gaudio at keyboards. As of this writing Valli yet tours, per his website, with the Four Seasons. Valli wasn't known for composing. That distinction belongs more to such as Four Seasons member, Bob Gaudio, and composer, Bob Crewe, among others. Gaudio had composed 'Trance' and 'I Am All Alone' for Billy Dixon (Valli) and the Topics as early as 1961. He and Crewe had collaborated on the Topics' 'Lost Lullabye'. He wrote Valli's 'This Is Goodbye' in '64. He and Crewe composed 'To Give (The Reason I Live)' for Valli in '67'. Songwriting credits for titles by Valli at australiancharts. Frankie Valli 1953 As Frankie Valley Composition: Abel Baer/L. Wolfe Gilbert Frankie Valli 1956 Filmed live with the Four Lovers Composition: Otis Blackwell With the Four Lovers Composition: Otis Blackwell Frankie Valli 1961 With the Four Seasons Composition: Cynthia & Eugene Strother With the Four Seasons Composition: Bob Crewe As Billy Dixon with the Topics
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Frankie Valli Source: K Hits Chicago |
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Frankie Avalon Source: Songkick |
Like Frankie Avalon was born in
1940 in Philadelphia. His film partner,
Annette Funicello, Frankie
Avalon [1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7/Discography
*] was among early rock's talents
manufactured by Hollywood. The
adolescent Avalon owned a talent with trumpet such that at age 14 (1954) he
released his first four recordings for "X", an RCA Victor imprint: 'Trumpet
Tarantella'/'Dormi, Dormi' ("X" 4X-0006) and '' ("X" 4X-0026) [*]. Three years later
in 1957, upon turning to rock, Avalon issued 'Splish Splash'/'When I Said I
Love You' (Delite 1591). Signing on with Chancellor Records the same year,
Avalon released 'Cupid'/'Jivin' with the Saints' (1004), 'Teacher's Pet'/'Shy Guy'
(1006) and 'Dede Dinah/Ooh-La-La' (1011), the latter in December. 'DeDe
Dinah' reached #8 on
Billboard's R&B
in January of 1958. 'Ginger Bread' rose
to #10 in July. 'Venus' topped the Hot 100 and AC charts in Feb of '59.
'Why' topped the Hot 100 in November. 'You Are Mine' saw #7 on the AC in
March of '62, his recording career in decline by then as he focused on
acting. A later disco version of 'Venus' rose to #1 on Billboard's AC in Jan
1976. Avalon had featured in his first film as a performer in 1957: 'Jamboree'. He
provided the singing voice of Alakazam in the animated film, 'Alakazam the
Great', issued in 1960. His first acting roles were also in 1960: 'Guns of
the Timberland' and 'The Alamo'. Avalon released his last of seven albums,
'Italiano', in 1962, before his first pairing with
Annette Funicello in the film,
'Beach Party', released in 1963. Avalon would continue acting into the
eighties, his last record release thought to have been in 1978 in
concert with the film, 'Grease': 'Beauty School Dropout'/'Midnight Lady'.
Avalon got together with Fabian and
Bobby Rydell in 1985 to form the
Golden Boys. He
returned to the screen with
Funicello in the 1987
release of 'Back to the Beach'. Some time after that Avalon took an interest
in marketing, creating Frankie Avalon Products, a line of health and food
items that he has sold on both the Home Shopping Network and its rival, QVC.
Avalon issued
his cookbook, 'Frankie Avalon's Italian Family Cookbook', in 2015. He
yet performs as of this writing. Avalon
discos w various credits at
1,
2.
Avalon in visual media. As usual, tracks below are chronological
by year only, alphabetical thereafter. Frankie Avalon 1954 Composition: Ray Anthony Frankie Avalon 1957 Composition: Peter De Angelis/Bob Marcucci Composition: Peter De Angelis/Bob Marcucci Composition: Peter De Angelis/Bob Marcucci Composition: Peter De Angelis Frankie Avalon 1958 Composition: Peter De Angelis/Bob Marcucci Arrangement/Conducting: Peter De Angelis Composition: Peter De Angelis/Bob Marcucci Production: Peter De Angelis Composition: Peter De Angelis/Bob Marcucci Arrangement/Conducting: Peter De Angelis Frankie Avalon 1959 Composition: Diane DeNota/Joe Ricci/Pete Damato Composition: Peter De Angelis/Bob Marcucci 'Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show' Composition: Ed Marshall Composition: Peter De Angelis/Bob Marcucci Frankie Avalon 1978 Film: 'Grease' Composition: Jim Jacobs/Warren Casey
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 Don & Dewey Source: Marv Goldberg |
Jazz fusion violinist, Don Sugarcane Harris
(Don Francis Bowman Harris),
also performed on guitar and organ. His early R&B career began with Dewey
Terry as a member of the Squires [1,
2,
3,
4/Discos
1,
2,
3],
he using the name, Don Bowman, at the time [*].
The
Squires issued their first plate, 'Lou Lou'/'A Dream Come True' (Kicks 1) in 1954. Not to acquire
the credit they merited, as
Don
& Dewey Harris and Terry released their first record
on Shade 1000
in 1956: 'Miss Sue'/'My Heart Is Aching'. The pair recorded numerously until
their last in 1964: 'Get Your Hat'/'Annie Lee'. They became part of
Little Richard's backup band that year for a
while as well. Harris then did a little
time with
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers.
He performed on the 'Johnny Otis Show' in 1968 and '69. He emerged on
Frank Zappa's albums, 'Hot Rats' in
1969,
then 'Burnt Weeny Sandwich' ('70) and 'Weasels Ripped My Flesh' ('70). Keep On
Driving" and 'Sugarcane' were Harris' first two solo albums in 1970. In 1972 he formed the
Pure Food and Drug Act with Victor Conte (bass), Paul Lagos (drums), Randy Resnick (guitar) and Harvey Mandel (guitar). The Drug Act issued one album
in '72: 'Choice Cuts', Harris' fourth by then. His tenth and last was 'Flashin'
Time' in 1976. He had reunited with Dewey in '75, now to do the
oldies circuit until Harris death of pulmonary disease in Los Angeles on
November of 1999
[*]. Terry worked with other bands, also touring Europe, until his
death on May 11, 2003
[*]. Harris had done little recording during his
latter career. He appeared as late as 1998 on albums by CD
Morris ('Shades of Country Blues') and Charles Wright ('Going to the
Party'). Discographies of Don & Dewey w various credits at
1,
2. Per below, only examples of Harris' career with Don & Dewey
are listed. His career resumes with his solo career thereafter when he began
to more emphasize violin than guitar with early jazz fusion. The Squires 1954 Lead: Lee Goudeau/Chester Pipkin Composition: Chester Pipkin Don & Dewey 1956 Don & Dewey 1958 Don & Dewey 1959 Don & Dewey 1963 Don & Dewey 1964
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| The term, "rockabilly," began to
come into common usage about 1956. Among its earliest darlings was
Wanda Jackson.
Born in 1937 in Maud, Oklahoma, Jackson was twelve when she won a contest resulting
in her own radio show for KLPR. Hank
Thompson later happened to hear her sing on her show and invited her to
perform with his band, the Brazos Valley Boys, which led to her first
recordings the same year: 'Lovin' Country Style'/'You Can't Have My Love'
(Decca 29140) and 'The Right to Love'/'If You Knew What I Know' (Decca
29253) issued in 1954. She recorded with
Chet Atkins in 1955, toured
with Elvis Presley in 1955-56 and
was backed on titles in 1956 by
Buck Owens. In 1965
Jackson began recording records in German, her first such plate being 'Santo
Domingo/Morgen, Ja Morgen' in 1965. Those were included on the album, 'Made
in Germany' in 1967. Issuing her initial album, 'Wanda Jackson', in 1958,
she would catalog some sixty to her latest per this writing, 'Unfinished Business', in 2012.
Among titles composed by Jackson were 'Mean Mean Man' ('58), 'Rock Your
Baby' ('58), 'Right or Wrong' ('61) and 'Kicking Our Hearts Around' ('65).
Jackson has lived most her life in Oklahoma. Main entry
for Wanda
in Country Western. Wanda Jackson 1957 Composition: Earl Burrows Wanda Jackson 1958 Live on 'Town Hall Party' Composition: Claude Demetrius Composition: Wanda Jackson Wanda Jackson 1961 Composition: Howard Greenfield/Neil Sedaka Wanda Jackson 2011 Live Composition: Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller 1954
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Wanda Jackson Source: Rev. Art
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Elvis Presley
See
Rockabilly: Elvis Presley. |
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Chuck Berry Photo: Roland Godefroy Source: Vuelve Primavera
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Guitarist, Chuck Berry [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], was born in 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri. He was a high school student and had publicly sang as such when he was convicted on three counts of armed robbery in 1944, in addition to stealing a car at gunpoint. Released from prison in 1947, he wasted no time getting married in 1948, then starting a family in 1950. In addition to day jobs he played in local St. Louis bands. He began to notably emerge on the local scene in the trio of Johnnie Johnson in 1953, playing country to R&B audiences, a twist that worked. In 1955 he ventured to Chicago where his first commercial session on May 21 resulted in 'Maybellene'/'Wee Wee Hours' (Chess 1604) [*]. Joining him on that were Willie Dixon (bass), Jasper Thomas (drums), Johnnie Johnson (piano) and Jerome Green (maracas). That September ('55) saw 'Thirty Days'/'Together We Will Always Be' (Chess 1610) go down with the same gang. It was the pared down combo of Dixon, Ebby Hardy (drums) and Otis Spann (piano) on December 20 coming to 'No Money Down'/'Down Bound Train' (Chess 1615).'You Can't Catch Me' saw issue with a later recording of 'Havana Moon'. 'Roly Poly' and 'Berry Pickin' saw release on Berry's debut LP, 'After School Sessions', in 1957. It was an April 16 date ('56) that Berry recorded 'Roll Over Beethoven'/'Driftin' Heart' (Chess 1626) and 'Brown Eyed Handsome Man'/'Too Much Monkey Business' (Chess 1635) with a combo of Dixon, Johnson and Fred Below (drums) and Johnnie Johnson (piano). In the meantime Berry had been placing seven titles onto Billboard's Top Ten, commencing with 'Maybellene' at #1 in August of '55 to Brown Eyed Handsome Man' at #5 in October of 1956. That was followed by 'School Day' at #1 in April of '57. 'Sweet Little Sixteen' topped the chart in Feb of 1958. His career in the fifties a hard act to follow, that wasn't assisted when he was arrested in December of 1959 for intimate relations with a fourteen year-old waitress. He served a year and a half in prison, released in 1963. His last session before being jailed (Feb '62) was August 3 of 1961 for titles like 'Go Go Go'/'Come On' (Chess 1799 '61) along with others to see issue on the album, 'On Stage', in Aug 1963. Backing him were Ebby Hardy (drums), Johnnie Johnson (piano), J. C. Davis (sax) and Martha Berry (backup vocals). Berry's initial session after incarceration (Oct '63 release) was on January 14, 1964, also for Chess in Chicago, coming to such as 'Nadine'/'O Rangutang' (Chess 1883). Berry maintained a steady presence throughout the sixties into the seventies as he toured. In August 1972 Berry took Dave Bartholomew's silly 'My Ding-a-Ling' to #1. Touring internationally over the decades, Berry has ranked high in several 'Rolling Stone' categories, notably fifth on their 'Immortals' list and first on '100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time' for 'Johnny B. Goode'. He more recently performed on occasion in St. Louis. Berry hadn't released a studio album since 'Rock It' in 1979. 'Chuck' was issued posthumously in June of 2017 consisting of titles recorded between 1991 and 2014. Berry died in Missouri of cardiac arrest at age 90 on March 18, 2017. Composition was of essence to Berry's vocation, he authoring issues like 'Maybellene' and 'Wee Wee Hours' in '55, 'Johnny B. Goode' and 'Around and Around' in '58, 'All Aboard' in '63, 'You Never Can Tell' in '64, 'My Mustang Ford' in '65 and 'Move It' in '79. Songwriting and producing credits for Berry's titles at 1, 2, 3, 4. Berry in visual media. Per 1959 below, Marvin Gaye is one of the backup singers on 'Almost Grown' and 'Back In the U.S.A.'. Per 1987, all edits were filmed live with Keith Richards. Berry composed all titles below except as noted. Chuck Berry 1955 Composition: Chuck Berry/Russ Fratto/Alan Freed Chuck Berry 1957 Chuck Berry 1958 Chuck Berry 1959 Studio version Live on the 'Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show' Chuck Berry 1970 Filmed live Chuck Berry 1972 Filmed live Composition: Dave Bartholomew 1952 Filmed live Chuck Berry 1987 Filmed live with Linda Ronstadt
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Long a favorite with rockers was Bo Diddley [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8], born Ellas Otha Bates in 1928 in McComb, Mississippi. He was early adopted and named Ellas McDaniel. He largely grew up on Chicago's South Side. He worked as a carpenter and mechanic while busking street corners in the early forties. His first regular employment as a musician is thought to have been at the 708 Club in 1951. How McDaniel came to go by Bo Diddley is unclear, but that's what he called himself in 1954 when he recorded 'Bo Diddley' and 'I'm a Man' for issue on Checker 814 in March of 1955. Those issues put him on the path to becoming one of the early icons of rock & roll, charting at #1 on Billboard's R&B. Among other titles Diddley wrote in the fifties were 'Who Do You Love' ('56) and 'Before You Accuse Me' ('57). His cover of 'Sixteen Tons' in 1960 had been composed by Merle Travis (Country Western) and first performed by Tennessee Ernie Ford (Folk Music). He was supposed to do a rendition of that song on the 'Ed Sullivan Show' that year. When he played 'Bo Diddley' by accident he was banned from further appearances. He recorded his 1960 album, 'Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger' at his own home studio. Among titles he authored for issue in the sixties were 'Diana' ('62), 'Met You on a Saturday' ('62) and 'Rooster Stew' ('63). In 1971 Diddley moved to Los Lunas, New Mexico, where he became a deputy sheriff for over two years (donating three pursuit cars to the department) before relocating to Hawthorne, Florida, continuing his career all the while. He also lived in Albuquerque, NM, and Archer, FL. Diddley had performed with all variety of larger names in rock, from The Grateful Dead to The Clash to the Rolling Stones. Among his final recordings were 'Wreck It' in 2005 with Munkeez Strikin' Matchiz and 'Seventeen' in 2006 with the New York Dolls. In 2007 Diddley lived through both a stroke and heart attack, last performing that year in McComb, Mississippi, his birthplace. He died of heart failure on June 2 of 2008 [*], his final words said to have been, "I'm going to heaven" [*]. In 2009 the guitar he used during his last performance sold for $60,000. Diddley discos w various credits at 1, 2. Diddley in visual media. Tripod tribute site (full screen popups in addition to an ad exactly and forever blocking information with perfect precision on every page, but otherwise benign and richly loaded w Diddley data). He composed all titles below except as noted. Bo Diddley 1955 Filmed live Studio version Bo Diddley 1956 Bo Diddley 1960 Composition: Merle Travis 1946 Bo Diddley 1962 You Can't Judge a Book by It's Cover Composition: Willie Dixon
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Bo Diddley Source: Literatura |
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Kansas City rocker, Priscilla Bowman [1, 2, 3/Discos 1, 2], was there born in 1928. She began recording in 1955 with pianist and bandleader, Jay McShann (Big Band Swing). She and McShann had composed 'Hands Off' with 'Another Night' for issue on Vee Jay 155 in October, 'Hands Off' to top Billboard's R&B. Bowman recorded little, releasing only several plates to 'I Ain't Given Up Nothing'/'A Rockin' Good Way' on Abner 1033 in 1959, thereafter pursuing a local career in KC into the seventies. In 1985 she was among musicians featured in the documentary, 'Route 66'. Bowman died of lung cancer on June 24, 1988. Discographies w various credits at 1, 2. Priscilla Bowman 1955 With Jay McShann Composition: McShann/Bowman Priscilla Bowman 1956 Composition: McShann/Bowman Composition: McShann/Bowman Priscilla Bowman 1958 With the Spaniels Composition: Brook Benton/Clyde Otis/Luchi de Jesus
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Priscilla Bowman Source: MEO
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Johnny Burnette
See
Rockabilly: Johnny Burnette. |
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Eddie Cochran
See
Rockabilly: Eddie Cochran. |
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Duane Eddy Source: Last FM |
Guitarist
Duane Eddy was
born in 1936 in Corning, New York. Eddy began his career as
a country artist, shifting over to rock n roll via rockabilly, that to bring
him his earliest national successes. Eddy issued his first record, 'Soda
Fountain Girl'I Want Some Lovin' Baby', in 1955, that w Jimmy Delbridge, et
al. 'Rebel Rouser' was his first gold disc, reaching No. 6
on the charts on 1958. His debut album, 'Have 'Twangy' Guitar Will Travel',
was released in 1958 as well. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame in 1994. He continues to tour as of this writing. Main entry for Eddy. Duane Eddy 1955 Composition: Lee Hazlewood Duane Eddy 1958 Composition: Duane Eddy/Lee Hazlewood Composition: Duane Eddy/Lee Hazlewood Duane Eddy 1959 Music: Vincent Rose 1940 Lyrics: Larry Stock/Al Lewis 1940 Composition: Duane Eddy/Al Casey Duane Eddy 1960 Composition: Aaron Schroeder/Don Costa/Wally Gold Duane Eddy 1962 Composition: Duane Eddy Duane Eddy 1963 Composition: Bill Justis/Sidney Manker Duane Eddy 1965 Composition: Roger Atkins/Alexander Gafa Composition: Lee Hazlewood Duane Eddy 1967 Composition: T. Sasaki Duane Eddy 1969 Composition: Paul Westmoreland 1945 Duane Eddy 1975 Composition: Merle Travis Duane Eddy 1988 Composition: Al Casey Composition: Duane Eddy/Lee Hazlewood Duane Eddy 2011 Filmed live in Glastonbury Composition: Henry Mancini
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Annette Funicello Source: San Diego County News |
What would a history of Rock and Roll be without its very first Disney teenybopper? Annette Funicello [1, 2, 3, 4] was born in 1942 in Utica, New York. She was first famous as a Mouseketeer [1, 2]. Walt Disney [1, 2, 3] had seen her dance in a production of 'Swan Lake' when she twelve. The next year she found herself the principle Mouseketeer of 'The Mickey Mouse Club' television show from its debut in 1955 until 1957, after which she appeared in various other shows and films for Disney. Funicello released her first album, 'Annette', in 1959. She went on to considerable popularity with the first of her films with Frankie Avalon, 'Beach Party', in 1963. She recorded strongly through the sixties, after which her career went largely the direction of film and television. Her 1994 autobiography, 'A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes', was dictated to Patricia Romanowski. Among Funicello's business ventures was the founding of the Annette Funicello Collectible Bear Company in 1992, selling teddy bears. She then began to market the fragrance, 'Cello', about the same time. Funicello had begun to experience symptoms of multiple sclerosis in the latter eighties, increasingly so in the early nineties, such that she established AFRFND (Annette Funicello Research Fund for Neurological Diseases) in 1993. Funicello died of multiple sclerosis in Bakersfield, CA, on April 8, 2013 [1, 2]. Discographies of issues w various credits at 1, 2, 3. Funicello in visual media. Annette Funicello 1955 Debut of The Mickey Mouse Club Annette Funicello 1958 Composition: Bill Walsh/Frances Jeffords/Tom Adair Annette Funicello 1959 Album Annette Funicello 1961 Film: 'The Parent Trap' With Tommy Sands Composition: Robert & Richard Sherman Film: 'The Parent Trap' With Tommy Sands Composition: Robert & Richard Sherman Annette Funicello 1964 Composition: Guy Hemric/Jerry Styner Film: 'Bikini Beach'
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Etta James [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10/Discos 1, 2/See also *] was born Jamesetta Hawkins in 1938 in Los Angeles. She also used James Etta (Jamesetta) Rogers in credits. James formed a doo-wop band at age fourteen. A few years later, 1955, she released her first R&B recording, 'Wallflower (Roll With Me Henry)'/'Hold Me, Squeeze Me', followed by 'Good Rockin' Daddy'/'Crazy Feeling'. After ('Roll with Me Henry'( was retitled ('Dance With Me Henry') to avoid censorship 'The Wallflower' topped Billboard's R&B chart. 'Good Rockin' Daddy' scaled to the #5 spot. James didn't top the charts again, though she issued ten more Top Ten titles to her last in 1967 with 'Tell Mama rising to #10. 'Security' visited #11 in March of 1968. Duets with Harvey Fuqua as Etta James & Harvey had also done Billboard well, 'If I Can't Have You' reaching #6 in 1960 along with 'Spoonful' at #12. James had released her debut album, 'At Last', in 1960. Though her heydays were in the sixties she largely kept her momentum with a strong fanbase through the seventies. The eighties were James' weakest decade until she came back with the album, 'Seven Year Itch' in 1989. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. Her 1995 album, 'Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday', won a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance. She was elected into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001. Her autobiography, 'Rage to Survive', appeared in 2003. In 2004 'Let's Roll' won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album. 'Blues to the Bone' won the Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album in 2005. James died of leukemia on January 20 of 2012 [1, 2, 3, 4]. Her 28th and final album was 'The Dreamer' issued in 2011. 'Rolling Stone' magazine has ranked her as 22nd of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. Discographies w various credits at 1, 2, 3. James in visual media. Etta James 1955 Composition: Joe Josea/Richard Berry Composition: Frank Gallo Composition: Joe Josea/Jules Taub Composition: Joe Josea/Richard Berry Composition: Etta James/Phyllis Otis Composition: Joe Josea/Maxwell Davis Wallflower (Dance with Me Henry) Aka 'The Wallflower (Roll with Me Henry)' With Richard Berry Composition: Etta James/Phyllis Otis Etta James 1960 With Harvey Fuqua Composition: Willie Dixon Etta James 1968 Composition: Billy Foster/Ellington Jordan Etta James 1986 Live Released 1987 With Eddie Cleanhead Vinson Composition: Jimmy Reed 1959
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Etta James Photo: H. Darr Beiser/USA Today Source: Seven Days/Solid State |
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Little Willie John [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] was born in 1937 in Cullendale, Arkansas, but raised in Detroit. He produced soul tunes a touch more, say, tranquil than James Brown's funk, while at once he and rock & roll were made for each other. His first recording in 1955 was a version of Titus Turner's 'All Around the World', that with John's composition, 'Don't Leave Me Dear'. 'All Around the World' was Willie John's first to rise to the Top Ten of Billboard's R&B, reaching #5. John was a highly popular R&B artist for the brief period that he recorded. His other Top Ten titles were 'Home at Last' (#6 1956), 'Letter from My Darling' (#10 1956), 'Need Your Love So Bad' (#5 1956), 'Fever' (#1 1956), 'Talk to Me' (#5 1958), 'Heartbreak' (#6 1960), 'Sleep' (#10 1960) and 'Take My Love' (#5 1961). Likely youth's energy that he drank a lot, and it isn't known why his temper was short, but in 1964 King Records dropped him, said to be for those causes. Among titles issued that year were 'My Love Will Never Change'/'Bill Bailey' and 'It Only Hurts a Little While'/'Rock Love'. Be as may, Willie tended to find himself in nightclub brawls. On October 7 he aired on 'The Lloyd Thaxton Show' [IMDb]. Ten nights later on the 17th he stabbed a railroad worker in self defense at a bar in Seattle and ended up at Walla Walla for manslaughter [*]. During a period of appeal in 1966 John recorded several tracks for Capitol, not released until 2008 on the CD, 'Nineteen Sixty Six'. John lost his appeal and was returned to Walla Walla where he died of heart attack, age 31, on May 26, 1968. He was elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Discos of releases w various credits at 45Cat and Discogs. Little Willie John 1955 Composition: Titus Turner Little Willie John 1956 Composition: Eddie Cooley/John Davenport Composition: Lloyd Pemberton/Teddy Conyers Little Willie John 1958 Composition: Joe Seneca Little Willie John 1959 Composition: Henry Glover/Henry Glover Little Willie John 1960 Composition: Rudy Toombs Composition: Darlynn John/Mertis John Jr. Little Willie John 1961 Composition: Joseph Kosma/Johnny Mercer Composition: Shirley Wolfe/Sy Soloway
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Little Willie John 1956 Photo: Otis Blackwell Source: Don't Stay Up Too Late |
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Carl Perkins
See
Rockabilly: Carl Perkins. |
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Marvin Rainwater
See
Rockabilly: Marvin Rainwater. |
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Pop musician, Paul Anka [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6], was born in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1941 to Syrian and Lebanese parents. In 1956 he journeyed to Los Angeles to visit an uncle where he made his debut recordings on August 24, one a doo wop tune called 'I Confess', at the age of fifteen. The other title was 'Blau-Wile-Deveest-Fontaine' (ABC Paramount 499) [*]. In 1957 Anka took a trip to New York City to record titles on May 20 including 'Diana'/'Don't Gamble with Love' (ABC Paramount 9831), the former to arrive to No. 1 on both the Hot 100 and R&B charts. 'Tell Me That You Love Me' saw issue with a Sep 4 recording of 'I Love You Baby' (ABC Paramount 9855). 'When I Stop Loving You' was released with a Sep 27 recording of 'You Are My Destiny' (ABC Paramount 9880). Waiting for You' also went down on Sep 27, issued in 1959 w a Nov 4 recording of 'Pity Pity' (ABC Paramount 9988). 'I'd Have to Share' saw issue in 1960 w a later track of 'Summer's Gone' (ABC Paramount 10147). Anka laid out his first titles of 1958 on January 18 yet in NYC: 'Side By Side' saw issue with a Feb 25 recording of 'Jambalaya' (ABC Paramount 10078). 'Down by the Riverside' and 'Walkin' My Baby Back Home' were released on the EP, 'Paul Anka' (ABC Paramount A-240). His debut LP, 'Paul Anka's Own Hits', released in '57. Anka's debut as an actor was 'Girls Town' in 1959. About that time he began performing in Las Vegas, which would be a safe haven as the British invaded in the sixties, demolishing the careers of acts similar to Anka's. Anka nevertheless released several high-charting songs into the eighties. His next #1 title after 'Diana' in July of '57 was 'Lonely Boy' in June of '59. 'Having My Baby' reached #1 as late as July of 1974, followed by 'Times of Your Life' in November of '75 (Adult Contemporary). His last to visit the Top Ten, 'Hold Me 'Til the Mornin' Comes', reached No. 2 in June of 1983 (Adult Contemporary). 'Second Chance' scored at #14 the next year. 'The Paul Anka Show' had aired from '82 into '83. Anka eventually became a U.S. citizen in 1990. He published his autobiography, 'My Way', in 2013. Anka had composed numerously, titles like 'Lonely Boy' ('59), 'Adam and Eve' ('60) and 'You're Having My Baby' ('74). Songwriting credits for Anka's titles at 1, 2, 3. Anka in visual media. Anka remains active touring as of this writing. Paul Anka 1956 Composition: Maurice Anka/Paul Anka Composition: Imogene Christian/Jeanette Baker/Nyla Paul Anka 1957 Filmed live Composition: Joe Sherman/Paul Anka Original release Composition: Joe Sherman/Paul Anka Paul Anka 1958 Composition: Paul Anka Arrangement: Don Costa Composition: Paul Anka Paul Anka 1959 Filmed live Composition: Paul Anka Paul Anka 1960 Composition: Paul Anka Composition: Paul Anka Paul Anka 1976 Composition: Paul Anka Paul Anka 2005 Composition: Alex van Halen/Michael Anthony David Lee Roth/Eddie Van Halen
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Paul Anka |
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James Brown Photo: Michael Ochs Archives Source: Mixcrate/Asthedj |
Soul and funk rock musician, James Brown [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10/Discos 1, 2, 3], was born in a little wood shack in 1933 in Barnwell, South Carolina. He began his recording career as a gospel singer in 1952. He had a group called the Ever Ready Gospel Singers, which he quit after recording a version of 'His Eye Is On the Sparrow' that year, unable to sell it. Born to damning poverty, Brown quit school in the sixth grade. He was convicted of armed robbery (stealing a car) at age sixteen (1949) and sent to a juvenile detention center where he formed a gospel quartet, its instruments consisting of comb and paper, a washtub bass, lard tubs for drums and a wood box rigged as a kind of mandolin. All else aside, what put Brown's music career in gear was putting together the Famous Flames with Bobby Byrd in 1953 [*]. Their first record the next year was a doo wop effort, 'Please, Please, Please' with 'Why Do You Do Me' flipside, on Federal 12258. The former rose to Billboard's #5 spot in April of 1956. 'Try Me' topped the R&B at #1 in November of 1958. The next month Brown issued his debut LP, 'Please Please Please' [Wikipedia]. 'Try Me' saw issue again on the album, 'Try Me', in 1959. The LP, 'Think', was issued in 1960, provided momentum into the decade with four Top Ten titles: 'Think' (#7), 'Bewildered' (#8), 'I Don't Mind' (#4) and 'Baby, You're Right' (#2). Come 'Lost Someone' at #2 in Dec 1959, 'Night Train' at #5 in 1962. Fourteen more of Brown's titles reached the #1 spot:
Papa's Got a Brand New Bag 7/65 In 1963 Brown launched his own record label, Try Me Records. The British Invasion wasn't the threat to R&B that it was to the pop and white rock cultures. No matter in James' case anyway, he a singularly electric performer with a style that such as the Rolling Stones knew they couldn't top. Keith Richards is famously said to have commented that the greatest mistake of the Stones' career was venturing to follow a performance by Brown on the T.A.M.I. Show in 1964, there no way the gutsy but yet fledgling Stones could match his act [1, 2, 3]. The next year Brown received his first Grammy for 'Papa's Got a Brand New Bag'. In early 1970 Brown's Band/Orchestra became the JB's with largely fresh personnel. He handed the reins to that band to one of his more important associates, Fred Wesley [1, 2], in 1971. Having joined Brown as a trombonist in 1968, Wesley would be Brown's musical director from '71 to '75 [1, 2], they also collaborating on compositions. Wesley backed Brown on such as the album, 'Doing It to Death' in 1973. He featured on 'Damn Right I Am Somebody' the next year. Brown was a phenomenal performer on stage, a virtual power plant who could turn on the lights of an entire city, nothing quite like him or his music in all the history of rock n roll. He employed a crew of 50 to 60 highly managed people to produce well over 300 concerts each year. He gave his last concert in 2006, dying of heart failure on Christmas that year [1, 2]. Composition being a major element in the big fuss that Brown made, his hand was in the authoring of and arranging of most his titles ever since he and John Terry wrote 'Please Please Please' for issue in '56. Though claiming Little Richard his inspiration, Brown singlehandedly created funk, an asymmetric contrapuntal polyrhythmic beat, and put it on the map [1, 2, 3, 4]. Among his numerous compositions were 'Papa's Got a Brand New Bag' ('65), 'Ain't It Funky Now' ('69), 'Funky Drummer' ('70), 'I Got a Bag of My Own' ('72) and 'Stone to the Bone' ('73) [1, 2, 3]. James Brown discographies with various credits at 1, 2, 3, 4. Brown in visual media. Several selections below are live concert performances. James Brown 1956 Composition: James Brown/John Terry Composition: James Brown/John Terry James Brown 1959 Composition: James Brown James Brown 1960 Composition: Lowman Pauling James Brown 1961 Composition: Rose Marie McCoy/Rudolph Toombs James Brown 1964 Live on the 'TAMI Show' Composition: Jimmy Forrest/Lewis Simpkins/Oscar Washington Live on the 'TAMI Show' Composition: Ted Wright Live on the 'TAMI Show' Brown's first dramatic cape act Composition: James Brown/John Terry James Brown 1965 Lip-syncing on 'Hollywood A Go Go' Composition: James Brown Studio version Composition: James Brown James Brown 1966 Television broadcast Composition: James Brown/Betty Jean Newsome James Brown 1969 Composition: Alfred Ellis/James Brown Composition: Bud Hobgood/James Brown James Brown 1970 Drums: Clyde Stubblefield Composition: James Brown James Brown 1971 Filmed live Composition: James Brown/Betty Jean Newsome James Brown 1972 Composition: Dave Matthews/James Brown/Manny Rosen Composition: Dave Matthews/James Brown James Brown 1974 Live on 'Soul Train' Composition: Fred Wesley/James Brown Live on 'Soul Train' Composition: Fred Wesley/James Brown Filmed live in Kinshasa, Zaire Composition: James Brown James Brown 1980 Film: 'The Blues Brothers' Composition: William Herbert Brewster 1949 James Brown 1981 Filmed live in Montreux Composition: James Brown/Betty Jean Newsome James Brown 1993 Filmed live at Radio City Composition: James Brown James Brown 1995 Filmed live Composition: James Brown Filmed live Composition: James Brown James Brown 1999 Filmed live in Las Vegas Composition: Derrick Monk/James Brown
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Bobby Byrd Source: Soul Sides |
Soul singer, Bobby Byrd [1, 2, 3, 4/Discos 1, 2], was born in 1934 in Taccoa, Georgia. He is best known in association with James Brown, with whom he first recorded in 1956 ('Please, Please, Please'/'Why Do You Do Me') as a member of the Famous Flames. In October of 1958 the Flames released 'Try Me'/'Tell Me What I Did Wrong'. Brown left the band for a while, Byrd to continue with what was renamed the Drops of Joy. He then joined Brown in the assembly of the new Famous Flames. That band was enjoying a good run through the sixties when Byrd first supported vocalist, Anna King, on 'Back to Soul' in summer of '63. He would see King again in '64 for 'Oh Baby Don't You Weep', 'Baby Baby Baby', 'Make Up Your Mind' and 'If You Don't Think'. Byrd is thought to have released his initial solo disc, 'They Are Sayin''/'I Found Out', in 1963 for Federal. He began recording en force in 1964 with Smash Records while also enjoying success with the Flames. This time it was Byrd who left the Flames in 1968, joining Brown in the formation of another band. In 1971 he and Brown formed People Records. Byrd's final departure from Brown as a professional partner arrived in 1973, one reason being a long-occurring lack of credits. Brown found that separation detrimental to People Records, it folding in 1976. Byrd's career saw numerous releases through the seventies, but during the eighties he emphasized performing in Europe with the continuing Famous Flames that now included his wife, Vicki. Though Byrd hadn't been the superstar that was Brown, he placed a couple titles on Billboard as high as the #14 tier in '65 and '70 with 'We Are in Love' and 'I Need Help'. He did much better on Billboard as a composer, contributing to the composition of several Top Ten releases by Brown such as 'Talking Loud and Saying Nothing' which reached #1 on the R&B in Feb 1972, that written w Brown. Composition had been essential to Byrd's vocation ever since writing such as 'They Are Sayin'' w Brown in 1963. Later titles by Byrd were such as 'Try It Again' ('73), 'I'm On the Move' ('73) and 'Real Good Feeling'' ('80). Byrd announced his retirement in 1996, though he occasionally appeared with Brown. He died on September 12, 2007, of cancer [1, 2]. Discographies w production and songwriting credits at 1, 2. Byrd in visual media. Bobby Byrd 1956 With James Brown & the Famous Flames Composition: James Brown/John Terry Bobby Byrd 1967 Composition: Bobby Byrd/James Brown Bobby Byrd 1970 Composition: Teddy Brown (son of James Brown) Bobby Byrd 1971 Composition: James Brown Composition: Bobby Byrd/Charles Bobbitt/James Brown Bobby Byrd 1972 Composition: James Brown/Bobby Byrd
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Bobby Darin Source: Fans Share |
Born Walden Robert Cassotto in 1936
in NYC, composer and multi-instrumentalist
Bobby Darin also meddled in multiple
genres from rock and jazz to pop and a bit of country. first recorded via agent for
Decca in 1956. Best known for such as 'Splish Splash' in 1958 and 'Mack the
Knife' in 1959 he'd begun issuing in 1956 with 'Rock Island Line'/'Timber'
(Decca 9-29883). Also an actor, Darin first appeared on television in that
capacity in 1959 in the television series, 'Hennessy'. He also first
appeared in films in 1959: 'Shadows'. Also a music publisher and record
producer, it was Darin who signed singer, Wayne Newton, to his first
recording contract in 1963. Politically active, Darin worked with the 1968
campaign for Robert Kennedy. In 1969 he founded Direction Records
specifically to produce activist folk music. In 1972 he ran his own variety
show for NBC, 'The Bobby Darin Amusement Company'. 'The Bobby Darin Show'
followed in 1973. Beyond music, though not a master, Darin was an expert
chess player. He was only age 37 when he died on December 20 of 1973 in Los
Angeles of heart complications ensuing upon rheumatic fever as child.
Main entry for Bobby
Darin including 1956
recordings. Bobby Darin 1958 Composition: Bobby Darin/Murray Kaufman Bobby Darin 1959 Composition: Bobby Darin Composition: Bobby Darin
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Everly Brothers Source: Sheet Music Direct |
Country guitarist Chet Atkins was a family friend of the Everly Brothers, helping them acquire their first recording contract in 1956 [1, 2]. The brothers consisted of Don, born 1937, and Phil, born 1939, in Chicago [*]. They eventually got moved to Shenandoah, Iowa (Idiots Out Wandering About), as children in 1944. Their parents, Ike and Margaret, were vocalists, Ike with his own radio show on KMA, as well as KFNF in Oberlin, Kansas. All sang as the Everly Family, recording for KFNF in 1952. 'Everly Family' and 'Everly Family/Shady Grove' would see issue in 1968 on 'Roots' (Warner Bros WS 1752). Moving to Tennessee in 1953, they eventually ended up in Nashville where the brothers graduated from high school. Phil was still attending high school when he and Don recorded their first commercial tracks together with the Tunsmiths in Nashville on Nov 9 of 1955, both at vocals and guitar: 'Keep a Loving Me'/'The Sun Keeps Shining' (Columbia 21496). Most sources have that issued in 1956. 'If Her Love Isn't True' and 'That's the Life I Have to Live' went unissued until 1981 on 'The Everly Brothers' (Bear Family BFE 15075). Gone down at Castle Studio at the Tulane Hotel, the Tunsmiths consisted of Samuel Pruett (guitar), Jimmy Smith (guitar), Johnny Siebert (steel), Junior Huskey (bass) and Dale Potter (fiddle). Their next session in Nashville was on March 1 of 1957 at the RCA studio managed by Chet Atkins, he also contributing to tracks alongside Ray Edenton, Jimmy Day, Lightnin' Chance and Buddy Harman for 'Bye Bye Love'/'I Wonder If I Care As Much' (Cadence 1315). 'Should We Tell Him' went unreleased. Their third commercial session was held August 17, 1957, in Nashville with the same gang excepting Day out and Floyd Cramer at piano. That came to 'Wake Up Little Susie'/'Maybe Tomorrow' (Cadence 1337). 'Hey Doll Baby' saw release on the 1958 EP, 'The Everly Brothers' (Cadence CEP 107). Felice and Boudleaux Bryant who wrote 'Bye Bye Love' had shopped it around to some thirty artists before the Everly Brothers became interested [*], to the plump happiness of Cadence Records as well when it topped Billboard's Country chart at No. 1 in May of 1957, the R&B at No. 5 and No. 6 in the UK. They followed that with 'Wake Up Little Susie' at No. 1 in Sep. The Everly Brothers scored three more #1 titles: 'All I Have to Do Is Dream' in '58, 'Bird Dog' in '58 and 'Cathy's Clown' in '60. The last sold eight million copies. They staked the Top Ten the last time with 'That's Old Fashioned' at #4 on the AC, #9 on the Hot 100, in May of 1962. In the meantime they had both enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve in November 1961 for brief tours of six months. They performed on the 'Ed Sullivan Show' in uniform in February 1962. Attempting to put their common career back together after the Marines, they weren't able to draw a fraction of the audience they had previously enjoyed, now to become more popular in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom than the United States. Don launched his first solo album, 'Don Everly', in 1970 to little acclaim. Praguefrank's traces the Everly Brothers to last sessions on July 24-27 of 1972 for titles issued on 'Pass the Chicken and Listen'. A second session on the 27th came to 'Maiden's Prayer' issued in 1985 on 'Home Again'. 'Send Me the Pillow You Dream On' and 'I'm Alone Because I Love You' went unissued. The Brothers separated in 1973 upon Don showing up to a gig in California too drunk to perform. Phil came to smashing his guitar halfway through the show and walking off, their partnership over [*]. Phil's first solo album later that year, 'Star Spangled Springer', came to results little better than Don's first solo album in 1970. The two pursued independent careers until their reunion concert at Royal Albert Hall on September 23, 1983, to result in 'Reunion Concert' released by Passport Records. The pair then partnered well into the new millennium. Phil Everly died of lung disease on January 3 of 2014. Don died on 21 August 2021, having resided in Nashville. Don had written titles like 'Hello Amy' in '64 and 'Omaha' in '72 [*]. Phil had composed such as 'Made to Love' and 'When Will I Be Loved' in 1960 [*]. They collaborated numerously on compositions like 'Gone, Gone, Gone' in '64, 'Man with Money' and 'The Price of Love' in '65, and 'Green River' in 1972. The Everly families have recently been in court as to whether certain titles were collaborations between Don and Phil or written by Don alone. Titles disputed are 'Cathy’s Clown', 'Sigh, Cry, Almost Die' and 'That’s Just Too Much' [*]. Songwriting and production credits for titles by the Everly Brothers at 1, 2, 3, 3, 4. See also Sackful. Everly Brothers in visual media. Additional biographical references: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 6. Everly Brothers 1956 Composition: the Everly Brothers Everly Brothers 1957 Filmed live Composition: Boudleaux & Felice Bryant Studio version Composition: Boudleaux & Felice Bryant Composition: Boudleaux & Felice Bryant Everly Brothers 1958 Composition: Boudleaux & Felice Bryant Everly Brothers 1960 Filmed live in the U.K. Composition: Boudleaux & Felice Bryant Filmed live in the U.K. Composition: Don Everly or the Everly Brothers (in litigation) Filmed live Composition: Don Everly or the Everly Brothers (in litigation) 'Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show' Composition: Don Everly or the Everly Brothers (in litigation) Studio Version Composition: Don Everly or the Everly Brothers (in litigation) Everly Brothers 1961 Composition: Boudleaux Bryant Everly Brothers 1966 'Merv Griffin Show' Composition: Boudleaux & Felice Bryant Everly Brothers 1972 Filmed live Composition: Boudleaux & Felice Bryant Everly Brothers 1986 Filmed live with Chet Atkins Composition: Mark Knopfler
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Buddy Holly
See
Rockabilly: Buddy Holly. |
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Brenda Lee
See
Rockabilly: Brenda Lee. |
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Jerry Lee Lewis Source: Elvis Information Network
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Boogie woogie pianist, Jerry Lee Lewis, was born in Ferriday, Louisiana, in 1935. He made his first demo recordings in 1952 at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Recording Studios. His first commercial issues were in December 1956: 'End of the Road' b/w 'Crazy Arms' for Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee. Main entry for Lewis in Rockabilly.
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Roy Orbison Source: Bellazon
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Roy Orbison (The
Big O) was born in 1936 in Vernon, Texas [1,
2].
Orbison is among the more beloved figures in rock & roll, his operatic
ballads sung as if "from an Olympian mountaintop" . . . "that made you want
to drive your car over a cliff' according to Bob
Dylan ['Tearing the World
Apart'/Nina Goss & Eric Hoffman]. Dwight Yoakam has compared his voice to
"the cry of an angel falling backward through an open window" ['Invention of
an Alternative Rock Masculinity'/Peter Lehman]. Perhaps one of the factors lending the quality of his voice was his
polite and quiet shyness [*], a certain tremulous hesitation as if he might
be punished if he made a sound. It is said that Orbison's early career was something
startled into motion by the fearless forwardness of college
classmate,
Pat Boone, who blew off school upon obtaining a record contract.
Motivation, however, didn't translate into motion for Orbison. His wasn't a
stage presence the likes of
Elvis Presley's shameless hips,
nor his command of stage anything so locomotive as that of
James Brown, nor did he deliver
dancing marathons as would
Mick Jagger. If Orbison
brought to rock & roll something of a sensitivity to the other side of the
spectrum from "Mark!", "Set!", "Action!" it was with emphasis on song, his
own persona softened toward an uncompetitive dark shadow dressed in black,
while standing still as a rock, that itself subdued from its waves and
ripples. That Orbison found sunglasses helpful with stage fright, toning
down a confronting world, also assisted toward a stage presence remarking on
song from out of the invisible, a self-defacement that served him well
toward later identity as the "Caruso of Rock" with his wide octave range.
That is, Orbison's rock was about rocking, not its font, albeit everyone
loves a mystery, as it turned out. Orbison was in high school when he put together his first band, the Wink Westerners.
He liked country standards and
Glenn Miller at the time. After graduating he
attended college while working in Texas oil fields, his intention to become
a geologist. About that time he and his Westerners recorded a couple of
demos in December of 1955: 'Hey Miss Fannie' and 'Ooby Dooby'. Those
eventually saw release in 2001 on 'Orbison 1955-1965' (Bear Family BCD 16423
GL). [See also
sessions/issues.] The Wink Westerners consisted of Billy Pat
Ellis (drums), James Morrow (mandolin?), Johnny Wilson (guitar) and Jack Kennelly
(bass) for that set. It was
the same band now called the Teen Kings for a session on March 4, 1956,
resulting in 'Ooby Dooby' with 'Tryin' to Get to You' (Je-Wel JE 101). (Je-Wel later
became Jewel.) That disc is a rare collectible with Orbison's
name spelled wrong on 'Ooby Dooby' and 'Trying to Get to You' mistitled
'Trying to Get You'. 'Ooby Dooby' was recorded again with 'Go! Go! Go!' at
Sun Records on March 27 and released the same year. Those rockabillies met with moderate success, after
which the band toured with
Sonny James,
Johnny Horton and
Johnny Cash. Howsoever,
Orbison left Sun the next year and kicked about for the next few while
performing in various capacities, training his voice as he attempted to sell
songs. In 1960 'Only the Lonely' was released by Monument, reaching No. 2 on
Billboard's Hot 100. An appearance on 'American Bandstand' followed, then a
three-month tour with
Patsy Cline. In 1961 'Running
Scared' reached No. 1 on Billboard. Orbison had
opportunity to play in the UK in 1963, opening for the yet unknown
Beatles who were something perplexed as
Orbison performed dead still on stage, to fourteen encores, he prevented
from taking more so that they, too, could play. In 1964 Orbison upped his
ante with 'It's Over' and 'Oh Pretty Woman', performed with the Bill Dees,
and took home the pot in both the UK and United States, 'Oh Pretty Woman'
reaching Billboard's No. 1 tier for fourteen weeks. Orbison continued
recording and touring but wasn't able to reproduce the success of 'Oh Pretty
Woman'. What supported him through the seventies was smart real estate
investments rather than music. The eighties saw Orbison begin to come around
again by various means of recognition, including election into the Nashville
Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. In 1988
he appeared on the album, 'The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1', with Bob
Dylan,
George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and
Tom Petty. That LP gaining the No. 3
spot in the States, the specter had made himself manifest again and he
poured on the work. Unfortunately he gave his last performance in December
that year at the Front Row Theater in Highland Heights, Ohio, dying two days
later (December 6) of heart attack after dinner at his mother's house in
Hendersonville, Tennessee. His album, 'Mystery Girl', posthumously reached
the No. 5 position in the States. Orbison had composed or collaborated on
numerous titles, notably with Joe Melson
[1,
2] and
Bill Dees. Songwriting
credits for Orbison titles at
1,
2,
3.
He himself had authored such as 'So Long I'm Gone' ('57), 'Almost Eighteen'
('59) and 'In Dreams' ('63). Orbison in
visual media. Additional references:
1,
2,
3,
4,
5. Per below, several of
the later live edits were originally released much earlier in Orbison's
career. Roy Orbison 1956 Composition: Roy Orbison Composition: Dick Penner/Wade Moore Composition: Arthur Crudup Roy Orbison 1958 Composition: Roy Orbison Roy Orbison 1961 Composition: Roy Orbison/Joe Melson Composition: Roy Orbison/Joe Melson Roy Orbison 1964 Filmed live Composition: Roy Orbison/Joe Melson Composition: Roy Orbison/Bill Dees Roy Orbison 1965 Filmed live Composition: Roy Orbison/Joe Melson Filmed live Composition: Roy Orbison/Joe Melson Roy Orbison 1967 Composition: Don Gibson Roy Orbison 1969 Television performance w Johnny Cash Composition: Roy Orbison/Bill Dees Roy Orbison 1987 Filmed live Composition: Roy Orbison/Bill Dees Roy Orbison 1988 Filmed live with KD Lang Composition: Roy Orbison/Joe Melson Filmed live Composition: Roy Orbison Filmed live Composition: Jeff Lynne/Roy Orbison/Tom Petty Roy Orbison 1989 Composition: Jeff Lynne/Roy Orbison Roy Orbison 1992 Music video Composition: Tom Kelly/Billy Steinberg
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Neil Sedaka Source: Senior Plaza
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Pop musician and pianist, Neil Sedaka, was born in 1939 in Brooklyn [*]. He studied classical piano as a child. He first recorded at age seventeen, playing chimes for the Harlem doo wop group, the Willows ('Church Bells May Ring') [1, 2, 3]. Sedaka was also a founding member of the doo wop group, the Linc-Tones, which became the Tokens, recording with them as well in 1956 in NYC [1, 2, 3] to result in 'While I Dream'/'I Love My Baby' on Melba 104 [*]. Circa October 1957 Sedaka sessioned his first solo single, 'Snowtime' with 'Laura Lee' flipside (Decca 30520). 45cat has that issued in latter '57 with Discogs citing a 'Billboard Magazine' review on December 9. Discogs also has 'Ring-A-Rockin''/'Fly, Don't Fly On Me' (Legion 133) from that session released in '57, 45cat and Rocky52 in 1958. 'Oh Delilah'/'Neil's Twist' were issued in 1962 on Pyramid 623, an advertisement appearing in the March 17 edition of ' Billboard Magazine' [*]. October 27 and 30 saw sessions for RCA Victor resulting in 'The Diary'/'No Vacancy' (7408) in 1958. 'The Diary' was Sedaka's first title to chart at #14 in December on the Hot 100. 'I Go Ape' reached #9 in the UK in March of 1959. It was #9 on the Hot 100 in Oct 1959 with 'Oh Carol', repeated in March of 1960 with 'Stairway to Heaven'. 1959 had also seen the issue of Sedaka's debut LP, 'Rock with Sedaka' [1, 2]. As Sedaka charted high in Italy, he began to record titles in Italiano in 1961. Discogs has 'Esagerata' ('Little Devil')/'Un Giorno Inutile' ('I Must Be Dreaming') issued that year per RCA Victor 1188. Other Italian titles followed including the albums, 'Italiano' in '64 and 'Italiano Vol 2' in '65. 'Breaking Up Is Hard to Do' saw #1 on Billboard in June of 1962, followed by 'Next Door to an Angel' at #5. 'Alice in Wonderland' reached #17 in Feb of '63. By that time Sedaka had reached the pinnacle of his early career, getting brushed under the carpet into relative obscurity throughout the sixties while such as the Beatles and Rolling Stones blanketed the market. Sedaka's soft pop rock came to revival in the seventies when 'Laughter in the Rain' reached #1 in June of '74. Issued by Polydor in the UK, Elton John had also signed Sedaka onto his Rocket label for distribution in the US. Three more Sedaka titles topped the charts in 1975: 'The Immigrant', 'Bad Blood' and 'Breaking Up Is Hard to Do'. A few other strong titles were issued in the mid seventies, such as 'You've Gotta Make Your Own Sunshine', 'Amarillo' and 'Alone at Last'. In the meantime John had released three albums by Sedaka on Rocket: 'Sedaka's Back' ('74), 'The Hungry Years' ('75) and 'Steppin' Out' ('76). John suddenly dropping Sedaka from Rocket, Neil then switched to Elektra for distribution in the US in '77, but his career as a recording artist slid into decline a second time from which it never recovered. Sedaka has nevertheless enjoyed great popularity as a performing artist ever since, yet touring as of this writing. Sedaka issued his second to last studio album, 'The Real Neil', in 2012, that a string of piano and vocal solos. His latest release was 'I Do It for Applause' in 2016. Sedaka had composed such as 'Endlessly' ('74) and 'Lonely Night (Angel Face)' ('75). He collaborated numerously with songwriters, Howard Greenfield and Phil Cody. He and Greenfield had written 'What Am I Gonna Do' ('60) for Jimmy Clanton and 'Where the Boys Are' ('61) for Connie Francis. They had collaborated on such as 'Alice in Wonderland' ('63) and 'Love Will Keep Us Together' ('67). Sedaka and Cody had authored such as 'Trying to Say Goodbye' ('72), 'Love in the Shadows' ('76) and 'Alone at Last' ('77). Songwriting and production credits for Sedaka titles at 1, 2. Sedaka in visual media. Additional references: 1, 2, 3, 4. Neil Sedaka 1956 With the Willows Composition: Morty Craft Neil Sedaka 1957 Composition: Sedaka/Howard Greenfield Composition: Sedaka/Howard Greenfield Neil Sedaka 1961 Composition: Sedaka/Howard Greenfield Composition: Sedaka/Howard Greenfield Composition: Sedaka/Howard Greenfield Neil Sedaka 1972 Composition: Sedaka/Phil Cody Neil Sedaka 1975 Composition: Sedaka/Phil Cody Neil Sedaka 2009 Live performance Composition: Sedaka/Howard Greenfield
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Conway Twitty
See
Rockabilly: Conway Twitty. |
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Gene Vincent
See
Rockabilly: Gene Vincent. |
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Big Bopper
See
Rockabilly: Big Bopper. |
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| Blues guitarist,
Lonnie Brooks [1,
2,
3,
4,
5], was born in Dubuisson,
Louisiana, in 1933. He began
his professional career touring with
Clifton Chenier (Blues
4). But Brooks didn't want to travel to California with
Chenier, preferring to form his
own group. He assumed the
moniker, Guitar Junior, and soon released his first solo plate with the Goldband
label in 1957: 'I Got It Made (When I Marry Shirley Mae)'/'Family Rules
(Angel Child)'. Both were his own compositions with Eddie Shuler. Releases of 'The Crawl'/'Now You Know' and 'Roll Roll Roll'/'Broken
Hearted Rollin Tears' were made in 1958. All were written with Shuler except
'The Crawl', that by Shuler and Raymond Victorica. Brooks' first album occurred in 1969: 'Broke an’ Hungry'. His
son, Ronnie Brooks, made his debut recording on 'Live From Chicago - Bayou
Lightning Strikes' in 1988. Brook's other son, Wayne, began playing in
Brooks' band in 1990. Brooks remained active into the new
millennium until his death on April 1, 2017. Among other of Brooks' compositions were 'Brand New Mojo Hand',
'Don't Take Advantage of Me', 'I Want All My Money Back', 'Messed Up' and
'Mr. Somebody'. Discos of issues by Brooks w various credits at
1,
2,
3.
Brooks in visual media.
Tribute sites: 1,
2.
More Lonnie Brooks in
Blues
3. Guitar Junior 1957 Composition: Shuler/Brooks Guitar Junior 1958 Composition: Shuler/Brooks Composition: Shuler/Victorica Composition: Shuler/Brooks Composition: Shuler/Brooks Guitar Junior 1959 Composition: Brooks Lonnie Brooks 1965 Composition: Baker McGinnis Lonnie Brooks 1967 Composition: Judy Cobb Composition: Brooks/Milton Bland
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Lonnie Brooks Source: Friday Blues Fix |
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Freddy Fender
[1,
2,
3]
was born Baldemar Garza Huerta in San Benito, Texas, in 1937. He first
appeared on radio, KGBT, at age ten. He dropped out of high school at age
sixteen and was in the U.S. Marines the next year. He was discharged early,
yet an E-1, for multiple incidents involving alcohol. He is thought to have
released his first vinyl no earlier than 1957 as Beldemat Huerta:
'No Seas Cruel (Don't Be Cruel)'/'Ay Amor' (Falcon 45626) and 'Cantando Los
Blues'/'Puerta Verde' (Falcon 45646) [1,
2,
3,
4]. Huerta made numerous
recordings in Spanish into 1959. His last to be released as Huerta was 'El
Twist' with 'Botecito
De Vela' flip side as Freddie Fender [RCS]. Among other early releases circa
1959 as Fender were 'Rocanroleando', 'Jamas Corazon', 'Adios a Jamaica' (an
earlier version released circa 1957), 'Te Esperare' and his first releases
in English: 'Mean Woman' and 'Holy One'. Huerta legally changed his name to
Freddy Fender in 1958, after the guitar manufacturer, though continued
recording as Huerta. In 1960 Huerta was arrested for
marijuana possession and sent to prison for a few years. Which also put an end to
upward mobility as a rock musician, he working as a mechanic upon release,
attending junior college and playing only on weekends. Fender's career
suddenly went stratospheric upon the release of 'Before The Next Teardrop
Falls' in 1975 (recorded 1974 in Houston). His next gold record was 'Wasted Days and
Wasted Nights', released the same year. (He had issued an earlier version in
1960 with moderate success before going to prison.) His
third #1 title in
'75 arrived in Oct: 'Secret Love'. 'You'll Lose a Good Thing' found #1 in
1976. Beyond rock Fender was
largely pop and country oriented, he among musicians representative of the
Tex-Mex
genre. Fender's last studio issue was 'La Música de Baldemar Huerta' in
2001. In 2002 Fender required a kidney transplant, followed by a liver
transplant in 2004, followed by lung cancer the next year. He gave his last
concert in December 2005, dying of lung cancer on October 14 of 2006 in Corpus Christie,
Texas. Fender had composed such as 'Wasted Days & Wasted Nights' ('59) and
'A Man Can Cry' ('60). Production and songwriting credits for Fender at
1,
2,
3.
Fender in visual media. Early dates
below are estimates per RCS and Tammy Lorraine Huerta Fender (daughter)
referenced above. Baldemar Huerta 1957 No Seas Cruel (Don't Be Cruel) Composition: Otis Blackwell/M. Rivera El Rock De La Prision (Jailhouse Rock) Also issued as 'Rock Rock de la Carcel' Composition: Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller/M. Rivera Baldemar Huerta 1958 Encaje de Chantilly (Chantilly Lace) Composition: Jiles Richardson Freddy Fender 1959 Composition: Fender Composition: Fender Freddy Fender 1960 Composition: Raúl Réne Rosado Composition: Richard Marx/Kenny Rogers Composition: Al Dubin/Harry Warren/M. Rivera Te Esperare (I Will Wait for You) Composition: Fender Freddy Fender 1962 As Scotty Wayne Composition: Wayne Duncan (Fender) Freddy Fender 1975 Album Before The Next Teardrop Falls Composition: Vivian Keith/Ben Peters Music video Freddy Fender 1979 Composition: Fender Filmed live Freddy Fender 2001 Composition: Chucho Navarro Album: 'La Música de Baldemar Huerta'
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 Freddy Fender Source: SP Clarke |
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 Trini Lopez Source: Gibson |
Trini Lopez
(Trinidad Lopez) [1,
2,
3]
was born in 1937 in Dallas, TX, to Mexican immigrants, his father a musician. As such, he's one of the greatest overall talents of Mexican
heritage in these histories. As Lopez'
website tells it, his father gave him his first guitar
when he was eleven, feeling bad about a spanking he'd gifted him as well. He also
taught Trini to play the instrument. But he couldn't help him with his
formal education, Trini needing to drop out of high school his senior year to assist the family with
income. Lopez formed his first band, the Big Beats, at age 15 in Wichita
Falls, TX. In 1957 he crossed paths with
Buddy Holly who became instrumental
to his debut record issue with the Big Beats,
recorded in Clovis, NM, in
1957 for Columbia: 'Clark's Expedition' bw 'Big Boy' (Columbia 4-41072), both instrumentals.
In 1958 the Big Beats issued 'Rush Me'/'Sentimental Journey' (Columbia
4-41179) and 'Under Arrest'/'Only You' (Play PL 1007X45) [1,
2]. Lopez
recorded his
first solo plate in the summer of 1958: 'The
Right to Rock' bw 'Just Once More' (Volk V-101) [1,
2].
It was Dallas as well for his last tracks of '58 in December for 'Yes You
Do'/'My Runaway Heart' (King 5173), 'Here Comes Sally' (King 5198) and
'Don't Treat Me That Way' (King 5418). It took a while and quite a few
singles
before 'If I Had a Hammer' visited #3 on
Billboard's Hot 100 in 1963 (on his '63
debut album, 'Trini Lopez at PJ's'). The next
year 'Michael' and 'Lemon Tree' charted at #7 and #2 on Billboard's AC. 1966
and '67 were also good years for Lopez with Top Ten AC titles, 'I'm Comin'
Home, Cindy' (#2), 'La Bamba Part 1' (#9), 'Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now'
(#6) and 'The Bramble Bush' (#4). Lopez' popularity was in the wane by the
seventies though not to disappear, he issuing about 65 albums into the
new millennium. In 1964 Lopez worked with Gibson Guitar to design the Trini
Lopez Standard and Deluxe guitars, in production until 1971. Lopez also did
a little acting, one example his role as one of 'The Dirty Dozen' in 1967.
He played himself in 'The Phynx' (1970). Among Lopez' latest issues was
'Into The Future' in 2011. Lopez contributed to the composition of numerous
titles. He wrote such as 'You Can't Say Good-Bye' and 'I've Lost My Love For
You' issued in 1964. He died of Covid-19 in Rancho Mirage, California, on 11
August 2020. Producers and songwriting credits at
1,
2.
Lopez in visual media.
Per 1966 below, with the exception of 'Trini' tracks are from Lopez' LP, 'The
Second Latin Album'. Trini Lopez 1958 Composition: Trini Lopez/S. Smith Trini Lopez 1959 Composition: Johnny Cowell Composition: Julius Dixon/Rudolph Toombs Composition: Trini Lopez/Red Composition: Trini Lopez/Dwayne Sheffield Composition: Trini Lopez/Dwayne Sheffield I'm Just a Poor Little Schemer Composition: Trini Lopez/Mann/Dwayne Sheffield Trini Lopez 1960 Composition: Trini Lopez/Dwayne Sheffield Composition: Ken Ancell Composition: Dwayne Sheffield/Trini Lopez Trini Lopez 1961 Composition: Trini Lopez/Rickie/Nath Trini Lopez 1962 Composition: Shel Talmy Trini Lopez 1963 Telecast Composition: Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim With telecast Composition: Lee Hays/Pete Seeger Composition: Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller Trini Lopez 1964 Album Film Trini Lopez 1965 Album Trini Lopez 1966 Composition: Gabriel Ruiz/Ricardo Lopez Mendez Composition: Trini Lopez/Dwayne Sheffield Composition: Jerry Leiber/Phil Spector Composition: Agustín Rodríguez/Gonzalo Roig Album Trini Lopez 1967 Composition: Gary McFarland Fresca promotion for Coca Cola Trini Lopez 1968 Composition: Ralph Mooney/Charles Seals LP: 'Welcome to Trini Country' Trini Lopez 1999 Telecast
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Magic Sam Source: VK |
Magic Sam (Born Samuel Maghett in 1937) was a Chicago blues guitarist, having left Mississippi with his family in 1950. After forming his first band in 1955, his first recording in 1957, age twenty, was 'All Your Love'. It was during that session that his bass player, Mack Thompson, renamed Sam Maghett to Magic Sam. About 1960 he was drafted into the Army, deserted and was given half a year in prison with a dishonorable discharge. He began touring the States, Great Britain and Germany during the early sixties. He was yet rising in stature when he died of heart attack in 1969, only 32 years of age. Main entry for Magic Sam in Blues 3. Magic Sam 1957 Composition: Willie Dixon/Lucious Weaver Composition: T. Maghett (Magic Sam) Magic Sam 1958 Composition: Sam Maghett (Magic Sam) Magic Sam 1963 Composition: Herman Junior Parker Magic Sam 1967 Composition: Don Robey Composition: Herman Junior Parker Magic Sam 1968 Magic Touch - Live At Sylvio's Album Composition: Willie Cobbs/Bo Diddley Magic Sam 1969 All Your Love/Magic Sam's Boogie American Folk Blues Festival Compositions: Sam Maghett (Magic Sam)
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Ricky Nelson
See
Rockabilly: Ricky Nelson. |
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Dick Dale Source: Slammie/Atomic Grog |
There were four major contributors
to the development of surf rock, which was the rock in America's airwaves while the Brits
were doing beat and merseybeat in England, preparing to invade and destroy,
insofar as possible, just such defenders of the American homeland as
Jan & Dean, the
Beach Boys, the Surfaris and guitarist,
Dick Dale
[1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6]. Unlike
Jan & Dean and all but one of the
Beach Boys, Dale was actually a
surfer, and the surfing experience was a major element in the music he
created. Born Richard Anthony Mansour in 1937 in Boston , Dale made
his first recordings on his father's Del-Tone record label in
Hollywood in 1958 with a gang called the Deltones: 'Ooo-Whee-Marie'
backed with 'Breaking Heart' (Deltone 5012). An autumn session came to 'Stop Teasing' backed by 'Without Your Love'
(Deltone 5013)
[issues: 1,
2,
3,
4].
He was with the Stompers in early 1960 for 'We'll Never Hear the End of
It'/'The Fairest of Them All' (Cupid CU 103; 106 per Goldmine). Dale was
back with his Deltones in mid 1960 for 'St. Louis Blues'/'Jessie Pearl' (Deltone
5014). July 31, 1961,came to 'Deltone Rock'/'Let's Go Trippin' (Deltone
5017). It was during an extended engagement in 1961 at the Rendezvous Ballroom
in Balboa, California, that Dale began making a fuss pushing electric guitar
to its technical limits, blowing amplifiers the while [*].
Dale's wasn't the sort of guitar playing the world had heard before. Blowing
eardrums as well, Dale is called the Father of heavy metal by some,
preceding
Deep Purple, another loud progenitor of
heavy metal. Another reason Dale created a sensation was
his style, which he at one time described as "pulsation," similar to rapid drumming.
Altogether, what Dale performed at the Rendezvous Ballroom was designed to
electrify. "Stomps" at the ballroom, with a 3,000 person
capacity, were routinely sold out to audiences who, for the same sensation,
surfed in their bathtubs while wired to light sockets, perhaps one reason
Dale didn't do real well on the charts.
Dale's first album,
'Surfer's Choice', was released by Del-Tone in 1962. Dale would have only a
couple more years to work before fate coupled him with rectal cancer,
removing him from the music industry for another decade. Having become a
vegetarian in 1972, Dale began performing again in the seventies. Even as
cancer has continued to plague Dale into the new millennium he yet tours the
States as of this writing. Dale issued nine or ten albums to 'Spacial
Disorientation' in 2001. In 1987 he collaborated with
Stevie Ray Vaughan on
side A of the latter's album, 'Pipeline'. Dale's latest release in 2017 was
recorded in 1996: 'Santa Monica - Live on the Pier'. Among Dale's numerous
compositions were 'Let's Go Trippin'' and 'Del-Tone Rock' in '61, 'Eight
Till Midnight' and 'Surf Beat' in '63, and 'Taco Wagon' w
'Spanish Kiss' in '67. Beyond music, Dale has spent decades practicing
martial arts. Dale in
visual media. Tracks
below are in chronological order by year only, being alphabetical thereunder. Dick Dale 1958 Composition: Jack Hoffman Dick Dale 1960 Composition: Dick Dale/John Hodge Composition: Dotty Wayne/Ray Rasch Composition: Dick Dale Composition: WC Handy 1914 Dick Dale 1961 Composition: Dick Dale Composition: Dick Dale Composition: Dick Dale Dick Dale 1962 Composition: Chaim Tauber/Fred Wise/Milton Leeds Nicholas Roubanis/Sidney Keith Russell Composition: Dick Dale Dick Dale 1963 Composition: Dick Dale 'Ed Sullivan Show' Composition: Jim Economides/Jim Monsour Dick Dale 1964 Composition: Dick Dale Dick Dale 1965 Album Dick Dale 1975 Composition: Jim Pewter Dick Dale 1983 Album Dick Dale 1990 Composition: Steve Douglas Dick Dale 2008 Filmed live at KEXP Composition: John
Newton 1779
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Fabian Forte
See
Rockabilly: Fabian Forte. |
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 John Fred & the Playboys Photo: Johnnie Allan Archives Source: Blues Art |
John Fred & the Playboys
[1,
2,
3,
4,
5/Disco
*] were formed when Fred
(John Fred Gourrier) was fifteen in 1956. The group issued its first plate in 1958:
'My Love For You' bw 'Shirley'. He then appeared on the 'Alan Freed Show',
but had to back off an invitation to 'American Bandstand' due to commitments
to his college basketball team. The single, 'Mirror, Mirror (On the Wall)',
was released the next year with 'To Have and to Hold' flip side. 'Down In
New Orleans' bw 'I Love You' followed in 1961 with 'Good Lovin'' bw 'You
Know You Made Me Cry'. Fred & the Playboys toiled into the sixties without a
lot of success until the band became
John Fred & the Playboy Band
to distinguish it from
Gary Lewis & the Playboys. The last Playboys release is thought to have been
'Outta My Head' bw 'Loves Come In Time' in 1966. Two Playboys albums were
released in '66 and '67: 'John Fred and His Playboys' and '34:40 of John
Fred and His Playboys'. Fred's later more successful career, yielding 'Judy
in Disguise (With Glasses)', was with
the
Playboy Band. They issued 'Judy
in Disguise (With Glasses)' later in October of '67. The Playboy Band aired
on 'The Top of the Pops' on January 18, 1968, Johnny Carson's 'Tonight Show'
on January 24 and 'The Top of the Pops' again on Feb 8 of '68 [IMDb]. Discographies w
various credits at
1,
2. Per 1966 below,
tracks are from the 1967 album, '34:40 of John Fred and His Playboys'. John Fred & the Playboys 1958 Composition: John Fred/Tommy Bryan John Fred & the Playboys 1959 Composition: Byron & Montel/John Fred John Fred & the Playboys 1960 Composition: Joe Caronna/Huey Smith John Fred & the Playboys 1964 Composition: Jimmy Clanton Composition: Lynn Ourso Composition: Lynn Ourso John Fred & the Playboys 1965 Composition: Lynn Ourso Composition: John Fred/Lynn Ourso Composition: John Fred/Lynn Ourso John Fred & the Playboys 1966 Composition: Lynn Ourso Composition: C. Yost/John Fred Composition: Harold Cowart/Lynn Ourso/Ronnie Goodson
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Joyce Harris Photo: Domino Records Source: Doo-Wop Blogg |
Joyce Harris (aka
Sinner Strong) was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in 1939
[1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7]. She began her recording career in 1958 as a duo with her sister, Judy.
Those were 'He’s the One', 'Hey, Pretty Baby' and 'Rock and Roll Kittens'
for Dot, Decca and Seville respectively. Judy appears in all the tracks below for year 1958.
Harris' first solo releases apart from her sister were the next year with
'It’s You'/'The Boy in School'. She issued 'I Cheated'/'Do You Know What
It's Like to Be Lonesome' (Domino 905) with the
Slades in 1961. Harris began using the name, Sinner Strong, in
1962. She ceased recording, however, in the early sixties. Between then and
presently she has toured California, Las Vegas and the Gulf states. Residing
in Sun, Louisiana, she yet performs as of this writing. Harris at
45Worlds
and Discogs. Strong at
45Worlds and
Discogs. More of Harris in
Doo Wop under the
Slades. Joyce Harris 1958 All 1958 titles w Judy Harris. Composition: Joyce Harris Composition: Joyce Harris Composition: Candy Hayes/Marilyn Schack/Roy Gaines Composition: Judy & Joyce Harris Joyce Harris 1960 Composition: Preston Foster Joyce Harris 1961 Composition: Joyce Harris Joyce Harris 1963 As Sinner Strong Composition/Production: Ed Townsend Arrangement: Rene Hall
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Rockabilly master, Ronnie Hawkins [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], was born January 10 of 1935 in Huntsville, Arkansas. Graduating from high school in 1952, he was attending the University of Arkansas when he joined the army. Upon discharge he headed to Helena, Arkansas, and formed a band w drummer, Levon Helm, which ventured a move to Canada, in 1958, first to perform in Hamilton, Ontario, next to make Toronto home base. Hawkins released his first vinyl in 1958: 'Hey Bo Diddley' b/w 'Love Me Like You Can' (Quality K1827) [discography with sessionography at *]. Members of his band on that plate were Helm, Gordon Josie on bass, Jimmy Ray Paulman at lead guitar, Willard Jones on piano and Hawkins on vocals. The Hawks' first record release in 1959 was 'Forty Days'/'One of These Days' (Roulette R-4154). That same year Hawkins grooved his first LP, titled simply 'Ronnie Hawkins'. Bassist and fiddler, Rick Danko, and guitarist Robbie Robertson joined the Hawks in 1960, the same year Hawkins produced his two albums, 'Mr. Dynamo' and 'Folk Ballads of Ronnie Hawkins'. In 1961 Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel would join the Hawks, both keyboardists and horn players. Hawkins opted for Canadian cirizenship in 1964. Members of his band, however, preferred to pursue their careers in the United States, coming to join Bob Dylan in September of 1965 for a couple years before becoming The Band. Hawkins continued onward in Toronto w another formation of the Hawks, eventually coming to reside in Peterborough, Ontario. A young Pat Travers joined Hawkins' band in 1974. In 1989 he reunited with early members of the Hawks (basically The Band) at a concert celebrating the leveling of the Berlin Wall. In 1992 he performed for the newly inaugurated President, Bill Clinton. He's also performed for several Canadian prime ministers and former president of Poland, Lech Walesa. Hawkins has since remained a favored adopted son in Canada, receiving an honorary doctorate from Laurentian University in 2005. Though plagued or recent with pancreatic cancer, Hawkins yet performs as of this writing. Hawkins discos w production and songwriting credits at 1, 2, 3. Hawkins in visuual media. Ronnie Hawkins 1958 Composition: Bo Diddley Ronnie Hawkins 1959 From Chuck Berry's 'Thirty Days' Lyrics: Ronnie Hawkins Composition: Jacqueline Magill/Ronnie Hawkins Composition: Ronnie Hawkins/Jacqueline Magill Composition: Jacqueline Magill/Levon Helm/Ronnie Hawkins Ronnie Hawkins 1960 Composition: Jacqueline Magill/Ronnie Hawkins Composition: Jacqueline Magill/Ronnie Hawkins Ronnie Hawkins 1963 Composition: Bo Diddley Composition: Bo Diddley Ronnie Hawkins 1964 Composition: Billy Lee Riley/David Dalton Composition: Dale Hawkins Ronnie Hawkins 1972 Composition: Baker Knight
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Ronnie Hawkins Source: Discogs |
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Jan and Dean (William Jan Berry born 1941 and Dean Ormsby Torrence born 1940) were a unique West Coast partnership that initially pursued doo wop in Los Angeles, out of which they developed the surf sound that the Beach Boys would find to be a magic carpet in the early sixties. Jan and Dean were originally in a group called the Barons formed in high school, to which future Beach Boy, Bruce Johnston, also belonged [*]. It was during the Barons period that Jan and Dean first recorded, Berry equipped with a couple of reel to reel recorders with which he experimented with arrangements in the garage of his parents' home [1, 2, 3]. Praguefrank's has their first commercial session circa March 1958 for 'Jennie Lee'/'Gotta Getta Date' (Awin MM 108) [*]. A session on June 12 resulted in 'Gas Money'/'Bonnie Lou' (Awin MM 111) and 'I Love Linda'/'The Beat That Can't Be Beat' (Awin MM 113). Sessions in spring of 1959 came to 'Baby Talk'/'Jeanette Get Your Hair Done' (Dore 522). That was their second Top Ten title at #10 on the Hot 100. Their first had been been 'Jennie Lee' in '58 at #4 on the R&B, #8 the Hot 100. The duo dropped away from popularity for the next four years until 'Surf City' found #1 on the Hot 100 in June of '63. They scored four more Top Ten titles to 'Little Old Lady (From Pasadena)' at #3 in May of '64. On April 12 of 1966 Jan struck a parked truck with his Corvette in Beverly Hills. Resultant brain damage and partial paralysis required a year, during which time Jan learned to walk again and write with his left hand. The duo was working together again in 1967, but their heydays were over, albeit they hardly dropped out of sight, remaining active until Jan's death on March 26, 2004. Both Berry (Jan) and Torrence (Dean) contributed to compositions, Berry numerously. Berry wrote such as 'Jennie Lee' with disc jockey, Arnie Ginsburg, in '58 as well as 'Gas Money' and 'Bonnie Lou' with Don Altfeld the same year. He wrote 'Surf City' with Brian Wilson in 1963. It was 'I Know My Mind' and 'Laurel and Hardy' with Roger Christian in 1968. Dean continues to perform as of this writing. Songwriting credits for Jan & Dean titles at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Jan & Dean in visual media. Additional references: 1, 2, 3, 'Surf City: The Jan and Dean Story' by Dean Torrence, SelectBooks, 2016. Jan and Dean 1958 As Jan & Arnie Composition: Jan Berry/Arnie Ginsburg/Don Altfeld As Jan & Arnie Composition: Jan Berry/Arnie Ginsburg/Don Altfeld As Jan & Arnie Composition: Jan Berry/Arnie Ginsburg/Don Altfeld Garage demo Composition: Jan Berry/Arnie Ginsburg/Joe Lubin As Jan & Arnie Composition: Jan Berry/Arnie Ginsburg/Joe Lubin As Jan & Arnie Composition: Jan Berry/Arnie Ginsburg As Jan & Arnie Composition: Jan Berry/Arnie Ginsburg/Don Altfeld Jan and Dean 1959 Live on 'American Bandstand' Composition: Melvin Schwartz Jan and Dean 1960 Composition: Viola Watkins/Daniel Norton/William Davis Jan and Dean 1963 Composition: Jan Berry/Brian Wilson Jan and Dean 1964 Composition: Brian Wilson/Jan Berry Roger Christian/Artie Kornfeld Composition: Jan Berry/Roger Christian/Brian Wilson Jan and Dean 1979 Filmed live with Papa Doo Composition: Brian Wilson/Mike Love
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Jan & Dean Source: PDX Retro |
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Lou Reed
[1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6]
was born in 1942 in Brooklyn. He began his career as a teenager with
electroconvulsive therapy for depression. He may have grooved his first
vinyl with a doo wop group called the Shades, a couple of promos: 'Talkin'
Guitar'/'All Day Long' circa 1958. Though not positively identified, the
Jades, with which Reed recorded a number of songs in 1958, are thought to
have originally been the Shades. (Since the presence of Reed on those
recordings remains moot they aren't listed below, though they are documented at
Dangerous Minds.) Howsoever, Reed's first vinyl issue was with the Jades in
1958: 'Leave Her For Me'/'So Blue' for Time Records. In 1962 he recorded a
couple of solos as Lewis Reed, 'Your Love'/'Merry Go Round', released by
Norton Records. Reed graduated from Syracuse
University in 1964 with a bachelor's in English, the same year he moved to
NYC, finding employment as a songwriter at Pickwick Records. He partnered
with
John Cale in a band called the Primitives that year as well, issuing
'The Ostrich'/'Sneaky Pete'. It was with
Cale that he formed the
Velvet Underground
[1,
2], christened such in November of 1965 after a book by Michael
Leigh addressing abnormal sexual behaviors. The first four albums by
Velvet Underground would find their way onto 'Rolling Stone' magazine's 500
Greatest Albums of All Time.
Cale left
Velvet Underground in '68 and Reed in
1970, though reunions between its members would variously occur over the
years. It was that year that Reed issued the album, 'Loaded'. Among Reed's
latter reunions with
Cale was the 1990 issue of 'Songs For Drella'.
Composition was of essence to Reed's vocation. He wrote titles for the
Velvet Underground such as
'After Hours' ('69), 'What Goes On' ('69), 'Lonesome Cowboy Bill' ('70) and
'New Age' ('70). Among later
compositions were 'Baby Face' ('74), 'Metal
Machine Music' ('75) and 'Women' ('82). Reed
died on October 27, 2013, at his home in Southampton, New York
[1,
2].
Tribute pages are maintained at
Facebook and
Twitter.
Discos w various credits at
1,
2,
3.
Reed in visual media. Per below, tracks
by
Velvet Underground are not
included. See
Velvet Underground in
Sixties American Rock. Lou Reed 1958 With the Jades Composition: Lou Reed With the Jades Composition: Lou Reed/Phil Harris Lou Reed 1962 First solo recordings Compositions: Lou Reed Lou Reed 1964 With John Cale and the Primitives Compositions: Jerry Vance/Jimmie Sims Lou Reed/Terry Philips Lou Reed 1965 With John Cale and Dannie Burkes Composition: John Cale/Jerry Vance Lou Reed/Terry Philips Lou Reed 1970 Album Lou Reed 1972 Album Lou Reed 1973 Album Lou Reed 1974 Filmed live Composition: Lou Reed Lou Reed 1984 Filmed concert in Passaic NJ Lou Reed 1986 Filmed concert in NYC Lou Reed 1990 Filmed concert with John Cale Lou Reed 1992 Composition: Lou Reed Lou Reed 1997 Live at Shoreline Amphitheatre Filmed concert in Mountain View CA
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 Lou Reed Source: Mme Laurin |
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Ritchie Valens Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images Source: Napster |
Ritchie Valens (Richard Valenzuela born 1941) was a natural in whom a lot of hope had been placed, first recording in May of 1958 as a high school student in the basement of the home of Bob Keane, owner of Del-Fi Records in Hollywood [*]. Praguefrank's has Valens stringing along nineteen titles from 'Donna' to 'Ooh My Soul' to eventually see issue in 1992 on 'The Lost Tapes' (Del-Fi DFCD 70009/Ace CDCHD317) and 1998 on 'Ritchie Valens in Come On Let's Go' (Del-Fi DFBX 2359), a set of 3 CDs. (Praguefrank's has applause added to 'Come On Let's Go' on a later unidentified date. Those demos were of Valens singing at guitar. Some were with drums.) That audition got Valens signed onto Del-Fi for his first commercial session on June 18 ('58) at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood to result in 'Come On, Let's Go'/'Framed' (Del-Fi 4106) [issues]. 'Dooby Dooby Wah' got issued with 'Come On, Let's Go' on the international labels, Metronome and Pye [Discogs]. Studio backing was by Rene Hall (guitar), Irving Ashbyor Carol Kaye (rhythm guitar), Buddy Clark (bass) and Earl Palmer (drums). A chicano from the Los Angeles region, those recordings gave him reason to quit school to pursue a professional career, 'Come On Let's Go' charting at #27 in September 1958 on Billboard's R&B. Sometime in that period an overdub session was held for 'Donna' and 'Ritchies Blues' from demos mentioned above. 'Donna' saw issue with 'La Bamba' (recorded September 23) on Del-Fi 4110 in November ('58). It reached #2 on the Hot 100. 'Ritchie's Blues' was included on the LP, 'Ritchie' (Del-Fi DFLP 1206). The latter followed Valens' recent issue of 'Ritchie Valens' (Del-Fi DFLP 1201). Unfortunately Valens' was one of the briefest careers in music history. Upon several more sessions and a tour to Hawaii, Valens' third and final LP went down on December 10, 1959, for 'In Concert at Pacoima Jr. High'. Praguefrank's traces him to as late as January of 1959 at Gold Star Studios for 'Hurry Up' ('Ritchie'/Del-Fi DFLP 1206), 'Stay Beside Me' (Del-Fi 4128) and 'Paddiwack Song' (Del-Fi 4123). The kid who was expected to rocket to the big time was killed the next month on February 3 of 1959. Seems misfortune came dressed as a lucky coin toss for a seat, after which Ritchie hopped into a three-passenger plane that went down during a snow storm in Nebraska. Buddy Holly, Jiles Richardson and the pilot, Roger Peterson, were killed as well. That incident was the inspiration for Don McLean's 1971 'American Pie'. As for Tommy Allsup who's life was saved by losing that coin toss, he went on to his career in Odessa, then Nashville in 1968 as a sessions player and producer (Asleep At The Wheel). In 1979 Allsup opened a club in Fort Worth, TX, called Tommy's Heads Up Saloon. (Sudden death via air transport hasn't been infrequent in the music industry. There is a list of such incidents at Listverse.) Valens had composed such as 'Oooh My Head' and 'We Belong Together'. Songwriting credits at 1, 2. Valens in visual media. Further references: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Ritchie Valens 1958 Composition: Ritchie Valens Composition: Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller Composition: Ritchie Valens Mexican traditional Arrangement: Ritchie Valens
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 Bruce Channel Source: From the Vaults |
Bruce Channel (pronounced sha-NEL) was a rockabilly
musician born in 1940 in Jacksonville, TX. In 1959 he composed 'Hey! Baby'
with Margaret Cobb, which he performed for two years before recording it in
1961. 'Hey! Baby' went gold in '62, that his only tune to ring a discernible bell
on Billboard,
though his '68 release of 'Keep On' did well in the UK at #12. Channel had released his
first titles in April 1959 for Teen Ager Records: 'Run, Romance, Run' bw
'Don't Leave Me' (TA 601). Main entry for Channel at
Rockabilly.
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Born Ernest Evans in 1941 in Spring Gulley, South Carolina, Chubby Checker [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] released his first recordings in 1959: 'Schooldays, Oh, Schooldays'/'The Class' (Parkway 404) and 'Whole Lotta Laughin''/'Samson and Delilah' (Parkway 808) [*]. By that time rock and roll had affected a cultural zeitgeist something alike the world had not before seen. Its affects per dance alone were major, to which Checker made a huge contribution in 1960 with his cover of the 'The Twist'. Hank Ballard had first recorded 'The Twist' in 1959, but it was Checker who got the publicity on the Saturday night 'Dick Clark Show' in August 1960, then Dick Clark's daytime show, 'American Bandstand'. Checker himself gives an apt example of the twist below on the 'Dick Clark Show'. Despite the big noise 'The Twist' made, topping the Hot 100 and reaching #2 on the R&B in August of 1960, Checker's career as a party maker was limited. With one exception his last singles to reach the Top Twenty were in 1963, the Top Forty in 1965. Though remaining popular in Europe Checker was on the oldies circuit by the seventies in the States. Then, something not seen a lot, Checker came back nearly fifty years after the 'The Twist' in 2008 with 'Knock Down the Walls', reaching No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Dance Singles. In 2013 he issued the single, 'Changes'. In 2014 Checker sued Hewlitt-Packard when it released an app called 'The Chubby Checker', which function was to estimate penis size by shoe size [*]. As for Checker, he was never very chubby, the only thing plump about him being his wallet as of the early sixties. In June 2015 Checker became the highest paid vocalist in the world with earnings of 82 million dollars since June of 2014. His estimated net worth at 245 million (compared to, say, Mick Jagger, at only well over 300 million [*]) has been built via the stock market, real estate, 'Cover Girl' endorsements, seven restaurants, and his own lines of vodka (Pure Wonderchecker), perfume (With Love from Chubby) and fashion (Chubby Checker Seduction) [*]. Checker yet tours as of this writing whilst maintaining presence at Facebook. Issues discos w production and songwriting credits at 1, 2. Checker in visual media. Chubby Checker 1959 Composition: Kal Mann Chubby Checker 1960 Composition: Andy Gibson 'Dick Clark Show' Composition: Hank Ballard Studio version Composition: Hank Ballard Chubby Checker 1963 Lip-syncing on Australian telecast Composition: Andy Gibson
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Chubby Checker Source: Live Internet/Kakula
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 Dr. John Source: BAM |
Born Malcolm John Rebennack in 1940,
Dr. John [1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6] recorded as Mac Rebennack until
creating his Dr. John voodoo character in 1968. He first recorded in 1957 as
a session guitarist for Ace Records where he would back such as Huey Piano
Smith, Joe Tex, Jimmy Clanton and Frankie Ford (Morgus per 1959 below). Rebennack's first name
release was 'Storm Warning'/'Foolish Little Girl' in 1959 for Rex Records.
Rebennack traded guitar for piano about 1960 upon being shot in the finger
during a scuffle at a gig in Jackson, Mississippi. In 1961 he began
recording for AFO (All For One), 'Sahara'/'Good Times' among them. In 1965
Rebennack relocated to Los Angles where he did session fork for such as
Sonny & Cher,
Canned Heat and
Frank Zappa. In 1968 Rebennack became Dr.
John the Night Tripper, voodoo healer, releasing the LP, 'Gris-Gris', that year. Among Dr.
John's more important issues was 'Dr. John's Gumbo' in 1972, a collection of
New Orleans R&B. He followed that the next year with the equally significant
'In the Right Place', a collection of New Orleans funk. 1976 found Dr. John
performing on The
Band's 'Last Waltz'. In 1979 he collaborated on
Professor Longhair's last album, 'Crawfish Fiesta'. In addition to his own work, Dr.
John has been among the most elite of session musicians, far more than only
in demand, but one of those special tastes with whom one makes
appointments. Dr. John also worked in the film industry, writing and
performing the score for 'Cannery Row' in 1982, for instance. In 1989 he
toured with
Ringo Starr, resulting in the album, 'Ringo
Starr and His All-Starr Band'. Dr. John had done a lot of composing, such as
'Glowin'' ('68), 'Such a Night' ('73) and 'Dorothy' ('81). Titles written
for others included such as collaborations with Doc Pomus [Pomus: 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8] for
BB King's
'There Must Be a Better World Somewhere' ('81), 'The Victim' ('81) and 'A
World I Never Made' ('82)
[*]. Dr. John discos with production and songwriting
credits at
1,
2. Dr. John yet actively tours as of this writing while
maintaining a
Facebook page.
John in visual media. Per below,
tracks through 1962 were recorded as Mac Rebennack. All tracks for 1968 are
from the album, 'Gris-Gris', Rebennack's premiere as Dr. John. Dr. John 1959 With Morgus and the Three Ghouls Composition: Jeannine Clesi/Lester Bayhi Composition: Dr. John (Mac Rebennack) Dr. John 1960 With Big Boy Miles (Myles) Composition: Frank Guida/Joseph Royster Dr. John 1961 Composition: Dr. John (Mac Rebennack) Dr. John 1962 Composition: Edna Montrell Composition: Dr. John (Mac Rebennack) 'Twas the Night Before Christmas With Huey Piano Smith Composition: Unknown First published 1823 * Adaptation/Composition: Babs Gonzales 'Twas the Night Before Christmas With Huey Piano Smith Instrumental Composition: Babs Gonzales Dr. John 1968 Per below Creaux = Dr. John Creaux Composition: Creaux Composition: Creaux/Harold Battiste Composition: Creaux Composition: Creaux/Jessie Hill Dr. John 1969 Album Dr. John 1970 Live Composition: Dr. John Creaux Album Dr. John 1971 Album Dr. John 1972 Album Dr. John 1973 Album Dr. John 1974 Album Dr. John 2014 Filmed concert
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Roy Head
See
Rockabilly: Roy Head & the Traits. |
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| At the age of eight drummer
Bobby Rydell
(Robert Louis Ridarelli) won
himself a spot as a regular on the
Paul Whiteman radio show where he kept for
three years [1,
2,
3,
4]. He thereafter drummed with various Philadelphia bands (whereat
born in 1942), including Rocco and the Saints at age 16, of which
Frankie Avalon, also from Philadelphia, was a member as a trumpet player. Rydell
turned from drums to voice and
released his first record, 'Fatty Fatty'/'Dream Age' in January of 1959,
he sixteen years of age. 'Please Don’t Be Mad'/'Makin’ Time' followed
the next month on Cameo C160. Come 'All I Want Is You'/'For You For You' on
Cameo C164, You’ll Never Tame Me'/'Kissin' Time on Cameo 167 and 'We Got
Love'/'I Dig Girls' 0n Cameo 169. The former sold a million copies, also
included on Rydell's first LP, 'Bobby Rydell'. 'Wild One' was released in
January 1960, selling another million, then 'Swingin'
School', selling yet another mil. 'Volare' rose to #4 on the
Hot 100 in July
of '60. Rydell issued 'Bobby Rydell - Chubby Checker' with Chubby Checker in
1960, 'Bobby Sings | Bobby Swings' and 'Wild One' the same year. By the time
he issued 'Bobby Rydell Salutes The Great Ones' in 1961 he had toured internationally
(Australia 1960). Rydell's heydays were in the sixties, 'The Cha-Cha-Cha'
rising to #10 in '62, 'Forget Him' ascending to #3 in '63. Rydell would place in the Top Forty
34 times during his career, his last being 'Sway' at #27 on the AC in 1976. During the seventies and eighties Rydell
concentrated on nightclubs and casinos in Las Vegas. In 1985 he got together
with
Frankie Avalon and Fabian
to form the Golden Boys, with which he has performed into the new
millennium. Rydell saw major trouble in 2012 with the double transplant of
his kidneys and liver. He was performing again half a year later in January
2013. Rydell's vocation didn't include composition, he drawing material from
other
composers. Visiting Australia in 2014, Rydell toured internationally
until his death in Abington, Pennsylvania, on 5 April 2022. Rydell in
visual media. Other profiles:
1,
2,
3.
Bobby Rydell 1959 'Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show' Composition: Kal Mann/Bernie Lowe 'Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show' Composition: Kal Mann/Bernie Lowe Bobby Rydell 1960 Television performance Composition: Domenico Modugno/Mitchell Parish Composition: Dave Appell/Kal Mann/Bernie Lowe Bobby Rydell 1961 Composition: Dave Appell/Kal Mann/Bernie Lowe Bobby Rydell 1965 Composition: Paul Anka Bobby Rydell 1968 Composition: Artie Schroeck/Jet Loring (Marmalade)
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Bobby Rydell Source: Nostalgia & Now |
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Soul vocalist, Tina Turner [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7], was boen Anna Mae Bullock in 1939 in Nutbush, Tennessee. After graduating from high school she and her elder sister, Ruby, liked to visit nightclubs in St. Louis (MO) and East St. Louis (IL). She soon met Ike Turner and became a backup singer in his band. Turner first recorded with Ike's Kings of Rhythm in 1958: 'Box Top', released in 1959 on Tune Town 501. She went by the name, Little Ann, at the time. In 1960 Ike changed Little Ann's name to Tina Turner for the release of 'A Fool In Love' that year. She and Ike married in 1962. The Ike & Tina Turner equation took the sixties by storm, though their first gold album wasn't until 1971: 'What You Hear Is What You Get', recorded live at Carnegie Hall. It was also 1971 that Turner began to explore Buddhism, by which her upbringing as a Baptist would evolve much modified. Turner also applied herself to composition, collaborating with Ike on several titles as well. Her composition, 'Nutbush City Limits', rose to #11 on the R&B in Sep of 1973. Turner's first solo album, 'Tina Turns the Country On!', was released in April 1974. Though Turner separated from Ike in 1974 they worked together professionally for another year. She filed for divorce from Ike in July of '76. Though abuse was involved she claimed irreconcilable differences. Divorce proceedings were complete in 1978. She meanwhile released her second album, 'Acid Queen', in 1975. That contained 'Whole Lotta Love', Turner's first name title to chart on Billboard at #61. Upon Turner's split from Ike she directed her career to Las Vegas in a cabaret venue. She made television appearances and her first tour as a solo act in 1977, to Australia. September 1978 saw the issue of her third solo album, 'Rough', several months after her divorce from Ike was finalized earlier that March. Her fourth album, 'Love Explosion', arrived in March of 1979. Turner hasn't missed a step since, among the larger names in rock music sharing stature alongside such as Mick Jagger or Paul McCartney. Notable in 1984 was the issue of her album, 'Private Dancer', that containing 'Let's Stay Together' which had reached the #1 tier on Billboard's Dance chart in Nov of 1983, 'What's Love Got to Do with It' which topped the Hot 100 in May of '84, 'Better Be Good to Me' which reached #5 in September, and 'Private Dancer' which reached #3 on the R&B in November. Turner continued into the nineties with an induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. Her last song to chart in the Top Ten was 'I Don't Wanna Fight' in 1993. But that was only one aspect of a career pursued nonstop through the nineties as well. Turner rocked her way into the new millennium with the gold album, 'Twenty Four Seven', and a concert tour worth $100,000,000 in 2000 [Wikipedia]. Her record sales exceed 200 million plates and platters. Her last concert tour is thought to have been completed in 2009. Tina Turner discographies with various credits at 1, 2, 3. Turner in visual media. Having lived in England and France, Turner became a Swiss citizen in 2013. She died in Küsnacht, Switzerland, on May 24, 2023. She had maintained an internet presence at Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Tina Turner 1959 With Ike Turner as Little Anne Composition: Ike Turner Tina Turner 1970 Composition: John Lennon/Paul McCartney Tina Turner 1974 Composition: Hank Snow Tina Turner 1975 Let's Spend the Night Together Composition: Mick Jagger/Keith Richards Composition: Led Zeppelin: John Bonham/John Paul Jones/Jimmy Page/Robert Plant From Willie Dixon's 'I Need Love' 1962 Recorded by Muddy Waters 1962 Tina Turner 1984 Composition: Mark Knopfler Composition: Terry Britten/Graham Lyle Tina Turner 1985 Filmed concert Tina Turner 1990 Composition: Mike Chapman/Holly Knight Tina Turner 1994 Composition: Ann Peebles/Don Bryant/Bernard Miller
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Tina Turner Source: The Playhouse |
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Bobby Vee's
[Sydney Ronald Velline/ b 1943/
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6] career began of the tragedy that took the lives of
Buddy Holly, Ritchie
Valens and the
Big Bopper, along with their 21 year-old pilot,
Roger Peterson, in 1959. It came to Velline (not yet Vee) to fill in for
Buddy Holly's engagement in Moorhead, Minnesota, at which
Holly would not now show. Vee had put together a band called the Shadows in Fargo, North Dakota, all of
a week earlier, but during which week the group had been practicing
Buddy Holly
tunes. Vee's first record release was in July 1959: 'Suzie Baby' backed with 'Flyin'
High' (US Soma 1110x45/ UK London F 55208). Those were followed in 1960 by 'What Do You Want'/'My
Love Loves Me' (Liberty F 55234) and 'One Last Kiss'/'Laurie' (Liberty F
55251). Other than an EP, Vee filled out 1960 w two more releases : 'Devil
or Angel'/'Since I Met You Baby' (Liberty F 55251) and 'Rubber
Ball'/'Everyday' (Liberty F 55251). 'Devil or Angel' was Vee's first title
to disturb the Top Ten on Billboard, reaching #6 in August of '60. 'Rubber
Ball' followed in November at #6, that also Vee's first to worry the UK Top
Ten at #4. MusicVF has Vee placing five more Top Ten titles to as late as
'Come Back When You Grow Up' reaching #3 in July of 1967. One of those,
'Take Good Care of My Baby', so irritated Billboard's #1 barstool in Sep of
'61 that it
had to be thrown out in the cold sopping wet and beat-down drunk a few weeks
later by
Ray Charles' 'Hit the Road Jack' in Oct
[*].
Though Vee's career began with rock n roll he came to more make his path
along the popular climate. Discogs and Wikipedia have Vee issuing well above
twenty albums from 'Bobby Vee Sings Your Favorites' in 1960 to 'Nothin' Like
a Sunny Day' issued as Robert Thomas Velline in 1972. Vee had performed regularly
in recent years at the Winter Dance Party concerts in
Clear Lake, Iowa, until Alzheimer's disease saw to his retirement in 2012
after his final recordings the prior year issued on 'The Adobe Sessions' in
2014. He passed away on Oct 24 of 2016.
Discos for Vee w various credits at 1,
2,
3,
4.
Vee in visual media.
The list below begins w Bobby Vee and his Shadows. Bobby Vee 1959 Lead guitar: Bill Velline Composition: Bill Velline Lead guitar: Bill Velline Bobby Vee 1960 Composition: Blanche Carter Original issue: The Clovers 1955 Composition: Buddy Holly/Norman Petty Composition: S. Rogers Composition: Ronnie Self/Dub Allbritten Composition: Bobby Vee Third release Side B Composition: Sonny Curtis Second release Side B Composition: Charles Strouse/Lee Adams Third release Side A Composition: Gene Pitney/Aaron Schroeder Composition: Alan Freed/Harvey Fuqua Composition: Ivory Joe Hunter Composition: Les Vandyke Second release Side A Composition: Carole Joyner/Ric Cartley Bobby Vee 1961 Composition: Carole King/Gerry Goffin Bobby Vee 1962 Composition: Benjamin Weisman/Dorothy Wayne/Marilyn Garrett Music video Composition: Bobby Vee Bobby Vee 1963 Composition: Bobby Vee (Robert Velline) Bobby Vee 1965 Composition: Bobby Vee/Sonny Curtis/Tom Leslie Telecast Composition: Gerry Goffin/Jack Keller Composition: Carole King/Gerry Goffin Filmed live Bobby Vee 1967 Composition: Martha Sharp Composition: Alan Gordon/Garry Bonner Arrangement: Al Capps Composition: Bobby Russell/Mark Whitson Composition: Gene Allan/Ron Dante Bobby Vee 2014 Composition: Townes Van Zandt Composition: Bob Dylan
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Bobby Vee 1960 Source: From the Vaults |
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| First formed as a duo in 1958 by
bass guitarist, Bob Bogle [*],
and rhythm guitarist, Don Wilson, the Versatones became
the instrumental beach rock band, the Ventures
[1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8/Discos
1,
2],
in 1959 upon recruiting lead guitarist Nokie Edwards on bass at first [1,
2] and drummer
Skip Moore [*]. Moore would leave the band upon recording 'Walk, Don't Run' in 1960. His
replacement, George Babbitt Jr. [*], was too young to play clubs, thus was superceded
by Howie Johnson until 1962, after which Mel Taylor
[*] waved the sticks
[Ventures personnel over the decades at
*]. The Ventures'
first record release had been 'Cookies and Coke' b/w 'The Real McCoy' on Blue Horison 100 in 1959. 'Walk,
Don't Run' was the band's first album, released December the following year (1960).
Its title song had reached Billboard's #2 spot on the
Hot 100
in July. Another of their top titles was the theme to the television series,
'Hawaii Five-O', rising to the #4 tier in March of 1969. Especially popular
in Japan, the Ventures yet tour there continually ever since 1962. Ventures discographies with various credits at
1,
2,
3.
The Ventures in visual media. Per below, later live recordings feature guitarist, Yuzo Kayama. The Ventures 1959 Composition: Bob Bogle/Don Wilson Composition: Don Wilson/Bob Bogle The Ventures 1960 Composition: Don Wilson/Howie Johnson Nokie Edwards/Bob Bogle Composition: Johnny Smith The Ventures 1961 Second album The Ventures 1965 Composition: Don Wilson/Nokie Edwards/Bob Bogle The Ventures 1968 Music video Composition: Morton Stevens The Ventures 1969 Telecast with Trini Lopez Composition: Morton Stevens Telecast with Trini Lopez Composition: The Doors: Jim Morrison/Robbie Krieger John Densmore/Ray Manzarek The Ventures 1990 Filmed live in Japan The Ventures 1998 Filmed live with Yūzō Kayama Filmed live with Yūzō Kayama Composition: The Surfaris 1963: Bob Berryhill/Pat Connolly Jim Fuller/Ron Wilson Filmed live with Yūzō Kayama Composition: Don Wilson/Bob Bogle/Nokie Edwards
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The Ventures Source: M Time/Crozhj |
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Seventy Years of 'Blueberry Hill'Composition: Vincent Rose Lyrics: Al Lewis & Larry Stock Sammy Kaye Orchestra 1940 Gene Autry 1941 Fats Domino 1956 Elvis Presley 1957 Little Richard 1958 Pat Boone 1958 Duane Eddy 1959 Mose Allison 1959 John Barry 1960 Chubby Checker 1961 Louis Armstrong 1961 Skeeter Davis 1961 Cliff Richard 1962 The Lettermen 1962 The Loved Ones 1966 The Everly Brothers 1967 Led Zeppelin 1970 Loretta Lynn 1971 Jerry Lee Lewis 1973 Adriano Celentano 1977 Jah Wobble 1980 Link Wray 1982 Mud 1982 Fats Domino 1985 Yellowman 1987 Bruce Cockburn & Margo Timmins 1999 Elton John 2007 Vladimir Putin 2010
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| We temporarily suspend this history
of early rock and roll with the Ventures. If the musician you're seeking
isn't on this page please see the history tree below.
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