Innholdsfortegnelse for May/Jun 2019 i Vintage Rock

Somewhat of a triple-header this issue, with three giants of rock’n’roll in the frame, namely Buddy Holly, Bill Haley, and the recently departed ‘King Of The Surf Guitar’ Dick Dale… This year marks 60 years since the plane crash that took the lives of Buddy and his rock’n’roll comrades, and aside from Vintage Rock’s own commemorative special that covered his final fateful tour, we’ve heard whispers from some very good sources that there’s further tantalising plans afoot to toast the late, great bespectacled one this year – not least a glossy coffee table book, a reissue LP of The Crickets’ first album, The “Chirping” Crickets, plus a BBC documentary about the making of the album. Lucky us. But to keep you all chirping until then, we throw our hat into…

Hemsby #62 Rock’n’Roll Weekender 10–13 May 2019 FEATURING Gizzelle, Charlie Hightone & The Rock-It’s, The Polecats and more. VENUE Hemsby Beach Holiday Park, Norfolk NR29 4HT BOOKING hemsbyrocknroll.co.uk / 01772 761522 Nashville Boogie Vintage Weekender & Car Show 23-26 May FEATURING Wanda Jackson, JD McPherson, The Cactus Blossoms, Linda Gail Lewis, Ronnie Spector and The Ronettes, Los Straitjackets, Deke Dickerson VENUE Gaylord Opryland Resort & Nashville Palace BOOKING nashvilleboogie.com Rockabilly Rave 13-17 June 2019 FEATURING Big Sandy, Colton Turner, Darrel Higham, The Country Side Of Harmonica, Marcel Riesco and more. VENUE Pontins Holiday Centre, Camber Sands, East Sussex, TN31 7RL BOOKING rockabillyrave.co.uk Wildest Cats In Town 60 Years Of Rock’n’Roll Special 1959-2019 5-8 July 2019 FEATURING Hayden Thompson, The Comets, Jimmy Van Eaton (first ever UK show), Rip Masters, Crazy…

1957 • BRUN SWICK RECORDS Side 1 Oh, Boy! (Sonny West, Bill Tilghman & Norman Petty) 2:07 Not Fade Away (Buddy Holly & Norman Petty) 2:21 You’ve Got Love (Roy Orbison, Johnny Wilson & Norman Petty) 2:05 Maybe Baby (Buddy Holly & Norman Petty) 2:01 It’s Too Late (Chuck Willis) 2:22 Tell Me How (Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison & Norman Petty) 1:58 Side 2 That’ll Be the Day (Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison & Norman Petty) 2:14 I’m Looking For Someone To Love (Buddy Holly & Norman Petty) 1:56 An Empty Cup (And A Broken Date) (Roy Orbison & Norman Petty) 2:11 Send Me Some Lovin’ (John Marascalco & Leo Price) 2:33 Last Night (Joe B Mauldin & Norman Petty) 1:53 Rock Me My Baby (Shorty Long & Susan Heather) 1:47…

Buddy Holly may have forged his reputation in rock’n’roll, but he cut his teeth in country music, drawing formative inspiration from the likes of Hank Williams, Bob Wills, Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family. It was an inspiration that he grafted onto his own songs, whether evincing the harmonies of bluegrass or mimicking Williams’ vocal quirks. “Buddy really liked Hank,” said Bill Griggs of the Buddy Holly Memorial Society. “If you listen to some of Hank Williams’ things, Hank had that kind of hiccup, the same thing that Buddy is now known for.” John Waugh, an authority on country, went further, suggesting that Buddy “grabbed and never let go of the rock’n’roll side of Hank Williams”. Growing up in Lubbock, Texas, Buddy was perfectly positioned to assimilate the red dirt…

It was the kids who called me ‘King Of The Surf Guitar,’” said Dick Dale, whose regal reign of more than half a century came to a close with his 16 March death at the age of 81. The last few years were often excruciating for the pulverizing southpaw axeman. He was forced to tour relentlessly to earn enough money to finance health insurance, medical bills, and the colostomy bags that he wore as a result of a gruelling bout with rectal cancer that first struck in 1966 and recurred a couple of decades later. “The money won’t come in unless I go on the road,” said Dale. “Once I get on the stage, you push that button, and your body goes.” It was a different story during the early…

People don’t always realise that Great Balls Of Fire is a duet. The rock’n’roll classic features no lead guitar or bass. The only musicians on the disc are Jerry Lee Lewis on vocals and piano, and Jimmy Van Eaton on drums. “I’m not sure how that happened,” Van Eaton admits, more than 60 years after laying down the track. “We actually cut the song with the full band for the movie Jamboree, but with a lot of that stuff you didn‘t know which take they were gonna release. They would sit down later and listen to’em and pick different cuts.” There’s no doubt, however, that the Killer’s pumping piano and Van Eaton’s drums are the perfect match. “I always said it was meant to be,” Van Eaton says. “My drumming…

During the 1950s and early 1960s, Brooklyn-born Otis Blackwell was a prolific writer of R&B and rock’n’roll songs. Although he recorded several of his own tunes, including Daddy Rollin’ Stone and Back Trail, his legacy rests on the numbers he wrote for the likes of Elvis Presley, Dee Clark and Jerry Lee Lewis. Blackwell had developed his passion for music by listening to radio broadcasts of R&B and blues recordings, and by watching films featuring Tex Ritter and other singing cowboys. Although he won a talent contest at the Apollo Theater in Harlem at just 21 years of age, he abandoned the idea of becoming a professional vocalist himself and instead worked diligently in New York City to write songs. He was aligned with Winfield Scott, Eddie Cooley, Jesse Stone…

THE COASTERS “I love their first LP – that was just an assembly of 45s they cut in that neighbourhood, but the playing on those records is the shit. It’s amazing. Most people don’t take The Coasters that seriously but they’re such a great, tight R&B band on songs like Searchin’ and Young Blood.” JACKIE SHANE “I’ve loved her 45s for years so I was really excited when Numero Group got access to the masters and released the box set of her music in 2017. I think you can hear an influence of Jackie Shane’s In My Tenement on By Heart – this big city, New York, noirish thing.” JUNE CHRISTY “She kind of made the jump from fronting the big bands of the 1950s to these more conceptual, cool-sounding…

SCHNITZELBILLY #5 PLAN 9 TRASH RECORDS If you squint really hard at a map of Austria it does sort of look like a ‘bizarre guitar’ as the good folks at Plan 9 Trash Records state on the covers of their delightful Schnitzelbilly series of EPs. These 7" wonders each feature a quartet of homegrown acts and together they form an essential compendium of Austria’s rockin’ talent. The series first appeared back in 2015 and the fifth volume has just been released. This single has the broadest scope of the series as it flips between the Sun sound of Joe Dee And His JetTones to the hillbilly strut of The Oilchange Trio and onto the polished rockabilly of The Ridin’ Dudes. The standout track is from the guitar and harmonica duo…

Frankie Vaughan US AND UK SINGLES 1950-62 ACROBAT Vaughan was a talented Liverpudlian who emerged before the widespread popularity of rock’n’roll but embraced the genre once it arrived, topping the UK chart with Jim Lowe’s The Green Door and Joe Valino’s The Garden Of Eden. Along the way, he covered two Boyd Bennett originals, Seventeen and My Boy-Flat Top, not to mention LaVern Baker’s Tweedle Dee. They are all here in this big-value 2CD 60-tracker, complete with detailed liner notes by compiler Paul Watts. Frankie was a big man with a big voice, taken too early at 71. Jack Rabbit Slim LIVE AT THE HOOCHIE COOCHIE CLUB WESTERN STAR Just when you thought there was nothing new from the now-defunct Jack Rabbit Slim, Western Star deliver a live album capturing…

SESSION GUITAR STAR ACE The late Reggie Young plied his trade over a wide variety of genres, but few places, preferring to centre on Memphis and Nashville. This timely and carefully curated collection ranges from the rockabilly of Eddie Bond and Slip, Slip, Slippin’ In, to the gospel stylings of Solomon Burke’s Meet Me In Church, from the straight pop of The Box Tops’ I’m Movin’ On to the deep soul of James Carr’s More Love. Reggie recorded with the biggest names, including Elvis Presley (Stranger in My Own Home Town) to Dusty Springfield (Don’t Forget About Me), both included here. He was content to supply fills when needed, but would produce a scorching rock’n’roll guitar solo if asked. Reggie featured on any number of classics, from Dobie Gray’s Drift…

As Joe Brown and I returned from our week at the Metropole Theatre in Glasgow neither of us had any idea I would be heading back there within 24 hours. Unfortunately, the week had not been without incident. I had been barred from the theatre bar due to a confrontation with a very drunk Scottish fan, plus Joe’s drummer had got drunk at their rented flat, thus enabling Joe to shave off most of said drummer’s hair and dye the remaining tufts bright red and blue. As tough a character as she was, Joe’s mum, Mrs Brown, endeared herself to all who met her as, unlike with many people we’d met in our somewhat brief showbiz careers, you knew where you stood – and if you didn’t she would soon…

For anyone who has ever read a biography of Jerry Lee Lewis, Haney’s Big House will ring a bell as the nightclub that he used to sneak into as a boy to hear ‘the devil’s music’ being played by the R&B greats of the 40s and 50s. Wind forward to the present and a new band of that name is quickly becoming known as fine purveyors of harmonica-laced, blues-based, mid-century dance music. Based in the west of England, the foot-tapping five-piece have been honing their live chops for the past two-and-a-half years and have just released their debut album, Herding Cats. How did the Haney’s Big House project first come together? “Steve Holley, the drummer, is part of a wellknown vintage clothing company that you see at all the events…

Over the years, several explanations have emerged regarding the origins of The Crickets’ name. The most popular and repeated story centres on a persistent cricket in Norman Petty’s studio that chirped while the band was recording, but immediately halted its contributions as soon as anyone began searching for it. According to Remembering Buddy: The Definitive Biography Of Buddy Holly by John Goldrosen the tuneful insect did exist but did not begin his disruptions until several months after The Crickets name was already in place. The name was actually chosen during a meeting at Jerry Allison’s house in early 1957. Unable to use Holly’s name on That’ll Be The Day, the band needed a name quickly in order to submit the demo to record companies. After pitching several ideas back and…

Move It On Over Hank Williams Close enough for rock’n’roll, Williams’ first major hit – No.4 on the Billboard chart in 1947 – is regarded by some as a prototype of Bill Haley And His Comets’ Rock Around the Clock. Indeed Haley would eventually record the track, as would Ray Charles. Don’t Be Ashamed of Your Age Bob Wills Wills and country songwriter Cindy Walker combined on this lesser-known gem from his oeuvre, urging the older generation to ignore the barbs of young folk and embrace the ageing process. Can The Circle Be Unbroken The Carter Family Reworked by The Carter Family’s patriarch, AP Carter, from the hymn Will The Circle Be Unbroken, the lyric concerns the death, funeral and mourning of the narrator’s mother. Widely covered by artists including…

Crazy Arms Jerry Lee Lewis Sun, 1956 The first released song Jimmy Van Eaton played on was also Jerry Lee’s debut – an audition tape rush-released as a single. Flyin’ Saucer Rock’n’Roll Billy Lee Riley Sun, 1957 An inimitable guitar and cymbals intro detonates one of the craziest rock’n’roll tracks ever, with Jerry Lee’s piano underscoring Billy Lee’s deep-fried vocals. Raunchy Bill Justis Phillips, 1957 Mixing twangy guitar and rasping sax, this instrumental was both a huge hit and a massive inspiration to Duane Eddy. Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On Jerry Lee Lewis Sun, 1957 A one-take wonder on which the pumping piano and pumping drums merged into an earth-shaking tsunami of sound. Love My Baby Hayden Thompson Phillips, 1957 Jimmy never backed Elvis, but if he had it would…

In April 1954, Bill Haley And His Comets entered the Pythian Temple, New York, to record a couple of songs for their new record label Decca. The first was a sauntering, atmospheric jazz-blues hybrid Thirteen Women (And Only One Man In Town), the other a brisk and noisy, crisply executed boogie (We’re Gonna) Rock Around The Clock. The result, it’s been decreed by historians, was history, the latter number providing the big bang moment marking the ultimate fusion of stepped-up country music and African-American rhythms that created commercial rock’n’roll. It was never quite that simple. For a start, Rock Around the Clock wasn’t an outstanding success to begin with. Producer Milt Gabler, at heart a jazz sophisticate, had always favoured the more adult Thirteen Women as the superior song, and…

John Lewis & His Rock’n’ Roll Trio WHERE WOULD ROCK’N’ROLL BE? MIGRAINE RECORDS John Lewis vinyl is coming thick and fast in 2019 and following on from some recent re-releases from his extensive back catalogue is this brand new 13-track offering. John’s breadth of rockin’ styles is often eye-watering and on this new platter he slips effortlessly between bluesy joint jumpers, haunting hillbilly and out-and-out rockers. The whole thing is tied together with his rootsy vocal range and stunning six-string slinging. As a limited edition vinyl-only release, this is hot property for sure. Various Artists DOWN AT THE UGLY MEN’S LOUNGE VOL. 3 ROOF RECORDS Here is a welcome third instalment of this series of 10" compilations exploring rhythm & roll, lusty grinders and what the Belgians like to call…

THAT’S RIGHT BLUELIGHT When rock’n’roll bands first come onto the Vintage Rock radar it’s helpful to see at least one revival in the set, so the efforts of newcomers can be measured against the original. Founded in 2010 and signed up to the Bluelight roster for their second album, Finnish seven-piece Million Dollar Tones obey that rule. Offering their take on Little Richard’s Can’t Believe You Wanna Leave, plus their own version of Juicy Fruit’s Oh Babe, shows they are contenders for the best new release of the year from an otherwise unknown source. What might go against that title on this 12-tracker is the relatively limited running time of 33 minutes. Another 50 seconds could have been added had they included the missing verse from the aforementioned Juicy Fruit…

33 YEARS STAGE BY STAGE EL TORO It’s amazing to learn the still youthful-looking Welsh singer John Lewis has been at it for 33 years. This cross-label CD tribute to this much-respected musician comes on the heels of the double gatefold vinyl release, but despite its restricted size this double CD still contains much info and 50 tracks. He covers rockabilly, hillbilly, country and rock’n’roll with commitment and authenticity, and has no plans to stop. Material ranges from the familiar like Boppin’ The Blues and St James Infirmary, to the somewhat obscure, but all perfectly performed.…

A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square PERCY EDWARDS 1953 In the late 1940s I was fascinated by the radio and one of its most popular programmes, Workers’ Playtime. It featured a diverse range of artistes from comedians to classical musicians and there was one regular entertainer named Percy Edwards who captured my imagination and I couldn’t get enough of him. He wasn’t a singer or comedian, but an ornithologist who did bird impressions. On this occasion he was impersonating a nightingale as the piece of music, A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square played, I was now hooked on music! This Ole House ROSEMARY CLOONEY 1954 I now considered myself a musician and spent much of my spare time in our local milk bar as for me the milk bar jukebox…

‘T’AINT NO SIN IN RHYTHM (CADILLAC 154) CHARLIE GRACIE An early cut from a 17-year-old Charlie Gracie, this is a jumpin’ little groover released on tiny Detroit label, Cadillac. Unsurprisingly, original copies are hard to come by. MINT VALUE: £350 SATURDAY NIGHT DADDY (FEDERAL 45-12100) LITTLE ESTHER PHILLIPS AND BOBBY NUNN A delightful ballad from Little Esther Phillips and Bobby Nunn, this sweet little 45 was an early Leiber and Stoller composition; either the original 7" or 10" 78 on Federal are not seen much at all. MINT VALUE: £200 JAILHOUSE ROCK (MILKY WAY RECORDS) DEAN CARTER A real wild version of the famous Leiber and Stoller composition, this is sheer madness from Arlie Neaville (aka Dean Carter) – file next to some of the raucous arrangements from Joe Meek.…

Although The Crickets name was first deployed out of necessity, once the legal issues were settled, Buddy Holly could once again record as a “solo” artist. This left Brunswick/Coral Records head, Bob Thiele with an unusual problem. The “rules” of record marketing emphasised solo stars, but The Crickets was a proven success. Thiele decided to double his chances for hits by signing Holly to a separate contract on Coral, while releases by The Crickets continued on Brunswick. Although Thiele was making a distinction between Crickets records and Buddy Holly records, it had no effect on the way the records were recorded. The Crickets continued recording sessions with Norman Petty without any changes and left the decision as to which were Crickets songs or Buddy Holly songs entirely up to Thiele.…

The flip of a coin saved legendary guitarist Tommy Allsup’s life when he missed out on the flight that claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens in 1959. Allsup, who came up in western swing before finding his métier in rockabilly, was part of Buddy’s backing band, alongside Waylon Jennings and Carl Bunch, on the Winter Dance Party tour across the American Midwest. “Waylon had given up his seat to The Big Bopper and I flipped a coin to see who went – Ritchie or me. Ritchie won the coin toss and he flew in my place and that was about it,” he recalled. A year later, Allsup got a chance to work with Bob Wills, one of Buddy’s country heroes, when he joined the…

LET’S GO TRIPPIN’ Later hailed as the first hit surf instrumental, Let’s Go Trippin’ didn’t thrill Dale at all the first time he heard it. “It was given to me to play back. I just smashed it against the wall, because I was so disheartened because it didn’t sound like we sounded onstage – the big, full fat sound,” he remembered. MISERLOU Although it debuted on record back in 1927, Dale made this Eastern Mediterranean melody (a 1946 pop hit for pianist Jan August as Misirlou) his signature theme in 1962. “I thought about what I used to listen to as a child, listening to Misirlou being played on an oud, and then my uncle playing it on an Arabic drum,” said Dale. SURFIN’ AND A-SWINGIN Occasionally lost in the…

Good looking and as wild as they come, Billy Lee Riley might have made more noise on the charts if the piano player on some of his records – a certain Jerry Lee Lewis – hadn’t exploded with Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On and subsequently had all of Sun’s limited resources thrown at him to the exclusion of the label’s many other aspiring rockers. He certainly put some noise on vinyl in the form of Flyin’ Saucer Rock’n’Roll, Red Hot and Pearly Lee, backed by Lewis’ pumping piano and Jimmy Van Eaton’s drums. Van Eaton was also part of Riley’s road band, The Little Green Men, named by Sam Phillips to complement the UFO theme and kitted out in tailor-made green suits. “A lot of bands put out a great…

BILL HALEY & HIS SADDLEMEN TEARDROPS FROM MY EYES Unreleased at the time, but a lively version of a Ruth Brown number. ROCKET 88 The first “white” rock’n’roll record? GREEN TREE BOOGIE A Haley original showing the Saddlemen could do the fuzztone effect too. SUNDOWN BOOGIE The band’s sound is still evolving, but the excitement dial is moving up a few notches. ROCK THE JOINT For some, the birth of rockabilly. Danny Cedrone’s electric guitar solo was the same one he used on Rock Around The Clock. DANCE WITH A DOLLY (WITH A HOLE IN HER STOCKING) Exciting example of Haley’s love of using nursery rhyme style hooks. ROCKING CHAIR ON THE MOON Listen out for Bill Williamson’s pistol fire “strafe” shots on steel guitar, which he deployed against the…

“It’s like I’m the president and I have the nuclear codes in my suitcase. They’re not leaving my side.” It’s a dilemma for any transatlantic traveller in these security-conscious times: what can you carry onto the plane with you, and what do you leave to the mercy of the baggage handlers? For Californian singer-songwriter Nick Waterhouse, there was no debate when he boarded a flight from LA to London recently. “I carry my 45s on, and everything else gets checked in.” Which gives you some idea of the man’s priorities. Invited over to the UK to promote his self-titled fourth album, he also agreed to do a couple of DJ sets while he was here. He didn’t need much more invitation to bring over a box of his favourite 7"…

Marcel Bontempi MAMBO VOODOO TWI-LITE RECORDS Once again, the wonderful Mr Bontempi has cornered the market in bluesy, rockin’ exotica and the title track of this single positively reeks of rum-soaked jungle boogie. Driven by some furious percussive rhythms and a touch of Django Reinhardt’s guitar sound this is guaranteed to get you dancing furiously around the campfire while banging your bongos. Over on the B-side there is the hypnotic rockabilly of Voodoo Working which brings this two-track slice of wild abandon to a close. This is wrapped in Marcel’s own distinct artwork. Stressor OPTICAL ILLUSION CRAZY LOVE RECORDS Even in these post-glasnost times, Russian rockers have remained strangely isolated, but that hasn’t stopped a wealth of bands delivering their authentic take on a variety of rock’n’roll styles. Stressor peddle…

THE CHUBBY CHECKER COLLECTION 1959-62 ACROBAT Chubby Checker, otherwise Ernest Evans, was a young man in the right place at the right time. He was in Philadelphia, base for host Dick Clark’s influential television show American Bandstand, and Hank Ballard And The Midnighters did not sell the millions they deserved for their original of The Twist. Chubby covered it, got it on TV, and the rest is history. He went on to introduce more than a dozen new dance crazes from The Fly to The Pony, and almost all of them – nay, surely all of them – are here on this comprehensive double CD.…

THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED ACROBAT Released initially to mark the 60th anniversary of the tragic plane crash that cost the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper [although let’s not forget pilot Roger Peterson – Ed], this excellent four-CD collection acts as a time capsule to show exactly what was in the charts on that fateful day. And those that claim that rock’n’roll was waning, or that the world was still listening to Cyril Stapleton and Mitch Miller to the exclusion of all else, are wrong. More than 50 per cent of the top sellers could be described as rock’n’roll, from the No.1 doo-wop smash Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by The Platters, to Bobby Day’s excellent follow-up to Rockin’ Robin, The Bluebird, The Buzzard And…

Less than five feet tall, Brenda Lee belied her small frame thanks to a vocal power that rocked concert halls to their foundations – and when she came to these shores she was most certainly in fine voice. It was 60 years ago, on 4 April 1959, that Brenda finally appeared on UK TV, beamed into living rooms via Jack Good’s iconic British music show Oh Boy!, filmed live from the Hackney Empire in East London every Saturday night. Prior to filming, Lee took to the Hackney streets to rehearse with her band and bemused locals looked on while photographers took the opportunity to snap the pint-sized newcomer in action. As evening fell, the stage lights lit up a lineup of homegrown stars including Dickie Pride, Tony Sheridan, Don Lang…