Innholdsfortegnelse for August/September 2022 i Vintage Rock

Just what is it about Buddy Holly that has captured the imagination of multiple generations of rock’n’roll fans? He certainly doesn’t look like the archetypal rockin’ rebel able to whip crowds into a frenzy in the same way as his contemporaries Elvis or Jerry Lee. His bespectacled look practically invented geek chic decades before the hipsters of today hovered into view. Surely the real secret of Buddy’s appeal lies in his dazzling melodic skills. This was a songwriter who certainly knew his way around an earworm hook like few others. For many people, their first introduction to Holly’s tunesmithery came via That’ll Be The Day, his seminal single that topped the charts in both the US and UK 65 years ago. And it’s that breakthrough moment that we celebrate this…

For 30 years, Mack Stevens has dished out what he calls Hardcore Texas Cat Music or, in layman’s terms, the real rockabilly deal. Stevens grew up singing in church, but it didn’t seem to stick. “I got sucked into that gospel world when I was 13 or so,” he explains, “but man, that world was not for me. Never did feel genuine.” Ditching the hymns, Stevens embraced the raw, sound of early rockabilly. “The music set me free,” says Stevens, who met his wife Karina at the inaugural Viva Las Vegas festival in 1998. When Vintage Rock talks to the singer, they’re busy packing up to move from Texas to Karina’s hometown of Buenos Aires. It’s no leap into the unknown, however, as Stevens recorded his new album Ain’t That…

It’s remarkable to think that only 16 months separate Buddy Holly & The Crickets’ That’ll Be The Day landing in the UK Top 20 and the singer’s untimely death at the age of 22. It’s perfectly reasonable to suggest that no other artist in the history of popular music has ever made the same monumental contribution, or left such a lasting impression on popular culture, in such a short period of time. Having recorded some of the most beautifully crafted, life-affirming songs of all time, Holly and The Crickets influenced legions that followed. Keith Richards, whose Rolling Stones scored their first UK Top 5 hit with a cover of Not Fade Away, proclaimed The Crickets were: “the first global, international rock band of all time”, when he inducted them into…

The Buddy Holly Educational Foundation presents selected artists from all genres inspired by Buddy Holly & The Crickets, with replicas of Holly’s original Gibson J-45. Each one of these guitars is named after a song from his catalogue, including some of his very early garage recordings, or tracks he covered. Board director, Peter Bradley Jnr, explains: “The first of our guitars contained original Buddy frets but, as we have so many ambassadors now, we eventually ran out. Among the early recipients were Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan and Pete Townshend. Ambassadors are also gifted a hand-made leather cover, identical to the one Buddy had on his first guitar. “We’re delighted to reveal that the latest artist to become an ambassador is Yungblud [Dominic Harrison]. Dom joined us at our 2013 Chris…

Rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest names in the rock’n’roll business, it was natural that Smiff would also bump into icons from the art world. At the top of the list was the legendary Andy Warhol. “We first met Warhol as Leee Childers had been the stage manager for Andy’s play, Pork. On that first occasion, Warhol had this big banquet table with a generous buffet on it. We were starving at the time so ended up stuffing the food into our pockets. I was wearing full make-up at this point as we’d morphed from a Teddy Boy band to punk band and into a type of glam rockabilly group. Andy was following me around and said to me, ‘You’re fabulous! Would you mind taking your shirt off? I…

In a 2011 interview for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame archives, Art Rupe ruminated on his most significant signing, Little Richard. “There was something in Little Richard’s voice I liked,” he explained. “I don’t know… it was so exaggerated, so over-emotional. And I said, ‘Let’s give this guy a chance and maybe we can get him to sing like B.B. King.’” Finding Tutti Frutti, the stand-out spark from the initial recording session with Robert ‘Bumps’ Blackwell, Rupe crucially picked up on the fact that Richard resonated most as a performer when unleashed on piano. “Up to that point Bumps was having Little Richard just be a vocalist,” said Rupe. “The neck bone connected to the knee bone or something; his voice and his playing sort of gave it…

As the popular French celluloid sex symbol of such seminal flicks as And God Created Woman, Brigitte Bardot (pictured below) took on a different role in collaborating with cool singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. Although in no way a female Johnny Hallyday, if your taste extends to jaunty 60s fare with lashings of Gallic insouciance, then look no further. Standouts of the pair’s diverse work include the Ronettes’ sounding L’Appareil A Sous (roughly translated as ‘Slot Machine’), the futuristic Contact, the bonkers parody Comic Strip and in a definite nod to rock, what would become BB’s signature, the sexily snarling Harley Davidson. All of which – along with the erotic finale, the original version of the controversial Je T’aime Moi Non Plus – can be found on the album The Best of…

Jackie Wilson’s first solo single Reet Petite is the scourge of all quiz intro rounds. It’s just too recognisable. Sometimes (clunkily) subtitled ‘The Finest Girl You Ever Want to Meet’ (or sometimes ‘The Sweetest Girl in Town’), it’s never needed anything but that cheeky, rhyming title. From the song’s parping, laughing brass fanfare of an intro to Wilson’s elastic vocal gymnastics, it’s two minutes 40 seconds of pure, joyous swing, stuffed to the gills with hooks. Chosen as a solo vehicle for rising star Wilson, then 23, it was a sleeper hit, but was also exactly the calling card that the explosive young Detroit singer needed. A former welterweight boxer, Wilson had risen to prominence at the turn of the 50s with Billy Ward’s Dominoes, a storied vocal group that…

“By the time I was 11 years old, I already knew rock’n’roll was for me… I was a teenage Ted” DAVE PHILLIPS In the late 60s and early 70s, many of Britain’s new town residents found their modernist utopias a fairly bleak experience. Fortunately, when Dave Phillips’ family made the pioneering move from the West Country to Stevenage, at least his musical needs were well catered for. “The Stevenage Rock’n’Roll Society was established at the same time as the town and rock’n’roll was definitely part of its formulation,” says Phillips. “I was a teenage Ted when I started senior school. By the time I was 11 years old, I already knew that rock’n’roll music was for me. My uncles were original Teddy Boys from the 50s, so whenever the family…

⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆ EXCELLENT ⋆⋆⋆⋆ VERY GOOD ⋆⋆⋆ AVERAGE ⋆⋆ PATCHY ⋆ POOR Gene Vincent RAINY DAY SUNSHINE BLUELIGHT Real hidden treasure here and a release that ties in nicely with the Rock’n’Roll Wig Out! feature back in Vintage Rock Issue 54 which tracked the varying fortunes of rockin’ legends as they staggered into the ever-evolving landscape of the 60s and early 70s. It is well known that Gene Vincent always tried to keep up with changing trends and this 10" EP illustrates this fact boldly. Between 13-14 May 1969, Gene laid down four songs – at his own expense – in the recording studio of Garland Records in Salem, Oregon. The title track sets the tone immediately with a singalong slice of sunshine pop that Mr Craddock seems to be genuinely…

Ronnie Hawkins, the charismatic founding father of Canadian rock’n’roll has died aged 87. A hugely influential figure, Hawkins, dubbed ‘Mr Dynamo’ in his younger days, after his 1960 studio album of the same name, was perhaps best known for mentoring The Band in their early incarnation as his backing group, The Hawks. In a tribute on Twitter, The Band’s Robbie Robertson said: “[Ronnie] was not only a great artist, tremendous performer and bandleader, but had a style of humour unequalled. Fall down funny and completely unique. God only made one of those and he will live in our hearts forever. My deepest condolences to his family.” Born in Huntsville, Arkansas, just two days after Elvis, Hawkins headed for Canada to make a name for himself as a performer in a…

When Hawkins fled Britain in a rush in 1965 after a dramatic set-to with promoter Don Arden that saw him fearing for his life, such was his panic that he left the young British fans who’d befriended him during the tour with a clutch of items he didn’t have time to stuff into the suitcase. They included his capes; Henry, the skull on a stick that he shook at the audience; and several gonks. Also left was his small record collection, including his first ever LP, At Home With Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. Although the politically incorrect I Love Paris and Hong Kong sound out of place in the modern world, among the highlights are a sublime If You Are But A Dream. Meanwhile, Gene Autry’s gentle cowboy lament Take Me…

Live recordings from the dawn of the rock’n’roll era are notoriously hard to come by. Nevertheless, some great examples do exist and, as we move into the late 50s and 60s, we discover a wealth of first-rate material. Even into the 70s and beyond, legendary performers and excellent revivalists put down some fine tracks in a live setting, which is arguably where rock’n’roll truly comes alive. Many of the entries you will find included here serve up indispensable slices of music history. Others are included for the sheer quality of the tracks on offer. The very best, of course, provide both. 20 CLIFF RICHARD The Cliff Richard Show (Live at the ABC Kingston 1962) EMI (2002 – Recorded in 1962) Cliff Richard may have mellowed considerably over the ensuing years, but…

“We played four songs and it just sounded remarkable. From the first chord, it was like, wow! – we realised it was something special.” FLAVIA We knew it was incredible,” says Martin Couri about the very first time he made music with his wife Flavia, before they were married and their Danish-Brazilian power duo The Courettes was even the inkling of an idea. Flavia was visiting Martin in Aalborg, Denmark, when he suggested they go into a local studio for a jam. “It was just an explosion of sound, we were both super amazed by what happened, because we’d been playing for many years, but we’d never had this chemistry. Where it came from, we have no idea,” he says. “We played four songs and it just sounded remarkable. From…

Who was the greatest early British rock’n’roller? It’s a question guaranteed to divide opinion. Billy Fury’s stock is very high these days, but Terry Dene seems forgotten. Tommy Steele and Cliff Richard made historically significant recordings, while Marty Wilde, with his great range, remains a live performance marvel to this day. It wasn’t Lonnie Donegan, whatever the revisionists claim. He was the unchallenged King Of Skiffle, but for all his energy, he was not a rocker. And, despite the genre-defining brilliance of Brand New Cadillac, it wasn’t Vince Taylor, who couldn’t hit a note with an eight-pound sledgehammer. Wee Willie Harris never enjoyed great record sales, but there are grounds for calling him the most underrated of Britain’s first-generation rockers. If your taste is for the grittier-voiced, piano and R&B…

The popular Wildest Cats In Town Xmas Party has unveiled its latest line-up – and it includes a rockin’ legend among a stellar selection of artists. Charlie Gracie will be playing a one-off UK show at the event which runs from 24-28 November at Pontins in Pakefield, Lowestoft. Also on board will be Vintage Rock favourites The Jive Aces, Si Cranstoun, as well as Darrel Higham And The Enforcers among the 25-strong artist line-up. Elsewhere on the bill, 10-piece sensations Metrotones will be bringing their doo-wop style to the weekender while The Lucky Lucianos will stage their Bill Haley And His Comets ’56 Show featuring former original Comets membermber Jacko Buddin. Danny Reno will recreate the sounds of Roy Orbison and there will be much-anticipatedcipated sets by The Jets, Spunyboys…

Elvis Festival 9-16 September FEATURING Linda Thompson, The Swinging Blue Jeans, Earl Jackson, The Top Cats  LOCATION Vauxhall Holiday Park, Great Yarmouth BOOKING WEBSITE elvisfestivaluk.com The Kings Of Rock’n’Roll 7-10 October FEATURING Si Cranstoun, The Firebirds, The Roosters, The Revolutionaires LOCATION Sand Bay Holiday Park, Beach Road, Kewstoke, North Somerset BOOKING WEBSITE rockin50s.co.uk Hemsby 65 11-14 November FEATURING The Guana Batz, Scotty Baker, The Spunyboys, The Sureshots, The Bullets, Howlin’ Ric & The Rocketeers LOCATION Hemsby Beach Holiday Park, Hemsby, Norfolk BOOKING WEBSITE hemsbyrocknroll.co.uk Wildest Cats In Town Xmas Party 24-28 November FEATURING Charlie Gracie, The Jive Aces, Si Cranstoun, Metrotones, The Lucky Lucianos, Darrel Higham And The Enforcers LOCATION Pontins, Pakefield, Lowestoft BOOKING WEBSITE tennesseeclub.net Rockin’ Race Jamboree 29 2-5 February 2023 FEATURING The Delta Bombers, The Original Planet…

It’s not many Elvis impersonators who get a thumbs up from one of the King’s close relatives. But Mario Kombou, who’s been playing Presley for nearly 30 years, notching up well over 6,000 performances, is no ordinary tribute act. So when Donna Presley – Elvis’ first cousin – first caught Mario in the late 90s, she wasted little time in endorsing him, putting Kombou in the front line of Elvis impersonators and leading to appearances on such shows as Top Of The Pops and GMTV. He’s currently touring in The Elvis Years, an ambitious theatrical experience that tells the story of the King from his days at Sun to his final years in Vegas. Do you remember the first time you saw Elvis? Was it love at first sight, or…

Musically, the mid-century Memphis and Nashville music scenes are well documented, and yet its Los Angeles-based counterpart and attendant luminaries and labels, are often overlooked. According to music historian Billy Vera, the man behind 2019’s Rip It Up: The Specialty Records Story, the label’s growth ran in parallel – and arguably defined – the evolution of Black popular music, from the ‘race’ songs of the 40s to 50s rock’n’roll. As for the NME’s verdict: “The label that first discovered epochal rock’n’roll wild man Little Richard in the mid-50s was so influential that without its existence, there would almost certainly have been no Beatlemania and no gender-bending from David Bowie and Prince.” The label’s growth arguably defined the evolution of Black popular music Credited with pushing rhythm and blues into the…

A long with Elvis as her male counterpart, Marilyn Monroe is still considered the 20th century’s number one pop cultural icon. With the 60th anniversary of her tragic demise approaching, it seems timely to go behind the blonde-bombshell image to evaluate what she – and her key mid-century movie peers – achieved as performers elsewhere, or specifically, as more upbeat singers. “The Born Norma Jeane Mortenson, Marilyn died in mysterious circumstances and was deemed a ‘probable suicide’ on 4 August 1962, aged only 36. Far more than a radiant screen presence with a breathy voice, she could indeed carry a tune in her own inimitable way. She sang in classics such as Some Like It Hot and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes alongside Jane Russell. Yet her little-known musical range went beyond…

01 (1) RUNAWAY DEL SHANNON (LONDON) 11 WEEKS ON CHART 02 (3) HELLO MARY LOU/TRAVELIN’ MAN RICKY NELSON (LONDON) 6 WEEKS ON CHART 03 (5) TEMPTATION THE EVERLY BROTHERS (WARNER BROTHERS) 4 WEEKS ON CHART 04 (4) PASADENA TEMPERANCE SEVEN (PARLOPHONE) 4 WEEKS ON CHART 05 (13) A GIRL LIKE YOU CLIFF RICHARD (COLUMBIA) 3 WEEKS ON CHART 06 (2) SURRENDER ELVIS PRESLEY (RCA) 7 WEEKS ON CHART 07 (7) HALFWAY TO PARADISE BILLY FURY (DECCA) 9 WEEKS ON CHART 08 (8) BUT I DO CLARENCE ‘FROGMAN’ HENRY (PYE INTERNATIONAL) 10 WEEKS ON CHART 09 (6) THE FRIGHTENED CITY THE SHADOWS (COLUMBIA) 9 WEEKS ON CHART 10 (9) RUNNING SCARED ROY ORBISON (LONDON) 7 WEEKS ON CHART 1 RUNAWAY DEL SHANNON (LONDON) Claiming the No.1 spot for the second of…

⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆ EXCELLENT ⋆⋆⋆⋆ VERY GOOD ⋆⋆⋆ AVERAGE ⋆⋆ PATCHY ⋆ POOR Various Artists BOSS BLACK ROCKERS KOKO MOJO Mercy! This 10-album collection from Koko Mojo brings their previously CD-only Boss Black Rockers series of compilations onto vinyl at last. Compiler Little Victor (aka DJ ‘Mojo’ Man) has done his best to distil the finest moments of these previous releases down to just 14 tracks on each album and made an admirable job of it. Charting a period in the 50s and early 60s when R&B and rock’n’roll mixed together relatively seamlessly in the muddy waters of segregated America, this series shines a light on a back catalogue of treasures that has perhaps been overlooked over the years. To try to highlight the cream of the crop amongst the 140 tracks…

⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆ EXCELLENT ⋆⋆⋆⋆ VERY GOOD ⋆⋆⋆ AVERAGE ⋆⋆ PATCHY ⋆ POOR Crazy Cavan ‘N’ The Rhythm Rockers A ROCKIN’ LEGEND CRAZY RHYTHM After the sad passing of the much-loved Cavan John Grogan in 2020, it looked like the 50 Rockin’ Years boxset would prove to be a final tribute to these UK rock’n’roll legends, but now this new CD unveils a wealth of rare material. Lovingly compiled by the Rhythm Rockers’ guitarist and songwriter Lyndon Needs, this unique offering gathers together a wild selection of demos, unreleased tracks, alternative studio takes and other gems. The earliest material featured here comes from 1972 recordings of Teddy Boy Boogie and Teddy Boy Rock’n’Roll, both captured at G&S Studio, together with other 70s demo versions of That’s Why I Love Her So and…

Hound Dog may have been Big Mama Thornton’s only significant hit but its status as a seminal record in the history of emerging rock’n’roll remains undimmed. Thornton sold more than half a million copies of the Leiber and Stoller-penned classic, which was laid down at Los Angeles’ Radio Recorders Annex studio in the summer of 1952. It’s a song that has been covered more than 250 times, with the July 1956 version by Elvis leading the way. Presley’s chart-topping incarnation has now sold an astonishing 10 million copies worldwide but Thornton’s original is equally as visceral. In a 1990 interview for Rolling Stone magazine, Mike Stoller explained: “[Thornton] was a wonderful blues singer, with a great moaning style. But it was as much her appearance as her blues style that…