Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2023/January 2024 i Vintage Rock

Van Morrison has always been an artist clearly enamoured with the first wave of rockin’ talent. Funnily enough, my own introduction to a Van album came with 1990’s Enlightenment – and one of its highlights is the wonderful In The Days Before Rock ‘N’ Roll. Also featuring poet Paul Durcan, the epic song sees Morrison regaling us with teenage memories of trawling the airwaves to find Radio Luxembourg and listening to Fats Domino, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis, Little Richard and more. It’s clear that those musical heroes have stayed with Van ever since and his love for them has never waned. Its fullest expression, though, undoubtedly comes via his new studio album Accentuate The Positive, a 19-song 50s and 60s rock’n’roll covers LP that returns Morrison to his…

You have won so many competitions as an Elvis tribute artist. What’s still left to conquer on the contest front? I’m extremely proud of the competitions I have won, which have all been a true honour. However, there is one more competition that’s a dream of mine to win. It’s called The Ultimate Elvis Tribute Contest, which is considered to be the holy grail within the Elvis-tributing world. It’s an annual contest held in Memphis during Elvis Week, which is run by Elvis Presley Enterprises and Graceland. You can only compete if you have first won a qualifying competition – it really is the ultimate title. What have been your highlights so far? My personal highlight has to be winning the Images Of The King World Championships in 2022. This…

WILDEST CATS IN TOWN XMAS PARTY 2023 23-27 November FEATURING Travis Le Doyt, Matchbox, The Metrotones, Black Raven, Danny Reno LOCATION Pontins Seaside Holiday Village, Pakefield, Lowestoft, Norfolk BOOKING WEBSITE tennesseeclub.net 41ST ANNUAL ROCKERS REUNION WINTER PARTY 27 January 2024 FEATURING Matchbox, Danny Reno, Johnnie Fox And The Hunters, Cliff And The Stereos, The Redcatz LOCATION The Empire, High Street, Aldershot BOOKING WEBSITE rockersreunion.co.uk ROCKIN’ RACE JAMBOREE 30TH EDITION 1-4 February 2024 FEATURING Reverend Horton Heat, Linda Gail Lewis, The Rhythm Shakers LOCATION Hotel La Barracuda, Torremolinos BOOKING WEBSITE rockinrace.com HEMSBY 68 8-10 March 2024 FEATURING Jack Rabbit Slim, Cherry Casino & The Gamblers, Jake Calypso & His Red Hot, Si Cranstoun, Restless, The Spunyboys LOCATION Hemsby Beach Holiday Park, Hemsby, Norfolk BOOKING WEBSITE hemsbyrocknroll.co.uk VIVA LAS VEGAS #27 18-21…

Coming into the spring of 1980 there were lots of surprises in store for Matchbox. Our US label Sire Records, who were a part of Warner Brothers, had released our first album that came out on Magnet as well as the single Rockabilly Rebel. Next, Sire wanted us to do a North American tour. The label’s boss was the legendary Seymour Stein, the man who’d signed all manner of huge acts including Talking Heads, Ramones and Madonna. Stein arranged for some of his people to meet us to get plans under way. We all gathered at the Holiday Inn Hotel at Heathrow Airport where plans were hatched for a three-week tour of the US and Canada in May 1980. We were due to kick off in Dallas before moving on…

Thirty five years after his death, the intensely emotional music and formidable voice of Roy Orbison remain as powerful as ever. When telling their stories, television and movie-makers continue to turn to timeless classics such as In Dreams, Crying, Only The Lonely and Oh, Pretty Woman. While The Big O had more than his fair share of uplifting songs, many of his best-known hits were the complex, introspective ballads that revealed a melancholia befitting aman who suffered much personal sorrow. Following the heartbreaking death of his first wifeClaudette in a motorcycle accident, Orbison tragically lost his two eldest sons, Roy Dewayne and Anthony King, in a house fire at his Tennessee home while he was touring the UK. “1950s music can be more popular today than it ever was then.…

Features about rock and pop stars tend to fall into two categories. There are the ones about the accepted greats, where no superlative is too extreme. And there are the ones about the underrated performers, many of them overlooked during their performing careers. Conway Twitty – real name Harold Jenkins – belongs in neither category. He was an artist who took what relatively average talent he had and squeezed it for every drop of success it could yield. He did some good, if not particularly original, Elvis-style rockabilly. He co-wrote one of the all-time great rockaballads It’s Only Make Believe and had a smash cross-Atlantic hit with it, but it was Glen Campbell who really gave this great song the full kitchen sink treatment that it deserved a few years…

In 1956, Lonnie Donegan lit the long blue touch paper that led to the Swinging Sixties. His debut hit, Rock Island Line, inspired teenagers all over Britain to grab guitars, banjos and washboards and form skiffle groups. Skiffle had its roots in 1920s America when musicians who couldn’t afford real instruments made their own. This DIY approach appealed to cash-strapped teenagers in post-war Britain where no one could afford a guitar but anyone could make a one-string bass from an upturned tea chest and a broom handle. Many of the fledgling noise-makers evolved into rock’n’rollers, and some of them, such as Gerry Marsden and Van Morrison, became leading players when British bands took over the world. Among them was a 16-year-old John Lennon whose group, The Quarry Men, was the…

A five-album Aretha Franklin boxset featuring her classic LPs from the early 70s is set to be released alongside a further disc of bonus material. Out on 1 December via BMG, the limited edition 6LP/5CD collection, A Portrait Of The Queen 1970-1974, features Aretha’s five original studio albums from the first half of the 70s – This Girl’s In Love With You, Spirit In The Dark, Young, Gifted And Black, Hey Now Hey (The Other Side Of The Sky) and Let Me In Your Life – while bonus material on the CD boxset collects session alternates, outtakes, B-sides, and demos compiled from their accompanying albums. The LP set also includes a sixth disc of highlights from the bonus material. The vinyl and CD boxsets have both been expertly remastered from…

On 21 October 1962, a young Billy Fury was in his prime, playing the Liverpool Empire. On 30 November this year, an innovative anniversary tribute concert in honour of the much-missed performer will take place in his hometown. With an intro by Marty Wilde, the special guests – all Billy’s pals and peers – include Vince Eager, Dave Berry of The Crying Game fame and 60s Cavern club belter Beryl Marsden. Conceived by Chris Raynor, guitarist in Billy’s latter band Fury’s Tornados, this unique celebration features footage of Billy performing to live music – not only from Chris on guitar, Kevin Davenport on bass and Dave Berry’s keyboardist Anthony Lomas, but also with orchestral backing led by Ben Crick conducting the English Philharmonic Orchestra. Billy, of course, occupies a unique…

1 TELSTAR – TORNADOS (DECCA) Written by the pioneering music producer Joe Meek to celebrate the launch of communications satellite Telstar 1, which had blasted into orbit atop a Thor-Delta rocket that summer, this otherworldly hit remains one of the most instantly recognisable tunes of the decade. A record that perfectly captured the global fascination for all things science fiction at the time, the single features the futuristic sound of a clavioline. Much like a Moog synthesizer, the instrument uses electronic circuitry to create a unique noise and it was this otherworldly element that helped rocket the single to the top of the charts where it sat for five weeks. It also made The Tornados, featuring bassist Heinz Burt, drummer Clem Cattini and guitarists George Bellamy and Alan Caddy, the…

Elvis Presley would no doubt have been in celebratory mood over 1956’s festive season. As the year drew to a close it marked a record-breaking 12 months for the young rocker, who made history by having 10 singles on Billboard’s Hot 100. By the end of 1956, Billboard announced that the singer had placed more songs in the US Top 100 than any other artist since records were first charted. Among a blitz of stellar singles that announced him as the most important rock’n’roller in the world within the calendar year were Heartbreak Hotel, Don’t Be Cruel, Hound Dog and Love Me Tender.…

Music fans can kick off their new year in style with the 41st annual Rockers Reunion Winter Party. Held on 27 January 2024 at the Empire in Aldershot, the latest event is headlined by Vintage Rock’s very own Graham Fenton and his band Matchbox. As well as resident DJs, also featured at the show is Danny Reno who will be performing a Roy Orbison Special with his band. Three featured special guests also appear on the bill – Johnnie Fox And The Hunters, Cliff And The Stereos and East Sussex’s The Redcatz. The Rockers Reunion has a rich history. First staged in 1983, over the years the event has featured an impressive roster of acts over from the United States, including Gene Vincent’s Blue Caps, Marvin Rainwater, Jack Scott, Johnny…

Hemsby’s organisers are celebrating after their latest sell-out event was its highest attended outing of the last decade. As our current issue went to press, fans at Hemsby 67, which ran from 10-13 November, were due to witness a debut exclusive performance from The Delta Bombers as well as powerhouse ‘King Of Swing’ Ray Gelato (pictured below) and his band The Giants. Among other expected highlights on the bill were Marcel Bontempi & Ira Lee, plus Lobo Jones And The Rhythm Hounds. Hot on its heels, Hemsby 68’s line-up has already been announced and it’s another absolute scorcher of rockin’ talent with highlights including Jack Rabbit Slim, Cherry Casino &The Gamblers, Si Cranstoun, Restless, Paul Ansell’s Number Nine and The Spunyboys. • Hembsy 68 runs from 8-10 March 2024. For…

As a child, Jane Rose saw the Brian Setzer Orchestra rocking on television and knew in that instant that she’d found her calling. “He definitely changed the direction of my life,” says Rose. “I can’t imagine how my life would have been without finding them, and then finding the Stray Cats. From there it snowballed into all the amazing modern rockabilly artists.” Born in Texas, raised in Ohio, and now based in Nashville, Rose released her debut album Poultricide in 2011, followed by Damaged Goods and Over It, all packed with her original compositions. Rose’s rip-snorting blend of rockabilly and rhythm and blues caught the ear of Gretsch guitars, who signed her as an endorsee in 2019, joining the ranks of such elite players as Setzer, Bo Diddley, Chet Atkins…

Van the Unknowable. One of the greatest singer-songwriters of all time, Van Morrison, is running almost four hours late for his audience with Vintage Rock. The musical enigma behind countless stone-cold classics – not least 60s beat stomp perennial Gloria – is on tour in Providence, Rhode Island, and was due to call us about Accentuate The Positive, his new collection of rock’n’roll covers from the movement’s golden era. But today fate has intervened. Something’s come up. He can’t pick up the phone immediately… and so the waiting game begins. This is particularly agonising because, if you believe what you read, now that Chuck Berry’s gone, the 78-year-old enjoys a reputation as the most fearsome interviewee in music. The singer – whose seven-decade career encompasses everything from jazz to free-folk,…

All Brenda Lee wanted for Christmas in 1958 was a hit with Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree. Sadly, Santa didn’t deliver that year, or the next . However, after a couple of false starts the record became arguably the best-known of Lee’s career, as well as one of the most popular festive songs of all time. LeAnn Rimes, Kacey Musgraves and Justin Bieber have all released hit versions, the latter reaching UK No.4 in 2020. But Lee’s original remains the one you are most likely to hear blasting from a radio this Christmas. Even Brenda was taken aback by her record’s staying power and its ubiquitous presence at this time of year. “It’s crazy to be shopping in a department store and hearing yourself sing at the same time. It’s…

“He’s not like you imagine,” Priscilla Presley tells her concerned mother at one point in Priscilla, the new biopic from acclaimed director Sofia Coppola. “He needs me, mom.” The ‘he’ in question is, of course, the King Of Rock’n’Roll, played in the movie by 26-year-old Jacob Elordi, who puts in a portrait of Elvis Presley like no other. Adapted from Priscilla’s bombshell 1985 autobiography, which was written with the late author Sandra Harmon, this is a collection of scenes from the other side of that infamous marriage. And it’s one in which Elvis emerges as shy and somewhat insecure, a young man frozen by fame. He’s adrift after the death of his beloved mother, Gladys, and his career looks uncertain amid his Colonel-sanctioned stint in the Army. Priscilla opens with…