VOLUME 5 – NEW ORLEANS DOO WOP – SOME SPICY MADIGRAS

The fifth, sixth, and tenth tracks feature one of the biggest names ever to record rock and roll. This is indeed Fats Antoine Domino at his best. We include three of his hits in this volume on track 5 (MY BLUE HEAVEN), 6 (BLUE MONDAY), and 10 (I’M IN LOVE AGAIN). Needless to say, these three hits are just “a drop in the bucket” compared to all the hit songs Domino wrote and recorded.

The most popular exponent of the classic New Orleans R&B sound, Fats Domino sold more records than any other black rock & roll star of the 1950s. His relaxed, lolling boogie-woogie piano style and easygoing, warm vocals anchored a long series of national hits from the mid-'50s to the early '60s. Through it all, his basic approach rarely changed. He may not have been one of early rock's most charismatic, innovative, or threatening figures, but he was certainly one of its most consistent.

Domino's first single, "The Fat Man" (1949), is one of the dozens of tracks that have been consistently singled out as a candidate for the first rock & roll record. As far as Fats was concerned, he was just playing what he'd already been doing in New Orleans for years, and would continue to play and sing in pretty much the same fashion even after his music was dubbed "rock & roll."
The record made number two on the R&B charts, and sold a million copies. Just as important, it established a vital partnership between Fats and Imperial A&R man Dave Bartholomew.

 Bartholomew, himself a trumpeter, would produce Domino's big hits, co-writing many of them with Fats. He would also usually employ New Orleans session greats like Alvin Tyler on sax and Earl Palmer on drums -- musicians who were vital in establishing New Orleans R&B as a distinct entity, playing on many other local recordings as well (including hits made in New Orleans by Georgia native Little Richard).

Domino didn't cross over into the pop charts in a big way until 1955, when "Ain't That a Shame" made the Top Ten. Pat Boone's cover of the song stole some of Fats' thunder, going all the way to number one (Boone was also bowdlerizing Little Richard's early singles for pop hits during this time). Domino's long-range prospects weren't damaged, however; between 1955 and 1963, he racked up an astonishing 35 Top 40 singles. "Blueberry Hill" (1956) was probably his best (and best-remembered) single; "Walking to New Orleans," "Whole Lotta Loving," "I'm Walking, BLUE MONDAY, and I’M IN LOVE AGAIN were also huge successes.

After Fats left Imperial for ABC-Paramount in 1963, he would only enter the Top 40 one more time. The surprise was not that Fats fell out of fashion, but that he'd maintained his popularity so long while the essentials of his style remained unchanged. This was during an era, remember, when most of rock's biggest stars had their careers derailed by death or scandal, or were made to soften up their sound for mainstream consumption. Although an active performer in the ensuing decades, his career as an important artist was essentially over in the mid-'60s. He did stir up a bit of attention in 1968 when he covered the Beatles' "Lady Madonna" single, which had been an obvious homage to Fats' style.

Track 8 of this volume, LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL, involves Shirley and Lee, a native New Orleans duo that it made big in the 1950’s. Shirley Goodman and Leonard Lee, born just ten days apart in 1936, scored three massive R&B hits before either one of them were both 20 years old: "Feel So Good," LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL, and "I Feel Good" were all written by the talented young couple.

They had one trait in common among their recordings; this New Orleans-based duo almost never sang in harmony, let alone together at all. Their contrasting male-female duet style was later influential on early ska and reggae productions from Jamaica. Shirley & Lee recorded extensively for Eddie Messner and Leo Messner's L.A.-based Aladdin label. The Messners -- along with former NBC radio exec. Lew Chudd's Imperial Records and Art Rupe's Specialty -- seemed to have a knack for signing talent straight out of the Crescent City.

Shirley & Lee's debut single, "I'm Gone," was written and produced by Dave Bartholomew, Imperial's writer/arranger/producer/A&R man and a major contributor to New Orleans-style R&B. (It was Bartholomew's production work with Fats Domino which utilized that talents of a great house band -- pianist Allen Toussaint, bassist Frank Fields, drummer Earl Palmer, and saxophonists Lee Allen, Red Tyler, and Herb Hardesty -- that elevated nearly everything he worked on to "legendary" status.) With their backing "I'm Gone" went on to become a major R&B hit in the fall of 1952.

Early in their careers, Shirley & Lee became known as "the Sweethearts of the Blues," a nickname given not for their personal relationship, but for their romantic sagas of their songs, which often bordered on telling a fictional soap-opera storyline about two lovers. Their fans would buy the singles simply to keep up with the continuing story of the two sweethearts. The story continued with the very next single, "Shirley Come Back to Me," a heartbreaker released in early 1953, followed by "Shirley's Back," later that year. This happy theme continued through the happy ending for the next single, "The Proposal" b/w "Two Happy People."

By the end of the year, Aladdin was reveling in success of the story of Shirley & Lee. Of course, the couple in the songs had already been apart and were now back together, so they had to shake things up with the next release, called "Lee Goofed," and followed that with "Confessin'" but by now the audience seemed to be tiring of the soap opera, so Shirley & Lee moved on to new lyrical subject matter.

Messner decided to try something new for the duo in May of 1955, issuing a medium-tempo rocker called "Feel So Good." The song featured full vocal group backup (reportedly by the Spiders) and did well, but it was the bluesy B-side, "You'd Be Thinking of Me," that put the duo back on the R&B hit charts. "Lee's Dream" also charted. In early 1956, Aladdin released the duo's slow blues ballad, "A Little Word," which received good airplay, but sales weren't spectacular. Trying to get back on track, Aladdin finally opted to issue a full-length album, Let the Good Times Roll, in December. It was reissued two years later on Score, Aladdin's budget label.

By the middle of 1957, Shirley & Lee were back on top, this time with the biggest hit in their careers. Goodman and Lee borrowed one of New Orleans' most familiar refrains and built a rocking tune around it called LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL. The recording was an instant smash and received substantial airplay, climbing up the charts in the process. It sold well-over one million copies and for more than 40 years has been a staple of oldies play lists. To date, there are over a hundred cover versions of the song, but most still prefer the original.

The pair stayed on Aladdin into 1959 before moving to Warwick, where they ended up re-recording LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL. Other tunes followed -- "I Feel Good" and "The Flirt" among them -- but like many acts, Shirley & Lee were never able to recapture the nationwide success of their biggest hit. After a few final singles in 1962-1963, this time for Imperial -- Aladdin and Imperial continued their rivalry and tried to one-up each other until Aladdin was acquired by Imperial outright -- the "Sweethearts of the Blues" decided to call it a day.

In 1974, Shirley Goodman reappeared on the R&B scene, this time paired with studio musicians -- they called themselves Shirley and Company -- for "Shame, Shame, Shame," released on the Vibration label. (The song also featured Jesus Alvarez supplying lead vocals). The disco-fied hit topped the R&B charts at number one that summer and peaked at number 12 on the pop charts. It was written by producer Sylvia Robinson, who had also been part of a successful '50s duo, Mickey & Sylvia, with Mickey Baker. Robinson also penned Goodman's less successful follow-up "Cry, Cry, Cry." They issued one more single on Vibration, then dropped out of sight. Leonard Lee passed away on October 23, 1976. 
 

In the ninth track of this volume Gary “US” Bonds demonstrates how the New Orleans’ sound positively influenced his music. We feature Bonds singing his 1960 hit of NEW ORLEANS. This is the recording that opened the door for the entertainer and lead to the allstar performances of his other hits.
The New Orleans sound of Gary “US” Bonds is noticeable in the NEW ORLEANS CD track. Having initially sung in various gospel groups, Bonds embraced secular music upon moving to Norfolk, Virginia. A successful spell in the region's R&B clubs resulted in a recording contract with local entrepreneur Frank Guida, whose cavernous production techniques gave Bonds' releases their distinctive sound.

The ebullient NEW ORLEANS set the pattern for the artist's subsequent recordings and its exciting, "party" atmosphere reached an apogee on "Quarter To Three", a US chart-topper and the singer's sole million-seller. Between 1961 and 1962 Bonds enjoyed further similar-sounding hits with "School Is Out", "School Is In", "Dear Lady Twist" and "Twist Twist Senora", but his career then went into sharp decline. He toured the revival circuit until 1978 when long-time devotee Bruce Springsteen joined the singer onstage during a live engagement. Their friendship resulted in Dedication, produced by Springsteen and E Street Band associate Miami Steve Van Zandt. The former contributed three original songs to the set, one of which, "This Little Girl', reached the US Top 10 in 1981.

Their collaboration was maintained with On The Line, which included Bonds" version of the Box Tops' "Soul Deep", but he later asserted his independence with the self-produced Standing In The Line Of Fire. Little was heard of him in the 90s, other than a cameo appearance with other musical artists in the movie Blues Brothers 2000. Having initially sung in various gospel groups, Bonds embraced secular music upon moving to Norfolk, Virginia.

A successful spell in the region's R&B clubs resulted in a recording contract with local entrepreneur Frank Guida, whose cavernous production techniques gave Bonds' releases their distinctive sound. The ebullient "New Orleans" set the pattern for the artist's subsequent recordings and its exciting, "party" atmosphere reached an apogee on "Quarter To Three", a US chart-topper and the singer's sole million-seller.

Between 1961 and 1962 Bonds enjoyed further similar-sounding hits with "School Is Out", "School Is In", "Dear Lady Twist" and "Twist Twist Senora", but his career then went into sharp decline. He toured the revival circuit until 1978 when long-time devotee Bruce Springsteen joined the singer onstage during a live engagement. Their friendship resulted in Dedication, produced by Springsteen and E Street Band associate Miami Steve Van Zandt. The former contributed three original songs to the set, one of which, "This Little Girl', reached the US Top 10 in 1981.

Their collaboration was maintained with On The Line, which included Bonds" version of the Box Tops' "Soul Deep", but he later asserted his independence with the self-produced Standing In The Line Of Fire. Little was heard of him in the 90s, other than a cameo appearance with other musical artists in the movie Blues Brothers 2000.

Tracks 11, 12, 13, and 14 of this volume strongly emphasize the New Orleans sound that utilizes the piano and sax. When the doo wop fan listens to these songs, he or she will note the strong vocal performance singing along with the piano keyboard. Jessie Hill begins this section in track 11 with parts one and two of his largest hit OHH POO PAH DOO. Hill was a hard core rocker vocalist from New Orleans.

Loose and wild, Jessie Hill cut a New Orleans party classic with his crazed OHH POO PAH DOO. The two-sided single, a 1960 Allen Toussaint production on Minit, has Hill shouting the nearly unintelligible lyrics over a strong Crescent City groove, while the flip is an instrumental featuring saxist David Lastie. Hill cut several more boisterous outings with Toussaint at the helm before heading to the West Coast, where he made a disappointing album for Blue Thumb in 1970.

Jessie Hill's primary claim to fame was the classic New Orleans R&B hit OHH POO PAH DOO – PART 2 in 1960. His first musical experience was as a drummer at the age of seven. At 15 he played in a dixieland band and at 20 formed an R&B group called the House Rockers. He briefly worked with Professor Longhair and Huey Smith in the mid-50s before re-forming the House Rockers in 1958, abandoning the drums to sing. After Hill performed OHH POO PAH DOO as a joke at his gigs, Joe Banashak of Minit Records heard the song and agreed to record it.

Arranged by Allen Toussaint, it eventually reached number 3 on the R&B charts and number 28 on the national pop charts. Hill had only one other minor chart single before moving to Los Angeles, where he wrote songs performed by Sonny And Cher, Ike And Tina Turner and Iron Butterfly. He recorded one album later in his career and there is a collection of his Minit sides on Charly Records.

In tracks 12 and 13 Huey “Piano” Smith continues the “hard core” New Orleans sound with two of his many hits ROCKING PNEUMONIA – PART ONE recorded in 1957 and HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE recorded in 1958.
Huey "Piano" Smith was an important part of the great New Orleans piano tradition, following in the footsteps of Professor Longhair and Fats Domino to take his place among the Crescent City's R&B elite. He was also one of R&B's great comedians, his best singles matching the Coasters for genial, good-time humor, although his taste often ran more towards nonsense lyrics. Smith's sound was too earthy to match the pop crossover appeal of Domino or the Coasters, which limited his exposure, and he couldn't match the latter's amazing consistency, lacking their reliable supply of material. But at the peak of his game, Smith epitomized New Orleans R&B at its most infectious and rollicking, as showcased on his classic signature tune ROCKING PNEUMONIA AND BOOGIE WOOGIE FLU.

Huey Smith was born in New Orleans on January 2, 1934, and began playing the piano at age 15. At the dawn of the '50s, Smith backed New Orleans guitar legends Earl King and Guitar Slim, and quickly became a popular session pianist, playing on records by the cream of the New Orleans R&B scene: Smiley Lewis (the classic "I Hear You Knockin'"), Lloyd Price (read his profile in Volume 3), and Little Richard (read his profile in Volume 2). During the mid-'50s, Smith began leading his own band, the Clowns, which usually featured popular local blues singer and female impersonator Bobby Marchan (read his profile in Volume 8) on lead vocals.

Smith & the Clowns signed with the Ace label and scored a breakout Top Five R&B hit in 1957 with ROCKING PNEUMONIA AND BOOGIE WOOGIE FLU which despite becoming a classic rock & roll standard didn't even make the pop Top 40, thanks to reticent white radio programmers. The following year, Smith scored his biggest hit with the double-sided smash DON’T YOU JUST KNOW IT / HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, which reached the pop Top Ten and the R&B Top Five. In 1959, Smith cut the original tune SEA CRUISE and seeking pop radio airplay, Ace had white teenage R&B singer Frankie Ford overdub his own vocal onto Smith's backing track; the result became a nationwide hit. (Listen to SEA CRUISE and DON’T YOU JUST KNOW IT in Volume 6.)

Smith cut a few novelty numbers in an attempt to duplicate the success of ROCKING PNUEMONIA some even using the same type of illness joke ("Tu-Ber-Cu-Lucas and the Sinus Blues," for example). It didn't work, and Marchan left the Clowns after scoring a solo hit with THERE IS SOMETHING ON YOUR MIND (listen to Volume 8)in 1960 He was replaced by female singer Gerry Hall and male vocalist Curley Moore. Smith switched briefly to the Imperial label, then returned to Ace for one last chart single in 1962, "Pop Eye." Smith spent part of the '60s recording for Instant and touring not only with the Clowns, but alternate groups the Hueys and the Pitter Pats as well. Unable to return to the charts, he eventually converted to the Jehovah's Witnesses and left the music industry permanently.

Track 14 features Hal Paige and his Blues Boys singing BIG FOOT MAY. The track is one of the “backdoor” R & B classics that received little national attention. However, this song, wrote and recorded by Paige himself, had a New Orleans sound that made it a very popular local hit on Pittsburgh area R & B radio stations. It was recorded in 1954 for Atlantic Records.

The New Orleans party continues in track 15 with Larry Dale singing his version of DRINKING WINE SPO-DEE-O-DEE. Although this is not a true New Orleans sound, the cut is included in this volumebecause the music and style are similar. Dale, a New York City-based singer-vocalist recorded this track in 1962 in an effort to update the 1949 version, when composer Sticks McGhee recorded it for Atlantic Records. At that time, the tune had been a number 2 R&B hit. This version failed to ever become a large national hit, but received a lot of local airplay in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas. The later version also became a favorite at local record hops.

A New York session guitarist who's backed some of the city's top artists, Larry Dale also made a handful of fine singles as a singer during the 1950s and early '60s. Taking initial inspiration on his guitar from B.B. King during the early '50s, Dale made some solid sides as a leader for Groove in 1954 (including "You Better Heed My Warning"/"Please Tell Me") with a band that included another local guitar great, Mickey Baker, and pianist Champion Jack Dupree. Dale was a frequent studio cohort of the rollicking pianist, playing his axe on all four of Dupree's 1956-58 sessions for RCA's Groove and Vik subsidiaries and, under his legal handle of Ennis Lowery, on the definitive Dupree LP, 1958's Blues from the Gutter, for Atlantic.

Dale also recorded with saxist Paul Williams during the mid-'50s for Jax, providing the vocal on "Shame Shame Shame." Dale worked the New York club circuit during the '50s with pianist Bob Gaddy, who had a fairly successful single for Old Town in 1955, "Operator." From 1956 to 1958, Dale played with bandleader Cootie Williams before rejoining Gaddy. At last report, the two still played together. Dale made most of his best sides as a leader when the decade turned. For Glover Records, he waxed the storming party blues "Let the Doorbell Ring" and an equally potent "Big Muddy" in 1960, then revived Stick McGhee's DRINKING WINE SPO-DEE-O-DEE in 1962 on Atlantic. Alas, none of those worthy sides made much of a splash.

In track 16, Larry Williams entertains us with one of his many hits, BONY MARONIE. Williams was a die-hard fan of Little Richard and made every effort to imitate him.

A rough, rowdy rock & roll singer, Larry Williams had several hits in the late '50s, several of which BONY MARONIE, "Dizzy, Miss Lizzy," "Short Fat Fannie," "Bad Boy," "She Said Yeah" -- became genuine rock & roll classics and were recorded by British Invasion groups; John Lennon, in particular, was a fan of Williams, recording several of his songs over the course of his career.
As a child in New Orleans, Williams learned how to play piano. When he was a teenager, he and his family moved to Oakland, CA, where he joined a local R&B group called the Lemon Drops. In 1954, when he was 19 years old, Williams went back to New Orleans for a visit. During his trip, he met Lloyd Price, who was recording for Specialty Records. Price hired the teenager as his valet and introduced him to Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, the label's house producer. Soon, the label's owner, Art Rupe, signed Williams to a solo recording contract.

Just after Specialty signed Larry Williams, Specialty lost Little Richard, who had been their biggest star and guaranteed hitmaker. Little Richard decided to abandon rock & roll for the ministry shortly after Williams cut his first single, a cover of Price's JUST BECAUSE with Richard's backing band; JUST BECAUSE (listen to Lloyd Price’s version in Volume 3) peaked at number 11 on the R&B charts in the spring of 1957. After Richard left the label, the label put all of its energy into making Williams a star, giving him an image makeover and a set of material -- ranging from hard R&B and rock & roll to ballads -- that was quite similar to Richard's hits.

Williams' first post-Little Richard single was the raucous "Short Fat Fannie," which shot to number one on the R&B charts and number five on the pop charts in the summer of 1957. It was followed in the fall by BONY MARONIE, which hit number four on the R&B charts and number 14 on the pop charts. Williams wasn't able to maintain that momentum, however. "You Bug Me, Baby" and "Dizzy Miss Lizzy," his next two singles, missed the R&B charts but became minor pop hits in late 1957 and early 1958. Despite the relative failure of these singles, Williams' records became popular import items in Britain; the Beatles would cover both sides of the "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" single (the B-side was "Slow Down") in the mid-'60s. However, Williams' commercial fortunes in America continued to decline, despite Specialty's release of a constant stream of singles and one full-length album.

In 1959, Williams was arrested for selling narcotics, which caused Specialty to drop him from the record label. During the '60s, he drifted through a number of labels in the early '60s, recording songs for Chess, Mercury, Island, and Decca. By the mid-'60s, he had hooked up Johnny "Guitar" Watson and the duo cut several sides for OKeh Records in the mid- and late '60s, including the Top 40 R&B hits "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" (spring 1967) and "Nobody," which was recorded with Kaleidoscope (early 1968). Williams also became a house producer for OKeh Records in 1966, although very few of his productions became hits.

Between 1968 and and 1978, Williams was inactive, recording nothing and performing very little. In 1978, he released a funk album, That's Larry Williams, for Fantasy Records that sold poorly and received bad reviews. In 1980, Williams was found dead in his Los Angeles home; he died of a gunshot wound to his head. The medical examiners called the death a suicide, but rumors persisted for years after his death that he was murdered because of his involvement in drugs, crime and -- allegedly -- prostitution.

Another local Pittsburgh R & B hit is sang by Lee Diamond in track 17 of this volume. MAMA LOOCHIE is another prime example of a New Orleans song that grew rapidly in a local area. Although this cut never made the national chart, it was a favorite often played at local Pittsburgh are bars and dance clubs.

Jimmy Reed was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame over 15 years ago. He sings two of his many hit recordings in this volume. BIG BOSS MAN on track 19 and BABY WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO on track 20demonstrate Reed singing at his finest. Although Reed mainly recorded for record labels from Chicago, some of his music is included here because of the similarity to the New Orleans sound.

Jimmy Reed was a true original: he sang in a lazy mush-mouthed ramble, played limited, if instantly recognizable, harmonica, and even more minimal guitar. He produced a series of hits in the 50s that made him the most successful blues singer of the era.

Reed was born into a large sharecropping family and spent his early years on Mr. Johnny Collier's plantation situated near Dunleith, Mississippi. Here, he formed a childhood friendship with Eddie Taylor which was to have a marked effect on his later career. Reed sang in church and learned rudimentary guitar along with Taylor, but while the latter progressed Reed never became more than basically competent on the instrument.

He left school in 1939 and found work farming around Duncan and Meltonia, Mississippi. Around 1943-44 he left the south to find work in Chicago where opportunities abounded due to the war effort. He was drafted in 1944 and served out his time in the US Navy. Discharged in 1945 he returned briefly to Mississippi before gravitating north once more to the Chicago area.

Working in the steel mills, Reed gigged around in his leisure time with a friend named Willie Joe Duncan, who played a one-string guitar, or Diddley-bow. He also re-established contact with Eddie Taylor who had similarly moved north to try his luck. This led to Reed's becoming known on the local club scene and after appearances with John Brim and Grace Brim, he secured a recording contract with Vee Jay Records in 1953. His initial sessions, though highly regarded by collectors, produced no hits and Vee Jay were considering dropping him from their roster when in 1955 "You Don't Have To Go" took off. From then on, his success was phenomenal as a string of hits such as "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby", "You've Got Me Dizzy", "Bright Lights, Big City", "I'm Gonna Get My Baby" and "Honest I Do" carried him through to the close of the decade.

Many of these timeless blues numbers were adopted by every white R&B beat group during the early 60s. Two of his songs are now standards and are often used as rousing encores by name bands; BABY WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO closed the Byrds' and Closer Than Most's live performances for many years and BIG BOSS MAN is arguably the most performed song of its kind - sung by the Merseybeats, Pretty Things, Grateful Dead and countless blues artists. Much of the credit for this success must be attributed to his friend Eddie Taylor, who played on most of Reed's sessions, and his wife, Mama Reed, who wrote many of his songs and even sat behind him in the studio reciting the lyrics into his forgetful ear as he sang.

On some recordings her participation is audible. Reed's songs had little to do with the traditional blues, but they were eminently danceable and despite employing the basic blues line-up of harmonica, guitars and drums were generally classed as R&B. His hits were "crossovers", appealing to whites as well as blacks. Perhaps this contributed to his continuing success as the blues entered its post-rock 'n' roll hard times. In his later days at Vee Jay, various gimmicks were tried, such as dubbing an album's worth of 12-string guitar solos over his backing tracks, faking live performances and introducing a commentary between album cuts; none were too successful in reviving his flagging sales.

To counter the positive elements in his life, Reed was continually undermined by his own unreliability, illness (he was an epileptic) and a propensity towards the bottle. He visited Europe in the early 60s, by which time it was obvious that all was not well with him. He was supremely unreliable and prone to appear on stage drunk. By the mid-60s his career was in the hands of the controversial Al Smith and his recordings were appearing on the Bluesway label. Inactive much of the time due to illness, Reed seemed on the road to recovery and further success, having gained control over his drink problem. Ironically, he died soon afterwards of respiratory failure, and was buried in Chicago. Reed is an important figure who has influenced countless artists through his songs. Steve Miller recorded Living In The 20th Century with a segment of Reed songs and dedicated the album to him. The Rolling Stones, Pretty Things and the Grateful Dead also acknowledge a considerable debt to him.

In tracks 19 and 21 Chris Kenner entertains us with his recorded versions of SOMETHING YOU GOT and I LIKE IT LIKE THAT (Part One) respectively.
This New Orleans-based artist had a US Top 20 R&B hit in 1957 on the Imperial Records label with his own composition, "Sick And Tired", a song later revived by Fats Domino. Kenner was one of the first signings to the Instant label, on which he recorded his three best-known songs. In 1961, a song co-written with Fats Domino, I LIKE IT LIKE THAT – PART 1, reached number 2 in the US pop charts. Kenner later received a Grammy nomination for the song. This was followed by SOMETHING YOU GOT and "Land Of 1,000 Dances" (1963). The latter, based on a gospel song, "Children Go Where I Send You", later became a hit for Cannibal And The Headhunters (1965) and Wilson Pickett (1966 - US Top 10/UK Top 30).

Although Kenner was beset throughout much of his career by alcohol problems, received a prison sentence in 1968 for statutory rape of a minor, and to a lesser degree, had a reputation as a poor live performer, he managed to record some of the best R&B to emanate from the Crescent City. He died of a heart attack in January 1976.

Chuck Berry’s contribution to modern rock and roll is indescribable. In this volume he performs one his many hit recordings – YOU NEVER CAN TELL, from 1964.

A seminal figure in the evolution of rock 'n' roll, Chuck Berry's influence as songwriter and guitarist is incalculable. His cogent songs captured adolescent life, yet the artist was 30 years old when he commenced recording. Introduced to music as a child, Berry learned guitar while in his teens, but this period was blighted by a three-year spell in Algoa Reformatory following a conviction for armed robbery.

On his release Berry undertook several blue-collar jobs while pursuing part-time spots in St. Louis bar bands. Inspired by Carl Hogan, guitarist in Louis Jordan's Timpani Five, and Charlie Christian, he continued to hone his craft and in 1951 purchased a tape recorder to capture ideas for compositions. The following year Berry joined Johnnie Johnson (piano) and Ebby Hardy (drums) in the house band at the Cosmopolitan Club. Over the ensuing months the trio became a popular attraction, playing a mixture of R&B, country/hillbilly songs and standards, particularly those of Nat "King" Cole, on whom Berry modelled his cool vocal style. The guitarist also fronted his own group, the Chuck Berry Combo, at the rival Crank Club, altering his name to spare his father's embarrassment at such worldly pursuits.

In 1955, during a chance visit to Chicago, Berry met bluesman Muddy Waters, who advised the young singer to approach the Chess Records label. Berry's demo of "Ida May", was sufficient to win a recording contract and the composition, retitled "Maybellene", duly became his debut single. This ebullient performance was a runaway success, topping the R&B chart and reaching number 5 on the US pop listings. Its lustre was partially clouded by a conspiratorial publishing credit that required Berry to share the rights with Russ Fratto and disc jockey Alan Freed, in deference to his repeated airplay. This situation remained unresolved until 1986. Berry enjoyed further US R&B hits with "Thirty Days" and "No Money Down", but it was his third recording session that proved even more productive, producing a stream of classics, "Roll Over Beethoven", "Too Much Monkey Business" and "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man".

The artist's subsequent releases read like a lexicon of pop history - "School Days" (a second R&B number 1), "Rock And Roll Music" (all 1957), "Sweet Little Sixteen", "Reelin' And Rockin", "Johnny B. Goode", "Around And Around", "Memphis Tennessee" (all 1958), "Little Queenie", "Back In The USA", "Let It Rock" (all 1959), "Bye Bye Johnny", "Jaguar And Thunderbird" (all 1960),"Nadine", YOU NEVER CAN TELL, "No Particular Place To Go" and "The Promised Land" (all 1964) are but a handful of the peerless songs written and recorded during this prolific period. In common with contemporary artists, Berry drew from both country and R&B music, but his sharp, often piquant, lyrics, clarified by the singer's clear diction, introduced a new discipline to the genre.

Such incomparable performances not only defined rock 'n' roll, they provided a crucial template for successive generations.

Both the Beatles and Rolling Stones acknowledged their debt to Berry. The former recorded two of his compositions, taking one, "Roll Over Beethoven", into the US charts, while the latter drew from his empirical catalogue on many occasions. This included "Come On", their debut single, "Little Queenie", "You Can't Catch Me" and "Around And Around', as well as non-Berry songs that nonetheless aped his approach. The Stones" readings of "Route 66", "Down The Road Apiece" and "Confessin' The Blues" were indebted to their mentor's versions, while Keith Richards' rhythmic, propulsive guitar figures drew from Berry's style. Elsewhere, the Beach Boys rewrote "Sweet Little Sixteen" as "Surfin' USA" to attain their first million-seller, while countless other groups scrambled to record his songs, inspired by their unique combination of immediacy and longevity.

Between 1955 and 1960, Berry seemed unassailable. He enjoyed a run of 17 R&B Top 20 entries, appeared in the movies Go, Johnny, Go!, Rock Rock Rock and Jazz On A Summer's Day, the last of which documented the artist's performance at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, where he demonstrated the famed "duckwalk" to a bemused audience. However, personal impropriety undermined Berry's personal and professional life when, on 28 October 1961, he was convicted under the Mann Act of "transporting an underage girl across state lines for immoral purposes". Berry served 20 months in prison, emerging in October 1963 just as "Memphis, Tennessee", recorded in 1958, was providing him with his first UK Top 10 hit. He wrote several compositions during his incarceration, including "Nadine", "No Particular Place To Go", "You Never Can Tell" and "The Promised Land", each of which eventually reached the UK Top 30.

Such chart success soon waned as the R&B bubble burst, and in 1966 Berry sought to regenerate his career by moving from Chess to Mercury Records. However, an ill-advised Golden Hits set merely featured re-recordings of old material, while attempts to secure a contemporary image on Live At The Fillmore Auditorium (recorded with the Steve Miller Band) and Concerto In B. Goode proved equally unsatisfactory.

He returned to Chess Records in 1969 and immediately re-established his craft with the powerful "Tulane". Back Home and San Francisco Dues were cohesive selections and in-concert appearances showed a renewed purpose. Indeed, a UK performance at the 1972 Manchester Arts Festival not only provided half of Berry's London Sessions album, but also his biggest-ever hit. "My Ding-A-Ling", a mildly ribald double entendre first recorded by Dave Bartholomew, topped both the US and UK charts, a paradox in the light of his own far superior compositions, which achieved lesser commercial plaudits. It was his last major hit, and despite several new recordings, including Rockit, a much-touted release on Atco Records, Berry became increasingly confined to the revival circuit. He gained an uncomfortable reputation as a hard, shrewd businessman and disinterested performer, backed by pick-up bands with whom he refused to rehearse.

Tales abound within the rock fraternity of Berry's refusal to tell the band which song he was about to launch into. Pauses and changes would come about by the musicians watching Berry closely for an often disguised signal. Berry has insisted for years upon pre-payment of his fee, usually in cash, and he will only perform an encore after a further negotiation for extra payment.
Berry's continued legal entanglements resurfaced in 1979 when he was sentenced to a third term of imprisonment following a conviction for income tax evasion.

Upon release he embarked on a punishing world tour, but the subsequent decade proved largely unproductive musically and no new recordings were undertaken. In 1986, the artist celebrated his 60th birthday with gala performances in St. Louis and New York. Keith Richards appeared at the former, although relations between the two men were strained, as evinced in the resultant documentary Hail! Hail! Rock 'N' Roll, which provided an overview of Berry's career. Berry was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame the same year. Sadly, the 90s began with further controversy and reports of indecent behaviour at the singer's Berry Park centre. Although the incident served to undermine the individual, Berry's stature as an essential figure in the evolution of popular music cannot be overestimated.

The Showmen were one of the R&B groups to bridge the gap between doo wop and soul in the early '60s, creating a buoyant, energetic fusion of harmonies and propulsive R&B beats. The group only had one hit, IT WILL STAND, featured on track 23, charted both in 1961 and in 1964. However their lead singer, General Johnson, went on to greater success as the leader of the '70s soul group Chairmen of the Board.

Formed in Norfolk, VA, in the early '60s, the Showmen consisted of Johnson (born Norman Johnson, May 23, 1943), Leslie Felton, Gene Wright, Dorsey Wright, and Milton Wells. In 1961, the group signed with Minit Records, which was based in New Orleans. Their first single was a rock & roll anthem, IT WILL STAND, released in the fall of 1961, "It Will Stand" was a hit, particularly on the East Coast and in the New Orleans era, but it only peaked at number 61 on the pop charts. Nevertheless, the song's popularity never decreased and it became a hit three years later, when re-released on the Imperial label. On its second release, the single peaked at number 80 on both the R&B and pop charts.

Between the two chart appearances of IT WILL STAND, the Showmen kept recording and performing. During this time, they had no national hits, but "39-21-46" became a significant regional hit. In 1965, the group signed with Swan Records, but none of the ensuing singles became hits. In 1968, Johnson left the band and moved to Detroit, where he formed the Chairmen of the Board, who would later have hits with "Give Me Just a Little More Time," "(You've Got Me) Dangling on a String," and "Everything's Tuesday" in the early '70s. In the three decades after the breakup of the Showmen, IT WILL STAND and "39-21-46" remained popular on the East Coast "beach music" scene and Johnson would later return to this area, carving out a living as a local performer.

Clarence “Frogman” Henry makes another appearance in this doo wop set (read his biographical sketch in Volume 4) for track 24 of this group. In this cut, entitled AIN’T GOT NO HOME, you can truly hear how he got the nickname, “Frogman”. The performer definitely sounds like a frogman during his sing along assignment with the sax in this track.

The final track of this volume, YA-YA, is performed by Lee Dorsey, another well-known New Orleans performer. This song was released in 1961.
Lee Dorsey epitomized the loose, easygoing charm of New Orleans R&B perhaps more than any other artist of the '60s. Working with legendary Crescent City producer/writer Allen Toussaint, Dorsey typically offered good-time party tunes with a playful sense of humor and a loping, funky backbeat. Even if he's remembered chiefly for the signature hit "Working in a Coalmine," it was a remarkably consistent and winning combination for the vast majority of his recording career.

Dorsey was born in New Orleans on December 24, 1924 (although some sources list 1926), and moved to Portland, OR, at age ten. After serving in the Navy during WWII, Dorsey returned to Portland and became a successful light heavyweight boxer, fighting under the name "Kid Chocolate." He retired from boxing in 1955 and returned to his birthplace, where he eventually opened a successful auto-body shop. He pursued a singing career by night, and wound up recording singles for several different labels, most of which made little noise (although "Lottie Mo" sold respectably). In 1961, he signed with Bobby Robinson's Fury label, where he entered the studio with producer Allen Toussaint for the first time.

Dorsey's nonsense ditty YA-YA -- reportedly inspired by a children's rhyme -- became his first national hit that year, reaching the pop Top Ten and hitting number one on the R&B charts. Despite its popularity, following it up turned out to be difficult, and with a large family to support, Dorsey returned to his auto repair business after a few more singles flopped.

Still, Allen Toussaint loved Dorsey's voice, and kept him in mind for future sessions. Toussaint's hunch paid off in 1965 when, signed to the Amy label, Dorsey turned "Ride Your Pony" into a Top Ten R&B hit.

The accompanying album of the same name sold respectably as well, and Dorsey began cutting a multitude of Toussaint compositions, often with the legendary New Orleans funk ensemble the Meters as his studio backing band. The New Lee Dorsey was released later in 1966, and supplied Dorsey's best-known song, the irresistible "Working in a Coalmine" (which he co-wrote with Toussaint). With its clanking sound effects and Dorsey's comic exclamations, "Working in a Coalmine" became his second Top Ten pop hit and signature song, and Dorsey toured internationally with the Meters backing him up. A few follow-ups, particularly "Holy Cow" and "Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky (From Now On)," met with some success, but Dorsey was once again hard pressed to duplicate his big hit, and once again left music for the practical concern of running his business. 1970's Yes We Can (on Polydor) was his last album for some time, with the title track becoming his last chart single.

After guesting on the Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes cut "How Come You Treat Me So Bad?," Dorsey attempted a comeback in 1977 with the ABC album Night People, which wasn't a commercial success despite mostly positive reviews. Still, it was enough to land him supporting slots on tours by the likes of James Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis, and even the Clash, whose 1980 tour was his last major concert jaunt. In the meantime, other artists mined his back catalog for covers: "Working in a Coalmine" was redone by robotic new wavers Devo and country duo the Judds; "Ya Ya" by Ike & Tina Turner, John Lennon, and Buckwheat Zydeco; "Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky (From Now On)" by jazzman Lou Donaldson; and "Yes We Can" by the Pointer Sisters (under the new title "Yes We Can Can").

Dorsey continued to perform sporadically, as opportunities presented themselves, until he contracted emphysema; he died in New Orleans on December 1, 1986

 VOLUME 6 – DOO WOP DYNAMITE

1.  Bobby Day - Over and Over

2.  Thurston Harris - Little Pitty Pretty One

3.  The Turbans - When You Dance

4.  The El Dorados - At My Front Door

5.  Bobby Hendricks - Itch Twitchy Feeling

6.  The Cleftones - This Little Girl of Mine

7.  The Drifters - Drip Drop

8.  Clyde McPhatter - Money Honey

9.  The Clovers - Little Mama

10. Ray Charles - The Right Time is the Night Time

11. Joe Turner - Flip Flop Fly

12. The Robins - Smokey Joe's Cafe

13. The Coasters - Searching

14. Buster Brown - Fannie Mae

15. Hank Ballard - Lets Go  Lets Go  Lets Go

16. The Cadillacs - Speedo

17. The Del vikings - Come Go With Me

18. Frankie Ford - Sea Cruise

19. Huey "Piano" Smith - Don't You Just Know It

20. Gary "US" Bonds - Not Me

21. Bill Haley and his Comets - Skinny Minnie

22. Laverne Baker - Jim Dandy

23. Chuck Willis - Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes

24. Danny and the Juniors - Rock and Roll is Here to Stay

 Welcome to the graduate school of hardcore rocking doo wop!! It doesn’t get any more explosive than this. The tracks in this volume are guaranteed to make the most stubborn feet dance. Listen to the powerful drums and bass piano in these songs. Also, you will notice the strong sax sections in the center of most of the tracks. This was a common musical style during the “Good Old Rock and Roll Era”. Most of these cuts were top R & B hits, and some moved into the standard Top 40 chart of hit music.
We start our music explosion with Bobby Day and the Satellites singing OVER AND OVER. Bobby Day was a lead singer for the Hollywood Flames (read their profile in Volume 4) before he went solo in the late 1950’s. He is featured in Volume 7 of this doo wop box in this role where he is singing a doo wop classic entitled BUZZ, BUZZ, BUZZ.
An important cog in Los Angeles' doo wop community during the '50s, Bobby Day wrote three often-covered early rock classics in 1957-1958. Day was part of the Hollywood Flames, one of the area's top R&B vocal groups, and briefly part of Bob & Earl, later to hit without Day on HARLEM SHUFFLE (listen to Volume 9). Day formed his own group, the Satellites, in 1957, cutting the original "Little Bitty Pretty One" for Class Records. A nearly identical cover by Thurston Harris (listen to the next track) beat the original out, so Day countered with the driving "Rockin' Robin" in 1958, an R&B chart-topper. Its flip, OVER AND OVER was a hit in its own right, although the Dave Clark Five's 1965 revival is better remembered today. Day waxed a few more hits for Class in 1959, including "That's All I Want" and a derivative "The Bluebird, the Buzzard & the Oriole," flitting from label to label during the '60s
Day moved to Los Angeles in 1947 and shortly afterwards formed the Flames, who recorded under a variety of names on numerous labels throughout the fifties. Oddly, it took until 1957 before they achieved their first and biggest hit as The Hollywood Flames with Bobby Day’s song of BUZZ, BUZZ, BUZZ . Simultaneously, the group was climbing the US charts as Bobby Day And The Satellites with another of his songs, LITTLE BITTY PRETTY ONE on Class Records, although a cover version by Thurston Harris became a bigger hit. Day, who first recorded solo in 1955, took lone billing again in 1958 for the double-sided US number 2 hit "Rockin' Robin" and OVER AND OVER. Despite releasing a string of further outstanding R&B/rock singles in the 50s, this distinctive singer-songwriter never returned to the Top 40. In the early 60s he formed Bob And Earl with ex-Hollywood Flame Earl Nelson, although he was replaced before the duo's hit HARLEM SHUFFLE. He later recorded without success under various names on Rendezvous, RCA Records and Sureshot and his own Bird Land label. He temporarily relocated to Australia before settling in Florida. Although his records were no longer selling, his songs were often revived, with Dave Clark taking OVER AND OVER to the top in 1965, Michael Jackson taking "Rockin' Robin" to number 2 in 1972 and the Jackson Five reaching the Top 20 with the catchy "Little Bitty Pretty One" in 1972. Day's long-awaited UK debut in 1989 was warmly received, although sadly he died of cancer in July 1990.
The second song on this is LITTLE BITTY PRETTY ONE by Thurston Harris. The sound of Bobby Day’s original version of this doo wop classic is not included in this Doo Wop box of music. However, the two versions almost sound identical.
Thurston Harris recorded with the Lamplighters, one of the many groups on the early R&B scene in South Central Los Angeles, in the early '50s. The group later evolved into the Tenderfoots, then the Sharps, and it was under this last name they were credited to when they backed up Harris on his most famous hit, 1957's LITTLE BITTY PRETTY ONE (number two R&B and number six pop) for Aladdin. In 1957, while signed as a solo artist to Aladdin, Harris recorded a cover of Bobby Day's classic novelty number, with a solid band featuring the ubiquitous Earl Palmer on drums and his friends in the Sharps doing background vocals. The single propelled Harris immediately to the front-ranks of the R&B scene. In 1958, Harris scored a Top 20 R&B hit with "Do What You Did," but he failed to have any chart success afterwards. In 1990, Thurston Harris died of a heart attack in Pomona, CA, at age 58. LITTLE BITTY PRETTY ONE has gone on to become one of the best-loved oldies of the late '50s.
In 1955, the Turbans, were right in the middle of the doo wop scene. Their hit WHEN YOU DANCE, the third song in this volume,was a favorite dance song played at record hops all across the country.
The Turbans were among the first Philadelphia-based R&B outfits to achieve national recognition. They emerged in 1955 out of a local R&B scene that had previously been dominated by such tenor-led groups as the Castelles, the Capris, and the Dreams. The Turbans' distinctive trait (apart from their headgear) was the soaring falsetto lead singing of 17-year-old Al Banks (born July 26, 1937), supported by the backup harmony of Matthew Platt, baritone Charlie Williams, and bass Andrew Jones; all four were schoolmates when stardom beckoned.
They headed to New York and signed to Al Silver's Herald Records, where they cut their first record late in 1955. It was the B-side, the up-tempo WHEN YOU DANCE, that caught on with DJs and ended up charting nationally, thus giving the Turbans the opportunity to tour the East Coast. Their second single had a similar fate, the B-side, "Sister Sookie," supplanting the more mellow A-side, "I'll Always Watch Over You," on radio station turntables and play lists and becoming a regional hit. This proved to be the high point for the group -- their next four records never matched the first two, and their Herald contract ended after the release of "Congratulations" in 1957. The group moved to Imperial and then to Roulette Records, undergoing numerous personnel changes in the process, with Banks remaining the lead singer throughout. Before his death in the late '70s, Banks became a member of one of the lineups of Drifters playing the oldies and club circuits, and WHEN YOU DANCE remained a part of his repertory.
In track four, The El Dorados sing one of their largest doo wop hits, AT MY FRONT DOOR. One of the leading R&B vocal groups on Vee Jay, the El Dorados had a relatively short career with their first lineup, during which they scored a massive crossover hit, 1955's AT MY FRONT DOOR (number 17 on the pop charts and number one R&B, where it remained for 18 weeks). They managed only one other charting record -- 1956's "I'll Be Forever Loving You" -- before their initial breakup in 1959. Subsequent lineups and name changes (and alterations) brought no further success, but they continued performing well into the '80s.
The original group featured five members -- Pirkle Lee Moses Jr. (lead), Louis Bradley (tenor), Jewel Jones (second tenor and baritone), James Maddox (baritone and bass), and Robert Glasper (bass) -- when they formed in the Englewood section of Chicago's south side in 1952 while still attending Englewood High School (the same school that the Moroccos attended). They were calling themselves the Five Stars. Johnny Moore, their high school custodian, liked the group so much and thought they showed so much promise, that he became their manager.
In 1954, just after graduation, Moses and Glasper took advantage of the Air Force's 90-day active duty program, but while Moses returned, Glasper remained with the Air Force. By then, Arthur Bassett (tenor) had temporarily replaced Moses, and Richard Nickens came in for Glasper. The Five Stars were now six, and a name change was inevitable. They were about to become the Cardinals (apparently, they had no knowledge of Atlantic's New York-based group) when the craze for naming your group after a popular car model hit, and since they couldn't call themselves the Cadillacs, the settled for Cadillacs' luxurious two-door model, the El Dorado, for inspiration. The El Dorados came to the attention of local Chicago WWCA disc jockey Al Benson, who witnessed first-hand how their gorgeous blend of harmonies and talent made for an exciting new group that he could support. They had already won first prize at a local talent show at the Club De Lisa. Benson arranged for the group to audition at a contest hosted by Vee Jay Records at the Park City Skating Rink. Amateur groups were challenged to compete against Vee Jay's Spaniels. The El Dorados rose to the challenge, winning the contest and a recording contract with the label.
The El Dorados' first single, a bluesy ballad called "My Loving Baby," was issued in September 1954, and was a popular regional seller. Their next effort had the group backing up Hazel McCollum on "Annie's Answer," which was Vee Jay's contribution to the ongoing "Annie" saga begun by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters. Perhaps tiring of all the Annie nonsense, Arthur Bassett ankled the El Dorados (he also joined the Air Force), and the sextet slimmed down to a quintet. During the third week of September 1955, Vee Jay released the group's AT MY FRONT DOOR, which stormed the Billboard R&B charts on September 24th and the Top 100 on October 15th. The song featured Al Duricati's pounding drum rhythm and a rousing sax solo. The so-called "baby talk" pre-finale by Moses Jr. made the record soar even further, and the lyrics about that "crazy little mama" became as legendary as the Annie saga. By the end of the year it had climbed to number 17 on the pop charts and number one R&B, where it remained for 18 weeks. (Pat Boone later did a cover version that charted at number seven pop).
Their follow-up, "I'll Be Forever Lovin' You" (originally recorded by the Rip Chords but never released), was issued during the second week of December. It was a rocker that exuded jazz, pop, and R&B overtones, but although it made it to number eight R&B in February 1956, it never charted on the pop lists. Soon after the release of the follow-up, Nickens left and the El Dorados soldiered on as a quartet. A few additional singles performed well in certain U.S. cities, but didn't measure up to their prior hit status. Their next single, "Tears on My Pillow" (a different song from Little Anthony and the Imperials' hit record), was the last by all of the original El Dorados; soon after its release, the group and Pirkle Moses Jr. separated over a disagreement on new management.

 Moses Jr. soon joined another Vee Jay act, the Kool Gents, who had been left without a singer when their frontman, Dee Clark, departed for a solo career. John McCall (tenor), Douglas Brown (second tenor), Teddy Long (second tenor and baritone), and Johnny Carter (bass) of the Kool Gents joined with Moses Jr., to become the New El Dorados. They released two singles in 1958 for Vee Jay, but when neither sold, they eventually left Vee Jay in a money dispute and subsequently disbanded altogether.
During this same time, the remaining El Dorados -- Jones, Bradley, and Maddox -- joined up with new lead singer Marvin Smith. Smith had moved with his family to the west side of Chicago in the late '40s, where he attended Crane High and sang on street corners and in church choirs, before joining the group as their new lead vocalist. To avoid legal problems with Vee Jay, the group's name was changed to Those Four El Dorados for 1958's "A Lonely Boy," Academy Records of Chicago. Jewel Jones' name on the label was spelled J-u-e-l-l (each member's name was listed). Those Four El Dorados' later traveled to the West Coast, and connected with a former NBA basketball star Don Barksdale, who had formed his Rhythm Record Company in Oakland, CA. The group changed monikers again, this time calling themselves the Tempos, but the group faltered again, and returned to Chicago, splitting up in 1961.
Marvin Smith went on to join the Artistics on Okeh and Brunswick Records as the lead for such R&B charters as "I'm Gonna Miss You" (number 55 Top 100, number nine R&B, 1966) and "Girl I Need You" (number 69 Top 100, number 26 R&B, 1967). Johnny Carter, meanwhile, tried to keep the name alive by forming yet another new New El Dorados in late 1959, with John McCall, Danny Edwards, and Eugene Huff (formerly of the Valquins). This group lasted until 1965. Carter tried again in 1971, hooking up with Huff, Spence Goulsby, Jr., and Lee Toussaint on lead for two sides on Paula, but that group was gone by the early '80s. Moses Jr. recorded with an unknown group as the Squires in 1963 on Boss ("It's Time") and then did a solo effort titled The Docks. In 1965, Moses Jr., Melvin Morrow, and George Prager (the latter two late of the Moroccos) came together as the Major Minors. In 1969, this group once again became the El Dorados, doing a single for Torrid Records. Pirkle Moses Jr. then quit for almost a decade but returned with yet another El Dorados-lineup with tenor Norman Palm (from the Pastels on United), second tenor Billy Henderson, George Prayer (baritone), and Anthony Charles (bass). Around 1985 Henderson left and Anthony Charles passed away. Eugene Huff (of Carter's El Dorados) and Larry Johnson (Moroccos) took their places and the group recorded a ballad for Delano Records in 1987. In effect, that last El Dorados recording group contained members formerly in four Chicago-area groups: the Palms, the Moroccos, the Kool Gents, and the El Dorados. On December 26, 2000, the original El Dorados lead vocalist Pirkle Lee Moses, Jr. passed away.
In the early and mid 1950’s Bobby Hendricks was a lead singer for the Swallows (read their profile in Volume 3). In the fifth track of this volume he is featured singing the 1957 doo wop version of ITCHY TWITCHY FEELING. Having forged his reputation in two singing groups, the Swallows and the Flyers, Hendricks joined the Drifters in 1958 but left for a solo career the same year. ITCHY TWITCY FEELING on which he was backed by the Coasters, gave Hendricks a US Top 30 pop hit, but he was unable to secure a consistent profile. He briefly entered the lower regions of the US pop charts in 1960 with "Psycho". Hendricks rejoined the Drifters in 1964, where his subsequent path was obscured by the myriad of changes affecting the act's turbulent history.
The Cleftones R&B vocal group from Queens, New York, USA, consisted of Herb Cox (b. 6 May 1939, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; lead), Charlie James (b. 1940; first tenor), Berman Patterson (b. 1938; second tenor), William McClain (b. 1938; baritone), and Warren Corbin (b. 1939; bass). They are featured on track 6 singing their 1957 hit of THIS LITTLE GIRL OF MINE.
The group came together at Jamaica High School in 1955. After joining George Goldner's Gee label, the group launched their recording career with "You Baby You", a regional hit in late 1955. The record, with Cox's dry lead, Warren Corbin's effective bassfills, and session musician Jimmy Wright's frantic saxophone blowing, set the tenor of the group's subsequent records. With their second record, "Little Girl Of Mine", another peppy number, the group became nationally known as the record went to number 8 R&B and number 57 pop in 1956. Two excellent follow-ups the same year, "Can't We Be Sweethearts" and "String Around My Heart', were superbly representative of the Cleftones" exuberant style, but both remained regional hits.
A move to a ballad in 1957, the outstanding "See You Next Year", did not restore the Cleftones to national prominence. In 1959 Gene Pearson (from the Rivileers) replaced McClain, and the following year Patricia Spann was added to the group. The addition of the female to the group also signalled a slight change in style; the leads began to take greater prominence over the ensemble sound as doo-wop was beginning to fade. "Heart And Soul", a rock 'n' roll remake of an evergreen, typified the new approach and proved to be the group's biggest hit, going to number 10 R&B and number 18 pop in 1961. Other important tracks from this era included the album cut "Please Say You Want Me' (featuring Pat Spann in a beautiful remake of the Schoolboys" hit) and another evergreen remake, "For Sentimental Reasons'. The Cleftones" recording career came to an end in 1964.
This hot rock and roll continues in track 7 with the Drifters (read their history described at the end of Volume 3), being led by Clyde McPhatter (read his profile in Volume 4), singing a R & B doo wop classic, entitled DRIP DROP.Formed in 1953 in New York, USA, at the behest of Atlantic Records, this influential R&B vocal group was initially envisaged as a vehicle for ex-Dominoes singer Clyde McPhatter (b. Clyde Lensley McPhatter, 15 November 1932, Durham, North Carolina, USA, d. 13 June 1972, New York City, New York, USA). Gerhart Thrasher, Andrew Thrasher and Bill Pinkney (b. 15 August 1925, Sumter, North Carolina, USA) completed the new quartet which, as Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters, achieved a million-selling number 1 R&B hit with their debut single, "Money Honey". Follow-up releases, including "Such A Night" (number 5 R&B), "Lucille" (number 7 R&B) and "Honey Love" (a second chart-topper), also proved highly successful, while the juxtaposition of McPhatter's soaring tenor against the frenzied support of the other members provided a link between gospel and rock 'n' roll styles. The leader's interplay with bassist Pinkey was revelatory, but McPhatter's induction into the armed forces in 1954 was a blow that the Drifters struggled to withstand.
Of course Clyde McPhatter was an excellent solo performer as well as an all-star lead singer. In track 8 of this volume he sings MONEY HONEY, another hard-rocker doo wop.Clyde McPhatter was one of the most influential R&B singers of the '50s and early '60s. In his own time, his name and voice loomed so much larger than that of the group the Drifters, which he founded, that it took five years for them to recover from his departure. McPhatter was idolized by Black audiences as few singers before or since ever were, and for almost 15 years helped define rhythm & blues and its transformation into soul.
On track 9, we listen to the Clovers (read their profile in Volume 2) shout about LITTLE MAMA, a powerful dancing doo wop classic from 1957.From 1951-56 the Clovers achieved a consistent sound and remarkably consistent success. They had three US number 1 R&B hits with "Don't You Know I Love You", "Fool, Fool, Fool" (both 1951) and "Ting-A-Ling" (1952), plus four number 2 R&B hits with "One Mint Julep", "Hey, Miss Fannie" (both 1952), "Good Lovin" (1953) and "Lovey Dovey" (1954). The best-known of the remaining 11 other Top 10 hits for Atlantic was "Devil Or Angel", a song frequently covered, most notably by Bobby Vee. The Clovers only made the US pop charts with "Love, Love, Love" (number 30, 1956) and "Love Potion No. 9" (number 23, 1959). The latter, one of Leiber And Stoller's best songs, was recorded for United Artists Records, the only label other than Atlantic that saw the Clovers reach the charts. In 1961 the Clovers split into rival groups led, respectively, by Buddy Bailey and Harold Lucas, and the hits dried up. Various permutations of the Clovers continued to record and perform for years afterwards, particularly in the Carolinas where their brand of music was popular as "beach music".
We visit Ray Charles, “The Father of Soul”, again on track 10 of this volume (read his profile in Volume 4). This performance was recorded in the heart of the rocking dop era during 1957. THE NIGHT TIME IS THE RIGHT TIME, is a swinging doo wop classic guaranteed to make the most clumsy person dance.

 When we think of Ray Charles, we know that he was the musician most responsible for developing soul music. Singers like Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson also did a great deal to pioneer the form, but Charles did even more to devise a new form of black pop by merging '50s R&B with gospel-powered vocals, adding plenty of flavor from contemporary jazz, blues, and (in the '60s) country. Then there is his singing; his style is among the most emotional and easily identifiable of any 20th-century performer, up there with the likes of Elvis and Billie Holiday. He's also a superb keyboard player, arranger, and bandleader. The brilliance of his 1950s and 1960s work, however, can't obscure the fact that he's made few classic tracks since the mid-'60s, though he's recorded often and tours to this day.
Throughout the '50s, Charles ran off a series of R&B hits that, although they weren't called "soul" at the time, did a lot to pave the way for soul by presenting a form of R&B that was sophisticated without sacrificing any emotional grit. "This Little Girl of Mine," "Drown in My Own Tears," "Hallelujah I Love Her So," "Lonely Avenue," and THE RIGHT TIME were all big hits.
Joe Turner was another prime example of a vocalist combining R & B into doo wop. FLIP, FLOP, AND FLY was a very popular dance tune in the mid 50’s. Once again, notice the strong sax section in the middle of this track.
Joe Turner had a tremendous voice and a talent for improvising lyrics. He was called the "Boss of the Blues," and during the 1930s—Kansas City's musical heyday—"Big Joe" Turner was the greatest blues singer in town. An innovator, he made enormous contributions to both jazz and rhythm-and-blues. He also played a seminal (though largely unappreciated) role in the development of rock 'n' roll, and was a major influence on such later stars as Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and Elvis Presley.
Joe Turner was born and raised in Kansas City. In the late 1920s, he got a job as a bartender at the Sunset Club, a night spot owned by Felix Payne. It was there, while mixing drinks, that he started singing to house pianist Pete Johnson's accompaniment. Turner's volcanic, half-shouted blues, along with Johnson's spectacular boogie-woogie piano, electrified club patrons and attracted the attention of such bandleaders as Bennie Moten, Andy Kirk, and Count Basie, with whom he later toured. In 1938, Turner and Johnson appeared in the "From Spirituals to Swing" concert at Carnegie Hall, in New York City. Turner's early records include "Roll 'Em, Pete," "Goin' Away Blues," and "Cherry Red" for the Vocalion record label, and "Piney Brown Blues," written for the manager of the Sunset Club, for Decca Records.
Turner went to the California in the late 1940s, where he performed on the Los Angeles circuit and recorded for a variety of small, independent record companies, eventually landing a contract with Atlantic Records. He had a string of hit records for Atlantic in the 1950s, including "Shake, Rattle and Roll," a rock 'n roll classic. Although slowed in later years by health problems, Turner continue to perform and record until shortly before his death in 1985. His album "Blues Train," recorded with the group Room Full of Blues, won a Grammy Award in 1983.
The Robins formed their group in Los Angeles, California in the 1940’s and were the forerunners of the Coasters. They began as the Four Bluebirds in 1947, and then became the Robins. Ty Terrell, Billy Richards, Roy Richards, and Bobby Nunn were the original members, with Carl Gardner and Grady Chapman adding in 1954. A year later Gardner and Nunn departed to form the Coasters. The Robins had two R&B Top Ten hits. "If It's So Baby" was done with the Johnny Otis Band in 1950 for Savoy, while their best-known number, SMOKEY JOE’S CAFÉ, track 12 of this volume, was recorded for Atco in 1955. This was a prototype of the songs that became the Coasters' forte: humorous vehicles with just a dash of cultural insight.
In track 13, the newly-formed Coasters sing the 1957 hit recording of SEARCHING. The Coasters were one of the few artists in rock history to successfully straddle the line between music and comedy. Their undeniably funny lyrics and on-stage antics might have suggested a simple troupe of clowns, but Coasters records were no mere novelties -- their material, supplied by the legendary team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, was too witty, their arrangements too well-crafted, and the group itself too musically proficient. That engaging and infectious combination made them one of the most popular early R&B/rock & roll acts, as well as one of the most consistently entertaining doo wop/vocal groups of all time.
The Coasters grew out of a successful Los Angeles doo wop group called the Robins, which had been recording since 1949 and working with Leiber & Stoller since 1953. Atlantic Records acquired the Robins in 1955, when the Leiber & Stoller composition SMOKEY JOE’S CAFÉ was becoming too big a hit for their small Spark label to handle; its success scored the duo an independent contract with Atlantic as producers and composers. Amid uncertainties over their new major-label arrangement, the Robins split up that fall; lead tenor Carl Gardner (a more recent addition) and bass Bobby Nunn formed a new group, the Coasters (named for their West Coast base), which maintained the Leiber & Stoller association -- an extremely wise move. The initial Coasters lineup was completed by baritone Billy Guy (a gifted comic vocalist) and second tenor Leon Hughes, with guitarist Adolph Jacobs figuring prominently on their recordings through 1959. Their first single, "Down in Mexico," became a Top Ten R&B hit in 1956, epitomizing the sort of humorous story-song Leiber & Stoller were perfecting. The Coasters hit again in 1957 with the double-sided smash "Young Blood"/SEARCHING both sides of which reached the pop Top Ten. The follow-ups weren't as successful, and it was decided that both the group and Leiber & Stoller would move their operations to New York, where Atlantic was based. As a result, Nunn and Hughes left the group in late 1957, to be replaced respectively by bass Will "Dub" Jones (ex-Cadets, of "Stranded in the Jungle" fame) and second tenor Obie Jessie (for a very short period), then Cornell Gunter (ex-Flairs).
The Coasters' first recording in New York was 1958's "Yakety Yak," which featured King Curtis on tenor sax. Its witty, slice-of-life lyrics about a teenager being hassled by his parents struck a resounding chord, and "Yakety Yak" became the Coasters' first number-one pop hit that summer, topping the R&B charts as well. "Charlie Brown," which cast Jones in the title role of class clown (and immortalized him with the catch-phrase, "why's everybody always pickin' on me?"), hit number two on both the pop and R&B charts in 1959, firmly establishing the Coasters' widespread crossover appeal. More hits followed: the Western-themed "Along Came Jones," "Poison Ivy," "Shoppin' for Clothes," and the group's final Top 30 hit, 1961's burlesque-dancer tribute "Little Egypt."
Following "Little Egypt," Gunter departed, to be replaced by Earl SPEEDO Carroll (of the Cadillacs). Other personnel shifts ensued over the next few years, especially as the hits dried up; even more discouragingly, Leiber & Stoller left Atlantic in 1963. The Coasters parted ways with Atlantic in early 1966, signing with Columbia's Date subsidiary and reuniting with Leiber & Stoller for a time. Although they charted several times, no more hits were forthcoming, given the radically different musical climate; their last chart single was a 1971 cover of "Love Potion No. 9" (by which time Gardner was the only remaining original member), and their last new release came with a 1976 version of "If I Had a Hammer." Since then, numerous different Coasters lineups have toured the oldies circuit; Gardner's holds the legal claim to legitimacy, but Gunter, Guy, Jones, Nunn, and Hughes all led differing lineups at one point or another. Nunn died of a heart attack in 1986, one year before the Coasters became the first vocal group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Gunter was murdered in Las Vegas in 1990, and Jones passed away in early 2000.
FANNIE MAE, featured in track 14 of this volume, is a powerful doo wop with strong dancing harmonica sections. The musical notes from this track were sometimes used to make other hit records that used completely different word lyrics. For example, the 1965 Beach Boys hit of “Help Me Rhonda” used the music from this song.
Whooping blues harpists nearing the age of 50 with number one R&B hits to their credit were predictably scarce in 1959. Nevertheless, that's the happy predicament Buster Brown found himself in when his infectious FANNIE MAE paced the charts. Even more amazingly, the driving number made serious inroads on the pop airwaves as well.
The Georgian, whose harp style was clearly influenced by Sonny Terry, had never made a professional recording (there was a 1943 Library of Congress session that laid unissued at the time) before Fire Records boss Bobby Robinson brought the short, stockily built Brown into a New York studio in June of 1959 to wax FANNIE MAE.
Brown's reign as an unlikely star was short-lived. He managed minor follow-up hits on Fire with a rather ragged 1960 revival of Louis Jordan's "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby" and his 1962 farewell bow, the effervescent rocker "Sugar Babe." A subsequent 1964 stop at Chicago's Checker Records produced a glistening update of the old blues "Crawlin' Kingsnake" that sank without a trace.
In track 15, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters sing one of their many hit doo wops, LET’S GO, LET’S GO, LET’S GO. Hand Ballard, who is best remembered for recording the original version of The Twist in 1959, was also well known for singing hard-core doo wop songs dealing with the hard facts of life. WORK WITH ME ANNIE, one of the hard-core songs, is included in Volume 7 of this doo wop box.
In the world of early rhythm & blues and doo wop, Hank Ballard was the very definition of earthiness. Though influenced by high-energy gospel vocal groups, Ballard's music with the Midnighters couldn't have been more diametrically opposed in terms of subject matter. His lyrics were filled with raunchy double-entendres that left little to the imagination, pushing the envelope of what was considered acceptable in the '50s. His songs were sometimes banned on the radio, but that only made him an even bigger jukebox favorite among black audiences. Ballard's hard-driving, rhythmic style was also an underappreciated influence on the rawer side of R&B, particularly on a young James Brown; plus, his composition "The Twist" -- recorded for a hit by Chubby Checker -- became one of the biggest hits in rock & roll history.
Hank Ballard was born November 18, 1927 (according to his birth records) in Detroit, but moved to Bessemer, AL, as a young child following his father's death. There he began singing in church and when he returned to Detroit at age 15, he set about forming a doo wop group while working on the Ford assembly line. Around the same time, singers Henry Booth and Charles Sutton were organizing a doo wop outfit called the Royals, which reputedly at one time also featured Jackie Wilson and future Four Top Levi Stubbs; it eventually grew to include vocalists Lawson Smith and Sonny Woods, plus gritty guitarist Alonzo Tucker. Initially copying the smooth style of Sonny Til & the Orioles, the Royals were discovered by Johnny Otis in 1952 and signed with Federal Records. However, when Hank Ballard replaced Smith in 1953, they adopted a rougher, more hepped-up sound in keeping with Ballard's numerous original compositions and Clyde McPhatter influence. Ballard's first recording with the group was 1953's "Get It," which hit the Top Ten on the R&B charts, but it was the following year's ribald WORK WITH ME ANNIE that really broke the group (they changed their name to the Midnighters around this time, to avoid confusion with the Five Royales). WORK WITH ME ANNIE topped the R&B charts and nearly reached the pop Top 20, despite a number of radio stations refusing to air the song. It inspired a number of answer records and the Midnighters themselves entered the fray with the sequels "Annie Had a Baby" (another R&B chart-topper) and "Annie's Aunt Fannie." They also scored another major smash with the Ballard-penned "Sexy Ways," which solidified their reputation as R&B's most risqué act.
However, after the momentum of WORK WITH ME ANNIE slowed, the Midnighters seemed at a loss as to how to recapture it. They went nearly three and a half years without another big hit, and with the decline in their fortunes came numerous personnel shifts. Lawson Smith returned to the fold to replace Sutton, Norman Thrasher replaced Sonny Woods, and Tucker's guitar post was taken first by Arthur Porter, then Cal Green. Ballard attempted to take his 1958 composition "The Twist" to Vee-Jay, which declined to release the version they recorded; King, Federal's parent label, issued it as the B-side of the Midnighters' R&B comeback ballad hit "Teardrops on Your Letter" in 1959. Still, "The Twist" gained some notice and found a fan in American Bandstand host Dick Clark, who brought the song to Chubby Checker's attention; the rest was history, as "The Twist" became the first song to hit number one during two completely separate chart runs. Ballard and the Midnighters benefited from the exposure, scoring their first Top Ten pop singles in 1960 with "Finger Poppin' Time" and "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go." A few more R&B hits followed, generally dance-oriented songs in the vein of "The Twist," before the well dried up for a second time. The Midnighters gradually disintegrated and Ballard became a solo act; by the end of the '60s, he was working with longtime fan James Brown, who produced several singles for Ballard during the late '60s and early '70s. After a lengthy absence from music, Ballard re-formed the Midnighters during the mid-'80s, first as a female group, then male, and began touring once again. In 1990, Ballard received his due as an R&B innovator with his election into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. After suffering for several years with throat cancer, Ballard died quietly at his Los Angeles home in March of 2003
SPEEDO, recorded by the Cadillacs in 1955, is believed to be derived its name from a nickname of one of the group members, Earl SPEEDO Carroll.
Earl Carroll, LaVerne Drake, and Robert Phillips were already singing together in the early '50s as the Carnations, whose lineup also included "Cub" Gaining. Carroll and Phillips were nearly as close as brothers, Carroll having been taken in by Phillips' family after the death of his own mother. The group -- based in New York's Harlem in the area around 131st St. and Seventh and Eighth Avenues -- had an energetic approach to music, but somewhat threadbare harmonies, and they were popular at dances held at the local public school they all attended. Their main influence was the Orioles, whose slow romantic numbers went over very well with the group members and the audiences of the period. Carroll's own musical roots included gospel, specifically the Five Blind Boys, the Swanee Quintet, and the Soul Stirrers, but also R&B vocal outfits such as the Clovers, the Ravens, the Swallows, and the Five Keys.
The Carnations were heard in a performance at Public School 43 by Lover Patterson, a one-time associate of the Orioles who had organized a group called the Five Crowns (whose 1958-era membership would become the new Drifters, of "There Goes My Baby" fame), who was impressed enough with their singing to introduce the group to Esther Navarro, a secretary for the Shaw Artist Agency who also wrote songs.
The audition itself brought about changes in the Carnations' lineup. Baritone Bobby Phillips wanted to switch to bass, partly to see if the novelty value of a 5' 4" bass singer would have some value (most basses were big guys), but Cub Gaining didn't like the idea and quit before the audition. Patterson replaced him with James "Poppa" Clark of the Five Crowns and Johnny "Gus" Willingham. It was this group -- Earl Carroll (lead tenor), LaVerne Drake (tenor), James Clark (tenor), Johnny Willingham (baritone), and Bobby Phillips (bass) -- that auditioned for Navarro. They were duly signed but had to give up their name, as the Carnations was already being used by a professional outfit. The Cadillacs was chosen for its association with automotive elegance and to separate the group from the spate of bird and flower names that were common among singing groups.
The group brought a pair of songs, Navarro's "Gloria" and Patterson's "I Wonder Why," to Jubilee Records, an independent outfit owned by former bandleader Jerry Blaine. Their first single was in stores by the end of July 1954, and it proved to be a regional success, with strong sales on the East Coast from Baltimore to Boston, especially (no surprise) in New York. Patterson's more up-tempo "I Wonder Why" had more success than the more restrained and romantic "Gloria." By the time of the release of the group's second single, "Wishing Well," issued later that summer, the lineup had changed, with James Clark and Johnny Willingham replaced by baritone Earl Wade and tenor Charles "Buddy" Brooks.
The group experienced modest success during the latter part of 1954 and early 1955, and then they had their breakthrough record, SPEEDO. There have been several stories associated with the origins of the song, all of which surround Earl Carroll's attributes: Carroll has claimed that it originated with a nickname he got as a child, but also said that the beat and background were influenced by the group's appreciation of a Regals song called "Got the Water Boiling." Esther Navarro, whose name is signed to the song as writer, claimed at the time that it derived from Carroll's derisive nickname "Speedy," earned by his slow-moving demeanor; she claimed that he said to her, "They often call me Speedy but my real name is Mr. Earl."
The song was recorded in September of 1955, and released in October of that year. It became a monster hit, but only after laying dormant for weeks. The turning point came when Cleveland-based disc jockey Alan Freed booked the group onto his Christmas show at the Academy of Music. The group by that time was completely professional, and had added dance routines choreographed by Cholly Atkins, who later trained most of the Motown acts in their stage presentations. The group swept the board during the two weeks of appearances in the Freed show, which, itself was a major turning point in the history of rock & roll. There had been showcases of that kind going on for several years, but mostly before black audiences; the Freed show broke the theater's box-office record, and in the process drew in a major contingent of white teenagers.
SPEEDO finally broke out in early December, and it entered the Billboard pop charts before it reached the R&B charts, something that had never happened before with an R&B single. The music industry began taking notice not only of this phenomenon, but also of the Cadillacs. The song rode the charts for four months, well into 1956, by which time the Cadillacs were established as one of the top R&B groups in the country. They also had a membership change early in that year, with Jimmy Bailey replacing founding member LaVerne Drake. Their attempts at a follow-up hit failed despite some initial encouraging signs from the trade papers, but this didn't slow their momentum on-stage; they remained one of the most heavily and prominently booked groups among the package tours that were the norm, and the bookings were still good into the late winter of 1957.

 Unfortunately, nothing was that straightforward for the group itself. At some point, they split with Esther Navarro, and the group also split into two rival sets of Cadillacs. Earl Carroll led the Original Cadillacs, as they became known -- consisting of Carroll, Charles Brooks, Bobby Phillips, and Earl Wade -- while Navarro had Jimmy Bailey leading Bobby Spencer, Bill Lindsay, and Waldo "Champ Rollow" Champen under the name the Cadillacs. The groups both continued recording, both on Jubilee (which was caught in the middle of the dispute), and effectively canceled each other out.
Navarro's Bailey-led Cadillacs (who only recorded once officially, doing "My Girlfriend" in May of 1957) went on the road in an abortive attempt to carry on, but they were pulled out of the late-1957 package tour before it was half over. By November of 1957, the two groups had made a sort of peace: Champ Rollow and Bill Lindsay were out, and Carroll, Bailey, Brooks, Phillips, and Wade were working together in the studio as the Cadillacs. Brooks was soon replaced by Bobby Spencer, but there were other changes as well: Earl Carroll was pushed into the background of the group's vocals by Jimmy Bailey and Bobby Spencer. Of course, it didn't matter that much, because in their search for a sound that would sell, the group had changed into a comedic doo wop outfit in the mold of the Coasters, specializing in humorous novelty numbers. They hardly resembled the outfit that Earl Carroll had co-founded in the early '50s.
The sad thing, in some respects, is that this worked. They were back on the national charts for the first time in over two years in October of 1958 with "Peek-A-Boo," a sort of "Yakety Yak"-type number that made the Top 40 and gave the group a new lease on life as a concert attraction. Having succeeded once with a comic novelty tune, they mined this vein again with a pair of singles, "Jay Walker" and "Please Mr. Johnson." Both were recorded early in 1959 and featured (in very effective performances) in the 1959 Alan Freed-starring jukebox classic Go Johnny Go, which also featured Jimmy Clanton, Sandy Stewart, Chuck Berry, Jackie Wilson, Eddie Cochran, Ritchie Valens, and Jo-Ann Campbell.
The group's string of hits had ended, however. Earl Carroll left the group that he had founded in 1959; the Cadillacs kept working for a few more years, recording unsuccessfully for a number of labels before packing it in during the early '60s. Carroll fared reasonably well, however, remaining in music and eventually joining the Coasters in 1961, where he remained for more than 20 years. He later re-formed the Cadillacs, with Bobby Phillips the only other veteran member of the group, and he kept the new group going throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, even doing a well-received comeback record early in the '90s.
In track 17, we revisit the steel city sound with The Del Vikings, with their 1957 recording of COME GO WITH ME. This doo wop group has a rather complicated and frustrating background concerning their development.
The story of the Dell-Vikings (or Del Vikings, or Del-Vikings) is one of the most glorious, complicated, and frustrating of any successful doo wop group in music history. With two major national hits (COME GO WITH ME and "Whispering Bells") to their credit -- one more hit than most other successful doo wop groups ever had -- they had a jump on virtually all of their competition. Just as they were ascending those heights of fame and success, however, internal fractures and some greed and misdirected ambition helped destroy any chance they had of making a lasting place for themselves at the top of their profession. They left behind two hits and a large body of very good records that weren't nearly as well-known, as well as a reputation as one of the few successful integrated vocal groups of their era.
The group had its origins at the Pittsburgh Air Force Base, where five black enlisted men, Corinthian "Kripp" Johnson (first tenor), Clarence E. Quick (bass), Don Jackson (second tenor), Bernard Robertson, and Samuel Paterson, began singing together during 1955 at the camp hall. They won a talent contest on the base in early 1956, and then competed nationally in New York and Bermuda, where they placed first and second, respectively. By that time, they were starting to attract local attention, most notably from disc jockey Barry Kaye, who wanted to record the Del Vikings, as they were then known (just one "l," and no hyphen).
The origins of their name have been ascribed to various sources. Some stories say that the members had read of the Vikings in an encyclopedia and liked the sound, the "Del" being rather more mysterious. Others claim that Clarence Quick had known a basketball team called the Vikings in Brooklyn, and suggested the name.
The Del Vikings' lineup was fairly fluid due to the nature of military service, and by early 1956, Robertson and Paterson were gone, transferred to Germany. Their replacements were Norman Wright (lead tenor) and David Lerchey (baritone). Lerchey's presence in the group as its first white member was more a matter of expediency than design, as he was simply the talent that was available. It did make the group slightly more distinctive; although other integrated singing groups had already achieved considerable exposure, including the Meadowlarks ("Heaven and Paradise") and the Mariners, who had appeared nationally on Arthur Godfrey's network television show.
This second lineup was the version of the Del Vikings that Barry Kaye recorded. The resulting sessions yielded nine songs done a cappella, including early versions of Clarence E. Quick's COME GO WITH ME and Kripp Johnson's "How Can I Find True Love." The demo tapes, which contained only the most rudimentary backing, were sent around to all of the major labels, each of which passed on the chance to record the Del Vikings. Finally, the group was signed by Joe Auerbach, the owner of a small Pittsburgh-based label called Fee Bee. A new recording session yielded a fully realized version of COME GO WITH ME, backed by the quintet's own band, including their resident backup men Joe Lopes (later a top recording engineer for RCA) and Gene Upshaw on sax, with the lead sung by new member Norman Wright.
The single, released late in 1956, quickly outgrew Fee Bee's ability to exploit it, and Auerbach leased it to Dot Records; that version appeared in early 1957 and began a 31-week run on the charts, reaching number four on the pop chart and number three on the R&B chart during the spring and early summer. The group was now a national phenomenon and was booked on tours across the country, as well as a featured spot in one of Alan Freed's Brooklyn Paramount shows. Their lineup had already changed again, the group acquiring its second white member, Gus Backus, who replaced Don Jackson as second tenor. Even so, military obligations sometimes prevented all of the members from participating at once in these performances.
The success of COME GO WITH ME should have positioned the group well for future success, but instead it began a process of fracturing their lineup.
Fee Bee tried to maintain the momentum by releasing a single early in 1957 on which the group had sung backup, but that disappeared without a trace. They finally got their all-important second hit, "Whispering Bells" (also written by Clarence Quick), in the late summer of 1957, which reached number nine on the pop charts.
Behind the scenes, however, maneuvers were taking place that were to nullify these two huge successes. With COME GO WITH ME storming the charts, the Del Vikings were suddenly in demand from many of the same major labels that had passed on them a year earlier. What made their interest possible at all, in the view of their manager -- who was also the legal representative for the air base where they were stationed -- was that the group's contract with Fee Bee had a major flaw, in that some of the members were under 21 at the time it was signed. Faced with the chance to make new and major amounts of money for all concerned, in the midst of the group's chart run with "Come Go With Me," their manager signed the group to Mercury Records under a contract that specifically covered the members who had been underage in 1956.
Meanwhile, the group -- or a version of it -- had released "Whispering Bells" on Fee Bee and Dot. The result was that the group split into two rival outfits, one called the Dell-Vikings (the spelling of the outfit that released "Whispering Bells") on Dot Records, with Kripp Johnson and the returned Don Jackson; and the Del-Vikings, as their name was spelled, on Mercury, led by composer Clarence E. Quick and featuring Norman Wright, David Lerchey, Gus Backus, and new member William Blakely.
The situation was extremely complicated: Mercury had the majority of the members who'd been on COME GO WITH ME, as well as the man who had written it and the man who'd sung lead on it, but the Mercury group's members were still in the Air Force and not free to tour as they might have wanted; Dot Records had one founding member of the group in Kripp Johnson and another key singer, and they and the group they assembled were out of the Air Force and free to tour as they wished.
Further complicating the group's -- or groups' -- situation at the time were the demos they'd recorded for Barry Kaye. He sold these to Luniverse Records, a label whose co-owners included Dickie Goodman and George Goldner. In the midst of the chart run of Dot's "Come Go With Me," Luniverse redubbed the a cappella demo recordings with a full band and released eight of the nine songs in edited form on an LP, Come Go With the Del-Vikings, as well as issuing one 45 of "Over the Rainbow" and "Hey Senorita."
The Kripp Johnson-led "Whispering Bells" on Dot, recorded by the Dell-Vikings, was followed onto the charts by the Mercury Del-Vikings' "Cool Shake"; the latter was a fast-paced rocker sung by Gus Backus, which didn't do as well, probably as a result of the fact that record retailers and distributors, as well as radio programmers, were starting to get confused by the presence of two groups with nearly identical names on two different labels. By the summer of 1957, Mercury and Dot were both claiming the same single pairing of "When I Come Home" and "I'm Spinning" as their own. Court action followed, with Mercury winning the rights to the group and the name the Del-Vikings and any variations of it. Yet another group lineup, with Joe Lopes filling in for David Lerchey, appeared alongside Fats Domino and the Diamonds in the movie The Big Beat in 1957.
The Kripp Johnson version of the group, now known as the Versatiles and featuring Don Jackson, Chuck Jackson, Arthur Budd, and Ed Everette, kept recording, but without success, and by the end of 1957, Kripp Johnson was back with the Mercury Del-Vikings. Now the "classic" Del Viking lineup was restored and the group was back to full strength, but the moment had passed, and the Del-Vikings had no further national hits.
In 1959, the Mercury contract ended, and after a few detours, the group -- now a sextet including Johnson, Quick, Ritzy Lee, Billy Woodruff, Willie Green, and Douglas White -- signed with ABC-Paramount. They had little success at ABC, despite having made some excellent records. By the time of their ABC contract, the group had come to sound somewhat like the Drifters, especially in terms of the arrangements they were using. By 1965, it was over for the Del-Vikings. The group experienced a revival under Clarence Quick in 1972 amid the oldies boom, and they recorded a new version of "Come Go With Me" for the New York-based Scepter label that got some notice in Billboard early in 1973. By 1980, Kripp Johnson had reformed his own "Dell-Vikings" (the Mercury contract having long since ended, there was no party to lay final claim to the name) with Norman Wright, Ritzy Lee, John Byas, and David Lerchey, and his and Quick's Del-Vikings hovered around each other; avoiding direct confrontation by staying out of each other's way on tours through different parts of the country, until Quick's death in 1985 and Johnson's death in 1990.
The juggling of the group membership, name, and label affiliation makes collecting the Del-Vikings (or Dell-Vikings) very complicated. The COME GO WITH ME group on Dot in the main moved over to Mercury as the Del Vikings without any major hits, so it is a good idea to own both the Dot and Mercury stuff. But the Mercury group (from late 1957 until 1959) included all of the key original members, and they eventually moved over to ABC-Paramount in 1960 or so, and MCA now owns both Dot and ABC; meaning that the collections of the group's work aren't simple to divide or arrange. MCA's Best of the Del-Vikings has the beginning and end of the classic group, late 1956 to mid-1957 with a jump to 1960-1963, while Mercury has the glorious middle, mid-1957 to 1959 (and both collections include "When I Come Home" and "I'm Spinning"). And Collectables has the original 1956 demos, with yet another lineup of Dell Vikings.
Whether they were spelling their name Del-Vikings, Del Vikings, or Dell-Vikings, the group left behind one of the most satisfying bodies of R&B and doo wop music this side of the Drifters. The lingering appeal of COME GO WITH ME and "Whispering Bells" -- used in movies like George Lucas' American Graffiti and Rob Reiner's Stand By Me -- has helped their music remain among the most accessible bodies of doo wop music well into the CD era.
For tracks 18, 19, and 20 we pay another visit to the New Orleans doo wop sound. In 1959, Huey “Piano” Smith and the Clowns were looking for a lead singer. (Read their profile in Volume 5). Unfortunately, the only way this operation was accomplished involved using a white teenager named Frankie Ford singing over a special music track recorded by Smith.
It's ironic that some of the greatest New Orleans R&B of the 1950s were sung by a white man. Although he could have passed for a teen idol, Frankie Ford sang with as much grit as anyone of any color in the Crescent City. He recorded some fine singles for the Ace label in the late '50s, particularly the pounding SEA CRUISE which made the Top 20 in 1959 and remains one of the hits most identified with the classic New Orleans R&B sound. SEA CRUISE actually began life as a Huey "Piano" Smith song with Bobby Marchan (read his profile in Volume 8) on vocals, but producer Johnny Vincent had the inspired idea of dubbing Ford's singing on top of Smith's backing track. SEA CRUISE with its bleating foghorn and irresistible piano groove, was an impossible act to follow, and Ford never approached the Top 20 again. But he cut several more gutsy sides for Ace that featured top New Orleans players like Huey Smith and saxophonist Red Tyler; one of the best, "Roberta," was covered by the Animals in the mid-'60s. A few of his singles found him following ill-advised swing jazz and teen idol directions, and he faded from view in the 1960s, although he made a cameo appearance in the film version of Alan Freed's life.
A rocker from a suburb of New Orleans, Frankie Ford is second cousin to that other New Orleans legend Dr. John. His first major appearance was on Ted Mack's Amateur Hour Talent Show, where he sang with Carmen Miranda and Sophie Tucker. After winning a scholarship to South Eastern College, Hammond, he started his first band with schoolfriends. By 1958 he was singing with the Syncopators, when he was asked to audition for Ace Records. Subsequently, he released his first single, "Cheatin' Woman", as Frankie Ford. Fellow musician Huey "Piano" Smith (b. 26 January 1934, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA) had previously recorded with his group the Clowns a self-penned song called SEA CRUISE, but Ace persuaded him to let Ford record a new vocal over Bobby Marcham's original. They also added a few extra effects such as paddle-steamer whistle blows, which altered the song enough for Ford to claim a co-writing credit. Released under the title Frankie Ford with Huey "Piano" Smith and his Clowns, it sold over a million copies and docked in the national Top 20.

 It was perceived in retrospect as a rock 'n' roll classic, and was revived by Jerry Lee Lewis, Herman's Hermits, Sha Na Na, John Fogerty and Shakin' Stevens. Both "Sea Cruise" and its follow-up, "Alimony", were taken from original tapes recorded by composer Huey Smith with the Clowns; the lead vocals were then erased and Ford's singing superimposed. As Morgus And The Ghouls, Ford and the Clowns also recorded "Morgus The Magnificent", a novelty tribute to a local television personality. There was also an unissued homage to Fats Domino, written and recorded by Ford and Dave Bartholomew. Ford left Ace in 1960 to form his own Spinet Records and signed to Liberty in 1960, but never repeated the success of "Sea Cruise". He also formed a "supergroup" with Huey Smith, Robert Parker (hitmaker of "Barefootin'") and Dr. John (under various pseudonyms due to contractual problems), and they recorded various New Orleans favourites. He continued to record for obscure labels throughout the 70s. In 1971, he opened a club in New Orleans' French Quarter where he became a cabaret fixture and tourist attraction. Moreover, he still looked youthful enough to play his younger self in the 1977 movie American Hot Wax, set in the late 50s. As part of a package, he toured the UK in 1985 along with Rick Nelson, Bobby Vee and Bo Diddley. Ford resents the term one-hit-wonder, and rightly pointed out that his four recordings of SEA CRUISE have now sold over 30 million copies worldwide.
In track 19, we listen to Huey “Piano” Smith and the Clowns sing DON’T YOUJUST KNOW IT. (Read their profile in Volume 5)
During 1960 Gary “US” Bonds (read his profile in Volume 5) had two major hits:A QUARTER TO THREEand NEW ORLEANS. In 1962, Bonds had another hit entitled NOT ME, featured on track 20 of this volume. Although this wasn’t a million seller, the recording received a lot of airplay in New Orleans and was popular at dance hops throughout the country in the early 60’s.
On track 21 Bill Haley and his Comets perform the humorous recording of SKINNY MINNIE. Recorded in 1956, this songis one of the favorites of “early rock and roll” and was popular before some of the other “pioneers” of rock music such as Chuck Berry, Elvis Pressley, Fats Domino, or Buddy Holly became well known.
Bill Haley is the neglected hero of early rock & roll. Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly are ensconced in the heavens, transformed into veritable constellations in the rock music firmament, their music respected by writers and scholars as well as the record-buying public, virtually every note of music they ever recorded theoretically eligible for release. And among the living rock & roll pioneers, Chuck Berry is given his due in the music marketplace and by the history books, and Bo Diddley is acknowledged appropriately in the latter, even if his music doesn't sell the way it should. Yet Bill Haley -- who was there before any of them, playing rock & roll before it even had a name, and selling it in sufficient quantities out of a small Pennsylvania label to attract attention from the major labels before Presley was even recording in Memphis -- is barely represented by more than a dozen of his early singles, and recognized by the average listener for exactly two songs among the hundreds that he recorded; and he's often treated as little more than a glorified footnote, an anomaly that came and went very quickly, in most histories of the music. The truth is, Bill Haley came along a lot earlier than most people realize and the histories usually acknowledge, and he went on making good music for years longer than is usually recognized.
The central event in Haley's career was the single "Rock Around the Clock" topping the charts for eight weeks in the spring and summer of 1955, an event that most music historians identify as the dawn of the rock & roll era. Getting the song there, however, took more than a year, a period in which the band had already done unique and essential service in the cause of bringing rock & roll into the world, with the million-selling single SHAKE, RATTLE, AND ROLL (listen to Joe Turner’s version in Volume 7) to their credit; equally important, in the three years before that, Haley and his band had already broken new ground with the singles of "Rocket 88," "Rock the Joint," and "Crazy, Man, Crazy."
Born in Highland Park, MI, in 1925, Haley was blind in one eye from birth, and, as a consequence, suffered from terrible shyness as a boy. The family moved to Boothwyn, PA, during the mid-'30s, where Haley developed a strong love for country music and began playing guitar and singing; by 14, he had left school in the hope of pursuing a career in music. He bounced through a few country bands based in the Middle Atlantic states and also tried to establish himself as a singing and yodeling cowboy. His first big break came in 1944, when he replaced Kenny Roberts -- who was being drafted -- in the Downhomers, with whom Haley made his first appearance on records. Haley left the group in 1946 and went through several other bands before returning to his home in Chester, PA, where he initially hoped to get some work as a DJ. Instead, he formed a new band, the Four Aces of Western Swing, with keyboardman Johnny Grande, bassist Al Rex, and steel guitar player Billy Williamson, and signed a contract with Cowboy Records, a new label formed by James Myers, a composer, musician, and publisher, and his partner, Jack Howard. Their first record was released in 1948, a version of "Candy Kisses"; by 1949, the group had changed its name to the Saddlemen and began moving between labels, including liaisons with the fledgling Atlantic Records, Ivin Ballen's Gotham Records, and Ed Wilson's Keystone Records, before finally settling at Holiday Records, a small label owned by David Miller, in 1951. Their first release, done at Miller's insistence, was a cover of "Rocket 88," a song that originated out of Sam Phillips' fledgling recording operation in Memphis, courtesy of Jackie Brenston. It was a pumping piece of sexually suggestive, rollicking R&B, and Haley and the Saddlemen simply put a broader, slightly loping country boogie sound onto it and boosted the rhythm section, while a lead guitar (probably played by Danny Cedrone) noodled some blues licks on the break. Haley hadn't liked the idea of doing the song, but Miller wanted it, and the result -- though no one knew it at the time -- was the first white-band cover of what is now regarded by many scholars as the first real rock & roll song.
Just to put this in perspective, rock & roll is usually written about as a phenomenon (and a reaction to) the complacency of the Eisenhower era. But Haley had released what amounted to a rock & roll single in 1951, when "Ike" wasn't even yet running to be president, the country was still mired in Korea, and John Kennedy not yet even a senator. Howlin' Wolf was still based in Memphis and cutting sides for Sam Phillips, while a 15-year-old Elvis Presley was in tenth grade. The members of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were still in grammar school; Lonnie Donegan was still known as Anthony Donegan and thinking of becoming an entertainer; and Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies had not yet even met. And Big Bill Broonzy was about to introduce American blues to England.
At the time, "Rocket 88" didn't seem to matter too much in terms of sales, as it was neither fish nor fowl; not good enough R&B to eclipse Brenston's original among black record buyers, nor sufficiently a country record the way white audiences or the radio stations that catered to them wanted. No one even had a name for what it was; a "race record" as the trades called discs done in a style that seemed aimed at black listeners, but one done by a white band in a kind of country style. Indeed, the band itself remained strangely anonymous; Miller had seen to it that there were no publicity photos of Bill Haley & the Saddlemen, a calculated effort to obscure their race, though the band's name and the country ballad B-sides to those early singles pretty much told who they really were. That debut single sold just a few thousand copies regionally, as did its follow-up, "Green Tree Boogie." Meanwhile, when Haley and his band played, they and their business manager, Jim Ferguson, began to notice that it was the younger audience members who responded best to the R&B-style songs that Miller had them doing. They also saw all around them that enthusiasm for country music was flat, and that if they were looking for a hit, it likely wasn't going to come from this new direction.
They were trying all kinds of permutations of country and R&B and getting some response, but they didn't know what it exactly was that they were doing musically. Then came "Rock the Joint," their first release on Miller's new Essex Records label; it had a beat, it had a memorable catch phrase, and it had a great performance at its core (including the very same solo that Danny Cedrone would later use on "Rock Around the Clock"), and it sold well enough that the band had to go on tour promoting it. One of the places where it sold well was Cleveland, where DJ Alan Freed picked up on the song; it was immediately after this that Freed began referring to the music embodied by "Rock the Joint," music that he played every night on his show, as "rock & roll," thus giving Haley a good deal of justification for his later claim to have been in on the birth of the music before anyone ever knew it. [Note: Marshall Lyttle remembers "Rock the Joint" as the song Freed was playing during an appearance by the band on his radio show, when he began using the phrase "rock & roll" -- scholars who agree with the Haley connection also often attribute Freed's inspiration to the later single "Crazy, Man, Crazy," while other historians say that Freed appropriated the phrase from Wild Bill Moore's "We're Gonna Rock, We're Gonna Roll".]
By this time, the bandmembers, all well into their 30s and long past being teenagers, were taking what amounted to a crash course in what that audience wanted; at Ferguson's suggestion, they played hundreds of high-school dances, not normally a venue that a professional country band would bother with. In the process, they also changed their image and name. By 1952, Bill Haley and the Saddlemen were history; instead, playing off of their leader's name and the celestial phenomenon called Halley's Comet, they became Bill Haley & His Comets. The cowboy hats and other country paraphernalia were junked as well. And they took a close look at the successful R&B stage acts of the time, especially the Treniers, and began working out wild quasi-acrobatic moves by their bass player and saxman, in particular, stuff that was unthinkable for a country band but seemingly what the kids devoured at dances.
Most important, they would try out material, phrases, and stage moves, seeing what worked and what didn't, in front of the teenage audiences they found in Pennsylvania; and they listened to the way that this teenaged audience talked. Haley tried to use phrases that he heard, and put them into this musical stew; some of what they came up with was pleasantly silly material like "Dance With a Dolly" and "Stop Beatin' Round the Mulberry Bush" (though even the latter had a guitar solo worth hearing more than once). But some of it, like "Rockin' Chair on the Moon," was years ahead of its time; and some of it, like "Crazy, Man, Crazy" -- a Haley original whose title came from a piece of teen slang that he'd heard -- did exactly what was intended, hitting the Top 20 on the pop charts in 1953, a first for a white band playing an R&B-style song.
Late that year, James Myers offered Haley and Miller a song that he had published (and, on paper, at least, co-authored as Jimmy De Knight) entitled "Rock Around the Clock." Written almost as a parody of R&B conventions, its principal composer was Max C. Freedman, a songwriter best remembered up to that time for his 1946 hit "Sioux City Sue," and also responsible for such songs as "Do You Believe in Dreams" and "Her Beaus Were Only Rainbows." Miller either genuinely didn't see the potential of the song, or else he didn't like the business arrangement that Myers had with Haley, because he refused to record it. After a few more attempts at cutting other songs for the teen market that simply didn't work, Haley and the band and their manager were ready to leave Miller and Essex Records. A meeting was set up with Milt Gabler, a producer at Decca Records, who not only liked the song and had no problem cutting it, but saw some serious potential in Bill Haley & His Comets, based on what Essex had done with them on "Rock the Joint" and "Crazy, Man, Crazy." A contract was signed, and on April 12, 1954, the band, with Danny Cedrone on lead guitar, did a two-song session in New York that yielded "Thirteen Women" -- a post-nuclear holocaust sex fantasy worthy of Hugh Hefner (who had only started up Playboy magazine a year earlier) -- and "Rock Around the Clock." It was released a month later and made the charts for one week at number 23, selling 75,000 copies, not bad but not very significant either. It was enough, however, for Gabler to schedule another session in early June, where the band recorded "Shake, Rattle and Roll."
That was the record that broke the band nationally on Decca, reaching number seven and selling over a million copies between late 1954 and early 1955. They followed it up quickly with "Dim, Dim the Lights (I Want Some Atmosphere)," a jaunty piece that reached number 11 nationally and actually made the R&B charts for Haley, a first for him. Then, in early 1955, James Myers managed to get "Rock Around the Clock" placed in the juvenile delinquency drama The Blackboard Jungle, playing over the credits. The movie was a huge hit, and in its wake Decca re-released the song that spring. "Rock Around the Clock" shot up the charts this time, and the result was an eight-week run in the number-one spot; by some estimates, it became the second biggest worldwide-selling single after Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" (oddly enough, also a Decca release), 25-million copies sold worldwide.
The success of "Rock Around the Clock" took place while Elvis Presley had yet to chart a record nationally; at a point when Chuck Berry's very first single for Chess had barely been recorded; and when Roy Orbison and Buddy Holly weren't even close to auditioning for recording contracts. One has to visualize a reality in which Bill Haley & His Comets were the only established white rock & roll band, and the only white rock & roll stars in the world. Within a year, that would all change, but it was long enough for Haley and his band to become stars, with appearances on national television and a movie deal of their own. From the end of 1954 until the end of 1956, they would place nine singles into the Top 20, one of those at number one and three more in the Top Ten.
The Comets were one of the best rock & roll bands of their era, with a mostly sax-driven sound ornamented with heavy rhythm guitar from Haley, a slap-bass, and drumming with lots of rim-shots; they had the "blackest" sound of any white band working in 1953-1955. It wasn't always obvious then, and has been forgotten today, precisely how fluid their membership was, for all of the consistency of that sound. Haley's two original bandmates from his Four Aces days, Johnny Grande and Billy Williamson, were formal partners, joined to him at the hip legally, with fixed shares in the group's earnings; tenor saxman Joey D'Ambrosio, bassist Marshall Lytle, and drummer Dick Richards, by contrast, were hired employees earning 150 dollars a week plus expenses -- a respectable living for most working musicians in 1955 -- when "Rock Around the Clock" hit the top of the charts. Ironically, Danny Cedrone, whose guitar dominated that song and the key Essex hits "Rock the Joint" and "Crazy, Man, Crazy," died in an accident in July of 1954, and his successor, Franny Beecher, was earning 150 dollars a week when he worked with the band. In the late summer of 1955, with a number-one single to their credit and lots of work in front of them, D'Ambrosio, Lytle, and Richards all demanded raises, which Haley refused to grant them. They quit that month and formed a short-lived Comets soundalike unit called the Jodimars (taken from parts of their first names), who recorded for Capitol Records. Beecher was taken into the group as a full-time member (though not a partner) and remained with them until 1961, while D'Ambrosio's successor, Rudy Pompilli, became a core member of the band, working with them virtually without interruption for the next 19 years, until his death in 1975.
In the late spring of 1956, rock & roll changed again as Elvis Presley, who was younger, leaner, and a more fiercely sexual presence, emerged as a star; he not only made music that was as good as Haley's but he looked the role of a rock & roll star. The differences in their respective images could be summed up by examining the truest scenes in the movies that each did. Rock Around the Clock, starring Bill Haley & His Comets, was a highly fictionalized account of the band and its success, but it did capture something of the spirit of the early days of rock & roll, with some good performance clips; the comparable Elvis Presley movie was Loving You, in which the singer played a fictionalized version of himself, named Deke Rivers. In Loving You, when Deke Rivers performs in front of an audience and sets the girls screaming and swooning, his would-be manager comments, "If he'd gone on any longer, they'd be giving him their door keys." In Rock Around the Clock, by contrast, the single truest scene depicts a would-be promoter driving through rural Pennsylvania and chancing upon a dance where Haley and company are playing; he enters, sees hundreds of kids dancing to the band's music, and asks a woman being lifted up over the head of her partner, "Hey sister, what's that exercise you're getting?" She answers, exuberantly, legs in the air, "It's rock & roll!"
Haley's music was the soundtrack to a good time, whether dancing or more private recreation; Presley's music, at least where women were concerned, was an invitation to sexual fantasy about the singer. Nobody except the three Mrs. Haleys could have had sexual fantasies about pudgy, balding, dorky-looking Bill Haley. And, yet, Haley was every bit as outrageous and daring in what he got away with in his music as the worst accusations ever leveled against Presley; even Haley's bowdlerized version of "Shake, Rattle and Roll" was the most overtly sexual song ever to reach the American Top Ten up to that time, and "Rock Around the Clock" wasn't very far behind. Though Max C. Freedman might've meant his song differently, taken literally in the true meaning of the word "rock" as it was used in 1953-1954, "Rock Around the Clock" was a bouncing, beguiling musical account of 24 hours of sexual activity, and the precursor to such numbers as "Reelin' & Rockin'" by Chuck Berry. Haley might've looked the part of the square trying to be cool once Presley came along, but on those two songs he was as culturally and morally subversive as the worst warnings of the anti-rock & roll zealots intimated.
Haley may not have seemed a cutting-edge artist after mid-1956, but he remained a force to be reckoned with in music for another year, cutting good singles -- including "Razzle-Dazzle," "Burn That Candle," and "See You Later Alligator" -- and several surprisingly strong albums. He did gradually lose touch with the teenage audience, and his square persona couldn't possibly compete with the likes of Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Chuck Berry, though the group always put on a good show. Additionally, overseas, where any visiting American artist was treated well, Haley was greeted like visiting royalty; he always had large and fiercely loyal audiences in England, France, and Germany, which would turn out in huge numbers to see him.
By 1959, Haley was no longer placing either singles or albums anywhere near the top of the charts. His brand of rock & roll, made up of R&B crossed with country boogie and honky tonk, was passé, and a switch to instrumentals didn't solve the problem of falling sales. None of this would have been so bad, except that Haley -- mostly through the horrendous job done by his business manager Jim Ferguson -- had managed to squander most of what he'd earned during the good years, and owed a crippling tax liability to the government as well. Contrary to the popular perception, he remained an active musician throughout the 1960s, recording for Warner Bros. and a brace of other U.S. labels, and he also found a lucrative performing and recording career in Mexico (where Haley, not Chubby Checker or Hank Ballard, started the "twist" craze). He pursued a music career while avoiding tax liens, and trying to keep a marriage and a collapsing publishing business together. Haley managed to pull it off, getting through the decade with some possessions still in his hands, mostly by juggling a lot of gigs in Mexico and Europe and taking lots of payments in cash. Curiously, during this period Haley himself became something of a rock & roll historian in interviews; perhaps sensitive to his own experience of being shunted aside, when he talked about the twist phenomenon, he went out of his way to credit Hank Ballard as the originator of the song, and always acknowledged his debt to Big Joe Turner for SHAKE, RATTLE, AND ROLL.
By the late '60s, with the advent of the rock & roll revival, Haley suddenly found himself faced for the first time in a decade with major demand for his work in America. It couldn't have happened at a better time, because that same year, for the first time in more than ten years, he didn't owe anything to the government. The Internal Revenue Service had been seizing all of his royalties from Decca Records for a decade, and luckily for him, Decca (possibly thanks to Milt Gabler) had been honest in its accounting; in that time, sales of "Rock Around the Clock" and his other Decca hits, mostly overseas, had wiped out Haley's entire six-figure tax debt. And to top off the good news, Haley not only had a full concert schedule in front of him in the U.S.A., but major record labels interested in recording him; he ended up signing with Buddha/Kama Sutra Records for a pair of live albums. The next few years showed Haley in a triumphant comeback around the world. To top it all off, "Rock Around the Clock" even charted anew in the Top 40 during 1974 when it turned up as the theme music for the hit television series Happy Days during its first season.
By the 1970s, however, age and the ravages of time were starting to catch up on all concerned. Saxman Rudy Pompilli, who'd been with him since 1955, died in 1975, and Haley eventually retired from performing. During his final years, Haley developed severe psychological problems that left him delusional at least part of the time. By the time of his death in 1981, the process of reducing his role in the history of rock & roll had already begun, partly a result of ignorance on the part of the writers handling the histories by then, and also, to a degree, as a result of political correctness; he was white, and was perceived as having exploited R&B, and there were enough people like that in the early history who had to be written about but were easier to cast as "rebels."
In the years since his death, the surviving members of the Comets, including pianist Johnny Grande guitarist Franny Beecher, saxman Joey D'Ambrosio, bassist Marshall Lytle, and drummer Dick Richards, all in their 70s and 80s, have continued to work together and were still able to perform to sell-out crowds in Europe during the 1990s and early 2000s, doing Haley's classic repertory. Haley's own reputation has increased somewhat, particularly in the wake of Bear Family Records' release of two boxes covering his career from 1954 through 1969, and Roller Coaster Records' issuing of Haley's Essex Records sides. True, there are perhaps 45 songs on those 12 CDs of material that Haley should not have bothered recording, but there are hundreds more in those same collections, some of it dazzling and all of it constituting a serious body of solid, often inspired rock & roll, interspersed here and there with some good country sides. Perhaps little of the post-1957 stuff could set the whole world on fire, but Haley had already been there and done that, and still had a lot of good music to play.
Laverne Baker, a pioneer of early rhythm and blues, entertains us in track 22 with her 1959 recording of JIM DANDY. Baker was a pioneering voice in the fusion of R&B and rock 'n' roll in the 50s. In 1947 she was discovered in a Chicago nightclub by bandleader Fletcher Henderson. Although still in her teens, the singer won a recording contract with the influential OKeh Records, where she was nicknamed "Little Miss Sharecropper" and "Bea Baker". Having toured extensively with the Todd Rhodes Orchestra, Baker secured a prestigious contract with Atlantic Records, with whom she enjoyed a fruitful relationship. "Tweedle Dee" reached both the US R&B and pop charts in 1955, selling in excess of one million copies, and the artist was awarded a second gold disc two years later for JIM DANDY In 1959, she enjoyed a number 6 pop hit with "I Cried A Tear" and throughout the decade Baker remained one of black music's leading performers. Although eclipsed by newer acts during the 60s, the singer enjoyed further success with "Saved", written and produced by Leiber And Stoller, and "See See Rider", both of which inspired subsequent versions, notably by the Band and the Animals.
Baker's final chart entry came with "Think Twice", a 1966 duet with Jackie Wilson, as her "classic" R&B intonation grew increasingly out of step with the prevalent soul/Motown Records boom. After leaving Atlantic, Baker is probably best known for "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show". In the late 60s, while entertaining US troops in Vietnam, she became ill, and went to the Philippines to recuperate. She stayed there in self-imposed exile for 22 years, reviving her career at New York's Village Gate club in 1991. During the following year she undertook a short UK tour, but audience numbers were disappointing for the only female, along with Aretha Franklin, who had, at that time, been elected to the US Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. She replaced Ruth Brown in the Broadway musical Black And Blue in the early 90s, but ill health from diabetes, together with the amputation of both her legs, made her final years miserable. Baker had a stunning voice that with little effort could crack walls, and yet her ballad singing was wonderfully sensitive.
Track 23 of this volume features Chuck Willis (read his profile in Volume 4) with his 1957 recording of HANG UP MY ROCK AND ROLL SHOES. R&B singer Willis made his recording debut in 1951. The following year he reached number 2 in the black music charts with "My Story", the first of several hits the artist enjoyed while signed to the renowned OKeh Records label. In 1956 Willis had his first hit for Atlantic Records when "It's Too Late" reached the US R&B Top 3, and the following year he topped the same chart with the compulsive "C.C. Rider". In April 1958, the singer succumbed to peritonitis, in the wake of which his posthumous single, "What Am I Living For", sold in excess of one million copies. The ironically titled b-side, I’M GONNA HANG UP MY ROCK AND ROLL SHOES, also reached the R&B Top 10, and despite his brief life and career, Willis remained an influential stylist in the development of R&B. He composed many of his best-known recordings, and cover versions by acts as disparate as Derek And The Dominos, the Animals, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Band, Ted Taylor and Otis Redding are a tribute to their longevity.
We wrap up this volume with Danny and the Juniors singing ROCK AND ROLL IS HERE TO STAY. The music presented in this volume strongly supports this statement. This Philadelphia-based, Italian-American vocal quartet comprised lead vocalist Danny Rapp (b. 10 May 1941, d. 4 April 1983), first tenor Dave White, second tenor Frank Mattei and baritone Joe Terranova. Formed in 1955 as the Juvenairs, their song "Do The Bop" came to the attention of Dick Clark, who suggested the title change "At The Hop". They took his advice and released the song in 1957, initially with few sales. However, after they sang it on Clark's television show Bandstand, it was picked up by ABC-Paramount and shot to the top of the US chart for five weeks. Despite comments from the British music press that the group was amateur and imitative, it made the UK Top 3 and sold over two million copies worldwide. They followed it with their only other US Top 20 hit, the similar-sounding and prophetically titled ROCK AND ROLL IS HERE TO STAY. In 1960 they signed to Dick Clark's Swan Records where they gained their fourth and last US Top 40 hit, "Twistin' U.S.A." (they re-recorded it unsuccessfully for the UK as "Twistin England").
They recorded songs about such dance crazes as the Mashed Potato, Pony, Cha Cha, Fish, Continental Walk and Limbo, but could not repeat their earlier success, even when they released "Back To The Hop" in 1961. Later in the 60s they also appeared on Guyden, Mercury Records and Capitol Records, where they re-recorded "Rock 'n' Roll Is Here To Stay" in 1968. Dave White left the group in the early 60s to concentrate on writing and production and composed a number of hits, including "You Don't Own Me" for Lesley Gore and "1-2-3" and "Like A Baby" for Len Barry, before recording a solo album on Bell in 1971. In the 70s they played the "oldies" circuit with a line-up that included Fabian's ex-backing singer Jimmy Testa. In 1976 a reissue of their classic "At The Hop" returned them to the UK Top 40. After a few quiet years, leader Rapp was found dead in Arizona in 1983, having apparently committed suicide.
 

VOLUME 7 – THE DANCING DOO WOP JUKEBOX

1.  Roy Head - Treat Her Right

2.  Etta James - Something's Got a Hold on Me

3.  Same Cooke - Everybody Likes the Cha Cha Cha

4.  Little Anthony & the Imperials -  Shimmy Shimmy Ko Ko Bop

5.  The Johnny Otis Show - Willie and the Hand Jive

6.  Bo Diddley - I'm a Man

7.  The Olympics - (Baby) Hully Gully

8.  The Olympics - Western Movies

9.  The Olympics - Dancin' Holiday

10. Tommie Tucker - Hi Heel Snickers

11. The Flares - - Foot Stomping - Part 1

12. Bobby Comstock - Let's Stomp

13. The Dovells - The Bristol Stomp

14. Dee Dee Sharp - Mashed Potatoes

15. Chubby Checker & Dee Dee Sharp - Slow Twistin'

16. Chubby Checker - It's Pony Time

17. Bobby Lewis - Tossing and Turning

18. Joe Turner - Shake Rattle and Roll

19. Joe Turner - The Midnight Special

20. Etta James - Dance With Me Henry

21. Hank Ballard - Work With Me Annie

22. The Hollywood Flames - Buzz Buzz Buzz 

23. Bobby Day - Rockin' Robin

24. Elvis Pressley - Little Sister

25. Elvis Pressley - Too Much

This volume features some of the strongest dancing doo wops of the late 50’s and early 60’s. When you place money in this jukebox you will hear the rich bass, sax, and drum sounds that make doo wop dancing so entertaining. Also, a number of these tracks are actually named after dances such as Dee Dee Sharp’s MASHED POTATOES and the Dovell’s BRISTOL STOMP. Finally, in this volume, we are introduced to a number of artists who made the transition from recording doo wop to recording the soul sound of the 60’s. For example Little Anthony and the Imperials, Len Barry of the Dovells, the Olympics and Etta James sing doo wops in this volume. As we will examine in later volumes, these same artists crossed the bridge towards soul music in their later recordings
We begin Volume 7 with a track from actually a country and rock vocalist rather than a R & B performer. However, Roy Head cut one of the great pieces of up-tempo soul in the mid-'60s. TREAT HER RIGHT on Back Beat made it to number two on the R&B charts and number two pop, and the fact that Head was white was soft-pedaled in R&B circles while the song made its way up the charts. That performance alone was enough to qualify Head as one of the finest blue-eyed soul singers of the 1960s. But in fact, Roy was one of the most versatile stylists of the era, capable of hard R&B/rock tunes (even cutting material with a pre-fame Johnny Winter on backup guitar); mournful, soul-tinged country; and straight R&B and blues covers. Head was also an excellent entertainer, and his live shows of the period even included some fancy footwork clearly under the influence of James Brown.
The Texan singer is remembered as a one-shot artist, but he actually cut many records (some under the auspices of noted producer Huey Meaux) throughout the 1960s on a confusing variety of labels. A few of these were tiny hits in the wake of "Treat Her Right," with only a couple ("Just a Little Bit" and "Apple of My Eye") sneaking into the Top 40. Quite a few of his records were dynamic, sleek hybrids (in varying degrees) of soul, rock, and country, all featuring Head's cocky, confident vocals. In a sense, though, he was damned by his versatility, not fitting comfortably into any niche or marketing plan; the tiny labels he recorded for lacked national promotional muscle in any case. In the 1970s, after several years without success in the rock or R&B fields, Head returned to country, and landed quite a few chart hits in the arena between 1974 and 1985.
On the third track of this volume, Sam Cooke demonstrates why he is in the rock hall of fame. This song, EVERYBODY LIKES TO CHA CHA CHA , was a dancing favorite in 1960 . A lot of music fans learned how to dance cha cha cha from listening to this recording.
Born on 22 January 1931, in Clarksdale, Mississippi, USA, d. 11 December 1964, Los Angeles, California, USA. to the Reverend Charles Cook and his wife Annie May, the family relocated to Chicago during the 30s. The devout young Sam Cook first performed publicly with his brother and two sisters in their Baptist quartet, the Soul Children. As a teenager he joined the Highway QCs, before replacing Rebert "R.H." Harris in the Soul Stirrers. Between 1951 and 1956 Cook (now with an "e") sang lead with this innovative gospel group after being coached by another member, R.B. Robinson. Cooke's distinctive florid vocal style was soon obvious on "Touch The Hem Of His Garment" and "Nearer To Thee". The Soul Stirrers recorded for the Specialty Records label, where the singer's popularity encouraged producer Robert "Bumps" Blackwell to provide Cooke with pop material. "Loveable"/"Forever" was issued as a single in 1957, disguised under the pseudonym "Dale Cook" to avoid offending the gospel audience. Initially content, the label's owner, Art Rupe, then objected to the sweetening choir on a follow-up recording, "You Send Me", and offered Cooke a release from his contract in return for outstanding royalties. The song was then passed to the Keen label, where it became a smash hit and sold in excess of two million copies and topped the US singles chart for three weeks.
Further hits, including "Only Sixteen" and "Wonderful World", followed, and Cooke also had the foresight to set up his own publishing company, Kags Music, with J.W. Alexander in 1958. Cooke left Keen for RCA Records where original compositions such as "Chain Gang" (1960), "Cupid" (1961) and "Twistin' The Night Away" (1962), displayed a pop craft later offset by such grittier offerings as "Bring It On Home To Me" and Willie Dixon's "Little Red Rooster". Other magnificent offerings were to follow as Cooke just seemed to get better and better. "Nothing Can Change This Love", "Having A Party", "Mean Old World" and "Somebody Have Mercy" were all first class songs. Although RCA attempted to market him as a supper-club performer in the tradition of Sammy Davis Jnr. and Nat "King" Cole, Cooke was effectively creating a new style of music, soul, by reworking the gospel anthems that remained at the heart of his music. To promote this new music, Cooke and Alexander founded the SAR and Derby labels, on which the Simms Twins' "Soothe Me" and the Valentinos' "It's All Over Now" were issued. Cooke also enlisted Allen Klein to become his business manager in 1963 and handle his other interests.
Cooke's singing career was in the ascendant at the time of his tragic death. He had just released the superb Ain't That Good News, but the purity of the music on the album made his tawdry fate all the more perplexing. Already he had already experienced the death of his first wife and the tragic drowning of his son Vincent in a swimming pool in June 1963. On 11 December 1964, according to the Los Angles police department, Cooke was involved in an altercation at a downmarket Los Angeles motel with Lisa Boyer, a woman he had allegedly picked up that night. The singer was fatally shot by the manager of the motel, Bertha Franklin, and although subsequent investigations have disputed this outcome no definitive version has been forthcoming.
Sadly, the ebullient "Shake" became a posthumous hit, but its serene coupling, "A Change Is Gonna Come", was a more melancholic and powerful epitaph. Arguably his finest composition, its title suggested a metaphor for the concurrent Civil Rights movement. Cooke's legacy continued through his various disciples - Johnnie Taylor, who had replaced Cooke in the Soul Stirrers, bore an obvious debt, as did Bobby Womack of the Valentinos. Cooke's songs were interpreted by acts as diverse as Rod Stewart, the Animals and Cat Stevens, while the Rolling Stones' cover version of "Little Red Rooster' echoed Cooke's reading rather than that of Howlin" Wolf. Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson - the list of those acknowledging Cooke's skill is a testimony in itself. The 1986 compilation The Man And His Music provides an excellent overview of the singer's career. Cooke was a seminal influence on all soul music and R&B. His effortless and smooth delivery demonstrated an incredible natural singing voice that has rarely been surpassed.

The Cha-Cha-Cha continues on track 4 with SHIMMY SHIMMY KOKO BOP By Little Anthony and the Imperials. This 1960 recording was one of the groups largest doo wop hits.A vital link between doo-wop and sweet soul, the Imperials were the prototype for the Delfonics and Stylistics. Gourdine first recorded in 1956 as a member of the Duponts. From there he helped form the Chesters, who became the Imperials on signing to the End label. The "Little Anthony" prefix was subsequently added at the suggestion of the influential disc jockey Alan Freed. The group's first hit, the haunting Al Lewis-penned "Tears On My Pillow" (1958), encapsulated the essence of street-corner harmony. Further success came with "So Much" (1959) and SHIMMY SHIMMY KO KO BOP (1960), before Gourdine was persuaded to embark on an ill-fated solo career. In 1964, he formed a "new" Imperials around Wright, Collins and Sammy Strain (b. 9 December 1940). Their first hit, "I'm On The Outside (Looking In)", showcased Gourdine's dazzling falsetto, a style continued on "Goin' Out Of My Head" and "Hurt So Bad" (both of which reached the US pop Top 10). Complementing these graceful releases were such up-tempo offerings as "Better Use Your Head" and "Gonna Fix You Good" (both 1966). The line-up later drifted apart and in 1974 Sammy Strain replaced William Powell in the O'Jays. Three years later, Collins formed his own "Imperials", touring Britain on the strength of two hit singles, a reissued "Better Use Your Head", and a new recording, "Who's Gonna Love Me". In the 80s Gourdine released Daylight on the religious outlet Songbird.
This doo wop group adapted their honey-smooth style to fit the sweet uptown soul sound of the mid-'60s. Right from the beginning, Little Anthony's aching way with a ballad was the group's calling card, but their repertoire was balanced by more R&B-inflected dance tunes. Little Anthony was born Jerome Anthony Gourdine in 1940, and grew up in Brooklyn's Fort Greene projects. While in high school, he sang in a doo wop group called the Duponts, who recorded a single called "Prove It Now" in 1957. They disbanded after graduation, however, and Gourdine joined another group called the Chesters, which had been formed by his friend Clarence Collins (baritone) and also featured longtime friend Ernest Wright Jr. (tenor); the other members were Tracy Lord (tenor) and Nat Rogers (bass). After a one-off single for Apollo, they landed a record deal with the End label in 1958, at which point their name was changed to the Imperials. ("Little Anthony" was later tagged onto the beginning by DJ Alan Freed.)The Imperials' first single for End was the classic heartache ballad "Tears on My Pillow," a Top Five smash on both the pop and R&B charts. Little Anthony's dramatic interpretation was certainly helped in the public eye by his youthful-sounding voice and name, which recalled the recently popular Frankie Lymon. The single's B-side, "Two People in the World," was also something of a hit, making the Imperials one of the hottest vocal groups around. Landing a follow-up hit proved difficult, however; the group charted several singles -- "So Much," "Wishful Thinking," "A Prayer and a Juke Box" -- without even approaching their earlier success. Finally, the novelty dance track "Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko-Ko-Bop" caught on in 1960 and returned Little Anthony & the Imperials to the upper reaches of the charts (though it missed the Top Ten). The follow-ups "My Empty Room" and "Please Say You Want Me" flopped, however, and Little Anthony decided to try a solo career in late 1961.The Imperials continued on with a new lineup of Collins, Wright, Sammy Strain, and George Kerr, the latter of whom was replaced by Kenny Seymour in 1962. Neither Little Anthony nor his erstwhile group had any luck on their own, and in late 1963 he returned to the fold, replacing Seymour. The next summer, the reconstituted Imperials signed with the DCP label, where producer/songwriter Teddy Randazzo made them a priority. His first effort with the group, "I'm on the Outside (Looking In)," reached number 15 on both the pop and R&B charts in 1964, reestablishing the Imperials as a commercial presence. The follow-up, "Goin' Out of My Head," was a smash, returning them to the pop Top Ten for the first time since "Tears on My Pillow"; it was covered quite often in the years that followed, and grew into something of a pop standard. The Imperials' streak of good fortune continued with the equally dramatic ballad "Hurt So Bad," another Top Ten hit that also became their second R&B Top Fiver in 1965. A couple of smaller hits followed later that year in "I Miss You So" and the pop/R&B Top 20 "Take Me Back."Little Anthony & the Imperials continued to chart singles over the next several years, but only one -- 1969's "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" -- breached the Top 50 on either the pop or R&B sides. That same year, the group switched labels to United Artists, and Ernest Wright Jr. departed to join singer Tony Williams' latter-day version of the Platters. He was replaced by a returning Kenny Seymour, who was in turn replaced by Bobby Wade in 1971, the year of the group's last chart single, "Help Me Find a Way (To Say I Love You)." Sammy Strain left in 1972 and wound up joining the O'Jays four years later; his replacement was Harold Jenkins. Little Anthony himself left the group a second time in 1975 to pursue solo recording as well as an acting career, which effectively spelled the end of the road; nonetheless, a Collins-led lineup did manage to score one last hit in the U.K., 1977's "Who's Gonna Love Me." Little Anthony became a born-again Christian in 1978 and subsequently recorded a gospel album, Daylight. Anthony, Collins, Wright, and Strain reunited in 1992 and toured the oldies circuit steadily thereafter.
Johnny Otis was an actor as well as am excellent singer. In track 5 he sings one of his largest hits, the 1958 recording of WILLIE AND THE HAND JIVE.
Johnny Otis has modeled an amazing number of contrasting musical hats over a career spanning more than half a century. Bandleader, record producer, talent scout, label owner, nightclub impresario, disc jockey, TV variety show host, author, R&B pioneer, rock & roll star -- Otis has answered to all those descriptions and quite a few more. Not bad for a Greek-American who loved jazz and R&B so fervently that he adopted the African-American culture as his own.
California-born John Veliotes changed his name to the blacker-sounding Otis when he was in his teens. Drums were his first passion -- he spent time behind the traps with the Oakland-based orchestra of Count Otis Matthews and kept time for various Midwestern swing outfits before settling in Los Angeles during the mid-'40s and joining Harlan Leonard's Rockets, then resident at the Club Alabam.
It wasn't long before the Alabam's owner entreated Otis to assemble his own orchestra for house-band duties. The group's 1945 debut sides for Excelsior were solidly in the big-band jazz vein and included an arrangement of the moody "Harlem Nocturne" that sold well. Shouter Jimmy Rushing fronted the band for two tracks at the same date. Otis's rep as a drummer was growing; he backed both Wynonie Harris and Charles Brown (with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers) that same year.
The Otis outfit continued to record for Excelsior through 1947 (one date featured Big Jay McNeely on sax), but his influence on L.A.'s R&B scene soared exponentially when he and partner Bardu Ali opened the Barrelhouse Club in Watts. R&B replaced jazz in Otis' heart; he pared the big band down and discovered young talent such as the Robins, vocalists Mel Walker and Little Esther Phillips, and guitarist Pete Lewis that would serve him well in years to come.
Otis signed with Newark, NJ-based Savoy Records in 1949, and the R&B hits came in droves: "Double Crossing Blues," "Mistrustin' Blues," and "Cupid's Boogie" all hit number one that year (in all, Otis scored ten Top Ten smashes that year alone!); "Gee Baby," "Mambo Boogie," and "All Nite Long" lit the lamp in 1951, and "Sunset to Dawn" capped his amazing run in 1952 (vocals were shared by Esther, Walker, and other members of the group). By then, Otis had branched out to play vibes on many waxings.
In late 1951, Otis moved to Mercury, but apart from a Walker-led version of Floyd Dixon's "Call Operator 210," nothing found pronounced success with the public. A 1953-1955 contract with Don Robey's Peacock logo produced some nice jump blues sides but no hits (though the Otis orchestra backed one of his many discoveries, Big Mama Thornton, on her chart-topping "Hound Dog," as well as a young Little Richard while at Peacock). Otis was a masterful talent scout; among his platinum-edged discoveries were Jackie Wilson, Little Willie John, Hank Ballard, and Etta James (he produced her debut smash "Roll With Me Henry").
In 1955, Otis took studio matters into his own hands, starting up his own label, Dig Records, to showcase his own work as well as his latest discoveries (including Arthur Lee Maye & the Crowns, Tony Allen, and Mel Williams). Rock & roll was at its zenith in 1957, when the multi-instrumentalist signed on with Capitol Records; billed as the Johnny Otis Show, he set the R&B and pop charts ablaze in 1958 with his shave-and-a-haircut beat, "Willie and the Hand Jive," taking the vocal himself (other singers then with the Otis Show included Mel Williams and the gargantuan Marie Adams & the Three Tons of Joy). During the late '50s, Otis hosted his own variety program on L.A. television, starring his entire troupe (and on one episode, Lionel Hampton), and did a guest shot in a 1958 movie, Juke Box Rhythm.
After cutting some great rock & roll for Capitol from 1957 to 1959 with only one hit to show for it, Otis dropped anchor at King Records in 1961-1962 (in addition to his own output, Otis's band also backed Johnny "Guitar" Watson on several sides). Later in the decade, Otis recorded some ribald material for Kent and watched as his young son Shuggie built an enviable reputation as a blues guitarist while recording for Columbia. Father and son cut an album together for Alligator in 1982, accurately entitled The New Johnny Otis Show.
In recent years, the multi-talented Otis added operating a California health-food emporium to his endless list of wide-ranging accomplishments. If blues boasts a renaissance man among its ranks, Otis surely fills that bill.
Bo Diddley, one of the most underrated doo wop performers of the 50’s and 60’s entertains us on track 6 with the flip side of his first single, the 1956 recording of I’M A MAN. The A side, entitled “Bo Diddley”, featured rich sounds of guitar instrumentals. This record became a double-sided hit.
He only had a few hits in the 1950s and early '60s, but as Bo Diddley sang, "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover." You can't judge an artist by his chart success, either, and Diddley produced greater and more influential music than all but a handful of the best early rockers. The Bo Diddley beat -- bomp, ba-bomp-bomp, bomp-bomp -- is one of rock & roll's bedrock rhythms, showing up in the work of Buddy Holly, the Rolling Stones, and even pop-garage knock-offs like the Strangeloves' 1965 hit "I Want Candy." Diddley's hypnotic rhythmic attack and declamatory, boasting vocals stretched back as far as Africa for their roots, and looked as far into the future as rap. His trademark otherworldly vibrating, fuzzy guitar style did much to expand the instrument's power and range. But even more important, Bo's bounce was fun and irresistibly rocking, with a wisecracking, jiving tone that epitomized rock & roll at its most humorously outlandish and freewheeling.
Before taking up blues and R&B, Diddley had actually studied classical violin, but shifted gears after hearing John Lee Hooker. In the early '50s, he began playing with his longtime partner, maraca player Jerome Green, to get what Bo's called "that freight train sound." Billy Boy Arnold, a fine blues harmonica player and singer in his own right, was also playing with Diddley when the guitarist got a deal with Chess in the mid-'50s (after being turned down by rival Chicago label Vee-Jay). His very first single, "Bo Diddley"/I’M A MAN (1955), was a double-sided monster. The A-side was soaked with futuristic waves of tremolo guitar, set to an ageless nursery rhyme; the flip was a bump-and-grind, harmonica-driven shuffle, based around a devastating blues riff. But the result was not exactly blues, or even straight R&B, but a new kind of guitar-based rock & roll, soaked in the blues and R&B, but owing allegiance to neither.
Diddley was never a top seller on the order of his Chess rival Chuck Berry, but over the next half-dozen or so years, he'd produce a catalog of classics that rival Berry's in quality. "You Don't Love Me," "Diddley Daddy," "Pretty Thing," "Diddy Wah Diddy," "Who Do You Love?," "Mona," "Road Runner," "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover" -- all are stone-cold standards of early, riff-driven rock & roll at its funkiest. Oddly enough, his only Top 20 pop hit was an atypical, absurd back-and-forth rap between him and Jerome Green, "Say Man," that came about almost by accident as the pair were fooling around in the studio.
As a live performer, Diddley was galvanizing, using his trademark square guitars and distorted amplification to produce new sounds that anticipated the innovations of '60s guitarists like Jimi Hendrix. In Great Britain, he was revered as a giant on the order of Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters. The Rolling Stones in particular borrowed a lot from Bo's rhythms and attitude in their early days, although they only officially covered a couple of his tunes, "Mona" and "I'm Alright." Other British R&B groups like the Yardbirds, Animals, and Pretty Things also covered Diddley standards in their early days. Buddy Holly covered "Bo Diddley" and used a modified Bo Diddley beat on "Not Fade Away"; when the Stones gave the song the full-on Bo treatment (complete with shaking maracas), the result was their first big British hit.
The British Invasion helped increase the public's awareness of Diddley's importance, and ever since then he's been a popular live act. Sadly, though, his career as a recording artist -- in commercial and artistic terms -- was over by the time the Beatles and Stones hit America. He'd record with ongoing and declining frequency, but after 1963, he'd never write or record any original material on par with his early classics. Whether he'd spent his muse, or just felt he could coast on his laurels, is hard to say. But he remains a vital part of the collective rock & roll consciousness, occasionally reaching wider visibility via a 1979 tour with the Clash, a cameo role in the film Trading Places, a late-'80s tour with Ronnie Wood, and a 1989 television commercial for sports shoes with star athlete Bo Jackson.
The Olympics recorded many dance doo wop sounds in the late 50’s and early 60’s. They are featured in tracks 7, 8 and 9 with three of the largest dancing favorites. The HULLY GULLY on track 7 was a favorite tune at record hops throughout the country in the early 60’s. In the late 50’s WESTERN MOVIES provided humor along with dancing music. DANCING HOLIDAY was a dancing record recorded in mid 1963 that started to cross the bridge from doo wop to the soul format.
The Olympics were one of the great L.A.-based acts who managed to score regional hits on the West Coast by balancing upbeat and often humorous novelty R&B tunes with those about popular dances of the day (some of the other West Coast groups who fit this description were the Jay Hawks, the Cadets/Jacks, the Marathons, and the DooTones). They are perhaps best remembered for their Coasters-derived WESTERN MOVIES, but their other L.A.-area hits include the popular dance number BABY HULLY GULLY, "Big Boy Pete" (which stalled out at number 50 pop, but went to number ten R&B), and "Mine Exclusively."
The Olympics' original lineup -- raspy baritone Walter Ward (who sang lead), Eddie Lewis (tenor), Charles Fizer (baritone), and Walter Hammond (baritone) -- started out as Walter Ward & the Challengers, waxing "I Can Tell" in 1958. All three baritone leads rarely exploited their low range, preferring to sing in shrill high tones. They changed their name to the Olympics shortly thereafter, hooking up with the songwriting team of Fred Smith and Cliff Goldsmith, who wrote and produced the act's first hit in 1958 for Si Aronson's Hollywood-based Demon Records. "Western Movies," a Coasters-type novelty number, caught on quickly, right around the same time that all of America was preoccupied with Western-themed movies and TV shows. The single climbed to number eight pop and number seven R&B in 1958.
The Olympics then moved -- along with Smith and Goldsmith -- over to the Arvee label in 1959. For their numerous A-sides (for several labels), the Olympics preferred to issue inner-city generated dance ditties, including the Smith/Goldsmith-penned BABY HULLY GULLY, The Philly Dog," "The Slop," and "The Duck" (a local hit for Jackie Lee [aka Earl "Chip" Nelson]). The group only occasionally performed ballads, like the doo-wop inspired "Stay Where You Are," and a few rockers like "Shimmy Like Kate" and "Dance by the Light of the Moon." Mostly, the Olympics attempted to duplicate their hit status with novelty songs along the lines of "Western Movies."
Their biggest success in the novelty realm was their remake of "Big Boy Pete," written and first recorded by Don & Dewey for Specialty. Other regional hits included "Little Pedro," "Little Dooley," and "Big Chief Little Foot" (which featured "war whoops"). Others, like the humorous "Dodge City" and "(I Wanna) Dance With the Teacher" sound like teenage West Coast Americana at its most innocent (though at the time, extremist church groups saw nothing innocent about this type of material and often complained that their lyrics were the work of the devil).

 Several members of the Olympics also recorded a cover of the Marathons' hit "Peanut Butter," which had been a hit for their producer H.B. Barnum in 1961, waxed for the Checker label. The song was essentially a rewrite of the Olympics' "(Baby) Hully Gully." Arvee sued and acquired the "Peanut Butter" master through contract-infringement litigation. They then rounded up some more singers (including a few Olympics) to record "Peanut"'s successor and album tracks. What makes this more confusing was the fact that the Marathons had some, if not total, personnel overlap with the Vibrations on Checker (who had in 1956 been known as the Jayhawks, who recorded "Stranded in the Jungle" for Flash Records). The same group also performed on-stage as the Marathons. This initially has caused confusion as to whether the two group's shared the same lineup and who did which song and who was in which group at what time.
In total, Arvee released three albums by the Olympics -- Doin' the Hully Gully (1960), Dance by the Light of the Moon (1961), and Party Time (also 1961).
After the Olympics left Arvee, they scored a couple of hits in 1963 on the L.A.-based Tri-Disc label: the rollicking dance ditty "The Bounce" and DANCING HOLIDAY both produced by Fred Smith. In 1965, they moved over to the Loma label and recorded "Good Lovin'," which failed to connect, but a year later it was remade into a giant hit by the Young Rascals for Atlantic.
In 1966, the Olympics signed with Mirwood, the label run by ex-Vee-Jay executive Randy Wood (and not the Randy Wood from Dot Records). They recorded two hits: "(Baby) Do the Philly Dog" and the gospel-drenched East-side soul single "Mine Exclusively," which inched into Billboard's Hot 100 chart, reaching number 99 in May 1966. Sensing a resurgence of interest in the group, Wood decided to put out an album by the Olympics, but since he had only two minor hits, he opted to have them re-record their old hits from Demon, Arvee, and Tri- Disc for an album called Something Old, Something New. (These re-recorded versions have often been included in a vast majority of the reissues and various artist albums where the Olympics appear, much to the annoyance of collectors.)
Over the remaining years, the Olympics spawned a host of similar groups (the Contours, the Five Dutones, Bull & the Matadors), though hey continue to perform at oldies revival shows and around the country. The quartet consists of two original members, Walter Ward and Eddie Lewis. Charles Fizer passed away in 1963 and Walter Hammond retired. Their replacements William DeVase and Kenneth Sinclair have been with them for over 20 years.
After working with the Olympics, Fred Smith worked with Little Caesar & the Romans, and he and Goldsmith later formed Keyman Records. Smith is still alive and living in Los Angeles. Goldsmith died June 14, 1991, in Burbank, CA
Tommie Tucker also begins to cross the bridge from doo wop into soul music in his largest hit, HI HEEL SNEAKERS, featured on track 10 of this volume. Recorded in 1964, this dancing tune features an excellent guitar background.
When Tommy Tucker ordered his lady to "put on her hi-heel sneakers" in 1964, the whole world was listening, judging from the myriad of covers and sequels that followed in its wake.
Robert Higginbotham (Tucker's legal handle) grew up in Springfield, getting his little fingers accustomed to the ivories by age seven. Tucker joined saxist Bobby Wood's band in the late '40s as its piano player. When vocal groups became the rage, the band switched gears and became the Cavaliers, a doo wop outfit that remained intact into the late '50s. Tucker put together his own combo after that to play bars in Dayton, his personnel including guitarist Weldon Young and bassist Brenda Jones.
The trio eventually relocated to Newark, NJ, setting Tucker up for his debut solo session in 1961 for Atco. "Rock and Roll Machine" was issued as by Tee Tucker and already exhibited the gritty, Ray Charles-inflected vocal delivery that Tucker later used to great advantage. His traveling companions did pretty well for themselves, too: renamed Dean & Jean, they hit big in 1963-1964 with the lighthearted duets "Tra La La La Suzy" and "Hey Jean, Hey Dean" for Rust Records.
Tucker fortuitously hooked up with Atlantic Records co-founder Herb Abramson, who was working as an independent R&B producer during the early '60s. Among their early collaborations was the lowdown Jimmy Reed-style shuffle "Hi-Heel Sneakers" (Dean Young was the nasty lead guitarist). Abramson leased it to Checker Records and watched it sail to the upper reaches of the pop charts in early 1964. A terrific Checker LP and a trip to Great Britain were among the immediate upshot for the organist.
R&B star Don Covay co-wrote Tucker's follow-up, "Long Tall Shorty," an amusing tune in a similar groove. It barely scraped the lower end of the charts, and Tucker never scored another hit. That didn't stop Abramson from trying, though -- he produced Tucker singing a soulful "That's Life" in 1966 for his own Festival label, while "Alimony," another standout Checker 45, certainly deserved a better reception than it got in 1965.
Although the majority of his waxings were under Abramson's supervision, Tucker did travel to Chicago in 1966 to record with producer Willie Dixon in an effort to jump-start his fading career. "I'm Shorty" had Dixon contributing harmony vocals and Big Walter Horton on harp, but it didn't do the trick.
Abramson admirably stuck by his protégé, recording him anew for at least another decade, but most of the mixed results just gathered dust in his vaults. Tucker was still musically active when he died, a relatively young man, in 1982
The next three tracks of this volume (11, 12, and 13) feature dance tunes demonstrating “The Stomp”. In track 11, the Flares sing their 1961 hit of FOOT STOMPING PART 1. In track 12, vocalist Bobby Comstock sings his 1963 recording hit of LETS STOMP. Track 13 features Len Berry and the Dovells singing THE BRISTOL STOMP. This track is the original mono version of the 1962 recording.
Known for their 1961 up-tempo dance doo wop hit "Foot Stompin' Part 1," the Flares were related to, but not exactly the same as, the 1950s Los Angeles doo wop group the Flairs. The lineup changes undergone by both the Flairs and the Flares are difficult to track and digest, but basically the Flairs were formed by teenagers in L.A. in the early '50s and founded by future the Coasters member Cornell Gunter. Managed by Buck Ram (whose most famous clients were the Platters), the Flairs recorded for Modern, ABC-Paramount, and Antler. By 1960, just two of the original Flairs -- Tommy Miller and George Hollis -- were left, the quartet had expanded to a quintet, and female singer Beverly Harris was a member. At that point, they were recording for Felsted and changed their name to the Flares.
FOOT STOMPING – PART 1, boasting infectious interaction between the lead harmonizers, the bass singer, and rhythms that were indeed created by foot stomps, got to number 25 in late 1961. The Flares never followed that up with another hit, though they recorded more than half a dozen subsequent singles over the next couple of years or so, occasionally under the name the Peppers. Many of these sides were too-similar variations on the early soul-dance craze vibe that had fueled "Foot Stompin' Part 1," sometimes featuring lead female vocals. It's hard to keep up with the exact personnel shuffles of the lineup during the early '60s, but Aaron Collins (who wrote much of the Flares' material, including "Foot Stompin' Part 1") and Willie Davis were certainly involved in singing on their recordings and shared lead vocals on "Foot Stompin' Part 1," though they weren't always identified as members in publicity materials. Even more confusingly, several female singers recorded and performed with the group (who were pictured in press shots as a quintet with four guys and one girl), and the Flares that toured were not always the same as the Flares that recorded in the studio. At any rate, not many were paying attention to such matters by the time they disbanded around 1964.
Bobby Comstock, from Ithaca, New York recorded several hits from the late 50’s to the 70’s. One of his biggest dance hits, LET’S STOMP, is featured on track 12. This 1963 recording reached number 5 on the national pop charts. Comstock’s band backed up many R & B groups and solo artists on Richard Nader’s rock and roll shows. Once again this recording is a prime example of the doo wop sound crossing over to soul.
The Dovells recorded many doo wop dance hits during the early sixties. The original mono version of their 1962 recording of THE BRISTOL STOMP is featured here on track 13. Lead singer Len Berry left the group in 1963 to start a solo career and had some success with soul classics, such as ONE, TWO, THREE, which was recorded in 1965.
The Dovells are best known for a handful of early-'60s dance hits, including their biggest one -- "The Bristol Stomp" -- number one (according to Cash Box) and number two (Billboard) on the pop charts in 1961, climbing its way to number seven on the R&B charts as well. They went on to have four more dance hits, three of which charted in the Top 40, giving them five different charters to five different dances in a little over a year during 1962, including "Do the New Continental" (number 37), "Bristol Twistin' Annie" (number 27), "Hully Gully Baby" (number 25), and a Top 100 charter, "The Jitterbug" (number 82).
The Dovells originally formed in 1957 as the Brooktones, taking their name from Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, where each of the original members -- Jerry Gross (aka Jerry Summers), lead and first tenor, Len Borisoff (aka Len Barry), lead and tenor, Mike Freda (aka Mike Dennis), second tenor, Arnie Silver (aka Arnie Satin), baritone, Jim Mealey, bass, and part-timer Mark Gordesky (aka Mark Stevens), tenor -- attended classes. They began singing at local school functions and occasionally at John Madara's record store, located at 60th and Market Streets in Philly. (Madara had co-written "At the Hop" for Danny & the Juniors, in addition to other classics).
Inspired by Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers -- they would even record "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" and "I Want You to Be My Girl" -- the Brooktones performed for the next few years and even though their "No, No, No" gained some recognition in Philadelphia, the group had little success outside the immediate area and disbanded. Summers and Dennis left to form a new group called the Gems with Mark Stevens and Alan Horowitz in the summer of 1960. In the meantime, Barry and the other Brooktones were negotiating to sign with Bob Marcucci's Chancellor Records (home to teen idols Fabian and Frankie Avalon), adding William Shunkwiler and Jerry Sirlin.
In December of 1960, after a live audition was arranged for the quintet with Cameo/Parkway, they were quickly signed to the label. Barry later asked Summers to come back and help out on the harmonies and at Summer's suggestion, Mike Dennis also joined the group as well. They were now back to the core group. Cameo exec Bernie Lowe suggested the Brooktones change their name to the Deauvilles (after the Deuville Hotel in Miami Beach), but the group thought it was too hard to spell and changed it instead to the Dovells.
The Dovells' first single, released in March 1961, was a re-recorded version of "No, No, No" which fared little better the second time it was released. In May, the Dovells recorded "Out in the Cold Again" (a remake of the Teenagers' ballad) and a new song based on a dance that Parkway promotion man Billy Harper had witnessed kids doing at the Goodwin Fire Hall in Bristol, PA, just outside Philadelphia. It was called "The Stomp," so the Dovells' decided to give it a more formal name on their recording: "The Bristol Stomp." The song didn't chart during the summer of 1961, but in September, just as school was once again in session, the song broke out of the Midwest and began to get airplay, gaining enough momentum to go national by September 11. By mid-October, it was climbing the charts, making it all the way to number one.
Parkway followed up the Dovells' "Bristol" with several dance-related Top 40 tunes. During 1962, the Dovells were immortalizing every dance Dave Appell and Kal Mann (who wrote many of the Dovells' songs) could think of, but didn't have another hit until "You Can't Sit Down," their version of Phil Upchurch's "break" song. In 1964, the Dovells recorded one of the first covers of "She Loves You" by a new English group called the Beatles, but Parkway delayed its release, and when the original shot to number one, it seemed like a bad idea to release the Dovells version (which continues to sit in a vault somewhere).
The Dovells backed up Fabian, Chubby Checker, and Jackie Wilson at the Brooklyn Fox and often recorded as an uncredited vocal group behind Checker (that's them on the hit "Let's Twist Again"). They toured continuously too, until the inevitable tensions arose and ultimately exploded at a Christmas show performance in Miami Beach in December 1963. Len Barry quit the group. (He later signed with Decca as a solo act and is today remembered best for his hit single "One, Two, Three," which charted at number two on the pop charts in November 1965.) Now down to a trio, the remaining Dovells recorded three Parkway singles in 1964 and toward the end of 1965, they appeared in the film Don't Knock the Twist, appearing alongside Dion, Chubby Checker, and the Marcels.
In the spring of 1968, Summers came up with an idea for a song based on a skit he saw on TV's "Laugh-In" comedy show. The song -- -- like the repeated phrase from the skit -- was " "Here Come the Judge."It was recorded with a female lead, Jean Hillery, and was later released on MGM Recordsunder the name " The Magistrates. The other Dovells later heard the song and were clearly miffed. That summer, "Judge" became East Coast smash (#54 on Billboard's Pop charts), and the Dovells toured behind it with Hillery; when she came out they'd become the Magistrates (despite the hit, they'd never record again). Later, Dennis was replaced by part-time Dovell Mark Stevens.
In 1974, the Dovells recorded a cover of "Dancin' in the Street," which had been a huge hit for Martha and the Vandellas ten years before in 1964, but their version -- for the Event label -- barely charted at number 105. They continued to perform until Satin gave notice that he, too, would be leaving the group. Stevens and Summers decided to continue, having band members filling in on vocals and developing a Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis-styled stage act to go with their million-selling hits. This approach enabled them to work for another 16 weeks a year in Las Vegas. In 1991, Len Barry rejoined for two reunion performances. Summer and Stevens continue to perform nationally and internationally and have performed for former president Bill Clinton twice at inaugural balls. Summers also produces corporate events and runs an advertising agency when not performing with the Dovells.
Dee Dee Sharp sings her biggest hit, MASHED POTATOES TIME, on track 14. This was one of the most popular dances around during 1962, when the track was recorded. Dee Dee Sharp hit the biggest with her first record for the Cameo/Parkway label, a blessing that pigeonholed the Philly songstress as a teenybopper forever to be identified with her number one smash from 1962, MASHED POTATOES TIME. Living in Philadelphia, the home of Dick Clark's American Bandstand helped her career; she appeared on the syndicated teen dance show many times from 1962 to 1981. The first black female teen idol, Sharp also became a fixture on Clark's Caravan of Stars tours, and a familiar face in the popular 16 Magazine.
Born Dione LaRue on September 9, 1945, she played piano from an early age, and directed choirs at her grandfather's and other churches in Philadelphia. After her mother suffered debilitating injuries from a car accident when LaRue was only 13, she gained a job as a background singer and developed the skills to work on sessions by Lloyd Price, Frankie Avalon, Fabian, Bobby Rydell, Jackie Wilson, and Chubby Checker.
Lady luck helped when her vocals were added to Chubby Checker's SLOW TWISTING (1962) making it a duet. Her first solo session was scheduled the next day -- the MASHED POTATOES TIME session -- and at 17, Dione LaRue was became an overnight sensation. Producers Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe didn't like LaRue's name so they created Dee Dee Sharp, since everyone called her D and she sang in D sharp.
Smaller hits followed: "Gravy (For My Mashed Potatoes)," "Ride," "Do the Bird," "Wild," "Willyam, Willyam," "Never Pick a Pretty Boy," and "I Really Love You" in 1965 -- Sharp's first R&B record. None sold like her first, but the young singer did all right. She appeared on American Bandstand to promote every release; Cameo promoted her as pop so she didn't see much of the chitlin' circuit; the label also sent her to modeling and charm school.
Sharp and Checker hooked up and recorded an album together entitled Down to Earth, one of nine LPs that Cameo issued on Sharp (all with blinding colorful colors). Languishing record sales prompted her exit from Cameo to Atco/Atlantic Records. The Atco deal materialized partly because the label was trying to snag her soon-to-be husband Kenny Gamble to produce records, and used Sharp as bait. Three singles appeared (from 1966-1968) including a duet with Ben E. King ("Whatcha Gonna Do About It"). The tracks, done mostly in Memphis, were harder than the Cameo sides, but the promotion wasn't there. Displeased at Atco's efforts, Sharp, Gamble, and Leon Huff started Gamble Records in 1967, which issued three Dee Dee Sharp singles. Two more appeared on Gamble & Huff's TSOP label, including the LP Happy 'Bout the Whole Thing. She then signed with Philadelphia International (PIR) -- as Dee Dee Sharp-Gamble -- for five singles and "Conquer the World Together," a duet with Bunny Sigler (as David Siqler).
Sharp also collaborated (uncredited) on many of the songs on Gamble Records, but by the time her second PIR album came out, she had begun divorce proceedings, finalized by 1980. A new earthier, sophisticated, foxy Sharp emerged after the Cameo recordings but nothing happened. While Checker made a career cutting dance hits and became an international superstar, Sharp's career lacked the horsepower, though she maintained good visibility via television, tours, concerts, and club dates that took her around the world. Besides her many television spots, she appeared in films including Desperately Seeking Susan, Don't Knock the Twist, Hairspray, Sister Act, and Troop Beverly Hills. A beauty, Sharp remarried (to Bill Witherspoon) and has been linked romantically with Gene Chandler, Muhammad Ali, and David Ruffin. Sharp enjoyed a fruitful career, despite minimal chart action after 1966. And except for some racial incidents in the South experienced by many African-American performers in the era, she emerged unscathed, un-addicted, and unscarred.
Chubby Checker and Dee Dee Sharp team up as a duo in track 15 with the 1962 recording of SLOW TWISTING. As we mentioned the MASHED POTATOES TIME was recorded the next day. On track 16, Checker sings his 1961 hit PONY TIME.
Chubby Checker was the unrivaled king of the rock & roll dance craze; although most of the dances his records promoted -- the Pony, "the Fly," and the Hucklebuck, to cite just three -- have long since faded into obscurity, his most famous hit, "The Twist," remains the yardstick against which all subsequent dancefloor phenomena are measured. Born Ernest Evans on October 3, 1941, in Philadelphia, he worked in a local poultry shop while in high school, and while on the job often entertained customers by singing and cracking jokes. His workplace antics helped win an audition with the local Cameo-Parkway label, who signed the fledgling singer in 1959; at the suggestion of no less than Dick Clark's wife, the portly youth was re-christened Chubby Checker, the name a sly reference to Fats Domino.
Checker's first single, "The Class," showcased his skills as an impressionist; while the record became a minor novelty hit, none of its immediate follow-ups were successful. In 1960, however, he recorded "The Twist," a cover of a 1958 Hank Ballard & the Midnighters B-side; Checker's rendition de-emphasized the original's overtly sexual overtones, focusing instead on the song's happy-go-lucky charms. The single rocketed to number one during the autumn of 1960, remaining on the charts for four months; some time after it dropped off, it slowly returned to prominence, and in late 1961 it hit number one again; the only record ever to enjoy two stays at the top more than a year apart. After "The Twist" first made Checker a superstar, he returned to the top in 1961 with "Do the Pony"; that same year, he also reached the Top Ten with "Let's Twist Again," which assured the dance's passage from novelty to institution.
In addition to 1961's "The Fly," Checker's other Top Ten hits included three 1962 smashes: "Slow Twistin'," "Limbo Rock," and "Popeye the Hitchhiker." He even starred in a pair of feature films, Twist Around the Clock and Don't Knock the Twist. In total, Checker notched 32 chart hits before the bubble burst in 1966; as interest in dance novelties dwindled, he briefly turned to folk music, and became a regular on the nightclub circuit. From the 1970s onward, he was a staple of oldies revival tours; in 1982, more than a decade after his last studio LP, he signed with MCA and issued the disco-inspired The Change Has Come, scoring a pair of minor hits with the singles "Running" and "Harder Than Diamond." In 1988, Checker returned to the Top 40 for the first time in a quarter century when he appeared on the Fat Boys' rap rendition of "The Twist," and he continued touring regularly throughout the decade to follow.
Track 17 features another dancing favorite, entitled TOSSING AND TURNING. Recorded in 1960, this record had a sound of its own to make people dance.
Bobby Lewis is one of those talented performers whose recognition is confined to a single monster hit, "Tossin' and Turnin'." Released in early 1961, the single rode the charts to 23 weeks, eventually hitting the number one spot on both the pop and R&B charts. Lewis had other hits, including a Top Ten follow-up with "One Track Mind," and had been working for years before that, yet the one song came to be his signature.
Bobby Lewis was raised in an orphanage, and ran away from his foster home at age 14. He worked carnivals, and eventually joined the Leo Hines Orchestra in Indianapolis as a singer. He worked small clubs and theaters during the 1950s, and cut "Mumbles Blues" for the Spotlight label early in that decade, passed through the Mercury Records roster, and briefly hooked up with Nat Tarnopol, who also managed Jackie Wilson.
In late 1960, while appearing at the Apollo Theater in New York, Lewis stopped at the offices of Beltone Records, a small independent outfit in Manhattan, and was prevailed upon to record a song written by another artist on the Apollo bill, Ritchie Adams, called "Tossin' and Turnin'." The single was issued at the end of 1960, and lightning struck in 1961 -- sales of the record were so strong that for the only time in its history, Beltone issued an accompanying album by Lewis. None of his subsequent records sold remotely as well as the three million copies of "Tossin' and Turnin'," and by the end of 1962, Lewis seemed to have run out his string; in 1963, Beltone itself went belly-up. Lewis later had limited success ("Stark Raving Mad") on ABC-Paramount, and was soon after consigned to rock & roll history, somewhat unfairly, as a one-hit wonder
In the mid-50’s big Joe Turner was in the middle of the hard dancing rock and roll craze. His recording of SHAKE, RATTLE, AND ROLL, featured on track 18 was not only a large hit, but a Hollywood movie success as well. THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL, featured on track 19 was a successful follow-up up.

 "Big' Joe Turner (aka Big Vernon) began singing in local clubs in his early teens upon the death of his father, and at the age of 15 teamed up with pianist Pete Johnson. Their professional relationship lasted on-and-off for over 40 years. During the late 20s and early 30s, Turner toured with several of Kansas City's best black bands, including those led by George E. Lee, Bennie Moten, Andy Kirk and Count Basie. However, it was not until 1936 that he left his home ground and journeyed to New York City. Making little impression on his debut in New York, Turner, with Johnson, returned in 1938 to appear in John Hammond Jnr."s From Spirituals To Swing concerts and on Benny Goodman's Camel Caravan CBS radio show, and this time they were well received. Johnson teamed up with Albert Ammons and Meade "Lux" Lewis as the Boogie Woogie Boys and sparked the boogie-woogie craze that subsequently swept the nation and the world. Turner's early recordings depicted him as both a fine jazz singer and, perhaps more importantly, a hugely influential blues shouter.
He appeared on top recording sessions by Benny Carter, Coleman Hawkins and Joe Sullivan as well as his own extensive recording for Vocalion Records (1938-40) and Decca Records (1940-44), which featured accompaniment by artists such as Willie "The Lion" Smith, Art Tatum, Freddie Slack or Sammy Price, when Johnson, Ammons or Lewis were unavailable. After World War II, Turner continued to make excellent records in the jazz-blues/jump-blues styles for the burgeoning independent labels - National (1945-47), Aladdin (1947, which included a unique Battle Of The Blues session with Turner's chief rival, Wynonie Harris), Stag and RPM (1947), Down Beat/Swing Time and Coast/DooTone (1948), Excelsior and Rouge (1949), Freedom (1949-50), and Imperial/Ba'you (1950), as well as a west coast stint in 1948/9 with new major MGM Records. As the 40s wore on, these recordings, often accompanied by the bands of Wild Bill Moore, Maxwell Davis, Joe Houston and Dave Bartholomew, took on more of an R&B style which began to appeal to a young white audience by the early 50s.
In 1951 "Big" Joe started the first of 13 years with the fledgling Atlantic Records, where he became one of the very few jazz/blues singers of his generation who managed to regain healthy record sales in the teenage rock 'n' roll market during the mid- to late 50s. His early Atlantic hits were largely blues ballads such as "Chains Of Love" and "Sweet Sixteen", but 1954 witnessed the release of Turner's "Shake Rattle And Roll" which, covered by artists such as Bill Haley and Elvis Presley, brought the 43-year-old blues shouter some belated teenage adoration. This was maintained with such irresistible (and influential) classics as "Hide And Seek" (1954)FLIP, FLOP, FLY, The Chicken And The Hawk" (1955), "Feelin' Happy" (1956) and "Teenage Letter" (1957). At the height of rock 'n' roll fever, Atlantic had the excellent taste to produce a retrospective album of Turner singing his old Kansas City jazz and blues with a peerless band, featuring his old partner Pete Johnson. The album, The Boss Of The Blues, has since achieved classic status.
In the late 50s, Atlantic's pioneering rock 'n' roll gave way to over-production, vocal choirs and symphonic string sections. In 1962 Turner left this fast-expanding independent company and underwent a decade of relative obscurity in the clubs of Los Angeles, broken by the occasional film appearance or sporadic single release on Coral and Kent. The enterprising Bluesway label reintroduced "Big" Joe to the general public. In 1971 he was signed to Pablo Records, surrounded by old colleagues such as Count Basie, Eddie Vinson, Pee Wee Crayton, Jay McShann, Lloyd Glenn and Jimmy Witherspoon. He emerged irregularly to produce fine one-off albums for Blues Spectrum and Muse, and stole the show in Bruce Ricker's essential jazz film, The Last Of The Blue Devils. Turner's death in 1985 was as a result of 74 years of hard living, hard singing and hard drinking, but he was admired and respected by the musical community and his funeral included musical tributes by Etta James and Barbara Morrison.
Etta James returns in this volume on track 20 to sing a dynamic doo wop entitled DANCE WITH ME HENRY. Of course, this song was recorded in the 50’s, long before SOMETHING GOT A HOLD OF ME was recorded. The later recording starts crossing the bridge from doo wop to soul. Track 20’s song was popular during the doo wop era.
Hank Ballard in the Midnighters sing one of their hard core hits, WORK WITH ME ANNIE in track 20. As we pointed out earlier in the world of early rhythm & blues and doo wop, Hank Ballard was the very definition of earthiness. Though influenced by high-energy gospel vocal groups, Ballard's music with the Midnighters couldn't have been more diametrically opposed in terms of subject matter: his lyrics were filled with raunchy double-entendres that left little to the imagination, pushing the envelope of what was considered acceptable in the '50s. His songs were sometimes banned on the radio, but that only made him an even bigger jukebox favorite among black audiences. Ballard's hard-driving, rhythmic style was also an underappreciated influence on the rawer side of R&B, particularly on a young James Brown; plus, his composition "The Twist" -- recorded for a hit by Chubby Checker -- became one of the biggest hits in rock & roll history.
WORK WITH ME ANNIE topped the R&B charts and nearly reached the pop Top 20, despite a number of radio stations refusing to air the song. It inspired a number of answer records and the Midnighters themselves entered the fray with the sequels "Annie Had a Baby" (another R&B chart-topper) and "Annie's Aunt Fannie." They also scored another major smash with the Ballard-penned "Sexy Ways," which solidified their reputation as R&B's most risqué act.
Bobby Day (Read his profile in Volume6) returns as the lead singer of the Hollywood Flames with the 1957 doo wop recording of BUZZ, BUZZ, BUZZ, on track 22. This song was one of the largest R & B doo wop hits of the year. In track 23, Bobby Day sings with the Satallites, with his 1958 hit of ROCKING ROBIN.
An important cog in Los Angeles' doo wop community during the '50s, Bobby Day wrote three often-covered early rock classics in 1957-1958. Day was part of the Hollywood Flames, one of the area's top R&B vocal groups, and briefly part of Bob & Earl, later to hit without Day on "Harlem Shuffle." Day formed his own group, the Satellites, in 1957, cutting the original "Little Bitty Pretty One" for Class Records. A nearly identical cover by Thurston Harris beat the original out, so Day countered with the driving ROCKING ROBIN in 1958, an R&B chart-topper. Its flip, OVER AND OVER (listen to Volume 6) was a hit in its own right, although the Dave Clark Five's 1965 revival is better remembered today. Day waxed a few more hits for Class in 1959, including "That's All I Want" and a derivative "The Bluebird, the Buzzard & the Oriole," flitting from label to label during the '60s.
This volume ends with two of Elvis Pressley’s largest hits from the late 50’s: LITTLE SISTER and TOO MUCH on tracks 24 and 25 respectfully. Pressley almost had an uncountable number of million sellers. Some of his recordings show a strong doo wop and soul relationship. The two songs included here are strong dance tunes with a strong R & B flavor.
The most celebrated popular music phenomenon of his era and, for many, the purest embodiment of rock 'n' roll, Elvis Presley's life and career have become part of rock legend. The elder of twins, his younger brother, Jesse Garon, was stillborn, a tragedy that partly contributed to the maternal solicitude dominating his childhood and teenage years. Presley's first significant step towards a musical career took place at the age of eight when he won $5 in a local song contest performing the lachrymose Red Foley ballad, "Old Shep". His earliest musical influence came from attending the Pentecostal Church and listening to the psalms and gospel songs. He also had a strong grounding in country and blues and it was the combination of these different styles that was to provide his unique musical identity.
By the age of 13, Presley had moved with his family to Memphis, and during his later school years began cultivating an outsider image, with long hair, spidery sideburns and ostentatious clothes. After leaving school he took a job as a truck driver, a role in keeping with his unconventional appearance. In spite of his rebel posturing, Presley remained studiously polite to his elders and was devoted to his mother. Indeed, it was his filial affection that first prompted him to visit Sun Records, whose studios offered the sophisticated equivalent of a fairground recording booth service. As a birthday present to his mother, Gladys, Presley cut a version of the Ink Spots' "My Happiness", backed with the Raskin/Brown/Fisher standard "That's When Your Heartaches Begin". The studio manager, Marion Keisker, noted Presley's unusual but distinctive vocal style and informed Sun's owner/producer Sam Phillips of his potential. Phillips nurtured the boy for almost a year before putting him together with country guitarist Scotty Moore and bass player Bill Black. Their early sessions showed considerable promise, especially when Presley began alternating his unorthodox low-key delivery with a high-pitched whine. The amplified guitars of Moore and Black contributed strongly to the effect and convinced Phillips that the singer was startlingly original. In Presley, Phillips saw something that he had long dreamed and spoken of discovering; a white boy who sang like a Negro.
Presley's debut disc on Sun was the extraordinary "That's All Right (Mama)", a showcase for his rich, multi-textured vocal dexterity, with sharp, solid backing from his compatriots. The b-side, "Blue Moon Of Kentucky", was a country song, but the arrangement showed that Presley was threatening to slip into an entirely different genre, closer to R&B. Local response to these strange-sounding performances was encouraging and Phillips eventually shifted 20,000 copies of the disc. For his second single, Presley recorded Roy Brown's "Good Rockin' Tonight" backed by the zingy "I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine". The more roots-influenced "Milk Cow Blues Boogie" followed, while the b-side, "You're A Heartbreaker", had some strong tempo changes that neatly complemented Presley's quirky vocal. "Baby Let's Play House"/"I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" continued the momentum and led to Presley performing on The Grand Old Opry and Louisiana Hayride radio programmes. A series of live dates commenced in 1955 with drummer D.J. Fontana added to the ranks. Presley toured clubs in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas billed as "The King Of Western Bop" and "The Hillbilly Cat". Audience reaction verged on the fanatical, which was hardly surprising given Presley's semi-erotic performances. His hip-swivelling routine, in which he cascaded across the stage and plunged to his knees at dramatic moments in a song, was remarkable for the period and prompted near-riotous fan mania. The final Sun single, a cover version of Junior Parker's "Mystery Train", was later acclaimed by many as the definitive rock 'n' roll single, with its chugging rhythm, soaring vocal and enticing lead guitar breaks.
It established Presley as an artist worthy of national attention and ushered in the next phase of his career, which was dominated by the imposing figure of Colonel Tom Parker. The Colonel was a former fairground huckster who managed several country artists including Hank Snow and Eddy Arnold. After relieving disc jockey Bob Neal of Presley's managership, Parker persuaded Sam Phillips that his financial interests would be better served by releasing the boy to a major label. RCA Records had already noted the commercial potential of the phenomenon under offer and agreed to pay Sun Records a release fee of $35,000, an incredible sum for the period. The sheer diversity of Presley's musical heritage and his remarkable ability as a vocalist and interpreter of material enabled him to escape the cultural parochialism of his R&B-influenced predecessors. The attendant rock 'n' roll explosion, in which Presley was both a creator and participant, ensured that he could reach a mass audience, many of them newly affluent teenagers.
It was on 10 January 1956, a mere two days after his 21st birthday, that Presley entered RCA's studios in Nashville to record his first tracks for a major label. His debut session produced the epochal "Heartbreak Hotel", one of the most striking pop records ever released. Co-composed by Hoyt Axton's mother Mae, the song evoked nothing less than a vision of absolute funereal despair. There was nothing in the pop charts of the period that even hinted at the degree of desolation described in the song. Presley's reading was extraordinarily mature and moving, with a determined avoidance of any histrionics in favour of a pained and resigned acceptance of loneliness as death. The economical yet acutely emphatic piano work of Floyd Cramer enhanced the stark mood of the piece, which was frozen in a suitably minimalist production. The startling originality and intensity of "Heartbreak Hotel" entranced the American public and pushed the single to number 1 for an astonishing eight weeks. Whatever else he achieved, Presley was already assured a place in pop history for one of the greatest major label debut records ever released. During the same month that "Heartbreak Hotel" was recorded, Presley made his national television debut displaying his sexually enticing gyrations before a bewildered adult audience whose alleged outrage subsequently persuaded producers to film the star exclusively from the waist upwards. Having outsold his former Sun colleague Carl Perkins with "Blue Suede Shoes", Presley released a debut album that contained several of the songs he had previously recorded with Sam Phillips, including Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti", the R&B classic "I Got A Woman" and an eerie, wailing version of Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart's "Blue Moon", which emphasized his remarkable vocal range.
Since hitting number 2 in the UK lists with "Heartbreak Hotel", Presley had been virtually guaranteed European success and his profile was increased via a regular series of releases as RCA took full advantage of their bulging back catalogue. Although there was a danger of overkill, Presley's talent, reputation and immensely strong fanbase vindicated the intense release schedule and the quality of the material ensured that the public was not disappointed. After hitting number 1 for the second time with the slight ballad "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You", Presley released what was to become the most commercially successful double-sided single in pop history, "Hound Dog"/"Don't Be Cruel". The former was composed by the immortal rock 'n' roll songwriting team of Leiber And Stoller, and presented Presley at his upbeat best with a novel lyric, complete with a striking guitar solo and spirited hand clapping from his backing group the Jordanaires. Otis Blackwell's "Don't Be Cruel" was equally effective with a striking melody line and some clever and amusing vocal gymnastics from the hiccuping King of Western Bop, who also received a co-writing credit. The single remained at number 1 in the USA for a staggering 11 weeks and both sides of the record were massive hits in the UK.
Celluloid fame for Presley next beckoned with Love Me Tender, produced by David Weisbert, who had previously worked on James Dean's Rebel Without A Cause. Presley's movie debut received mixed reviews but was a box-office smash, while the smouldering, perfectly enunciated title track topped the US charts for five weeks. The spate of Presley singles continued in earnest through 1957 and one of the biggest was another Otis Blackwell composition, "All Shook Up", which the singer used as a cheekily oblique comment on his by now legendary dance movements. By late 1956 it was rumoured that Presley would be drafted into the US Army and, as if to compensate for that irksome eventuality, RCA, Twentieth Century Fox and the Colonel stepped up the work-rate and release schedules. Incredibly, three major films were completed in the next two-and-a-half years. Loving You boasted a quasi-autobiographical script with Presley playing a truck driver who becomes a pop star. The title track became the b-side of "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear" which reigned at number 1 for seven weeks. The third movie, Jailhouse Rock, was Presley's most successful to date with an excellent soundtrack and some inspired choreography. The Leiber and Stoller title track was an instant classic that again topped the US charts for seven weeks and made pop history by entering the UK listings at number 1.
The fourth celluloid outing, King Creole (adapted from the Harold Robbins novel, A Stone For Danny Fisher), is regarded by many as Presley's finest film and a firm indicator of his sadly unfulfilled potential as a serious actor. Once more the soundtrack album featured some surprisingly strong material such as the haunting "Crawfish" and the vibrant "Dixieland Rock". By the time King Creole was released in 1958, Elvis had already been inducted into the US Forces. A publicity photograph of the singer having his hair shorn symbolically commented on his approaching musical emasculation. Although rock 'n' roll purists mourned the passing of the old Elvis, it seemed inevitable in the context of the 50s that he would move towards a broader base appeal and tone down his rebellious image. From 1958-60, Presley served in the US Armed Forces, spending much of his time in Germany where he was regarded as a model soldier. It was during this period that he first met 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, whom he later married in 1967. Back in America, the Colonel kept his absent star's reputation intact via a series of films, record releases and extensive merchandising. Hits such as "Wear My Ring Around Your Neck", "Hard Headed Woman", "One Night", "I Got Stung", "A Fool Such As I" and "A Big Hunk O' Love" filled the long, two-year gap and by the time Presley reappeared, he was ready to assume the mantle of all-round entertainer. The change was immediately evident in the series of number 1 hits that he enjoyed in the early 60s. The enormously successful "It's Now Or Never", based on the Italian melody "O Sole Mio", revealed the King as an operatic crooner, far removed from his earlier raucous recordings. "Are You Lonesome Tonight?", originally recorded by Al Jolson as early as 1927, allowed Presley to quote some Shakespeare in the spoken-word middle section as well as showing his ham-acting ability with an overwrought vocal.
The new clean-cut Presley was presented on celluloid in GI Blues. The movie played upon his recent army exploits and saw him serenading a puppet on the charming chart-topper "Wooden Heart", which also allowed Elvis to show off his knowledge of German. The grandiose "Surrender' completed this phase of big ballads in the old-fashioned style. For the next few years Presley concentrated on an undemanding spree of films, including Flaming Star, Wild In The Country, Blue Hawaii, Kid Galahad, Girls! Girls! Girls!, Follow That Dream, Fun In Acapulco, It Happened At The World's Fair, Kissin" Cousins, Viva Las Vegas, Roustabout, Girl Happy, Tickle Me, Harem Scarum, Frankie And Johnny, Paradise - Hawaiian Style and Spinout. Not surprisingly, most of his album recordings were hastily completed soundtracks with unadventurous commissioned songs. For his singles he relied increasingly on the formidable Doc Pomus/Mort Shuman team who composed such hits as "Mess Of Blues", LITTLE SISTER and "His Latest Flame". More and more, however, the hits were adapted from films and their chart positions suffered accordingly. After the 1963 number 1 "Devil In Disguise", a bleak period followed in which such minor songs as "Bossa Nova Baby", "Kiss Me Quick", "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby" and "Blue Christmas" became the rule rather than the exception. Significantly, his biggest success of the mid-60s, "Crying In The Chapel", had been recorded five years earlier, and part of its appeal came from the realization that it represented something ineffably lost.
In the wake of the Beatles' rise to fame and the beat boom explosion, Presley seemed a figure out of time. Nevertheless, in spite of the dated nature of many of his recordings, he could still invest power and emotion into classic songs. The sassy "Frankie And Johnny" was expertly sung by Presley, as was his moving reading of Ketty Lester's "Love Letters". His other significant 1966 release, "If Everyday Was Like Christmas", was a beautiful festive song unlike anything else in the charts of the period. By 1967, however, it was clear to critics and even a large proportion of his devoted following that Presley had seriously lost his way. He continued to grind out pointless movies such as Double Trouble, Speedway, Clambake and Live A Little, Love A Little, even though the box office returns were increasingly poor. His capacity to register instant hits, irrespective of the material was also wearing thin, as such lowly placed singles as "You Gotta Stop" and "Long Legged Woman" demonstrated all too alarmingly. However, just as Presley's career had reached its all-time nadir he seemed to wake up, take stock, and break free from the artistic malaise in which he found himself. Two songs written by country guitarist Jerry Reed, "Guitar Man" and "US Male', proved a spectacular return to form for Elvis in 1968, such was Presley's conviction that the compositions almost seemed to be written specifically for him. During the same year, Colonel Tom Parker had approached NBC-TV about the possibility of recording a Presley Christmas special in which the singer would perform a selection of religious songs similar in feel to his early 60s album His Hand In Mine. However, the executive producers of the show vetoed that concept in favour of a one-hour spectacular designed to capture Elvis at his rock 'n' rollin" best. It was a remarkable challenge for the singer, seemingly in the autumn of his career, and he responded to the idea with unexpected enthusiasm.
The Elvis TV Special was broadcast in America on 3 December 1968 and has since become legendary as one of the most celebrated moments in pop broadcasting history. The show was not merely good but an absolute revelation, with the King emerging as if he had been frozen in time for 10 years. His determination to recapture past glories oozed from every movement and was discernible in every aside. With his leather jacket and acoustic guitar strung casually round his neck, he resembled nothing less than the consummate pop idol of the 50s who had entranced a generation. To add authenticity to the proceedings he was accompanied by his old sidekicks Scotty Moore and D.J. Fontana. There was no sense of self-parody in the show as Presley joked about his famous surly curled-lip movement and even heaped passing ridicule on his endless stream of bad movies. The music concentrated heavily on his 50s classics but, significantly, there was a startling finale courtesy of the passionate "If I Can Dream" in which he seemed to sum up the frustration of a decade in a few short lines. The critical plaudits heaped upon Elvis in the wake of his television special prompted the singer to undertake his most significant recordings in years. With producer Chips Moman overseeing the sessions in January 1969, Presley recorded enough material to cover two highly praised albums, From Elvis In Memphis and From Memphis To Vegas/From Vegas To Memphis. The former was particularly strong with such distinctive tracks as the eerie "Long Black Limousine" and the engagingly melodic "Any Day Now". On the singles front, Presley was back in top form and finally coming to terms with contemporary issues, most notably on the socially aware "In The Ghetto", which hit number 2 in the UK and number 3 in the USA. The glorious "Suspicious Minds", a wonderful song of marital jealousy, with cascading tempo changes and an exceptional vocal arrangement, gave him his first US chart-topper since "Good Luck Charm" back in 1962. Subsequent hits such as the maudlin "Don't Cry Daddy", which dealt with the death of a marriage, ably demonstrated Presley's ability to read a song. Even his final few films seemed less disastrous than expected.
In 1969's Charro, he grew a beard for the first time in his portrayal of a moody cowboy, while A Change Of Habit dealt with more serious subject matter than usual. More importantly, Presley returned as a live performer at Las Vegas, with a strong backing group including guitarist James Burton and pianist Glen D. Hardin. In common with John Lennon, who also returned to the stage that same year with the Plastic Ono Band, Presley opened his set with Carl Perkins' "Blue Suede Shoes". His comeback was well received and one of the live songs, "The Wonder Of You", stayed at number 1 in Britain for six weeks during the summer of 1970. There was also a revealing documentary film of the tour - That's The Way It Is - and a companion album that included contemporary cover versions, such as Tony Joe White's "Polk Salad Annie", Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary" and Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline".
During the early 70s Presley continued his live performances, but soon fell victim to the same artistic atrophy that had bedevilled his celluloid career. Rather than re-entering the studio to record fresh material he relied on a slew of patchy live albums that saturated the marketplace. What had been innovative and exciting in 1969 swiftly became a tedious routine and an exercise in misdirected potential. The backdrop to Presley's final years was a sordid slump into drug dependency, reinforced by the pervasive unreality of a pampered lifestyle in his fantasy home, Graceland. The dissolution of his marriage in 1973 coincided with a further decline and an alarming tendency to put on weight. Remarkably, he continued to undertake live appearances, covering up his bloated frame with brightly coloured jump suits and an enormous, ostentatiously jewelled belt. He collapsed onstage on a couple of occasions and finally on 16 August 1977 his tired body expired. The official cause of death was a heart attack, undoubtedly brought on by barbiturate usage over a long period. In the weeks following his demise, his record sales predictably rocketed and "Way Down" proved a fittingly final UK number 1.
The importance of Presley in the history of rock 'n' roll and popular music remains incalculable. In spite of his iconographic status, the Elvis image was never captured in a single moment of time like that of Bill Haley, Buddy Holly or even Chuck Berry. Presley, in spite of his apparent creative inertia, was not a one-dimensional artist clinging to history but a multi-faceted performer whose career spanned several decades and phases. For purists and rockabilly enthusiasts it is the early Presley that remains of greatest importance and there is no doubting that his personal fusion of black and white musical influences, incorporating R&B and country, produced some of the finest and most durable recordings of the century. Beyond Elvis "The Hillbilly Cat", however, there was the face that launched a thousand imitators, that black-haired, smiling or smouldering presence who stared from the front covers of numerous EPs, albums and film posters of the late 50s and early 60s. It was that well-groomed, immaculate pop star who inspired a generation of performers and second-rate imitators in the 60s. There was also Elvis the Las Vegas performer, vibrant and vulgar, yet still distant and increasingly appealing to a later generation brought up on the excesses of 70s rock and glam ephemera. Finally, there was the bloated Presley who bestrode the stage in the last months of his career. For many, he has come to symbolize the decadence and loss of dignity that is all too often heir to pop idolatry. It is no wonder that Presley's remarkable career so sharply divides those who testify to his ultimate greatness and those who bemoan the gifts that he seemingly squandered along the way.
Twenty years after Presley's death, in August 1997, there was no waning of his power and appeal. Television, radio, newspapers and magazines all over the world still found that, whatever was happening elsewhere, little could compare to this anniversary. Almost five years later, a remix of the 1968 single "A Little Less Conversation" by Dutch DJ Junkie XL provided Presley with his eighteenth UK chart-topper. In doing so, he nudged ahead of the Beatles to claim the record number of UK number 1 singles. The attendant compilation set topped the album charts on both sides of the Atlantic.