ie mais s LOWE ee roy DARREL | Ya ees ape el i; et pede VINTAGE ROCK SO UTR Taye TSR a aS i aay one ae a 1S TT REALLY THE FOR LITTLE MISS DYNAMITE? Ts! Tat] ui RIHARD'S Ca Sf RT Pr tate a STE A ET ee eee CA il ill il NOW SHE’S HUNG UP HER BOOTS WE CELEBRATE HER REIGN AciicusRO welt EEKENDX |VINTAGE ROCK Poca Hos endo Wad Hah ALP sinageroch fathering ‘wrwvinagremageam cick coco EprTORWiryn ARFEDITORS Anew Mgr anlymeregnoanen pulsing Alex Doce lexduce@antor-pabisingcn Apverrising. ADVERTISING MANAGER Ain ajo ‘fanmail Ha(Q uss AD PRODUCTION Pia le Iiaahknetion ping ‘CHIE EXECUTIVE Jo ey Jenin piso MANAGINGDIRECTOR Sinn Levis “neelewanenrpalonscues (CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jey Cock tir terceiceeerer ‘ganna cana hingesen ‘conrnimurors Geter tl Dar Dah, ze sen Caen, Vins ager Ras John Hoan Helen Jerome Dg Phan, Dal West Willa Gti Son Ld 440902720011 twlaiee (G10 Shure Mace, Canary Wha Lond, LICENSING wnat gia arsksgmgenalcom SUBSCRIPTIONS & RACKISSUES orem san ons seo) ‘anren-pblahngcon ene OUTEEISIE A FSC INDEPENDENT PUBLISHING “ES COMPANY OF THEYEAR = ppa SEETEY sho was just six when she first told her AIMANNTA ‘2d ofher plans to become a singer and PTITVOAUORNUNG Sensei" wndasackson would go fs Sam] on to completely redefine what it ‘meant to be a woman in music. Despite what Capitol Records told her when she first approached them, she showed the industry that girls do sell records, lots of “em, And she was happy to point out that girls could rock as hard as any man, Faced with a lack of material she could relate to, she vowed to create her own, and the likes of Mean Mean Man sparked off that nascent desire to sing songs from a woman's perspective. While the ‘mainstream media of the time presented women as kitchen- dwelling husband-pleasers, Jackson was the dichotomy of that sexist, staid image. From her primal, snarling voeals - as stirrings anything that came out of the rockabilly fraternity’s mouth - through to her many Rose Maddox-inspired, often damn right outrageous stage outfits (as flamboyant as anything hanging in Elvis Presley’s wardrobe), Wanda levelled the playing field, and then some. Plus, of course, even though she ‘went on to have a romantic involvement with the King, who encouraged and influenced her, she was in the charts before he was. She threw caution to the wind when she strayed from her country audience (and the stuffy Opry establishment that had the audacity to make her cover up) and transformed herself into a rockabilly queen — give Funnel Of Love a quick spin for a clever illustration of her transition. She may have hung up her touring boots and fringe dresses this year, but Wanda’s spiritis one that will endure. Her parting legacy goes far beyond the grooves of those classic records. The party she started back in the 50s is still very much going on, alive in the veins of every female artist in existence — even if they don't know it. While some big names hold her in very high esteem: Adele, Bob Dylan, Rosanne Cash, Imelda May, Elvis Costello, Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springsteen and Jack White amongst them... Ever since the girl from Oklahoma tore it up on Town Hall Party back in 1959 the game was changed forever. Without doubt, Wanda Jackson did things her way. An atomic fireball indeed. ae YEON Enjoy the issue! Kale Rik Flynn Editor nuOCK 3WANDA JACKSON, B They called her “the sweet lady with the nasty voice”, and 65, years on from her ist it, You Cant Have My Love, the Queen OF Rockabily iss recardng (nat touring) ‘CLASSIC ALBUM: CLIFF 30 Remembering Cif Richards barnstorming debut THE PAYOLA SCANDAL Iwas the scandal that shook the music world of the 1950s and calmed one of rock no's most passionate cheerleaders BRENDA LEE a ‘Weta to the woman who was, amazingly, the top- charting solo female vocalist ofthe 1960s DARREL HIGHAM 4B The part-time Ka Man and fl-tine Enforcer chats to VR SANTO & JOHNNY 2 ‘eeatch up with onehaf of the legendary instrumental duo NICK LOWE The post-punk poster-boy talks about his love of rockabilly JERRY SCHILLING 66 The Memphis Mafia mainstay on ie withthe King ‘ALL MAMA’S CHILDREN 6 Sty-tve years of Rock land Line, lus obits for Dave Bartholomew and Dick Richards ON THE RADAR 4 ‘We profile Danny “0” & The Astrotones LEGENDS OF ROCK a Wetalk tothe now 8¢-yeas-young Art Adams ‘SUBSCRIPTIONS, 10 Never missa copy of Vintage Rack! ‘SINGLES AND EP REVIEWS n esserChups, Tastee, Diamond Daddios and more LP REVIEWS. a Link Wry, Kings Of ong Kong, Te Crewmen and more CD REVIEWS ‘nooks Eagin, Waren Smith, The Kokomo Kings and more LIVE REVIEWS: WILDEST CATS Vintage Rock was there atthe 1th Widest Cats In Town LIVE REVIEWS: STRAY CATS Therocebily revivalists are celebrating ther 40th this year LIVE REVIEWS: NASHVILLE BOOGIE 90 ‘Weead to Music City for one ofthe best festival inthe world ALIFE IN ROCKN’ROLL 2 In whic Vince remembers thelate Fedde Starr ROCKABILLY SOUNDTRACK OF MY LIFE 6 Graham Fenton post his go-orocatly sides CODA: GO, JOHNNY, GO! HITS THE CINEMAS 98 wen, §a Farewell Mr Big Beat... R&B pioneer Dave Bartholomew has died ave Bartholomew a true giant of RRB and one ofthe pioneers of rock'nroll, passed away in New Orleans on 23 June at 100 ‘years ofage. Asie ftom writing over 4.000 sons in hislifetime including huge its suchas Ain't That Shame written alongside longterm collaborator Fats Domino ~ and being inducted into both the Rock And Rol Hall Of Fame and the Songwriters Hall OF ame, Bartholomewalso provided Chuck terry with hisone and only Noh the novely song My Ding-A-Lin Bor in Edgar, Lousiana, in 1918, Bartholomew followed in his musician ind picked up the trumpet aged five before progressing cobecome asougheafter tumpet player on the big band ereuit and later becoming aanleader and arranger. After military service, he formed Dave Bartholomew and The Dew Droppers ain 149 released his debut L, scoring/an R&B hit single with Country Bay. Best-known fois lucrative 11-year tenure working with Pats, Bartholomew also worked withthe likes of Lloyd Price, Smiley Lewis, Shieley& Lee ad countless hers. her's footstep Bartholomew was over 100 years old before he finally waved adieu, leaving behind a towering musical legacy, as one ofthe gentine catalysts of the rocknoll sound, “His body simply broke down, Daddy was 100 years and six months old. Iewas just tha time" his son Dave Bartholomew Jr told the Associated Press. All Mama's Children Ered Sat DICK RICHARDS RIP ANOTHER COMET HAS PASSED ON Original ill Haley And Kis Comets’ drummer Dick Richards = born Dick Boccelli~ has died aged 95. Rock And Rol Hall Of Famer Richards joined Haley's Comets in 1952, justin time to provide the all-important rhythm for Haley's breakthrough hit Rock Around the Coch, released one yea later. Richards met up with his old Comets bandmates - Marshal Lytle, Joey Ambrose, Jonny Grande and Franny Beecher ~ in the late 80s to form Bill Haley's Original Comets and Continued playing with his own group, The Ready Rockers, Tight up until the end of his life, Dick Richards, a true rock'n'roll original. ROCK’N’ROLL RADIO ALL HAIL ACE CAFE RADIO! Those who haven't already come across Ace Cae Radio should remedy this situation immediatly. Blaing outa selection of rockin’ sounds from the United States and the United Kingdom, the onine station also promises a series of odcasts from Jaz FM D} = and rock'oll guru = David Freeman that are scheduled for upload soon and are billed to feature some insightful interviews withthe seats. Some top videos up there too! acecaferatio.com EO 7ALL CHILDREN ELVIS LIVE! announced a brand new mouth-w boxset released in celebration ofthe Soth anniversary of Elvis Presley’sinfamous International Hotel shows in Las Vegas in August 1969, Entitled Elvis Live 196, this sumptuous box houses I~ yes It complete Elvslive sets across Il diss, four of which are released forthe frst time ever, Elvis arrived in Veyas n’69 to play a fabled run of 57 sold out shows his firs live performances in eight years. It was also during this golden Vegas stretch that he firs aired Suspicious Minds liv, backed by the soon-to-named TCH Band and two voeal outfits, The Inperials and The Sweet Inspirations. The set comes with a52-page booklet with some superb photos and memorabilia Release in tandem with the CD set isa2-LP vinyl entitled Live At The International Hotel, Las Vegas, WV 26 August 1969, Both releases are out 9 August (legacyreeordings.com). Keep aneye out for Vintage Rock's coming Eivis Liv! special, out soon. a rm) HARRY DETHRONED AUSTIN BUTLER /S ELVIS Despite being touted forthe role of Eis in Baz Luhrmann’ hotly-anticinated Warne Bros Presley biopic, One Direction band member Harry Stles has been beaten toi by relative ‘unknown Austin Butler, 27-year-old Butler Posted the news on Instagram along with vis from Elvis’ ove Me Tender: “You have made my lite complete, and love you so.” Director Lulmann described the process as “a journey of extensive screen testing and music and performance workshops," adding,“ knew unequivocally hat | had found someone who Could embody the spirit of one ofthe wold most ionic musical figures.” Filming i due to go ahead next year with Holywood giant Tom Hanks taking the role of Colonel Tom Parker. 8 mnmacne, CAT BOX HAPPY 4OTH TO THE STRAY CATS Now the Stray Cats new album 40 has finally landed, it’s a good time to revs their back catalogue. Luckily, another tasty boxset has arrived ina timely fashion, and it's one we've been wating to get our hands on fora while, Released as part ofthe 40th anniversary celebration, Runaway Boys isa deluxe limited ceition set that features their ist three albums on vinyl ~ Stray Cats, Gonna Ball and ant'’Rave ~ as well as one vinyl entirely ‘made up of rare material, plus @40-page book that els the band’s story. The finishing touch «comes via a Stay Cats board game in which players speed around the UK fora rumble in Brighton and to London's infamous Ace Cafe. [Nice touch. Fantastic artwork too! Runaway Boys deluve 40th anniversary vnylis out 27 September via BMG. SPELL BOOK THE LIFE OF SCREAMIN’ JAY The lastest pagetumer to find a home on the Vintage Rock bookshelt is! Put a Spell on You The irae Life of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, the tnmissable biography of voodoo bluesman Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, written by Steve Bergsman and issued via Feral House. I's atop notch rea, in part thanks t the fact that Screamin’ Jay led sucha cary existence ~ tales of prison, coffins, knives anda ‘where the wind blows’ apporach to life - but also as Bergsman weaves ths strange yam skilfully. Look out fr cur Screamin’ Jay feature coming soon.Ritchie Gee Proudly Presents at Pontins Pakefield Lowestoft yo eat on ae HORE of De = WILDEST CATS in eA fen sal sa ISU/DES 2nd/DEC scp cn + pia Cyn Ind Bet Bae Incl Bre La » courte Gowen woe Mc enous ecacrasr SS bf Cause Det AatarntionALL CHILDREN ean Celebratin 65 Years Of Rock Island Line aturday 13 July marked the 65th anniversary of the day Lonnie Donegan anda band of musicians entered Studio? at the Decea recording complexin West Hampstead, London and cut asong that would alter the face of British muste for good. ‘King Of Skifile’ Donegan's game-changing recording of American folk song Rock Island Line would set in motion askiffle revolution that ushered in and melded with — che rock'n'roll sound to give the Brit scene its ‘own unique flavour and inspire a legion of ‘musical greats to follow Tewas the popularity often flick ‘Blackboard Jungie and in particular, its theme ~ Rock Around The Clock - thatled to ‘Rock Island Line being pushed as single ~ and it captured the zeitgeist and shot up the charts“Donegan’s incendiary delivery slike aspark ina forest of dry timber” noted diehard Donegan nut Billy Braga in The Guardian. 10 vce Wesa bizarre story. Inspired by his time servingin the army in Germany and the black American recordshe heard while stationed there, Donegan would end up ‘evolutionising British muse with a song popularised by black bluesman Lead Belly and originally catalogued by musicolois and folklorist John A Lomax (Huddle Leaetter, ka Lead Belly, was his assistant atthe time) who recorded an Arkansas “It was the popularity of Blackboard Jungle and its theme — Rock Around The Clock — that led to Rock Island Line being pushed asa single” prison work group singingitin 1934, Ie asong said to have itsoriginsin the 205, ‘when itwas sung by Clarence Wilson and his Rock Island Colored Booster Quartet, vocal group made up from workers on the CChieago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, Iesincredible to think thar at almost exactly the same time as Donegan was ‘waxing his breakthrough hit, over inthe US, in Memphis, a young Elvis Pres tryinghis luck at Sun Records for the very firsetime, The makingof kings on both sides ofthe Adantie~ simuleancousy. Donegan's tempo-shifted version of Rock Island Line was the first debut record tobe certified gold in the UK and went ‘Top 10 inboth the UK and US. The Decea studio is now a rehearsal spa lish National Opera, but passers-by ‘ill notice a new addition tothe exterior 0f165 Broadhurst Gardens: blue plague tocommemorate the historical session was unveiled by Lonnie’ two sons, efor the comeProny Ro tt 33 rt eat r ed rr 3RD JAN 2020 | 8 NIGHTS FROM Een AN UNFORGETTABLE ELVIS EXPERIENCE VISITING MEMPHIS & TUPEL@ Maule eT ARENA @® ) or call 01473 794 897 SPECIALIST ROCK & POP AUCTIONEERS G WE ARE THE NO. 1 AUCTION HOUSE WORLDWIDE FOR VINYL & THE Coogee Marea Cw OMEGA THE BEST PLACE TO SELL YOUR COLLECTION! AUCTIONS THOM See se Seu cw SOLD £15,990 Bel E SE PAU SOLD £10,160 REGULAR SPECIALIST AUCTIONS OF RARE & IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO SELLA SINGLE ITEM OR ENTIRE COLLECTION OUR NO. 1 PRIORITY 1STO ENSURE YOU GET THE BEST POSSIBLE PRICE Ce et a ee ee ae eee ee Gc Cetera Pia eeta cent NRL a Ce Ree eee eet oe eee eee eonALL CHILDREN RARE PL Wa UA RECORDS Pee tse rk or eet cod Senet ets Re trie ee eee eat Dyce (USCAPMTOLT 104) CCT ANADIAN AMERICAN Prec The debut LP from the Queen OF Pes een aces eer eens Peed Prat) Cae eran pa Dy ed ee Pet yl pea ed ee conta) eC BC Se eee, nen ete tet nes ees Pris} May (PHILLIPS INTERNATIONAL PLP 1870) crag Cee peeretee erent Sse nt Pee een See Cats} BLUE SUEDE SHOES CAD) te al Poteet et es Seen cere eer ne ee ee Co} 12 Woke EVENTS 28 August September z Darel Higham The Eforcers, Charlie Highton, The How’ Ramblers, The Strikes, Hot Sap Tra and more Tarbes, France rockabilly-tarbes.om 4-8 September Los Lobos, Jimmy Canton, Jimmy Gallagher, Alex Mendham, Big Boy Boater, Kid Ramos, Velvet Candles, Jimmy Dale, Charlie Thompson and more Senigallia, Italy summerjamboree.com 4-8 September Rudy Grayzel, Shaun Young, the Polecats, Paul Ansel’s Number Nine, ‘= The Modern Don Juans, Los Riclaz, Edie And Thee Scorpions, The Kabooms and more Calafll, Tarragona, Spain highrockabily.es Seer [ry 20-22 September rary Cavan, The Hiilis, The Hayriders, The PRB Deadshots, The Reprobates, | ES Bae The Startgh Tro, Saint Dom SR ies & the Sinful and more — The Hi Tide nn Porthcawl, Wales welsroctabily co.uk oS pete 9-10 November Fat’ Furious, Dollar Bil Joe King andthe Jesters, == Carlos andthe Bandidos, The Rimshots, Marc andthe Wild Ones and more Drayton Manor Park eventbriteco.uk 4-18 November Ea Lee, Benny Peters, Scotty Baker, Pat (apoc, The Hi-vers, Tammi Savoy & the CC Combo, Ray Colins Hot Cub and more Ponti, Camber Sands rhythmaiotcomSAT. 19007. 2019. | i HET | FIDDLERS - Li SAT. 181 Las CN var | | ou ne The MA —_— = aM D>) “iets HEAD venDEHOTS BULLETS. MNGSTROKE COMPERE & OW the ck a FATw FURIOUS THE ve USSR eta sa i. . +¥ .¢ 5 ai af fa Sris i Of; pom SAT.Z1 MAR. 2020 _ dy lyshv Boo GUE wots BAN ND. eae puts poTkh COMPERE & D4 — ROCK APE compe Auk FIDDLERS~ BRISTOL |MMBBABE TEX ze = PI SOB Se oie || ANTS iolTesGisiyy.co.uls FULL DETAILS CAN BE FOUND aT: Www.facebook.com/rockabillybristol ["?Remco Sed rr 2 Danny “O” & The Astrotones Sharp threads, killer riffs, and a handmade guitar launch The Astrotones into the rockabilly stratosphere WORDS BY DAVID WEST usic runs deep in the blood of Danny “0”, frontman of one of the hottest new acts on the British rockabilly seen: “0” & His with The Caczars and Thee DB3 before assembling father Pal Dawkins ~ of Pa r is stage name from his uitar~ Danny frstdrew attention The Astrotones last year: The quartet ~ featuring guitarist Sam French, drummer Custis Doel and bassist Steve Neller~ arrive with a bang on their debut album Introducing... reminder ofthe visceral power of rockabilly ‘You recorded your dad's song Machine Gunon the album? He unfortunately had an accent in 2008, ‘that lft him wheelchair-bound and unable co play guitar. [started playing guitara few years after that and Ive always done at least ‘one of his songs in all ofthe bands that Pve been nasa way to keep the flag flying. Tused his old guitar when I was playing with The Cavzars. We played ata festival in 14 ma ‘Spain and the airline lost my Telecaster. It ‘asthe weekend before my lth birthday I gotback, and he gave me this homemade guitar called the Astrotone, so that's why the band is called The Astrotones.Ies been passed dover to me to do the jab of scaring people with loud rock'n'roll music ‘Do you still play that guitar now? My guitars acopy of Dad's guitar buileby avery good friend of mine called Little Carl and it called Astrotone Matk 1. Tdidt ‘want to tour with Dad's guitar anymore, i had been signed by Link Wray, ithasa huge ‘emotional attachment, and Idd’ really ‘want to be playing ie night in, night out. ve broken ittwiceas itis, Now Tuse the Mark 1, but I sill take Dads guitar to every gig and it's my back-up. I realised by having Dad's guitar there, he's always got my back, which sounds. little bit comy. didn't do ifr that reason, but he pointed itout to sme. He passed away lst year, which makes everything bittersweet with ft Did you have some time away from musie after The Caczars split?nan rsp) I didn’t stop properly, Iewas more that we all greed that we should get proper jobs 2s 11 do, but Fill earvied on playing, with a tle garage rock band on the South Coast called Thee DB3 with two guys that used toplay with my Dad ina band called TV21, ding surf instruments and garage punk records that wel written together: I don't ike not having the next gg lined up, even if it six months away, because I dont enjoy anything else more than playing live. Tes what Ido everythinggin the band for, co get uge and be loud and to gee something ‘ut of my system for 45 minutes to an hou, tolose myselfin that moment, Nothing quite compares tot You seem to have ht the ground running. [think people have quite short attention spans now and ifyou come out and you're not the finished prodiet, don’t know that people have the patience tolet you grow and develop, You need to goin, hitthe ground running, with that initial big investment of ‘imeand effore to make sure that the frst ‘imeanyone sees you, you are pretty much the finished product. There'sso much onive gota whole world of ‘music at your fingertips through streaming services, so unless you make people situp and take notice of you from the word wo they'll ind someone else who has done that ‘The band looks razor-sharp. Wasit important to find people who could play the music and look the part? omens Waa Ls FAG oo] ASTROTONES. 1 wanted aband chat was into the music and passionate about its that energy and passion could be seen bythe audience 1d you could all got wrapped up in that together: I don't want robe a band that wears jeans onstage. ve always liked the idea of getting into character, ifyou like and dressing up smarter than you would do on anight out, Because it adds to the spectacle ofthe show: You see so many cool photos from thes of Johnny Carroll in “Beingina rock’n’roll band is about being in- your-face with your musicaswellas your clothes” amazinglurex shirts and Gene Vincent ina Jeopard-print suit jacket and, tome, that’s what beingina rock'n'roll band is about. Te bout being in-your-face with your music as well as your clothes, Where did you record Introducing..? We recorded in November 2018 with a guycalled Ed at lovely bloke. Irs a great place. I's gota 00d vibe to it. recorded with Thee DBS, izaard Studios a relly there, so knew Ed would understand ny desire to create something that had an ole fee toi but with new songs, Iewas recorded all ont tape. There were a few ‘overdubs with piano and sax, hand claps and pereussin, butt was all done live, no digital processing, ccompiters, [wanted to capture the energy ive performance and make arecord thac sounded exciting Iewas recorded in no interference with six days, another day for mising, then we took ito aguy called Noe! Summerville tomaster, because he's one of the only people in the UK that will master from tape for vinyl Hea Grammy award-winning, mastering engineer who mastered Elephant and’The White Stripes are one of my favourite bands, soitwas quite amazing to ‘meet the guy.1'm very proud ofthe fact that d the vinyl holdin my hand has been ere inthe same way that an Elvis record in'38 was created, Just valve technology, thew things should be done. feel lucky to have been abe to see the vision I had come oreality we, 15He’s making his farewell UK appearance in November, but the 84-year-old was still full of fire when VR caught up with him WORDS BY DOUGLAS McPHERSON since his teens near Indianapolis, Indiana, Art Adams cut ust two classic rockabilly singles in 1959 and 60, but what records they were! Released on the Scottsville, Kentucky label Cherry Records, Dancing Doll and Rock Crazy Baby may have received scant attention atthe time but they were embraced by rockabilly revivalists in the 80s and have set dancefloors aflame ‘When did you first get into music? Tean’t remember a time when Ididn’'tsing. used to geta broomstick and get up on the hayloft in the barn and pretend Iwas on the Grand Ole Opry. My mom bought me banjo when Twasabout 10,1oved bluegrass, which we listened toall the time, but [also loved Hank Williams, so I gave up onthe banjo and my parents bought mea Harmony guitar, One of my sisters married sakid from Central City, Kentucky and he and [and few other guys practised e night. We kind of hacked around but I don't think we put aband together until after done my miliary service, We formed a country band called The Kentucky Drifters, just four of us, with no drums, and we played mainly parks and picniesbecause we still weren't quite old enough to play in bars. How did you move from country torockabilly? liked up-tempo things like Ernest Tubb’s Walking The Floor Over You and 1 used to cake some Hank Williams songs up-tempo, ‘Then Chuck Berry came out and Tlearned Maybellene. added a drummer. I went to soe Little Jimmy Dickens and he had twin Tead guitars, and [realy liked it. Dave [Logston, his brother-in-law] wanted todo ‘more country, so he eft and I brought in ‘wo lead guitarists, oy Robinette and ie Weiland it was a good combination. Alot of good musicians don't realise Thad ‘owo lead guitars on my records, 16 ae How did Dancing Doll come about? We played alot of teen dances and there ‘was this girl called Betty Stone who wanted tostartan Art Adams fan club, We started callingher Dancing Doll and that’s how the songeame about. She came in one day with averseand I tookitand finished itup, Did you audition for Sun atone point? ‘When Iwas calling the band The Kentucky Drifters, before I made all these changes and itbeeame The Rhythm Knights, [had a songealled She's From Tennessee that I wrote with my brother-in-law and another songealled Down In Tennessee. They were both very country. We drove downto “Memphis with these songs on an old tape. ‘Sun Records sat ight on the sidewalk, and 1 walked in and said, Ts Sam here?” The lady said, “Doyoumean Mr Philips?" I said, ‘Yes, ma'am.” Thad the tape in my hand and she said, “Well, Mr Phillips isnt here, Dat Jack Clements and hell listen toi" “‘Iusedtogeta broomstick and get up on the hayloftin the barn and pretend Iwas on the Grand Ole Opry” He was very nice. He gave me some tips and told me to came back. Itwas probably my mistake that didn, but being 700 miles from where lived, and being young and not havingany money. So youwound upon Cherry? ‘We were playingalittle lub in Indianapolis and aguy down the street who [used to hangout with told me there wasa guy called Joe Dyson who had a company called Cherry Records in Scottsville, Kentucky. ‘We had Dancing Doll and Rock Crazy Baby, which weld recorded ata radio station called WTBC in Indianapolis and Tean’t remember ifit was my friend who took them to Joe, but he liked em and set ypa recordingsession for usa the RCA studio B inNashvile ‘What brought you back to the music ‘business after along absence, in 2003? 1 actually gave up music in 1967. I've been ‘married since 1951, Thad had three children and I'd never quit my day job. [was working fora national vending machine company and acouple ofthe other managers talked ‘me into going into business. After I sold my veneling company in 1997, [picked up my’ guitar and thought, now I have the time, I justsing and playa litle bit for my own. amusement. An ol friend asked me todo reunion show and before Tknew it got a call from Tom Ingram to play Viva ‘Vegas, and calls from promoters in England and callsto make records. Ive actually been to England 12 times since 2003 and recorded four CDs, plusan EP called Memphis Dream on Beat Family. People seem to like me.I don’t know ift's because {play hardcore rockabilly and sing hardcore country, but ma friendly guy and I try toconnect with people. My father {aught me you can catch more fies with honey than vinegar. * Art Adams plays his UK farewell show at the Wildest Cats In Town Xmas Party, 29November -2 DecemberThe ELIS BAKERSFIELD PL eaeO BAKERSFIELD aeWORDS BY JULIE BURNS THE A crossover sensation, Wanda Jackson always did it her way. She brought glamour to country and rocked as hard as any male star. As the rockabilly queen decides to (technically) retire, we celebrate six decades of her rip-roaring, rollercoaster career ust lke Jerry Lee Lewis, one of the other few rockers Jeft standing’, ‘Wanda Jackson is blessed with ty sprit. Like Lewis she recently ‘suffered a stroke ~ Tuckily caught in time — and has experienced up and down health ‘oflate. In April thisyear, Wanda told Rolling Stone that she was to retire “dueto health and safety”. As a pioneering female performer inthe 50sshe shared bills with the greats such as Elvis, who encouraged the young country singer to rip itup inthe ‘emergent world of rock'n'roll 18 Monee Asarare woman capable ofboth a cooler take on country and rocking up astorm, ‘Wanda paved the way for other female entertainers to follow. She spent some ‘65yearson the rond:first asa teenager, ‘managed by her father, riss-erossing the Stateson grueling one-nighters and package tours then in Japan afer gaining surprise star status and latterly a renaissance on the European retro revival circuit. Beoween'S4-"74, Wanda achieved 0 hits and 40 albums on the Country and Pop charts. “wanted to work right up until couldn't? she recently revealed. “That point has been reached.” Yer happily for her many fans worldwide, even this swansong statement isnt final for thestil growling ‘grandmother, naw 8, the prospect of sparky new album's the pipeline Followingon from her great later album collaborations with musician-producers Jack White and Justin Townes Earl, Wanda is looking forward to completingsa new “full album" project produced by Joan Jett. ‘She’ also returned to songwriting. Recently linking up with young guns Sonia Leigh, =ero Peay onan anwriter of Nod hits plus American Idol contestant and Sugarland hitemaker Vanessa OOivarez, one result was the composition Treat Me Like A Lady, This song alone sums ‘up Wanda's enduring persona as an artist She was encouraged by parents who said thatit was “fine tobe different” butat the same time to “always bea lady”. Which ‘meant no suggestive onstage antics and heeding her father's sage advice “to keep in legs together while performing”. Its philosophy that's stuck fst and since earned the feminine firebrand the title “the sweet Indy with the nasty voice”. (One-off Wand’ signature sound was undeniably wild and ra, evidenced by kick-ass rocking numbers such as Mean, Mean Man, Let's Have A Party, Riot In Cell 20 vor n, Block No.9, Funnel Of Love, Rock Your Baby, and Fujiyama Mama, Prior wher rocking breakout, she wanted tobe the “Marilyn Monroe of country”. Firstto break the staid, so-called "gingham barrier”, she was soon lauded asthe “first female sex symbol ‘of country”, Famously after her initial appearance on 26 March, 1955, she didn't appear on the Grand Ole Opry again until, 2011 (with ex-White Stripes singer Jack White). The 56-year impasse followed an ‘exchange with show host Emest Tubb pre- performance. He asked herto get dressed for her spot. She said she was dressed - in strappy cocktail number: Bare shoulders considered a no-no, she had to appear swith a costume covered by ajacket. Like Elvis she fet out of her element there. In anval-too often conservative musie genre, hr style combined much-needed voeal grit and visual glamour: high hair and heels and ‘winsome fringed wigele dresses. Also like Elvis she was ahead of her time in terms. ‘ofrace relations She naturally promoted {integration ata tense time of racial segregation inthe US south, By 1957 she borderful ~Wihrds ry hired as her backing band Bobby Poe And ‘The Poe Kats, which featured talented black piano player Big’ Al Downing: Up tillthen, outside of jazz, it was unusual forblack and white musicians to mix from Oklahoma to California, only child Wanda ‘grew up on the liberal West Coast. She was ‘greatly impacted by the Saturday night dances her doting parents took her along, to, Atthe Venice and ballrooms she recalls seeing Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys, Tex Williams, Spade Cooley and his band, plus The Maddon: Brothers featuring Rose ~ an early influence Apart from country singer Patsy Montana, there was no discernible roots il singer template for her to follow. Taught guitar by hr father and playing small events on her church cireit, she was soon encouraged toenter talent contests and won asloton KLPR radia, Aged 14, Wandats frst professional performance took place with her country ‘music idol Hank Thompson along with The Brazos Valley Boys, atthe Trianon Ballroom, Oklahoma Cig. A stint soon ensued with western swing bandleader Merl Lindsay and hisband The Oklahoma Night Riders. With this country musi college’ education, the fast learner graduated from there, and, she sald, “flew by the seat of iy pants”. In 1953, shecuther first demo, the ballad Heartbreak snta Monica Pier“Ahoad, A&R man Ken Nelson at Capito told ‘Wanda at 16 that “girls dont sel records” (An retrospect, she thinks that he was not fa \wrongatthe time). She would later return to [Nelson and sing his praisesas a producer for allowing her considerable artistic freedom Meanwhile, she signed with Decca, her first single hit duet with Billy Gray f You Don’t Somebody Else Wil A year later in 1955, Wanda hit the road on her first package tour, headlined by hotshot performer The Memphis Fash, Elis was in the building: When they played venues such as the Overton Park Shell in ‘Memphis, crowds would eruptat Presley's mere presence. “e's funny now to think weld drove hundreds and hundreds of miles fon those old two-state highways to earn $0 for sharing the bill witha singer with, ‘funny name we'd never heard of” Wanda Inter recalled, “But Daddy and fel Tike we were living our musical dream” Witnessing the rave response Elvis received and guided by him to embrace rock'n vol, significantly affected Wanda's subsequent style ‘Other up and comingacts onthe bill lade Charlie Feathers, Johnny Cash, nny James, Carl Perkins, and in Texas, shy new boy Buddy Holly, Wanda rejoined them there fora week, then for third time in Denver, Colorade, playing 12 cities in 1B nights. She racked audiences of 5,000- 10.000 per show, twice a day. (On tour, Elvis single Heartbreak Hotel had tumed million. seller. Follow-up chart suecess eluded Wanda, though her songuiting paid off a few months la ‘when her composition Without Your Love, scored a Top 10 country hit for her friend Bobby Lord. Again through her mentor Hank Thompson, in 1956, she returned to Ken Nelson at Capitol. Ironically, as she expanded into rockabilly the teen romance shetd shared with her rock'n'roll advisor Elvis, gently fizzled out, ‘Wanda began releasing dises with cracking country on one side, unbridled rock'n'roll nthe other; singles uch as [No Waedng Bells For Joe backed with her atomic cult classic Fuiyama Mama. Capitol didn't quite know what to make of her Neither did the US charts. Although her Billboard debut J Gotta Know reached Nos, for the rest ofthe 50s, she fled to achieve ait. Reflectingon this to biographer Scott B. Bomar, Wanda sid, “T would however cut some of my most enduring records and ‘unwittingly ereatea legacy that though not commercially successful at the time, would ‘earn me generations of fans, and plenty of, accolades decades after the fact” success came knocking instead: in Japan, Figiyama Mama became her first Nol. She went co Osaka fora seven-week tous, and felt amazed to be feted as abigstar. Back the States, as 1960 approached, Wands was forced to choose between rock'n'roll and country by Capitol. For commercial reasons, country won out. Yet Let's Have A Party, last-minute eutreleased two years carier on ‘or eponymous debut slbum, suddenly made the Top 40 and led to rockabilly compilation, Rockin’ With Wanda. Long Tall Sally also became a hitin Italy. She then appeared on Dick Clarks TV show; and graced Vegas with ‘hor renamed band, The Party Timers. ‘In 1961, thanks o success in both country and rock, Wanda at last hither commercial peak, With Ray Clark on guitar, she released the sparky LP There's A Party Goin’ Ona fisefil of classics like Hard Headed Woman, Tongue Tied, Man We Hada Party - plus Lieber & Stoller’ frantic Riot In Cell Block No. asasingle release hw Funnel Of Love “Thelattersongechoed Wands lonesome Tove situation as her dad drove heron “city ‘ocity days and no chance of romance”. “Today, the much covered song’scredited as an inspiration by artist from Adele to Cyndi Lauper. With Capitol now keen forher to pursue crossoversongs she was on roll with Right Or Wrong originally intended for Brenda Lee but becoming Wanda’s first US Top 10 — before her highest US charting single ever: In The Middle Of A Heartache, ‘ee personal life bloomed t, NOME 21eed end ve,Fd Hot Rach Rll! TA NC ssman Wendell Goodman who took over from her father as ‘She met and married busin her manager. Their‘soul mate’ union would Bock inthe pre-Beatles era, on the 1d The Two Sides Of Grammy-nomin Wanda Jack Perkins’ Honey Don he singer covered Carl Inthe restofthe complete with renewed atitude. Beginning with The Bar It Came In,20 of her next 22 singles secured chart placement. fer second Grammy nom came for 19718 A Woman Lives For Love, which she performed liveat the award show in Hollywood, Another intern 1965 this time in Germany for Blecrola Records, for which Wanda sangin Ger and enjoyed a second Nal, Santa Domingo. Recording nearly 20 German language songs, her rockabilly voice proved a natural fifor its guttural tone. In addition, she Prue) pa ‘went onto record in Dutch and Japanese ‘German label Bear Family has preserved ‘Wanda’ legacy in recent times, bringing out Right Or Wr Capitol recordings, followed in 1998 with ng,aCD boxset of Decca and ‘compilation material through to"72, ‘Wanda gospel in line with her return to faith fowever, approaching age the hits call from inchange hin dried up Suddenly in Scandinavia ag Records label owner Harry Holmes invited Wanda over to vst, record an album and _gueston the rockabilly revival circuit ‘so in the Away Your Rockabily Fever (released United States as Rock n’Rol Blues) featured her nave B kes on Oh Boyt, Rave sathless. The experience refreshed her whole career. “Discoveringmy new fanbase in Europe was one ofthe great joys ‘of my lf she sad Wanda Jackson Embraced by a new generation, Wanda was having absll. Cha Flores the pair dueted on Rosie 1995 album pioned by Rosie grandmother in her 60s ~ Jackson recorded Heart Trouble, her frst real rockabilly all indecades, Artists from James Intveld and Lee Rocker to Costelloasked tobe involve. In 2005, twas Costello that pushed for Wanda's, entry into the Rock And Roll Hall OFF Mystifvingy, as with her ongoing exclusion from the Country Hall, Wands was not he Cramps and Elis {inducted until 20 Aged 73, Wanda enjoyed an unexpected Jate-life blast with producer Jack White ‘Together they stormed the charts with her incendiary 40th studio album, The Party Ain't Over. The project was. ‘challenge’ ‘urmed oat as one of her she sad, b favourites, Amore stripped-down album, Un 80-plus she still inthe mood for new from Wanda? Meanwhile, more insights hod Business isher last date, At adventures: What's ne ‘Watch thisspace into Wanda’ world comes from Scott B 1 of her 2017 autobiography KK 23WORDS BY JULIE BURNS Wanda Jackson We talk to biographer Scott B. Bomar, co-author of Every Night Is Saturday Night: A Country Girl’s Journey To The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, about what makes Wanda Jackson such a giant of the rockabilly scene ‘ow do you view Wanda’ ‘the pantheon of rocking gr ‘Successful female singers who could both rock and sing country were admittedly rare inher day but they did exist (notably Janis Martin from’36, to Brenda Lee slightly later How do you think Wanda’s unique Elis that he encouraged her to try ss opposed to thestricty country fare: uuptothatpoint. Wh Wanda's story is ce The Maddox ‘ofthe country nto draw sharper distinctions between try” and “rock” itwas never that bist of deal for Capitol Records’ legendary A&R man Ken Nelson. That meant Wanda pretty much hal the freedom to record what she wanted to record, and the studio ‘musicians hacking her (Buck Owens among them) had the chops and the flexibility to follow her instincts Wa rock material, so T don’ think she was ither set or followa loing what and ies onlin ret was groundbreaking Wanda's records were not played on air by 1958; do you agree with her view that DJs appeared not to understand her ay ‘of country and rock’1"roll ~ that she wasn’t seen as one or the other ~ and thatt still wasn’t seen as seemly for girl tosing‘nasty’ music? ped Ieshard to guess why played o why with the publ when other in records get Ironically, Wands had far more commercial sstccesson the country charts, even though estly known as. rock pioneer today She'srihtin tha the musi industry has a tendeney to eategorise, and that was especially true in the era when country radon \was abit preoccupied with identifying “us (country artists) versus “them” (rockers) Country was not viewed as ool in the 50s, ‘with shat advent of rock and roll there Meet pore Tay KEK 25vas someting for teenagers to claim as theirs. It was a way for young people to set themselves apart from their families, assert their independence, and define themselves asademographie, Those postwar years \werea great time of change in the US and itwas the firsttime that teens became distinct consumer group. They didn't want tolisten to their parents’ music anymore Rock’n'oll tthe bill, and the fact ehat alot ofadults hated it only felled ies popularity Ironically a major hitin Japan, but did Wanda ever encounter any controversy over Fujiyama Mama? DID YOU KNOW? According to Wanda back inthe day, “The musicians would come up with arrangements on ‘the fly everything was done quick. We didn't put as much weight on recording then, Arecord Was just something to help you get more live i, We nee inaie ha anyone wal sti stening to records in a year, much less 50 i down the road!” She recorded (though distiked) a novelty Calypso song, Don’a Wana, suggested by her producer Ken Nelson. She was the fist woman to host her own syndicated TV show in the 6. ‘Wanda cits “female Elvis’ Janis Martin as ‘another rockabilly itl pioneer, Like Wanda, Janis appeared on Rose Flores'*95 album ‘Rockabilly Fly, and was als rediscovered on ‘the revival circuit. However, the two never met. She has many famous fans: from Linda Gail Lewis to Chrissy Hynde, Cyndi Lauper, Adele and Joan Jett to Lemmy from Motérhead, Bob Dylan, ‘and Bruce Springsteen Horror writer Stephen King wrote her 207 album notes, while Wis Costello best sums up Wanda’s enduring appeal “She was standing up onstage wth a guitar in her hands and making a sound that was. a wild ‘and raw as any rocker, man or woman, wile other gals were stil asking, How muchis that doggy inthe window?" ‘As she “hadn't had a string o hits”, Wanda was surprised to find herself finally inducted into the Rock And Rol Hall Of ame. She is also a recipient ofthe Americana Music Association's Lifetime Achievement Award. 26 vimiece Ifshe did, '™m notaware oft Itseems erzzy inn2019 to imagine there was atime that ‘the song wouldn't cause a tral firestorm ‘of controversy, andit’s even wilder that it became a huge hit in Japan. Ofcourse the song was orginally recorded by Annistwen Allen, and was not original to Wands, but her versions the best known, Why do you think i took so long - until 2009 - for Wanda to be included into ‘the Rock And Roll Hall OF Fame? In retrospectit seems that her contribution ‘was not taken seriously enough by what Elvis Costello referred to as a boys’ club? Elvis might be right about that, but i's hard to say. Institutions such asthe Rock Hall or the Country Music Hall Of Fame always get criticised for who'sin and who's out, but the ‘people who vote on these things can only induct so many in any given year: Maybe ‘Wanda would have gotten her due without Costello's intervention, but 'm sure glad he spoke up. In commercial erms Wanda was far more successful in the country field. Tes amazing she not in the Country Music Hall Of ame yet But in terms af nfluence, she absolutely deserves to be inthe Rock Hall and I'm just sad she’ there now: As Jack White has said, she’ influential to every modern female Singer, whether they know about her or not! ‘With her recent collaborations with such znames 2s Rosie Flores, Jack Whiteand Joan Jett, what do you thinkiitis about ‘Wanda that makes her so relevant? 1 think Wanda s relevant because she's a true entertainer She's always known how togeton stage and capt while leting her warmth and sincerity shine through. People relate to her, and that’s the kind of thing that transcends generations. n audience ‘What was most surprising to discover bout Wanda's life/eareer when you came to write the book? And what do you believe to be her greatest achievements? Vim fascinated by Wanda’ thoughts on feminism, She dislikes that word inomensely Atte same time, she was never going tolet ‘men define her or tell her how to direct her career. think one of her mos significant contributions that T never really thought about until we worked on the book together ‘was the way she introduced glamour to country musie Before her you had Kitty ‘Wells and people wearing gingham dresses. ‘Wandabrought ina new flashy fshion and introduced that sexy rock and rol atitude ‘Can you sum up Wanda in five words? Genuine; warm; groundbreaking: feisty and ind,WANDA JACKSON Now that’s she’s retired from live work, we look back at the most electrifying performances from the Queen Of Rockabilly {tthe grand old age of 81 Wanda Jackson has chosen to hang up her [boots and box up her infamously flamboyant touring wardrobe. A hero ‘omany stars that followed including Bob Dylan (who dubbed her the “Hurrieane in Lipstick"), Cyndi Lauper, Imelda Ma Adele and numerous others, Wanda’ career has hac many varied highlights, Plenty of storming performanees are missed out here, from the incendiary Mean Mean Man on Town Hall Party tothe serene Right (Or Wrong on vinyl, utmonetheless, here we handpick 10 ofher fines, ieiest and funniest performances on stage, on record and on television ~ chosen from across the Jength and breadth of her incredible career 1Gotta Know Augumented Dysome superb fretting from Joe Maphis, Bakersfield stars Buck Owens and Lewis Talley, and pedal stel legend (and country music giant) Ralph Mooney, Wanda Jackson's career shot into orbit va this debut slice of wax, piece ofsophisticated country rockin’ penned by ‘Thelma Blackmon ~ the ‘fone of Wanda's friends. Cleverly showing off both her country side and her emerging. rockabilly persona viasome canny tempo shifts, Gotta Know made the Top 20in the Billboard country listings immediatly ted mothe 28 nie Perhaps most importantly it was during the single recording session th grow was born ~ aired live to America on 50s TV show Town Hall Party, her trademark Funnel OfLove Jone of Adele's favourite songs, Wanda's at her woeal best forthisurterly entrancing 1961 ct, ipside tothe Ri (Or Wrong single and weaved together by Nashville all-rounders Charlie MeCoy and Kent Westbury. While (hockingly) never ait as that swirling side gut if rolls out of the speakers and circulates the room it conjures up a rockabilly voodoo unlike anything else released at the time. By the time Wands gutsy vocal joins the fray ny head is spinning around and around, as Igo deep into the funnel oflove" - we're deep under its spell. For different live experience seek out her ‘duet with Cyndi Lauper from the America Salutes You benefit concert staged in 2016. neon pink-haired Cy introduces Wanda as“my hero”, as Jackson arrives on stage in matching, suitably loud pink tassled jacket and their voices meld ther wonderfully li clad in black leather Hard Headed Woman Exchoyffiend Blishie US Not with this tune from the King Creole soundtrack but Wanda gave him a serious run for his money with her growling take on Hard Headed Woman, sung when Jackson was atthe apex of her rock the 50s. Ie was powerful blueprint forall {female performers that followed. On record she was accompanied by Roy Clark and several Nashville A-teamers, but fr the fll Wanda whirlwind seek out her turn on 1958's Town Hall Party. Ws ‘mesmerising: Wanda with her acoustic guitar draped around her shoulders, “King ofthe Strings” Joe Maphis sizzling on the guitar and that sassy, slightly sareasti intro: “we think thisis one of the most beautifil Jove songs that's ever heen written”. Find, iton Sundazed Records’ 2008 EP Live At ‘Town Hall Party 1958) Says Imelda May: She jst freaks out It sas very unusual fora woman tobe letting itrip like that in the $0, and also singingsa Jot of male’ songs. It puta different take on ic Other rockabilly women lke Ais Lesley dressed up ike men, but Wanda puton an absolutely fabulous figure-hugging frock, took out a ita, puton her lipstick and really rockedCool Love ICountry st Wanda's performance of Coo! Love ~ the eventual ipside to L Party -on the Town Hall Party TY show Real Coo!” ushering in a showing of utter rockin’ perfection. Joined again by the fret fluterings of guitar master Joe -Maphis on an impressive-looking dauble- headed electric, Wanda~ in trademark fringe dress ~ is joined by the eas of the show. Interestingly, it was while performing on the show that Jackson frst heard The Collins Kids playing Let's Have A Party —“T though, ‘Boy that's acute song.” she told Clash. "So [learned itand started opening my shows with it and gosh, people loved i: And a carefree hit was born, Tex Ritter announces ps Haves to Nagasaki, Hiroshima too!/ The things Ld tothem baby, Lean doo you!" This hiccuppingclassicis a cover version of an R&B swinger written by Jack Hammer ‘mid-50s (also on CapitoD by the sublimely voiced Annisteen Allen. Astonishingly, ‘Wanda’s version made Nou in Japan despite its explosive - what would now beseen ashighly inappropriate ~ lyrical simile ‘comparing sexusl passion tothe droppingof the atom bomb, Him. Back then, however, Jtwentdownastorm, in partthanks toa cracking guitar solo and, of course, Jackson's nd frst released in the incendiary voeal prowess. Those seeking ‘out their lve fx should check out her performance ~ at 74 years of age, no less ~ with Jack White and band for the Wanda Live! At Third Man Records album. Let's Have A Party As Wands sings “mov | a-groowin’s gonna satisfy my sour” on this, the 1960 cross-Atlantic hit taken from her 1988 eponymous debut albunn, it's clear thatit’s intended asa whole heap of fan and nothing ese. And there's nought wrong with ‘that. Written by Texan-bor LA songwriter Jessie Mae Robinson, Les Have A Party ‘another to besung—and made famous bby Elvis this ime in the movie Loving You Elvis may have reconded it irst, but Wanda's snarling vocals claim itasherown. Check out her liverendition ~ surrounded by balloons no lesson late-60s Nasbille ‘TV show Billy Walker’ Country Carnival “You knocked 'em out, Wanda,” says host ‘Walker. “Tknocked myself out!” comes ‘Wanda’ reply: Wanda's version was later used as part ofthe sounderack forthe Ro Williams film, Dead Poet's Society. BR Thunder onthe Mountain Iehadbeen Wanda had pucowa suio album ~ five years tobe precise ~ bautwhen she sled upto moderne besa Jack Whit the product was the aptly named collection The Party Ain’ Over White prosuced sr filed withasbiga gofgustoas any inher catalogue and referencing that timeless hit e's Have {A Party. Acoverof Bob Dylan's original from his 2006 Modern Tires bm this trac ys built for Wanda and is cent standout on the record ~ the accompanying video swell wrth Black Cab Sessions ‘One more vastly different ‘appearance in the company of Jack White, is this intimate acoustic recorded inthe back ofa London cab that playful sections of Funnel Of Love, Simanie Rodgers’ Blue Yodel No. (with some expert yodellng from Wanda), as well as Presley's Like Baby ~ the whole time with the cab driven by actor-comedian John C Reilly “Bis wasn’t that good lookin’? jokes White ashe claims Wanda as his new girlfiend, “Ohhe was to... Are you kiddin’? Maybe not as good lookin’ as you, but right up there ‘with ya" replies Wands, before telling story about Elvis getting his quiff permed. Priceless Judes You Know PmNo Good She's known as legend of both rockabilly and ‘country music, but when a 74-year old Wanda showed up fon the UK's TV sereens to bringin 2011 on Jools Holland's Hootenanny and absolutely ‘owned Any Winehouse's You Know 'm No Good backed by Jools himselfon piano and his band, her incredible versatility was vindicated yet again. Her other performances that night ~ Rip It Up and Lets Have A Party ~are also recommended viewing for Wanda fans ‘Tore Down Soon after her musical ling with Jack White, Jockson teamed up with Steve Earl's son, celebrated guitarist and producer Justin Townes Earle, to record 2012's Unfinished Business, a lai back classe that distilled Jackson's sound beautiful 60s Freddy King original opened the album and arrived with a Seth Graves- directed Video in which Wanda fronts an allie band, cut with footage of three rockabilly chicks wielding fick-knives at leering men, smashing car windscreens and generally being pretty badass. Aside from the many ‘cameos from musicians here, keep your eyes ‘open for pornstar Roa Jeremy, “This wonderful cover of the ‘insi0x 29STON ce ODM DS Se — EOLCre fev Uo Released in April 1959, Cliff Richard’s debut long-player was a thrilling introduction to one of the UK’s first ever rock’n’roll stars and proved that we could rock just as hard as those across the pond... = Recording Studios on Abbey a With three hit singles and sold-out concert halls across Brin, Richard wasone ofthe ehrough hits and electrifying TV appearances. With Richards intial rise to fame rooted inlive performances, Columbia Records producer Norrie P recordings forthe sin Remote concert recording was an iffy proposition atbest, and therefore staging a concert in Abbey Road's langest recording room, Studio 2,seemed the bes option. With over 198 square metres of floor space and a ceiling two storeys high, Studio THE ALBUM WOULD CAP A WHIRLWIND SEVEN MONTHS OF CLIFFS RISE ofthe studio, dinstly below the large glass window of the second story control room overlooking the recording area, Requiring an enthusiastic audience, Columbia sent invitations to London ‘of Richard's fanclub, Several hundred teenagers secured tickets for the two nights ofrecording. Also on hand were Richard's band, ‘TheDrifers, Whilethegroupbacked = 0, 31ean Richard on all ofhislive appearances, Paramor generally preferred to work with more experienced musicians for recording sessions, That had been the case for Richard’ fist session with Columbia in July 1958 where half of The Drifters were replaced by session players. by the time ofthe album sessions the line-up of The Drifters had changed. All ofthe group's original members had been replaced for various reasons over the previousseven ‘months. The current line-up — Hank ‘Marvin on lead guitar, Bruce Welch on rhythm guitar, Jet Harris on bass and Tony Meehan on drums — was. powerful group of young musicians whose tale up for their lck of experience. Injusta few months, the group would change its ‘name to The Shadows (due toa lawsuit made from the US vocal group, The Drifters) and would gain greatest rock'n'roll bands with astringof instrumental hits. Furthermore, Paramor [knew the chemistry berween the singer and the band was vital element in eapeuring the excitement he: Eighteen songs were initially chosen for the two nights of performances with nine songs toe recorded each night. Move Richard’ first single and his biggest hitto date, was an obvious choiee for inclusion, ‘while his other original songs were rejected in favour of covers of popular American rock'n'roll eunes regularly live performances. British rock'nrollers reliance on covers in live shows was not ‘unusual atthe time, Only afew American rock'n'roll artists were able to tour in the reputation as one of Britain's intedon the album, atured athis MOVE IT, RICHARD'S FIRST SINGLE AND HIS BIGGEST HIT TO DATE, WAS AN OBVIOUS CHOICE FOR INCLUSION 32 ec Uk because of strict regulations on live performances by non-British artists Live coversby homegrown artists were as close as British youth could come to seeing their American heroes inthe flesh, Rounding out the setlists forthe two nights were a handful of instrumentals by ‘The Drifters. Columbia Records originally signed Richard to the label asa solo artist ith no provision for recording the band separately. After the success of Move I Columbia reversed their position and signed The Drifters to a separate contract. ‘Theband’s fist instrumental single was released justa week before the Cliff album sessions THE FIRST NIGHT ofrecording, and side one of the album opened with Apron ‘Springs, a song originally recorded and released by the mysterious “lly the Kid” ‘on Kapp Recordsin the US. Although the songs often credited to R&B singer Billy “The Kid” Emerson (who did originate the rockabilly classic Red Ho0), the Billy the Kidin question was an unknown white singer whose identity has never been conclisively verified, How Richard learned the song. isalsoa mystery considering the album 1 four weeks sessions took place less after the original version was recorded. Whatever the explanation, Richard delivered a supercharged version bringing the album roaring out ofthe he Willie Dixon composition My Babe follows, Recorded by Little Walter on (Chess Records in January 1955, the song hit Nall onthe Billboard R&B chart and was released in the UK asthe lead track of a Little Walter EP in October 1956, although My Babe didi chart, it immediately beeame a favourite of British blues fans and g further Ricky Nelson's version was released in the UK in Novernber 1958 Down The Line was written and original tion with roek’n'ol fans after recorded by Roy Orbison under the ttle Go! Go! Dooky. Although itreceived litle notice at the B-side to his first hit, Oo the time, a year later fellow Suan Records star Jerry Lee Lewis recut the song under the title Down 7 single Breath Richards attention, ecominghis fevourite Lines the B-side to is it ss. Lewis’ version attracted Jerry Lee Lewis recording and a standard of his own lve performances, TG0tA Fe for Cif Richard, Written by professional songwriter Baker Knight and a No27hit for Ricky Nelson in the UK inthe autumn gowas another perfect fit ‘1958, Richard upped the tempo and delivered a harder rockin’ version than the original. The Drifters follow it up with the fist oftheir instrumentals et Black, written bybass player Jet Harris and debuting on the album, The Drifters would soon re-record a studio version for thei second singe in June 1959, Richard jumps back into the show with Ehvis Presley’ Baby 1 Don’ Care. Reconed for the soundtrack of the movie Ja Rock, Presley's version was first released in the UK on the Jahouse Roc EP in April 1988, Richard demonstrates his mim Els’ phrasing with his hot version, ramping ryof up the tempo from the original Next up on the album is oneof he to songs Richard and The Drifters recorded avalater, separate session withoutan audience. Both songs were ballads, the only two included on the album, and were recorded ata diferent session, presumably toensure proper sound mix levels as wellas Paramor's desire to use the Mike Sammes Singers on backup voeas CLIFF CLIFF RICHARD AND THE DRIFTERS RLU acs) oa) Ty Ere cor ene) ne Cea) ear oa Pmitery aed Pee ees ad Cee a Aya oa ae rr NO Mea Mont cre roe) Tore) Pea PSCC eee Ly ‘The frst ballad was a faithful cover ofthe Ritchie Valens love so inthe US inate 1958, the record hit No.2 in inuary 1959, and was popularin the UK, although failed to chart. Richards version particularly resonates considering a plane crash in Clear Lake, lowa took Vales’ fe only few days prior to the session, TO CLOSE OUT the 9 May session and sil ‘The Drifters ripped into his first hit, Move 11. Written by former Drifters member Jan Samuel, twas one ofthe firs truly one of the album, Richard and authentic British born and bred rock’ records to achieve huge chart success. The song was originally slated asthe B-side of Richard's first single with a cover of the Bobby Helms pop ditty Se obey Crush as the A-side. Plans changed when television producer Jack Good insisted Richard perform Move [efor his rst appearance on the TV programme Oh Boy proved tobe right on the money as Richards ood instinets hot performance sparked a nationwide crave forthe ong, pushing it to No.2 onthe charts in the autumn of 1958 The next night, Cliff'and The Drifters returned to Abbey Road to record side two ofthe album, kicking ofthe performance with the Litle Richard classic, Ready Tey Richard's love of Little Richard was plainly obvious considering the former “Harn Webb” had been inspired to adopt the name Clif Richard” partially asa tribute tohis rock'n'roll hero, Richard followed it with Too Much, another Elvis Presley song, Released in the UK in the spring of 1957, the song became a Nog hit for Presley and was fixture in Richard live sets Similar to Apron Strings from the frst night of recording, Don’t Bug Me Baby was another rather obscure rockabilly single from the US. Originally recorded by Milton Allen for RCA, the record was only released inthe US. Presumably Richard learned the song from an imported single Richard took. break from the mie as The Drifters moved to the forefront again with the instrumental Driftn’ Written by The Driftrs'Tead guitarist Hank Marvin, the tune demonstrates an obvious Duane Eddy influence. hortly afer the Cl fFalbum, The Drifters returned to Abbey Ros to re-record the song sans audience forthe B-side ofthe Jet Black single, Richard re- with a fail rendition of Buddy Hollys Thaclle The = WOKE 33“Classi. Day. AS with the Ritchie Valens cover from side one, the song earried extra meaning in light oF Holly's recent demise, The Drifters then moved back tothe spotlight with arewed up version of Gene Vincent's Be-Bop-A-L band primarily known for instrumental, a.1esan unusual track fora featuring harmony lead vocals from Hank Marvin and Bruce Weleh, and inspired by the Everly angement ofthe song for their 1958 debut album thers Danny was the second ballad from the follow-up, audience-free session. Aswith Donna, cheers from the audience were ‘overdubbed onto the beginning and end ofthe song to integrate it into the live -econngs Danny was written by American man and Pred Wise asthe theme song for the proposed Elis songwriters Ben W. Presley film A Stone For Danny Fisher. Elvis recorded the songon Il February 1958 for the movie's soundtrack, but after the film's title was changed to King Creole, Danny was dropped from the movie, Demos ofthe song continued to circulate and eventually made their way tothe UK where Richard picked up the tune, along with fellow Brit rock'nroller Marty Wilde who recorded sion shortly after the Clif album sessions. Elvis’ version was final lease in 1978, on the album, A Legendary Performer ~ Volume. TO CLOSE QUT the second night of performances, Richard turned to another favourite from Jerry Lee Lewis, Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On. Originally recorded by American R&B artist Big Maybelle, Lewis’ version became his frst hitsingle reaching No in the US and Nos in the UK in the spring of 19 Richards ver captures the energy of Lewis version while toning down ts lasciviousness, and The Drifters successfully transpose the piano driven rocker to guitars through their hot arrangement In addition tothe 16 songs featured on the final album, four more sony nally scheduled for recording, The Elvis song One Ma the sessions bs album. Itwould eventually appear o 1997 Clif Richard compilation album, The Rock’ Roll Years 1958-1983, aperworkhas surfaced indicating the Conway Twitty hit, ight was defintely recorded during one of was dropped from the final 1 Only Make Believe, The Weavers Kisses nd the Eadie Fontaine kin’ But The Leaves On for the bbuc master tapes have never been located, Sweeter Than Wi rocker, Nothin’Sha Tho Trees) were schedul 34 TKN DRIFTIN’ TO THE SHADOWS ENTER THE UK’S GREATEST INSTRUMENTAL GROUP ne oa eR eo ee Td full-lenath introduction of one ofthe frst truly area British rock'n'roll bands, The Shadows. Formed in March 1958, the orignal ine-up of “The Drifters” induded guitarist Norman Nitham, drummer Terry Smart and singer and guitarist Hary Webb (who would soon change Fe Re en ee ee for ther ive appearances began to take of, a process that transformed the rechristened “Cit Cee ra Ce erence ne Ae Sse Ce ee eet oe ee ey Foster, found two — Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch — who were playing as aduo in oho's 2's Cee es eae sora the wake of the sucess of Nove (which Samwell wrote), he found success as a songwriter, Se cee Poet eee ee hou Se eS ace OC ee ee ee Mone cry rived, when another teenage musical prodigy, Tony Meehan, replaced Smart on drums. The group signed their own recording contract wit Columbia Records in January 1959, and Cee Oneal ase) Re er CuO cr cod Drifters, who filed suit over thet ownership ofthe name. Based ona suggestion from Harts, the group changed their name to The Shadows in the summer of 1959 and made the recording debut under the moniker in October 1959 on the Clif Richard sinale raven’ Light. In July 1960, the group scored their ist Wo. hit inthe UK, Apache, launching a string of hit Birera st sc Released in April 1959, Clif was an and bands could rock as hard as their immediate hi, rising to Nod on the UK chart The album was also poplar in FFRichard and Iemative cover. Although allthe tracks for Cliff were recorded in stereo on Abbey Road's BTRS two-track tape machine, the album was released in ‘mono only. Stereo mixes, which differed France, as Dance With Cl released with an from the mono version primarily in the amount of crowd noise, appeared only on the CliffNo. and Cliff ‘contained five tracks culled from the album, ‘The fill stereo mix ofthe album released until EMI's 1998 reissue on CD. Despite its lack of original tunes, Cliff was 16 racks of pure, unrelenting. rockin rol establishing Clif Richard as the UK's first“authentic” rocker. Before Richard's rise to the top of the chart, the majority of British attempts at recording rock'n'roll relied on teen idols primarily od looks, established recruited for ther gimmicky songs bordering on parody. The breakout su ‘of Cif Richard confirmed British singers American counterparts, The Drifters, Shadows’ eventual success a8 a chart bustinginstrumental act inspired hundreds ‘of British youth to form their own rock'n'roll combos, Unfortunately Cliff Richard's first album of undiluted rock'n'roll also proved to be his last, Producer Norrie Paramor suspected Richard was capable of bigger chart success \with mainstream pop, and the runaway success ofthe pop single Living Dallin the summer of 1959 confirmed his theory Richard's second album, CliffSi in November 1959, inaugurated the practice ofspliting his albums beoween rock'n tol 4s, released songs backed by the recently rechristened Shadows and pop songs backed by the Norvie Paramor Orchestra Although Cliff Richard recorded more classic examples of British rock'n'roll, he ‘would never again capture lightning in a bottle in the same manner as his ist LP, Sixty years ater, Clif stil brings rock'n'roll excitement to life withthe simple drep of ancedle. xOur 407TH Etyis Festiva. Famay 13TH To Monpay 23np SEPTEMBER 2019 Rue ee a ae Run ai cial * Memphis Lee and: + Shane and the Korrados ++ The V8 Rockets * Danny Reno ‘Jenson Bloomer and Mondo Carn + Rockin’ Dave Riley and many mo ‘WITH STAN OUESTS FROM. worwstritiyelvisnet If you haven't booked yet then don’t delay — today or visit ate a tal | a VEL TY ne Hey Fan aa ert ey & HIS BAND a THE DOWNTOWN DADDYOS Reena natn ic BOS RC LR Oo a “onSerer aewords BY BILL DARL Alan Freed was one of the great champions of rock and roll, but would become engulfed in scandal in the late 1950s... ‘ockand rol's mid 1950s explosion made instant stars ofthe genre's groundbreaking first generation. Those icons weren't the only dynamic voices hat toenagers dug daily over the American radio airwaves. batalion of mellifluous, motor- ‘mouthed DJs spin the latest hits and promoted the latest discoveries, their manic patter complementing the savage music they championed. Those major-market disc jockeys wielded incredible power over what aired during their shifts They could instantly make or sak anew act because the majority of m programmed the records they played during their srshifs. Ttsoon bec apparent toa lt ofthem just how much ‘money could be accrued under the table from the hordes of independent record labels and distribucors eager to lock down, crucial axplay that would make their records national hits, Atthe time, no Federal laws prohibited Apublie uproar happened anyway when publicity ‘what became known as “payola hungry legislators and stodgy defenders ‘of middle-of-the-road pop music decided ‘that roekand roll had become «full-fledged threat tothe status quo and decided to make pariahs out ofa handful of leading rock and roll Dis by dragging them into court and congressional chambers to testify to their alleged transgressions. Quite afew popular jocks lst their jobs and careers across the United States inthe wake of the investigations, whether or not they admitted to receiving payofls ‘Alan Freed, responsible more than any ‘other American radio personality for tirelessly promoting the rack and roll cause over thy allegations ‘yeas later, Dick Clark, hos of the nationally tel Bandstand, got off seot-free and endured as nd died a broken man a few ised daily record hop American QUITE A FEW POPULAR JOCKS LOST THEIR JOBS IN THE WAKE OF THE INVESTIGATIONS ubiquitous television presence for another half-century Though not the firs, Freed had been ‘one of the earliest white Dis in the US to exclusively play rhythm and blues on his nightly show aver WW radio in Cleveland, where he was billed as“Moondog”. Ie took: a while for white teens to catch on to what he was doing, but eventually they did. Freed augmented his income by promoting R&B concerts, managing vocal groups, launching hisown record label and distrbutorship, and dubiously claiming songwriting credits nacts, The Moonglows and The Coranets, fon platters by his two ma WHEN THE EXTROVERTED Dy ‘moved to New York nthe autumn of 1954 tobroadeast over WINS, the presence aneceentric street performeralso calling himself*Moondog’” forced Alan to use his real moniker on the air. But his bigbest- driven formula continued unabated, now promoted incessantly by the jock as rock and roll As rapid as Freed’ se to famein New York was s0 was the speed with which hae milked it forall he was worth, Leonard Chess curtied favour by handing hima piece ofthe songwriting erediton Chuck = nes 37AU RECORD Plays co RECORD pave (AUG 5.1957 — TOTAL POPULARITY RECORD PopuLaRmy NOV. 30,1959 TOTAL uLBOARD POPULARITY Tora, casiox PORLARTY B Bernard Gost displays hart that Position Rou eer teeny ne Berry's'55 debut smash Maybellene (Berry swas understandably miffed) Chess had previously listed Freed as co-writer on The Moonglows’ hit Sincere Along with his nightly radio programme at WINS, Freed resumed his rock and roll stage show presentations on a bigger scale actop Now York theatres rakingin huge box office tallies. Fis outside the New York area were exposed to Fred's rapid patter ‘ona nationally syndicated radio programme and in series of low-budget film musicals = Rock Around the Clocks Don't Knock The Rocks Rock Rock Rock! Mister Rock And Roll, Go Johny, Go! ~that Fr in, Helaunched his own musie publishing firm, and Coral Records even signed him to contract, though he di litle more than coverdub enthusiastic interjetions on lively instrumentals by some of New York's top R&B sessioncers. Freed made plenty of powerful industry fiends in New York, most notably Morris Levy the gangland-tie nightlub owner who became Freed’s manager and head of Roulette Records (which Freed initially had apiece of). Label bosses and distributors tefl for reed’ airplay of their product dreamed up all kinds of novel ways to show ed co-starred 38 mince * YA’ = POSSIBLE INTEREST TITLES NON-INTEREST TITLES their undying gratitude, even paying the mortgage on Freed's Connecticut estate Freed steadfastly described their langesse as “ffs” for is expertise in picking hits rather than outright bribes in exchange fr the spins, ONCE CLARK ASSUMED the Iosting reins of American Bandstand from the disgraced Bob Horn in 10 himself a worthy rival, Broadcasting out ‘of Philadelphia television studio with a «east of appealing teens at his side and rock nd roll and pop stars stoppingby daly to mime their hits the ‘made Freed look lke apikerwhen it came todippinghis hands into-a multitude of ‘musical pies Inaddition t operating his own music publishing frm Sea-Lark) that acquired reed had ‘cut young Clark ONCE CLARK ASSUMED THE HOSTING REINS OF AMERICAN BANDSTAND, FREED HAD HIMSELF A WORTHY RIVAL romising songs and gave them massive exposure on is programme, Clark owned piece ofthe focal labels Jamie and Swan, regularly featuring their artists’ latest releases on the shout The musical guests hha to sign ther perfor show back over to Clark's company. ‘There'sno denying that Clare knew howto fashion a it. His sage advice to songwriter Johnny Madara regarding one of his compositions with Dave White resulted ina smash for Philly vocal group Danny & ‘The Juniors. “Dick heard Do The Bop, and hae said, “Wel, you know, the Bop isnt that bigaround the country: Why don't you guys rewrite the lyric, maybe make itsomething about recond hops?” said Madara. “Do The Bop ~ At The Hop!” Label owners and dise jockeys entered intoall kinds of shady relationships. ly ‘Weiss, the garrulous owner of New York's Old Town Records, became known asthe inventor of “the $50 handshake”~a erude but efficent way of greasing important DJ pals, Ie wasn’ unusual for record spinners town music publishing firms and record Jabels, promote rock and roll shows, write songs or cutplaters and then pay their creations on the ait thee listeners none the nce fees for theTooele) Pree) Ci wise: In Chicago, WOES Al Benson, the Windy Cit American Di, had his own effective method of changing local record distributors for inp ‘Al had each distributor with a certain dio personality ‘stop Afvican- allotment of records? explained the late Carl Davis, then working for Benson as his assistant and tabulator of Al's weekly survey sheet and later atop Chicago soul producer runswick/Dakar labels “The bigger you were, the more records you had. So ifyou were Lenny Garmisa, you might have three records, Ifyou were ll tte Distributors you might have six. If you were an individual, you gat maybe one record, But there was a price for that, They Inad to pay for that “On top of paying for ithe [promote concerts at] the Reya had one of your records and he was playing itthen you had to give him that artist for the Regal Theater: And you had to pay the artist So he would give his shows at the Regal, and he was making money both Theater, soifyou ‘ways ~ making money for playing the record, [and] he was making money for you performingat the Regal Theater. So he was upboth w Asthe figurehead for rock and rolls rapid rise, Freed was forced to deal with a cleanin lotof negative fallout during his reign from cexploitat thac escalated after a handful of violent Incidents following his 1958 stage show in Boston. Despite the late-50s advent of Top press and preening politicians 40 radio formatting, which removed the ‘music programming responsibility from DJs, hey would be the primary scapegoats {forthe payola scandal John A Jackson's 1991 book Big Bat Heat ~ Alan Freed And The Karly Years OF Rock & Roll reports that ASCAP, the ol Se De eee een ‘Tin Pan Alley pop songwriters, was so threatened by the mammoth success of is ‘upstart rival BMI, which handled most rack and oll and R&B material, that it lobbied legislators incessantly as it attempted t0 regain its lost superiority on the US ‘inion 39eee rr) cube) airwaves, Fresh off their headline-grabbing Investigation into rigged television quiz programs, the US Congress turned up the pressure on radio broadcasters in late 1959, Station honchos began to pane, quizzing their jocks as to whether they'd accepted any cash to pla specific songs. The ones who admitted they had or dared to defend payola publily were ether let go or jumped ship before they were fired - three at Detroit's WIBK alone, American Bandstand producer ‘Tony Mammarella divulged he was falsely listed as composer of Charlie Gracie's 1957 hit Buterfiy, which had been played regularly on the show, with Mammarella picking up ‘$7000 in royalties thatostensibly ‘went to Clark, Powerful King Records boss Syl Nathan complained that hewas fed up with paying off jocks, claiming het been laying out $2,000 40. tt eid Pee er) erry ) month and stating that payola was signanafidavie , at WABC radio (where hel land afer WINS ied him stating thathe hae participated in any payola shenanigans sohe was summarily ied in November f 0f1959. He ost his programme on WNEW-TV right after that Sins Clark wold sign anything BB cither untithe affidavit was rewritten tosuithis situation, ‘but he remained employed Ba the ABC-TV network BE onetless Meanshil the Federal Trade Commission ‘wentafter han of labels, charging RCA Vietor, lant, Roulette, George Goldner’ Gone and End labels Herald, ABC- Paramount, and JetryBlaine’s Cosnat Distributing and Jay-Gee Records with palaUnlike the feds, the state of New York did have statutes on its books commercial bribery That gave Assistant District Attomney Joseph Stone's office the ammunition required to investigate Freod’s business practices as well as those of other local broadcasters. Levy admitted infront of a grand jury that he'd loaned Freed $20,000. If America’ rock and roll DJs weren't already under siege enough, US House subcommittee began its hearings on payola and its effects on radio programming inthe spring of 1960, Freed testified early in the heavily publicised proceedings and Clark later on; despite incense grilling, Clark couldn't be pinned down on any iegalites Neither could Freed, for that matter. But he wasn't so icky with the New York grand jury. On 19 May, 1960, he was arrested on commercial bribery charges along with popular local Dis from other stations WMGMIs Peter Tripp, WWRLS Tommy Dr Five” Smalls, and WLIB's Hal Jackson and Jack Walker, Also booked were Mel Leeds and two record librarians, ll hauled down 0 local precinct for processing, Tripp was found guilty on 38 counts but was fined only 500 and given a suspended sentence, Smalls and Walker pled guilty as ‘well. In December of'62, Freed did likewise, receiving a small fine and suspended sentence. The FT against the recon labels, and the Federal ‘Communications Commission decided WINS wouldn't lose its operatinglicense due tits payola involvement. No doubt relieved, owner J Elroy MeCaw quickly sold the station fora massive profit dropped its charges 1 resaltoFall the payola investigations? Apart from too many sensationalistic headlines and too much political bluster, the primary development | | eile acumen oie ore err ieee tread ‘was the homogenisation frock andro radio va the widespread adoption ofthe Top 40 surveys asthe main source for programming. Payola didn’ go away by any stretch ~ the praetice continued, with program directors and musi directors hopping aboard the gravy train too. When the smoke cleared, the principal casualty ofall the hubbul was Freed, whose descent from fame and fortune was swift and unforgiving, The hard-drinking Freed hhad made more than his share of enemies with hisbrash attitude over the years, and jab offers eventually dried up. He had relocated to southern California few years before uremic poisoning killed him on 20 January, 1968 at age 43. Happily, ASCAP never did getits wish, Despite the organisation's scurrilous es campaign, rock and roll was hereto stay. behind-the-s WMGEEK 41WORDS BY JULIE BURNS GOING OUT WITH A BANG In 1959, a feisty American 15-year-old released Sweet Nothin’s, soon to become her breakthrough hit in both the US and UK. Six decades on, the inimitable Brenda Lee looks back at it all ater known as Little Miss Dynamite, asa child star froma dirt-poor background, the former Brenda Mae Tarpley certainly had an incendiary start. she signed with Decea aged 11 in 1956, charting her frst pop hit One Step AtA Time, the following year. [ACI7 she was a millionaire. The 49" firebrand fist shot to international fame in Europe. Atthe end of triumphancheadline tour of France, she was invited by producer “Jack Good onto Oh Boy!, Belting out Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Fome?, her appearance on the UK's must-see "TV show catapulted her career into the cultural stratosphere Brenda’ rockabilly back catalogue already inchuded blasts such as Bigelow 6-200, Lets Jump The Broomstick, Rockin’ ‘The Bop, Ballin’ Phe Jack, Hurmmnin’ The Blues Over You, and her niekname-giving Dynamite, The biggest multé-million seller ofher career would be'588s jaunty evensreen Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree “As adept at upbeat numbers as tearjerkers, in the 1960s the singer enjoyed ‘more chart hits than any other female. In the US, Brenda garnered two Nos - in Sorry/Thac'sAll You Gotta Do and I Want ‘To Be Wanted ~ as wellas five Top Sits and five Top 10s During the difficult aftermath ofthe Brit Invasion, her starstill shone bright, and she was surpassed by only three other acts (The Beatles, Es, and Ray 42. wmeen Charles). As the New Musical Express noted {in 1973:"Sweet Nothin's was followed by an ‘uninterrupted series of 32 American hits many of which scored heavily in Britain ~ ‘wo dozen, well-received albums and acotal unit sales-figure estimated at 75 million.” Inthe 70s, Brenda went from pop to country gold, with a string ofits extending {nto the 80s and 90s, and the stil-popular performer has continued to make guest appearances upto the present. The one US starto have The Beatles open for her, Brenda Lee remains the only woman tobe inducted into both the Rock And Roll and Country Music Halls OF Fame. Growing up in the States, who were your ‘musical inspirations? ‘Tosay that] didn'thave any sounds absurd, soll have to sound absurd! We didn't have ‘TV in our home, at firs, didnt have a radio, I wasn't exposed to other entertainers. ‘just started singing when I was three years ‘old and it went from there. The only time “ONE OF THE FIRST SINGERS I ADMIRED WAS HANK WILLIAMS, AND SOME OF THE FIRST SONGS I SANG WERE WRITTEN BY HIM” \we got to listen tothe radio was to hear the baseball ournament finals and for the Grand Ole Opry. That was the extent oft, to conserve the batteries. One ofthe first singers T admired was ‘Hank Williams, and some ofthe frst songs | sang were written by him, Later, loved Frank Sinatra for his phrasing, Nancy ‘Wilson for her soul, Tony Bennett because ofhis style. One of my very favourites was ‘gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. Then T evolved onto thelitte French sparrow’, ith Piaf. Another great alent was Patsy Cline, who despite the age gap between us, was also one of my best friends. Actually, had to top listening to those that adored found if really love somebody their style will ereep into my style ‘What are your earliest memories of performing success? was discovered by country star Mr Red. Foley in my hometown of Augusta, Georgia Iwasona weekly radio show with aDJ who ‘wold take me over to see whoever was in ‘town. Well Red was visiting withthe huge Ozark Jubilee [the first US network TV show to focus on country music, and asked ‘would Tike todo a turn on his show: [first sang Jambalaya. Fora year or two, ‘my mum and I would ride the Greyhound busto Springfield, Missouri and get back to Augusta for my school on the Monday morning. -44 YWAtage 10, following the sad loss of your father, you effectively began working, helping support the family. tough time? Idon'tthink asa child you register itbeing tough as such, Unless you get toa certain age, you don't realise you're poor. Where was from, everyone was poor, so we were allinit together. As I grew older, as one offour ids, realised we didnt have much in material things butknew that we were loved and looked after. T especially noticed after my Dad dies that Istarted working more. Inever even called it work. Loved to sing, it was fun, itwas natural tome, What artists do on stage we candoon our heads, it's what we do t's getting from part A toB that’s the killer isthe constant travel that makes you agein this business During the early years of suecess did youagree with your label and ‘management to market you exclusively asa pop artist? Meaning that none of your best known 60s recordings were released to country radio ~and delaying your next country hit Johnny One Time 101969, In America if you were able to sel bi big, bigback in the day, you were lassed asrock'n'rollor pop. Baek then, country susie was not like its today, meaning not as widespread Ifyou trace my roots back, actually started outasrockabill ny bighits in Britain was Le’ Broomstick, which I'm very proud of $ altogether I was rockabilly, was rock'n'roll, Twas country, Iwas pop. [see itasa blessing. tohavebeen across different fields. Yes, tis unique. Igiveall the eredit to the public..if they want to categorise meas pop, rock oF country fine. just wanted to sing? "TV-wise, you first gained fame by performing on Oh Boyt in 1959. What did ‘the whole experience feel like? I’sastrange thing but Lalways felt very athome in Britain -Tputthat down to its people, They always welcomed me and cared for me. Hoved every trip and looked forward to going, I noticed its history and how they revere and valet, loved that Also later on, being on Ready Steady Got 1d meeting other performers start Dusty Springfield, Cilla Black, Gerry And “The Pacemakers, The Kinks, The Stones — and The Beatles ~ opening for me! I don't know how thachappened, but 'm sure glad ‘tdi! [For mote, see sidebar on p47] onusnck 45onan Mase, Te, 206 How did the post-Beatles British Invasion feel like to deal with? A ot of rock n rll artists were bumt by the British Invasion, I wasn't jealous of The e Instead I thought re great. Itwasacase of, Come on utteach Beatles or anyone they in, we each have our own pla Haat you know" In mus stop learning What wasit ike as awoman ina mostly ‘male-dominated music industry? ‘hat thought never entered my mind, Ever ‘competition, male or female Twas an artistlover and like the rest of them, tryinggto make it flew group trying to do our thing. Lil (On tours ~ from the Diek Clark one in 1960 with Duane Eddy, Chubby Checker and male ats. were all private comrades Fabian ~ I was usually he only wow I would never have done that to my mother: there, travelling with eon the road, chaperoning me as T was so young. [also martied very and started a family at always grown-up for my age! You first toured the UK in March/April 1962 with Gene Vincent. What was that ke? ene Vincent was a stman, very talented. In England, we were billed as the Kingand Queen Of Rock'n Roll wvoet, 0 “The second tim to Ireland and Scotland, and was supported by The Bachelors, Tony Sheridan and Mike Berry T toured in'63, 1 got & The Mindbenders, Marty Wilde, The ‘Tornadoes and Heinz. Any standout stories the {remember in the"64 tour it included a fun group, Nero & The Gladiators, True to their name, chey appeared gladiator-style insheets and ropes round the waist= 1 dressed and really played the part the signature was arocked/-up version of fn The Hall Of The Mouncain King), Johny Kidd also dressed the part. Marty Wilde ‘was justa gent and very talented. twas a peak time for me. Around then for several years running, I won the New Musical award as the number one vocalistYour recording of Is Ie True b/w What {Say in London in 1964 marked a radical departure in style. Twas pleased with the new sound ofthis, Produced by Mickey Most and featuring this searching guitar solo by someone barely 17 years old, I was amazed he could doit. That was the very talented Jimamy age. Did we keep in touch? I would have liked to have done but never knew how to gt in touch with him. Pve certainly seen him play with Led Zeppelin. 've watchest Simmay’s progress with interest I go and see everyone. Lam a music fan. [try coalways earn, you never stop learning, Itmay be a lyric, fashion, step, a hand moveren Asanattractive, talented singer, didn't ‘you cross-over into acting? {did one movie and found out very quickly that was not my forte, so never did anything else Iewas The Two Litle Bears featuring Speak To Me Pretty ~a hitin the UK, so at least I gotsomething out oft. 'm used toa response from people, ‘eye. I might have had a better rime with musicals. enjoyed summer stock [theatre] playing Judy Garland’s partin The Wizard Of 0z,and Bye Bye Birdie ota itl red eamera By the 1970s, didi feel a natural Here's what happened. 1 was stil recording ‘exactly the same [typeof] material as All Alone Am I, Break To Me Gently, and I'm Sorry. Trecorded the song. Nobody Wins and it went to Nod inthe country charts. guess 1 didn't change but the criterion of pap and rock dd. ‘What do you think of music today? I wish itwas more teal. ike honesty: Sing ‘on stage with truth and feelingev hitabad note, I don’t care. Very prevalent inthe States is the use of Pro Tools'~akind ‘of toalbox the sound people can tune you ‘with to make you sound better. Personally, 1 ‘think thats cheating. As fr the music shows like The X Factor and American Idol in one way it's the new breed of talent showin ifyou another it’s too uniform, Sometimes under ‘those eireumstances you might be Pavarotti ~or you might be having bad night. The format'sa ice harsh for my liking, The old way of touring gave you a well-rounded ‘experience ~ that and learning from the sreats. don't understand this quickly setting int it juseto achieve fame, Now married for 56 years, what's your secret to an enduring showbiz:marriage? [My husband always had his own identity he was a businessman and not in the industry. Very understanding about my career. [don't think I would have hada successful marriage to another entertainer You're 74 now. How do youspend your time? ‘With my children and grandchildren, and friends who have nothing to do with showbiz, Ilike to help people who need help, o1 work with charity organisations Taleo enjoy my work with the C Music Hall OF Fame, such as handing oat the annual inductions. Thisyear 'm very excited as my producer Owen Bradley’sson Jey isgoingin ~he discovered Alzbama and The Outlaws. Do you intend to continue performing? I retired this year ~ technically, you're the first co knovt I could be persuaded co come back to Bngland where made it first. Tove that, and thatthe fans always stayed Joyal, even when I had no recordings out. t's like how they remember Elvisstil, chey still remember me. oreINK 47ceaWORDS BY JACK WATKINS ROLL OUT THE DARREL Fans of Bill Haley And His Comets are treated to a revival of Rockin’ Through The Rye on the new Darrel Higham And The Enforcers album Bop Machine. That shouldn’t come as a surprise. Higham may be more associated with his championing of Eddie Cochran and, thanks to last year’s meticulous and excellent Believe What You Hear album, Ricky Nelson, but he’s Jong been one of Haley’s staunchest advocates... ageayy ttaeysbeen sera out Dicer [don't quite understand why,” Darrel Higham says emphatically. i omnd The ating ong th reo jst apy muse Br pelo sot hres tobe Sochiden mening riers tobe taken serious: Throughout his Haley thought that rock'n'roll was avery positive source for youngsters, never saw the harm init and defended it until the aye died, And the musicianship on those recordings he madeat the Pythian Templein New York was outstanding. Very few bands, even with all the technology available today, get close to replicating that sound, even ifthe likes of The Stargazers, “The Jive Romeros and Phil Haley And The ‘Comments doa greet jo: Rockin’ Through The Rye, on which Franny Beecher makes his guitar drone fi bagpipes in the peri was one of those Pythian Temple recording rom an early 1956 session. Itgotto No3 inthe UK that year, perfectly encapsulating the jaunty, party time fel of Haley And His Comets, just before the earchier sounds of the likes of Elvis Presley and Gene Vincent took aver Highamadmits he didn't spend time tryingto rey apairof hnisdelightin performing the number is conveyed in his voeal. "We're just trio and I knew we could never got that sound, but’ always been one of my alpsoluce favourite records, The thing about Hal I ge the same feeling rom listening to him now as when I first heard him in what must have been the late 1970s or early 1980s, In fact, [probably ister to him more than T ‘smusic sit never lets medown, listen to anybody, even Eddie Cochran. And it’s easy to soe why. [have asix-year-old daughter Violet [by his marriage to Imelda May]and when I put on Bill Haley CD she getsitstraight away. There's noexpl needed, Her foot starts tapping, she immediately loves it” Through the mouths of children comes the truth they say, but ‘maybe that should be through their ears. eis.alot more upbeat ‘compared to Higham las album of mainly self penned material, One For The Road, and _verycilferent to his 2016 album Hell's Hotel, the ks for which were re immediate aftermath ofthe bres ‘marriage to Imelda May. He still speaks with ‘great warmth and admiration for the talent this former partner. You!l get no words from him of her betrayal of the rockabilly = KEK 49Darrel Higham ed rr cnr een Ero scene, only gratitude for the exposure the ssuecess of her records and shows gave im, anda feeling that oftalent Imelda has shouldathe standing siilin one genre, they've got to go out and explore different things” Hells Hotel was Darrel'sown effort at exploration Reflecting back, he says he was tayingto make roots rock'nvol palatable to albronder audience. "To that end, it didn'edo too baad because it’s definitely been one of my best-selling albums. Its stil selling now Twas partly influenced by people like Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe and Steve Gibbons inthe early 80s, when they were taking 50s ck and doing something different with aimed at the dancers or the st ike songs and simply want to st and list rock'n'roll scene, mare those that 50 WWE MK op Machine is sort of music forthe audiences The Enforcers normally play olive. Fes one for te jvers, whereas none ofthe songs return to making the ‘on Hell's Hotel or One For The Road ever feature on their sets: isos much fan as the jokey album cover, featuring miniature (Churchill Machine Company contraption, promises it wll be. Thr sareer, Higham has hada «quirky way with lyric, andl the Tne, “Pm ont his gonna shout, gonna seream ill my ears spouttsteam, jus strap me to the bop machine” isa cassie example, The secret Ties in the delivery as much as anything tmighc noc be whac some folk would call Grammy award-winning deep, but it its the rockabilly nerve every time Lyrically speaking, The Brain Freeze, with ferences to going weak at the knees, and shaking like the | trip into Johnny Kidd territory, but the saves, sounds like ‘Willesden great doesn't seem tobe an artist fon the Higham radar. In fact, he says the inspiration came from the behaviour of his daughter. "Tl take her out for a pizzaulaferwards she wants an ee cream. Shell be siting there shovelling the ice ceeam into her mouth and then, all of a sudden, shel stop. say, laughing, Is that the brain freeze, then? Itld her Iwas going towriteasong about it” No surprise i's apparently Violet’ favourite track on the album. Is funny and entertaining, and still rocks like hel. With a more shufiling rhythm, A Game ‘For Fools isa gentler track, something Higham has always done very well, via self penned songs like Pm Leaving fll Up To Yowon the Katmen aloum, and his take on Colin Evans’ beautiful This Time t's Real fn The Katmen Cometh, and the feelzood When You Smile on Hell's Hoel. In fact, he admits that, “Lefe to my own devices Fa find ‘teaser to write those sort of songs than Bop Machine because I eel thatall the great rockabilly songs have already been written, ‘But Bop Machine isthe sortof audience 1 play 2” HE SAYS HE potewodaysaside to write songs forthe album, “T wrote five new es especially fort, as well a8 The Brain weze and Bop Machine which I written abit earlier and, tobe honest, not alot of thought went into them, That's because T find the best songs tend tobe written very (quickly. el the songs you remember are the ones that came together quickest Certainly the songs of min that 1 like fll into that category. Maybe it's because, psychologically ifyou spend alotof time on asong trying to get it right, when itcomes out and you listen tt, what you remember js, *God, that one was hard work," whereas with this one, i's that ‘took me five minutes, and Tloveit ‘A Dari Sky, one ofthe most powerful ofthe new songs, owes alot to the work ofthe band's new drummer, Rab Tyler. “I sent the demo of the song o the lads to learnt” explains Higham. "Itwas ust me singing and struraming an acoustic guitar. Rob said it had a Johnny Cash wibeto it ‘Buc when we started doing tin the studio, Rob immediately came up with this really heavy drum beat. I thought, ‘Well that's the Johnny Cash influence gone out the window: But just as Adam Miles, who has been with me 16 yeas, isthe perfect bass player for mein the way he ean play eleetie has and double bass and constantly mix and match things up,so Rob is bringing, an element of excitement to the band that surprises me. He rings light and shade to ‘track, The chythm section in any band is THE COCHRAN pote Tey ee) COULD DARREL BE EDDIE'S BIGGEST FAN? TPE Uo ce See em a See CN cee SM an eae a ao Cochran Story and his highly rated The Cochran Connection albums, Vols 18 2, as wells his ee a et ne omer es) \weekenders lke the Rockabilly Rave to stage the inaugural running of The Cochran ee oe ce ea Ong ry established our template, whichis to get in band we ‘know will appeal tothe dancers, while | handle the Eddie ee oo ed CTO aU ILE COPA eee Ener Pee Cuore ae ce A NCU a DL SUN Po ORC eu Oe kOe the Chatabox/Higham celebration takes place atthe eee CO Re Tae HE Cedi SS Aa COCHRAN Sa important, but when itsa three-piece it's ‘even more vita ll the cogs work together” TYLER TS A vetermofthe 80s neo- ‘rockabilly scene, having played with Dave Phillips € The Hot Rod Gangand then ‘with Restless. Although he had a previous stint with The Enforcers in 2003, there's somnethi lly satisfying about his ‘return, given that twas the leading Dritsh ‘guitarists from that early 80s period, Micky Gee, who worked with Shakin’ ‘Stevens, Mark Harman (Dave Phillips & ‘The Hot Rod Gang), Ray Neale (Shotgu, plus the American Brian Setzer (Stray Cats) who first found fame in the UK, who convinced Higham it would be possible tomakea career out ofbeing a rockabilly ‘guitarist. Hearing the band's proficient delivery on the album of a couple of tasty ‘0s obscuriies, Hank LeGaults J Knew and Billy Smith's Tell Me Baby, you could argue that on Bop Machine’Phe Enforcers have never souncd better ‘But Higham is practically adon of rockabilly. He talks not just with affection butsuch authority on the subject. When Ihe speaks, you listen. Fes a crying shame ‘the BBC -of which he currently has alow ‘opinion for their agenda of seeming to attribute all developments in rock and roll to black blues to the exelusion of white country don't use him to present a ‘Mark Lamarr-syle rockabilly show, or leven a BBCA Friday night documentary which properly charts the development ofthe revival from the British point of view It would be opinionated, he stresses, but fai. Inthe meantime, the man who says ll he ever wanted todo was*makea living playing the music I love” doesn't disguise the challenges currently facing artists in the niche marker thats rockabill“The thing that's hurt us most is how people buy their musie now. Sereamingand downloading does us no good a al, it’s allabout physical sales, that and gig ig, ‘siggingand keeping going, 1 wll continue doing that until I drop and be very happy todo sa. And on Bop Machine we've gone back to basics and crested something really exciting something that's in your face and ‘over in about 25 minutes. The lines have become blurred among some af the younger bands now about what rockabilly is, 1 was like that myself when I was younger, ‘wanting to push the borders back and bring inbroader and bigger audiences. I forgot thae what got me into the music in the frst place was its raw, aggressive power. It's very basic music, but afterall these years ofplaying it, i's dawned on me that thats ‘whats most important” * MWK 51Santo Johnny WORDS BY ELLIOT STEPHEN COHEN SLEEPING GIANTS “Sleep Walk is not just a song,” insists 78-year-old Johnny Farina. “In my house it’s a shrine.” One half of sibling instrumentalists Santo & Johnny takes us back to their No.1 smash six decades on his is the story of two brothers ‘from Brooklyn, New Yorks Santo, born 24 Oetober, 1937, and ‘younger brother Johnny, who was born ‘01130 April, 194, In 1959, hey created and recorded a song that’s been used in countless movies, international commercials and other projets, and its popularity shows ‘no signs of lettinggup, Johnny, who currently presides over a Manhattan-based record ‘company, Aniraf Inc says he stil averages three weekly requests from people wanting tolicense Slep Walk seen recorded or performed by the likes of Bric Clapton, The Shadows, Jeff Beck, Carlos Santana, James Burton and Les Paul In 1998, Stray Cats leader Brian Setzer \won an American Grammy award for Best Instrumental Pop Performance with the song, which has alsobbeen considered an inspiration for Fleetwood Mac's Albatros, ‘The Beatles’ Sun King, and John Lennon's Free ASA Bir. ‘After Santo & Johnny's American hits trailed offin the early 60s,their popularity only started growing internationally. In Mexico, their 1965 rendition of The Beatles Andi Love Her topped the charts for an ineredible 22 straight weeks. Recalls Johnny, “We had just landed there and were waiting for the other passengers to get off the plane. When I looked out the window, nthe pouring rain were lceally hundreds of people. I said to Santo, There mustbe somebody really famouson the plane? ‘Pm thinking ‘Maybe ‘The Beatles’ So we exit the plane, and all ofa sudden I hear our record being played, and people 52 mec are screaming for us. said, Wow this is unbelievable!” ‘Santo retired from the netin the mid-70s, Dat Johnny still enjoys performing for fans, Doth old and new. God has given me so much," he says “I'm ‘thankful forall oft, and never take anything for granted” OK, sohow did acouple of young Italian guys living in Brooklyn in the late 50s, ‘when most of your contemporaries were into doo-wop, become acquainted with an exotie Hawaiian instrument like the steel guitar? Iwas through my father who was stationed {nthe army in Texas, and later Oklahoma. By accident, he heard this beautiful instrument and wrote home to my Mom, “T want my boys to earn this type of guitax” He gave ‘the order, ane that was that! In those days, kids really listened to their parents. So, even ‘though none of us knew anything abour the steel guitar, my Mom found somebody who could teach us how to play it Really, without ‘our father buying us the instrument and being the main driving force behind us, none ‘four suecess would have happened. “GOD HAS GIVEN ME SO MUCH. 'M THANKFUL FOR ALL OF IT, AND NEVER TAKE ANYTHING FOR GRANTED” “What was the inspiration for Sleep Walk? (One night, Santo and couldn’ sleep. We started jamming, and the inspiration just hitus. Fortunately our father had bought us this Webcor rel-to-rel tape recorder, so our ideas were saved when we got up the next moming. How supportive were your parents of ‘your decision to gointo music fulltime? ‘After we made a demo, I quit schoo! at 16 and told my father, “We're gonnabe stars” ied say, “What's wrong with this guy? He sleeps all day and goes out at night" tried explaining to him, that’s when the music business happens.” would imagine, with no proven track record, plus your age, it wasn’'teasy ‘convincing someone at arecord company totakea chance on Sleep Walk. No. had bought myselftwo books. One had the addresses of record companies, an the other was publishers. Because T wasonly 16and was too young fora drivers license, | would take the train to go from Brooklyn to Manhattan, and one day I looked up the famous Brill Building, [The Future home of songeiting legends Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Burt Bacharach, and others ~Ed.] Thad an uncle who drove limo, s0 told him Fa pay him on his day offto drive me ‘here, park in front of the building, and ‘with his faney outfitopen the door for me. [figured maybe some important producer ‘would see me getting ot ofthe limo and be ‘interested in me, butt seemed no one going into the building even noticed, =Sodid thisdscourgeyouinany way? Na. In those days, even though I was only Seat Lili Tetwasmrenyfllofmylt Hieewent em righting the building and started knocking on doors ofthe major bes but not one person wanted vofisten tome nthe spur bf therment They alot wanted me to leave the demo which actually was justan cantlewe i. Lonlyhave ane" pat kind ofc sit doo-wop ‘No. Iessometing tol diferent an Takiye"=No its nothing like Duane Ea Tes astel gitee"s tik Hawatiano tellehem, “One day youl Kick yourself you would alos el thebreerein the ait aug) Do you feel there was some divine inspiration that led you where you wound up next? ‘You know, you're the frst person who ever asked me that. headed to 101 West th Street where there was also music happening. I sce a company listed, called “Trinity Music, 'm Catholie and I'm thinking, “Father, on, andthe Holy Ghost? and that very moment I eel that God is telling me togo there. Well, getto their je. There's grey-haired man sitting behind the desk, eatinghis lunch, and he says, “Tknow; kid, you have ait record, Everybody who comes in here iy that do have one? He says, Teseems everyone was giving you the same runaround. ‘Well, after about two minutes of going back and forth, he finally says, Alright, let's hear J Tthought he was going t have some borate sound system, but he puts penny ‘on the arm of this cheap turntable to steady it I said, "What kind of junk is this? That’ gonna cut my record up” He said, "Just play Jit So ater ie was over he says, “You want a part of my sandovich2” Atthat point, Thr Thad this guy and that's how Sleep Walk sot reconied, As Alan Freed was probably the most My managers knew a lotof people, and they told me when they broughehimehe = 54 GE“t JUST WENT BB ete) | al Li ilelel ile) ne ie Lal sto)Sree Lay ESC try cord his words were, “This recon’ gonna ea monster hit and will ast lifetime. Pm ping to play iton my shove! ‘This was, of course, year before the whole payola scandal broke that rui his career. [See page 36 for more] What? Later o ‘ane in the busines Igotolde ason the take Do you remember the very first time you heard Sleep Walk played on the radio? Ob, definitely. 1 wa shat Coney Island, and as Pm heading towards ay [passed this litle kiddie park As 'm passing this big speaker, [hear Alan Freed playing the record. just and said, "We with one of those whip rides pped cold in my tae Fm famous! 56 TMENC What were those legendary Alan Freed shows at the Brooklyn Fox like? The shows would begin with a matin Alan would star thin Man" and they alo show a movie off with Sam “The lor and his bighand doing aja, What were the ticket prices? I would sues around five or six dollars. that. don't know because I never sa ticket! Those shows were like marathons fe woul all do three performances every day, Itwasa lot of work, but we were young and never minded doing it.I fact, Lsetually felt like [was living dream, ‘Who were some ofthe acts you and Santo shared bill with? You'd have people like Jackie Wilson Skyliners, The sley B Cann hers, Freddy Btta James, Hen E King ‘With so many great performers to who would Alan most ofte ick tobe the headliner? Jackie would usually be one. What | sal the girs throwing their him while he was singing, and this remember panties as way before Tom Jones! Jackie was a great entertainer. He did his jab but he was alo really nice person, 'd have to say that all the artists in those days sople I don't think any of the performer re just regular thought of themselves asbeing superior © the next person. We were al there for th sme thing, IFyou were Jackie Wilson, you were the headliner and you knew it, but you dnt come off that way. Sam Cooke was alsoa very classy guy. Backstage, we werike one big family of artists gremving up in 1 business. Alan ran a pretty tight ship, but he was thebo offasone of the boys, regular guy from the streets, Allof us really respected him for that ‘Who were some of the performers who ‘would get the most screams? They sereamed for every teen idl th lke Paul Anka who had Diana cut at the time, and Bobby Rydell, [wou upon sy; Frankie Avalon and Fabian got the most screams. The git Fabian, They screamed so loud you coulde't which was OK! ways sereamed for hear him sin But 'llbet you and Santo also got your fair share of female adoration. Yes? ‘Well outsde ofthe theatre, there would always be hundreds of girls, so none of us could leave the theatre tilafter the last show was over: The cops would tell you, ‘Listen, you go out there and you're gonna ‘got mobbed” So we would send out for things like hamburgers. This one day 1 decided Pd sneak out the back way ofthe theatre and go overto Juniors a famous restaurant that was just around the comer: 1 was very sucessful, part ofthe way, until headed rightinto a bunch of girls So 1 started running, and about 50 of them jumped on top of me and started taking ‘off my clothes and my wateh, When I got back to the theatre and told the cops wha happened, they started laughing and said, “We tld you not to go out there!" never tried it again, ‘When did you discover that John Lennon Tiked your music? ‘There was bootleg album I picked up in Mexico ofall places called A Toot And A Snore In’74, Stevie Wonder and Paul MoCartney were at the session. It was actually the last time Lennon and MeCartney ever played together. Everyone sounds like they're partying and having sat time ts outhis acoustic Sleep Walk, ind Lennon guitar and starts playing tly wasabig admirer of one of your other songs. Yes. n 2009, eight years after George die, they put outa CD of unreleased tracks called Let I Ro -asan annotation that read th Inthe liner notes, there Marwa Blues was a homage to Santo & Johnny, a sgprgeous instrumental inspired by our song Toardhop. Las very touches by that, and had Tknown about ie when he wasin the ‘cancer hospital in Staten Island, I would have offered to come there with my guitar 1d play ic for him in his room, Tm sure George would have been thrilled know he would have loved it, and it would honour forme, Marwa Blues sone song would never ry to play. [es havebeen re sospiritual, and I feel it's George's song, I would never try to touch it You must have been more surprised when someone as young as Miley Cyrus ‘Santo% Johnny started posting about your song Love In Space on her Instagram page. My grandson's friend sent a note to him saying, "Box, your grandpa is really Miley Cyrusis writing abo him!” Then she song means toher, and that she wants me personally to playitfor her at her wedding, 1'm thinking, “How does she know about Lave InSpace® It asong that Lwrote with Santo when I was 16, We recorded iton an album she started giving the song a lotof public went back in the studio to relearn it, and xd never played itagain” So after then added itto my “lve” show Ofall the versions of Sleep Walk, can you ‘name a few of your personal favourites? ike Larry Carlton's interpretation. Ie was jazzy, but be stil kept the original fee of the song, Ike Jeff Beck's alot Brian Setzer took ito another place, Chet Atkins did a nice version. Les Paul did his own take on it. shard to say which ones are the best ‘hoy all did their best interpretations that came from their hearts, ‘What do you mostaccount for the song's enduring popularity? ‘You know; here were alot of great records smal inthe 50s, butas soon as they come Sleep Walkis one ofthe few son from that era that stil sounds timeless. To make itin thisbusiness the way Santo and I did was ike winning the lottery or getting hitby lightning: There are thousands and thousands of people who write songs and play guitar, but you need to have something ‘unique, a special identity, where people will immediately say, “That's them” Itseems that Sleep Wall’s fame will endure long after youand Santo are gon Trea believe so There's a very well: known doctor, Warren Yates, who I mot atthe Steel Guitar Hall OF Fame, He says tome “Do you know chat you and Santo are lke Mozart?" Isa “Why?” He said, Because you guys created asong th going to last hundreds of years, and! when, people read, ‘Who wrote that song? i say, "Two Italian-American brothers from Brooklyn muewes 57SUBSCRIBE TO VINTAGE ROCK MAGAZINE ‘SSTOMAG VINTAGE-ROCK ORDER FORM YES! | WOULD LIKE TO SUBSCRIBE TO VINTAGE ROCK ‘UK 5 for the first 3 issues then £15.45 every 6 months thereafter I el 1 SUBSCRIBE TODAY AND ENJOY fa 1 3 ISSUES FOR £5 IN OUR ina 1 FANTASTIC SUMMER SALE! ‘Address: 1 1 = ais SUMMER Country I Phone number 4 F ER 1 Seapaesuactenacrneem S wo pn, HY SISUES FRE poeaeraeenreetatamenees UII PAY JUST D345 EVERY 6 seers 1 __ EATER sage" COMPLETE THs FORM BELOW FB PING BY DEC DEST I NORISK. CANCEL DURING THE SARTRE ose QQ " PaO FT AGAIN Aesth nS FREE UK DELIVERY DIRECT ae TovourDoor Basted Acura tuna aie Terie ee ne eet str rata str ase! ‘fascist wurahiarheaysn subsets ems sONSOM Sores) ae Destaaree SIE GUY Ear SSPE ON Ea Saal) > ea INE PIE TM RNTSTEO RCP) — | FREEPOST ANTHEM PUBLISHING 1 revatio ‘OFFER ENDS 30 SEPT 209 OFFER CODE SSI9MAG : EUAN $20 ($35.90 EVERY 6 MONTHS AFTER THE TRIAL) eT, PCA BA Ua) nowy ee ei 7 FOR £10 (£15.75 EVERY 6 IN f MONTHS AFTER THE TRIAL) roAS Ns try a aS A) CALL USON SUIS § , —_ aWORDS BY HELEN M JEROME THE LOWE ROAD During his long career Nick Lowe has experimented with many musical styles and 2019 finds him collaborating with rock’n’roll instrumentalists Los Straitjackets, as Vintage Rock discovers {ck Loweis atan age when some blokes might be tempted to get out the pipe and slippers and muse reflectively over their past. ‘But despite having much to muse on and nothing to prove, with exemplary back catalogues as producer and artist, this ‘To-yeat-old musical chameleon keeps Jooking forward, He's constantly setting new challenges, taking on new tours, even playingat Glastonbury 2019 ~ yet he still ‘maintains he's lazy Very much the sel male music man, his work encompasses rock'n'roll, R&B, skiff, pub rock, punk rock and even Americana and country, and his influence is felt across the decades. As aboy, Nick Lowe grew up in far-flung comers of Europe where his RAF dad 1was stationed, itening to exciting new rock'n'roll sounds onthe wireless in the 1950s, learning ukulele and cocking an ear tohis mum's and sister’ record collections 60 meet “My older sister used to bringhhome alot of pod rock’n rol records, ike Buddy Holly [nwho Lowe has covered and Eddie Cochran. Iwas big fan of him and Gene Vincent, till am, actually. Although she mysteriously liked Pat Boone oo, I don’t know why; even at that age Tknew that waskind of duft™ “Lowe now thinks that his mother had ‘even more ofan influence on him. "Her record collection was of course, what alot ‘of midale class families in the 50s had. A locof show music, music from films, South Pacific, My Pair Lady, that kind of thing. “I WENT THROUGH A PERTOD OF DENTAL, WHEN IT WOULDN'T ADMIT THAT I LIKED I'VE GROWN ACCUSTOMED TO HER FACE” loved all that stuff and she had alot of goad singers lke Doris Day, Pez Lee, Sinatra ofeourse, and Nat King Cole. But she also had rather bizarrely ~ I don’t know where she got them from ~ she had these two 10° ‘Tennessee Emie Ford records, And Ijust loved these things. played and played and played them?” TT WAS ONLY whenhe gotolderthat he realised thatthe muse that he'd heard his folks playing was pretty good. “T went through a perio of denial, when I wouldn't admit that liked I've Grown Accustomed To Hr Face - whichis fantastic." His dad had some jazz LPs but young Nick dit really go for that. “Iewas to dificult. is Joe more jazz nowadays and really enjoy it. I didnt getit when Lwasa kid” ‘Meanwhile Lowe was entranced by the advent ofthe skiffle craze, and sas that Lonnie Donega fsrecondswerethe =a ca a5 cry es FeTed Pareto Fi i i FI FA | i i Cabest because he had all dhe guys from Chris Barber'shand, including Barber, on is records. “They relly di swing and jump, and that incerested me, this swingin music. Temever goes out of style, swing, and people getastonished when they hear something that relly swings. You can see ontheir faces.. they ean quite believe it” When he wass school back in Blighty, he found a fast frend in fellow music lover Brinsley Schwarz ‘They wanted to play rock'n'roll musie and shifile, “Call twhat you will” says Lowe, “but that rockabilly srt of scrub, serub sort ofrhythm. 1 didn’t know anyone who knew st away to boarding how to do that Soall we could do was ju listen to records. Jussi in yourbedroom and try to imitate them, Loved skifl, and still da That’ stil the philosophy behind pretty much everything do” Then the British pop scene exploded, and that was. ‘game-changer for Lowe and Schwarz. “I ‘was ideal for The Beatles and The Stones ‘when all that happened. was 15 when that Kicked offand I ws totally into ie? “The two friends tentatively stared a couple of youthful, eager groups, including guitar pop band Kippington Lodge in 1965, signed by Parlophone in 1966, even opening for prog released five singles, then seamlessly evolved ockers, Yes. In four years they Jingo the band Brinsley Schwarz, who neatly fell into the new, bluesy genre of pub rockin the early1970s, No one could have predicted that one oftheir old songs, (What's So Fanny ‘Bou Peace, Love & U eventually become a hit for Bivis Costello, standing would then crucially be covered by Curtis tigers ‘on what became the bestselling soundtrack album ofall time, The Bodyesard, starving Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner And the royalties from this alone paid Love's bills for several years, ‘When Brinsley Schwarz broke up in 19 Lowe was known as a smart songwriter, vcing chops. He nowadmits he was a reluctant record producer, who fell into it and never really thought he was any food, “Twas very Jucky with the people Lworked with, and I just used to encourage people to go further than they thought they could go” Almost, by accident, he lucked out when he was recruited as the sole in-house producer for Jake Riviera and Dave Robinson's brand new label, Stiff Recor. “They got me int gear: says Lowe, He ended up not onl the first record on Stiff his own song. Sot Goes), but also kickstartng punk rock itself by producing whe with plaudits also coming for his pro s perceived asthe frst WE ARE FAMILY ee EG) pole ER fel Ta el Oe er Ly pal Brinsley Schwarz, Nick Lowe has always been a great collaborator and eae) Cee PO cay Rarer OLE Pry Bo Peace Love & Understanding, and Cruel To Be Kind. ono yen ue aU LE Reese) backing band. They rarely slowed down enough to sit stil and make records, setting for one Puno) If Pleasure (1980) and one hit single Teacher Teacher When Edmunds made ene ccc rp es He not only married Carlene Carter but aso produced her albums Musical Shapes (1980) Era ae ur ae ae ener (1980) fr Carlene’s stepdad - and his stepfather-in-law - Johnny Cash before writing The Beast In Me for Cash, which he performed on his classic American Recordings album (1994), [ecm e ce Lc uea ar cms ECE eR ee British punk single, New Rose, and frst UK punk album, Dammed Damned Damned the debut records from The Damned, albums producer and his longest running professional relationship ~came with the emery “MacManus, aka Elvis Costello, who had sent Stiff Records a demo and ‘was originally taken on for Dave ng talent of Declan ssasongovite Edmunds (who wasn't interested). With just £2,000 anda handful of recording sessions, Lowe made Costello's debut My Aim Is Trae, with its knockout singles, Less Than Zero, (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red ‘Shoes, and of course, Alison. From then on their albums came ‘thick and fast-This Year's Model (1978), Forees (1979), Get Happy! (1980), 1 4981). A conveyor bet of classic singles like Watching The Detectives, (Don't Want To Go Te) Chelsea, Pump It Up, Oliver's Army, Accidents Will Happen and High Fidelity showed their mutual ‘mastery ofthe three-minute pop song. After ahal-decad & Chocolate (1986) ‘Sonve time inthe 1980s" observes Lowe, “the way people made records changed, almost overnight. It suddenly went from ananalogue world to digital world where ‘more and more the producer engineer and itwas real, they reunited for Blood wsthe much more akind of science. Whereas my thing was more hit and miss, Some days the record company would ask me how it was goingand Fd say,‘We didnt get anything yesterday; well have another go’. And in the 1980s ‘we didi’ get anything done yesterday” didn’t work. They didn’t want inna 63ee) pene ents Ed tohear that, Ithad to work every day, allthe ly lose in 1 hitand-miss 9 est then, whet nt. That's time, And what Iwas interested in, and i did work cosh; unds fire result every time, because it didn’ happen. I wasvery lucky the people I worked with, especial Costello And The Attractions, obviously kepton Noslouch with other artis fe didn't want robe under: pressure to come up because th king me 100, Lawe juced acts like Graham Parker, pub -ockers Dr Feelgood (co 1979smash hit, MilkAnd and The Kursaal F Wreckless Exe’ riting ther ernally glorious sing 64 WM Whole Wide World, and worked with ‘everyone from The Pretenders and The sul Carrack and he played with ave Edmunds’ underappreciated band, 10 made one album (Second re, 1980) managed : Rockpile 0fPleas pad one hit single and mpletely ‘ofthe mor played basson sdmunds bitsingle, Girl Talk (1981, Phi n solo material Love there was his Be Kind, and old favourite, I Knew The (When She Used To Rockin oD, "think, une . s~ and does th Sometime MEANWHILE, LOWE HAD fallen in ove Carter (1 acquired the his stepfathor-in-da hand married country star Carlene And that mest endary Johnny Cash a who went ont cralan InMeonhis slinary American Recordings record. lin awe ofthe late, great loved ved him,” says Lowe hisear Porter and ¢ uf like Cry sound and all he stnetive, there’ Tike him: Intypical, self deprecating style, Lov refuses to puton rose-tinte when eateer,“Thave a theoryabout sometime in the 1980s, when I realised that mycareer asa pop comingtoan end. enjoyed i itwas fun, bout could tell chat the public was tired of my sick ~as was [> So he took stock fr almost woyears, and concluded he hadn't dane to badly. “Tid produced some good reeards, I'd writen ‘one or two good songs that are going wo stick around fora while. But I really didn’ think that Id done anything really good” And at thactime, the music business had litle time for lder acs; it was “inconceivable” that rou bea pop singer when you were 40. MICK LOWES fe) dam PRODUCTION Ph iT Cee ame he Drom ace en ey nickname ‘Basher’ for knocking out records quickly and saying they could tidy them up later. When he was taken on as St Record’ in-house Det ee em ct Ln ca co Heart Of The City was knocked out for just £65 in the ht summer of 1976, a pre-punk mini ddassic. Then it was straight into producing The Damned’ pioneering punk single New Rose and their thrice sel-tted album, Damned Damned Damned. The Pretenders and Chrisie Hynde made their breakthrough with the fabulous single Stop Your Sobbing, produced by Lowe, who then bowed out and left the rest of ther songs inthe ‘capable hands of Chris Thomas (“a much better pop record produce. Iwasa stroke of luck Cee eer) ET Cre eS Loe a and they made some of ther est music together, incuding the asic album Get Happy! Ono cece UE CSU gen) De OR a eee ea ene ac ee or cp Straitjackets, and they're having tons of 10 EPS (Tol Bay/Cryi Inside and Love St. Now, says Lowe, you can't move for people Dbutback then iewas impossible unless you were a eroone! like Sinatra or Engelbert Humperdinck. “If x1 wanted todo something that hada litle intheirseventies and) fun. There are ‘out, but hes not sure about making another album. “Itmakes sense to have something lin business something ‘dbe deluded if T thought there was any chance of anyone ‘Sole made a conscious decision. "1 forthe merch table. But thought, I'm going to reinvent myselfand anacttogether which buying this sort of thing | willtake advantageofthe scale. Tes more a souvenir for people who' fact 'mgettingolder;it come tothe show wwon'tbe something Tl ‘ick Lowe now puts his faith with the getembarrassed by or younger generation includinghis own teenage son, Roy, who isa decent drummer: Father and son even played together for Nick's older sister's birthday party and he has no qualms about performing with grown-up thing Ido itmy way, make up ‘my ownrulesand doit instinetively. [thought tomyself, fT get this right, young people willlke it too Afterall, Lowe had always thought older artists were hip Noone wanted to know in the UK, he says, batin the US they did, He had a following thore from when Rockpile used to go over and tour incessantly. So he played there non stop, “and this schtick that Leame up with caught on, Eoworked har people into my audience without down with the kids'or anything ik co bring younger Live musie is where Lawes a nav specially touring withthe biliane Los him: “fora M-yeat-o kid, hes very od Lowe isespecially heartened by Roy and his generation, because th ofthe snobbery that his peers used to have don'thave any "We cou be forgiven, because rock'n'roll had only And itseemed like it was Ground Zera, twas our stu and it belonged tows and itwas brand new and everything else was shit. We only liked thac stuf And I only really started getting cover that when Iwasa fully-fledged adult. But Roy and his lotdon’t have any ofthat snobbery And God bless for that Nick Lowe + Los Straitjackets EP: Love Starvation /Trombone isout nowon Yep Roc Records. wc, 65leis in Concert WORDS BY DOUGLAS MCPHERSON THE KING'S SCHILLING When Elvis In Concert With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra returns this November, it will be in the company of Jerry Schilling. We talked to one of Presley’s closest confidantes ‘hat would Elvis havemade of is music being re-imagined ‘onalbum and stage with the lash strings of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra? Jerry Schilling one of the ‘King’s oldes friends, can only speak for himself “1'm pretty much a purist on Eis ‘music, ut I remember being in Russia ‘onallitl boat going up the Volga River many years ago. It was all Russian language radio stations and the remix ofA Little Less Conversation came on. It was aitle throwaway song from the movie Live A Little, Love A Little, but an ltalian engineer updated the song and it was a huge hit. remember thinking, wow, if somebody can doit properly and my friend can getnew audiences and be listened to around the ‘world, then I think i's worthwhile. “As for putting together the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Elvis’ great vocals” Schilling continues “Elvis was sucha lover of ll kinds of music: classical ‘musi, operatic musie~ he had no limits or boundaries. He had alitle bitaf an orchestra on some songs, but he would have Joved to have sung-with a full orchestra, and especially the Royal Philharmonic:” Schilling also confirms that Elvis would have loved to tour the UK before his death 66 cen, {n1977, wereit not for opposition from his ‘manager, Colonel Tom Parker. “Twas at ameeting about that with Elis, and Colonel Parker in 1974 Elvis told the Colonel, ‘Tm going to tour overseas’ The Colonel replied, Ifyou do, youl doit ‘without me’ And Elvis said You're fired? ‘He actually fired him over that” twas a short-lived parting of course. “They had great respect for each other” Schilling continues. “Ie was the ist and only time I hear them raise their voices. But that was why Elvis bought plane, the Lisa Marie. He had a ral desire to see his fans around the world especially nthe UK, because we had so many fans who came from England to see the Vegas shows” sone ofthe most trusted members of Presley's entourage, Schiling reveals his par in the King's plans to tour outside America, “ELVIS WAS SUCH A LOVER OF ALL KINDS OF MUSIC: CLASSICAL, OPERATIC - HE HAD NO LIMITS” “esent mean Joe Esposioon a ‘months vacation t Europea that tive think he was wanting to, without officially doing, wanting usto checkout the foreign smarketsin Germany and the UK. -realked to Tom Hewlett at Concerts ‘West who was Elvis promoter. talked tothe Colonel and hesaid, You know Tom ‘Hewlett, why don't you talk to him about the tour? “Soyoung, naive me, got with Tom The nextday, Tas walking down the hal with the Colonel and I sid Colonel, talked to ‘Tomand he sid he could doit’ The Colonel {hw his cane down the hall and sid, Then you handle it? “1 didn't make any more suggestions fora “while? Schiling chuckles. Presley’ collaboration with the RPO was the brainchild of Australian musie mogul Don Reedman, who co-produced thealbum 11 Can Dreamin 2015 with Nick Patrick ‘The dise shot to Nod inthe UK. Iwas followed by further releases The Wonder Of You and Christmas With Elvis And The -RPO, along with several tours thacsaw the celluloid Elvis singing on abigscreen above the orchestra andband. For the atest tour in November, the RPO will be augmented by Elvis’ original TCB ‘Band, including lad guitarist JamesElvis In Concert ny eta Dr‘Burton and drummer Ronnie Tutt. Sehiling and Priscilla Presley will he on hand to share their memories of the Ite rock'n'roll con, 1 hosted eight dates on the Wonder Of You tour in Australia in 2017" Schilling recalls “And I could'ebelieveit. twas the closest thing to being on tour with Elvis, and the audience reaction was almost not the samme Itwas an average of 1,000 to 12,000. seat arunas and every building was sold out. People were dancing and erying. eave me chill bumps, because I never thought Id see that again” THE SHOW WILL also include Schilling’s and Priscillas home movies of EBvis,and outtakes from the documentaries Elvis: That's The Way Ie Is and Elvis On Tour. “We filmed seven shows on tourin 0 theresa lot that hasn't been seen’ says Schilling “Elvis On Tour won a Golden Globe and we had a montage editor on that film by dhe name of Martin Seorsese. There was alot of talent on that film: Wind back nearly halfa century to Elvis Vegas yeats, and Schilling formed part of Presley's security, accompanying him to the stage and watching out fr sta what was Elvis like inthe moments before hae took to the spotlight? "Elvis was like a panther in acage, waiting tobe levout” Schilling states, “He never went backstage earls, because when he put his jumpsuiton, he sid, ‘My adrenalin starts burning’ He was like Muhammad Ali before ‘fight. You could fee the intensity of Bis right before going on stage, nd ifyou were lone ofthe four of five people backstage with him, youd start to get nervous, to, He was never relaxed befor a show? After the concert, by contrast, was totally opposite. Hed be laughing. telling jokes, smiling, He was alot of fun. Sorte pendulum swung from one side ro the other “The first thing he aways wanted to knowafter the show was how didi sound in the audience? Was ta good sound system? Heknew when he did agreat show and he knew when he did a good show. And most of the time it was a great show ‘Once he goton that stage, it didnt take ‘much time until he got comfortable. It was the place where he always felt most comfortable in ie Elvis hadn't even set foot ona stage when Schilling first met him on Sunday, July 1954, The 12-year-old Schilling was visting park in North Memphis when he chanced 68 mimaena, eta ery | upon the unknown Elvis trying to get a football game together. Presley didn't have enough guys of his own age 50 his former high school buddy and Iter “Memphis Mafia mainstay Red West asked Schillingto join. hey had just the night before played his record forthe first time on the radio” says Schilling “Ta been listening to Dewey Phillips, who played his record, fr a couple ‘of years, since Iwas 10. Dewey was the only guy playngrhythm and blues at the time which was pretty controversial, back in the south in the 50s, “Nobody said anything, but when we chose up sides, I realised that the guy who ‘as going to be throwing me footballs was ‘the guy T heard on the radio the night before. “He's the only star Tknow whe had the “THE FIRST THING HE ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW AFTER THE SHOW WAS HOW DID IT SOUND IN THE AUDIENCE?” mage of astar before he had ahitrecord or amovie,” Schilling marvels “It was like playing football with James Dean. He had that rebel-ness, that coolness. There was the spark of nice guy as well but more it was the rebel. Truly it was the rebel” Elvis fame took off fast, locally “Within three weeks, ot third football ‘game, people had heard about where he ‘was playing: Everybody wanted to play football with him or do anything around Elvis in Memphis at that time. So he had todo private things. He hire cinemas for private late-night movies private all-night amusement parks, [was always invited to those things” Presley typically liked to hire people who knew him before he was famous, and having, eptin couch throughout Schilling’s school years, Elvis eventually asked Jerry to join hisentourage fll time. In my senior year at college, Iwas going tobe ahistory teacher and a football cach. Elvis got in touch and asked me to come out tothe house. He never called it Gracelan, healways called ithe house? He said, ‘need you to come and work for me “Thad to think, because I had to quit college and two parttime jabs, ancl tell myfi father: But forse many years Td wanted to work with Elvis snd been too young. Ietook me about three soconds. Isai, ‘When? He said Now ‘was hired as an assistant and travelling companion. Over the years, I worked m way upto film editing and producing, and opening Elis’ film company; TCB Films. ‘My prayer was always juse tobe his friend, but Elvis gave me the opportunity to doa lo of things. Iwas the Nixon and there when he met The Beatles, From a creative point of view, to be abl when he met work with a genius ike Elvis on films ike Elvis On Tour isthe ultimate that I could ever have dreamed of” marred by the death of his mother when he was a baby. He was brought up by grandparents and aunts and credits Elvis with giving him the first place that really felelikehom when he invited him olive in 974, Elvis saceland, Lat rouse that he stil lives He stid, You know, Jer you never had home and I wanted tobe the one to give itto you" Schilling recalls “Twas stunned, but that was the kind of friend he was ‘After Presley's death, Schilling wenton ‘to manage Jerry Lee Lewis and The Beach Boys, who he’ still handling today Do his original ambition of becoming a history te “tind of think produce a lorof documentaries, We just had am’ be answers. “I the HBO series, Elvis Presley: The Searcher I procaced it with Tom Hindley and Priscilla Presley. We talked about all the influences and the history of how Elvis sgotstarted. "When you look att, even if youdo an interview about Elvis you're trying in ‘your own humble way to educate people bout haw this musie eame about, why isimportant, and how it influenced the Elvis in Concert eral a Sood relationship of human beings in the 1950s and 60s, 1 think people forget that before he shold name, Elis was criticised by church leaders and politicians. Hetook that iteame around to him doing more to bring people together became aho x hard, and i's ironic that an the politicians or church leaders WITH THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA Manchester Arena (Cardiff Motorpoint Arena Birmingham Resorts World Arena ‘Sheffield FiyDSA Arena Glasgow Hydro London 02 Arena nae 69SUMMER'9 ORDER FORM Please select the magazine(s) of your choice: BAKING HEAVEN LONG LIVE VINYL. (D3 Issues for £5 than £1120 3 Issues for £5 then £15.70, ‘every 3 months. UK oy fvery3 mont UK only cLassic Pop SIMPLY VEGAN D3 issues for £5 thon £13.45, 53 Issues for £5 then £735 ‘months. 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EVERY 3 MONTHS. EVERY 3 MONTHS. THENTUSTE1O.10 THENJUSTE1335.THENTUST#1120 THEN TUST E1345, THEN JUST E1570 EVERY3 MONTHS EVERY 3 MONTHS ~—«EVERY 3MONTHS = EVERY 3MONTHS- EVERY 3 MONTHS: TRIAL OFFER AVAILABLE OUTSIDE THE UK TOO! USA Try 3 issues for just $10 Europe Try 3 issues for just €10 Australia Try 3 issues for just $20 THEN JUSTET3.45 Rest of world Try 3 issues for just £10 EVERY 6 MONTHS ORDERING IS EASY! { &% ONLINE AT anthem-publishing.com/summer19 & cautus on +44(0)1371 853 609 peon!'S cone ae 2EP “th,= BREE e0cec 9000 Bill pill Faget &His Howlin Ric And The 000 illies Rocketeers °° ° SUEATY RECORDS 9000 coon fH i] Rumour has it that Bill Flagg was Some ear-wowing; rockabilly, the first artist to use the term The canon of young rockers psychobilly and blues on offer ‘cdasiy’butttatsahometsnest_contiuesto grow with this recent . . clu is that is probably best undisturbed offering from a highly talented this month, including hee. What most folks will confirm Leeds combo. With dep-honking though is that he was indeed a solid sax and some powerful backing supergroup Tasteless, a rocker, This EP gathers together the vocals on the title track it swings welcomereturn from The ——‘oirnostdrvngcsitetam unos nl vet la yon only the half-dozen recordings he tthe flipside takes @ more bluesy. Deltas anda sleazy re-imagining eer seasedovetveesingles route Both tradshavesucna between 1956-58. Flagg quickly crystal clarity that itis hard to of the Twin Peaks theme... ted of record label interference in believe they were ecrded ive ina ‘his sound and drifted away from the single take which bodes well for bizsothesefoot-stompersare ‘those of you out there that get the REVIEWS BY CRAIG BRACKENRIDGE ‘warmly welcomed back on vinyl ‘opportunity to see them live. ELTORO pn ROCKIN’ BLUES KINGS WASHBDA) Si TOR pan 72. eckThe Texabilly Rockets / Corporate image FTN THE PREACHER FIM RECORDS eceo This split single sees two choice cuts battle it out for dancefloor supremacy. DJ Simon Preacher kicks things off with Gonna Get Myself A ‘Woman, a menacing growler from the Portuguese rockers The Texabilly Rockets. Squaring up to the Preachers vin! spines lato ‘Mark Phillis who opts for a 1966, ‘nugget Not Fade Away by Corporate Image. Having two left feet I feel inexperienced to truly declare a ‘winning crowd-pleaser but The Texabilly Rockets surely push ‘through with a technical knockout. Tasteless THE BAD TASTE EP TASTELESS RECORDS 0600 When members ofthe bands Torment, The Ziheads, The Moonshine talkers and Dick Dynamite And The Dooplaéngers gt together thsi wha it sounds tke. Four racks on biter lack vi with he psycho superaroup looking back to the eariest days of the UK neo-ocabily boom for inspiration and knocking ota quate of seemingly efortess classi With ths much quality on offer in ther debut, and only 250 Copies avaiable, hopeful they can alle held together in one place for long enough to record an album, Messer Chups TWIN PEAKS TWIST CGTARACULA RECORDS 86006 ‘Messer Chups continue to release ‘highly collectable records that put ‘the bank accounts of their devotees under extreme pressure. This cation comesinimited numbers of black or white vinyl and nestling ina gatetold sleeve. The lead track isan echo-soaked re-imagining of thecal TV series theme tat kicks int actin ater a pondering ito. The remaining trio of tracks take ‘reverb to a weird new dimension, lunging fans into a twanging ‘nirvana while leaving others cast adrift on an island populated solely ‘by the surfin’ dead. The Deltas BOOGIE TRAIN GRAIN RECORDS 800 The Deltas ae back after ther 205 album Good Times. This new fve-trackE loos fantastic and appears on yl and black splatter transparent vinyl. These newhy-penned tracks were all recorded in Memphis atthe legendary Sun Studios which erect suits their brand of stiped-donm,bluessoaked rockabilly, RAB sen Ste ure joins the bandon backing vocals ‘onning ff the whole package nicely on possibly Moraine Records con 10 release and undeniably a future collector’. Marcel Bontempi & Carlos Slap YOUNG SOULS & YELLOW EYES EL ToRO RECORDS e006 ‘Mr Bontemp’s ability to create truly. original tracks is almost as powerful ahs prodigious work etic. Thisis his thr single release of 2019 and +e teams up with well-respected Spanish bass player Carlos Slap on ‘two new songs. Young Souls is a fun fm no tale squeezed ino Just over tree minutes. On the other side, Yellow Eyes is a road ballad soaked in slide guitar that is as haunting as itis brief. if Bonnie & Gryde were still around then this is surely what they would be listening to today. Dale Watson IF YOU'RE NOT HERE SLEAZY RECORDS 000 The count king of te trucking anthem never fad to explore other musica horizons and on this outina Mr Watsons between styles a you i the ds. Side A features Youre Not There a heartfet honky-tonk that eins with sincerity while giving corniness a wide beth. ver onthe sie is whee the eal resus as Bryceem 8 Vaselineisa raw rockail better with Dale and Dave Gonzalez rom The Paladins tracing Somme wild guitar licks, Essential listening for everyone whois both a bit country and abit rock Diamond Daddios VAUKHALL-A-G0-60 TRATER RECORDS 0050 British rock’n’rollers should prepare themselves for anew anthem as the Diamond Daddios pay tribute to ‘prime chunk of four-wheel UK automotive engineering onthe tile ‘track of this four-track EP. Featuring ‘Diamond’ Dave Prince and Dragan Tac Zdravkovic, these veterans of the rock’ scene nave created a lively set of originals in the small ‘window in between their many ‘other musical commitments. Tightly tacked wth thee memorable wocl tracks anda spook instrumental, this 7" will effortlessly flash you ‘back to a world of Teds and 2's PRETTY BOY ROCKIN’ RECORDS ooce0 This single is probably the most fun you can have with your clathes on. It features two hard-hitting juvenile delinquent rock nll pounders on bold blue viny! and housed ina 30 die-cut sleeve, Noneed to dig around forthe appropriate red and bie olsses either as a pairs included with the release along with a donnioad code for both tracks, Canadian label Rockin’ Record realy produce some very Collectable tems but thisis the Finest so fr and limited to only 298 copies forall you canny vinyl hounds out there nue 73Various Artists Danny “0” & The Astrotones 000° ILE CRUG RECORDS 9008 90000 WITCHCRAFT INTERNATIONAL 00 Thisisonly idle Cherub Reands’ = OOOO oo second release but already they re AS assured debut albums go, this ° saining ast reputation for hasto be one ofthe most comping some of the wildest impressive of cent y 1 of: hobill Country and rockin’ artes onto Frontman Danny Dawkins and the vinyl This collection releases 15 rest ofthis combo have al served Plenty of raucous psychobilly, prime cuts fom bygone ers, time wit other bands but since plus retro releases from. exhumed fom long-aonelabels Al they got eget thor ascent hes A ofthe ily ethen-tatestht been api Al the tracks om two Johnny Hallyday, Link Wray firintesiumbstater snr nesssyessepesn and Elvis Presley are on your ites with tre conviction toa inthis collection of 14 originals, : : Stigped-down ockabilybakbeat. so ther isno need to fee tout serving platter this month —_tyovcosetherottenspatnand —ityounavent yt caugntup wih trackone ofthese beauties down the ban’ rowdy but plished ther are 33 copes out there on brand af rokably witha REVIEWS BY CRAIG BRACKENRIDGE Gad-bthering gol vy, contemporary fa JOHNNY HALLYDAY - JOHNNY 60’ LIVE / STUDIO Poe MA) Pd 90000 yaa enc) eee eked Roe gcc saa showcase Johnny at his ener! era meer) nd pene fg poli ears Johnny 60 7 ad Ce ee IETS eur eee ces ee ee fo a2 SM uel froducer Jacky Chalard TUES working with Frances foremost CeCe 74 Ve ncKings Of Hong Kong ‘TRASH WAX RECORDS seco Bringing the bi beat straight out of Birmingham, the masked and mysterious Kings Of Hong Kong unleash their second ful-lenath vinyl release which wl lave fans of Link Wray and abrasive roc’ gasping for breath. tis acrude blend of ity rockabilly and trashy garage punk but it works so well and rattles past you ie a hot rod leaving onl high-octane exhaust fumes nits wake. Numbers are limited on this one to ony 150 Copies each in pink or clea orange vinyl so rapid record hunting skis must be employed. a ‘Supersonics ELTORO RECORDS 800 Theresa whiff of Pulp Fiction about this album and its probably what bad guys wth sicked-back hair, mitrored shades and back leather diving gloves would sten to they had the choc. Folowing their debut Close To You, thisisa nicely balanced blend of rockabilly, Country and western swing with a ficmiy upfront big sound, Slick and sharp, if they were nat from the Netheriands, Supersonics are surely the type of group you would find asthe house band in any disreputable cantina along the Tex-Nex border. | tov Newey Elvis Presley BiG BEAT RECORDS eeco Big Beat Records in France continue lo deliver exactly what record collectors want with this lavishly packaged release. Arving in 8 ‘lossy gatefold sleeve this package indudes two 10" discs anda f5-track (DsFist on offer isa picture disc featuring a trio o diferent cuts of the song Loving You while the other Plater isa lack vinyl version ofthe 1957 soundtrack. Lovinly crafted, this is exactly how reissued vinyl releases shouldbe done and other Elvis soundtracks are also avaiable inthis format Various Artists ELTORO RECORDS ooo This legendary recording was orginally released on (D to commemorate the 0th anniversary of The Day The Music Died. Lona deleted itis now available once again asa 60th anniversary release and makes is way onto a vite vin! LP. The stylish packaging includes detailed sleevenotes and the traclsting isa mix of favourites from all three artists. Not much ‘music that callecors wil not already possess but it so includes radio promos forte il-fated and badly organised 24-day tout across America’s mid-west The Krewmen CRAZY LOVE RECORDS oo Beloved by psychoilies across the planet, The krewmen always seemed to have something afte era about their sound. Although ‘they could drive wrecking pits on the dancefloor into akruckle- ‘ring fury they had started their Careerina more bluesy vein Ther Commitment to psychobily is tunquestonable though and on this, their second album from 1987, they realy reached their peak. Featuring 10 bruising anthems, tis hasbeen long deleted on this format but available once again in gree, red, vellow or good ole black vinyl, Ug & The Cavemen TRASH WAX RECORDS oocso In 1887 a legend was born when Meala Burn Recor released this wild garage rock classic that supposedly featured a 1960's recording that had been exhumed from the vats Eventhough the band on the cover looked suspiciously like members of British trash bands The Sting-Rays, The Men and The Vibes, this album ‘quickly became a national treasure amangst fans of unhinged rockin’ and frenzied beat. Long deleted and heavily in demand, Trash Wax have done an exemplary job resuscating this lst gem Link Wray ‘ACERECORDS. e000 Thetite of this 0 offering prety much saysit al but justin case you were wondering this mini-album features the legendary twang master taking on eight of Prese’s trademark songs. Side One dalvrs turbocharged blasts through tle ‘Sister, Heatbrek Hotel and Tiger an but Side Two presents a gentler side of the man in black shades ashe presents suprisingly tender takes on vis’ ballads. Alrecrings are taken from lnk’ period with Ace inthe 1390s ad this release indus the previously unissued That's When Your Heartaches Bain, The Bikini Bottoms MENTAL RECORDS 9000 Thisis the Glasgow-based pair's {debut album and it appears on pink vinyl on the revamped Mental Records, the Scottish label behind very cllectable late 1980s psychobily albums from The Radium Cats and The Long Hons Musically The ivni Bottoms have a stripped-down sound that fos willy between spooky and rockin" with an indie edge. Along with vocals, guitar and crums there are occasional keyboard stabs and they even break out the doghouse bass on their cover of Frenay’s 1 See Re. ome 75o Included on your rock’’roll platter this month is some sizzling Scandi rockabilly, a must- have rarity from the brilliantly-named Dickie Doo And The Don'ts, a sun-dappled compilation ofsummer-themed classics anda new album from the always-great Good Rockin’ Tonight REVIEWS BY JOHN HOWARD FIGHTING FIRE WITH GASOLINE The Broadkasters cro 000 Authentisounding UK blues band who hae notched up no es than thre CD releases inthe same ruber of yeas. Fronted by left-handed guitarist and vot Rb Glazebrook, twin threat in more ways than one, Hea carved outa solid reputation in ockaiy, and aso has backed some ofthe biggest names in the busines Ths racer includes fair tes ke BB King’s Sveet Lite Angel ane Sim Karpo's fm A King Bee alongside some tn lke Wonder Boy Tavis Catan a smatesing of rginals 76. EK Ae eae Johnny Earl PATRICIA RECORDS ooo Johnny Earl was. an early Eis Presley soundalie who revived SOs Songs that Eis could have recorded, but chose not to. He has now not only found his own ‘voice but ha also blossomed as a Songuriter, as songs on this fine ‘tracker ike Zombie Rock'n Roll and the tite track, underline. Italso boasts ver fll sound thanks to producer John O'Malley, aided and abetted by star saxman Pete Cook and te pian of im Hammond, Stand out tile for me was the amusing She'd Rather Eat ake Than Nok Love. Various Artists AN AMERICAN ooceccoo A super 26-rack rockabilly Callection with many otherwise dificil to find tracks ve been Callectngrockaily 4s since Sonny Burgess was on London American, but ther’ only one track here had con vinyl ~ and thats Black Cadac by Sonny Wallace. And my copy was obvious a repro. Tetil track, by the way, is by Jimmy Wayne And The Galaxies. Soit you are light on offerings from. Tommy Cassel, Curtis Wison Leroy Dotson, Ray McCoy and Thunder Rocks anda scare of other obscurabilies ~ buy ths.Warren Smith JASMINE 6660 Aine overview of a rockabilly Pioneer onthe Sun abel that fame chose to swerve. His cut of Rockin Roll Ruby was a local bestseller, and he went on to cut Classics ike Ubang! Stomp, Mass ‘Froggie and Red Cadilc And A ‘Black Moustache, included among the 35 racks here. Sadly, he was notable o turn strong voi reat mater, and good locks into alucrative career, and sadly ded at the age of 47 His recorded legacy, the complete singles 1956-196, isa worthy epitaph. SN@KS EAGLIN Snooks Eaglin JASMINE ooo ‘double CD covering much ofthe recorded creer of a Crescent ity native wo went rom singing on the street to the recording studio, with te late, great Dave Bartolome atthe controls. is busking carer, epresentedin ful ad him performing accustic Dies standards ike Careless Love, Rockland Line and See Se i When Dave got him i the stuco, he was cutting RBB and swamp: op, with ull and backing, Both Sides of Snooks are wel worth a listen, and youhave a full 45 tracks here Ce aC PT GRE Pa Sa er eT etn) Macc eS) ‘busiest bands on the rock'n'roll circuit. ted by the multi-talented Mark See ee sat dure Darren teggat they otter mix of Julius La Rosa UU aU See ACROBAT teat cat) oo Peter nce MALO | or than his himsef woud not ave permite oye Came for the hit Torero (“I met him on a Sa bs in Barcelona/ Then we started Buthe did all talking.) In the States, however, he had consistent MOR hits with eis show tunes lke Suddenly Mere’ A rec) Valley, and wes known fr his Ssmoath and sophisticated style, the Mra ca (ats Pyiamas forthe early 50s, i Thisisa double CD with tracks confidence, and covering his ime with Cadence and Sec nts CA, witha sleeve photo that shows Pn the otherwise unseen Juus was ‘uit a Leonardo DiCaprio lookalike, THE COMPLETE SINGLES AS & BS: 1952-62 Leroy Van Dyke ‘ACROBAT ooo With the benef of hindiot, coy Van Dyce was leary a country singer, but wth novelty cuts ike The Auctioneer and milion sellers ike Walk Or By, he was regarded by record buyersin his lay as quality pop artist. This double CD has a generous 42 tracks, and covers Leroy’ carer with the Dot and Mercury labels. He enjoyed hits on both sides ofthe Atlantic, and hada distinctive, sometimes relaxing voice if you don't include the frenetic high-speed Auctioneer inthat bracket newt 77Dion DiMucci A seco Two LPs from Dion in 1963 released on 0 forthe first time. These were the first recordings after Dion sit from US independent label Laurie to ‘move to US major Columbia, and it Dut him back on both single and album charts, Material vais from supper cub standards like You ‘ade Me Love You to doo-wop revivals on numbers made famous bythe likes of The Clovers and The Clftones. As always Don was and remains one of the best voices in the business, whether singing ballad or rockers GIVE HE ONE NORE SHOT THERN sou 78 NO Ue | eR LG Pat Ad enacts Senn Oster este RC eet a eer Dickie Doo And The Don'ts RRICeineat mac ASHE 800 Preemie ice csi cea That od, attenton-grabbing name ita) ame about to hide the identi of Gerry Granahan and Dave llered, who were both signed to other labels. This Roger Dopson-curted rod pais their two albums, omorsing main instrumental dance numbers, but the eal deal sthe inclusion oftheir five hit singles, among them the noel iek-Gac the vampire-them: To Boy, and Wild Party, which boasts some oreatyris. timproved as wildness when it crossed the ‘lant and became Wil, Wi Party onthe London label ip Various Artists ACROBAT 9000 A whopping four-C boxset Celebrating America’s Greatest Hits from 195, a year before the fist UK best-seling record chat. Since we lavishly followed US lasts atthe time, these were the likey best-sellers in Britain, too, Stars include Patt Page, Guy Hitch, Frank Sinatra, Vic Damone and Frankie Laine, and arong the 100-pus tracks are perenials ike Mockin’Brd Hil Jerebel and Blue Velvet. Includes every number that entered Billboard trade magazine's Top 15 chart, and, as such, isa Valuable historical document. f lassi Teed pega on OE Ree and some big eeu) Deena ener | De Ces Pence) ee Pea a Various Artists BEAR FAMILY 9000 A summer-thered compton with all 33 tracks celebrating the warmest season. It opens wth the highly appropriate Here Comes Summer by Jeary Koll, ad indus hts ike mmertine Blues and Is Bitsy Teene- Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. Some selections seem wayward. Why have Andy Willams’ version of Love Ltrs The Sand rather than Pat Boone's? Surely One Summer Nighy The Danlees is Superior to The Diamonds cover But it's great that VPs own Vince Eager’s version of Soda Pop Pos incuded rather than Tommy Sand’ oiinalBere) \ al DISCOVER A WORLD OF MUSIC - FILLED WITH EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS, RARE PHOTOS, CLASSIC ALBUMS, FASHION, COLLABORATIONS AND MUCH MORE! ole Tol mae) A ete Aire)Wildest Cats im Town WILDEST DREAMS Pioneers of r’n’r provided promoter Ritchie Gee with packed houses at the 19th Wildest Cats In Town weekender WORDS BY JOHN HOWARD PHOTOS BY EMMA GRANT/JOHN HOWARD/RUTH ARCHER ot just one, but two stars from the 50s Memphis Sun studio were present for this 19th ‘Wildest Cats In Town weekender at Pakefield in Suffolk. Namely, ve vocalist Hayden Thompson, and the man bpehind the beat on hits from the likes of ane Warren Jerry Lee Lewis, Charlie Smith, drummer Jimmy Van Eaton ‘The third headliner from the United States was Rip Masters, who played on when he on Ronnie Weiser’s Gene Vineents final ecordi Rollin’ Rock label, also backing Ray Campi, Mae who re-introduced America tots ov rockabilly heritage: “There were visitors from Australia, France, aly, Sweden, Germany and and that was ust the musicians, Fans came and the test ofthe crew from countries more diverse than that, keen tosee not only the US headliners but also orcs Cron CMa some exclusive reunions of much-respected outfits ike Hob And The Beareats and The Avengers. You won't be seeing them in Sydney or Ssarbriicken any time soon, ‘The icingon the cake was supplied by Crazy Cavan And The Rhythm Rockers, who abays work this event ‘While “soul festivals just up the coast offer two livebands night, Wildest ats has up to 10 bands y playingon three stages, and the weekender has now stretched to four nights Add to that, ve lessons, contests, classi ars from the 50s, dozens of vendors, WHAT WAS AMAZING WAS THE TURNOUT ON THURSDAY WITH 1,000 FANS PACKING THE SITE burlesque dancers and specialist dise jockies plus a great atmosphere, its smal wonder the event sells out everytime. ‘What was amazing was the turnout on the Thursday night, with 1,000 fans packing. the site, As promoter Ritchie Gee remarked: “You just don't expect that onthe fist night its very pleasing’ “The accolade of hardest working man in showbusiness, onstage a east, was Master ‘of Ceremonies Porky who not only whipped up the enthusiasm forthe live aets and DJs from the first to the last, winning encores and applause, he also fronted his own band, Hot Rockin’, for awell-recei Hayden Thompson was perhaps the biggest international name at the event, and he had the top spot mid-evening ‘on Saturday night. The SL-year-old has admitted his body has not stood up well to ageing, but says his voice has weathered the years undiminished He set out to prove iton this show. And, boy, he proved it Not only does his voiee retain its power, itsrange is as great as itwas when he started out as a teenager in Booneville, Mississippi, seant miles from Elvis ley's base in Tupelo Thus Hayden ean 0 Presley-high on That's All Right, and Johnny Cash- ANN a | GO, JOHNNY, GO! HITS THE CINEMAS Rocnol had well and truly ripped the word bythe time itt the box office in June Oe em Te ecu et aes nS masterminded by DJ Alan “Hoondog” Freed and producer-direcor Hal Roach Jt. As with Ue Lec a tae stars talent scout, with teen pin-up Jimmy Cantona the ead and pop chanteuse Oo en ec aca au eas a Tea eee eA eee et ae Cm ee cor anyone over the ae of 21 would probably do well to avoid subjecting their eardrums to Tee ena aa De eee caecee CRICKETERS Peay Wed 18th rsd ae) Peeing arr cry ey cr Papa) Coy Per ered Dernier Pic ees sina PMc arenta a Neamt ee ans acca’ Prony le tltd an er) cen ated a) Py a ita at nen rete) ere thu2ah aro ara Por one pera ae coon Sr oeer eet oad apres retin) er ae rate cn tas WARE Del Hall acon tienen ees DUNDEE Rep Theatre oy Prien Preteen sd eo Ie Wedh cms aa ar Pr cy a cst For: fenineray Coit rot tay Pironieeatty poparraag ect ee ee Brae esos Ler es es ete Eero) oF ne Sral eat een} CT ETE Onie eee Teen rarer Area Prone erat Ree} Roe ay Ree CSTE Reece Opec Rey eere Ree RAC Ra ect) A} rie} Peers Py Ree ert Rept rer ely ce Ginisimas dates eNO Cee) i ea ces Dauner oe es Se pees ns eae coed Pee eed Pats cones sindentheatecom nee 4 eae cc) ees Peer Recetas oes ae Tae kak Teal g Celso kd Peery eects Py coer rela rT (yas) eee ere Tea oonola) pomerer y BBC cone Baa aid Se FS ee pen ra] SACU Cae MgO aU