Above: Legendary Chicago Blues singer and harmonica player Billy Boy Arnold (left) and Daddy-o Dilly (right), backstage at the 2006 Ponderosa Stomp festival, Memphis, TN. See many more photographs like this at Daddy-o Dilly's Flickr Photo Albums:
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Favorite CDs Released in 2006
My favorite music releases for 2006 have received due consideration.
The four CDs of distinction for the year just ended are:
various artists: "Rockin' Bones" Rhino R2 73346, 4 CD set w/ book101 1950s and early '60s rockabilly classics, not so much the obvious hits but those records that have attained a new lease on life since the 1970s when a new generation of listeners discovered this weird and wonderful music. Fanzines, record shows, the odd radio show here and there, and the occasional rockabilly festivals all helped to create more interest in many of these records and the artists heard on them than when they first came out decades ago. Problem is, they've been out of print longer than some fans have been alive. I have been known to be a bit put-off by Rhino Records phrase "We collect records so you don't have to!" but in this case their intent and efforts are appreciated. Obtaining a collection of original 45s of even half the songs on this collection is beyond the price range of many.I am stunned to find a record from my hometown included, "Hot Shot". I have been further surprised to know a guy here who remembers the singer, Ronnie Pearson. Local rock 'n' roll expert Carl "Crazy Legs" Palmer recalls that Pearson was from Osage City, Kansas, and was seen promoting his disc from a convertible in a parade in downtown Topeka back at the time. The producer of this recording, Bob Bobo, ran a local record label here in the 1960s called Casino.I am disappointed that Sonny Burgess from Sun Records was not included on "Rockin' Bones", a serious omission. And I wish multiple disc sets like this housed the discs in jewel cases enclosed in a box with a lid on it, rather than this often used "book" style of packaging.
The Music Machine: "The Ultimate Turn On", Big Beat/Ace CDWIK2 271, 2 CD set w/ videos!Finally a definitive CD reissue of the Music Machine's classic "Turn On" LP. The Music Machine, along with Count Five, turned out the best mid-1960s garage band era LPs that I have ever heard, and both are now available in superlative CD compilations from the Ace label in the U. K. Both mono and stereo mixes of the LP are heard here along with the band's non-LP singles and previously unheard recordings for the Original Sound label, plus great looking TV appearances. The Music Machine's hit "Talk Talk" and the Count Five's "Psychotic Reaction" were utterly terrifying records in 1966, the kind that surely inspired teen-aged angst and self loathing, resulting in detention hall assignments galore. These guys had a loooong head start on the goths! I'm sure radio station program directors scratched their heads and fretted while previewing discs like these and had to think awhile before OKing adding them to the playlists. Didn't one writer once say that Sean Bonniwell was everything Jim Morrison ever wished he could be? Did I coin this phrase? I might have.
Sonny Burgess and the Rhythm Rockers: "Tear It Up!", St. George STG7712I think this just might be the best recording Sonny Burgess has ever made. He has recorded a few new albums since the 1990s and this one is the best. It might even be better than the Sun records he made in the 1950s, the ones that made him well-known to rockabilly hounds in the first place. Pretty tall order but I think its true. "Farmers Blues" is very convincing. The frustration of crop failure as sung here sounds very authentic. I'm told these records may have been made over a year prior to release. I love it.
The Alarm Clocks: "The Time Has Come", Norton CED321This album made out in time for 2006 (time-related funnies are easy when referring to this group!) with little time to spare. These guys were skinny 13-year-olds in 1966 when they could barely give away their lone 45rpm. Last year they finally had a reunion playing only a few shows before recording this great new set of songs. They accurately retained the mid-'60s garage band sound.I saw really knockout performances by both the Alarm Clocks and Sonny Burgess at the 4th annual Ponderosa Stomp festival at the Gibson Guitar Factory's performance center in Memphis, Tennessee, in May, 2006. That trip to Memphis was the most fun I had in 2006! My opinions of their respective CD releases above are indeed influenced by the great shows they played in Memphis!!
Dewey Phillips & Gene Vincent: Matching Leg Injuries
I've just finished reading the book "Dewey and Elvis" by Louis Cantor. It's not really a book about Elvis. It's a detailed biography of Dewey Phillips, the hugely popular radio and TV disc jockey in Memphis during the 1950s and 1960s. The last three chapters are absolutely heartbreaking. The last ten years of his life were a steady downhill slope to physical and mental ruin. I did not know this, but Dewey had a horrible physical affliction just like Gene Vincent. It seems he, too, had a leg badly injured twice in car wrecks. Just like Gene, he should have had it amputated. Again, like Gene, he refused and the leg deteriorated, described in this book very much like the descriptions we've read about Gene's bad leg. And again, like Gene, Dewey sought relief from pain with alcohol and prescription medicine, too much of both. Whereas Gene was at least able to work until his death, Dewey was separated from his wife and children, lived with his Mother, but was most often seen babbling to himself in Memphis street gutters. The author of this book is a lifelong Memphian and worked at radio stations in Memphis in the 1950s. His firsthand knowledge of the city and the people involved in the local music scene there make this book one of the most authoritatively written books about rock 'n' roll in Memphis that I have read. This book was published in 2005 by the University of Illinois Press.
Documentaries Yet To Be Made
Here is my response to a discussion on the lack of a documentary on Del Shannon in the Del Shannon Yahoo Group:
What I have envisaged for some time now is an extensive series of definitive DVD documentaries on first generation rock 'n' roll musicians with as many uncut TV/film performances as possible as bonus features on a second disc. In some cases there are already really good documentaries like on Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Everly Brothers, and Elvis Presley. But I think there are several artists who have yet to have much of anything made in the form of documentaries at all or, better yet, a really great documentary. Del Shannon is one artist who begs to have a documentary made. What a great story there is to tell here. There are plenty of interviews, especially from the 1980s in existence. Plus there are TV performances from three decades and several countries.
Bobby Fuller is another. There were stories about Bobby on "Unsolved Mysteries" and a half hour story on "The E! Mysteries and Scandals" series. Still, a definitive documentary is due.
Gene Vincent is yet another. In Gene's case, there was a remarkable "fly-on-the-wall" documentary made at the time of his 1969 tour of the UK, which could be used in part in a film on his entire life.
One documentary on Roy Orbison has lengthy interviews with Fred Foster, producer and owner of Monument Records. This was the first time I'd ever seen him interviewed, which was long overdue. I think a definitive documentary on Roy has yet to be made.
Imagine the challenge of making a documentary of Link Wray. Nerves of steel and infinite patience my be necessary here.
Bill Griggs, West Texas music researcher, has often commented that a frustrating thing about even well-made documentaries on musicians of all styles is that so often just as you are about 60-90 seconds into a memorable vintage TV performance, the narrator, or worse yet, an endorsing 1970s rock star cuts in before the clip is completed. That why I think DVD releases of music documentaries ought to have at least one bonus disc with all these famous TV performances presented uncut. Get the clearances and royalties in order and get the darn things on the market!
I think the likelihood of documentaries like this will show up in time. There many really fine documentaries on blues, jazz, and county musicians (Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Louis Prima, and Hank Williams come to mind.) The DVD format with bonus features remains a massively successful home video format. Right now, an authorized documentary on Wanda Jackson is in production and promises to be good.
But, yeah, you're right, the Del Shannon story needs to be told on the tube!
What I have envisaged for some time now is an extensive series of definitive DVD documentaries on first generation rock 'n' roll musicians with as many uncut TV/film performances as possible as bonus features on a second disc. In some cases there are already really good documentaries like on Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Everly Brothers, and Elvis Presley. But I think there are several artists who have yet to have much of anything made in the form of documentaries at all or, better yet, a really great documentary. Del Shannon is one artist who begs to have a documentary made. What a great story there is to tell here. There are plenty of interviews, especially from the 1980s in existence. Plus there are TV performances from three decades and several countries.
Bobby Fuller is another. There were stories about Bobby on "Unsolved Mysteries" and a half hour story on "The E! Mysteries and Scandals" series. Still, a definitive documentary is due.
Gene Vincent is yet another. In Gene's case, there was a remarkable "fly-on-the-wall" documentary made at the time of his 1969 tour of the UK, which could be used in part in a film on his entire life.
One documentary on Roy Orbison has lengthy interviews with Fred Foster, producer and owner of Monument Records. This was the first time I'd ever seen him interviewed, which was long overdue. I think a definitive documentary on Roy has yet to be made.
Imagine the challenge of making a documentary of Link Wray. Nerves of steel and infinite patience my be necessary here.
Bill Griggs, West Texas music researcher, has often commented that a frustrating thing about even well-made documentaries on musicians of all styles is that so often just as you are about 60-90 seconds into a memorable vintage TV performance, the narrator, or worse yet, an endorsing 1970s rock star cuts in before the clip is completed. That why I think DVD releases of music documentaries ought to have at least one bonus disc with all these famous TV performances presented uncut. Get the clearances and royalties in order and get the darn things on the market!
I think the likelihood of documentaries like this will show up in time. There many really fine documentaries on blues, jazz, and county musicians (Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Louis Prima, and Hank Williams come to mind.) The DVD format with bonus features remains a massively successful home video format. Right now, an authorized documentary on Wanda Jackson is in production and promises to be good.
But, yeah, you're right, the Del Shannon story needs to be told on the tube!
Rare Live Performance of Rockabilly in Topeka
Did this really happen? On October 7, 2006, on a beautiful full-moon-lit Saturday night, 10th Street in downtown Topeka was closed-off between the State Capitol and Supreme Court buildings. A stage was erected, surrounded by customized cars. A few hundred people showed up and watched performances by Lee Rocker and his band and the Rumblejets from Kansas City. Live rockabilly music, outdoors, for free, and I didn't have to drive 75 miles to see it? Nor was it all canceled the day before due to screw-ups or moral objection? And it didn't rain. God, I must be dreaming! And they promised to do it again next year? Am I still in Topeka? And after it was all over I didn't have a 90 minute drive home. God forbid, did something CHANGE here? The point I find hard to believe is that someone actually went to the trouble to have ROCKABILLY music performed live on stage here. Not country, not metal, not rap, not even blues, but ROCKABILLY! And some people even stayed until it was all over. ROCKABILLY, I can't believe it. Here. Surely something else was planned and it didn't work out and this was their second choice.
Pardon my sarcasm but after traveling to Kansas City and Lawrence a few times a year to hear live music for the last 35 years, it is hard to believe an event like this took place where I live. My deepest thanks to El Centro, a local organization, for even thinking about having live rockabilly music on stage here. It was a big risk. I'm glad it was as nice as it was.
Ronnie Pearson: 1950s Kansas Rockabilly
Anyone care to comment on "Rockin' Bones", the 4 CD set of 1950s rockabilly music released by Rhino in July? I play it over and over. Like Rhino's first Doo-Wop box, about the only complaint is what got left off (no sonny Burgess!) I still prefer box sets w/ discs in jewel cases. No such packaging here.
I was stunned to see a record here from my hometown: look at page 30 in the enclosed book: "Hot Shot" by Ronnie Pearson. It says he is from Topeka, KS, and his manager was Bob Bobo (who is also credited with writing this song). I never heard of Ronnie Pearson. Bob Bobo ran a restaurant called Bobo's, just two blocks from where I grew up. (It's still in business.) Bobo had a record label in the early and mid 1960s called Casino. Some garage-band era rock bands here had records on Casino. As to Ronnie Pearson, I asked local cats Carl "Crazy Legs" Palmer and Dick Ryan. Carl Palmer says he remembers Ronnie. He says Ronnie came from Osage City (35 miles South of here). He says he remembers seeing Ronnie in a parade sitting on a convertible promoting his record. He said if Bob Bobo recorded him it was probably in his studio in his house on SE Hudson St. I don't know how he might have gotten three records released on Herald, which is a New York label famed for doo-wop records, not Midwest rockabilly! (This friend of mine, Carl Palmer was a friend of the elusive Dale Lowery who interviewed Buddy Holly on tape here in '57. Carl's information was crucial in locating Dale Lowery a few years ago!) Dick Ryan told me just two days ago that he has the original 45rpm of Ronnie Pearson's "Hot Shot" on Herald and that his copy is autographed by Bob Bobo!
There is just no end what's to be heard in rock 'n' roll. Don't ever think you've heard it all.
Monster Movies on TV in the 1960s
www.spookytoms.com recalls monster movie TV shows in Kansas City.
My recollections sent to him follows:
Spooky Tom:I have seen your website about TV movie horror hosts in Kansas City. I watched the monster movie shows on KMBC television in the 1960s. Here's what I recall. In the early and mid 1960s KMBC had two monster movie shows on Saturdays. "Son of Chiller" was on at 6:00pm through 7:30pm. This was back in the days when network prime time programming started at 6:30pm Central time, NOT 7:00pm as it has been since 1971. So, any ABC network programs between 6:30 and 7:30 were not seen on KMBC on Saturdays because of "Son of Chiller". The host was Penny Dreadful. She really was good lookin'! Hot, actually. I thought she was some kind of spooky, sexy nun because of her clothes, kind of a long dark nun-habit like robe, with a big wide white collar that almost looked like wings, and a dark covering over her head that came to a point on her forehead. The show would start with spooky music as the camera panned down and then up a painting of a path leading to a tall spooky mansion. As it would pan up the tower on the mansion it would fade to another camera panning up a set design of the tower. At the top, there would stand Penny Dreadful in a dark window where she would announce that night's movie. She would also call out orders to an always-off-camera servant, suggesting he was some kind of gorilla or large beast. I think she called him Igor. She was just short of being bossy to him. One time, she was offering to mail photographs to fans, but cautioned that autographs were out of the question. I sent her a letter decorated as best I could with haunted illustrations and lettering that looked like dripping blood, complete with frayed edges as though an ancient manuscript. My artistic efforts were rewarded with an AUTOGRAPHED picture and thank-you note in a photo album, suitable for setting on my desk. Autographed and a note--exactly what she SAID on TV what she would NOT do, suggesting my letter stood out from the others! God, I was in love with her, even though I was about 11 years old! The movies she showed were both horror and science fiction of then-recent vintage, which meant 1950s B movies like "I Was a Teenage Werewolf", "The Giant Gila Monster", and (REAL favorite) "Earth Vs. Flying Saucers". It is very possible that Ed Wood's "Plan 9 From Outer Space" was shown. I know Ed Wood's "Bride of the Beast" was shown because I remember it. The other show was "Chiller" featuring Gregory Grave, which was on at 10:30pm. This show, in contrast, was much more likely to show classic horror movies from the 1930s and 1940s. I recall being really terrified by Boris Karloff as the Mummy, especially when he slowly opened his eyes through his bandages! I was torn between watching "Chiller" or "Wrestling With Bob", the professional wrestling show on KFEQ, channel 2, from St. Joseph, MO, which was on at the same time. I usually watched wrestling, putting up with the poor (pre-cable TV era!) reception."Son of Chiller" did not last too many years. "Chiller" was moved to the 6:00pm time slot. Penny Dreadful was gone and Gregory Grave was on at a much earlier time. This is when the "Joe Pine Show" started being seen at 10:30pm which would have been 1967. I recall "Chiller" with Gregory Grave lasting until about 1970.Gregory was in an upright coffin at the start of each show. It had a sliding window, which he would open, look left and right, blow cigar smoke, then open the lid. He would walk over to his haunted talk show host desk, ancient, filthy, and littered with ghoulish gizmos. He would crack jokes as if he thought he was Johnny Carson. A skull wearing glasses was on his desk. He would often ask it questions. The camera would show a close-up of the skull which would answer back with an assortment of pre-recorded answers. The voice of the skull (can't remember the skull's name! Cranston, maybe?) sounded like Torry Southwick of "Torry and Ol' Gus" fame on KMBC's after school cartoon show. The projector for showing that night's movie was supposedly under Gregory's desk. He would ask the projectionist if the film was ready. A hairy arm (which was clearly operated manually by Gregory) would come out of a hole on the desk top waving "OK" indicating it was movie time.I hope this information is of interest. No, I no longer have the photo of Penny Dreadful, but it was the same picture you show on your website.
My recollections sent to him follows:
Spooky Tom:I have seen your website about TV movie horror hosts in Kansas City. I watched the monster movie shows on KMBC television in the 1960s. Here's what I recall. In the early and mid 1960s KMBC had two monster movie shows on Saturdays. "Son of Chiller" was on at 6:00pm through 7:30pm. This was back in the days when network prime time programming started at 6:30pm Central time, NOT 7:00pm as it has been since 1971. So, any ABC network programs between 6:30 and 7:30 were not seen on KMBC on Saturdays because of "Son of Chiller". The host was Penny Dreadful. She really was good lookin'! Hot, actually. I thought she was some kind of spooky, sexy nun because of her clothes, kind of a long dark nun-habit like robe, with a big wide white collar that almost looked like wings, and a dark covering over her head that came to a point on her forehead. The show would start with spooky music as the camera panned down and then up a painting of a path leading to a tall spooky mansion. As it would pan up the tower on the mansion it would fade to another camera panning up a set design of the tower. At the top, there would stand Penny Dreadful in a dark window where she would announce that night's movie. She would also call out orders to an always-off-camera servant, suggesting he was some kind of gorilla or large beast. I think she called him Igor. She was just short of being bossy to him. One time, she was offering to mail photographs to fans, but cautioned that autographs were out of the question. I sent her a letter decorated as best I could with haunted illustrations and lettering that looked like dripping blood, complete with frayed edges as though an ancient manuscript. My artistic efforts were rewarded with an AUTOGRAPHED picture and thank-you note in a photo album, suitable for setting on my desk. Autographed and a note--exactly what she SAID on TV what she would NOT do, suggesting my letter stood out from the others! God, I was in love with her, even though I was about 11 years old! The movies she showed were both horror and science fiction of then-recent vintage, which meant 1950s B movies like "I Was a Teenage Werewolf", "The Giant Gila Monster", and (REAL favorite) "Earth Vs. Flying Saucers". It is very possible that Ed Wood's "Plan 9 From Outer Space" was shown. I know Ed Wood's "Bride of the Beast" was shown because I remember it. The other show was "Chiller" featuring Gregory Grave, which was on at 10:30pm. This show, in contrast, was much more likely to show classic horror movies from the 1930s and 1940s. I recall being really terrified by Boris Karloff as the Mummy, especially when he slowly opened his eyes through his bandages! I was torn between watching "Chiller" or "Wrestling With Bob", the professional wrestling show on KFEQ, channel 2, from St. Joseph, MO, which was on at the same time. I usually watched wrestling, putting up with the poor (pre-cable TV era!) reception."Son of Chiller" did not last too many years. "Chiller" was moved to the 6:00pm time slot. Penny Dreadful was gone and Gregory Grave was on at a much earlier time. This is when the "Joe Pine Show" started being seen at 10:30pm which would have been 1967. I recall "Chiller" with Gregory Grave lasting until about 1970.Gregory was in an upright coffin at the start of each show. It had a sliding window, which he would open, look left and right, blow cigar smoke, then open the lid. He would walk over to his haunted talk show host desk, ancient, filthy, and littered with ghoulish gizmos. He would crack jokes as if he thought he was Johnny Carson. A skull wearing glasses was on his desk. He would often ask it questions. The camera would show a close-up of the skull which would answer back with an assortment of pre-recorded answers. The voice of the skull (can't remember the skull's name! Cranston, maybe?) sounded like Torry Southwick of "Torry and Ol' Gus" fame on KMBC's after school cartoon show. The projector for showing that night's movie was supposedly under Gregory's desk. He would ask the projectionist if the film was ready. A hairy arm (which was clearly operated manually by Gregory) would come out of a hole on the desk top waving "OK" indicating it was movie time.I hope this information is of interest. No, I no longer have the photo of Penny Dreadful, but it was the same picture you show on your website.
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